Coryphaeus - who is this? Examples from different spheres of cultural life

When an educated spectator sees the play of a good actor, for example, Al Pacino, he can say: "This is a performance! Al Pacino is a real expert in his business and a coryphaeus." This is what this word is, we will disassemble in this article.

Origin

By sound, you can understand that the word is not Russian. It came to us from the Greek language. Coryphaeus is the leader of the choir in the ancient Greek tragedy. The main function of the coryphaeus is communication, communication between actors and the choir. In advance we ask forgiveness from the opera fans, but not all people like this kind of art precisely because of its incomprehensibility. When actors sing on stage, especially if the action takes place in a foreign language, the ignorant viewer does not understand very well what is happening. Almost the same was in Ancient Greece. Coryphaeus is the person who explained to the audience what the chorus is singing, he could sum up the monologue pronounced by the artist, proclaimed the appearance of a new character on the stage, could give a farewell to the hero who is leaving the action.

Modern interpretation. Art and Science

Do not forget about the origin and continue thinking. Coryphaeus is, on the one hand, a person belonging to the choir and associated with it, and on the other - a completely separate element, standing out from the others. At the same time he performs a connecting role and does it well. In addition, it is a person who perfectly understands what is happening at the moment on the stage, can give this interpretation.

Gradually, the coryphaeus (meaning of the word) began to be defined in a new way, now it is a person who has made significant progress in some area, usually in art or science. So you can call a professor who made an outstanding discovery, a man who is very respected in society, an old and very good artist.

The field of ballet

The connection with tradition is preserved even when it comes to the meaning of the word "coryphaeus" in ballet. In this area of art, the artist who is the leader of the corps de ballet is called so, performs in the performance a solo but not the main part.

Speaking of the word "coryphaeus" (its meaning is being analyzed at the moment) in a general sense, it does not in itself carry a negative or ironic coloring. And even distinguished professors use it in their lectures to characterize artists, culture and science. Naturally, respectable teachers do not pursue any unseemly goals when they say so. But as we understand, the emotional coloring of an expression or a word can vary depending on who exactly speaks it and in what context it uses. Even the most serious, bookish, high word can be reduced and applied completely not in the sense that it was awarded history and language. However, we move on to examples.

Notable figures of the cinema

After it became known, what meaning is given to the word "coryphaeus", you can talk about people who could be characterized by such a word. Let's start with the movie. Of course, every spectator has his own pantheon of kinobogs. There can be no claim to the truth in the last resort. Nevertheless, it seems that Al Pacino mentioned at the beginning of the article fully deserved the title of coryphaeus. The same can be said of his partner in the film The Godfather, Robert de Niro.

With the Russian cinema of recent times it is more difficult, but it can be precisely said that the Soviet era gave us many outstanding figures. First of all, Sergei Bondarchuk and his masterpiece "They fought for their Motherland" are remembered.

Coryphaeus in the literature

Certainly, in any sphere of art, in literature, including, everyone can determine who to count as luminaries, and who does not. However, there are generally recognized figures. For example, all well-known Russian classics - L.N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky. Someone will attribute to the leading figures and the modern English writer Joan Rowling.

The figure of Tolstoy is important not only because he wrote brilliant novels, he had a strong influence on the development of literature both domestic and world, thanks to his views a new religious and moral trend, called "Tolstoyism," arose.

Russian religious philosophy emerged from Dostoevsky's works. ON. Berdyaev wrote: "We are spiritual children of Dostoevsky." The author of The Devils, using a detective story, wrote religious and philosophical treatises, which necessarily contained moral and moral lessons for the reader.

Nobody will argue with the fact that the two classics who left a bright trace in the history of literature and in the mass consciousness are real luminaries. Although the "coryphaeus" for them is too small a definition, they are geniuses.

However, let's leave our wonderful classics, turn to today's days and talk a little about foreign literature, about "Harry Potter." This epoch-making series of books "about the boy who survived" has fallen in love with millions of readers. Of course, the writer is a master of her craft, which means she can also be called a coryphaeus.