Bogatyrs of Rus' and their exploits. Epic Russian heroes. Alesha Popovich. Bogatyr

Bogatyrs are the epic defenders of the Russian Land, “superheroes” of the Russian people for many centuries. Let's remember the main ones.

1. Ilya Muromets. Holy hero

Ilya Muromets is canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church; he is the main Russian hero. Ilya Muromets is the main character not only of Russian epics, but also, for example, of German epic poems of the 13th century. In them he is also called Ilya, he is also a hero, yearning for his homeland. Ilya Muromets also appears in the Scandinavian sagas, in them he is, no less, the blood brother of Prince Vladimir.

2. Bova Korolevich. Lubok hero

The prototype of this knight was the French knight Bovo de Anton from the famous chronicle poem Reali di Francia, written in the 14th century. In this respect, Bova is a completely unique hero - a visiting hero.

3. Alyosha Popovich. Junior

“The youngest of the younger” heroes, and therefore his set of qualities is not so “Superman”. He is not even a stranger to vice: cunning, selfishness, greed. That is, on the one hand, he is distinguished by courage, but on the other hand, he is proud, arrogant, abusive, perky and rude.

4. Svyatogor. Mega-hero

Many features of the biblical hero Samson were transferred to Svyatogor. It is difficult to determine exactly its ancient origins. In the legends of the people, the veteran hero transfers his strength to Ilya Muromets, the hero of the Christian century.

5. Dobrynya Nikitich. A well-connected hero

Dobrynya Nikitich is often correlated with the chronicle Dobrynya, the uncle of Prince Vladimir (according to another version, nephew). His name personifies the essence of “heroic kindness.” Dobrynya has the nickname “young”, with enormous physical strength “he wouldn’t hurt a fly”, he is the protector of “widows and orphans, unfortunate wives.” Dobrynya is also “an artist at heart: a master of singing and playing the harp.”

6. Duke Stepanovich. Bogatyr Major

Duke Stepanovich comes to Kiev from conventional India, behind which, according to folklorists, in this case the Galician-Volyn land is hidden, and organizes a marathon of boasting in Kyiv, undergoes tests from the prince, and continues to boast. As a result, Vladimir finds out that Duke is indeed very rich and offers him citizenship. But Duke refuses, because “if you sell Kyiv and Chernigov and buy paper for an inventory of Dyukov’s wealth, there won’t be enough paper.”

7. Mikula Selyaninovich. Bogatyr Plowman

Mikula Selyaninovich is a bogatyr agrarian. Found in two epics: about Svyatogor and about Volga Svyatoslavich. Mikula is the first representative of agricultural life, a powerful peasant plowman.
He is strong and resilient, but homely. He puts all his strength into farming and family.

8. Volga Svyatoslavovich. Bogatyr magician

Supporters of the “historical school” in the study of epics believe that the prototype of the epic Volga was Prince Vseslav of Polotsk. Volga was also correlated with the Prophetic Oleg, and his campaign in India with Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople. Volga is a difficult hero; he has the ability to become a werewolf and can understand the language of animals and birds.

9. Sukhman Odikhmantievich. Insulted hero

According to Vsevolod Miller, the prototype of the hero was the Pskov prince Dovmont, who ruled from 1266 to 1299.

In the epic of the Kyiv cycle, Sukhman goes to get a white swan for Prince Vladimir, but on the way he comes into conflict with the Tatar horde, who are building Kalinov bridges on the Nepra River. Sukhman defeats the Tatars, but in the battle he receives wounds, which he covers with leaves. Returning to Kyiv without the white swan, he tells the prince about the battle, but the prince does not believe him and imprisons Sukhman in prison until clarification. Dobrynya goes to Nepra and finds out that Sukhman did not lie. But it's' too late. Sukhman feels disgraced, peels off the leaves and bleeds. The Sukhman River begins from his blood.

10. Danube Ivanovich. Tragic hero

According to epics about the Danube, it was from the blood of the hero that the river of the same name began. The Danube is a tragic hero. He loses to his wife Nastasya in an archery competition, accidentally hits her while trying to get even, finds out that Nastasya was pregnant and stumbles upon a saber.

11. Mikhailo Potyk. Faithful husband

Folklorists disagree on who should be associated with Mikhailo Potyk (or Potok). The roots of his image are found in the Bulgarian heroic epic, and in Western European fairy tales, and even in the Mongolian epic “Geser”.
According to one of the epics, Potok and his wife Avdotya Swan Belaya make a vow that whichever of them dies first, the second one will be buried alive next to him in the grave. When Avdotya dies, Potok is buried nearby in full armor and on horseback, fights the dragon and revives his wife with his blood. When he himself dies, Avdotya is buried with him.

12. Khoten Bludovich. Bogatyr-groom

The hero Khoten Bludovich, for the sake of his wedding with the enviable bride Chaina Chasovaya, first beats her nine brothers, then an entire army hired by his future mother-in-law. As a result, the hero receives a rich dowry and appears in the epic as the hero “who married well.”

13. Vasily Buslaev. Zealous hero

The most daring hero of the Novgorod epic cycle. His unbridled temper leads to conflict with the Novgorodians and he desperately rages, bets that he will beat all the Novgorod men on the Volkhov Bridge and almost fulfills his promise - until his mother stops him.
In another epic, he is already mature and goes to Jerusalem to atone for his sins. But Buslaev is incorrigible - he again takes up his old ways and dies absurdly, proving his youth.

14. Anika warrior. Bogatyr in words

Anika warrior is still called today a person who likes to show off his strength far from danger. Unusual for a Russian epic hero, the name of the hero was most likely taken from the Byzantine legend about the hero Digenis, who is mentioned there with a constant epithet anikitos.
Anika the warrior in the verse boasts of strength and offends the weak, death itself shames him for this, Anika challenges her and dies.

15. Nikita Kozhemyaka. Wyrm Fighter

Nikita Kozhemyaka in Russian fairy tales is one of the main characters-snake fighters. Before entering into battle with the Serpent, he tears 12 skins, thereby proving his legendary strength. Kozhemyaka not only defeats the Snake, but also harnesses him to a plow and plows the land from Kyiv to the Black Sea. The defensive ramparts near Kiev got their name (Zmievs) precisely because of the actions of Nikita Kozhemyaka.

The totality of military virtues is one of the most important features of a Russian hero, but physical virtues alone are not enough; all the activities of the hero must also be of a religious and patriotic nature. In general, people idealize their heroes, and if they hyperbolically imagine their physical qualities: strength, agility, heavy gait, deafening voice, prolonged sleep and the ability to drink in huge quantities, then they still do not have that brutal gluttony of other monstrous giants who appear in epics, not belonging to the category of heroes.

The element of the miraculous plays a large role in the destinies of heroes: they often meet with beneficial and hostile supernatural forces, but in general, in epics one can still see a desire to smooth out the miraculous element, which does not play such a role in them as, for example, in fairy tales, and has its purpose, according to Maykov, is to give the heroes a more ideal character.

Origin of the word "hero"

It has long been suggested that it was borrowed from the Turkic languages, where it appears in various forms: baghatur, bagadur, Batur, hero, Bator. But there were opponents (Orest Miller and others) of this opinion: they proceeded from the position that the word bagadur is not Tatar, but borrowed from Sanskrit baghadhara(possessing happiness, successful), and that as a result of this the Russian “hero” also goes back to the ancestral beginning. Others directly derived “hero” from “God” through “rich” (Shchepkin, Buslaev).

None of these opinions, however, should be accepted: the Tatar word may indeed be borrowed from Sanskrit, and nevertheless the Russian word is not indigenous, but also borrowed; the Sanskrit word would correspond to the native Russian “bogodar”, and in no way “bogatyr”. “Bogatyr” cannot come from the word “boga-”, since there is no suffix -yr. The fact that it does not exist in other Slavic languages, with the exception of Polish (bohater), which borrowed it from Russian, is also evidenced against the originality of the words “bogatyr”, which is proven by the presence of the sound h and hard r at the end of the word. Other explanations are historical. Khalansky thinks (“Great Russian epics”) that the original form of the word was “bogatyr” and that it was originally used in the meaning of “Tatar governor” and a title attached to proper names in the meaning of the present “lord”; Buslaev has already pointed this out.

The assumption about the borrowing of the word B. from the Tatar language. is now accepted by all Russian scientists, although, on the other hand, old false explanations of the etymology of the word are found quite often, especially in textbooks on the history of Russian literature. From the above it does not at all follow that in the pre-Tatar period there did not exist in Rus' a concept corresponding to the present concept of a hero. It only corresponded to other words in the language, for example: khorobr (later replaced under the literary influence of the Church Slavonic word brave), hobor, khorober, rezvets, daring. Then their own word was replaced by a foreign one under the influence of psychological factors: in the eyes of the people, Russian heroes, bearing the same name as the Tatar ones, were not inferior to the latter, they were opposed to them. The word “hero” itself appears for the first time in Sernitsky’s book, published without indicating the place in the city “Descriptio veteris et novae Poloniae cum divisione ejusdem veteri et nova”, which says: “Rossi... de heroibus suis, quos Bohatiros id est semideos vocant , aliis persuadere conantur.”

Let us now say a few words about the main views on B. and about the methods of studying the Russian epic.

Epics

Classification

Senior heroes

Miller lists only Svyatogor, Volga Svyatoslavich and Mikula Selyaninovich among the senior heroes; Bessonov also adds Samson, Sukhan and then Polkan, Kolyvan Ivanovich, Ivan Kolyvanovich, Samson Ivanovich, Samson Samoilovich and Molofer or Malafey; some also add Don Ivanovich and Danube Ivanovich. As you know, Miller looks at all the heroes as the personification of various natural phenomena: in the older heroes he sees menacing phenomena, hostile to people, occurring during winter; so, for example, in the image of Svyatogor the gigantic clouds that cover the entire sky are personified; younger heroes are also natural phenomena, but beneficial for humans, occurring in the summer; the walking Kaliki are wandering clouds shedding rain; Initially, both of them were represented as deities, but some were their elder generation, titans, destroyers, and others were protectors of people.

In the epics, the first are supernatural creatures, werewolves, equipped with incredible strength, while others have a completely human image, they have great, but no longer titanic, not elemental strength, and almost all live in the time of Vladimir. Marte also sees ancient Slavic deities in the older heroes (“Die russische Heldensage”).

Younger heroes

The younger heroes, in turn, are divided into native and visiting; The latter include: Solovey Budimirovich (with which Khalansky and partly Veselovsky disagree), Churilo Plenkovich, Dyuk Stepanovich and others.

Khalansky, as we have already said, completely disagrees with this division, who divides heroes into types belonging to the pre-Tatar, Tatar and post-Tatar, or Moscow era: to the first group he classifies Dobrynya Nikitich, Ivan Danilovich and Alyosha Popovich; to the second: the heroes at the outpost, Idolishche, Ilya Muromets, Vasily Ignatievich and the heroes who “transferred”; to the third: Mikulu Selyaninovich, Khoten Bludovich, Churil Plenkovich, Dyuk Stepanovich, Danil Lovchenin, forty caliks with a calico, Solovy Budimirovich. In addition, the same author divides the heroes according to the regions in which, in his opinion, they were created by the people; Thus, in the Kyiv region he counts only Vladimir himself, Dobrynya, as well as Volga Svyatoslavich, Stavr Godinovich, Ivan Danilovich, Churila Plenkovich and partly Ivan Godinovich.

Review of the most important epic heroes of Kievan Rus

These are the general views on heroes; Let us now review the views of different researchers about the main representatives of the Kyiv epic heroism in the following order: here the views of all directions, which we have already discussed in general terms, will be compared.

