GOTHIC ORPHIC LYRE

ATTENTION! Work on translation in progress! My apologies. Nevertheless, keep calm and wait for completion. If you want to help please comment string that should be correct. Thank you for your supporting!

 

For contact e-mail: a.a.o@ro.ru

INTRODUCTION

Everything truly beautiful is kalokagathos. Nature pulls us to the muses and harites, but sometimes we are not able to distinguish the beautiful from the bad. We confidently prefer the sweetness of honey to the bitterness of mustard, but sometimes we have to take bitter medicine. A gourmet who has succeeded in gastronomy, regularly takes poison like Mithridates. Only by progress in own taste is it possible to see not only the form of beauty, like the wonder of musical sounds, a well-drawn picture or competently implemented gameplay of a video game, but also the authenticity of beauty, which essence is morality. We don't understand how much our natural intention to beauty transforms us. But if true beauty would to be contemplated, then it becomes possible to participate in that sacred deontological order that fertilizes all nymphs in the world. And then mind becomes brilliant, like the endless starry sky.

It is possible to look behind the form due to a short adventrue, during which it is have to descend into the dark depths of the dominium of the Hades like Orpheus, where many great ancient notionalists are languished. The path lies to the ever-blooming fields of Elysium, where Truth rests, but the road is thorny: only by throwing away the shackles of routine is it possible to cross the River Styx.

The adventure will be aimed at trying to grasp in thought the authenticity of one of the best video games in history - Gothic. Moral beauty surrounds us everywhere. With good sense of taste, any creation of the genius of mind or nature can be contemplated. You can look at comics, music, movies, etc. For example, William Irwin's work "The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer" [Irwin W. et al. 2001], that represents attempt to look at the essence of this cartoon. But now there is the way to the spirit of the Gothic series and it will be shown how the main late antique traditions of philosophy are represented in this video game series. An analysis of elements of the Hegelian tradition in Gothic is also presented. The fundametnal idea in the series is opposition of the gifts of Prometheus and Epimetheus. The Gothic's narrative is Christian, therefore this seria includes soteric problem.

STRUCTURE OF COSMOS

Cosmos is the term that means the space which includes three interconnected levels: chthonic, celestial or divine, and the actual, where people live. Cosmos in the first part of the series is a closed system, spatially limited by the Valley of Mines, the boundaries of which are elegantly outlined by a barrier.

The barrier has a spherical, ellipse-like shape, which corresponds to the shape of an ideal geometric figure, according to ancient tradition. Thus, in Plato’s work Timaeus it is said that the cosmos has a spherical shape: “the body [of the cosmos] was created smooth, uniform everywhere, equally distributed in all directions from the center, integral, perfect and composed of perfect bodies” [Plato. Collected Works..., 1994, p. 437]. Contemplating the sky of the valley, flashes of lightning are visible. The barrier sphere is fiery. Democritus argued that the spherical shape of atoms corresponds to the fire element; these are atoms of the soul [Vits B.B. Democritus..., 1979, p. 192]. This position is due to the influence of Zoroastrianism and the Chaldean traditions on Democritus. Moreover, Abderit associated fiery atoms with breathing, which ensures the vital activity of the body, therefore their presence is a necessary condition for life. So it is in the case of the Gothic colony, the existence of which is unthinkable without the fire element, without a barrier. The barrier represents the soul of the Gothic world. In general, the role of fire symbolism in the Gothic series is significant, as will be shown below.

On the other hand, the spherical shape of the barrier refers to the Eleatic tradition. Parmenides argued that cosmos has a spherical shape and the space is continuous, unchanging and finite [Italian philosophy..., 1975, p. 171]. This emphasizes that the structure of the colony is unchanging and integral as the cosmos, and that it is meant to exist forever.

In the center of the cosmos there is necessarily the Axis Mundi (Axis of the World), which is a world tree, mountain, city, fortress, temple or any other sacred space in which cosmogony took place, and it is in this center that all three levels of the universe converge and touch [Eliade M Selected works..., 2000, p. 31]. Actually, the axis of the world in the world of Gothic is the fortress of the Old Camp. Moreover, the number of such centers can be more than one [Eliade M. Selected works..., 2000, p. 148-149].

The real world, where ordinary convicts and their guards live, is represented by a system of camps. There are three of them: Old, New and the sectarian camp. They differ in that they represent three different models of worldview and life practices, corresponding to the three main late antique traditions of philosophy: Stoic, Epicurean and Platonic.

There is an opinion in the game's community that creating a barrier centered on the Old Camp fortress is a mistake, since from a pragmatic point of view it would be more appropriate to establish a dome over one of the key economic hubs of the Valley of Mines, the Old Mine. Answer: this is not a mistake, but a completely correct and logical location of the barrier, since only in this case is the cosmic order reproduced. The fortress of the Old Camp is the center of cosmos, it was here that the barrier was created and it was there that it ceased to exist (this refers to the symbolic lightning strike on the camp tower in the introductory video of the second part). In the New Camp, such a center is a mountain of ore, around which the entire camp is built, and in the case of a sectarian camp, it is a temple within the boundaries of the camp. Therefore, at the moment when the protagonist charges his own weapon using the ore of the New Camp, it is like a lightning strike on the fortress of the Old Camp, which actually means the symbolic destruction of the camp.

The reason and purpose of the existence of the colony is the extraction of special magical ore, which is mined in the mines of the valley of mines. The symbolism of the ore refers to the myth of Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus. According to Plato [Plato. Selected dialogues..., 1965, p. 62-63] two brothers distributed talents and skills between animal species. Epimetheus's gift was to establish harmony and balance between diverse living beings. The exception was humanity, which he deprived. Prometheus tried to correct such injustice, whose gift was fire, as well as the ability to manage it, which included smelting metals. Thanks to the gift of Prometheus, human participation in the divine became possible [Economy and religion..., 1927, p. 55], which was the reason for the punishment of Prometheus.

The opposition of the gifts of Epimetheus and Prometheus lies in the opposition of the wild and natural harmony of nature and civilization with its anti-ecologicalism and merciless exploitation. The Gift of Prometheus is a divine gift, but also a curse of civilization. According to ancient beliefs, certain metals, such as iron, were defined as vicious, demonic in nature, and the Iron Age was viewed as a time of violence, lust for power, greed and vice [Economy and religion..., 1927, p. 70-73]. Magic ore in Gothic serves the same function: it is a symbol of the depravity of civilization. Its continuous extraction is the basis for the existence of the colony, just as the extraction of resources is necessary for civilization. And in opposition to human civilization, together with all its vices that correspond to the gift of Prometheus, the orcs act. They embody wildness and pristine natural harmony; orcs represent the gift of Epimetheus.

The Old and New camps have corresponding mines, Old and Free. Similarly, the sectarian camp, which, due to its specifics, has a special dungeon - an orc cemetery. An important fact is that all mines have the same attribute: the presence of orcs. In the Old Mine there is an orc slave, in the Free Mine there is an orc Tharrok, without whose help it is impossible to collect the important artifact Ulu-mulu, which is a symbol of friendship for the orcs, which is consistent with the fact that the New Camp represents the Epicurean tradition, one of the main values of which is friendship. The presence of orcs in the mines symbolizes the fact that civilization is based on the use of the gifts of nature and is not able to abandon them, but at the same time it sees in nature only resources; it is a symbol of civilization's exploitation of nature. A utilitarian attitude towards nature is the curse of Prometheus' gift. The case of the sectarian camp is special because it represents Platonism. According to Plato's myth about the cave, a true sage is able to free himself from the shackles of delusion and leave the confines of the cave [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 239-242]. Therefore, sectarians formally do not have their own mine; Moreover, they actively visit the Old Mine for their own occult purposes, the purpose of which is not clear to representatives of other camps; this is similar to how a sage can go down into a cave, but others are not given the opportunity to understand the purpose of his activity, since only he knows the knowledge of the real, what is outside the cave. But in fact it is present. Firstly, the logic of the structure of cosmos in the Gothic world requires the presence of a mine near the sectarian camp. Secondly, the orc cemetery is a mine turned inside out. If the mine embodies the heart of human civilization, the necessary and inevitable hard work for its existence, then the orc cemetery is a sacred space. It is pure and immaculate. It is significant that, apart from the protagonist, there is only one living person in the cemetery, Idol Lukor, at the time of his visit, just as there is one orc in the mines of other camps. Likewise, instead of miners, there are only orcs. The orc cemetery symbolizes how human civilization unceremoniously invades the most sacred places.

