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Epics of the Kyiv cycle, as a historical source coursework on foreign literature, diploma from English literature. Alexander Khrolenko - The Language of Folklore

Epics of the Kyiv cycle, as a historical source coursework on foreign literature, diploma from English literature. Alexander Khrolenko - The Language of Folklore

06.03.2019

…an organic connection between content and art form, which, with its epic expressions, not only constitutes an external decoration of speech, but also, mainly in small details, fulfills and completes the poetic presentation reproduced by the content. Those who have studied J. Grimm's research understand how much depth of thought and belief, how much vitality of folk life sometimes lies in a brief comparison, even in one epithet, by which a folk singer defines the subject of speech .

I.P. Sakharov
Songs of the Russian people. Part 1. St. Petersburg, 1838

Writers' concepts of the language of folk songs are much more erroneous. This is such a mixture of all sorts of things that until now no one thought to correct them. Our songs are new, we have no old ones - here general opinion. Is it fair? What is it based on? Where is the proof of their renewal? Where are the indications of their news of the phenomenon? None of the Russians thought about this. It seems, at first glance, that it is so easy to guess that it shows itself; but this will only be good for an armchair study, where experienced judgments are not needed that require verification. Incredible, incredible work awaits those who would like to judge by the language of folk songs about the time of their creation. To do this, you need to have an idea about the state of the Russian language in different centuries; you need to know in detail the Russian regional dialects,

Each writer considers it necessary to say something about the language of folk songs, but all these stories ended in general expressions - the old is gone, everything is newly composed. All mistakes occurred and will occur from ignorance of regional dialects. Folk songs in language belong to the Moscow regional dialect, colloquial ....

I.I. Sreznevsky
Work and opinions of N.V. Berg regarding folk songs // IORYAS. T. IV. Issue. 7. 1855

It would be in vain to talk about the literary, historical and philological importance of folk songs, these, so to speak, natural works of literature, composed among the people without the help of literacy and training rules rhetoric and rhetoric, appreciated by popular feeling without the help of scholarly critics, and yet sometimes reaching such a degree of artistry that a work of literary art can never reach. Recognition of the importance of folk songs expresses the progress of the science of our time to the same extent as the recognition of the need to study language only as a natural product and use it only according to the laws of its nature, and not according to the rules of arbitrarily invented theories.

... By the way, there are also folk songs, in the lists of the X-XIII centuries, clearly confirming the degree of deviation of the modern folk language from the language that was spoken for 900 and 500 years.

The language of the songs of all Slavs is their ordinary, modern language, that those remnants of the antiquity of the language that were noticed in the songs do not belong exclusively to the language of songs ...

From this, of course, it is still impossible to conclude that all the current songs of the Slavs, without any exception, were originally composed already at a time when the language of the people was in its modern position: a song composed, perhaps even in antiquity, could gradually change in relation to the language . But if we allow the modification of the language of the song, then why not admit that its content was also modified to the same extent by various omissions and insertions? And having admitted this, we cannot look at a single song from among those that are now preserved by the memory of the people, as a monument of antiquity, or even antiquity, in no way changed by time.

Nevertheless, it is true that folk songs were composed and are composed by individuals, and among the people they are only being adjusted and adjusted ... A song is popular only because the only personality that is drawn in it is the people themselves, their poetic mood, their poetic customs, etc. P. .

A. Grigoriev
Russian folk songs from their poetic and musical side // Otechestvennye zapiski. 1860. Vol. 129, March

One song leads to another, somehow connects with another, somehow vegetatively clings to another: one word in one song will give birth to a new song in the memory, some general epic forms connect several heterogeneous songs: in the same way, motives, apparently, completely different, flowing one after another, completely separate, and yet connected with each other by a common plant life.

... A song is not only a plant, a song is the very soil on which layer after layer falls, removing layers, comparing options, sometimes in a new song you can get to the first, to pure layers. There are songs that are also completely new about this, often even absurd to the point of disgrace, but their melody is developed with such fullness, with such richness and power that the thought involuntarily comes to mind, is it not a new layer of text that has laid down here on the old one: who seeks only older songs, he will turn away from such a text with contempt and be wrong. Our song has not been archived: it still lives among the people, is created according to the old laws of its original creativity, a new feeling, a new content sometimes fits into ready-made, ordinary, old forms, the old does not die, it lives and continues in the new, sometimes it remains completely untouched, sometimes grows, sometimes, perhaps, distorted, but in any case lives.

A.A. Afanasiev
Concerning the VIth edition of the ethnographic collection // Book Bulletin. SPb., 1865

Folk riddles have preserved for us fragments of the old metaphorical language. The whole difficulty and the whole essence of the riddle lies precisely in the fact that it tries to depict one object through another, in some way analogous to the first. The seeming senselessness of many riddles surprises us only because we do not comprehend what the people could find similar between various objects, apparently so dissimilar to each other; but as soon as we understand this similarity caught by the people, then there will be neither strangeness, nor nonsense.

Vlad. Stasov
The origin of Russian epics // Bulletin of Europe. 1868. Vol. IV. Book. 7

The folk Russian language, as you know, contains many features that give it an extraordinary picturesqueness and original coloring, and at the same time an extraordinary strength and softness. The same features also belong to the language of our epics, and, one might say, here they received even more development, diversity and convexity, since nowhere did they meet such frequent and extensive use.

All these peculiar features of the language of epics<…>contain so many features that, in combination with the original versification of the epics and the everlasting accuracy, strength, imagery and humor of the Russian expression, they give the epics a completely exceptional, original physiognomy.

P. Glagolevsky
Syntax of the language of Russian proverbs. SPb., 1873

Grammar not only could and should learn a lot from proverbs, but should be rewritten according to them, in many of its parts.
(V, I, Dal, Proverbs of the Russian people. Naputnoe, p. XXVIII)

Proverbs were created, passed down from generation to generation and are still kept almost exclusively among the simple people, who have not yet experienced the influence of European education. As for the educated class, it has - let's say in the words of Mr. Dahl - "there are no proverbs; they come across only weak, crippled echoes of them, shifted to our mores, or vulgarized in a language other than Russian, and bad translations from foreign languages" (Naputn., to Proverbs of the Russian people, V). Moreover, there is no doubt that most of the proverbs appeared at a time when the so-called educated class had not yet emerged from the people and when all the people spoke one language. Therefore, the language of proverbs can rightly be called a language in the narrow sense folk. But if we compare the folk language of proverbs with the language of other works of folk art, such as epics, fairy tales, songs, etc., then it turns out that the former differs significantly from the latter in one important feature. Distinctive feature language of proverbs is a special love for elliptical expressions. Proverbs were always born and lived in living, colloquial speech: they were not invented, not composed, but escaped from the lips as if involuntarily, by chance, in the heat of a lively, fascinating conversation. In live, colloquial speech, many words are often not pronounced, being replaced by the tone of voice, facial expressions and body movements. Therefore, the language of Russian proverbs represents all the features colloquial language of the Russian people.

After that, it is not necessary to prove the difficulty of studying and scientifically explaining the syntactic features of the language of proverbs. Unfortunately, the fulfillment of this task is still too little facilitated by previous works on the Russian language. In a few scholarly works, there are so far only fragmentary interpretations and notes on the syntax of the vernacular. There is nothing to say about practical grammars.

Writers' concepts of the language of folk songs are much more erroneous. This is such a mixture of all sorts of things that until now no one thought to correct them. Our songs are new, we don't have old ones - that's the general opinion. Is it fair? What is it based on? Where is the proof of their renewal? Where are the indications of their news of the phenomenon? None of the Russians thought about this. It seems, at first glance, that it is so easy to guess that it shows itself; but this will only be good for an armchair study, where experienced judgments are not needed that require verification. Incredible, incredible work awaits those who would like to judge by the language of folk songs about the time of their creation. To do this, you need to have an idea about the state of the Russian language in different centuries; you need to know in detail the Russian regional dialects,

I.I. Sreznevsky

Work and opinions of N.V. Berg regarding folk songs // IORYAS. T. IV. Issue. 7. 1855

It would be in vain to talk about the literary, historical and philological importance of folk songs, these, so to speak, natural works of literature, composed by the people without the help of literacy and educational rules of rhetoric and rhetoric, estimated by popular feeling without the help of scholarly critics, and yet sometimes reaching to a degree of artistry to which a work of literary art can never reach. Recognition of the importance of folk songs expresses the progress of the science of our time to the same extent as the recognition of the need to study language only as a natural product and use it only according to the laws of its nature, and not according to the rules of arbitrarily invented theories.

A. Grigoriev

Russian folk songs from their poetic and musical side // Otechestvennye zapiski. 1860. Vol. 129, March

A.A. Afanasiev

Concerning the VIth edition of the ethnographic collection // Book Bulletin. SPb., 1865

Vlad. Stasov

The origin of Russian epics // Bulletin of Europe. 1868. Vol. IV. Book. 7

P. Glagolevsky

Syntax of the language of Russian proverbs. SPb., 1873

Grammar not only could and should learn a lot from proverbs, but should be rewritten according to them, in many of its parts.

(V, I, Dal, Proverbs of the Russian people. Naputnoe, p. XXVIII)

Proverbs were created, passed down from generation to generation and are still kept almost exclusively among the simple people, who have not yet experienced the influence of European education. As for the educated class, it has - let's say in Mr. Dahl's words - “there are no proverbs; one comes across only weak, crippled echoes of them, shifted to our customs, or sent out in a language other than Russian, and bad translations from foreign languages ”(Naputn., to Proverbs of the Russian people, V). Moreover, there is no doubt that most of the proverbs appeared at a time when the so-called educated class had not yet emerged from the people and when all the people spoke one language. Therefore, the language of proverbs can rightly be called a language in the narrow sense folk. But if we compare the folk language of proverbs with the language of other works of folk art, such as epics, fairy tales, songs, etc., then it turns out that the former differs significantly from the latter in one important feature. A distinctive feature of the language of proverbs is a special love for elliptical expressions. Proverbs were always born and lived in living, colloquial speech: they were not invented, not composed, but escaped from the lips as if involuntarily, by chance, in the heat of a lively, fascinating conversation. In live, colloquial speech, many words are often not pronounced, being replaced by the tone of voice, facial expressions and body movements. Therefore, the language of Russian proverbs represents all the features colloquial language of the Russian people.

The study of epics by a person equipped with knowledge of spiritual science,
reveals a completely unexpected traditional methods
interpretations, a grandiose panorama of the development of the Russian Folk Soul.
In this panorama there is a place for every epic and every hero,
as an exponent of the Folk Soul in the corresponding cultural era:
Svyatogor, Volga Vseslavievich, Mikula Selyaninovich, Ilya Muromets,
Vasily Buslaev, Sadko, Stavr, Nightingale Budimirovich and others.
For everyone interested in Russian epics and the spiritual history of mankind.

The author of the proposed lines is well aware that their appearance in the light may be met with bewilderment in the circle of people familiar with the already extensive and rich literature on this issue. Without disputing its generally recognized significance and value for the study of everything related to Russian epics, he must, however, with all his modesty, indicate how burdensome and useless this literature turns out to be in any attempt to use it to understand the essence of epics or to penetrate into the meaning of their content. At the same time, the author would like to emphasize that he is very far from intending to make any new "contribution" to the existing literature on this issue, in the form of another new theory or formula for the interpretation of epics.

Not everything, in general, lends itself to interpretation, and the least accessible to him are the captivating and mysterious images of Russian epics shrouded in the fog of past centuries and fanned by fabulousness. They fade and fade at the first intrusion into the sphere of their mirage-like unsteady life of clear and angular-sharp intellectual concepts and schemes, like a delicate flower corolla, forcibly opened by a rough hand. They require a careful and gentle attitude, not allowing precise formulations and certain interpretations. The only possible method is "to imagine the true occult factors and then try to understand the pictures that have arisen from them and passed into the consciousness of people"*.

* See "Bibliography", No. 42. In the following, the numbers in the text refer to the corresponding numbers in the "Bibliography".

Following this principle, the author tries, within the narrow framework of this modest work, to give the main strokes of the grandiose panorama that unfolds when studying epics in the light of Occult Science. He seeks to show that their content is based not on mythology, not on history, and not on images of foreign literatures, but on spiritual factors and realities reflected and refracted in the minds of the generations that belonged to the period of the emergence of epics.

Criticizing generally accepted theories and hypotheses, the author does not at all try to belittle the deep value of existing works. He bows before the perseverance, ability to work, perseverance and insight of people who wandered, albeit in the dark, but who gave the most valuable and highest of all that was available at that spiritually dark time. He is well aware of how immeasurably more valuable work compared to what is offered could be created by each of them, if the light of Occult Science had already been available to them at that time.

INTRODUCTION

Very little is known about Russian epics. In fact, almost nothing is known about them.

Their origin is lost in the darkness of antiquity. One can only guess about their authors. There are endless disputes about the identity of the "narrators". The content of the epics has undergone repeated distortion. Many of them are undoubtedly lost, in general. The very name "epic" is put under a question mark.

The first collector of Russian folk epics was the Englishman Richard James, an Oxford bachelor, a priest at the English embassy in Russia, who was detained by a shipwreck near Arkhangelsk on his way to England. His manuscript, beginning in 1619, included only Moscow epics. Only at the beginning of the next 18th century, the most famous Kievan and Novgorod epics were written down by Kirshe Danilov *, which, therefore, according to their handwritten age, are a hundred years younger than Moscow ones. The manuscript of Kirsha Danilov, entitled "Ancient Russian Poems", appeared in print for the first time in 1804. In addition, until the second quarter of the last century, epics, namely Moscow ones, were printed, also from manuscripts, only in the songbooks of Chulkov (1770-1776), Popov (1792), Makarov (1803) and others. But from that time diligent recording of epics begins from the lips of the people by several zealous collectors of folk antiquities, mainly P.V. A. F. Hilferding (1 volume of "Onega Epics" in 1336 pages of small print, published in 1873).

* The first collector of Russian epics, known as Kirsha Danilov (probably a Siberian Cossack), lived, as some think, in early XVIII century.

“Although epics are currently sung by “kaliks”, by craft singers whose specialty is “spiritual poetry,” says V. Avenarius in his “Introduction to epics”, “but the real carriers and zealots of the folk epic are “storytellers” who do not hunt with their singing, and those who do it, like true artists, out of love for art. They are usually prosperous peasants "1. According to the apt remark of another collector of epics, Hilferding," epics, apparently, fit only in such heads that combine the natural mind with the decency necessary for practical success in life "19. In addition to the peasants, "good rhapsody * are also found between some passing artisans, namely, between those engaged in tailoring and shoemaking" 1.

* With this term, V. Avenarius means "an inspired carrier of folk poetry; rhapsode is the Greek name for the composers of epic songs, accepted in all literatures."

