People need heroes, or rather, not so much themselves as legends about them. After all, when the life of a real person is surrounded by myths, it is so easy to love and admire him. Or better yet, set an example. Such people are not humanly ideal - they are honest and selfless, and they do not die out of stupidity in a drunken fight, but only by performing a great feat, in the name of the common good. And although these are all fairy tales, they help those who believe in them to become better and work on themselves in the hope of reaching the level of their hero. Let's learn about one of the varieties of such ideals - about the heroes and knights of the Russian land. After all, although over the past centuries it is hardly possible to establish the truth about their lives, they were great people, since the memory of them has been preserved to this day.

Who are the heroes, and where did this word come from?

From time immemorial, this noun has been used to refer to warriors with superhuman abilities, usually physical strength and endurance. Most often, these valiant knights were heroes of folk medieval Slavic epics and legends. The main occupation of the heroes of the Russian land was to protect it from enemies, as well as measure strength and demonstrate prowess by performing feats.

Most linguists agree on the Turkic origin of the term “hero” (“brave”, “brave hero”). Probably, especially distinguished warriors began to be called this way with the beginning of raids on the lands of Rus' by steppe nomads. And among them, the word Bahādor meant a hereditary title, which was given to especially distinguished fighters, an analogue of the European knightly title. This noun was first mentioned in this meaning in a Chinese chronicle of the 8th century.

There are mentions of Mongolian knight-heroes in Italian chronicles of the 13th century, as well as in the famous Slavic document of the 13th-14th centuries. - Ipatiev Chronicle.

It is not known exactly when and why the Slavic knights, who specialized in protecting themselves from the steppe “heroes,” began to be called a foreign word. But already in the chronicles of the XV-XVI centuries. this term is used precisely in the sense of a Slavic hero-defender.

There is an opinion that, when faced with valiant Russians, the Mongols called them knights, that is, “heroes.” The Slavs liked this name because of its similarity with the word “God,” and they themselves began to call their own heroes this way, as if hinting at godlikeness. Moreover, some heroes of the Russian land were identified with ancient deities, for example Svyatogor. And although at the time this concept arose, Rus' had already been baptized, the process of full Christianization itself took several centuries, and Orthodoxy took root only because it had absorbed a good half of pagan rituals and beliefs.

The question of the cultural affiliation of the epic knights

Almost all legends, tales and epics about the heroes of the Russian land relate to the period of Kievan Rus, namely the time of Vladimir the Great. Because of this, disputes about the nationality of the knights do not subside. After all, they are claimed by Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians at the same time.

To understand why this happened, it is worth remembering where the Old Russian state was located. Under Prince Vladimir, it included the lands of modern Ukraine (except for its steppe part), Belarus and a small piece of Poland and the Russian Federation. Please note, according to the chronicles, during the times of Kievan Rus, the lands of Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir, Ryazan, Rostov and Galich were not considered Russian.

The spread of Christianity is closely intertwined with the concept of "Rus". By the 14th century In the chronicles, the lands where Orthodoxy was widespread began to be called Russian. And all of the above cities also began to be called as such. This is evidenced by the chronicle document “List of Russian cities far and near”, which lists these great Slavic trading cities, in addition to them, there are Bulgarian and Lithuanian ones. This is precisely what, according to historians, indicates that the concept of “Russian” was synonymous with “Orthodox” in the minds of people of that time.

In this way, this name spread to the inhabitants of other Slavic territories, which were not initially considered as such. And after the final collapse of Kievan Rus, it was Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir, Ryazan and Rostov that were able to strengthen their influence in this region and took responsibility for protecting it from the steppe inhabitants. They became the core on the basis of which in the future the Moscow Principality arose and strengthened, which years later turned into Russia. And its indigenous inhabitants, according to tradition, began to call themselves Russians. This name has stuck with them to this day.

This version is supported by the fact that the main occupation of the classical heroes of the Russian land, according to epics and legends, was not just the defense of borders from the Mongols and other steppe inhabitants, but also the defense of the Christian faith. This feature of them is emphasized more than once in legends.

Therefore, when talking about the heroes of the Russian land during the existence of the Kyiv state, Ukrainians and Belarusians have every right to classify them as their own culture. After all, in those centuries it was these peoples who left Rus'.

On the other hand, the popularization of most epic heroes occurred in a later era precisely through the efforts of the inhabitants of the future Russia, who not only sang the exploits of the legendary knights of Rus', but also added many of their own to their pantheon. So its people also have the right to Slavic defenders from the steppes. Moreover, it was this literature that gave the world numerous beautiful poems about the heroes of the Russian land.

Disputes about the cultural affiliation of the legendary knights between the three nations are unlikely to ever cease. But they bring some benefit. The fact is that Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians have their own views on the interpretation of the biography and the very image of the hero. The defenders of the Russian land in the epic of each nation are endowed with special features characteristic specifically of its mentality. This provides a lot of interesting material for research by historians and linguists. And who said that truth is not born in disputes?

What categories are epic heroes and knights of the Russian land divided into?

Scientists also argue about how to classify the heroes of tales and legends. The most famous are 3 theories:

• Knights are divided into older and younger generations.
• There are 3 heroic eras: pre-Tatar, Tatar and post-Tatar.
• The heroes of the Russian land are divided into those who lived in the pre-Christian and Christian periods. It is worth noting that pre-Christian knights are few in number. Their images are often close to ancient pagan deities.

While the heroes of the era after the baptism of Rus' are often more humane. Most of them accomplished their feats during the reign of Vladimir the Great. This is probably because this period was considered the most successful in the history of the Kyiv state. And although the highest point of development were the years of Yaroslav’s reign, almost all events from the life of classical Christian heroes are associated with the era of the Red Sun. Perhaps, in order to more successfully spread the new religion among the Slavs, the exploits of all the heroes they respected began to be associated with the era of its implementer. By the way, he himself was declared a saint, and yet he was a rapist and murderer, as mentioned in the chronicles.

Some historians believe that in fact there were fewer knights themselves. There were simply wandering stories about nameless heroes. In each locality, special names and biographies were invented for these nameless heroes of the Russian land in order to tie them to their own history. That is why their exploits are often similar: to woo a bride, kill a snake, fight a horde, suffer from boasting.

Pagan heroes

The most famous hero of this period is Svyatogor. He is described as a knight of gigantic proportions, who, by the way, lived outside of Rus' - in the Holy Mountains.

This character hardly had one prototype and is a composite one, and, moreover, borrowed. Tales about him usually describe 3 fragments from his life:

• Death due to boasting of one's own strength.
• Finding the predicted spouse.
• Betrayal of his wife and acquaintance with Ilya Muromets, to whom Svyatogor transferred his sword and part of his power before his death.

Svyatogor, who is identified with a certain pagan deity, exists outside of the Kyiv or Novgorod epic cycles. While Mikula Selyaninovich and Ilya Muromets are among their brightest representatives. Therefore, probably, the legends about their meetings with Svyatogor are later (especially judging by the names) and were invented in order to show the continuity of these characters.

The bogatyr-plowman Mikula Selyaninovich also belongs to the pagan heroes from the Novgorod cycle. Judging by the structure of the name, to which a nickname was added, indicating its origin, this is an image later than Svyatogor.

All legends about Mikul emphasize his connection with the land and labor on it. She was the source of his strength. Subsequently, this plot element was borrowed from epics about other heroes.

It is noteworthy that there is no information about Mikula’s wife, but we know about two glorious daughters.

By the way, with the advent of Christianity, the character of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, as well as the holidays associated with him, were “borrowed” from Mikula.

The third cult superhero, that is, the legendary hero of the pagan era, is Volga Svyatoslavich (Volkh Vseslavyevich).

He was not only strong, but also knew how to understand the language of animals, birds and fish, and also transform into some of them.

It is believed that he was the son of Princess Marfa Vseslavyevna and the snake. Hence the werewolf abilities. If Svyatogor is considered a deity, then Volga is a demigod. In epics he is spoken of as a hero of noble birth, leading a squad by right of birth. At the same time, he takes the commoner Mikula Selyaninovich as his assistant for his valor and courage.

As for the nobility of the soul, Volga is hardly worth holding up as an example. The story of meeting Mikula describes the hero as a mediocre ruler who stifles the people with taxes.

The epics about Svyatoslavich's campaign against the Indian kingdom describe the hero not as a valiant warrior, but as a cunning and far-sighted commander who, turning into various animals, successfully led his soldiers through all difficulties and led to victory. On the conquered land, he raped the wife of the defeated ruler and, taking her as his wife, reigned there. He gave local girls to be torn to pieces by his own soldiers. So Volga is more of an anti-hero, especially in comparison with the noble plowman Mikula.

Some identify this character with the Prophetic Oleg. There are also those who compare him with Prince Vladimir. Agree, their destinies have a lot in common. In addition to the same patronymic, in Vladimir’s life there was an episode with the rape of the daughter of the Polotsk prince, who became the mother of Yaroslav the Wise. True, the mother of the future baptist of Rus' was a slave, and not a princess, like Volga’s.

Golden Trinity

Most of the remaining epic knights belong to the Christian period.

First of all, you should pay attention to the trio from Vasnetsov’s painting. Everyone can easily say the names of the heroes of the Russian land. These are Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich.

Many epics, often contradicting each other, tell about the biography of the first. They agree only in a few aspects. So, Ilya could not walk until he was 33 years old (perhaps this date is given as an analogy with Christ), but then wandering magicians heal him and punish him to go to Vladimir’s squad, where Muromets performs most of his feats. At the same time, the hero’s relationship with the ruler himself was not the best.

It is also known that the hero was married, which did not prevent him from often having fun on the side.

According to legend, in his old age, Ilya Muromets took monastic vows at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, where he spent the last years of his life. After his death he was canonized. The declaration of Elijah as a saint contributed to the preservation of his remains to this day. Thanks to this, they were explored in the 80s. Scientists have confirmed that their owner suffered from leg paralysis in his youth, and died at the age of 40-55 due to a wound in the heart area.

Dobrynya Nikitich is the second most popular character. It is generally accepted that he existed during the same historical period as Ilya. Unlike him, he was close to Vladimir. The hero is identified with his maternal uncle.

Unlike Muromets, Nikitich is known not only for his strength, but also for his intelligence. He is well educated and even plays several musical instruments.

It is worth saying that in future centuries some features of pagan and Christian deities were attributed to the heroes of Vladimir’s era. Ilya Muromets is identified with the biblical prophet Elijah and the pagan god of thunder. Rumor equates Dobrynya with St. George the Victorious, who slayed the Serpent. This is reflected in the legends about the victory over the serpent who kidnapped the beautiful Zabava.

Unlike Ilya Muromets, this hero was a faithful husband. In later centuries, in order to link the image of Dobrynya and Alyosha Popovich, a story was spread about the latter’s attempt to deceive himself into marrying the knight’s wife.

ABOUT recent years little is known about his life. According to legend, he died in the battle of Kalka. At the site of his grave, a mound was built, which still bears the name “Dobrynin”.

The positioning of Alyosha Popovich as younger arose not because of his age or physical characteristics, but because of the later period of his appearance. Thanks to Vasnetsov’s masterpiece, as well as modern cartoons, we get the impression that these heroes of the Russian land acted together. But they lived at different times, and the difference between Dobrynya, Ilya and Alyosha Popovich is 200 years. Despite this, the image of the latter has deeply penetrated most epics about heroes. In them he often plays a completely negative role and is distinguished by boastfulness and cunning, rather than daring. In this way he is close to Volga and, perhaps, “borrowed” several stories from him.

What do we know about his life from epics? He was the son of a priest and from childhood was distinguished by his intelligence and strength, although his lameness is sometimes mentioned. Like Dobrynya, he was a good musician.

Very few independent feats are attributed to him. The most striking is the fight with Tugarin on the road to Kyiv.

As for his heartfelt preferences, in addition to trying to deceive Nikitich’s wife, there are many stories about his relationship with Zbrodovich’s sister Alena. According to one version, because Popovich disgraced the girl, her brothers cut off his head. In other versions of this story, the hero manages to avoid death.

The real prototype of Alyosha is considered to be the Rostov boyar Olesha Popovich.

Seven popular knights with unusual stories

It is not only the heroes of Vasnetsov’s painting that folk epics are alive with. They often feature other characters. Let's look at the most famous of them and find out the names of the heroes of the Russian land who became famous in later periods.

Danube Ivanovich. This knight is known not for his exploits, but for his sad love story. Together with Dobrynya, he went to the Lithuanian prince to marry his daughter to Vladimir the Great. In a foreign land, he meets her sister Nastasya, and love arises between them. The girl helps Danube escape from death by ransoming him from the executioners and releasing him to Kyiv.

During his next visit to Lithuania, the hero no longer pays attention to his savior. Taking offense, the girl changed into a man’s dress and, catching up with the Danube in the field, started a battle with him. The hero did not recognize her and, having won, almost killed her. However, old feelings prevailed, and the knight took her as his wife.

At the wedding, Danube boasted of his prowess, and his wife - of her accuracy. The newly-made husband decided to shame his wife and demanded to show her skills. Nastasya displays accuracy that would make even William Tell and Robin Hood cry in the corner with envy - she hits the thin silver ring on the head of the Danube hero three times. The disgraced husband decides to repeat her feat, but turns out to be not so good and accidentally kills his wife with an arrow. Before her death, he realizes that she was pregnant, so he also killed his child. In despair, the knight commits suicide.