The image of heaven in the Gothic world is the outside world outside the colony. This is a reference to the biblical story of the Fall and the expulsion of people from paradise [Gen. 3:23]. The old camp, being on the main axis of the Gothic world, is connected with the outside world, the heavens, directly. Of course, the chthonic world of the colony consists of mines and the temple of the Sleeper. It should be noted that since the axis mundi connects the real world with both heaven and hell, thanks to this connection, a dialogue between Xardas and the chthonic creatures of Beliar, as well as Yuberian, the head of the sectarian camp, with the Sleeper became possible.

It is necessary to complete the topic of Gothic cosmology by discussing what changes it underwent in subsequent parts. The thesis is that the first part of the Gothic series has a holistic and coherent cosmos. But this cosmos is eliminated already in the second part. It is replaced by an island. An island, as a space surrounded by ocean waters, has its roots in ancient myths. It was believed that the whole world is surrounded by waters, where the water areas correspond to the space of the primordial Chaos, which only has to be ordered and mastered [Eliade M. Selected works..., 2000, p. 29]. Development is understood as the performance of a sacred act that repeats cosmogony: in the case of a computer game, this looks like turning space into a game location where the hero performs his exploits.

It is interesting that the number of locations in the second part is three: firstly, a part of the island of Khorinis, which includes the city of the same name, called New World; secondly, this is the valley of mines from the first part, Old World; finally, taking into account the addition Night of the Raven, the third part, Yarkendar, Expansion World. If we take into account the fact that the third part of Gothic similarly offers three locations (Myrtana, Varant and Nordmar), then we get the opposition of triads of locations. In alchemy, a similar alignment is described by the axiom of Mary, when the triad, characterized as heavenly, holy, has its direct chthonic analogue, like a mirror image [Jung K.G. Soul and myth..., 1996, p. 316]. Their deep kinship is torn apart by the fourth element, which contrasts them and transforms one into another. The fourth element in Gothic is the halls of Irdorath, which separates the game spaces of the parts of the Gothic series.

COLONY

The history of Gothic begins with the fact that the kingdom of Myrtana was ruled for a long time by King Robar II. Under the leadership of the ruling dynasty, the kingdom achieves considerable success in foreign policy, annexing new territories, such as Varant... But one enemy turned out to be too tough for them - the orcs.

According to Clausewitz, the essence of war is to use violent methods to deprive the opposing side of the opportunity to resist and force it to carry out its own will [Clausewitz K. On War..., 1994, p. 38]. The essence of the confrontation between the kingdom of Myrtana and the orcs lies in the desire of the Promethean civilization to suppress nature with its inherent Epimethean harmony. This is the central conflict of the Gothic series and is relevant until the third part of the series.

The war for the kingdom turned out to be protracted and exhausting, which ultimately led to the need to wage a war of attrition and mobilize all available resources. The war became total. Erich Ludendorff, a German general of the Reichswehr and theorist of military science, who formulated the concept of total war, argued that the entire people are the driving force of a total war, that the army and the people are inseparably united, therefore everyone is directly involved in hostilities, no matter where they are [ The “total” war..., 1936, p. 8]. Thus, enduring the hardships of war falls on the ordinary people of the kingdom. The conflict between Promethean civilization and Epimethean savagery is exclusively total in form, and the consequences of environmental pollution are most noticeable for the average person.

The superiority of civilization over nature, of humans over orcs, is symbolically represented in the possibility of extracting magical ore from the bowels of the earth, with the help of which it is possible to achieve a final victory. Since one of the most significant achievements of civilization is the law, it was he who was the first to defend the interests of civilization: the resources of the kingdom began to be mobilized under the pretext of obedience to the letter of the law, when, despite the differences in serious crimes, all convicts began to be sent to hard labor in the valley of the mines. The digests state that law is the art of justice [Digests..., 2008, p. 83]. The thesis is that the Gothic series is apolitical. Politics implies activities aimed at achieving the public good [Aristotle. Works..., 1983, p. 378], and in the colony absolutely no one is pursuing public welfare, but is only “pulling the blanket.” Aristotle divides the types of political systems into good and evil according to the principle of relation to the public good, which, for example, is a criterion for distinguishing between monarchy and tyranny: “when one person, or a few, or a majority rules, guided by the public good, naturally such types of government devices are correct, and those in which the benefits of either one person, or a few, or the majority are meant are deviations” [Aristotle. Works..., 1983, p. 457]. Actually, justice is a necessary condition for a political phenomenon, but since Gothic is apolitical, there is no need to talk about justice.

Jurisprudence identifies two mutually exclusive approaches to understanding law: the positivist legal understanding, legalism, and the natural law approach, jusnaturalism. Thus, the gradation of rights to positive and natural is enshrined in the Digests [Digests..., 2008, p. 83]. From the position of legalism, it is impossible to assert that the decision of Robar II to form a colony is arbitrary and has a harmful inhumane and tyrannical character. Moreover, T. Hobbes argued that the sovereign has unlimited power and extraordinary judicial powers: “the sovereign cannot be deprived of power, cannot be accused of injustice by any of his subjects, cannot be punished by his subjects ... he is the only legislator and supreme judge in all disputes; he determines the time and occasion for declaring war and making peace” [Thomas Hobbes. Works..., 1991, p. 155]. The existence of the sovereign is due to natural necessity, since in his absence there is a war of all against all, which is a worse option compared to suffering the consequences of the will of an omnipotent sovereign. In a similar way, for example, Gomez’s position in the Old Camp was legitimized.

It must be emphasized that from the standpoint of legalism, the existence of a colony is the norm, since this fact is the direct will of the sovereign. Jusnaturalism is another matter. Marcus Tullius Cicero stated the following about the law: “the law is a decision that distinguishes the just from the unjust and is expressed in accordance with the most ancient principle of all things - nature, with which human laws are consistent, punishing bad people with execution and protecting and preserving the honest” [Dialogues on the State... , 1994, p. 114]. Natural law is an eternal law, enshrined in nature [Dialogues about the State..., 1994, p. 112], and which is universal [Dialogues about the State..., 1994, p. 95]. Natural law is the metaphysics of law. According to the natural law approach, the instructions or laws issued by the sovereign, if they contradict natural law, are illegal and their compliance is optional [Dialogues about the State..., 1994, p. 103], and the sovereign himself is a criminal and a tyrant. In the same vein, Robert Filmer argued that the king’s power is not limited by any law, with the exception of natural law [Patriarcha..., 1680, p. 10]. But what can be charged as a crime against Robar?

It is possible to assume that under Robar's rule the natural right to life is neglected. But on the contrary, the natural right to life presupposes the right to the possibility of preserving life and providing life with necessary goods [Thomas Aquinas. Sum of Theology..., 2012, p. 325-326]. Actually, since Robar’s program is aimed at preserving and increasing the human race as a whole in the context of the fight against orcs, the conditional common good would require a certain resource to support the livelihoods of many people, which in this case is ore mined in the colony. Thus, Robar cannot be charged with violating the right to life. Thomas Aquinas would characterize Robard's regime rather as a soft tyranny, and his program as a necessarily tolerant arbitrariness of power; citizens must obediently submit to the will of the king [Thomas Aquinas. About royal power..., 2016, p. 110].

It is assumed that Robar's regime is legal in nature and the existence of the colony in the Valley of Mines is legitimate. But against it, according to J. Locke, there is a natural right to property: “every man has some property consisting of his own person, to which no one but himself has any rights... the labor of his body and the work of his hands in the strictest sense belong to him... labor created the difference between them and the general; he added to them something beyond what nature, the common mother of all, created, and thus they became his private right” [Locke J. Works..., 1988, p. 277]. The legal arbitrariness of the regime naturally leads to the deprivation of property of convicts; Moreover, the right to work of citizens is neglected, which consists in neglecting the choice of the form of labor: the fate of convicts is to be miners or overseers. On the other hand, T. Hobbes in Leviathan argued that there is a natural right to justice, which consists in guaranteeing compliance with the pact concluded between the citizens and the royal power of Myrtana in this case [Thomas Hobbes. Works..., 1991, p. 110]. The social convention that made royal power possible did not imply the forced transfer of the masses to the territory of the colony and subsequent exploitation. Thus, the basis for declaring Robar’s decisions as illegal can be considered injustice, and the colony of Khorinis as illegitimate.

