I. Efremov. Tais of Athens, Legend of Greece

Ivan Efremov is one of the most significant Soviet writers who became famous for his science fiction works, but his work includes other genres. One of the most striking works is the novel ‘Ta;s of Athens’. This novel is not only a work of fiction, but also a profound philosophical work that explores human character, human existence, and the search for meaning.

You can read the novel at the link: https://books-all.ru/read/452899-thais-of-athens.html

Description of the Context of the Creation of ‘The Tais of Athens’

‘The Tais of Athens’ was written between 1940 and 1941 and was not published until 1956. This novel was the fruit of many of Efremov's reflections on love, religion and philosophy. Behind one of the main plot lines are ideas about the problems of choice and overcoming circumstances. It is important to note that Efremov in his works emphasises man as a being capable of self-consciousness and self-development.

The historical context of the writing of the novel also takes an important place in its creation. Efremov, being a witness to the complex events of his time, wove many historical elements into the text, which makes it a valuable source for understanding the era. The unpredictability and uncertainty of military life are emphasised by the philosophical aspects of the work, creating an atmosphere of both struggle and search.

Efremov, as an outstanding Soviet writer and palaeontologist, in his work ‘The Tais of Athens’ creates a unique symphony where history, mythology and personal destinies are intertwined. This approach allows for a deeper understanding not only of the text itself, but also of the rich cultural fabric on which it draws. In this work, we see how ancient Greek legends and history are transformed into a narrative about a woman, her inner world, her struggles and triumphs. In this context, we want to consider how ‘The Tais of Athens’ reflects the role of women in Greek history and at the same time conveys the beauty of this amazing country.

Inspiration from Ancient Greece

‘The Tais of Athens’ is written based on the historical and mythological context of ancient Greece. Efremov uses real characters and events to make his work more vivid and relevant. This strategy allows the reader not only to enjoy the story, but also to see what Ancient Greece was like, its achievements and problems.

Ancient Greece is the cradle of western civilisation. It is known for its philosophers, architects, poets, and of course its artistic heritage. And, of course, in this culture, a special place is occupied by a woman, whose figure is reflected in various myths and legends. For example, Hera, Athena and Artemis are not just Goddesses, but symbols of women with power and wisdom. In ‘Tais of Athens’ we see a heroine who epitomises this philosophy. Tais is not only a woman of her time, but also a symbol of the struggle for freedom and self-expression.

The role of woman in ancient Greek society

To understand what the image of Tais means in the work, it is worth turning to the historical role of women in ancient Greece. Women were often perceived as more than just continuers of the family and keepers of the home, achieving a significant level of independence. For example, the philosopher Plato, in his dialogue The State, describes a society where women could engage in the same activities as men. Although such ideas were not widely realised, they nevertheless emphasised that a woman's destiny, despite limitations, could be multi-layered and diverse.

In The Tais of Athens, Efremov emphasises the inner world of a woman, revealing her thoughts, feelings and aspirations. Tais acts as the central figure of the novel. She, as a woman of the hetaera caste, is condemned by society. Nevertheless, her character is deeper and more complex than it may seem at first glance. Tais was one of the most beautiful! Rich Athenians offered fabulous riches for a date with her. But she chose with her heart.
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She could speak to philosophers and poets as an equal. But the wise men disliked people like her, believing that a sharp mind only spoils a woman. And in fact - just could not always respond worthily to her profound remarks, pass before her, and therefore angry. The life of Tais is full of amazing adventures and serious trials. At 17, she is already a celebrity in Athens. It is as if she has a special gift - to understand the feelings and essence of other people. In her lies a subtle sense and knowledge of true beauty, much deeper than most people....
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Tais was intelligent, strong and inquisitive. But she also longed to rise spiritually. She openly despised the cruelty of slavery and was convinced that the main thing on which a person stands is morality, the laws of behaviour among other people and the whole nation. This amazing woman went through a bright and bitter experience of life. In her coexisted tenderness and passion of a loving wife, courage and bravery of a valiant warrior. She had the talents of a singer and dancer, was generous and unusually kind. Her role in life was to be a muse for artists and poets, charming and merciful, but ruthless to everything that concerns Truth, Love and Beauty. Only the best of the best could be worthy of her. Such a man became for Tais the great and divine victor, the king of Macedonia, Alexander.

