The meaning of the name Samson. Interesting facts The name Samson in signs

Court. 16:1-3. What is described here testifies to such incredible physical strength of Samson, which is comparable only to his moral imperfection. This latter is also evidenced by the fact that, once in Gaza, a coastal city located almost 50 km from his native Zorah, Samson decided to have fun with a harlot. The Philistines, learning that he was in the city, decided to watch him all night, so that in the morning, when he would leave the house of the harlot, they would kill him.

But, having deceived their "vigilance", Samson got up at midnight and, leaving Gaza, removed the doors of the city gates from their hinges, putting them together with the lock ... on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the mountain, which is on the way to Hebron. According to local legend, it was Mount El Montar, located east of Gaza. There is another version: we are talking about a mountain located half an hour's walk from Gaza, to the north of it; it is allegedly called Samson's mountain.

5) Once in the hands of Delilah, Samson loses his power (16:4-22).

Court. 16:4-14. After that, Samson fell in love with a woman from the valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah. Probably a Philistine, she had a Semitic name meaning "initiate"; this may indicate that she was a temple prostitute.

Owners The Philistines who came to Delilah to draw her into a conspiracy against Samson could be the mayors of the five largest Philistine cities. Each of them offered the woman huge sums of money (one thousand one hundred shekels of silver) for agreeing to find out what Samson's great power is and how it is possible to defeat him. Dalida's first three attempts to get Samson to reveal his secret were unsuccessful. He only teased her, inventing "means" by which, supposedly, he could be weakened and made like other people.

Now he offered to bind himself with seven raw bowstrings (made from the intestines of animals), and then with new ropes (the unsuitability of which in his case had already been demonstrated; 15:13). Then he declared that he would become powerless if the seven braids of his head were weaved into the fabric and nailed to the loom. In the presence of a Philistine "representative" hidden in her bedroom, Delilah resorted to all three methods (apparently while Samson was fast asleep; compare 16:13), but none of them "worked." The insidious mistress, as it were, was amused with Samson and teased him, each time awakening the sleeping man with a cry: The Philistines are coming at you! In fact, this was a sign for the Philistine hidden from her - to be convinced of the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the next method.

Court. 16:15-17. In the end, unable to withstand her reproaches and harassment, Samson told Delilah the truth about the source of his power, which did not come from witchcraft, as the Philistines probably thought, but was given to him from above, from the Spirit of God (13:25; 14:6 ,19; 15:14). This supernatural action of a higher power in him, however, was made dependent on the special role assigned to Samson in the fulfillment of God's plans; his “separation” was clothed in the form of a Nazirite status (for I am a Nazirite of God from my mother’s womb, says Samson to Dalida), the inviolable symbol of which for Samson was to be the hair on his head - the razor could not touch them throughout his life (13 :5). (Although not in the hair, of course, as such, Samson's strength was contained.) Violation of this condition would testify to Samson's final and irreparable disobedience to the Lord, and this disobedience began at the moment when he revealed his secret to his mistress, whom he had no confidence in grounds.

Court. 16:18-22. So Samson fell into the hands of the Philistines because of his foolishness. Delilah put him to sleep ... and ordered ... to cut off the seven braids of his head ... and his strength departed from him. Waking up and this time from the cry of Delilah: The Philistines are coming at you, Samson! - he tried, as in previous cases, to use his strength. And he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. The Spirit of the Lord left him, and Samson became a captive of the Philistines and ceased to be a judge of Israel.

Philistines blinded Samson, who had lost his strength, and brought him to Gaza (most likely in retaliation for the insult that he inflicted on Gaza, taking away on his shoulders, like a toy, her city gates). There they bound him with chains and forced him to grind grain in the prison where they put him, that is, to perform women's work, which is humiliating for a man. (It is possible that Samson ground at a small hand mill, since it is not certain that large mills, in which the work was done by the power of domestic animals, already existed at that time.)

After a short stay in prison, the hair on Samson's head began to grow back. The days of the Philistine holiday came, and then Samson turned with a prayer to the Lord (verse 28) to give him strength for the last revenge on the Philistines (verses 29-30).

6) Samson's vengeance on the Philistines.

Court. 16:23-30. The noble Philistines gathered to make a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god. Dagon was a Western Semitic deity of grain harvests (1 Sam. 5:2-7; 1 Chron. 10:10), adopted by the Philistines from the Amorites. Thinking that it was Dagon who delivered them from Samson, betraying him into their hands, they praised their god and had fun, and for greater joy, they called their all-powerful enemy from prison until recently to entertain them (perhaps by their very appearance, i.e. .demonstration of their helplessness).

