Repin Ilya

Design work for a research conference. Search for prototypes of epic heroes based on the study of both the epics themselves and their liturological materials about them

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GAOU RME "Baumansky Lyceum"

Theme "Prototypes of Russian epic heroes"

Completed by: Ilya Repin

Head: Mursalimova I.A.

City of Yoshkar-Ola

2017

Introduction…………………..…………………………………………………………3

Chapter 1. The origin of epics and the history of their discovery………………………5

Chapter 2. Prototypes of epic heroes.……………….…………………….8

2.1. Ilya Muromets………………………………………………………………..8

2.2. Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich……………………………………...10

2.3. Prototypes of the "senior" heroes…………………………………………………………………………………13

2.4. Prototypes of other heroes……………………………………………...17

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….24

Used literature………………………………………………….....25

Introduction

Most peoples have in their folklore treasury half a fairy tale - half a legend, in which both real historical characters and fictional ones participate, supernatural feats are performed, but at the same time widely known geographical names and events are mentioned. These epics include the British legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the medieval German Nibelungenlied, the Scandinavian Tales of Beowulf. Among the Russian people, epics, or antiquities, as they used to be called earlier, have such content.

It is hard to imagine a person who from childhood does not know about the exploits of the three heroes - Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich. Even those who did not read the rather complex texts of recorded epics must have watched modern animated films about heroes. Of course, they interpret the exploits of epic heroes in a completely new way, the film has a lot of modern jokes, slang, and fairy-tale characters. However, the undeniable fact is that the epic heroes, numbering several hundred years, are still interesting today.

Who were these mythical miracle heroes - the defenders of the Russian land, the persecutors of enemies and all kinds of evil? And were they real people or are they collective images to which legends attribute incredible strength and valor?

The purpose of this work is to find answers to these questions, to search for prototypes of epic heroes based on the study of both the epics themselves and literary materials about them. Most of the works on the study of prototypes of epic heroes were created in the 19th-20th centuries, when epics were discovered, and interest in them was especially high. These "classic" studies have been repeatedly retold in encyclopedias and on specialized websites. From modern research, one should single out the book by Ph.D., Slavist Lev Prozorov "The Times of Russian Bogatyrs", which "turns" ideas about epics. His conclusions are very interesting, but not indisputable.

Starting to analyze the materials, it should be noted that epics do not have authors, as works of fiction. Their creator is the people, they were performed by folk storytellers, performed from memory, as they heard from their ancestors, embellishing to their taste. Not so many epic stories are known, but variations of each story with various details, melody, etc. There are dozens, if not hundreds.

Chapter 1. The origin of epics and the history of their discovery

It is believed that the word "epic" comes from the word true, i.e. in these old songs they sing about what happened, about what really happened. However, the word "epic" became widespread in the Russian language less than two hundred years ago. This term was first introduced by Ivan Sakharov in the collection Songs of the Russian People in 1839. The popular name for these works is old, old, old. And this name reflects the content of epics much more fully: after all, their texts use a lot of outdated words, unusual epithets, there is no traditional rhyme, and repetitions are often found. Perhaps I. Sakharov took the term "epic" from "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", in which the narrator speaks "according to the epics of this time", contrasting them with "Boyan's plans". Thus, the historicity of the epics is emphasized, because the singer-storyteller is called Boyan, a person no less mythical than the heroes.

Epics were first published in 1804. in Moscow. These were 26 songs out of 70 collected by the Cossack Kirsha Danilov for the Ural rich breeder Demidov. This was followed by more extended and complete reprints of Danilov's collection. The era of romanticism aroused the interest of the intelligentsia in folk art and national art. On the wave of this interest in the 1830-1850s. the activity of collecting folklore works was launched, organized by the Slavophil Pyotr Vasilyevich Kireevsky (1808 - 1856). Kireevsky's correspondents and himself recorded about a hundred epic texts in the central, Volga and northern provinces of Russia, as well as in the Urals and Siberia.

A real shock to the scientific world was the discovery in the middle of the XIX century. living tradition of the epic epic, and not far from St. Petersburg - in the Olonets province. The honor of this discovery belongs to Pavel Nikolayevich Rybnikov (1831–1885), a populist exiled to Petrozavodsk under police supervision. Encouraged by the discovery of P. N. Rybnikov, domestic folklorists in the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. undertook many expeditions, mainly to the Russian North, where new centers of preservation of the song epic were discovered and thousands of epic texts were recorded from hundreds of storytellers (in total, the epic researcher Professor F. M. Selivanov counted by 1980 about 3000 texts representing 80 epic stories ). The merit of these collectors lies in their striving for the maximum accuracy of recording and indicating which narrator made the recording.

Conventionally, epics are divided into two cycles - Kiev and Novgorod. At the same time, a significantly larger number of characters and plots are associated with the first. The events of the epics of the Kiev cycle are timed to the capital city of Kiev and the court of Prince Vladimir, whose epic image united the memories of at least two great princes: St. Vladimir (d. 1015) and Vladimir Monomakh (1053–1125). The heroes of these antiquities: Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich, Mikhailo Potyk, Stavr Godinovich, Churilo Plenkovich and others, the main theme is the defense of the Russian land from the southern nomads. Yes, and most of the epics known to us took shape in the era of Kievan Rus (IX-XIII centuries). The Novgorod cycle includes stories about Sadko and Vasily Buslaev.

There is also a division into "senior" and "junior" heroes. The "elder" - Svyatogor and Volga (sometimes also Mikula Selyaninovich), are the remains of the pre-state epic of the times of the tribal system, personify the ancient gods and the forces of nature - powerful and often destructive. When the time of these giants passes, they are replaced by "younger" heroes. Symbolically, this is reflected in the epic "Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor": the ancient warrior dies and Ilya, having buried him, goes to the service of Prince Vladimir.

In science, there are several approaches to the study of the Russian epic, the main ones being mythological, historical and compartivist. Representatives of the mythological school (Buslaev, Afanasiev, Orest Miller) believed that epics originally arose as myths about deities and, thus, raised them to the deepest antiquity. Vladimir, nicknamed the Red Sun in the epic, was considered as an ancient deity of the sun, Ilya Muromets - as a god of thunder, etc. According to the view of the compartivists (the so-called comparative historical linguistics), epic stories "roam" from one nation to another. Being created in a certain place and in a certain era, they are transferred by borrowing to other lands, where they can acquire some local features. However, the main outline of the plot still remains and can be recognized. Representatives of this scientific school erected Russian epics to the epic of the Eastern, Asian peoples, or to borrowings from Byzantium or Western Europe. Representatives of the historical school, headed by Vsevolod Miller, believed that the epic reflects and registers the events of the era in which it was created. Epics are considered as a kind of oral historical chronicle, similar to the written chronicle - chronicles. At the same time, the chronicle, once written down, did not undergo changes, and epics during centuries of oral transmission could quite distort historical realities. Studying chronicle texts, scientists with great diligence sought out in them parallels to epic events and characters. So, historical figures were named, which formed the basis of the images of Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets, Sadko and other heroes.

So, who became the prototype of epic heroes?

Chapter 2. Prototypes of epic heroes

2.1. Ilya Muromets

In the Russian epic epic, this is the “main”, most powerful hero. He became the embodiment of the ideal of a courageous, honest, devoted to the Motherland, the people of man. He is not afraid of the innumerable forces of the enemy, he is not afraid even of death itself! To emphasize the strength of the hero, the greatness of the feat, the narrators depict him fighting alone against the enemy forces, which are "black-black, like black ravens" ...

In the image of Ilya Muromets, the main idea of ​​the epics, the idea of ​​protecting the native land, is most clearly and expressively embodied. It is he who, more often than other heroes, acts as a brave and duty-conscious guardian of the Russian land. He more often than others stands at the outpost of the heroic, more often than others enters into battle with enemies, gaining victory.