Svyatogor

Svyatogor, a terrible giant, whom even the earth cannot support, lies on the mountain in inaction when Ilya comes to him. Other epics tell of his marriage, his encounter with earthly cravings, and his death in a magical grave. In some epics, Svyatogor is replaced by Samson, who is named after his patronymic Kolyvanovich, Samoilovich or Vasilyevich. Many traits of the personality and life of the biblical hero Samson were transferred to Svyatogor, but in general, epics about Svyatogor have not yet been developed much. Everyone, not even excluding Miller, admits that biblical influence was strong in the creation of his image, but they are unable to explain the origin of other, non-biblical character traits.

Miller considers his name to be purely Kyiv, coming from “saint” and “mountain”, denoting a hero the size of a mountain; in his opinion, initially Svyatogor served as the personification of huge, motionless clouds that covered the entire sky. In this person, according to Miller, who knows how to “mix the earthly with the heavenly,” there is something elemental, titanic, hostile to the earth. Over time, under the influence of the Bible, the original myth about Svyatogor began to change, and this was followed by its complete identification with the face of Samson, who is a later stand for Svyatogor and partly a prefix to him in some details.

According to Veselovsky (“Bulletin of Hebrews,” 1875, April), there are some undoubted similarities between Svyatogor and Anika the Warrior, the hero of one verse of book origin, depending on the Byzantine poem about Digenis. Based on the same verse, Petrov (“Works of the Kyiv Spiritual Academy” 1871, X) brings Svyatogor closer to Yegor the Brave. Wollner also sees two words in the name of Svyatogor: holy Egor, thus the name of Svyatogor would have grown on Christian soil; Miller rebels against this, saying that there is no internal connection between Svyatogor and Yegor the Brave. Be that as it may, there are places where such a comparison occurs: Yegor Svyatogor. Wollner, explaining the origin of some details in the epic, brings them closer to the poem about Yegor in a few, however, episodes; Other sources of the epic about Svyatogor were, according to Wollner, “The Tale of Human Vigor”, “A Thousand and One Nights”, one of the Mohammedan legends about Moses, etc., and Khalansky also adds to this the Caucasian Nart legends about the battle of the Narts with the giants .

Zhdanov explains the expression Yegor Svyatogor in such a way that the first name serves as a real name, and the second as an epithet. He considers the epic name of the hero “Svyatogor” to be the same epithet, which also occurs in the form “hero of Svyatogorsk”; his real name was Samson (cf. “On the literary history of Russian epic poetry,” p. 164). Thus, in the person of Svyatogor we would have united several persons: Samson, Yegor, Anika, Moses, the Nart hero, etc., and, according to Miller, also a proto-Slavic deity who controlled the gigantic clouds.

Mikula Selyaninovich

Mikula Selyaninovich appears in two epics: about Svyatogor and about Volga Svyatoslavich. They also look at him differently: Miller in his “Experience” says that with his skill he stands out from the ranks of senior heroes; he is a representative of agricultural life, possessing not quantitative, like Svyatogor, but qualitative strength, which can be called endurance. He foreshadows the appearance of younger heroes, although he still remains an agricultural deity. In another place (“Ilya Muromets”) Miller calls Mikula a plowman, initially the personification of heavenly thunder, while his magical filly, which cannot be overtaken, represents a thunder cloud.

People imagine the flight of clouds as plowing in the sky - lightning cuts through the sky like a plow cuts through the earth. The current name is taken by St. Nicholas, but underneath hides the ancient deity of thunder and lightning. He strongly resembles the German god Thor, who is also the patron saint of farmers. Porfiryev, following Buslaev, says that in the person of Mikula Selyaninovich the image of the mighty B. peasant plowman, corresponding to the Czech plowman Promysl, is presented. His terrible strength, comparison with Svyatogor and other features in which he is depicted show that his type, like Svyatogor’s type, was formed under the influence of the image of some titanic creature, who was probably the personification of the earth or the patron god of agriculture.

This is especially indicated by the handbag with the pull of the earth, with which Mikula is depicted and which, obviously, is nothing more than an image of the earth. But he himself no longer represents the earth as an element, but the idea of a settled agricultural life, in which he places his strength and significance. According to Wollner, Mikula is simply a saint. Nikolai, although it is possible, in his opinion, to explain him as the personification of agriculture. Vsevolod Miller compares Mikula with Nicholas, but not a saint, but with a rival of Alexander the Great at the Olympic Games; He produces Mikulin's bipod from a knot tied by Gordias, a plowman by origin. Veselovsky also speaks about Mikula in his work “South Russian epics”; in his opinion, Mikula Selyaninovich serves, perhaps, as a reflection of the Tsar-Plowman of Western legends: “the grandiose image of the Tsar-Plowman,” says Veselovsky, “could not but please the peasant environment, the guardian of the song, and, overshadowing everything else, involuntarily evoked questions and found a mythological explanation in our science, perhaps without any right to do so.” Veselovsky brings together the epic about Volga and Mikula with the famous Western European legend “The Walk of Charlemagne to Jerusalem and Constantinople”; accepting such an explanation, Mikula Selyaninovich would be a reflection of the Byzantine emperor Hugon.

Volga Svyatoslavovich, or Volkh Vseslavich

The main epics about Volga tell about his miraculous birth from a serpent, his campaign in India and his confrontation with Mikula Selyaninovich. Volga Svyatoslavovich, a werewolf and hunter, is considered by Propp to be one of the most ancient heroes. In his image he finds remnants of totemism, while the earlier school of folkloristics sought to identify him with real historical figures, in particular, Oleg the Prophet.

Sukhan, or Sukhmantiy, or Sukhman Damantievich

There is one epic about Sukhan, or Sukhmantiy and Sukhman Damantievich, which tells how Sukhan, offended by Vladimir, takes his own life. Bessonov sees in him a mythical creature, while Wollner sees in the epic the sentimental influence of the latest written literature.

Kolyvan

From Ivan Kolyvanovich and Kolyvan Ivanovich, who initially constituted one person, only names remained in the epics, by which, of course, it is difficult to judge with any certainty.

Danube Ivanovich

Danube Ivanovich is one of the heroic matchmakers; according to Yagich (Archiv I), he represents the personification of the Danube River, as is proven by the epithet “quiet” that constantly accompanies him in the epic. Miller also sees in him the personification of the river, but not the present Danube, but the river in general; he believes that the word Danube was originally a common noun. This river was not earthly, but heavenly, it was generally a container of water, clouds, therefore the hero, strictly speaking, is a mythical creature, the personification of a cloud.

Already the matchmaking of the Danube, according to Miller, indicates the mythical character of the hero. The everyday side of the epic differs from all other epics in the antiquity of the general flavor: morals here have not yet been softened by settled life and agriculture. On the other hand, in the Ipatiev Chronicle under 1281 and 1287. there is a mention of the governor of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich Danube. Aksakov sees the Danube exclusively as a warrior: “The Danube is not like other heroes; obviously a stranger from other countries, exuberant in spirit, he is distinguished by some special proud posture.” Danube's marriage to Nastasya is reminiscent of Sigurd's matchmaking with Brünnhilde.

According to Stasov, the epic about the Danube preserved a cosmic elemental myth, and in this he agrees with Miller. He differs from him in that he does not see in the Danube a memory of a mythical creature inherited by the Russians from their Aryan ancestors, but simply a type borrowed from mythological Asian tales. Thus, he brings Danube closer to Soma, the moon god, the hero of one story in Harivansa, with Bgrigu from the Mahabharata, with Brahman Saktideva from the collection of Somadeva; Thus, according to Stasov, India should be recognized as the fatherland of the Danube.

Ilya Muromets

A number of younger heroes begin with their main representative, the protector of the Russian land, the “old Cossack” Ilya Muromets. Compared to other heroes, a huge amount of literature is devoted to him, but despite this, the question about him also remains far from clear. We will limit ourselves here to pointing out the more original views of scientific researchers regarding this hero, views that are extremely diverse and contradictory to each other, since some see in Ilya a mythical creature, others see in him a representative of the Russian peasant class, others consider him a borrowed type and, finally, The 4th look at it as a mixture of heterogeneous elements: mythical, historical, everyday and foreign. Its very name Muromets causes disagreement as to whether it is original or not.

The oldest mention of him is in the “Message letter” of the Orsha elder Philon Kmita Chernobylsky to Ostafy Volovich, castellan of Trotsky, written in Orsha 1574, August 5th day: “Ilii Murawlenina i Solowia Budimirowicza” we read in this note; then Erich Lasota also has “Morowlin” written on it. This is the original form of this word, which only later became “Muromets” under the influence of the hero’s association with the city of Murom. O. Miller brings Ilya Muromets together with these names in a story borrowed from the notebook of the disrobed Edinoverie monk Grigory Pankeyev. In any case, these considerations do not have sufficient evidence, so most researchers refrain from making a decisive verdict; So, for example, Khalansky says that it is difficult to decide how this word was originally pronounced, although he adds that in any case it is impossible to stand for the antiquity of the form Muromets. V. Kallash definitely speaks out in this regard, which takes as the correct form: Muromets, Morovlyanin (“Ethnographic Review”, 1890).

There are many epics about Ilya, they make up a whole cycle, united by his personality; in these epics he is presented in more or less the same light, although even here a slight difference is noticed in the shading of some of his character traits; so, for example, Ilya, who frightens the robbers without causing them any harm, and Ilya, who kills his own son, are not the same.

Since popular fantasy connected Ilya the Prophet with Perun, it was very natural to transfer the features of Perun, the thunder god, to Ilya Muromets, who bore the name of Ilya the Prophet.” If we accept the mythical meaning of Ilya that Miller gives him, then it is much more rational to assume something completely opposite, namely, that Ilya Muromets, as the thunder god, initially bore a completely different name and only then, due to his rapprochement with Ilya the prophet, took over the latter’s current name Name. Orest Miller quite definitely speaks out about the mythological significance of Ilya Muromets: he says that although Ilya becomes the head of the younger heroes, understood already in the zemstvo historical sense, nevertheless, at the basis of any of his adventures a basic, albeit obscured, can almost always be seen. myth.

He was originally a thunder deity, then became an agricultural deity, and finally a heroic farmer. The main myth was covered in thick layers of historical and everyday layers, and under their influence, the character of Ilya changed; where, for example, Ilya moves from a defensive position to an offensive one, he is a reflection of the fate of the Russian land. According to Miller, Ilya, of the other heroes, is closer to Potyk and Dobrynya. Other researchers of epics do not speak so generally and break the epics about Muromets into separate plots and try to explain each moment separately. The most important moments of the epics about Ilya are as follows: Ilya sits for thirty years; receives strength from passersby (according to some epics, from Svyatogor), performs the first peasant work, goes to Svyatogor; Having received his parents' blessing, he goes to Kyiv; On the way, he captures Nightingale the Robber, liberates Chernigov from the Tatars and meets the villagers, to whom he speaks about Alyosha Popovich.

Arriving in Kyiv, he feasts with Vladimir and Alyosha throws a knife at him; then Ilya - at the heroic outpost along with his other “crusader brothers”; fight against Polenitsa, Sokolnik, Zhidovin; bad relationship with Vladimir; attack of the Tatars on Kyiv, Kalin, Idolishche; battle with the Tatars, heroes are placed together with Ilya; three “trips” of Ilya Muromets. Not all aspects have been equally developed in the literature: relatively many studies have been devoted to some (for example, the battle with his son Sokolnik), while almost no one has yet studied others in detail.

The first fact from the life of Ilya - that he sits for a long time - Miller explains in a mythological way: a kind, charitable deity must remain inactive throughout the winter, and only the honey drink of the passers-by, that is, the warm rain pouring from the spring clouds , gives this deity miraculous power. Khalansky compares the epics in which power passes to Ilya from Svyatogor with the Nart Caucasian legends, and if we accept his explanation, then Ilya is here a hero borrowed from the Caucasus. Ilya Stasov compares the youth of Ilya with the youth of the heroes of the Indian collection of tales entitled. "Mahavansi" and with Rustem's youth in "Shahname".