This point of view is also shared by V. Miller, who, however, repeatedly contradicts himself. “We didn’t have such (professional) training,” he points out in one place: “If we see that epics are transmitted from grandfather to son and grandson, then this transmission is not school, not based on careful special study, but only mechanical assimilation on occasion, as far as memory and diligence suffice. "With such an accident in the tradition, due to the absence of professional singers, one can still be surprised that in its modern form, our epics have preserved so much antiquity in names, ancient household features and in the whole warehouse and mode" 2. Elsewhere, however, he comes to the opposite conclusion: “It is quite natural that we come to the conclusion that we, like most peoples who have epic tales, had professional keepers of them, who processed them, performed them among the people and transmitted them among new generations of professional singers" 2. "The participation of professional petari is indicated by traditional jokes, which we often find either before or after the end of the epic ... I suggested that such singers were mainly ancient Russian buffoons "2. P. Rybnikov finds a compromise, pointing out that "the main keepers of the epics in Zaonezhie and on the Pudozh coast are storytellers, and in the Kargopol side - Kaliki . Narrators sing out of a hunt, out of love for art, and kaliki sing out of craft.

It can be considered established that "the keepers of this wonderful heritage of antiquity are exclusively peasants; the upper classes already in the 18th century broke off their connection with folk epic and lost interest in him" 3. It is especially remarkable that "they are called blind, even if they were completely sighted: a clear indication that this is a remnant of the ancient blind Kalik Passers-by 8, as well as the fact that only" the most insignificant part of the singers is literate "1. This circumstance, especially in connection with the fact that epics were not recorded anywhere, could not, of course, contribute to the preservation of epics in their pure form. Although "the performer should not have striven for originality at all, but, on the contrary, had to put traditionality as one of the indispensable conditions of his plan" 4 and, although "the peasants were only the keepers of antiquity in past poetry, but did not develop it with new plots" 2 - yet "folk poetry is unstable because otherwise it could not keep it human memory, otherwise it could not preserve it and cherish further the consciousness of a bookless and non-literate people "4. Therefore, it is quite natural that" when transferring such a work, much in it was altered and changed, much was applied to certain conditions of life; but it became known to everyone, and, being passed down from generation to generation, survived the ages" 5.

A. Pypin is of the same opinion. "Neither the antiquity of the epics, nor the antiquity of the heroes is beyond doubt. Another question is in what form this antiquity has come down to our time. It, no doubt, has been greatly updated over the centuries in the form and content of the epic, in the very characters and stories of the heroes, - but in both, the ancient foundation must have survived at the bottom, which served for further stratifications and modifications - these latter are often still obvious for observation "12. Or in another place:" The external fate of folk poetry, its expulsion from the book, the absence of records , had the consequence that at the present time we have before us only a relatively late form of folk poetic tradition - namely, although echoes of very distant antiquity have often survived in modern song, but, on the other hand, we do not have what I also knew, for example, the 18th century ... On folk song various influences were reflected, more or less deeply or superficially touching the whole fate of the people - external and internal political events, changes in economic life, the national and everyday action of the church, schools and books, international meetings, etc. "12.

I. Porfiriev joins this opinion of A. Pypin. "Since the works of folk literature remained unwritten for a very long time, it is very natural that many of them were completely lost, and the surviving ones were damaged and distorted. Passed down orally from one generation to another by people unfamiliar with education, they have come down to us with different mistakes and various changes and additions, which they received at different times in the transition from one person to another. They have many anachronisms or a mixture of different eras, persons and events. "

In addition to these distortions, justified to a certain extent by the very nature of the performance and transmission of epics, it is necessary to take into account a number of changes consciously or unconsciously introduced into them by collectors. "In his collection of songs, Chulkov placed works of folk poetry next to the songs of various poets," A. Borozdin4 points out, "moreover, he did not hesitate to amend the text of folk poetic creations, as can be seen from the following words of his "Forewarning": "How much I worked in collection of these songs, those people who know our illiterate scribes, who write, but what they write, they do not understand, know about it. it’s impossible; yes, I’m sure they wouldn’t be able to explain it to me themselves; for this I was forced to use a guess. - "There were especially many such "guesses" or, rather, arbitrary corrections without any reservations," continues A. Borozdin, "in Russian Fairy Tales *, which are often presented as an independent arrangement of Chulkov."

* "Russian fairy tales, containing the most ancient stories about the glorious heroes."

“Even more arbitrariness was discovered by Chulkov’s employee, Mikhail Popov, who compiled the collection“ Russian Erata, or a Selection of the Best Newest Russian Songs ”, published in 1792. Mixing all sorts of old and new songs, Popov frankly explained:“ I acted like this with old songs way: after making a very small choice from an enormous flock, he tried in some to correct not only the disagreement and measure in verses, but also rearranged them in others from one place to another, in order to make the connection of their flow and meaning through that smooth and natural, which some of them lacked" 7.

Another publisher of songs, Makarov, considered it convenient to publish songs "and completely altered, but which, according to him, would be consistent with the rule in everything, and which, so to speak, would contain the same essence, only in the best and most attractive form. "7.

If we add to all of the above that, probably, not all collectors so frankly anticipated the alterations they made, especially if the latter did not seem significant to them, then, unfortunately, we will have to admit that one part of the epics has been completely lost for us, while the other, with few exceptions, has come down to us in a distorted form.

Nevertheless, “neither the antiquity of the epics, nor the antiquity of the heroes is beyond doubt” 12 and “one can still be surprised that in their modern form our epics have preserved so much antiquity in names, ancient everyday features and in the whole warehouse and mode” 4.

Epics, in a broad sense, are called songs about heroes. "By the nature of the content in our epic repertoire, two large departments are outlined: a) epics of a heroic character, which depict the exploits of heroes ... b) epics of a non-military nature, sometimes reminiscent of short stories ... There are epics of a mixed nature" 2. Heroic epics in in turn, can be divided into several main groups or "cycles": 1) the oldest cycle - about the semi-mythical heroes of the pre-Vladimir era, the so-called. elder heroes, 2) the Kyiv or Vladimir cycle, and 3) Novgorod 1. Epics of later origin "Moscow-Peter's, as well as the Cossack adjoining them, can also be called historical songs. But these songs, both in content and in spirit and in their form, they already differ significantly from the songs of ancient Russia - Kyiv and Novgorod.

The origin of the word "bogatyr" remains unclear to this day. Some consider it borrowed from the Turkic languages (baghadur, bagatur, batur) or from Sanskrit (baghadhara - happy, successful). 9 Khalansky produces the original form of the hero from "bogatyr" - the Tatar governor 10. Shchepkin, Buslaev and others, put the root "God", "Rich", that is, "gifted with the highest divine qualities, demigod" 1. This is it is more plausible that in the correct rhythmic chant of the epic, the word "hero" is most often pronounced "hero",

Opinions about the origin of the word "epic" itself are equally contradictory. On the one hand, there is a view that "these epic songs, despite their hyperbolic nature, despite all the exaggerations and fantastic fictions with which they are decorated, seemed to the people a reality, because they really could be, in their most ancient basis, timed to live persons and real events. In this sense, these epic songs are popularly called epics 3. F. Buslaev believes that "the epic in the old days was called by us a word, among the people an epic or a true story, because, according to the proverb: "a fairy tale is a fold , and the song is a true story" 1. I. Porfiriev shares this opinion: "Therefore, the people call these songs" true story ": "a fairy tale is a fold (fiction), and a song is a true story," says one folk proverb, and some songs, it is the heroic ones that are directly called epics" 7.

This view is fiercely contested in other studies. “The very name “epic” is unknown among the people and, as E. Barsov says, it is artificially given to heroic songs, and their usual popular name is old or old” 4. “Scientists at the beginning of the century did not know, did not hear that the people call heroic songs bylinas ", says V. Miller 2. Or in another place: "Simply from frequent repetition, the belief has taken root that the people themselves call their heroic song an epic." There are even indications that the only source of this term is "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", - "which expression - according to the epics of this time, misinterpreted, served to enrich the scientific terminology regarding the folk song" 2. But "successful or unsuccessful is the name of the epic, in recent decades it has acquired the right of citizenship, has been established behind the epic songs of the so-called Kiev and Novgorod cycle, and can be conveniently used to distinguish them from historical songs.It is only necessary to remember that this name, as applied to these songs, was not invented by the people themselves, but put into circulation by collectors and researchers of the Russian epic" 2.

Even more contradictory are the existing points of view on the origin and content of epics. Depending on the theories and hypotheses underlying them, three different directions or "schools" were formed in the study of epics:

1. Mythological and poetic personifications.

2. Historical reflections.

3. Foreign borrowings.*

* In the future, also for brevity: 1) mythological, 2) historical, 3) borrowings.

The first school, mythological personifications, sees in epics mainly echoes of Russian-Slavic mythology and the personification of natural forces. "Afanasiev everywhere, by the way and inopportunely, explained the myths with celestial phenomena, and especially thunderclouds and lightning," points out A. Pypin 12. According to A. Afanasyev, "in the image of the Nightingale the Robber, folk fantasy personified the demon thundercloud. The name of the Nightingale is given on the basis of the ancient assimilation of the whistle of a storm to the loud singing of this bird... The epithet "robber" is explained by the destructive properties of the storm" 12.

For representatives of this school, heroes are mythological creatures. O. Miller sees forces hostile to people in senior heroes

nature. For him, Svyatogor is clouds enveloping the sky; junior heroes - beneficial phenomena of nature; Kaliki - wandering clouds, pouring rain 9. Mikula Selyaninovich - the personification of heavenly thunder; his filly is a thundercloud" 13. "The beer that Ilya Muromets drinks," says Afanasyev, "is an old metaphor for rain. Bound by the winter cold, the thundering hero sits in a seat (not declaring himself in a thunderstorm) until he drinks living water, that is, until the spring warmth breaks the icy shackles and turns snow clouds into rain clouds; only then does the power arise in him to raise the lightning sword and direct it against the dark demons 14. Or in another place: “The thirty-year-old relaxation of Ilya Muromets should mean the fading of the sun in winter for thirty weeks; the forces received by him from drinking are forced to see in this drink ... rain life-giving moisture. Its carriers are usually birds in fairy tales, mythically meaning rain clouds ... Kaliki can be recognized as a new anthropomorphic myth for the same cloud ... Elijah's horse can mean both thunder and wind. The road lay exactly thirty years - exactly as long as Ilya Muromets sits in bed. Nightingale - the Robber means a stormy cloud: the whistle and thorn and roar of the Nightingale is the endless sound of continuous, tiresome, autumn and winter, murderous storms "12.

For representatives of the school of historical reflections, the epics reflect "the poeticized history of the people, told by themselves" 1. L. Maikov believes that "the epics in their content correspond to several gradually changing periods of the historical life of the Russian people" 15. Bezsonov sees and the heroes "really reflect living persons or the personification of everyday and historical phenomena in the life of the Russian people "16. For representatives of this direction, "the activities of the squad, expressed in the exploits of its representatives - the heroes, are the subject of epics" 15. Nightingale the Robber, these are "robbers who were in Russian forests" 4. A. Bruckner believes that, "despite the lack of historical evidence, these epics reflect the spirit of history" 17. He even tries to establish, according to epic descriptions, the typical features of the ancient Slavs, and puts their democratic nature in the first place: "Greek or the German hero already stands out from the masses by his divine origin, while the Slavic hero merges with it " 17.

Between these two extreme currents - mythological and historical - can be placed so-called. mixed. F. Buslaev, for example, believes that "persons and events are sung in epics and poems - either mythological and fabulous, generally fictional, fabulous, for example Svyatogor; or historical, for example, Prince Vladimir" 11. O. Miller considers evidence of antiquity epics the circumstance that "they depict a defensive policy, not an offensive" 9.

Representatives of the third school believe that epics are not the result of the independent creativity of the Russian people, but a reflection of the types foreign literatures, a more or less disguised borrowing that took root on Russian soil and took on a Russian appearance in relation to names, customs, and so on. 16 These statements are supported by a number of parallels, sometimes very successful, between the exploits of Russian and foreign heroes. Such is the "parallel between Vladimir the Red Sun and Princess Aprakseevna, on the one hand, and the Persian king Keykaus and his wife Sudabe, on the other" 4. "Svyatogor resembles the famous hero of the Persian epic, Rustem, who was so strong and heavy that he could not walk the earth: as soon as he sets foot, he will begin to fall through" 7. For representatives of this - the eastern theory of borrowings, to which V. Stasov belongs 16, the primary source of epic stories is India and Persia, from where the Mongol and Turkic tribes brought them to Russia.

But the same parallels can be drawn between rich Russian and German or Scandinavian epics. The meeting of Ilya Muromets with Svyatogor corresponds to the adventure of Thor with the giant Skrimir, etc. 7 Thus, the theory of borrowing from the west or from the north can also be justified. Finally, "Slavic-Byzantine influences were much closer to our epic" 4. And Greece already knew the image of "god", gifted with the ability to take any form, "like Loki, the Scandinavian god 18. But the Russian hero Volga Vseslavievich also has this gift. So the theory of borrowing from the southwest or the south could also have arisen!

O. Miller also finds a compromise here, pointing out that foreign influences were reflected only in those epics, "which, in their entire everyday warehouse, differ from the ancient Russian" 9. I. Porfiriev also believes that "the noticeable similarity in the epic tales of different peoples is not can always be proof of their origin from a single source, and very often it can be a consequence of the unity of the basic laws underlying the development of the life of each people ... Therefore, it would be unfair to explain everything in epics from Indo-European mythology "7.

It is not surprising, therefore, that all the existing contradictions led A. Bruckner to the following conclusion: "These Russian epic songs managed to undergo all sorts of interpretations: they found a mystical element in them, and Ilya turned out to be the incarnate god of thunder, while Vladimir and Dobrynya were solar gods ; then they were declared strictly historical, seeing in them a description of the victories and defeats of the "prophetic" Oleg or the Galician and Volyn princes; then they opened hidden social symbols and allegories, the transition from the Stone Age to the Metal Age or the victory over the wild elemental forces of nature through plow and culture. Where one researcher saw the purest and most truthful embodiment of the Slavic spirit, another found only fragments of various oriental motifs, one of the Caucasian, the other of the Mongol or Turkic tribes" 17.

Even if we expand the "mythological-historical" compromise allowed by F. Buslaev, as well as the "partial borrowings" proposed by O. Miller, even if we assume that in some cases the representatives of the mythological hypothesis are right, in others - the followers historical school and, finally, thirdly, adherents of the theory of borrowing from the east, west, north or south; even if we break the epic legend about each hero into a number of separate episodes and apply to each of them separately one of existing theories- then the complete failure of all of them, even with the most superficial criticism, becomes quite obvious to any unbiased study.

“Each epic has two components,” says A. Hilferding: “places of a typical, mostly descriptive nature, or containing speech put into the mouths of heroes, and transitional places that connect typical places and which tell course of action "19. These typical places, which remain almost unchanged in all variants, include the firmly established image of the hero and the nature of his main exploits, so rooted that there is already "no hope of getting to know any new type of hero" 2. At the same time " the so-called typical part of the epics has remained untouched since ancient times, neither time nor popular imagination could shake it. This "skeleton" of the heroic song is now performed in the same way as in the old days. If you ask the narrator what this or that dark place can mean, then receive a laconic answer: "we do not know this - it is so sung" 20.

The theory of mythological personifications is based on one main feature, mainly by external resemblance or allegorical rapprochement, often very distant and artificial (see A. Afanasyev's "loud" singing of a nightingale above). At the same time, the main content of the epic, the development of the action, which at times reaches extraordinary dramatic tension, remains completely unconsidered. According to the mythological theory (see above):

Svyatogor, who lives on the holy (i.e., heavenly, cloudy) mountains 14, is the personification of either mountain forces or clouds surrounding the sky;

Mikula- the personification of heavenly thunder; his filly is a thunder cloud;

Ilya Muromets- hero thunderer;

Kaliki- wandering clouds pouring rain;

Junior heroes- beneficial phenomena of nature;

Nightingale the Robber- autumn or winter blizzard, etc.