Sukhman Odikhmantievich. This name, so unusual for the inhabitants of Rus', belongs to a hero who became famous for his fight against the Tatars. Perhaps he himself was a native of the steppes, but then went into the service of Prince Vladimir, who again played a bad role in this story. He ordered the knight to deliver him a white swan, either for the zoo, or this is an allegorical name for the bride.

Sukhman was unable to complete the assignment because he was seriously wounded in the battle with the Tatars. Overcoming the pain, he returned to Kyiv empty-handed, but spoke about his victories. The prince did not believe him and sent him to prison.

Dobrynya goes to foreign lands in order to find out the truth, and finds confirmation of the hero’s words. Vladimir is going to reward him, but the proud hero chooses death.

By the way, the prince’s distrust and the knight’s resentment testify in favor of the version that Sukhman was a stranger.

Another hero of the period of Vladimir the Great is Nikita (Kirill) Kozhemyaka, mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years. According to it, this knight defeated the Pecheneg hero in a duel, and afterward popular rumor attributed to him the victory over the snake.

Perhaps the legends about him are partially borrowed from the Bible. Thus, the duel with the enemy is a clear reference to the story of David and Goliath. And victory over the serpent makes him similar to St. George the Victorious. Although, perhaps, a snake is a metaphorical description of the Pecheneg.

Duke Stepanovich. This is another hero from the time of Prince Vladimir. However, he can only be called a hero of the Russian land only reluctantly. Since he was originally from Galich, which, as we remember, did not belong to Vladimir’s Rus'. It is difficult to understand why this character is called a hero, because apart from wealth and boasting, there are no other special “feats” listed for him. According to legend, he comes to Kyiv and begins to actively criticize it and all its inhabitants. To prove that he is right, he has to take part in a marathon of boasting, in which he wins and, proud of his “achievement,” leaves the princely city.

Khoten Bludovich, a hero whose name bears an overt sexual context, became famous for his desire to get married. The epics say that, despite his strength and glory, he was very poor. Because of this, the mother of his beloved China Chasovaya (another “Slavic” name in this story) refused the noble knight. This did not stop the brave hero, who systematically dealt with all the relatives of his beloved, and at the same time destroyed the army of the local prince. In the finale, he married his charming lady, and at the same time took the wealth left behind by those killed.

However, not all heroes were associated by rumor with the period of Vladimir’s reign. After the collapse of Kievan Rus, other heroes of folk epics began to appear. For example, the defender of Ryazan is Evpatiy Kolovrat. Unlike the classical heroes, he was not a composite image, but was a real historical figure who risked giving an unequal battle to the Mongol-Tatar army in revenge for the destruction of the city. Unfortunately, he died, but his courage earned respect even from his enemies.

Also among the heroes is the monk-warrior Alexander Peresvet, who participated in the Battle of Kulikovo. Although he is positioned more as a monk and then a warrior. However, combat skills do not appear out of thin air, and, therefore, before taking monastic vows, Peresvet had its own heroic history. He, too, was canonized.

Belarusian asilki

Such epic heroes as velets or asilks stand apart from other heroes. The most common stories about them are in Belarusian folklore.

Asilkas are the name given to pre-Christian giant heroes. They not only fought with snakes and other enemies, but created rivers and mountains. It is believed that for their pride they were cursed by God and turned to stone or went into the ground alive. Mounds appeared on the site of their graves.

Some researchers include Svyatogor in this category. Other scientists correlate the Velets with the ancient Greek titans or biblical giants (children of angels who rebelled against God).

Women knights

At all times, the Russian land was famous for its heroes. But these were not always men. People's memory has also retained mention of several heroes, who were usually called “polenitsy”.

These women were able to withstand not only their enemies, but also seriously compete with the epic heroes, and sometimes even surpass them.

The most famous Polenitsa are the two daughters of Mikula Selyaninovich, Vasilisa and Nastasya.

The first became the wife of the Chernigov boyar Stavr Godinovich, whom she saved from prison by dressing in a man's outfit and winning a competition.

The second married Dobrynya, having previously defeated the knight in a duel.

The aforementioned wife of the Danube hero Nastasya also belongs to the Polenitsa.

Many stories about heroes are associated with Ilya Muromets. Apparently, before taking monastic vows, he loved many strong women. Polenitsa is considered to be his wife Savishna (who saved Kyiv from Tugarin), as well as his temporary lover Zlatygorka, who gave birth to his mighty son Sokolnik. Also a hero was the nameless daughter of Muromets - another accidental fruit of love, seeking revenge for her mother.

Marya Morevna stands apart from the others. She is considered one of the most popular female characters and is the prototype of Vasilisa the Wise and Marya the Princess. According to legend, this steppe warrior defeated Koshchei the Immortal. So modern feminists have some Russian heroines to look up to.

Children-heroes

The glorification of heroes and their exploits was done not only in order to preserve the memory of them, but also in order to set them as an example for others. That is why the epic knights and their exploits were embellished and magnified. This was done especially actively when it was necessary to tell children about the heroes of the Russian land. Then these characters were turned into moral ideals to be equaled.

Often the adult characters and their problems were too difficult to understand. Therefore, stories about the exploits of children were told especially for them. Such characters were called seven-year-old heroes.

Epics and tales about them were more often typical specifically for Ukrainian literature, but were also found among other peoples.

The characters could be either boys or girls, as well as twins.

One of the first stories about the youth knight concerns the period of Vladimir’s father, Prince Svyatoslav. In those days, a nameless boy got out of Kyiv, which was surrounded by the Pechenegs, and managed to bring help to his hometown.

So the tradition of setting examples of the heroes of the Russian land for preschoolers and schoolchildren has very deep roots.

Interesting facts

Worth paying attention:

• In Mikhail Lermontov’s poem “Borodino,” his hero-narrator compares the classic generation with the epic knights, not in favor of the former (“Yes, there were people in our time, Not like the current tribe: Bogatyrs - not you!"). But if we talk about physical data, the average height of the legendary heroes-defenders of the Russian land was 160-165 cm (except for Ilya Muromets, who was a real giant at that time and was 180 cm tall), while under Mikhail Yuryevich, such growth was clearly not heroic.
• According to legends, the father of Svyatogor is considered to be a supernatural creature that kills with its gaze. Many identify him with Gogol's Viy.
• The Budenovka hat, which for a long time was part of the compulsory uniform of a Red Army soldier, looked a little like the erikhonka helmet, in which artists often depicted knights. Therefore, among the soldiers she was often called the “hero.”

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Introduction

The Russian lands are vast and rich, there are many dense forests, deep rivers, and abundant golden fields. Since ancient times, hardworking and peaceful people lived here. However, peaceful does not mean weak, and therefore quite often farmers and plowmen had to put aside their sickles and plows and take up arms to defend their land from numerous enemies - nomadic tribes, warlike neighbors. All this was reflected in folk epic songs, which glorified not only the skill and hard work of the common people, but also their military valor. Powerful and majestic images of heroes appear before us in epics, such as Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich, Svyatogor, Mikula Selyaninovich and others. I wondered what kind of heroes they are today, do they exist now?

In my work I would like to understand who the heroes are, who we can call a hero, and whether there are heroes today.

In this regard, we chose the topic of our research work - “Bogatyrs of the Russian Land”.

Goal of the work: find out who the epic heroes are and whether there are heroes in modern life now

To achieve the goal, the following are set: tasks:

find out who the hero is;

find out what qualities a hero should have;

3) get acquainted with literature and works of art about Russian heroes;

4) meet the “great” people of our time;

5) compare the qualities of epic and modern heroes;

conduct a survey of students in grades 2 - 4 in order to find out what qualities a real hero should have, who can be called a hero of our time;

analyze research results;

spend a class and spend an hour making a project with students on the topic: “Russian heroes”, create a film about modern heroes.

The study is based on hypothesis: let's say that heroes are defenders from enemies, warriors with great strength. It is possible that the heroes lived a very long time ago and are no longer there. What if the hero is an example of the great spirit of the Russian person.

Object of study- Russian bogatyrs

Subject of study- qualities of heroes.

During the work were used methods:

Information search method (analysis and synthesis of literature on the research topic)

Observation;

Questioning.

Theoretical significance: systematization and generalization of material on the research topic.

Practical significance: practical use of the acquired material in lessons, classroom hours, in extracurricular activities, in everyday life by parents in raising children

Bogatyrs of the Russian land

I.1. Where did the word “hero” come from?

Nowadays, the word “hero” can be heard very often: “heroic strength”, “heroic health”, “heroic sleep” we say, “heroic” we call every strong and healthy person, athlete, commander, war veteran.

But even 150-200 years ago, every Russian, when saying “hero,” compared someone with the epic defenders of their native land.

What does this word “hero” mean and where did it come from in our language? At first, the opinions of scientists were of three types:

1. Some believed that the word “hero” was borrowed from the Tatar and Turkic languages, where it appears in various forms: bagadur, batur, batyr, bator. It is assumed that the word has a meaning of a historical nature, that its original form of the word was “hero” and that it was originally used in the meaning of “Tatar governor” and a title like the present “lord”.

2. Scientist F.I. Buslaev, derived “hero” from the word “God” through “rich”.

3. Historian of Russian literature and folklorist O.F. Miller and others believed that the word “hero” is Russian and goes back to ancient Slavic history (pre-Aryan origins and the Sanskrit language). The opinion was based on the position that “bagadur” is not a Tatar word, but was borrowed from the Sanskrit baghadhara (possessing happiness, successful).

Against borrowing from Tatar language philologist V. Kozhinov and historian L. Prozorov are in favor of Slavic origin. They claim that the word “hero”, much closer to the epic form, appeared in the inscriptions of the Bulgarians - “bogotur” (some of these bogoturs have completely Slavic names - Slavna).

Our opinion about the word “hero” also supports Slavic origin. It didn’t come from anywhere, but was always originally Russian. This opinion is based on the ancient Slavic culture of our people in the period before the Baptism of Rus'. This is confirmed by many scientists and historians that Russia has a great past and is much older than previously described.

I.2. Epic heroes

The theme of heroes takes us more and more into the ancient culture and history of our people.

Epics are the ancient wisdom of our people. The epic comes from the word “byl”, and it comes from the ancient Slavic verb - “to be”, that is, what was and happened. The epics were composed by storytellers - guardians of Russian antiquity, bearers of the historical memory of the people. They walked from village to village and chanted (like a song) about the great events of our homeland, about the heroic heroes, their exploits, about how they overcame evil enemies, defended their land, showed their bravery, courage, ingenuity, and kindness.

In our research, we tried to include ancient figurative thinking and get to know the epic heroes better.

We learned that according to legends and ancient epics, there first existed giant heroes. Let's get to know some of them.

Gorynya (Sverni-gora, Vertigor) - a mountain giant with superhuman strength, turned up stones, broke mountains, violated (changed) the nature of things: “

Dubynya (Dubynech, Vernidub, Vyrvi-oak) - A forest giant with superhuman strength. In his forests he behaved like a caring owner:

Usynya (Usynych, Usynka, Krutius) - River giant, rules the water element

Danube Ivanovich - Strong mighty hero, »

Svyatogor is a giant hero of incredible strength. " (Annex 1)

Epic epics about elemental heroes, in our opinion, glorify the majesty and spirituality of nature and bring us through the centuries the wisdom of unity and interconnection of everything in the world. The epic elemental heroes are not people, but they fully correspond to the original image of the hero. The power of natural elements is superior to human, powerful and of divine origin (creative and destructive). She is generous with natural gifts and patronizes everything: animals, vegetation, humans. We assume that this is why the elements were represented in a heroic image.

The elemental hero was replaced by hero-man. According to historians, epics about the same hero were written for centuries (in different centuries) and reflect the exploits of real warriors. That is, the images of most epic heroes are collective (collected from various folk heroes and events). Let's get acquainted with some heroes from the epics “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich”, “Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin the Serpent”, “Dobrynya and the Serpent”, “Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor”, “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber”, “Healing of Ilya Muromets”, “Ilya Muromets and Kalin - Tsar”, “Ilya Muromets and Idolishche”. (Appendix 2)

The epic hero-man also corresponds to the original meaning of the word “hero”. The performers of the epics gave a very simple explanation to the most incredible epic episodes: “In the old days, people were not at all like they are now—bogatyrs.”

According to epics, heroes are endowed with superior strength from birth or upon reaching spiritual maturity. According to legend, such power was given only to spiritually mature people, because a less spiritual person could use such power to the detriment of others. It seems like a fairy tale, but even my great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers talked about such unusual people in their times. And also the heroes are spiritually strong. The strength lies in the fact that they perform feats for the benefit of the entire people not for rewards, but for the triumph of truth, justice, and freedom; they defend Mother Rus' without sparing their lives under any circumstances (unequal battle, etc.). Bogatyrs show best qualities- love for the native land, selfless courage and perseverance, independence of spirit, struggle for justice, truth, honor, etc.

We think that the unification of Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich is the call and desire of the people for unity. The strength of the people is in unity. The combination of the qualities of the three heroes suggests that to protect the homeland and victory, not only the strength of the onslaught is important, but also resourcefulness and the ability to resolve the issue peacefully. “Three Bogatyrs” is an image of the heroic spirit and power of the Russian people. In the old days they said: “The Slav’s hands are at work, and his mind is with the Almighty.”

I.3. Modern heroes

Are there any heroes in the modern world now? To find out, we decided to meet some of the “great” people of past centuries and our time.

Athletes: legendary champions - wrestlers I.M. Poddubny and I. S. Yarygin; champions - weightlifters V.I. Alekseev and L.I. Jabotinsky and others.

