Karpenko I.A. Some Common Elements of the Ideals of Courtly Love and Platonic Love

Abstract: In this article Karpenko proposes the hypothesis on possible (indirect) influence of the ideal of ancient Platonic love on the development of courtly relations in the Middle Ages. Taking into account the fact that direct influence is impossible, the author makes an attempt to define their common features. Such elements become evident in the process of comparing Plato's texts (Symposium and Phaedrus) and a number of medieval sources. Karpenko concludes that there is a certain similarity (perhaps even identity) between some key features of Platonic love and courtly love (in the part when the influence of the Roman de la Rose is less). The author has also appealed to related resources of such experts as Vladimir Shishmarev, Johan Huizinga, Jacques Le Goff, Georges Duby, an dothers. The research is based on the method of the comparative analysis of texts, the method of the historical analysis and hermeneutical method (i.e. description of cultural practices of particular epochs through interpreting literary sources). The  novelty of the article is caused by the fact that the author makes an atempt to discover cultural relations and continuity in the spheres where these relations and continuity are not evident but nevertheless can be recorded based on the example of definite proofs found in original sources. This practice may be applied to other spheres of sciences to demonstrate either a fact of cultural heritage or a fact of accidental creation of similar values in different cultural environments. 

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