The Philistine temples were usually a long building, the roof of which was propped up from the inside by two powerful pillars. Many Philistines gathered in the temple of Dagon (including three thousand people on its roof) and, probably, in the courtyard, and they all rejoiced and rejoiced, looking at the blind Samson. And then he asked the boy who was leading him to lead him to the pillars of the temple in order to lean against them and rest.

It was then that Samson called on the Lord with a plea to remember him and return to him his former strength only for the shortest time, in order to take revenge on the enemies of his people for the last time, and then die with them. And God heard Samson's last prayer. And so Samson moved the two middle pillars, on which the temple of the pagan god was established, and he fell upon all the people who were in it. So at his death ... Samson killed more Philistines than during his lifetime. Prior to this, the last, "beating" of the Philistines by Samson, he killed at least 1030 of them: 30 in Ascalon (14:19) and 1000 in Ramath-Leh (5:14-17).

7) Burial of Samson.

Court. 16:31. And the brothers of Samson (until now they were not mentioned) and all his relatives came to Gaza and, taking his body, went and buried him between Zorah (where he was born; 13:2) and Estaol (13:25; 18:2 8:11) in the tomb of Manoah his father. Thus ended the twenty-year reign of Samson, the twelfth judge of Israel (15:20).

Although Samson was given to act under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and from Him was his incredible physical strength, the last judge of Israel repeatedly fell into temptations, as a result of which he suffered. From the pages of the Bible, his life sounds like a warning to all those who do not know how to keep their carnal urges and passions satisfied.

III. Epilogue: general situation in the days of the judges (chapters 17-21)

Theologically, chapters 17-21 form an epilogue that illustrates the state of religious apostasy and social degradation so characteristic of the period of the judges. In the eyes of the author (probably writing in the early years of the king's reign), this atmosphere indicated that "Israel that had no king" (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) was dominated by anarchy.

In terms of historical events, described in chapters 17-21, form a kind of appendix to the book of Judges, since they all took place in previous and even quite ancient times. Their early dates are indicated by the fact that Aaron's grandson was still alive in the days when they occurred (20:28), and also by the reference to the ark at Bethel (20:27-28). It is possible that the events here recounted took place in the days of Othniel, the first judge.

The epilogue consists of two main sections: 1) Chapters 17-18, in which the story of the making of idols for home worship by Micah the Ephraimite and his mother and how Micah employed a certain Levite named Jonathan as a priest (18:30) is intertwined with the report of the migration of the tribe of Dan and of its idolatry. 2) Chapters 19-21, which tell of the heinous cruelty committed at Gibeah against the concubine of another Levite and the civil war that followed against the tribe of Benjamin, cruel and rebellious; this war was a prelude to the disappearance of the tribe of Benjamin.

"AiF" found relatives of the most powerful man in the world.

Legacy suitcase

In one of his crown numbers Zass he broke a powerful iron chain with a single effort of the muscles of the chest: the athlete simply took a deep breath, filling his lungs. At the same time, any of the spectators could check that the chain was not fake. With his palm, Alexander hammered 15-centimeter nails into a board 10 cm thick. During another number, Zass, rising under the dome of the circus, held a rope with his teeth (!) On which the piano swayed in the air - meanwhile an acrobat played the instrument. In the arena, up to 15 people could climb onto a special platform that the athlete held on his shoulders. So, during one of the performances, the future prime minister of England was also on the shoulders of Alexander Winston Churchill.

He hammered nails with his bare hands, and then with his fingers, like tongs, he pulled them back. Photo: from the personal archive of Yuri Shaposhnikov

The amazing Samson managed to catch with his hands a 90-kilogram core fired from a cannon. He easily took a horse on his shoulders and calmly walked around the arena with her. This number had a special history. In 1914, during the First World War, when Zass served in the tsarist army, his horse was wounded, and in order not to leave the animal to its fate, he put the horse on his shoulders and carried it to his own.

The title of "the strongest man in the world" was given to Samson by British and American journalists. During the life of Zass, no one was able to challenge this title. Here are two entries on the athlete's grave in the English town of Hockley. In English, if translated, it will be: "Alexander Zass (Samson) - the strongest man in the world, died on September 26, 1962 at the age of 74." And the second one in Russian: “Dear Shura, you are always with us. Sister Nadya Zass, nephew Yura.

