What are epics for children? Definition of epics: what is special about this original Russian genre of folklore

24.04.2019

He incurred the wrath of Vladimir Monomakh and was drowned for robbing two citizens of Novgorod; another version of the same chronicle says that he was exiled. Danube Ivanovich is often mentioned in the chronicles of the 13th century as one of the servants of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich, and Sukhman Dolmantyevich (Odikhmantyevich) was identified with the Pskov prince Domant (Dovmont).

Origin of epics

There are several theories to explain the origin and composition of epics:

Mythological theory sees in epics stories about natural phenomena, in heroes - the personification of these phenomena and their identification with the gods of the ancient Slavs (Orest Miller, Afanasiev).
Historical theory explains epics as a trace historical events, sometimes confused in people's memory (Leonid Maikov, Kvashnin-Samarin).
Borrowing theory points to literary origin epics (Theodor Benfey, Vladimir Stasov, Veselovsky, Ignatius Yagich), and some tend to see borrowings through the influence of the East (Stasov, Vsevolod Miller), others - from the West (Veselovsky, Sozonovich).

As a result, one-sided theories gave way to mixed ones, allowing in epics the presence of elements of folk life, history, literature, and borrowings from Eastern and Western. Initially, it was assumed that the epics, which are grouped according to the place of action into the Kyiv and Novgorod cycles, were mainly of southern Russian origin and only later transferred to the north; according to other epics, the phenomenon is local (Khalansky). Over the centuries, epics have undergone various changes, and have constantly been influenced by books and borrowed much from medieval Russian literature and oral tales of the West and East. Adherents of the mythological theory divided the heroes of the Russian epic into older and younger; later a division was proposed (by Khalansky) into the pre-Tatar, Tatar and post-Tatar eras.

Reading epics

The epics are written in tonic verse, which may have a different number of syllables, but approximately the same number of stresses. Some stressed syllables are pronounced with the stress removed. At the same time, it is not necessary that all verses of one epic have an equal number of accents: in one group there may be four of them, in another there may be three, in a third there may be two. In epic verse, the first stress, as a rule, falls on the third syllable from the beginning, and the last stress on the third syllable from the end.

How Ilya galloped off the good horse,
He fell to mother damp earth:
How the damp earth mother knocks
Yes, under the same as the eastern side.

Specifics

Epics constitute one of the most remarkable phenomena of Russian folk literature; in terms of epic calm, richness of detail, vivid color, distinct characters of the persons depicted, variety of mythical, historical and everyday elements, they are not inferior to the German heroic epic and the epic folk works of all other peoples, with the exception of perhaps the “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.

Bylinas are epic songs about Russian heroes; It is here that we find a reproduction of their general, typical properties and the history of their lives, their exploits and aspirations, feelings and thoughts. Each of these songs speaks mainly about one episode in the life of one hero, and thus a series of songs of a fragmentary nature are obtained, grouped around the main representatives of Russian heroism. The number of songs also increases due to the fact that there are several versions, more or less different, of the same epic. All epics, in addition to the unity of the subject described, are also characterized by the unity of presentation: they are imbued with an element of the miraculous, a sense of freedom and (according to Orestes Miller) the spirit of community. Miller has no doubt that the independent spirit of the Russian epic is a reflection of the old veche freedom, preserved by free Cossacks and free Olonets peasants who were not captured by serfdom. According to the same scientist, the spirit of community, embodied in epics, is an internal connection connecting the Russian epic and the history of the Russian people.

Stylistics

In addition to the internal, the external unity of the epics is also noticeable, in verse, syllable and language: the verse of the epic consists either of trochees with a dactylic ending, or of mixed trochees with dactyls, or, finally, of anapests; there are no consonances at all and everything is based on the musicality of the verse; in that the epics are written in verse, they differ from the “visits”, in which the verse has long been decomposed into a prose story. The style in epics is distinguished by a richness of poetic turns; it abounds in epithets, parallelisms, comparisons, examples and other poetic figures, without losing its clarity and naturalness of presentation. The epics retain quite a large number of archaisms, especially in the typical parts. Hilferding divided each epic into two parts: one - changing according to the will of the “storyteller”; the other is typical, which the narrator must always convey with possible accuracy, without changing a single word. The typical part contains everything essential that is said about the hero; the rest appears only as a background for the main picture.

Formulas

Number of epics

To give an idea of the number of epics, let us note their statistics given in Galakhov’s “History of Russian Literature.” Some epics from the Kyiv cycle have been collected: in the Moscow province - 3, in Nizhny Novgorod 6, in Saratov 10, in Simbirsk 22, in Siberia 29, in Arkhangelsk 34, in Olonets up to 300 - all together about 400, not counting here the epics of Novgorod, later Moscow and others. All epics known to us, according to their place of origin, are divided into: Kyiv, Novgorod and all-Russian, later ones.

Chronologically in first place, according to Orest Miller, are epics telling about matchmakers heroes (see article Bogatyrs); then those that are generally called Kyiv and Novgorod: apparently, they arose before the 14th century; then there are completely historical epics, relating to the Moscow period of the Russian state, and finally, epics relating to the events of recent times.

The last two categories of epics are not of particular interest and do not require extensive explanation; Therefore, until now, in general, little attention has been paid to them. But the epics of the so-called Novgorod and especially the Kyiv cycle are of great importance, although one cannot look at these epics as stories about events that really once took place in the form in which they are presented in the songs: the element of the miraculous completely contradicts this. If the epics do not seem to be a reliable history of people who actually once lived on Russian soil, then their content must certainly be explained differently.

Studying epics

Scientific researchers of the folk epic resorted to two methods in these explanations: historical and comparative. Strictly speaking, both of these methods in most studies are reduced to one comparative one, and it is hardly correct to refer here to the historical method. In fact, the historical method consists in the fact that for a known, for example linguistic, phenomenon, through archival searches or theoretical identification of later elements, we look for an increasingly ancient form and thus arrive at the original, simplest form. This is not at all how the “historical” method was applied to the study of epics. Here it was impossible to compare the new editions with the more ancient ones, since we do not have these latter ones at all; on the other side, literary criticism noted in the most general outline only the nature of the changes that B. has undergone over time, without touching on completely individual details. The so-called historical method in the study of epics, strictly speaking, consisted of comparing the plots of the epics with those in the chronicles; and since the comparative method was the one in which the plots of epics were compared with the plots of other folk (mostly mythical) or foreign works, it turns out that the difference here is not at all in the method itself, but simply in the material of comparison. So, in essence, only on the comparative method are the four main theories of the origin of epics substantiated: historical-everyday, mythological, theory of borrowings and, finally, a mixed theory, which now enjoys the greatest credit.