Ilya is characterized by self-esteem, which he will not give up even before the prince. He is the defender of the Russian land, the defender of widows and orphans. He hates the "boyars with a belly," he tells everyone the truth in person. He forgets the insult, and when it comes to the trouble hanging over his native land, he calls on other heroes to stand up for not Prince Vladimir or Princess Opraksa, but “for the sake of Mother Holy Rus' of the Earth.”

The best evidence of the huge popularity of the image of Ilya Muromets among the people is the number of epics and epic stories about him. It was this image that was destined to become central in the Russian epic, to embody the best ideals and aspirations of the people, their concepts of good and evil, selflessness, loyalty to their native land, heroic prowess and honor. None of the heroes - neither Dobrynya Nikitich, nor even Alyosha Popovich - can be compared in this respect with Ilya Muromets.

Ilya Muromets is the only hero who canonized saints, he was canonized in 1643 as Ilya of the Caves. His imperishable relics, kept in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, in 2003 were transferred to the church of St. Dmitry of Rostov (Rostov-on-Don), where they can be worshiped to this day.

Three times (in 1963, 1982 and 1988), scientists conducted research on the relics of St. Ilya of Muromets. Doctors ascertained traces of a spinal disease (according to the epic, Ilya did not walk until the age of 33), the exceptional development of the muscles of the shoulder girdle and huge hands (he had to move for a long time using only his hands). Ilya's height was supposed to be about 178 cm, which is a lot by the standards of that era! On the mummy, traces of numerous intravital fractures of the ribs and two wounds were found, from which the hero has not recovered - on the arm and in the region of the heart. At the time of his death, he was about 40-45 years old. On the basis of the remains, a sculptural reconstruction of the hero's appearance was made according to the method of the anthropologist Gerasimov.

But even these studies did not answer the question of who was the prototype of Ilya Muromets. Supporters of the mythological school believe that the hero Ilya Muromets is the personified pagan god Perun, and later the prophet Ilya the Thunderer. But then whose remains rest in the temple?

Meanwhile, in foreign sources, the name of Ilya has long been known. For example, in the Germanic epic poems, written down in the 13th century, but based on even earlier epic tales, Ilya the Russian is mentioned. The poem "Ortnit" tells about King Ortnit, who reigns in Gard, and about his maternal uncle, Ilya the Russian. But all these are distant and very conditional parallels. In Russian chronicles and literary sources, information about Ilya Muromets has not been preserved.

The first news about the heroic relics in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra also does not name their owner Muromets. The ambassador of the Austrian emperor Rudolph II to the Cossacks, the Jesuit Erich Lasotta, was the first to describe in 1594 the remains of the “giant Ilya Morovlin”. Twenty years earlier, out of touch with the relics and the laurel, the headman of Orsha, Philon Kmita of Chernobyl, in a letter to Trotsky castellan Ostafiy Volovich, mentions the epic hero Ilya Muravlenin.

As early as the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, Russian scientists D.I. Ilovaisky and B.M. Sokolov convincingly proved that the reason for the transformation of Muravlenin into a peasant son of Muromets was the appearance at the beginning of the 17th century of an associate of the famous rebel Ivan Bolotnikov, the Cossack impostor Ileyka Ivanov, the son of Muromets, posing as the non-existent "Tsarevich Peter". Numerous local Murom legends linking the names of tracts, the emergence of springs and hillocks with the activities of Ilya Muromets, initially, apparently, were dedicated specifically to the robber Cossack. Such "fighters for the people's happiness", giants like Stepan Razin, Emelyan Pugachev were the favorite heroes of folk legends and songs in the Russian Empire.

Most likely, in ancient times in Rus' there really was a certain hero Ilya, whose remains are kept in the temple. He was probably of low birth, accustomed to hard work from early childhood, which is why he had extremely developed muscles and large hands. Due to the baseness of his origin, there are no descriptions of his life. And his relics were preserved after some feat (at least participation in repelling the raid of nomads), which struck contemporaries and became the last for Ilya. And then folk fantasy drew a parallel between Perun - the prophet Ilya - the hero Ilya - and other national leaders, creating a collective, three-dimensional image of the hero-defender, who became the most popular epic hero.

2.2. Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich

Of course, the image of Dobrynya is also collective, although this hero has real prototypes. It is believed that the epic Dobrynya is the famous uncle of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, the mayor of Novgorod, and then the governor of Kiev, stories about which are in the Tale of Bygone Years and other chronicle sources. However, Russian chronicles mention at least seven Dobryns:

Dobrynya, the uncle of Vladimir I Svyatoslavovich, is mentioned several times in the information on the 10th century;

By the 11th century - Dobrynya Raguilovich, governor of Novgorod;

By the 12th century - the Novgorod posadnik Dobrynya, the Kiev boyar Dobrynka and the Suzdal boyar Dobrynya Dolgiy;

According to the XII - century Dobrynya Galician and Dobrynya Yadreykovich, Bishop of Novgorod.

In addition, the name "Dobrynya" was one of the most common in Kievan Rus.

One thing unites all of the listed Dobryns: they all held government posts, were people of noble origin and high social status. These facts have found their interpretation in epics. Dobrynya, although inferior to Ilya Muromets in strength, recognizes his superiority, differs from the “main” hero in restraint, tact, and a diplomatic mindset. The human qualities of Dobrynia are determined by that property, which in the epics is called "knowledge", which is "born", that is, innate, and not externally acquired and therefore often lost.

The epic "biography" of Dobrynya Nikitich is developed in the Russian folk epic even more carefully than that of Ilya Muromets. The name of Dobrynina's mother is known - Amelfa Timofeevna, father - Nikita Romanovich; wives - Nastasya Mikulichna (by the way, the daughter of another hero - Mikula Selyaninovich); aunt cross - Avdotya Ivanovna. All this indicates that the image of Dobrynya had real-life prototypes that people remembered. With this hero, a type of public figure entered the song-epic folklore, who completely connected his exploits, deeds and thoughts with the strengthening of the power of the Kyiv state - a guarantee of the independence and unity of the Russian land and the Russian people.

Alyosha Popovich, unlike his older brothers in arms, is still young, loves to joke and play pranks. Alyosha is the image of a sort of shirt-guy, brave and kind, who, when required, becomes serious and, without hesitation, stands up for the defense of the Fatherland. Although in some epics his greed is noted, the desire to take the best share of the booty for himself. Probably, this is the reason for the nickname - Popovich. Because of him, the negative traits of some churchmen are transferred to the hero.

The prototype of Alyosha Popovich is mentioned in the chronicles in connection with the famous Battle of Kalka: the Rostov hero Alexander Popovich died on this field along with other 70 “brave men”, including some “Dobrynya Ryazanich - a golden belt”. Scientists have long established the identity of this Alexander Popovich with the epic Alyosha Popovich (especially since the diminutive Alyosha was equally produced from both Alexei and Alexander). In the epic about the Kama battle, Alyosha Popovich is also named among the heroes dying in the battle. Chronicle legends brought to us the motives of the punished boasting of the two "brothers of Suzdal", in which one can see the Suzdal boastful princes Yuri and Yaroslav, defeated by the Rostov prince Konstantin in the battle of Lipitz (1216), and the Tver Chronicle attributes decisive importance in this battle to the "brave" Konstantin - Alexander Popovich.

There are studies that lead the pedigree of Alyosha from Poland. In the "Great Chronicle" of the Poles, a legend was preserved about a certain "weaver", the heir to the Popeliusha family, who defeated Alexander the Great not by force, but by "cunning and trickery". In honor of this feat, the hero received the nickname Leshko, that is, a deceiver, a rogue. Alyosha Popovich also does not shy away from using cunning and trickery for the sake of defeating the enemy. The names Alyoshka Popovich and Leshko Popelyush seem to be consonant. And in the dictionary of the living Great Russian language, Vladimir Dal, it is indicated that in Russian dialects alekha, aleshka means a liar, a braggart, “to let Alyoshka in” - to deceive. How could the Greek name Alexei get such a meaning, if not in consonance with the more ancient Leshko - “a rogue, a deceiver, a liar”? This interpretation of the name owes its popularity to the clearly epic image of the rogue and deceiver Alyoshka-Leshka Popovich-Popelyush.

