А child in the ancient and medieval drama: who is he?

The article considers the development of the image of a child as a dramatic hero. For the first time, a child hero appears in the drama of classical antiquity, in plays by Euripides, Menander, Seneca, etc. However, the distinctive features of children as dramatic heroes have not been the subject of scientific study yet. The paper considers well-known plays in which children heroes are present, identifies the features of children as dramatic heroes. The analysis allows us to conclude that in the drama of antiquity children were mainly outside-stage characters. They were deprived of voice, character or action. Adult actors played the role of children on stage. In the ancient theater and drama, children were "invisible" because their social status was low. Children heroes of ancient plays realized their dramatic functions through their death and suffering. The function of the child hero in the ancient play was determined by the genre. In tragedies, death of a child hero helped to deepen the tragic pathos. In comedies, the type of the rescued foundling child was developed. The problem of children as heroes in the Medieval drama also has not been researched properly so far. Children heroes rarely appeared in medieval plays because the medieval world was not interested in children and childhood. In addition, in the Middle Ages there was a high level of infant mortality. In other words, playwrights did not have the material for artistic reflection. The author of the paper traces the formation of a special type of hero (the "divine child") in medieval liturgical dramas. Boys-singers from church chapels were involved in the performance of children's roles in liturgical dramas. Singing boys played the role of the Child Jesus, angels and innocent infants murdered by Herod. New dramatic genres appear after the weakening of the canon of the liturgical drama. In farce and morality plays, there is a child-trickster. However, playwrights still do not care about real childhood and real children even in secular plays. In the ancient drama, there are children performing the functions of an innocent victim and foundling. In the medieval drama, children performed the functions of a divine child and trickster.