Rhea, christened by Kron, bore him bright children, - the Virgin - Hestia, Demeter and the golden-shod Hera, the glorious power of Hades, who lives under the earth, And the providence - Zeus, the father of both immortals and mortals, whose thunders tremble the wide earth. Hesiod "Theogony"

Greek literature originated from mythology. Myth- this is the idea of ​​​​an ancient person about the world around him. Myths were created at a very early stage in the development of society in various areas of Greece. Later, all these myths merged into a single system.

With the help of myths, the ancient Greeks tried to explain all natural phenomena, presenting them in the form of living beings. At first, experiencing a strong fear of the elements, people portrayed the gods in a terrible animal form (Chimera, Gorgon Medusa, Sphinx, Lernean Hydra).

Later, however, the gods become anthropomorphic, that is, they have a human appearance and they have a variety of human qualities (jealousy, generosity, envy, generosity). The main difference between the gods and people was their immortality, but with all their greatness, the gods communicated with mere mortals and even often entered into love relationships with them in order to give birth to a whole tribe of heroes on earth.

There are 2 types of ancient Greek mythology:

1. cosmogonic (cosmogony - the origin of the world) - ends with the birth of Kronos
2. theogonic (theogony - the origin of gods and deities)

The mythology of Ancient Greece went through 3 main stages in its development:

1. pre-Olympic- this is basically a cosmogonic mythology. This stage begins with the idea of ​​the ancient Greeks that everything came from Chaos, and ends with the murder of Kron and the division of the world between the gods.
2. Olympic(early classic) - Zeus becomes the supreme deity and with a retinue of 12 gods settles on Olympus.
3. late heroism- heroes are born from the gods and mortals, who help the gods in establishing order and in the destruction of monsters.

On the basis of mythology, poems were created, tragedies were written, and lyricists dedicated their odes and hymns to the gods.

There were two main groups of gods in Ancient Greece:

1. titans - gods of the second generation (six brothers - Oceanus, Kei, Crius, Gipperion, Iapetus, Kronos and six sisters - Thetis, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Teia, Themis, Rhea)
2. olympic gods - Olympians - gods of the third generation. The Olympians included the children of Kronos and Rhea - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, as well as their descendants - Hephaestus, Hermes, Persephone, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Athena, Apollo and Artemis. The supreme god was Zeus, who deprived the power of his father Kronos (the god of time).

The Greek pantheon of the Olympian gods traditionally included 12 gods, but the composition of the pantheon was not very stable and sometimes consisted of 14-15 gods. Usually they were: Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hestia, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Hades. The Olympic gods lived on the sacred Mount Olympus ( Olympos) in Olympia, off the coast of the Aegean Sea.

Translated from ancient Greek, the word pantheon means "all gods". Greeks

divided the deities into three groups:

• Pantheon (great Olympian gods)
• Inferior deities
• monsters

Heroes occupied a special place in Greek mythology. The most famous of them:

v Odysseus

Supreme gods of Olympus

Greek gods	Functions	roman gods
	god of thunder and lightning, sky and weather, law and fate, attributes - lightning (three-pronged pitchfork with notches), scepter, eagle or chariot drawn by eagles
	goddess of marriage and family, goddess of the sky and starry skies, attributes - diadem (crown), lotus, lion, cuckoo or hawk, peacock (two peacocks drove her wagon)
Aphrodite	"foam-born", the goddess of love and beauty, Athena, Artemis and Hestia were not subject to her, attributes - a rose, an apple, a shell, a mirror, a lily, a violet, a belt and a golden bowl that bestows eternal youth, a retinue - sparrows, doves, a dolphin, satellites - Eros, charites, nymphs, ororas.
	god of the underworld of the dead, "generous" and "hospitable", attribute - magic cap of invisibility and three-headed dog Cerberus
	the god of insidious war, military destruction and murder, he was accompanied by the goddess of discord Eris and the goddess of violent war Enyo, attributes - dogs, a torch and a spear, there were 4 horses in the chariot - Noise, Horror, Shine and Flame
	god of fire and blacksmithing, ugly and lame on both legs, attribute - blacksmith's hammer
	the goddess of wisdom, crafts and art, the goddess of just war and military strategy, the patroness of heroes, the “owl-eyed”, used male attributes (helmet, shield - aegis from the skin of the goat Amalthea, decorated with the head of Medusa Gorgon, spear, olive, owl and snake), was accompanied by Nicky
	god of invention, theft, trickery, trade and eloquence, patron of heralds, ambassadors, shepherds and travelers, invented measures, numbers, taught people, attributes - a winged rod and winged sandals	Mercury
Poseidon	god of the seas and all water bodies, floods, droughts and earthquakes, patron of sailors, attribute - a trident that causes storms, breaks rocks, knocks out springs, sacred animals - a bull, a dolphin, a horse, a sacred tree - a pine
Artemis	goddess of hunting, fertility and female chastity, later - goddess of the moon, patroness of forests and wild animals, forever young, she is accompanied by nymphs, attributes - hunting bow and arrows, sacred animals - doe and bear
Apollo (Phoebus), Kifared	“golden-haired”, “silver-armed”, god of light, harmony and beauty, patron of arts and sciences, leader of the muses, predictor of the future, attributes - silver bow and golden arrows, golden cithara or lyre, symbols - olive, iron, laurel, palm tree, dolphin , swan, wolf
	goddess of the hearth and sacrificial fire, virgin goddess. was accompanied by 6 priestesses - vestals who served the goddess for 30 years
	"Mother Earth", the goddess of fertility and agriculture, plowing and harvest, attributes - a sheaf of wheat and a torch
	god of fruitful forces, vegetation, viticulture, winemaking, inspiration and fun	Bacchus, Bacchus

Minor Greek gods

Greek gods	Functions	roman gods
Asclepius	"opener", god of healing and medicine, attribute - a staff entwined with snakes
Eros, Cupid	the god of love, the “winged boy”, was considered the product of a dark night and a bright day, Heaven and Earth, attributes - a flower and a lyre, later - arrows of love and a flaming torch
	"the sparkling eye of the night", the goddess of the moon, the queen of the starry sky, has wings and a golden crown
Persephone	goddess of the realm of the dead and fertility	Proserpina
	the goddess of victory, depicted winged or in a pose of rapid movement, attributes - a bandage, a wreath, later - a palm tree, then - a weapon and a trophy	Victoria
	goddess of eternal youth, depicted as a chaste girl pouring nectar
	“pink-fingered”, “beautiful-haired”, “golden-throned” goddess of the dawn
	goddess of happiness, chance and good luck
	god of the sun, owner of seven herds of cows and seven herds of sheep
Kronos (Chronos)	god of time, attribute - sickle
	goddess of furious war
Hypnos (Morpheus)
	goddess of flowers and gardens
	god of the west wind, messenger of the gods
Dike (Themis)	goddess of justice, justice, attributes - scales in the right hand, blindfold, cornucopia in the left hand; The Romans put a sword into the hand of the goddess instead of a horn
	god of marriage	Thalassium
Nemesis	winged goddess of revenge and retribution, punishing for violation of social and moral norms, attributes - scales and bridle, sword or whip, chariot drawn by griffins	Adrastea
	golden-winged goddess of the rainbow
	earth goddess

In addition to Olympus, in Greece there was a sacred mountain Parnassus, where muses - 9 sisters, Greek deities who personified poetic and musical inspiration, patrons of the arts and sciences.

