Richard Chen

pg. 21 — "Cybele again stuck out her pointed red tongue..."
In the mythologies of Ancient Greece along with several parts of Asia Minor, Cybele was considered the Mother of all gods, goddesses, humans, fawns, and faunas. In one popular story, she gave birth to a child, named Attis, whom she fell deeply in love with. In order to keep him to herself, she forced Attis to vow to never marry or elope with any other woman. Instead of keeping to his promise, Attis, instead, fell in love with a princess. Once Cybele got word of this, she interrupted their wedding ceremony, causing all to go mad; Attis, regretfully, escaped his mother's wrath and was deeply saddened by his unkept vow. He staggered to a nearby pine tree in grief, castrated himself, and committed suicide. When Cybele found his body, she was struck with grief and asked Zeus to preserve his body. Zeus, feeling sorry for the loss of her son, declared the pine tree to be sacred and for it to last throughout all seasons.

Within the context of Sonechka, the description of Cybele sticking out her forked tongue may draw subtle foreshadowing of what's to come, including the infidelity of Sonia's husband, Robert Victorovich. Additionally, in the context of this passage, it was stated that Robert was dwelling on an experience where he saw a beautiful prostitute during his travels to Italy. This thought of unfaithfulness is reflected in Cybele's myth, in which Robert, like Attis, though both under vows to be with their loved ones (marriage in the case of Robert), eventually broke them.

pg. 21 — tsarist
Tsarist autocracy is a form of governance, found in old Russia, where the absolute monarch, the Tsar, would have complete control over all of Russia's domains. The tsarist regime was first started by Ivan III (otherwise known as Ivan the Great), when he took reigns in the mid-to-late 15th century, and was changed significantly with the Russian Revolution of 1905, which led to the creation of a new Russian constitution along with several "checks and balances" within the government.

pg 24 — “To my teacher I owe having become neither a green nor a blue, neither parmularius nor scutarius…”
This is a direct quotation from Marcus Aurelius's Meditations. Marcus Aurelius was an Ancient Roman Emperor from 161-180 AD and was considered one of the "Good Emperors" among the "Five Good Emperors of Ancient Rome." He often wrote and philosophized regarding his life and actions, which led to Meditations among other works.Deciphering the phrase, "To my teacher," historians remain unsure as to whom Marcus Aurelius refers, as he had many tutors within his lifetime.

"[H]aving become neither a green nor a blue" refers to the two main teams who competed against one another within the Hippodromes scattered across the Roman city, with a major one being the Circus Maximus. During the times of the Ancient Romans, it is an understatement to suggest that people were religious and devout when it comes to these games; citizens would often find themselves within the factions of Blue or Green and would often get into literal faction fights, where people would be killed and maimed, for having an allegiance to the opposing teams. The competitions and the gladiator games were without a doubt a major part of Roman life and traditions at that point.

As for "parmularius," this refers to a type of gladiator who fought in these games, often bearing a small shield called a parma, along with shin armor and larger shoulder armor plates. "[S]cutarius" is another type of gladiator, often bearing a large shield, but in exchange, have only one shin plate along with a smaller shoulder plate.

In combining all these aspects of the phrase together, Marcus Aurelius was trying to convey that he was thankful for his teacher for teaching him not to be too involved in these "useless" gladiatorial fights and games, teaching him to be stoic and unbiased when it comes to making decisions. In the context of the passage within Ulitskaya's book, Robert Victorovich most likely seem to have said this as a means to convey that he shouldn't be "too involved" with Sonya as he was an aspiring artist, further foreshadowing of what's to come within the novella.

pg. 24 — Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor who was considered to be the last of the "Five Good Emperors of Rome," ruling the Roman Empire from 161-180. He unexpectedly became the emperor after the death of the Aelius Caesar, the heir to the emperor Hadrian's throne, and after his adoptive uncle, Antoninus Pius, became emperor. It was said that Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic philosopher, often praised by philosophers, academics, writers, politicians, and so on for centuries to come. His most famous writing is the Meditations, in which he wrote down his thoughts about his own experiences.

pg. 24 — Hippodrome
A large arena built across the Roman Empire where gladiators would fight, chariots race, simulated battles shown, and many more events occur for the entertainment of all Romans. 

pg. 24 — “In either case the human is destroyed, private life forfeit”
This is alluding to the rise of Communism within Russia, based on the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto. Under  Marxist Communism, class conflicts occur due to capitalism, where the rich would do whatever means possible to exploit their workers in order to turn a profit. Because of Russia's high poverty rates and class struggles during the early-mid 20th century, a revolution began in which it would establish a form of Communism (altered by Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin) as the central form of governance. This resulted in the physical surrender of private properties as well as the metaphorical surrendering of the private sphere among each citizen living in Russia during this period.

pg. 25 — Gamaliel
A teacher who was much revered in Judaism. Known as Gamaliel the Elder, he was thought to be the grandson of the great Jewish teacher, Hillel the Elder, as well as the teacher of Paul the Apostle under Christianity.

pg. 25 — Marx
A German philosopher born in the early 19th century. He is considered the "father of Communism" and wrote many famous works, including the co-authored piece, The Communist Manifesto, as well as his three-volume series, Das Kapital. His writings emphasize the contradictory nature of basic human rights with the implementation of Capitalism, stating that the nature of capitalism encourages the exploitation of workers, which takes advantage of the poor, working class. This, in his theory, would lead to instability or, in extreme cases, the downfall of entire nations. Marx's works are highly influential and were one of the building blocks of establishing the Soviet Union's form of governance.

pg. 25 — Gorky
Arshile Gorky. An Armenian-American abstract expressionist painter who lived in the early-to-mid 20th century. His works are comparable to the famous giants such as Jackson Pollack and Mark Rothko. It is said that his paintings reflected the tragedies and experiences during the Armenian Genocide. 

pg. 25 — Ehrenburg
Ilya Ehrenburg was a highly respected Soviet author, journalist, and poet, who penned many books, stories, and poems detailing the historical events of the Soviet Union. His famous works as a journalist covered World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II. He also wrote of the atrocities that the Nazi regime participated in, making him a revered author among Soviet leaders and citizens. Despite his roots in Russia, he also helped published articles and books critiquing the reign of Joseph Stalin, as well as the genocides of Jews that the Soviet Union partook in. In all, he was highly influential and has been credited with publishing over 100 titles. 

pg. 25 — Apollinaire
Guillaume Appollinaire was a French author, poet, playwright, and art critic during the late 19th to early 20th century. He is well-known for critiquing the emergence of Surrealism and is credited with coining the term Cubism. His life was cut short after serving in WWI, dying of the Spanish Flu pandemic.