Ilya’s meeting with the Nightingale the Robber has been discussed several times: Stasov derives the entire epic telling about Ilya’s trip to Kiev and this meeting, of course, from the East, namely, he sees in it a reflection of the story of the Siberian Tatars about the hero of Tan, known in several editions; according to this, the Nightingale the Robber would simply be a Tatar monster, the black seven-headed bull Ielbegen. Other scientists have talked about this same issue. Miller initially saw in the Nightingale simply a singer like Bayan, whom the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” calls the Nightingale of the old time; Buslaev sees in this name the same thing as in the epithet “prophetic”; Afanasyev considers the nightingale’s singing a symbol of spring thunder and, thus, looks at our robber as a mythical creature. Melnikov compares the epic with a semi-book legend in a 17th-century manuscript. about the strong Mordvins, who bore the names of birds, including the nightingale.

According to Yagich (Archiv, I), everything that relates to the robber’s whistle is a later work, caused by the consonance of his name with the name of the bird; initially it was someone else’s hero, who did not really fit into the cycle of Russian heroes, and from there an element of hostile relations towards the Russian land appeared in the epic. But he fits well with such heroes as Anika, Samson, Malafey, Egor-Svyatogor. Further, Yagich believes that Nightingale the Robber and Nightingale Budimirovich not only have a common name, but also a common origin in some legend about Solomon, perhaps in the legend about Solomon the sorcerer.

How plausible this rapprochement is, we will discuss below, under Solovy Budimirovich. O. Miller in his “Ilya Muromets” speaks about the Nightingale somewhat differently than in “Experience”: he considers the Nightingale the Robber to be the personification of such natural phenomena as wind, whirlwind, storm. The whistle of the storm and the nightingale is here the link connecting the name with the phenomenon it denotes. The nightingale, as a representative of pure bad weather, avoided the fate of other heroes who suffered historical influence, and to this day has remained a pure mythical type. As for the heroic outpost, according to Khalansky, it is located due to the fact that in the 14th century. Border fortresses and guardhouses began to be established, and border guards were installed. At this time, the image of heroes standing at the outpost and protecting the borders of the Holy Russian land took shape in the epic epic. About Polenitsa, the same scientist believes that this name came about in this way: to mean a giant, the word polonik was used (similar in origin to the current “giant”); according to Sreznevsky, it was used in Russian books as a constant explanatory epithet of the word giant; other forms of this word were: polnik, ispolnik; Khalansky thinks that the nominative case of the masculine plural - polnitsy, polenitsy - began to be felt by the people as the same case of the hitherto non-existent word polenitsa; it was used first as a common noun for the masculine and feminine gender, and then became the proper name of the giantess who fought with Ilya and then became his wife. Memories of such a struggle between B. and the heroic woman were especially vividly reflected in German epic literature, although, however, there is no shortage of them in other literatures.

The same plot about the fight with the heroic woman is repeated in epics about other heroes, for example. about Dobrynya, Danube and friends. The episode about Ilya’s struggle with his son can only be considered using the comparative method, since we do not have any materials for historical conclusions. But the comparative method can also lead us to different conclusions: either we can see in this episode a reflection of Western European legends in the form of a song about Hildebrant and Gadubrant, or we can look for its source together with Stasov in Asia, in the poetic history of Rustem Shahname, or, finally, with O. Miller sees in this epic the pan-Aryan heritage of mythical content, preserved in the Russian edition by tradition, and not by borrowing. All in. Miller compares Ilya, struggling with his son, with the heroes of two fairy tales: Estonian (Kivyi-al) and Kyrgyz (Gali); in his opinion, both of these tales, like the Russian epic, may have arisen under the influence of Shahnameh, and in this case, all these heroes serve as a reflection of Rustem (“Ethnogr. Review,” 1890, 2). Russian epics end in two ways: tragically and not tragically; the first ending is ancient, the second is softened under the influence of new everyday and religious principles. The main mythical meaning of the episode, according to O. Miller, is this: Ilya kills his son - this means that lightning cuts through the cloud.

Khalansky considers Ilya’s meeting with Zhidovin to be a modification of the meeting with his son; the latter is also the son of Ilya, but only his recognition is missing in the epic. The matter is explained in this way: the son of Ilya bears different names in different epics, so it could happen that in one of them he is called Zhidovin. But after this, other changes began, already in the content of the epic itself. Zhidovin could not be the son of a Christian, and therefore the episode about recognizing him as a son was simply released; and since the word “Jew” in the sense of an enemy was first used in book legends, Khalansky sees book influence in this person. Veselovsky does not agree with him, who in his “Small Notes” (“Journal of Min. Nar. Ave.”, 1889, V) indicates a historical basis for Zhidovin.

Alesha Popovich

Alyosha Popovich is closely connected with Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitych: he is in constant relations with them. In addition, between Alyosha and Dobrynya there is a striking similarity not in characters, but in adventures and some other circumstances of their lives; namely, the epics about the snake fight between Dobrynya and Alyosha are almost completely similar to each other. Based on this, O. Miller compares Alyosha and Dobrynya with the Indian Indra, considers them to be a common Aryan heritage that came to us through tradition, and sees in them the original personification of the sun. Thus, his struggle with Tugarin naturally takes on mythological illumination. Orest Miller considers Tugarin himself a mythical creature, Veselovsky is inclined to recognize in him the Polovtsian Khan Tugarkhan, while Khalansky proves that he is closely related to South Slavic folk beliefs in monstrous snakes; he also recognizes in Tugarin a mythical basis, obscured by features borrowed from book tales; He considers the similarity of his name with the name of Tugarkhan to be shaky and accepts here as simply an accidental consonance. According to Maikov, Alyosha Popovich seems to be the embodiment of a number of vicious qualities: cunning, selfishness, greed; His characteristics were probably determined by his class nickname. In him we really find a mixture of various features; he is above all distinguished by his courage; but, in addition, he is proud, arrogant, abusive, perky and rude; nimble and cunning in battle: he is, finally, a female mockingbird. Veselovsky says approximately the same thing: “the brave, quarrelsome, daring Alyosha of the old songs found himself in the later development of our epic as a woman’s mockingbird, a malicious slanderer of women’s honor and an unlucky ladies’ man. It is difficult to say definitively how this degeneration occurred. Perhaps a transitional trait: boastfulness.” The last traits of Alyosha’s character were clearly expressed in his relations with his sister Zbrodovich. And O. Miller explains this fact mythologically: in his opinion, this is an expression of the dark property of a light mythical creature, for example. the sun, which sometimes harms people with its too scorching rays. As for the Zbrodovichs themselves, they, according to Bessonov, are crowded heroes, zbrods, assorted daredevils. O. Miller in “History of Russians.” lit.” Galakhova says that the image of Alyosha Popovich over time is becoming more and more darkened in the spirit of those attitudes of the people towards the weak sides of the clergy, from which the proverb about “grabbing hands and envious eyes” flowed; and the more such traits developed in Alyosha, the more the title of brave man that still remained with him lost its meaning. Khalansky sees in Alyosha Popovich the Rostov hero Alexander Popovich, mentioned in the Chronicles, who lived at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries; epics about him were included in later chronicles, but the epics reflected regional Rostov legends about him; thus, according to Khalansky, Alyosha is a northern Russian hero. Veselovsky does not agree with this (“South Russian epics,” p. 277), who says: “mentions of the heroes Alyosha and Dobrynya are extended over such a significant chronological space that the intrusion of song into the chronicle story seems likely.” As we have seen, Khalansky allows this invasion only in later chronicles. Further, Veselovsky says: “Alyosha Popovich, under the influence of the epic, included in the chronicle in the north, was confined to Rostov and this somewhat influenced the change in his tone, which in the epics was formed from a number of layers at different times.” Finally, Kallash (“Ethnographic Review”, 1890, 2, Mixture) brings Alyosha closer to Alexander the Great, who in single combat with Porus used the same trick that Alyosha used in the battle with Tugarin.

Nikitich

Dobrynya Nikitich has long been compared by many with the chronicle Dobrynya, Vladimir’s uncle, and considered him a representative of high Russian society, a type of prince-combatant. Khalansky sees in him a reflection not only of Uncle Vladimir, but also of another chronicle figure, namely the Ryazan hero Dobrynya or Timon the Golden Belt; Thus, in the person of the epic Dobrynya, two chronicle personalities merged, one southern Russian, the other northern Russian. The characteristic features attributed to Dobrynya in the epic glorifying his youth, according to Wollner, were transferred to him from Volga. Stasov considers Dobrynya to be a reflection of Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu, glorified in Harivans, which O. Miller protests against, pointing to Dobrynya and Alyosha as mythical, ancient Aryan types inherited by Russians by tradition, corresponding not to Krishna, but to Indra, and representing the sun; he also compares Dobrynya with Odin. Wollner, pointing to the name of Dobrynya's mother (Amelfa or Mamelfa), brings it closer to the name Μεμφις, wife of Pentephry; this scientist examines Dobrynya in three episodes of his life: as a fighter with a snake, as a fighter with Marina, and as a long-absent husband. In the first case, contrary to Stasov, he compares him with Yegor the Brave and Fyodor Tiron; the serpent gorinich, whom Stasov considers to be a copy of the ox-demon Arishta from Harivansa, turns out to be occupied here with spiritual verses. In the second epic, according to Vollner, Dobrynya serves as a reflection of the Persian hero from the story “The History of Prince Bedr and Princess Giangara of Samandal” or some other hero of one of the many eastern stories of similar content. The third epic talks about Dobrynya’s meeting with Polenitsa, his marriage and his absence: Rambaud (“La Russie é pique”) and O. Miller compare her with Brünnhilde; according to Wollner, she takes the place of Svyatogor from the epic about Ilya Muromets, whom he hid in his pocket ; according to Khalansky, the image of Polenitsa was perhaps borrowed from Caucasian legends, for example. "About Alaugan and Emegen." Miller sees here in Dobrynya the sun (cf. the myth of Odin), absent in winter. Khalansky brings him closer to the Caucasian heroes, since in the Caucasus there is an original custom of going to baltz, that is, absence, without any precisely defined purpose and lasting differently: from 20 years to 1 week. Vsevolod Miller (“Ethnogr. Review,” 1890) compares Dobrynya with the Turkish hero Ashik Kerib from a fairy tale recorded by Lermontov, probably in the Caucasus. Maikov sees in Dobrynya simply a representative of the upper class of the Russian people: he is a prince, a rich man who has received a higher education, an archer and an excellent fighter, he knows all the subtleties of etiquette, he is intelligent in speeches, but he is easily carried away and is not very persistent; in private life he is a quiet and meek person. Maikov considers other representatives of this layer to be: Stavr Godinovich, Danil Denisievich, Dyuk Stepanovich, Churila Plenkovich and Khoten Bludovich.