An attempt to apply these designations to the text of epics reveals the entire inconsistency of the mythological theory with complete obviousness.

SVYATOGOR

"On the steep mountains, on the holy Mountains,

The giant-hero Svyatogor sat,

Yes, he did not go to holy Russia:

His mother did not wear cheese-earth.

I wanted once a hero

Take a walk in the expanse of a clean field -

He saddled the heroic horse,

Drives out onto the road.

A brave heart trembled,

The silushka played on the veins,

So the lively and overflows;

And it’s heavy for him from this power,

It is heavy, as if from a heavy burden:

There is no one to measure the strength of the hero.

And he throws out a damask club

Above a cloud walking out of sight,

He picks up his white hands again;

"- If only I could find earthly traction,

I would approve the ring in heaven,

I would tie an iron chain to the ring,

Would draw heaven to mother earth,

Turn the earth upside down

And would mix the earthly with the heavenly! -

"He saw here in a clean field

Good fellow infantry walking;

Behind the good fellow

There was a small carry-on bag.

How will he let a good horse ride

With all the strength of a horse -

The good fellow is walking the infantry.

Do not overtake him with a heroic horse.

How to go with dashing freedom -

A good fellow does not advance forward.

And Svyatogor called out to the good fellow:

"- Goy, you are a passer-by good fellow!

Hold on, hold on a little

How to ride let the good horse

In full force, in the horse -

You go forward as an infantry,

Do not overtake you with a heroic horse:

How can I go with quiet ease -

You're walking, you're not stepping forward.

"A passer-by, a good fellow, was waiting for him,

I believed from the shoulders from the mighty

On the ground a small handbag.

Svyatogor said to the good fellow:

And tell me, good fellow,

What do you have in that purse? -

"The good fellow answers him:

"Ah, you glorious giant-hero!

Try to take my nose

On their shoulders on the mighty,

Run with her across the clear field.-

"The glorious giant-hero descended

From the goodness of a horse to a small handbag,

Was taken for a small handbag;

First taken with one finger -

This small bag is portable

It won't collapse on damp ground.

It was then taken with one hand -

This bag won't budge.

Grabbed with both hands

Still, she won't budge.

Received with all might,

Fell down with a white breast of a heroic

To this small purse,

Captured with all the great power -

In the cheese, the earth was soiled up to the knees,

There are no tears on the white face - blood flows ...

A brave heart left,

Only a small spirit managed to let go

Under that small purse

He says these words himself:

"- I did not raise such a burden from birth!

A lot of strength in me, but not under the force.

What's in your purse?

Who are you yourself, daring good fellow,

What is your name, fatherland? -

The daring good fellow answers:

"- In my small purse

All earthly thrust is loaded,

And I myself am Mikula Selyaninovich. -"

Where Svyatogor got dirty, I couldn’t get up here,

Here he had an end.

Such was, according to the mythological theory, the meeting of "clouds lightening the sky" with "heavenly thunder". What does these "clouds enveloping the sky" have to do with "earthly traction and the mixing of "earthly with heavenly"; how does this earthly traction turn out to be in a "bag of change" at the thunder; what is the meaning of this epic in general, and what do all the particulars given in it mean? - these are the questions to which the mythological theory is powerless to give any satisfactory answer. This powerlessness shows itself even more clearly in the following epic.

ILYA MUROMETS AND SVYATOGOR

Oh, you are a goy, a dashing hunter,

Old hero Ilyusha Muromets!

He fell, old, in an open field,

Luta caught the beast on a spear,

Sable-martens and low down.

The old one drives up to the Holy Mountains,

The old one drove into the Holy Mountains,

I heard a great noise here:

The mother of cheese-earth hesitated,

The dark forests staggered,

The fast rivers got muddied,

They poured out of the steep banks.

He sees the old: on a good horse

The hero-mountain rides with a step,

taller than a standing tree,

Rests his head in the sky,

He goes, he takes a nap while sitting.

"What a miracle?" says Ilya:

"Did the bogatyr fall asleep on a horse?

I could sleep in a white tent.

To know that it is not a Russian hero, but an unfaithful one "...

As the hero Ilya Muromets approaches, fear is more and more seized, until, finally, he releases his horse and climbs a tall oak himself. From there, he managed to notice how Svyatogor pitched his tent and fell asleep. The beautiful wife of Svyatogor, whom he usually carried with him in a crystal casket, came out and looked out for Ilya on a damp oak. Come down from the oak cheese, come down, make love with me; if you don’t obey, I’ll wake up Svyatogor the hero and tell him that you forcibly led me into sin. Ilya has nothing to do: he can’t talk with a woman, but he can’t cope with Svyatogor; he got down from that oak cheese and did the job he was commanded to.

Svyatogor wakes up. His wife hastily hides Ilya in a casket (according to other options - in Svyatogor's pocket). All three are on their way. For three days Ilya sits in captivity, until, finally, the horse of Svyatogor, burdened with an unbearable burden, tells about everything in a human voice. Svyatogor kills his wife, takes out Ilya and fraternizes with him.

Here they exchanged crosses,

They called themselves brothers of the cross,

Together they began to drive along the cracks,

Driving around and walking around the Holy Mountains.

And they ran into a wonderful miracle,

Miraculous miracle yes marvelous marvelous:

A great coffin stands in the middle of the way,

The whole is overlaid with red gold, laid out,

And on the lid is signed yes:

"For whom is this great coffin built,

That's what he'll be fine with."

Ilya descends into the coffin:

"... The great coffin was not wide and long for him ..."

Then Svyatogor descends into the coffin:

"How the great tomb was built on it;

The hero says these words:

"This great coffin is built for me;

It's good to live here in a coffin!

You listen, my little brother,

You take it and close me

That oak coffin lid."

Answers to brother Ilya Muromets:

"I will not close you, my big brother,

That oak coffin lid.

You're not kidding a little joke:

I was going to bury myself alive."

As the hero himself takes here, he covers himself

That oak coffin lid -

And that cap is the will of God

Soraslas with the coffin in one place.

And Svyatogor Ilya called from the tomb:

No matter how I fight, no matter how hard I try,

I can't lift the lids over me!

You take on those boards, for oak,

Tear off one board at a time."

The old one took on those oak boards,

No board can be torn off:

I can't open any board."

"So take my glorious, heroic sword,

Cut the lid with a sharp sword."

The old sword was taken for that glorious Svyatogorov,

I could not lift a sword from the damp earth.

"Listen, my big brother,

I can't even lift a sword from the ground."

"Listen, my little brother,

Bend over to the coffin lid,

Come to the little slit:

I will blow on you with a heroic spirit.

He leaned over the lid of the coffin,

Fell to a small slit:

Svyatogor blew on the old

With that mighty heroic spirit,

And I smelled the old one, how there are strengths in it

Three times more than before;

He raised the heroic sword from the ground,

He began to cut on the lid on the coffin,

From blows, from great sparks pour,

There is an iron hoop.

The hero Svyatogor called again:

"It's stuffy, it's stuffy for me, my little brother!

You cut along the lid along the coffin."

Cuts the old one along the lid along the coffin,

From blows sparks pour,

And where will the heroic sword strike -

There is an iron hoop.

"I'm suffocating, my little brother!

Bend over to the lid, to the coffin,

Come to the little slit:

I will blow on you with all the heroic spirit,

I will give you all the strength of a hero."

Answers to brother Ilya Muromets:

"There will be strength with me, my big brother.

You will give me all the strength of the heroic -

And the mother of cheese-earth will not wear me.

The hero Svyatogor Ilya says:

"Well done, little brother,

That the last command was not obeyed:

With a dead spirit I would breathe on you,

You yourself would lie dead at the tomb.

And now farewell, my little brother!

It can be seen here that God judged death for me.

Take the heroic sword for yourself,

And leave the good of the horse to the owner,

Tie to the heroic coffin:

No one can deal with him, besides me."

And passed from clear glasses

His tears are burning

And he folded the hands of the heroic

On white breasts, on heroes,

And he accepted a great death,

And the dead spirit went out of the tomb.

Then the old man said goodbye to the hero,

Svyatogorova good horse

Tied to the heroic coffin,

Girded the glorious Svyatogor sword,

And I went to the expanse of a clear field.

Is it here that Svyatogor and glory are sung.

Note: Svyatogor carries his wife in a crystal chest (metaphor of a cloud) and unlocks it with a golden key (lightning)" 14.

Or, to paraphrase: "A cloud (Svyatogor) enveloping the sky carries his wife (probably also a cloud) in a cloud (crystal casket), unlocking the cloud with lightning (golden key) and kills her with lightning (sword)."

The attempts of the mythological school to give an interpretation of this epic only confirm its complete helplessness. "Svyatogorov's wife is given to Ilya Muromets, as a representative of Perun, and dies from the treasure-sword, that is, she dies, struck by lightning.

Here the mythological interpretation completely destroys any meaning of the whole event. Or in another place: "A coffin bound with iron hoops is a metaphor for a rain cloud, on which the winter cold has imposed its tightly squeezing chains" 14. Here Svyatogor turns into a rain cloud *, and Ilya Muromets into "winter cold", while time, as before he was a "thunder hero" or the personification of the Life-giving solar force.

* In another place, it is assumed that rain clouds are represented in epics in the person of kalik-passers.

(It is interesting to note the opinion of D. O. Shepping regarding the designation "thunder hero": "If there is no doubt that Elijah the Prophet, according to folk legends and superstitions, replaced our ancient thunder deity of the pagan period, this does not yet follow, that in absolutely everything one can identify Elijah with Perun. Such unceremonious perversions of folk traditions, passing from one scholarly work to another, more popular books and textbooks, completely distort the tradition itself "21).

The entire inconsistency of the mythological theory is revealed even more clearly when applied to epics about "younger" heroes. All the diverse events and complex intrigues at the court of Prince Vladimir, the love affairs of Apraksin, the allotments of the heroes among themselves, their struggle with each other and with enemies - all this cannot be interpreted with the help of clouds, thunder, lightning and even a small set of natural forces. With such unfounded arbitrariness, the murder of Caesar can be transferred to the clouds, and the dagger will play the role of lightning; and the liberation of the peasants will turn out to be the revival of nature (or the plant world) from hibernation, not to mention the life of famous people (for example, Napoleon), where the hero himself can be replaced by the sun, his friends and relatives by planets, battles by thunder and storm, where each captive will represent nature "bound by the winter cold", etc.

The application of mythological theory can be allowed and partly justified only in relation to individual allegorical images, independent, self-contained, established, static, for example, in riddles **, in sayings and in some songs. For the interpretation of epics and legends - not only Russian, but also foreign - with their complex dynamics and drama, with their growing and unfolding events - even if we admit the presence of a certain mythological raid in them, then all the same, the application of mythological theory, as such, as a whole, in view of its complete inconsistency, must be unconditionally rejected.

** What burns without fire? - Dawn.

The same can be said about the theory of historical reflections, although at first glance it seems more reasonable and stable: on the one hand, real geographical or historical names often come across in epics; on the other hand, names epic heroes occasionally mentioned in chronicles or modern chronicles. This theory sees in the epics a "poeticized history of the people", and the content of the epics corresponds to "several, gradually changing periods of the historical life of the Russian people ***. For her, Svyatogor

*** See page 7

Representative of the rough physical strength nomadic period, which, as an independent element, in a strict system spiritualized by the moral principle civil life no longer has a place and must die" 1. Mikula Selyaninovich - "a representative of agricultural life, endurance" 9. Volga Vseslavievich - "a demigod hunter and warrior who conquers all animated nature" 1. Prince Vladimir, Princess Apraksia, junior heroes, Novgorod daring men - all this is "a reflection of people who really lived or the personification of everyday and historical phenomena in the life of the Russian people" *.

* See page 7

The inconsistency of this theory is revealed at the first attempt to apply it to one of the above epics. Why does Svyatogor turn out to be a representative of the "brute physical strength of the nomadic period"? Ancient Russia did not have high mountains at all within its borders 1, and the image of a nomadic tribe cannot be associated with the type of a hero who "does not wear the earth", who "found himself a mountain and lies on it." What can Svyatogor's "snoozing" on horseback and his recognition mean?

"... It is not given to me to travel to Holy Russia."

The history of ancient Russia does not know a period that could be symbolized by Svyatogor. And if we assume that Mikula Selyaninovich is indeed a reflection of "agricultural life and endurance" 9, then the image of Volga Vseslavich, who, being five years old,

"... He studied all sorts of tricks-wisdom:

Learned the first trick-wisdom -

Wrap yourself in a clear falcon;

Learned another trick-wisdom -

Wrap yourself in a gray wolf;

Studied the third trick-wisdom -

Wrap around with a tour - golden horns ... "

This image remains quite enigmatic, and the attempt to see in it a reflection of the personality and activity of the "prophetic" Oleg only emphasizes the impotence of the historical theory.

The Nightingale the Robber remains an equally incomprehensible figure, “personifying the main internal enemies of the emerging state - a gang of robbers. the prototype of Russian robbers with a murderous nightingale whistle, from which he got his name "1. Such an interpretation turns out to be completely unreasonable upon closer examination: Ilya Muromets more than once met with such "internal enemies", for which there is a completely specific term in epics:

"... We ran into the old stanishnik,

In our Russian - robbers ... ".

It remains unclear the difference between the Nightingale the Robber and the "stanishniks". True, he whistles like a nightingale, but

"... Hissing yes like a snake,

Screams like an animal,

"His patronymic" Rakhmanovich "is derived from the word rahman or brahman, that is, a brahmin is an Indian priest and sorcerer. Sometimes he is also called the Rakhmanna Bird" 1. In addition, "the nightingale sits in a nest on oaks, and his house, where his whole family lives, is called a nest here. The children of the Nightingale are also mythical figures; his daughters in esch and I have heroic strength; the very name of the eldest of them, Neveya, is given in ancient spells for shaking, or fever, the eldest of the shaking sisters" 25; the sons of the Nightingale turn into black ravens, moreover, "with iron beaks" 22.

From a further study of the epics, it is revealed with even greater clarity that the image of the Nightingale the Robber, approaching rather the type of a sorcerer sorcerer, is very far from the aforementioned village robbers and is a mysterious figure inaccessible to the interpretation of historical theory.

This theory turns out to be completely helpless when trying to apply it to the dramatic development of action in epics (for example, the episode with Svyatogor's wife, Svyatogor's death in a coffin, etc.). Even if geographical and historical names come across in epics about junior heroes, then they all turn out to be far from reality for verification. "Chernigov" really lies on the way from Murom to Kyiv, "says F. Buslaev; in this case, the epic seems to contain a historical element. But in other versions, instead of Chernigov, they call Bezhegov, Beketovets, Kidish, Kryakov and others 1, and the same F. Buslaev must admit that "here Chernigov is already mixed with some other city" 11. The same can be said about the rivers Safat, Israel, Smorodina and others., about Latyr-more, about Tabor-mountain, about Prince Vladimir, about Princess Apraksin, etc. Already A. Borozdin notices that in the character of the epic Prince Vladimir himself, as well as his wife, one can find much more "fabulous" features than those corresponding to historical reality 4. With careful study and By comparing the geographical and historical names mentioned in the epics, a certainty arises, which becomes more and more stronger and finds confirmation as the text is studied, that the narrators took the first names that came to their mind for the designations they needed, using the most famous popular and popular because of their historical or geographical significance. Thus, although in epics it is impossible to deny the presence of some historical element- like the aforementioned mythological raid - but the application to their interpretation of historical theory, as such, as a whole, must be equally unconditionally rejected.

