Одесса: археология имени
Odessa: Archaeology of Name

Summary/Abstract: The Article is dedicated to solution of the genuine meaning of the ancient name of Odessa. The author attempts to do it through a survey of the life circumstances of Iosif De-Ribas, Odessa’ s founder. His life and relations with the surrounding world of people are analysed from the view point of psychology described in “Theory of Games” by Eric Bern. The author was lucky to find evidence of the ritual and the place of Odessa’ s foundation (1794) during archaeological excavations in the historical center of the modern Odessa. Both the ritual and the genuine city’s layout followed ancient models. De-Ribas lived in the epoch of classicism when ancient realities were models for imitation. The author assumes that De-Ribas associated himself with Odysseus, and like Alexander the Macedonian tended to found a town of his name. Like heroes of ancient culture, De-Ribas had countless feats (he used to win impossible battles), had Athena’s protection (it was the Empress Catherine II herself), struggled with enemies, among which the most powerful one was Poseidon (prince Potemkin). Finally, the sense of Odessa’ s foundation, a city with such a name, consists in the fact that De-Ribas erected a monument to himself.

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