Mikhail Potyk or Potok

Mikhail Potyk or Potok is brought closer to Dobrynya and Alyosha by the fact that, like them, he fights with the snake; in this snake of the epic Porfiryev, following Buslaev, sees either a mythical creature, then an allegory of evil, then, finally, a reflection from the Bible of the primordial enemy of man, “who took on the form of a snake, became hostile between the first husband and the first wife, seduced the first wife and led the first people into temptation.” Mikhail Potyk, as a matchmaker, is close, on the one hand, to the Danube, and on the other, to Khoten Bludovich and two Ivans: Godinovich and Gostiny Son; but at the same time, according to O. Miller, he is a representative of the zemstvo service force. He is restless, and therefore, according to Bessonov, his name originally sounded not Potyk, but Potok, which meant “wandering, nomadic”; he is therefore the ideal of the nomad. O. Miller does not agree with this, who notes that the historical association of Potyk is very insignificant, and therefore he is a pure mythical creature: he is thunder, and his wife, the White Swan, is a cloud; in winter they are both in the grave, and they are revived by living water, spring rain. In the second part of the epic, Potyk is similar to Ivan Godinovich. Stasov sees two personalities in Potyk: in the first epic (about his marriage) he is a reflection of Brahman Ruru from Magabgarata, and the White Swan is Pramadvara; in the second epic (about his wife’s betrayal) the story told in the 6th chapter of the poem about the exploits of the Central Asian hero Bogdo Gesser Khan is repeated, and Potyk is Gesser Khan, and the swan is his wife Rogmo Goa.

Ivan Gostiny son

Ivan Gostiny's son was already identified by Bessonov with Ivan Godinovich. According to O. Miller, although he belongs to the heroic element, however, he remains almost unaffected by its zemstvo meaning; he is, in all likelihood, a local Chernigov hero. Veselovsky compares Ivan with the hero of the Byzantine legend of Hercules, although he does not derive him directly from there. In general, the epic about Ivan falls into two plots: in the first, talking about the purchase of a horse, Ivan is compared by Veselovsky with other fairy-tale personalities of Russian folk literature and partly with Ilya Muromets. In the second plot, Ivan is similar to the other Ivan of the Little Russian fairy tales about Ivan and Marya with Banovich Strakhina of Serbian songs, with the hero of the Russian story placed in the life of Joseph Volotsky, with the German Valtarius, the Polish Walger from Tynets, with the merchant from one story in the Panchatantra, about which says Wollner, and according to Stasov and Khalansky, it is simply borrowed: according to the first, from the song of the Nome shors about the hero Altyn Ergek, and Ivan is both Altyn Ergek and his brother Altyn Tash; and according to the second, it’s just Banovich Strakhinya or Marko the prince of the South Slavs.

Hoten or Gorden Bludovich

The last matchmaker, Khoten or Gorden Bludovich, reveals, according to O. Miller, a mythical meaning associated with an everyday element: it expressed the generic basis and Varangian character traits.

Solovey Budimirovich

Opinions differ greatly regarding Solovy Budimirovich: Bessonov believed that this name should be understood as Oleg the Prophet, or at least the ideal founder of the Russian state. Yagich derives the name Nightingale from the book “Solomon” through folk etymology. Buslaev and Porfiryev look at Budimirovich as a visiting hero. Miller brings him closer to the Nightingale Robber based on the whistle and cry they both make; he sees in both the sound power of great aerial phenomena, with the only difference being that one of them represents the harmful, terrible, and the other the beneficial side of the same phenomenon. This rapprochement is based on a very insignificant sign, which, however, could very easily be the result of a random consonance of names. Veselovsky was the first to notice a purely folk element in the epic and even considers the name Solovey to be a re-vocalization of his own name Slav (“Investigation in the field of Russian spiritual verse,” p. 350); Kallash does not agree with the latter position, who believes “that the name Nightingale is not a re-voice of one name, but a consequence of coincidental distortions, interpretations and borrowings of different names that appeared in different legends” (“Ethnogr. Review”, 1890, 253). Despite the folk element he noticed in the epic about Solovy Budimirovich, Veselovsky believes that at its core it is an epic about the wedding trip of some overseas young man. Stasov even indicates the name of this fellow: in his opinion, two persons are united in Nightingale, the heroes of two stories from Somadeva’s collection, p.z. "Katha Sarit Sagara, namely: king Udayana and his son Naravahanadatta; in this case, Zapava Putyatishna is the rallying point of Kalingasena and her daughter Madamananchuka. Hunters to see foreign aliens in the Russian B. also believed that the Nightingale seems to be an Italian builder, a representative of those Italian architects , who came to Rus' in the 16th century. Khalansky does not agree with all this, who places the epic in the closest connection with Great Russian wedding songs, and considers Solovy Budimirovich to be simply an idealized image of the groom, who is usually presented in songs as a young man who has arrived from the distance and wants to build a tower in the green garden of a girl, in this garden, which serves as an ordinary symbol of girlhood.In support of his theory, Khalansky gives examples of self-matching a girl as an original Russian custom.

Ivan Danilovich and Stavr Godinovich

In the faces of the epic B. Ivan Danilovich and Stavr Godinovich, most researchers see historical figures: the first of them is mentioned in the Nikon Chronicle under the city, but it is considered a later update. Stavr Maykov, Miller, Khalansky and others are considered the historical Stavr Gordyatinich, mentioned in the Novgorod Chronicle under the city, who left a historical “autograph” found in 1960 during the restoration of the walls of the Kyiv St. Sophia Cathedral. Stasov does not agree with this, who sees in Stavr the hero of the Altai Tatars Altain-Sain-Salam.

Other Russian heroes

Other heroes in epics of local origin are: the completely historical Ermak, who replaces the wonderful young Bogatyr Mikhailik, and Vasily Ignatievich, or Vasily the Drunkard, and the story of the latter is an integral part of the epic about Mikhailik and, moreover, a late motive. Vasily the Drunkard appeared in folk poetry, according to Veselovsky, in a very strange way: Vasily the Great left a sermon on drunkenness, on the basis of which a folk verse appeared about Vasily the Great himself, how the Mother of God appears to him and exhorts him to refrain from drunkenness; subsequently this type passed into the epic. Mikhailik epics, according to Veselovsky, consists of two parts: Vasily the Drunkard and Mikhail Danilovich of southern Russian songs, which, in turn, is a reflection of Michael the Archangel from the Byzantine story “On the Golden Gates,” interpolated in the late Russian edition of Methodius’s “Revelation.” Finally, the kalik of the passers-by and the goly of the tavern should be included in this group. We already know about the first ones that Miller saw in them passing moving clouds. This does not exhaust all explanations of their origin: supporters of historical theory saw in them the personification of ancient Russian, nomadic life, others, for example. Kalaidovich, Bessonov, suggested a reflection of Joseph the Beautiful in their ataman; finally, Stasov derives their story from Asia and compares their ataman with the heroes of several stories in Somadeva, with Sundaraka from Shahname (the story of Prince Siavush and Queen Sudabe) and with others. In the goli of the taverns, O. Miller sees “the imprint of the Don Cossacks in the broad sense of the word, in the sense of freemen or even thieves, that is, those thieves who arbitrarily obtained Siberia for Russia, and then arbitrarily took Azov from the Turks.”

"Visiting heroes"

A separate group consists of the so-called visiting heroes, to whom they belong: Surovets Suzdalets, Churila Plenkovich, Duke Stepanovich. The first of them did not join the Vladimirov cycle at all and was not even called by his own name, since both of his names are simply common words denoting his homeland. Crimea in ancient times was called Surozh or Sugdaya, therefore the hero who came from there was called Surovets (cf. Surovsky goods) or Suzdal; this last word, according to Veselovsky’s explanation, under the influence of Suzdal became “Suzdalets”. Churilo Plenkovich also came from Surozh, whose name is explained by Veselovsky as Kirill the son of Plenk, Frank, Frank, that is, the Italian merchant of Surozh; at least, this name Felenk, Ferenk was used by the Turks and Tatars to designate the Genoese in the Crimea. Orest Miller brings Churila closer to Solovy Budimirovich and considers him the personification of wealth. The name of Duke Stepanovich comes from the Byzantine word Δούκας, which was first a title, and then began to be used as a generic and personal name. Duke is considered by most researchers to be a Galich hero. Finally, such personalities found in epics as Polkan and Malafey Volot can be classified in this department. The name of the first was explained by Bessonov as a half-horse, but then it was proven that it corresponds to the Italian Pulicane from the book story about Beauvais the Prince, known in Russia. Malatheus or Molofernes is the biblical Holofernes, and Volot, which is also called Volotoman, Volotomon, Votolomon, according to Yagich (Archiv, I), serves as a revoice of Ptolemy’s own name.

Bogatyrs of the Novgorod type

It remains for us to say a few more words about the heroes of the Novgorod cycle, who in all respects differ from the B. of Kyiv, since they contain features that characterize them as non-Russian, alien types. Almost all researchers of epics, not even excluding O. Miller, recognize a very strong foreign element in Novgorod epics. There are only three of these heroes: Vasily Buslaev, Gavrilo Aleksich and Sadko, a rich guest. The first of them serves as the ideal of boundless, unrestrained prowess and has much in common with the rampaging Norman heroes. More or less extensive studies by Wollner, Stasov and Veselovsky are devoted to Sadk. According to O. Miller, Sadok expresses an alien element that disagrees with the Russian absorption of the individual into the community: he represents the ideal of personal wealth, thus similar to the southern Russian type of Churila and Duke; the difference lies in the secondary character traits and actions of these individuals; there is nothing mythical in Sadok, but he is only surrounded by a mythical element in the person of the sea king and others.

Nart heroes

Tales about the Narts - an ancient mountain people related to the Kabardians - are still preserved among the Terek Kabardians of the Pyatigorsk department. According to legend, the Narts inhabited the present-day Kuban region and, in general, the entire northern Caucasus. In the popular imagination, they are depicted as a heroic tribe who spent their time raiding and searching for dangerous adventures. The word “nart” has become a household word and serves as a synonym for a daring, kind young man. The enemies of the Narts are the mythical giant idiots who devoured human flesh - the emegens. The latter, despite their physical superiority, could not resist the incomparably more developed sledges. Then the legends talk about the struggle with the Tatar khans, known to us from history; legend thus merges with reality. In the songs of former wandering singer-poets, the so-called geguakos, the heroic exploits of individual heroes from the N. tribe are glorified. The heroes achieve their victories with the help of extraordinary horses that swim across vast seas, speak in a human voice and are able to take the form of all kinds of animals. The heroic sword - syrpin - also provides considerable assistance. The oldest Nart hero in the songs is Uryzmek, who, on the advice of the beautiful princess Satan, who later became his wife, climbed into the mouth of a cannon in order to shoot into heaven and there kill the enemy of his people - Nuk. Another hero, Rachikau, according to legend, is the son of a Russian settler. Later songs were composed about Aidemyrkan, who was brought up at the court of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray Wikipedia

Bogatyrs are the epic defenders of the Russian Land, “superheroes” of the Russian people for many centuries. Let's remember the main ones.

THE OLDEST (DOVLADIMIROVS)

Svyatogor

Mega-hero. But a hero of the “old world.” The giant, the elder hero the size of a mountain, whom even the earth cannot support, lies on the mountain in inaction. The epics tell of his meeting with earthly cravings and death in a magical grave. Many features of the biblical hero Samson were later transferred to Svyatogor. It is difficult to determine exactly its ancient origins. In the legends of the people, the veteran hero transfers his strength to Ilya Muromets, whose image dates back to the Gothic times of the 5th century. (Ilya Russian Tidrek-sagas and others).

Mikula Selyaninovich. Bogatyr Plowman

Mikula Selyaninovich is a bogatyr agrarian. Found in two epics: about Svyatogor and about Volga Svyatoslavich. Mikula is the first representative of agricultural life, a powerful peasant plowman. He is strong and resilient, but homely. He puts all his strength into farming and family. His three daughters are a model of women in Rus'.

Volga Svyatoslavovich. Bogatyr-Wolkh

Supporters of the “historical school” in the study of epics believe that the prototype of the epic Volga was a certain ancient tribal leader who went on a campaign for women and cattle. He was often correlated with the ancient Russian princes Oleg the Prophet (10th century) and Vseslav of Polotsk (11th century). Volga is a difficult hero; he has the ability to become a werewolf and can understand the language of animals and birds.