Military leaders: the great Russian commander A.V. Suvorov; Russian commander, Field Marshal General M.I. Kutuzov; marshals commanders of the Great Patriotic War A.M. Vasilevsky and G.K. Zhukov; Air Marshals I.N. Kozhedub and A.I. Pokryshkin and others.

Officers and privates of the Great Patriotic War. They are all true heroes of our Motherland. They showed perseverance, courage, ardent love for the Motherland, and fought without sparing their lives for our future and the future of Russia. We will always remember their feat! (Appendix 3)

We tried to compare the “great” people of our Motherland with the characteristics of a hero.

Characteristics of the hero:

We could not find a hero in the native meaning of the word among the “great” people of modern times. Military leaders are more like knights. Athletes compete in competitions without threatening the life of the country, and if suddenly there is a war, they may not go to it. Volunteers are strong in spirit, but may not be superior in strength and may not participate in all wars. But we do not want to say that there are no heroes. Maybe we don’t know about them; modern epics aren’t written about them. And the meaning of the word “hero” is now blurred. (Appendix 4)

Conclusions on Chapter I

In this chapter, we selected and studied literature on this topic. We found out who the hero is. We studied legends and epics, as well as epic heroes. We found out what qualities real heroes had.

The totality of military virtues is one of the most important features of a Russian hero, but physical virtues alone are not enough; all the activities of the hero must also be of a religious and patriotic nature. These are valiant heroes, brave men seeking difficult feats of arms. Military campaigns are the basis of their daily life. They form a kind of heroic community. Like the epic heroes, they were of enormous stature and immense strength; seasoned in enduring difficulties and hardships.

We asked ourselves whether my peers knew about the epic heroes, what qualities, in their opinion, real heroes should have, and whether modern heroes exist. For this purpose, we conducted research work.

Chapter II. Research

Having studied the literature, we decided to carry out practical work in order to investigate what qualities real heroes should have and to find out whether modern heroes exist; we set ourselves the following tasks:

Conduct a survey among students in grades 2 - 4 and their parents in order to find out which epic heroes they know, what qualities heroes should have, where they learned about heroes, whether it is possible to become a hero now, whether it is honorable to be a hero and analyze the results.

2 . Interview a school library librarian to find out what books modern children read.

3 . Analyze which professions people can be classified as modern heroes

5 . Create a film about modern heroes, release a panel on the theme: “Russian heroes”

II.1. Questioning of 2-4 grade students and their parents

We conducted a survey among students in grades 2–4 and their parents. 42 people (21 children and 21 adults) participated in this survey. Survey results:

To the question “who are the heroes?” children and adults wrote similar responses. General description: Bogatyrs are mighty people of the Russian land, brave, courageous (strong in spirit), warriors, defenders of their Motherland and people.

The most famous heroes:

Among children and adults, the most famous were Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich.

75% of children and 58% of adults would like to be like Ilya Muromets. Because he is the strongest, he always protected native land and was our fellow countryman.

8% of children - on Dobrynya Nikitich, because he was wise, and of the adults, 20% - on Alyosha Popovich, because he was strong, the youngest and savvy.

2% of adults - in Peresvet and Oslyabya - who, after military life, thought about the higher meaning of life, went into monasticism. 17% - 20% of children and adults wanted to be like themselves.

The main qualities of a hero

Children Adults:

Physical strength (67%) - physical strength (75%)

Fortitude (33%) - fortitude (16%)

Strength of spirit is marked by love for the Fatherland, courage, masculinity, resourcefulness, willpower, kindness, sense of justice and others.

Martial art (9%)

Children see a hero not necessarily as a warrior, but as a person always very powerful and strong in spirit. Adults see the hero not only as powerful and strong in spirit, but also knowledgeable in military matters. The main quality is powerful strength.

Attracts in heroes

But both children and adults are attracted to heroes by their spiritual qualities (courage, self-confidence, nobility, helping the weak, fighting for justice, love for the Motherland and its defense).

How did you learn about the heroes?

Children Adults:

Books (epics, tales) (67%) - books (epics, tales) (50%)

Cinema and cartoons (25%) - cinema and cartoons (33%)

Stories, excursions (8%) - stories, excursions (17%)

Children and adults learned about heroes mainly from books.

67% of children and 25% of adults believe that it cannot, because a woman has less power and it is not a woman’s business, a woman is the keeper of the hearth and family. And 33% of children and 67% of adults believe that it can, because female wisdom, cunning and ingenuity help a woman win.

Are there any heroes now? Who can you name?

83% of children and 25% of adults believe that there are no real heroes anymore, because over time people have changed or do not know about them, but the heroes remained heroes of antiquity. But 7% of children and 67% of adults believe that even now there are heroes - these are athletes, war soldiers, and generals.

Is it possible to become a hero?

Most children and adults believe that it is possible. To do this, you need to believe in yourself, play sports, be fair, kind, wise, honest, train willpower, spirit, help people, be a patriot. But some children and adults believe that it will not work. Because physical and spiritual data are laid down by nature (God). You can become a good man, a strong athlete, a hero, but not a hero.

Half of the adults and some of the children believe that it is not honorable to be a hero now. Because over time, the character traits for which heroes were respected ceased to be valued and people’s aspirations changed towards achieving material values. But most children and 42% of adults think it is honorable. Because we lack such people as heroes, who believe in eternal human values, who look to the future with hope and optimism. (Appendix 5)

II.2. Interview with a school library librarian

We interviewed a school library librarian to find out what modern children are reading.

School library librarian Natalya Rafaelovna Krivenko said that love and respect for the printed word is instilled in us from childhood. A book is the best gift, a book is a faithful friend and wise adviser. Children at all times loved poems, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales. And such authors as Barto, Zakhoder, Marshak are, of course, timeless. But older guys are increasingly asking for science fiction and detective stories. According to the librarian, once upon a time children took Krapivin and Kira Bulychev well. Dumas was read to his heart's content. Today these authors, although not so in demand, are still readable. At the same time, the guys still love Astrid Lindgren, Mark Twain, and Daniel Defoe, and read Dragunsky and Nosov. But children are reluctant to read epics, only as program material. (Appendix 6)

II.3. Modern heroes

Analyze people of what professions can be classified as modern heroes.

Let us note the main qualities of heroes:

Physical strength - very strong and powerful, endowed with superior strength from birth or later, when spiritually ready.

Strength of spirit - brave, noble, decisive, with a sense of justice, self-esteem, has independence of spirit, willpower, ingenuity, resourcefulness, loves his native land and the world around him, is ready to fight to the end even without hope of victory, to give his life for his homeland and people .

Military - may or may not be trained in martial arts. Free in decisions and from duty of service.

The work of his whole life is to protect the people and native land from a mortal threat, not out of duty or personal gain (reward), but at the behest of the soul.

Such characteristics, in our opinion, include people of the following professions - policeman, rescuer, firefighter, military man.

After we found out who the hero is, identified his main characteristics, talked with the librarian of the school library, we decided to introduce my classmates to what new and interesting things I learned about heroes. We spent a class hour (Appendix 7, 8), made a project with the students on the topic: “Russian heroes” created a film about modern heroes.

Conclusions on Chapter II

Thus, we carried out research work in order to investigate what qualities real heroes should have and find out whether modern heroes exist; we set ourselves the following tasks:

Thus, the totality of military virtues and a kind, honest disposition constitute the most important features of the Russian hero, but physical virtues alone are not enough; all the activities of the hero must also be of a religious and patriotic nature. In general, people idealize their heroes, and if they hyperbolically imagine their physical qualities: strength, agility, heavy gait, deafening voice, long sleep, then still they do not have that brutal gluttony of other monstrous giants who appear in epics, who do not belong to the category of heroes .

Conclusion

Based on the main goal of our work - to explore what qualities real heroes should have and find out whether modern heroes exist:

We selected and studied literature on this topic.

We learned from additional literature who the heroes are, studied legends and epics with epic heroes. We found out what qualities real heroes had.

We conducted a survey among students in grades 2 - 4 and their parents in order to find out which epic heroes they know, what qualities heroes should have, where they learned about heroes, whether it is possible to become a hero now, whether it is honorable to be a hero and analyze the results.

3 . We interviewed a school library librarian to find out what books modern children read.

4 . We analyzed which professions people can be classified as modern heroes.

6 . We created a film about modern heroes, release a panel on the theme: “Russian heroes”

During the study, our hypothesis was confirmed. We are confident that the topic of our research is very important for any generation, because we must know our past, the great exploits of our people, our heroes. They are an example of courage and valor, the pride of our land and nurture the Russian spirit in us.

Even though modern heroes do not look completely like heroes, they have absorbed part of their power. They are also strong in spirit, they stand guard over peace and life, they show the power and strength of our Motherland. And as long as we have such heroes, as long as we remember them, the heroic spirit of the Russian man is alive.

We think that if we combine the qualities of athletes, military leaders and people's volunteers together, then we will get the image of a real hero.

Nowadays, Russia needs heroes.

Bibliography

1. Anikin V.P. Epics. Russian folk tales. Chronicles. M.: Higher School, 1998.

2. Epics. Russian folk tales. M.: Children's literature, 2002.

3. Epics. Russian folk tales. Old Russian stories / Anikin V.P., Likhachev D.S., Mikhelson T.N. M.: Children's literature, 2009.

4. Rybakov B.A. Rus': Legends. Epics. Chronicles. M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences, 1998.

5. Selivanov V.I. Bogatyr epic of the Russian people / Bylina. M.: Children's literature, 2010, vol.1. - p.5-25.

6. Website Wikipedia

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8B%D1%80%D0%B8

Pictures from the Internet site

http://go.mail.ru/search?mailru=1&q=%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B8+%D0 %B1%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8B%D1%80%D1%8C

Thesaurus

• Bogatyr - characters from epics and legends, distinguished by great strength and performing feats of a religious or patriotic nature. Historical records and chronicles contain indications that some of the events that became epics actually took place. The heroes stood guard over Rus', at the outpost.

  The epic is about the exploits of heroes and reflects the life of Ancient Rus' in the 9th-13th centuries; a type of oral folk art, which is characterized by a song-epic way of reflecting reality.

  Epic heroes are the main characters of epics. They embody the ideal of a courageous person devoted to his homeland and people. The hero fights alone against hordes of enemy forces.

Annex 1.

Bogatyr-element

Bogatyr	Description and skills
Gorynya (Sverni-gora, Vertigor)	A mountain giant with superhuman strength turned up stones, broke mountains, violated (changed) the nature of things: “ Captures the mountain, carries it to the ravine and makes a road, or rocks the mountain with his little finger.”
Dubynya (Dubynech, Vernidub, Vyrvi-oak)	A forest giant with superhuman strength. In his forests he behaved like a caring owner: “The oak tree lays out (levels): which oak is tall, it pushes into the ground, and the oak tree that is low, pulls it out of the ground” or “the oak tree tears out”
Usynya (Usynych, Usynka, Krutius)	River giant, rules the water element : “he stole the river with his mouth, he catches fish with his mustache, he cooks and eats on his tongue, he dammed the river with one mustache, and along the mustache, as if on a bridge, people walk on foot, horses gallop, carts ride, he’s as long as a fingernail, a beard is as long as an elbow, his mustache drags along the ground , the wings lie a mile away.”
Danube Ivanovich	mighty hero, “The Danube is not like other heroes; obviously a stranger from other countries, exuberant in spirit, he is distinguished by some special proud posture.” He was in the service of the Lithuanian king, and was married to the king’s youngest daughter Nastasya, a “woodpile warrior.” In the epic, the Danube hits Nastasya in a competition, and she dies. In despair, he threw himself on his spear and died next to his wife, flooded by the Danube River, and his wife by the Nastasya River: “ And he fell on the knife and with a zealous heart; Since that time, from the hot blood, Mother Danube River flowed»
Svyatogor	A giant hero of incredible strength. " Taller than the dark forest, his head props up the clouds. He gallops across the Holy Mountains - the mountains shake under him, he runs into the river - water splashes out of the river. Svyatogor has no one to measure his strength with. He would travel around Rus', walk with other heroes, fight with enemies, shake the hero’s strength, but the trouble is: the earth does not support him, only the stone cliffs do not collapse or fall under his weight.”

Appendix 2

Bogatyr-man

Bogatyr	Description and skills
Mikula Selyaninovich	A mighty hero-plowman (oratai). He is stronger not only than Volga, but also his entire squad." ...the good squad is spinning the bipod around, but they can’t pull the midges out of the ground...Then Oratay-Oratayushko came to the maple bipod. He took the bipod with one hand, he pulled the bipod out of the ground...” Mikula helped defend his land from enemies, but did not give up his agricultural work. He said: " Who will feed Rus' then?” Mikula's strength is in connection with the land and the common people.
Alesha Popovich	A Russian young hero from Rostov, who was distinguished by strength, courage, daring, pressure, audacity, resourcefulness, cunning and cunning. Where strength was lacking in battle, he won with ingenuity. He is boastful, overly crafty and evasive. He is distinguished by his determination, wit and cheerfulness. Able to call on natural phenomena for help (rain, hail...) “...Alyosha had a profitable plea...”
Nikitich	Russian hero from Ryazan, hero-warrior and diplomat (negotiated without bloodshed). He combined great strength, boundless bravery and courage, military skill, nobility of thoughts and actions, education, foresight and foresight. He knew how to sing, play the harp, was skilled in chess, and had extraordinary diplomatic abilities. Dobrynya expresses his heroic qualities in all epics, jealously guards the dignity of the Russian warrior, he is reasonable in his speeches, restrained, tactful, a caring son and a faithful husband.
Ilya Muromets	The great Russian hero from near Murom, a peasant hero. He is distinguished by great spiritual strength. And endowed with powerful physical strength. He is distinguished by a selfless, limitless love for his homeland (patriotism), a sense of justice, self-esteem, courage, boldness and daring. He is honest to the last detail and straightforward. He is generous and kind when it does not concern his enemies. This is a mature and experienced defender of the Russian land.