Epic stories

Before moving on to outline the theories themselves, a few words should be said about the meaning of epic stories. Any literary work can be divided into several the most important moments the action being described; the totality of these moments makes up the plot of this work. Thus, the plots are more or less complex. Several literary works may be based on the same plot, which, even due to the variety of secondary changing features, for example, motives of action, background, accompanying circumstances, etc., may seem completely dissimilar at first glance. One can even go further and say that every plot, without exception, always forms the basis of a greater or lesser number of literary works, and that very often there are fashionable plots that are processed almost at the same time on all ends of the globe. If now we find a common plot in two or more literary works, then three explanations are allowed here: either in these several localities the plots were developed independently, independently of each other, and thus constitute a reflection of real life or natural phenomena; or these plots were inherited by both peoples from common ancestors; or, finally, one people borrowed the plot from another. Already a priori we can say that cases of independent coincidence of plots should be very rare, and the more complex the plot, the more independent it should be. This is mainly the basis of the historical-everyday theory, which completely loses sight of the similarity of the plots of Russian epics with the works of other peoples or considers it a random phenomenon. According to this theory, heroes are representatives of different classes of the Russian people, while epics are poetic and symbolic stories of historical incidents or pictures of phenomena in folk life. The mythological theory is based on the first and second assumptions, according to which similar plots in the works Indo-European peoples inherited from common ancestral ancestors; The similarity between the plots of unrelated peoples is explained by the fact that in different countries people looked at the same natural phenomenon, which served as material for similar plots, in the same way and interpreted it in the same way. Finally, the theory of borrowing is based on the 3rd explanation, according to which the plots of Russian epics were transferred to Russia from the East and West.

All of the above theories were distinguished by their extremes; for example, on the one hand, Orest Miller in his “Experience” argued that the comparative method serves to ensure that in the compared works belonging to different peoples, the sharper, the more definite the differences appeared; on the other hand, Stasov directly expressed the opinion that epics were borrowed from the East. In the end, however, scientific researchers came to the conclusion that epics constitute a very complex phenomenon in which heterogeneous elements are mixed: historical, everyday, mythical and borrowed. A. N. Veselovsky gave some instructions that can guide the researcher and protect him from the arbitrariness of the theory of borrowings; namely, in the CCXXIII issue of the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, the learned professor writes: “In order to raise the issue of transferring narrative plots, it is necessary to stock up on sufficient criteria. It is necessary to take into account the actual possibility of influence and its external traces in proper names and in the remnants of alien life and in the totality of similar signs, because each individual can be deceptive.” Khalansky joined this opinion, and now the study of epics has been put on the right point of view. At present, the main desire of scientific researchers of epics is aimed at subjecting these works to the most thorough analysis possible, which should finally indicate that it is in the epics that constitutes the indisputable property of the Russian people, as a symbolic picture of a natural, historical or everyday phenomenon , and what is occupied by other nations.

Time for folding epics

Regarding the time of origin of the epics, Leonid Maykov expressed himself most definitely, writing: “Although among the plots of the epics there are those that can be traced back to the era of prehistoric affinity of Indo-European legends, nevertheless, the entire content of the epics, including these ancient legends, is presented in such an edition , which can only be associated with a positive historical period. The content of the epics was developed during the 12th centuries, and was established in the second half of the appanage-veche period in the 13th and 14th centuries.” To this we can add the words of Khalansky: “In the 14th century, border fortresses and forts were built, border guards were established, and at that time the image of heroes standing at the outpost, protecting the borders of the Holy Russian land, was formed.” Finally, as Orestes Miller notes, the great antiquity of epics is proven by the fact that they depict a defensive policy, not an offensive one.

Place of origin of epics

As for the place where the epics originated, opinions are divided: the most widespread theory assumes that the epics are of South Russian origin, that their original basis is South Russian. Only over time, due to the mass migration of people from Southern Rus' to the North, were the epics transferred there, and then in their original homeland they were forgotten due to the influence of other circumstances that caused Cossack thoughts. Khalansky spoke out against this theory, condemning at the same time the theory of the original all-Russian epic. He says: “All-Russian ancient epic- the same fiction as the ancient common Russian language. Each tribe had its own epic - Novgorod, Slovenian, Kiev, Polyan, Rostov (cf. the instructions in the Tver Chronicle), Chernigov (legends in the Nikon Chronicle).” Everyone knew about Vladimir as a reformer of all ancient Russian life, and everyone sang about him, and there was an exchange of poetic material between individual tribes. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Moscow became a collector of Russian epic, which at the same time was more and more concentrated in the Kiev cycle, since the Kyiv epics had an assimilating effect on the rest, due to the song tradition, religious relations, etc.; Thus, at the end of the 16th century, the unification of epics into the Kiev circle was completed (although, however, not all epics joined it: all Novgorod cycle and some individual epics, for example about Surovets Suzdalets and Saul Levanidovich). Then the epics spread from the Muscovite kingdom to all directions of Russia through ordinary transmission, and not through emigration to the north, which did not happen. These are, in general terms, Khalansky’s views on this subject. Maikov says that the activities of the squad, expressed in the exploits of its representatives-heroes, are the subject of epics. Just as the squad adjoined the prince, so the actions of the heroes are always connected with one main person. According to the same author, the epics were sung by buffoons and gudoshniks, playing the ringing spring harp or gudk, and they were mainly listened to by the boyars, the squad.