Relatives of the strongman - that same nephew Yuri Vladimirovich Shaposhnikov, who will turn 95 in August, and his wife Lilia Feodorovna- "AiF" found in Moscow. The spouses' apartment is like a mini-museum of Zass: unique photographs of Samson, posters of performances, personal letters and things. " After the death of Alexander Zass, an English gentleman appeared on the threshold of our Moscow apartment He said that we can get the uncle's inheritance - a mansion in the city of Hockley, it's 40 minutes by train from London, some property and money in the bank. But for paperwork, you had to go to England».

Yuri Shaposhnikov with his wife. Photo: AiF / Maria Pozdnyakova

« Can you imagine what it is like to go to England from the USSR in 1962 to draw up an inheritance if you are an ordinary citizen? Unreal story, - Lilia Fedorovna spreads her hands. - We apologized. They said that we can not accept the inheritance". After a while, a suitcase with personal belongings of Zass came to them by mail, which they carefully store.

The famous athlete got in touch with relatives from the USSR shortly before his death.

« Alexander Zass was born in 1888. In addition to him, the family had two more brothers and two daughters. One of them - Hope - my mother- says Yuri Vladimirovich. - Uncle was a genius. The family lived in the provinces, and the future strongman subscribed to many magazines on physical culture. Contacted a famous professor Evgeny Sandov, who agreed to take him as a correspondence student. He sent young Alexander a list of exercises. Dumbbells were needed, but there was no money for them, and my uncle used stones that he tied with ropes to sticks. He worked a lot on the development of tendons, believed that the strength lies precisely in them.

Uncle was very sorry for his older brother who died in the war - he said that he was even stronger. During the First World War, Alexander Zass himself also suffered - shrapnel broke his legs. Wounded, unconscious, he was captured. Thanks to his endurance, he not only got to his feet, but also made an escape. However, the path to Soviet Russia was closed to him, a Cossack who fought in the tsarist army. In Europe, he began to perform in the circus - first in Hungary, then in France, and spent the last few decades in England. And then one day our friend, who knew English and read local magazines, said: “Your mother's brother is very famous in the West. Can we write to him? It was the time of the Khrushchev thaw. At Stalin we, of course, would not dare to write abroad. And then everything worked out. The editors of the English sports magazine gave us both the address and the phone number. Uncle immediately answered, we began to correspond and call back. He said that he really wanted to come to his homeland. Sudden death disrupted these plans. And my wife and I first visited his grave in the late 80s. Then perestroika began, and many foreigners appeared in Moscow. One couple we met turned out to be ... from Hockley - the city where Zass lived! Some kind of miracle. They arranged an invitation for us. And we, without a penny of money (we couldn’t buy currency), went to Hockley. We saw the uncle's house, they even let us inside. And one woman said that as a girl she was once amazed when, in front of her eyes, a Russian hero, doing household chores, drove a huge nail into the window frame with his palm.

The strong man is lifted under the dome of the circus, while he holds a rope with his teeth, on which hangs a piano with an acrobat playing on it. Photo: from the personal archive of Yuri Shaposhnikov

Dream burned in a fire

Our own investigation into the fate of Zass has already been carried out in our time Igor Khramov, President of the Eurasia Charitable Foundation. " The fact is that Zass first entered the circus arena in my native Orenburg he says. - During a business trip to England, I had to collect bit by bit the details of Alexander Ivanovich's biography. Zass had no children. He married only once. He was then 38 years old, and the bride, an aerial gymnast Blanche, - 16 years. The young wife died during childbirth. Her portrait always hung at the head of the Amazing Samson. Later, the widower Zass had a relationship with an aerial gymnast Betty. It was she who played the piano, which Alexander held in his teeth on a rope. Already after the death of Zass, in an interview, Betty admitted that she was jealous of him for other women, so she decided to part with him. She married a clown Sida. True, she continued joint performances with the Russian strongman. Once the rope broke, the girl fell into the arena, received a fracture of the spine. Neither husband nor Zass Betty left. Thanks to their care, she returned from the hospital to the arena. However, the following injury permanently chained Betty to a wheelchair.

The last time Zass performed with power numbers was at the age of 66, after which he focused on training. He mastered the basics of this art back in Russia under the guidance of Anatoly Durov- the founder of the famous dynasty. When the grandson of Anatoly Durov Vladimir Durov came on tour to England, Zass met with him. He asked Durov to help organize his visit to Moscow».

