“영웅적 이상”의 세계: 아일랜드 신화와 신화극

Abstract

Fictional traditional tales, which are distinguished from official history, are generally called mythology and people are proud of their mythology. At the end of the nineteenth century, Ireland was full of nationalistic energy and desire for independence. At that time, Irish people needed to create a positive and proper image through the revival of mythology and to rediscover their own identity by defining Ireland as the free world of the mythology. The several dramatists in the Irish Dramatic Movement used Irish mythological materials for their mythological dramas. The prominent figures from the Ulster Cycle, Cuchulain and Deirdre were dramatized and from the Fenian Cycle, Finn was dramatized. The major dramatists such as W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and J. M. Synge dramatized three characters, Cuchulain, Deirdre and Finn to express the ‘heroic ideal.’ The traditional Irish tales which appear in medieval manuscripts can be classified as four cycles: the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the Historical Cycle. The Ulster Cycle and Fenian Cycle are two most important ones. The Ulster Cycle deals with ruling peoples, whereas the Fenian Cycle deals with the world of subject peoples. Heroic ideals are embodied in Cuchulain and Finn. Cuchulain shows such virtues as courage, sacrifice and noble spirit against his tragic fate and Finn is a hero with wisdom, truth and generosity. Also Deirdre dedicates herself to her pure love at the risk of death. Those virtues which three characters possess can be considered as the important heroic ideals. Thus Irish dramatists dramatized the ‘heroic ideals’ which are latent in Irish mythology.