The theory of foreign borrowings is based on an undeniable similarity between certain types and exploits of Russian and foreign heroes. Due to the fact that the Russian epic is relatively the youngest, there could be no doubt that it is the subject and not the object of borrowing, although "remains a folk secret, to which the people themselves now have no key, how the Indian Krishna and some other images later turned into Dobrynya, etc." 22.

This theory was repeatedly subjected to severe criticism, which found that "the noticeable similarity in the epic tales of different peoples" * can be successfully attributed not so much to later borrowings as to their prehistoric origin from one source. A. Kotlyarevsky believes that "these legends (about Russian heroes) were the fruit of the entire previous life of the people, the swan song ... of folk art, still nourished by the juices of ancient legend. Separating into them everything accidental, introduced by subsequent centuries and formed under the influence of historical circumstances , one can understand their real character: we will meet here a deep antiquity, which has not yet had time to get a sharp character of an exclusively Russian nationality, an antiquity that directly points to the prehistoric era of the unity of the Indo-European tribes "22. For I. Porfiriev, the above similarity does not even follow from the presence common primary source, but from "the unity of the fundamental laws underlying the development of each people." F. Buslaev adheres to the same view: "the laws of logic and psychology common to all mankind, common phenomena in family life and practical life Finally, common paths in the development of culture, of course, should have been reflected in the same ways to understand the phenomena of life and equally express them in myth, fairy tale, tradition, parable, proverb" 24.

* See page 8

If we add to this that a similar similarity is also found in religious and so on. legends (about paradise, the flood, etc.) as well as the rites and customs of various peoples, and the impossibility of borrowing in many cases can be considered completely proven, and that each people experiences its history in its own way - depending on the spiritual, psychological, ethnographic, geographical and so on. conditions; that the vast majority of epics are of a national Russian, and, moreover, deeply Christian character, which is not in the alleged primary sources; that the theory of borrowing arbitrarily tries to belittle or deprive the Russian people of the ability of independent epic creativity, while all other types of creativity beat folk life full jet; that, finally, some minor foreign influences, along with mythological and historical ones, can still be admitted to a certain extent - then one will have to come to the conclusion that the theory of borrowings, as such, in its entirety, along with the theory of mythological and historical, must be rejected, and that epics remain a great, deep and inexplicable mystery of Russian folk art.

Despite the fact that many epics did not come down to us at all, and those that did come down were subjected to repeated distortions; despite the fact that they bear undoubted traces of mythological, historical and alien influences, and that none of the existing theories can be applied to them - there is, nevertheless, one source that sheds bright light on the essence of epics, on the figures of heroes, on the meaning and significance of their exploits, illuminating equally both general places and particulars. The source of this light is the Occult Science of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, and the application of the method given by him to Russian epics recreates step by step the stages of the spiritual path of the Russian people*.

* The author entirely takes over. himself solely responsible both for the application of this method to Russian epics and for the results obtained, and for the translation from German of quotations and excerpts from the works of R. Steiner. - Based on the passages given below, in relation to this topic, it is impossible, of course, to form an idea about Occult Science as a whole.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLD TO ATLANTIS.
"DESCENT FROM THE MOUNTAINS" SVYATOGOR

In the works and lectures of Rudolf Steiner, descriptions are repeatedly given of the various states of the earth that it has passed on the path of its formation and prepared for its development in the future. Penetrating with his spiritual gaze the darkness of the past and the fog of the future, he brings us to the spiritual primary sources of the universe, embodying the results of his observations into images accessible to ordinary consciousness, and giving everyone the opportunity to form an idea - and then knowledge - about the remotest times and epochs 36.

The pre-temporal reverent sacrifice of the highest spiritual beings, pouring out of themselves a part of their own substantiality, creates, according to a wise and good intention, the original spiritual foundation for the material universe. With the beginning of time and with the addition of a number of spiritual beings to the beginning of the world-building, spiritual substantiality, remaining the same in its deepest essence, begins to be permeated with physical laws, condensing and thickening to the state of substantial warmth inner life. In these immeasurably remote times (the epoch of ancient Saturn)** the germ of the human body was laid, a spiritual and physical machine-like phantom that manifests and reflects the experiences of the higher beings living within it. - Then everything returns to the original state of pure spirituality again, dissolving into it for a long intermediate state of rest.

** It is known from Occult Science that the planet Saturn belonging to our solar system was formed as a result of a process similar, to a certain extent, to that which took place in the era of ancient Saturn. This explains why this ancient era and modern planet given one name. A similar remark can be made about the ancient Sun and the ancient Moon.

As time passes, the formation of condensed and condensed elements begins again, reaching the former degree of densification and being able, due to new reverently sacrificial impulses of spiritual beings and due to being in pure spirituality during the period of rest described above, to be brought to an even more material state. Substantial heat condenses to a vapor-gaseous state, and the human embryo, perceiving the forces pouring into it, develops to the possibility of manifestation of signs of independent life*, which is increasingly determined by the end of this period (the ancient Sun)**. - Then everything dissolves back into the original spirituality for a new period of rest.

* The physical body of a person, as such, is a corpse, which, being left to itself, disintegrates into its constituent elements, under the influence of external laws and forces of nature. During life, it is permeated with vital forces, which determine in it the possibility life processes and protect it from decay. This complex of vital forces bears in Occult Science the name of the vital or ethereal body.

** See note. page 21.

After this second pause, the process of physical world formation again comes into its own. Again, they are re-passed from the beginning already before reaching the degree of compaction, but the process does not stop there and continues to thicken up to a liquid-gaseous and viscous-liquid state. A person rises to the possibility of inner experiences, sympathies and antipathies, joy and suffering ***, and this inner life of him is in a complex dependence on the spiritual beings around him. - Little by little everything starts to come back to spiritual state, and this - the third period of cosmic formation (of the ancient Moon) **** also ends with a period of rest.

*** The physical body, permeated with life processes (the etheric body), characterizes mainly the modern vegetable kingdom. A person (as well as an animal) already has access to a complex set of sensations, which in Occult Science is called. sensible or astral body. In addition, a person, unlike an animal, has the ability of self-consciousness, i.e., the consciousness of his pidvidual "I" 36.

**** See note. page 19.

At the end of this period as well, the materializing elements begin again to stand out from spirituality, subsequently forming what constituted our present Earth*****. The first period of its development - the Polar epoch, represents an accelerated repetition at a higher level of the period of ancient Saturn - with the formation of the rudiment of the physical human body. The second period - the Hyperborean epoch, repeats in the same way the state of the ancient Sun - with the emergence of life processes in the human embryo (etheric body). The third period - the Lemurian era, is a similar repetition of the ancient Moon, and a person receives the abilities of sensation and consciousness (astral body). The fourth period - the Atlantean era, no longer serves as a repetition of previous states and marks the birth of self-consciousness in a person, - the consciousness of one's own "I".

***** Or rather: our current solar system.

Throughout this cosmic evolution, man exactly follows all the transformations of his kindred Earth. As at present, his body is built from the minerals inherent in the earth, etc. substances, so in the days of ancient Saturn, when the most material element was substantive heat, the human body was built from this thermal element; on the ancient Sun - it was vapor-gaseous; on the ancient Moon - liquid-gaseous and viscous-liquid. It goes through similar transformations in the Polar, Hyperborean and Lemurian epochs, which are a repetition on a higher level of the ancient Saturn, the ancient Sun and the ancient Moon.

Rudolf Steiner gives the following description of the first periods of the Atlantean epoch: "At that time, man did not yet exist in a form accessible to the observation of our modern senses. You would, however, imagine the spectacle of certain areas on the earth's surface, protruding in the form of islands from still liquid earth, covered with waters or wrapped in vapours... But these areas were not yet as solid as our present earth, but were lumps of soft earthen mass, with a fiery element raging between them... You would find that in some already existing areas, cooled to a certain extent, the ancestors of our present animal kingdom lived... But you would not see a person, because at that time a person did not yet have such a dense, solid physical body.You would have to look for a person in completely different places, so to speak, in a watery and vaporous mass ... You would have found the then human physical body in the area of water vapor... The farther you go back, the more transparent the person of this era becomes, more and more like the surrounding vapor and water masses. Only during Atlantean time does it thicken more and more; and if one could follow the whole process of becoming with one's eyes, then one could see how a person is more and more condensed from the waters and more and more descends to the earth *. So, in fact, it is quite true that the physical man entered the surface of our earth comparatively late.

* This is not the place to prove that Occult Science does not contradict the fundamentals modern science but deepens and complements them. The competence of science, in general, is limited to the description and study of the observed given; her repeated attempts to establish a priori the fundamental possibility or impossibility of any phenomenon invariably emphasized her short-sightedness in this respect. - On the other hand, the data of Occult Science have repeatedly found confirmation from science and practical life.

This period in the history of mankind, which has not yet sunk on solid ground, found a surprisingly accurate and picturesque reflection in the face of Svyatogor. His descent from the mountains and soiling into the earth corresponds to the descent of a man from the heights of the air. This is an exile from paradise, conveyed by the Russian epic. For the biblical story of the Fall and Paradise Lost is nothing but a picture of this very moment. "Despite all searches," says Rudolf Steiner, "paradise does not lie on the earth's surface, but in the circumference of the earth. Man only subsequently descended from paradise to earth, after he had received his finished form" 38.

Similar events and transformations of a physical nature were accompanied by changes in the field of human consciousness. "... At that time, before the Atlantean flood *, there was not yet such a sharp boundary between the daytime and nighttime states of consciousness. When a person of that time fell into sleep, his inner experiences were not so dark and unconscious as now; but when pictures of daytime life plunged into darkness, pictures of spiritual life opened before him, and he was in the region of the spiritual world; and when in the morning he again plunged into his physical body, the experiences and truths of the divine-spiritual world went into darkness, and pictures appeared before him modern reality, the modern mineral, vegetable, animal kingdom, etc." 37.

The described period of the Atlantean era was a transitional one for states of consciousness. Until that time, man was completely blind to the physical world, but fully conscious in the spiritual world; after that, that is, closer to our time, he, on the contrary, is conscious in the physical world and blind to the spiritual. In the mentioned transition period a person lost his spiritual consciousness, while acquiring a physical one to the same extent. But the latter could only develop as the spiritual withered away, and the vigilance of Svyatogor, who had not yet completely lost it, was therefore not as complete as in later times. His consciousness, while not yet completely blind in the spiritual world, also did not reach the degree of full wakefulness in the physical world, in which it was still in a half-awake-half-asleep state. - That's why Ilya Muromets meets Svyatogor, dozing on a horse.

The task of the Atlantean epoch was to introduce into man the ability of self-consciousness, the consciousness of one's "I."37 For this, various organs were developed in man, chiefly his brain. The latter had to become the bearer of the waking consciousness, the present intellect, which is now tightly riveted to the brain. But at that transitional time, consciousness did not sink into the brain so deeply and only during the day, during a waking or semi-awake (at Svyatogor) state. During sleep, it was released again, plunging into the images and experiences of the spiritual world*. This brain in its cranium is presented in the form of a crystal casket of Svyatogor; his spiritual consciousness (wife) is enclosed in a casket during trips through the mountains, i.e., during the relative wakefulness of Svyatogor, and is released during periods of his sleep. - At the end of the Atlantean era, when, with the development of the waking state of consciousness, the ability of spiritual consciousness should have disappeared, Svyatogor kills his wife. And then, with the death of Atlantis, he himself perishes.

* Atlantis was gradually destroyed under the influence of grandiose air-water seismic disasters. Its final disappearance in the waters of the modern Atlantic Ocean dates back to the 10th century BC.

POST-ATLANTIC TIME.
SAMSON, MIKULA, VOLGA AND ILYA.

As is known from Occult Science, shortly before the death of Atlantis, the great Initiate, by the name of Manu, with a group of his disciples, left the doomed mainland and went to a secluded region of Central Asia in order to prepare from them leaders for future cultures of the post-Atlantic era. Seven Initiates from his disciples subsequently became teachers and leaders of those people who in the first period of the post-Atlantic era lived in the southern region of Asia - ancient India 36. There was created the majestic ancient Hindu culture, the culture of the seven holy Rishis, the later echo of which are the amazing books of the Vedas 37. The main mood of this culture was the aspiration back to the spiritual world. People "felt that their homeland was in that world ... They felt the supersensible world as true ... and sought with all their might to discover the possibility of insight into this true world." For people knew from legends and traditions that "there was a time when their ancestors looked into the spiritual world, when they lived in the circle of spiritual beings and gods, when they were in the sphere of deep spiritual reality" 37. And an irresistible inner aspiration based on the living the memory of the recent past, attracted a person there, to this spiritual world, forcing him to neglect the physical world, to avoid it, to avoid it, like a deceptive mirage, an illusion, Maya,

The reflection of this ancient Hindu culture of the seven great Rishis is in Russian epics the hero Samson Samoilovich, with his "seven golden hair on his head." Unfortunately, very little is known about him; so, he "rides, although he is reluctant to become a Pole" 1. In epics, he is constantly mixed with Svyatogor; the connection Svyatogor-Samson is often found in studies. This is all the more natural because all the thoughts and views of the ancient Hindu culture were directed back to the past, to the past era of Svyatogor; this culture sought to relive him, to incarnate in his personality. - It is not surprising, therefore, that in the epics some features of Samson turned out to be transferred to Svyatogor, in particular, the above-described main aspiration of the ancient Hindu culture back to the spiritual world, expressed by Svyatogor in the desire to "turn the earth upside down, mix the earthly with the heavenly." - With all the above possible distortions in the text of epics, such a partial mixing of two adjacent eras seems at least harmless.

But the meaning further development lies in the fact that a person gradually gets used to appreciate the physical world in which he was placed in the post-Atlantic era. "A step forward in comparison with ancient India represents a second cultural epoch, also prehistoric, which we call by the name of those peoples who subsequently inhabited these regions, ancient Persian culture, meaning again not the later Persian, but prehistoric culture" 37.

In its mood, its worldview, this second period differs significantly from the ancient Hindu period. While the Indians strive to get away from the illusory world, to flee from it, the Persians "begin to appreciate Maya or illusion, and it becomes a field of activity for them. True, they still consider it to be something hostile that needs to be overcome, but they there is a hope that they will be able to introduce the forces of good deities into it ... permeate it with divinely spiritual forces. Thus, the people of ancient Persian culture begin to feel the reality of the physical world and work on it "37.

The representative of this ancient Persian culture in Russian epics is Mikula Selyaninovich. The grandiose picture of the physical world, as a field for activity, for penetrating it with a bright divine principle, was expressed in the image of a farmer cultivating the land, and the omeshki and suckers penetrating into the ground, unfolding and scattering it, are made of "pure silver and red gold", symbolizing spiritual forces . This motif of the introduction of gold and silver into the earth is very close to the Russian folk spirit, which feels its kinship with the ancient Persian culture *, and comes across very often, as in songs,

"I'm burying gold, I'm burying,

I bury pure silver, I bury ... ",

so in fairy tales, along with the motives for stealing gold.