Appendix 3

Prominent people of Russia

Athletes: legendary champions - wrestlers I.M. Poddubny and I. S. Yarygin; champions - weightlifters V.I. Alekseev and L.I. Jabotinsky et al.
Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny (1871-1949) professional wrestler and athlete	Comes from a poor peasant family from the Poltava region to a poor peasant family. From an early age he helped his father plow the land and thresh rye. The simplicity of the peasant way of life and hard physical labor instilled extraordinary perseverance in the boy’s character and helped him accumulate powerful strength, for which the Russian nugget would become famous in the future. While working as a loader in the port of Sevastopol, he would lift a huge box onto his shoulders, which was beyond the strength of even three people, rise to his full enormous height and stride along the trembling gangplank. Honored Artist of Russia (1939), Honored Master of Sports (1945). Knight of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1939) “in the development of Soviet sports.” In 1905-08. world champion in classical wrestling among professionals. He fought in the circus arena until he was 70 years old. In 40 years of performances, he has not lost a single competition. He won brilliant victories over almost all the strongest professional wrestlers in the world, for which he was recognized as the “champion of champions.” This title was awarded to him by popular rumor. People called him “Ivan the Invincible”, “Thunderstorm of Champions”, “Man-Mountain”, “Ivan the Iron”. When the German occupation began in the Second World War, Poddubny already had a heart problem at that time, he was 70 years old, but he refused to be evacuated and stayed. The Germans offered him to train German wrestlers, but he remained loyal to his homeland: “I am a Russian wrestler. I will remain so“After the liberation of Yeysk, Ivan Maksimovich traveled to nearby military units and hospitals, spoke with his memories and raised the morale of the people. A monument was erected in Yeisk, there is a museum and a sports school named after him. On the gravestone of I.M. Poddubny is carved: “Here lies the Russian hero.”
Military leaders: great Russian commander A.V. Suvorov; Russian commander, Field Marshal General M.I. Kutuzov; marshals commanders of the Great Patriotic War A.M. Vasilevsky and G.K. Zhukov; Air Marshals I.N. Kozhedub and A.I. Pokryshkin and others.
Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov (1730-1800) great Russian commander	Born into a military family of noble origin. He spent his childhood on his father's estate in the village. Suvorov grew up weak and was often sick, but his desire for military affairs from an early age and the decision to become a military man inspired Suvorov to strengthen his body. He hardens himself and does physical exercises, makes long treks on foot in any weather, and develops endurance. During his life, the legendary commander fought 63 battles, and all of them were victorious; went through all levels of army service - from private to generalissimo. In two wars against the Ottoman Empire, Suvorov was finally recognized as the “first sword of Russia.” Recipient of numerous awards. Possessing extreme personal courage, he rushed into the heat of battle, paying for it with repeated wounds. Unselfishness, generosity, good nature, simplicity of manner attracted all hearts to him. Suvorov showed a humane attitude towards civilians and prisoners, and severely persecuted looting. Suvorov's patriotism was based on the idea of ​​service to the fatherland, a deep belief in the high fighting abilities of the Russian warrior ( “There is no braver Russian anywhere in the world”). Suvorov entered the history of Russia as an innovative commander who made a huge contribution to the development of military art, developed and implemented an original system of views on the methods and forms of warfare and combat, education and training of troops. Suvorov's strategy was offensive in nature. Suvorov's strategy and tactics were outlined by him in his work “The Science of Victory.” The essence of his tactics is the three martial arts: eye, speed, pressure. His name has become synonymous with victory, military skill, heroism and patriotism. Suvorov's legacy is still used in the training and education of Russian troops. “My offspring, please follow my example!..”
Officers and privates of the Great Patriotic War. They are all true heroes of our Motherland. They showed perseverance, courage, ardent love for the Motherland, and fought without sparing their lives for our future and the future of Russia. We will always remember their feat!

Appendix 4

In library…

Appendix 5

Who would you like to be like? (V %)

The main qualities of a hero? (V %)

How did you learn about the heroes? (V %)

Can a woman be a hero?

Are there any heroes now?

Is it honorable to be a hero in our time?

Appendix 6

Interview with a librarian

Appendix 7

Class hour

"Bogatyrs - defenders of the Russian land"

Not long ago we celebrated the holiday “Defender of the Fatherland Day”. Motherland, Fatherland are sacred words dear to every person. It is the duty of the people to defend their land. In the name of the fatherland, warrior-defenders serve.

Russia is strong and powerful. Russia has always been famous for its defenders, from ordinary soldiers to generals. The famous commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov believed that there is no better soldier than a Russian anywhere in the world. He himself will not get lost, and he will save a comrade, and where his strength is weak, he will reach there with his wits. And the opinion of the legendary generalissimo can be trusted. The Russian soldier is rich in truth.

Historically, our people have had to fight against foreign invaders for centuries. The names of the Kyiv princes Svyatoslav Igorevich and Vladimir the Red Sun sounded menacing to the Polovtsians, Khazars, and Pechenegs.

Where do Russian warriors get their inexhaustible strength from? They say that they inherited it from distant ancestors, about whom songs and legends were composed - from epic heroes who lived 1000 years ago, but the glory of their exploits as defenders of the Russian land and their Fatherland from ancient times has reached our days . It is these strongmen, intercessors and fair warriors that we will talk about today.

Glory to our side

Glory to Russian antiquity!

And about this old thing

I'll start telling you

So that you all can know

About the affairs of our native land.

Times are different now

Like thoughts and deeds -

Russia has gone far

From the country it was!

Our people are smart and strong

Looks far ahead

But ancient legends

We must not forget!

Glory to Russian antiquity,

Glory to our side!

Strong as the free wind,

Powerful as a hurricane.

He protects the earth

From the evil infidels!

He is rich in good power,

He protects the capital city.

Saves the poor and children

And old people and mothers!

Our Mother Rus' is great!

High is the height of heaven,

Deep is the depth of the ocean-sea,

There is wide expanse throughout the entire earth.

The Sorochinsky Mountains are deep,

The Bryansk forests are dark,

The Smolensk stones are large,

Russian rivers are swift and bright.

And also strong, mighty heroes in glorious Rus'.

Glorious for its heroes is the Russian land!

What associations do you have with the word “hero”? (strong, brave, fearless, protector...)

How does the explanatory dictionary interpret the meaning of this word?

Let's turn to the dictionary of Sergei Ivanovich Ozhegov.

Bogatyr - 1) a hero of Russian epics who performs military feats in the name of the Motherland. 2) a man of immeasurable strength, stamina, and courage.

Complete the task: choose cards with those words that fit the description of the image of the hero.

Strong, lazy, warrior, protector, fool, brave, kind, cowardly, evil, weak.

What are the names of folk songs in which the exploits of heroes are glorified? (epics)

People in Rus' have long loved to gather together on long winter evenings or bad weather. They weaved nets, repaired fishing gear, made various household utensils, and the storyteller intoned:

Listen to me, good people,

Yes, my epic, the truth - the truth!

What is an “epic”?

Let's turn to the dictionary.

Bylina- Russian folk epic song about heroes.

(Russian folk song legend)

The word “epic” comes from the word “byl”, that is, what you really were. They were created to be performed at holidays and feasts. They were performed by special people - storytellers who chanted epics from memory and accompanied themselves on the harp.

Let's listen to the harp playing.

Remember, guys, the names of Russian heroes.

Each of us has known the names of these glorious heroes since childhood.

Russian artist - Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov, depicted portraits of the most famous heroes in his famous painting.

What do you think the name of this painting is? The picture is called “Bogatyrs”.

(a reproduction of the painting “Bogatyrs” by V.M. Vasnetsov is demonstrated)

What helped you guess that the title of the painting is “Bogatyrs”?

Vasnetsov worked on the painting “Bogatyrs” for about 20 years.

Against the backdrop of the boundless steppe, the artist depicted three heroes standing guard over the borders.

Name which heroes are depicted on it? (Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich)

What do the heroes do? (All three peer vigilantly into the distance to see if trouble threatens the Russian land.)

They are ready to defend their homeland. Behind them is the entire Russian land - its fields, forests, rivers.

The picture convinces us that the Russian land is strong and powerful. And no enemy is afraid of her. Kyiv-grad stands on high hills. In the old days, it was surrounded by an earthen rampart and surrounded by deep ditches.

Behind the forests stretched the steppes endlessly and without edge. And a lot of grief came from these steppes to Rus'. Nomads flew from them into Russian villages - they burned and robbed, and took Russian people captive.

And in order to protect the Russian land from enemies, they began to erect small fortresses in the steppe - heroic outposts. They protected the path to Kyiv, protected from enemies and strangers. And the heroes began to ride around the steppe on their heroic horses. They peered vigilantly into the distance - could they see enemy fires, could they hear the tramp of other people's horses?

For days and months, years and decades, Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich protected their native land - all of them carried out military service in the steppe and in the open field. Occasionally they gathered in Prince Vladimir's courtyard to relax - to listen to the guslars, to talk with each other.

The main friend of the heroes was the horse. What's on the horse is called harness. What does this include? (Bridle, stirrups, saddle)

The heroes rode tirelessly on powerful horses, in heroic equipment, and armed, to defend the Russian land.

How are the heroes dressed? (The body is wearing chain mail - an iron shirt)

Why do the heroes need it? (She protected the heroes from blows from spears, arrows and swords). The chain mail weighed 7 kilograms.

What do the heroes wear on their heads? (Helmet)

The helmet was made of metal, it was decorated with ornaments and patterns. And those who were richer decorated the helmet with gilding and silver plates. The helmet protected the head of a warrior-hero from blows.

What other armor do heroes have? (Shields, bow, quiver with arrows, flail, club, axe, sword - mace)

The sword was the main weapon of warriors - heroes and warriors - at that time in Russia. The sword was a Russian weapon. An oath was taken on swords, the sword was revered. It was an expensive weapon and was passed down from father to son. The sword was worn in a sheath so that it would not rust. The sword handle and scabbard were decorated with ornaments and patterns. Patterns on the scabbard and hilt of the sword were applied not only for the purpose of decoration, but also for the purpose of assisting its owner, who wields the sword.

Ilya Muromets is the most famous and, at the same time, the most mysterious hero of the Russian epic. It is difficult to find a person in Russia who has never heard of this glorious hero from the ancient city of Murom.

But Ilya Muromets did not immediately become a hero. He sat there for thirty years and three years, and let’s see what happened next.

(View snippet)

Ilya Muromets embodies the best qualities of a person: courage, honesty, loyalty, love for his homeland. Epic stories tell about his miraculous strength, about the fight against the Nightingale the Robber. (Slide 29)

Images of heroes are the people's standard of courage, justice, patriotism and strength. It is not for nothing that one of the first Russian aircraft, which had an exceptional carrying capacity at that time, was named “Ilya Muromets”.

For many modern people, it is a revelation that the popular hero of the epic is revered as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church. Ilya Muromets was officially canonized in 1643 among sixty-nine other saints of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. The memory of the holy hero is celebrated on January 1. The relics of the saint are still in the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv.

The memory of Ilya Muromets was always kept in his homeland - in the village of Karacharovo and the city of Murom, where there was no doubt about his real existence and origin. And where a monument was erected to him.

Dobrynya Nikitich is the second most popular hero in the epic of Kievan Rus after Ilya Muromets.

He is often depicted as a serving hero under Prince Vladimir. Dobrynya is the hero closest to the prince and his family, carrying out their personal assignments and distinguished not only by his courage, but also by his diplomatic abilities.

He embodies education, excellent upbringing, knowledge of etiquette, the ability to play the harp, and intelligence (Dobrynya plays chess superbly). In epics, he often represents the interests of Prince Vladimir in foreign lands. He, like all heroes, is brave and courageous. Since childhood (from the age of 12 or 15), Dobrynya has mastered weapons.

Dobrynya Nikitich became famous for defeating the Fiery Serpent in a difficult battle, freeing many people, and among them the niece of Prince Vladimir - Zabava Putyatichna.

Alyosha Popovich - the youngest of the three heroes, the main heroes of the Russian epic

Alyosha Popovich is the son of the Rostov priest Levontius. He often visited fairs, helped people and had heroic strength. Alyosha Popovich is distinguished by courage, daring, pressure, on the one hand, and resourcefulness, sharpness, and cunning, on the other.

Alyosha Popovich saves the prince's wife Apraxia from Tugarin Zmeevich, and the Russian people from incredible burdens and taxes.

Volga Svyatoslavich is the hero of Russian epics. As a child, Volga grows by leaps and bounds, and soon becomes a mighty hero, possessing not only the art of fighting enemies, but also the ability to understand the language of birds and animals and turn into different animals.

(View snippet)

There are other epics - about heroes of peaceful labor. The most famous of them is the epic about the plowman - the hero Mikul Selyaninovich. He plows the land, feeds Rus'. In the epics of Mikulu Selyaninovich, the Russian people elevated his work so much that no one could compare with him in strength and power.

“Volga bowed to the plowman:

- Oh, you, glorious plowman, mighty hero, come with me for a comrade...