The extent to which the study of epics is still imperfect and to what contradictory results it has led some scientists can be judged by at least one of the following facts: Orestes Miller, an enemy of the theory of borrowings, who tried to find a purely folk Russian character in epics everywhere, says: “If reflected some kind of eastern influence on Russian epics, but only on those that differ in their entire everyday style from the Old Slavonic style; These include epics about Solovy Budimirovich and Churil.” And another Russian scientist, Khalansky, proves that the epic about Nightingale Budimirovich is in the closest connection with Great Russian wedding penalties. What Orest Miller considered completely alien to the Russian people - that is, the self-wooing of a girl - according to Khalansky, still exists today in some places in Southern Russia.

Let us present here, however, at least in general terms, more or less reliable research results obtained by Russian scientists. That the epics have undergone many and, moreover, strong changes, there is no doubt; but it is currently extremely difficult to indicate exactly what these changes were. Based on the fact that the heroic or heroic nature itself is everywhere distinguished by the same qualities - an excess of physical strength and rudeness inseparable from such excess, Orest Miller argued that the Russian epic at the first stages of its existence should have been distinguished by the same rudeness; but since, along with the softening of folk morals, the same softening is reflected in the folk epic, therefore, in his opinion, this softening process must certainly be allowed in the history of Russian epics. According to the same scientist, epics and fairy tales developed from the same basis. If an essential property of epics is historical timing, then the less noticeable it is in an epic, the closer it comes to a fairy tale. Thus, the second process in the development of epics becomes clear: confinement. But, according to Miller, there are also epics in which there is no historical reference at all, and, however, he does not explain to us why he does not consider such works to be fairy tales (“Experience”). Then, according to Miller, the difference between a fairy tale and an epic is that in the first the mythical meaning was forgotten earlier and it is confined to the earth in general; in the second, the mythical meaning underwent changes, but not oblivion.

On the other hand, Maikov notices in epics a desire to smooth out the miraculous. The miraculous element in fairy tales plays a different role than in epics: there, miraculous performances form the main plot of the plot, but in epics they only complement the content taken from real life; their purpose is to give more ideal character to the heroes. According to Wolner, the content of epics is now mythical, and the form is historical, especially all typical places: names, names of places, etc.; epithets correspond to the historical, and not the epic, character of the persons to whom they refer. But initially the content of the epics was completely different, namely truly historical. This happened by transferring epics from the South to the North by Russian colonists: gradually these colonists began to forget the ancient content; they were carried away by new stories that were more to their taste. Typical places remained untouched, but everything else changed over time.

According to Yagich, all Russian folk epic thoroughly imbued with Christian-mythological legends, apocryphal and non-apocryphal in nature; Much in content and motives was borrowed from this source. New borrowings have pushed the ancient material into the background, and epics can therefore be divided into three categories:

to songs with obviously borrowed biblical content;
to songs with originally borrowed content, which, however, was processed more independently
the songs are completely folk, but contain episodes, appeals, phrases, names borrowed from the Christian world.

Orest Miller does not entirely agree with this, arguing that the Christian element in the epic concerns only appearance. In general, however, one can agree with Maykov that the epics were subject to constant revision, according to new circumstances, as well as the influence of the singer’s personal views.

Veselovsky says the same thing, claiming that epics seem to be material that was subjected not only to historical and everyday use, but also to all the accidents of oral retelling (“South Russian epics”).

In the epic about Sukhman, Wolner even sees the influence of the latest sentimental literature of the 18th century, and Veselovsky about the epic “How the Heroes Were Extinct” says this: “The two halves of the epic are connected by a common place of a very suspicious nature, showing, as if, that the outer side of the epic was touched aesthetically the correcting hand." Finally, in the content of individual epics it is easy to notice multi-temporal layers (the Alyosha Popovich type), the mixing of several initially independent epics into one (Volga Svyatoslavich or Volkh Vseslavich), that is, the unification of two plots, the borrowing of one epic from another (according to Volner, the beginning of the epics about Dobrynya taken from the epics about Volga, and the end from the epics about Ivan Godinovich), accretion (the epic about Solove Budimirovich by Kirsha), greater or lesser damage to the epic (Rybnikov’s widespread epic about Berin’s son, according to Veselovsky), etc.

It remains to be said about one side of the epics, namely their current episodic, fragmentary nature. Orest Miller speaks about this more thoroughly than others, who believed that epics were originally a whole series independent songs, but over time folk singers These songs began to be linked into large cycles: in a word, the same process took place that in Greece, India, Iran and Germany led to the creation of integral epics, for which individual folk songs served only as material. Miller recognizes the existence of a united, integral Vladimirov circle, kept in the memory of the singers, who in their time formed, in all likelihood, closely knit fraternities. Now there are no such brothers, the singers are separated, and in the absence of reciprocity, no one between them is able to store in their memory all the links of the epic chain without exception. All this is very doubtful and not based on historical data; Thanks to a thorough analysis, one can only assume, together with Veselovsky, that “some epics, for example Hilferding 27 and 127, are, firstly, a product of isolating epics from the Kyiv connection and a secondary attempt to bring them into this connection after development on the side” (“ South Russian epics").

Collections

The main collections of epics:

Kirshi Danilova, "Ancient Russian Poems" (published in 1804, 1818 and 1878);
Kireevsky, X issues, published in Moscow 1860 and onwards; Rybnikov, four parts (1861-1867);
Hilferding, ed. Giltebrant under the title: “Onega epics” (St. Petersburg, 1873);
Avenarius, “The Book of the Kyiv Heroes” (St. Petersburg, 1875);
Khalansky (1885).
A complete set of Kyiv epics. Literary treatment by A. Lelchuk. http://byliny.narod.ru The epics are arranged chronologically and meaningfully into a complete heroic story. The language is modern, but the rhythm and style of the original is preserved as much as possible. Characters and plots have been sorted, duplicates and repetitions have been removed. A conventional map of Epic Rus' has been compiled.

In addition, variants of epics are found:

in Shane’s collections of Great Russian songs (“Readings of the Moscow Society of History and Antiquities” 1876 and 1877 and others);
Kostomarov and Mordovtseva (in Part IV of “Chronicles of Ancient Russian Literature by N. S. Tikhonravov”);
epics printed by E.V. Barsov in the “Olonets Provincial Gazette” after Rybnikov,
and finally Efimenko in 5 books. "Proceedings of the Ethnographic Department of the Moscow Society of Natural History Lovers", 1878.