In April 2011, the city council of Hockley, for the arrival of the Orenburg delegation, landscaped the burial place of Alexander Zass. A photo:

« Frankly, we were already waiting for a meeting with my uncle in Moscow. And suddenly comes the news of his death”, - recalls Yuri Vladimirovich.

The monument (sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov) was erected in 2008 in front of the Orenburg circus. A photo: Provided by the Orenburg Charitable Foundation "Eurasia"

PS The riddle of Zass - where did such a phenomenal strength come from in a person with such a modest stature (1 m 68 cm) - they tried to unravel both during his lifetime and after the death of the Amazing Samson. Yuri Vladimirovich did this too - he managed to ask the famous relative a lot of questions and get answers to them.

SAMSON

SAMSON (Shimshon), the son of Manoah from the tribe of Dan, the "judge" (ruler) of the ancient Israelites, whose exploits are described in the biblical book of Judges (13-16). The story about him is more full of legends than the stories about other "judges".

The story of Samson's birth is a characteristic motif of God's miraculous gift of a son to a barren woman. An angel sent by God announced to the mother that she would give birth to a son, who should be a Nazirite already in the mother's womb, and therefore she was forbidden to drink wine and eat anything unclean, and when the child was born, he should not cut his hair. The angel also announced that the boy was destined to begin the deliverance of Israel from the yoke of the Philistines.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Sacrifice of Manoah. 1641
Art gallery, Dresden.

The stories about Samson, which the book of Judges tells about, are associated with three Philistine women. The first lived in the Philistine city of Timna, or Timnata. Samson accomplished his first feat on the way to Timnata, killing a lion that attacked him with his bare hands.

Peter Paul Rubens. Samson tearing the mouth of a lion. 1615-16
Villar-Mir Collection, Madrid

In Timnath, at his wedding, Samson asked the Philistines a riddle based on the incident with the lion, which they could not solve, and persuaded the bride to extort the answer from Samson. When Samson realized that he had been deceived, he attacked Ashkelon in anger and, having killed 30 Philistines, returned to his parents' house. When Samson came to see his wife a few days later, it turned out that her father, believing that Samson had abandoned her, had given her in marriage to Samson's "married friend".

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Samson threatens his father-in-law. 1635

In retaliation, Samson burned the fields of the Philistines by releasing 300 foxes with torches tied to their tails. Knowing the cause of Samson's anger, the Philistines burned his unfaithful wife and her father, but Samson considered this insufficient and inflicted severe injuries on many. The Philistines marched into Judea to capture and punish Samson. Frightened, the Israelites sent a delegation of 3,000 men to Samson demanding that they hand themselves over to the Philistines. Samson agreed to be tied up by the Israelites and handed over to the Philistines. However, when he was brought to the Philistine camp, he easily broke the ropes and, seizing the jaw of an ass, killed a thousand Philistines with it.

Gustave Dore. Samson smashes the Philistines with a donkey's jaw

The second story is connected with the Philistine harlot in Gaza. The Philistines surrounded her house in order to capture Samson in the morning, but he got up in the middle of the night, tore out the city gates and carried them to the mountain, "which is on the way to Hebron."

The third Philistine woman, because of whom Samson died, was Dlila (in the Russian tradition, Delilah, later Delilah), who promised the Philistine rulers for a reward to find out what Samson's strength was.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Delilah's betrayal. 1629-30
Berlin State Museums

After three unsuccessful attempts, she still managed to find out the secret: the source of Samson's strength was his uncut hair.

Francesco Morone. Samson and Delilah

Having lulled Samson, Dlila ordered that "seven braids of his head" be cut off.

Peter Paul Rubens. Samson and Delilah.

Fragment

Having lost his strength, Samson was captured by the Philistines, blinded, chained and thrown into prison.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Blinding of Samson.

Fragment. 1636

Soon the Philistines held a feast where they thanked their god Dagon for handing over Samson into their hands, and then brought Samson to the temple to amuse them. Meanwhile, Samson's hair had grown back, and strength began to return to him.

Peter Paul Rubens. Death of Samson. 1605
Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Having offered up a prayer to God, Samson moved the columns from their place, the temple collapsed, and the Philistines who had gathered there and Samson perished under the ruins. "And there were more dead that Samson slew at his death, than how many he slew in his life." The biblical story of Samson ends with the message of Samson's burial in the family tomb between Zor'ah and Eshtaol.