Greek Muses

	What patronizes	Attributes
Calliope ("beautiful")	muse of epic or heroic poetry	wax tablet and stylus (bronze rod for writing)
("glorifying")	muse of history	papyrus scroll or scroll case
("pleasant")	muse of love or erotic poetry, lyrics and marriage songs	kifara (stringed musical instrument, a kind of lyre)
("beautiful")	muse of music and lyric poetry	avlos (a wind musical instrument similar to a pipe with a double tongue, the predecessor of the oboe) and syringa (a musical instrument, a kind of longitudinal flute)
("celestial")	muse of astronomy	spotting scope and leaf with celestial signs
Melpomene ("singing")	muse of tragedy	wreath of vine leaves or ivy, theatrical mantle, tragic mask, sword or club.
Terpsichore ("delightful dancing")	muse of dance	head wreath, lyre and plectrum (mediator)
polyhymnia ("multi-singing")	muse of sacred song, eloquence, lyric, chant and rhetoric
("blooming")	muse of comedy and bucolic poetry	comic mask in hands and wreath ivy on the head

Inferior deities in Greek mythology, these are satyrs, nymphs and ororas.

satires - (Greek satyroi) - these are forest deities (the same as in Russia goblin), demons fertility, retinue of Dionysus. They were depicted as goat-legged, hairy, with horse tails and small horns. Satyrs are indifferent to people, mischievous and cheerful, they were interested in hunting, wine, pursued forest nymphs. Their other hobby is music, but they only played wind instruments that make sharp, piercing sounds - flutes and pipes. In mythology, they personified a rough, base beginning in nature and man, therefore they were represented with ugly faces - with blunt, wide noses, swollen nostrils, disheveled hair.

nymphs - (the name means "source", among the Romans - "bride") the personification of living elemental forces, noticed in the murmur of a stream, in the growth of trees, in the wild charms of mountains and forests, spirits of the earth's surface, manifestations of natural forces acting in addition to man in the solitude of grottoes , valleys, forests, away from cultural centers. They were depicted as beautiful young girls with wonderful hair, with a dress of wreaths and flowers, sometimes in a dancing pose, with bare legs and arms, with loose hair. They are engaged in yarn, weaving, sing songs, dance in the meadows to the flute of Pan, hunt with Artemis, participate in the noisy orgies of Dionysus, and are constantly fighting with annoying satyrs. In the view of the ancient Greeks, the world of nymphs was very extensive.

The azure pond was full of flying nymphs,
Dryads animated the garden,
And the bright water spring was sparkling from the urn
Laughing naiads.

F. Schiller

Nymphs of the mountains oreads,

nymphs of forests and trees - dryads,

spring nymphs - naiads,

nymphs of the oceans oceanides,

nymphs of the sea nerids,

nymphs of the valleys sing,

meadow nymphs - limeades.

Ora - the goddess of the seasons, they were in charge of order in nature. Guardians of Olympus, now opening, then closing its cloudy gates. They are called gatekeepers of heaven. Harness the horses of Helios.

In many mythologies, there are numerous monsters. In ancient Greek mythology, there were also many of them: Chimera, Sphinx, Lernean Hydra, Echidna and many others.

In the same vestibule, the shadows of monsters crowd around:

Scylla biform here and herds of centaurs live,

Here Briares the hundred-handed lives, and the dragon from Lerna

The swamp hisses, and the Chimera intimidates enemies with fire,

Harpies fly in a flock around the three-bodied giants ...

Virgil, "Aeneid"

Harpies - these are evil abductors of children and human souls, suddenly flying in and just as suddenly disappearing like the wind, terrifying people. Their number ranges from two to five; depicted as wild, half-female, half-birds of a disgusting appearance with wings and paws of a vulture, with long sharp claws, but with the head and chest of a woman.

Gorgon Medusa - a monster with a woman's face and snakes instead of hair, whose gaze turned a person to stone. According to legend, she was a beautiful girl with beautiful hair. Poseidon, seeing Medusa and falling in love, seduced her in the temple of Athena, for which the goddess of wisdom in anger turned the hair of the Gorgon Medusa into snakes. The Gorgon Medusa was defeated by Perseus, and her head was placed on the auspices of Athena.

Minotaur - a monster with a human body and a bull's head. He was born from the unnatural love of Pasiphae (wife of King Minos) and a bull. Minos hid the monster in the labyrinth of Knossos. Every eight years, 7 boys and 7 girls descended into the labyrinth, intended for the Minotaur as victims. Theseus defeated the Minotaur, and with the help of Ariadne, who gave him a ball of thread, got out of the labyrinth.

Cerberus (Cerberus) - this is a three-headed dog with a snake tail and snake heads on its back, guarding the exit from the kingdom of Hades, not allowing the dead to return to the kingdom of the living. He was defeated by Hercules during one of the labors.

Scylla and Charybdis - These are sea monsters located at the distance of an arrow flight from each other. Charybdis is a sea whirlpool that absorbs and spews water three times a day. Scylla ("barking") - a monster in the form of a woman, whose lower body was turned into 6 dog heads. When the ship passed the rock where Scylla lived, the monster, opening all its mouths, abducted 6 people from the ship at once. The narrow strait between Scylla and Charybdis was a mortal danger to all who sailed through it.

Also in ancient Greece, there were other mythical characters.

Pegasus - a winged horse, a favorite of the muses. Flying at the speed of the wind. To ride a Pegasus meant to receive poetic inspiration. He was born at the origins of the Ocean, therefore he was named Pegasus (from the Greek "stormy current"). According to one version, he jumped out of the body of the Gorgon Medusa after Perseus cut off her head. Pegasus delivered thunder and lightning to Zeus on Olympus from Hephaestus, who made them.

From the foam of the sea, from the azure wave,

Faster than an arrow and more beautiful than a string,

An amazing fairytale horse is flying

And easily catches heavenly fire!

He likes to splash in colored clouds,

And often walks in magic verses.

So that the ray of inspiration in the soul does not go out,

I saddle you, snow-white Pegasus!

Unicorn - a mythical creature symbolizing chastity. Usually depicted as a horse with one horn coming out of his forehead. The Greeks believed that the unicorn belonged to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Subsequently, in medieval legends, there was a version that only a virgin could tame him. Having caught a unicorn, it can only be held by a golden bridle.

centaurs - wild mortal creatures with the head and torso of a man on the body of a horse, inhabitants of mountains and forest thickets, accompany Dionysus and are distinguished by their violent temper and intemperance. Presumably, centaurs were originally the embodiment of mountain rivers and turbulent streams. In heroic myths, centaurs are the educators of heroes. For example, Achilles and Jason were raised by the centaur Chiron.

On the one hand, this concept hides the first historically established form of culture. On the other hand, the myth traces the changes that took place in the spiritual life of a person. Moreover, we see them even today, when these ancient legends have long lost their dominance.

Speaking in scientific language, the essence of a myth is nothing more than the semantic unconscious twinning of people with the forces of being of nature or society. But if we consider the ordinary understanding of this concept, then it is understood as biblical, ancient, as well as other old "tales" that tell about the creation of man and the world, as well as stories about the adventures of ancient heroes and gods - Odysseus and Zeus, Dionysus and Apollo, etc. .d.

