The linguisitc creativity of Kostiantyn Dumytrashko: means of humor in the first Ukrainian translation of “The batrachomyomachia”

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The article is dedicated to the Ukrainian translation of the ancient Greek parodic poem titled “The Batrachomyomachia” (“Battle of the Frogs and Mice”) – a famous work of ancient literature believed by researchers to have been written in the 5th century BC in the burlesque genre. The first Ukrainian translation of this short poem was created by the Kyiv professor Kostiantyn Dumytrashko (1814–1886); he named it with a coined Ukrainian word “Zhabomyshodrakivka”, which is an almost exact calque of the Greek title. The translation was first printed in St. Petersburg in 1859 and reprinted in Kyiv in 1959, but it is now undeservedly forgotten. The translator managed to achieve a powerful comic effect that significantly surpasses the humor of the ancient Greek original. In order to do this Dumytrashko used predominantly colloquial Ukrainian vocabulary and phraseology, conversational syntax, insertions from Ukrainian folk texts, and so on. Additionally, the translator invented many original occasionalisms necessary to enhance the comic effect. Along with this, Dumytrashko preserved many features characteristic of the ancient Greek original: its plot and composition, the Greek names of the characters, the contrast between gods and earthly creatures. To reproduce the rhythm of the Greek text, Dumytrashko used the Ukrainian equivalent of hexameter – the meter used in the heroic poems of Homer and other epic works of antiquity. The use of hexameter gives the text a measured and solemn tone, creating the effect of a high style of narration. However, this contrasts with numerous colloquial words, expressive phrases and comparisons, curses, emphatically naturalistic plot details, and funny situations in which the characters of the poem are depicted. The Ukrainian translation of the poem “The Batrachomyomachia” combines both the ancient Greek foundation and the Ukrainian folk element, making Dumytrashko’s work an interesting subject for comprehensive research. Keywords: means of humor, “high” and “low” vocabulary, occasionalisms, phraseologisms, “The Batrachomyomachia”, ancient Greek epic, burlesque, translation, Kostiantyn Dumytrashko.