What historical characters and legendary figures really looked like. Fiction and historical truth in the story

SACRED RELICS OF UNKNOWN PRACIVILIZATIONS

Recently, researchers and scientists from various fields of science have increasingly begun to turn to the psychology of mythology. Images of myths in poetic form reflect universal human experience and basic models of development of human society. Such models are called “archetypes”; they are universal and inherent to people of all cultures and in all historical periods. The very term “archetype” Jung traces back to Philo of Alexandria, and then to Irenaeus and Dionysius the Areopagite. It is noteworthy that this term is meaningfully connected with Platonic eidos.

Despite obvious fiction and verbal lies, a myth can contain truth on an internal level, as a kind of subjective experience. The appearance of a myth, therefore, not devoid of lies, does not in the least interfere with its inner truth and its idea of ​​verisimilitude (Timaeus, 59 p.). Foreign scientists talk about such myths, for example, G. Perls, V. Tyler, V. Otto, R. Graves and others. For example, when telling Solon about the death of Phaeton, the Egyptian priests argued: “let’s say this legend has the appearance of a myth, but it also contains truth.”

One of this kind of “experiences” was an article about Atlantis by the famous Russian journalist and public figure of Tsarist Russia, Mikhail Osipovich Menshikov (1859-1918). His diaries give us some idea of ​​the depth of the journalist’s philosophical and esoteric thought, which allowed Mikhail Osipovich to see with his inner eye the death of the island of Poseidonis. We know a lot of such revelations and experiences in world culture, and they open the doors to the antediluvian world of our planet.

According to Plato, a myth can be a kind of “sacred word, more precisely proclaimed by an oracle,” which means it has the power of proof (“Laws”, 1U, 712 a, U1, 771 s, XII 944 a). D. Merezhkovsky in the book “The Secret of the West. Atlantis-Europe” (1930) writes: “What is a myth? A tall tale, a lie, a fairy tale for adults? No, mystery clothes. Is there any truth behind the lies of “Atlantis?”

The prominent Soviet ethnographer S.A. Tokarev talks about works of folk art that are based on some historical events: these are legends about the founding of cities (for example, Thebes, Rome, Kiev), about wars, and major historical figures. The stories about the Trojan War, about the campaign of the Argonauts and other great enterprises of the Greeks, according to the scientist, are based on actual historical facts and are confirmed by archaeological and other data (for example, Schliemann’s excavations of Troy).

Oddly enough, it was archeology that developed the criterion for separating myths, behind which there are real events, from myths that have no points of contact with history. “Rich excavations in Crete and at the sites of Troy, Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and others have shown that the legends about these cities are based on historical data. And the inscriptions of this era suggest that some of the heroes, like Priam, Hector, Paris, and perhaps Eteocles and others, were historical figures” (1, pp. 31-32). It has also been established that the last Etruscan kings Tarquinius the Ancient, Servius Tullius and Tarquinius the Proud can be recognized as historical figures. “The attempt by the Italian historian E. Peruzzi to present the history of Rome according to the reigns of Romulus, Numa Pompilius, and Anca Marcius returns us to the long-overcome tendency to perceive Roman etiological myths as reality” (2, p. 15).

Thus, according to M. Eliade: “Indeed, a whole series of myths, slowly telling about the exploits of gods and mystical creatures, in illotempore reveal the structure of reality, which remains inaccessible to empirically rational understanding” (3, p. 262).
Sensational discoveries still excite people's imagination. One of these finds should be recognized as the treasury of unknown kings from Dorak on the Asia Minor shore of the Sea of ​​Marmara. In the 1950s, James Mellart, an employee of the British Institute of Archeology in Ankara, made sensational sketches of incredible treasures from the looted royal burial ground. The unknown people who showed these things to the scientist only wanted to evaluate and date them. After which they disappeared with the treasures for ten years. And so, soon the gold items described by Mellart suddenly began to appear on the black market in America. The sellers disappeared behind a line of dummies. Experts made their conclusion: the age of these treasures was 45 centuries! Dorak's gold floated into private collections and, apparently, is lost to science forever.

In the 1980s, a message flashed in the foreign press that an exhibition had opened at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, which displayed the treasures of Croesus, exported from Turkey 18 years ago!

In 1999, a sensational report appeared in the Western press that in Turkey, where the kingdom of Phrygia was once located, the golden tomb of King Midas had been discovered. It is made of gold blocks, its size is 9.5 by 4.5 meters. The royal sign of Midas is engraved on the walls of the tomb, as well as texts telling about the life of the Phrygian king. The tomb contained golden utensils. In the center of the burial room stood a large golden sarcophagus, inside of which was a coffin. The Austrian expert on ancient civilizations, Dr. Wolfgang Reinstein, stated that the body of King Midas to this day has the amazing ability to turn all objects into gold if you touch it. The servants of Midas also lay in the tomb, but they were then turned into gold. But Midas is indeed the real historical ruler of ancient Phrygia, familiar to us under the name Mita (738-696 BC).
But is this only a small part of the treasures of the ancient world? Where has the ancient gold of gods and heroes disappeared, where are the temple and cult relics of the clergy hidden?

Among the mythical treasures were things to which the ancients showed special favor. These things were called fetishes. People, endowing them with demonic-magical powers, later made the fetish an object of deep religious worship. Such things included: the Delphic Omphalus, the scepter of Zeus, the sword of Pelops, the egg of Leda, the horn of Amalthea, the golden dog of Zeus, three Cups: one that Zeus gave to Alcmene, the other that Hephaestus created, and the third - the Cup of the Argonauts, the necklace and peplos of Eriphyle , the golden chain of Helen, three tripods from the times of Laius, Oedipus and his grandson Laodamas, Trojan palladium, Golden Fleece, etc.

