Accurate definition of epic. Bylina

Epics are built according to a certain plan.

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

Events in epics are presented in a strict order, sequentially. The story is told slowly, slowly. Since epics lived in oral transmission, their performer said to focus the attention of listeners on especially important, in his opinion, places. For this, repetitions are widely used in epics, usually three times. So, in the epic about Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber, the description of the power of the Nightingale the Robber is repeated three times.

In order to give melodiousness to the epic, to make its presentation more expressive, musical, individual words are often repeated in the epics.

For example:

The straight road is jammed,

The path was choked up, muddied.

In the capital city in Kyiv,

At the affectionate prince at Vladimir.

Repetitions are found not only in the text of the same epic. In different epics, similar actions and phenomena are described in the same way, for example, saddling a heroic horse, a feast at Prince Vladimir, an enemy force, a battle between heroes and enemies, etc.

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

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

Either old, or deed,

that is, it was so in the old days, this is a true story.

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

If the hero falls asleep, then "a heroic dream for twelve days" (days). To match the hero and his horse: "the first lope of the horse - for many miles, and the second lope - and you can not find it." To emphasize the strength of the Russian hero, his enemy is depicted hyperbolically. The innumerable forces of the enemy "a gray wolf ... can't jump a day, a black crow can't fly around a day."

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

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

Comparisons are often used in epics:

Caught up with something black-black,

Black-black, like a black crow.

Pike-fish walk Volga in the blue seas,

Volga fly like a falcon under the shells,

Like a wolf to prowl in open fields.

Negative comparisons are used:

Not a damp oak bends to the ground,

Not paper leaves spread out,

The son bows before the father ...

Wishing to emphasize any shade of the meaning of the word, which, according to the folk singer, is important for understanding the narrative, the narrators of epics widely use synonyms: “Volga began to grow and mother”; "And to yell and plow and peasant,"; “Here Ilya felt for trouble, for great annoyance it seemed ...”

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

The epic is pronounced in a singsong voice. Obeying the tune, the narrator puts stresses on certain words, while other words, without stresses, seem to merge into one word (“mother earth”, “field-clean”). In this regard, sometimes the word has different stresses in the same one. epic ("Nightingale-Nightingale", "young", "young", "young").

In ancient oral folk poetry there are epics telling about the peaceful, working life of the Russian people. These are household epics. The most important of them is the epic about Volga and Mikul. It glorifies people's work. In Ilya Muromets, the people sang the peasant-warrior, the hero - the defender of the motherland. In the image of Mikula, he glorified the peasant farmer, the hero - the breadwinner of the country.

epics- folk songs about exploits heroes, preserved in the north of Russia in the memory of singer-storytellers. Epic songs that sing of heroic events. Epics artistically summarized the reality of the 11th-16th centuries.

Epics were recorded mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries in the Russian North - their main keeper: in the former Arkhangelsk province, in Karelia, on the Mezen, Pechora, Pinega rivers, on the coast of the White Sea, in the Vologda region. In addition, starting from the 18th century, epics were recorded among the old-timers of Siberia, the Urals, the Volga and in the central Russian provinces. Echoes of epics have been preserved by Cossack songs on the Don, Terek, Lower Volga, and the Urals.

The content of the epic is varied. About 100 plots are known to science, more than 3,000 texts have been recorded with variants and versions, a significant part of which has been published. Usually epics have a heroic or short story character. The idea of ​​heroic epics is the glorification of the unity and independence of the Russian land, in short story epics marital fidelity was glorified, true friendship, personal vices were condemned. Epics condemned social injustice, the arbitrariness of princely power. The people called epics "old men", "old men", "old women". The term "epic" is purely scientific; it was proposed in the first half of the 19th century by I.P. Sakharov. The word "epic" was taken by him from "The Tale of the Regiment" and artificially applied to designate the folklore genre in order to emphasize its historicism.

Singing certain events in epics, the narrators never became like chroniclers, they did not seek to convey the chronicle sequence of events, but depicted only the central moments. The singers were attracted not by the exact recording of history, but by the expression of it. popular ratings, a display of popular ideals.

Epics conveyed the names of real-life persons: Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Vladimir Monomakh, Dobrynya, Sadko, Alexander Popovich, Ilya Muromets, Polovtsian and Tatar khans (Batu, Tugorkan). So the epic prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko combined Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Vladimir Monomakh. Nikitich, uncle of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, lived in the 10th-early 11th centuries. there are chronicles about him. For example, the epic Dobrynya is the matchmaker of Vladimir Svyatoslavich. Historical Dobrynya acted in this role in 980, when Vladimir decided to marry the Polotsk princess Rogneda.

In the 12th century In Novgorod there was a merchant named Sotko. Sadko is the hero of the Novgorod epics.

Ilya Muromets is mentioned in Russian written sources in the 16th century, and in the German oral tradition he has been known since the 13th century. According to some legends, in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra there was a tomb with the relics of Ilya Muromets. The rise of Ilya Muromets over other heroes was facilitated by the fact that he came from North-Eastern Russia, which from the 12th century began to play a leading role among the ancient Russian lands.

Putilov. Russian historical and song folklore.

Epics are works whose plots are the result of artistic fiction. This fiction is always based on historical reality, but not in the form of specific events and facts. The epic is an artistic generalization of the historical experience of the people of an entire era. In this generalization, the historical ideals of the people are in the foreground.

COLLECTION HISTORY. A significant difficulty is created by the fact that we have not reached, and perhaps did not have at all, records of epics earlier than the beginning of the 17th century. The oldest B. records are only 300 years old. Taking into account the inevitable variability of any folklore text in oral transmission from generation to generation, we have to admit that even our most ancient records of B. did not preserve B. in their original content and form. Later records of epics, made by scholarly collectors from the lips of the people in the 18th-20th centuries, quite naturally included a number of even further "layers" and underwent more or less changes and additions from a long series of generations of individual storytellers. The restoration of the original form of each B. and its further evolution can be (and only relatively) done only on the basis of a careful comparison and comparison of all B. variants that have come down to us, both old and new records.