I would like to add that another basis for the illegal nature of the regime can be considered the neglect of the right of the convicted to potential repentance, i.e. return to a lawful life in society and communication with respectable citizens. But exile to a colony, due to the barrier, completely deprives the individual of this opportunity. As Stigirides wrote, “one who is unable to enter into communication or, considering himself a self-sufficient being, does not feel the need for anything, no longer constitutes an element of the state, becoming either an animal or a deity” [Aristotle. Works..., 1983, p. 379]. Humanity implies the possibility of free interaction and cooperation between people. That is, the dehumanization of the colonists takes place. According to G. F. Hegel, punishment for unlawful acts is presented as a reward for their commission, since the individual is considered to be rationally thinking, free and aware of the fact that he can suffer punishment, which in turn must be proportionate to the offense [Hegel G. V. F. Philosophy of Law..., 1990, p. 147-148]. The penalty of exile to the Valley of Mines cannot be considered disproportionate to the abstract act. One way or another, the magicians of the kingdom of Myrtana support the criminal regime of the king and kindle the fire of Prometheus over the Valley of Mines, thereby inventing a concentration camp, which is the most vicious product of civilization.

Next, you need to turn to the religion and magic of the Gothic series. There are, according to the game's lore, three deities: Innos, Adanos and Beliar. The first is characterized by such concepts as order, goodness, goodness, etc. This deity is symbolized by fire. In contrast to him, as his negation, Beliar embodies chaos, evil, vice. Adanos, in turn, is balance and harmony and is symbolized by water.

Trinity turns into Zoroastrian symbolism of fire, water and darkness, but the complexity of the deities is revealed if we turn to the works of Heraclitus. According to his ontology, fire, symbolizing the Logos, is denied and extinguished, passing into water; accordingly, the water then passes into something else, i.e. into the ground [Diogenes Laertius..., 1979, p. 361], which can be interpreted as something chthonic. The process is reversible, and in general the essence is a cycle, a cycle in nature. The opposition of fire and water also played a role in the epistemology of Heraclitus, when fire, as phronesis, represented the rational principle of knowledge, was opposed to water, which symbolized sensuality and emotionality, interfering with rational knowledge and distorting the truth. One of the key aspects of the Trinity of the Gothic series is that the developers clearly emphasized the decisive role of Adanos: Mike Hoge, one of the key developers of Gothic, stated that the main character is an avatar of Adanos [https://www.gothicz.net/serie-gothic /mike-hoge-talks-about-gothic/].

The central role of this deity refers to Homer, within whose mythological system cosmogony originated from the water element; The special position of the water element was emphasized by Aristotle in Metaphysics, arguing that the ancients believed that the gods swear by the waters of the Styx [Aristotle. Metaphysics..., 2006, p. 40].

What is most interesting about this path is that neither Innos nor Beliar, with the exception of the third part of the series, play any direct role. In general, they play a supporting role and are needed only as a binary opposition, which allows us to reveal the role of the true Spirit. G. F. Hegel wrote that true virtue is a complete struggle, which is a complex and contradictory process of the relationship between good and evil [Science of Logic..., 1971, p. 62]. The key thesis is that Adanos, or rather the protagonist of Gothic itself, symbolizes the Hegelian world spirit, and the narrative of the game is a critique of Hegelianism. Hegel emphasizes that world history is made by individuals who are “living embodiments of the substantial action of the world spirit and are thus directly identical to this action; it remains hidden for them and does not serve as their object and goal; they are not honored or thanked either by their contemporaries or by the public opinion of future generations; as formal subjectivities, they only acquire their share in this opinion as immortal glory” [Hegel G.V.F. Philosophy of Law..., 1990, p. 372]. The point is that the protagonist embodies absolute freedom and it is his will that can decide the fate of the colony and bring justice to its inhabitants. It is in this regard that the protagonist should be understood as an avatar of Adanos, as the direct world Spirit. In this regard, the confrontation between Innos and Beliar is removed and only the contradiction in the activities of the protagonist is revealed. This is the main advantage of the religion of the Gothic series, which lies in the fact that deities are not active immanent actors, due to which it is possible to believe in the Gothic religion as if it were a real belief, since it, unlike a number of other fantasy religions, requires an actual act faith. In other words, throughout the two parts of the series, divine entities remain transcendent and indirectly play their own roles, as the activity of the true Spirit - the nameless hero.

Quite typical of fantasy, magic has a direct connection with religion. But there are some important and distinctive details. It’s worth starting with the practical implementation of magic directly in the game. In the first two parts of the series, special runes or scrolls are required to use it. The ancients believed that names had sacred power, because their knowledge gave the knower power over certain divine entities, since it was in the name that divine power lay: for example, in ancient Egyptian mythology, the supreme god Ra needed knowledge of the names of the gatekeepers on the path of the movement of the solar boat along the Duat, and the pronunciation of the name could save the creature from imminent death [Rak I.V. Egyptian mythology..., 2004, p. 87]. Apparently, it was with an eye to the ancient Egyptian religion that rune magic was introduced into the games of the Gothic series, as a necessary written source for the name of a particular spell, since according to one of the early concepts of the first part, the influence of Egyptian culture was significant. On the other hand, in the context of the third part of the series, when, according to its plot, rune magic has disappeared, to create magic it is necessary to turn to ancient knowledge, i.e. a return to the preliterate oratorical tradition. This refers to another ancient Egyptian myth, set out in Plato’s dialogue Phaedrus, according to which the Egyptian god of wisdom Thoth provided gifts to the pharaoh, among which was writing, which he in turn criticized, since it would have a bad effect on the intellect of people: “Into the souls of those who learned it they will instill forgetfulness, since the memory will be deprived of exercise: they will begin to remember, trusting the letter, by extraneous, external signs, and not by internal force, on their own. Therefore, you have found a means not for memory, but for recollection. And you will give to your disciples the appearance of wisdom, and not true wisdom, so that they will know a lot from you by hearsay, without assimilating, and seem to know a lot, while remaining for the most part ignorant, unbearable in communication; so they will become not wise, but imaginary wise” [Plato. Selected dialogues..., 1965, p. 248-249]. Actually, apparently the ancient Gothic magicians conjured without runes, since they memorized them by heart, over time they began to write them down on runes, but when they became invalid, they had to return to the oral tradition.

The practical aspect of Gothic magic is interesting because it perfectly complements its true content and functionality. In the ordinary mind, magic seems to be a kind of lifesaver, something that can solve the problems of civilization. In ancient Egyptian culture, the purpose of magic was the ability to transform reality. One of the key aspects of the Gothic series is an attempt to reflect on the problems inherent in industrial and technogenic societies. In this path, functionally, magic plays the same role in the game series as real technology. The Gothic civilization, in which magic is actively used, experiences the same problems as man-made civilization.

Firstly, magic in Gothic is absolutely unable to withstand any of the key problems of technogenic civilization, for example, exploitation. The oppression of the colonists of Khorinis reaches such a climax that the exploited do not even have hope of liberation. Nadezhda failed to leave the confines of Pandora's box in the world of Gothic. Secondly, magic does not contribute to moral development, which can be judged in any part of the series by local customs. And finally, the very presence of a concentration camp in the form of a colony embodies all the horror of what technogenic civilization carried within itself. It is noteworthy that Innos, whose symbol is fire, is the patron of civilization in the Gothic series. This is an allusion to the fire of Prometheus. And magic is not able to solve the problems that the fire of Prometheus brings with it, therefore it seems that functionally the magic of Gothic is no different from technology.

Gothic is a stunning example of how to implement in fantasy a reflection on the topic of the civilizational path of human development and will not run into the opposition of technology and magic. People themselves are to blame for all the ills of civilization. And these troubles have to be solved through the manifestation of the Hegelian Spirit, which itself brings disasters. It should be noted that the awareness of this aspect is demonstrated in the second part of the series during the dialogue with the water magician Vatras, when they make it clear that in general the actions of the protagonist do not lead to the triumph of goodness and order, but only increase the suffering of people: the collapse of the barrier over the valley of the mines led to an increase banditry in Khorinis. Another example is how Xardas at the beginning of the second part connects the appearance of dragons with the defeat of the Sleeper. This is the whole essence of the dialectics of the spirit. And the developers themselves, at the end of the third part of the series, offer the Spirit to leave this world as the only solution to the problems of the Gothic world. This poses one of the most important problems of Gothic - soteric. For universal salvation in the world of Gothic, the disappearance of the Hegelian Spirit is necessary.

MESSIAH

Next, it is necessary to describe in more detail and reveal the essence of the phenomena directly inside the colony. According to the plot, the nameless hero, the protagonist of Gothic, is sentenced to hard labor in the mines of Khorinis. Here the most important moment in the entire narrative occurs: the main fire magician, a servant of Innos, does not allow the judge to voice the crime committed by the protagonist... Because he did not commit any offenses, since he is sinless and innocent in essence. The nameless hero is the messiah who is called to descend from Heaven, i.e. from the outside world to the colony and atone for the sins of the convicts, freeing them from the torment of imprisonment in the colony.

