What is Russian heroic epic? Epic - what is it? History and heroes of the epic

What is a "heroic epic"? How to spell given word. Concept and interpretation.

heroic epic G.ii E. as a special genre - in Western Europe and beyond - continues the traditions of archaic narrative folklore. Initially, it arises on the basis of the interaction of a heroic song-fairy tale and primitive mythological tales about the first ancestors - “cultural heroes”. Mythological legends about the creation of the world, mythologized pictures of nature often remain the background of the story. Traces of panegyrics or actual historical legends in the early, still archaic forms of G.ogo E.a are very weak. G. and E. develops in the course of ethnogenesis and the settlement of tribes. It is created in the form of an oral tradition and retains traces of oral improvisational techniques. The mixed form characteristic of the most ancient narratives (transmission in songs or poetry of only speeches and some descriptions, and the rest in prose) is also retained in the early examples of G.ogo E.a. The heroic characters of heroes, often personifying the tribal collective, are sometimes endowed with shamanic traits. In archaic epics there are motifs of fighting against God. However, the role of singers - shpilmans and jugglers - remains significant for a long time. The biography of Cuchullinus is typical of a heroic tale. It includes a miraculous birth, a heroic childhood, initiation motives (not only the aforementioned victory over a terrible dog, but also temporary decapitation and training in the art of war from the witch Scathach), as well as a difficult matchmaking with Emer and love for Sida (fairy Fand), and, finally, death as a result of breaking a taboo. Figures of fairies, witches, sorcerers, etc. bear the stamp of mythology, but the quasi-historical frame of the narrative helps to rethink all this fantasy in the spirit of classical epic. Cuchullin himself has a heroic character characteristic of a mature epic, which leads to his death precisely as a result of his noble properties, including a kind of patriotism. mythological motifs. It is possible that the saga of the fall of the house of Da Derg arose as part of the historicization of the eschatological myth. The Welsh Mabinogion, through which Celtic themes penetrated into French knightly (courtly) romances, also reactivate the fairy-tale-mythological layer. The ancient Germanic epic poem is very rich. Its main monuments: the ancient Icelandic "Edda" (preserved in a manuscript of the 13th century, the sources are very ancient), the Anglo-Saxon "Beowulf" (formed in the 7th-8th centuries), the ancient German poetic passage "Hildebrand's Song", much later ( ca. 1200) the extensive “Song of the Nibelungs”, “Kudruna” (or “Gudruna”, early 13th century), German songs and tales about Dietrich of Berne, as well as Old Icelandic prose sagas. The epic of the German-speaking peoples is much more diverse than the Irish and includes both real mythological archaics (the mythological epic about the gods in the Scandinavian, more precisely, the Old Icelandic “Edda”) and similar heroic tale stories about heroes already included in historical legend (such as Beowulf, Helgi, Sigurd-Siegfried, Wölund), and heroic stories that grew out of genuine historical legends about the events of the “great migration of peoples” and describing wars in the form of private tribal strife (the circle of the Nibelungs, the “songs” of Hildebrand and Walder) and, finally, the postclassical epic, represented by the Icelandic prose sagas. One, corresponding to the continental German Wodan, has the features of a creator and a shaman priest. He is a miner-stealer of sacred honey from the giants (which is a source of poetic and shamanic inspiration), as well as magical runes. The thunder god Thor (corresponding to the ancient German Donar) is a heroic fighter who protects the aesir gods and people from giant jotuns and other monsters who embody the forces of chaos. Loki, on the contrary, is a negative version of the “culture hero,” i.e., a mythological trickster. By cunning he extracts mythological values from dwarves and giants for the gods, and from the gods for the giants. He is the “operator” of the eternal circulation of mythological values. Loki, in particular, kidnaps the goddess Idunn and her rejuvenating apples, the hair of the goddess Siv, the jewelry of the goddess Frein, Thor's hammer Mjolnir, captured by the giants: he forces the dwarves to forge wonderful objects. True, he invents a fishing net - like a real “culture hero”, but at the same time he is in hostile relations with other gods, makes fun of them at meetings of the gods, and destroys the bright god Balder. If Odin is the father of the gods, then Loki is the father of some monsters: the terrible wolf Fenrir, the world serpent Jormungandr and the mistress of the kingdom of the dead Hel. In the eschatological battle, he participates on the side of the chthonic forces of chaos against gods and people. A type of trickster similar to Loki is rarely found in the epic. The exception is the North Caucasian Syrdon in the tales of the Narts. At the age of one day, he already becomes a hero, and his father gives him a name, a “noble” bow, a sword and power over the lands. In another version (there are three “songs” about Helgi), the name is given to him by the Valkyrie Svava, who then protects him in battle. In this version The Old Norse epic, preserved in Iceland in the form of the Edda (sometimes called the Elder Edda) and retellings in the Younger Edda by Snorri Sturluson, contains both mythological and heroic-historical plots. From the point of view of metric-stylistic criteria, the mythological “songs,” i.e., the poems of the Edda, are older than the heroic ones, and the Old Norse gods appearing in them resemble archaic “cultural heroes.” not about the early, but, on the contrary, about the late maturation of the hero. It is given the features of a fairy-tale-epic Sydney. The revenge he took for his father is also a typical motif of a heroic tale. Helga's love for the Valkyrie is very