This explains why scholars of folklore so cherish each old manuscript with an epic text and each new B. entry on the same plot. B. plots, there are only about 40, while records of B. texts now have accumulated more than 1,500 numbers.

The oldest recording of Russian epic songs is a recording of historical songs, almost contemporary with the events sung in them, made for the Englishman Richard James, who lived in Russia in 1619-1620. Actually B. texts in the manuscripts of the XVII century. we got five. The oldest handwritten text is “The Tale of the Kyiv Bogatyrs, how they went to Constantinople and how they beat the Constantinople heroes and did themselves honor” (at the end of the text, this “Tale” is called the “Bogatyr Word”). This and similar handwritten texts of B. of the 17th century. should be considered together with other handwritten B. texts XVIII and early XIX centuries

From mid-eighteenth in. wonderful came to us collection of epics, compiled by the Cossack Kirsha Danilov for the Ural rich breeder Demidov and containing over 70 songs.

The discovery of the riches of the Russian epic epic falls on the 60-70s. 19th century In 1861-1867, “Songs collected by P. N. Rybnikov” (224 numbers of B.) were published, and in 1872 - “Onega B.”, recorded in 1871 by A. F. Gilferding (318 numbers).

During 1862-1874, issues of the posthumous work “Songs collected by P. V. Kireevsky” were published (11 volumes in total).

two collections: N. S. Tikhonravova and V. F. Miller, Young then scholarly collectors made trips for B. to different parts of this vast province; as a result, science has been enriched by detailed collections of B.: A. V. Markova, “Belomorskie B.”, M., 1901 (116 issues); A. D. Grigorieva (total 424 issues), “Arkhangelsk B. and historical songs”, vol. I, M., 1904 and vol. III, M., 1910 (volume II was not released) and N. E. Onchukova, "Pechorsky B.", in the Saratov region (M. and B. Sokolov and others - 24 numbers), in Siberia (Tan-Bogoraz, Gulyaev and others - 27 numbers); rather significant B. material recorded at Don Cossacks, Terek, Ural, Orenburg (collections of Listopadov, Arefin, Dogadin, Zheleznov, Myakushin, Pankratiev, Karpinsky - information about all these records is combined in the article by V. F. Miller - “Cossack epic songs of the 16th and 17th centuries” in his “Essays folk literature, vol. III, M., 1924).

Epic classification:

heroic epics will differ from B. short stories, as they have long been Sun. Miller distinguished by content. In heroic epics, the movement is distinguished by centripetal movement towards the main character - the hero. It does not always develop in a straight line, but very often with sudden shifts in the opposite direction. A favorite technique of heroic B. is the reception of antithesis (Ilya, contrary to the warning inscription at the crossroads of three roads, travels along them and refutes these warnings with his actions; Dobrynya does not obey the instructions of his mother and bathes in the Puchay River, etc.). Similarly to the method of antithesis in the development of action in heroic epics, we see the same method of contrast in the organization of the image of B. heroes. At the beginning of B., the hero is not underestimated, even slandered, the enemy seems to be more significant than him, stronger, then all this 13 is immediately refuted by the further, especially the final moment of the heroic battle: the hero alone cracks down on a hostile force of many thousands. In contrast, for example, such pairs as Ilya and Idolishche, Potanya and Kostruk, Dobrynya and Serpent, etc. are depicted. For the heroic epic, various forms of hyperbolization of both the appearance of epic heroes and their attributes, and their actions and feats are extremely characteristic.

B. short stories (Churila and Katerina, Alyosha and Dobrynya, Khoten Bludovich, and others), in contrast to heroic short stories, include much more elements of purely dramatic action. Various forms of dialogue play an important role in poetics of B., and in heroic, military B. dialogue, or direct speech in general, is less common than in short story B., for which the dialogic form of presentation is largely a formal sign of a special B. .genre. Dialogue performs an essential dynamic function in the structure of B. - it largely moves the action in B.

Epics are also combined into cycles:

By time

By territory

By heroes

Kyiv and Novgorod cycles

Ticket 27. the main plots of Russian epics. Novgorod and Kyiv cycles.

Plots of epics. The number of epic plots, despite the many recorded versions of the same epic, is very limited: there are about 100 of them. There are epics based on matchmaking or the struggle of the hero for his wife ( Sadko, Mikhailo Potyk, Ivan Godinovich, Danube, Kozarin, Nightingale Budimirovich and later - Alyosha Popovich and Elena Petrovichna, Hoten Bludovich); fighting monsters Dobrynya and the snake, Alyosha and Tugarin, Ilya and Idolishche, Ilya and the Nightingale the Robber); fight against foreign invaders, including: repelling Tatar raids ( Ilya's quarrel with Vladimir, Ilya and Kalin, Dobrynya and Vasily Kazemirovich), wars with Lithuanians ( Bylina about the arrival of Lithuanians).

Stand apart are satirical epics or epics-parodies ( Duke Stepanovich, Competition with Churila).

The main epic heroes. Representatives of the Russian "mythological school" divided the heroes of epics into "senior" and "junior" heroes. In their opinion, the “elders” (Svyatogor, Danube, Volkh, Potyka) were the personification of elemental forces, epics about them in a peculiar way reflected the mythological views that existed in Ancient Russia. The “younger” heroes (Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich) are ordinary mortals, heroes of a new historical era, and therefore are endowed with mythological features to a minimal extent. Despite the fact that serious objections were subsequently raised against such a classification, such a division is still found in the scientific literature.

The images of heroes are the national standard of courage, justice, patriotism and strength (it was not for nothing that one of the first Russian aircraft, which had an exceptional carrying capacity for those times, was called the creators of "Ilya Muromets").

Epics are divided into:

Kyiv.

Epic Kyiv is a symbol of the unity and state independence of the Russian land. Here, in the court of Prince Vladimir, the events of many epics take place. The military power of Russia is personified by heroes. Among the heroic epics, those in which Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich act are put forward in the first place. These main defenders of the Russian land come from three estates: peasant, princely and priestly. Epics sought to present Russia as a united in the fight against enemies.