The plowman took the silk tugs off the plow, unharnessed the gray filly, sat astride her and set off.

The good fellows galloped halfway. The plowman says to Volga Vseslavyevich:

- Oh, we did something wrong, we left a plow in the furrow. You sent some fine warriors to pull the bipod out of the furrow, shake out the earth from it, and put the plow under the broom bush. Volga sent three warriors. They turn the bipod this way and that, but they can’t lift the bipod off the ground.”

Twice Volga sent his warriors to pull out that plow, but the third time he and his entire squad did not overcome it. Mikula pulled out that plow with one hand.

They know the epics of a wonderful musician - this is Sadko, a Novgorod merchant. No one can compare with him in the art of playing the harp. And one day the King of the Sea himself listened and invited him to visit him.

The oldest is considered to be the epic about Svyatogor the hero or Kolyvan, as he is also called.

Svyatogor is a Russian hero, enormous in stature, incredible strength. He is taller than a dark forest, he props up the clouds with his head. He gallops across the Holy Mountains - the mountains shake under him, he runs into the river - water splashes out of the river. Svyatogor has no one to compare his strength with. He would travel around Rus', walk with other heroes, fight with enemies, shake the heroic strength, but the trouble is: the earth does not support him, only the stone cliffs do not collapse under his weight, do not fall, so That's where he lived. It’s hard for Svyatogor because of his strength.

When the heroes gathered together, they became so strong that it was impossible to defeat them. Proverbs talk about this too.

Task: collect proverbs

The hero is not famous by birth, …………. but a feat.

There is no better thing, …………. how to protect your native land from enemies.

Courage ………. the strength of the governor.

The brave one can slurp peas, ……… but the timid one can’t even see the cabbage soup.

Our conversation about Russian heroes has come to an end. Heroes of epics and their feats of arms remain in the memory for a long time.

Remember: there is always room for heroism. There are always those who need your protection, support, approval, and a friendly smile. I wish you peace, good luck, goodness, happiness.

Appendix 8

The totality of military virtues is one of the most important features of a Russian hero, but physical virtues alone are not enough; all the activities of the hero must also be of a religious and patriotic nature. In general, people idealize their heroes, and if they hyperbolically imagine their physical qualities: strength, agility, heavy gait, deafening voice, prolonged sleep and the ability to drink in huge quantities, then they still do not have that brutal gluttony of other monstrous giants who appear in epics, not belonging to the category of heroes.

The element of the miraculous plays a large role in the destinies of heroes: they often meet with beneficial and hostile supernatural forces, but in general, in epics one can still see a desire to smooth out the miraculous element, which does not play such a role in them as, for example, in fairy tales, and has its purpose, according to Maykov, is to give the heroes a more ideal character.

Origin of the word "hero"

It has long been suggested that it was borrowed from the Turkic languages, where it appears in various forms: baghatur, bagadur, Batur, hero, Bator. But there were opponents (Orest Miller and others) of this opinion: they proceeded from the position that the word bagadur is not Tatar, but borrowed from Sanskrit baghadhara(possessing happiness, successful), and that as a result of this the Russian “hero” also goes back to the ancestral beginning. Others directly derived “hero” from “God” through “rich” (Shchepkin, Buslaev).

None of these opinions, however, should be accepted: the Tatar word may indeed be borrowed from Sanskrit, and nevertheless the Russian word is not indigenous, but also borrowed; the Sanskrit word would correspond to the native Russian “bogodar”, and in no way “bogatyr”. “Bogatyr” cannot come from the word “boga-”, since there is no suffix -yr. The fact that it does not exist in other Slavic languages, with the exception of Polish (bohater), which borrowed it from Russian, is also evidenced against the originality of the words “bogatyr”, which is proven by the presence of the sound h and hard r at the end of the word. Other explanations are historical. Khalansky thinks (“Great Russian epics”) that the original form of the word was “bogatyr” and that it was originally used in the meaning of “Tatar governor” and a title attached to proper names in the meaning of the present “lord”; Buslaev has already pointed this out.

The assumption about the borrowing of the word B. from the Tatar language. is now accepted by all Russian scientists, although, on the other hand, old false explanations of the etymology of the word are found quite often, especially in textbooks on the history of Russian literature. From the above it does not at all follow that in the pre-Tatar period there did not exist in Rus' a concept corresponding to the present concept of a hero. It only corresponded to other words in the language, for example: khorobr (later replaced under the literary influence of the Church Slavonic word brave), hobor, khorober, rezvets, daring. Then their own word was replaced by a foreign one under the influence of psychological factors: in the eyes of the people, Russian heroes, bearing the same name as the Tatar ones, were not inferior to the latter, they were opposed to them. The word “hero” itself appears for the first time in Sernitsky’s book, published without indicating the place in the city “Descriptio veteris et novae Poloniae cum divisione ejusdem veteri et nova”, which says: “Rossi... de heroibus suis, quos Bohatiros id est semideos vocant , aliis persuadere conantur.”

Let us now say a few words about the main views on B. and about the methods of studying the Russian epic.

Epics

Classification

Senior heroes

Miller lists only Svyatogor, Volga Svyatoslavich and Mikula Selyaninovich among the senior heroes; Bessonov also adds Samson, Sukhan and then Polkan, Kolyvan Ivanovich, Ivan Kolyvanovich, Samson Ivanovich, Samson Samoilovich and Molofer or Malafey; some also add Don Ivanovich and Danube Ivanovich. As you know, Miller looks at all the heroes as the personification of various natural phenomena: in the older heroes he sees menacing phenomena, hostile to people, occurring during winter; so, for example, in the image of Svyatogor the gigantic clouds that cover the entire sky are personified; younger heroes are also natural phenomena, but beneficial for humans, occurring in the summer; the walking Kaliki are wandering clouds shedding rain; Initially, both of them were represented as deities, but some were their elder generation, titans, destroyers, and others were protectors of people.

In the epics, the first are supernatural creatures, werewolves, equipped with incredible strength, while others have a completely human image, they have great, but no longer titanic, not elemental strength, and almost all live in the time of Vladimir. Marte also sees ancient Slavic deities in the older heroes (“Die russische Heldensage”).

Younger heroes

The younger heroes, in turn, are divided into native and visiting; The latter include: Solovey Budimirovich (with which Khalansky and partly Veselovsky disagree), Churilo Plenkovich, Dyuk Stepanovich and others.

Khalansky, as we have already said, completely disagrees with this division, who divides heroes into types belonging to the pre-Tatar, Tatar and post-Tatar, or Moscow era: to the first group he classifies Dobrynya Nikitich, Ivan Danilovich and Alyosha Popovich; to the second: the heroes at the outpost, Idolishche, Ilya Muromets, Vasily Ignatievich and the heroes who “transferred”; to the third: Mikulu Selyaninovich, Khoten Bludovich, Churil Plenkovich, Dyuk Stepanovich, Danil Lovchenin, forty caliks with a calico, Solovy Budimirovich. In addition, the same author divides the heroes according to the regions in which, in his opinion, they were created by the people; Thus, in the Kyiv region he counts only Vladimir himself, Dobrynya, as well as Volga Svyatoslavich, Stavr Godinovich, Ivan Danilovich, Churila Plenkovich and partly Ivan Godinovich.

Review of the most important epic heroes of Kievan Rus

These are the general views on heroes; Let us now review the views of different researchers about the main representatives of the Kyiv epic heroism in the following order: here the views of all directions, which we have already discussed in general terms, will be compared.

Svyatogor

Svyatogor, a terrible giant, whom even the earth cannot support, lies on the mountain in inaction when Ilya comes to him. Other epics tell of his marriage, his encounter with earthly cravings, and his death in a magical grave. In some epics, Svyatogor is replaced by Samson, who is named after his patronymic Kolyvanovich, Samoilovich or Vasilyevich. Many traits of the personality and life of the biblical hero Samson were transferred to Svyatogor, but in general, epics about Svyatogor have not yet been developed much. Everyone, not even excluding Miller, admits that biblical influence was strong in the creation of his image, but they are unable to explain the origin of other, non-biblical character traits.

Miller considers his name to be purely Kyiv, coming from “saint” and “mountain”, denoting a hero the size of a mountain; in his opinion, initially Svyatogor served as the personification of huge, motionless clouds that covered the entire sky. In this person, according to Miller, who knows how to “mix the earthly with the heavenly,” there is something elemental, titanic, hostile to the earth. Over time, under the influence of the Bible, the original myth about Svyatogor began to change, and this was followed by its complete identification with the face of Samson, who is a later stand for Svyatogor and partly a prefix to him in some details.

According to Veselovsky (“Bulletin of Hebrews,” 1875, April), there are some undoubted similarities between Svyatogor and Anika the Warrior, the hero of one verse of book origin, depending on the Byzantine poem about Digenis. Based on the same verse, Petrov (“Works of the Kyiv Spiritual Academy” 1871, X) brings Svyatogor closer to Yegor the Brave. Wollner also sees two words in the name of Svyatogor: holy Egor, thus the name of Svyatogor would have grown on Christian soil; Miller rebels against this, saying that there is no internal connection between Svyatogor and Yegor the Brave. Be that as it may, there are places where such a comparison occurs: Yegor Svyatogor. Wollner, explaining the origin of some details in the epic, brings them closer to the verse about Yegor in a few, however, episodes; Other sources of the epic about Svyatogor were, according to Wollner, “The Tale of Human Vigor”, “A Thousand and One Nights”, one of the Mohammedan legends about Moses, etc., and Khalansky adds to this the Caucasian Nart legends about the battle of the Narts with the giants .

Zhdanov explains the expression Yegor Svyatogor in such a way that the first name serves as a real name, and the second as an epithet. He considers the epic name of the hero “Svyatogor” to be the same epithet, which also occurs in the form “hero of Svyatogorsk”; his real name was Samson (cf. “On the literary history of Russian epic poetry,” p. 164). Thus, in the person of Svyatogor we would have united several persons: Samson, Yegor, Anika, Moses, the Nart hero, etc., and, according to Miller, also a proto-Slavic deity who controlled the gigantic clouds.

Mikula Selyaninovich

Mikula Selyaninovich appears in two epics: about Svyatogor and about Volga Svyatoslavich. They also look at him differently: Miller in his “Experience” says that with his skill he stands out from the ranks of senior heroes; he is a representative of agricultural life, possessing not quantitative, like Svyatogor, but qualitative strength, which can be called endurance. He foreshadows the appearance of younger heroes, although he still remains an agricultural deity. In another place (“Ilya Muromets”) Miller calls Mikula a plowman, initially the personification of heavenly thunder, while his magical filly, which cannot be overtaken, represents a thunder cloud.

People imagine the flight of clouds as plowing in the sky - lightning cuts through the sky like a plow cuts through the earth. The current name is taken by St. Nicholas, but underneath hides the ancient deity of thunder and lightning. He strongly resembles the German god Thor, who is also the patron saint of farmers. Porfiryev, following Buslaev, says that in the person of Mikula Selyaninovich the image of the mighty B. peasant plowman, corresponding to the Czech plowman Promysl, is presented. His terrible strength, the comparison with Svyatogor and other features in which he is depicted show that his type, like the type of Svyatogor, was formed under the influence of the image of some titanic creature, who was probably the personification of the earth or the patron god of agriculture.

This is especially indicated by the handbag with the pull of the earth, with which Mikula is depicted and which, obviously, is nothing more than an image of the earth. But he himself no longer represents the earth as an element, but the idea of ​​a settled agricultural life, in which he places his strength and significance. According to Wollner, Mikula is simply a saint. Nikolai, although it is possible, in his opinion, to explain him as the personification of agriculture. Vsevolod Miller compares Mikula with Nicholas, but not a saint, but with a rival of Alexander the Great at the Olympic Games; He produces Mikulin's bipod from a knot tied by Gordias, a plowman by origin. Veselovsky also speaks about Mikula in his work “South Russian epics”; in his opinion, Mikula Selyaninovich serves, perhaps, as a reflection of the Tsar-Plowman of Western legends: “the grandiose image of the Tsar-Plowman,” says Veselovsky, “could not but please the peasant environment, the guardian of the song, and, overshadowing everything else, involuntarily evoked questions and found a mythological explanation in our science, perhaps without any right to do so.” Veselovsky brings together the epic about Volga and Mikula with the famous Western European legend “The Walk of Charlemagne to Jerusalem and Constantinople”; accepting such an explanation, Mikula Selyaninovich would be a reflection of the Byzantine emperor Hugon.

Volga Svyatoslavovich, or Volkh Vseslavich

The main epics about Volga tell about his miraculous birth from a serpent, his campaign in India and his confrontation with Mikula Selyaninovich. Volga Svyatoslavovich, a werewolf and hunter, is considered by Propp to be one of the most ancient heroes. In his image he finds remnants of totemism, while the earlier school of folkloristics sought to identify him with real historical figures, in particular, Oleg the Prophet.

Sukhan, or Sukhmantiy, or Sukhman Damantievich

There is one epic about Sukhan, or Sukhmantiy and Sukhman Damantievich, which tells how Sukhan, offended by Vladimir, takes his own life. Bessonov sees in him a mythical creature, while Wollner sees in the epic the sentimental influence of the latest written literature.

Kolyvan

From Ivan Kolyvanovich and Kolyvan Ivanovich, who initially constituted one person, only names remained in the epics, by which, of course, it is difficult to judge with any certainty.

