The image of the ideal ruler in the works of Russian literature. Ideals in human life

During the existence of mankind, a lot has passed historical eras. The stormy winds of change swept away the sand castles of ancient foundations and the story of life began new round spirals. Each time formed its own ideal of a person, who was glorified for centuries by his contemporaries. Since today our eyes have turned towards those years that historians called the Middle Ages, we will first try to define what the Middle Ages is.

According to the dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, the Middle Ages is the millennium 476 - 1492, from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the discovery of America. Development of feudalism and Catholicism. On the one hand, the kings, in alliance with the townspeople, go to war with the feudal lords and win, on the other hand, Renaissance humanism puts forward ideas about the rights of the individual against the Catholic spiritual tyranny, the principles of free thought against the principles of the authority of blind faith, ancient cheerfulness against Christian asceticism. Science is developing - printing has been invented, gunpowder has been discovered, ships are sailing towards the American mainland. A controversial and romantic time, isn't it?

What should be the ideal of a person - a person at such a moment, as the servants of the lyre and ordinary people see him? Of course, first of all free. Free physically and spiritually. Heroes go on long journeys, looking for glory, good luck, happiness. The musty world of the feudal farmstead is alien to them, even if they themselves are feudal lords. Prince Igor goes to the Polovtsian lands. Who is he - the conqueror, the liberator? This is almost unimportant to a contemporary, the main thing is that the prince is a great Warrior, ready to challenge any formidable enemy.

Fearless Tristan travels to distant Ireland, despite the dangers that threaten him. Of course, the medieval hero is brave and easy-going. If earlier the lives of the saints were supposed to serve as an example to follow, now the boys' eyes burn at the mention of living people of flesh and blood.

It is not a fanatical faith in some non-material and abstract ideals that leads to the goal. In the image of the hero, a new distinguishing feature, inherent again to a living person - love. Love, as the most sublime and strong of all feelings, pushes to even more daring and desperate deeds than the thirst for adventure.

Consider Romeo and Juliet. Love makes you forget the many years of bloody feud between the two clans. And, paradoxically, although it is difficult to come up with a more tragic end for this amazing story, in the reader, in addition to sadness, some huge light feeling, ready to take a man on his mighty wings and make him a hundred times stronger.

The honor of the title, uniform, clan, name means a lot to our hero. Any careless word and even a glance can become the basis for a bloody duel. There is a rather strange contradiction here. On the one hand, the power of love, on the other hand, the power of strength. It is no secret that not everyone who owns a sword better than others, in fact, often turns out to be right. But the contradiction is only apparent. In fact, this is why literary works often end with a happy ending, because the author puts the all-destroying sword into the hands of the right with sole purpose- to punish the guilty.

Witch hunts are going on all over Europe, disease and ignorance are rampant, the fires of the Inquisition are burning. In such a situation, people need a life-saving straw, grasping which one can escape from the madness of the surrounding world. And here comes the hero. Strong, brave, honest, kind, fair, all-conquering. And everything immediately falls into place. The defeated villain trembles, order and justice reign in the world. Many examples of such a miraculous escape from all adversity can be found in the stories of the time of the war of the Scarlet and White Roses.

Don't you think that this situation is very reminiscent of our present day? At the moment when people lose their moral guidelines, they definitely need a hero - a savior. However, bitter historical experience shows that the longer you wait for a miraculous deliverance, the harder it will be to get it later with your own hands. This is exactly what would not hurt to understand as early as possible. Otherwise, it may turn out that for six centuries the fires of the Inquisition have not cooled down as much as it might seem at first glance.

The fate of the working class, of which they were a part. In the 1920s, attention gradually increased to the fate and psychology of the individual, despite the fact that romantic adventures often overshadowed the inner characterization of the hero. And further literature was greatly influenced by the decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, adopted on April 23, 1932. It noted that “ Soviet literature achieved...

Ancient Russian literature. There is no need to consider all the monuments that existed in Ancient Russia. On the example of several works, let us consider how the theme of man and his deeds developed in ancient Russian literature. 2. Man in literature ancient Russia One of the first, most important genres of emerging Russian literature was the chronicle genre. The oldest chronicle that has actually come down to us ...

