Phenomenon of shame in the consciousness of heathen and Christian antiquities

The subject of this research is role and value of shame for heathen and Christian Antiquity. Te author researches the meaning of shame for heroic, classic and Christian morality. She associates the transformations of the meanings of shame in the different historic periods with the changing of the role of the Other (of society, Logos, God) for the forming and keeping the individual identity. She analyzes some paradox connections between shame and mind, death, freedom. During classic Antiquity it is thought that shame was a fear of infamy and that the role of mind was to choose the subject of shame for the reason that, according to Aristotle, the human is ashamed of different subjects before his relatives and before official persons. With the appearance of Christianity shame is becoming an absolute instrument of compulsion of spiritual choice, an instrument of puting wise men to shame. Te choice of true God is making not by mind, but by puting to shame. It assigns a leading role to affective sphere, because the Verity is opening up by immediate experience of communication with God and not by rational means. I appears that the freedom from shame is impossible for human being. Te freedom to choose by whom I should be ashamed interprets as the only freedom imaginable for individual.