Cultural Legacy Of Mazeppa
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*''The spelling "Mazepa" refers to the historical person; the double-p "Mazeppa" is used for the artistic and literary works.''
Ivan Mazepa Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (; ; ) was the Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host and the Left-bank Ukraine in 1687–1708. The historical events of Mazepa's life have inspired Cultural legacy of Mazeppa, many literary, artistic and musical works. He was ...
(1639–1709) was a significant figure in the
history of Ukraine The history of Ukraine spans thousands of years, tracing its roots to the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe—one of the key centers of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages, Indo-European migrations, and early domestication of the horse, hors ...
. One story about him says that as a young man, he was caught ''
in flagrante ''In flagrante delicto'' (Latin for "in blazing offence"), sometimes simply ''in flagrante'' ("in blazing"), is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught ...
'' with a noblewoman, whose husband punished him by tying him naked to a wild horse and setting them free; eventually he reached the
Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...
and became their military leader. This legend caught the attention of the English poet
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
(" mad, bad, and dangerous to know"), whose ''
Mazeppa Mazepa or Mazeppa is the surname of Ivan Mazepa, a Ukrainian hetman made famous worldwide by a poem by Lord Byron. It may refer to: Artistic works Poems * Mazeppa (poem), "Mazeppa" (poem) (1819), a dramatic poem by Lord Byron * "Mazeppa", a poem b ...
'' (1819) brought the events to wider attention. His
narrative poem Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need to rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may ...
inspired many paintings, particularly by French Romantics, which in turn stimulated musical compositions, stage plays, more poems, and so on. New life was breathed into the equestrian tale when it was transposed to the American
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...
. With the
independence of Ukraine The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR (''Verkhovna Rada'') on 24 August 1991.Hetman of Zaporizhian Host The Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host (, ) was the head of state of the Cossack Hetmanate. The office was abolished by the Russian government in 1764. Brief history The position was established by Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Cossack Hetmanate in ...
(
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "
he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
of a Cossack military territory) in 1687–1708. He played an important role in the
Battle of Poltava The Battle of Poltava took place 8 July 1709, was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. The Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated the Swedish army commanded by Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld. The battle would l ...
(1709), where – after learning that the Russian Tsar,
Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
, intended to replace him with
Alexander Menshikov Alexander Menshikov may refer to: * Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729), Russian statesman * Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov (1787–1869), Finnish-Russian nobleman * Alexander Alexandrovich Menshikov Prince Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mens ...
– he deserted his army and sided with King
Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...
. The political consequences and interpretation of this switch of allegiance have resonated in the national histories both of Russia and of Ukraine. The alienation of Mazepa from Ukrainian historiography continued during the Soviet period, but post-1991 in independent Ukraine there have been strong moves to rehabilitate Mazepa's image, although he remains a controversial figure.


Byron's poem

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
published his
narrative poem Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need to rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may ...
in 1819. According to the poem, the young Mazeppa is serving as a
page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...
at the Court of King
John II Casimir Vasa John II Casimir Vasa (; ; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 to his abdication in 1668 as well as a claimant to the throne of Sweden from 1648 to 1660. He was the first son of Sigis ...
when he has a love affair with the Polish Countess Theresa, married to a much older count. On discovering the affair, the count punishes Mazeppa by tying him naked to a wild horse and setting the horse loose. The bulk of the poem describes this traumatic journey. The poem has been praised for its "vigor of style and its sharp realization of the feelings of suffering and endurance". There is no historical evidence to support that Mazepa was exiled from Poland because of a love affair, nor that he was punished by being strapped to a wild horse. However, this colorful legend was in circulation before Byron published his poem.
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
repeats it in ''History of Charles XII, King of Sweden'' (1731). This appears to have been Byron's main source for his poem: his 'Advertisement' to the poem includes three long quotations from this work. Several critics have also speculated that Byron was familiar with the ''Mémoires d'Azéma'' (1764) by the French writer André-Guillaume Contant d'Orville, as there are significant similarities between the plot of that novel and of Byron's poem.


