The image of the “gracious tsar” Artaxerxes in Russian drama of the 17-18 cent.: “Artaxerxes action” and tragedy “Artaxerxes”

The article examines the evolution of the image of Artaxerxes in Russian drama of the 17th - 18th centuries. The focus is on the plays Artaxerxes Action by pastor J.G. Gregory and Artaxerxes - a translation of the eponymous “heroic play” by the classic of Danish literature, comedian, historian and moralist L. Holberg. The translation of Artaxerxes into Russian was made from German, belongs to A. Nartov and published in 1764. It is noted that the Danish Artaxerxes is a processing of the libretto by P. Metastasio, and its appearance is associated with Holberg's search for the new forms of expression common to his plays ideas of victory of virtue over vice. Among the numerous works of Metastasio, translated in Russia in the 18th century, the opera Artaxerxes is absent, the Russian translation of Holberg's play has lost the relations with the libretto, is called tragedy and is on a par with the original Russian tragedies of the 50-60s. 18th century on the Persian theme - “Artistona” by A.P. Sumarokov, “The Fake Smerdy” by A.A. Rzhevsky and “Panthea” by F.Ya. Kozelsky. Moreover, the Russian Artaxerxes is in the context of Holberg's dramatic works, translated and published in Russia in the 18th - the first third of the 19th centuries, and published together with the comedy “Henry and Pernilla”. The article provides a comparative analysis of the Russian text with the original Danish version and with Russian translations of other works of Holberg, identifies and explains the differences in the image of ideal monarchs - the heroes of the plays by Gregory and by Metastasio-Holberg: merciless or merciful, but always fair.