Ilya is a peasant son, originally from the village of Karacharova near the city of Murom. Until the age of thirty, he was ill - he could not control his arms or legs. The poor wanderers cured Ilya and endowed him with unprecedented strength. The enormous power of Ilya should benefit all of Russia, so he rushed to Kyiv. Along the way, he accomplished his first feats: he defeated the enemy troops near Chernigov, freed the road from the nightingale-robber.

After Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich is most loved by the people. This is a hero of princely origin, he lives in Kyiv. The main business of his life is the military service of Russia.

The heroic feat of Dobrynya is depicted by the epic “Dobrynya and the Serpent” - a story about how, on the Puchay River, Dobrynya fought off a snake with one hat, knocking off three trunks from it. The snake prayed and offered to make peace. Dobrynya released the snake, but then he saw how he grabbed the prince's daughter and went to rescue her. This time the battle was long, but Dobrynya won.

Incurred the wrath of Vladimir Monomakh, and he was drowned for having robbed two citizens of Novgorod; in another version of the same chronicle, it is said that he was exiled. Danube Ivanovich is often mentioned in the annals of the 13th century as one of the servants of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich, and Sukhman Dolmantievich (Odikhmantievich) was identified with the Pskov prince Domant (Dovmont).

Origin of epics

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

1. The 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, Afanasyev).
2. The historical theory explains epics as a trace of historical events, sometimes confused in people's memory (Leonid Maikov, Kvashnin-Samarin).
3. The theory of borrowing points to the literary origin of epics (Theodore Benfey, Vladimir Stasov, Veselovsky, Ignatiy Yagich), and some tend to see borrowing through the influence of the East (Stasov, Vsevolod Miller), others - the West (Veselovskiy, Sozonovich).

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

Reading epics

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 in all verses of one epic the equal amount stresses: in one group there can be four, in the other three, in the third - two. In an 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 and from the good horse,
He fell down to his mother damp earth:
How mother earth is knocking
Yes, under the same eastern side.

Specificity

Epics constitute one of the most remarkable phenomena of Russian folk literature; in terms of epic calmness, richness of details, liveliness of color, distinctness of the characters of the depicted persons, a 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 the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Epics are epic songs about Russian heroes; it is here that we find a reproduction of their common, typical properties and the history of their life, 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 heroes. 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, except for the unity of the described subject, are also characterized by the unity of presentation: they are imbued with an element of the miraculous, a sense of freedom and (according to Orest Miller) the spirit of the community. Miller has no doubt that the independent spirit of the past 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 the community, embodied in epics, is an internal link that connects the Russian epic and the history of the Russian people.

Stylistics

In addition to the internal, the external unity of epics is also noticed, 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 anapaests; there are no consonances at all and everything is based on the musicality of the verse; in that epics are written in verse, they differ from "visits", in which the verse has long been decomposed into a prose story. The syllable in epics is distinguished by the richness of poetic turns; it is replete with epithets, parallelisms, comparisons, examples, and other poetic figures, without losing at the same time its clarity and naturalness of presentation. Epics with retain a fairly large number of archaisms, especially in 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 as accurately as possible, without changing a single word. The typical part contains everything essential that is said about the hero; the rest is presented only as a background for the main drawing.

Formulas

Number of epics

To give an idea of ​​the number of epics, we note their statistics given in Galakhov's History of Russian Literature. Some epics of the Kyiv cycle were 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 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 the first place, according to Orest Miller, are epics telling about the heroes of the matchmakers (see the article Bogatyrs); then those that are generally called Kyiv and Novgorod: apparently, they arose before the XIV century; then come 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 explanations; therefore, until now, in general, little has been done about them. But great value have epics of the so-called Novgorod and especially Kyiv cycle, although one cannot look at these epics as stories about events that really took place at one time in the form in which they are presented in songs: the miraculous element completely contradicts this. If the epics do not seem to be a reliable history of people who really once lived on Russian soil, then their content must certainly be explained differently.

The study of epics

The scholarly researchers of the folk epic have resorted to two methods in these explanations: historical and comparative. Strictly speaking, both of these methods in most studies are reduced to one comparative method, 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 the theoretical selection of later elements, we look for an increasingly ancient form and thus come to the original - simplest form. The “historical” method was not applied to the study of epics in the same way. Here it was impossible to compare new editions with older ones, since we do not have these latter at all; on the other hand, literary criticism noted in the most general terms only the nature of the changes that B. underwent over time, without touching on very individual particulars. The so-called historical method in the study of epics, in fact, consisted in comparing the plots of epics with 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 comparisons. So, in essence, it is only on the basis of the comparative method that the four main theories of the origin of epics are substantiated: historical and everyday, mythological, the theory of borrowings, and, finally, the mixed theory, which now enjoys the greatest credit.

Epic stories

Before proceeding to a general outline of 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 combination of these moments makes up the plot of this work. Thus, the plots are more or less complex. Several literary works can 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 could even go further and say that every plot, without exception, always forms the basis of more or less literary works, and that very often there are fashionable plots that are processed almost at the same time at all ends. the globe. If now in two or more literary works we find a common plot, then three explanations are allowed here: either in these several localities the plots developed independently, independently of each other and thus constitute a reflection of real life or natural phenomena; either these plots were inherited by both peoples from common ancestors; or, finally, one people borrowed the plot from another. Already a priori one 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 based on 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 to be an accidental phenomenon. According to this theory, the heroes are representatives of different classes of the Russian people, while epics are poetic and symbolic stories of historical incidents or pictures of the phenomena of folk life. The mythological theory is based on the first and second assumptions, according to which similar plots in the works of the Indo-European peoples are inherited from common pra-Aryan ancestors; The similarity between the plots of heterogeneous peoples is explained by the fact that in different countries the same natural phenomenon, which served as material for similar plots, was looked at by people in the same way and interpreted 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 the above theories were distinguished by their extremeness; so, for example, on the one hand, Orest Miller in his "Experience" argued that the comparative method serves to ensure that in compared works belonging to different peoples, the sharper, the more definite differences appear; on the other hand, Stasov directly expressed the opinion that the epics were borrowed from the East. In the end, however, scholarly researchers came to the conclusion that epics constitute a very complex phenomenon, in which dissimilar elements: historical and 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 question of the transfer of 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 remains of alien life and in the aggregate of similar signs, because each individually can be deceptive. Khalansky joined this opinion, and now the study of epics has been put on the correct point of view. At present, the main aspiration of scholarly researchers of epics is directed towards subjecting these works to the most thorough, if possible, analysis, which should finally indicate what exactly in epics is the indisputable property of the Russian people, as a symbolic picture of a natural, historical or everyday phenomenon. , and what is borrowed from other peoples.

