씌어지는 신화와 살아지는 신화 -쯔베따예바의 "유리디스가 오르페우스에게"를 중심으로-

Abstract

The paper is divided into two parts. The first part offers a close reading of Marina Tsvetaevas 1923 poem Evridika k Orfeiu" in the context of the Orphic myth which deals with Orpheus' abortive attempt to bring his dead wife back to life. Unlike the conventional literary paradigm set by Virgil and Ovid, Tsvetaeva views the myth from Eurydices perspective, and interprets the tragic love story not in terms of Orpheus' failure but in terms of Eurydices refusal to follow him. 1n Tsvetaevas myth, it is the heroine, not the hero, who comes to the fore and confesses her passion in a language which vividly reflects her state of immobility and utter hopelessness.

The second part examines the Orphic myth which is embraced by Tsvetaeva herself and embodied through her relationship with Rilke and Pasternak. Although it is assumed that a poets biographical 'I' and poetic 'I' do not necessarily coincide, by comparing the poem with Tsvetaevas personal writings to and about those fellow poets, one can conclude that the myth of Orpheus indeed became her own life myth, and that the theme of refusal and non-meeting actually and continuously figured in her epistolary affairs with beloved poets.

1n her later poem Estschastlivtsy i schastlivtsy" Tsvetaeva describes Orpheus the archetypal poet as someone who has to lose all in order to obtain the poetic Voice. The portrait of Orpheus who dispatches his voice to the Hades, while his superfluous" being remaining at the threshold, can be read as a poetic allegory which Tsvetaeva envisioned for herself as well as for other poets.