ISSUE-1

Averintsev's article Towards Interpreting the Symbolism of the Myth about Oedipus analyzes not what Sophocles has done with the mythological plot, but rather what he has found in this plot as already existing. The author's task is to make clear the meaningful relations which were the tragedy's semantic canvas and which Sophocles had to operate with. Therefore, the article does not discuss problems concerning the tragedy's artistic aspects. Moreover, Averintsev consciously investigates the mythological symbolism only inside the Greco-Roman world and quotes parallels within the Antiquity - from Homer to Proclus. According to him, the main task of the history of culture is to scrutinize the new interpretations of meanings but yet it is necessary to know what actually has been interpreted. Subsequently, he does not focus on the connotations of the tragedy itself but of the myth about Oedipus.