And there is nothing surprising in the fact that the word "myth" has its roots in ancient Greece. Translated from the language of this people, it means "tale", "tradition". What does the word "mythology" mean?

Concept definition

The meaning of the words "myth" and "mythology" are close in meaning. And if we are already familiar with the first of them, then what does the second concept indicate? The meaning of the word "mythology" is "the presentation of legends." This is his literal translation from the Greek. At the same time, the origin of the word "mythology" becomes clear. It is closely connected with ancient tales and legends and means their retelling from one person to another. This is the opinion of the majority of the inhabitants. Based on the fact that legends are represented by ancient tales and entertaining stories about heroes and gods who lived in ancient times, mythology is considered a collection of such narratives that have nothing to do with reality.

However, scientists have a slightly different opinion on this matter. Their definition of the word "mythology" is an expression of a special kind of social consciousness, a peculiar way of understanding the surrounding reality, which was inherent in people in the early stages of development. Ancient man considered himself one with nature. Such unity led to the fact that the world was understood as something living. For a man who lived in ancient times, space and stone, the luminary and the river, wood and stone were just as alive as all people. At the same time, the main rule at that time was that the world treats a person in the same way as he treats every thing in it. That is why people began to animate nature, to personify things and phenomena, to compare everything that surrounds them with society. They transferred either their properties to the objects of the surrounding world, which is called anthropomorphism, or animals (that is, zoomorphism). Thanks to this, bizarre mythological fiction was born. An example of this is the ancient Greek centaur, as well as the East Slavic winged dog Simargl. Tribal relations were also transferred to nature by people. We can also see this in myths, where there are family and tribal ties between heroes, spirits and gods, similar to human ones.

Syncretism as a characteristic feature of ancient legends

What is mythology? This is a concept, the main features of which are syncretism and symbolism, geneticism and etiologism. Let's consider them in more detail.

The word "syncretism" in translation means "connection". This is a concept that characterizes mythology as knowledge, which is undivided due to its underdevelopment. If we consider modern ideas about the world, then it can be divided into a number of branches, each of which comprehends certain facts of reality in its own way. In ancient times, people tried to explain everything with myths alone. For example, why it rains, how the world appeared, where people came from, and also why they get sick from time to time and die at the end of their lives.

In myths, we can see the beginnings of various forms of arts, religion, as well as rational knowledge transmitted to future generations. Already in the early stages of the development of human society, the legends created by people were closely connected with religious rituals and beliefs. In myths, the system of norms of behavior and values ​​adopted in human society was affirmed and transmitted. Our ancestors considered the content of such legends to be real, since they contained the collective experience of a number of generations, which was the subject of faith and was not subjected to critical rethinking.

Ancient man possessed indivisibility of thinking. And this was clearly manifested in the mythological consciousness, which did not divide the phenomenon and the essence, the word and the thing, the name and the named. In the narration of an ancient legend, all objects are brought together in their external sensory characteristics. An example of this is lightning with an arrow.

Symbolism

What is mythology? This is an attempt to explain natural phenomena, when a person did not even try to delve into the search for essence. That is why in the ancient legends the superficially similar was presented only as identical. This is the second important property of mythology, that is, symbolism. What happens with this? Certain objects, as well as phenomena, turn into signs of other objects and phenomena. In other words, they begin to symbolically replace them.

geneticism

Very often in ancient legends, people passed off the origin of an object as its essence. This property is called genetics. Translated from Greek, this word means "origin", "birth".

In mythology, the explanation of a thing or phenomenon means a story about their occurrence.

Etiologism

This property, inherent in mythology, has a direct connection with geneticism. Translated from Greek, this concept means cause. From myths, people learned why all natural phenomena, surrounding objects, as well as living beings are exactly the way they are. In all ancient legends, the narrative about the structure of the world looked like a story about the origin of certain of its elements. At the same time, we can also get acquainted with a number of etiological legends proper. These are myths that are short narratives and give an explanation of the features of a phenomenon or object.

Considering the geneticism and etiologism of ancient legends, one essential detail becomes obvious. It includes the moment of the appearance of a thing or mythological time. It has sharp differences from the period of the narrative. At the same time, such mythological time has a sacred (sacred) character and serves as a model for the repetition of an event at the present moment.

From the foregoing, we can conclude that myths are far from legends, fairy tales or funny stories. This is a heritage that reflects the most ancient knowledge. What is mythology, then? It is nothing more than the oldest way by which people comprehended the world around them, while explaining not only the phenomena of nature and other existing order of things. With the help of mythology, man learned how he should act in this world.

Grouping of ancient tales

The myths of the various peoples inhabiting our planet are very diverse. However, if you study them, you can notice in these legends some similar motives, themes and features. Similar properties made it possible to classify myths, combining them into certain groups.

Most ancient legends were composed about animals. Such myths often told about those representatives of the world of fauna, whom man considered his ancestors. These are the so-called totem animals. However, this group includes myths and a slightly different direction. They talk about how sometimes a person turned into an animal. An example of this is one of the ancient Greek myths about the weaver Arachne. This skilled craftswoman was turned into a spider by Athena. This group also includes the East Slavic myth, which speaks of Volkh Vseslavovich, the werewolf prince.

Another type of ancient legends is astral. These are myths that tell us about heavenly bodies. Sometimes they are subdivided into additional subgroups. So, legends about planets and stars are distinguished separately. There are also solar myths about the Sun and lunar myths about the Moon. The central group includes legends telling about the origin of the cosmos. They are called cosmogonic. Stories about the appearance of gods (theogony) are often woven into such legends, which leads to the emergence of complex mythological complexes - theocosmogonies.

In a separate group are myths that explain the origin of man. They are called anthropogony. Very often they are included in the composition of cosmogony, although independent narratives can also be found.

Eschatological myths that tell about the end of the world have a close connection with comogonies. These tales sometimes pointed to the time when the world would cease to exist.

The ancient peoples assigned an important place to myths, which spoke about the origin of the existing cultural goods. These are the skills and objects that the heroes of legends and tales passed on to people. In some cases, this happened personally from myself. An example of this is the Karelian-Finnish Väinämeyanen. Sometimes the heroes of mythology stole cultural goods from the gods. For example, like the ancient Greek Prometheus.

The gods of Slavic mythology did not stand aside either. For example, there is a legend about how people learned blacksmithing. According to him, the god Svarog dropped ticks directly from the sky to the Slavs.

Calendar myths tell us about the culture of the ancient peoples engaged in agriculture. They reflect the cyclicality that is inherent in natural processes. The unchanging sequence of times and their repetition was reflected in the tales of dying and resurrecting gods. In Egyptian mythology, it was Osiris. In Phenicia, Adonis. In Thrace - Dionysus. The Slavs have Yarilo.

The groups of myths listed above are the largest. However, there are many other stories as well. They tell about fate and death, the afterlife.

As in many other areas, classification in mythology is rather arbitrary. But even this above distinction allows us to orient ourselves as best as possible in the endless and intricate labyrinths of this direction.

Legends and religion

What is mythology? These are narratives that have a close connection with the religious ideas of man. After all, both in those and in others there are ritual actions and appeals to the gods, to spirits and to miraculous phenomena. But unlike religious beliefs, in myths, supernatural forces play a secondary role. Appeal to them is necessary only to explain natural phenomena.