The novel by I. Efremov - a hymn to a woman, her beauty, wisdom, the gift of love. This is a book about the path of perfection, knowledge and comprehension. It encourages the best aspirations, helps to realise that being a woman is an art.
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Legends and Myths of Greece in The Tais of Athens

The legends and myths of ancient Greece serve as a backdrop for the plot of the work. Efremov includes in the text allusions to such stories as the love adventures of Apollo and Artemis, as well as the myths of Tantalus and Prometheus. These myths not only enrich the text, but also help to understand the characters' inner conflicts by creating parallels to their own experiences.

For example, the myth of Prometheus, who brings fire to people and suffers for it, can be associated with the fate of Tais. She also endeavours to bring something important to the world, but faces betrayal and misunderstanding. These comparisons allow the reader to further comprehend the conflict between personal desires and the demands of society.

Efremov uses such mythological structures to create a layer that not only strengthens the plot, but also remains relevant to the discussion of the role of women in society. Thais, like many heroines of ancient Greek myths, is a victim of circumstance, but her inner state and desire for freedom make her special.

The beauty of Greece as the background context of the work

One of the important themes running through ‘The Tais of Athens’ is the beauty of Greece. It is not only the physical beauty of its landscapes, but also its cultural richness. Greece is filled with architectural monuments, philosophical teachings, and artistic works that reflect the light and dark sides of human nature.

Efremov pays attention to describing the urban life of Athens, where different cultural and social strata collide. The beauty he describes serves not only as a backdrop but also as a metaphor for the inner world of the characters. The landscapes of Greece seem to breathe with them, reflecting their joys and sufferings.

Fantastic descriptions of nature and architecture create an atmosphere of antiquity that helps the reader immerse himself in the context of the era. And thus, Efremov makes Greece an active participant in the events, emphasising that this country is not only the cradle of civilisation, but also a living arena for human relations.

The philosophical subtext of the novel

One of the key themes of the novel is the search for the meaning of life. Efremov raises questions about what makes a person truly happy. Through the fates of the characters, the author seeks to show that happiness is not on the surface; to achieve it, one must go through trials and learning. For example, love in this novel is not only a romantic feeling. It is the testing, suffering, and ultimately the elevation of human nature. Efremov views love as an important stage on the path to self realisation. When passion and love collide with life's trials, as the main characters have, it creates tension both within them and outside. Their relationship becomes a battlefield where love becomes not only the goal, but an integral part of the journey to self-discovery. The reader sees how through the pain and sincerity of love, the characters reach a deeper understanding of their lives and their place in the world.

Deep existential issues interact with historical and cultural aspects. The novel is full of allusions to philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle who questioned goodness, truth, and beauty. At the same time, Efremov adds an element of individualism, arguing that each person has a unique task in life. The meaning of existence in the novel is not reduced to a simple philosophical discussion. It finds its reality in human experience, in love, suffering and search. Athenagoras' thoughts on philosophy, coupled with the courage of Thais, create a unique symphony, forcing the reader to reflect on higher meanings.

The philosophical teachings of the ‘Orphics’

In the preface to ‘The Tais of Athens’ Ivan Antonovich Efremov explains to us his choice of the historical epoch described in the novel: ‘In this epoch there were great religious crises. The widespread replacement of ancient female deities for male, the growing dilapidation of the cult of the Olympian gods, the influence of Indian religious and philosophical thought led to the development of secret doctrines. Retreat into the ‘underground’ of beliefs, in which the living human thought tried to find a way out of the expanding ideas about the universe and man, constrained by the requirements of official religions, is very little investigated in historical works, which drown in dates, changes of kingdoms, wars, and leave out the spiritual development of mankind. I found it interesting to show the most ancient religious cults, the remnants of matriarchy, associated with the great female goddess, which disappear, or rather lose influence in the Hellenistic era.’

