Vaginov and antiquity is the subject that is insufficiently illustrated in the literary thought.
It is necessary to investigate the images of Philostratus in the work of the writer as some aspects
of this topic have not been carefully studied by researchers. Vaginov knew and loved antiquity.
Judging by the titles of books that sometimes appear on the pages of his novels, one can say that
when Vaginov was only beginning to write, his reading was rather extensive. Of particular influence
were the works of Ovid, Charles Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe, Edward Gibbon. «The History
of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire» excited the mind of a young writer, and thanks
to this historical work, the boy got involved in collecting antiquities and coins. The image
of Philostratus appears in the works of Vaginov in the early 1920s, partly due to the «Roman»
influence of the writings of Gibbon, but mostly because a special impulse of the creative imagination of the writer was caused by the book «Imaginary portraits» by Walter Pater. Literary scholars,
particularly D. M. Segal, noted the connection of Philostratus with the figures of the second
sophistry (Apuleius, Lucian, Claudius Elian, etc.), however, in our view, this convergence is not
entirely correct. Roman writers and rhetoricians of the second sophistry could have suggested the
name and the draping of the character, but the content and the appearance of Philostratus were
borrowed from the writings of Walter Pater and subsequently transformed. «Imaginary portraits»
are often considered by researchers as an indirect source of imagery of the writer, whereas this
book is the key not only to the poetics of Vaginov but also to his aesthetic and philosophical
views on the world and nature.
This paper discusses the mechanism of borrowing and specifies the key points in the similarity
of the character of Vaginov with the character of Pater. The author traces the correlation
of Philostratus with the eternal topoi, such as Dionysus and Apollo, describes his role in the lives
of other characters during the formation of the new Soviet – power. In addition, particular attention
is paid to toponyms of St. Petersburg, having influenced the writer’s love for the antique,
particularly Roman, heritage. Among these places, for example, are the Summer garden and the
Hermitage. Vaginov sensitively followed the changes of the beloved city, before his eyes «Manchester
on the Neva» was born. Significant transformation of the city by the efforts of S. M. Kirov
changed the psychology of its population. The old way of life became particularly valuable for the
indigenous citizens of St. Petersburg: it was as a snapshot of a bygone era. Vaginov felt
the museality of all the events and during the formation of a new life, being influenced by the
works and personal acquaintance with N. Antsiferov, acted as a collector of «the fragments
of the former life», as a writer and ethnographer.
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