characteristic, reminiscent of the theme of heroic matchmaking. The name of Helga's father fluctuates in different songs (Sigmund? Hjorvard?), which also correlates with his fairy-tale-mythological roots. This did not prevent Helgi from being portrayed in the Anglo-Saxon epic about Beowulf as a representative of the Danish royal house of Scylding, the father of the famous Danish king Rolvo, i.e. Hrolf Kraki. But here, too, Helgi appears as an ancestor, a ancestor, which may also have mythological roots. In the plot circle of the Nibelungs (the Gyu-Kungs of the Edda correspond to the Burgundians of the Song of the Nibelungs), Gudruna’s revenge is carried out in relation to her second husband Atli, who lured her brothers to death. Her counterpart, Kriemhild in the Nibelungenlied, takes revenge not for her brothers on her husband Etzel, but on her brothers for the murder of her first husband, Siegfried. The Scandinavian version undoubtedly reflects a more ancient stage in the development of historical legend on continental German soil: Attila allegedly died on the bed of the German captive Ildigo (i.e. Hilda, Krim-hilda), who avenged her brothers. It is clear that initially tribal ties were valued above family ones. But one way or another, the historical legend itself presents historical events in the form of family and clan feuds. The defeat of the Huns on the Catalaunian fields is also interpreted in the epic as a struggle for the paternal heritage of the two Gothic princes Angantyr and Hlöd; Ermanaric (Jormunrek) also becomes a victim of the brothers' revenge for his sister Su-nilda (in Icelandic - Svanhild). Supreme God we're talking about permanent epithet ”, and for Högni, Gunnar’s brother, it is “brave”. Hamdir and Sörli go to certain death in the camp of Yormunrek, not wanting to give up the feat that their mother encourages them to do. Gunnar, out of pride, decides to go to Atli’s headquarters, despite bad omens, his sister’s warning and the persuasion of those close to him. He asks the Huns to cut out his brother's heart, fearing that he would show weakness (but even a cut-out heart does not flutter on a platter), and he himself fearlessly dies in a snake pit. Gunnar's proud courage is matched by Gudrun's cruel revenge on Atli's husband for the death of her brothers. She kills and cooks her own children for her husband’s “dinner.” Women are not inferior to men in heroism: Gudrun does not cry over the body of Sigurd and cruelly avenges the death of her brothers, Brynhild herself ascends to the funeral pyre. The assonant verse and a number of epic formulas are also similar. The Spanish epic, like the French one, is based on historical legend and is even more focused on the fight against the Moors, on the theme of reconquista, that is, the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The distance between the historical events described and the time of creation of the epic poem is much shorter than in the French epic. The life of the famous figure of the reconquista Cid (his name is Ruy Diaz de Bivar, Cid is his nickname from the Arabic Al-Seid, which means “lord”) - the second half of the 11th century. In the poem, the Cid, more associated with the Leonese rather than the Castilian nobility, is expelled by King Alfonso VI, but continues to fight the Moors; in the end, reconciliation occurs (cf. similar motifs in the French epic, in Homer’s Iliad, in the Russian epic, etc.). After reconciliation with the king, he still has to establish himself in the court environment, where some, especially the Infanta of Carrion, despise him as less noble. They behave arrogantly and treacherously, covet his wealth, marry Sid’s daughters for profit, and then abandon them, etc. Sid restores his honor with a legal duel. In another, later poem about Sid, and then in romances, his youth is told, the theme of the hero’s “epic childhood” is developed. In the Castilian chronicles, fragments of other epic narratives have been preserved: “The Song of the Seven Infantes of Lara”, “The Siege of Zamora”, “The Tale of Garcia Fernandez”, etc. It is worth mentioning the modern Greek, i.e., Byzantine epic about Digenis Akrit (the poem dates back to at the turn of the X-XI centuries). Digenis is a kind of fairy-tale hero, showing strength and courage from childhood, killing lions and dragons, heroically kidnapping a bride, taming the Amazon, etc. These fairy-tale stories are inserted into the historical frame of the struggle against the caliphate. Digenis himself is the son of a Greek woman and an Arab emir who converted to Christianity; the poem contradictorily combines the ideas of a certain religious tolerance associated with the origin of the hero and the idea of Christian missionism. at Hamdir - “ great in spirit Oriental motifs Anglo-Saxons // Old English poetry. M, 1982. S. 171-232; Smirnov A.A. Spanish heroic epic and the legend of Sid // Song of Sid. M., Leningrad, 1959. P. 165-213; Steblin-Kamensky M.I. Old Norse literature. M., 1979; aka. Elder Edda // Elder Edda. M.,L., 1963. P. 181-213; Tomashevsky N. B. Heroic tales of France and Spain // Song of Roland. Coronation of Louis. Nim cart. Song of Sid. Romancero. M., 1976. (BVL; vol. 10); Heusler A. The German heroic epic and the tale of the Nibelungs (with an introductory article by V.M. Zhirmunsky). M, 1960; Yarkho B.I. Introduction // Song of Roland. M.,L., 1934; Bedier J. Les l'gendes ?piques. Recherches sur la formation des chansons de geste. V. I - IV. P., 1908-1913; Brodeur A.C. The Art of Beowulf. Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1950; Gautier L. Les ?pop?es fran?aises. Etudes sur les origines et l"histoire de la litt?rature nationale. P., 1882; Lot K. Etudes sur les l?gendes ?piques fran?aises. P., 1958; Manelach A. Naissance et d?veloppement de la chanson de geste en Europe. V. I-IV. Gen?ve, P., 1961-1980; Markale J. L "? pop?e celtique d" Irlande. by J. Mandel, B. Rosenberg. New Brunswick, 1970; Menendes Pidal R. La chanson de Roland y el neotradicionalismo. Madrid, 1959; Torino, 1968; Vries J. de. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. Bd. 1-2. V., 1964-1967.

