Epigonism is a word whose meaning, for the most part, is known to specialists. In the dictionary it is accompanied by the notation “book”, and, therefore, in everyday speech it is not often found. So what is epigonism? This will be discussed in the article.
What is said in the dictionary?
The meaning of the word "epigonism" in it says that it is an activity that manifests itself in the mechanical observance of the traditional techniques of any particular direction in science or style in art, literature. Or simply put, imitation. As a rule, the spread of epigonism is associated with the onset of periods of cultural stagnation, which are the result of a general crisis of ideology in society.
Examples of the use of the word:
- In the history of literature, examples of epigonism can be found quite a large number.
- In one of his books, the Russian poet, writer, philosopher and literary critic D. S. Merezhkovsky at the end of the 19th century noted that the age of literary epigonism was coming.
- Epigonism is always committed to the rules and norms that have already been established, have become stereotyped, it can be quite ambitious.
- An example of epigonism is the numerous romantic poems that imitated Pushkin and Byron, literally flooded Russian and Western European literature in the years 1820-1830.
- It should be noted that in practice all somehow original prose writers, poets, playwrights are subjected to epigonism.
Who is an epigone?
For a better understanding of what epigonism means, you should consider what epigonism is. The dictionary says that this is a book word denoting a person who is a follower of a particular literary, artistic or scientific field, which is completely devoid of creative originality.
In the USSR, epigones were considered to be those who imitated the ideas and methods of their predecessors in a changed environment that did not justify these creative principles. Parodists are not related to epigones.
In the scientific community, the epigone is a carrier of knowledge that reproduces them without developing, with a reduced quality of education.
Etymology
This token is rooted in the Latin language, where there is the word ἐπίγονος, which means "born after, a descendant."
The first part is the prefix ἐπί in the meaning "on, at." It was formed from the pre-Indo-European basis op, which translates as "behind, around." The second part also goes back to the pre-Indo-European language, being formed from the noun γόνος, meaning "birth, origin."
Some researchers believe that the term under study comes from the Greek epigonos, also meaning "born after, a descendant." It is formed by adding the prefix epi (on, above) to the noun gonos (child, offspring). The word fell into the Russian language from Western Europe by borrowing in the mid-19th century in the meaning of “follower”.
In conclusion, the study of the fact that this is epigonism is worth mentioning about some other interpretations of the word "epigon".
In history and mythology
In ancient Greek mythology, epigones are the sons of heroes who took part in the campaign against Thebes. They started a new war 10 years after the failure that befell their fathers.
"Epigones" - this is the name of the Cyclical ancient Greek poem that is part of the Theban cycle. Cyclical, or cyclical, poems are works of authors who described the exploits of heroes and gods, and encompassed the whole range of Greek mythological legends. And the Theban cycle is associated with a campaign against Thebes and a campaign of epigones, which is mentioned above. His authorship is attributed to Antimachus from Theos. Today it is a work from which only a few small fragments have survived.
In the history of the ancient world, epigones are the descendants of generals who served in the troops of Alexander the Great (dyadohs), who, after the collapse of his empire, became the founders of a number of Hellenistic states.