* See note. on page 40

Then comes the third cultural period, bringing us closer and closer to historical times - the Chaldean-Egyptian culture. Again a step forward has been taken in the sense of conquering the physical world. People no longer see it as just hostile or unnecessary. “A man is already directing his gaze to the stars and says to himself: “These stars are not only Maya, not only visibility.” And he goes deep into the contemplation of the stellar paths, he studies the movements of the luminaries, the changes taking place in the constellations. And he says to himself: “This is - the external expression of the gods ruling the world, these are writings inscribed by the gods. "The external, observed by the senses, is not only an appearance, it is a revelation of the gods 38. What previously seemed an illusion, Maya, a deceptive mirage, began to be carefully studied. Thus " there is an external science.

Man studies the thoughts of the gods, and he feels that he must create a connection between his own activity and what is in matter in the form of divine writings, that there must be harmony between what is happening in heaven and on earth.

This mood is remarkably accurately conveyed in the image of the hero Volga Vseslavich, who is a representative of this (third) cultural period. At the beginning of the epic, when describing the events accompanying his birth, the connection between heavenly and earthly phenomena is clearly indicated:

"The red sun has set,

Rolled over the mountains high,

Over the deep and wide seas,

Often the stars scattered across the bright sky -

Born on Mother Holy Russia

The young hero Volga Vseslavevich ... "

The emergence of external science is no less clearly indicated in that place of the epic, where it is mentioned that the young Volga studied all sorts of "tricks-wisdoms", which are then used for activities in the physical world. His shape-shifting reflects the later period of the decline of the Chaldean-Egyptian culture, expressed in the magnificent flowering of the worst manifestations of black magic 39.

Thus, people "descend more and more into Maya and permeate matter with what a person can achieve. In the fourth cultural period, the Greco-Latin, a person brings his inner being into the external world ... Man objectifies himself in matter, in forms .. He himself enters the physical world and creates his reflection in it... In Roman culture, man creates it in state institutions... Man descends to the understanding of matter, to the marriage between Maya and spirit... In this fourth cultural period of the post-Atlantic era a person is in complete harmony with the surrounding world. The emergence of Christianity coincided with this period. For only this time, when a person, as it were, merged with external reality, was able to comprehend that the divine can manifest itself in an individual person ... Any previous time could easily to understand anything but this; it would feel that the divine is too high and exalted to manifest itself in the individual ... But Christianity could also arise only when people were not yet so deeply rooted in matter as to overestimate it, to immerse themselves in it with their heads, as in our time, but were still able to spiritualize it ... Therefore, the entire history of mankind breaks up for the Christian consciousness into pre-Christian and Christian times. The God-man could be comprehended by man only at a certain time" 37.

The representative of this Greco-Latin culture is Ilya Muromets in the epics. This already follows from the words of the kalik-passers, listing and characterizing Ilya Muromets the heroes dangerous to him:

"... Just don't go out to fight

With Svyatogor the hero:

He and the earth on itself through force wears;

Do not go to fight with Samson the hero:

He has seven angel hair on his head;

Do not fight with the Mikulov family:

He is loved by mother cheese-earth;

Don't go to Volga Vseslavich yet:

He won't take it by force

So cunning-wisdom ... "

Fourth culture era. Ilya Muromets "in the center of time".

It is noteworthy that the passer-by Kaliki (Jesus Christ himself, the two Apostles) list the heroes in full agreement with the order of the cultures they represent:

THE END OF THE ATLANTIC EPOCH*: SVYATOGOR.
POST-ATLANTIC ERA

1. Ancient Hindu culture: Samson Samoilovich.

2. Ancient Persian culture: Mikula Selyaninovich.

3. Chaldean-Egyptian culture: Volga Vseslavich.

4. Greco-Latin culture: Ilya Muromets.

* Bogatyrs Dunai Ivanovich, Sukhman and Kolyvan can be attributed to more remote periods of the Atlantic era (epics often call Svyatogor Kolyvanovich in the fatherland). Unfortunately, a more detailed acquaintance with the figures of these heroes is impossible due to lack of space.

The same indications of kalik-passers were once used by researchers to divide the heroes into older ones - before Ilya Muromets, and younger ones - after him. It can be said that, just as "the history of mankind breaks up into pre-Christian and Christian times," so "the history of the heroes breaks up into a period before Ilya Muromets and after him." Moreover, Ilya Muromets, as the first Christian hero, represents in his person the era of the emergence of Christianity, that is, epics with amazing accuracy attribute him to that particular period in human history, when

"... Jesus Christ himself, two apostles..."

indeed historically for the first time walked the earth. The foundation of Russia historically belongs to the same period. - Rising from his bed by the mercy of kalik-passers simultaneously with the birth of the Russian state, Ilya Muromets thereby turns out to be a representative of the Russian people, enlightened by the impulse of Christ.

The meetings of the elder heroes among themselves are a reflection of the transitional stages from one cultural period to another. What has been happening over the centuries condenses into epics into a short-term meeting. The people oppose in their minds different cultural periods, giving them a corresponding characteristic, striking in its depth and accuracy.

"... I would turn the earth upside down,

And he would mix the earthly with the heavenly! .. "

The meeting of Svyatogor-Samson with Mikula Selyaninovich contrasts the ancient Hindu culture with the ancient Persian.

The main aspiration of the ancient Hindu culture was directed upwards, away from the earth, from the physical world, which for the worldview of this culture was only a deceptive mirage, an illusion, Maya. This mood is beautifully conveyed in the lines:

The next, ancient Persian culture was imbued with completely different moods: one should not run away from the earth, from the physical world, but overcome it, transform it with the help of a bright deity. The element of this beginning overcoming was reflected in the epics in the form of a handbag containing earthly cravings, which the representative of the ancient Persian culture freely wears, but the representative of the ancient Hindu culture, who fled from the physical world and, therefore, remained powerless within it, is powerless to lift .

The meeting of Mikula Selyaninovich with Volga Vseslavich depicts the transition of the ancient Persian culture to the Chaldean-Egyptian. The ancient Persian culture spiritualized the physical world, blew up and plowed the earth with silver and gold, overcame the inertia of the material mass with spiritual impulses. This culture still felt the breath of spirituality; in her worldview there still lived a clear experience of the interaction between the spiritual and physical worlds.

It was not so already in the times of the next, Chaldean-Egyptian culture. The process of immersion in the material world continued unceasingly. At the same time, such a vivid sense of spiritual realities, which was still possible for the previous culture, was gradually lost. The ancient Persian culture was just introducing the spiritual into the earth, striving to spiritualize the physical world; for her the spiritual was still separate and separable from the physical. The Chaldean-Egyptian culture already found this spiritual deep in the physical; she felt that the spirit had penetrated deeply into the physical world, that it was inseparable from it, merged with it, as if chained to it 38.

The bipod at Mikula Selyaninovich, with silver omeshiki and with a golden sucker, depicts the spiritual principle, loosening, overcoming physical materiality. For the era of Mikula, it was not yet difficult to separate these two principles: Mikula freely pulls a bipod out of the ground, throws it under the clouds and throws a bush behind the willows. The representative of the next culture, Volga Vseslavich, with all his retinue, is no longer able to move it from its place.

As can be seen from the foregoing, most of the senior heroes are representatives of various cultural periods in their most characteristic and general manifestations. Ilya Muromets is not the same: rising from the bed by the grace of the kalik-passers - Jesus Christ himself and the two apostles - simultaneously with the birth of Christianity and the formation of the Russian state, he is not so much a representative of the then Greco-Latin era, but a bearer of a purely Russian folk Christian element. Also, the younger bogatyrs following him, while maintaining their correspondence to further cultural periods, acquire more and more Russian national features.

The life and deeds of Ilya Muromets and the younger heroes give a vivid picture of the spiritual path of the Russian people in the past and future. A particular difficulty for understanding these epics lies in the fact that they are presented in a very special way, characteristic of the creative consciousness of ancient times: we can talk about purely external facts and events, and then imperceptibly move on to internal emotional experiences, without, however, the tone of presentation changed in any way or that there is any outward hint that such a transition is taking place40. On the other hand, "for an occultist, there is nothing only external, only material. Everything material is for him an expression of the soul-spiritual" 37 ... Therefore, many events in the life of Ilya Muromets can be understood only by simultaneously studying them from the most diverse points of view.

It is known about Ilya Muromets that for thirty-three years he "sitting" without arms and without legs, fervently praying to God day and night, But constantly

"... both in a dream and in reality

Nightingale the robber introduced himself -

And the accursed one did not let him pray! .. "

With these words, the epic clearly indicates from the very first lines what a significant role this sinister Nightingale the Robber played in the life of Ilya Muromets.

Then there are crosswalkers, "Jesus Christ with two apostles." Elijah is healed. He jumps up, treats the kalik to beer, then drinks it himself, feels "great health in himself", brings the kalik a second time, sips it himself again, after which he feels in himself

"great power:

If only the pillar was from the ground to the sky,

A gold ring is approved in the pillar -

I would take it by the ring, turn the Holy Russian!”

Kaliki say among themselves:

"A lot of strength was given to Ilya!

The mother-cheese earth will not take it down,

It will be necessary to reduce his strength ... ":

Ilya treats the kalik for the third time and sips again. He feels at the same time that his strength

"... decreased as if by half ..."

After that, the Kaliki give him instructions on how to get a heroic horse, which heroes to fight and whom to avoid, they reveal to him something of his future fate. Ilya Muromets fulfills everything that has been said, gets himself a horse, takes a blessing from his father and goes to Kyiv

"... Mortgage for Prince Vladimir,

Serve him faithfully, truthfully,

Stand up for the Christian faith...

On the way, he liberates Chernigov and captures the Nightingale the Robber, whom he then kills in the courtyard of Prince Vladimir. After that, his above-described meeting with Svyatogor takes place.

No matter how one considers the thirty-three-year-old seat of Ilya Muromets' "seat": whether from a physical point of view - considering him a paralytic patient, or from a spiritual point of view - in the sense of his complete helplessness and inactivity in the spiritual world, or allowing the simultaneous coexistence of both, the parallelism of spiritual and physical phenomena, according to the principle of Occult Science, that everything material, physical is only an external expression, an external revelation of the spiritual - nevertheless, there is no doubt that Ilya rises from his bed for active work precisely by virtue of the impulse of Christ pouring on him, perceives him with his whole being - for the impulse of Christ pervades the whole man - and follows him. What is this impulse?

The mission of Christ is, says Rudolf Steiner, to “bring into the soul of man inner independence, the full power of the “I”*. only love, brought in the form of a free gift, must enter into the earthly mission through the Christ principle, love, which rises more and more above materiality and ascends more and more into the spiritual. those loved each other who were related by blood ties, and it was considered extremely important that love should have this basis of blood relationship.Christ came to spiritualize love - in order, on the one hand, to tear it out of the bonds with which blood relationship pulls it together, on the other hand, to give strength, an impetus for spiritual love.Among the followers of the Old Testament, we see in full expression what can be called: belonging to a group new soul, as the basis of individual "I" in the collective "I". We have seen that the expression "I and Father Abraham are one" is of great importance to the follower of the Old Testament; it denotes immersion in the consciousness that the same blood that flowed in the veins of Abraham's father also flows in him, a follower of the Old Testament; he felt immersed in the whole" 37.

* Based on the passages cited here, which illuminate from a certain point of view the mission of Christ, in relation to the understanding of epics, one cannot, of course, create a complete idea of Christophy in the light of Occult Knowledge.

** In this sense it is necessary to understand the book. Leviticus 19:18: "Have no malice against the sons of your people; but love your god as yourself."

This characteristic belonging of the ancient consciousness to the collective "I", to the common group soul, was caught by A. Kotlyarevsky with remarkable insight. “In the era of the youth of peoples,” he says, “when they have not yet stepped over their natural state, a person is almost conscious of himself as a separate person, but calmly and without intention, without true knowledge and will - he acts as a member of a great whole and lives only to them, only in him and with him.The personality coincides with the totality of the whole people, disappears in it, and therefore both the consciousness of a person and his feelings themselves appear not in a special individual form, but collectively: what he recognizes and feels, then all his fellow tribesmen are aware and feel" 23.

This sojourn in the bosom of the group soul was especially strengthened and deepened by the exclusion of strangers from its sphere, i.e., people who did not belong to it by origin. This belonging was expressed in belonging to the same tribe, in the presence of common blood in the veins of each tribesman; hence the strict observance of blood purity, marriages within a narrow circle. - At the very beginning of human development on earth, marriages were made, in general, only in the narrowest circles, in blood-related families. "Intimate marriage was something that was followed at the beginning of human development" 37.

But brought in the form of a free gift, the purely Christian love of man for man, the development of which is the mission of the Earth, could arise only under the condition of a complete separation of man from the collective "I" ... "There is no true love where different "I" are connected by each other. only after the separation that took place in humanity, after which one "I" stands in front of other "I" as an independent unit, only after it did love become possible, as a free gift of one "I" to another "I" Thus, an ever-increasing individualism was to begin on earth ... "38.

“Because of this,” Rudolf Steiner points out elsewhere, “the individual human “I” was released little by little from the group soul, from the group “I”; man gradually approached the realization of his individual “I” ... To give people that in which they needed to feel sure and firm in this single individual "I" - this was the mission of Christ. In this sense, the words, which are so easily misunderstood, should be accepted: "Whoever loves father or mother more than Me, worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me."* This should be understood in the sense that the ancient blood relationship must, thanks to the acceptance of the Christ impulse, pass into new forms of human relationships, spreading regardless of the material basis from the soul to soul, from person to person" 38.

This struggle for the individual "I" is a struggle, for the impulse is given by Christ, but "the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it" as well as the struggle for transformation, through the forces of the spiritualized individual "I", the lower human nature- is the content of epics about Ilya Muromets and about the younger heroes. Although this struggle, waged with alternating victories and defeats, takes place mainly in the spiritual and spiritual world, the tone of the narration in epics does not change when moving from describing the events of the physical world to inner experiences, and only the data of Occult Science help to draw a line between the two. .

The release of Ilya Muromets, under the influence of the Christ impulse, from the ties of blood relationship is described in epics with extraordinary accuracy and with the preservation of all details. In the physical world, it is expressed in the fact that, having received strength from kalik passers-by, Ilya leaves his parental home, crosses his vows and his father's commandment on the way, and thereby finally breaks with the past:

"... I would not want my father to be an opponent,

I would not want to cross the commandment;

Yes, at least everyone laid the commandments,

And not everyone kept the commandments ... "

But the main field of struggle does not lie in the physical world. The primary source of blood relationship, which consists in belonging to the group "I" (group soul), is located elsewhere. The most pronounced representative of the group "I" is currently the animal kingdom, with its group souls, enclosed in the extra-physical world 37; the human individual "I" is in the physical world. The process of development of self-consciousness in individual individuals consists in husking out their self-conscious germ from the overcome group soul and growing it into the physical world. This process takes place slowly and gradually; but already the ancient peoples feel their belonging to the group soul by no means as intensely as it takes place in the animal kingdom; they feel the incipient stratification and disintegration of the ties that bind them and maintain their group bondage by blood marriages. - In a greater or lesser depth of immersion in the matter of the individualized human "I" was the degree of difference between a person and an animal-naked. But even before the final separation from the group soul and the complete descent into matter, the germ of the individual "I" had to be permeated with the Christ impulse, so as not to perish in it completely.