In Greek myths there is a mention of certain things that strangely fit into a certain pattern, far from simple veneration and forming a secret of mysterial significance. Among such sacred objects are the golden dog of Zeus, the casket of Rhea, the crown of Ariadne, the scepter of Zeus, the ring of Minos, the Golden Fleece, the sword of Pelops, the Trojan Palladium and some others.
The Italian scientist, philosopher, founder and president of the International Organization “New Acropolis” Jorge Livraga in his book “Thebes” writes that about 12,000 years ago, as a result of another cataclysm, the last fragment of Atlantis-Poseidonis disappeared, but most of the libraries and some items were already in Egypt (4, pp. 39-43). But political instability, wars of conquest and other natural disasters forced the priests and Great Initiates to hide, hide in another, more reliable and safe place the treasures of bygone eras. But such a place had to be not only safe and calm, but also have a mysterious, sacred meaning. It was there, by the will of the gods, that the flame of that cult, which was threatened with complete destruction, should flare up.

A rich esoteric tradition tells us that the Atlanteans received treasures and sacred relics from previous races: the Hyperboreans and Lemurians, and then were transferred to the best representatives of our Fifth Race. Only the Great Initiates know where the precious heritage of the extinct Races is hidden. These repositories are located in South America, Africa, Europe, Russia and Tibet.

Some of these relics have already been found: the gold of Troy, geographical maps of Piri Reis, Orontius Phineus, Ptolemy, the Tablet of Isis Bembo, Noah's Ark, the famous "Mitchell-Hedges" crystal skull or "Skull of Doom" (discovered in 1927 in the temple Maya in British Honduras, now Belize).

I was able to isolate from a great variety of myths and legends those that directly point to Atlantis and other early civilizations. If there was a legend about Atlantis, told by Plato, then it must have been passed down from generation to generation in the form of genealogical diagrams, behind which stands the historical reality and ancestral memory of mankind, hidden in the deepest layers of the “collective unconscious”. Most likely, it was the oldest civilization on Earth, the real name of which is known only to the Initiates. And it doesn’t have to be called Atlantis or Hyperborea. The culture of Atlantis, having absorbed the culture of the lost civilizations of Hyperborea and Lemuria, was transformed into a European one, and then into a global one. Therefore, for most researchers and scientists, traces of the Atlanteans and their distant descendants are not found, because they are among us, the people of the Fifth Race, for we came from the Fourth Race of the Atlanteans.

In his article “The Lords of Ogenon. Mythology of Atlantis" I identified mythological and genealogical diagrams and tables of gods, heroes and historical figures who were directly related to the kingdom of the Atlanteans and their hidden treasures. Such persons include Sanchuniathon, Philolaus, Pherecydes, Pythagoras, Socrates, Gelon of Syracuse, Pindar, Aristotle, Xenocrates, Xenophon, Theopompus, Cyrus, Cambyses, Mitu (Midas), Alexander the Great, Nonna of Panopolitan, brothers Zeno, Bryusov, Apollinaris Mikhailov and his son Michael and many others (5).

One can cite an interesting feature in the life of Pythagoras. Delos, where Pythagoras arrived, was famous for being visited by the Hyperboreans. Among the latter, Abaris, the priest of Apollo of Hyperborean, especially stood out. The main thing for us is that Pythagoras met with Abaris and showed him his sign on his body - some kind of golden sign (Iamblichus describes it as the golden thigh of Pythagoras). One thing is certain: both people learned by such a sign that each person belonged to a certain group of the population or the establishment of an occupation. It is not for nothing that Pythagoras himself was considered the Hyperborean Apollo. From this we can draw the only conclusion: on Pythagoras’ body there was something of a birthmark, a special sign by which he could be recognized as a representative of the Hyperborean people. Thus, Hyperborea in this case may turn out to be the northern colony of Atlantis.

Well-known traditionalists, including R. Guenon, however, associate Hyperborea with the North (North Pole), and Atlantis with the West. Therefore, Guenon distinguishes the Hyperborean Thule, which is the original, Highest Sacral Center within the framework of our entire Manvantara, from the Atlantean Thule, located in Northern Atlantis.
N.F. Zhirov in his book “Atlantis. The main problems of Atlantology" reports on the mythographer Dionysius of Miletus, nicknamed Scytobrachion (c. 550 BC), who had an artificial limb. He was allegedly the author of the book "Journey to Atlantis", although this may be fiction. But it is precisely such a detail as a distinctive sign on the body of people, somehow related to Atlantis, that should raise alarm bells and lead to certain conclusions. Pelops, the son of Tantalus, and therefore all his descendants had the same sign on his body (namely on his shoulder)!

Scientists and esotericists have long been talking about the subtle energy function of birthmarks on the human body. Congenital moles and spots can tell about hereditary characteristics or the karmic burden of past incarnations. Let us cite as an example a striking incident from more recent history.

This case is connected with the origin of the Merovingian dynasty of French kings. The very origin of the Merovingian dynasty is fraught with numerous mysteries, as researchers M. Baigent, R. Ley and G. Lincoln write about this in the book “The Sacred Blood and the Holy Grail.” According to the Frankish chronicler, Merovey was born of a mysterious sea monster - “the beast of Neptune, similar to the Quinotaurus.” This legend is symbolic and, as the authors of the book believe, hides a specific historical reality behind its wonderful appearance. In the case of Merovey, this allegory means the transfer of foreign blood to him by his mother or the mixing of dynastic families, the consequence of which was that the Franks were associated with another tribe that came, perhaps, “from across the sea.”

If you believe the legends, the Merovingian kings were adherents of the occult and esoteric sciences, possessed the gift of clairvoyance and extrasensory communication with animals and other natural forces. They had a birthmark on their body, which testified to their sacred origin and made it possible to immediately recognize them: a red spot in the shape of a cross was located either on the heart - a curious anticipation of the Templar coat of arms - or under the shoulder blade (6, pp. 164-165). The Tantalids-Pelopids had a birthmark on the shoulder, but over a long time (several millennia) it could naturally move to another place and even change in shape.

