Vittorio Alfieri

Alfieri, Vittorio (Alfieri, Vittorio) (1749-1803), Count, Italian poet and dramatist. Born January 16, 1749 in Asti (Piedmont principality) in a noble wealthy family, a nephew of the famous Italian architect Benedict Innocent Alfieri (1680-1767). Early lost his father. In the nine years of age is given at the Turin Military Academy, studied systematically, a lot of time to riding. After graduation in 1766 and a brief service in the Piedmontese army led an idle life of an aristocrat, has traveled in most of Europe 1767-1772. Upon his return to Turin began seriously to educate ourselves, read a lot, studied Latin and Greek. Inspired by the theater, wrote in 1775, his first tragedy of Cleopatra. In 1777 he moved to Tuscany, to become perfect in the main dialect of Italian - Tuscan (he knew only the Piedmontese dialect and used mostly French). Lived in Siena and Florence, where he met his muse - the beautiful Countess Louise Albani, spouse of the applicant to the English throne, Charles Edward Stuart, under whose influence continued his literary efforts. Understanding the Florentine Renaissance literature, especially Dante and Machiavelli, has formed his republican beliefs, which is reflected in his work. In the Tuscan period (1777-1784) Alfieri created fourteen tragedies, including the best of them - Saul tiranoborchesky pathos which brought him popularity neobuchaynuyu; theoretical justification of his views he gave in his treatise on tyranny.
In 1784 Alfieri moved to France, lived first in Colmar (Alsace), then in Paris. The French period (184-1792) has created five more tragedies have started and completed in Tuscany treatise on the Emperor and the literature. In 1788, after the death of Charles Edward Stuart, combined with his widow braktom. Enthusiastically welcomed the French Revolution of 1789, wrote an ode on the taking of the Bastille. However, the overthrow of the monarchy and the beginning of terror have changed his position: he regretted that tiranoborcheskie motives of his work in tune with hateful ideology of the Jacobin. In 1792 he returned to Florence, his property was confiscated in France. His condemnation of the Revolution expressed in the collection Gallonenavistnik. In recent years, a solitary life, zealously indulged in scientific pursuits, translating ancient Greek and Latin texts. He died in Florence on October 8, 1803. Buried in the church of Santa Croce between the tombs of Michelangelo and Machiavelli, where the Countess Albani has set a magnificent monument by Canova. Thanks to her efforts in Pisa in 1805-1815 was issued the first complete works of Alfieri.

Alfieri is the creator of the Italian classic tragedy. He moved to the national ground on the tradition of French classicism. Most of his twenty tragedies written in the ancient stories (Antigone, . Agamemnon, . Orestes, . Polynices, . Timoleon, . Merope, . Agis, . Cleopatra, . Virginia, . Octavia, . Sofonisba, . Mirra, . Brutus first, . Brutus II), rarely used medieval (Rosamund, . Don Garcia, . Pazzi conspiracy, . Philip II, . Mary Stuart) and biblical (Saul) motives,
. They are distinguished characteristic of classicism fashionable, precision tense dialogue, concise action, clearly defined characters, exalted feelings, the true tragedy of the situation. Some classic rules are sometimes brought to the Absolute: reduced to a minimum number of characters (four), for the sake of fidelity to a single topic leading eliminated episodes and side effects, are excluded lyric opera. Ascetic poetics Alfieri and disregarding the historical circumstances have made him the object of criticism by the Romantics, who believed that he "humbly drags at the tail of the French classicists'. However, Alfieri was not classicist in the full sense of the word. He was strongly influenced by Dante, and especially Shakespeare, that impelled him to endow his characters passionate, and intense emotional life. That is why the followers of classicism called him 'heretic'.

Conceptually, Alfieri decisively rejected Machiavellianism with its slogan of 'the end justifies the means'. In his tragedies he analyzed the psychology and logic of the argument of the tyrant, give rise to terrible crimes, and showed their behavior in politics and personal life, his loneliness and spiritual emptiness (Philip II, Timoleon, etc.). Absolutely negative image of a despot, he definitely opposed positive image tiranobortsa, media freedom of thought and rebellion (the first Brutus, Brutus II, Pazzi conspiracy, Mirra and others)

. In tragedies, . Peru Alfieri owned melotragediya Abel, . in which he attempted to enter into the dramatic genre of music, . Six highly politicized comedies (devoid of genuine humor and not adapted for stage performances), . six odes, . Satire and poem Etruria Mstitelnitsa a prime example of his prose is autobiographical novel Life of Vittorio Alfieri, . told by himself,
. From the implementation of translations of ancient authors of the most successful translation of Sallust.