The first wave of reaction

Byron's poem was both popular and influential in the
Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
.
Horses in art Horses have appeared in works of art throughout history, frequently as depictions of the horse in battle. The horse appears less frequently in modern art, partly because the horse is no longer significant either as a mode of transportation or ...
had long been a popular theme, so when the poem was translated into French the same year by
Amédée Pichot Joseph Jean-Baptiste Marie Charles Amédée Pichot (3 November 1795 – 12 February 1877) was a French historian and translator. He was an Anglophile and the first translator of Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott into French. In 1825 he published ...
, a wave of French painters decided to depict Mazeppa's "wild ride", including
Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is '' The Raft of the Medusa''. Despite his short life, he was one of the pioneers of the Romanti ...
(1823, now held in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
),
Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...
(1824,
Finnish National Gallery Finnish National Gallery (, ) is the largest art museum institution of Finland. It consists of the Ateneum, an art museum; Kiasma, a contemporary art museum; and the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, a historic house and art museum. The organization's ...
),
Horace Vernet Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (; 30 June 178917 January 1863) more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects. Biography Early career Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famo ...
(1826,
Musée Calvet The Calvet Museum (, ) is the main museum in Avignon. Since the 1980s the collection has been split between two buildings, with the fine arts housed in an 18th-century hôtel particulier and a separate Lapidary Museum (Avignon), Lapidary Museum in ...
in Avignon), and
Louis Boulanger Louis Candide Boulanger (1806 – 1867) was a French Romantic painter, pastellist, lithographer and a poet, known for his religious and allegorical subjects, portraits, genre scenes. Life Boulanger was born in Piedmont where his father, Fran ...
(1827, the
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen () is an art museum in Rouen, in Normandy in north-western France. It was established by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801, and is housed in a building designed by and built between 1877, and 1888. Its collections in ...
). Boulanger's ''The Ordeal of Mazeppa'' and Vernet's ''Mazeppa and the Wolves'' both competed in the Salon of 1827. This last was adapted by John Doyle as a satirical print in the Reform Crisis of 1832, with King
William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
tied to a horse labelled "Reform", and about to leap over the "Revolutionary Torrent", while the wolves have the faces of the
Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
and other politicians. Depictions in art continued for at least fifty years; the usual moments shown were the hero being mounted on the horse, his nighttime ride, with or without pursuing wolves, and the eventual collapse of the horse. The next scene of a herd of wild horses surrounding him and his dead mount is sometimes shown, mostly after another Vernet painting. A theatrical version of the story soon appeared: a show called ''Mazeppa, or the Tartar Horse'' premiered at
Antonio Franconi Antonio Franconi (1737 in Udine, Italy - 1836 in Paris, France) was an Italian equestrian. He started as a juggler and wandering physician, then arranged bullfights in Lyon and Bordeaux. In 1783, he associated with the English horse rider Philip ...
's
Cirque Olympique The Cirque Olympique () in Paris, also known as the Cirque Franconi, was an equestrian theatre company, founded in 1782 by Philip Astley, the English inventor of the modern circus ring, and was initially known as the Cirque d'Astley or the Cirque ...
in Paris in 1825. This was copied in both the USA and England.
Aleksandr Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
wrote a poem-response to Byron entitled ''
Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...
'' (1828–29), which opens with an epigraph from the Englishman's poem, and in which he portrays Mazeppa as a villain who betrayed Russians.
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
was inspired by the French Romantic paintings to compose "Mazeppa", one of the major pieces in ''
Les Orientales ''Les Orientales'' () is a collection of poems by Victor Hugo, inspired by the Greek War of Independence. They were first published in January 1829. Of the forty-one poems, thirty-six were written during 1828. They offer a series of highly colou ...
'' (1829), which he dedicated to Boulanger. The first part of his poem describes Mazeppa's run across Ukrainian plains. The second part compares Mazeppa to a poet banned from the living world because of his eccentricities, the banned poet is attached to the wild horse of his inspiration. The comparison to the poet ends by saying that this crazy trip through suffering finally gives success and glory to the poet.


