A short message about the hero of epics. Russian epics - heroes and characters

One of the important and characteristic features of the Kyiv cycle is the images of three heroes, whose actions and fate are closely connected. The images of these heroes embody the main features of heroism. These are the images of Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich. In the popular imagination, the eldest of them, the most powerful, is the hero Ilya; behind him comes Dobrynya, inferior in some qualities to Ilya; Alyosha, also a brave defender of the Russian land, but in a number of features inferior to the first two heroes. All three heroes have a lot in common, however, each of them is a special personality and has certain individual traits. In the images of these heroes, individualization is clearly visible, which develops already in epics, and receives significant manifestation in historical songs, where it was necessary to depict not generalized images of heroes, but certain historical figures.

In the sad era of feudal fragmentation, epic Kyiv served as the banner of unity that the people aspired to. This explains to us many of the features of epics. It becomes clear why heroes from various regions gravitate towards Kyiv, although none of the main Kyiv heroes was born in Kyiv. They are Kyiv not in their origin, but in their ideological orientation, thereby precisely reflecting the nature of the epic, Kyiv in its concentration of aspirations, all-Russian in its origin and content. So, Ilya Muromets comes from the city of Murom or the village of Karacharova, Dobrynya is from Ryazan, Alyosha Popovich’s homeland is Rostov, Duke’s is Galich, etc. But they all invariably come to Kiev. Only from this moment do they become heroes of the epic, and only from leaving for Kyiv does the hero’s journey begin. Kyiv attracts them to itself. They do not serve their local princes, whom the epic never mentions.

Ilya Muromets

In the image of Ilya Muromets, the main idea of ​​the epics is most vividly and expressively embodied - the idea of ​​protecting the native land. It is he who more often than other heroes acts as a brave and duty-conscious guardian of the Russian land. He stands at the heroic outpost more often than others, and more often than others enters into battle with enemies, winning victory.

Ilya Muromets is the ideal image of a hero, the most beloved hero of Russian epics. This is a hero of mighty strength, which gives him confidence and endurance. He is characterized by a sense of self-esteem, which he will not compromise even before the prince. He is the defender of the Russian land, the defender of widows and orphans. He hates the “slant-bellied boyars” and tells everyone the truth to their faces. He forgets the insult when it comes to the misfortune hanging over his native land, calls on other heroes to stand up not for Prince Vladimir or Princess Opraxa, but “for the sake of Mother Holy Rus' land.”

The best evidence of the enormous popularity of the image of Ilya Muromets among the people is the number of epics and epic stories about him. It was this image that was destined to become central in the Russian epic, to embody the best ideals and aspirations of the people, their concepts of good and evil, selflessness, loyalty to their native land, heroic prowess and honor. None of the heroes - neither Dobrynya Nikitich, nor especially Alyosha Popovich - can compare in this regard with Ilya Muromets.

All the heroes of the heroic epic, without exception, fight with specific Batygs and Batey Bateyevichs who approached or captured the capital city of Kyiv. All epics of the heroic epic are imbued with the patriotic idea of ​​protecting the native land. And the main character in them is, of course, not Dobrynya Nikitich, not Alyosha Popovich, but Ilya Muromets. Although Dobrynya and Alyosha are also present, they seem to be in “secondary” roles. At the heroic outpost, Dobrynya is a clerk, Alyosha is a groom, neither Dobrynya nor Alyosha manages to win a battle with the hero - the boaster Sokolnik (or Zhidovin), only Ilya Muromets can do this. From many stories about Ilya Muromets, it is known that he was granted a special fate by higher powers - death in battle is not written into the hero. And although this does not play any role in the action of the epics themselves, such a fate serves as recognition of the special position of Ilya Muromets among Russian heroes as the most majestic and ideal defender of the homeland, an indicator of his special destiny.

The ideal nature of the hero is manifested not only in the moral feeling that guides his actions, but also in the features of his external appearance: Ilya is old and gray-haired, which serves as a sign of his wisdom and experience.

The cycle of epics about Ilya Muromets contributed a lot to the epic and developed some of its tendencies laid down in the previous time. The epics about the hero, born in the very depths of folk Rus', and immediately placed above all other heroes in the history of Kievan Rus, spoke of the increased consciousness of the people. The masses understood themselves as a force, without the support of which no successful activity for the benefit of Rus' is possible.

In 1869, the fundamental study “Ilya Muromets and the Kiev Heroism” by Orest Miller was published. F.I. wrote about Ilya Muromets. Buslaev, A.N. Veselovsky, V.F. Miller, A.I. Sobolevsky, A.V. Markov and many other major pre-revolutionary researchers of Russian epic. And among the works of the Soviet era, one should name the famous book by V.Ya. Propp “Russian Heroic Epic” (1958), several chapters of which are entirely devoted to Ilya Muromets, article and comments by A.M. Astakhova to the publication “Ilya Muromets” in the series “Literary Monuments” (1958).