Research

A number of works devoted to the study of epics:

article by Konstantin Aksakov: “About the heroes of Vladimirov” (“Works”, vol. I).
Fyodor Buslaev, “Russian heroic epic” (“Russian Herald”, 1862);
Leonid Maykova, “On the Epics of the Vladimir Cycle” (St. Petersburg, 1863);
Vladimir Stasov, “Origin of Russian epics” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1868; cf. criticism of Hilferding, Buslaev, V. Miller in “Conversations of the Society of Amateurs” Russian literature", book. 3; Veselovsky, Kotlyarevsky and Rozov in “Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy”, 1871; finally, Stasov’s answer: “Criticism of my critics”);
Orest Miller, “An Experience in Historical Review of Russian Folk Literature” (St. Petersburg, 1865) and “Ilya Muromets and the Kiev Heroism” (St. Petersburg, 1869, criticism of Buslaev in the “XIV Uvarov Awards” and “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, 1871);
K. D. Kvashnina-Samarina, “On Russian epics in historical and geographical terms” (“Conversation”, 1872);
his, “New sources for the study of the Russian epic” (“Russian Bulletin”, 1874);
Yagich, article in “Archiv für Slav. Phil.";
M. Carriera, “Die Kunst im Zusammenhange der Culturentwickelung und die Ideale der Menschheit” (second part, trans. E. Corsham);
Rambaud, "La Russie épique" (1876);
Wolner, “Untersuchungen über die Volksepik der Grossrussen” (Leipzig, 1879);

Epics are built according to a specific plan.

Most epics begin with a beginning. It usually talks about the location of the action or where the hero went and from (see the first six lines of the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber”).

Events in epics are presented in strict order, sequentially. The narration is told slowly, without haste. Since the epics lived in oral transmission, the performer told them to focus the attention of the listeners on places that were especially important, in his opinion. For this purpose, repetitions are widely used in epics, usually three times. Thus, in the epic about Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber, the description of the strength of the Nightingale the Robber is repeated three times.

To add melodiousness to the epic, to make its presentation more expressive and musical, individual words are often repeated in epics.

For example:

The straight path is blocked,

The path was blocked up and walled up.

In the capital in the city of Kyiv,

From the affectionate prince from Vladimir.

Repetitions occur not only in the text of the same epic. Different epics describe similar actions and phenomena in the same way, for example, saddling a hero’s horse, a feast at Prince Vladimir’s, enemy strength, a battle between heroes and enemies, etc.

Such similar descriptions found in different epics (and fairy tales) are called commonplaces.

Sometimes epics end with a special ending - a conclusion from the entire content of the epic:

Now the old days, now the deeds,

that is, this is how it was in the old days, this is reality.

The main character of the epics is a Russian hero. To more clearly imagine the strength of the hero, the technique of hyperbole (exaggeration) is used. For example, this is how the battle between a hero and an enemy force is described. If the hero waves right hand, a street is formed among the enemy camp, with an alley on the left. The hero's club (sword) weighs forty or even ninety pounds.

If the hero falls asleep, then “heroic sleep for twelve days” (days). His horse matches the hero: “the horse’s first leap is many miles away, but the second leap cannot be found.” To emphasize the strength of the Russian hero, his enemy is depicted hyperbolically. The enemy's countless forces " gray wolf... you can’t outrun a day, you can’t outrun a black crow in a day.”

In epics, as in works of oral folk poetry in general, every word is precise and expressive. Over the centuries, folk singers and poets have perfected their language poetic works, achieving the most accurate and vivid, expressive disclosure through the word of the most significant qualities of the heroes and their actions. So, very rich and diverse in oral poetry epithets are colorful definitions indicating the most significant attribute of people, objects, and phenomena of life.

Often the same epithets constantly characterize certain heroes, objects, phenomena of life, nature, etc. Therefore, they are called constant epithets. In epics, for example, there are such constant epithets: portly good fellow, great strength, glorious capital Kyiv-grad, tight bow, silk string, red-hot arrows.

Comparisons are often used in epics:

The forces are caught up in black and black,

Black, black, like a black crow.

Volga walks like a pike fish in the blue seas,

Volgo flies like a falcon bird under the covers,

Prowl like a wolf in open fields.

Negative comparisons are used:

It is not the damp oak that bends to the ground,

Not paper leaves are spread out,

The son bows to his father...

Wanting to emphasize some shade of the meaning of the word, which, in the opinion of the folk singer, is important for understanding the narrative, epic storytellers widely use synonyms: “Volga began to grow and mature”; “And yell and plow and become peasants,”; “Here it seemed to Ilya that he was in trouble, for great annoyance...”

An important role in the language of epics is played by nouns with diminutive and affectionate suffixes. They express the people's assessment of the heroes of epics. Bogatyrs are often called by affectionate names: Ilyushenka, Dobrynyushka Nikitich, Mikulushka Selyaninovich, etc. Suffixes endearing meaning are also used in words denoting objects belonging to the hero. He has “hot arrows”, “saddle”, “bridles”, “felts”, “sweating bands”, etc.

The epic is chanted. Obeying the melody, the narrator puts emphasis on certain words, while other words, without stress, seem to merge into one word (“mother-earth”, “pure field”). In this regard, sometimes a word has different stresses in the same one. epic (“Nightingale-Nightingale”, “young”, “young”, “young”).

In ancient oral folk poetry there are epics that tell about the peaceful, working life of the Russian people. These are everyday epics. The most important of them is the epic about Volga and Mikula. It glorifies people's labor. In Ilya Muromets, the people sang the praises of the peasant warrior, the hero - the defender of the homeland. In the image of Mikula, he glorified the peasant cultivator, the hero - the breadwinner of the country.

Bylina- poetic epic (narrative) genre of folklore. At the center of the epic is a hero defending his land from enemy invaders, or a successful, rich merchant, symbolizing the wealth of the Russian land.

Cycles of epics

There is no clear point of view on the question of the time and place of the origin of epics. It is believed that epics arose approximately in the 9th-10th centuries in the southern territories ancient Russian state and from there they came to the north of Rus'. The epics became most widespread only in the 13th – 15th centuries. There is a point of view according to which epics came to Rus' from the East.