E. M. Meletinsky Epic (ancient Greek ἔπος - “word”, “narration”) - a heroic narrative about the past, containing a holistic picture folk life and representing in harmonic unity a certain epic world

heroes-heroes.
The narrative layer of speech in an epic work naturally interacts with the dialogues and monologues of the characters. The epic narrative either becomes self-sufficient, temporarily suspending the statements of the characters, or is imbued with their spirit in inappropriately direct speech; Sometimes it frames the characters’ remarks, sometimes, on the contrary, it is reduced to a minimum or temporarily disappears. But overall, it dominates the work, holding together everything depicted in it. Therefore, the features of an epic are largely determined by the properties of the narrative. Speech here acts mainly in the function of reporting what happened earlier. Between the conduct of speech and the depicted action in the Epic, a temporary distance is maintained: the epic poet talks “... about an event as something separate from himself...” (Aristotle, On the Art of Poetry).
The epic narration is told on behalf of the narrator, a kind of mediator between the person depicted and the listeners (readers), a witness and interpreter of what happened. Information about his fate, his relationships with the characters, and the circumstances of the “story” are usually missing. The “spirit of storytelling” is often “... weightless, ethereal and omnipresent...”. At the same time, the narrator’s speech characterizes not only the subject of the statement, but also himself; epic form captures the manner of speaking and perceiving the world, the originality of the narrator’s consciousness. Live perception The reader is always associated with close attention to the expressive principles of the narrative, i.e., the subject of the narrative, or the “image of the narrator” (the concept of V.V. Vinogradov, M.M. Bakhtin, G.A. Gukovsky).
The epic is as free as possible in the exploration of space and time. The writer either creates stage episodes, that is, pictures that record one place and one moment in the life of the characters (an evening with A.P. Sherer in the first chapters of “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy), or in descriptive, overview episodes , “panoramic” speaks of long periods of time or what happened in different places (L.N. Tolstoy’s description of Moscow, empty before the arrival of the French). In the careful recreation of processes occurring in a wide space and at significant stages of time, only cinema can compete with the Epic.
The arsenal of literary and visual means is used by the epic in its entirety (portraits, direct characterizations, dialogues and monologues, landscapes, interiors, actions, gestures, facial expressions, etc.), which gives the images the illusion of plastic volume and visual and auditory authenticity. What is depicted can be an exact correspondence to the “forms of life itself” and, on the contrary, a sharp re-creation of them. Epic, unlike drama, does not insist on the conventions of what is being recreated. Here it is conditionally not so much what is depicted, but rather the “depicting” one, that is, the narrator, who is often characterized by absolute knowledge of what happened in its smallest details. In this sense, the structure of the epic narrative, which usually differs from non-fictional messages (reportage, historical chronicle), seems to “give out” the fictitious, artistic and illusory nature of what is depicted.
The epic form is based on various types of plots. In some cases, the eventfulness of the works is extremely intense (the adventure-detective plots of F. M. Dostoevsky), in others the course of events is weakened, so that what happened seems to drown in descriptions, psychological characteristics, and reasoning (the prose of A. P. Chekhov in the 1890s ., novels by T. Mann and W. Faulkner). According to I. V. Goethe and F. Schiller, retarding motives are an essential feature epic kind literature in general. The volume of text of an epic work, which can be both prose and poetic, is practically unlimited - from miniature stories (early Chekhov, O. Henry) to lengthy epics and novels ("Mahabharata" and "Iliad", "War and Peace" and " Quiet Don"). An epic can concentrate in itself such a number of characters and events that are inaccessible to other types of literature and types of art (only serial television films can compete with it). At the same time, the narrative form is able to recreate complex, contradictory, multifaceted characters that are in the making. Although the possibilities of epic display are not used in all works, the word Epic is associated with the idea of showing life in its integrity, of revealing the essence an entire era and the scale of the creative act. The scope of the epic genre is not limited to any type of experience or worldview. In nature, Epic is a universally wide use of the cognitive and ideological capabilities of literature and art in general. “Localizing” characteristics of the content of epic works (for example, the definition of Epic in the 19th century as a reproduction of the domination of an event over a person or the modern judgment about a “generous” attitude towards a person) do not absorb the entire history of epic genres.
The epic was formed in different ways. Lyric-epic, and on their basis, epic songs themselves, like drama and lyrics, arose from ritual syncretic performances. The formation of the prose genres of the Epic, in particular the fairy tale, is genetically connected with individually told myths. Early epic creativity and the further development of forms of artistic storytelling were also influenced by oral and then written historical traditions.
In ancient and medieval literature, the folk heroic epic was very influential. Its formation marked the full and widespread use of epic capabilities. Carefully detailed, maximally attentive to everything visible and full of plasticity, the narrative overcame the naive-archaic poetics of short messages characteristic of myth, parable and early fairy tales. The heroic epic is characterized by the “absolutization” of the distance between the characters and the one who narrates; the narrator is endowed with the gift of imperturbable calm and “omniscience” (it was not for nothing that Homer was likened to the Olympian gods), and his image - the image of a being who has risen above the world - gives the work the flavor of maximum objectivity. “... The narrator is alien to the characters, he not only surpasses the listeners with his balanced contemplation and sets them in this mood with his story, but, as it were, takes the place of necessity...” (Schelling F., Philosophy of Art.).
But already in ancient prose the distance between the narrator and actors ceases to be absolutized: in the novels “The Golden Ass” by Apuleius and “Satyricon” by Petronius, the characters themselves talk about what they have seen and experienced. In the literature of the last three centuries, marked by the predominance of romantic genres, “personal”, demonstrative-subjective narration dominates. On the one hand, the narrator's omniscience covers the thoughts and feelings of the characters that are not expressed in their behavior. On the other hand, the narrator often looks at the world through the eyes of one of the characters, imbued with his state of mind. Thus, the battle of Waterloo in Stendhal’s “Parma Monastery” is not at all reproduced in the Homeric way: the author seemed to reincarnate as young Fabrizio, the distance between them practically disappeared, the points of view of both were combined (the method of narration inherent in L. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, G. . Flaubert, T. Mann, Faulkner). This combination is caused by increased interest in the uniqueness of the inner world of the heroes, which is sparingly and incompletely manifested in their behavior. In connection with this, a method of narration also arose in which the story of what happened is at the same time a monologue of the hero ("The Last Day of a Man Condemned to Death" by V. Hugo, "The Meek" by Dostoevsky, "The Fall" by A. Camus). Internal monologue as a narrative form is absolutized in the literature of the “stream of consciousness” (J. Joyce, partly M. Proust). Narrative methods often alternate, sometimes different heroes tell about events, and each in their own manner ("Hero of Our Time" by M. Yu. Lermontov, "To Have and Have Not" by E. Hemingway, "The Mansion" by Faulkner, "Lotta in Weimar" by T . Manna). In monumental examples of E. 20th century. (“Jean Christophe” by R. Rolland, “Joseph and His Brothers” by T. Mann, “The Life of Klim Samgin” by M. Gorky, “Quiet Don” by M. A. Sholokhov) synthesizes the long-standing principle of “omniscience” of the narrator and personal, full of psychologism image forms.
In novel prose of the 19th-20th centuries. Emotional and semantic connections between the statements of the narrator and the characters are important. Their interaction gives artistic speech an internal dialogical quality; the text of the works captures a set of different quality and conflicting consciousnesses. The “voices” of different persons can either be reproduced one by one, or combined in one utterance - a “two-voice word.” Narrative polyphony is not typical for the canonical genres of ancient eras, where the voice of the narrator reigned supreme, and the characters spoke in the tone in which they spoke. In the literature of the last two centuries, on the contrary, internal dialogicity and polyphony of speech are widely represented, thanks to which people’s verbal thinking and spiritual communication between them are mastered.