An interesting story is about the miraculous healing of Ilya Muromets. It is widespread in folk tales and legends, known in the folklore of almost all countries and peoples.

One of the interpretations of this epic plot belongs to the historian V.G. Mirzoev. “It is unlikely that this image of a hero,” he distinguishes, “whose powers were bound, is an accidental artistic device of an epic. It would probably be assumed that he metaphorically reflected historical reality, especially since the typification and imagery of the depiction of the life of the epic has not yet been questioned by anyone. Are the Russian people, chained hand and foot by the terrible Tatar force, embodied in the image of Ilya? Of course, thirty years is an epic time that does not really correspond to chronology. However, we must allow for a time when the Russian land, drenched in blood and weakened after the Tatar invasion, had to go through a certain period in order to come to its senses after the terrible defeat and begin to gather strength for the fight. It was this period - completely understandable and natural - that epics could depict in the image of a hero who embodied the main features of the Russian people. If this is indeed the case, then “The Healing of Ilya Muromets” represents one of the most striking examples of the transformation of reality in the epic, an epic reflection of the historical past, sometimes manifested in a complex form of personification, seemingly far from its historical source, but nevertheless explainable.

V. Miller noticed that Ilya Muromets, leaving his native village of Karacharov and his native Murom, “makes a significant detour in order to liberate Chernigov on the way to Kyiv.” From this the researcher concluded that Ilya Muromets is not a hero from Murom, but from Chernigov. “I assume,” he wrote, “that the ancient Ilya, before being attached to Murom, was attached to another area and, specifically, to the Chernigov region. He could be connected with the city of Chernigov, as with his capital city, and therefore performs his first feat for its liberation, as a northern hero. This explains the kind attitude of the Chernigov residents towards him, and the fact that in most epics the outposts are placed precisely on the way from Chernigov to Kiev, and not from Murom to Kiev, and that he learns about them from the residents of Chernigov. When performing his first feat of leaving his home near Chernigov, the ancient Ilya probably did not leave from such a distant native place as Suzdal Murom, but from somewhere closer to Chernigov. Such a place could be the ancient city of Morovsk (Moroviysk), which belonged to the cities of the Chernigov principality in the 11th and 12th centuries and was often mentioned in chronicles in the description of events that took place near Chernigov or in the Chernigov region. V. Muller found exactly the same sound analogy for the village of Karacharova. “The village of Karacharoevo or Karacharovo,” he claims, “appeared in the epic as a replacement for the more southern city of Karachev, the ancient city of the Chernigov princes, mentioned in the chronicle starting from the 12th century.”

So, not Ilya Muromets from the Murom village of Karacharova, but Ilya (Morovets) from the Morovsk city of Karachev. At the same time, the researcher also cites purely local Karachev legends: “The location of the epic Nightingale the Robber is located in the vicinity of the city. Twenty-five miles from Karachev the Smorodinnaya River flows and on its bank is the ancient village of Devyatidubye. Local old-timers point to the place where the nest of the Nightingale the Robber was supposedly located. And now on the bank of Smorodinnaya there is a huge stump, which, according to legend, has been preserved from nine oak trees.”

Many researchers of the epic wondered: who was the prototype of the Russian hero? The search for historical “prototypes” of the epic Ilya Muromets did not yield any results. And there is only one reason: in the chronicles and other historical sources there is no name similar, at least in consonance, like, say, Tugor Khan - Tugarin, Stavr Gordyatinich - Stavr Godinovich, etc. Therefore, in this case, researchers were deprived of opportunities for comparisons, comparisons, and hypotheses. The only parallel with the thunderer Ilya the Prophet was used by mythologists in their interpretations of the image of Ilya Muromets as a double “replacement” in the popular consciousness of the pagan god of thunder Perun: Perun - Ilya the Prophet - Ilya Muromets.

Researchers have not yet found even such parallels in historical material. Although this name is known in foreign sources. For example, in German epic poems, recorded in the 13th century, but based on even earlier epic tales, Ilya the Russian is mentioned. The poem “Ortnit” tells about King Ortnit reigning in Gard and about his maternal uncle Ilya the Russian. But all these are distant and very conditional parallels. There is no information about Ilya Muromets preserved in Russian chronicles and literary sources.