Where was the decisive battle to take place between Ilya Muromets and the blood-related forces that held him down? Where do they manifest themselves with the greatest intensity and completeness? - In the area where a person breaks out of the group "I", on the border of the physical and superphysical worlds, where the animal kingdom intersects with the human.

Occult science indicates a characteristic difference in the spatial relationship between man, animal and plant. The plant receives its nutrition mainly through the roots. "It directs this organ to the center of the earth; it raises its organs of fertilization to the sun, absorbing a chaste sunbeam. Let us now imagine a man: it is not difficult to see an inverted plant in him - imagine a plant in an inverted position and you will get a man. The organs of fertilization are turned in him to the center of the earth, and the roots - to the world space. The animal is in the middle.. Thus, there is a cross "38.

This significant cross, standing on the border of two worlds, is repeatedly found in epics in the form of the "Levanidov's cross". Near him, "bogatyrs usually fraternize, and their heroic trips begin from him. Then he turns out to be everywhere where some significant action begins" Smorodina "(Samorodina), which, like many other epic rivers, is the border between the physical and spiritual worlds. *

* Similarly, the image of mountains reflects ideas about the sublime spheres of the spiritual world. Without sinking onto solid ground, Svyatogor lived in the air-water environment of the earth. At the same time, his consciousness was in the spiritual world.

What danger lies in wait for Ilya Muromets near the Smorodina River, near the Levanidov Cross? Bylina clearly says this:

"... By that glorious river near Currant,

At that cross at Levanidov,

The thief sits on three oaks and on seven bitches,

Nightingale the Robber son Rakhmanovich;

How he whistles like a nightingale,

Hiss, robber, like a snake,

Scream, dog, like an animal -

From that whistling nightingale,

From that, from the snake's thorn,

From that, from the cry of the animal

All that grass-ants are entwined,

All the azure flowers fall asleep,

Dark woods all bow to the ground,

And that there are people - then they are all dead ... "

Ilya Muromets will have to fight this terrible enemy near the Smorodina River, near the Levanidov Cross.

The Nightingale the Robber represents the mighty force of the group soul, blood-related ties that block a person's direct path to his higher "I" (capital Kyiv - Prince Vladimir - Zabava Putyatichna). The tree on which the Nightingale the Robber sits is nothing but a genealogy, genealogical tree; he concentrates his power on the tree-like branches of the circulatory system, in the blood.

This especially powerful manifestation of his strength in the blood is clearly indicated by the name of one of his daughters - Nevea: this word was used to call fever "in the old conspiracies for shakes, or fevers" 25; the latter has its main point of manifestation in the blood. The very designation of the dwelling of the Nightingale the Robber with the word "nest" is very characteristic of a family, family nest. Bylina also quite definitely indicates a blood relationship:

"... He will raise a son, give his daughter for him.

The daughter will grow up, give for her son,

So that the Soloveykin family is not translated ... "

Therefore, the epics call his daughters "prophetic" 11 and say that "his sons or sons-in-law (because they are married to their own sisters) turn into ravens with iron beaks" 22.

According to Rudolf Steiner’s close marriages, one can find the following remark 41: “The further we go back into the depths of time, the more we find that people are strongly influenced by this blood relationship. times, great magical powers were possible. A person who lived in those times and could trace a number of his ancestors far, finding only kindred blood in their veins, had magically acting powers in his own blood * ".

* Acquisition of such forces through blood-related marriages is already impossible in our time.

This explains the sorcerer-magical element characteristic of the Nightingale the Robber and his entire family. The terrible power of its magical action permeates the entire being of a person: the nightingale szist - the material elements of the physical body; animal roar - the whole system of life processes (etheric body); snake spike - the whole complex of conscious and subconscious sensations (astral body). Therefore, the fight against him is so dangerous, and the victory over him so difficult. But Ilya Muromets, by the strength of the perceived Christ impulse and his own firmness, overcomes the Nightingale the Robber and kills him in the face of his higher "I" - in the courtyard of Prince Vladimir, thereby consciously taking the first decisive step on his Christian spiritual Path.

This difficult Path is replete with temptations and dangers rooted both in the soul of the person himself and in the spheres of the spiritual world surrounding him. All that secretly lurks and inaudibly slumbers in the deepest layers of the spiritual organization, only occasionally giving a distant echo in the consciousness, suddenly wakes up and stands in all its magnitude before a person entering the spiritual Path. Everything that surrounds a person in the spiritual world, previously inaccessible to his perception and hostile to his spiritual development, suddenly falls upon him with all its force, frightening, seducing, destroying the fruits of his efforts.

At the first steps of the spiritual Path, when the impulse of Christ is not yet fully and deeply perceived by man, his young and fragile individual "I", hatched from the group soul, feels painfully alone in the cold desert of the surrounding world. And his first impulse is the desire to escape from this world, to return to the habitual bosom he left, to return back to the ancient times of the Holy Mountain, which the ancient Hindu culture so longed for in its time. This mood also breaks through in Ilya Muromets, in the form of the first impulse after a miraculous healing. In his exclamation about the desire to "turn Svyatorusska" it is not difficult to recognize the echo of Svyatogorov's words about turning "the earth upside down and mixing the earthly with the heavenly." This striving, as fundamentally contrary to the correct path of human evolution, is especially seductive and dangerous.

Ilya Muromets, after the destruction of the Nightingale the Robber, must take a certain position also in relation to these atavistic calls of antiquity. In the depths of his soul, he must experience a meeting with Svyatogor and his wife, an ancient, atavistic, nocturnal clairvoyance. Ilya Muromets is too weak to resist her; she does not even seduce, but forcibly makes him obey. True, she soon dies; but the fruits of this weakness are then expressed in the form of a terrible, mortal danger in the person of Sokolnik, the product of this violent, fleeting connection, which has grown imperceptibly for Ilya Muromets himself in the deepest recesses of his soul **. Only with the help of the forces of the earth permeated with the Christ impulse ("... Lying down, Ilyusha's strength arrived three times...") he managed to cope with this terrible enemy.

** At this point, it should be recalled once again that Ilya Muromets is a representative of the Russian people.

As for Svyatogor himself, his death was predetermined by the very course of normal earthly evolution. Therefore, he finds a coffin built on it. But Ilya Muromets does not kill him; on the contrary, he even tries to free Svyatogor. But the forces of his strengthened "I" (sword-hoarder) are already beginning to manifest and act independently of his lower will and fetter the coffin that contains Svyatogor. And the hidden spiritual wisdom embedded in the epics is so deep that even in this dramatic place the victory is emphasized not by the sword, but by the cross: the iron hoops that bound the coffin formed on it the outline of a cross*.

* The request of Svyatogor, already in the coffin, to chop "along the lid along the coffin", indicates that the first blows of Ilya Muromets were made across. The combination of a longitudinal hoop with transverse hoops gives the outline of a cross.

From the struggle with the atavistic calls of antiquity, Ilya Muromets emerged victorious, to a large extent tempered and strengthened, in possession of the treasure-sword and the part of Svyatogor's power transferred to him. From now on, he turns his face to the future, making his way to the coming Light and bearing towards him

spiritual heritage received from Svyatogor**.

** Ilya Muromets receives the germ of the human "I" laid down in the Atlantean era in order to spiritualize it, permeate it with the forces of the Christ impulse, the higher "I". See page 29.

Russian bogatyrs at the court of the affectionate Prince Vladimir spent their time in feats of war and drunken revelry. Among them was also the old Ilya Muromets, the successor of the ancient senior heroes, "The two main senior heroes, about whom there are separate epics, Volga Vseslavievich and Mikula Selyaninovich are no longer alive; others somehow live out their lives without performing any heroic deeds" . The time of their vigorous activity had long since passed, and their weak voice, like a distant echo of past ancient periods, was lost in the general choir of living heroic voices.

The main representatives of the galaxy of younger heroes surrounding Ilya Muromets are Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich and Mikhailo Potyk. Each of them follows their own spiritual Path, independently fighting the opposing forces, and only in especially important cases do the heroes unite together, most often under the leadership of Ilya Muromets, to jointly fight against especially strong enemies.

The most important feats of the younger heroes are their victories over demonic creatures: Dobrynya Nikitich kills the Gorynchischi Serpent, and Alyosha Popovich kills Tugarin Zmeevich. The serpentine origin of both hostile forces clearly indicates their true nature: these are internal soul forces that prevent proper development a person who has entered the spiritual Path (the Serpent Gorynchisch kidnaps and holds Zabava Putyatichna captive - the highest spiritual principle in a person). One of the terrible manifestations of the power of the Nightingale - the Robber also consisted in a snake hiss. The superphysical nature of these forces is also emphasized by the fact that epics place them beyond the sphere of the physical world: Tugarin Zmeevich is found beyond the Safat River, the Serpent Gorynchisch is beyond the Puchai River 1. Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich correctly recognized the true nature of these monsters, therefore, they were able, deal with them and continue on your way. Mikhailo Potyk stumbled on his Path, not destroying the hostile force, which he did not recognize, but giving her shelter in his soul (by marrying Avdotya Likhodeevna). Bylina tells in detail about the cruel trials that resulted from this mistake *.

* Unfortunately, a deeper study of the details is not possible due to lack of space.

But time went on as usual, and the process of evolution invariably continued. The fourth post-Atlantean culture, Greco-Latin, had to gradually give way to the fifth, German-Anglo-Saxon, the present one. The time of rational-materialism was approaching, with its complete spiritual blindness, with a resolute disregard and denial of everything spiritual, gradually receding into the background; knowledge about him was erased, love for him was lost. In the souls of the younger heroes - representatives of this outgoing cultural period, as well as in the soul of Ilya Muromets himself, this process of tarnishing spirituality developed with full force. Its characteristic features are given in the epic about the quarrel between Ilya Muromets and Prince Vladimir, who offended his old hero.

"... To the old Cossack Ilya Muromets

It seemed great for annoyance,

And he doesn't know what to do

Opposite that Prince Vladimir.

And he takes something like his tight bow torn,

And he takes arrows red-hot,

Ilya went out and he went to Kyiv city,

And he began to walk around the city of Kyiv

And to walk on mothers of God's churches.

On the churches, he broke the crosses all the way,

He shot gilded poppy domes.

Yes, Ilya shouted at the top of his head,

"Ay, you drunkards, you tavern shanks!

Yes, and go home drinking from the taverns

And plunder, you are domes and gilded,

Then bring it to taverns to drinking houses,

Yes, you drink, yes, wine is full" 19

Here Ilya Muromets, this champion of the Christian faith, the donor and builder of temples, is already descending so much that he breaks out crosses and plucks gilded domes in order to drink them with the "barn of a tavern."** But the final completion of the above process is described in the epic "How the heroes were transferred to holy Russia".

** Consumption of alcohol intensifies the process of tarnishing the spiritual world for human consciousness.

Seven heroes, among whom was Ilya Muromets, went to the outpost on the Safat River and noticed after a while the hordes of the "Unfaithful Force":

"... Do not go around the good fellow of that force,

Do not sprinkle sulfur on the wolf,

The black crow does not fly around ... "

The heroes completely destroyed the enemies and began to boast of their strength.

"... And Aleshenka Popovich, young, will say:

"Give us at least heavenly strength:

We will cope with that force, brothers!"

He only spoke an unreasonable word,

Two opponents appeared

"Let's keep fighting with us!

Don't look that there are two of us and seven of you."

The heroes did not recognize the opponents *,

Young Alyoshenka flared up at their words,

Dispersed the horse retivago

Ran into opponents

Cuts them in half from the whole shoulder:

It became eight - and all are alive.

Dobrynushka Nikitich, young, ran into them,

Flying old Ilya Muromets,

Cuts them in half from the whole shoulder:

It has become twice as much - and everyone is alive.

All the heroes rushed to the force,

They began to prick the silushka - chop -

And that power is growing - growing,

Fighting against the heroes...

They fought for three days and three hours,

Their valiant shoulders waved,

Their damask swords were blunted -

Their good horses left.

And that power keeps growing, growing,

He goes to battle against the heroes.

Mighty heroes were afraid,

Run to the stone mountains

To the caves to the dark ones;

The first one just ran up to the mountain,

As in place and petrified;

The other just ran up to the mountain,

As in place and petrified;

The third just ran up to the mountain,

As if in place and petrified.

Since then, the mighty heroes

And they were transferred to Holy Russia! .. ".

* A very characteristic place, clearly indicating how spiritual vision was already atrophied at that time.

THE FIFTH CULTURAL AGE.
VASILY, CHURILO AND SADKO.

Thus ended the fourth - Greco-Latin cultural period, which was replaced by the fifth, the present, German-Anglo-Saxon. The heroes who retained in themselves any knowledge or memory, even a very vague one, about the spiritual world had to disappear and give way to others who did not have any conscious idea of it. There was a time of total spiritual blindness from which, towards the end of this fifth period, man would once again be able to rise to the spiritual, this time as an independent individual, permeated with Christian spiritual impulses. - Representatives of this fifth cultural period in epics are mainly Vasily Buslaev, Churila Plenkovich and Sadko, a wealthy guest.

In these epics, completely new motives come across that were not known in the old days. The younger heroes of the Greco-Latin period, due to the evolution that carried them away, gradually turned away from the spiritual world; but from time to time they received news of him and the influence of his impulses through people who had outstripped them in their development and had already risen again to a certain level of spiritual knowledge. These people, homeless kaliks - transients, reflect in themselves the image of those people who are called in Occult Science "people without a homeland." to any one people or race, and rose to universal Christian love, which they spread throughout the world. This was symbolically indicated in antiquity by the fact that they had to undertake long journeys. in its usual form.

Nothing of this was left by the beginning of the fifth, current cultural period. His representative, Vasily Buslaev, remarkably accurately reflects the nature of contemporary spiritual life. He does not believe "neither in sleep, nor in chokh", mockingly kills the "Star-cleaner-Pilgrimishche" (an echo of the ancient kalik-passers), blasphemes and, finally, dies, while trying to forcibly break into the spiritual world (by virtue of which he , however, does not believe and does not take into account the laws of which) with his own arbitrariness, arising from his violent nature. Only before death does he experience a moment of enlightenment.

"... We drove to Tabor Gora ...

We saw a great stone here,

Great white-combustible stone...

The signature on the stone is signed:

"Who will amuse himself at the stone,

Amuse and have fun

Stone along and jump -

That violent head to break. "

A youthful heart flared up,

Vasily son Buslaevich says:

"Come on, brothers, have fun,

Amuse and have fun:

You jump across the stone

Across the stone and in front of the face,

I myself am jumping backwards on my face."

This great white-combustible stone is nothing else than the stone-Alatyr 4, depicting the highest spheres of the spiritual world*. An attempt to jump along it along - not only contrary to the inscription made on it - but also "facing backwards" perfectly characterizes the aspirations and attitudes towards the spiritual world of our cultural period, on the one hand, who does not want to reckon with spiritual laws and neglects them, but tries - on the other hand, to master them at will and blindly. This attempt costs Vasily Buslaev his life:

"... Vasily himself ran along the stone jumped,

Along the stone jumped back face -

And touched the stone with a morocco shoe,

He hit the ground with his head on the cheese,

And then it began to end.