In a narrower and more specific sense of the word, the heroic Epic as a genre (or group of genres), that is, a heroic narrative about the past, containing a holistic picture of the people. life and representing in harmonious unity a certain epic world and heroic heroes. Heroic Eros exists both in book and oral form, and most of the book monuments of the Epics have folklore origins; The very features of the genre developed at the folklore stage. Therefore, the heroic Epic is often called the folk Epic. However, such an identification is not entirely accurate, since the book forms of the Epic have their own stylistic and sometimes ideological specificity, and are certainly attributable to the folk Epic. Ballads, historical legends and songs, folk novel etc. can be considered a heroic epic only with significant reservations.
The Heroic Epic has come down to us both in the form of extensive epics, book ("Iliad", "Odyssey", "Mahabharata", "Ramayana", "Beowulf") or oral ("Dzhangar", "Alpamysh", "Manas", and in the form of short “epic songs” (Russian epics, South Slavic youth songs, poems by Edda the Elder), partly grouped into cycles, less often - prose tales (sagas, Nart (Nart) epic).
The folk heroic Epic arose (based on the traditions of the mythological Epic and heroic tales, later - historical legends and partly panegyrics) in the era of the decomposition of the primitive communal system and developed in ancient and feudal society, in conditions of partial preservation of patriarchal relations and ideas, in which what is typical for the heroic Epic the depiction of social relations as blood, clan may not yet represent a conscious artistic device.
In the archaic forms of the Epic (Karelian and Finnish runes, heroic poems of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Siberia, the Nart epic, the most ancient parts of the Babylonian "Gilgamesh", the Elder Edda, "Sasuntsi David", "Amiraniani"), heroism appears in a fairy-tale-mythological shell (heroes possess not only military, but also “shamanic” power, epic enemies appear in the guise of fantastic monsters); main themes: the fight against “monsters”, heroic matchmaking to the “betrothed”, family revenge.
In the classical forms of the Epic, the heroes-leaders and warriors represent the historical people, and their opponents are often identical to the historical “invaders,” foreign and heterodox oppressors (for example, the Turks and Tatars in the Slavic Epics). The “epic time” here is no longer the mythical era of first creation, but the glorious historical past at the dawn of national history. The most ancient state political formations (for example, Mycenae - “Iliad”, Kiev State Prince Vladimir - epics, the state of four Oirots - "Dzhangar") act as a national and social utopia turned to the past. In the classical forms of Epics, historical (or pseudo-historical) persons and events are glorified, although the depiction of historical realities itself is subject to traditional plot schemes; sometimes ritual-mythological models are used. The epic background is usually the struggle of two epic tribes or nationalities (more or less correlated with real story). In the center there is often a military event - historical (the Trojan War in the Iliad, the battle on Kurukshetra in the Mahabharata, on Kosovo Polje in Serbian youth songs), less often - mythical (the fight for Sampo in the Kalevala). Power is usually concentrated in the hands of an epic prince (Vladimir - in epics, Charlemagne - in the "Song of Roland"), but the bearers of active action are heroes, whose heroic characters, as a rule, are marked not only by courage, but also by independence, obstinacy, even fury (Achilles in the Iliad, Ilya Muromets in epics). Obstinacy sometimes leads them to conflict with the authorities (in the archaic epic - to fight against God), but the directly social nature of the heroic act and the commonality of patriotic goals for the most part ensure a harmonious resolution of the conflict. In Epics, mainly the actions (deeds) of the heroes are depicted, and not their soul feelings, but own plot story supplemented by numerous static descriptions and ceremonial dialogues. The stable and relatively homogeneous world of the Epic corresponds to a constant epic background and often measured verse; The integrity of the epic narrative is preserved by focusing on individual episodes.

1). The question of the origin of the heroic epic - one of the most difficult in literary science - has given rise to a number of different theories. Two of them stand out: “traditionalism” and “anti-traditionalism.” The foundations of the first of them were laid by the French medievalist Gaston Paris (1839-1901) in his major work “The Poetic History of Charlemagne” (1865). The theory of Gaston Paris, called the “cantilena theory,” boils down to the following main principles. The primary basis of the heroic epic were small lyrical-epic cantilena songs, widespread in the 8th century. Cantilenas were a direct response to certain historical events. For hundreds of years, cantilenas existed in... oral tradition, and from the 10th century. the process of their merging into large epic poems begins. The epic is the product of long-term collective creativity, the highest expression of the spirit of the people. Therefore, it is impossible to name a single creator of the epic poem; the recording of the poems itself is a more mechanical process than a creative one,

The positions of “traditionalists” and “anti-traditionalists” were brought together to a certain extent in his theory about the origin of the heroic epic by Alexander Nikolaevich Veselovsky. The essence of his theory is as follows. The beginning of epic creativity was small songs - lyrical-epic cantilenas, born as a response to events that excited the popular imagination. Over time, the attitude towards the events described in the songs becomes calmer, the severity of emotions is lost and then an epic song is born. Time passes, and songs that are close to each other in one way or another form into cycles. And finally the cycle turns into an epic poem. As long as the text exists in the oral tradition, it is the creation of a collective. At the last stage of the formation of the epic, the decisive role is played by the individual author. Writing down poems is not a mechanical act, but a deeply creative one.

The fundamentals of Veselovsky’s theory retain their significance for modern science (V. Zhirmunsky, E. Meletinsky), which also dates the emergence of the heroic epic to the 8th century, believing that the epic is the creation of both oral collective and written individual creativity.

Only the question of the fundamental principles of the heroic epic is corrected: they are considered to be historical legends and the richest arsenal of figurative means of the archaic epic.

It is no coincidence that the beginning of the formation of the heroic (or state) epic dates back to the 8th century. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), over the course of a number of centuries there was a transition from slave-owning forms of statehood to feudal ones, and among the peoples Northern Europe- the process of the final decomposition of patriarchal-tribal relations. Qualitative changes, associated with the establishment of a new statehood, definitely made themselves felt in the 8th century. In 751, one of the largest feudal lords in Europe, Pepin the Short, became king of the Franks and founder of the Carolingian dynasty. Under the son of Pepin the Short, Charlemagne (reign: 768-814), a huge state was formed, including a Celtic-Roman-Germanic population. In 80b, the pope crowned Charles with the title of emperor of the newly revived Great Roman Empire. In turn, Kara completes the Christianization of the German tribes, and seeks to turn the capital of the empire, Aachen, into Athens. The formation of the new state was difficult not only because of internal circumstances, but also because of external ones, among which one of the main places was occupied by the ongoing war between Christian Franks and Muslim Arabs. This is how history powerfully entered the life of medieval man. And the heroic epic itself became a poetic reflection historical consciousness people.

The focus on history determines the decisive features of the difference between the heroic epic and the archaic epic. The central themes of the heroic epic reflect the most important trends in historical life, a specific historical, geographical, ethnic background appears, mythological and fairy-tale motivations are eliminated. The truth of history now determines the truth of the epic.

U heroic poems created different peoples Europe has a lot in common. This is explained by the fact that a similar historical reality; this reality itself was comprehended from the point of view of the same level of historical consciousness. In addition, the image medium served artistic language, which has common roots in European folklore. But at the same time, the heroic epic of each individual nation has many unique, nationally specific features.

The most significant of the Heroic poems of the peoples of Western Europe are considered to be: French - “The Song of Roland”, German - “Song of the Nibelungs”, Spanish - “Song of My Cid”. These three great poems allow us to judge the evolution of the heroic epic: “The Song of the Nibelungs” contains a number of archaic features, “The Song of My Sid” shows the epic at its end, “The Song of Roland” is the moment of its highest maturity.

2) GENERAL FEATURES OF THE HEROIC EPIC

During the Mature Middle Ages, the development of the traditions of folk epic literature continued. This is one of the significant stages in its history, when the heroic epic became the most important link in medieval book literature. The heroic epic of the Mature Middle Ages reflected the processes of ethnic and state consolidation and the emerging seigniorial-vassal relations. The historical theme in the epic has expanded, displacing the fairy-tale-mythological theme, and the significance has increased Christian motives and patriotic pathos intensified, a larger epic form and a more flexible style were developed, which was facilitated by some distance from purely folklore models. However, all this led to a certain impoverishment of the plot and mythopoetic imagery, so subsequently the chivalric romance again turned to folklore fiction. All these features of the new stage in the history of the epic are closely interconnected internally. The transition from epic archaics to epic classics, in particular, was expressed in the fact that the epics of nationalities that had reached the stage of clear state consolidation abandoned the language of myth and fairy tales and turned to developing plots taken from historical legends (while still continuing to use, of course, old plot and language clichés dating back to myths).