And, nevertheless, Ilya Muromets is the only hero of the Russian epic canonized (Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich was also canonized, but not as an epic hero). In Orthodox calendars to this day, December 19 is celebrated as “the memory of our venerable Ilya of Murom, who lived in the twelfth century.” Moreover, there is one of the most irrefutable proofs of the reality of Ilya Muromets - his tomb in the famous Anthony Cave of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, located next to the tombs of the first Russian chronicler Nestor, the first Russian icon painter Alimpiy and many other very real historical figures of Kievan Rus, its ascetics and great martyrs.

Now it is hardly possible to establish how the canonization of the epic hero took place. That this is another “materialized” legend, of which many arose in all times and among all peoples, a random coincidence of names, or next to Nestor and Alimpius, the holy martyrs Theodore and Basil, Abraham the Hardworking and Onuphrius the Silent, the goldsmith Eustathius, the elder Ephraim, whose historical existence no one will doubt, was the hero Ilya Muromets really buried in the 12th century? There is nothing incredible, much less supernatural, in such an assumption. Many of those buried next to Ilya Muromets were also not included in the chronicles; their memory was preserved only by word of mouth, and yet he was canonized. And the fact that the hero Ilya Muromets found himself next to the great martyrs and righteous people of Ancient Rus' also has its own pattern, its deeply symbolic meaning, regardless of when and how it happened, whether it is a historical fact or a legend.

We will not find the answer to these questions in the historical documents of the 11th-11th centuries, but folklore itself is also a document of history, one of the most irrefutable and reliable chronicles of the inner life of the people, their ideals and ideas. And in this chronicle, Ilya Muromets not only exists, he is the main character in it.

Ilya Muromets went beyond the boundaries of the folk epic; numerous tales about him, legends, experiences, both created on the basis of epic plots and completely independent ones - all this is also a continuation of the “biography” of the epic hero, his life in time.

Nikitich

Dobrynya Nikitich is an epic hero. Together with Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich, he is one of the most beloved heroes among the people. The epics paint us the image of an educated husband endowed with various talents - Dobrynya is a warrior, a psaltery player, and a diplomat, capable of collecting tribute and wooing a bride. He is first and foremost a bearer of the culture of his people.

The epic “biography” of Dobrynya Nikitich was developed in Russian folk epic no less carefully than that of Ilya Muromets. There are epics about the birth and childhood of Dobrynya, his marriage to the heroic Polenica, his acquaintance with Ilya Muromets, and the conflict with Alyosha Popovich. The name of Dobrynina's mother is known - Amelfa Timofeevna, father - Nikita Romanovich; wives - Nastasya Mikulichna; aunts of the cross - Avdotya Ivanovna.

The image of Dobrynya Nikitich is one of the most charming and profound in the Russian epic. This is a true hero, always ready for heroism. He is where you need help, ingenuity, intelligence and tact, the fight against heresy and deceit, loyalty and courage.

Dobrynya is faithful to his integral, definite character everywhere. Infinitely devoted to Rus', the hero jealously guards his dignity as a Russian warrior. Dobrynya’s human qualities are determined by the property that in epics is called “knowledge.” Dobrynya is reasonable in speech, restrained, and tactful. His knowledge is “born,” that is, innate, and not externally acquired and therefore often lost. Dobrynya is a caring son and loving husband. The epic sometimes briefly, sometimes in quite detail, tells about the hero’s childhood, his growth, maturity, and upbringing in his mother’s house.

There is another version, according to which the epic Dobrynya is a collective image that has absorbed the features of many ancient Russian Dobrynyas.

Researcher Yu.I. Smirnov notes that the chronicles connect at least seven Dobrynya:

• - in information about the 10th century, Dobrynya, the uncle of Vladimir I Svyatoslavovich, is mentioned several times;
• - to the 11th century - Dobrynya Raguilovich, governor of Novgorod;
• - up to the 12th century - Novgorod mayor Dobrynya, Kiev boyar Dobrynka and Suzdal boyar Dobrynya Dolgiy;
• - to the 12th century Dobrynya Galician and Dobrynya Yadreikovich, Bishop of Novgorod.

The choice is quite large - almost four centuries, and theoretically it is impossible to exclude any of these “prototypes” or reduce all Dobrynya to the first of them. Chronicles have been preserved about each of these historical Dobryns, and literary works have been preserved about some of them. Yu.I. Smirnov speaks about the times of pre-Mongol Rus', but even later, in the 15th - 17th centuries, this name remained among the most common ancient Russian names. It must be taken into account that it was one of the “non-calendar” names; it could not be given at baptism. This means that for all of the Dobryns listed above, it was either a second - a pagan name, received for certain qualities: kindness, beauty, greatness. All this was invested in the ancient Russian name Dobrynya. So in this case, it is really difficult to judge what exactly attracted the attention of the historical Dobrynya: whether it was his merits, and they were indeed considerable, or this beautiful name Dobrynya itself, especially since his patronymic name is Nikitin, that is, translated from Greek, - glorious, brilliant, winner.