From here it becomes clear why Ivan Antonovich devotes so much space on the pages of the novel to the description of the Orphic worldview, and why the main heroine, the Athenian hetaera Tais, was initiated into this doctrine. Further in the preface Efremov writes: ‘The protagonist I had to be a woman, admitted to the secret rites of female deities, and, of course, educated enough to not suffering from narrow religious fanaticism, to understand what is happening. In the age of Alexander such a woman could only become a hetaera of the highest class...’

In the novel, when asked by Thais to the philosopher of Delos why she was chosen for initiation, the philosopher replies: ‘You serve Eros, and in our Hellenic world there is no mightier power. In your power are meetings, conversations, secret words. You are clever, strong, inquisitive ... And I think that you will soon go to the East with Alexander, to the inaccessible distances of the Asian steppes. Every woman is a poet at heart. You're not a philosopher, not a historian, not an artist - they're all blinded to their own tasks. And not a warrior...Therefore you are freer than any man in Alexander's army, and I choose you with my eyes...I will initiate you, teach you the inner meaning of things, free you from fear...’

Very little is known about early Orphism. Some information appeared thanks to relatively recent archaeological discoveries - bone tablets from Olbia and papyrus from Derweni. The main evidence we find in Euripides, Aristophanes and Plato. Scientists know about the existence in the 5th-4th century BC of numerous poems attributed to Orpheus. The name of Orpheus is connected with the history of Greek literature, in which he occupies a place as a mythical poet of Thracian origin, and with the history of religion, in which he is the founder of a special doctrine and the founder of a sect called by his name the Orphic sect.

Orpheus was thought to be the son of the Thracian king Eagrus, the god of the river, and the muse Calliope; he lived in the pre-Homeric age. His lyre made such marvellous sounds that wild animals came out of their lairs and followed him; trees and rocks moved from their places to listen to his marvellous playing. In the mythological tales of Orpheus there is a story of the singer's descent into the underworld to fetch his wife Eurydice. According to other myths, he participated in the Argonauts' expedition to Colchis; at the sound of his lyre, the sea was silent; the moving symplegades stopped in place to let the Argo ship pass, and since then have remained chained in their places; thanks to his playing, the dragon guarding the golden fleece in Colchis was put to sleep, and the difficult task of the Argonauts - to get this fleece - was fulfilled. According to one story, Orpheus died of longing for Euridice. According to another tale, he was mauled by the Maenads for disrespecting Dionysus. Spread in the first decades of VI century secret doctrine was a whole literature, the works of which compilers were attributed to Orpheus. The belief in the actual existence of Orpheus as the author of these works was deeply rooted in the Orphic sect.

From the mentions of ancient Greek sages and philosophers, one can get an idea of the Orphic worldview. In the Orphic cosmotheogony, there is the Origin of the world - Chronos (Time), which spreads throughout the universe and binds it together. In the beginning, Chronos gave birth to wet Aether, boundless Chaos and misty Ereb (Darkness). From the Aether revolving in Chaos, the ‘Cosmic Egg’ was born. Then from the egg emerged the first-born God Phanes, a radiant, golden-winged, bipedal, polygynous God. He contained in himself the rudiments of all worlds, gods, beings and things. God Phanes gives birth to cosmic phenomena - Night and Light, Uranus (Sky) and Gaea (Earth). From Uranus and Gaia originate the gods and titans.

The titan Kron overthrew his father, Uranus, and devoured his children. Zeus was saved by his mother Rhea. Zeus together with Rhea, identified by Orphics with Demeter, produced a daughter - Persephone. From Zeus and Persephone was born the God Dionysus, called by Orphics Dionysus-Zagrei. Zeus entrusted him with ruling the world. The Titans, in their struggle with Zeus, kidnapped and destroyed Dionysus-Zagreus. For this Zeus in anger sizzled the Titans. The goddess Athena brought Zeus the heart of Dionysus, which the Titans had not had time to devour. Having devoured the heart of his son, Zeus again produced Dionysus from Semele. From ashes of titans and initial Dionysus Zeus has created people. Thus at Orphics Zeus and Dionysus are cosmic phenomena. Proceeding from the Orphic cosmotheogony it is possible to draw a conclusion that the man from birth is a dual being. In him there are titanic (dark) and Dionysian (light, divine) beginnings. Thus in Orphism man is recognised for the first time not as a by-product of the activity of the gods, but as the goal and result of the whole cosmic process.

