Russkie perevody XVIII veka vtoroj geroidy Ovidija (Kozickij, Ruban, Rzhevskij)

Ovid’s “Heroides” (The Heroines) were a model of the literary genres epistle and elegy. In eighteenth century Russia the translation had a significant role in the reception and in the assimilation of literary motives from the classical and European tradition. This was the base on which modern Russian literature and poetry was formed. In the eighteenth century Ovid’s “Heroides” were very successful in Russia: in 45 years (1748–1793) there were 16 translations of the Ovid epistles. The article analyses three translations of the second epistle “Phyllis to Demophon” realized by G. Kozitskii (1759), A. Rzhevskii (1763) and V. Ruban (1774). It compares Russian translations with the Latin original and between each other. The comparison shows that the first translation in prose by Kozitskii is closest to the original and that it provides the basis for subsequent translations. Especially Ruban repeats literally whole passages from Kozitskii’s translation. Rzhevskii’s version of Ovid’s epistle, composed in verse, is the most original one . The analysis shows the way in which the three authors assimilate the classic motives and transfer it on the Russian cultural ground (religion, culture, landscape and so on).