Clan and tribal interests were pushed aside by national interests, albeit still in their infancy, therefore in many epic monuments we find pronounced patriotic motives, often associated with the fight against foreign and other religious conquerors. Patriotic motives, as is specific to the Middle Ages, partly appear in the form of contrasting Christians with “infidel” Muslims (in Romanesque and Slavic literatures).

As said, the epic at the new stage depicts feudal strife and seigniorial-vassal relations, but due to the epic specificity, vassal loyalty (in the “Song of the Nibelungs”, “Song of Roland”, “Song of My Sid”), as a rule, merges with loyalty to clan, tribe, native country, state. A characteristic figure in the epic of this time is the epic "king", whose power embodies the unity of the country. He is shown in a difficult relationship with the main epic hero- bearer of people's ideals. Vassal loyalty to the king is combined with a story about his weakness, injustice, with a very critical depiction of the court environment and feudal strife (in the cycle of French poems about Guillaume of Orange). The epic also reflects anti-aristocratic tendencies (in songs about Dietrich of Bern or in “Song of My Sid”). In epic-heroic works of the XII-XIII centuries. At times, the influence of the courtly (knightly) novel also penetrates (in “The Song of the Nibelungs”). But even with the idealization of courtly forms of life, the epic mainly preserves folk-heroic ideals and heroic aesthetics. The heroic epic also displays some tendencies that go beyond its genre nature, for example, hypertrophied adventurism (“Raoul de Cambrai” and others), material motivations for the behavior of the hero who patiently overcomes adverse circumstances (in “The Song of My Sid”), drama , reaching the point of tragedy (in “The Nibelungs” and in “The Song of Roland”). These various trends testify to the hidden possibilities of the epic kind of poetry and anticipate the development of the novel and tragedy.

Stylistic features epics are now largely determined by a departure from folklore and deeper processing folklore traditions. In the process of transition from oral improvisation to recitation from manuscripts, numerous enjambements appear, i.e. transfers from verse to verse, synonymy develops, the flexibility and variety of epic formulas increases, sometimes the number of repetitions decreases, a clearer and more harmonious composition becomes possible (“Song of Roland").

Although broad cyclization is also familiar to oral creativity (for example, in the folklore of Central Asia), the creation of large-scale epic works and their arrangement in cycles is mainly supported by the transition from oral improvisation to a handwritten book. Apparently, bookishness also contributes to the emergence of “psychological” characteristics, as well as the interpretation of the heroic character in terms of a kind of tragic guilt. However, the interaction between folklore and book literature actively continues: in the composition and especially the performance of many epic works, the participation of shpilmans and jugglers was great during this period.

6) One of the most remarkable monuments medieval literature The epic legend of the French people is considered to be “The Song of Roland”.

An insignificant historical fact formed the basis of this heroic epic and over time, enriched by a number of later events, helped the widespread dissemination of tales about Roland and the wars of Charlemagne in many literatures of Western Europe.

The Song of Roland clearly expresses the ideology of a feudal society, in which the faithful service of a vassal to his overlord was an untouchable law, and violation of it was considered betrayal and treason. However, the traits of courageous steadfastness, military valor, selfless friendship and a thoughtful attitude to what is happening were not given a class-feudal connotation in the poem, as in the remarkable monument of creativity of the Russian people “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”; on the contrary, these convincing properties of the valiant defenders of the homeland - military leaders-peers and their vassals, were perceived as typical, national. Also in to a greater extent recognition and sympathy on the part of the broad masses were facilitated by thoughts about the defense of the fatherland, about the shame and danger of defeat, which run like a red thread through the entire poem.

Feudal society, with its sharp class struggle, differentiation, with the peculiar pathos of class knightly heroism and features of Christian religiosity, gave rise to dozens of epic tales. It was in France, where feudal relations developed in the classical form, that such big number heroic poems. Differing in theme, volume and form, these poems did not equally reflect the broad interests of the people. Some of them talked about bloody civil strife, about vengeful and selfish invader barons who recognized the right of the strong as the only law and considered violence and arbitrariness to be the basis of their morality; A convincing example of this kind of poem is the poem "Raoul de Cambrai". Personal interest prevailed in these works, and faithful service to the overlord and the state lost its obligatory character for the “unfaithful barons.” In other epics, the theme of fidelity dominated, and the fate of a traitor, a traitor to the homeland and a violator of the vassal oath led him to retribution and a sad end. This theme is most clearly developed in the poems telling about the wars of Charlemagne, and especially in the “Song of Roland.”

The actual events of the 8th century formed the core of the “Song of Roland”. In 778, in the Pyrenees, the troops of Charlemagne, who were returning from the Spanish campaign, were attacked by the Basques. In the bloody battle, the best regiments were destroyed; the best commanders did not escape a common fate, according to close biographer Karl Einhard. In the “Biography of Charlemagne” this author says: “In this battle, Eggichard, the royal steward, Anselm, the Count Palatine and Hruodland (i.e. Roland), the head of the Breton March, were killed.” A particular episode of the battle with the Basques, co-religionists of the French (Franks), underwent a significant rethink: instead of the Basques, formidable Muslim Arabs appeared, who captured significant areas in Spain and more than once invaded France. The defeat at Roncesvalles did not cover the French with shame, but only helped to reveal their courage and ability to stand to the death, defending their homeland and covering the rear of the main retreating forces. The historical governor of the Breton March became the main character of the epic tale - Roland, his clash with his stepfather Gwenelon and the latter's betrayal became the basis of the plot. New details have also emerged characterizing the warring camps and their commanders. The historical Charlemagne was contrasted with the Saracen king Marsilius, a fictitious person. The events and their participants shifted in time and space: the crusades of the 11th century gave a new ideological coloring to the entire poem as a whole. Although historical accuracy in the “Song of Roland” is not observed, the features of the distant past found their poetic interpretation in it.

Western literature early Middle Ages were created by new peoples inhabiting the western part of Europe by the Celts (Brits, Gauls, Belgians, Helvetians) and the ancient Germans living between the Danube and the Rhine, near the North Sea and in the south of Scandinavia (Sevi, Goths, Burgundians, Cherusci, Angles, Saxons, etc. ).

These peoples first worshiped pagan tribal gods and later adopted Christianity and became believers, but eventually the Germanic tribes conquered the Celts and occupied what is now France, England and Scandinavia. The literature of these peoples is represented by the following works:

1. Stories about the lives of saints - hagiographies. "Lives of Saints", visions and spells;
2. Encyclopedic, scientific and historiographical works.

