O antyku w poezji Bolesława Taborskiego
The Ancient Motifs in the Poetry of Bolesław Taborski

Summary/Abstract: Antique themes, which, as can be seen from the above review, occupied a certain place in the poetry of Bolesław Taborski, appeared in several quite distinctly different genre forms. First of all, we find in his collections of poems original works inspired by a certain Greek myth (e.g. the myth of the Argonauts, the myth of Sisyphus, or the myth of Ganymede). Another thematic category includes poems referring to a specific historical event (e.g. the burning of the Artemision in Ephesus by Herostrates, or Caesar crossing the Rubicon river). Further variety of genre in Taborski’s poetry collections are poetic “reviews” of Greek tragedies staged on contemporary stages, such as Euripides’ “Trojans and Electra” or Sophocles’ “Antigone.” One more variety are poetic records of the author’s reflections and thoughts on modern plays and operas with ancient themes, such as Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida” or “Antony and Cleopatra,” Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” or Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas”. Finally, there are the translations of poems by Roman poets Catullus and Propertius, and Anglo-Saxon poets. Generally speaking, quite numerous references to antiquity in Taborski’s poetry prove that it was one of the most important sources of inspiration for him and that antiquity, its myth, history, literature were living elements of contemporary culture. Antique themes in Taborski’s poetry serve not only to discover the truth about reality, to reveal its hidden layers, but also to uncover history, to show its dramatic limitations of Taborski’s struggle with history.

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