CHAPTER FIVE. The origin of the Zaporozhye Cossacks and their history before the impostor. - Description of their country and settlement. - Impostor on the Don. - The origin of the Don Cossacks and their relationship to the Moscow state. - The impostor enters the service of Prince Vishnevetsky. - Everyday life

Introduction

An entire era of the spiritual life of mankind, the formation and flourishing of ancient civilizations, was the realm of myth created by the imagination of man. Imagination is a great gift of nature, a precious quality of people, their creative energy. It created the Iliad and the Ramayana, the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Aeneid. It created the Parthenon and the majestic Egyptian pyramids, because before the builders erected them with their own hands and made them a fact of reality, they already lived in a dream, in the imagination of the architect.

The imagination of ancient man created the kingdom of myth. People were looking for answers to philosophical questions that worried them, trying to unravel the mysteries of the Universe, man and life itself. When reality did not provide an answer, imagination came to the rescue. It also satisfied the aesthetic needs of people.

For those interested in cultural history, literature and art, familiarity with mythology is absolutely necessary. Indeed, starting from the Renaissance, artists and sculptors began to widely draw themes for their works from the tales of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Arriving at any art museum, an inexperienced visitor finds himself captivated by the beautiful, but often incomprehensible in content, works of the great masters of Russian fine art.

The purpose of the work is to consider the concept of myth, its functions and its role in culture.

Origin of the myth

The word myth comes from the Greek Mythos - legend, legend. A legend that conveys the ideas of ancient peoples about the origin of the world, about natural phenomena, about gods and legendary heroes. Another meaning of the word myth is fiction. The creation of myths itself was man’s first step towards creativity and self-knowledge. Gradually, from individual legends that originated in various regions of the Greek land, separate cycles were formed about the fate of heroes and the gods who patronized them. All these legends, hymns and songs, sung by wandering Aed singers, were combined over time into large epic poems.

Myth is an attempt to explain the phenomena of the surrounding reality on the basis of the practical knowledge and experience of primitive man, the reflection of reality in concrete sensory images, the animation of creatures that are thought of as extremely realistic. Through myth, knowledge and experience are passed on from generation to generation.

Representatives of the culture in which the myth is born, it is perceived as truth, they believe in it as truth. Myths in one way or another express people’s experience of life and activity. The fact that they are dealing with myth is discovered only by people of a different culture who have a different vision of the world. The fundamental difference between a myth and a fairy tale, as well as from any artistic fiction, is that it claims to be a reliable description of reality.

Mythology acts not just as a collection of myths, but also as a cultural form (a form of social consciousness) in which people perceive and understand the world around them, capture the life experience they have accumulated, preserve and pass it on from generation to generation.

The ancient Greeks were an active, energetic people who were not afraid to explore the world, although it was inhabited by creatures hostile to man and instilling fear in him. But the boundless thirst for knowledge of this world overpowered the fear of an unknown danger. The adventures of Odysseus, the campaign of the Argonauts for the Golden Fleece - these are all the same desires captured in poetic form to learn as much as possible about the land on which man lives. The great Russian philosopher Losev A.F. argued about the non-scientific origin of myths: “The scientific functions of the spirit are too abstract to lie at the basis of mythology. For the mythical consciousness there is absolutely no scientific experience. It cannot be convinced of anything.

Among the whole multitude of mythical legends and stories, it is customary to highlight several most important cycles. Let's call them:

• - cosmogonic myths - myths about the origin of the world and the universe,
• - anthropogonic myths - myths about the origin of man and human society,
• - myths about cultural heroes - myths about the origin and introduction of certain cultural goods,
• - eschatological myths - myths about the “end of the world”, the end of times.

Cosmogonic myths are usually divided into two groups: myths of development and myths of creation.

Anthropogonic myths are an integral part of cosmogonic myths. According to many myths, man is created using a wide variety of materials: nuts, wood, dust, clay. Most often, the creator creates first a man, then a woman. The first person is usually endowed with the gift of immortality, but he loses it and becomes at the origins of mortal humanity (such is the biblical Adam, who ate the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). Some peoples believed that humans descended from an animal ancestor (monkey, bear, raven, swan).

Myths about cultural heroes tell how humanity mastered the secrets of crafts, agriculture, sedentary life, the use of fire - in other words, how certain cultural benefits were introduced into its life. The most famous myth of this kind is the ancient Greek tale of Prometheus, the cousin of Zeus. Prometheus (literally translated - “thinking before”, “foreseeing”) endowed wretched people with reason, taught them to build houses, ships, engage in crafts, wear clothes, count, write and read, distinguish between seasons, make sacrifices to the gods, tell fortunes, introduced state principles and rules of living together. Prometheus gave fire to man, for which he was punished by Zeus: chained to the Caucasus mountains, he endures terrible torment - an eagle pecks out his liver, which grows again every day. myth legend imagination

Eschatological myths tell about the fate of humanity, the coming of the “end of the world” and the onset of the “end of times”. The greatest significance in the cultural and historical process was played by the eschatological ideas formulated in the famous biblical “Apocalypse”: the second coming of Christ is coming - He will come not as a victim, but as the Terrible Judge, subjecting the living and the dead to Judgment. The “end of times” will come, and the righteous will be predestined to eternal life, and sinners to eternal torment.