Thus, I have established: firstly, all of the above relics are associated with Atlantis and their last refuge - Crete; secondly, most of these treasures belonged to the descendants of Tantalus and Pelops; thirdly, these descendants had all the attributes of not only royal power (the Golden Fleece - the three crowns of Zeus, Poseidon and Pluto, the crown of Ariadne, a scepter, a sword, wonderful Guardians - the golden dog, curetes, Talos, Polyphemus), but also the attributes of magical power (the Golden Fleece - here is a fragment of the Heavenly Grail Stone, a casket with the shrines of Rhea, a thing buried by Pelops in Elis, if this is not the same thing); fourthly, tantalids and pelopids had a distinctive mark on their bodies, which indicated their “marine origin.”

Let's try to tie the genealogy of gods and heroes to fetishes - relics and to ancient topography. We are interested, first of all, in the genealogy of Tantalus and his son Pelops. What is the reason for the rise of this family, is it only in the gold deposits of Mount Sipylus in Asia Minor? Is there something else hidden here, hidden from us by oblivion and the veil of time? Let us remember that Tantalus was condemned to eternal torment not only for concealing a stolen golden dog. The main fault of King Sipilus was that he divulged among the people the secrets of the Olympians he had heard and distributed to his loved ones the nectar and ambrosia stolen at the feast of the gods.

There is no doubt that the secrets of the Olympians are intimate knowledge transmitted by the gods to people. The mediators in such a transfer were earthly kings and priests, endowed with the corresponding attributes of royal and magical power. It was these individuals who were supposed to preserve the hermetic wisdom of secret knowledge from century to century and only in case of emergency reveal it to people. This is evidenced by the extensive esoteric tradition, which saw in mythological characters not specific individuals (for example, there were 3 Zeus, 5 Hermes, 49 Manus), but a general title of many Adepts and Initiates. Before becoming gods and creators, they all passed through the human stage. Any person could be Dhyan - Kogan, God, Spirit. According to Blavatsky, the Spirit is a disembodied or future person.

Now a lot becomes clear. The Tantalid-Pelopid family possessed intimate knowledge, kept secret. But what kind of knowledge? Knowledge of the treasures and sacred relics of Hyperborea, Lemuria and Atlantis!

Is it possible to find a historical rational grain in these myths? Where is truth and where is fiction? The historian Pausanias, known for his conscientiousness, saw in his time (2nd century AD) the tomb of Tantalus near Sipylus. In Olympia (Greece) near the temple they showed the tomb of Pelops. In the same temple, in the treasury of the Sicyonians, there was the golden sword of Pelops and the horn of the goat Amalthea.

The same Pausanias directly writes how Zeus gave his royal scepter, 24 measures long, to Pelops in order to rule over people and vast lands. Then he passed from Pelops to his son Atreus, and then to his grandsons - Agamemnon and Menelaus. Both were kings of Mycenae. No wonder the oracle of the inhabitants of Mycenae reported that they should elect only a descendant of Pelops as their king!

But myths again give us surprises. The mystery of the Golden Fleece haunts many researchers. According to myth, Hermes gave Pelops the Golden Fleece! The same Hermes, the same Golden Ram, much more famous, gave to the Boeotian Phrixus - his Fleece ended up in Colchis. It turns out that there were two Runes - two symbols of royal power? But is this so, perhaps we are talking about the same sacred object?
The Colchis myth clearly indicates that the Golden Fleece literally fell from heaven to earth. This could be one of the four fragments of a huge meteorite, which I identified as the Heavenly Grail Stone. Powerful spiritual energy emanated from this stone, connecting distant cosmic worlds with earthly ones.

I have previously expressed the idea that in antediluvian times a huge meteorite consisting of some precious material fell to the Earth. When it fell, the heavenly stone fell apart over the territory of Greece into four pieces. One fell in the region of Asia Minor, in the Dardanelles and Troas (myth of Gella and Electra), the second - on the Scythian land (Scythian legend), the third - in the region of Colchis (myth of the Golden Fleece), and the fourth fragment reached Tibet (Chintamani stone) . This meteorite was then deified by the Greeks, Scythians, India and Tibet. Tradition gives us a clear answer: it could only be the Heavenly Grail Stone! (7).

Many atlantologists associate Crete with Atlantis, but this is not so. Crete is one of the main colonies of the Atlantean country, along with Egypt, Phenicia, Sicily, Italy and Greece. So, in ancient times on Crete, on Mount Dikta, countless treasures and sacred relics of Hyperborea, Lemuria and Atlantis were kept in the strictest secrecy.

Mount Dikta is a mountain full of secrets and mysteries. It was identified with Mount Lasithi, and the Dictaean Cave with the Psychro Cave, but such data are questionable, since they diverge from the ancient topography. Most likely, it was located east of the city of Prasa, where the oldest temple in Palekastro was discovered. In Prasa itself, archaeologists discovered the Altar Hill. Ancient tradition connects the Cretan Labyrinth with one of the island’s caves, where mysterious night services were held, but it cannot be compared with the Knossos Palace found by Evans. By the way, numerous torches were discovered in the Palekastro area, which are indispensable in night mysteries.

Why did a golden dog and Kuretes, armed with swords and shields, stand guard in the Dictaean cave, what and who were they guarding? Not only Zeus, who was there for a very short period, but spent most of his time - from birth to death - on Ida. Most likely, the greatest treasures were hidden in the Dictaean cave - sacred relics of the gods.