Bylinas are usually divided into two cycles: Kyiv and Novgorod. In the epics of the Kyiv cycle, the center of the narrative is the ancient Russian heroes (Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich), who protect the ancient Russian cities of Kyiv, Rostov, Murom from foreign invaders, who are conventionally called Tatars or embodied in the image of the Poganous Idol. All images in the epic are extremely generalized. A Russian hero is not a specific person, a real person, but collective image the ideal ancient Russian warrior, possessing unprecedented strength, wisdom, a sense of justice and always ready to stand up for native land.

The epics of the Kyiv cycle generally reproduce real historical events. The ancient cities, located in the south and in the central part of the ancient Russian state, were constantly besieged and captured by the Tatars, Polovtsians, Pechenegs and other nomadic warring tribes. Old Russian princes, who ruled the cities, were disunited, i.e. were at enmity with each other. They did not want to defend their native land together. But there were always wars, heroes who gathered an army and led it against the enemy. People composed epics about such heroes.

The epics of the Novgorod cycle tell about the wealth of Novgorod - shopping center, which was located in the North of the ancient Russian state, about the talent and prowess of the Russian people, which was embodied in central image Novgorod epics - the merchant Sadko, who defeats the underwater king.

Main researchers and collectors of epics

The main collectors of epics: Kirsha Danilov, Kireevsky, Rybnikov, Hilferding, Avenarius, Khalansky, Shein, Kostomarov and Mordovtseva, E.V. Barsov, Efimenko.

Researchers of epics: K. S. Aksakov, F. I. Buslaev, L. N. Maikov, V. V. Stasova, Veselovsky, Kotlyarevsky, Rozov, O. Miller, D. Kvashnin-Samarin, Yagich, B. Putilov.

Epics (old times) - Russian heroic-patriotic songs-legends, telling about the exploits of heroes and reflecting life Ancient Rus' IX-XIII centuries [ ] ; a type of oral folk art, which is characterized by a song-epic way of reflecting reality. The main plot of the epic is some heroic event, or a remarkable episode in the history of Kievan Rus (hence popular name epics - “old man”, “old woman”, implying that the action in question took place in the past).

Bylinas, as a rule, are written in tonic verse with two to four stresses.

The term “epics” was first introduced by Ivan Sakharov in the collection “Songs of the Russian People” in 1839. Ivan Sakharov proposed it based on the expression “ according to epics" in "The Tale of Igor's Regiment", which meant " according to facts».

Encyclopedic YouTube

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Russian Epic Songs from Origins to Today - 1.avi

Russian folk song-epic “Ilya Muromets”

WHEN WE WERE AT WAR (COSSACK)

An epic about Ilya Muromets

Subtitles

Historicism

At the center of many Russian epics is the figure of the Kyiv prince Vladimir, who is sometimes identified with Vladimir Svyatoslavich. Ilya of Muromets is mentioned in the 13th century in the Norwegian “Saga of Thidrek” and the German poem “Ortnit”, and in 1594 the German traveler Erich Lassota saw his tomb in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. Alyosha Popovich served with the Rostov princes, then moved to Kyiv and died in the battle on the Kalka River. The Novgorod Chronicle tells how Stavr Godinovich incurred the wrath of Vladimir Monomakh and was drowned for robbing two citizens of Novgorod; another version of the same chronicle says that he was exiled. Danube Ivanovich is often mentioned in the chronicles of the 13th century as one of the servants of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich, and Sukhman Dolmantyevich (Odikhmantyevich) was identified with the Pskov prince Domant (Dovmont). In the versions of the epic “The Heroic Word” (“The Legend of the March of the Kyiv Bogatyrs to Constantinople”), published in 1860 by F. I. Buslaev and in 1881 by E. V. Barsov, the action of the epic takes place not in Kiev, but in Constantinople, at the reign of Tsar Constantine, who incites the Tatars Idol Skoropeevich and Tugarin Zmeevich to attack Vladimir Vseslavyevich in Kyiv.

Origin of epics

There are several theories to explain the origin and composition of epics:

Mythological theory sees in epics stories about natural phenomena, and in heroes - the personification of these phenomena and their identification with the gods of the ancient Slavs (Orest Miller, Afanasiev).
Historical theory explains epics as a trace of historical events, sometimes confused in people's memory (Leonid Maikov, Kvashnin-Samarin).
The theory of borrowings points to the literary origin of epics (Theodor Benfey, Vladimir Stasov, Veselovsky, Ignatius Yagich), and some tend to see borrowings through the influence of the East (Stasov, Vsevolod Miller), others - from the West (Veselovsky, Sozonovich).

As a result, one-sided theories gave way to mixed ones, allowing in epics the presence of elements of folk life, history, literature, and borrowings from Eastern and Western. Initially, it was assumed that the epics, which are grouped according to the place of action into cycles - Kyiv and Novgorod, mainly - were of southern Russian origin and only later transferred to the north; later the opinion was expressed that epics were a local phenomenon (Khalansky). Over the centuries, epics underwent various changes, and were constantly subject to book influence and borrowed a lot from medieval Russian literature, as well as oral tales of the West and East. Adherents of the mythological theory divided the heroes of the Russian epic into older and younger, until the Khalanskys proposed a division into eras: pre-Tatar, Tatar times and post-Tatar.

Reading epics

The epics are written in tonic verse, which may have a different number of syllables, but approximately the same number of stresses. Some stressed syllables are pronounced with the stress removed. At the same time, it is not necessary that all verses of one epic have an equal number of accents: in one group there can be four of them, in another - three, in the third - two. In epic verse, the first stress, as a rule, falls on the third syllable from the beginning, and the last stress on the third syllable from the end.

How Ilya galloped off the good horse,
He fell to mother damp earth:
How the damp earth mother knocks
Yes, under the same as the eastern side.

Bylinas constitute one of the most remarkable phenomena of Russian folk literature - in terms of epic calm, richness of detail, lively color, distinctness of the characters of the depicted persons, and the variety of mythical, historical and everyday elements, they are not inferior to the German heroic epic and the epic folk works of other peoples.

