Copyright - the evil Hellenic deity

It would be a mistake to think that copyright is a relatively recent invention of mankind: in fact, copyright was already known in ancient Greece. In the proof of the proposed passage from the drama "Mad Antigone", owned by the ancient Greek playwright Epiharma.

The work has not been preserved entirely: only the first action has reached the present day. From the survivors, it is incontrovertible that the ancient Greeks considered Copyright as one of the deities along with Zeus, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, and other Olympic inhabitants (see Wikipedia ).
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For a better understanding, the name of the deity is conveyed in modern sound: literally translated from the ancient Greek "Copyright" would sound like "Owning your thoughts."

Mad Antigone

Characters:

Creon , the lord of Thebes.
Antigone , his niece.
Choir

The play takes place in Thebes.

one.
Chorus included.

Chorus:
Obey the orders of the gods
Thebans - it was and will be.
From Olympus commanded us
What to do and how to act.
The law of Apollo is one,
The other is Demeter's abundant,
And the third - fearless - law
Bloody brings Ares.
People are accustomed to them,
The laws of the primeval gods,
However, the lord Creon,
Recently set foot in power,
Entered the list of ancient gods
Young mighty god.
This god is called - Copyright
He is waiting for cleansing victims.
Dread, the Thebans, him!
Suddenly a word slipping from your
Larynx - the sound of someone else's song?
Does it want to die then?

2
Creon and Antigone enter.

Creon:
Palace chambers dressed in mourning.
My nephew is yours, Antigone, brother -
Fell the death of the brave in a merciless battle.
With you we mourn in unity.

Antigone:
Oh, poor Polynik! I imagine only
That he died, sobbing an hour in a row:
Eyes tear themselves from loss.

Creon:
He in the realm of the dead is already celebrating
Victory in the battle in which he was defeated
But the body blocked the passage of enemies
To the holy Thebes. We know about it
And reward the hero as
Polynik deserves brave.
We are with the royal honors of his
The remains in the best place to bury.

Antigone:
And I'll shed a tear
And I read on the grave of my brother
Any rhyme. After all Polynic
It was a poet, which in Greece is not enough.
In this art, he excelled
Alkey with Semonid, combined.
I was told Polynik melodious
Like Homer himself, the most ancient of poets.
I'll read the stanzas, remember
The deceased tear maiden light
And I will return to life with a sigh.

Creon:
So, Antigone, do not come.

Antigone:
What to do? Shed tears and sigh
Oh brother, who gave his life for a homeland?

Creon:
Read poems during the funeral.

Antigone:
But why? Brother is unworthy
Your wonderful sonorous lines?
He's so different. When I
Will get sad il ridicule fall,
Immediately I recall his stanzas
Depending on what i
The hunt now is to cry or laugh.
I'll pick poems worse
And I read on the grave of my brother.
Let the guests at his funeral
Doubly sob from the loss of heavy.

Creon:
You wake copyright reading!

Antigone:
Ah, this new god! Indeed
Is he bloodthirsty or are people lying?

Creon:
They do not lie, but they understand little:
Among the gods Hellas Copyright
Without any doubt, the most stringent.
When commands that poems
Dead poets do
At his disposal, know this:
Poems will abide in the temple of Copyright.
Leave the property of the deceased
Yourself by blood inheritance,
But give the writing to the deity.
Literature is a region of the unearthly.
Poets illuminates the highest spirit:
He that composed, takes,
To keep the temple clean.
When you want to read the creation
Poet, go freely to the temple
Divine Copyright to
There to read what you want,
But first pay for the visit.
Do you feel sorry for two coins,
To read the creations of Polynic?

Antigone:
Why pay? I remember them by heart
And I will gladly retell anyone
Who will ask ... Happy Polynik
Usually he sang them where it was necessary:
On the street, in the market and in the garden.
He said that stanzas are birds,
Fly where they want and how they want,
You can not catch them - you can only listen.

Creon:
Their copyright loop caught
And he locked up in his temple for the attention.
And if anyone dares to let go
At the will of these sweet-hearted birds,
For theft will be thrown off the cliff
And sinks into white foam forever.
Therefore, niece, please -
Not a word on the grave of Polynik.
I could not obey others
The Theban gods — say, Dionysus,
Or Hephaestus, or the very
Zeus, the warden of Olympus.
In the end, I'm the first person
In the powerful seven sevens Thebes.
All deities count with me
I'm ready to forgive minor mistakes
But not such a cruel copyright.
I'm afraid I have a fight with this god.

Antigone:
A dozen stanzas favorite read
Can't I, burying a sibling?
I do not like injustice
And here I find injustice.
Not every one of the Thebans will score
Gold coins for payment,
Not everyone will open the door of the temple,
Where papyruses are locked forever.
I seem to see, brother Polynik
With a smile, he says to me: "Antigone,
Sister dear, I have my poems
In the inheritance of the townspeople leave.
Let everyone who wants to read
Reads himself or others in public. "

Creon:
Look, I warned you.

Leaves.

Antigone:
O Polynic, my brother is one,
You created for free people,
So really on your grave,
My brother, I dare not open my mouth?
Do not be me Antigone, if I do.

3
Chorus:
Leave a thought, child.
But is it a girl's business -
Poems on the grave to read?
Public reading is a sin.
Otherwise sin somehow:
Scruffy or rude
Parents decrepit saucy -
Believe me, this is all nonsense.
Wallow in bodily sin
Men pleasing lecherous,
And after extramarital birth -
Gods will forgive the mischievous.
But if you copyright
In pokrashe poems suspect
An agonizing death will die -
I tell you exactly.
The vindictive god of copyright,
Insults do not forgive anyone:
Other offense will forgive
And only copyright - never.

PS The following text has not been preserved, but it is easy to present it from the works of other authors: Antigone did not fulfill the requirements of the Copyright and was thrown off the cliff.

The myth of Antigone, who sacrificed his life to perpetuate his brother’s poetic talent (as an option for the funeral), is one of the most relevant and touching pages in the history of world literature.

© Epiharm, 484 BC
© mikejum, 2013 after R.Kh.