What has been said is enough to confirm the idea formulated above: myths arose from the urgent need of people to explain the origin, nature, people, structure of the world, to predict the fate of humanity. The method of explanation itself has a specific character and is fundamentally different from the scientific form of explanation and analysis of the world.

In myth, man and society do not separate themselves from the surrounding natural elements: nature, society and man are merged into a single whole, inseparable, unified.

There are no abstract concepts in myth; everything in it is very concrete, personified, animated.

Mythological consciousness thinks in symbols: each image, hero, character denotes the phenomenon or concept behind it.

Myth lives in its own, special time - the time of “beginning”, “first creation”, to which human ideas about the passage of time are inapplicable.

Myth thinks in images, lives by emotions, the arguments of reason are alien to it, it explains the world based not on knowledge, but on faith.

Most mythologies have general stories about the origin of all things: the separation of elements of order from the primordial chaos, the separation of maternal and paternal gods, the emergence of land from the ocean, endless and timeless. Here are the most interesting myths and legends about the creation of the world.

Slavic

The ancient Slavs had many legends about where the world and everyone inhabiting it came from.
The creation of the world began with filling it with Love.

The Carpathian Slavs have a legend according to which the world was created by two pigeons who sat on an oak tree in the middle of the sea and thought “how to found the world.” They decided to go down to the bottom of the sea, take some fine sand, sow it, and from it would come “black earth, cold water, green grass.” And from a golden stone, which was also mined at the bottom of the sea, “blue sky, bright sun, clear month and all the stars” would come from it.

According to one myth, the world was initially shrouded in darkness. There was only the progenitor of all things - Rod. He was imprisoned in an egg, but managed to give birth to Lada (Love), and by her force he destroyed the shell. The creation of the world began with filling it with Love. The family created the kingdom of heaven, and under it - the heavenly kingdom, and separated the Ocean from the waters of heaven by the firmament. Then Rod separated Light and Darkness and gave birth to the Earth, which plunged into the dark abyss of the Ocean.

The Sun came out of Rod’s face, the Moon came out of his chest, and the stars came out of his eyes. From Rod's breath came winds, from tears - rain, snow and hail. His voice became thunder and lightning. Then Rod gave birth to Svarog and breathed into him a powerful spirit. It was Svarog who arranged the change of day and night, and also created the earth - he crushed a handful of earth in his hands, which then fell into the sea. The sun heated the Earth, and a crust was baked on it, and the Moon cooled the surface.

According to another legend, the world appeared as a result of the hero’s battle with the serpent who was guarding the golden egg. The hero killed the snake, split the egg, and from it emerged three kingdoms: heavenly, earthly and underground.

There is also a legend: in the beginning there was nothing but a boundless sea. A duck, flying over the surface of the sea, dropped an egg into the abyss of the water, it split, and from the lower part of it came “mother earth,” and from the upper part, “a high vault of heaven rose.”

Egyptian

Atum, who arose from Nun - the primary ocean, was considered the creator and primordial being. In the beginning there was no sky, no earth, no soil. Atum grew like a hill in the middle of the world's oceans. There is an assumption that the shape of the pyramid is also associated with the idea of ​​a primary hill.

Atum absorbed his own seed and then vomited two children into the world.
Afterwards, Atum broke away from the water with great effort, soared over the abyss and cast a spell, as a result of which a second hill grew among the water surface - Ben-Ben. Atum sat down on a hill and began to think about what he should use to create the world. Since he was alone, he absorbed his own seed, and then vomited out the god of air Shu and the goddess of moisture Tefnut. And the first people appeared from the tears of Atum, who briefly lost his children - Shu and Tefnut, and then found them again and burst into tears of joy.

From this couple, born of Atum, came the gods Geb and Nut, and they, in turn, gave birth to the twins Osiris and Isis, as well as Set and Nephthys. Osiris became the first god to be killed and resurrected to an eternal afterlife.

Greek

In the Greek concept, there was originally Chaos, from which the land of Gaia emerged, and in its depths lay the deep abyss of Tartarus. Chaos gave birth to Nyukta (Night) and Erebus (Darkness). The night gave birth to Tanat (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), as well as moira - goddesses of fate. From Night came the goddess of rivalry and discord, Eris, who gave birth to Hunger, Sorrow, Murder, Lies, Exhaustive Labor, Battles and other troubles. From the connection of Night with Erebus, Ether and the shining day were born.

Gaia gave birth to Uranus (Sky), then Mountains rose from its depths, and Pontus (Sea) spilled across the plains.
Gaia and Uranus gave birth to the Titans: Oceanus, Tethys, Iapetus, Hyperion, Theia, Cria, Kay, Phoebe, Themis, Mnemosyne, Kronos and Rhea.

Kronos, with the help of his mother, overthrew his father, seizing power and marrying his sister Rhea. It was they who created a new tribe - the gods. But Kronos was afraid of his children, because he himself had once overthrown his own parent. That's why he swallowed them immediately after birth. Rhea hid one child in a cave in Crete. This rescued baby was Zeus. God was fed by goats, and his crying was drowned out by the blows of copper shields.