The protagonist is also supposed to deliver a message to the magicians who were imprisoned with everyone in the colony. It is obvious that this message is an allusion to the Gospel, which is primarily addressed to the servants of the gods, the magicians. It is necessary to turn to the magicians who were the direct creators of the barrier over the valley of the mines and are most responsible for the creation of the colony. The Gothic magicians represent the image of the Chaldean priests and are divided into congregations according to the cults of the deities. Accordingly, there are congregations of fire magicians, water magicians and necromancers, whose position, however, in the first part is occupied by the gurus of the sectarian camp. Twelve mages were represented in the creation of the barrier, of which half were each from the congregations of fire and water mages. The Gothic narrative is deeply Christian, because the magicians are a reference to the Pharisees who rejected the Messiah; Likewise, the colony's mages largely do not recognize the messianic aspect of the protagonist, so, for example, when the nameless hero is forced to use a mountain of New Camp ore in order to charge his weapon and defeat the Sleeper, they in turn began to condemn him. It is noteworthy that the first part of the series, of all possible variations of magicians, can only be completed as a water mage, i.e. the game takes into account the only possible form of reality of the Spirit, which emphasizes him as an avatar of Adanos on the one hand and the special position of the congregation of water mages on the other. The water magicians, being closest to Adanos, did not recognize him as their deity.

Another important point is that the dozen magicians is a reference to the Christian apostles of the twelve. On the one hand, this can be seen as a deconstruction of the image of the apostles, then the message is that the distinction between the Pharisees and the apostles is erased in the world of Gothic; on the other hand, those who were called to be apostles of the messianic activity of the spirit reject him, thereby they were unable to accept the apostolic mission. From this point of view, it turns out that the fact that they end up in a colony is their punishment for the Fall, since they allowed to be born, which is embodied in the existence of the colony, and therefore were expelled from paradise, from the outside world, and became doomed to imprisonment in your own creation. And in the colony itself they again make a critical mistake when they reject the Messiah.

Two magicians occupy a special position - Xardas and Milten. When he first appears, Xardas appears as a fallen magician, a renegade who left the cult of Innos and became a necromancer. His image refers to Judas. Only, unlike the greatest traitor in history, he is one of the central characters in the Gothic narrative. This is due to the fact that the necromancer Xardas is a typical image of the sage Jung. He represents the Logos in Gothic. As befits a sage, he appears at the moment when there is a need for a radical solution to problems, which entails turning to the sage, i.e. when the hero finds himself in a hopeless situation [Jung K.G. Soul and myth..., 1996, p. 300].

A similar moment is the collapse of the water mages' plan to destroy the barrier, which is one of the key moments in the Gothic plot. It's safe to say about Xardas that he seems completely typical of the archetype. Firstly, he is not morally determined [Jung K.G. Soul and myth..., 1996, p. 297-299]: in no part of the series is the ethical aspect of the magician’s activity clear. Secondly, he instructs, gives confidence to the hero in his chosenness, thanks to him the hero acquires weapons to fight the Sleeper [Jung K.G. Soul and myth..., 1996, p. 302-304]. In the second part of the series, he actually revives the hero, which is typical for this archetype; in general, he is the initiator of the beginning of all the events of the Gothic plot [Jung K.G. Soul and myth..., 1996, p. 308-309]. But the most important thing, but far from obvious, is that it is thanks to his guidance that the protagonist encounters Ur-Shak, a rogue orc.

Ur-Shak is one of the most interesting and underrated characters in Gothic. This is a runaway orc slave who has experienced the hardships of human civilization. At the same time, he was expelled from the orc society, while being a representative of its higher strata: he was one of the spiritual leaders of the orcs, shamans. This experience allows him to be above the extremes of the gifts of Prometheus and Epimetheus, clearly aware of all the pros and cons of both of them. He has virtue: he is honest, he is open to dialogue, he is even humane. It is thanks to this character that the rejected gift of Epimetheus, the original wildness and harmony, is revealed. It was thanks to his virtue that the protagonist was able to ultimately defeat the Sleeper, revealing the secret of how to penetrate his temple. The image of an orc allows you to think about what ideals the nameless hero is fighting for, what is the value of the civilization for the salvation of which he descended from heaven and is trying to atone for the sins of the prisoners. Since the soteric aspect of Gothic is essential, friendship is offered as a recipe for individual salvation. So, for example, thanks to friendship, the hero was able to put together focus stones for water magicians. Ur-Shak fully affirms the value of friendship, its soteric aspect for people. This is a reference to Enkidu from the saga of Gilgamesh, like whom the orc introduces the hero to the delights and subtleties of the natural world, denied by the very existence of civilization, the gift of Epimetheus as opposed to the gift of Prometheus, thereby renewing him and preparing him for future trials [Myths and legends of the peoples of the world..., 2004, pp. 282-283].

Xardas is definitely a wonderful character in all aspects. He is a former fire mage who chose to serve not Innos, but Beliar. He embodies the self-denial of fire. Jung, in describing the symbolism of fire, reveals its internal dialectic: “Nothing can exist without its opposite; the two were one at the beginning and will be one again at the end... To stir up conflict is Lucifer's virtue in the exact meaning of the word. Conflict generates fire, the fire of affects and emotions, and like any other fire, this one has two sides: it burns and at the same time gives light. Emotion, on the one hand, is the alchemical fire whose heat brings everything into existence and whose heat reduces all excess to ashes... on the other hand, emotion is the moment when steel meets silicon, thereby striking a spark, for emotion is the fundamental source of consciousness. Without emotions there is no movement from darkness to light or from inertia to movement” [Jung K.G. Soul and myth..., 1996, p. 233-234]. The Heraclitean opposition of rationality and emotionality arises again. Logos, symbolized by fire or Innos, naturally generates its own negation, in this case in the form of the symbolism of darkness and Beliar, which is why Xardas is so harmonious with the Hegelian spirit, because it is its direct product, like the voice of Logos. The existence of both Xardas and the nameless hero are manifestations of the Spirit in the Gothic series.

But Xardas has a counterpart in the form of the protagonist's friend Milten. But if the first is an old and experienced necromancer, then the second is a young and inexperienced fire magician. But they have one thing in common: rationality. Milten is probably similar to the young Xardas. But their main difference is that Milten is not alien to such a value as friendship. He has an inherent imperative to altruistically help his friends and the protagonist, thereby overcoming the depravity of his inherent rationalism. This allowed him to escape death in the first part of the series, when fire mages were eliminated in the Old Camp after the collapse of the Old Mine, i.e. when the heart of Promethean civilization stopped. Friendship and its soteric aspect have no value for Xardas, who perceives the nameless hero as a tool, therefore his rationalism is destructive. Xardas does not have the right to salvation, therefore he must leave the world of Gothic, like the Hegelian Spirit that gives birth to him. If the sage Xardas helps the hero prepare for the battle with the Sleeper and acquires the necessary and sufficient weapon (the sword Urizel), then only thanks to Milten and his friendliness, the hero was eventually able to charge the weapon with the magical ore of the New Camp. In this path, Milten is like Odysseus, who helped the heroes, for example, steal palladium from besieged Troy [Legends and myths of ancient Greece..., 1975, p. 355]. Thus, this emphasizes that the recipe for individual salvation in the world of Gothic is friendship.

CAMPS

Since three main camps formed around the magicians, it is necessary to give them a detailed description. The fire magicians took part in the formation of the Old Camp, the New Camp was formed around the water magicians, and the last camp was formed under the leadership of the sectarian gurus. Actually, the three camps represent the three main traditions of late ancient philosophy: the Old camp is Stoicism, the New camp is Epicureanism, and the sect camp is Platonism.

The first camp the player encounters is the Old Camp. It is his representative, Diego, who becomes the first friend and mentor for the protagonist. The purpose of the existence of this camp is to fulfill the agreement with the royal authorities on the supply of ore from the colony. On the one hand, this is due to wartime needs. On the other hand, the order of things that led to the formation of a colony in the valley of the mines is such that its very existence requires the extraction of ore. As noted earlier, ore symbolizes the heart of civilization and the possibility of a technogenic development path. And this order must be continuously reproduced. It is reproduction of a certain order that is the reason and purpose of the existence of the Old Camp. This camp represents the Stoic tradition.

