What is an epic beautiful description. The history of the appearance of epics

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

Origin of epics

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

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

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

Reading epics

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

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

Epics constitute one of the most remarkable phenomena of Russian folk literature; in their epic calm, richness of detail, vivid color, distinct characters of the persons depicted, and the 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.

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

Stylistics

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

Formulas

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

He quickly jumped as if on quick legs,
He threw the marten's fur coat over one shoulder,
A sable hat for one ear.

He shot geese, swans,
Shot small migratory gray ducks.

He began to trample the Silushka with his horse,
He began to trample with a horse, stab with a spear,
He began to beat that great strong woman.
And he hits with force - as if he was mowing grass.

Oh, you wolf's fill, you sack of grass!
You don’t want to walk or you can’t carry it?

He comes to a wide yard,
Places his horse in the middle of the yard
Let him go to the white stone chambers.

One more day after another, just like the rain it will rain,
And week after week, as the grass grows,
And year after year, like a river flows.

Everyone at the table fell silent:
The lesser is buried for the greater.
The greater one is buried behind the lesser one,
And from the least the answer lives.

Number of epics

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

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

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

Studying epics

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

Epic stories

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

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

Time for folding epics

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

Place of origin of epics

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

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

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

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

According to Yagich, all Russian folk epic thoroughly imbued with Christian-mythological legends, apocryphal and non-apocryphal in nature; Much in content and motives was borrowed from this source. New borrowings have pushed ancient material into 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, was processed more independently
3. the songs are completely folk, but contain episodes, appeals, phrases, names borrowed from the Christian world.

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

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

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

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

Notes

Collections

The main collections of epics:

• Kirshi Danilova, "Ancient Russian Poems" (published in 1804, 1818 and 1878);
• Kireevsky, X issues, published in Moscow 1860 and onwards; Rybnikov, four parts (1861-1867);
• A. F. Hilferding, ed. Giltebrant under the title: "Onega epics recorded by Alexander Fedorovich Hilferding in the summer of 1871." - St. Petersburg. : Type. Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1873. - 732 p.;
• Avenarius, “The Book of the Kyiv Heroes” (St. Petersburg, 1875);
• Khalansky (1885).
• A complete set of Kyiv epics. Literary treatment by A. Lelchuk. http://byliny.narod.ru The epics are arranged chronologically and meaningfully into a complete heroic story. The language is modern, but the rhythm and style of the original is preserved as much as possible. Characters and plots have been sorted, duplicates and repetitions have been removed. A conventional map of Epic Rus' has been compiled.

In addition, variants of epics are found:

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

Editions

• Epics: Collection / Intro. art., comp., prepared. texts and notes. B. N. Putilova. - Ed. 3rd. - L.: Soviet writer, 1986. - 552 p. - (Poet's Library. Large series).

Research

A number of works devoted to the study of epics:

• Article by Konstantin Aksakov: “About the heroes of Vladimirov” (“Works”, vol. I).
• Fyodor Buslaev, “Russian heroic epic” (“Russian Herald”, 1862);
• Leonid Maykova, “On the Epics of the Vladimir Cycle” (St. Petersburg, 1863);
• Vladimir Stasov, “Origin of Russian epics” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1868; compare the criticism of Hilferding, Buslaev, V. Miller in “Conversations of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature”, book 3; Veselovsky, Kotlyarevsky and Rozov in “Proceedings of the Kyiv Spiritual Academy”, 1871; finally, Stasov’s answer: “Criticism of my critics”);
• Orest Miller, “An Experience in Historical Review of Russian Folk Literature” (St. Petersburg, 1865) and “Ilya Muromets and the Heroism of Kiev” (St. Petersburg, 1869, criticism of Buslaev in the “XIV Uvarov Awards” and “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, 1871);
• K. D. Kvashnina-Samarina, “On Russian epics in historical and geographical terms” (“Conversation”, 1872);
• His, “New sources for the study of the Russian epic” (“Russian Bulletin”, 1874);
• Yagich, article in “Archiv für Slav. Phil.";
• M. Carriera, “Die Kunst im Zusammenhange der Culturentwickelung und die Ideale der Menschheit” (second part, trans. E. Corsham);
• Rambaud, "La Russie épique" (1876);
• Wolner, “Untersuchungen über die Volksepik der Grossrussen” (Leipzig, 1879);
• Veselovsky in “Archiv für Slav. Phil." vol. III, VI, IX and in the “Journal of Min. People's Enlightenment" (December 1885, December 1886, May 1888, May 1889), and separately "South Russian epics" (parts I and II, 1884);
• Zhdanova, "K literary history Russian epic poetry" (Kyiv, 1881);
• Khalansky, “Great Russian epics of the Kyiv cycle” (Warsaw, 1885).