A popular version was expressed by V. Miller, according to which the prototype of the epic hero Dobrynya Nikitich was Prince Vladimir’s uncle, Dobrynya.

The most famous epic about the exploits of Dobrynya Nikitich is “Dobrynya and the Serpent.” In the work, two opposite principles collide - the dark one, expressed in the image of the Serpent Gorynych, and the light one, personified by the Russian hero Dobrynya.

The killing of a monster that embodied chaos and primordial elements is a typical feat of the demiurge gods in the myths of different peoples. All these gods were in one way or another connected with the Sun, their victory over the Serpent can be considered as a symbolic victory of light over darkness, order over chaos. The dragon-slaying motif is inherent not only in gods, but also in heroes (Bellerophon, Hercules, Sigurd, St. George, etc.)

We were at “Dobrynya and the Serpent” - the most famous work of this kind in Russian folklore.

The plot of “Dobrynya and the Snake” in its most complete form (in general, as V. Propp points out, there are more than 60 recordings of this epic) is as follows:

Dobrynya, violating her mother’s ban, bathes in the Puchai River. At this moment he is attacked by a snake. The unarmed Dobrynya defeats the monster with a “cap of the earth,” but does not kill, but “lays down a great commandment” - an agreement according to which the Serpent will no longer ravage the Russian lands, and the hero will not go “to the open field, to that mountain Sorochinskaya.” However, the serpent breaks the commandment and kidnaps Zabava Potyatichna, the niece of Prince Vladimir. The prince instructs Dobrynya to rescue the captive, since “he has a commandment with the Snake.” The hero tramples the baby snakes with his horse, defeats the Snake and frees Zabava.

There are a number of moments in the epic that should be especially highlighted. First of all, these are the most ancient, archaic elements.

The motive for Dobrynya’s bathing is not accidental. Most similar plots involve a river, sea, etc. In the same way, the blood from the defeated Serpent flows without stopping for three days.

In this case, it is clear why the Serpent attacks the hero precisely during bathing. Not listening to his mother’s advice (Don’t swim, Dobrynya, in the Puchai River, But the Puchai River is very fierce, But the middle stream cuts like fire!), Dobrynya Nikitich gives himself over to the power of the monster. Also, the river is a symbol of the border between “this” and “that” light, the world of the living and the world of the dead (Greek River Styx, Russian Smorodina).

It should be noted that in some versions the Puchai River is depicted as fiery, like Currant:

Because of the very first trickle it cuts like fire,

Because of another trickle, a spark falls,

Because of the third stream of smoke, a column of smoke pours out,

The smoke is pouring out in a column and itself with flames.

V. Miller saw in the act of bathing a hint of the baptism of Rus'. In this case, the Serpent appears to be nothing more than a generalization, a symbol of paganism defeated by Christianity, and the warning Dobrynya received from her mother is an allusion to the prohibition of swimming naked in the Jordan (since Christ was baptized there).

The origins of the name “Pochay” itself should be sought in the Russian language: “pomcha - puddle, swamp, old river bed”, Olonets.” Another spelling, Puchai-river, may have come from the noun “abyss” and the verb “to swell”, to swell, to swell. That is, the Puchai River is a dangerous, stormy river for swimming. It is not at all necessary that the Puchai River is the Pochaina River, which actually flowed near Kyiv. Moreover, historians have never come to a consensus on where exactly the baptism of Rus' took place - in Pochaina or the Dnieper.

It is not surprising that the hero defeats the Snake with the “cap of the earth”:

But Dobrynyushka doesn’t have a good horse,

And Dobrynya doesn’t have colored dresses -

There’s just one feather cap lying there,

Let that cap be filled with Greek soil;

The weight of that cap is as much as three pounds.

How will he grab the cap of the Greek land,

He will hit the Snake and the damned one -

He knocked off twelve Snakes and all their trunks.

Thus, Dobrynya turns to the earth for help (which in this case acts as the opposition to the water element) and receives this help. Dobrynin’s “cap of the earth” makes us remember the “saddle bag with earthly traction”, which another epic hero, Svyatogor, cannot move. Receiving power from the earth is a famous mythological motif (Greek giant Antaeus).

V. Propp, who otherwise denied the Christian overtones of the epic, understands the “cap of the Greek land” as “a monastic headdress in the shape of a hood or bell,” brought to Russia from Byzantium. That is, there is no earth (soil) in the hero’s hat, and he beats the snake not with a weapon, but with a symbol of Christianity. However, the text unambiguously states that “that cap is filled with Greek soil” (precisely poured), and further: “by weight that cap is as much as three pounds.” In the epic “Dobrynya bathed - the snake carried away” from the collection of Kirsha Danilov, “the hat of Zheltov’s sand” appears. In this regard, V. Propp writes: “What is forgotten is what is no longer relevant. Relations with Byzantium, as the transmitter of Christianity to us, were relevant for the composers of epics only for a very short time. This explains the oblivion of the “cap of the Greek land” and the significance once attached to it.”

