Abstract
This study focuses on the motif of the echo in Baroque literature. It is based on an analysis of the Latin legend of Saint Ivan by Fridrich Bridel (1619-1680), Vita sancti Ivani, primi in regno Boëmiæ eremitæ (The Life of Saint Ivan, the First Czech Hermit; Ludmila Sedlčanská, Prague 1656).
This book was written as a prosaic biography with occasional lyrical passages, one of which is a dialogue between the hermit Saint Ivan and his own echo. As St.
Ivan meditates on life in the wilderness and on the vainness of the world, his echo consoles him and gives him advice. This text refects a popular motif in other European literature of its time, characterized by a renewed interest in ancient myths and their philosophical and Christian interpretations.