dym otechestva

[Stephen L. Baehr]

Re: dym otechestva
>
The citation, from +Gore ot uma+ (I, 385-86), has an interesting history.
It actually comes from a Latin proverb ("Et fumus patriae est dulcis"),
taken from Ovid (+Epistulae ex Ponto+, 1,3,33), which had its ultimate
origin in Homer's Odyssey (I, 57-59).
>
In Russia, the phrase had been used as an epigraph for the journal
+Rossiiskii muzei+ (1792-94) and was quoted in a number of poems including
Derzhavin's "Arfa" (1798)--the probable source for Griboedov.
>
Most of the above material is cribbed  from Ashukin and Ashukina wonderful
+Krylatye slova+, 242-43, and they give a fascinating history of the "dym
otechestva" motif from Derzhavin through Maiakovskii in Russia.
>
       Steve Baehr

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Stephen L. Baehr (slbaehr at vtvm1.cc.vt.edu)
Professor of Russian
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0225
Telephone: (540)-231-8323; FAX (540) 231-4812