The ancient poet and philosopher in M. Arnold’s dramatic poem “Empedocles on Etna”

„Empedocles on Etna”, called by Arnold „dramatic poem”, was not meant to be staged. In a work with three actors (Empedocles, his pupil Pausanias and the poet Callicles) there is almost no action, the predominant role is given to the monologues of the famous philosopher. The article analyzes the image of the main character of the poem. The state of the man of transition era in Ancient Greece, suffering from disappointments, doubts, loneliness, Arnold considered consonant with modernity. Lonely, disillusioned in the world Empedocles is contrasted in the poem with Callicles, who joyfully accepts life. Episodes of Ancient Greece mythology are interwoven into the text of the poem, contributing to the understanding of the image of Empedocles, the nature of the relationship between the characters. Empedocles’ monologues touch upon the problems relevant to the Victorian era, connected with the new attitude to the universe, to nature, to the problems of faith. Empedocles with his “congestion of the brain” is close to the author (according to Arnold himself). Thus, without deviating from the facts of the biography of the ancient poet and philosopher, Arnold, in essence, creates a portrait of his contemporary.