Sukhman Odikhmantievich. Insulted hero

In the epic of the Kyiv cycle, Sukhman goes to get a white swan for Prince Vladimir (here the plot is already archaic, connecting Sukhman with a priest who could not “bleed” his hands and injure the sacrificial animal), but on the way he enters into battle with the Tatar horde, who are building Kalinov bridges on the river Nepre. Sukhman defeats the Tatars, but in the battle he receives wounds, which he covers with leaves. Returning to Kyiv without the white swan, he tells the prince about the battle, but the prince does not believe him and imprisons Sukhman in prison until clarification. Dobrynya goes to Nepra and finds out that Sukhman did not lie. But it's' too late. Sukhman feels disgraced, peels off the leaves and bleeds. The Sukhman River begins from his blood. According to many researchers, this hero’s connection to Vladimir is late.

VLADIMIROV TIME

Ilya Muromets. Holy hero

Ilya Muromets is canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church; he is the main Russian hero. However, this is the only hero who, according to an absolutely pagan tradition, knocked down golden domes from churches and sold them in a tavern. Ilya Muromets is the main character not only of Russian epics, but also, for example, of German epic poems of the 13th century. In them he is also called Ilya, he is also a hero, yearning for his homeland. Ilya Muromets also appears in the Scandinavian sagas, in them he is, no less, the blood brother of Prince Vladimir.

Nikitich. A well-connected hero

Alesha Popovich. Junior

Duke Stepanovich. Rich and noble

Duke Stepanovich comes to Kiev from conditional India, behind which, according to folklorists, in this case the Galician-Volyn land is hidden, or the Baltic Pomerania organizes a marathon of boasting in Kiev, undergoes tests from the prince, and continues to boast. As a result, Vladimir finds out that Duke is indeed very rich and offers him citizenship. But Duke refuses, because “if you sell Kyiv and Chernigov and buy paper for an inventory of Dyukov’s wealth, there won’t be enough paper.”

Danube Ivanovich. Tragic hero

According to epics about the Danube, it was from the blood of the hero that the river of the same name began. The Danube is a tragic hero. He loses to his wife, a Polyana woman (probably of Sarmatian origin) Nastasya (Mikula’s daughter) in an archery competition, accidentally hits her while trying to win back, finds out that Nastasya was pregnant and throws herself with her chest on a sword (or spear).

Mikhailo Potyk. Faithful husband

Folklorists disagree on who should be associated with Mikhailo Potyk (or Potok). Similarities with his image are found in the Bulgarian heroic epic, and in Western European fairy tales, and even in the Mongolian epic “Geser”. According to one of the epics, Potok and his wife Marya Lebed Belaya make a vow that whichever of them dies first, the second one will be buried alive next to him in the grave. When Avdotya dies, Potok is buried nearby in full armor and on horseback, fights the dragon and revives his wife with his blood. When he himself dies, Marya is buried with him.

Khoten Bludovich. Bogatyr-groom

The hero Khoten Bludovich, for the sake of his wedding with the enviable bride Chaina Chesova, first beats her nine brothers, then an entire army hired by his future mother-in-law. As a result, the hero receives a rich dowry and appears in the epic as the hero “who married well.”

OTHER.

Nikita Kozhemyaka. Wyrm Fighter

Nikita Kozhemyaka in Russian fairy tales is one of the main snake-fighting characters. Before entering into battle with the Serpent, he tears 12 skins, thereby proving his legendary strength. Kozhemyaka not only defeats the Snake, but also harnesses him to a plow and plows the land from Kyiv to the Black Sea. The defensive ramparts near Kiev got their name (Zmievs) precisely because of the actions of Nikita Kozhemyaka.

Bova Korolevich. Lubok hero

Bova Korolevich was the most popular hero among the people for a long time. Popular folk tales about the “precious hero” were published in hundreds of editions from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Pushkin wrote “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, partially borrowing the plot and names of the heroes of the fairy tales about the Boy Korolevich, which his nanny read to him. Moreover, he even made sketches of the poem “Bova,” but death would prevent him from finishing the work. The prototype of this knight was the French knight Bovo de Anton from the famous chronicle poem Reali di Francia, written in the 14th century. In this respect, Bova is a completely unique hero - a visiting hero.

Vasily Buslaev. Zealous hero

The most daring hero of the Novgorod epic cycle. His unbridled temper leads to conflict with the Novgorodians and he desperately rages, bets that he will beat all the Novgorod men on the Volkhov Bridge and almost fulfills his promise - until his mother stops him. In another epic, he is already mature and goes to Jerusalem to atone for his sins. But Buslaev is incorrigible - he again takes up his old ways and dies absurdly, proving his youth.

Anika warrior. Bogatyr in words

Anika warrior is still called today a person who likes to show off his strength far from danger. Unusual for a Russian epic hero, the name of the hero was most likely taken from the Byzantine legend about the hero Digenis, who is mentioned there with the constant epithet anikitos. Anika the warrior in the verse boasts of strength and offends the weak, death itself shames him for this, Anika challenges her and dies.

If you ask any Russian person in our country to name the names of Russian heroes, they will probably name Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich. But then there’s a hitch. Thanks to popular culture, only these three have become widely known. Meanwhile, there were many more heroes in Rus', but not everyone knows about them. Let's try to correct the situation and tell about the “unknown” Russian heroes in this collection.

Svyatogor

One of the most ancient heroes of the Russian epic epic. Svyatogor is a giant hero so big and strong that even Mother Earth could not withstand him. However, Svyatogor himself, according to the epic, could not overcome the “earthly pull” contained in the bag: trying to lift the bag, he sank with his feet into the ground.

Mikula Selyaninovich

The legendary plowman-hero, with whom you cannot fight, because “the whole Mikulov family loves Mother - Cheese Earth.” According to one of the epics, it was Mikula Selyaninovich who asked the giant Svyatogor to pick up a bag that had fallen to the ground. Svyatogor could not do this. Then Mikula Selyaninovich raised the bag with one hand and said that it contained “all the burdens of earth.” Folklore says that Mikula Selyaninovich had two daughters: Vasilisa and Nastasya. And they became the wives of Stavr and Dobrynya Nikitich, respectively.

Volga Svyatoslavich

Volga is one of the most ancient heroes in Russian epics. His distinctive features were the ability to shapeshift and the ability to understand the language of birds and animals. According to legends, Volga is the son of a snake and Princess Marfa Vseslavyevna, who miraculously conceived him by accidentally stepping on a snake. When he saw the light, the earth shook and terrible fear gripped all living creatures. An interesting episode of the meeting between Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich is described by epics. While collecting taxes from the cities of Gurchevets and Orekhovets, Volga met the plowman Mikula Selyaninovich. Seeing a mighty hero in Mikul, Volga invited him to join his squad to collect taxes. Having driven away, Mikula remembered that he had forgotten the plow in the ground. Twice Volga sent his warriors to pull out that plow, but the third time he and his entire squad did not overcome it. Mikula pulled out that plow with one hand.

Sukhman Odikhmantievich

Hero of the Kyiv epic cycle. According to legend, Sukhman goes to get a white swan for Prince Vladimir. During the trip, he sees that the Nepra River is fighting the Tatar power, which is building Kalinov bridges on it to go to Kyiv. Sukhman beats the Tatar forces, but during the battle he receives wounds, which he covers with leaves. Sukhman returns to Kyiv without the swan. Prince Vladimir does not believe him and orders him to be imprisoned in a cellar for his boasting, and sends Dobrynya Nikitich to find out whether Sukhman told the truth, and when it turns out that he was telling the truth, Vladimir wants to reward Sukhman; but he removes the leaves from the wounds and bleeds. The Sukhman River flowed from his blood.

Danube Ivanovich

One of the most popular heroic images in Russian epics. Unlike the three main characters of the epic (Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich), Danube Ivanovich is a tragic character. According to legend, during the wedding, Danube and Nastasya Korolevichna, who was also a hero, begin to boast, Danube about her courage, and Nastasya about her accuracy. They arrange a duel and Nastasya shoots the silver ring lying on the head of the Danube three times. Unable to recognize his wife’s superiority, Danube orders her to repeat the dangerous test in the opposite way: the ring is now on Nastasya’s head, and Danube shoots. The Danube's arrow hits Nastasya. She dies, and the Danube finds out, “spreading her womb,” that she was pregnant with a wonderful baby: “knee-deep legs in silver, elbow-deep arms in gold, frequent braids on the head.” Danube throws himself on his saber and dies next to his wife; the Danube River originates from his blood.

Mikhailo Potyk

One of the minor heroes. He is known only in northern Russian epics as a handsome man and a snake fighter. There are several legends about him. According to one of them, Mikhailo met a swan while hunting, who turned into a girl - Avdotya Swan White. They got married and swore an oath that if someone died first, the survivor would be buried with the deceased in the same grave. When Avdotya died, Potyka, along with her corpse, was lowered into the grave, on horseback in full armor. A serpent appeared in the grave, which the hero killed, and with his blood he resurrected his wife. According to other epics, the wife drugged Potyk and turned him to stone, and she fled with Tsar Koshchei. The hero's comrades - Ilya, Alyosha and others, save Potyk and avenge him by killing Koshchei and quartering the unfaithful White Swan.

Hoten Bludovich

A hero in Russian epics, acting in one epic as a matchmaker and groom. The story of Khoten and his bride is practically the ancient Russian story of Romeo and Juliet. According to legend, Khoten’s Mother, a widow, wooed her son to the beautiful China Sentinel at one feast. But the girl’s mother answered her with an insulting refusal, which was heard by all those feasting. When Khoten found out about this, he went to his bride and she agreed to marry him. But the girl’s mother was categorically against it. Then Khoten demanded a duel and beat his bride's nine brothers. China's mother asks the prince for an army to defeat the hero, but Khoten defeats him too. After this, Khoten marries the girl, taking a rich dowry.

Nikita Kozhemyaka

Formally, he does not belong to the heroes, but he is a hero-snake fighter. According to legend, the daughter of the Kyiv prince was carried away by a snake and kept captive by him. Having learned from the serpent himself that he is afraid of only one person in the world - Nikita Kozhemyak, she and the dove send a letter to her father asking him to find this hero and encourage him to fight the serpent. When the prince's envoys entered Kozhemyaka's hut, busy with his usual business, he was surprised to tear through 12 skins. Nikita refuses the prince’s first request to fight the snake. Then the prince sends the elders to him, who also could not persuade Nikita. For the third time, the prince sends children to the hero, and their crying touches Nikita, he agrees. Wrapping himself in hemp and smearing himself with resin to become invulnerable, the hero fights with the snake and frees the prince’s daughter. Further, as the legend says, the serpent, defeated by Nikita, begs him for mercy and offers to share the land equally with him. Nikita forges a plow weighing 300 pounds, harnesses a snake to it and draws a furrow from Kyiv to the Black Sea; then, having begun to divide the sea, the serpent drowns.

Vasily Buslaev

Also not formally a hero, but a very strong hero, representing the ideal of valiant and boundless prowess. Since childhood, Vasily was a daredevil, knew no restrictions and did everything only as he pleased. At one of the feasts, Vasily bets that he will fight at the head of his squad on the Volkhov Bridge with all the Novgorod men. The fight begins, and Vasily's threat to beat every last one of his opponents is close to coming true; Only the intervention of Vasily’s mother saves the Novgorodians. In the next epic, feeling the severity of his sins, Vasily goes to Jerusalem to pray for them. But the pilgrimage to holy places does not change the character of the hero: he defiantly violates all prohibitions and on the way back he dies in the most ridiculous way, trying to prove his youth.