The time of folding epics

Regarding the time of origin of the epics, Leonid Maikov expressed himself most definitely, writing: “Although there are those between the plots of the epics that can be traced back to the era of prehistoric affinity of Indo-European traditions, nevertheless, the entire content of the epics, including these ancient legends, is presented in such a redaction , which can only be associated with positive historical period. The content of epics was developed during and XII centuries, and was established in the second half of the specific veche period in the XIII and XIV centuries. To this we can add the words of Khalansky: “In the XIV century, border fortresses, prisons were set up, border guards were established, and at that time the image of heroes standing at the outpost, protecting the borders of the Svyatorusskaya land, was formed.” Finally, according to Orest Miller, the great antiquity of the epics is proved by the fact that they depict a policy that is still defensive, not offensive.

Place of occurrence of epics

As for the place where the epics originated, opinions are divided: the most common theory suggests 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 South Russia to the North, epics were transferred there, and then they were forgotten in their original homeland, due to the influence of other circumstances that caused Cossack thoughts. Khalansky opposed 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, Kyiv, Polyansky, Rostov (cf. the indications of the Tver Chronicle), Chernigov (tales 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 the Russian epic, which at the same time was increasingly concentrated in the Kyiv cycle, since the Kyiv epics had an assimilating effect on the rest, due to song tradition, religious relations, etc.; thus, at the end of the 16th century, the unification of epics into the Kyiv 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 Suzdalets and about Saul Levanidovich). Then, from the Muscovite kingdom, epics spread to all sides of Russia by ordinary transmission, and not by emigration to the north, which was not. Such, in general terms, are Khalansky's views on this subject. Maikov says that the activity of the squad, expressed in the exploits of its representatives, heroes, is 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, buffoons and buffoons sang epics, playing on the sonorous harp harp or whistle, but they were mostly listened to by the boyars, the retinue.

How far the study of epics is still imperfect and what contradictory results it has led some scientists to can be judged by at least one following fact: Orest Miller, an enemy of the theory of borrowings, who tried to find a purely folk Russian character everywhere in epics, says: “If reflected some oriental influence on Russian epics, so only on those that, in their entire household warehouse, differ from the Old Slavic warehouse; these include epics about Nightingale Budimirovich and Churil. And another Russian scientist, Khalansky, proves that the epic about Nightingale Budimirovich is in the closest connection with Great Russian wedding songs. What Orest Miller considered completely alien to the Russian people - that is, the self-marriage of a girl - according to Khalansky, still exists in some places in southern Russia.

Let us give 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 extremely difficult at the present time to specify 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 an excess, Orest Miller argued that the Russian epic at the beginning of its existence should have been distinguished by the same rudeness; but since, along with the softening of folk customs, the same softening is also 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 foundation. If the essential property of epics is historical timing, then the less noticeable it is in the epics, the closer it comes to a fairy tale. Thus, the second process in the development of epics is clarified: timing. But, according to Miller, there are also such epics in which there is still no historical timing 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 lies in the fact 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 has undergone changes, but not oblivion.

On the other hand, Maikov notices in epics the 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, and in epics they only supplement the content taken from real life; their purpose is to give a more ideal character to the heroes. According to Volner, the content of epics is now mythical, and the form is historical, especially all typical places: names, names of localities, 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, really 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, which were more to their liking. Typical places remained inviolable, and everything else changed over time.

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

1. to songs with obviously borrowed biblical content;
2. to songs with originally borrowed content, which, however, is processed more independently
3. on songs quite folk, but containing episodes, appeals, phrases, names borrowed from the Christian world.

Orest Miller does not quite agree with this, arguing that the Christian element in the epic concerns only appearance. In general, however, one can agree with Maikov that the epics were subjected to constant processing, according to new circumstances, as well as the influence of the singer's personal views.

Veselovsky says the same thing, arguing that epics are presented as material subjected not only to historical and everyday use, but also to all the accidents of oral retelling (“South Russian epics”).

Volner in the epic about Sukhman even sees the influence of the latest sentimental literature of the 18th century, and Veselovsky about the epic “How the heroes were transferred” 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 correcting hand. Finally, in the content of individual epics, it is easy to notice layers at different times (the type of Alyosha Popovich), a mixture of several originally independent epics into one (Volga Svyatoslavich or Volkh Vseslavich), that is, the union of two plots, borrowing one epics from another (according to Volner, the beginning of epics about Dobrynya taken from epics about Volga, and the end from epics about Ivan Godinovich), extensions (epic about Nightingale Budimirovich from Kirsha), more or less damage to the epic (Rybnikov’s common epic about Berin’s son, according to Veselovsky), etc.

It remains to be said about one side of the epics, namely, their present episodic, fragmentary nature. Orest Miller speaks about this in more detail than others, who believed that originally epics were whole line independent songs, but over time, folk singers began to link these songs 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 circle of Vladimirov, kept in the memory of the singers, who at one time formed, in all likelihood, closely united brotherhoods. Now there are no such brotherhoods, the singers are separated, and in the absence of reciprocity, no one between them is able to store in his memory all the links of the epic chain without exception. All this is very doubtful and not based on historical data; thanks to careful analysis, one can only admit, together with Veselovsky, that “some epics, for example Hilferding 27 and 127, are, firstly, the product of the separation of 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 editions, published in Moscow in 1860 and later; Rybnikov, four parts (1861-1867);
• Hilferding, ed. Giltebrant under the title: "Onega epics" (St. Petersburg, 1873);
• Avenarius, "The Book of the Kyiv Bogatyrs" (St. Petersburg, 1875);
• Khalansky (1885).
• Complete set of Kyiv epics. Literary processing by A. Lelchuk. http://byliny.narod.ru Epics are built chronologically and in meaning into a single heroic story. The language is modern, but the rhythm and style of the original is preserved as much as possible. Characters and plots are sorted, duplicates and repetitions are removed. A conditional map of Epic Russia was compiled.