Danube Ivanovich

Danube Ivanovich is one of the heroic matchmakers; according to Yagich (Archiv I), he represents the personification of the Danube River, as is proven by the epithet “quiet” that constantly accompanies him in the epic. Miller also sees in him the personification of the river, but not the present Danube, but the river in general; he believes that the word Danube was originally a common noun. This river was not earthly, but heavenly, it was generally a container of water, clouds, therefore the hero, strictly speaking, is a mythical creature, the personification of a cloud.

Already the matchmaking of the Danube, according to Miller, indicates the mythical character of the hero. The everyday side of the epic differs from all other epics in the antiquity of the general flavor: morals here have not yet been softened by settled life and agriculture. On the other hand, in the Ipatiev Chronicle under 1281 and 1287. there is a mention of the governor of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich Danube. Aksakov sees the Danube exclusively as a warrior: “The Danube is not like other heroes; obviously a stranger from other countries, exuberant in spirit, he is distinguished by some special proud posture.” Danube's marriage to Nastasya is reminiscent of Sigurd's matchmaking with Brünnhilde.

According to Stasov, the epic about the Danube preserved a cosmic elemental myth, and in this he agrees with Miller. He differs from him in that he does not see in the Danube a memory of a mythical creature inherited by the Russians from their Aryan ancestors, but simply a type borrowed from mythological Asian tales. Thus, he brings Danube closer to Soma, the moon god, the hero of one story in Harivansa, with Bgrigu from the Mahabharata, with Brahman Saktideva from the collection of Somadeva; Thus, according to Stasov, India should be recognized as the fatherland of the Danube.

Ilya Muromets

A number of younger heroes begin with their main representative, the protector of the Russian land, the “old Cossack” Ilya Muromets. Compared to other heroes, a huge amount of literature is devoted to him, but despite this, the question about him also remains far from clear. We will limit ourselves here to pointing out the more original views of scientific researchers regarding this hero, views that are extremely diverse and contradictory to each other, since some see in Ilya a mythical creature, others see in him a representative of the Russian peasant class, others consider him a borrowed type and, finally, The 4th look at it as a mixture of heterogeneous elements: mythical, historical, everyday and foreign. Its very name Muromets causes disagreement as to whether it is original or not.

The oldest mention of him is in the “Message letter” of the Orsha elder Philon Kmita Chernobylsky to Ostafy Volovich, castellan of Trotsky, written in Orsha 1574, August 5th day: “Ilii Murawlenina i Solowia Budimirowicza” we read in this note; then Erich Lasota also has “Morowlin” written on it. This is the original form of this word, which only later became “Muromets” under the influence of the hero’s association with the city of Murom. O. Miller brings Ilya Muromets together with these names in a story borrowed from the notebook of the disrobed Edinoverie monk Grigory Pankeyev. In any case, these considerations do not have sufficient evidence, so most researchers refrain from making a decisive verdict; So, for example, Khalansky says that it is difficult to decide how this word was originally pronounced, although he adds that in any case it is impossible to stand for the antiquity of the form Muromets. V. Kallash definitely speaks out in this regard, who accepts both correct form: Muromets, Morovlyanin (“Ethnographic Review”, 1890).

There are many epics about Ilya, they make up a whole cycle, united by his personality; in these epics he is presented in more or less the same light, although even here a slight difference is noticed in the shading of some of his character traits; so, for example, Ilya, who frightens the robbers without causing them any harm, and Ilya, who kills his own son, are not the same.

Since popular fantasy connected Ilya the Prophet with Perun, it was very natural to transfer the features of Perun, the thunder god, to Ilya Muromets, who bore the name of Ilya the Prophet.” If we accept the mythical meaning of Ilya that Miller gives him, then it is much more rational to assume something completely opposite, namely, that Ilya Muromets, as the thunder god, initially bore a completely different name and only then, due to his rapprochement with Ilya the prophet, took over the latter’s current name Name. Orest Miller quite definitely speaks out about the mythological significance of Ilya Muromets: he says that although Ilya becomes the head of the younger heroes, understood already in the zemstvo historical sense, nevertheless, at the basis of any of his adventures a basic, albeit obscured, can almost always be seen. myth.

He was originally a thunder deity, then became an agricultural deity, and finally a heroic farmer. The main myth was covered in thick layers of historical and everyday layers, and under their influence, the character of Ilya changed; where, for example, Ilya moves from a defensive position to an offensive one, he is a reflection of the fate of the Russian land. According to Miller, Ilya, of the other heroes, is closer to Potyk and Dobrynya. Other researchers of epics do not speak so generally and break the epics about Muromets into separate plots and try to explain each moment separately. The most important moments of the epics about Ilya are as follows: Ilya sits for thirty years; receives strength from passersby (according to some epics, from Svyatogor), performs the first peasant work, goes to Svyatogor; Having received his parents' blessing, he goes to Kyiv; On the way, he captures Nightingale the Robber, liberates Chernigov from the Tatars and meets the villagers, to whom he speaks about Alyosha Popovich.

Arriving in Kyiv, he feasts with Vladimir and Alyosha throws a knife at him; then Ilya - at the heroic outpost along with his other “crusader brothers”; fight against Polenitsa, Sokolnik, Zhidovin; bad relationship with Vladimir; attack of the Tatars on Kyiv, Kalin, Idolishche; battle with the Tatars, heroes are placed together with Ilya; three “trips” of Ilya Muromets. Not all aspects have been equally developed in the literature: relatively many studies have been devoted to some (for example, the battle with his son Sokolnik), while almost no one has yet studied others in detail.

The first fact from the life of Ilya - that he sits for a long time - Miller explains in a mythological way: a kind, charitable deity must remain inactive throughout the winter, and only the honey drink of the passers-by, that is, the warm rain pouring from the spring clouds , gives this deity miraculous power. Khalansky compares the epics in which power passes to Ilya from Svyatogor with the Nart Caucasian legends, and if we accept his explanation, then Ilya is here a hero borrowed from the Caucasus. Ilya Stasov compares the youth of Ilya with the youth of the heroes of the Indian collection of tales entitled. "Mahavansi" and with Rustem's youth in "Shahname".

Ilya’s meeting with the Nightingale the Robber has been discussed several times: Stasov derives the entire epic telling about Ilya’s trip to Kiev and this meeting, of course, from the East, namely, he sees in it a reflection of the story of the Siberian Tatars about the hero of Tan, known in several editions; according to this, the Nightingale the Robber would simply be a Tatar monster, the black seven-headed bull Ielbegen. Other scientists have talked about this same issue. Miller initially saw in the Nightingale simply a singer like Bayan, whom the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” calls the Nightingale of the old time; Buslaev sees in this name the same thing as in the epithet “prophetic”; Afanasyev considers the nightingale’s singing a symbol of spring thunder and, thus, looks at our robber as a mythical creature. Melnikov compares the epic with a semi-book legend in a 17th-century manuscript. about the strong Mordvins, who bore the names of birds, including the nightingale.

According to Yagich (Archiv, I), everything that relates to the robber’s whistle is a later work, caused by the consonance of his name with the name of the bird; initially it was someone else’s hero, who did not really fit into the cycle of Russian heroes, and from there an element of hostile relations towards the Russian land appeared in the epic. But he fits well with such heroes as Anika, Samson, Malafey, Egor-Svyatogor. Further, Yagich believes that Nightingale the Robber and Nightingale Budimirovich not only have a common name, but also a common origin in some legend about Solomon, perhaps in the legend about Solomon the sorcerer.

How plausible this rapprochement is, we will discuss below, under Solovy Budimirovich. O. Miller in his “Ilya Muromets” speaks about the Nightingale somewhat differently than in “Experience”: he considers the Nightingale the Robber to be the personification of such natural phenomena as wind, whirlwind, storm. The whistle of the storm and the nightingale is here the link connecting the name with the phenomenon it denotes. The nightingale, as a representative of pure bad weather, avoided the fate of other heroes who suffered historical influence, and to this day has remained a pure mythical type. As for the heroic outpost, according to Khalansky, it is located due to the fact that in the 14th century. Border fortresses and guardhouses began to be established, and border guards were installed. At this time, the image of heroes standing at the outpost and protecting the borders of the Holy Russian land took shape in the epic epic. About Polenitsa, the same scientist believes that this name came about in this way: to mean a giant, the word polonik was used (similar in origin to the current “giant”); according to Sreznevsky, it was used in Russian books as a constant explanatory epithet of the word giant; other forms of this word were: polnik, ispolnik; Khalansky thinks that the nominative case of the masculine plural - polnitsy, polenitsy - began to be felt by the people as the same case of the hitherto non-existent word polenitsa; it was used first as a common noun for the masculine and feminine gender, and then became the proper name of the giantess who fought with Ilya and then became his wife. Memories of such a struggle between B. and the heroic woman were especially vividly reflected in German epic literature, although, however, there is no shortage of them in other literatures.

The same plot about the fight with the heroic woman is repeated in epics about other heroes, for example. about Dobrynya, Danube and friends. The episode about Ilya’s struggle with his son can only be considered using the comparative method, since we do not have any materials for historical conclusions. But the comparative method can also lead us to different conclusions: either we can see in this episode a reflection of Western European legends in the form of a song about Hildebrant and Gadubrant, or we can look for its source together with Stasov in Asia, in the poetic history of Rustem Shahname, or, finally, with O. Miller sees in this epic the pan-Aryan heritage of mythical content, preserved in the Russian edition by tradition, and not by borrowing. All in. Miller compares Ilya, struggling with his son, with the heroes of two fairy tales: Estonian (Kivyi-al) and Kyrgyz (Gali); in his opinion, both of these tales, like the Russian epic, may have arisen under the influence of Shahnameh, and in this case, all these heroes serve as a reflection of Rustem (“Ethnogr. Review,” 1890, 2). Russian epics end in two ways: tragically and not tragically; the first ending is ancient, the second is softened under the influence of new everyday and religious principles. The main mythical meaning of the episode, according to O. Miller, is this: Ilya kills his son - this means that lightning cuts through the cloud.

Khalansky considers Ilya’s meeting with Zhidovin to be a modification of the meeting with his son; the latter is also the son of Ilya, but only his recognition is missing in the epic. The matter is explained in this way: the son of Ilya bears different names in different epics, so it could happen that in one of them he is called Zhidovin. But after this, other changes began, already in the content of the epic itself. Zhidovin could not be the son of a Christian, and therefore the episode about recognizing him as a son was simply released; and since the word “Jew” in the sense of an enemy was first used in book legends, Khalansky sees book influence in this person. Veselovsky does not agree with him, who in his “Small Notes” (“Journal of Min. Nar. Ave.”, 1889, V) indicates a historical basis for Zhidovin.

Alesha Popovich

Alyosha Popovich is closely connected with Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitych: he is in constant relations with them. In addition, between Alyosha and Dobrynya there is a striking similarity not in characters, but in adventures and some other circumstances of their lives; namely, the epics about the snake fight between Dobrynya and Alyosha are almost completely similar to each other. Based on this, O. Miller compares Alyosha and Dobrynya with the Indian Indra, considers them to be a common Aryan heritage that came to us through tradition, and sees in them the original personification of the sun. Thus, his struggle with Tugarin naturally takes on mythological illumination. Orest Miller considers Tugarin himself a mythical creature, Veselovsky is inclined to recognize in him the Polovtsian Khan Tugarkhan, while Khalansky proves that he is closely related to South Slavic folk beliefs in monstrous snakes; he also recognizes in Tugarin a mythical basis, obscured by features borrowed from book tales; He considers the similarity of his name with the name of Tugarkhan to be shaky and accepts here as simply an accidental consonance. According to Maikov, Alyosha Popovich seems to be the embodiment of a number of vicious qualities: cunning, selfishness, greed; His characteristics were probably determined by his class nickname. In him we really find a mixture of various features; he is above all distinguished by his courage; but, in addition, he is proud, arrogant, abusive, perky and rude; nimble and cunning in battle: he is, finally, a female mockingbird. Veselovsky says approximately the same thing: “the brave, quarrelsome, daring Alyosha of the old songs found himself in the later development of our epic as a woman’s mockingbird, a malicious slanderer of women’s honor and an unlucky ladies’ man. It is difficult to say definitively how this degeneration occurred. Perhaps a transitional trait: boastfulness.” The last traits of Alyosha’s character were clearly expressed in his relations with his sister Zbrodovich. And O. Miller explains this fact mythologically: in his opinion, this is an expression of the dark property of a light mythical creature, for example. the sun, which sometimes harms people with its too scorching rays. As for the Zbrodovichs themselves, they, according to Bessonov, are crowded heroes, zbrods, assorted daredevils. O. Miller in “History of Russians.” lit." Galakhova says that the image of Alyosha Popovich over time is becoming more and more darkened in the spirit of those attitudes of the people towards the weak sides of the clergy, from which the proverb about “grabbing hands and envious eyes” flowed; and the more such traits developed in Alyosha, the more the title of brave man that still remained with him lost its meaning. Khalansky sees in Alyosha Popovich the Rostov hero Alexander Popovich, mentioned in the Chronicles, who lived at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries; epics about him were included in later chronicles, but the epics reflected regional Rostov legends about him; thus, according to Khalansky, Alyosha is a northern Russian hero. Veselovsky does not agree with this (“South Russian epics,” p. 277), who says: “mentions of the heroes Alyosha and Dobrynya are extended over such a significant chronological space that the intrusion of the song into the chronicle story seems likely.” As we have seen, Khalansky allows this invasion only in later chronicles. Further, Veselovsky says: “Alyosha Popovich, under the influence of the epic, included in the chronicle in the north, was confined to Rostov and this somewhat influenced the change in his tone, which in the epics was formed from a number of layers at different times.” Finally, Kallash (“Ethnographic Review”, 1890, 2, Mixture) brings Alyosha closer to Alexander the Great, who, in single combat with Porus, used the same trick that Alyosha used in the battle with Tugarin.

