You do not need to be a philologist to notice that the words "epic" and "reality" have the same root. Initially, the works to which we give the definition of "epics" were called old. They received their current name in the 19th century with the light hand of a scientist, a collector of folklore Sakharov, according to a line from The Tale of Igor's Campaign: "Begin your songs according to the epic of this time, and not according to Boyan's plan!".
Epics - a true story?
The researchers of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" give the following definition of the word "epic" found in the work: "a true story, what happened in reality." But the epics tell of heroes fighting alone with countless regiments of adversaries. An obvious exaggeration and a fairy tale. Could it really be that a person with a higher university education, who has been collecting folklore all his life, publishing articles on archeology and ethnography, could make such a mistake, use such an incorrect definition of an epic? A complicated story that we will try to understand.
The definition for schoolchildren explains this very easily: the Old Russian heroes of which were heroes. The plot basis is a heroic event, where "ours successfully beat the damned invaders and oppressors of Russia." Written in a special verse called epic. This is a tonic verse with the same number of stressed syllables per line.
Epics: definition of the genre
Epics were performed by storytellers, as a rule, accompanying themselves on the harp, they sang. Epics were not recorded, and the authors who composed them are unknown. Therefore, these are epic songs related to oral folk art. These songs are unusual in that there is no rhyme in them, but there are many poetic turns (parallelisms, epithets, comparisons). Epics consist of two parts: this is the beginning (as a rule, each storyteller had his own) and the work itself, that which received the definition of "epic". Due to the fact that the epics were not recorded, each storyteller brought something of his own to them, there are several versions of the song based on the same plot.
historicism
Was there a real basis in the old epic songs? Was. Sakharov was not mistaken when he applied the definition of the word "epic" to the old days. In any case, the grave of Ilya Muromets is real, located in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. There are specific references to another hero - Alyosha Popovich, who died in the Novgorod Chronicle tells how another epic character, Stavr Godinovich, robbed two Novgorodians, for which he was punished by Vladimir Monomakh. Yes, and the description of relationships, life, the area where the actions of the epics take place are amazingly accurate. But still, one should not forget that epics are not chronicles, and were sung from memory by many performers. After all, those who composed and sang them did not know the definition of "epic" and did not suspect that the time would come when all this would become an object for study. Therefore, there is no 100% historicism in them and cannot be.
The most famous epic heroes
The oldest of the epic heroes is Svyatogor. It is so big that the earth can hardly bear it. Legends about him were formed in the pre-Kiev period. Before his death, Svyatogor transferred his power and weapons to Ilya Muromets.
The following three most famous heroes, whom we are used to seeing in the painting of the same name by Vasnetsov: Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich.
Muromets is the most famous of the heroes in Russian folklore, despite the fact that they told about him much later than about his companions in the Vasnetsov picture. From his name it is clear that he was born in Murom. In the epics describing his life, the place of birth is mentioned: the village of Karacharovo. Narrators described him as the strongest of the three heroes, wise with experience, a gray-bearded warrior.
Dobrynya Nikitich is the most diplomatic of the trio. Skilled negotiator. Known as a snake fighter. The city of Ryazan was the birthplace of this epic hero.
Alyosha Popovich is the youngest of the valiant trio. Born in the family of a priest, in the city of Rostov. Heather, likes to joke, show off over the enemy. Sharp on the tongue. As they say, young and green. By the way, the personality of Alyosha is still controversial among researchers of epic creativity and among historians. The fact is that the mention of the death of Popovich is in the annals when describing the battle on This was described above. But he got into the annals under the name Alexander. Now scientists are scratching their heads, which is primary: a chronicle, and then epics about a young hero, or epics, and then an entry in the annals. This dispute is fundamental, because if at first there was a chronicle, then epics were composed about a real-life warrior.
The influence of epics on Russian culture
Great. Invaluable. By and large, a separate article can be devoted to this subtopic.
We find a reflection of epic creativity in the tales of A.S. Pushkin, in poetic ballads by A. Tolstoy.
Who does not know Borodin's second symphony, which is called "Bogatyrskaya"? Since we are talking about music, how can we not remember the opera "Sadko" by Rimsky-Korsakov?
The theme of epic antiquity and heroes inspired Vasnetsov, Vrubel and Bilibin.
That is, we can confidently say that epics are a deep, inexhaustible source of inspiration when creating colorful images of Russian knights, as well as when describing the ancient times of Russia.