The external protection of these treasures was carried out by Talos and Polyphemus, belonging to the copper race of the Atlanteans. What and from whom did the giant protect the island of Crete? This is also strange because archaeologists have not found any fortifications or fortress walls either in Knossos or in other cities of the island. It is surprising that the western side of Crete until the 19th century of our century was one of the most inaccessible and studied corners of the world! And this is written by one of the most serious researchers of the archeology of Crete, J. Pendlebury. In the west are the White Mountains, their peaks - Agios Theodoros, Soros, Agion Pneuma, rising to 2300 meters, can be considered among the wildest places in Europe. Paradox - an island in the very center of the birth of almost all civilizations on Earth, at the intersection of many trade routes, which was in front of everyone’s eyes and ears for several millennia - turned out to be little studied, and some western gorges and caves generally remained a blank spot for European people until up to this day!

From the Neolithic period (4000-3000 BC) to the Late Minoan period 111 (1300-1100 BC), the western part of Crete was practically uninhabited. It’s as if some kind of witchcraft envelops this part of the island with an impenetrable blanket, preventing anyone from penetrating its hidden secrets.

Despite the diversity of opinions of ancient authors, the relics themselves remained in Crete. Later they were hidden in a more secure place. To confirm this, I will give an amazing story about the noble family of the Mikhailovs, involved in the mystery of the mysterious treasures of a lost civilization.

In 1988, I met a wonderful person, Mikhail Apollinaryevich Mikhailov, a writer and marine painter, the author of several books on ship modeling and shipbuilding. An excellent expert on ancient myths, he told me about his family tradition.

His father, Apollinariy Ivanovich Mikhailov, sailed for a long time on the merchant ships “Ruslan”, “Ryleev”, “Kamenets-Podolsk” in the Black and Mediterranean Seas. In 1906, he was the second mate on the ship "Ruslan", and in 1924-1925, captain on the ship "Ryleev". On one of these sea crossings, in the Greek port of Piraeus, Apollinarius Ivanovich met an experienced pilot who had often visited Crete and knew well the numerous convenient bays of the northern coast of the island. According to the pilot, he heard from local residents a strange legend about the greatest treasures of antiquity, supposedly hidden on one of the northern capes of Crete. Mikhail Apollinaryevich pointed out to me that his father repeated the reliable words of the pilot several times: “the greatest treasures of antiquity.”

This amazing legend was recorded in most detail by Apollinaris Ivanovich in his diary. He died tragically in one of the campaigns. Mikhail Apollinarvich recalled that after his father’s death he saw some kind of leather-bound notebook. This was his diary. What is the fate of this notebook remains a mystery. I would like to warn the reader that this historical and folklore message is only about the greatest treasures of antiquity, hidden on the island of Crete, but in no way connected by the Mikhailovs with Atlantis or any other pre-civilizations. This connection with Atlantis or an unknown “maritime civilization” was established by me as a result of long-term historical, mythological and genealogical research.
Did Mikhail Apollinaryevich tell the author of these lines everything and is everything in this story true? Unfortunately, he died in 1996, also under very strange circumstances. I cannot tell you all the details of the mysterious death. But believe me, I know what I'm talking about. The investigation will certainly continue. Moreover, the name of that northern cape is known, where the greatest treasures and sacred relics of unknown civilizations are hidden.

Only one book has survived from Apollinaris Ivanovich’s library. This is an English-Russian dictionary published in 1933, on the title in the hand of Apollinary Ivanovich it is written in English: “Captain Mikhailov, Kamenets-Podolsk, March 1935, London.” "Kamenets-Podolsk" is the name of the ship. On the last page there are a few English words neatly written in pencil. Translated, one of them means “column of the northern lights.” What did Apollinaris Ivanovich want to say with this?

This is all that remains of the beautiful legend. But they are surprisingly tenacious, passing from generation to generation, ancient legends envelop us with an incomprehensible sense of permanent mystery.

Modern historian and researcher William Henry writes in his book that even in his youth, Franklin Roosevelt bought shares in a company that was trying to find the treasures of the Templar Order. As president, Roosevelt came under the strong influence of Nicholas Roerich, who believed in the reality of the existence of Atlantis. There is information that the so-called Stone of Destiny, which fell to earth from Sirius, was delivered to America. According to legend, the Stone was in the hands of the rulers of Atlantis, then passed to King Solomon. “The stone was hidden in a tower in Shambhala, in Tibet, it emitted waves that influenced the fate of the world,” writes V. Henry in his book. This was exactly one of the pieces of the Heavenly Grail Stone!

The biographer of the famous philosopher, magician and sorcerer Apollonius of Tyana, Philostratus, reports that his grave was not found anywhere and there were rumors that in his old age he entered the temple of Diktynna in Crete and there “himself in his body” ascended to heaven. According to a well-known legend, Apollonius of Tyana allegedly crossed over from there to the mysterious Shambhala. Thus, there remain two promising areas for searching for world treasures: Crete and Tibet. The reality of such relics becomes more and more obvious every year.
In our country, the science of atlantology continues to actively develop. In the summer of 1998, the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences named after. P.P. Shirshov prepared an expedition to search for the legendary island. Scientists had to test the hypothesis of Vyacheslav Kudryavtsev, a full member of the Russian Geographical Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences, according to which Atlantis was located in the Celtic shelf area, south of present-day England and Ireland and west of France. But the expedition did not take place due to financial difficulties.

Russian atlantologists have become noticeably more active. Since 1999, the almanac “Atlantis: Problems, Searches, Hypotheses” has been published in Moscow - the first Russian periodical publication specifically dedicated to Atlantis and the main problems of Atlantology. This publication presents all points of view, both traditional and non-traditional. The almanac introduces the reader to new discoveries, forgotten, rare materials about Russian and foreign atlantologists or famous cultural figures who somehow covered the topic of Atlantis in their works and works.

Within the framework of the almanac, a unique and only one in Russia and the CIS countries is being created: the Museum of Atlantis named after. N. F. Zhirova. The museum has an extensive library of books in Russian and other materials dedicated to Atlantis.
In 2000, the First Russian Congress of Atlantologists took place in Moscow, which mainly resolved organizational issues. Nevertheless, it set priorities in the leadership of Russian atlantology at the moment. The leading atlantologists of Russia were the writer, President of the Moscow Club of Mysteries, academician of the International Academy of Informatization Vladimir Shcherbakov and laureate of the USSR State Prize, full member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. K. E. Tsiolkovsky Alim Voitsekhovsky. At its meeting, the congress noted the revival of interest in Russia in the problem of Atlantis.