The ethical essence of man, his main ethical orientation is not a preconceived idea in Dostoevsky, but a conclusion from his observations of people. The “idea of ​​man” pervades and centers Russian philosophy of the 19th century. In all the various currents of Russian thought, the main thing is the assertion that “man in his individuality is moral value the highest hierarchical level” / Berdyaev /. ...

The development of its content and methods at every stage of the development of society and the school with a gem, so as not to get ahead of ourselves and take into account the measure of the possible in its implementation. It is necessary to say about the features of the pedagogical ideal of a person that existed in ancient Russian pedagogy. Ancient Slavic culture united through the adoption of Christianity with the mature Eastern Christianity of Byzantium, the goal ...

The protagonist of a brilliant novel F.M. Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment" Rodion Raskolnikov asks the question, is it allowed to commit a small evil for the sake of a great good, does a noble goal justify a criminal means? The author portrays him as a magnanimous dreamer, a humanist, eager to make all mankind happy, who comes to the realization of his own powerlessness in the face of world evil and in despair decides to "break" the moral law - to kill out of love for humanity, to do evil for the sake of good. However normal person, which, undoubtedly, is the hero of the novel, bloodshed and murder are alien. To understand this, Raskolnikov needed to go through all the circles of moral hell and go to hard labor. Only at the end of the novel do we see that the hero realizes the absurdity of his crazy idea and gains peace of mind.

In contrast to the doubting and rushing Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky draws in his novel the image of Svidrigailov, a man who does not think about the means to achieve his goals. Falling into the abyss of debauchery, losing faith, Svidrigailov commits suicide, thereby showing the dead end of Raskolnikov's theory.

Based on real history novel American writer T. Dreiser's "American Tragedy" tells the story of an ambitious young manClyde Griffiths, who dreams of breaking out of the framework of his environment, rapidly and stubbornly walking up the steps of his career, up to the world of money and luxury. Having seduced an honest girl and being sure of his love for her, the hero soon realizes that this connection is the main obstacle on the way to high society. Formed classical love triangle, the third "corner" of which is a girl from high society, who opens up all kinds of exits to material wealth for Clyde. Unable to resist such a temptation, the young man carefully considers the possibility of getting rid of his first love, which interferes not only with ambitious plans, but simply prevents him from living for his own pleasure. This is how a crime is committed - thought out, seriously prepared and cowardly. After the death of the girl, the police go on the trail of Clyde and accuse him of premeditated murder. The jury sentences him to capital punishment and Clyde spends the rest of his life in prison. As a result, he confesses, admits his guilt. He is executed in the electric chair.

good, kind, talented person Ilya Oblomov failed to overcome himself, his laziness and licentiousness, did not reveal his best features. Absence high purpose in life leads to moral death. Even love could not save Oblomov.

In his late novel The Razor's Edge, W.S. Maughamdraws life path young American Larry, who spent half of his life with books and the other half in travel, work, search and self-improvement. His image stands out vividly against the background of young people of his circle, who spend their lives and outstanding abilities in vain on the fulfillment of fleeting whims, on entertainment, on a carefree existence in luxury and idleness. Larry chose his own path and, ignoring the misunderstanding and censure of loved ones, searched for the meaning of life in hardships, wanderings and wanderings around the world. He gave himself completely spirituality to achieve enlightenment of the mind, purification of the spirit, discover the meaning of the universe.

Main character novel of the same name American writer Jack London Martin Eden - a working guy, a sailor, a native of the lower classes, about 21 years old, meets Ruth Morse - a girl from a wealthy bourgeois family. Ruth begins to teach semi-literate Martin correct pronunciation English words and arouses in him an interest in literature. Martin learns that magazines pay decent fees to the authors who are published in them, and firmly decides to make a career as a writer, earn money and become worthy of his new acquaintance, with whom he managed to fall in love. Martin is putting together a self-improvement program, working on his language and pronunciation, and reading a lot of books. Iron health and unbending will moves him to the goal. In the end, having gone a long and thorny path, after numerous failures and disappointments, he becomes a famous writer. (Then he becomes disillusioned with literature, his beloved, people in general and life, loses interest in everything and commits suicide. This is so, just in case. An argument in favor of the fact that the fulfillment of a dream does not always bring happiness)

A shark, if it stops moving its fins, will go to the bottom like a stone, a bird, if it stops flapping its wings, will fall to the ground. Similarly, a person, if aspirations, desires, goals fade away in him, will collapse to the bottom of life, he will be sucked into a thick quagmire of gray everyday life. A river that stops flowing turns into a fetid swamp. Similarly, a person who stops searching, thinking, torn, loses "the soul's wonderful impulses", gradually degrades, his life becomes an aimless, miserable vegetative existence.