However, we believe more in Russian chronicles than in Polish fairy tales, which, moreover, made their own character of Alexander the Great, who lived long before the appearance of epics. Consequently, Alyosha Popovich really had a real prototype, like Dobrynya. There is very little information about him, but it is clear that he was from Rostov and died while still young in one of the battles.

2.3. Prototypes of "senior" heroes

The first bogatyr whom Ilya Muromets meets when going to the service of Vladimir was Svyatogor. He gave Elijah part of his strength and ordered him to take his sword.

Svyatogor in the epic is a huge giant, "above a standing forest, below a walking cloud"; it is hardly worn by the mother-cheese earth. He does not travel to Holy Rus', but lives on the high Holy Mountains; on his journey, the mother-cheese shakes the earth, the forests sway and the rivers overflow their banks. Therefore, it is not clear whether Svyatogor defended the Russian land or did it more harm, which is why the narrators of antiquity decided to kill him, placing him as the successor of the less powerful Ilya, but who had much clearer goals: to protect and protect the Fatherland.

The prototype of Svyatogor is found in Caucasian legends under the name of Nart Soslan, the legend of a wonderful coffin from which the hero could not get out is present among Ukrainians, Kashubians, Italians, Gypsies, Magyars, in Ancient Egypt. There is a version that Svyatogor is the biblical Samson.

However, the opinion seems more likely that the prototype of Svyatogor was the Russian prince Svyatoslav, the son of Princess Olga. First, the names are consonant. Secondly, Svyatoslav, like Svyatogor, very rarely visited his homeland. Svyatoslav sought to conquer and annex new lands to Rus', to strengthen the borders, but while he fought in a foreign land, the Polovtsians repeatedly raided Rus' and once almost captured Princess Olga and her grandchildren in Kiev. Therefore, it is not clear whether Svyatoslav's feats of war brought more harm or benefit to Rus'.

There is one more argument. Svyatoslav was a religiously tolerant prince, but he refused to accept Christianity, as his mother Olga taught. Therefore, it seems logical that his epic image Svyatogor ended his earthly journey in a timely manner, transferring his strength to the Christian Ilya. Since in Rus' it was mostly monks who were literate, who not only wrote down chronicles, but also formed an epic with an ideologically correct content, it is quite natural that, together with Svyatogor, they buried the last remnants of paganism.

The true son of the Russian land is Mikula Selyaninovich, a peasant plowman. He also has a corresponding patronymic - the son of a peasant, and in other readings - Seyatelevich, Selyaginovich (selga, an old word for fields running under grass and forest). It was extremely difficult to plow the selga overgrown with forest and grass: you had to constantly jump on the roots of trees, although not yet too deep, - and indeed from the epic it is clear that Mikula Selyaninovich yelled (plowed) not a cornfield, but a selga, as he twisted the roots with a plow.

However, the epics mention the unusually expensive outfits of the plowman Mikula. This gives a reason to look for prototypes of the hero in European and older fairy tales, where the image of the plowman king is often found. The plow itself was a cult object - there was a custom to go to Kolyada with a plow, honoring it. This gives reason to believe that the prototype of Mikula was the Slavic pagan deity Veles (Volos), the patron of cattle, agriculture, and peasant labor. But a much more interesting study is being done by L. Prozorov. In his opinion, Mikula does not plow, but plows (determines the boundaries) for his people the land for living, protecting them with a shaft and a moat of furrows from the lands of unfriendly neighbors. In ancient times, very powerful and noble princes had such a prerogative. Further, talking with Volga, Mikula declares that he will gather a feast. And in the epics, the organization of the feast is the monopoly of the prince. In fact, with his statement, Mikula announces his status. “I arrange feasts” - that is, “I am a prince!”.

So there are three layers in Mikula's speech. The first is deceptively literal: a statement that he is going to grow and harvest rye, make beer from it and have a feast. The second - declaring himself as the organizer of the feast, Mikula allegorically reports his princely dignity. But he plows rather than plows, and literally no harvest and feast can be expected. The third meaning reveals the last riddles. Mikula's speech turns out to be the grim boasting of a warrior threatening a bloody "feast" to his enemies. By this he confirms his true origin for the second time. Mikula, a heroic farmer, turns out to be a powerful prince and a great warrior. But the prince of which particular tribe or union of tribes was Mikula?

Unfortunately, there is no way to identify this tribe according to the ethnographic, anthropological or other features of this area. One can only guess that it inhabited the northwestern lands, since in the Kiev, more southern, cycle of epics, Mikula is not mentioned at all. The legend closest to the image of Mikula (prince-plowman plowing the borders of his land) is the Belarusian legend about Radar. In the epic about Mikula, there is a very close phonetically word "ratar" (plowman). Belarusians are closest to the region of distribution of epics purely geographically. Two tribal unions took part in the formation of the Belarusian ethnos - the Dregovichi and the Krivichi. But it was the Krivichi that made up one of the three tribal unions mentioned in the legend about the calling of the Varangians. It was the Krivichi who, judging by the archaeological data, settled one of the three ends of ancient Novgorod. Thus, it seems likely to see the hero of the Krivichi in Mikul, and in the bylina about his meeting with the Volga - a legend about the collision in the north of Eastern Europe of two colonization flows, two methods of colonization - communal, agricultural ("plowing" the land by Mikula) colonization of the Krivichi and retinue, so to speak, the proto-robber colonization of the Varangian ancestors of the Slovenes. The meeting was followed by an association, an alliance for joint, in particular, domination over "evil men, robbers" from local, mainly hunting, tribes.

And later the military union of the tribes was sealed by marriage ties. Mikula's two daughters were married to Russian bogatyrs from the Kyiv cycle: Nastasya - to Dobrynya, Vasilisa - to Stavr Godinovich. Moreover, the latter was the heroine of an independent epic.

Accordingly, the prototype of the hero Volga is just as mythical. The main distinguishing features of this hero are the ability to shapeshift and the ability to understand the language of birds and animals. Therefore, sometimes Volga is identified with the Magus, a magician or Volkh, the ancient Slavic god of hunting.

Supporters of the "historical school" in the study of epics believe that the prototype of the epic Volga was Prince Vseslav of Polotsk, whom rumor considered a sorcerer who actively participated in the internecine struggle, encroaching on Novgorod and Kiev. At one time it was customary to identify Volga Svyatoslavich with the Prophetic Prince Oleg, who reigned after Rurik. The identification is based on the similarity of names, Oleg's campaign against Constantinople was correlated with Volga's campaign in India, and in the birth of Volga from a snake, they found a similarity of Oleg's death from a snake. There is an opinion that Prince Oleg Drevlyansky could have been the prototype of Volga, but he died at about the age of 20 and was not noted by anything special in the annals.

2.4. Prototypes of other heroes

One of the most ancient epic heroes is Polkan. But this is not a dog at all, as one might think from the name. Polkan is an abbreviated “half-horse”, half-horse, that is, in the Russian epic epic there is a centaur - a spirit with supernatural strength and unimaginable speed of running, having a human physique to the waist, and a horse physique below the waist. Mentions of centaurs in the Russian written tradition begin from the 11th century. Numerous images of centaurs are known, for example, on the walls of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir (1194) or on the walls of the St. George Cathedral in Yuryev-Podolsky (1230). During the battles, these brave and warlike creatures often acted on the side of the Russians and therefore are revered on a par with great warriors and princes.

Little is known about the prototypes of Nikita Kozhemyaka and Stavr Godinovich.

Nikita Kozhemyaka is the hero of a folk tale from the times of Kievan Rus, recorded in several versions in different regions of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Referring to the widespread plot of snake fighting, the tales of Kozhemyak have that special feature that the hero-serpent fighter, before performing the usual feat - killing the snake and freeing the princess - gives evidence of his heroic strength, tearing several bull skins folded together.