A succinct formulation of the key principle of the Stoic tradition is that happiness lies in power over oneself, over one’s thoughts and feelings. As Lucius Annius Seneca argued: “Those who have no control over themselves, their lives are full of confusion and anxiety, from which they are never free” [Seneca L.A. Moral letters to Lucilius..., 1986, p. 226-227]. It is possible to rule over oneself only if life activity is consistent with the order of nature [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 15]. To do this, one must achieve a state of apathy, i.e. suppress emotions such as fear, anger, etc. A Stoic must be wise, therefore unperturbed, and as a result, there should be no place for unforeseen events in his life: fortune has no power over a Stoic [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 16]. The life of a Stoic is a voluntary submission to the order of things, to the Logos. The obligation of the Logos is presented as a necessity and a universal eternal law of nature. It includes, for example, imminent death or suffering. Therefore, a Stoic is obliged to accept and realize the need for world order and follow the will of the Logos: “whoever complains, cries and groans, not wanting to carry out orders, is forced by force and dragged against his will where he needs to go” [Seneca L.A. Moral letters to Lucilius..., 1986, p. 25]. As Marcus Aurelius Antoninus wrote: “Voluntarily entrust yourself to the spinner Clotho and do not interfere with her sewing you into whatever fabric she pleases” [Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Reflections..., 1985, p. 21].

Any activity of a Stoic must have a goal [Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Reflections..., 1985, p. 12]. In this path, each follower of this tradition must perform his own activities as efficiently as possible, since they are consistent with the world order as a whole; and it is especially desirable that the activity be of a public nature, i.e. was political, directly aimed at the common good: maintaining the general world order.

The world order must be maintained and reproduced, because, although the Logos is total, changes are continuously occurring within [Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Reflections..., 1985, p. 9]. To fulfill his duty, a sage must be moderate, therefore he must be apathetic in relation to pleasures, suppressing his own irrational desires and needs. A Stoic must dominate his own needs and live as if every day is his last: “if we carefully preserve all our natural abilities and bodily gifts, but at the same time do not worry too much about them, knowing that they are given to us for one day and they still can’t be held forever; if we do not slavishly serve them, putting ourselves into someone else’s power; if all the good fortunes and pleasures that befall our body take their rightful place in us, which is occupied by lightly armed and auxiliary troops in a military camp, that is, they obey and not command, then all these benefits will benefit the soul” [Seneca Lucius Annay. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 18-19].

Actually, Logos in the world of Gothic must ensure the extraction of ore or, in other words, the preservation and maintenance of civilization. Doing the will of the Logos is the highest virtue of the sage according to the Stoic tradition. The community of the Old Camp is the only one in the colony that is completely subordinated to the reproduction of the established order, based on merciless exploitation and iron discipline. The structure of the camp is a rigid hierarchy headed by the authoritarian leader Gomez, which fits within the framework of tradition, since, as Seneca argued, people for the most part do not have sufficient virtue, therefore the majority are not able to make the necessary decisions on public issues [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 14].

The point is not that Gomez is particularly authoritarian, since he is not the only mining baron in the camp, but that the Stoic ideal seems extremely militaristic in its spirit: the Stoic, like a warrior, wherever he is, feels, as Marcus Aurelius wrote, in enemy territory [Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Reflections..., 1985, p. 12]. And it is very symbolic that the fire magicians or priests of Innos settled in this particular camp. Innos, symbolizing the order that the Old Camp so assiduously reproduces, for as the Stoics asserted: “There are things that we are supposed to endure, for such is the order established in the universe; they must be accepted without losing the presence of mind: after all, we have taken an oath - to bear our mortal fate and not to upset our ranks because of what is not in our power to avoid; we were born under royal power: to obey God is freedom” [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 25-26].

The typical Stoic characters in the Gothic world are Diego and Torus, the gatekeeper of the Old Camp. The first deals with the problems of adaptation of newcomers to the colony. And he performed his duties with dignity, in fact, as the player is convinced of directly. Diego did everything in his power within the resources available to him. A Stoic is obliged to do the maximum that he can do, based on his own competencies and capabilities. He had a clear goal: to help newly arrived prisoners. But Diego revealed himself most strongly as a stoic sage in the second part of Gothic, when, having escaped from the colony, he told the inhabitants of Khorinis about the dragons in the valley of the mines, for which he was exiled back there as part of an expedition of paladins. He could have lied and thereby avoided this fate, but he acted honestly, talking about the danger posed by the former colony. He did the best he could in the current situation, like a true stoic. Another example is Torus. He selflessly served as the guard of the Old Camp. He possesses the fullness of the Stoic virtues: he is reasonable, calm and fearless. It is impossible to pass by this gatekeeper, since he conscientiously performed his duties. In fact, he is the perfect guardian. He is characterized by a single goal-setting - the protection of the entrusted object, like the Old Camp, Raven's camp from the second part of Gothic, or serving as a guard to the occupying government from the third part. He has been so successful in fulfilling the will of the Logos that he literally does not see the meaning of life outside of service. Although he deserved to be saved at the end of each game in the series, he experienced his own little end of the world each time due to the appearance of the Hegelian spirit in the form of the protagonist who interrupted his ministry. Such selfless service recognizes the possibility of salvation, but this method is not effective enough; in this path, the image of Diego once again shows that friendship is the most effective method of individual salvation.

The peculiarity of Gothic is that, while demonstrating different traditions of philosophy and their ideals, there is appropriate criticism of them. Thus, the economy of the Old Camp is based on the slave labor of miners, who occupy perhaps the lowest position in the food chain of the colony as a whole. Stoicism calls for judging people based on their virtue, and in this path the tradition calls for treating slaves as equals to freemen; but within the framework of tradition, rather, free people are considered no better than slaves, since they are slaves of their own vices and lusts [Seneca L. A. Moral letters to Lucilius..., 1986, p. 99]. Behind the deep morality that is declared by tradition, lies an arrogant hypocrite who does not hesitate to justify the immorality of the exploitation of slaves, for as Seneca argued: “whoever voluntarily fulfills the command is spared the bitterest part of slavery: doing what you don’t want; unhappy is not the one who does according to orders, but the one who does against the will; let us teach our soul to want what circumstances require” [Seneca L.A. Moral letters to Lucilius..., 1986, p. 117]! If you consistently follow the practice of Stoicism, then exploitation is a necessity, which should be perceived as the direct will and obligation of the Logos, and therefore is a good; it turns out that the exploited person needs to accept his position and perform his functions, of course, as efficiently as possible.

There is a downside to being a stoic prude. Slavery, exploitation and oppression of the lower classes on the one hand, but perhaps the upper classes on the other hand are highly moral? The old camp is the only one who receives the benefits of the outside world, i.e. from Paradise. Ore barons lead a prosperous life, owning any desired benefits and receiving corresponding pleasures. The Congregation of Firebenders, in turn, is a closed community that has virtually no interaction with the rest of the camp. The Stoic tradition to some extent condemns luxury and wealth, since they are not consistent with the ideal of apathy: wealth and all kinds of pleasures can prevail over the mind, therefore it is necessary to observe the measure [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 23]. But it is precisely here that the hypocrisy of Stoicism lurks, when life in accordance with the provisions of tradition is recognized as excessively difficult, then the very attempt to live like a Stoic sage is assessed as a feat: “respect great daring in others, even when they end in failure; this is a noble cause: to make attempts, in accordance not with one’s own strengths, but with the capabilities of one’s nature; to rush upward and nurture in the soul plans so grandiose that even those who are decorated with the greatest spiritual gifts cannot carry them out” [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 29]. Wealth, in principle, is indifferent to the sage, but if the Logos makes it possible to possess it, then it is a sin to refuse, because wealth opens up new opportunities for the manifestation of virtue, for example, mercy [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 32]. So, according to tradition, there is nothing bad in the morals of the Old Camp, since they serve the Logos, i.e. the king and Innos are provided with ore supplies by any available means, and the wealth of the ore barons are only gifts from Paradise for faithful service. “I would prefer a brilliant palace to a dirty bridge... I would prefer to walk in pretext than to flash my bare shoulder blades through holes in rags... I would prefer to refrain from excessive gaiety than to suppress excessive sorrow... I would prefer to win rather than be captured. Yes, the whole kingdom of fortune will receive nothing from me but contempt; but if given a choice, I will take the best; everything that befalls me will turn into good, but I prefer that something more convenient, pleasant and less painful for the one who will have to turn it into good happens.” [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 35-36].

But Gothic goes further in criticizing stoicism: the game universe itself feels the hypocrisy of the Old Camp system. As noted earlier, Stoicism is militaristic in spirit. This is why the Old Camp after the Old Mine collapsed, i.e. The world order of the camp collapsed, he started a war in the colony, capturing the mine of the New Camp. Reproduction of world order requires radical measures. This is the will of the Logos.