I. Bunin in the story "The Gentleman from San Francisco" showed the fate of a man who served false values. Wealth was his god, and that god he worshipped. But when the American millionaire died, it turned out that true happiness passed by the person: he died without knowing what life is.

The novel by the famous English writer W.S. Maugham “The Burden of Human Passions” touches on one of the most important and burning questions for every person - is there a meaning in life, and if so, what is it? The protagonist of the work, Philip Carey, painfully searches for the answer to this question: in books, in art, in love, in the judgments of friends. One of them, the cynic and materialist Cronshaw, advises him to look at the Persian carpets and refuses to explain further. Only years later, having lost almost all his illusions and hopes for the future, Philip understands what he meant and admits that “life has no meaning, and human existence is aimless. Knowing that nothing makes sense and nothing matters, a person can still be satisfied by choosing the various threads that he weaves into the endless fabric of life. There is one pattern - the simplest and most beautiful: a person is born, matures, marries, produces children, works for a piece of bread and dies; but there are other, more intricate and amazing patterns, where there is no place for happiness or striving for success - perhaps some disturbing beauty is hidden in them.

In our life we ​​often use the word "ideal". But do we think about its meaning? Let's look into dictionary. A synonym for the word ideal is the word "perfection". If you describe the meaning, it turns out that this is the highest point that a person can reach in his development. A person can have ideal beauty, character. But everything

Interpretation of the term

After doing a little research, we could not find a consensus on the question "what are ideals?". The definition is completely different and ambiguous.

The problem is that for each person who lives in a particular society, the interpretation of the term "ideal" is unique. A person follows his ideas, which are embedded in his subconscious. For some, these are the ideals of external beauty, and for some, these are spiritual ideals. But you can not treat them as a static phenomenon. For example, in childhood may be the ideals of a prince or princess. They will have certain character traits, appearance.

As the child grows, these ideals begin to change. This is something that needs to be taken quite seriously. Many children take for ideals images that are not ideals at all. The ideals that teenagers define for themselves are especially serious. For example, who breaks the law. Following his ideal can lead the child to the fact that he himself repeats the fate of his idol.

Sometimes the ideal is chosen successful person. By following his advice, you can achieve success in business yourself. Older generation considers the ideal and veterans, heroes who saved their homeland and thousands of lives. But each person perceives ideals in his own way. Because everyone has their own value system.

Ideal Examples

Description of the ideal can be found in fiction, painting, architecture. But the problem is that in different eras, a certain stereotype was taken as the highest point of perfection. may be external or internal. In works of literature, one can find many examples of how a person who has external beauty, such as Helen in War and Peace, can be far from ideal in terms of his spiritual content. Thus, we are unlikely to find a unified point of view about what ideals are.

The concept of the ideal from the point of view of philosophy

The question of what ideals are has been of interest to people since ancient times. Today, the concept of morality and culture is gradually losing its meaning. In the minds of an adult, not to mention children, there is a real confusion of the most different cultures and values. At the same time, society cannot develop normally if there are no lofty goals and ideals. The concept of moral ideal is present in Orthodox religion, on which the Children were built, in those days, were brought up in accordance with the idea of ​​dogmas Orthodox Church.

Later, many philosophers, such as Lomonosov, studied ideals from their own points of view. It was their ideas that were laid in the system of raising children. The concept of the ideal can be found in the works of Kant, Pestalozze, Ushinsky. The system of spiritual values ​​is embedded in many works fiction. But the point is that in different time When asked what ideals are, people answered differently. Every culture has its own values.

About moral ideals

If we analyze the concept from a philosophical point of view, we can find a division. There is an ideal, which is defined as the highest point, value, a certain system moral concepts. Wherein moral ideal It is a system based on moral requirements. Their combination forms a certain image of a person's personality. There are certain characteristics.