Duke Stepanovich

One of the most original Kyiv epic epics. According to legend, Duke arrives in Kyiv from “Rich India,” which, apparently, was the name of the Galicia-Volyn land. Upon arrival, Duke begins to boast about the luxury of his city, his own wealth, his clothes, which his horse brings daily from India, and finds the wine and rolls of the Prince of Kyiv tasteless. Vladimir, in order to check Duke’s boasting, sends an embassy to Duke’s mother. As a result, the embassy admits that if you sell Kyiv and Chernigov and buy paper for an inventory of Dyukov’s wealth, then there won’t be enough paper.

Student 4 - B class MBOU Lyceum No. 3 Mityanov Dmitry

Goal of the work- find out who the heroes are and whether there are heroes in modern life now.

Methods and techniques:

Collecting information from books, magazines, online articles, films
Observation
Analysis
Comparison
Generalization
Questionnaire

Main results

The topic of our research is very important for any generation, because we must know our past, the great exploits of our people, our heroes. They are an example of courage and valor, the pride of our land and nurture the Russian spirit in us.
Modern heroes are not completely similar to heroes, but they have absorbed part of their power. They are also strong in spirit, they stand guard over peace and life, they show the power and strength of our Motherland.
If you combine the qualities of athletes, military leaders and people's volunteers together, then you will get the image of a real hero.
Nowadays, Russia needs heroes (the environment is dying, culture is dying, the real values of life are being lost).

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Regional research competition

"Start in Science"

MBOU Lyceum No. 3

Russian bogatyrs:

Who are they?

Completed:

Student of 4th grade

Mityanov Dmitry

Supervisor:

Mokrova O.V. primary school teacher

Consultant:

Mityanova A. A.

Kulebaki

2013

1. Introduction. Why did I choose this topic…………………………………………...3

2. Main part……………………………………………………………..4

2.1 Where did the word “hero” come to us from? …………………………………4

2.2. Epic heroes………………………………………………………..5

2.3. Epic heroes in Russian culture…………………………………10

2.4. Modern heroes……………………………………………………12

2.5. Questionnaire…………………………………………………………….15

3. Our conclusions……………………………………………………………..19

4.Materials used………………………………………………………......20

5. Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………21

5. 1. Essays………………………………………………………………...21

5. 2. Drawings…………………………………………….…………………..23

Glory to the Russian side!

Glory to Russian antiquity!

And about this old thing

I'll start telling you

So that people can know

About the affairs of our native land.

1. Introduction. Why did I choose this topic?

I really like to explore the world around me. I made many discoveries for myself from books that I really love to read.

One day my mother gave me a book with epics about ancient Russian heroes for the Defender of the Fatherland holiday (February 23), and it was as if I had opened the door of time and saw the ancient times of our people. Mighty images of Russian heroes and their great feats in the fight against evil, defending our native land, appeared before our eyes. I admire their courage, daring, strength, will, but most importantly, their ardent love for the Motherland.

Russian epics are a kind of encyclopedia of people's life, a source of ardent patriotism and our national pride. No wonder they inspired great Russian poets, writers, composers and artists. The great feats of Russian heroes, their selfless love for the Motherland and me inspired my research. I wanted to know:why are they called heroes? get to know them better, and also find out if there are any heroes now and who they are?

That's why The purpose of my research is to find out who the epic heroes are and whether there are heroes in modern life now.

The object of the study is Russian heroes.

Hypotheses:

Let's say that heroes are defenders from enemies, warriors with great strength.
It is possible that the heroes lived a very long time ago and are no longer there.
What if the hero is an example of the great spirit of the Russian person.

Tasks:

Find out who the heroes are and conduct a survey among children and adults;

Get acquainted with literature and works of art about Russian heroes;

Get to know the “great” people of our time;

Compare the qualities of epic and modern heroes; draw conclusions.

Research methods:reading books, questioning, analysis, comparison. Generalization.

My mother and my teacher helped me with the research.

2. Main part.

2. 1. Where did the word “hero” come to us from?

Now the word “hero” can be heard often: “heroic health”, “heroic strength”, “heroic sleep” we say, “heroic” we call every strong and healthy person, athlete, commander, war veteran.

But even 150-200 years ago, every Russian, saying “hero,” compared someone with the epic defenders of their native land.

What does this word “hero” mean and where did it come from in our language? At first, the opinions of scientists were of three types:

1. Some believed that the word “hero” was borrowed from the Tatar and Turkic languages, where it appears in various forms: bagadur, batur, batyr, bator. It is assumed that the word has a meaning of a historical nature, that its original form of the word was “hero” and that it was originally used in the meaning of “Tatar governor” and a title like the present “lord”.

2. Other scientists, Shchepkin and Buslaev, derived “hero” from the word “God” through “rich”.

3. O. Miller and others believed that the word “hero” is Russian and goes back to ancient Slavic history (pre-Aryan and Sanskrit languages). The opinion was based on the position that the word “baghadur” is not Tatar, but borrowed from the Sanskrit baghadhara (possessing happiness, successful).

Currently, after new archaeological discoveries, discoveries of hidden historical facts and historical research, it seems that a revolution in history is emerging, since the information is very contradictory to that in textbooks and the accepted history of Russia. And discussions on the origin of the word “hero” resumed.

Philologist V. Kozhinov and historian L. Prozorov oppose borrowing from the Tatar language in favor of Slavic origin. They claim that the word “hero”, much closer to the epic form, appeared in the inscriptions of the Bulgarians - “bogotur” (some of these bogoturs have completely Slavic names - Slavna, for example).

Our opinion about the word “hero” also supports Slavic origin. It didn’t come from anywhere, but was always originally Russian. This opinion is based on the ancient Slavic culture of our people in the period before the Baptism of Rus'. This is confirmed by many scientists and historians that Russia has a great past and is much older than previously described.

2.2. Epic heroes.

The theme of heroes takes us more and more into the ancient culture and history of our people. It was very interesting to read about the worldview of our ancestors. It turns out that they were not savages, as they are described, for example, in our book “History of Russia for children and adults.” We learned that our ancestors were wise with a great culture and cared about the spiritual future of the people from childhood. This is reflected in sayings, proverbs, fables, fairy tales, and epics.

Epics are also the ancient wisdom of our people, only for the older generation. The epic comes from the word “byl”, and it comes from the ancient Slavic verb – “to be”, that is, what was and happened. The epics were composed by storytellers - guardians of Russian antiquity, bearers of the historical memory of the people. They walked from village to village and chanted (like a song) about the great events of our homeland, about the heroic heroes, their exploits, about how they defeated evil enemies, defended their land, showed their bravery, courage, ingenuity, kindness .

In our research, we tried to include ancient figurative thinking and get to know the epic heroes better.

We learned that according to legends and ancient epics, there first existedgiant heroes.Let's get to know some of them.

Bogatyr-element

Bogatyr	Description and skills
Gorynya (Sverni-gora, Vertigor)	A mountain giant with superhuman strength turned up stones, broke mountains, violated (changed) the nature of things: “Captures the mountain, carries it to the ravine and makes a road, or rocks the mountain with his little finger.”
Dubynya (Dubynech, Vernidub, Vyrvi-oak)	A forest giant with superhuman strength. In his forests he behaved like a caring owner:“The oak tree lays out (levels): which oak is tall, it pushes into the ground, and the oak tree that is low, pulls it out of the ground” or “the oak tree tears out”
Usynya (Usynych, Usynka, Krutius)	River giant, rules the water element: “he stole the river with his mouth, he catches fish with his mustache, he cooks and eats on his tongue, he dammed the river with one mustache, and along the mustache, as if on a bridge, people walk on foot, horses gallop, carts ride, he’s as long as a fingernail, a beard is as long as an elbow, his mustache drags along the ground , the wings lie a mile away.”
Danube Ivanovich	mighty hero,“The Danube is not like other heroes; obviously a stranger from other countries, exuberant in spirit, he is distinguished by some special proud posture.”He was in the service of the Lithuanian king, and was married to the king’s youngest daughter Nastasya, a “woodpile warrior.” In the epic, the Danube hits Nastasya in a competition, and she dies. In despair, he threw himself on his spear and died next to his wife, flooded by the Danube River, and his wife by the Nastasya River: “And he fell on the knife and with a zealous heart; Since that time, from the hot blood, Mother Danube River flowed»
Svyatogor	A giant hero of incredible strength. "Taller than the dark forest, his head props up the clouds. He gallops across the Holy Mountains - the mountains shake under him, he runs into the river - water splashes out of the river. Svyatogor has no one to measure his strength with. He would travel around Rus', walk with other heroes, fight with enemies, shake the hero’s strength, but the trouble is: the earth does not support him, only the stone cliffs do not collapse or fall under his weight.”

Epic epics about elemental heroes, in our opinion, glorify the majesty and spirituality of nature and bring us through the centuries the wisdom of unity and interconnection of everything in the world. The epic elemental heroes are not people, but they fully correspond to the original image of the hero. The power of natural elements is superior to human, powerful and of divine origin (creative and destructive). She is generous with natural gifts and patronizes everything: animals, vegetation, humans. We assume that this is why the elements were represented in a heroic image.

The elemental hero was replaced byhero-man. According to historians, epics about the same hero were written for centuries (in different centuries) and reflect the exploits of real warriors. That is, the images of most epic heroes are collective (collected from various folk heroes and events). Let's get acquainted with some heroes from the epics “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich”, “Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin the Serpent”, “Dobrynya and the Serpent”, “Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor”, “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber”, “Healing of Ilya Muromets”, “Ilya Muromets and Kalin - Tsar”, “Ilya Muromets and Idolishche”.

Bogatyr-man

Bogatyr	Description and skills
Mikula Selyaninovich	A mighty hero-plowman (oratai). He is stronger not only than Volga, but also his entire squad."...the good squad is spinning the bipod around, but they can’t pull the midges out of the ground...Then Oratay-Oratayushko came to the maple bipod. He took the bipod with one hand, he pulled the bipod out of the ground...”Mikula helped defend his land from enemies, but did not give up his agricultural work. He said: "Who will feed Rus' then?”Mikula's strength is in connection with the land and the common people.
Alesha Popovich	A Russian young hero from Rostov, who was distinguished by strength, courage, daring, pressure, audacity, resourcefulness, cunning and cunning. Where strength was lacking in battle, he won with ingenuity. He is boastful, overly crafty and evasive. He is distinguished by his determination, wit and cheerfulness. Able to call on natural phenomena for help (rain, hail...)“...Alyosha had a profitable plea...”
Nikitich	Russian hero from Ryazan, hero-warrior and diplomat (negotiated without bloodshed). He combined great strength, boundless bravery and courage, military skill, nobility of thoughts and actions, education, foresight and foresight. He knew how to sing, play the harp, was skilled in chess, and had extraordinary diplomatic abilities. Dobrynya expresses his heroic qualities in all epics, jealously guards the dignity of the Russian warrior, he is reasonable in his speeches, restrained, tactful, a caring son and a faithful husband.
Ilya Muromets	The great Russian hero from near Murom, a peasant hero. He is distinguished by great spiritual strength. And endowed with powerful physical strength. He is distinguished by a selfless, limitless love for his homeland (patriotism), a sense of justice, self-esteem, courage, boldness and daring. He is honest to the last detail and straightforward. He is generous and kind when it does not concern his enemies. This is a mature and experienced defender of the Russian land.

The epic hero-man also corresponds to the original meaning of the word “hero”. The performers of epics gave a very simple explanation to the most incredible epic episodes.: “In the old days, people were not at all like they are now - heroes.”According to epics, heroes are endowed with superior strength from birth or upon reaching spiritual maturity. According to legend, such power was given only to spiritually mature people, because a less spiritual person could use such power to the detriment of others. It seems like a fairy tale, but even my great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers talked about such unusual people in their times. And also the heroes are spiritually strong. The strength lies in the fact that they perform feats for the benefit of the entire people not for rewards, but for the triumph of truth, justice, and freedom; they defend Mother Rus' without sparing their lives under any circumstances (unequal battle, etc.). Bogatyrs show the best qualities - love for their native land, selfless courage and perseverance, independence of spirit, struggle for justice, truth, honor, etc.