Bylinas are epic songs about Russian heroes: it is here that we find a reproduction of their general, typical properties and the history of their lives, their exploits and aspirations, feelings and thoughts. Each of these songs speaks mainly about one episode in the life of one hero. Thus, a series of songs of a fragmentary nature are obtained, grouped around the main representatives of Russian heroism. The number of songs also increases due to the fact that there are several versions, more or less different, of the same epic. All epics, in addition to the unity of the subject described, are also characterized by the unity of presentation: they are imbued with elements of the miraculous, a sense of freedom and, as Orest Miller noted, the spirit of community. Miller has no doubt that the independent spirit of the epic Russian epic is a reflection of the old veche freedom, preserved by free Cossacks and free Olonets peasants who were not under the rule of serfdom. According to the same scientist, the spirit of community, embodied in epics, is an internal connection connecting the Russian epic and the history of the Russian people.

Stylistics

In addition to the internal, the external unity of the epics is also noticeable, in verse, syllable and language: the verse of the epic consists either of trochees with a dactylic ending, or of mixed meters - combinations of trochees with dactyls, or, finally, of anapests. There are no rhymes at all and everything is based on the consonances and musicality of the verse. In that epics are composed in verse, they differ from “visits”, in which the verse has long been decomposed into a prose story. The style in epics is distinguished by a wealth of poetic expressions: it is replete with epithets, parallelisms, comparisons, examples and other poetic figures, without losing its clarity and naturalness of presentation. Epics retain quite large number archaisms, especially in typical parts. Hilferding divided each epic into two parts: one - changing according to the will " narrator"; the other is typical, which the narrator must always convey with possible accuracy, without changing a single word. The typical part contains everything essential that is said about the hero; the rest appears only as a background for the main picture.

Formulas

Epics are composed on the basis of formulas, constructed either using a stable epithet, or as narrative cliches of several lines. The latter are used in almost any situation. Examples of some formulas:

He quickly jumped as if on quick legs,
He threw the marten's fur coat over one shoulder,
A sable hat for one ear.
He shot geese, swans,
Shot small migratory gray ducks.
He began to trample the horse with his horse,
He began to trample with a horse, stab with a spear,
He began to beat that great strong woman.
And he hits with force - as if he was mowing grass.
Oh, you wolf's fill, you sack of grass!
You don’t want to walk or you can’t carry it?
He comes to a wide yard,
Places his horse in the middle of the yard
Let him go to the white-stone chambers.
One more day after another, just like the rain it will rain,
And week after week, as the grass grows,
And year after year, like a river flows.
Everyone at the table fell silent:
The lesser is buried for the greater.
The greater one is buried behind the lesser one,
And from the least the answer lives.

Number of epics

To give an idea of the number of epics, let us note their statistics given in Galakhov’s “History of Russian Literature.” Some epics from the Kyiv cycle have been collected: in the Moscow province - 3, in Nizhny Novgorod - 6, in Saratov - 10, in Simbirsk - 22, in Siberia - 29, in Arkhangelsk - 34, in Olonets - up to 300. All together there are about 400, not counting epics of the Novgorod cycle and later ones (Moscow and others). All known epics are usually divided according to their place of origin: Kyiv, Novgorod and all-Russian (later).

Chronologically, in first place, according to Orest Miller, are epics telling about matchmakers. Then come those called Kyiv and Novgorod: apparently, they arose before the 14th century. Then there are completely historical epics, dating back to the Moscow period of the Russian state. And finally, epics related to events of later times.

The last two categories of epics are not of particular interest and do not require extensive explanation. That's why they haven't been studied much at all until now. But the epics of the so-called Novgorod and, in particular, the Kyiv cycle are of great importance. Although one cannot look at these epics as stories about events that really once took place in the form in which they are presented in the songs: this is contradicted by the element of the miraculous. If the epics do not represent a reliable history of people who actually once lived on Russian soil, then their content must certainly be explained differently.

Studying epics

Scientific researchers of the folk epic resorted to two methods: historical and comparative. Strictly speaking, both of these methods in most studies are reduced to one comparative one, and it is hardly correct to refer here to the historical method. In fact, the historical method consists in the fact that for a known, for example linguistic, phenomenon, through archival searches or theoretical identification of later elements, we look for an increasingly ancient form and thus arrive at the original, simplest form. This is not at all how the “historical” method was applied to the study of epics. Here it was impossible to compare the new editions with the more ancient ones, since we do not have these latter ones at all; on the other hand, literary criticism noted in the most general terms only the nature of the changes that epics underwent over time, without touching on individual particulars. The so-called historical method in the study of epics, strictly speaking, consisted of comparing the plots of the epics with those in the chronicles; and since the comparative method was the one in which the plots of epics were compared with the plots of other folk (mostly mythical) or foreign works, it turns out that the difference here is not at all in the method itself, but simply in the material of comparison. So, in essence, only on the comparative method are the four main theories of the origin of epics substantiated: historical-everyday, mythological, theory of borrowings and, finally, a mixed theory, which now enjoys the greatest credit.

Epic stories

Before moving on to outline the theories themselves, a few words should be said about the meaning of epic stories. Any literary work can be decomposed into several main moments of the described action; the totality of these moments makes up the plot of this work. Thus, the plots are more or less complex. Several literary works may be based on the same plot, which, even due to the variety of secondary changing features, for example, motives of action, background, accompanying circumstances, etc., may seem completely dissimilar at first glance. One can even go further and say that every plot, without exception, always forms the basis of a greater or lesser number of literary works, and that very often there are fashionable plots that are processed almost at the same time on all ends of the globe. If now we find a common plot in two or more literary works, then three explanations are allowed here: either in these several localities the plots were developed independently, independently of each other, and thus constitute a reflection of real life or natural phenomena; or these plots were inherited by both peoples from common ancestors; or, finally, one people borrowed the plot from another. Already a priori we can say that cases of independent coincidence of plots should be very rare, and the more complex the plot, the more independent it should be. This is mainly the basis of the historical-everyday theory, which completely loses sight of the similarity of the plots of Russian epics with the works of other peoples or considers it a random phenomenon. According to this theory, heroes are representatives of different classes of the Russian people, while epics are poetic and symbolic stories of historical incidents or pictures of phenomena in folk life. The mythological theory is based on the first and second assumptions, according to which similar plots in the works of Indo-European peoples are inherited from common ancestral Aryan ancestors; The similarity between the plots of unrelated peoples is explained by the fact that in different countries people looked at the same natural phenomenon, which served as material for similar plots, in the same way and interpreted it in the same way. Finally, the theory of borrowing is based on the 3rd explanation, according to which the plots of Russian epics were transferred to Russia from the East and West.