Nikitich

Dobrynya Nikitich has long been compared by many with the chronicle Dobrynya, Vladimir’s uncle, and considered him a representative of high Russian society, a type of prince-combatant. Khalansky sees in him a reflection not only of Uncle Vladimir, but also of another chronicle figure, namely the Ryazan hero Dobrynya or Timon the Golden Belt; Thus, in the person of the epic Dobrynya, two chronicle personalities merged, one southern Russian, the other northern Russian. Character traits, attributed to Dobrynya in the epic glorifying his youth, according to Wollner, were transferred to him from Volga. Stasov considers Dobrynya to be a reflection of Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu, glorified in Harivans, which O. Miller protests against, pointing to Dobrynya and Alyosha as mythical, ancient Aryan types inherited by Russians by tradition, corresponding not to Krishna, but to Indra, and representing the sun; he also compares Dobrynya with Odin. Wollner, pointing to the name of Dobrynya's mother (Amelfa or Mamelfa), brings it closer to the name Μεμφις, wife of Pentephry; this scientist examines Dobrynya in three episodes of his life: as a fighter with a snake, as a fighter with Marina, and as a long-absent husband. In the first case, contrary to Stasov, he compares him with Yegor the Brave and Fyodor Tiron; the serpent gorinich, whom Stasov considers to be a copy of the ox-demon Arishta from Harivansa, turns out to be occupied here with spiritual verses. In the second epic, according to Vollner, Dobrynya serves as a reflection of the Persian hero from the story “The History of Prince Bedr and Princess Giangara of Samandal” or some other hero of one of the many eastern stories of similar content. The third epic talks about Dobrynya’s meeting with Polenitsa, his marriage and his absence: Rambaud (“La Russie é pique”) and O. Miller compare her with Brünnhilde; according to Wollner, she takes the place of Svyatogor from the epic about Ilya Muromets, whom he hid in his pocket ; according to Khalansky, the image of Polenitsa was perhaps borrowed from Caucasian legends, for example. "About Alaugan and Emegen." Miller sees here in Dobrynya the sun (cf. the myth of Odin), absent in winter time. Khalansky brings him closer to the Caucasian heroes, since in the Caucasus there is an original custom of going to baltz, that is, absence, without any precisely defined purpose and lasting differently: from 20 years to 1 week. Vsevolod Miller (“Ethnogr. Review,” 1890) compares Dobrynya with the Turkish hero Ashik Kerib from a fairy tale recorded by Lermontov, probably in the Caucasus. Maikov sees in Dobrynya simply a representative of the upper class of the Russian people: he is a prince, a rich man who has received a higher education, an archer and an excellent fighter, he knows all the subtleties of etiquette, he is intelligent in speeches, but he is easily carried away and is not very persistent; in private life he is a quiet and meek person. Maikov considers other representatives of this layer to be: Stavr Godinovich, Danil Denisievich, Dyuk Stepanovich, Churila Plenkovich and Khoten Bludovich.

Mikhail Potyk or Potok

Mikhail Potyk or Potok is brought closer to Dobrynya and Alyosha by the fact that, like them, he fights with the snake; in this snake of the epic Porfiryev, following Buslaev, sees either a mythical creature, then an allegory of evil, then, finally, a reflection from the Bible of the primordial enemy of man, “who took on the form of a snake, became hostile between the first husband and the first wife, seduced the first wife and led the first people into temptation.” Mikhail Potyk, as a matchmaker, is close, on the one hand, to the Danube, and on the other, to Khoten Bludovich and two Ivans: Godinovich and Gostiny Son; but at the same time, according to O. Miller, he is a representative of the zemstvo service force. He is restless, and therefore, according to Bessonov, his name originally sounded not Potyk, but Potok, which meant “wandering, nomadic”; he is therefore the ideal of the nomad. O. Miller does not agree with this, who notes that the historical association of Potyk is very insignificant, and therefore he is a pure mythical creature: he is thunder, and his wife, the White Swan, is a cloud; in winter they are both in the grave, and they are revived by living water, spring rain. In the second part of the epic, Potyk is similar to Ivan Godinovich. Stasov sees two personalities in Potyk: in the first epic (about his marriage) he is a reflection of Brahman Ruru from Magabgarata, and the White Swan is Pramadvara; in the second epic (about his wife’s betrayal) the story told in the 6th chapter of the poem about the exploits of the Central Asian hero Bogdo Gesser Khan is repeated, and Potyk is Gesser Khan, and the swan is his wife Rogmo Goa.

Ivan Gostiny son

Ivan Gostiny's son was already identified by Bessonov with Ivan Godinovich. According to O. Miller, although he belongs to the heroic element, however, he remains almost unaffected by its zemstvo meaning; he is, in all likelihood, a local Chernigov hero. Veselovsky compares Ivan with the hero of the Byzantine legend of Hercules, although he does not derive him directly from there. In general, the epic about Ivan falls into two plots: in the first, talking about the purchase of a horse, Ivan is compared by Veselovsky with other fairy-tale personalities of Russian folk literature and partly with Ilya Muromets. In the second plot, Ivan is similar to the other Ivan of the Little Russian fairy tales about Ivan and Marya with Banovich Strakhina of Serbian songs, with the hero of the Russian story placed in the life of Joseph Volotsky, with the German Valtarius, the Polish Walger from Tynets, with the merchant from one story in the Panchatantra, about which says Wollner, and according to Stasov and Khalansky, it is simply borrowed: according to the first, from the song of the Nome shors about the hero Altyn Ergek, and Ivan is both Altyn Ergek and his brother Altyn Tash; and according to the second, it’s just Banovich Strakhinya or Marko the prince of the South Slavs.

Hoten or Gorden Bludovich

The last matchmaker, Khoten or Gorden Bludovich, reveals, according to O. Miller, a mythical meaning associated with an everyday element: it expressed the generic basis and Varangian character traits.

Solovey Budimirovich

Opinions differ greatly regarding Solovy Budimirovich: Bessonov believed that this name should be understood as Oleg the Prophet, or at least the ideal founder of the Russian state. Yagich derives the name Nightingale from the book “Solomon” through folk etymology. Buslaev and Porfiryev look at Budimirovich as a visiting hero. Miller brings him closer to the Nightingale Robber based on the whistle and cry they both make; he sees in both the sound power of great aerial phenomena, with the only difference being that one of them represents the harmful, terrible, and the other the beneficial side of the same phenomenon. This rapprochement is based on a very insignificant sign, which, however, could very easily be the result of a random consonance of names. Veselovsky was the first to notice a purely folk element in the epic and even considers the name Nightingale to be a re-vote own name Slav (“Investigation in the field of Russian spiritual verse”, p. 350); Kallash does not agree with the latter position, who believes “that the name Nightingale is not a re-voice of one name, but a consequence of coincidental distortions, interpretations and borrowings of different names that appeared in different legends” (“Ethnogr. Review”, 1890, 253). Despite the folk element he noticed in the epic about Solovy Budimirovich, Veselovsky believes that at its core it is an epic about the wedding trip of some overseas young man. Stasov even indicates the name of this fellow: in his opinion, two persons are united in Nightingale, the heroes of two stories from Somadeva’s collection, p.z. "Katha Sarit Sagara, namely: king Udayana and his son Naravahanadatta; in this case, Zapava Putyatishna is the rallying point of Kalingasena and her daughter Madamananchuka. Hunters to see foreign aliens in the Russian B. also believed that the Nightingale seems to be an Italian builder, a representative of those Italian architects , who came to Rus' in the 16th century. Khalansky does not agree with all this, who places the epic in the closest connection with Great Russian wedding songs, and considers Solovy Budimirovich to be simply an idealized image of the groom, who is usually presented in songs as a young man who has arrived from the distance and wants to erect a tower in the green garden of a girl, in this garden, which serves as an ordinary symbol of girlhood.In support of his theory, Khalansky gives examples of self-matching a girl as an original Russian custom.

Ivan Danilovich and Stavr Godinovich

In the faces of the epic B. Ivan Danilovich and Stavr Godinovich, most researchers see historical figures: the first of them is mentioned in the Nikon Chronicle under the city, but it is considered a later update. Stavr Maykov, Miller, Khalansky and others are considered the historical Stavr Gordyatinich, mentioned in the Novgorod Chronicle under the city, who left a historical “autograph” found in 1960 during the restoration of the walls of the Kyiv St. Sophia Cathedral. Stasov does not agree with this, who sees in Stavr the hero of the Altai Tatars Altain-Sain-Salam.

Other Russian heroes

Other heroes in epics of local origin are: the completely historical Ermak, who replaces the wonderful young Bogatyr Mikhailik, and Vasily Ignatievich, or Vasily the Drunkard, and the story of the latter is an integral part of the epic about Mikhailik and, moreover, a late motive. Vasily the Drunkard appeared in folk poetry, according to Veselovsky, in a very strange way: Vasily the Great left a sermon on drunkenness, on the basis of which a folk verse appeared about Vasily the Great himself, how the Mother of God appears to him and exhorts him to refrain from drunkenness; subsequently this type passed into the epic. Mikhailik epics, according to Veselovsky, consists of two parts: Vasily the Drunkard and Mikhail Danilovich of southern Russian songs, which, in turn, is a reflection of Michael the Archangel from the Byzantine story “On the Golden Gates,” interpolated in the late Russian edition of Methodius’s “Revelation.” Finally, the kalik of the passers-by and the goly of the tavern should be included in this group. We already know about the first ones that Miller saw in them passing moving clouds. This does not exhaust all explanations of their origin: supporters of historical theory saw in them the personification of ancient Russian, nomadic life, others, for example. Kalaidovich, Bessonov, suggested a reflection of Joseph the Beautiful in their ataman; finally, Stasov derives their story from Asia and compares their ataman with the heroes of several stories in Somadeva, with Sundaraka from Shahname (the story of Prince Siavush and Queen Sudabe) and with others. In the goli of the taverns, O. Miller sees “the imprint of the Don Cossacks in the broad sense of the word, in the sense of freemen or even thieves, that is, those thieves who arbitrarily obtained Siberia for Russia, and then arbitrarily took Azov from the Turks.”

"Visiting heroes"

A separate group consists of the so-called visiting heroes, to whom they belong: Surovets Suzdalets, Churila Plenkovich, Duke Stepanovich. The first of them did not join the Vladimirov cycle at all and was not even called by his own name, since both of his names are simply common words denoting his homeland. Crimea in ancient times was called Surozh or Sugdaya, therefore the hero who came from there was called Surovets (cf. Surovsky goods) or Suzdal; this last word, according to Veselovsky’s explanation, under the influence of Suzdal became “Suzdalets”. Churilo Plenkovich also came from Surozh, whose name is explained by Veselovsky as Kirill the son of Plenk, Frank, Frank, that is, the Italian merchant of Surozh; at least, this name Felenk, Ferenk was used by the Turks and Tatars to designate the Genoese in the Crimea. Orest Miller brings Churila closer to Solovy Budimirovich and considers him the personification of wealth. The name of Duke Stepanovich comes from the Byzantine word Δούκας, which was first a title, and then began to be used as a generic and personal name. Duke is considered by most researchers to be a Galich hero. Finally, such personalities found in epics as Polkan and Malafey Volot can be classified in this department. The name of the first was explained by Bessonov as a half-horse, but then it was proven that it corresponds to the Italian Pulicane from the book story about Beauvais the Prince, known in Russia. Malatheus or Molofernes is the biblical Holofernes, and Volot, which is also called Volotoman, Volotomon, Votolomon, according to Yagich (Archiv, I), serves as a revoice of Ptolemy’s own name.

Bogatyrs of the Novgorod type

It remains for us to say a few more words about the heroes of the Novgorod cycle, who in all respects differ from the B. of Kyiv, since they contain features that characterize them as non-Russian, alien types. Almost all researchers of epics, not even excluding O. Miller, recognize a very strong foreign element in Novgorod epics. There are only three of these heroes: Vasily Buslaev, Gavrilo Aleksich and Sadko, a rich guest. The first of them serves as the ideal of boundless, unrestrained prowess and has much in common with the rampaging Norman heroes. More or less extensive studies by Wollner, Stasov and Veselovsky are devoted to Sadk. According to O. Miller, Sadok expresses an alien element that disagrees with the Russian absorption of the individual into the community: he represents the ideal of personal wealth, thus similar to the southern Russian type of Churila and Duke; the difference lies in the secondary character traits and actions of these individuals; there is nothing mythical in Sadok, but he is only surrounded by a mythical element in the person of the sea king and others.