The Orphic tradition says that at the heart of the world lies the sensible, and therefore the intelligible. The Orphics honoured morality and knowledge. The cult of Orpheus emphasises the idea of harmony, light, consciousness and the unity of being. Everything arises from the First and must perish in order to return to it. It is possible to know God only through accession to his wisdom, through ascetic practice, through conscious renunciation of carnal desires while fully preserving one's self-identity. Philosophical cognition, morality and ethics are possible only for a whole person. Since man was created from two beginnings - good and evil, in order to return to God, a part of which is still in man, man must purify himself, that is, to undergo a series of feats of abstinence.

Orphism contained the doctrine of the aims and duties of a man who wished to undergo purification. For this purpose was the initiation into the mysteries and observance of a number of ritual rules, vegetarianism, good attitude to all living beings, knowledge of the secret truth through special religious rites. If the human soul can overcome all dark things, then, having passed the whole circle of reincarnations, it returns to the divine state. One can read about it in the Orphic texts found in the burial places of the cult followers: ‘Rejoice, tormented by suffering... From man you have been reborn into God... From man God will be born, for you are descended from the Divine’.

Ivan Antonovich Efremov on the pages of the novel writes: ‘...to this day you can find their instructions on gold medallions, which they put on the necks of their dead. When the thirsty soul of the deceased travelled through the underworld through fields of white lilies - asphodelia, it had to remember that it was not allowed to drink from the river Leta. Its water, dark from the tall cypresses shading the banks, made the soul forget the past life. The soul became helpless material for the cycle of new birth, destruction, death, and so on without end. But if one drinks from the sacred key of Persephone, hidden in the grove, then the soul, retaining memory and knowledge, leaves the hopeless Wheel and becomes the lord of the dead. The doctrine that emerged in the depths of past ages from the combination of the wisdom of Crete and India, combined the belief in reincarnation with the denial of the hopelessness of the circles of life and fate... Not the Wheel, eternally making circle after circle, but the Spiral - this is the true course of changing things, and in this is the salvation from the Wheel’.

The ancient Greeks called the water from Lethe the water of oblivion. Leta-‘oblivion’ in Orphic hymns was opposed to Mneme-‘memory’. According to the teachings of the Orphics, in the house of Hades on the left hand there is a spring near the white cypress, drinking from which is not recommended. But in another, divine key flows cold water Mnemosina, preserving the memory of past lives. Orphic teaching on the transmigration of souls - metempsychosis - is very reminiscent of the myths of ancient India, in particular the ancient Indian concept of samsara. It is possible that Indian mythology influenced Greek mythology in Orphism, but it is also possible that the similarity is due to their common Proto-Indo-European roots. The concept of metempsychosis is found in three ancient peoples - Hindus, Celts and Thracians.

Orphic communities sprang up everywhere in Greece, especially in its colonial part and in the west. Serious preachers of the doctrine managed to raise it to such a height that not only poets but also philosophers submitted to its charm. Participants in the Orphic mysteries were enjoined to maintain the strictest secrecy, because the Orphic mysteries were considered illegal and contrary to the official religion. The goal of the Orphic mysteries was the renewal of man through higher religious knowledge.
In the fifth chapter of the novel ‘The Muse of the Temple of Neith’ Efremov describes the initiation of the hetera Tais in the secret teachings of the Orphics. It is not by chance that the author brings his heroine to the temple of the Egyptian goddess Neith. This is one of the oldest goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon, she was considered the foremother of the gods. In an epoch of the Ancient Kingdom her cult centre was in the city of Sais. In an epoch of the New Kingdom the known temple of goddess Neith existed and in Memphis. From the Old Kingdom onwards, Neith was also associated with funerary ritual. As a mother goddess associated with the sky, Neith had the epithet ‘Great Cow’ and was identified with other heavenly goddesses, primarily Nut and Hathor. It is also known that this ancient Egyptian goddess was honoured by the followers of secret mystical teachings.