Having matured, Zeus overcame his father Cronus and forced him to vomit his brothers and sisters from his womb: Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia. Thus came the end of the era of the Titans - the era of the gods of Olympus began.

Scandinavian

The Scandinavians believe that before the creation of the world there was a void called Ginungagap. To the north of it lay the frozen world of darkness Niflheim, and to the south lay the fiery country of Muspellheim. Gradually, the world emptiness of Ginungagap was filled with poisonous frost, which turned into the giant Ymir. He was the ancestor of all frost giants. When Ymir fell asleep, sweat began to drip from his armpits, and these drops turned into a man and a woman.

From this water also the cow Audumla was formed, whose milk Imir drank, as well as the second man born from sweat - Buri.
The son of Buri Bore Bor married the giantess Bestla, and they had three sons: Odin, Vili and Ve. For some reason, the sons of the Storm hated the giant Ymir and killed him. Then they took his body to the center of Ginungagapa and created the world: from flesh - the earth, from blood - the ocean, from the skull - the sky. Ymir's brain was scattered across the sky, creating clouds. With the eyelashes of Ymir they fenced off the best part of the world and settled people there.

Drops of sweat from the armpits of the Scandinavian giant Ymir turned into a man and a woman.
The gods created the people themselves from two tree branches. From the first man and woman all other people descended. The gods built the Asgard fortress for themselves, where they settled.

Chinese

In China, they believe that the Universe once had the shape of a huge chicken egg, in which the first ancestor Pangu was born. He slept in the egg for 18 thousand years, and when he woke up, he began to look for a way to get out. Pangu cut through the shell with an ax.

The two principles - light, formed by the spirit of Yang, and dark, formed by the spirit of Yin, became heaven and earth, respectively. Pangu stood on the ground and rested his head against the sky to prevent them from mixing again and turning into chaos. From his inhalations the winds rose, from his exhalations thunder roared, day came when the giant opened his eyes, and when he closed them, night fell. Every day Pangu grew 3 meters, making the sky higher and the earth thicker.

Zoroastrian

The Zoroastrians created an interesting concept of the universe. According to this concept, the world has existed for 12 thousand years. Its entire history is conventionally divided into four periods, each lasting 3 thousand years.

The first period is the pre-existence of things and ideas. At this stage of heavenly creation there already existed the prototypes of everything that was later created on Earth. This state of the world is called Menok ("invisible" or "spiritual").

The second period is considered to be the creation of the created world, that is, the real, visible, inhabited by “creatures.” Ahura Mazda creates the sky, the stars, the Sun, the first man and the first bull. Beyond the sphere of the Sun is the abode of Ahura Mazda himself. However, Ahriman begins to act at the same time. It invades the firmament, creates planets and comets that do not obey the uniform movement of the celestial spheres.

Ahriman pollutes the water and sends death to the first man Gayomart and the primeval bull. But from the first man are born man and woman, from whom the human race descends, and from the first bull come all animals. From the collision of two opposing principles, the whole world begins to move: waters become fluid, mountains arise, celestial bodies move. To neutralize the actions of “harmful” planets, Ahura Mazda assigns her spirits to each planet.

The third period of the existence of the universe covers the time before the appearance of the prophet Zoroaster.
During this period, the mythological heroes of the Avesta act: the king of the golden age - Yima the Shining, in whose kingdom there is no heat, no cold, no old age, no envy - the creation of the devas. This king saves people and livestock from the Flood by building a special shelter for them.

Among the righteous of this time, the ruler of a certain region, Vishtaspa, the patron of Zoroaster, is also mentioned. During the last, fourth period (after Zoroaster) in each millennium, three Saviors should appear to people, appearing as the sons of Zoroaster. The last of them, Savior Saoshyant, will decide the fate of the world and humanity. He will resurrect the dead, destroy evil and defeat Ahriman, after which the world will be cleansed with a “flow of molten metal”, and everything that remains after this will gain eternal life.

Sumerian-Akkadian

The mythology of Mesopotamia is the most ancient of all known in the world. It arose in the 4th millennium BC. e. in a state that at that time was called Akkad, and later developed in Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria and Elam.

At the beginning of time there were only two gods, who personified fresh water (the god Apsu) and salt water (the goddess Tiamat). The waters existed independently of each other and never crossed. But one day the salt and fresh waters mixed - and the elder gods were born - the children of Apsu and Tiamat. Following the elder gods, many younger gods appeared. But the world still consisted of nothing but chaos; the gods felt cramped and uncomfortable in it, about which they often complained to the Supreme Apsu.

The cruel Apsu was tired of all this, and he decided to destroy all his children and grandchildren, but in the battle he could not defeat his son Enki, by whom he was defeated and cut into four parts, which turned into land, seas, rivers and fire. Tiamat wanted to take revenge for the murder of her husband, but she was also defeated by the younger god Marduk, who created wind and storms for the duel. After the victory, Marduk received a certain artifact “Me”, which determines the movement and fate of the entire world.