As for religious ideas, the supernatural was given the main role in them. At the same time, all ongoing processes are placed in complete dependence on the desire of the gods.

At a certain stage in the development of human society, religious consciousness occupied a dominant position. Myths, however, have become part of the belief system. In doing so, they receded into the background.

Thus, we can say that mythological consciousness is a certain stage in the development of human consciousness. And the path through it was passed by every nation.

ancient mythology

It includes those legends that told people about the gods and goddesses, heroes and demons of Rome and Hellas. The very word "antique" in translation from Latin means "ancient". And here you can include not only any Greek myth, but also Roman. Together they create a single community. That is why in some sources there is such a thing as "Greco-Roman mythology."

Already the most ancient monuments of Greek creativity indicate the predominance of concrete ideas over abstract ones among this people. At the same time, the quantitative ratio of humanoid gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines clearly outweighs the number of deities with abstract meaning.

About whom, as a rule, ancient myths were composed? These are heroes born from the marriages of gods with mortals. In the legends, such people were described as having great strength, as well as superhuman abilities, without endowing them with immortality. The heroes of mythology carried out the will of the deities on earth and brought justice and order into ordinary life. They performed various feats, for which they were revered by people. The most famous heroes of ancient Roman-Greek mythology are:

1. Heracles. Being the son of Zeus and Alimena, he possessed remarkable strength. During his life, he performed twelve feats, about which myths were composed.
2. Achilles. This son of the goddess of the seas, Thetis, and King Pepeus was brought up by the centaur Chiron. From the myths, we know about Achilles as a powerful young man who perfectly owns weapons, and is also familiar with singing and musical instruments. The legends, passed down from generation to generation, tell of his exploits during the Trojan War.
3. Perseus. This is the son of Zeus and Danae - the daughter of the king of Argos. Many myths tell of his miraculous deeds. Some of them are the destruction of the Gorgon Medusa, the salvation of the daughter of King Kefey - the beautiful Andromeda, whom he later married, and many others.
4. Odysseus. Myths tell us about this king of the island of Ithaca as a clever and cunning person. While participating in the Trojan War, they were asked to build a wooden horse, in which the best warriors hid, and leave it near the walls of the besieged city. The trick worked. The Greeks took over Troy. And this is only one of the many exploits of Odysseus, about which ancient legends were composed.

Myths of China

The legends and tales of the people of this country had a special feature. The heroes of Chinese mythology were presented as real figures of ancient times. The main characters of the legends often turned into emperors and rulers, and minor characters - into officials, dignitaries, etc.

Totemic representations were of great importance in Chinese mythology. For example, among the Yin Ci tribes, the totem was a swallow, and among the Xia, a snake. Somewhat later, the bird gradually transformed into a fenghuang and became a symbol of the empress. The snake became a dragon (moon), which commanded water and rain, a thunderstorm, and was associated with underground forces. This totem became a symbol of the sovereign.

The most famous characters of Chinese myths:

Yeaxian is a group of eight immortal characters who bring good luck;

Rong-Cheng, who was a teacher and magician capable of achieving immortality, and who was credited with the invention of the calendar;

Hou Yi - the son of the supreme god, a wonderful shooter who received the elixir of immortality, and also subjugated the winds that devastated the country to his will;

Huangdi - this hero of huge growth with the face of a dragon, a solar horn, four eyes and four faces in Chinese mythology is the personification of the magical powers of the earth itself.

Tales of the Slavs

Many mythological texts created by this people in pagan times have not reached us. The reason for this was the lack of writing, as well as the decisive struggle that the Christian church waged against this belief. However, those mythological ideas that were characteristic of the Eastern Slavs were reflected in the work of some writers. The motives of folk tales are seen in the works of N.V. Gogol, A.S. Pushkin and others. Slavic mythology is also reflected in the poetry of S. Yesenin in a peculiar way. His poems describe the customs and traditions of folk beliefs, which are far from Orthodox canons.

In the unique work of ancient Russia, The Tale of Igor's Campaign, which has survived to this day, pagan symbols were combined with Christian ones. This legend mentions many gods: Veles and Stribog, Hars and Div, Karona and Zhelya, Troyan and Dazhbog. Considering the mythology in the Tale of Igor's Campaign, one can point to the presence of many other images. Among them are Christian (icon) and poetic (falcon, cuckoo, raven, swan), as well as unsolved (Virgin-resentment, Boyan, etc.).



Mythology (Greek mythología, from mýthos - legend, legend and lógos - word, story, teaching)

a fantastic idea of ​​the world, characteristic of a person of a primitive communal formation, as a rule, transmitted in the form of oral narratives - myths, and a science that studies myths. A person who lived in a primitive communal system based on the spontaneous collectivism of his closest relatives understood and was closest to only his communal-tribal relations. He transferred these relationships to everything around him. Earth, sky, flora and fauna were presented as a universal tribal community, in which all objects were thought not only as animated, and often even intelligent, but necessarily related beings. In M. these representations have received the form of generalizations. For example, the craft, taken as a whole, with all its characteristic features, in all its development and with all its historical destinies, was conceived as a kind of living and intelligent being that controlled all possible types and areas of the craft. Hence the mythological images of gods-craftsmen, gods-farmers, gods-cattle-breeders, gods-warriors, etc. arose: the Slavic Veles (Volos) or the Celtic Damon, representing one or another generalization of cattle breeding, the Greek Pallas Athena or the Abkhaz Erysh ( goddesses of spinning and weaving), as well as the gods of fertility, vegetation, guardian gods and patron demons among the Aztecs, in New Zealand, in Nigeria and among many other peoples of the world.

Generalizing concepts in M. arose gradually. Fetishism (when individual things were animated, or rather, a complete non-separation of a thing from the “idea” of the thing itself) was thought, Totemism (the fetishization of a given community or tribe, expressed in the image of one or another founder of this community or tribe). Animism was a higher stage in the development of M. , when a person began to separate the "idea" of a thing from the thing itself.

In connection with the further growth of generalizing and abstracting thinking, a different stage of mythological abstraction was created. It reached the idea of ​​some one "father of men and gods", although at this stage the images of such mythological rulers contained a lot of remnants of fetishistic and animistic antiquity and were deprived of ultimate absolutization. So the Olympian Zeus appeared , who overthrew his predecessors into the underworld, and subjugated the other gods as his children. Homer gives a number of ancient and pre-Olympic features of this Zeus, making his figure historically complex and diverse. Such are the supreme deities, the creators of the world, who arose in the era of patriarchy in Polynesia, Tahiti, among the Yakuts, among African tribes under different names, with different functions and with varying degrees of mythological abstraction.