Epics- folk songs about exploits heroes, preserved in the north of Russia in the memory of singer-storytellers. Epic songs in which heroic events are sung.

The 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 custodian: in the former Arkhangelsk province, in Karelia, on the Mezen, Pechora, Pinega rivers, on the White Sea coast, in the Vologda region. In addition, starting from the 18th century, epics were written down among the old-timers of Siberia, the Urals, the Volga and in the central Russian provinces. Echoes of epics were preserved in Cossack songs on the Don, Terek, Lower Volga, and Urals. The content of epics is varied. About 100 stories are known to science; in total, more than 3,000 texts have been recorded with variants and versions, a significant portion of which have been published. Usually epics are heroic or novelistic in nature. The idea of ​​heroic epics is the glorification of unity and independence

Russian land

The 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. Dobrynya Nikitich, uncle of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, lived in the 10th and early 11th centuries. There are chronicle mentions of him. For example, epic Dobrynya- Matchmaker of Vladimir Svyatoslavich. The historical Dobrynya played 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 a hero of Novgorod epics.

Ilya Muromets is mentioned in Russian written sources in the 16th century, and in 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 Rus', which from the 12th century began to play a leading role among the ancient Russian lands.

Putilov.

Russian historical song folklore.

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

This explains why learned folklorists value so much every old manuscript with an epic text and every new B. entry on the same plot.

There are only about 40 B. stories, but records of B. texts have now accumulated over 1,500 issues. 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 manuscripts of the 17th century. We got five. The oldest handwritten text is “The Legend of the Kyiv heroes, 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 “Heroic Word”). This and similar handwritten texts from B. XVII century. must be considered together with other handwritten B. texts of the XVIII and early XIX

centuries From mid-18th century

V. A wonderful collection of epics has reached us, compiled by the Cossack Kirsha Danilov for the Ural rich factory owner Demidov and containing over 70 songs.

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

During 1862-1874, editions of the posthumous work “Songs collected by P. V. Kireevsky” were published (11 volumes in total). two collections: N. S. Tikhonravov and V. F. Miller. The then young learned collectors made trips beyond B. to different parts of this vast province; as a result, science has been enriched by detailed collections of biographies: A. V. Markov, “Belomorskie Byelorussia”, 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 published) and N. E. Onchukova, "Pechorsky B.", In the Saratov region (M. and B. Sokolovs and others - 24 rooms), in Siberia (Tan-Bogoraz, Gulyaev, etc. - 27 rooms); quite significant B. material was recorded from the Cossacks of the Don, 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 - “Cossacks epic songs

XVI and XVII centuries" in his "Essays on Folk Literature", vol. III, M., 1924).