Thus, the science of atlantology imperceptibly merges with the science of hyperbology. Once again, humanity is convinced that History cannot be considered without interconnection with the ancient Tradition and Esoteric Teaching. The development of the science of Atlantology will inevitably in the near future lead to a practical goal - the discovery of the mysterious and elusive Atlantis. There is little left to do - to discover Atlantis and finally reveal its relationship with Hyperborea.

ALEXANDER VORONIN
Report “From mythology to reality. Sacred relics of unknown pracivilizations" was published in the magazine "Reality and Subject" (2002, No. 3, volume 6, St. Petersburg).=

Tamerlane

The method of reconstructing a person’s appearance from his skull was invented by the Russian anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov (1907–1970). He grew up in a doctor's family, from adolescence he worked in an anatomical museum and spent a lot of time in the morgue, studying the connections between the soft tissues of the face and the bones of the skull. From the age of 14, Gerasimov took part in excavations of ancient burials. Based on observations and experience, he came to the conclusion that the thickness, type and relief of the skin on the skull and skeleton directly depend on the relief of the bones and their structure. This is how the technique of reconstructing a face from a skull was born, which is still used by anthropologists from around the world. Gerasimov created more than 200 sculptural portraits-reconstructions of historical figures and ancient people, including Yaroslav the Wise, Ivan the Terrible, Andrei Bogolyubsky and Ivan the Terrible. On June 22, 1941, his expedition opened Tamerlane’s grave, after which a long study began. Superstitious people consider this fact barbaric and the cause of the Great Patriotic War, but Gerasimov himself saw this as luck, and considered the reconstruction of the image of Tamerlane his best work.

Today’s anthropologists also work according to Gerasimov’s method: they take a skull and cover it layer by layer with soft tissue, focusing on the relief of the bones. Some still do it by hand, but most prefer computer technology to produce an impressive 3D model.

Cleopatra

In the popular consciousness and cinema, Cleopatra is a beautiful Caucasian woman. However, Egyptologist from the University of Cambridge Sally Ann Ashton claims that by the time she came to power, Cleopatra’s family had already lived in Egypt for 300 years, which means that Egyptian and Greek blood was mixed in her and her skin tone was dark. Ashton created her image of Cleopatra in 2008 after serious research that lasted more than a year. The basis for the three-dimensional reconstruction was the surviving ancient images of the Egyptian queen and an analysis of her genealogy. The computer-generated image of a dark, friendly woman does not really fit in with the image of the fatal beauty who was the lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Nicholas the Wonderworker

Scottish anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson, a professor at the University of Dundee, recreated the appearance of St. Nicholas, who is revered in Russia as Nicholas the Wonderworker, and in the West is considered the prototype of Santa Claus.

The basis for 3D modeling was the results of an examination of the relics, which are kept in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in the Italian city of Bari. In 1953, Professor Luigi Martino, who was involved in the autopsy of the relics, took black and white photographs of the skull, as well as X-rays of the skull in front and profile. Features of the bones helped Wilkinson reconstruct the shape of her face, her teeth suggested the shape of her lips, and her eye sockets suggested her eyes. The details were completed by graphics specialists: they superimposed the skin structure on the three-dimensional image, and also added wrinkles, hair and a beard to the model.

However, not all Christians were happy with the results - many considered the image not as spiritual as they were used to seeing the saint on the icon. Russian artists created a more soulful image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, relying on the iconographic face of the saint and modern technologies.

Tutankhamun

Last fall, the world was shocked by the publication of a three-dimensional image of Tutankhamun, created by a team of scientists exploring his tomb. The first full-length portrait of an Egyptian pharaoh is based on an analysis of the anatomical features of the mummy - in total, about 2,000 scans of the preserved remains were made.

The resulting image turned out to be surprisingly ugly and far from the majestic image that was captured in the golden funerary mask of the pharaoh, which is kept in the collection of the Cairo Museum. The computer-generated Tutankhamun is depicted as a lame, effeminate youth with prominent teeth, an overbite, wide hips and narrow shoulders.

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare scholars still cannot agree on what the famous English playwright really looked like: all the portraits and busts of the classic were made after his death. Many people mistake the death mask found in 1849 in Germany as a genuine image of Shakespeare. German criminologists recently confirmed that it belongs to Shakespeare, as it matches other images, in particular with a bust installed on the playwright’s grave by his relatives. It was this death mask that became the basis for the reconstruction of British specialists led by Stuart Clark: in 2010, they recreated a 3D model of Shakespeare’s face specifically for the film “Death Masks” on History Channel 13. However, Shakespeare scholars refused to recognize the results of the reconstruction as reliable, since They are not completely sure that the Darmstadt mask was actually removed from Shakespeare's face.

Richard III

In 2012, the skeleton of the legendary English king Richard III, who died at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, was found in a car park in Leicester - it was previously believed that his body was thrown into the River Suar and lost forever. This discovery sparked a global study that included DNA analysis of the king's remains and living descendants. One of the results was the reconstruction of the appearance of Richard III, which is especially important since lifetime images have not survived.

The restoration of the appearance was carried out by the same researcher as in the case of St. Nicholas, Caroline Wilkinson: this time she started from the data of genetic examination and the shape of the king’s skull. The image was similar to portraits painted after the monarch's death, including the earliest version - a portrait of Richard III from the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of London, created in the 1520s.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Another of Wilkinson’s works is a reconstruction of the appearance of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. This work, carried out as a result of a thorough analysis of Bach's remains in 2008, caused much criticism, as the image turned out to be unlike famous portraits and busts of the composer. However, a copy was exhibited at the Bach House Museum in the German city of Eisenach and was recognized by a number of experts. Wilkinson's work process can be seen in the video.