The 1830s-1860s

The playwright Henry M. Milner wrote the
hippodrama Hippodrama, horse drama, or equestrian drama is a genre of theatrical show blending circus Equestrianism, horsemanship display with popular melodrama theatre. Definition Kimberly Poppiti defines hippodrama as "plays written or performed to includ ...
''Mazeppa; or, The wild horse of Tartary. A romantic drama, in three acts. Dramatised from Lord Byron's poem by H.M. Milner, and adapted to the stage under the direction of Mr. Ducrow.'' (This was
Andrew Ducrow Andrew Ducrow (10 October 1793 – 27 January 1842) was a British circus, circus performer, often called the "Colossus of equestrians". He was the originator of horsemanship acts and proprietor of Astley's Amphitheatre, and remains one of the f ...
, the "Father of British circus
equestrianism Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
" and proprietor of
Astley's Amphitheatre Astley's Amphitheatre was a performance venue in London opened by Philip Astley in 1773, considered the first modern circus ring. It was burned and rebuilt several times, and went through many owners and managers. Despite no trace of the thea ...
.) It appeared in London in 1831. Over the next several years it toured the US, until "at one point, five different productions of the play were showing in San Francisco". John Frederick Herring Sr., an Englishman who had started out as a stagecoach driver, painted several versions of the story: two are "after Horace Vernet" (circa 1833,
Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
and in 1842 "MAZEPPA". In 1846, the American lithographer
Nathaniel Currier Nathaniel Currier (March 27, 1813 – November 20, 1888) was an American lithography, lithographer. He headed the company Currier and Ives, Currier & Ives with James Ives. Early life and education Currier was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to ...
, of
Currier and Ives Currier and Ives was a New York City-based printmaking business operating from 1835 to 1907. Founded by Nathaniel Currier, the company designed and sold inexpensive hand-painted Lithography, lithographic works based on news events, views of popu ...
, prepared four plates, with Byronic quotations; the artworks are now at
Bridgeman Art Library Bridgeman Images, based in New York, London, Paris and Berlin, provides one of the largest archives for reproductions of works of art in the world. Bridgeman Art Library was founded in 1972 by Harriet Bridgeman and changed its name in 2014. Th ...
.
Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; ; ; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the " Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. Hi ...
, a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, wrote a play entitled ''Mazeppa'' (1840). Although he is now considered the father of modern Polish drama, it was the only one of his dramas that was put on stage during his lifetime.
James Malcolm Rymer James Malcolm Rymer (1814–1884) was a British 19th-century writer of penny dreadfuls, and is the probable co-author with Thomas Peckett Prest of both '' Varney the Vampire'' (1847) and '' The String of Pearls'' (1847), in which the notorious ...
, a British writer of
penny dreadful Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular Serial (literature), serial literature produced during the 19th century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typical ...
s, wrote ''Mazeppa; or, The Wild Horse of the Ukraine: A Romance'' (1850). Image:Astley's Amphitheatre Microcosm edited.jpg, A similar equestrian show at
Astley's Amphitheatre Astley's Amphitheatre was a performance venue in London opened by Philip Astley in 1773, considered the first modern circus ring. It was burned and rebuilt several times, and went through many owners and managers. Despite no trace of the thea ...
in London File:Théodore Chassériau 005.jpg, Théodore Chassériau, ''Cossack girl at Mazeppa's body'' File:Mazeppa - pl. 3 LCCN2017660409.jpg, ''Mazeppa'', handcolored lithograph by
Nathaniel Currier Nathaniel Currier (March 27, 1813 – November 20, 1888) was an American lithography, lithographer. He headed the company Currier and Ives, Currier & Ives with James Ives. Early life and education Currier was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to ...
File:Harvard Theatre Collection - Menken, Mazeppa, TCS 19.jpg,
Adah Isaacs Menken Adah Isaacs Menken (June 15, 1835August 10, 1868) was an American actress, painter and poet, and was the highest earning actress of her time.Palmer, Pamela Lynn"Adah Isaacs Menken" ''Handbook of Texas Online,'' published by the Texas State Histo ...
clad in a bodystocking as Mazeppa File:Staffordshire spill vase, circa 1860, depicting punishment accorded to Mazeppa. Popular poem by Lord Byron.jpg,
Staffordshire figure Staffordshire figures are a type of popular pottery figurine made in England from the 18th century onward. Many Staffordshire figures made from 1740 to 1900 were produced by small potteries and makers' marks are generally absent. Most Victorian ...
group and