Nart heroes

Tales about the Narts - an ancient mountain people related to the Kabardians - are still preserved among the Terek Kabardians of the Pyatigorsk department. According to legend, the Narts inhabited the present-day Kuban region and, in general, the entire northern Caucasus. In the popular imagination, they are depicted as a heroic tribe who spent their time raiding and searching for dangerous adventures. The word “nart” has become a household word and serves as a synonym for a daring, kind young man. The enemies of the Narts are the mythical giant idiots who devoured human flesh - the emegens. The latter, despite their physical superiority, could not resist the incomparably more developed sledges. Then the legends talk about the struggle with the Tatar khans, known to us from history; legend thus merges with reality. In the songs of former wandering singer-poets, the so-called geguakos, the heroic exploits of individual heroes from the N. tribe are glorified. The heroes achieve their victories with the help of extraordinary horses that swim across vast seas, speak in a human voice and are able to take the form of all kinds of animals. The heroic sword - syrpin - also provides considerable assistance. The oldest Nart hero in the songs is Uryzmek, who, on the advice of the beautiful princess Satan, who later became his wife, climbed into the mouth of a cannon in order to shoot into heaven and there kill the enemy of his people - Nuk. Another hero, Rachikau, according to legend, is the son of a Russian settler. Later songs were composed about Aidemyrkan, who was brought up at the court of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray Wikipedia

The main characters of the epics are the heroes who single-handedly defended the Russian land from hordes of enemy forces. The world depicted in epics is the entire Russian land. This is a world of opposition between good and evil, light and dark forces. In it, heroes fight against the manifestation of evil and violence; without this struggle, the epic world is impossible.

Ilya Muromets. Represents strength

Ilya Muromets canonized by Russian Orthodox Church, this is the main Russian hero. Ilya Muromets is a hero not only of Russian epics, but also, for example, of German epic poems of the 13th century. In them he is also called Ilya, he is also a hero, yearning for his homeland. Ilya Muromets also appears in the Scandinavian sagas, in which he is the blood brother of Prince Vladimir.

Nikitich. Bogatyr-diplomat

Dobrynya Nikitich is often compared to the chronicle Dobrynya, the uncle of Prince Vladimir (according to one version, nephew). His name personifies the essence of “heroic kindness.” Dobrynya has the nickname “young”, with enormous physical strength “he wouldn’t hurt a fly”, he is the protector of “widows and orphans, unfortunate wives.” Dobrynya is also “an artist at heart: a master of singing and playing the harp.”

Alesha Popovich. Junior

“The youngest of the younger” heroes, and therefore his set of qualities is not so “Superman”. He is not even a stranger to vice: cunning, selfishness, greed. That is, on the one hand, he is distinguished by courage, but on the other, he is proud, arrogant, perky and rude.

Bova Korolevich. Lubok hero

Bova Korolevich was the most popular hero among the people for a long time. Popular folk tales about the “precious hero” were published in hundreds of editions from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Pushkin wrote “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, partially borrowing the plot and names of the heroes of the fairy tales about the Boy Korolevich, which his nanny read to him. Moreover, he even made sketches of the poem “Bova,” but death would prevent him from finishing the work. The prototype of this knight was the French knight Bovo de Anton from the famous chronicle poem Reali di Francia, written in the 14th century. In this respect, Bova is a completely unique hero - a visiting hero.

Svyatogor. Mega-hero

Mega-hero of the “old world”. The giant, the elder hero the size of a mountain, whom even the earth cannot support, lies on the mountain in inaction. The epics tell of his meeting with earthly cravings and death in a magical grave. Many features of the biblical hero Samson were transferred to Svyatogor. It is difficult to determine exactly its ancient origins. In the legends of the people, the veteran hero transfers his strength to Ilya Muromets, the hero of the Christian century.

Duke Stepanovich. Bogatyr Major

Duke Stepanovich comes to Kiev from conventional India, behind which, according to folklorists, in this case the Galician-Volyn land is hidden, and organizes a marathon of boasting in Kyiv, undergoes tests from the prince, and continues to boast. As a result, Vladimir finds out that Duke is indeed very rich and offers him citizenship. But Duke refuses, because “if you sell Kyiv and Chernigov and buy paper for an inventory of Dyukov’s wealth, there won’t be enough paper.”

Mikula Selyaninovich. Bogatyr Plowman

Mikula Selyaninovich is a bogatyr agrarian. Found in two epics: about Svyatogor and about Volga Svyatoslavich. Mikula is the first representative of agricultural life, a powerful peasant plowman. He is strong and resilient, but homely. He puts all his strength into farming and family.

Volga Svyatoslavovich. Bogatyr magician

Supporters of the “historical school” in the study of epics believe that the prototype of the epic Volga was Prince Vseslav of Polotsk. Volga was also correlated with Prophetic Oleg, and his campaign in India - with Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople. Volga is a difficult hero; he has the ability to become a werewolf and can understand the language of animals and birds.

Sukhman Odikhmantievich. Insulted hero

According to Vsevolod Miller, the prototype of the hero was the Pskov prince Dovmont, who ruled from 1266 to 1299. In the epic of the Kyiv cycle, Sukhman goes to get a white swan for Prince Vladimir, but on the way he comes into conflict with the Tatar horde, who are building Kalinov bridges on the Nepra River. Sukhman defeats the Tatars, but in the battle he receives wounds, which he covers with leaves. Returning to Kyiv without the white swan, he tells the prince about the battle, but the prince does not believe him and imprisons Sukhman in prison until clarification. Dobrynya goes to Nepra and finds out that Sukhman did not lie. But it's' too late. Sukhman feels disgraced, peels off the leaves and bleeds. The Sukhman River begins from his blood.

Danube Ivanovich. Tragic hero

According to epics about the Danube, it was from the blood of the hero that the river of the same name began. The Danube is a tragic hero. He loses to his wife Nastasya in an archery competition, accidentally hits her while trying to get even, finds out that Nastasya was pregnant and stumbles upon a saber.

Mikhailo Potyk. Faithful husband

Folklorists disagree on who should be associated with Mikhailo Potyk (or Potok). The roots of his image are found in the Bulgarian heroic epic, and in Western European fairy tales, and even in the Mongolian epic “Geser”. According to one of the epics, Potok and his wife Avdotya Swan Belaya make a vow that whichever of them dies first, the second one will be buried alive next to him in the grave. When Avdotya dies, Potok is buried nearby in full armor and on horseback, he fights the dragon and revives his wife with its blood. When he himself dies, Avdotya is buried with him.

Khoten Bludovich. Bogatyr-groom

The hero Khoten Bludovich, for the sake of his wedding with the enviable bride Chaina Chasovaya, first beats her nine brothers, then an entire army hired by his future mother-in-law. As a result, the hero receives a rich dowry and appears in the epic as the hero “who married well.”

Vasily Buslaev. Zealous hero

The most daring hero of the Novgorod epic cycle. His unbridled temper leads to conflict with the Novgorodians and he desperately rages, bets that he will beat all the Novgorod men on the Volkhov Bridge and almost fulfills his promise - until his mother stops him. In another epic, he is already mature and goes to Jerusalem to atone for his sins. But Buslaev is incorrigible - he again takes up his old ways and dies absurdly, proving his prowess.

There is probably no person in Russia who has not heard of heroes. The heroes who came to us from ancient Russian songs and tales - epics - have always been popular among writers, artists, and filmmakers. The next round of popularity of the heroes is associated with the release of a series of animated films dedicated to their somewhat modernized adventures.

At the same time, most Russians know only about a very narrow circle of heroes. In fact, the number of heroic epics that have survived to our time is in the hundreds, and the heroes themselves are divided by scientists into several categories. The heroes of the pagan and Christian eras, pre-Tatar, Tatar and post-Tatar are distinguished...

There is a large group of heroes associated with Kiev and Prince Vladimir, but there are also those who have no relation to the “central government” at all, remaining “regional heroes” of individual cities.

The adventures of some heroes are intertwined with each other, while others act independently.

Svyatogor

Svyatogor is so huge that it is “higher than a standing forest, lower than a walking cloud.” The hero lived on the Holy Mountains; during his journey, Mother Cheese shook the Earth, forests swayed and rivers overflowed their banks.

The hero’s father was called “dark,” that is, blind, which in East Slavic mythology was a sign of creatures from another world.

Svyatogor does not perform any service, although he intersects with other heroes. So, in one of the epics, Svyatogor travels with Ilya Muromets, and they meet a stone coffin on the way. Deciding to try it on, Svyatogor turns out to be his prisoner and dies, transferring part of his powers to Ilya Muromets. In another epic, the story of the coffin is preceded by intimate adventures - Ilya Muromets is seduced by Svyatogor’s wife. Having learned about this, Svyatogor kills the fallen woman, and with Ilya, who cuckolded him, he enters into a brotherhood.

In another epic, Svyatogor compares his heroic strength with another “colleague” - Mikula Selyaninovich. A cunning opponent throws a bag on the ground, in which “all the earthly burdens” were contained, inviting Svyatogor to pick it up. This attempt ends with the death of the hero.

In epics, Svyatogor dies more often than other heroes. Scientists attribute this to the fact that this image personifies the primitive forces of nature, an element that does not serve man.

Mikula Selyaninovich

Mikula Selyaninovich, like Svyatogor, is not in any service with the prince and is not a warrior. But, unlike Svyatogor, Mikula Selyaninovich is busy with socially useful work - he is a hero-plowman.

It is impossible to fight Mikula Selyaninovich, because Mother Cheese Earth is behind him. That is why Mikula Selyaninovich is able to lift the bag with “all the burdens of the earth,” unlike Svyatogor, whom this attempt destroys.

Scientists find in the image of Mikula Selyaninovich much in common with the Slavic god Perun. According to one version, the popularity of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Russia is rooted in the veneration of Mikula Selyaninovich.
If we take into account that the image of St. Nicholas served to create the story of the Christmas wizard, who in our area is persistently associated with Father Frost, then we can build a chain according to which Father Frost is the retired hero Mikula Selyaninovich.

Unlike Svyatogor, who in epics has only an unfaithful wife, Mikula Selyaninovich has daughters - Vasilisa and Nastasya. Nastasya became the wife of Dobrynya Nikitich, and as for Vasilisa, she is well known to fans of Soviet cartoons - this is the same Vasilisa Mikulishna who, pretending to be an ambassador from the Golden Horde, freed her husband Stavr Godinovich from prison.

Ilya Muromets

Ilya Muromets, the first in the line of the so-called “younger heroes”, heroic warriors, is perhaps best known to the general public.

After staying at home for up to 33 years, unable to use his arms and legs, he was healed by the elders and set off to perform heroic deeds. It is curious that the epics told about Ilya’s service to the Kyiv prince Vladimir only in part of the Russian lands - in other regions the hero’s exploits were exclusively his personal matter.

The most common and classic feat of Ilya Muromets is the victory over the Nightingale the Robber. At the same time, Muromets is perhaps the most popular hero; more than a dozen original epics are dedicated to his exploits. Among those whom Ilya defeated were the Foul Idol, a certain snake, Tsar Kalin and many others.

Ilya’s life is quite stormy: he has a wife Zlatygorka, a son Sokolnik (in another version - a daughter), he actively interacts with other Russian heroes. Moreover, if relations with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich are more often friendly, then meetings with Svyatogor end in tears for the latter.

If Svyatogor and Mikula Selyaninovich do not have a real prototype, then Ilya Muromets has several of them.
Most often he is associated with Elijah of Pechersk, a monk of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, who lived in the 12th century. The strongman, born in Murom, bore the nickname “Chobotok”. The hero received this nickname because he once fought off enemies with a “chobot,” that is, a boot.

According to one version, the hero became a monk after being seriously wounded in battle. An examination of the relics of Elijah of Pechersk showed that he actually died from the consequences of a blow to the chest with a sharp weapon. The prototype of Muromets could have died in 1204 during the capture of Kyiv by Prince Rurik Rostislavich, when the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was destroyed by the Polovtsians.

Nikitich

Unlike Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich is a person close to the Kyiv prince, carrying out his instructions. Dobrynya does not hesitate to collect and transport tribute, takes on tasks that her colleagues refuse for some reason, and has a penchant for diplomacy.

Dobrynya’s most famous opponent is the Serpent, better known as the Serpent-Gorynych, from whose captivity the hero frees the prince’s niece Zabava Putyatishna.

Dobrynya is the most creative person among the heroes. He plays tavlei (ancient Russian checkers) well, sings well and plays the harp.

Dobrynya Nikitich has extensive connections - in addition to being close to the prince, he is married to Nastasya Mikulishna, the daughter of Mikula Selyaninovich.

According to epics, Dobrynya is the son of the Ryazan governor. The most likely prototype of the hero is Dobrynya, the governor of Prince Vladimir the Saint. Dobrynya was an extremely influential person, since he was the prince’s uncle - he was the brother of his mother Malusha. For a certain time, Dobrynya was a mentor and senior comrade for the prince.

Alesha Popovich Alyosha Popovich is the most dubious character of the “classic troika” of heroes. The son of a Rostov priest, Alyosha is boastful, arrogant, crafty, and sometimes allows himself unacceptable jokes, for which he is reproached by his comrades.

So, for example, in one of the epics Alyosha harasses Dobrynya’s wife Nastasya Mikulishna, spreading false rumors about the death of a comrade.

In another epic, Alyosha is beheaded by the angry brothers of Elena or Alena, who was seduced by him. True, in the more famous version, Alyosha Popovich had to marry Alyonushka in order to avoid the worst.

Alyosha’s main opponent is Tugarin, an evil hero, behind whom one can discern the image of a nomad, with whom the Russians have been fighting for a long time.

The main historical prototype of Alyosha Popovich is the Rostov boyar Olesha (Alexander) Popovich. An excellent warrior, Olesha served Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest, and then participated in the internecine wars of his sons. Subsequently, Olesha Popovich went into the service of Prince Mstislav the Old and died with him in 1223 in the Battle of Kalka, which became the first meeting between the Russians and the Tatar-Mongols. In the same battle, Dobrynya Ryazan Zlat Belt, another candidate for the prototype of the epic Dobrynya Nikitich, also died.