If, according to the tenets of Stoicism, the Logos is immanent, then for the sectarian camp it is transcendent. The sect camp represents the Platonists of the colony. This tradition is based on the rigid opposition of immanent and transcendental. Primacy in this case belongs to the transcendent. Many objects of reality are only a semblance of genuine transcendental essences, eidos [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 329]. Any eidic essence is permanent and unchanging, while immanent objects are changeable and impermanent [Plato. Selected dialogues..., 1965, p. 168]. Then human souls, being eidic in nature, are immortal and unchangeable [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 345-346]. But since man is immanent, he must become as similar to the transcendent as possible. And since in the limit the transcendental is the totality in the form of the divine, then assimilation to the divine is necessary, which is possible thanks to virtue [Plato. Laws. Post-law..., 2014, p. 165-166]. Within the framework of the tradition, he distinguishes two classes of virtues: the first class contains such virtues as health, beauty, physical strength and wealth; second class – rationality, moderation, perseverance and justice [Plato. Laws. Post-law..., 2014, p. 84]. It is essential that the collective differs from the individual only in scale, then the same set of virtues is inherent in both the individual and the collective [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 80]. Through justice, the assimilation of the divine by an individual or a collective to the highest degree is achieved [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 348].

Fairness is expressed in the following: each element of the system must clearly perform one highly specialized function and at the same time be fully provided with everything necessary for the successful implementation of this function. At the level of the individual, this is primarily rationality and order of thoughts; at the level of the collective, this is expressed in the fact that each member of the collective knows his place and performs highly specialized activities [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 153-154]. The need for justice is due to the fact that a person, like an instrument, is able to perform one single activity as efficiently as possible [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 86]. But since the division of labor raises the question of the distribution of benefits in the team, it is necessary to talk about justice as a principle of distribution, so that everyone has everything necessary to satisfy their own needs and successfully perform activities. Only under the condition of a sufficiently effective distribution of benefits will there be no reason for strife within the team and friendship will reign between its members [Plato. Laws. Post-law..., 2014, p. 130, 183, 185].

Needs are the reason for the formation of groups [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 80]. That is why a sectarian camp is needed. This camp is organized according to the Platonic ideal of structural organization, according to which, due to the need for division of labor, it is divided into three groups: farmers, guards and philosophers [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 155]. The ordinary sectarians of the camp correspond to the farmers, the templars of the camp are obviously the guards, and the gurus are the philosophers of the camp. Gurus are involved in the transcendental, for they possess sacred knowledge about the essence and existence of the Sleeper. Within the framework of the tradition, it is argued that it is they who should have power, since their striving for knowledge of the true, eidic, makes them the most competent in matters of virtue [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 198]. Templars in the camp, in full accordance with tradition, are needed only to protect the camp and carry out operations requiring combat skills [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 138]. As for ordinary sectarians, they mostly have no property or have it in almost equal quantities, as a result, according to the provisions of tradition, conflicts between them based on property inequality are impossible [Plato. Laws. Post-law..., 2014, p. 175-176].

The only entertainment in the sectarians' camp is smoking swampweed, which apparently causes genuine religious ecstasy. Plato taught that it is necessary to practice obtaining pleasure so that it does not deviate the individual from performing virtuous actions [Plato. Laws. Post-law..., 2014, p. 88]. The virtue of fortitude is not only to endure difficulties and suffering, but also to experience pleasure with equanimity: “directed pleasures and sufferings constitute education” [Plato. Laws. Post-law..., 2014, p. 104]. In this path, smoking swampweed is an excellent means for training in virtue and fortitude. The value of the bogwort is recognized at the very top of the camp hierarchy: Yuberian, the head of the sectarian camp, carefully encourages the breeding and smoking of the bogwort. In general, Huberian represents the ideal monarch of the Platonic tradition, for the fewer people in power, the more effective it is [Plato. Laws. Post-law..., 2014, p. 160].

The Platonist must think about the eternal and transcendental and be in full confidence that a reward awaits him, since the deity takes care of those who lead a life of justice, and they will be rewarded accordingly; otherwise, punishment awaits [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 348-350]. Platonism is built on lies. The Deity cannot but be blessed and cannot cause harm, but if anyone doubts this, then such people should be fought with all possible methods [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 94]. Platonism does not tolerate dissent. They will openly lie to their followers about the divine, the sacred, the transcendental and true state of things in reality. It is perfectly acceptable to lie about the fact that people are nothing more than dolls of deities, if this promotes abstract virtue, so that people voluntarily follow it, consciously [Plato. Laws. Post-law..., 2014, p. 97, 115]. A white lie is a blessing, like medicine in the hands of a doctor [Plato. State..., 2015, p. 103]. Lies are total within the framework of the practical aspect of the Platonic tradition: they simply cannot work otherwise. Platonism in practical application is totalitarian, which fully represents the camp of the totalitarian sect of the Gothic world.

The last camp is the New Camp. This camp represents, subjectively, the most interesting late antique tradition - the Epicurean. The key aspect of the Epicurean tradition lies in the strict opposition of the categories of necessity and freedom and in the attempt to apology the latter. The basic principle of the tradition is the clinamen: the arbitrary deviation of an atom from a straight path. According to the canon of tradition, any phenomenon has a reason for its occurrence. Epicurus adopted from Democritus and his teacher Leucippus the doctrine of atoms, which includes the position of vortices: all the variety of objects of reality are vortices of atoms. Since it is necessary to prescribe the cause of the emergence of vortices and how atoms moving in space rectilinearly in a strictly given direction could interact with each other, the principle of clinamene was formulated.

The principle of clinamen denies necessity and embodies true freedom and pure chance, therefore the main maxim of Epicureanism has the following formulation: “Necessity is a disaster, but there is no need to live with necessity” [Materialists of Ancient Greece..., 1955, p. 219]. But if clinamen at the atomic level is an accident, then at the level of consciousness, thanks to it, free will becomes possible [Titus Lucretius Car. On the nature of things..., 1958, p. 66]. But the matter is not limited to the apology of free will: within the framework of the tradition, the most important Epicurean values, such as ataraxia, friendship and social conventions, are based on the principle of clinamen [K. Marx, F. Engels. Works..., 1975, p. 97-98, 176].

The key value of the Epicurean tradition is ataraxia, equanimity of spirit, a state in which nothing can disturb, distract or involve in any external activity, the achievability of which is possible only through knowledge of reality as it really is, and the reasons for the diversity of phenomena and getting rid of false ideas about things [Gassendi, Pierre. Works..., 1966, p. 111, 114]. Getting rid of false delusions includes an attitude towards the divine as the embodiment of ideal ataraxia, therefore the transcendental is fundamentally unable to influence mortals: the divine is blissful and self-sufficient, does not need anything and is not involved in any activity [Materialists of Ancient Greece..., 1955 , With. 209]. The transcendent is brought out in the intermundium, beyond the boundaries of the universe, and there is nothing to do with the immanent [K. Marx, F. Engels. Works..., 1975, p. 174]. For this reason, water magicians could not recognize the Spirit in the protagonist, since its very appearance is unnatural according to the provisions of tradition.

The desire, like the divine, for ataraxia is possible thanks to a social convention that clearly fixes the rights and powers of the contracting parties, because only under this condition is the absence of the possibility of involvement in unnecessary and unwanted activities and protection from potential harm in case of offenses guaranteed, as well as justice is ensured [Materialists of Ancient Greece..., 1955, p. 217]. Negotiability and compliance are the most important virtues of Epicurean social practice. It is important that to achieve ataraxia, distancing from macrosociety is required: social upheavals, political actions, economic crises, various kinds of propaganda, etc. should not worry the Epicurean, and he should not get involved in them [Materialists of Ancient Greece..., 1955, p. 222]. In contrast to this, friendship and microsocial connections are of inestimable importance. The Epicurean tradition emphasizes the great importance of friendship as a necessary condition for ataraxia and a happy life [Materialists of Ancient Greece..., 1955, p. 216, 220].

Friendship is a necessary condition for ataraxia, but not sufficient. A sage must be content with a small amount of goods necessary for life [Materialists of Ancient Greece..., 1955, p. 222-223]. The sage must discard false unnatural desires and needs, such as the desire to possess wealth. Ataraxia is a condition in which there is no suffering; the fact of satisfying needs does not have value in itself, but the situation when there are no needs has value. For example, the need for food: bliss lies not in the consumption of food directly or in the consumption of delicious dishes, but in the absence of hunger. This is called Epicurean katastematics.

The new camp was founded on the grounds that there was no need for slave labor in the mines to supply ore to the king; instead, you can try to find out the real reasons for the emergence of such a terrible barrier over the colony, thanks to the activities of the congregation of water magicians, and get out to freedom. This requires the infrastructure of a separate camp. The social convention of the New Camp implies respect for every prisoner, the creation of a friendly atmosphere where everyone voluntarily works for the sake of liberation. Finally, free communication within the camp is guaranteed, such as the possibility of unhindered dialogue with camp leader Lee.