In addition, variants of epics are found:

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

Research

A number of works devoted to the study of epics:

• article by Konstantin Aksakov: “On the heroes of Vladimirov” (“Works”, vol. I).
• Fyodor Buslaev, "Russian heroic epic" ("Russian Messenger", 1862);
• Leonid Maikova, "On the Epics of the Vladimir Cycle" (St. Petersburg, 1863);
• Vladimir Stasov, “The Origin of Russian Epics” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1868; moreover, 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 the “Proceedings of the Kyiv Spiritual Academy", 1871; finally, Stasov's answer: "Criticism of my critics");
• Orest Miller, “The experience of a historical review of Russian folk literature” (St. Petersburg, 1865) and “Ilya Muromets and the Kievan heroism” (St. Petersburg, 1869, criticism of Buslaev in the “XIV award of the Uvarov awards” and the “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, 1871);
• K. D. Kvashnina-Samarina, “On Russian epics in historical and geographical terms” (“Conversation”, 1872);
• his own, "New sources for the study of the Russian epic" ("Russian Bulletin", 1874);
• Yagich, an article in "Archiv für Slav. Phil.";
• M. Carriera, "Die Kunst im Zusammenhange der Culturentwickelung und die Ideale der Menschheit" (second part, translated by E. Korshem);
• Rambaud, "La Russie épique" (1876);
• Wolner, "Untersuchungen über die Volksepik der Grossrussen" (Leipzig, 1879);

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

Cycles of epics

There is no unequivocal point of view on the question of the time and place of occurrence of epics. It is believed that epics arose approximately in the 9th-10th centuries in the southern territories of the Old Russian state and from there they came to the north of Russia. Epics were most widespread only by the 13th - 15th centuries. There is a point of view according to which epics came to Russia from the East.

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

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, Polovtsy, Pechenegs and other nomadic militant tribes. The ancient Russian princes who ruled the cities were disunited, i.e. were at odds 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. About such heroes, the people composed epics.

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

The 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.

The content of the article

BYLINA- folklore epic song, a genre characteristic of the Russian tradition. The basis of the epic plot is some heroic event, or a remarkable episode of Russian history (hence vernacular name epic - "old", "old", meaning that the action in question took place in the past). The term "epic" was introduced into scientific use in the 40s of the 19th century. folklorist I.P. Sakharov (1807–1863).

Means of artistic expression.

Over the course of many centuries, peculiar techniques have been developed that are characteristic of the poetics of the epic, as well as the way they are performed. In ancient times, it is believed that storytellers played along on the harp; later epics were performed in recitative. Epics are characterized by a special purely tonic epic verse (which is based on the commensurability of lines by the number of stresses, which achieves rhythmic uniformity). Although the storytellers used only a few melodies when performing epics, they enriched the singing with a variety of intonations, and also changed the timbre of the voice.

The emphatically solemn style of presentation of the epic, which tells about heroic and often tragic events, determined the need to slow down the action (retardation). For this, a technique such as repetition is used, and not only individual words are repeated: ... this braid, braid, …from far away, marvelous marvelous(repetitions are tautological), but also the injection of synonyms: fight, tribute-duties, (repetitions are synomimic), often the end of one line is the beginning of another: And they came to holy Russia, / To holy Russia and near Kyiv city ..., three-time repetitions of entire episodes are not uncommon, with increased effect, and some descriptions are extremely detailed. The epic is also characterized by the presence of “common places”, when describing situations of the same type, certain formulaic expressions are used: in this way (at the same time in extremely detailed way) saddling a horse is depicted: Ai Dobrynya goes out into the wide yard, / He bridles the saddle of a good horse, / After all, he imposes a bridle on the saddle, / After all, he imposes sweatshirts on sweatshirts, / After all, he imposes felts on felts, / He is a Cherkassy saddle on the top. / And he tightened the girths tightly, / And the girths of the overseas sholka, / And the overseas sholpan sholka, / Glorious copper buckles would be from Kazan, / Studs of Siberian damask iron, / Not beautiful basses, brothers, valiant, / And for the fortification, it was heroic. The "common places" also include a description of a feast (for the most part, at Prince Vladimir), a feast, a heroic ride on a greyhound horse. A folk narrator could combine such stable formulas at his own will.

The language of epics is characterized by hyperbole, with the help of which the narrator emphasizes the character traits or appearance of the characters worthy of special mention. Determines the attitude of the listener to the epic and another technique - an epithet (mighty, Holy Russian, glorious hero and filthy evil enemy), and stable epithets are often found (violent head, hot blood, frisky legs, combustible tears). Suffixes also play a similar role: everything related to heroes was mentioned in diminutive forms (hat, little head, little thought, Aleshenka, Vasenka Buslaevich, Dobrynushka, etc.), but negative characters were called Ugryumishch, Ignatishch, Tsar Batuishch, Ugarishch filthy. Considerable place is occupied by assonances (repetition of vowel sounds) and alliteration (repetition of consonants), additional organizing elements of the verse.

Epics, as a rule, are three-part: a sing-along (usually not directly related to the content), the function of which is to prepare for listening to the song; beginning (within its limits, the action unfolds); ending.

It should be noted that some artistic techniques, used in the epic, are determined by its theme (for example, antithesis is characteristic of heroic epics).

The narrator's gaze never turns to the past or the future, but follows the hero from event to event, although the distance between them can vary from a few days to several years.

Plots of epics.