The plot of the epic “Dobrynya and the Serpent” is archaic and, therefore, it was composed long before the baptism of Rus' and any diplomatic relations with Byzantium. The hat, obviously, became “Greek” precisely during this period, but before that it had a completely different meaning, understandable to representatives of pre-Christian culture.

During the course of the story, Dobrynya turns to the earth for help not once, but twice.

When “that Snake began to bleed,” Dobrynya stood for three days, but could not “wait out the bleeding.”

The hero is ready to retreat, but at that moment a sign appears to him, a heavenly voice. Having obeyed the voice, Dobrynya hits the spear “on the damp ground”:

“Make way, mother damp earth,

Make way for four and you're at a quarter!

You gobble up this blood and all the snake blood!”

Mother Earth helps the hero this time too. It can be assumed that the mysterious “voice” belonged to Perun, the patron of the princely squad and military art in general.

Moreover, the “voice” advises Dobrynya to hit “with a spear and on the damp earth,” in which it is easy to see a hint of Perun’s spear - lightning striking the ground.

At the end of the epic, the hero goes down into the hole after the maiden, which is also a common fairy-tale and mythological motif. Any descent (into the depths of a mountain, a well, a cave, etc.) symbolizes a journey to the kingdom of the dead (for example, the journey of Orpheus to the kingdom of Hades).

The desire to find hints about the baptism of Rus' in folklore sources is understandable.

It seems strange that Vladimir’s most significant act, described in detail in the monastery’s “Tale of Bygone Years,” was not reflected in the folk epic. This became the reason for a number of attempts to “superimpose” the plot of “Dobrynya and the Snake” onto chronicle events.

It can be assumed that the Christian motifs in the epic “Dobrynya and the Serpent” are not the foundation on which and for the sake of which the work was created, but a later “superstructure”, a layering. The changes, apparently, affected mostly terms and names; the essence of the story remained the original pagan one.

Alesha Popovich

It is believed that the historical prototype of Alyosha Popovich was the Rostov boyar Alexander (Olesha) Popovich. According to the chronicles, he was the famous “brave” (selected warrior), who served first Vsevolod the Big Nest, and then his son Konstantin Vsevolodovich against his brother and contender for the Vladimir throne, Yuri Vsevolodovich, and Alexander Popovich defeated several of Yuri’s best warriors in duels. With the death of Constantine and the accession of Yuri (1218), he went to the Kyiv Grand Duke Mstislav the Old and died with him in the Battle of Kalka in 1223.

The question of the real historical prototype of the famous epic hero Alyosha Popovich has repeatedly attracted the attention of researchers.

The range of sources on this issue is quite narrow. In fact, you can only use a cycle of epics about Alyosha Popovich, a number of chronicles, and some archaeological data. Moreover, the earliest available written sources date back to the 15th century. and are very far from the object of study.

Chronicle reports about Alexander Popovich have repeatedly been used by researchers of Russian epics for their work. Actually, the identification of Alexander Popovich, mentioned in the Tver Chronicle, and the epic Alyosha Popovich belongs to L.N. Maikov. It was also supported by V.F. Miller, who wrote: “... behind the legend about Alexander Popovich we must recognize the historical basis and think that the legends about him arose historically and his personality is historical.” Scientists such as Kostomarov, Khalansky, Kvashnin-Samarin, Khatkevich also considered the existence of a historical prototype of Alyosha Popovich to be proven.

Most scientists of the late XIX - early XX centuries. They treated the chronicles uncritically, believing that they quite accurately described real historical events of the past. In 1949, the work of D.S. was published. Likhachev “Chronicle news about Alexander Popovich”, in which the author came to the following conclusion: “As for the question of which historical person was the prototype for the epic Alexander Popovich, the older chronicles do not provide any basis for answering this question. Later chronicles include stories about Alexander Popovich, drawn from epics, and not from reality, and reflect only important facts for us in the history of the plot of epics about Alexander Popovich.”

Soviet historian B.A. Rybakov, who assumed the existence of all the heroes of epics, identified Alyosha Popovich with two chronicle heroes at once: Olbeg Ratiborovich, a warrior of Vladimir Monomakh, who participated in the murder of the Polovtsian Khan Itlar, and the Rostov brave Alexander Popovich, incidentally noting that “Obviously, the merging of two heroes into one epic The image of Alyosha Popovich actually came about through folklore in later times.”

