Avtandil and Tariel

"The Knight in The Man in a Panther-Skin" – whether Emotional or Rational

Abstract

Rustaveli’s characters tend to be various: women, men, kings and queens, masters, vassals, knights, mer­chants, warriors, pirates, viziers and servants. The ideal knights being of the most significant amongst them. They are ideal not only from the “excellence” point of view but also as in terms of being created by the author through the fantasy. These aren’t real-empirical heroes extracted from the reality but rather the characters produced//created through the fantasy of the author, based on conventionality and exaggeration, elevating and rethinking of a human nature, created through the author’s imagination in particular. The best friendly couple, created through the similar artistic style is that of Avtandil and Tariel.

When studying the artistic images of Rustaveli characters, various issues arise, the revelation//formation of the nature of the characters being the most significant amongst them.  There rises a question: How is the ideal artistic image of a knight seen by Rustaveli.

This question should be answered through the interpre­tation of the whole text of the poem. However, the theoretical assertion of different opinions by these two characters is very well provided in the following passage of the poem, being published in English translations along with the original version of the story.

Editor