Samson's tomb today

The Book of Judge reports that Samson "judged" Israel for 20 years. Samson was different from the other "judges": he is the only one who, while still in his mother's womb, was destined to become the deliverer of Israel; the only "judge" endowed with superhuman strength, performing unprecedented feats in battles with the enemy; finally, Samson is the only "judge" who fell into the hands of the enemy and died in captivity.

Schnorr von Karolsfeld.The death of Samson

Nevertheless, despite its folklore coloring, the image of Samson fits into the galaxy of "judges" of Israel, who acted under the guidance of the "spirit of God" that descended on them and gave them the strength to "save" Israel. The biblical story of Samson reveals a combination of heroic-mythological and fairy-tale elements with historical narrative.

Slate bas-relief "Samson tears the mouth of a lion"

XI-XII centuries.

The historical image of the “judge”, which was Samson, is enriched with folklore and mythological motifs, which, according to a number of researchers, go back to astral myths, in particular, to the mythology of the Sun (the name “Samson” is literally `sunny’, “the braids of his head” - the rays of the sun, without which the sun loses its power).

"Samson tearing apart the mouth of a lion" - the central fountain

of the Peterhof Palace and Park Ensemble a. ( 1736)

The biblical story of Samson is one of the favorite topics in art and literature, starting from the Renaissance (the tragedy of Hans Sachs "Samson", 1556, and a number of other plays). The topic has become very popular. at 17., especially among the Protestants, who used the image of Samson as a symbol of their struggle against the power of the pope. The most significant work created in this century is J. Milton's drama "Samson the Wrestler" (1671; Russian translation 1911).

Among the works 18 in. it should be noted: a poem by W. Blake (1783), a poetic play by M. H. Luzzatto "Shimshon ve-ha-plishtim" ("Samson and the Philistines"), better known as "Ma'ase Shimshon" ("Acts of Samson"; 1727). AT 19 in. this topic was addressed by A. Carino (circa 1820), Mihai Tempa (1863), A. de Vigny (1864); in the 20th. F. Wedekind, S. Lange, L. Andreev and others, as well as Jewish writers: V. Zhabotinsky (“Samson the Nazarene”, 1927, in Russian; republished by the Library-Aliya publishing house, Jer., 1990); Lea Goldberg ("Ahavat Shimshon" - "Samson's Love", 1951-52) and others.

In fine arts episodes from the life of Samson are depicted on marble bas-reliefs of the 4th century. in the Naples Cathedral. In the Middle Ages, scenes from the exploits of Samson are often found in book miniatures. Paintings on the themes of the story of Samson were painted by the artists A. Mantegna, Tintoretto, L. Cranach, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens and others.

In music Samson's plot is reflected in a number of oratorios by Italian composers (Veracini, 1695; A. Scarlatti, 1696, and others), France (J.F. Rameau, opera to Voltaire's libretto, 1732), Germany (G.F. Milton wrote the oratorio Samson, premiered at the Covent Garden Theater in 1744). The most popular opera by the French composer C. Saint-Saens "Samson and Delilah" (premiered in 1877).

Literature lesson in grade 8:

"Who is to blame for the tragic fate of Samson Vyrin"

It is known that in works of fiction one can find answers to many questions. But the authors do not give direct answers, but allow readers themselves to reflect on important moral issues: good and evil, about serving the Motherland, about honor and betrayal, about a sense of duty, about love and respect for parents, about mercy and compassion for those who love you. surrounds.

Russian literature has always been distinguished by special attention to the spiritual world of man.

After students read A.S. Pushkin's story "The Stationmaster", students easily determine one of the main problems of the story: the relationship between parents and children or the loneliness of parents with living children. They are ready to blame Dunya and Minsky for all the troubles of the protagonist, defending Samson Vyrin.

The purpose of this lesson is to show that Samson Vyrin was ruined not by Dunya's act, but by her happiness and the main character's unwillingness to come to terms with this fact.

The purpose of the lesson:

improve the skills of problematic comparative analysis of the text by penetrating into the artistic "fabric" of the work;

educate the ability to recognize their mistakes;

to cultivate the ability to understand and evaluate the actions of people;

to continue work with the concept of "little man" in Russian literature.

During the classes:

Teacher: The tragedy is played out on the pages of A.S. Pushkin. The main character Samson Vyrin could not stand the blow of fate. He falls asleep and dies.

Who is still to blame for the tragedy that occurred on the pages of A.S. Pushkin's story "The Stationmaster"?

Students: - Dunya and Minsky.