M.'s development went from chaotic, disharmonious to ordered, proportionate, harmonious, which can be seen when comparing the mythological images of different historical periods. The mythological images of the era of matriarchy were characterized by clumsy, and often even ugly forms and were very far from later plastic harmony. Three-headed, four-headed and fifty-headed, hundred-armed, as well as all kinds of evil and vengeful monsters or half-monsters were very common in the world of Matriarchy in the era of matriarchy (for example, in ancient Babylon - the bestial ruler of the world Tiamat, in Australia - a one-legged murderous spirit, in Tahiti - the god Oro, demanding bloody sacrifices, in North America - 7 giant cannibal brothers, etc.). In the era of patriarchy, ideas about a heroic personality were born and took shape, which defeats the forces of nature, which until then seemed invincible, consciously organizes social life, as well as the protection of this community from the hostile forces of nature and neighboring tribes. For example, the Babylonian Marduk kills the monstrous Tiamat, creating heaven and earth from her body. The famous epic about the hero Gilgamesh e. Iran originated in Babylon. God Mithra fights evil spirits and defeats a terrible bull. The Egyptian god Ra fights the underground serpent Apep. Ancient Greek Zeus defeats the titans, giants and Typhon; performs his 12 labors of Hercules. The German Sigurd kills the dragon Fafnir, Ilya Muromets - the Serpent Gorynych, etc. However, the myths that have come down to us are a complex complex of layers (rudiments) of different eras, for example, the myth of the Cretan Minotaur e. The bull head of the Minotaur indicates that the origin of this image refers to the period of early matriarchy, when man did not yet distinguish himself from animals. The Minotaur is depicted with stars and bears the name of the Star - this is already a cosmic generalization. The Minotaur is killed by the hero Theseus - this part of the myth could only have arisen during the period of patriarchy.

Mythological thinking very early came to all sorts of historical and cosmogonic generalizations. With the transition of people to a settled way of life, when they found themselves economically connected with a particular locality, their idea of ​​the unity of a tribe or clan intensified, the cult of ancestors and the corresponding myths about ancestors (historical M.) appeared. M. was created about the changes of the previous divine and demonic generations (m. cosmogonic and theogonic). Attempts to understand the future, in the afterlife led to the emergence of eschatological M.. Being the worldview of the primitive communal system, every myth also contained a cognitive function, an attempt to understand complex issues: how did a person, the world, what is the secret of life and death, etc.

In the primitive communal formation, M. was a kind of naive faith, the only form of ideology. In the early class society, metaphor became an allegorical form of expression of various kinds of religious, sociopolitical, moral, and philosophical ideas of this society; it was widely used in art and literature. According to the political views and style of this or that author, it received this or that design and use. For example, Pallas Athena in Aeschylus turned out to be the goddess of the rising democratic Athens, and the image of Prometheus was endowed by Aeschylus with advanced and even revolutionary ideas. In this sense, M. never died, mythological images are still used by modern politicians, writers, philosophers and artists. Being for thousands of years a form of awareness of nature and human existence, modern science considers mathematics as a chronicle of the eternal struggle between the old and the new, as a story about human life, its sufferings and joys.

The scientific approach to the study of M. arose in the Renaissance. However, until the 18th century. in Europe, it was mainly ancient M. that was studied; acquaintance with the history, culture, and M. of Egypt, the peoples of America, and the East made it possible to proceed to a comparative study of the M. of different peoples. In the 18th century historical understanding of M. gave the Italian philosopher J. Vico. In comparison with Vico's theory, French enlightenment, with its rejection of the historical approach, which considered M. as a product of ignorance and deceit, as superstition, was a step backwards (B. Fontenel, Voltaire, D. Diderot, C. Montesquieu, and others). On the contrary, the English poet J. MacPherson, the German writer and philosopher I. G. Herder, and others interpreted M. as an expression of popular wisdom. Romanticism increased interest in M. The collection and presentation of folk tales, legends, fairy tales and myths began, the so-called. The mythological school, which interpreted myths as a source of national culture and used mythology to explain the origin and meaning of the phenomena of folklore (its first representatives were the German scholars C. Brentano, J. and W. Grimm, and L. Arnim).

Within the framework of the mythological school in the middle of the 19th century. a number of positivist mythological theories arose: the solar-meteorological theory (German scientists A. Kuhn, M. Müller, Russians - F. I. Buslaev, L. F. Voevodsky, O. F. Miller, etc.), which interpreted myths as an allegory of those or other astronomical and atmospheric phenomena; theory of "lower M." or “demonological” (German scientists W. Schwartz, W. Manhardt, and others), which represented myths as a reflection of the most ordinary phenomena of life; animistic theory, whose supporters transferred ideas about the human soul to all of nature (English scientists E. Tylor, G. Spencer, E. Lang, German - L. Frobenius, Russian - V. Klinger, etc.). It gained wide popularity in the 19th century. historical and philological theory (German scientists G. Usener, U. Wilamowitz-Möllendorff and others, Russians - V. Vlastov, F. F. Zelinsky, E. G. Kagarov, S. A. Zhebelev, N. I. Novosadsky, I. I. Tolstoy and others), who used the methods of literary and linguistic analysis in the study of myths.

Modern bourgeois theories are based solely on the logical and psychological data of the history of human consciousness, as a result of which mathematics is interpreted as the most subtle and highly intellectual phenomenon, which it could not have been at the dawn of human history. These theories are, as a rule, abstract and anti-historical. Among the psychological theories of the 20th century. the concept of the Austrian scientist Z. Freud was very popular, which reduced all the processes of social life and culture to the mental life of the individual, brought to the fore the subconscious, primarily sexual needs, which supposedly are the only factor in all conscious human behavior. One of the greatest Freudians, the Swiss scientist K. Jung, saw in M. the expression of the unconscious fantasy of the primitive human collective. In contrast to Freudianism, the "prelogical theory" (late 20-30s of the 20th century) of the French scientist L. Levy-Bruhl argues that primitive thought is supposedly based only on phenomenal memory and associations by contiguity. The cultural-historical theory of myth-formation is widespread (the English scientists J. Fraser, G. R. Levy, and B. K. Malinovsky; the French scientists, J. Dumézil and P. Centiv; and the American scientists, R. Carpenter, and others). This theory considers every myth as a reflection of ritual and a rethinking of an ancient magical rite. The structural typology of myth (the French scientist C. Lévi-Strauss in the works of the 1950's and early 1970's) sees in mythology a field of unconscious logical operations designed to resolve the contradictions of human consciousness. The mythological theories of bourgeois science, using one or another ability or activity of an individual person (sexual, affective-volitional, mental, religious, scientific, etc.) to explain M., provide an explanation for one side of myth-making.

None of these concepts can explain the social essence of M., because explanations should be sought not in the individual abilities of the human spirit, but in the social conditions that gave rise to the ideology of a particular society and, consequently, its integral part - M. This materialistic concept lies in based on the works of the Soviet scientists A. M. Zolotarev, A. F. Losev, S. A. Tokarev, Yu. P. Frantsev, B. I. Sharevskaya, and others; The cultural-historical interpretation of M. on a Marxist basis and the related comparative historical analysis of the world epic is given by V. Ya. , I. N. Golenishcheva-Kutuzova and others.