The number of epic plots, despite the many recorded versions of the same epic, is very limited: there are about 100 of them. There are epics based on matchmaking or the struggle of the hero for his wife ( Sadko, Mikhailo Potyk, Ivan Godinovich, Danube, Kozarin, Nightingale Budimirovich and later - Alyosha Popovich and Elena Petrovichna, Hoten Bludovich); fighting monsters Dobrynya and the snake, Alyosha and Tugarin, Ilya and Idolishche, Ilya and the Nightingale the Robber); fight against foreign invaders, including: repelling Tatar raids ( Ilya's quarrel with Vladimir, Ilya and Kalin, ), wars with Lithuanians ( Bylina about the arrival of Lithuanians).

Stand apart are satirical epics or epics-parodies ( Duke Stepanovich, Competition with Churila).

The main epic heroes.

Representatives of the Russian "mythological school" divided the heroes of epics into "senior" and "junior" heroes. In their opinion, the “elders” (Svyatogor, Danube, Volkh, Potyka) were the personification of elemental forces, epics about them in a peculiar way reflected the mythological views that existed in Ancient Russia. The “younger” heroes (Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich) are ordinary mortals, heroes of a new historical era, and therefore are endowed with mythological features to a minimal extent. Despite the fact that serious objections were subsequently raised against such a classification, such a division is still found in the scientific literature.

The images of heroes are the national standard of courage, justice, patriotism and strength (it was not for nothing that one of the first Russian aircraft, which had an exceptional carrying capacity for those times, was called the creators of "Ilya Muromets").

Svyatogor

refers to the oldest and most popular epic heroes. His very name indicates a connection with nature. He is great in stature and mighty, his earth bears with difficulty. This image was born in the pre-Kiev era, but subsequently underwent changes. Only two plots have come down to us, originally associated with Svyatogor (the rest arose later and are fragmentary): the plot about the discovery of Svyatogor's bag, which belonged, as specified in some versions, to another epic hero, Mikula Selyaninovich. The bag turns out to be so heavy that the bogatyr cannot lift it; The second story tells about the death of Svyatogor, who meets a coffin on the way with the inscription: “Whoever is destined to lie in a coffin will lie in it,” and decides to try his luck. As soon as Svyatogor lies down, the lid of the coffin jumps up by itself and the hero cannot move it. Before his death, Svyatogor passes on his power to Ilya Muromets, thus the hero of antiquity passes the baton to the new hero of the epic that comes to the fore.

Ilya Muromets,

undoubtedly the most popular hero of epics, mighty hero. Epos does not know him young, he is an old man with a gray beard. Oddly enough, Ilya Muromets appeared later than his epic younger comrades Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich. His homeland is the city of Murom, the village of Karacharovo.

The peasant son, the sick Ilya, "sat on the stove for 30 years and three years." One day wanderers came to the house, “passable kaliks”. They healed Ilya, endowing him with heroic strength. From now on, he is a hero who is destined to serve the city of Kyiv and Prince Vladimir. On the way to Kyiv, Ilya defeats the Nightingale the Robber, puts him in "toroks" and takes him to the prince's court. Of the other exploits of Ilya, it is worth mentioning his victory over Idolishche, which laid siege to Kyiv and forbade begging and commemorating God's name. Here Elijah acts as a defender of the faith.

His relationship with Prince Vladimir is not smooth. The peasant hero does not meet with due respect at the court of the prince, he is bypassed with gifts, he is not put in a place of honor at the feast. The rebellious hero is imprisoned in the cellar for seven years and is doomed to starvation. Only the attack on the city of the Tatars, led by Tsar Kalin, forces the prince to ask for help from Ilya. He gathers heroes and enters the battle. The defeated enemy flees, vowing never to return to Russia.

Nikitich

- a popular hero of the epics of the Kyiv cycle. This snake fighter was born in Ryazan. He is the most polite and well-mannered of the Russian heroes, it is not for nothing that Dobrynya always acts as an ambassador and negotiator in difficult situations. The main epics associated with the name of Dobrynia: Dobrynya and the snake, Dobrynya and Vasily Kazemirovich, The battle of Dobrynya with the Danube, Dobrynya and Marina, Dobrynya and Alyosha.

Alyosha Popovich

- comes from Rostov, he is the son of a cathedral priest, the youngest of the famous trinity of heroes. He is bold, cunning, frivolous, prone to fun and jokes. Scientists belonging to the historical school believed that this epic hero originated from Alexander Popovich, who died in the Battle of Kalka, however, D.S. Likhachev showed that in reality the reverse process took place, the name fictional character entered the chronicle. Most famous feat Alyosha Popovich - his victory over Tugarin Zmeevich. The hero Alyosha does not always behave in a worthy manner, he is often arrogant, boastful. Among the epics about him - Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin, Alyosha Popovich and the sister of the Petrovichs.

Sadko

is also one of the oldest heroes, in addition, he is perhaps the most famous hero epics of the Novgorod cycle. The ancient story about Sadko, which tells how the hero wooed the daughter of the sea king, subsequently became more complicated, surprisingly realistic details appeared concerning the life of ancient Novgorod.

The bylina about Sadko is divided into three relatively independent parts. In the first, the harpist Sadko, who impressed the king of the sea with the skill of his game, receives advice from him on how to get rich. From that moment on, Sadko was no longer a poor musician, but a merchant, a rich guest. In the next song, Sadko bets with Novgorod merchants that he will be able to buy all the goods of Novgorod. In some versions of the epic, Sadko wins, in some, on the contrary, he is defeated, but in any case he leaves the city because of the intolerant attitude of the merchants towards him. The last song tells about Sadko's journey by sea, during which sea ​​king calls him to her in order to marry his daughter and leave him in the underwater kingdom. But Sadko, having abandoned the beautiful princesses, marries Chernavushka the mermaid, who personifies the Novgorod river, and she takes him to his native shores. Sadko returns to his "earthly wife", leaving the daughter of the sea king. V.Ya.Propp points out that the epic about Sadko is the only one in the Russian epic where the hero goes to the other world (underwater kingdom) and marries an otherworldly creature. These two motifs testify to the antiquity of both the plot and the hero.

