The Wise Men of Antiquity and the Socialist Imagination in Soviet Animation of the 1970s

Abstract This chapter examines three animated films inspired by Greco-Roman antiquity that focus on narratives about intellectuals and inventors: Short Stories: Diogenes of Sinope (1970) by David Cherkasskii, Icarus and the Wise Men (1976) by Fyodor Khitruk, and Kolya, Olya, and Archimedes (1972) by Yuri Prytkov. By analyzing these animated films within their cultural and political contexts, this chapter investigates the creative strategies used to portray the wise men of antiquity, revealing a complex set of meanings and subtexts embodied in the stories of Diogenes, Icarus, and Archimedes. The chapter argues that these images serve a didactic purpose, conceptualizing the idea of civilizational development and the Soviet Union’s leading role in it, while also reflecting widespread public attitudes toward intellectuals in Soviet society. Additionally, it suggests that these films allude to the unstable position of scientists and intellectuals, who, in the late 1960s and 1970s, were affected by the repressive policies of the Soviet state.