spill vase A spill occurs when the contents of something, usually in liquid form, are emptied out onto a surface, person or clothes, often unintentionally. Spill may also refer to: *Oil spill *Chemical spill *Data spill *Leadership spill *Spill (audio), whe ...
, circa 1860, where the artist has depicted a zebra, and wolves.
Musicians were also inspired.
Carl Loewe Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (; 30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, tenor singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs ("Balladen") were well enough known for ...
composed a tone-poem. A generation after Hugo published his poem, it became the literary inspiration for a symphonic poem (1851) and a Transcendental Étude (1852) by
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
. Another French Romantic painter,
Théodore Chassériau Théodore Chassériau (; ; September 20, 1819 – October 8, 1856) was a Dominican-born French Romantic painter noted for his portraits, historical and religious paintings, allegorical murals, and Orientalist images inspired by his travels to A ...
, re-interpreted Byron's poem, with ''Cossack girl at Mazeppa 's body'' (1851,
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg (Museum of Fine Arts of Strasbourg) is the old masters paintings collection of the city of Strasbourg, located in the Alsace region of France. The museum is housed in the first and second floors of the ...
). Eugène Charpentier had already painted ''La Délivrance de Mazeppa'' (c. 1840). The Irishman
Michael William Balfe Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...
composed a
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
known as ''The Page'' or ''Mazeppa'' in 1861. The subject reached the very popular medium of
Staffordshire figure Staffordshire figures are a type of popular pottery figurine made in England from the 18th century onward. Many Staffordshire figures made from 1740 to 1900 were produced by small potteries and makers' marks are generally absent. Most Victorian ...
s, where the fancy of the painters sometimes showed him tied to a zebra. Milner's hippodrama was adapted and
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
d over the decades. For example, in 1856 it was re-written as an equestrian burlesque in two acts, by
blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
minstrel entertainer
Charles "Charlie" White Charles T. "Charlie" or "Charley" White (1821–1891), was an early blackface minstrel entertainer. Born June 4, 1821 in Newark, New York, White moved with his family at the age of two to New York City, where, before he launched his career as a ...
. The main antagonist is Castiron, and his daughter is Olinska. The Mazeppa story became "a well-worn melodrama in dire need of revitalization", which it received from the performer
Adah Isaacs Menken Adah Isaacs Menken (June 15, 1835August 10, 1868) was an American actress, painter and poet, and was the highest earning actress of her time.Palmer, Pamela Lynn"Adah Isaacs Menken" ''Handbook of Texas Online,'' published by the Texas State Histo ...
. Other women had played Mazeppa (see
Breeches role In theater, a breeches role or breeches part (also pants role, pants part, trouser role, trouser part, and Hosenrolle) is a role in which a female actor performs in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were a standard male ...
), including
Charlotte Cushman Charlotte Saunders Cushman (July 23, 1816 – February 18, 1876) was an American stage actress. Her voice was noted for its full contralto register, and she was able to play both male and female parts. She lived intermittently in Rome, in an expa ...
, but Menken's interpretation -- "sexing up" the part, scandalously performing the nude scene clad only in a flesh-colored
bodystocking A bodystocking or body stocking is a one-piece skin-tight garment that covers the torso, legs and sometimes the arms of the wearer. It is a foundation garment or an article of lingerie usually made from a sheer fabric similar to that used for s ...
—really caught the public imagination. Many other female Mazeppas followed, as did a new wave of burlesques. ''Mazeppa'' was very popular during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
and became the most widely performed drama in the
American west The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...
from the 1860s until the turn of the century, and was also popular in London. Agnes Thatcher Lake, a circus performer and equestrian all her life, took a production of ''Mazeppa'' to Europe in 1865, performing before Prince Karl of Prussia. She then took her production across the United States, the only circus to do so, performing under her company's big top tents in towns and cities without a theatre big enough to host a stage show. A 2009 biography of Lake (who later married
Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, reconnaissance, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, s ...
) estimates that two million Americans saw her athletic interpretation of Mazeppa, many more than saw Menken's sexualised one.