We think that the unification of Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich is the call and desire of the people for unity. The strength of the people is in unity. The combination of the qualities of the three heroes suggests that to protect the homeland and victory, not only the strength of the onslaught is important, but also resourcefulness and the ability to resolve the issue peacefully. “Three Bogatyrs” is an image of the heroic spirit and power of the Russian people. In the old days they said:“The Slav’s hands are at work, and his mind is with the Almighty.”

2.3. Epic heroes in Russian culture.

The epics of our people have inspired many creative people. Now we can get acquainted with the great heroes-heroes through visual, musical, sculptural, and works of art.

Russian artists introduce us to the heroes: V. Vasnetsov “Bogatyrs”, “Knight at the Crossroads”, etc.; N. Roerich “Ilya Muromets”, “Morning of the Heroism of Kyiv”, etc.; K. Vasiliev “Ilya Muromets frees prisoners”, “The Gift of Svyatogor”, etc.; I. Bilibin "Ilya Muromets And Nightingale the Robber ", "Dobrynya Nikitich" and others.

V. Vasnetsov “Bogatyrs”

For example, for the figurative embodiment of the heroes beloved by the people, Viktor Vasnetsov managed to find such artistic solutions that made Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, and Alyosha Popovich “alive”. The images of all three are life-true, deeply human, revealed in their personal originality. The heroes stand as a mighty, unshakable outpost, eternally guarding their native land, vigilantly peering into the distance and sensitively listening to everything around them. Through such an outpost, full of majestic calm, courage, consciousness of power, courage, the righteousness of their cause and the readiness to give their lives for their beloved homeland, no one will pass Not a person, not even a bird, can fly from abroad. An irresistible force emanates from the heroes. They are full of folk beauty, they contain the indomitable spirit of the people, ready at any moment to give everything for the “honor and freedom of their native land.”

In each of the heroes, the artist managed to embody the best, typical features of Russian character, Russian strength and valor. The majestic calm that comes from the heroes’ awareness of their rightness and strength saturates the whole picture. The horses under the mighty riders match the riders - powerful, fearless, they look boldly and vigilantly from the canvas. In the background of the picture is the Russian land, their Motherland, which they are ready to defend.

Russian music also introduces us to heroic images: A.P. Borodin “Bogatyrskaya”, M.P. Mussorgsky “Bogatyr Gate”, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov “Sadko”, A. Grechaninov opera"Nikitich" and others.

For example, Alexander Borodin in his symphony No. 2 “Bogatyrskaya” part 1 (based on Vasnetsov’s painting “Bogatyrs”) depicted a meeting of Russian heroes.

The music of this part is based on two themes:

The first theme is menacing, decisive, and sounds quite heavy. This is an image of heroes, heroic strength.

The second theme is soft, melodious, lyrical. Here the composer “paints” the image of his native Russian nature.

Folk proverbs also introduce us to heroic images:

The hero is not famous by birth, but by his feat.
There is no better thing than defending your native land from enemies.
My wealth is heroic strength, my business is to serve Rus' and defend it from enemies.
In the Russian heart there is direct honor and love for Mother Rus'.
The hero will die, but his name will remain.

The monument to Ilya Muromets (sculptor V.M. Klykov), which was installed in 1999 in the city park of Murom, is very famous.

It is like a formidable reminder to all foreign invaders that there are still heroes on Russian soil - heroes and there is someone to defend Russia, that the heroic spirit is alive in each of us.

2.4. Modern heroes.

Are there any heroes in the modern world now? To find out, we decided to meet some of the “great” people of past centuries and our time.

Table 4

Prominent people of Russia

FULL NAME.	Brief information and merits
Athletes : legendary champions - wrestlers I.M. Poddubny and I. S. Yarygin; champions - weightlifters V.I. Alekseev and L.I. Jabotinsky; our fellow countryman (Kulebachan) - champion weightlifter V.P. Sadovnikov and others. We would especially like to mention I.M. Poddubnova.
(1871-1949) professional wrestler and athlete	Comes from a poor peasant family from the Poltava region to a poor peasant family. From an early age he helped his father plow the land and thresh rye. The simplicity of the peasant way of life and hard physical labor instilled extraordinary tenacity in the boy’s character and helped him accumulate powerful strength, for which the Russian nugget would become famous in the future. While working as a loader in the port of Sevastopol, he would lift a huge box onto his shoulders, which was beyond the strength of even three people, rise to his full enormous height and stride along the trembling gangplank. Honored Artist of Russia (1939), Honored Master of Sports (1945). Knight of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1939) “in the development of Soviet sports.” In 1905-08. world champion in classical wrestling among professionals. He fought in the circus arena until he was 70 years old. In 40 years of performances, he has not lost a single competition. He won brilliant victories over almost all the strongest professional wrestlers in the world, for which he was recognized as the “champion of champions.” This title was awarded to him by popular rumor. People called him “Ivan the Invincible”, “Thunderstorm of Champions”, “Man-Mountain”, “Ivan the Iron”. When the German occupation began in the Second World War, Poddubny already had a heart problem at that time, he was 70 years old, but he refused to be evacuated and stayed. The Germans offered him to train German wrestlers, but he remained loyal to his homeland:“I am a Russian wrestler. I will remain so» After the liberation of Yeysk, Ivan Maksimovich traveled to nearby military units and hospitals, spoke with his memories and raised the morale of the people. A monument was erected in Yeisk, there is a museum and a sports school named after him. On the gravestone of I.M. Poddubnogo is carved: “Here lies the Russian hero.”
Military leaders : great Russian commander A.V. Suvorov; Russian commander, Field Marshal General M.I. Kutuzov; marshals commanders of the Great Patriotic War A.M. Vasilevsky and G.K. Zhukov; air marshalsI.N. Kozhedub And A.I. Pokryshkin and others. We would especially like to mention A.V. Suvorov.
Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov (1730-1800) great Russian commander	Born into a military family of noble origin. He spent his childhood on his father's estate in the village. Suvorov grew up weak and was often sick, but his desire for military affairs from an early age and the decision to become a military man inspired Suvorov to strengthen his body. He hardens himself and does physical exercises, makes long treks on foot in any weather, and develops endurance. During his life, the legendary commander fought 63 battles, and all of them were victorious; went through all levels of army service - from private to generalissimo. In two wars against the Ottoman Empire, Suvorov was finally recognized as “the first sword of Russia.” He was awarded numerous awards. Possessing extreme personal courage, he rushed into the heat of battle, paying for it with repeated wounds. Unselfishness, generosity, good nature, simplicity of manner attracted all hearts to him. Suvorov showed a humane attitude towards civilians and prisoners, and severely persecuted looting. Suvorov's patriotism was based on the idea of service to the fatherland, a deep belief in the high fighting abilities of the Russian warrior (“There is no braver Russian anywhere in the world”).Suvorov entered the history of Russia as an innovative commander who made a huge contribution to the development of military art, developed and implemented an original system of views on the methods and forms of warfare and combat, education and training of troops. Suvorov's strategy was offensive in nature. Suvorov's strategy and tactics were outlined by him in his work “The Science of Victory.” The essence of his tactics is the three martial arts: eye, speed, pressure. His name became synonymous with victory, military excellence, heroism and patriotism. Suvorov's legacy is still used in the training and education of Russian troops. “My offspring, please follow my example!..”
Officers and privates of the Great Patriotic War.They are all true heroes of our Motherland. They showed perseverance, courage, ardent love for the Motherland, and fought without sparing their lives for our future and the future of Russia. We will always remember their feat!

We tried to compare the “great” people of our Motherland with the characteristics of a hero.

Characteristics of the hero:

Physical strength - very strong and powerful, endowed with superior strength from birth or later, when spiritually ready.
Strength of spirit - brave, noble, decisive, with a sense of justice, self-esteem, has independence of spirit, willpower, ingenuity, resourcefulness, loves his native land and the world around him, is ready to fight to the end even without hope of victory, to give his life for his homeland and people .
Military - may or may not be trained in martial arts. Free in decisions and from duty of service.
The work of a lifetime is to protect the people and native land from a mortal threat, not out of duty or personal gain (reward), but at the behest of the soul.

We could not find a hero in the native meaning of the word among the “great” people of modern times. Military leaders are more like knights. Athletes compete in competitions without threatening the life of the country, and if suddenly there is a war, they may not go to it. Volunteers are strong in spirit, but may not be superior in strength and may not participate in all wars. But we do not want to say that there are no heroes. Maybe we don’t know about them; modern epics aren’t written about them. And the meaning of the word “hero” is now somewhat blurred.

2.5.Questioning

We conducted a survey of children and adults, where we wanted to find out the awareness and opinions of others: how important the topic of Russian heroes is in our time. 12 primary school children and 12 adults took part in our survey.

Survey results:

To the question “who are the heroes?” children and adults wrote similar responses. General description: Bogatyrs are mighty people of the Russian land, brave, courageous (strong in spirit), warriors, defenders of their Motherland and people.
The most famous heroes:

Among children and adults, the most famous were Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich.

75% of children and 58% of adults would like to be like Ilya Muromets. Because he is the strongest, always defended his native land and was our fellow countryman.

8% of children - on Dobrynya Nikitich, because he was wise, and of the adults, 20% - on Alyosha Popovich, because he was strong, the youngest and savvy.

2% of adults - in Peresvet and Oslyabya - who, after military life, thought about the higher meaning of life, went into monasticism. 17% - 20% of children and adults wanted to be like themselves.

The main qualities of a hero

Children Adults:

Physical strength (67%) - physical strength (75%)

Fortitude (33%) - fortitude (16%)

Strength of spirit is marked by love for the Fatherland, courage, masculinity, resourcefulness, willpower, kindness, sense of justice and others.

Martial art (9%)

Children see a hero not necessarily as a warrior, but as a person always very powerful and strong in spirit. Adults see the hero not only as powerful and strong in spirit, but also knowledgeable in military matters. The main quality is powerful strength.

Attracts in heroes

But both children and adults are attracted to heroes by their spiritual qualities (courage, self-confidence, nobility, helping the weak, fighting for justice, love for the Motherland and its defense).

How did you learn about the heroes?

Children Adults:

Books (epics, tales) (67%) - books (epics, tales) (50%)

Cinema and cartoons (25%) - cinema and cartoons (33%)

Stories, excursions (8%) - stories, excursions (17%)

Children and adults learned about heroes mainly from books.

Can a woman be a hero?

67% of children and 25% of adults believe that it cannot, because a woman has less power and it is not a woman’s business, a woman is the keeper of the hearth and family. And 33% of children and 67% of adults believe that it can, because female wisdom, cunning and ingenuity help a woman win.

Are there any heroes now? Who can you name?

83% of children and 25% of adults believe that there are no real heroes anymore, because over time people have changed or do not know about them, but the heroes remained heroes of antiquity. But 7% of children and 67% of adults believe that even now there are heroes - these are athletes, war soldiers, and generals.

Is it possible to become a hero?

Most children and adults believe that it is possible. To do this, you need to believe in yourself, play sports, be fair, kind, wise, honest, train willpower, spirit, help people, be a patriot. But some children and adults believe that it will not work. Because physical and spiritual data are laid down by nature (God). You can become a good person, a strong athlete, a hero, but not a hero.

Is it honorable to be a hero in our time?

Half of the adults and some of the children believe that it is not honorable to be a hero now. Because over time, the character traits for which heroes were respected ceased to be valued and people’s aspirations changed towards achieving material values. But most children and 42% of adults think it is honorable. Because we lack such people as heroes, who believe in eternal human values, who look to the future with hope and optimism.