Lit.: Marx K., Forms preceding capitalist production, Marx K. and Engels F., Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 46, part 1; Engels F., The origin of the family, private property and the state, ibid., vol. 21; Losev A. F., Dialectic of myth, M., 1930; his, Ancient mythology in its historical development, M., 1957; Frantsev Yu. P., At the origins of religion and free thought, M. - L., 1959; Tokarev S.A., What is mythology?, in the book: Questions of the history of religion and atheism, 1962, c, 10; his, Religion in the history of the peoples of the world, M., 1964; his, Early forms of religion and their development, M., 1964; Meletinsky E. M., The origin of the heroic epos, M., 1963; his, Myths of the ancient world in comparative coverage, in the book: Typology and interconnections of the literatures of the ancient world, M., 1971, p. 68-133; Zolotarev A. M., Tribal system and primitive mythology, M., 1964; Shakhnovich M. I., Primitive mythology and philosophy, L., 1971; Trencheni-Waldapfel I., Mythology, trans. from Hung., M., 1959; Donini A., People, idols and gods, trans. from Italian, M., 1962; Levi-Strauss K., The structure of the myth, "Questions of Philosophy", 1970, no. 7; The mythology of all races, ed. J.A. MacCulloch, v. 1-12, Boston, 1916-1928; Levi-Strauss, C., Mythologiques, t. 1-4, P., 1964-71; Kirk G. S., Myth, its meaning and functions in ancient and other cultures, Berk - Los Ang., 1970. For a list of works on M. as a science, see Art. Mythology, Philosophical Encyclopedia, vol. 3.

A. F. Losev.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

Synonyms:

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Mythology… Spelling Dictionary

- (from the Greek mythos legend, legend and logos word, concept, teaching) a way of understanding the world in the early stages of human history, fantastic stories about its creation, about the deeds of gods and heroes. In M. Cosmos appears as a single whole, ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

