„Akropolis” Stanisława Wyspiańskiego jako kreacja dramatu nowego: dramat antyczny – dramat liturgiczny – dramat narodowy

Abstract

Research on Akropolis, Stanisław Wyspiański’s “most difficult and most puzzling” drama, has so far overlooked the history of the Paschal Vigil liturgy and the question of which form of the liturgy Wyspiański himself attended – or did not attend. The fact that the Paschal Vigil was celebrated before noon at the beginning of the twentieth century challenges earlier interpretations that view the drama as opposing the orthodox celebration. Taking this historical fact into account makes it possible to recognise in the play’s action creatively reworked individual elements of the Paschal Vigil; it also suggests that the poet distances himself from any specific celebration in favour of constructing his own, drawing on elements from many traditions and cultures. Wyspiański incorporates fragments of various works of art – not only those from Wawel Castle – interpreting them according to his own philosophy of life. In this way, he creates his own cathedral-like edifice: a space of completeness, wholeness, and life, where the dead past is transformed by the Word of Life.