It seems interesting to analyse the initiation rite of Ta;s, described by Efremov in the fifth chapter of the novel, from the point of view of the goals achieved in the Orphic secret mysteries. The initiation rite began with a wild expressive dance of naked women, in which Ta;s took part. Such a dance can most likely help a person to let out his low passions, it promotes the merging of man with nature, identified with the Great Goddess. Intensive living of such feelings helps the participants of the rite to free themselves from their influence. And the ‘waterfall of salty sea water’ poured on Tais after the dance served as an additional purification.

Then Tais experienced merging with nature and the Cosmos, dipping her gaze into the night sky. Together with abstinence from food, which helps to sharpen all the senses, this increased her sense of unity with the world, helped her to concentrate and slow down the flow of thoughts, to realise her movement in the flow of time.

At the end of the ritual, the girl is given a bowl with a drink of goat's milk and honey. The philosopher explains to her that this drink ‘signifies rebirth to life’. Tasting the drink was like bringing back memory and was a pledge of the soul's rebirth to the lost bliss of heaven. It is possible that a person prepared in this way was further revealed secret knowledge. In the novel Efremov describes it as follows:

‘The seven days and nights that followed were filled with strange exercises in concentration and relaxation, effort and blissful rest, alternating with revelations from the sage about such things as the well-educated Tais had never suspected. There seemed to be a great change in her, for better or worse, she could not yet judge. At any rate, a different Tais would emerge from Nate's temple, a calmer, wiser Tais. She had never told anyone about the harsh days, the extraordinary feelings that had erupted like flames that devoured the dilapidated garments of a child's faith. Of the suffering of the passing glamour of successes that seemed so important, of the gradual assertion of new hopes and aims....

...Life no longer lay before her in the whimsical curves of the road, passing countless turns from light to darkness ... The path of life now seemed to Tais straight as the flight of an arrow, cutting across the plain of life, at first wide and clear, then becoming narrower and narrower, fogging up and finally disappearing over the horizon. But amazingly identical throughout, as if an open gallery, furnished with identical columns, stretched there, far away, for the rest of the life of Tais ... Deira, ‘Knowing’, as Persephone was secretly called, invaded the soul, where until now undividedly ruled Aphrodite and her mischievous son ...’

In Orphism, the human personality finds expression in immersing oneself to discover the divine essence within oneself. The single contact with the deity is replaced by the immeasurable possibility of expansion and flight of the soul realising its unity with the god. Such a state was achieved by suppressing the lower, titanic beginning in oneself, ennobling the gross sensuality with the help of music and harmony. Even their philosophy of Orphism expounded with the help of poetic works - hymns and tales.

Ivan Antonovich in the novel focuses on the huge purifying and harmonising role of art and inspirational femininity in the spiritual development of man: ‘After the enthronement of the male gods who came from the north with the Achaeans, Danites and Aeolians, the tribes who conquered the Pelasgians, the “People of the Sea”, fifteen centuries ago, a restless self-confident male spirit replaced the order and peace inherent in female domination. Warrior heroes replaced the magnificent rulers of love and death. Priests have declared war on the feminine element. But the poet serves the Great Goddess and is therefore an ally of the woman, who, though not a poet herself, is the Muse.

New nations separate the sun from the moon, the male god from Anathi-Ishtar, endowing him with the fullest power, considering him the beginning and the end of all things... Together with the goddesses, poetry goes away, the number and power of poets decreases. I foresee troubles from this far into the future. The unified essence of man is torn in two. The thinker-poet is becoming rarer and rarer. The mind - Nous, more peculiar to men, prevails more and more, instead of the memory of Mnemas, Estesis, and Timos - the feelings, the heart, and the soul. And men, losing their poetic power, become like the Pythagorean calculators or the vengeful, calculating deities of the Syrian and Western nations. They declare war on the feminine, and at the same time lose their spiritual communion with the world and the Gods.