The most complete story about Alexander Popovich is present in the Tver Chronicle of 1534. In other Russian chronicles - Novgorod IV, Sophia I and II, Resurrection, Rostov Archive, Academic Suzdal, Ermolinsk, Typographic, Nikon Chronicles, Rogozh Chronicle, Chronograph of 1512 and others - there are also references to the Rostov brave Alexander Popovich. It should be noted that all of the above chronicles are late, compiled in the 15th-17th centuries.

In the early Russian chronicles that have reached us, there is no mention at all of Alexander Popovich, or Alyosha Popovich. However, this fact in itself is not a reason to recognize all messages from later chronicles as unreliable. Often in later chronicle collections one can find quite accurate information that is missing in early chronicles. For example, in the Typographical Chronicle of the late 15th century. contains a number of undoubtedly reliable reports about Rostov in the 13th century, which are absent in the Laurentian Chronicle of the early 14th century.

So, in the Tver Chronicle: “ There was someone from Rostov, a resident Alexander, called Popovich, and his servant was named Torop; Alexander served the Grand Duke Vsevolod Yurievich, and then the Great Prince Vsevolod gave the city of Rostov to his son Prince Kostantin, then Alexander began to serve Kostantin" As can be seen from this fragment, Alexander Popovich lived at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. and served the Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod Yuryevich (Big Nest), and then his son, Prince of Rostov Konstantin Vsevolodovich. Most epic texts about Alyosha Popovich, as mentioned above, also note his Rostov origin. He is “the son of the old priest of the cathedral”, “the priest Leonty is the son of Rostov”. However, there is no unity in the epics on the issue of patronymics. There are, for example, records in which he is called “Alyosha Popovich son Ivanovich,” etc.

The author of the Tver Chronicle, being well-versed in the topography of Rostov and the surrounding area (since he calls himself a “Rostov peasant”), further in the text also reports about the “place of residence” of the epic hero - this is “a city dug under the Gremyachiy well on the river Gde , even now that sop stands empty.”

A.E. Leontyev found archaeological confirmation of the legend of the Tver Chronicle about the existence of the “city” of Alexander Popovich near Rostov.

“Gdoy” used to be the name of the lower reaches of the Sary River, which flows into Lake Nero. There, as excavations have shown, on the site of the ancient Meryan Sarsky settlement, in the 13th century. there really was a fortified Russian settlement. There are a number of other signs by which it can be argued that the place referred to in the chronicle was located here. “Where - the river is calm, flat, flows through the lowlands surrounding the lake. Nero. Along its entire length there is not a single settlement, except for Sarsky, just as there is not a single “sop” suitable for the location of a fortified settlement. There is also a spring near the Sarsky settlement, to which the name “Gremyachiy” would be very suitable: the water from it noisily descends over the stones to the river. It is located on the opposite left bank of the Sarah Bend.”

The military exploits of Alexander Popovich are associated with the long war for the Vladimir throne between Konstantin Vsevolodovich and his younger brother Yuri Vsevolodovich, which flared up after the death of Vsevolod Yuryevich: “Kostantin was angry with his brother about reigning, and the great Prince Yuri fought many battles against Konstantin, although with Rostov drive him out and the Lord forbid him.” Alexander Popovich remained faithful to his prince and, according to legend, took an active part in this war: “Great Prince Yuri was stationed near Rostov, in Puzhbala, and the army standing two miles from Rostov, along the Ishna River, fought instead of a fort on the Ishna River . Alexander, going out, beat up many people of the Grand Duke Yuri, their bones were laid in large graves to this day on the Ishna River, and others along the country of the Usiya River, many people were with the Great Prince Yuri; and other beatings from Alexander near Ugodichi, on the Uza, you bravely jumped out to any country and defended the city of Rostov with the prayers of the Most Pure One.”

Realities of the 13th century it was quite possible for one professional heavily armed equestrian warrior to destroy or put to flight a dozen or two less well-trained and armed fighters, for example, militias or junior warriors. As in most European countries, the main striking force of the troops of the Russian principalities was heavy armored cavalry. Despite some external differences, the heavily armed squad in many respects - weight and functional-protective indicators of weapons, social composition, etc. - corresponded to Western European knighthood.

The combat biography of the Rostov hero is impressive. The war ended in 1216 with the famous Battle of Lipitsa, in which the Rostov prince Konstantin, in alliance with Mstislav Udatny, defeated his brothers Yuri and Yaroslav and in which, according to chronicles, more than 9,000 people died (a very impressive figure for those times). Alexander Popovich also participated in this battle: “Prince Kostantin then had two brave men in his regiment, Oleshka Popovich and his man Haste, and Timonya the Golden Belt,” and the Tver Chronicle connects the death of the boyar Yuri Vsevolodovich - Ratibor - with his name.