1. From the point of view of the spiritual and moral system of values, ideals are a model worthy of imitation. In this regard, examples can be given from fiction and spiritual literature. Many heroes have a number of characteristics that allow us to draw conclusions about their moral qualities.
2. Throughout human evolution, the concept of "moral ideal" has been constantly changing. Yes, in Ancient Greece, according to Aristotle, the ideal from a moral point of view was the ability of self-contemplation. A person had to renounce ordinary worldly life in order to achieve highest point perfection. Kant believed that the moral ideal is determined by inner world person.

In order to perform actions that are worthy of an ideal personality, one must be guided by certain rules. One way or another, but for every philosopher and psychologist there is a concept of what ideals are.

Human cultural values

Man lives in society. This or that society, if we consider it as a society, lives in accordance with its own rules, traditions, which are also called culture. Man cannot exist without a definite purpose. It is culture that puts forward certain goals for the individual. This is not a scientific definition. Science reveals the causes that exist in certain time periods. The goals that a person sets for himself make it possible to predict the future. It is determined by the actions of the individual.

In the animal world there is no system of values ​​that makes up the definition of what the ideals of culture are. But it exists in human society. Moreover, the goals that a person sets for himself are largely determined by culture. The culture of a society is based on traditions. It develops at the genetic level. That is, it is passed down from generation to generation. Society puts before the person not a simple task- preserve the culture. Throughout the evolution of mankind, there have been a large number of different cultures. There was Chinese, Egyptian, Old Russian. Each of them took care to pass on their value system to the next generation.

The ideal human life

From all of the above, we can say that each person has his own system of values. Each person sets himself certain goals. Achieving them, a person realizes his ideal of life.

For one, the ideal in life is a family, for another, material values. Each of us has our own ideal of life. Everyone makes an effort to achieve it. To do this, he sets goals for himself. This is very important, it is the goal that motivates a person to develop in the direction he needs.

Is it possible to achieve the ideal

If we consider the ideal as a goal to strive for, then we can turn to psychology. Much here depends on the answer to the question, what are the ideals of a person, as well as on his person. If there is a desire, then the goal set for oneself can be achieved. What is needed for this? First of all, you need to determine for yourself what exactly you need to achieve. It could be perfect family, or the perfect job. After that, on a piece of paper, you should make a plan for yourself.

Secondly, it is important to determine for yourself the time frame for which the task should be achieved. Do not immediately plan your actions for several years in advance. It may be a short period of time for which you can achieve certain results that will bring the realization of the goal closer.

It is very important to find the right motivation or reason for yourself. You need to support yourself with positive thoughts. Very often there are obstacles in the way of achieving your ideal. Do not forget that without them it is impossible to achieve the goal. You need to treat them right. It is important to get out of your comfort zone.

Finally

Having considered the question of what human ideals are, we can draw conclusions. In pursuit of material values, one should not forget about morality and spirituality. The foundation is laid in many religions. There should be a system that is based on culture. The soul must come first. It is the development of spiritual qualities that should be taken care of in the first place. Then the life of society can become ideal.

The theme of the relationship between a person and the community of people is one of the most relevant, both in classical Russian literature and in modern world. Society is a part of the world that lives, develops, has certain time frames, values ​​and traditions. And the unit of society is none other than man. He cannot choose to unite people specifically for himself: he becomes part of society from birth. It is he who subsequently forms the personality, its interests and way of thinking. But is a person capable of turning the lives of those around him? Can it develop outside its structure? How does social pressure affect individuals? In this selection, we have collected arguments from the literature for the final essay in the direction "Man and Society", which can help answer these questions.