General Lee, in fact, despite the fact that he is the leader of the New Camp, is not an epicurean. He is driven by only one goal: revenge. He wants to get out of the colony to take revenge on his offenders, including the king. General Lee is, however, a Stoic. But, if we turn to the classics of the Stoic tradition, then, for example, Lucius Annius Seneca spoke of Epicurus as follows: “It is not Epicurus who encourages them to indulge in the excesses of luxury: devoted only to their own vices, they hasten to cover them with the cloak of philosophy... They are not able to appreciate how sober and dry is what Epicurus calls pleasure (at least I, I swear by Hercules, understand it this way)... I myself believe - and in this I disagree with my colleagues - that the teaching of Epicurus is sacred and correct, and if you approach closer to him, then it’s very sad” [Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Philosophical treatises..., 2001, p. 22-23]. In general, it is normal for Epicurean gardens to be headed by a non-Epicurean, as long as this does not contradict the sacredness of social convention. The image of General Lee is a reference to the image of Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption. But if Lee inherited stoic principles from him, then he inherited the manner of blaming the king and his retinue for defeats in the war and his own fate from the German field marshals. The war with the orcs is developing sadly for the kingdom. Who is guilty? Of course the king. If it weren’t for that one, then the royal generals would have shown how to fight. Mirtana’s disasters are clearly caused by the fact that the king became arrogant and overestimated his own strength after a series of victories [Manstein E. Lost victories..., 1999, p. 336-337]. The terrifying cruelty of the king towards his subjects, due to which he decided to defeat the orcs, is not capable of bringing final victory in the war [Guderian G. Memoirs of a Soldier..., 2012, p. 523]. Sacred revenge became the goal of life for General Lee. Firmness in the pursuit of achieving a set goal is another recipe for individual salvation in the Gothic seria.

The strength of the New Camp is unity that is based on friendliness. And thanks to this, in fact, it was the only camp that managed to maintain the organization after the fall of the barrier, forming a corps of mercenaries. But they failed to maintain the friendship of the team.

Since, according to the Epicurean tradition, social convention is the basis of social cooperation, it is permissible that a collective can agree that it is quite appropriate to engage in robbery. By this logic, members of the New Camp robbed the provisions of the Old Camp. The consensus of the collective determines the norms of behavior. A system is perfect if everyone who signs the convention consistently adheres to it. But what happens if one of the team members turns out to be a moral monster and does not fully comply with the convention?

Criticism of epicureanism in the Gothic series accelerated in the second part of the series, when such characters as Silvio and Bulko were among the mercenary corps. Since they signed the social contract, others recognize them as friends, but they are clearly abusing their position. Since, according to the provisions of tradition, the convention is sacred, and they signed it, then in fact any claims against them are groundless. In the end, both went to the valley of the mines to hunt dragons, which, one might say, became the final verdict on the organization of the New Camp.

The problem of what to do in the case when formally the parties to the convention are capable of contracting, but in fact are morally unable to fulfill it, has no solution within the framework of Epicureanism. This problem, by the way, has not been solved even in modern forms of liberalism, within which social convention, similar to Epicureanism, has a high value. The only possible solution to the problem is to remove the moral aspect by turning to natural law, for example, in the form of universal human rights. But in this case, natural law loses its metaphysical meaning and is reduced to a specific form of positive law, designed to correct other positive norms. Then the tradition that declares freedom to be the main value turns into one of the most terrible and totalitarian ideologies.

All three traditions agree on one thing. All three traditions exalted virtue; all three traditions called for turning to philosophy in order to achieve a happy and serene life; all three argued that one should live in accordance with nature. But all three traditions differ radically in particulars. The legacy of late ancient philosophy is perfectly represented in Gothic. On the one hand, given the fact that the colony is a closed space, it is highly likely that any real social organization within such a space would be similar to the camp system of the Khorinis colony. On the other hand, recently in our reality the practices of ancient philosophies are becoming increasingly popular, therefore it is necessary to have an idea of their principles and problems [Ado P. What is ancient philosophy?..., 1999, p. 293-295]. Because the potential of ancient philosophy will never be exhausted. As K. Marx argued, ancient philosophers will forever remain our teachers [K. Marx, F. Engels. Works..., 1975, p. 119].

SLEEPING

What is the point at which it becomes possible to unequivocally state that the protagonist accepts the role of hero and chosen one? In Gothic, such a moment is the act of rebirth of the hero.

Gothic plays on the Orphic narrative several times, the essence of which is rebirth, thanks to which a relationship with the divine is possible. According to the Orphic tradition, human nature is dualistic: there are divine, Dionysian, and sinful, material, titanic principles [Aegean pre-philosophy, 1970, p. 126, 128]. The goal is to cleanse human nature from the sinful component and reveal the divine [Aegean pre-philosophy, 1970, p. 128]. But since for this the soul undergoes many acts of rebirth, each time finding itself again captive in a vicious reality, in the human body, it is necessary to interrupt the cycle of rebirth, thereby finally earning godlikeness [Aegean pre-philosophy, 1970, p. 128-129].

The hero's journey to the afterlife is an essential moment of any myth. Thus, Hercules, Odysseus, and Orpheus descended into Hades; An Akkadian-Sumerian myth tells of the captivity of Ishtar and Dumuzi in the afterlife; the Egyptian myth about the solar boat of Ra passing along the underground river Duat and many other myths from various cultures. The descent into the afterlife and subsequent return represents an act of rebirth of the hero, his renewal and formation. Particularly indicative in this path is the myth of the rebirth of Osiris, when he acquires new essential qualities for himself as the ruler of the afterlife [Myths and legends of the peoples of the world..., 2004, p. 89].

The nameless hero of the Gothic series experiences an act of rebirth twice: the first time when he descends into the Old Mine and for the first time enters into battle with chthonic creatures in the form of crawlers, and the second time when he defeats the Sleeper and returns to life as Xardas.

The descent into the depths of the Old Mine is seen as the beginning, in fact, of the Gothic plot itself, since up to this point the protagonist is not a hero at all, but a typical prisoner of the colony. But thanks to a heroic act in the form of a journey into the depths of the mine, he, overcoming chthonic forces, is reborn and reveals the divine principle within himself. A journey into chthonic space is similar to the act of initiation of a hero [Eliade M. Selected works..., 2000, p. 155].

This is confirmed by the fact that only after the rebirth of the hero it becomes possible to carry out a ritual, the essence of which is the repetition of the act of cosmogony of the colony [Eliade M. Selected works..., 2000, p. 29], which is expressed in the collection of focus stones for magicians. Carrying out such a ritual is possible only under the condition of victory over the chthonic forces, the goal of which is not the ordering of the cosmos, but a return to Chaos [Eliade M. Selected works..., 2000, p. 148].

Perhaps the most interesting point is the question of why the main antagonist of the first part is called the Sleeper? What is the meaning of this name? The answer to this question entails two hypotheses.

The first hypothesis, multitude of events of the Gothic game are a dream of the main character. Since the moment the main character enters the colony, he is beaten by local prisoners, it is possible that he is exhausted. And at that moment he dreamed his own adventure in the Valley of Mines. The hypothesis is so brilliant that it cancels the entire essence of the games, as well as everything in this topic.

Second hypothesis. Since the nameless hero represents the manifestation of the Hegelian Spirit, he is absolutely free; freedom appears as fear, as the possibility of possibility [Kierkegaard, Soren. Fear and trembling..., 2010, p. 166], such as the ability to choose a camp or friends, for example. Fear as a passionate desire for adventure and travel [Kierkegaard, Soren. Fear and trembling..., 2010, p. 159]. Fear and freedom are what moves the hero and the Spirit to achieve feats. S. Kierkegaard elegantly called the feeling of fear dreams of the spirit [Kierkegaard, Soren. Fear and trembling..., 2010, p. 158], which is fully represented in the image of the Sleeper: this chthonic creature embodies the a priori desire for heroism. In other words, Sleeper is a euphemism for the player's anticipation of epic and heroic events in the game.

As a result of defeating the Sleeper, the hero is reborn a second time. But in this case, a situation arises when the Spirit manifests its own dialectical nature: by doing good, it brings evil into the world. The victory over the Sleeper awakened the dragons, and the victory over them led to defeat in the war with the orcs. This emphasizes the soteric aspect of the Gothic series. If for individual salvation it is enough to be faithful to friendship, and otherwise at least adhere to the conscientious fulfillment of one’s own duties or have firmness in goal-setting, then universal salvation is possible subject to the disappearance of the Hegelian spirit.