The main interest of the fairy tale about Nikita is that its antiquity on Russian soil is attested by the original chronicle - the story of a young hero who overcame the Pecheneg giant under Vladimir the Saint, in memory of which the city of Pereyaslavl was supposedly built by Vladimir (“because of the glory of the youth”). Declaring the extraordinary strength of his son, his father tells that once he scolded his son, while he was crushing the skin: the son, irritated by his father's scolding, tore the skin with his hands. Vladimir tests the strength of the young hero by releasing a bull enraged by a red-hot iron against him: the young man pulls out a piece of meat with skin from the bull. Further, the battle of the hero with the Pecheneg giant is described in epic terms. Subsequently, the historical features of the folk tale were forgotten; the hero received the name of Nikita or Cyril and is no longer fighting with a historical enemy, but with a fantastic creature, a snake, a kidnapper of girls.

Stavr Godinovich is an epic character, in the most famous version - the Chernigov boyar. The imprisonment of Stavr by Prince Vladimir is a historical fact of 1118: the Novgorod First Chronicle briefly and vaguely reports on some unrest in Novgorod, which provoked the wrath of Grand Duke Vladimir Monomakh. It is clear from the context that Monomakh arranged a full-scale investigation in Kyiv, demanding all the Novgorod boyars there; most were released, and those found guilty of the riots were imprisoned, and with them the Sotsky Stavr (whose guilt is not indicated by the chronicler). In addition, the name of the boyar Stavr Gordyatinich is mentioned in one of the graffiti of the XII century on the walls of the Kyiv St. Sophia Cathedral. But in the epic about Stavra, the hero himself plays a secondary role. The main one is given to his wife Vasilisa, the daughter of the hero Mikula Selyaninovich, who, with the help of her talents, courage and cunning, rescued her husband from prison.

The following epic heroes - Vasily Buslaev, Evpaty Kolovrat, Peresvet - have very real historical prototypes.

Thus, the Novgorod mayor Vaska Buslavich, who died, according to the Nikon Chronicle, in 1171, is considered the historical prototype of the first hero. In the old days, princely governors were called posadniks, but by 1171, Lord Veliky Novgorod was already choosing his own posadnik. Along with the lord-archbishop and the head of the Novgorod militia - the thousandth - the posadnik headed the entire Novgorod state. Together with them, the posadnik founded cities in the Novgorod lands, was in charge of the city treasury, sent and received embassies, ruled the court and led the council. He distributed the authorities, all these elders, coastal, sotsk, podvoi, callers, izvetniks, mezhniks, birichs and bailiffs, according to the "volosts" - the lands subordinate to Novgorod. The posadnik had his own seal and his own squad, and he received a salary from a special tax.

True, according to the research of L. Prozorov, the Novgorod chronicles do not mention any Buslai, and the Nikon chronicle is Moscow. And in the lists of posadniks of free Novgorod, from the legendary Gostomysl to the last, who ruled the last decades of Novgorod liberty, the pro epic hero is silent.

Nevertheless, in the epics, Vasily Buslaev remained the ideal of valiant boundless prowess. And personifies, most likely, the power of free Novgorod itself.

As for Evpaty Kolovrat, even the years of his life are known - 1200 - January 11, 1238. He was a Ryazan boyar, governor, entered the epic as a hero of the Ryazan folk tale of the 13th century, during the invasion of Batu. Evpatiy's feat is described in the Old Russian Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu.

Yevpaty was born, according to legend, in the village of Frolovo, Shilovsky volost. Being in Chernigov with an embassy asking for help to the Ryazan principality against the Mongols and learning about their invasion of the Ryazan principality, Evpatiy Kolovrat with a "small squad" hastily moved to Ryazan. But he found the city already devastated "... the sovereigns of the killed and many people who died: some were killed and whipped, others were burned, and others were sunk." Then he was joined by the survivors "...whom God kept outside the city", and with a detachment of 1700 people, Evpaty set off in pursuit of the Mongols. Having overtaken them in the Suzdal lands, a sudden attack completely destroyed their rearguard. “And Yevpaty beat them so mercilessly that the swords were blunted, and he took the Tatar swords and whipped them.” The astonished Batu sent the hero Khostovrul against Evpaty, "... and with him strong Tatar regiments." Hostovrul promised Batu to bring Evpaty Kolovrat alive, but died in a duel with him. Despite the huge numerical superiority of the Tatars, during a fierce battle, Evpaty Kolovrat "... began to flog the Tatar force, and beat many of the famous heroes of the Batyevs here ...". There is a legend that the envoy of Batu, sent for negotiations, asked Evpaty - “What do you want?” And got the answer - "Die!". According to some legends, the Mongols managed to destroy the Evpatiy detachment only with the help of stone-throwing tools designed to destroy the fortifications. Struck by the desperate courage, courage and martial art of the Ryazan hero, Batu gave the body of the murdered Yevpaty Kolovrat to the surviving Russian soldiers and, as a sign of respect for their courage, ordered them to be released without causing them any harm.

In some editions of the Tale, Evpaty's patronymic is indicated - Lvovich and tells about his solemn funeral in the Ryazan Cathedral on January 11, 1238.

Alexander Peresvet (? - September 8, 1380) - the legendary warrior monk, monk of the Trinity - Sergius Monastery. Together with Rodion, Oslyabey participated in the Battle of Kulikovo and defeated the Tatar hero Chelubey in single combat before the main battle, dying himself. In the Russian Orthodox Church, he is canonized as a saint.

Some sources indicate that Peresvet was born in Bryansk and was a boyar before being tonsured a monk. Perhaps he participated in a number of campaigns and battles. The Life of Peresvet and Oslyaby reports that they were students and tonsurers of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

According to the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh, before the Battle of Kulikovo, Prince Dimitri, in search of spiritual support, went to his monastery for a blessing. The Tatars at that time were considered invincible, and the name of St. Sergius, as a righteous man and miracle worker, was glorified throughout Rus'. The blessing of such a person should have inspired hope in all the warriors. Saint Sergius not only blessed the prince, but also sent with him two monks of the princely family, who were well versed in weapons. These monks were Alexander Peresvet and Rodion (name in monastic vows) Oslyabya, whom St. Sergius had previously tonsured into the Great Schema (the highest monastic rank) and buried alive.

According to legend, before the battle, Peresvet prayed in the hermit's cell at the chapel of the holy warrior Great Martyr of the 4th century Demetrius of Thessalonica, where the Dimitrievsky Ryazhsky monastery was subsequently founded, which is 7 km from the town of Skopin. After praying, Peresvet left, leaving his apple staff. This staff after the revolution was kept in the museum of local lore in Ryazan.

According to the most common version, before the start of the battle, Peresvet participated in the traditional "duel of heroes". On the part of the Tatars, he was opposed by the hero Chelubey, who was not only distinguished by his enormous strength, but also by his special mastery of military training. Some sources indicate that Chelubey was an invincible duel warrior, whom the Tatar troops hired specifically for such duels. Both opponents were on horseback, the weapons were spears. After the first collision, the spears of both broke, after which both combatants collapsed to the ground and died.

There is also another version of the duel, according to which Peresvet and Chelubey pierced each other with spears. In accordance with this version, the spear of the master of equestrian fights Chelubey was a meter longer than usual. Entering into battle with him on spears, the enemy could not even strike, as he was already defeated and fell out of the saddle. Alexander Peresvet went against the logic of the duel - having taken off his armor, he remained only in one Great Schema (a monastic cape with the image of a cross, worn over monastic clothes). He did this so that the spear of the enemy, passing through the soft tissues of the body at high speed, would not have time to knock him out of the saddle and then he could strike himself, which happened in battle. Having received a mortal wound, he continued to remain in the saddle, he was able to drive himself to the building and only died there.

Immediately after the death of the combatants, the battle itself began - the Tatar cavalry attacked the Advanced Regiment of Russian troops.