Isidore of Seville (c.560-636) - “etymology, or beginnings”; Bede the Venerable (c.637-735) - “on the nature of things” and “ church history the people of the Angles”, Jordan - “about the origin of the acts of the Goths”; Alcuin (c.732-804) - treatises on rhetoric, grammar, dialectics; Einhard (c.770-840) “Lives of Charlemagne”;

3. Mythology and heroic-epic poems, sagas and songs of Celtic and Germanic tribes. Icelandic sagas, Irish epic, "Elder Edda", Younger Edda", "Beowulf", Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala".

The heroic epic is one of the most characteristic and popular genres European Middle Ages. In France it existed in the form of poems called gestures, i.e. songs about deeds and exploits. The thematic basis of the gesture is made up of real historical events, most of which date back to the 8th - 10th centuries. Probably, immediately after these events, traditions and legends about them arose. It is also possible that these legends originally existed in the form of short episodic songs or prose stories that developed in the pre-knight milieu. However, very early, episodic tales went beyond this environment and spread to the masses and became the property of the whole society: they were listened to with equal delight not only by the military class, but also by the clergy, merchants, artisans, and peasants.

The heroic epic as a holistic picture of people's life was the most significant legacy of literature of the early Middle Ages and occupied an important place in the artistic culture of Western Europe. According to Tacitus, songs about gods and heroes replaced history for the barbarians. The oldest is the Irish epic. It is formed from the 3rd to the 8th centuries. Created by the people back in the pagan period, epic poems about warrior heroes first existed in oral form and were passed on from mouth to mouth. They were sung and recited by folk storytellers. Later, in the 7th and 8th centuries, after Christianization, they were revised and written down by scholar-poets, whose names remained unchanged. Epic works are characterized by glorification of the exploits of heroes; interweaving historical background and fiction; glorification heroic strength and the exploits of the main characters; idealization of the feudal state.

Features of the heroic epic:

1. The epic was created in the conditions of the development of feudal relations;
2. The epic picture of the world reproduces feudal relations, idealizes a strong feudal state and reflects Christian beliefs, art. ideals;
3. In relation to history, the historical basis is clearly visible, but at the same time it is idealized and hyperbolized;
4. Bogatyrs are defenders of the state, the king, the independence of the country and the Christian faith. All this is interpreted in the epic as a national affair;
5. The epic is associated with a folk tale, with historical chronicles, sometimes with a chivalric romance;
6. The epic has been preserved in the countries of continental Europe (Germany, France).

The heroic epic was greatly influenced by Celtic and German-Scandinavian mythology. Often epics and myths are so connected and intertwined that it is quite difficult to draw a line between them. This connection is reflected in a special form of epic tales - sagas - Old Icelandic prose narratives (the Icelandic word "saga" comes from the verb "to say"). Scandinavian poets composed sagas from the 9th to the 12th centuries. - skalds. The Old Icelandic sagas are very diverse: sagas about kings, saga about Icelanders, sagas about ancient times (“Välsunga Saga”).

The collection of these sagas has come to us in the form of two Eddas: the “Elder Edda” and the “Younger Edda”. The Younger Edda is a prose retelling of ancient Germanic myths and tales written by the Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sjurluson in 1222-1223. The Elder Edda is a collection of twelve poetic songs about gods and heroes. The compressed and dynamic songs of the Elder Edda, dating back to the 5th century and apparently written down in the 10th-11th centuries, are divided into two groups: tales of gods and tales of heroes. The main god is the one-eyed Odin, who was originally the god of war. Second in importance after Odin is the god of thunder and fertility, Thor. The third is the malevolent god Loki. And the most significant hero is the hero Sigurd. The heroic songs of the Elder Edda are based on the pan-German epic tales about the gold of the Nibelungs, on which lies a curse and which brings misfortune to everyone.

Sagas also became widespread in Ireland, the largest source of Celtic culture in the Middle Ages. This was the only country in Western Europe where no Roman legionnaire had set foot. Irish legends were created and passed on to descendants by druids (priests), bards (singer-poets) and felides (soothsayers). The clear and concise Irish epic was written not in verse, but in prose. It can be divided into heroic sagas and fantastic sagas. The main hero of the heroic sagas was the noble, fair and brave Cu Chulainn. His mother is the king's sister, and his father is the god of light. Cuchulainn had three shortcomings: he was too young, too brave and too beautiful. In the image of Cuchulainn, ancient Ireland embodied its ideal of valor and moral perfection.

Epic works often intertwine real historical events and fairy-tale fiction. Thus, “The Song of Hildenbrand” was created on a historical basis - the struggle of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric with Odoacer. This ancient Germanic epic of the era of migration of peoples originated in the pagan era and was found in a manuscript of the 9th century. This is the only monument of the German epic that has come down to us in song form.

In the poem "Beowulf" - the heroic epic of the Anglo-Saxons, which came down to us in a manuscript of the early 10th century, the fantastic adventures of the heroes also take place against the backdrop of historical events. The world of Beowulf is a world of kings and warriors, a world of feasts, battles and duels. The hero of the poem is a brave and generous warrior from the Gaut people, Beowulf, who performs great feats and is always ready to help people. Beowulf is generous, merciful, loyal to the leader and greedy for fame and rewards, he performed many feats, opposed the monster and destroyed him; defeated another monster in an underwater dwelling - Grendel's mother; entered into battle with a fire-breathing dragon, who was enraged by the attempt on the ancient treasure he protected and was devastating the country. At the cost of his own life, Beowulf managed to defeat the dragon. The song ends with a scene of the solemn burning of the hero's body on a funeral pyre and the construction of a mound over his ashes. Thus the familiar theme of gold bringing misfortune appears in the poem. This theme will be used later in knightly literature.

An immortal monument of folk art is “Kalevala” - a Karelian-Finnish epic about the exploits and adventures of the heroes of the fairy-tale country of Kalev. "Kalevala" is composed of folk songs (runes), which were collected and recorded by a native of the Finnish peasant family Elias Lönnrot, and published in 1835 and 1849. runes are letters of the alphabet carved on wood or stone, used by Scandinavian and other Germanic peoples for religious and memorial inscriptions. The entire “Kalevala” is a tireless praise of human labor; there is not even a hint of “court” poetry in it.

In French epic poem“The Song of Roland,” which has come down to us in a 12th-century manuscript, tells about the Spanish campaign of Charlemagne in 778, and the main character of the poem, Roland, has his own historical prototype. True, the campaign against the Basques turned in the poem into a seven-year war with the “infidels,” and Charles himself turned from a 36-year-old man into a gray-haired old man. The central episode of the poem, the Battle of Roncesvalles, glorifies the courage of people faithful to duty and “dear France.”