from the Greek mutos - legend, legend and logos - word, story) - 1) Fantastic. idea of ​​the world, characteristic of a person of a primitive communal formation. 2) In the narrow sense of the word - a type of oral nar. creativity. 3) The science that studies myths and legends corresponding to them. A person who lived in the conditions of a primitive communal system based on the spontaneous collectivism of his closest relatives understood and was closest to only his community-clan relations. He transferred these relationships to everything around him. The earth, sky, flora and fauna were presented to such a person in the form of a universal tribal community, in which all existing objects were thought not only as animated, and often even intelligent, but necessarily related beings. In M., these representations take the form of generalizations. For example, the craft, taken as a whole, with all its characteristic features, in all its development and with all its ist. destinies, is conceived in the form of some kind of living and intelligent being, who controlled all possible types and areas of craft. This is where the mythology comes from. images of gods-craftsmen, gods-farmers, gods-cattle breeders, gods-warriors, etc.: glory. Veles (Volos) or Celtic Damona, representing one or another generalization of cattle breeding, Greek. Pallas Athena or the Abkhaz Erysh (goddesses of spinning and weaving), as well as the gods of fertility, vegetation, guardian gods and patron demons among the Aztecs, in Nov. Zealand, Nigeria and many others. other peoples of the world. V. I. Lenin defined what he called primitive idealism, and which, obviously, is M., as follows: “... the general (concept, idea) is a separate being” (Soch., vol. 38, p. 370). Generalizing concepts in mathematics do not appear immediately. Being a spiritual reflection defined. steps ist. development, M. has undergone profound changes. Of great importance in the history of M. was the transition from x-va appropriating type (collective-hunting) to producing. When only the finished product of nature was used, in the foreground was the animation of the otd. things, or rather, the complete indistinguishability of the thing from the "idea" of the thing itself. This includes not only fetishism, but also all relevant primitive ideas about plants, animals and man. Totemism is also a fetishization of a given community or a given tribe, expressed in the form of one or another founder of this community or this tribe. When a person had to create the products necessary for life with the help of his own. efforts, the idea of ​​a thing in his mind began to separate from the thing itself and appear as a more or less independent spirit or demon. This period of animation and deification of the idea of ​​a thing instead of the thing itself is already the overcoming of fetishism and is usually called animism. Fetishism, totemism and animism are characteristic in the main. for M. era of matriarchy. Mythological the images of this era reflected the elemental side of communal tribal life, were characterized by clumsy, and often even ugly forms and were very far from the later plasticity and beauty of the heroic. personality. Three-headed, four-headed and fifty-headed, hundred-armed, as well as all sorts of evil and vengeful monsters or half-monsters are very common in the world M. of the era of matriarchy (for example, in Old Babylon - the bestial ruler of the world Tiamat, in Australia - a one-legged murderous spirit, on Tahiti - the god Oro, demanding bloody sacrifices, in North America - 7 giant cannibal brothers, in Tierra del Fuego among the Indians - una - the evil witch Taita), vampirism or sucking blood from a person c.-l. an evil spirit is a fairly popular image. The filthy idol or the Nightingale the Robber of Russian epics also clearly testify to the former dominance of spontaneous and therefore ugly, cruel and merciless forms. In connection with the further growth of generalizing and abstracting thinking, one or another stage of mythological thinking was created. abstraction. At first, the demon of the thing was barely visible, was weak and perished along with the thing itself. Then he strengthened, remained after the death of the detachment. things and already headed a whole class of things of this type. So mythological. abstraction reached the idea of ​​some one "father of people and gods", although at this stage the images of such mythological. lords contained a lot of remnants of the fetishistic and animistic. antiquities and were deprived of the ultimate absolutization. This is how the Olympian Zeus appeared, who settled on Mount Olympus, overthrew his predecessors into the underworld, and subjugated other gods as his children. Homer gives a number of ancient and pre-Olympic features of this Zeus, making his figure historically complex and diverse. Such are the supreme deities, the creators of the world, who arose in the era of patriarchy in Polynesia, Tahiti, and the North-Amer. Indians, Yakuts, Africans. tribes under different names, with different functions and with varying degrees of mythological. abstraction. In the era of patriarchy, ideas about the heroic are born and take shape. personality, which defeats the forces of nature, which until then seemed invincible, consciously organizes societies. life, as well as the protection of a given community or union of communities from the hostile forces of nature and neighboring tribes. For example, the Babylonian Marduk kills the monstrous Tiamat, creating heaven and earth from her body. In Babylon, the famous epic about the hero Gilgamesh arose (see Babylonian-Assyrian religion and mythology). Iran. the god Mithra fights evil spirits and defeats a terrible bull (see Ancient Iranian mythology). Egypt the god Ra fights the underground serpent Apep (see Ancient Egyptian mythology and religion). Other Greek Zeus defeats the titans, giants and Typhon. The world famous Hercules performs his 12 labors (see Ancient Greek mythology and religion). The Germanic Sigurd kills the dragon Fafnir (see Ancient Germanic mythology and religion), Ilya Muromets - the Serpent Gorynych, etc. Thus, the development of M. went from simple to complex: from chaotic, disharmonious to ordered, proportionate, harmonious. However, the myths that have come down to us are a complex complex of layers (rudiments) of different eras. For example, the myth of the Cretan Minotaur. The bull head of the Minotaur testifies that the origin of this image dates back to the period of early matriarchy, when man almost did not distinguish himself from animals. The Minotaur is depicted with stars and bears the name of the Star - this is already a cosmic generalization. The Minotaur is killed by the hero Theseus - this part of the myth could only arise during the period of patriarchy. Mythological thinking, spontaneously arising everywhere, very early came to a different kind of historical. and cosmic generalizations. With the transition of people to a settled way of life, when they found themselves economically connected with a particular locality, their idea of ​​the unity of a tribe or clan was strengthened, and a desire arose to restore the memory of their past. This is how the cult of ancestors appeared, which never did without the corresponding myths about ancestors. Since different figures from the world of the former gods and demons remained in the memory, M. was created by itself about the changes of the former divine and demonic. generations, i.e. M. cosmogonic and theogonic. Attempts to understand the future, in the afterlife, led to the emergence of M. eschatological. World fires, floods, world storms, hunger, thirst, invasions of wild animals - these images are often found in Moscow; they reflect one or another catastrophic. moments in human history. To the same area mythological. ideas, it is also necessary to include the idea of ​​​​destiny, which accompanies man on the heels until he has learned to cognize nature and remake it. Such a division of M. (cosmogonic, eschatological, etc.) is also caused by the fact that every myth that arose in the mind of primitive man contained a cognitive function, an attempt to understand complex issues: how the world, man, in than the mystery of life and death, etc. etc. Moreover, new inventions, changes in society. relations, in the knowledge itself, were consistently fixed in M. However, the explanatory function of the myth still remains in the background for primitive man. In primitive consciousness, rational thinking, fantasy, poetry, religion, based on experience, are merged together, that is, elements of reality and unreality. Historical development leads to the differentiation of these elements, due to which the primitive fusion disintegrates, and the disintegrated elements enter into antagonism. When the Babylonian Adapa breaks the wings of the south. the wind of the gods, Etana rises into the sky for the grass of birth, Gilgamesh is looking for the secret of life and death, gr. Bellerophon is trying to fly to heaven on a horse Pegasus, Hercules cleans the Augean stables by changing the course of the river when in North-Amer. In myths, the Indians, dissatisfied with their creator, raise the sky higher, or when a brave person eats fruits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, despite the prohibitions of the gods - everywhere in these cases, the distinction between knowledge and fantasy, which began in myth, is clearly felt, and this division already borders on their complete mutual antagonism. This can be seen in hundreds of examples, but it seems that the most striking of them is the ancient Greek myth of Prometheus, who, being the cousin of Zeus, forever remained a symbol of the struggle for man against the gods and a symbol of technical and cultural progress in general. In the primitive communal formation, M. was a kind of naive faith, the only form of ideology. In the slave M.'s society becomes one of the forms of expression of various kinds of religious, socio-political, moral and philosophical. ideas of this society, is of a service nature, turns into a philosophy. allegory, is widely used in literature and art (see illustration on a separate sheet to p. 512). Accordingly, the political to the views and style of this or that author of antiquity, it receives this or that design and use. For example, Pallas Athena in Aeschylus turned out to be the goddess of rising democratic. Athens, and the image of Prometheus was endowed by him with advanced and even 3 revolutions. ideas. In this sense, M. never died and her art. the images were designed and still are being designed not at all mythological. ideology and not at all mythological. claim. Marx, for example, finds it necessary to talk about the "miracles" of the modern. economics, on commodity fetishism (see K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 23, pp. 80-93). Quite often, to this day, Mr. and politicians of all trends use mythological images in characterizing their views. Being for thousands of years a form of awareness of being and nature, M. considered modern. science as a chronicle of the eternal struggle between the old and the new, as a story about the human. life, its sufferings and joys. The nationality of M., its realism, heroism and foreboding of future human victories in it, as well as questions about the origin, flourishing and fall of M., about its progressiveness or reactionaryness for a given time - all these problems are solved by Marxist historians with a specific approach for different peoples and different ist. epochs. Scientific approach to the study of M. arose in the Renaissance. However, until the 18-19 centuries. in Europe was studied by hl. arr. antique M.; Acquaintance with the history, culture, M. of Egypt, the peoples of America, the East made it possible to proceed to the comparative study of M. of different peoples. In the 18th century outstanding attempt to give ist. understanding M. undertakes ital. philosopher J. Vico, who pointed out 4 stages of development of M.: humanization and deification of nature (for example, the sea - Poseidon), the beginning of its conquest and remaking (symbols of the conquest of nature were, for example, Hephaestus and Demeter), socio-political. interpretation of the gods (for example, Juno is the patroness of marriages), the humanization of the gods and their loss of allegorical. meaning (Homer). In comparison with the theory of J. Vico fr. Enlightenment with its rejection of ist. approach, which considered M. as a product of ignorance and deceit, as superstition, is a step backwards (B. Fontenelle, Voltaire, D. Diderot, C. Montesquieu, and others). On the contrary, English poet J. MacPherson, German. the writer and philosopher Herder and others gave a new understanding of M. as an expression of a general public. wisdom. Romanticism consolidated and developed Herder's doctrine of M., understanding it as an expression of people. wisdom as a product of public creativity. The collection and presentation of bunks began. tales, legends, fairy tales and myths (German scientists K. Brentano, J. and V. Grimm, L. J. Arnim, etc.). Philos. the basis of the romantic mythological the teachings were given by F. Schelling and partly by G. Hegel. From Ser. 19th century a number of positivist mythological theories: solar-meteorological. theory (German scientists A. Kuhn, M. Müller, Russian - F. I. Buslaev, L. F. Voevodsky, O. Miller and others), interpreting myths as an allegory of certain astronomical. and atmospheric phenomena. The theory of "lowerM." (German scientists W. Schwartz, W. Manhardt and others) interpreted myths, on the contrary, as a reflection of the most ordinary phenomena of life. Animist supporters. theories carried ideas about human. soul for all nature (English scientists - Z. Taylor, G. Spencer, E. Lang, German - L. Frobenius, Russian - V. Klinger, etc.). In the 60s. 19th century the sociologists of h. theory arose (I. Bachofen in Switzerland, E. Durkheim in France), which saw in M. reflection of matriarchy and patriarchy. It gained wide popularity in the 19th century. historical and philological theory (German scientists G. Usener, U. Wilamowitz-Mellendorf and others; in Russia - V. Vlastov, F. F. Zelinsky, E. G. Katarov, S. A. Zhebelev, N. I. Novosadsky, I I. Tolstoy and others), who used the methods of lit. and linguistic. analysis in the study of myths. Modern bourgeois mythological theories are based solely on logic. and psychological. human history data. consciousness, as a result of which M. is interpreted as the most subtle and highly intellectual phenomenon, which it could not have been at the dawn of humanity. stories. Therefore, these theories are, as a rule, abstract and anti-historical. character. Among the psychological theories of the 20th century. the concept of Austria was very popular. scientist Z. Freud and Swiss. scientist K. Jung, to-rye all the phenomena of social life, culture reduced to mental. the life of the individual, brought to the fore sexual needs, to-rye allegedly are the only factor in the entire conscious life of a person. In contrast to Freudianism, the "pre-logical theory" of the French. scientist L. Levy-Bruhl argues that the primitive thought of a savage is allegedly based only on phenomenal memory and on associations by contiguity. Cultural-ist is very widespread. the theory of myth formation (English scientists J. Fraser, G. R. Levy, B. K. Malinovsky, French - J. Dumezil, P. Sentive, Amer. - R. Carpenter, etc.). This theory considers every myth as a reflection of the ritual and a rethinking of the ancient magic. rite. In some of the bourgeois mythological. theories, which are often difficult to distinguish from each other, elements of materialism and idealism are often intertwined. For example, animist Taylor's theory outwardly seems idealistic, but it was she who gave impetus to the accumulation of anthropological and ethnographic data, which objectively created the basis for materialistic. study and understanding of M. But most of the mythological. bourgeois theories. science, especially the 20th century, is based on individualistic. philosophy, using to explain M. one or another ability or activity of the department. a person (sexual, affective-volitional, mental, religious, scientific, etc.). All of them give this or that explanation Ph.D. one side of myth-making. But none of them can explain the social essence of M., because the explanation should not be sought in the separate. human abilities. spirit, and in the disclosure of the social conditions that gave rise to the ideology of a particular society and, therefore, its integral part - M. This materialistic. the concept underlies the writings of owls. scientists A. M. Zolotarev, A. F. Losev, S. A. Tokarev, Yu. P. Frantsev, B. I. Sharevskaya and others; cultural history M.'s interpretation on a Marxist basis and the related comparative ist. analysis of the world epic is given by V. Ya. on the paths of the dialectic. and ist. materialism, it is possible in the future to build a truly scientific theory of myth, which is currently still under development. (For a detailed analysis of mythological theories, see the article by A. F: Losev "Mythology" in the 3rd volume of the Philosophical Encyclopedia, M., 1964). Lit. see under the articles: Babylonian-Assyrian religion and mythology, Ancient Greek mythology and religion, Ancient Germanic mythology and religion, Ancient Egyptian mythology and religion, Ancient Indian mythology, Ancient Iranian mythology, Ancient Roman mythology and religion. In addition, general as well as special works: Meletinsky E. M., The origin of the heroic. epic, M., 1963 (available bibl.); Tokarev S. A., What is mythology?, "VIRA", 1962, c. ten; his, Religion in the history of the peoples of the world, M., 1964; his, Early forms of religion and their development, M., 1964; Zolotarev A. M., Tribal system and primitive mythology, M., 1964; Sharevskaya B.I., Old and new religions Tropic. and Yuzh. Africa, M., 1964. A. F. Losev. Moscow.