After the victory, Konstantin Vsevolodovich became the prince of Vladimir and made peace with his brothers. However, he did not rule for long and died in 1218. After the death of Konstantin, Yuri Vsevolodovich became the new Grand Duke, and Alexander Popovich had every reason to fear whose revenge.

As a result, according to the chronicle, Alexander Popovich, along with a number of Rostov soldiers who also, apparently, had distinguished themselves too much in the above-mentioned civil strife, left Rostov and entered the service of the Kiev prince.

The last chronicle mention of Alexander Popovich refers to the events of 1223 - the battle on the Kalka River, the first major clash between the Russians and the Mongols. The Rostov hero died in this battle: “... having killed Alexander Popovich, and with him seventy heroes and many people.”

Thus, briefly summarizing all of the above, we can draw the following conclusion: in the 13th century. the “brave” Alexander Popovich really lived on Rostov soil, who later became one of the historical prototypes of the epic Russian hero Alyosha Popovich.

Alyosha Popovich, the youngest of the famous trinity of heroes, is endowed not only with all the advantages of a hero, but also with some disadvantages characteristic of youth. If Ilya Muromets defeats enemies with his calmness and experience, his wisdom, endurance, fearlessness and determination of a mature person, if Dobrynya surpasses the barbarian enemy with his culture and strength, then Alyosha is a clumsy and ponderous enemy with his sharpness and resourcefulness. He is not depicted as having great physical strength, but is the personification of strength of spirit and will. In contrast to the stern Ilya and the self-possessed Dobrynya, Alyosha is prone to ridicule and jokes, distinguished by fearlessness and determination and strength, wit and cheerfulness. All this makes the hero a vivid exponent of the Russian national character. The stern and mighty Ilya, the self-possessed and cultured Dobrynya, and the cheerful and resourceful Alyosha personify the heroic traits of the Russian people. For all their differences, these brave heroes are united by one feeling, one aspiration: they do not know a higher service than serving their Motherland.

If you ask the average person in our country to name the names of Russian heroes, they will almost certainly 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.

One of the most ancient heroes of the Russian epic epic. Svyatogor is a giant hero so big and strong that even Mother Cheese 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.


The legendary plowman-hero, with whom you cannot fight, because “the entire Mikulov family loves Mother - the 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 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.


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.


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.


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.

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.


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.

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.


One of the most original heroes of the Kyiv epic epic. 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.

The glorious Russian hero and hero of ancient Russian legends and epic stories - Ilya Muromets is famous not only in our country, but also in neighboring states. By the way, in German poems dating back to the 13th century, there is a mention of the mighty knight Ilya the Russian.

Meanwhile, we are not talking about a fairy-tale character at all, but about a person who actually lived at that time, whose remains are in the caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Ilya Muromets was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church and since then January 1 in the calendar is the day of his memory. Nowadays, the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation reverence the hero as their heavenly patron; it is customary to turn to him for support in difficult times.

Characteristics of the hero

(By origin, Ilya Muromets is a peasant son. Father - Ivan Timofeevich, mother - Evfrosinya Yakovlevna)

Courage, loyalty to word and duty, strength and love for the homeland - these are the main features of the epic image of Ilya Muromets. Legends say that until the age of 33 he was bedridden in his house in the village of Chernigov near the city of Murom. And only when three elders came to him and miraculously healed Ilya, was he able to stand up and gain his heroic strength. The elders ordered him to go to Kyiv to serve the prince. From that time on, the history of the hero’s glorious victories over enemies internal (robbers and dashing people) and external (Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Khazars) dates back.

(The famous painting “Three Heroes” by V.M. Vasnetsova)

The epics describe Ilya as a man of powerful build and height (more than 180 cm), with light brown curls, black eyebrows, and a beard streaked with gray. His attire is traditional for that time: a helmet and chain mail, and his weapons are a club, a spear and a shield. For his high military spirit and fighting qualities, Prince Ilya Muromets was appointed senior over all his heroes.

(The Crush of the Nightingale the Robber)

The most famous feats are the victory over Nightingale the Robber (the unifying image of bandits who hunted on the roads), Idolishch Pogany, Kalin the Tsar and other enemies of the Russian land. The hero accomplished many feats during his life, and when he became old, he retired to a monastery. But despite the passing centuries, his glory has not subsided, and in his image the features of all the defenders of the Fatherland, who laid down their lives for people and their freedom, merged.

Hero image

(Ilya Muromets - valiant hero, defender of the people in Rus')

The folk epic endowed the image of Ilya Muromets with the traditional features of a hero. In each epic, his portrait acquires new features that only complement the overall picture. So, before leaving home for Kyiv, the warrior bows to his parents and asks them for a Christian blessing.