Late 19th–early 20th century

In 1877, Albert Aiken wrote a
dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related form ...
called ''The Indian Mazeppa or The Madman of the Plains'', in which the myth is transposed to the
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...
. Pushkin's poem became the subject of an opera entitled ''Mazeppa'', written between 1881 and 1883, with three acts and six scenes. The music is by
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
and the libretto by Victor Burenin. It is set in Ukraine in the 18th century, and is a story about love, abduction, political persecution and vengeful murder. In 1910,
Francis Boggs Francis Winter Boggs (March 1870 – October 27, 1911) was an American stage actor and pioneer silent film director. He was one of the first to direct a film in Hollywood. Early life He was born in Santa Rosa, California to George W. Boggs and ...
produced a short film based on the stage play of Byron's poem titled ''Mazeppa or the Wild horse of Tartary''. Mazepa also lent his name to the Mazepynka, a military hat used by the
Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (; ) was a Ukrainian unit within the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War. Scope The unit was formed in August 1914 on the initiative of the Supreme Ukrainian Council. It was composed of members o ...
that was later adopted by the
Ukrainian Galician Army The Ukrainian Galician Army ( UGA; ), was the combined military of the West Ukrainian People's Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. It was called the "Galician army" initially. Dissatisfied with the alliance of Ukraine and Polan ...
, Carpathian Sich,
Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist partisan formation founded by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) on 14 October 1942. The UPA launched guerrilla warfare against Nazi Germany, the S ...
, and, most recently, the
Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...
.


Since 1990

In 1991, Ukraine declared independence, and Mazeppa rose again in international consciousness. A French
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
titled ''
Mazeppa Mazepa or Mazeppa is the surname of Ivan Mazepa, a Ukrainian hetman made famous worldwide by a poem by Lord Byron. It may refer to: Artistic works Poems * Mazeppa (poem), "Mazeppa" (poem) (1819), a dramatic poem by Lord Byron * "Mazeppa", a poem b ...
'', based loosely on the lives of the painter Géricault and the equestrian Franconi, won a prize at the
1993 Cannes Film Festival The 46th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 1993. French filmmaker Louis Malle served as jury president for the main competition. French actress Jeanne Moreau hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. The ''Palme d'Or'' was join ...
. Gericault decided to stay and live with the circus and painted only horses to try and understand the mystery of this animal; Mazeppa embodies a man carried away by his passion. A Ukrainian film by
Yuri Ilyenko Yuri Herasymovych Ilyenko (, 18 July 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and politician. He directed twelve films between 1965 and 2002. His 1970 film '' The White Bird Marked with Black'' was e ...
loosely based on historical facts, called '' A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa'' was released in 2002. A South African interpretation of the Mazepa-Mazeppa motif describes it as "Romantic Phaethon" ( a character in Greek mythology who drove the sun-chariot too recklessly) and points to its appeal to
Modernist poets This is a list of major poets of the Modernist poetry. English-language Modernist poets * Marion Angus *W. H. Auden *Djuna Barnes *Rupert Brooke *Basil Bunting *Hart Crane *E. E. Cummings * H.D. *Cecil Day-Lewis *T. S. Eliot * Roy Fisher *Robe ...
such as
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
and Roy Campbell.


References

{{Commons category Cultural history of Ukraine Romantic art Ivan Mazepa Horses in art Horses in literature Horses in film and television Poems in popular culture Works about Cossacks Cultural depictions of Ivan Mazepa