Myth (ancient Greek m?ipt) in literature is a legend that conveys people's ideas about the world, man's place in it, about the origin of all things, about gods and heroes.

In simpler terms: the word "myth" is Greek and literally means tradition, legend. Usually, tales are meant about gods, spirits, heroes deified or connected with gods by their origin, about the first ancestors who acted at the beginning of time and participated directly or indirectly in the creation of the world itself, its elements, both natural and cultural.

Myth according to A.F. Losev: Myth is for the mythological consciousness the highest in its concreteness, the most intense and most tense reality. This is an absolutely necessary category of thought and life. Myth is a logical, that is, above all, a dialectical, necessary category of consciousness and being in general. Myth is not an ideal concept, and neither is it an idea or a concept. It is life itself. Thus, myth, according to Losev, is a special form of expression of consciousness and feelings of an ancient person. On the other hand, a myth, like a praclet, contains sprouts of forms that will grow in the future. In any myth, one can single out a semantic (semantic) core, which will subsequently be in demand. (Alexey Fedorovich Losev is a Russian philosopher and philologist, professor, doctor of philological sciences, a prominent figure in Soviet culture, a secret monk of the Russian Orthodox Church.)

Myth according to F.H. Cassidy: “a myth is a sensual image and representation, a kind of worldview, and not a worldview”, consciousness that is not subject to reason, rather even a pre-reasonable consciousness. Dreams, waves of fantasy - that's what a myth is. (Feochary Kharlampievich Kessidi - a specialist in ancient philosophy. Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Athens Academy of Sciences, Honorary Academician of the Academy of Humanitarian Studies).

Mythology (Greek mhiplpgYab from m?ipt - legend, legend and lgpt - word, story, teaching) - can mean both ancient folklore and folk tales (myths, epics, fairy tales, etc.), and the study of this material in within scientific disciplines, for example, comparative mythology. Mythology is a collection of similar stories about gods and heroes and, at the same time, a system of fantastic ideas about the world. Mythology is also called the science of myths. Myth-making is considered as the most important phenomenon in the cultural history of mankind. In primitive society, mythology represented the main way of understanding the world, and myth expressed the worldview and worldview of the era of its creation.

Mythological representations existed at certain stages of development among almost all peoples of the world. This is confirmed both by the study of history and by modern primitive peoples, each of which has one or another kind of mythology.

If Europeans before the Age of Discovery were only familiar with ancient myths, then gradually they learned about the presence of mythology among the inhabitants of Africa, America, Oceania, and Australia. The Bible traces echoes of West Semitic mythology. The Arabs had their own mythology before the adoption of Islam.

Thus, mythology is inherent in the nature of human consciousness. The time of origin of mythological images cannot be determined; their formation is inextricably linked with the origin of language and consciousness.

The main task of the myth is to set patterns, models for every important action performed by a person, the myth serves to ritualize everyday life, enabling a person to find meaning in life.

Cosmogonic and anthropogonic myths.

Cosmogonic myths - myths about creation, myths about the origin of the cosmos from chaos, the main initial plot of most mythologies. They begin with a description of chaos (emptiness), the lack of order in the universe, the interaction of the original elements. They serve to explain the origin of the world and life on Earth.

A separate type of anthropogonic myths are totemic myths that tell about the origin of people, most often a particular tribe, from a particular animal. In some peoples in totemic myths, the ancestors of people can be birds. The peoples of Africa have myths about people who came out of a rock, earth, pit, termite mound, split tree or reed.

Eschatological and calendar myths.

Eschatological myths are myths about the end of the world, they exist along with cosmogonic myths and are associated with the confrontation between the forces of chaos and the cosmos. One variety of such myths are myths about the supposed end of the world in the future, another variety is the myths that such events have already occurred in the past, and between the mythical world and the modern there are periods of catastrophes. In various myths, the cause of the destruction of the world can be a global flood, a global fire, the destruction of previous generations, the death of gods, and other plots.

Calendar myths are the mythologization of the change of time cycles - day and night, winter and summer, up to cosmic cycles. They are associated with astronomical observations, astrology, New Year celebrations, harvest festivals and other calendar events.

Heroic myths.

Heroic myths are myths about heroes, who can either be children of the gods by a mortal woman, as in ancient Greek mythology, or simply legendary figures of the epic. A typical plot of a heroic myth is the hero's extraordinary childhood (some special abilities, orphanhood, special fate), often exile, accomplishment of feats, victory over monsters, rescue of a beautiful girl, return and marriage.

Many heroic myths in an allegorical form tell about the formation of personality and the acquisition of status in society, thereby performing an instructive function.

Cultural heroes constitute a special category of heroes. These are mythical heroes who have made a serious civilizational contribution to the culture of the people. Often a cultural hero is a demiurge, participating in creation on an equal footing with the gods, or is the first legislator, obtains or invents various cultural objects for people (fire, cultivated plants, tools), teaches them hunting techniques, crafts, arts, introduces a social organization, marriage rules, magical prescriptions, rituals and holidays.

Myths about animals.

Animals are not only the heroes of cosmogonic myths, the images of animals are often used to describe it - cosmography. An honorable place is occupied by myths about animals and among astral myths. Beautiful legends are associated with the constellation Dog, Leo, Cygnus, Eagle, Scorpio, Pisces. The Chinese zodiac is also associated with animal myths.

There are also legends about the origin of the zodiac itself. Animals also acted as founders of a new cultural and social tradition (organization of society, teaching crafts, etc.).

Cult myths.

Cult myths - the conditional name of myths in which an explanation (motivation) of a rite (ritual) or other cult action is given.