And, finally, the last two of the most famous epic heroes belong to fairy-tale characters. This is Bova Korolevich and Sadko. Bova Korolevich is a hero of Russian folklore, a heroic story, as well as numerous popular prints of the 16th century. The story is an analogue of the medieval French novel about the exploits of the knight Bovo d'Anton, also known from the 16th century. in popular Italian editions of poetic and prose works. The oldest Russian version of this novel dates back to the 16th century, the oldest version of the French novel that has survived to this day - "Bev from Anton", dating from the first half of the 13th century, is written in the Anglo-Norman dialect. Along with the Russian story about Bova, similar works were created in many other European languages, for example, the English novel "Bev from Anton".

Of all the chivalrous and adventurous works that existed in Rus' in pre-Petrine times, the story of Bova enjoyed the greatest success. About 100 manuscripts and about 200 popular prints are known, the last of which were published even after the revolution in 1918. The image of Bova was very popular in folklore.

Disputes about the origin of Sadko, a singer and harpist, and later a merchant who fell into the underwater world, are still ongoing. Sadko is compared with the hero of a French novel named Sadok, thrown into the sea for sins, with the singer Väinamenen, the hero of the Finno-Ugric epic, playing for the sea god. Some researchers consider the hero of the Novgorod chronicle of 1167, Sadko Sytinets, who founded the church of Boris and Gleb, to be the prototype of Sadko.

"Sadko" differs from most of the heroic ancient Russian epics both in a peaceful plot, and in the occupation of the protagonist, and in a fabulously fantastic episode in the underwater kingdom, a happy outcome from which the revered Christian Saint Mykola, the patron saint of sailors, helps the hero to make.

Conclusion

Epic heroes can be divided into several groups according to the presence of prototypes and their characteristics.

The first group is the heroes, who are a broad collective image that combines the features of pagan Slavic deities, Christian saints, ancient Russian princes, powerful and brave people who really lived. This group of heroes includes Ilya Muromets, Svyatogor, Mikula Selyaninovich, Volga.

The next group of bogatyrs - Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich, Vasily Buslaev, Nikita Kozhemyaka, Stavr - have as prototypes several real-life bogatyrs and warriors, of whom only small mentions have been preserved in the annals.

There are also such heroes who had only one prototype - Evpaty Kolovrat, Peresvet. Their exploits so impressed contemporaries that they were sung in epics.

There is a group of heroes - fairy-tale characters: Sadko, Polkan, Bova Korolevich.

However, the epic does not divide the heroes into groups. Bylina creates a special fantastic, heroic world. Epics do not have a clear sequence and do not adhere to chronology, therefore, heroes from different lands and different times are often found in epics.

In general, the image of the epic hero is the image of the defender of the Russian land, a fearless and powerful warrior, brave, just. For the Russian people, almost constantly living under the fear of the raids of nomads, then Western knights, the hero was a symbol of the protector, whom both old and young relied on.

(accessed 12.08.2013).

A stately fellow on a horse and in armor - such a picture is usually drawn by the imagination at the mention of Ilya Muromets. The controversy surrounding the personality of the great Russian hero has not subsided for many years. Did Elijah really exist? Where do the rumors about the magical healing of a man come from? And did the hero really uproot trees from the ground?

History of creation

Every year on January 1 in Orthodoxy, the memory of St. Elijah is commemorated. The man met his old age in the Pechersk Lavra and died at the hands of the cruel Polovtsians. Studies of the remains of the martyr confirm the opinion that the hero Ilya Muromets is not a fictional character, but a real person.

Analysis of the relics, which scientists conducted in 1988, indicates specific features: the deceased man suffered from a rare disease that affects the ability to move. Traces of wounds were seen on the bones and tissues of the saint. The above facts give reason to assert that Ilya Pechersky (a man is buried under that name) is a prototype of a mighty hero.

Perhaps the exaggerations that are characteristic of tales and legends are the consequences of constant retelling. Or the creators of the epics added metaphors to the story to impress the listeners.

Muromets really differed from his contemporaries. The description of the hero (confirmed by scientists) proves that the height of the warrior was 177 cm. The average height of men in Ancient Rus' did not exceed 160 cm. It is necessary to mention the quotes of Boris Mikhailichenko, the researcher of relics:

“... the so-called tuberosities are very well developed on the bones of the mummy. And we know that the better a person’s muscles are developed during life, the more these tuberosities will be. That is, he had a developed muscular system.

“In addition, X-ray examination of the skull revealed changes in the part of the brain called the Turkish saddle. At all times there are people with such symptoms, they say about them - "an oblique fathom in the shoulders."

The first written mention of Ilya Muromets dates back to 1574. The Lithuanian voivode, in a note to Ostafiy Volovich, casually mentions the brave warrior "Ilii Murawlenina" and the imprisonment of the Russian hero in the dungeon of the Kyiv prince.

There is a theory that handwritten evidence of the exploits of Muromets were deliberately destroyed. The supposedly humble origin of the hero cast a shadow on the boyar warriors and their descendants.

Biography

There is a fierce debate about where Ilya Muromets comes from. The initial theory says that the hero was born in the village of Karacharovo, which is located near the city of Murom, Vladimir Region.

Researchers of the hero's biography adhere to the explanation that the birthplace of the strong man is the village of Karachev, located near Moroviysk, Chernihiv region. The supposed birthplaces of the hero are consonant, so the mistake easily crept into the epic.

It is not yet possible to obtain reliable information about the origin of the man. It is not worth excluding the possibility that Ilya Muromets is Ukrainian. By the way, the patronymic of the famous hero is Ivanovich:

“And in the glorious in the Russian kingdom,
And in that village of Karacharovo,
From honest, glorious parents, from a mother
The son Ilya Ivanovich was born here,
And by name was the glorious Muromets.

The kid, who was born in a peasant family, suffered from an unknown disease since childhood. The child did not feel the lower limbs and could not move independently. It was said in the family that the curse was the cause of the disease. Ilya's grandfather did not want to accept Christianity and cut the Orthodox icon. A descendant of a pagan paid for disrespect for the saints.

A detailed biography of the hero can be traced from the 33rd anniversary of the hero. Ilya, suffering from his own weakness, lay on the stove. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Passable Kaliki" (they are folk healers) helped the future combatant to get on his feet. For miraculous salvation, Ilya gave his word that he would protect the Russian land from enemies and atone for the sin of his grandfather.

Having received the long-awaited freedom, the man left his native village and went to perform feats. On the way to Kyiv, Ilya encountered the first serious opponent. terrorized the district, not allowing travelers to overcome the Bryn forest.

The fight ended quickly, and the man brought the troublemaker to the chambers. The ruler of Rus' was impressed by the feat of the man, but the peasant outfit caused discontent among the reigning person. Instead of the reward promised for the robber, the tsar threw a worn fur coat at Ilya's feet. The brave man did not take offense. For impudent behavior, Muromets was put under lock and key.

Perhaps this would have ended the exploits of the man, but the Polovtsians attacked Rus'. Having shown military talents, physical strength and peasant ingenuity on the battlefield, Muromets earned a place in the tsar's squad.

A little more than 10 years, the hero put things in order on the territory of ancient Rus'. The man accomplished many feats, about which legends and songs were composed. Ilya's favorite weapon is a heavy mace and a treasure sword, which the hero Svyatogor presented to the man.

There is a change of power, and a new ruler ascends the throne. , about which the "Lay of Igor's Campaign" narrates, leads the squad into battle with the old enemy. But there are too many nomads, Ilya Muromets is seriously injured. And here the theories about the fate of the hero diverge again:

"... from these Tatars and from filthy ones, his horse and heroic were petrified, and relics and saints became, and from the old Cossack Ilya Muromets."

In other words, the hero died during the fight. Another epic claims that the faithful horse takes the owner out of the battlefield. The man regains consciousness at the walls of the monastery and remembers the promise to atone for the sin of his grandfather. Ilya drops his ammunition and takes the tonsure. The remaining years the man spends in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, having promised not to take up arms.

