Towards the Relation of Rustaveli's Poetic Theory to the Classical Tradition

Abstract

The main purpose of the present study is ot argue a new point of view put forth ni relation ot Rustaveli Studies. In particular, the poetic theory (შაირობის თეორია) from the Prologue to The Man in the Panther's Skin (MPS) is considered to be Rustaveli's original conception of aesthetic and simultaneously ethical and philosophical character. Wherein lies the innovative character of Rustaveli's poetic theory? According to the paper, it lies ni the following: poetry in general - i.e. both the process of the creation of an artistic work by the poet, as well as its perception by the listener / reader (შაირობა - shairoba), and the product of this process, the poetical work itself ( შაირი - shairi) - is pronounced by the author of the MPS to be goodness (კარგი-kargi), from the poetic and aesthetic standpoint, on the one hand, and from the ethical and philosophical viewpoint, on the other, inasmuch as it is, from the ethical and philosophical standpoint: first of all, 1) the fruit of wisdom, 2) divine, 3) divinely intelligible, 4) highly useful for the listeners; and, also, 5) it is pleasant in this world as well, for a person fit to listen to (poetry); and as to the poetic and aesthetic standpoint, it is: 1) shortly told, 2) long word. According ot the author of the paper, the methodological sources of Rustaveli's poetic theory are: Plato's Republic (X, 607d), Aristotle's Poetics 1(, 147a 9-10; XXV,I 1462b 18) and Nicomachean Ethics, in particular, books VIlI and X.