THE REPRESENTATION OF MITRIDATES VI EUPATOR AND HIS INNER CIRCLE IN LITERATURE AND MINIATURES OF 14TH– 16TH CENTURIES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of literature and manuscripts miniatures that highlight the period of rule and specific life situations of the Pontic king Mithridates VI (120–63 BC) and the inner circle connected with him. The article compares the information of ancient and medieval written sources, visual representations which depict bloody events of 88 BC (Ephesian Vespers), the involvement of Mithridates Eupator in the dynastic struggle in Cappadocia, the last days of the king and the circumstances of his death. These aspects of Mitridates’ life caused the greatest interest in subsequent times because during the king’s life its had a resonant significance and a nontrivial character. The works of Giovanni Colonna «Mare historiarum» , Benevenutus Imolensis «Romuleon» , Giovanni Boccaccio «De Casibus Virorum Illustrium» and «De mulieribus claris» , Christine de Pizan «Le Livre de la Cité des Dames» , Antoine Dufour «Les vies des femmes celebres» are considered. It is determined that the authors focused on biography presentation of Mithridates VI and his close associates due to the correspondence with the idea content and the plot of biography collections that followed a moral purpose with the life story of the king and were the part of ancient history in encyclopaedic and universal books. In order to solve the cultural problems of the epoch, the chronicles, literary works and illuminations were created to show the general representation of Mithridates which was formed in antiquity.