The Tale of Bygone Years mentions an internecine war between Rurik Rostislavovich and Roman Mstislavovich. In the battle, in addition to the Russian princes, the Polovtsian mercenaries participated. The robbers got to the monastery and killed the clergy. Ilya, faithful to his vow, did not take up arms and died from a spear in the heart.

Screen adaptations

Ilya Muromets, stopping at a stone, is a familiar image from childhood. It is not surprising that many films and cartoons have been shot about the hero, many paintings have been written.

They were the first to try on the role of a powerful combatant. The film "Ilya Muromets" was released in 1956. The plot was based on classic epics about the hero and scenes from fairy tales.

The Soviet cartoon about a warrior was released in 1975. The second part was released on the screen three years later. Animated films tell about significant events in the life of a combatant. The musical arrangement is compositions from the opera "Ilya Muromets".

In 2007, the animation film studio "Melnitsa" released the cartoon "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber". The image of a laconic strongman, which was loved by kids and their parents (the one who voiced the hero did not have to memorize a lot of text), will later appear in four more cartoons dedicated to Russian heroes. Valery Solovyov and became the voice of Muromets.

In the film "The Real Tale" (2010), the epic character is transferred to modern reality. Ilya holds the position of a guard of Koshchei the Immortal and does not at all look like a true hero.

In addition to films, the image of a strong and courageous man is reflected in painting, musical compositions, performances and computer games.

• Ilya Muromets is mentioned in German epics. In legends, the hero is named Ilya the Russian.
• Foreign sources also mention the wife and children of the warrior, whom the man misses on long trips.
• Researchers claim that Ilya died at the age of 45-50 years.
• For unknown reasons, the remains of Ilya Muromets (or rather, the alleged prototype) did not succumb to complete decomposition. Believers believe that the holy relics of the hero heal diseases of the spine.

Quotes

"I'm going to serve for the Christian faith, and for the Russian land, and for the capital city of Kyiv..."

“I am from the city of Murom, Ilya, son Ivanovich. And I came here by a direct road past the city of Chernigov, past the Smorodina River.

“My light father had a gluttonous cow. Also eat a lot. Yes, in the end, her belly cracked "

"Run, damned ones, to your places, but repair such glory everywhere: Rus'-land is not empty."

“Forgive me, mother, I am not a worker in the field, not a breadwinner. Kalin-Tsar prepared a mortal arrow in the heart of Kyiv. Not great for me, well done, the honor of sitting in Karacharov.

Despite the fact that, according to the ideas of most people, Ilya Muromets is an exceptionally fabulous epic character - in fact, this may not be the case at all. People who are interested in his history know that this character may have a very real prototype, known not only in the vastness of old Rus'.

Some numbers

After some investigations, it turned out that Ilya Muromets himself was first mentioned around 1570. The headman of one of the ancient cities in his letter wrote about him as a man, a defender of the lands of Rus'. According to the elder, such heroes of old Russia were sorely lacking at that difficult and difficult time.

Traces in the European epic

The European peoples also here and there flash information and stories in which similar characters from Russia are involved. Historians often come to the conclusion that these stories are based on real facts, which means that the prototype of Ilya Muromets was real. His personality was mentioned by Polish people, by a traveler from Australia and in the epic of the ancient Germans.

About monasticism

Also, references to Ilya Muromets are found among the publications of one of the monks living in ancient times. In his books, Ilya Muromets is described as a saint. It was thanks to his desire to help the Russian land free of charge and wholeheartedly that he was ranked among this image.

Ilya of Muromets of his life also resorted to a monastic existence. It is known that Ilya became a monk already at the dawn of his life. His monastic life began after he completed his lifestyle as a savior hero. But among church historians in the works of Ilya Muromets, no one met except for one monk who mentioned him in his publications.

The reason why church historians later did not meet Ilya of Muromets

Among church historians, almost no one mentions Ilya of Muromets for the reason that he accomplished all his exploits while still in the world. His monastic life passed quietly and imperceptibly. In Soviet times, when religion was not welcomed. The exploits of Ilya Muromets were presented without any connection with the church and religion, and they did not even try to look for the roots of his personality in this area.

New Research

However, in 1988, thorough studies were carried out, which were able to confirm that most likely, Ilya Muromets was in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. And also evidence was found that the monk from this monastery is the same person as Ilya Muromets.

The relics in this monastery belong to approximately the same time when Il Muromets supposedly lived. They are very suitable for this character in age and there are many coincidences that indicate that these are the remains of this particular hero.

From all of the above, we can conclude that the hero, the prototype of Ilya Muromets, most likely was a real person who lived in a certain period of history. The fact that many people who study folklore come to the conclusion that the image of Ilya of Muromets is a collective figure today is subject to great doubts.

HOW ONE EPIC HERO DEFENDED THE RUSSIAN LAND FOR SEVERAL CENTURIES IN A ROW

On January 1, the Orthodox Church celebrates the day of memory of St. Ilya of the Caves, who became the prototype of the epic hero Ilya of Muromets. How they searched and where they found traces of a strong man-monk, who is revered as a defender of the Russian land - a publication by Elena Gorbacheva on the Russian Planet portal.

IN THE TRAILS OF THE LEGENDARY BOGATYR

Historians have tried to find traces of the legendary hero in chronicles, geographical names, tales of other peoples and stories of overseas travelers. The memory of Ilya Muromets as a real historical character outgrew his time and passed through several centuries, bringing together the ideas of the people about the ideal defender of the Russian land.

Researchers recorded a variety of characters in the prototypes of the epic hero: from the chronicle hero Rogdai, the warrior Oleg Moravsky, to the impostor Ilya (Ileyka) Korovin, who declared himself Peter I and was subsequently executed. For a long time it was considered that Ilya from the city of Murom is a generalized image, which is not based on a specific historical character.

Chronicles became the first place to search for his traces. The hero Ilya Muromets is not mentioned in the earliest historical documents - the Nikon and Laurentian chronicles. At the same time, brothers of Ilya Muromets in feats of arms - Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich - are in the chronicle texts. Perhaps this is due to the fact that both heroes were by that time more famous than Ilya Muromets. Dobrynya made a good career in the princely squad, and Alyosha Popovich, among other things, was from a priest's family. Yes, and in the epics themselves, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich at first call Ilya Muromets a "man" and "an unknown redneck."

It is believed that for the first time Ilya Muromets was mentioned in 1574 in a letter from the headman of the town of Orsha, Philon of Chernobyl. He wrote about the epic hero "Ilya Muravlenin" as a defender of the Russian lands and about other heroes who are so lacking in this difficult time.

Stories about Ilya Muromets are found not only in Rus', but also among European peoples. In the ancient German epic, he appears as Ilya the Russian, a mighty and invincible warrior. In the Scandinavian sagas, Ilya turned into Ilias. Overseas ethnographers who came to Rus' also collected stories known to every Russian boy. After returning from Kiev in 1584, a Polish merchant from Lvov, Martin Gruneweg, wrote that he had seen the grave of the legendary hero. Erich Lassota von Steblau, an Austrian traveler and diplomat, also mentioned in 1594 the giant Ilya Morovlin and his grave. These testimonies indicated to historians the most probable burial place of the hero.

MONK

One of the monks of the Lavra, Athanasius Kalnofoysky, published in 1638 the lives of the saints of the monastery. Among them is Ilya Muromets, or Ilya Pechersky, who, according to the monk, lived 450 years before that time. It is with this real historical character, according to many researchers, that the image of the legendary hero is associated. It is no coincidence that in all epics Ilya Muromets appears as the defender of the Russian people and the Orthodox faith. For example, the money taken from the robbers, he gave to the construction of temples.