3. Our conclusions

As a result of our research, we conducted a survey among children and adults, found out their opinions about the heroes of the past and present; learned the origin of the word “hero”; got acquainted with literature and works of art about Russian heroes; met the epic heroes; meet the “great” people of our and past times; compared the qualities of epic and modern heroes.

I am sure that the topic of our research is very important for any generation, because we must know our past, the great exploits of our people, our heroes. They are an example of courage and valor, the pride of our land and nurture the Russian spirit in us.

Even though modern heroes do not look completely like heroes, they have absorbed part of their power. They are also strong in spirit, they stand guard over peace and life, they show the power and strength of our Motherland. And as long as we have such heroes, as long as we remember them, the heroic spirit of the Russian man is alive.

We think that if we combine the qualities of athletes, military leaders and people's volunteers together, then we will get the image of a real hero.

Nowadays, Russia needs heroes (the environment is dying, culture is dying, the real values of life are being lost).

Let us awaken the heroic spirit in each of us and repel any enemy!

And strong, mighty heroes in glorious Rus'!

Don't allow enemies to gallop across our Earth!

Do not trample their horses on the Russian Land,

They will not outshine our red sun!

Rus' stands a century - it does not waver!

And it will stand for centuries without moving!

4. Materials used.

1.Pictures from the website on the Internet

2. Anikin V.P. Epics. Russian folk tales. Chronicles. M.: Higher School, 1986.

3. Epics. Russian folk tales. M.: Children's literature, 1986.

4. Epics. Russian folk tales. Old Russian stories / Anikin V.P., Likhachev D.S., Mikhelson T.N. M.: Children's literature, 1979.

5. Rybakov B.A. Rus': Legends. Epics. Chronicles. M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences, 1963.

6. Selivanov V.I. Bogatyr epic of the Russian people / Bylina. M.: Soviet literature, 1988. vol.1. – p.5-25.

7. Website Wikipedia

5. Application

5. 1. Essays.

An essay based on the painting “Bogatyrs” by V. M. Vasnetsov, a student of grade 4-B at MBOU Lyceum No. 3, Ilya Bogatov

The painting by V. M. Vasnetsov depicts three heroes. Bogatyrs are powerful and brave. They vigilantly look into the distance, fulfilling their heroic duty. The expression on their faces is serious, their gaze is menacing, they are very collected, ready to fight at any moment. The heroes are very confident in themselves and are ready to die for Rus'.

Ilya Muromets is wearing chain mail, gray mittens on his hands, and boots that match the color of his brown pants. He is holding a large spear. And the mighty hero himself sits on his black horse in the center of the picture.

Dobrynya Nikitich is to the right of Ilya Muromets. He is also dressed like a hero, and in his hands he holds a shield and a sword. His beard is long and well-groomed.

Alyosha Popovich is the youngest of the heroes; he has no beard and is quite thin. He has a bow in his hands.

The Bogatyr horses are well-groomed and beautiful. Their manes and tails flutter in the wind. The artist depicted the Christmas trees in the foreground of the picture as small and the heroes as large, this emphasizes the power and strength of the heroes. The sky in the picture is gloomy, everything is covered with heavy gray clouds, and there is a strong wind that sways the grass and flutters the horses' manes.

I really liked this picture. I am proud of our Motherland, its heroes - heroes who, in difficult times, stood up to defend the country and the common people.

An essay based on the painting “Bogatyrs” by V. M. Vasnetsov, a student of grade 4-A at MBOU Lyceum No. 3 Anastasia Kurova

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov worked on the painting “Bogatyrs” for twenty years. And on April 23, 1898, it was completed and purchased by Tretyakov for his gallery.

The painting depicts three heroes - Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich. Ilya Muromets is powerful, wise, he is in the center on a black horse. He is the eldest of the heroes. And the horse is a match for him. He is dressed in chain mail. He has a spear in one hand and a club in the other. On the left, on a white horse, is a decisive, impetuous, noble hero - Dobrynya Nikitich. He is the only one from a noble family. Dressed in chain mail, he has a pointed helmet on his head, and foreign boots on his feet. The horse has elegant harness, with three golden crescents, this is a sign of victory over the Tatars. On the right, on a bay horse, Alyosha Popovich holds a bow and arrows in his hands. Compared to his comrades, he is young and slender. Alyosha has a quiver at his side. His horse bent his head so that the rider could shoot at any moment.

Three heroes stand on a wide plain that turns into a low hill, in the middle of which we see withered grass and occasionally small fir trees peeking through. The sky in the picture is cloudy and alarming, meaning danger threatening the heroes.

Vasnetsov wanted us to be proud of our heroic ancestors, remember them, and love the land where we were born.

The picture evokes a feeling of confidence that the heroes are invincible.

5.2. Drawings.

Drawing “Ilya Muromets”4-B grade student Ilya Chekhlov

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Russian heroes: who are they? Completed by: Student 4 “b” class MBOU Lyceum No. 3 Mityanov Dmitry Supervisor: Mokrova O.V. primary school teacher Consultant: Mityanova A. A.

And strong, mighty heroes in glorious Rus'! Don't allow enemies to gallop across our Earth! Do not trample their horses on the Russian Land, Do not eclipse our red sun for them! Rus' stands a century - it does not waver! And it will stand for centuries without moving!

The purpose of the study is to find out who the epic heroes are, whether there are heroes in modern life now. Hypotheses: Let’s assume that heroes are defenders from enemies, warriors with great strength. It is possible that the heroes lived a very long time ago and are no longer there. What if the hero is an example of the great spirit of the Russian person. Russian heroes: who are they?

Study plan

Study of the word “hero” “Bogatyr” in those distant times when this word was born meant one who is superior in immeasurable (cannot be measured) power from God and carries it within himself (spiritually strong), “rich” - not in gold and diamonds, but spiritually and physically.

Epic heroes Gorynya (Sverni-gora, Vertigor) Dubynya (Dubynech, Vernidub, Vyrvi-oak) Usynya (Usynych, Usynka, Krutius) Danube Ivanovich Svyatogor

Epic heroes Mikula Selyaninovich Alyosha Popovich Dobrynya Nikitich Ilya Muromets

Epic heroes in Russian culture Painting by V. Vasnetsov “Bogatyrs” Excerpts from essays on the painting “Bogatyrs” by 4th grade students at MBOU Lyceum No. 3: “I am looking at the painting by V. M. Vasnetsov “Bogatyrs.” On it we see three heroes, three heroes whom the people sang in their epics and legends..." (Levkin E.) "... In the center of the picture is the most important of the heroes - Ilya Muromets. Next to him are Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich...” (Sukhareva L.) “... Mighty, brave heroes. They vigilantly look into the distance, fulfilling their heroic duty. The expression on their faces is serious, their gaze is menacing... They are ready to rush into battle at any moment..." (Bogatov I.)

Epic heroes in the drawings of students Drawing “Ilya Muromets” by 4-B grade student Ilya Chekhlov Drawing “The Fight of a Hero with Dark Forces” by 4-B grade student Dmitry Mityanov

Epic heroes in Russian culture Monument to Ilya Muromets in Murom (sculptor V.M. Klykov) Composer A.P. Borodin Symphony No. 2 “Bogatyrskaya”

Modern heroes Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny (1871-1949) professional wrestler and athlete Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (1730-1800) great Russian commander Nikolai Gastello Alexey Meresyev Alexander Matrosov

Public opinion poll Who are the heroes? What heroes do you know? How did you learn about the heroes? What qualities and skills are endowed with heroes? What is attractive about heroes, why are epic heroes national heroes? Which hero would you like to be like? Why? Do you think a woman can be a hero? Why? Are there any heroes now? List who you know. Can those who defended our Motherland during the Great Patriotic War be called heroes? Why? Is it possible to become a hero? How? Is it honorable to be a hero in our time? Why?

Survey results 1. Bogatyrs are powerful people of the Russian land, brave, courageous (strong in spirit), warriors, defenders of their Motherland and people. 2. The most famous heroes: 3. The main qualities of a hero: Children: Adults: - physical strength (67%) - physical strength (75%) - fortitude (33%) - fortitude (16%) - military art (9% ) 4 . What attracts heroes is spiritual qualities (courage, self-confidence, nobility, helping the weak, fighting for justice, love for the Motherland and its defense).

Survey results 5 . How did you learn about the heroes? Children: Adults: - books (epics, tales) (67%) - books (epics, tales) (50%) movies and cartoons (25%) - movies and cartoons (33%) stories, excursions (8%) - stories , excursions (17%) 6. Can a woman be a hero? 67% of children and 25% of adults believe that he cannot, 33% of children and 67% of adults believe that he can 7. Are there any heroes now? Who can you name? 83% of children and 25% of adults believe that there are real heroes; 7% of children and 67% of adults believe that there are heroes even now

9. Is it honorable in our time to be a hero? Survey results 8. Is it possible to become a hero?

My conclusions The topic of our research is very important for any generation, because we must know our past, the great exploits of our people, our heroes. They are an example of courage and valor, the pride of our land and nurture the Russian spirit in us. Modern heroes are not completely similar to heroes, but they have absorbed part of their power. They are also strong in spirit, they stand guard over peace and life, they show the power and strength of our Motherland. Nowadays, Russia needs heroes (the environment is dying, culture is dying, the real values of life are being lost).

1. Ilya Muromets. Holy hero

2. Bova Korolevich. Lubok hero

3. Alyosha Popovich. Junior

4. Svyatogor. Mega-hero

5. Dobrynya Nikitich. A well-connected hero

6. Duke Stepanovich. Bogatyr Major

7. Mikula Selyaninovich. Bogatyr Plowman

8. Volga Svyatoslavovich. Bogatyr magician

9. Sukhman Odikhmantievich. Insulted hero

10. Danube Ivanovich. Tragic hero

11. Mikhailo Potyk. Faithful husband

12. Khoten Bludovich. Bogatyr-groom

13. Vasily Buslaev. Zealous hero

14. Anika warrior. Bogatyr in words

15. Nikita Kozhemyaka. Wyrm Fighter

Origin of the word "hero"

Epics

Classification

Senior heroes

Younger heroes

Review of the most important epic heroes of Kievan Rus

Svyatogor

Mikula Selyaninovich

Volga Svyatoslavovich, or Volkh Vseslavich

Sukhan, or Sukhmantiy, or Sukhman Damantievich

Kolyvan

Danube Ivanovich

Ilya Muromets

Alesha Popovich

Nikitich

Mikhail Potyk or Potok

Ivan Gostiny son

Hoten or Gorden Bludovich

Solovey Budimirovich

Ivan Danilovich and Stavr Godinovich

Other Russian heroes

"Visiting heroes"

Bogatyrs of the Novgorod type

Nart heroes

Svyatogor

Mikula Selyaninovich. Bogatyr Plowman

Volga Svyatoslavovich. Bogatyr-Wolkh

Sukhman Odikhmantievich. Insulted hero

Ilya Muromets. Holy hero

Nikitich. A well-connected hero

Alesha Popovich. Junior

Duke Stepanovich. Rich and noble

Danube Ivanovich. Tragic hero

Mikhailo Potyk. Faithful husband

Khoten Bludovich. Bogatyr-groom

Nikita Kozhemyaka. Wyrm Fighter

Bova Korolevich. Lubok hero

Vasily Buslaev. Zealous hero

Anika warrior. Bogatyr in words

Svyatogor

Mikula Selyaninovich

Volga Svyatoslavich

Sukhman Odikhmantievich

Danube Ivanovich

Mikhailo Potyk

Hoten Bludovich

Nikita Kozhemyaka

Vasily Buslaev

Duke Stepanovich

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