1. In his epic novel "War and Peace" Leo Tolstoy reveals the duality of the nature of Russian high society in the early 19th century. On the one hand, the reader observes the life of high society in St. Petersburg and sees the whole world, with its own laws and moral principles, focused on Europe. However, in all lofty relationships, Tolstoy emphasizes one bright detail- unnaturalness. Sugary strained smiles, ladies in beautiful dresses, but cold and deathly pale, as if made of marble, and behind all this imaginary splendor, emptiness and indifference are hidden. The discussion of foreign news at high-society receptions quickly bored a thinking person, and he soon became disillusioned with the outward splendor of pompous gentlemen. On the other hand, Tolstoy paints portraits of such noble and sensitive representatives of the upper class as Pierre Bezukhov, Andrei Bolkonsky, Natasha Rostova and others. A lively mind glimmers in them, there is an interest in the world and people, they are opposed to the dead from St. Petersburg salons. However, they all felt like strangers in high society, and even more than once they were deceived and disgraced by him. Their individuality, which favorably differed from the dullness and hypocrisy of society, was able to form only at a distance from it, thanks to exceptional families or education abroad.
2. M. Gorky sang his romantic ideal in the work "Old Woman Izergil". He was embodied in the beautiful young man Danko, to whom the author contrasted the image of the young man Larra. Larra, son of an eagle and a woman, incapable of true love, pity, self-sacrifice. Life, a great value kept by a person, becomes a living hell for him. He is not able to understand its fragility and transience. Selfish Larra can only receive, but not give in return. And Gorky emphasizes that Larra will never find freedom, since true freedom must be shared with other people in order to establish harmony. Danko, on the contrary, spares nothing for society. He is open to the world and, without hesitation, sacrifices his life to save his native tribe. He obviously does not expect gratitude, because his entire existence is aimed at the human good. Gorky saw the meaning of life in serving society.
3. M.A. Bulgakov in the novel "Master and Margarita" sharply raises the question of the relationship between society and an individual person. His hero is a true genius who wrote an amazing novel. However, after the publication, the Master does not gain popular love, but, on the contrary, is subjected to persecution in the press. And from whom does he get these infuriated reviews and pamphlets? From a society of miserable graphomaniacs from MASSOLIT, pseudo-writers and envious people. The author presents a group of “artists” as caustic and insidious, knowing himself firsthand about him. And in the end, this very society, with endless attacks and harassment, forces the Master to destroy his beautiful creation and brings him to a madhouse. He is no longer a part of this nasty gathering, and his beloved Margarita becomes his entire society, and his soul finds eternal peace.
4. Any society must develop. In comedy A.S. Griboyedov's "Woe from Wit" demonstrates the ossified famous society- a bunch of noble people, miserable and ignorant. Famusov's guests, like exaggerated Westerners, go dumb with delight when Frenchmen from Bordeaux, Parisian milliners and rootless foreign crooks call in. Chatsky is opposed to them, denouncing their pernicious worship of the Western world and rejection own way. He is bright, hot, eager to learn something new, impatient and passionate. It is he who stands up for freedom, art, mind and brings a new high morality to the Famusov world, however, the prim world of Famusov does not accept change and cuts any rudiments of the new, bright and beautiful in the bud. Such is the age-old conflict between the progressive individual and the crowd, which gravitates towards conservatism.
5. Rebellious spirit is full and main character novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time". Pechorin does not accept many established social rules, but still tries to find mutual language with the world around him. His personality, like the personalities of many others, is formed under the action of several forces: the first is his will, the second is the society and the era in which he exists. Internal torment makes Pechorin seek harmony among other people. He rips off their masks, gives them inner freedom, but invariably each of them fails. That is why the hero remains alone every time, immersed in deep introspection and the search for his own "I". In such a society, he simply cannot find himself and realize his inner potential.
6. In the novel by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin's "Lord Golovlevs" on the example of one prosperous family shows the life of the nobility. The Golovlev family, as a direct cell of high society, reflects all of its most monstrous vices: greed, idleness, ignorance, laziness, hypocrisy, stupidity, inability to work. Arina Petrovna Golovleva managed the estate all her life, thoughtlessly accumulated wealth, and at the same time morally and morally corrupted her offspring. She constantly used the word “family” in her speech, but when she saw how all the property she had acquired was snatched away by her insidious children, Arina Petrovna realized that she lived for the sake of a ghost, and real family never happened in her life. So the "higher" society, greedy, helpless and lazy, will certainly find its death in its own sins, as history has shown.
7. The world of A. And Solzhenitsyn's story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is bleak, stingy with colors, hopeless. Here people no longer have names, the main determinant is the camp number. Human life has lost its value, and the habits of the inhabitants of the camp are more like animals: all they think about is satisfying their biological needs in order not to die. Among them, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov himself should have gone berserk long ago, lost human qualities. However, despite all the difficulties of fate, he rejoices at every day he lives on Earth. His small fortunes turn into big ones on the scale of the enclosed space of the camp. Prisoner number eight hundred and fifty-four did not sour or squint. He is still capable of sympathy and pity for his neighbor. In contrast to Ivan Denisovich, camp guards were placed who provided for themselves wonderful life by turning prisoners into slaves. They put themselves above the inhabitants of the camp, thereby violating human laws, excluding themselves from human society.
8. Contrasts the hero with society and A.P. Chekhov in the story "Ionych". At the beginning of the work, Dmitry Ionych Startsev appears before us, a zemstvo doctor, who is opposed to the heroes of the city of S., gray and ignorant people. This is especially evident in the example of the Turkin family, whom Startsev visits. The whole family strives to show off their imaginary "talents", which actually do not exist, and each of them revels in their stupidity. Turkins are static, there is no development in their images. But Startsev is not trying to change something, but on the contrary, he himself is slowly beginning to adapt to the world. Under the influence of external forces, he also degrades, sinks to the moral bottom, is carried away by hoarding, grows fat, becomes stupid, ceases to be interested in anything. And at the end we see simply Ionych, a man without a name and without a core, reshaped to fit the low standards of the society of the city of S.
9. In the novel by M.A. Sholokhov " Quiet Don» main character goes a long way in search of his place in the troubled society of revolutionary times. Grigory Melekhov is rushing about, trying to figure out which camp he should join and whom to support in a cruel fratricidal war. "Mad World" frightens the hero, internal torments torment him. In addition to this, there are also love ups and downs. His feelings for Aksinya, forbidden, but deep, push Melekhov to serious actions - he leaves his family, goes against generally accepted norms, in order to finally solve all the troubles and storms of the soul. He, tired of constant thoughts and discord, wants peace and tranquility. That is why, returning home, Melekhov throws the gun into the water. However, a short-sighted society does not accept his search, sticks the yoke of a "traitor" and persecutes an already unarmed and broken person, not knowing compassion.
10. F. M. Dostoevsky in his novel "Crime and Punishment" shows what the decline of society is pushing ordinary citizens to. There are several reasons why Rodion Raskolnikov decided to kill the old pawnbroker. One of them, of course, has roots in the personality of Rodion. But society, mired in poverty and sins, also played a significant role in the student's decision. Raskolnikov himself was choked by lousy poverty, and he, susceptible to other people's suffering, went to a terrible crime. Nothing else makes sense in a society where money, simple pieces of paper have become the main value, and everyone has long forgotten about high morality. A simple girl Sonya Marmeladova takes the path of a prostitute in order to earn money for her family. And her father, not thinking about his relatives, drinks everything in taverns that stink of rotten human souls, while weighty moneybags revel in their wealth earned on the lives of ordinary people. So the author shows that it is impossible to live in society and be free from it: its problems automatically become yours.