Ilya Pechersky (Ilya Muromets). Photo: vladimirobl.ru

It is believed that Ilya became a monk towards the end of his life, after military exploits in the squad of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun (also an epic character, who, however, had a more definite historical prototype - Vladimir the Baptist). However, church traditions transfer the life of Ilya Muromets from the 11th century to the 12th.

None of the subsequent church historians compiled the life of Ilya - perhaps this happened because during the time of monasticism Ilya did not have time to perform special feats of faith, since he took tonsure shortly before his death. However, epics about the folk hero, carefully passed from mouth to mouth, managed to preserve much more details about his life than many written sources. In the Soviet years, Ilya Muromets tried with all their might to “de-Christianize”. So, for example, in pre-revolutionary editions of epics, Ilya got to his feet after meeting with Christ and the apostles, who later turned into nameless elders - kalik. However, it was in Soviet times that the search for the historical prototype of Ilya Muromets came to an end.

Studies conducted in 1988 by a special commission confirm that the monk from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and the epic character are apparently the same person.

Scientists have established that the monk, whose relics are in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, lived in the XI-XII century, his age - 40-55 years - is consistent with the epic description. The biggest surprise awaited scientists in the study of the musculoskeletal system. Bone deformities were found, which are formed as a result of paralysis of the limbs suffered in youth.

"Ilya Muromets in weakness", artist Andrey Klimenko

The body of the monk also bore the marks of numerous battles, and he died from an extensive wound in the heart. Perhaps this happened during the Polovtsian raid on the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

ONE OF THE HEROES

A prominent specialist in folklore Vladimir Propp wrote:

“Epics about Ilya Muromets are a reflection of all the eras passed by the Russian people: the displacement of paganism by Christianity, the struggle against the Tatars, injustice and greed on the part of the boyars and the Grand Duke (Tsar) of the emerging centralized state, the Time of Troubles and popular uprisings ... We will not be able to guess all the historical heroes and anti-heroes, whose deeds prompted the people to create epics, all who became the prototype of characters in works about the “epic time” of the Russian people.”

Epics are always interesting. In the program "Radio Kuzichev" in Tsargrad - a professor at the UNIQ Institute, a collector and writer Alexandra Barkova, who spoke about the Russian epic, epics and reality.

Prototype of Ilya Muromets

Anatoly Kuzichev:The theme of epics, the theme of differences in epics, characteristic features - this, of course, is fantastically interesting, as interesting as it is unsaid. Let's take a couple of figures that are important to us.

Alexandra Barkova: Well, yes, because the main figures for the Russian epic are still Ilya Muromets and Prince Vladimir.

A.K.: Let's start with Ilya Muromets. We are interested not only in his real biography, but also in some intersections, connotations with epic stories, we are also very interested in the symbolic meaning of this figure.

Help "Radio Kuzichev": The prototype of our main knight is St. Elijah of the Caves, whose relics lie in the nearby caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The fact that Ilya Pechersky is Ilya Muromets is also confirmed by the book "Teraturgima" published in 1638. In it, a monk from the Lavra, Athanasius of Kalnofoysky, says that Saint Elijah, who is called Chibitk, rests in the caves. The earthly life of the hero "Teraturgim" refers to the 12th century.

New evidence of the identity of Ilya Pechersky and Ilya Muromets appeared in 1988, when an interdepartmental commission of the Ministry of Health was sent to the Lavra. The growth of Elijah Pechersky during his lifetime was 177 cm, which was impressive for Ancient Rus'. The indication of epics on the immobility of St. Elijah corresponds to the data on a long illness of the spine. According to scientists, the ascetic was a warrior, this is evidenced by calluses on the ribs, fused after fractures. In addition, many other battle wounds were found on the body, one of which became, apparently, fatal.

Alexandra Barkova: You know, the situation with Ilya Muromets is very difficult, because he is also positioned as a peasant son. That is, what do we know about Ilya Muromets? That he sat on the stove for thirty years and three years, that he was a peasant's son ... Then wanderers come, some kind of miraculous healing takes place, he goes to Kiev, begins to serve Vladimir.

Further, we know one more very interesting thing, which is less textbook, because this initial part of the biography, it is presented as a kind of real fact. Reality in this, to put it mildly, is not enough, I will show it to you a little later.

Death in battle is not written

And then - in the epics it is constantly emphasized - that death in battle is not written for Ilya Muromets. Moreover, specific storytellers, sometimes rethinking this phrase, reach the point of absurdity. For example, Ilya fights with his illegitimate son Sokolnik, he does not know that this is his son, a young, strong son, Ilya - well, of course - for thirty years and three years he sat on the stove, only then he began a military career, therefore Ilya is always old. And Sokolnik throws Ilya to the ground. And Ilya "looks at his right hand, and on the right hand it is written," apparently along the whole hand, that death in battle is not written to Ilya Muromets. Here are such curious cases in specific records of the epic.

I want to note, firstly, what is "death in battle is not written"? You see, we now live in an era of development of medicine. You see, we are now striving to live long, because for any of us, with the appropriate funding, life will be extended, for a very, very long time with appropriate treatment. Their treatment was clear.

And for a warrior, death in battle was, quite obviously, desirable, and now it is almost impossible to understand. Because we have medicine. Because we have everywhere where there is no road for the disabled, everywhere we swear why the disabled cannot pass here.

A.K.: Yes ... Death in battle, it turns out, was the antithesis of a long and painful ...

A.B.: Yes, even helpless, slow dying: you were strong, you were powerful, and now you, excuse me, here ... Even if you are a wealthy person and you have care.

Only Russians could be professional warriors

A.K.: That is, what he had written on his hand was not an optimistic prophecy, but vice versa ...

A.B.: This is a contradiction to all the values ​​of military life. The warrior sought to die in battle in order to be spared from precisely the excruciating disability. This time. Second, it means that Ilya Muromets, as he is presented in epics, is an outstanding hero.

As you well understand, in the era before firearms, well, Colonel Colt equalized everyone, but before that, excuse me, where did military skill come from? It was primarily taken from childhood education. That is, a peasant could, of course, fight, but how? Where? In the militia, with some kind of pitchfork, so to speak, or some more advanced weapon. But the peasant could not, in principle, become a professional warrior. Only those who were called "Rusichi" in Rus' could become professional soldiers, and let's say that it was said here that he lived in the 12th century ... What are "Rusichi"? After all, the Russians are the descendants of the Varangians, Scandinavians, who made up squads who married Slavic girls. The Varangians were called Rus with a small letter, like Rus-people, and the Russians, respectively, are their descendants, that is, they are professional warriors in the nth generation.

You still genetics, please add genetics. That is, at least his military family goes back there to the tenth century, and even deeper. We have some twelfth person who lived for 60 years, he lived an insanely long time, this is a good, serious long-liver. Count how many generations of warriors he had in three centuries. And he has been studying since the age of six, and here he is, please, he can really be, so to speak, that combat vehicle, as Bui-Tour-Vsevolod is described in The Tale of Igor's Campaign.

Ilya Muromets is described by exactly the same combat vehicle. For thirty and three years the peasant's son sat on the stove. Do you understand that all this is pure fantasy?

And I don't mean to say it's bad. Because the epic, always, any epic, how it differs from any historical song - we have historical songs in Rus'. The capture of Kazan is very famous - Mussorgsky even used it in "Boris Godunov", in "Avdotya Ryazanochka". And some others. We have historical songs.

But epic is something completely different. Last time we said that in the epic about Ilya Muromets and Tsargrad - Ilya Muromets liberates Tsargrad. Everything, there is no Istanbul according to the Russian epic, but we have Orthodox Constantinople. According to the picture of the world of the Russian epic. That is, the epic, not only Russian, any world epic, taking up history, makes a certain correct version of it.

The epic should not reflect the real story

A.K.: That is, the epic is our interpretation, how it should be or how it should be?

A.B.: Yes! Quite right. That is, it is a kind of reflection of ideals. The epic should not reflect the real history, it does not reflect it, not because it was distorted, but because it says how it should be, that is, its goal is not factography, but an ideal, this is the difference between an epic and a historical song.