In ancient Greece, spiritual communion with the world of the divine was symbolised by the Muses, companions of the god Apollo, patron of the arts and sciences. Efremov mentions the Orphic understanding of the Muses in the novel, in a conversation between Greek sculptors and visitors from India:

‘...In the host of gods and goddesses are numerous sunny beauties of heaven - surasundari or apsaras, the helpers of Urvashi. One of their main jobs is to inspire artists to create beautiful things for the understanding and comfort of all people. Sunny girls bring us, artists, their own image, and that is why they are called chitrini: from the word chitra - picture, sculpture... Endowing us with the magic power of art, the ability to create a miracle of beauty, chitrini subject us to the universal law: whoever does not fulfil his task, loses his power and becomes blind to the invisible, becoming a mere needlework....
- How similar this is to the Orphic doctrine of the Muses, - whispered Lysippus Tais, - not without reason, according to legend, Orpheus brought his knowledge from India’.

The Muses, companions of the god Apollo, patron of arts and sciences, were especially revered in ancient Hellas and symbolised the idea of the divine origin of all creative activity. The so-called ‘music arts’ - music, philosophy, science, literature and artistic creation - were considered the highest service available only to the initiated. These arts were based on the search for authenticity, truth, beauty and harmony. The philosophical concept of the Music arts was developed by Plato, who introduced the idea of the Muses' patronage of philosophy. According to his views, the Muses evoke a passionate desire for wisdom, called music frenzy or tempestuousness.

This experience was seen as an important sign of establishing a connection with the sphere of divine wisdom and the world of ideas. Plato called the meaning of this frenzy an intensified turning of the memory ‘to that which is divine of the god’. In this case, he connects the function of the intellect to bring together the impressions of sense perceptions with the ‘remembrance’ of the soul when it accompanied God in its ascent to true existence. Thus, the arts, which provide mechanisms for harmonising the surrounding world and the inner world of man, support man's connection with the sphere of higher powers.

The whole novel ‘Tais of Athens’ permeates the author's idea of the inestimable importance of a woman who is a Muse for artists and poets, thus helping a man to better hear his heart, feel the movements of his soul, inspiring true creativity. And the Orphic worldview, to which Efremov gives a large place on the pages of the novel, also emphasises the purification and elevation of the human soul. In the novel ‘The Tais of Athens’ Ivan Antonovich Efremov clearly expressed the humanistic essence of the Orphic philosophy:

‘...The teachings of the Orphics demand to remember that the spiritual future of man is in his hands, and not entirely subordinated only to the gods and fate, as everyone from Egypt to Carthage believes.’

From the depths of time, through the philosophical views of the sages of Miletus, through Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and many other ancient philosophers, the Orphic worldview has had a considerable influence on world culture, both its materialistic and idealistic lines. Both of these lines are united by the conviction that the world is based on the unity of goodness, beauty, truth and reason.

Aesthetics and Style

Efremov uses beautiful and imaginative language that creates vivid images and a lively atmosphere of antiquity. His style immerses the reader in the world of classical Greece, full of beauty and tragedy. The author masterfully describes details, allowing the reader to feel all the nuances of time and place. Nevertheless, the language of the work is not only aesthetic, but also functional. Every word and phrase serves to convey a deep philosophical idea. Metaphors and symbols used by Efremov convey meaning and create a multi-layered text.

In addition, the author uses various stylistic techniques to emphasise the inner conflicts of the characters. This makes the novel not only readable but also deep in terms of content and subtext. Each paragraph not only carries information, but also makes the reader feel emotions and think about important questions of existence.

Impact and Perception

‘Tais of Athens’ had a significant influence on the literature of the XX century and continues to inspire new generations of readers and writers. The influence of the work is well evident in contemporary literary trends, where themes of human emotion and philosophical reflection continue to be explored.

Critics and readers note that the novel reveals the depth of human experience and gives it meaning. Its genius lies in the author's ability to convey pristine emotions that remain relevant and understandable in any time and for any generation.

Conclusion

Ivan Efremov's work ‘The Tais of Athens’ offers the reader a unique perspective on ancient Greek culture, mythology and historical reality. The integration of these elements into the plot allows us to look at the inner world of a woman through the prism of historical events and legends. Thus, we get not only an artistic work, but also a deep philosophical reflection on the role of women in society.

In this way, ‘Ta;s of Athens’ becomes a symbol of female strength, struggle and aspiration for freedom. Efremov creates a space for dialogue, where different voices and ideas can exist together. This book remains relevant today, inspiring new generations of readers to discover the unique beauty and complexity of human destiny.