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1. Svyatoslav, Prince of Kyiv.
2. Fevronia, Princess of Murom.
3. Alexander Nevsky.
4. Princess Felitsa.

A great sovereign is a wise sovereign. His business is to show people their direct benefit.
D. I. Fonvizin

At all times, it was common for people to hope that a wise and just ruler (prince, tsar, master) would be able to solve their pressing problems. In ancient times, in many countries there was even a belief that the luck of the ruler, the blessing granted to him by the gods, also passes to the territory that this person controls. Of course, it is not entirely correct to place responsibility for everything that happens within the framework of the control object on only one single person. At the same time, the undeniable importance of the personal qualities of a leader cannot be denied. Comparing the real and the desired, the writers created images ideal ruler: the personality of a real historical person was often idealized, which is generally characteristic of such a genre as life.

The dream of a wise and just ruler did not escape the oral folk art. So, the heroes of many fairy tales, in order to solve some complicated issue, go to the royal court. However, the decision of the ruler is not always reasonable and impartial - folk art turned out to be alien to excessive idealization. We encounter a similar situation in epics: although the storytellers called Vladimir, Prince of Kyiv, the Red Sun, that is, a kind of personification of wisdom and nobility, in fact, the actions and decisions of the prince were far from always worthy. The epics repeatedly mention the prince's quarrels with the heroes, his lack of respect for their merits, the best of the heroes, Ilya Muromets, he even put him in prison for three years on false slander, forbidding him to feed and water. If it were not for the kindness and prudence of the prince's niece, who secretly brought food to the hero, Ilya Muromets would have died ingloriously in the prince's dungeon. Nothing flattering can be said about princely courage and valor either. In the epics there is no mention of any military exploits of the prince.