Teacher: Many researchers of A.S. Pushkin and readers come to this conclusion. But there is another opinion. This is the opinion of M. Gershenzon (a researcher of A.S. Pushkin's work):

"Samson Vyrin was killed not by some real misfortune, but by ..............."

We will answer this question at the end of the lesson, restore the phrase belonging to M. Gershenzon, and agree or not with the opinion that, in addition to the act of Dunya and Minsky, there is another reason for the tragedy of Samson Vyrin.

Let's look into the "holy abode" of the stationmaster. Consider carefully the house in which Samson Vyrin and Dunya live. Let's pay attention to a special detail in the decor of the room. What do the pictures hanging in a place of honor tell about? Why does A.S. Pushkin use this detail?

This block of questions was developed by the 1st group. Students answer the questions and support their answers with text.

Pupils compare the parable and the plot of the story, come to the conclusion:

Parable

“Stationmaster”

The prodigal son himself leaves his home to live on his own.

The father himself sends his daughter from his home (accidentally, involuntarily), not assuming that he is parting with her forever.

Nobody is looking for him

The father is looking for his daughter in St. Petersburg to bring her home

The way of life of the prodigal son after leaving the parental home is depraved behavior.

Dunya lives in Petersburg in luxury and wealth.

Joyful meeting of son and father

Years passed - the caretaker died in poverty and grief. Only after the death of his father, Dunya, already a rich lady, visits her native places.

The son returned home poor and hungry. He realized his sin, repented of it, realized that he was “unworthy to be called a son” of his father, and decided to return.

Avdotya Semyonovna didn't come back , a came in passing by.

Reconciliation with father

The impossibility of meeting and reconciliation. The caretaker died, so repentance and reconciliation is impossible.

Teacher: How do these pictures reflect the main character's view of life?

What role did they play in the life of Samson Vyrin?

Students:

The pictures reflect the worldview of Samson Vyrin. This is his idea of ​​life. He is convinced that everything in life will be fine, he will always live as he lived: with Dunya, in his little shelter.

He never thought that Dunya might be burdened by her existence, that she would gladly leave this "holy abode", only she had nowhere to go, and with no one.

Vyrinu calmly, warmly, comfortably, he does not think about any changes.

Samson Vyrin created his little world, fenced off from the outside world, he does not think that it cannot go on like this forever, that there will be any changes.

He is even afraid of any changes.

Pictures in the life of Samson Vyrin played a cruel joke.

Teacher: Vyrin is a former soldier. "Fresh, vigorous. There are three medals on the frock coat." What happened to the brave soldier, why did he become like this?

Students: (answers are supported by the text).

After the war, he is an official of the fourteenth class "a real martyr of the fourteenth class, released ... only from beatings ...".

Samson vyrin is easy to offend, as he has a small rank.

Our hero has no strength of character (weak-willed).

He had no purpose in life.

Samson Vyrin is not gifted with any abilities.

But he is kind and does no harm to anyone.

Teacher: let us conclude: what could, apart from Dunya's act, destroy Samson Vyrin?

Students:

Unwillingness to change anything in his and Dunya's life.

Go beyond the world he created.

Lack of desire to fight and live on.

Lack of strong character.

Teacher: So in Russian literature, along with the story "The Stationmaster" includes the concept of "little man" and its personification - Samson Vyrin. Let's define "little man".

Students:

low social status;

without outstanding abilities;

not distinguished by strength of character;

without purpose, but at the same time not doing harm to anyone, harmless;

the most important thing that makes a person "small" is the unwillingness to change anything in this life, the fear of life.

Teacher: Why does Dunya run away from home? Why does Samson Vyrin go in search of her? 1st (at Samson's house vyrin) and 2nd (in a hotel room) meetings with Minsky. How do the heroes behave? What are they talking about? What arguments does each give, explaining why Dunya should belong to him? What mistake does Minsky make? What do you think Minsky should have done to improve relations with the father of the woman he loves? Why didn't he do it?

This block of questions was developed by the 2nd group. Students answer the questions and support their answers with text.

Teacher: 3rd meeting between Vyrin and Minsky. When and where does it take place? What does the maid's phrase say: "You can't visit Avdotya Samsonovna, she has guests"? How did the father see his daughter? What does it say? Why does the Author call Samson Vyrin "poor" at this moment? Why did Dunya, when she saw her father, not cry out with joy, did not rush to meet him, but fainted? How is Minsky doing? Why? Can it be justified?

This block of questions was developed by the 3rd group. Students answer the questions and support their answers with text.