Vasily Buslaev.

Two epics are known about this indomitable and violent citizen of Veliky Novgorod. In his rebellion against everyone and everything, he does not pursue any goal, except for the desire to run amok and show off. The son of a Novgorod widow, a wealthy citizen, Vasily from childhood showed his unbridled temper in fights with peers. Growing up, he gathered a squad to compete with all of Veliky Novgorod. The battle ends with the complete victory of Vasily. The second epic is dedicated to the death of Vasily Buslaev. Having traveled to Jerusalem with his retinue, Vasily mocks the dead head he met, despite the ban, bathes naked in Jericho and neglects the requirement inscribed on the stone he found (you cannot jump over the stone along). Vasily, due to the indomitability of his nature, begins to jump and jump over it, catches his foot on a stone and breaks his head. This character, in which the unbridled passions of Russian nature are embodied, was M. Gorky's favorite hero. The writer carefully accumulated materials about him, cherishing the idea of ​​writing about Vaska Buslaev, but when he learned that A.V. Amfiteatrov was writing a play about this hero, he gave all the accumulated materials to his fellow writer. This play is considered one of the the best works A.V. Amfiteatrova.

Historical stages of development of the epic.

Researchers disagree on when epic songs appeared in Russia. Some attribute their appearance to the 9th–11th centuries, others to the 11th–13th centuries. One thing is certain - having existed for so long, passed from mouth to mouth, the epics did not reach us in their original form, they underwent many changes, as the political system, and the domestic and foreign political situation, the worldview of listeners and performers. It is almost impossible to say in what century this or that epic was created, some reflect an earlier, some a later stage in the development of the Russian epic, and in other epics, researchers distinguish very ancient plots under later layers.

V.Ya.Propp believed that the most ancient plots are related to the matchmaking of the hero and snake fighting. Such epics are characterized by elements that are significant for fairy tale, in particular: the tripling of the plot terms (Ilya at the crossroads runs into a stone with an inscription foreshadowing a particular fate, and successively chooses each of the three roads), prohibition and violation of the prohibition (Dobrynya is forbidden to swim in the Puchay River), as well as the presence of ancient mythological elements (Volkh, born from a snake father, has the gift of reincarnation in animals, Tugarin Zmeevich in different versions of the epic appears either as a snake, or as a snake endowed with anthropomorphic features, or as a creature of nature, either human or snake; so does the Nightingale- the robber turns out to be either a bird, or a man, or even combines both traits).

The largest number of epics that have come down to us belongs to the period from the 11th to the 13th-14th centuries. They were created in the southern Russian regions - Kyiv, Chernigov, Galicia-Volyn, Rostov-Suzdal. The topic of the struggle of the Russian people with the nomads who raided Kievan Rus, and later with the Horde invaders, becomes the most relevant in this period. Epics begin to group around the plot of the defense and liberation of the Motherland, brightly colored with patriotic feelings. The people's memory has preserved only one name for the nomadic enemy - Tatar, but researchers find among the names of the heroes of epics the names of not only Tatar, but also Polovtsian military leaders. In epics, the desire to raise folk spirit to express love for home country and furious hatred for foreign invaders, the exploits of the mighty and invincible folk heroes-heroes are praised. At this time, the images of Ilya Muromets, Danube-in-law, Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich, Vasily Kazemirovich, Mikhailo Danilovich and many other heroes become popular.

With the formation of the Moscow state, starting from the 16th century, heroic epics gradually fade into the background, buffoons become more relevant ( Vavila and buffoons, Birds) and satirical epics with their sharp social conflicts. They describe the exploits of heroes in civilian life, the main characters oppose princes and boyars, and their task is to protect their own family and honor (Sukhman, Danilo Lovchanin), while the ruling strata of society are ridiculed in buffoon epics. At the same time, a new genre arises - historical songs, which tell about specific historical events that took place from the 13th to the 19th centuries, there are no fiction and exaggeration characteristic of epics, and in battles several people or an entire army can act as heroes at once.

In the 17th century epics are gradually beginning to supplant the translated chivalric novel adapted for the Russian audience, meanwhile they remain popular folk entertainment. At the same time, the first written retellings of epic texts appear.

Historical reality and fiction in epics.

The relationship between reality and fiction in epics is by no means straightforward; along with explicit fantasies, there is a reflection of the life of Ancient Russia. Behind many epic episodes, real social and domestic relations, numerous military and social conflicts that took place in antiquity. It is also noteworthy that in the epics certain details of life are conveyed with amazing accuracy, and often the area where the action takes place is described with amazing accuracy. It is also interesting that even the names of some epic characters are recorded in the annals, where they are described as real personalities.

Nevertheless, the folk narrators who sang of the exploits of the princely retinue, unlike the chroniclers, did not literally follow the chronological course of events, on the contrary, the folk memory carefully preserved only the most vivid and remarkable historical episodes, regardless of their location on the time scale. A close connection with the surrounding reality led to the development and change in the structure and plots of epics, according to the course of the history of the Russian state. Moreover, the genre itself existed until the middle of the 20th century, of course, undergoing various changes.

Cyclization of epics.

Although due to special historical conditions in Russia, an integral epic has not taken shape, disparate epic songs are formed into cycles either around a certain hero, or according to the common area where they existed. There is no classification of epics that would be unanimously accepted by all researchers, however, it is customary to single out epics of the Kyiv, or “Vladimirov”, Novgorod and Moscow cycles. In addition to them, there are epics that do not fit into any cycles.

Kyiv or "Vladimirov" cycle.

In these epics, the heroes gather around the court of Prince Vladimir. The prince himself does not perform feats, however, Kyiv is the center that attracts heroes who are called to protect their homeland and faith from enemies. V.Ya.Propp believes that the songs of the Kyiv cycle are not a local phenomenon, characteristic only for the Kyiv region, on the contrary, the epics of this cycle were created throughout Kievan Rus. Over time, the image of Vladimir changed, the prince acquired features that were initially unusual for the legendary ruler, in many epics he is cowardly, mean, often deliberately humiliates the heroes ( Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin, Ilya and Idolishche, Ilya's quarrel with Vladimir).