heroic epics will differ from B. short stories, as they have long been Vs. Miller differentiated by content. In heroic epics, the movement is characterized by centripetal force towards the main thing acting person 13 - to the hero. It does not always develop in a straight line, but very often with sudden shifts in the opposite direction. The favorite technique of the heroic B. is the antithesis (Ilya, despite the warning sign at the crossroads of three roads, travels along them and with his actions refutes these warnings; Dobrynya does not listen to his mother’s instructions and bathes in the Puchai River, etc.). Similar to the technique of antithesis in the development of action in heroic epics, we see the same technique of contrast in the organization of the image of B. heroes. At the beginning of B. the hero is underestimated, even discredited, the enemy seems more significant than him, stronger, then all this is immediately refuted by the further, especially the final moment of the heroic B.: the hero alone deals with a hostile force of many thousands. For example, such couples as Ilya and Idolishche, Potanya and Kostryuk, Dobrynya and the Serpent, etc. are depicted in contrast. Various forms of hyperbolization are extremely characteristic of the heroic epic

appearance

epic heroes and their attributes, as well as their actions and exploits.

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

Epics are also combined into cycles:

By time

By territory

By heroes

Kyiv and Novgorod cycles Ticket 27. main plots of Russian epics. Novgorod and Kyiv cycles., Plots of epics., The number of epic stories, despite the many recorded versions of the same epic, is very limited: there are about 100 of them. There are epics based on the matchmaking or struggle of the hero for his wife (, Sadko, Mikhailo Potyk, Ivan Godinovich Danube Kozarin, Solovey Budimirovich and later - Alyosha Popovich and Elena Petrovichna, Hoten Bludovich, );, fighting monsters (); the fight against foreign invaders, including: repelling Tatar raids (, Ilya's quarrel with Vladimir, Ilya and Kalin Dobrynya and Vasily Kazemirovich ), wars with Lithuanians ().

An epic about the raid of Lithuanians Satirical epics or epic parodies stand apart (, Duke Stepanovich).

Competition with Churila The main epic heroes.

Representatives of the Russian “mythological school” divided the heroes of epics into “senior” and “younger” heroes. In their opinion, the “elders” (Svyatogor, Danube, Volkh, Potyka) were the personification of elemental forces; epics about them uniquely reflected the mythological views that existed in Ancient Rus'. 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.

Images of heroes are the people's standard of courage, justice, patriotism and strength (it is not for nothing that one of the first Russian aircraft, which had an exceptional carrying capacity at that time, was named by its creators “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 courtyard of Prince Vladimir, the events of many epics take place. The military might of Rus' is personified by heroes. Among the heroic epics, those in which Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich act take first place. These main defenders of the Russian land come from three classes: peasant, princely and priestly.

Dobrynya’s heroic feat is depicted in the epic “Dobrynya and the Snake” - a story about how on the Puchai River Dobrynya fought off a snake with one hat, knocking off three of its trunks. The snake begged and offered to make peace.

Dobrynya released the snake, but then saw how it grabbed the prince’s daughter and went to rescue her. This time the battle was long, but Dobrynya won.

The epic is a folk-epic song written in tonic verse. Each piece consists of a chorus, a beginning and an ending. The first part of the epic was rarely connected with the main plot; mainly the introduction was written to attract attention. The beginning is the main event to which the epic is dedicated. The ending is the last part of the epic, which, as a rule, contains a solemn feast dedicated to victory over enemies.

There are several types of epic melodies - strict, stately, fast, cheerful, calm and even buffoonish.

Each legend was distinguished by its patriotic character; its plots were always laudatory and told about the invincibility of Rus', the merits of the prince and the brave defenders who immediately came to the rescue if the population was in danger of trouble. The term “epic” itself began to be used only in the 1830s, it was introduced by the scientist Ivan Sakharov. The real name of songs about heroes is “old times.”

The main characters were mighty heroes. The characters were endowed with superhuman strength, courage and courage. The hero, even alone, could cope with anyone. The main task of these characters is to protect Rus' from the attacks of enemies.

Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich and Vladimir the Red Sun - these can be found in almost every legend. Prince Vladimir was the ruler of the Russian lands, and the heroes were the hope and protection of the Russian people.