How do these scenes make us feel? (students are divided)

Students:

It is obvious that Samson Vyrin sees his daughter as rich, happy, beloved and loving. But he is well aware that this position of his beloved daughter may not last long, because Minsky did not marry her (this is evidenced by the phrase of the maid) and is unlikely to marry, since Dunya is the daughter of a poor official, not profitable for the Minsk party. Vyrin is convinced that sooner or later Dunya will be thrown out into the street, and the fate of the prodigal son from the biblical parable awaits her. As a father, he feels humiliated, dishonored, and honor for Samson Vyrin is above all, above wealth and money. It's a pity for Vyrin: he was offended all his life as a person, as an official, and Minsky hurt his father's feelings.

I also feel sorry for Vyrin. More than once fate beat this man, but nothing could make him sink so low, so stop loving life, like the act of his beloved daughter. Material poverty for Samson Vyrin is nothing compared to what happened to his soul.

It is difficult for him to compete with the rich and powerful Minsky. Sorry for him.

There are such vyrins in our time, defenseless, naive, doing their small but necessary work. And there are many Minsks.

Vyrin sneaks into Minsky's house and sees his daughter dressed and happy. What does he understand? He understands that his daughter manages well without him, that she does not need him in this segment of her life. Vyrin returns home and from the fact that his daughter is happy (for him this is a misfortune), he becomes an inveterate drunkard and dies. I don't feel sorry for Vyrin.

And I don't feel sorry for Vyrin either. He is ready to forgive Minsky for the desecrated honor of his daughter. He is ready to take Dunya back, although she dishonored their family. He doesn't even have self-esteem. When he receives money for Dunya, he throws it not in Minsky's face, but on the ground. He is incapable of action.

In a conversation with Minsky, he thinks not about his daughter, but about himself, thereby demonstrating his attachment to a certain lifestyle, fear of change and unwillingness to change anything for the sake of his daughter's happiness. The "little man" remains the "little man" to the end.

For a long time he built an artificial little world, fenced it off from the outside world, but these walls collapsed from the first wind of change. Vyrin was unable to protect what was dear to him, nor to adapt to a new life.

Teacher: And one of the critics said about Samson Vyrin: "Samson Vyrin is to blame for what happened."

Let's go back to the beginning of the lesson: what killed Samson Vyrin? "

Samson Vyrin was killed not by some real misfortune, but byHAPPINESS DUNYA ".

Homework: creative work "What bright sides do you see in what happened to Dunya? Are there any at all?" "Are the characters guilty of each other. If so, in what way?"

Biblical hero, Jew, Old Testament judge from the land of Canaan. He fought with the unfriendly people of the Philistines and became famous for his exploits. The name Samson is translated from Hebrew as "sunny".

In the biblical Age of Judges, "judges" were people of authority whom the Israelites approached for judgment. These same people were significant carriers of ethnic identity, who called on the Israelis to resist assimilation and the loss of ethnic identity. Any person could act in this capacity - a prophet, a woman, and even the leader of a band of robbers. The mythological Samson is one of them.

Samson in the Bible

The people of Samson, enslaved by the Philistines, suffered for forty years because of this. While Samson was growing up, he constantly witnessed how his compatriots were humiliated. The matured hero decides to take revenge on the Philistine enslavers.

Samson was a Nazirite - consecrated to God. This meant that the hero adhered to certain vows - he could not eat grapes and drink drinks made on its basis, touch the dead and cut his hair. The enormous physical strength bestowed on the hero was "contained" in Samson's long hair and manifested itself even in childhood.

Growing up, the hero decided to marry a Philistine woman. Parents dissuaded Samson from this marriage, but the hero insisted on his own. Once, going to the city where his future wife lived, Samson met a lion. The beast wanted to pounce on the hero, but Samson had time before and tore the lion apart with his bare hands.

During the wedding feast, an episode occurred that became the beginning of an unpleasant story. The hero decided to have fun and asked the guests a riddle. The correct answer would receive thirty pairs of clothes and shirts. The guests forced the young wife of the hero to find out the correct answer from him, and then pass it on to them. At night, the woman elicited an answer from her husband in bed, and then “surrendered” to her fellow tribesmen. Formally, Samson lost and had to give the “prize” to dishonest wedding guests. The hero made a fight in the city, killed thirty Philistines and gave them their clothes as a prize.