The ideological concept of the tale becomes clear from a comparison of “The Song of Roland” with those historical facts which form the basis of this legend. In 778, Charlemagne intervened in the internal strife of the Spanish Moors, agreeing to help one of the Muslim kings against the other. Having crossed the Pyrenees, Charles took several cities and besieged Zaragoza, but, having stood under its walls for several weeks, he had to return to France with nothing. When he was returning back through the Pyrenees, the Basques, irritated by the passage of foreign troops through their fields and villages, set up an ambush in the Roncesvalles Gorge and, attacking the French rearguard, killed many of them. A short and fruitless expedition to northern Spain, which had nothing to do with the religious struggle and ended in a not particularly significant, but still annoying military failure, was turned by singer-storytellers into a picture of a seven-year war that ended with the conquest of all of Spain, then a terrible catastrophe during the retreat of the French army, and here the enemies were not the Basque Christians, but the same Moors, and, finally, a picture of revenge on the part of Charles in the form of a grandiose, truly “world” battle of the French with the connecting forces of the entire Muslim world.

In addition to the hyperbolization typical of all folk epics, which is reflected not only in the scale of the events depicted, but also in the pictures of superhuman strength and dexterity of individual characters, as well as in the idealization of the main characters (Roland, Karl, Turpin), the entire story is characterized by the saturation of the idea of the religious struggle against Islam and the special mission of France in this struggle. This idea found its vivid expression in numerous prayers, heavenly signs, religious calls that fill the poem, in the denigration of the “pagans” - the Moors, in the repeated emphasizing of the special protection provided to Charles by God, in the portrayal of Roland as a knight-vassal of Charles and a vassal of the Lord to whom he before his death, he extends his glove as if to an overlord, finally, in the image of Archbishop Turpin, who with one hand blesses the French knights for battle and absolves the sins of the dying, and with the other he himself defeats the enemies, personifying the unity of the sword and the cross in the fight against the “infidels.”

However, “The Song of Roland” is far from being limited to its national-religious idea. In it with enormous power reflected the socio-political contradictions characteristic of the intensively developing in the 10th - 11th centuries. feudalism. This problem is introduced into the poem by the episode of Ganelon's betrayal. The reason for including this episode in the legend could be the desire of the singers-storytellers to explain the defeat of the “invincible” army of Charlemagne as an external fatal cause. But Ganelon is not just a traitor, but the expression of a certain evil beginning, hostile to any national cause, the personification of feudal, anarchic egoism. This beginning in the poem is shown in all its strength, with great artistic objectivity. Ganelon is not depicted as some kind of physical and moral monster. This is a majestic and brave fighter. In “The Song of Roland,” the blackness of an individual traitor, Ganelon, is not so much revealed as the disastrousness for the native country of that feudal, anarchic egoism, of which Ganelon is a brilliant representative, is exposed.

Along with this contrast between Roland and Ganelon, another contrast runs through the entire poem, less acute, but just as fundamental - Roland and his beloved friend, his betrothed brother Olivier. Here, not two hostile forces collide, but two versions of the same positive principle.

Roland in the poem is a powerful and brilliant knight, impeccable in the performance of his vassal duty. He is an example of knightly valor and nobility. But the poem's deep connection with folk song creativity and the popular understanding of heroism was reflected in the fact that all the knightly traits of Roland were given by the poet in a humanized form, freed from class limitations. Roland is alien to heroism, cruelty, greed, and the anarchic willfulness of feudal lords. There is an excess in it youth forces, joyful faith in the rightness of one’s cause and in one’s luck, a passionate thirst for selfless achievement. Full of proud self-awareness, but at the same time alien to any arrogance or self-interest, he devotes himself entirely to serving the king, people, and homeland. Seriously wounded, having lost all his comrades in battle, Roland climbs a high hill, lies down on the ground, puts his trusty sword and horn Olifan next to him and turns his face towards Spain so that the emperor knows that he “died, but won the battle.” For Roland there is no more tender and sacred word than “dear France”; with the thought of her he dies. All this made Roland, despite his knightly appearance, a genuine folk hero, understandable and close to everyone.

Olivier is a friend and brother, Roland's "dashing brother", a valiant knight who prefers death to the dishonor of retreat. In the poem, Olivier is characterized by the epithet “reasonable.” Three times Olivier tries to convince Roland to blow Oliphan's horn to call for help from Charlemagne's army, but Roland three times refuses to do so. Olivier dies with his friend, praying before his death “for his dear native land.”

Emperor Charlemagne is Roland's uncle. His image in the poem is a somewhat exaggerated image of the old wise leader. In the poem, Charles is 200 years old, although in fact by the time real events in Spain he was no more than 36. The power of his empire is also greatly exaggerated in the poem. The author includes in it both countries that actually belonged to it, and those that were not included in it. The emperor can only be compared to God: in order to punish the Saracens before sunset, he is able to stop the sun. On the eve of the death of Roland and his troops, Charlemagne sees prophetic dream, however, he can no longer prevent betrayal, but only sheds “streams of tears.” The image of Charlemagne resembles the image of Jesus Christ - his twelve peers (cf. the 12 apostles) and the traitor Ganelon appear before the reader.

Ganelon is a vassal of Charlemagne, the stepfather of the main character of the poem Roland. The Emperor, on the advice of Roland, sends Ganelon to negotiate with the Saracen King Marsilius. This is a very dangerous mission, and Ganelon decides to take revenge on his stepson. He enters into a treacherous conspiracy with Marsilius and, returning to the emperor, convinces him to leave Spain. At the instigation of Ganelon, in the Roncesvalles gorge in the Pyrenees, the rearguard of Charlemagne's troops led by Roland is attacked by outnumbered Saracens. Roland, his friends and all his troops die without retreating a single step from Roncesval. Ganelon personifies in the poem feudal egoism and arrogance, bordering on betrayal and dishonor. Outwardly, Ganelon is handsome and valiant (“he is fresh-faced, bold and proud in appearance. He was a daredevil, be honest”). Disregarding military honor and following only the desire to take revenge on Roland, Ganelon becomes a traitor. Because of him, the best warriors of France die, so the ending of the poem - the scene of the trial and execution of Ganelon - is logical. Archbishop Turpin is a warrior-priest who bravely fights the “infidels” and blesses the Franks for battle. The idea of a special mission of France in the national-religious struggle against the Saracens is connected with his image. Turpin is proud of his people, who in their fearlessness are incomparable to any other.

The Spanish heroic epic “The Song of Cid” reflected the events of the Reconquista - the conquest of their country by the Spaniards from the Arabs. The main character of the poem is the famous figure of the reconquista Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar (1040 - 1099), whom the Arabs called Cid (lord).

Sid's story served as material for many stories and chronicles.

