Reception of the Atreides’ myth in “Mourning becomes Electra” trilogy by O’Neill

• Main Author: Samoylova Marya Pavlovna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Modern Humanitarian Researches 2020-10-01
• Series: Studia Humanitatis
• Subjects: reception; the myth of the atreides; antiquity; modernity
• Online Access: http://st-hum.ru/en/node/954/

The article analyses the cultural dialogue of antiquity and modernity on the example of the Atreides’ myth in the trilogy of the American writer Eugene O’Neill. The author of the article studies the writer’s desire to show the spiritual crisis of modernity by analogy with the ancient story. The American version of the reception of antiquity in art culture is a transfer of the ancient plot to the modern author of the trilogy of reality and endowing modern Americans with the features of ancient heroes. The reception of antiquity performed by an American playwright of the 20th century allows us to see changes in the system of values of Western civilization, namely the contradiction in it between the need for love and freedom and social pressure.