After that, the wife's father suddenly changed his mind and, without warning, gave his daughter to another man. And Samson himself decided that nothing else interfered with the plans of revenge, and began to take revenge on the Philistines, as soon as fantasy prompted. Legends describe how Samson set fire to the tails of three hundred foxes and let the animals into the fields during the harvest. The bread of the Philistines was burned along with the foxes. The wrestler himself hid in the mountains.

The Philistines, frightened by Samson, burned the failed father-in-law of the hero along with his daughter, deciding that the aggression was provoked specifically by them. But the hero said that he was taking revenge on the Philistines as a people, and not on these specific people, and it would be more fun further. Soon, the inhabitants of the city were afraid to go beyond the walls, because Samson opened a hunt for them. And there was no escape from the hero.

The terror arranged by Samson led the Philistines to attack the neighboring possessions of the Jews. A delegation of three thousand fellow tribesmen came to Samson in a mountain refuge and put forward claims about worsening even more relations with the Philistines. Samson allowed the Jews to tie him up and hand him over to the Philistines to calm them down.

They did so, but at the moment when the hero was about to be handed over to the Philistines, he broke the bonds and fled. On the way, the hero picked up a donkey's jaw and began to kill the Philistines with it, which he came across, and so dealt with a thousand people.

The locals tried to catch Samson, who stopped for the night in the city of the Philistines, by locking the city gates for safety. But the hero carried the gate along with the pillars and defiantly carried it to the top of the mountain. In the end, it was possible to cope with the hero thanks to the Philistine woman. The woman found out that the strength of the hero is in the hair, and when he fell asleep she called the man who cut Samson's hair.

The hero who lost his strength was blinded, chained and thrown into prison. The Philistines eventually relaxed so much that for the sake of entertainment they dragged Samson to the temple of their own deity Dagon. Meanwhile, the hero's hair had grown back. In the temple, Samson called out to God and with his last effort brought down the vaults on the heads of those who were inside, perishing with them.

• Two fountains are named after Samson. One is now located in Kyiv at the National Art Museum, the other - operating - in Peterhof. Both play on the plot of Samson tearing the lion's mouth.

• In the book of the famous anthropologist James Frazer "Folklore in the Old Testament", the similarity of Samson from the Bible with the ancient Slavic Koshchei the Immortal is noted, taking into account the change in the roles of the antagonist and hero.
• For the Protestants of the 17th century, the image of Samson became a symbol of their own struggle against the power of the Pope.

Screen adaptations

In 1963, the film "Hercules vs. Samson" was released in Italy, where freely interpreted biblical and Greek myths intersected. The role of Samson was played by actor Ilosh Khoshade.

Samson is represented here as a rebel and leader of the anti-state movement, who is hiding from the authorities in a small Jewish village. The Greeks get into this village and, after they, together with the team, take them to the shores of Judea. The Greek ship has been wrecked and they want to return home.

The royal soldiers are looking for Samson, and Hercules, hurrying with his comrades to the capital to get a ship there, is mistaken for Samson. This happens because Hercules kills a lion with his bare hands in front of a local merchant - Samson performed the same feat, and everyone knows this.

The merchant reports "to the right place", and in the capital Hercules' companions are taken prisoner, and the Greek hero is ordered to go and find the real Samson, since he claims that he himself is not Samson. Together with Hercules, Queen Delilah goes in search.

When Hercules finds Samson, a skirmish occurs between them, but in the end, fighters of equal strength make friends and decide together to overthrow the king in Judea. Delilah, having reached the capital before the heroes, "surrenders" those to the king, and on the approaches to the capital, Hercules and Samson are waiting for the army.

In 2009, the melodrama Samson and Delilah was released in Australia. The film does not reproduce the biblical story directly, here we are talking more about allegory. About the social problems that arise in Aboriginal communities in Australia.

The main characters - teenagers Samson and Delilah - live in poverty. After the fellow villagers beat Delilah with sticks, they run to the city. There, the fate of the heroes does not get better, no one pays attention to homeless teenagers, and they do not know how to make money. After hard trials, the heroes return back to their native village. The role of Samson in this film is played by Rowan McNamara.

In 2018, the American action movie Samson will be released - a spectacular adaptation of the biblical myth, where the hero will be played by actor Taylor James.

Quotes

“And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he tore [the lion] like a kid; and he had nothing in his hand.

“He found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and stretching out his hand, took it, and killed a thousand people with it.”

“And Samson said: Die, my soul, with the Philistines! And he rested [with all] his strength, and the house collapsed on the owners and on all the people who were in it. And there were more dead, whom [Samson] slew at his death, than how many he slew in his life.