CONCLUSIONS

So, the world of the Gothic series is a coherent cosmic space, including three main levels of the universe (celestial, chthonic and real) and three key centers, represented by a system of camps. All three camps represent the three main late antique traditions of philosophy with corresponding criticism of their doctrines. It should be noted that Gothic is apolitical, since none of the communities represented in the games pursues the achievement of the common good. The key idea of Gothic is the opposition of the gifts of Prometheus and Epimetheus, which is embodied in the insoluble conflict between the technogenic civilization of people and natural harmony in the form of the wild orc people. The Gothic narrative is deeply Christian, therefore one of the central problems is soteric. The Gothic series offers friendship, responsibility and diligence, as well as determination as recipes for individual salvation. A necessary condition for collective salvation is the elimination of the Hegelian spirit.

 REFERENCES 

1. Платон. Собрание сочинений в 4 т. Т. З / Пер . с древнегреч.; Общ. ред. А. Ф. Лосева, В. Ф. Асмуса, А. А. Тахо-Годи; Авт. вступ. ст. и ст. в примеч. А. Ф. Лосев; Примеч. А. А. Тахо-Годи. — М.: Мысль, 1994. — 654 с.
2. Виц Б. Б. Демокрит. — М.: Мысль, 1979. — 212 с.
3. Италийская философия / Чанышев А.Н.  — М.: МГУ, 1975. — 216 с.
4. Элиаде М. Избранные сочинения: Миф о вечном возвращении; Образы и символы; Священное и мирское / Перев. с фр. — М.: Ладомир, 2000. — 414 с.
5. Экономика и религия / Ф. Капелюш. — Москва; Ленинград: Гос. изд-во, 1927 (Л.: тип. Печатный двор). — 141 с., 3 с. объявл.
6. Платон. Избранные диалоги. Перевод с древнегреческого. — М.: Художественная литература, 1965 — 442 с.
7. Юнг К.Г. Душа и миф: шесть архетипов. Пер. с англ. — К.: Государственная библиотека Украины для юношества, 1996. — 384 с.
8. Клаузевиц К. О войне / Пер. с нем. А. Рачинского.,— М.: Издательская корпорация “Логос”; Международная академическая издательская компания “Наука”, 1994, — 448 с.
9. The “total” war. / Ludendorff E., Lawrence H., — London: “Friends of Europe”, Publications № 36, 1936 p. 30
10. Дигесты Юстиниана / Перевод с латинского; Отв. ред. Л.Л. Кофанов. Т. I. – 2-е изд., испр. – М.: Статут, 2008. – 584 с.
11. Аристотель. Сочинения в четырех томах. Том 4 / Пер. с древнегреч. и ред. А.И. Доватура, — М.: Мысль, 1983.,— 830 с.
12. Томас Гоббс. Сочинения в двух томах. Т.2 / Сост., ред., авт. примеч. В. В. Соколов; Пер. с лат. и англ. М.: Мысль, 1991. 731 с.
13. Диалоги о государстве — о законах / Марк Туллий Цицерон; Сост.: И.Н. Веселовский, В.О. Горенштейн, С.Л. Утченко; Отв. ред.: С.Л. Утченко.  — М.: Наука, Ладомир, 1994. — 223 c.
14. Фома Аквинский. Сумма теологии. Т.IV. Первая Часть Второй Части. Вопросы 68-114. / Пер. с лат. Под ред. Н. Лобковица, А. В. Апполонова. — М: Книжный дом «ЛИБРОКОМ», 2012. — 688 с.
15. Фома Аквинский. О королевской власти к королю Кипра, или О правлении князей / пер. А. В. Марея // Социологическое обозрение. 2016. Т. 15, № 2. С. 96–128.
16. Локк Дж. Сочинения: В 3 т. / Пер. с англ. и лат. Т. З / Ред. и сост., авт. примеч. А. Л. Субботин. — М.: Мысль, 1988. — 668 с.
17. Patriarcha; or the Natural Power of Kings. By the Learned Sir Robert Filmer Baronet. — London: Richard Chiswell, 1680. — 13 p.
18. Гегель Г. В. Ф. Философия права. // Пер. с нем.: Ред. и сост. Д. А. Керимов и В. С. Нерсесянц; Авт. вступ. ст. и примеч. В. С. Нерсесянц. — М.: Мысль, 1990. — 524 с.
19. Аристотель. Метафизика / Пер. с др.-греч. П. Д. Первова и В. В. Розанова.,— М.: Институт философии, теологии и истории св. Фомы, 2006,—  232 с.
20. Наука логики: в 3-х т. Т. 2. Учение о сущности / Г. В.Ф. Гегель ; Ред. М. М. Розенталь ; АН СССР, Ин-т философии. — М. : Мысль, 1971. — 248 с.
21. Гегель Г. В. Ф. Философия права. // Пер. с нем.: Ред. и сост. Д. А. Керимов и В. С. Нерсесянц; Авт. вступ. ст. и примеч. В. С. Нерсесянц. — М.: Мысль, 1990. — 524 с.
22. Рак И. В. Египетская мифология. — М.: ТЕРРА — Книжный клуб, 2004. — 320 с.
23. Платон. Избранные диалоги. / Пер. с др.-греч. А. Егунова; сост., вступ. ст. и ком. В. Асмуса. — М.: Художественная литература, 1965 — 442 с. 
24. Мифы и легенды народов мира. Древний Египет / И. В. Рак; Месопотамия / А. И. Немировский, Л. С. Ильинская.— М.: Литература, Мир книги, 2004.— 432 c.
25. Легенды и мифы древней Греции. Пособие для учителей. Изд. 5-е. / Н. А. Кун. — М.: «Просвещение», 1975. — 463 с.
26. Сенека Луций Анней. Философские трактаты / Пер. с лат., вст. ст., коммент. Т.Ю. Бородай. – Спб.: Алетейя, 2001. – 400 с.
27. Сенека Л. А. Нравственные письма к Луцилию; Трагедии / Пер. с лат. и вступ. статья С. Ошерова; Сост. и научн. подгот. текста М. Гаспарова; Коммент. С. Ошерова и Е. Рабинович.— М.: Худож. лит., 1986.— 543 с.
28. Марк Аврелий Антонин. Размышления / Пер. А.К. Гаврилова., — Ленинград: Наука, 1985, — 246 с.
29. Платон. Государство / Пер. с древнегреч. А.Н. Егунова., Вступ. ст. Е.Н. Трубецкого., Коммент. В.Ф. Асмуса., Примеч. А.А. Тахо-Годи. — М.: Академический проект, 2015. — 398 с.
30. Платон. Законы. Послезаконие. Письма / Платон ; [вступ. ст. Я. А. Слинина]. — Спб: Наука, 2014. — 519 с.
31. Платон. Избранные диалоги. М.: Художественная литература, 1965. — 440 с.
32. Материалисты Древней Греции. Собрание текстов Гераклита, Демокрита и Эпикура / Общ. ред. и вст. ст. Дынник М.А. – М.: Государственное издательство политической литературы, 1955. – 239 с.
33. Гассенди, Пьер Сочинения в 2-х томах. Т. 1. / Ред. и вст. ст. Е. П. Ситковского., Пер. с лат. А. Гутермана. – М.: «Мысль», 1966. – 431 с.
34. Тит Лукреций Кар. О природе вещей / Пер. с лат., вст. ст. и ком. Ф. А. Петровского. – М.: Издательство АН СССР, 1958. – 260 с.
35. К. Маркс, Ф. Энгельс. Cочинения. Т.40. Изд. Второе / М.: Изд. политической литературы, 1975 — 728 с.
36. Манштейн Э. Утерянные победы / Сост. с. Переслеrин, Р. Исмаилов. — М.: ООО "Фирма "Издательство АСТ"; Спб.: Теrrа Fantastica, 1999. — 896 с.
37. Гудериан Г. Воспоминания солдата / Гейнц Гудериан. — М.: Вече, 2012. — 560 с.
38. Эгейская предфилософия. / А. Н. Чанышев — М.: МГУ, 1970. — 240 с.
39. Адо П. Что такое античная философия? / Перевод с французского В. П. Гайдамака. — М: Издательство гуманитарной литературы, 1999. — 320 с.
40. Кьеркегор, Серен. Страх и трепет / Пер. с дат. Н.В. Исаева, С.А. Исаев. — М.: Культурная революция, 2010, —  488 с.
41. Irwin W., Conard M. T., Skoble A. J. The Simpsons and Philosophy: the D'oh! of Homer. Blackwell Publishing. The Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Culture Series, 2001.