Dying, the brethren punished:

"You tell, brothers, dear mother,

That Vasily got married on Tabor-mountain,

That he married that white-flammable stone ... ".

* See A. Blok: "This Alatyr, Latyr or Alatr-stone, white, combustible, light, blue, silver - glows in the center of the mass of spells and has miraculous power. It lies on the Sea - Oksana, on the island of Buyan ... "4. The author was lucky to establish that in the image of the Alatyr stone, in epics, fairy tales, etc., the higher spheres of the spiritual world are reflected, which are displayed in the physical world in the form of a day or night luminary. "Island Buyan" - is nothing but the circle of the zodiac, reflecting in the physical world to some of the lower spheres of the supersensible world (the astral plane). "Sea - Okian" is the heavenly - cosmic expanse.

Thus, at the end of the fifth cultural period, reconciliation takes place, a mystical reunion, a marriage of man with the spiritual world.

The later period of this culture found its truthful reflection in the image of Churila Plenkovich. On the one hand, in clashes with the Kyiv peasants, he clearly shows the features of violent daring, bringing him closer to Vasily Buslaev:

"... Then a crowd of peasants appeared,

All the fishermen,

And everyone is beaten - wounded,

The heads are pierced with maces,

Tied up with wild sashes *;

Bow down to the prince, bow down

They beat with their foreheads, they make a complaint:

"Hello, sun Prince Vladimir!

Give us, sir, a righteous judgment,

Give Plenkovich's son to Chu Rila"...

This period of the latter's activity dates back to the beginning of the fifth culture, marked by fights and battles also in the epics about Vasily Buslaev. The peasants complain to Prince Vladimir about Churila Plenkovich and his friends, who

"... They scared the white fish,

Pike, carp caught,

Small fish were squeezed out ... "

"... All the bright falcons were snatched,

All the swan geese were caught,

All the gray ducks were shot..."

"... They caught a kunk and a fox,

The black sable was crushed,

Turov, they shot deer ... ".

* Then, in the same deplorable form, the "bird-catcher peasants" and "trapper peasants" appear with similar requests!

From the data of Occult Science it is known that the fifth culture is in in a certain sense a related third, the Chaldean-Egyptian, whose representative in the epics is Volga Vseslavich *. This affinity is unambiguously emphasized in the epics by the fact that the above "exploits" of Churila Plenkovich exactly repeat those of Volga Vseslavich, who

"... He drove martens and foxes into the net,

All sorts of wild animals and black sables;

No bear, no wolf, no descent ... ".

"... I wrapped swan geese in a net,

Gray ducks and little birds..."

"... I scared the fish out of the deep camps,

Wrapped the fish-semzhinka, beluga,

Dear sturgeon fish,

I also took a little puppet, a small little bastard ... "

* Occult science does not share the view, characteristic of some Eastern schools, that the process of world formation is a "cycle of rhythmic repetitions, in the form of a constant return to the starting points. - Intercom between the future, the present and the past lies in the fact that the impulses laid down in the form of tender sprouts during one cultural period rise, in the form of a ripe fruit, in the corresponding related period.

From this scheme, indicating the succession of cultural periods in the post-Atlantean era, the affinity of the third period with the fifth, the second with the sixth, and the first with the seventh becomes clear. But in each of the last periods, the sprouts laid down in the first ones ripen. This is the passage of similar states, but at a higher level.

True, while Volga Vseslavich resorted to werewolf for this, turning into a "fierce beast", then a "clear falcon", then a "pike fish", Churila Plenkovich used methods more appropriate to his cultural period, i.e. beating men and punching their heads.

But, on the other hand, the influence of the approaching next cultural period is already partly noticed in it. Churila Plenkovich does not rebel against spiritual laws, like Vasily Buslaev; on the contrary, it strictly agrees with them:

"The sun in the sky is the sun in the tower,

The stars in the sky are the stars in the tower.

A star will roll across the sky -

In the tower, the stars will fall; -

Everything is heavenly in the tower ... "

However, Churila Plenkovich has not yet risen so high as to finally find his spiritual "I". He cannot even stay at the court of Prince Vladimir, but becomes only a herald of the coming cultural period, becoming a "tender inviter" and inviting guests "to an honorable feast" to Prince Vladimir. - Thus, at the pass of the fifth cultural period, the spiritual world makes an appeal to the physical world.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT.
STAVR, NIGHTINGALING AND DUKE.

With the further normal course of evolution. The sixth post-Atlantean period marks the magnificent flourishing of Slavic culture and represents, in a certain way, a revival on a higher level of the ancient Persian period, reflected in the face of Mikula Selyaninovich. The connection between these two periods is clearly indicated by the fact that the representative of the upcoming sixth cultural period, Staver Godinovich, is married to the daughter of Mikula Selyaninovich, Vasilisa Mikulichna. She is already largely transformed spiritually and highly developed intellectually:

"... Like a month in her forehead,

On the pigtails - frequent stars ...

All of you, boyar princes, he will sell and redeem;

And you, Vladimir, will drive you crazy.

Thanks to this, she manages to save her husband from a cold dungeon, where Prince Vladimir imprisoned him for boasting.

(The other daughter of the same Mikula Selyaninovich, Nastasya Mikulichna, the wife of Dobrynya Nikitich, was not the same. She did not rise to the level of development of her sister, Vasilisa. Her husband, Dobrynya Nikitich, speaks of her with disdain:

"... I do not marvel at the mind of a woman:

A woman's hair is long, her mind is short...

Despite the request of Dobrynya Nikitich to marry anyone except Alyosha Popovich in the event of his death, she nevertheless marries the latter. Her personality reflects the still raw, atavistic offspring of the spirituality of the second cultural period; therefore, she is not able to save Dobrynya Nikitichna from petrification).

The further heyday of the sixth cultural period is reflected in the face of Nightingale Budimirovich, a hero transformed and spiritualized, spreading great spiritual impulses all over the world (Budimir). A direct path leads him to the court of Prince Vladimir, for the latter's niece, Zabava Putyatichnaya.

Nightingale Budimirovich builds a magical tower for her:

"... The sun in the sky is the sun in the tower,

A month in the sky is a month in the tower,

The stars in the sky are the stars in the tower,

Dawns in the sky - dawns in the tower,

And all the beauty of heaven ... "*

* See page 45

What was still inaccessible to other heroes, he manages without much difficulty. Nightingale Budimirovich wins the hand of Zabava Putyatichna. They are

"... They got engaged with golden rings,

Wed with golden crowns ... "

and then left together

"... To that green sea of \u200b\u200b,

Yes, to the glorious land of Vedenets."

Thus, the sixth - Slavic cultural period is called upon to embody a great spiritual ideal on earth.

The representative of the seventh post-Atlantic culture is Duke Stepanovich. According to the data of Occult Science, this culture consists of known relationship from the ancient Hindu, as the first lines of the epic clearly indicate:

"... As in that rich India ...

Not feather grass - grass sways in the wind,

Not at all white birch perishes-

The son says goodbye to his mother,

Young boyar Duk Stepanovich

With the honest widow Mamelfa Timofeevna..."

One can get an idea of the greatness and beauty of this cultural period, which, however, is somewhat peculiar in nature, by describing those extraordinary fabulous riches that Duke Stepanovich has at his disposal. Being the mature fruit of all previous cultures, this period, which closes the cycle of the post-Atlantean era, no longer contains new principles for further spiritual development.

CONCLUSION

Thus, in the context of Occult Knowledge, the outlines of the grandiose problem of the universal human in general - and the Russian in particular - the spiritual Path laid down in the epics are clearly outlined. The whole cycle of epics is composed into one harmonious and majestic whole, in which each epic and each hero find their proper place, in which all the constituent parts are in harmony both with each other and with the whole, further emphasizing the weakness of the existing rational-materialistic theories and hypotheses. - Despite all the distortions that penetrated the text of the epics, despite all the diverse influences reflected in them, not only did the integrity of the spiritual worldview embedded in them in its main features not suffer, but the essential details were preserved, in most cases, in my correct answer: but this proves how deeply the people are related to the inner being of the epics, reflecting in the picture form the enduring spiritual reality. In this sense, the noticeable similarity of epic tales among various peoples becomes understandable; they all go through similar, to a certain extent, stages of spiritual development, which are imprinted in more or less similar forms, depending on characteristic properties refracting their consciousness, inherent in this people, and on the characteristics of its creative genius.

But the original, basic process of creating epics, the composition of the entire epic epic, can by no means be attributed to the people as a whole, as to some collective. At the first stages of human development, when a picture consciousness was still characteristic of people, the spiritual Teachers and leaders of mankind set forth the spiritual reality and regularities accessible to their direct contemplation in images and pictures that corresponded to the stage of general development and the nature of the consciousness of the masses; these teachings were deeply rooted in the mass of the people and have come down to our time in the form of epics, legends, traditions, some apocrypha, fairy tales, etc. But our intellectual time is characterized by other forms of knowledge; it is based not on pictorial descriptions, but on intellectual concepts; the spiritual world must be revealed to human consciousness not in picturesque and dramatic forms, but in the form of Spiritual Science.

Dr. Rudolf Steiner created this Spiritual Science, which opens to every person "the path of knowledge, striving to bring the spiritual in man to the spiritual in the universe 43, of which Occult Science is an integral part. His works, covering the world, are currently known to a relatively small circle of his students and followers, but their number is constantly growing and will increase every year, as the understanding of the goals indicated by Rudolf Steiner43 penetrates into the mass, and as the sphere of spiritual quests deepens and expands in humanity, unsatisfied and unsatisfied with modern rational materialism. of us who seriously think about the significance of the events taking place at the present time, in particular, about the tragic fate of Russia, which occupies the center of public attention, and, moreover, put at the forefront not the desire to express our personal attitude to what is happening in one way or another, but wish to achieve its understanding , - can achieve this only with the help of the same a source of light that so brightly illuminates the entire depth of spiritual wisdom embedded in Russian epics.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. V. Avenarius. "The Book of Epics". Moscow. 1893.

2. V. Miller. "Essays on Russian Folk Literature". Moscow. 1897.

3. P. Rybnikov. "Russian folk songs". Moscow, 1861.

4. "History of Russian Literature", ed. E. Anichkov, A. Borozdin and D. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskaya. Moscow. 1908.

5. P. Field. "History of Russian Literature". Moscow. 1900.

6. W. Miller. "Assyrian spells and Russian folk charms".

7. I. Porfiriev. "History of Russian Literature". Kazan. 1913.

8. P. Bezsonov. "Kaliki-crossers". Moscow. 1,861.

9. Oh Miller. "Experience of historical review of Russian folk literature". Moscow. 1897.

10. V. Khalansky. "Great Russian epics of the Kiev cycle". Warsaw. 1885.

11.F. Buslaev. "Russian anthology". Moscow. 1888.

12. A. Pypin. "History of Russian Literature". SPB. 1898.

13. O. Miller. "Ilya Muromets and the Bogatyrs of Kiev". SPB. 1869.

14. A. Afanasiev. "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature", Moscow. 1868.

16. V. Stasov. "The Origin of Russian Epics".

17. A. Brueckner. Spiritual development of Russia in the mirror of its epic. Tübingen. 1908.

18. A. Rimbaud. Russian epic. Paris. 1876.

19. A. Hilferding. "Onega epics". SPB. 1893.

20. A. von Reingold. "History of Russian Literature". Leipzig. 1886.

21. D. Shepping. "Our Written Sources on the Pagan Gods of Russian Mythology". Voronezh. 1889.

22. "Russian folk epics;". SPB. 1883.

23. A. Kotlyarevsky. Works. SPB. 1889.

24. F. Buslaev. "Russian Folk Poetry". SPB. 1861.

25. L. Vetukhov. "Conspiracies, spells, amulets and other types of parodnago healing based on faith in the power of the word." Warsaw. 1907.

26. A. Veselovsky. "South Russian epics". SPB. 1881.

27. Kirsha Danilov. "Old Russian Poems", Moscow. 1878.

28. M. Speransky. "History of ancient Russian literature". Moscow. 1921.

29. B. Sokolov, "On epics recorded in the Saratov province." Saratov. 1921.

30. A. Veselovsky. "Investigations in the field of Russian spiritual verse". SPB. 1889.

31. "Songs collected by P. Kireevsky". Moscow, 1868.

32. A. Veselovsky. Collected works. SPB. 1913.

33. "Epics" ed. A. Chudinova. SPB. 1893.

34. A. Galakhov. History of Russian literature.

35. G. Potanin. Eastern foundations of the Russian epic epic.

36. R. Steiner. Essay on occult science. Dornach. 1925. (Bibl. No. 13).

37. R. Steiner. Gospel of John. Dornach. 1928. (Bibl. No. 103).

38. R. Steiner. World, Earth and Man. Dornach. 1930. (Bibl. No. 105).

39. R. Steiner. Gospel of Mark. Dornach. 1930. (Bibl. No. 139).

40. R. Steiner. turning points in the spiritual life. Dornach. 1927. (From Bibl. Nos. 60 and 61).

41. R. Steiner. The Gospel of John in relation to the other three Gospels - especially the Gospel of Luke. Dornach. 1928. (Bibl. No. 112).

42. R. Steiner. Egyptian myths and mysteries. Dornach. 1931".

43. Dr. K. Unger. "What is Anthroposophy?" Paris. 1932.

AFTERWORD OF THE PUBLISHER

Who is the author of this book? The title is D. Barlen. We have to limit ourselves to the initial because we don't know the full name. In Germany they say Dieter, but it is possible that the real name of the author is Dmitry. Because the book was published once, the only time in the 30s in Paris in Russian and, perhaps, its author is one of the many sons of Russia scattered around the world by fate or their descendant, who lost his physical homeland and there, in emigration, found Russia as spiritual home. How did it happen? What was his path to spiritual science? We are sure that it would be interesting and instructive for us to know.

Maybe in time we will find the answer to these questions. Perhaps with the help of our readers. And then, when republishing, we will tell about the author in more detail. In the meantime, we publish it as it is. Despite the lack of complete information about the fate of the author and his book, despite the growing high cost of paper and printing services, the unimportant quality of the copy that we have. It cannot be reprinted, and letterpress it is impossible to repeat the old spelling: the linotype does not have the necessary characters.

But you can't delay. This book is needed today. Today, when the Russians are looking for Russia, and when many of these searches, due to an inept approach, are taken into the past, they are turned into its captives. Those captivated by the past cannot understand the present and create the future. Our past is great and beautiful, but it cannot and should neither become our future nor replace it.

But it is also true that without knowing the past, we will not be able to correctly understand the present and the future. And on this path through the true knowledge of our spiritual history into the future, Barlen's book can provide us with invaluable help.

They remain unattached to the Vladimirov cycle, but resemble its heroes Surovets-Suzdalets and Saur Levanidovich.

Surovets sometimes called Suzdal. Epics about him are reminiscent of epics about Mikhail Kazarin. At the beginning - a common wandering motif about a meeting with a wonderful animal (raven), which in a human voice indicates how to get glory and booty; then comes the victory over the Tatars. Veselovsky takes Surovets out of the Crimean Surozh-Sudak. Sun. Miller is inclined to see in it echoes of historical memories of Suzdal. In addition to Surovets-Suzdalets, the "Suzdal brothers" are mentioned in the epics, in which Vs. Miller sees princes Yuri Dolgoruky and Yaroslav the Wise.