The main poetic tales about Sid that have come down to us are:

1) a cycle of poems about King Sancho 2nd and the siege of Samara in the 13th - 14th centuries, according to the historian of Spanish literature F. Kelin, “serving as a kind of prologue to the “Song of My Side”;
2) the “Song of My Sid” itself, created around 1140, probably by one of Sid’s warriors, and preserved in a single copy of the 14th century with severe losses;
3) and the poem, or rhymed chronicle, “Rodrigo” in 1125 verses and the adjacent romances about the Cid.

In the German epic “Song of the Nibelungs,” which was finally formed from individual songs into an epic tale in the 12th-13th centuries, there is both a historical basis and a fairy tale-fiction. The epic reflects the events of the Great Migration of Peoples of the 4th-5th centuries. there is also a real historical figure - the formidable leader Attila, who turned into the kind, weak-willed Etzel. The poem consists of 39 songs - “adventures”. The action of the poem takes us into the world of court festivities, knightly tournaments and beautiful ladies. The main character of the poem is the Dutch prince Siegfried, a young knight who performed many wonderful feats. He is bold and courageous, young and handsome, daring and arrogant. But the fate of Siegfried and his future wife Kriemhild was tragic, for whom the treasure of Nibelungen gold became fatal.

“Epic” - (from Greek) a word, a narrative, one of three types of literature telling about various events that happened in past. In the history of world culture, a special place belongs to the heroic epic, which artistically reflected ideas about the historical past, recreating holistic pictures of people's life. From the depths of centuries come to us tales of significant historical events, exploits legendary heroes, which have become a symbol of courage, valor and nobility.

The heroic epic of the peoples of the world is sometimes the most important and only witness of a distant era, reflecting the depths of people's memory. That is why, when getting acquainted with the artistic traditions of the peoples of the world, trying to better understand the present, we turn specifically to the heroic epic, to hoary antiquity, to the childhood of mankind.

The heroic epic dates back to ancient myths and reflects man’s mythical ideas about nature and the world around him. It is no coincidence that A.M. Gorky wrote: “The first victories over nature aroused in him (the people) a feeling of their stability, pride in themselves, a desire for new victories and prompted the creation of a heroic epic.”

How did the heroic epic of the peoples of the world arise and develop? Initially it was formed orally, i.e. passed down from mouth to mouth, from one generation of storytellers to another. Then it acquired new subjects and images, characteristic and significant for its time. Later it was consolidated in book form and has come down to us in the form of extensive works.

The heroic epic is the result of collective folk art, and therefore, as a rule, we do not know the names of its creators. But this does not at all detract from the role of the individual storyteller or singer. The famous “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, as we know, were written down by a single author, Homer.

U French writer A. France (1844-1924) has a story “The Kemei Singer”, in which the picture of the creation of the epic is very accurately recreated.

Let's listen to what the Greek youth Meges and the ancient old man-storyteller are talking about among themselves: “It takes a considerable memory to keep so many songs in your head. But tell me, do you know the truth about Achilles and Odysseus? After all, they don’t invent something about these heroes! And the singer answered: “Everything that I know about these heroes, I learned from my father, who was told about them by the Muses themselves, for in ancient times the immortal Muses visited divine singers in caves and forests. I will not embellish ancient legends with fiction.” He said this out of prudence, and yet he had the habit of adding verses from other tales or ones he himself had invented to songs, but he hid who their creator was, fearing criticism. The heroes most often demanded from him ancient legends, which, as they thought, he had adopted from some deity, and were distrustful of new songs. Therefore, chanting the poems created by his talent, they carefully concealed their origin. an excellent poet and strictly followed the established canons, his poems were in no way inferior to the poems of his great-grandfathers; they were equal to them in form and beauty and, as soon as they were born, deserved unfading glory."

The heroic epic of the peoples of the world is represented by outstanding monuments. The oldest of them is the Sumerian epic “The Tale of Gilgamesh” (circa 1800 BC). This is one of the most poetic works telling about the brave folk hero Gilgamesh, who went in search of wisdom, happiness and immortality.

No less interesting is the Indian folk epic "Mahabharata", created in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. in Sanskrit, the oldest Indian literary language. It was formed on the basis of oral tales and legends and tells the story of the battle of two clans and their allies for dominance in the kingdom located in the upper reaches of the Ganges River. The epic poet's sympathy is clearly on the side of the small but noble family of the Pandavas, the sons of the Indian gods. Happens to them amazing Adventures: life in exile in the jungle and the Himalayas, pursuits, victories in grandiose battles.

In the Middle Ages, many peoples of Western Europe developed a heroic epic that reflected knightly ideals of valor and honor. The most significant among them include “Beowulf” in England, “The Song of the Nibelungs” in Germany, “The Song of My Sid” in Spain, “The Elder Edda” in Iceland, “The Song of Roland” in France, the Karelian-Finnish epic “ Kalevala”, etc. Around the same time, the epic of the Russian people took shape, reflecting the ideas of the defender of the Fatherland in epic works.

The peoples of the East and the Far North have made a significant contribution to the treasury of world artistic culture. Olonkho is widely known - the tales of the Yakut people about the exploits of heroes who protect people from evil monsters. The Nart epic of the Caucasian peoples (Ossetians, Abkhazians, Adygeans, Kabardians and Circassians), telling about the Narts - a valiant tribe of heroes who lived in ancient times and fought monsters, giants, dragons, hostile princes and robbers. The struggle for the liberation of the Motherland and the increase in its wealth is reflected in the Armenian heroic epic "David of Sassoun" and the epic of the Kyrgyz people "Manas".

The folk heroic epic has become a source of inspiration for many cultural figures. American poet G. Longfellow created based on the Indian epic "The Song of Hiawatha". Sh. Rustaveli's poem "The Knight in the Tiger's Skin" absorbed the features of the heroes of Georgian oral traditions. The epic traditions of Russian folklore are reflected in works of Russian literature: in Pushkin’s fairy tales, in Lermontov’s “Borodino” and “Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov” and in other works.

The highest achievements of Russian musical culture are also inseparable from epic traditions. Based on the epic, a new genre of epic song symphonies by A. Borodin ("Bogatyrskaya"), epic operas by M. Mussorgsky ("Khovanshchina", "Sorochinskaya Fair"), epic operas and fairy tale operas by N. Rimsky-Korsakov ("Sadko") emerged. , "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia", "Pskovite").

No less significant is the contribution of Russian artists, and above all V. Vasnetsov, who laid the foundation for the epic theme in Russian painting. Epic traditions determined the creative searches of M. Vrubel, I. Bilibin, N. Roerich, K. Korovin, E. Kibrik and K. Vorobyov.

Assignments for independent work

1.What do you know about the heroic epic of the peoples of the world? What is its history and further development? Tell us in more detail about one of the monuments of the folk epic. What is it about him that attracts you?

O. N. Botova, school No. 11, Miass, Chelyabinsk region