Dante

In 2007, researchers from the universities of Bologna and Pisa restored the appearance of the author of the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri. The portrait is based on detailed descriptions and a plaster cast made by Italian anthropologist Fabio Frassetto during the last opening of the poet's grave in 1921. Restoring the shape of the chin was especially difficult, since the jaw of Dante’s preserved skull was missing, and scientists selected a suitable one from the Frassetto collection, having examined 90 skulls from the Museum of Anthropology. As a result, the newest Dante turned out to be more humane and gentle than he is represented in posthumous images created from the memories of his contemporaries. His characteristic aquiline nose has become noticeably shorter.

Robespierre

Perhaps the most expressive from a visual point of view is the work of the French studio Visualforensic. The image of the revolutionary Maximilian Robespierre is the result of a 3D reconstruction based on a death mask made by Madame Tussauds. Not only computer graphics specialists are involved in creating the image, but also anthropologists, pathologists, and criminologists who investigate real crimes. One of the creators of the portrait, French anthropologist and facial reconstruction specialist Philippe Frosch, commented on his work as follows: “There is no doubt that we see fear in his gaze. High reliability and clarity of the reconstruction was made possible thanks to a 3D scanner. This is what allowed us to reconstruct the details of the mask using the imaging method used by the FBI.».

Jesus Christ

The question of the appearance of Jesus Christ has been exciting the minds of people for 2000 years. Since there are no actual remains or DNA samples available, anthropologists are looking for alternative ways to recreate his appearance. For example, Manchester University forensic artist Richard Neave based his depiction of Christ on archaeological evidence and biblical sources. In the Gospel of Matthew, he found confirmation that Jesus' facial features were characteristic of Semites from Galilee at that time. Israeli archaeologists were able to provide Niv with several skulls of Jews - contemporaries of Christ, and three of them underwent computed tomography. From this data, the researchers created a 3D digital reconstruction of the face and then a template of the skull.

Neve analyzed all available descriptions of Jesus from biblical sources and 1st century drawings found by archaeologists. Thus, questions about the eye color, hair length, skin color, height and physique of Christ were resolved. The portrait, modeled by programmers based on Niv data in 2002, turned out to be strikingly different from known images of Jesus and caused outrage among believers. In response, Neve stated that he had only recreated the appearance of an adult man who lived in the same place and at the same time as Jesus.

Another source for reconstructing the appearance of Christ is the Shroud of Turin. It is believed that this Christian relic, which is kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, captures the original face of the Savior. According to beliefs, it was in this cloth that the body of Jesus was wrapped after suffering torture and death. The first attempt to create a 3D reconstruction based on a print from the shroud was made by the American John Jackson in 1976: he analyzed the face on the canvas using a microdensitometer (a device that measures the degree of darkening of the image) and then reconstructed the three-dimensional shape of the body using computer programs for processing aerial photographs .

In 2010, American artists from Studio Macbeth tried to recreate the appearance of Christ from the shroud for the documentary “The Real Face of Jesus” on The History Channel. Using modern 3D technologies, specialists led by Ray Downing transformed the image obtained from the shroud from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. It also turned out to be different from the canonical images of Christ. This became a reason for the indignation of many, as did the very fact of using a print from the Shroud of Turin for reconstruction, the authenticity of which many doubt.

The question of fiction and historical truth in A. S. Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter” was one of the first to be raised by censor P. A. Korsakov: “Did the maiden Mironov exist and did the late empress really have one?” The writer’s answer was unequivocal: “The name of the girl Mironova is fictitious. My novel is based on a legend that I once heard, as if one of the officers who betrayed his duty and joined the Pugachevsky gangs was pardoned by the empress at the request of his elderly father, who threw himself at her FEET. The novel, as you can see, has gone far from the truth.” Pushkin emphasized that fiction predominated in his work. Thus, the writer “suggested” to the benevolent censor how to avoid difficulties associated with the ending of the story. The fact is that in historical works, especially those depicting members of the reigning family, documentary evidence was required. But if the narrative on a historical theme was based on “poetic fiction,” such a requirement was not made.

In the process of working on the work, the author carefully studied historical documents and eyewitness accounts. But it should be understood that “The Captain's Daughter” is not a historical novel. There is no need to depict the life and morals of those times. Historical figures (Pugachev, Catherine II) are glimpsed in a few scenes. The main attention is focused on the events of the private lives of the Grinevs and Mironovs, and historical events are described only to the extent that they touched the lives of these ordinary people.

Pushkin cites one of the real facts of life in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the story. So, the writer says that young Grinev was registered as a sex worker even before he was born. This is a confirmation of a historical fact: according to the decree of Peter I, the sons of nobles, in order to receive an officer rank, had to serve as privates in the guards regiments. But later the order changed: the nobles began to enroll their children in regiments as corporals, non-commissioned officers and sergeants, and then kept them with them until adulthood. At the same time, promotion to ranks began from the day of registration.

There are quite a few such real life facts in the story, but we are primarily attracted by the images of real historical figures. Researchers of Pushkin's work emphasize the artistic perfection of the story, strict, sober reality and historical impartiality. According to M. Tsvetaeva, Pushkin’s Pugachev is “a molded man, a living man.” Naturally, the author does not shy away from poetry: for the first time in the story, Pugachev suddenly appears before the reader from the muddy darkness of a snowstorm, like some kind of mythical spirit of thunder and storm. At the same time, he is a simple runaway Cossack, a half-naked tramp who has just drunk his sheepskin coat in a tavern.

Having gained power over the Cossacks and declaring himself Peter III, Pugachev changes his appearance. Now he must look and dress like a king: “He was wearing a red Cossack caftan trimmed with braid. A tall sable cap with golden tassels was pulled down over his sparkling eyes." Meanwhile, Pushkin’s description of Pugachev’s clothing corresponds to the clothing of a Cossack; it does not contain any elements of royal clothing.