Ilya even treats his horse as a military comrade. His speech is addressed to him, he gives orders to him. In many epics, the goal of the hero is stated very precisely: to defend Holy Rus' and the Orthodox faith. He is ready to help the offended and unjustly oppressed. When Ilya Muromets liberates the city of Chernigov from invaders, its residents invite the liberator to take the place of governor. However, the hero does not agree, because his goal is completely different, and he serves his homeland selflessly.

(Everyone revered Ilya and came to him for any help.)

It is noteworthy that the hero does not have a family in the usual sense - a wife or a lover. And this is no coincidence. All the strength of the mighty warrior is aimed at protecting Rus', which truly needs him completely. The meaning of his life is to give ordinary people the opportunity to simply live, build their own houses, start families and not be afraid of enemy attacks.

Despite countless victories, Ilya was not boastful. Epic storytellers especially emphasize that he was never proud of his victories and did not show them off. It is often said that the defeated enemy, if there was no order (as in the case of the Nightingale the Robber), was released on all four sides. This special attitude towards the defeated enemy can be traced in the images of other epic heroes, and later became traditional for the Russian warrior-defender.

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Raised as a child on Russian folk tales about heroes, I remember Ilya Muromets well. I remember being surprised by his 33-year-old sitting, fascinated by the heroic horse Burushka, and the decrepit Svyatogor, who carved a grave for himself in the rock, was completely shocked! But the thought never crossed my mind that Muromets could be a living person...

In Russian epics, the hero Ilya Muromets or Murovets is given the main role of an ideal fighter for Prince Vladimirsky and the people of the Russian land. 14 epics have survived to this day, in which the main role is given to the hero Muromets. Frankly, I didn’t have a chance to read most of them... But that’s not what we’re talking about, because the main question of the article is – was Ilya Muromets a real person?

Three epic heroes

Russian and Ukrainian historians often overlap on the issue of the native places of Muromets - the former consider Ilya’s native village to be Karacharovo (now there is no such village, it has been assimilated by the city), which is near Murom (the former name of this city is Murovsk), the latter insist on the village of Moroviysk (modern Morovsk), that in the Chernihiv region. The first mention of the hero Muromets, as a real man of considerable physical strength, was left by the ambassador of the Roman-German Empire, Erich Lasotta. In his notes dated 1594, he reports that he visited Russia and visited the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, where he was shown the relics of Elijah Muromets and told the story of this man. In his youth, Muromets bore the nickname Chobotok, deserved by the fact that he once defeated those who attacked him with the help of a boot (chobot), had enormous physical strength and fought more than once for Kievan Rus.

Neither the exact date nor even the centuries in which Muromets lived are really known - it is believed that he lived approximately in the 11th-12th centuries and in his old age (at that time it was 40-45 years old) he took monastic vows at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra , was buried in it, and in 1643 he was canonized by the church. 23 years ago, a commission of Ukrainian experts examined the preserved remains of the monk Muromets.

Ilya Muromets. reconstruction based on the skull

According to an expert opinion, their owner was extremely strong, had a tall height of 177 cm for those times (the average height in those days was 160 cm), his spine bears clear signs of displaced vertebrae, which, it is true, have been pinching the nerves of the spinal cord since childhood. The remains examined by scientists belonged to a warrior - numerous traces of chopped wounds on the bones and traces of a serious, most likely fatal, wound inflicted by a sharp weapon in the area of ​​the heart through the left hand covering it.

According to scientists, the monk Ilya Muromets died in 1204, when Kyiv was captured by the Polovtsians hired by Prince Rurik, who plundered the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Most likely, the monk Muromets stood up to defend the monastery against the Polovtsians, but the forces were no longer the same...

Monument to Muromets in Murom

A reasonable conclusion arises - if the epic hero Ilya Muromets really existed, then his family exists, there are descendants of the hero. Generations of the Gushchin family have long lived in Murom, known in the history of the city for their special physical strength and height, who consider this epic hero their ancestor. One of the Gushchins, Ivan Afanasyevich Gushchin, who lived more than a century ago, was especially known for the great strength - in fist fights, a traditional entertainment of that time, he was allowed to participate only with his hands tied.

Another fact speaks in favor of the fact that the Gushchins are indeed descendants of Muromets-Chobotok - on the site of the hut in Karacharovo in which the hero lived, to this day there is a house of one of the Gushchin family. Near this house No. 279, on Prioksiyskaya Street, there are the ruins of the Trinity Church, whose foundation was built, according to local legend, by Elijah himself from oak trunks collected from the river bottom.