Novgorod cycle.

Epics differ sharply from the epics of the "Vladimir" cycle, which is not surprising, since Novgorod never knew Tatar invasion, and was the largest trading center of ancient Russia. The heroes of Novgorod epics (Sadko, Vasily Buslaev) are also very different from others.

Moscow cycle.

These epics reflected the life of the upper strata of Moscow society. The epics about Khoten Bludovich, Duke and Churil contain many details typical of the era of the rise of the Muscovite state: clothes, customs and behavior of the townspeople are described.

Unfortunately Russian heroic epic did not fully develop, this is its difference from the epics of other peoples. The poet N.A. Zabolotsky at the end of his life tried to make an unprecedented attempt - on the basis of disparate epics and epic cycles to create a single poetic epic. This bold plan prevented him from carrying out death.

Collection and publication of Russian epics.

The first recording of Russian epic songs was made at the beginning of the 17th century. Englishman Richard James. However, the first significant work on collecting epics, which was of great scientific importance, was done by the Cossack Kirsha Danilov around the 40-60 of the 18th century. The collection he collected consisted of 70 songs. For the first time, incomplete records were published only in 1804 in Moscow, under the title Ancient Russian Poems and for a long time were the only collection of Russian epic songs.

The next step in the study of Russian epic songs was made by P.N. Rybnikov (1831–1885). He discovered that epics were still being performed in the Olonets province, although by that time this folk genre thought to be dead. Thanks to the discovery of P.N. Rybnikov, it was possible not only to study the epic epic in depth, but also to get acquainted with the method of its performance and with the performers themselves. The final collection of epics was published in 1861-1867 under the title Songs collected by P.N. Rybnikov. Four volumes contained 165 epics (for comparison, we mention that in Collection of Kirsha Danilov there were only 24).

This was followed by collections by A.F. Gilferding (1831–1872), P.V. Kireevsky (1808–1856), N.E. in the Middle and Lower Volga regions, on the Don, Terek and Urals (in the Central and Southern regions, the epic epic was preserved in very small sizes). The last recordings of epics were made in the 20-30s of the 20th century. Soviet expeditions traveling in the north of Russia, and from the 50s of the 20th century. the epic epic practically ceases to exist in live performance, remaining only in books.

For the first time, K.F. Kalaidovich (1792–1832) tried to comprehend the Russian epic as an integral artistic phenomenon and understand its relationship with the course of Russian history in the preface to the second edition of the collection he undertook (1818).

According to the representatives of the “mythological school”, to which F.I. Buslaev (1818–1897), A.N. Afanasiev (1826–1871), O.F. derived from older myths. Based on these songs, representatives of the school tried to reconstruct the myths of primitive peoples.

Comparative scientists, including G.N. Potanin (1835–1920) and A.N. Veselovsky (1838–1906), considered the epic to be an ahistorical phenomenon. They argued that the plot, after its inception, begins to wander, changing and enriching itself.

The representative of the "historical school" VF Miller (1848-1913) studied the interaction between the epic and history. In his opinion, historical events were recorded in the epic, and thus the epic is a kind of oral chronicle.

V. Ya. Propp (1895–1970) occupies a special place in Russian and Soviet folklore. In his innovative works, he combined a historical approach with a structural approach (Western structuralists, in particular K. Levi-Strauss (b. 1909), called him the founder of their scientific method, against which V. Ya. Propp sharply objected).

Epic stories and heroes in art and literature.

Ever since the publication of Kirsha Danilov's collection, epic stories and heroes have become firmly established in the world of modern Russian culture. It is not difficult to see traces of acquaintance with Russian epics in the poem by A.S. Pushkin Ruslan and Ludmila and in the poetic ballads of A.K. Tolstoy.

The images of Russian epics also received a multifaceted reflection in music. Composer A.P. Borodin (1833–1887) created an opera-farce Bogatyrs(1867), and gave the title to his 2nd symphony (1876) Bogatyrskaya, he used the images of the heroic epic in his romances.

Companion of A.P. Borodin in the "mighty handful" (association of composers and music critics) N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) twice turned to the image of the Novgorod “rich guest”. First he created a symphonic musical picture Sadko(1867), and later, in 1896, the opera of the same name. It is worth mentioning that theatrical production This opera was designed in 1914 by the artist I.Ya. Bilibin (1876–1942).

V.M.Vasnetsov (1848–1926), is mainly known to the public from his paintings, the plots for which are taken from the Russian heroic epic, it is enough to name the canvases Knight at the Crossroads(1882) and Bogatyrs (1898).

M.A. Vrubel (1856–1910) also turned to epic stories. Decorative panels Mikula Selyaninovich(1896) and Bogatyr(1898) interpret these seemingly well-known images in their own way.

Heroes and plots of epics are precious material for cinema. For example, a film directed by A.L. Ptushko (1900–1973) Sadko(1952), the original music for which was written by the composer V.Ya.Shebalin, partly using classical music N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, was one of the most spectacular films of its time. Another film by the same director Ilya Muromets(1956) became the first Soviet widescreen film with stereo sound. Animation director V.V.Kurchevsky (1928-1997) created an animated version of the most popular Russian epic, his work is called sadko rich (1975).

Berenice Vesnina

Literature:

Epics of the North. Notes by A.M. Astakhova. M. - L., 1938-1951, vols. 1–2
Ukhov P.D. epics. M., 1957
Propp V.Ya., Putilov B.N. epics. M., 1958, vols. 1–2
Astakhova A.M. Epics. Results and problems of the study. M. - L., 1966
Ukhov P.D. Attribution of Russian epics. M., 1970
Ancient Russian poems collected by Kirshe Danilov. M., 1977
Azbelev S.N. Historicism of epics and the specifics of folklore. L., 1982
Astafieva L.A. The plot and style of Russian epics. M., 1993
Propp V.Ya. Russian heroic epic. M., 1999