The description of Pugachev’s reprisal against Captain Mironov also corresponds to reality. While working on this episode, Pushkin used the stories of an old Cossack woman, a witness to real historical events. However, in his notes on these stories, Pushnin did not include everything that he heard.

In describing the empress, Pushkin used her famous portrait by Borovikovsky. This was the writer's trick. 1Gutshin had a rather difficult attitude towards Catherine’s activities. For example, he condemned favoritism, as a result of which upstarts and sycophants came to power. Taking a well-known portrait as a basis, the writer seemed to abdicate responsibility for the depiction of the reigning person.

On the one hand, the image of Catherine seems episodic: she exists only to bring the rather complicated story of the main characters to a happy ending.

All that has been said can be summed up in the words of the writer V. A. Sollogub: in the story “The Captain’s Daughter” A. S. Pushkin “did not allow himself to deviate from the connection of historical events, did not utter an extra word, - calmly distributed all parts of his story in due proportion, approved his style with dignity, calmness and laconicism of history and conveyed the historical episode in a simple but harmonious language.”

In order to make a correct analysis of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s “History of a City,” you need not only to read this work, but also to study it thoroughly. Try to reveal the essence and meaning of what Mikhail Evgrafovich tried to convey to the reader. To do this, you will need to analyze the plot and idea of ​​the story. In addition, attention should be paid to the images of mayors. As in many other works of the author, he pays special attention to them, comparing them with an ordinary commoner.

Author's published work

“The History of a City” is one of the famous works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. It was published in Otechestvennye zapiski, which aroused great interest in the novel. To have a clear understanding of the work, you need to analyze it. So, an analysis of “The History of a City” by Saltykov-Shchedrin. The genre is a novel, the writing style is a historical chronicle.

The reader immediately gets acquainted with the unusual image of the author. This is the “last archivist-chronicler.” From the very beginning, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin made a small note, which indicated that everything was published on the basis of authentic documents. Why was this done by the writer? To give credibility to everything that will be narrated. All additions and author's notes contribute to creating historical truth in the work.

The authenticity of the novel

The analysis of “The History of a City” by Saltykov-Shchedrin is intended to indicate the history of writing and the use of means of expression. As well as the writer’s skill in ways of revealing the characters of literary images.

The preface reveals the author's intention for creating the novel “The History of a City.” Which city deserved to be immortalized in a literary work? The archives of the city of Foolov contained descriptions of all the important affairs of city residents, biographies of changing mayors. The novel contains the exact dates of the period described in the work: from 1731 to 1826. The quote is from a poem known at the time of writing by G.R. Derzhavina. And the reader believes it. How else!

The author uses a specific name and talks about the events that took place in any city. M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin traces the life of city leaders in connection with the changes in various historical eras. Every era changes the people in power. They were reckless, they skillfully managed the city's treasury, and were knightly brave. But no matter how time changes them, they control and command ordinary people.

What is written in the analysis

The analysis of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s “History of a City” will be written, like anything written in prose, according to a certain plan. The plan examines the following characteristic features: the history of the creation of the novel and plot lines, composition and images, style, direction, genre. Sometimes the analyzing critic or observer from the reading circle can add his own attitude to the work.

Now it’s worth turning to a specific work.

History of creation and main idea of ​​the work

Saltykov-Shchedrin conceived his novel long ago and nurtured it for many years. His observations of the autocratic system have long been sought for embodiment in literary works. The writer worked on the novel for more than ten years. Saltykov-Shchedrin corrected and rewrote entire chapters more than once.

The main idea of ​​the work is the satirist's view of the history of Russian society. The main thing in the city is not gold and money-grubbing, but actions. Thus, the entire novel “The History of a City” contains the theme of a satirical history of society. The writer seemed to predict the death of the autocracy. This is felt in the decisions of the Foolovites, who do not want to live in a regime of despotism and humiliation.

Plot

Novel « The History of a City” has a special content, unlike and not previously described in any classical work. This is for the society that is contemporary to the author, and in this state structure there is a power hostile to the people. To describe the city of Foolov and its daily life, the author takes a time period of one hundred years. The history of the city changes when the next government changes. Very briefly and schematically, you can present the entire plot of the work in a few sentences.

The first thing the author talks about is the origin of the people inhabiting the city. A long time ago, a tribe of bunglers managed to defeat all their neighbors. They are looking for a prince-ruler, instead of whom a thief-deputy turns out to be in power, for which he paid. This went on for a very long time, until the prince decided to appear in Foolov himself. The following is a story about all the significant people of the city. When it comes to the mayor Ugryum-Burcheev, the reader sees that popular anger is growing. The work ends with the expected explosion. Gloomy-Burcheev has disappeared, a new period begins. It's time for change.

Compositional structure

The composition has a fragmented appearance, but its integrity is not violated. The plan of the work is simple and at the same time extremely complex. It's easy to imagine it like this:

• Introducing the reader to the history of the inhabitants of the city of Foolov.
• 22 rulers and their characteristics.
• Mayor Brudasty and his organ in the head.
• The struggle for power in the city.
• Dvoekurov is in power.
• Years of calm and famine under Ferdyshchenko.
• The activities of Vasilisk Semenovich Wartkin.
• Changes in the way of life of the city.
• Depravity of morals.
• Gloomy-Burcheev.
• Wartkin about obligations.
• Mikaladze about the appearance of the ruler.
• Benevolsky about kindness.

Individual episodes

The “History of a City”, chapter by chapter, is interesting. The first chapter, “From the Publisher,” contains a story about the city and its history. The author himself admits that the plot is somewhat monotonous and contains the history of the government of the city. There are four narrators, and the story is told in turn by each of them.