A.K.: That is, the epic is always an alternative, to one degree or another, but an alternative reality.

A.B.: Quite right. You can take such a textbook example, take France, the song about Roland, where Roland fights with whom, fights with the Saracens, who are both Muslims and worship Apollo. The real prototype of Roland died in battle with whom? With the Basques, who were Christians. No, well, what is it - Christians are fighting with Christians? No, that's not good enough. No Basques to have Saracens. And the Apollos are still up to the heap.

A.K.:Now I don’t understand a little about lying on the stove. And in a metaphorical sense, this is important to me, and in a historical one.

A.B.: At the center of the epic is always ... Well, how can I tell you. The Soviet work is also much more epic than realistic. "A Tale of a Real Man" Do you understand that the wording "real person" suggests some very interesting thoughts? Because there are some ordinary people? And there is a real person. That is, this person who has super qualities. I once told this when I had a program on "Culture". Here is Maresyev - a real person, nowhere more real. But the facts of the biography of a real person are superimposed on the mythological image. And the tighter this connection of real facts and some mythological archetype occurs, the stronger it will be. Ilya Muromets was a real person. We do not deny this fact, there are relics. This man had some problems with his spine. This is a real fact. We do not deny it. And then, according to the ideas of this very ideal - the hero should be - well, remember the Greek Achilles, for example - who? He is a demigod. In fact, he is not even a demigod, because his mother is a goddess, and his father is himself with an admixture of divine blood ...

A.K.: Peley's father. Mother Thetis.

A.B.: Yes, yes, that's right. That is, his father is also not quite a man. Here, that is, the percentage of divine blood there is very high. In other legends of other peoples, the protagonist of the epic is not a person, or rather, a real person. Somewhere it is expressed directly, somewhere it is expressed indirectly, somewhere he is considered a man, but he has supernatural features. Somewhere he has such a pedigree that you will admire, that is, he is, as it were, officially not a person. And I bring to the simple idea that the facts of the epic biography of Ilya in no way can give us a real outstanding warrior. Because a real outstanding warrior could not be a peasant in any way, he was only from combatants, nothing else. He could not start his military career at the respectable age of 33, this is also unnatural. […]

This is mythology. It is very important not to confuse lies and dreams. Because a lie leads away from reality, and a dream leads to it.

Was there a conflict between the hero and Vladimir?

A.B.: In Soviet science, and in this case the word "Soviet" has a sharply negative connotation, the conflict between Ilya and Vladimir was presented clearly. That Ilya is a peasant, Vladimir does not love him for this, and Vladimir offends him. In fact, this is a different kind of conflict.

If we again compare Ilya Muromets with Achilles. What is Achilles? Achilles is "Anger, O goddess, sing to Achilles, Peleus's son..." That is, it is unbridled rage. What is Ilya? I bring you to the fact that these three facts: peasant origin, sitting on the stove and "death in battle is not destined", these three facts indicate that we have a creature of superhuman nature that came into the world of people, like a protector. But his strength is so great that he is much more, shall we say, destructive. Whoever gets caught, who turns up under his arm, is also destructive. On the one hand, he will destroy the Tatars by the thousands or at least hundreds, and on the other hand, he ... we know the epic about the quarrel between Ilya and Vladimir, when Ilya took his bow, shot in Kiev at the golden domes of the church and carried these domes to drink the tavern, at the same time the growth is good, here. Did your colleague say that Ilya's height was a thousand something? Well, it was a sweet disclaimer, but this disclaimer was correct. Because in epics really ... Well, can you imagine - to take church domes?

A.K.: In epics, in the epic sense, this is just more correct than "pathetic" 177.

A.B.: This is just normal epic hyperbole. And you understand, when Vladimir... put yourself in the place of Vladimir. You have such a treasure in Kyiv, which, of course, will kill all enemies ...

A.K.: But he won't spare his friends either...

A.B.: But he will shoot domes from churches. And he will go to drink them in a tavern. Is it good or bad to put such a person in the cellar?

A.K.: We moved on to Vladimir, what do we know about Vladimir?

Help "Radio Kuzichev": Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko - a character of the Russian epic epic, Prince of Kiev. His image was influenced by Vladimir Svyatoslavich, the prince of Kiev, one of the key figures of the epics of the Kyiv cycle, uniting many Russian heroes. He is their head, but at the same time he himself has no right to be called a hero. You can look at it as a popular reflection of several historical figures, or as a mythical person, the personification of a certain kind of natural phenomena, for example. Epic Prince Vladimir does not serve as a reflection of the historical personality of Vladimir Svyatoslavich. He loves to use the services of heroes in all dangers, but at the same time not wanting to risk his own life, and sometimes doing unfair things to the heroes. The epic image of Vladimir the Red Sun was also influenced by impressions of the great princes and kings of Moscow. An outstanding researcher of folklore Vladimir Propp even saw in some plots connected with the Kyiv prince, a caricature of Tsar Vasily Shuisky.

A.K.: Thank you very much, well, from the epic to the cartoon.

A.B.: Do you know Propp's book "Russian Heroic Epic"? Unfortunately, this book is Soviet in the worst sense of the word, he prayed, so to speak, from the point of view of Soviet ideology, for the "sins" of his previous outstanding works, and this book, unfortunately, contains not just errors, but contains ... well, such thoughts, when Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp was forced to deny his own early ideas.

A.K.: That is, a deliberate misrepresentation?

A.B.: Deliberate distortion of facts, therefore, about the caricature of Vasily Shuisky - this is not, but, indeed, it was very well said now that the epic Vladimir is not a reflection of a historical personality. But the fact that he is unfair to the heroes is, apparently, our common available sources mean just the quarrel between Ilya and Vladimir, that is, they just reflect the very Soviet point of view that it is time to discard.

Because where is the injustice here? Ilya, excuse me, creates a complete nightmare in Kiev, it’s a little pitiful for the golden domes, a little you shouldn’t do this, and, accordingly, the fact that Vladimir is forced to put him in the cellar is a completely natural reasonable act of a person - namely a person - because Vladimir speaks in the role of guardian of the human world. Once again: the epic world is a world where there are people, they have an enemy, more or less mythologized, and there are heroes like Achilles or Ilya Muromets, who pretend to be more or less people, in fact they are demigods.

A.K.: It's clear.

A.B.: So Vladimir is really a man, he is the prince of people. […]

A.K.: This is a man. This is a very correct term, very precise. Heroes. There are gods, there are people, there are heroes. Vladimir is Agamemnon?

A.B.: Yes. If translated into the images of the Iliad, then Agamemnon.

A.K.: "Anger, O goddess, sing to Achilles, the son of Peleus"... Against whom?

So the conflict between Ilya and Vladimir is by no means a social conflict, it is not a conflict between a prince and a peasant, it is not a conflict - I don’t know there - between conservatives and innovators. When Ilya fights with the Tatars, he goes blind, it is said that he did not see the white light, he did not recognize the black night, and in such a state of combat rage, comparable to the fury of a berserker, he grabs the Tatar by the legs and begins to beat the enemy army with it. You understand?

Put yourself in the place of a ruler who has such a character periodically appearing in the city. What will you do? You will keep it as far away from your city as possible. You do not have money for the third repair of Kyiv churches. Because the first repair was when Ilya brought the Nightingale the Robber and the Nightingale the Robber whistled. Vladimir carelessly said: "Let the Nightingale whistle, show his strength." And Kyiv golden domes flew - the first repair. Then Ilya raged - the second repair. Where will Vladimir send Ilya? That's right, to where in all epics - in almost all - where he stays: to the outpost, that is, as far as possible from the city. If we draw parallels with Greece, where did Eurystheus keep Hercules, another fierce hero? In Tiryns - away, away from Mycenae.

No, this is a completely different conflict, it exists in absolutely any epic, because the main character of the epic, who has certain divine features, as I said, he has unbridled rage. […]