However, in a number of works of Russian literature, we can find the image of an ideal ruler, from the point of view of the author. Perhaps, we can consider Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich of Kyiv as one of such leaders, as the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign portrayed him. As befits a ruler, Prince Svyatoslav takes care of the well-being of his people, that the Russian people do not suffer from the Polovtsian raids. The prince is wise enough to understand that one cannot cope with such a grandiose task alone. That's why he tries to unite efforts as much as possible. more Russian princes, calls on them to stop civil strife and unite in order to repel the Polovtsy. To reinforce the impression of the prince's wisdom, the author of the Lay... introduces the motif prophetic dream, from which Svyatoslav learns about the danger threatening Russia. The narrator calls the prince's speech the "golden word". The successes of the prince in the fight against the enemies of Russia earned him fame and praise not only from Russians, but also from many other peoples: “Here the Germans and Venetians, here the Greeks and Moravians sing the glory of Svyatoslav ...”.

In Russian literature, one can also find images of women, wise rulers. As an example, consider the image of Fevronia, which is described in the Tale of Peter and Fevronia. This woman was from common people, however, thanks to her wisdom, she became the wife of Prince Peter, the ruler of the city of Murom. The boyars and their wives disliked the princess because she was of an humble family, and demanded that she leave the city, giving her the right to take with her what she wanted. The woman took only what belonged to her by law - her husband, Prince Peter. Shortly after they left Murom, confusion began in the city, and the townspeople called them back. The wisdom of the princess was clearly manifested in one incident that occurred during the exile. The princess noticed that one person from her retinue was looking at her with lust. This man had a wife who also accompanied the prince and princess. The princess suggested that the man compare the taste of water scooped up with different parties ship, thereby letting him know that one should not get carried away by someone else's wife, but one must be faithful to one's own. However, here is what is important: Fevronia explained this without humiliating a person, on the contrary, an awareness of the unworthiness of his thoughts and repentance awakened in his soul. No less lofty ideal of a noble ruler can be found in the Life of Alexander Nevsky. Describing the appearance and high personal qualities of the prince, the author of his life compares him with the heroes of biblical and Roman history, without hesitation putting Alexander on a par with these famous figures: “And he was handsome like no other, and his voice was like a trumpet among the people, his face is like the face of Joseph, whom the Egyptian king appointed as the second king in Egypt, his strength was part of the strength of Samson, and God gave him the wisdom of Solomon, his courage is like that of the Roman king Vespasian, who conquered all the land of Judea. The author of his life glorifies Prince Alexander as a brave warrior, a merciful and just ruler, a faithful son of the Orthodox Church: “Not being seduced by wealth, not forgetting about the blood of the righteous, orphans and widows, he judges in truth, is merciful, kind to his household and welcomes those who come from foreign countries ".

Alexander defends his land from enemy invasions: he fights in open battle with opponents who came from the West, but at the same time he recognizes the power of the Horde, for which there are not yet the necessary conditions and resources to fight. The prince has no lack of courage. His wisdom is manifested in understanding when valor is necessary and when it is inappropriate. The author of the Life... repeatedly emphasizes the prince's concern for his subjects: “In those days there was great violence from the infidels, they persecuted Christians, forcing them to fight on their side. Prince great Alexander went to the king to pray for his people from this misfortune. About the death of Prince Alexander, the author of "Life ..." writes, as about greatest grief"The sun has set." The trust and respect of the people for their prince was so great that, having learned about his death, people exclaimed: “We are already dying!”, As if eternal darkness really covered the world.

The image of the ideal ruler is also present in the works of the later period of Russian literature. A prime example can serve as an ode by G. R. Derzhavin “Felitsa”, where, under the name of Princess Felitsa, the author glorifies Empress Catherine II. It is clear that the poetic image of a wise and humane ruler is very far from the real ruler. In the kingdom of Felitsa, the people prosper, as in a fairy-tale land:

O! as long as people are happy
There must be their own destiny,
Where is the meek angel, the peaceful angel,
Hidden in porphyry lordship,
A scepter was sent down from heaven to carry!