Messenger of darkness (The essence and image of the Impostor in the tragedy of A.S. Pushkin "Boris Godunov")

The article is analyzing the image of the Impostor's character in "Boris Godunov" tragedy by Alexander Pushkin. It is noted that with a closer, adequate historical-philological and theological approach to the epithets which the principal characters of the tragedy use to describe the Impostor, the latter emerges as a "persona inferna" (an infernal mask in Latin) - a power-mad ambitious climber who sold his soul to the Devil, a symbol and tool of the Time of Troubles. The author analyzed works of national and foreign authors who discussed the subject of the Impostor's character. The article addresses works of the Holy Fathers of Orthodox Church explaining the essence and meaning of such concepts as "Enemy-pleaser", "heretic" and "impostor" in particular.