Authors of epics

Many facts concerning the authors of epics, the time and territory of their writing remain a mystery to this day. Most researchers have come to the conclusion that the most ancient tales were written no more than three hundred years ago. On Wikipedia, for example, you can study several different theories and facts that scientists have discovered.

The predominant number of epics were recorded by scientific collectors from the words of residents of certain areas. In total there are about forty plots of legends, but the number of texts already reaches one and a half thousand copies. Each epic is of particular value for Russian culture, folk culture, as well as for folklorists. People could be storytellers, therefore, in the texts they mentioned comparisons that were more understandable and close to them. According to the tailor narrator, for example, a severed head was compared to a button.

The epics were not written by one author. These are tales that were compiled by the Russian people, and the lyrics were passed down from generation to generation. Songs were performed certain people who were called "storytellers". This one had special qualities. The fact is that the storytellers never learned the epics by heart, so the storyteller had to independently connect the plots, select comparisons, remember important facts and be able to retell them without distorting the meaning.

Bylina is oral genre poetic folk art, the subject of folklore studies. How traditional genre, the epic has its own specifics.
1. Subject of the works:
Researchers divide epics into two cycles: Kiev and Novgorod.
The themes of the earliest epics (the Kyiv cycle) almost always coincide: a description of the exploits of the defenders of the Russian land - the heroes, a description of their “standard” behavior.
(such epics were associated with the name of Dobrynya Nikitich (they also reflected the development Kievan Rus from the point of view of the poet-storyteller), then, in times of feudal fragmentation, the names of Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich came to the fore). In the Novgorod cycle, social issues can also be noted: the life of the trading city is very colorfully and fully described in the epics of this time.
2. Composition.
The content of epics, their form, figures of speech have been processed and honed over centuries, in particular, for better memorization and accurate retelling. So, compositional structure the epic is the same and includes:
-The beginning (exposition to the beginning, but more often the beginning is already the beginning of the plot)
-Development of action (narration of events preceding the feat).
-Climax (narration of a feat).
-Decoupling (depiction of the crushed enemy and celebration of the winner).
3. Genre-forming means of artistic representation:
The most important specific genre feature is the use of the antithesis technique - the opposition of the hero and the enemy native land. The image of a hero, his creation - this is what the main means of artistic representation are aimed at.
Hyperbole is the most suitable technique for describing the appearance and character of a hero; it reveals the author’s idea: to show the remarkable strength, intelligence, and wisdom of the defender of the Russian land. For example, in the epic “The Three Trips of Ilya Muromets” the image of the main character - Ilya Muromets - was created through the use of hyperbole. This is how his heroic strength is described: “Ilya jumped off his good horse, took off his hat from his wild head, he began to wave his cap. Wherever he waved - there is a street, he will wave it back - an alley, he scattered all forty robbers"; (with one wave of his hand he sweeps aside all obstacles over a great distance) “he kicked forged doors, knocked them out of hooks, out of damask castles, released into the light of God forty kings and princes, forty kings-princes, forty strong mighty heroes” (even forty mighty heroes could not cope with locks and shackles, but Ilya Muromets could).
In addition to hyperbole, epithets and descriptions full of similes and metaphors are common. Constant epithets performed a genre-forming function: repeated figures of speech set the “genre canon”; the listener understood that there was a story about the heroic deed or personality of the defender of the Russian land. Examples constant epithets: according to Great Rus', a wonderful miracle, a white-flammable pebble, from a wild head, a beautiful maiden, a brown braid to the waist, countless treasures. Epics are a poetic genre, which means that the rhythm of the narrative and chanting are necessary. Repetition is one of the ways to achieve rhythm and sing-song narration. In addition, using the technique of repetition, the storytellers focused the attention of listeners on the most important points of the work. Repetitions primed listeners to perceive the narrative.
The composition of the epic, artistic features its construction - all this reflects the vivid originality of this genre of oral folk art.

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

Epics in Russian literature: history

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

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

Features of the genre

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

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

Structure

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

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

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

Social epics

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

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

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