All of the above theories were distinguished by their extremes; so, for example, on the one hand, Orestes Miller in his “Experience” argued that the comparative method serves to ensure that in the compared works belonging to different peoples, the differences become clearer and more definite; on the other hand, Stasov directly expressed the opinion that epics were borrowed from the East. In the end, however, scientific researchers came to the conclusion that epics constitute a very complex phenomenon in which heterogeneous elements are mixed: historical, everyday, mythical and borrowed. A. N. Veselovsky gave some instructions that can guide the researcher and protect him from the arbitrariness of the theory of borrowings; namely, in the CCXXIII issue of the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, the learned professor writes: “In order to raise the issue of transferring narrative plots, it is necessary to stock up on sufficient criteria. It is necessary to take into account the actual possibility of influence and its external traces in one’s own names and in the remnants of alien life and in the totality of similar signs, because each individual can be deceptive.” Khalansky joined this opinion, and now the study of epics has been put on the right point of view. At present, the main desire of scientific researchers of epics is aimed at subjecting these works to the most thorough analysis possible, which should finally indicate that it is in the epics that constitutes the indisputable property of the Russian people, as a symbolic picture of a natural, historical or everyday phenomenon , and what is occupied by other nations.

Time for folding epics

Regarding the time of origin of the epics, Leonid Maykov expressed himself most definitely, writing: “Although among the plots of the epics there are those that can be traced back to the era of prehistoric affinity of Indo-European legends, nevertheless, the entire content of the epics, including these ancient legends, is presented in such an edition , which can only be dated to a positive historical period. The content of the epics was developed during the 12th centuries, and was established in the second half of the appanage period in the 13th and 14th centuries.” To this we can add the words of Khalansky: “In the 14th century, border fortresses and forts were built, border guards were established, and at that time the image of heroes standing at the outpost, protecting the borders of the Holy Russian land, was formed.” Finally, as Orestes Miller notes, the great antiquity of epics is proven by the fact that they depict a defensive policy, not an offensive one.

Place of origin of epics

As for the place where the epics originated, opinions are divided: the most widespread theory assumes that the epics are of South Russian origin, that their original basis is South Russian. Only over time, due to the massive resettlement of people from Southern Rus' to the Russian North, were the epics transferred there, and then in their original homeland they were forgotten due to the influence of other circumstances that gave rise to Cossack thoughts. Khalansky spoke out against this theory, condemning at the same time the theory of the original all-Russian epic. He says: “The all-Russian ancient epic is the same fiction as the ancient all-Russian language. Each tribe had its own epic - Novgorod, Slovenian, Kiev, Polyan, Rostov (cf. the instructions in the Tver Chronicle), Chernigov (legends in the Nikon Chronicle).” Everyone knew about Vladimir as a reformer of all ancient Russian life, and everyone sang about him, and there was an exchange of poetic material between individual tribes. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Moscow became a collector of Russian epic, which at the same time was more and more concentrated in the Kiev cycle, since the Kyiv epics had an assimilating effect on the rest, due to the song tradition, religious relations, etc.; Thus, at the end of the 16th century, the unification of epics into the Kiev circle was completed (although, however, not all epics joined it: the entire Novgorod cycle and some individual epics belong to these, for example, about Surovets-Suzdal and about Saul-Levanidovich). Then the epics spread from the Muscovite kingdom to all directions of Russia through ordinary transmission, and not through emigration to the north, which did not happen. These are, in general terms, Khalansky’s views on this subject. Maikov says that the activities of the squad, expressed in the exploits of its representatives-heroes, are the subject of epics. Just as the squad adjoined the prince, so the actions of the heroes are always connected with one main person. According to the same author, the epics were sung by buffoons and gudoshniks, playing the ringing spring harp or gudk, and they were mainly listened to by the boyars, the squad.

The extent to which the study of epics is still imperfect and to what contradictory results it has led some scientists can be judged by at least one of the following facts: Orestes Miller, an enemy of the theory of borrowings, who tried to find a purely folk Russian character in epics everywhere, says: “If reflected some kind of eastern influence on Russian epics, but only on those that differ in their entire everyday style from the Old Slavonic style; These include epics about Solovy Budimirovich and Churil Plenkovich.” And another Russian scientist, Khalansky, proves that the epic about Nightingale Budimirovich is in the closest connection with Great Russian wedding penalties. What Orest Miller considered completely alien to the Russian people - that is, the self-wooing of a girl - according to Khalansky, still exists today in some places in Southern Russia.

On the other hand, Maikov notices in epics a desire to smooth out the miraculous. The miraculous element in fairy tales plays a different role than in epics: there, miraculous performances form the main plot of the plot, but in epics they only complement the content taken from real life; their purpose is to give a more ideal character to the heroes. According to Wolner, the content of epics is now mythical, and the form is historical, especially all typical places: names, names of places, etc.; epithets correspond to the historical, and not the epic, character of the persons to whom they refer. But initially the content of the epics was completely different, namely truly historical. This happened by transferring epics from the South to the North by Russian colonists: gradually these colonists began to forget the ancient content; they were carried away by new stories that were more to their taste. Typical places remained untouched, but everything else changed over time.

According to Yagich, the entire Russian folk epic is thoroughly imbued with Christian-mythological tales of an apocryphal and non-apocryphal nature; Much in content and motives was borrowed from this source. New borrowings have pushed the ancient material into the background, and epics can therefore be divided into three categories:

to songs with obviously borrowed biblical content;
to songs with originally borrowed content, which, however, was processed more independently
the songs are completely folk, but contain episodes, appeals, phrases, names borrowed from the Christian world.