The second chapter, “On the Roots of the Origin of the Foolovites,” tells the story of the prehistoric period of the existence of the tribes. Who was there at that time: bush-eaters and onion-eaters, frogs and bunglers.

In the chapter “Organchik” there is a conversation about the reign of a mayor named Brudasty. He is laconic, his head is completely empty. Master Baibakov, at the request of the people, revealed the secret of Brudasty: he had a small musical instrument in his head. A period of anarchy begins in Foolov.

The next chapter is full of events and dynamism. It's called "The Tale of the Six City Leaders." From this moment on, there came moments of change of rulers one after another: Dvoekurov, who ruled for eight years, with the ruler Ferdyshchenko, the people lived joyfully and in abundance for six years. The activity and activity of the next mayor, Wartkin, made it possible for the people of Foolov to learn what abundance is. But all good things have to come to an end. This happened with Foolov when Captain Negodyaev came to power.

The people of the city now see little good; no one is taking care of it, although some rulers are trying to engage in legislation. What the Foolovites did not survive: hunger, poverty, devastation. “The History of a City,” chapter by chapter, gives a complete picture of the changes that took place in Foolov.

Images of heroes

Mayors occupy a lot of space in the novel “The History of a City.” Each of them has their own principles of government in the city. Each is given a separate chapter in the work. To maintain the chronicle narrative style, the author uses a number of satirical artistic means: anachronism and fantasy, limited space and symbolic details. The novel exposes the entire modern reality. To do this, the author uses grotesque and hyperbole. Each of the mayors is vividly drawn by the author. The images turned out to be colorful, regardless of how their rule influenced the life of the city. Brudasty's categorical attitude, Dvoekurov's reformism, Wartkin's fight for enlightenment, Ferdyshchenko's greed and love of love, Pyshch's non-interference in any affairs and the Ugyum-Burcheevs with their idiocy.

Direction

Satirical novel. It is a chronological overview. It looks like some kind of original parody of the chronicle. A complete analysis of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s “History of a City” is ready. All that remains is to read the work again. Readers will have a new look at the novel by Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Sometimes it's the little things that make the difference

In the work “The History of a City,” every passage is so good and bright, every little thing is in its place. Take, for example, the chapter “On the Roots of the Origin of the Foolovites.” The passage is reminiscent of a fairy tale. The chapter contains many fictional characters, invented funny names of tribes, which formed the basis of the city of Foolov. Elements of folklore will sound more than once from the lips of the heroes of the work; one of the bunglers sings the song “Don’t make noise, mother green oak tree.” The virtues of the Foolovites look ridiculous: skilful pasta-stripping, trading, singing obscene songs.

“The History of a City” is the pinnacle of the work of the great Russian classic Saltykov-Shchedrin. This masterpiece brought the author fame as a satirical writer. This novel contains the hidden history of all of Russia. Saltykov-Shchedrin saw an unfair attitude towards the common people. He very subtly felt and saw the shortcomings of the Russian political system. Just as in the history of Russia, in the novel the harmless ruler is replaced by a tyrant and dictator.

Epilogue of the story

The ending of the work is symbolic, in which the despotic mayor Gloomy-Burcheev dies in the funnel of a tornado of popular anger, but there is no confidence that a respectable ruler will come to power. Thus, there is no certainty and constancy in matters of power.

Machiavelli lived at a time when a person was not yet a slave to commodity-money relations, and the employer did not pursue exclusively selfish goals. During the Renaissance, people were weighed down by the imperatives of profit and ruthless competition.

The employer in the Renaissance was not yet an entrepreneur in the strict sense of the word; he thinks of himself rather as a figure of culture and progress, is proud of his honest name and reputation, and values ​​human freedom and independence above monetary calculations. After all, the Renaissance era is an elegant copy of antiquity. Italians are reviving the ideals and values ​​of Ancient Greece, and not the Roman Empire, which is closer to them by blood.

A return to universal human values ​​will happen once again in history - in the second half of the 20th century, in the era of economic prosperity, democratic freedoms and political tolerance.

The life of Niccolo Machiavelli occurred at a turning point - the turn of the 15th-16th centuries: the four-hundred-year stage of the progressive development of Italy ended, a deep crisis engulfed the mechanisms of power and the socio-economic structure of society, manufacturing capital, as a result of a gradual decline in production, was losing its competitive position to usurious capital. At the dawn of a new capitalist era, the main role in the economic and political drama is played by the merchant bourgeoisie. Machiavelli's political philosophy as a projection of the era is full of antinomies, contradictions, and unexpected solutions.

Passion to gain and fear of losing

Machiavelli taught a ruler striving for success to coordinate his actions, firstly, with the laws of necessity (fate), and secondly, with the behavior of his subordinates.

Strength is on the side of the leader when he takes into account the psychology of people, knows the peculiarities of their way of thinking, moral habits, advantages and disadvantages. It is obvious that ambition rules people's actions, along with other qualities. But knowing this is not enough. It is necessary to find out who exactly is more ambitious and therefore more dangerous for those holding power: those who want to preserve what they have, or those who strive to acquire what they do not have.

The wealthy are driven by the fear of losing what they have accumulated. The fear of loss gives rise to the same passions that possess those who strive for acquisition, Machiavelli believes. Both motives of power, behind which an ordinary passion for destruction is often hidden, are equally vicious. The poor crave acquisition in the same way as the rich, who always feel that their possessions are not sufficiently secured if they do not make new acquisitions.

The rich, who have the levers of power at their disposal, and the poor, who strive to gain it, behave in principle the same way. Immoralism does not depend on social origin, it is dictated by participation in the struggle for power. The “Satanic villain” Caesar Borgia, whom Machiavelli considered an ideal leader, behaves no worse than the “revolutionaries” from the people.

In The History of Florence (1525), Machiavelli colorfully depicts the psychology and tactics of those who strive for power, using the example of the leader of the famous Ciompi uprising - one of the first worker uprisings in Europe, which occurred in Florence in 1378.