Abstract:
The article discusses the heroic poem „Radivilias“, written in Latin by Jonas Radvanas
(lived in the second half of the XVI century). This piece was published in Vilnius in 1592 together
with some other poetic and prozaic texts. The only copy of this publication in Lithuania is kept in the
Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
The plot of this multilayered and polysemous heroic poem revolves around the life story
of Mikalojus Radvila the Red (1512–1584), duke of Biržai and Dubingiai, who was the great hetman
of Lithuania and voivode of Vilnius too. The poem recounts the important victories, achieved by the
Lithuanian army against Moscow during the Livonian war (1558–1582). The protagonist, Radvila the
Red, is an idealized character. He is depicted as a Lithuanian warrior, defending fatherland at a crucial
historical moment. Here fatherland means the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, created in olden times
by its most eminent ruler Vytautas the Great. In the poem Vytautas inspires Radvila to heroic deeds
before the fateful battle. (It is of interest that Poland is mentioned neither as a political, nor military
ally.) The setting has all main locus amoenus characteristics; it is a country of venerable historical traditions,
which is richly endowed by nature resourses and populated by heroes. At the end of the poem
its future is linked to the protagonist‘s son Kristupas Radvila (1547–1603), who at the time of the
poem’s appearance was the most influential political, cultural and social figure in Lithuania.
After the change of political, cultural and religious conditions in Lithuania, the poem was
forgotten. Its second life began in 1997, when the Lithuanian translation of the poem was published
together with facsimile reprints. The article discusses possible reasons of the cultural „death“ and
„rebirth“ of this work, as well as some peculiarities of Lithuanian culture, which could cause the
appearance of this and similar cultural artifacts in modern world.