In the epic about Sukhman, Wolner even sees the influence of the latest sentimental literature of the 18th century, and Veselovsky about the epic “How the heroes died out in Rus'” says this: “The two halves of the epic are connected by a common place of a very suspicious nature, which seems to show that the outer side of the epic touched by an aesthetically correcting hand.” Finally, in the content of individual epics it is not difficult to notice layers of different times (the Alyosha Popovich type), the mixing of several initially independent epics into one (Volga Svyatoslavich or Volkh Vseslavich), that is, the unification of two plots, the borrowing of one epic from another (according to Volner, the beginning of the epics about Dobrynya taken from the epics about Volga, and the end from the epics about Ivan Godinovich), accretion (the epic about Solove Budimirovich by Kirsha), greater or lesser damage to the epic (Rybnikov’s widespread epic about Berin’s son, according to Veselovsky), etc.

It remains to be said about one side of the epics, namely their current episodic, fragmentary nature. Orestes Miller speaks about this more thoroughly than others, who believed that initially epics made up a whole series of independent songs, but over time, folk singers began to link these songs into large cycles: in a word, the same process took place as in Greece, India, Iran and Germany led to the creation of integral epics, for which individual folk songs served only as material. Miller recognizes the existence of a united, integral Vladimirov circle, kept in the memory of the singers, who in their time formed, in all likelihood, closely knit fraternities. Now there are no such brothers, the singers are separated, and in the absence of reciprocity, no one between them is able to store in their memory all the links of the epic chain without exception. All this is very doubtful and not based on historical data; Thanks to a thorough analysis, one can only assume, together with Veselovsky, that “some epics, for example Hilferding 27 and 127, are, firstly, a product of isolating epics from the Kyiv connection and a secondary attempt to bring them into this connection after development on the side” (“ South Russian epics").

Ed. 3rd. - L.: “The origin of Russian epics” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1868; compare the criticism of Hilferding, Buslaev, V. Miller in “Conversations of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature”, book 3; Veselovsky, Kotlyarevsky and Rozov in “Proceedings” Kyiv Theological Academy", 1871; finally, Stasov’s answer: “Criticism of my critics”);

Orest Miller, “The Experience of Historical Review of Russian Folk Literature” (St. Petersburg, 1865) and “Ilya Muromets and the Kiev Heroism” (St. Petersburg, 1869, criticism of Buslaev in the “XIV Uvarov Awards” and “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, 1871);

K. D. Kvashnina-Samarina, “On Russian epics in historical and geographical terms” (“Conversation”, 1872);

His, “New sources for the study of the Russian epic” (“Russian Bulletin”, 1874);

Yagich, article in “Archiv für Slav. Phil.";

M. Carriera, “Die Kunst im Zusammenhange der Culturentwickelung und die Ideale der Menschheit” (second part, trans. E. Corsham);

Rambaud, "La Russie épique" (1876);

Wolner, “Untersuchungen über die Volksepik der Grossrussen” (Leipzig, 1879);

Alexander Veselovsky in “Archiv für Slav. Phil." vol. III, VI, IX and in the “Journal of Min. People's Enlightenment" (December 1885, December 1886, May 1888, May 1889), and separately "South Russian epics" (parts I and II, 1884); K. V. Chistova. - 2014. - No. 4 (archived in WebCite). - pp. 268–275.

Snow Maiden, Baba Yaga, Ivan Tsarevich - most people hear stories involving these characters back in early childhood. However, the world of folklore is much richer, containing not only fairy tales, but also songs, ballads, and epics. Not everyone will be able to give the correct answer to the question of what its role is in literature. So what is this genre?

Epics in Russian literature: history

This term began to be used only in 1839, it was coined by folklorist Ivan Sakharov. Previously, works belonging to this genre were called “oldies”, “oldies”. The most ancient of them were known back in the 10th century, in those days they were told to the accompaniment of the gusli. In the future, the tradition is to use musical accompaniment faded away. Such stories began to be published only at the beginning of the 18th century.

So, what is an epic in literature? The definition briefly sounds like an epic song-legend, which is one of the varieties of oral folk art, having a heroic-patriotic character. The main characters similar stories became first of all heroes. Plots related to the life of Ancient Rus' allow us to better imagine the way of thinking of people who lived in the 9th-13th centuries.

Features of the genre

Bylinas in Russian literature mainly described heroic events; they often examined certain fascinating historical incidents. The plots were taken both from the history of Kievan Rus and from the events of prehistoric times. Among the characters in such works, in addition to courageous heroes fighting evil, there are fantastic images, for example, the Serpent Gorynych, the Nightingale the Robber. Also, the roles of heroes went to real historical figures like Kyiv princes Igor, Vladimir.

What is an epic in literature? It is also a work that does not have an author. The tales traveled from generation to generation, acquiring new fascinating details. People who performed heroic songs were respectfully called “storytellers.” What was required of them was not to memorize works by heart, but the ability to convey them colorfully and avoid distortion of the meaning.

Structure

Trying to understand what an epic is in literature, it is necessary to imagine the structure of such a text. Basically, the works consisted of three compositional elements: chorus, beginning, ending. The stories began with a chorus, which was a kind of introduction. The singer was required not to tell about the plot but to attract the attention of the listeners.

What is an epic in literature without a beginning? We are talking about the story itself, which initiated listeners into the main events that were described in folk works in an embellished form. There was also an ending, which was a kind of summing up. Also, the role of the ending could have been played by a joke.

An example of a typical heroic epic is a story describing the struggle of Ilya Muromets with the terrible Nightingale the Robber, who knows how to destroy life around him with the help of a whistle. The great hero, of course, takes the monster prisoner, breaking into his lair, and then takes his life. This category also includes famous work about the battle between Dobrynya and the Serpent.

Social epics

Social works were also in great demand. An example of such an epic is the story of Sadko, a young, gifted guslar player who cannot gain fame. In the end, the young man receives the patronage of the Sea Lord, impressed by his talent, but runs away from him and returns to his homeland, refusing the countless treasures offered to him.

The characters of social epics were mainly peasants, merchants, and princes were also found among them. In addition to the above-mentioned Sadko, such heroes as Mikula and Volga gained popularity. Social and heroic works equally attractive due to the high-quality portrayal of the characters of the main characters.

So, what is an epic in literature? The short answer is a work imbued with patriotism, faith in the triumph of good and the defeat of evil.