Saur Levanidovich (v. Saul), father of Surovts. The name Saur seems to be Turkic origin and means bull. The main plot of the epics about Saur is his fight with Surovets, which is one of the many options about the fight between father and son, attached to very different names and, by the way, to the Persian Rustem and our Ilya.

The Novgorod cycle consists of epics about Sadko and Vaska Buslaev.

The origin of Sadko's image is apparently quite complicated. In the Novgorod Chronicle under 1167. mention is made of the foundation by a person bearing the name of Sedko Sytinich, the church of Boris and Gleb. It is difficult, however, to establish whether this Sedko has anything to do with the epic. Veselovsky points out that the novel "Tristan et Geonois" tells about the nephew of Joseph of Arimathea Zadok, who during a storm was cast by lot into the sea, escaped and spent three years on the island with a hermit. Veselovsky explains this similarity by the existence of some Jewish story, which formed the basis of both the epic and French novel. Stasov points out a number of parallels in Eastern legends. They note the similarity of some motifs of the epics about Sadka with the Finnish myth of the water deity; there is some similarity between the epics about Sadko and the Little Russian thought about Oleksiy Popovich. All this indicates the presence of wandering motifs in the epics, but next to them there are a lot of everyday features of old Novgorod, and in this sense the historicity of the epics is undeniable.

Vasily Buslaevich . There are even more everyday Novgorod features in the image of Vaska Buslaev, the most real and typical figure of the Russian epic. The sources of this image, however, are also heterogeneous. The content of epics about Vaska Buslaev comes down to two plots:

Zhdanov notes, on the one hand, mentions in the annals of the name of Vasily Buslaevich, on the other hand, parallels to the epics about Vaska in the legends about Robert the Devil. The similarity between Vaska and Robert, however, is rather distant and hardly allows us to establish a genetic connection between these images.

Buslaev, "epic poetry"("East. Very good", I);

Buslaev, "Traces of the Russian heroic epic in the mythical traditions of the Indo-European peoples" ("Philological Notes", 1862, issues 2 - 3);

Buslaev, "Russian heroic epic" ("Russian Messenger", 1862, 3, 9, 10);

L. Maykov, "On the epics of the Vladimir cycle" (1862);

Stasov, "The Origin of Russian Epics" ("Bulletin of Europe", 1868 and "Complete Works");

A. Veselovsky, "On the comparative study of the Russian epic" ("Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1868, II);

O. Miller, "Ilya Muromets and the heroism of Kiev" (1869);

Buslaev and Shifner, "Report on the 12th Uvar Prize" (on Stasov's book);

Kvashnin-Samarin,"Russian epics in historical and geographical terms" ("Conversation", 1871, 4 - 5);

Potanin, "Mongolian legend about Geser Khan" ("Bulletin of Europe", 90, No. 9);

his own"Stavr Godinovich Geser" ("Ethnographic Review", 1891, No. 3);

Veselovsky, "Kaliki passers-by and Bogomil wanderers" ("Bulletin of Europe", 1872, No. 4);

Buslaev, "Analysis of Miller's book" (in the "Report on the 14th prize. Uvar. Prize");

Kirpichnikov, "Experience of a comparative study of Western and Russian epics. Poems of the Lombard cycle";

Veselovsky, "Fragments of the Byzantine epic in Russian" ("Bulletin of Europe", 1875, No. 4);

Petrov, "Traces of the North Russian epic epic in South Russian folk literature" ("Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy", 1878, No. 5);

Or. Miller, "On the Great Russian epics and Little Russian thoughts" ("Proceedings of the III Archaeological Congress");

Dashkevich, "On the question of the origin of Russian epics" ("Kyiv University News", 1883, No. 3 - 5);

Zhdanov, "On the literary history of Russian epic poetry";

Sumtsov, "The experience of explaining the Little Russian song about Zhuril" ("Kyiv Starina", 1885, July); Sozonovich, "Songs about a warrior girl and epics about Stavra" (Warsaw, 1886);

Veselovsky, "Small notes about epics" ("Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1889, No. 5);

Sobolevsky, "On the history of Russian epics" ("Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1884, No. 7);

Halansky, "Great Russian epics of the Vladimir cycle" (1885);

Sun. Miller, "Excursions into the area of the Russian epic" (1892);

Khalansky,"South Slavic legends about Mark Kralevich in connection with the works of the Russian epic epic";

Dashkevich, "Analysis of Miller's Excursions" (in the "Report on 34 prizes. Uvar. awards");

Sun. Miller"Essays on Russian folk literature" (vol. I, 1897);

Zhdanov, "Russian epic epic" (1895); Khalansky, "On the history of poetic tales about Oleg Veshchem" ("Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1902, No. 8, and 1903, No. 10);

Box, "Legends about the tracts of the Ovruch district and the epic about the Volga" ("News of the Department of the Russian Language and Literature", Volume XIII, Book 2);

chambinago, "Ancients about Svyatogor and a poem about Kalevipoeg" ("Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1902, No. 1);

Markov, "household features Russian epics" ("Russian Thought", 1904); his own, "From the history of the Russian was. epic" ("Ethnographic Review", 1904, No. 2 - 3; 1905, No. 4);

Veselovsky, "Russians and Wiltins in the saga of Tidrek of Bern" ("Proceedings of the Department of the Russian Language", volume XI, 3);

Yakub, "To the epic about Sukhman" ("Ethnographic Review", 1904, No. 1); his own, "To the epic about Mikhail Kazarin" ("Ethnographic Review", 1905, No. 2 and 3);

Sun. Miller"Essays on Russian Folk Literature" (vol. II, 1910). For detailed references to Veselovsky's articles in which he deals with epics, see the index to his works. Review of the study of epics in the book of Loboda "Russian heroic epic" (Kyiv, 1896). - Marthe, "Die russische Heldensage" (1865);

Bistrom, "Das russische Volksepos" ("Zeitschr. fur Phychol.", 1867-68);

Ralson, "The Songs of the Russian people" (1873);

Jagic, "Die christlich-mythologische Schicht in dem russische Volksepos" ("Archiv fur sl. Phil.", 1875, 1);

rambo, "La Russie epique" (1876);

Wollner, "Untersuchungen uber die Volksepik der Grossrussen" (1879);

Veselovsky, "Analysis of Vollner's book" (in "Rssische Revue", 1882);

Damberg, "Versuch einer Geschichte der rus. Heldensage" (Helsingfors, 1886).

See also articles:

Alyosha Popovich;
Vasily Buslaevich;
Volga Svyatoslavovich;
Danilo Lovchanin;
Nikitich;
Danube (Don);
Duke Stepanovich;
Ivan Godinovich;
Ilya Muromets;
Mikula Selyaninovich;
Mikhailo Kozarinov;
Mikhailo Potyk;
Sadko;
Saur Vanidovich;
Svyatogor;
Nightingale Budimirovich;
Stavr Godinovich;
Surovets (Surog, Suroven);
Sukhman (Suhan);
Hoten Bludovich;
Churilo Plenkovich.

Stasov, Vladimir Vasilievich

- son of Vasily Petrovich S., archaeologist and writer in the field of fine arts, b. in 1824 he graduated from the course at the Imperial School of Law. He served first in the Survey Department of the Governing Senate, then in the Department of Heraldry and in consultation with the Ministry of Justice. Having retired in 1851, he went to foreign lands and until the spring of 1854 he lived mainly in Florence and Rome. In 1856, he entered the service of the commission for collecting materials on the life and reign of Emperor Nicholas I, which was under the direction of Baron M. A. Korf, and wrote, based on original documents, several historical works, including studies: "Young years Emperor Nicholas I before his marriage", "Review of the history of censorship in the reign of Emperor Nicholas I", "Review of the activities of the III branch of His Majesty's own office during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I", "History of Emperor Ivan Antonovich and his family", "History attempts to introduce the Gregorian calendar in Russia and in some Slavic lands"(compiled on the basis of data from the state archive and printed, by the Highest command, only in a small number of copies not designated for circulation in the public). All these studies were written specifically for Emperor Alexander II and entered his personal library. Since 1863 S. for about 20 years was a member of the General Presence of the II Department of E. V. Chancellery From 1856 to 1872. He took part in all the work on the art department of the Imperial Public Library, and in the autumn of 1872, he assumed the position of librarian of this department. In the early 1860s, he was the editor of Izvestia of the Imperial Archaeological Society, as well as the secretary of the ethnographic department of the Imperial Geographical Museum, which he set up in collaboration with V. A. Prokhorov. Rovinsky "On the history of Russian engraving" (in 1858 and 1864), Archimandrite Macarius - on Novgorod antiquities (in 1861) , S. A. Davydova - on the history and technique of Russian lace (in 1886), etc. Since 1847, he published articles in more than fifty Russian and foreign periodicals and published several essays in separate books. Of these articles and publications, the most important are: a) in archeology and ucmopui art-- "Vladimir Treasure" (1866), "Russian folk ornament"(1872)," The Jewish Tribe in the Creations of European Art "(1873)," The Catacomb with Frescoes in Kerch "(1875)," The Capitals of Europe "(1876)," The Arc and the Gingerbread Horse "(1877)," Orthodox Churches of the Western Russia in the 16th century" (1880), "Notes on ancient Russian clothing and weapons" (1882), "Twenty-five years of Russian art" (1882--83), "Brakes of Russian art" (1885), "Coptic and Ethiopian architecture" (1885), "Paintings and compositions hidden in the capital letters of ancient Russian manuscripts" (1884), "The Throne of Khiva Khans" (1886), "Armenian manuscripts and their ornamentation" (1886); moreover, critical articles on the works of artists I Repin, M. Antokolsky and V. Vereshchagin and the writings of D. A. Rovinsky; b) biographies artists and artistic figures - K. Bryullova, A. A. Ivanova, Al. and Iv. Gornostaev, V. Hartman, I. Repin, V. Vereshchagin, V. Perov, I. Kramskoy, V. Schwartz, V. Sternberg, N. Bogomolov, V. Prokhorov, V. Vasnetsov, E. Polenova, as well as a zealot of the domestic education P. D. Larin; in) articles on ucmoria of literature and on ethnography --"The Origin of Russian Epics" (1868), "The Oldest Tale in the World" (1868), "An Egyptian Tale in the Hermitage" (1882), "On Victor Hugo and His Significance for France" (1877), "On the Russians of Ibn Fadlan" (1881). In 1886, by the Highest order, at the expense of the state treasury, S. published an extensive collection of drawings, entitled: "Slavic and Oriental ornament according to manuscripts from the 4th to the 19th century" - the result of thirty years of research in the main libraries and museums throughout Europe. At present, he is preparing for publication an essay on Jewish ornamentation, with an atlas of chromolithographed tables attached - a work based on drawings of Jewish manuscripts stored in the Imperial Public Library of the 10th-14th centuries. Collected works of S. published in three volumes (St. Petersburg, 1894). In his numerous articles on Russian art, S., without touching at all artistic technique performance, always put in the first place the richness and nationality of the works of art he considered. His convictions, however contested, were always sincere. AT recent times he especially tried to counteract with his articles the new trends in painting, which received the general name of decadence.

A.S.

In the history of Russian science, S.'s work on the origin of epics played a particularly important role. It appeared at a time when populist sentimentality or mystical and allegorical interpretations reigned in the study of the ancient Russian epic. Contrary to the opinion that epics are an original national work, a repository of ancient folk traditions, S. argued that our epics are entirely borrowed from the East and give only a retelling of his epic works, poems and fairy tales, moreover, the retelling is incomplete, fragmentary, which is always inaccurate a copy, the details of which can only be understood by comparison with the original; that plots, although Aryan (Indian) in essence, came to us most often from second hand, from Turkic peoples and in Buddhist processing; that the time of borrowing is rather later, around the era of the Tatars, and does not belong to the centuries of long-standing trade relations with the East; that from the side of characters and depictions of personalities, Russian epics did not add anything independent and new to their foreign basis, and did not even reflect in themselves social order those eras to which, judging by the proper names of the heroes, they belong; that between the epic and the fairy tale there is generally no difference that they suggest, seeing in the first a reflection of the historical fate of the people. This theory made a big noise in the scientific world, caused a lot of objections (by the way, A. Veselovsky in the "Journal of the Min. Nar. Pr.", 1868, N11; Buslaev in the "Report on the 12th award of the Uvarov awards" (St. Petersburg, 1870 ); Hilferding in the newspaper "Moscow"; I. Nekrasov in the "Act of the Novorossiysk University", 1869; Vsevolod Miller in "Conversations of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature" (issue 3, M., 1871), Orest Miller, etc.) and attacks that did not stop even before the suspicion of the author's love for his native, Russian. Not accepted entirely by science, S.'s theory left in it, however, deep and lasting traces. First of all, it tempered the heat of mythologists, contributed to the elimination of sentimental and allegorical theories, and in general caused a revision of all previous interpretations of our ancient epic-- revision, and now not finished. On the other hand, it outlined a new fruitful path for historical and literary studies, a path proceeding from the fact of communication between peoples in the matter of poetic creativity. Some private conclusions and indications of S. (about the fragmentary presentation, the lack of motivation in some epics borrowed from someone else's source; about the impossibility of considering the historically accurate class characteristics of various epic heroes, etc.) were confirmed by subsequent researchers. Finally, the thought of eastern origin Some of our epic stories were again expressed by G. N. Potanin and systematically carried out, albeit with a completely different apparatus, by V. F. Miller. The enemy of all false patriotism, S. in his literary works acts as an ardent fighter for the national element, in best sense this word, constantly and persistently indicates in what Russian art can find Russian content and convey it not in an imitative, alien, but in an original national manner. Hence the predominance of critical and polemical elements in his work. S.'s musical-critical activity, which began in 1847 ("Musical Review" in "Notes of the Fatherland"), embraces more than half a century and is a vivid and vivid reflection of the history of our music during this period of time. Having begun at a dull and sad time in Russian life in general and Russian art in particular, it continued in an era of awakening and a remarkable rise in artistic creativity, the formation of a young Russian musical school, its struggle with routine and its gradual recognition not only here in Russia, but also on West. In countless magazine and newspaper articles [Articles for 1886 published in the "Collected Works" of S. (vol. III, "Music and Theater", St. Petersburg, 1894); for a list of articles published after (incomplete and reaching only up to 1895), see the "Musical Almanac Calendar" for 1895, ed. "Russian Musical Newspaper" (St. Petersburg, 1895, p. 73).] S. responded to every remarkable event in the life of our new music school, ardently and convincingly interpreting the meaning of new works, fiercely repelling the attacks of opponents of the new direction. Not being a real specialist musician (composer or theorist), but having received a general musical education, which he expanded and deepened by independent studies and acquaintance with outstanding works of Western art (not only new, but also old - old Italians, Bach, etc.), S. went little into a specially technical analysis of the formal side of the analyzed musical works, but with all the greater fervor defended their aesthetic and historical significance. Guided by a fiery love for his native art and its best figures, a natural critical flair, a clear awareness of the historical necessity of the national direction of art and an unshakable faith in his final triumph, S. could sometimes go too far in expressing his enthusiastic passion, but relatively rarely made mistakes in a general assessment of everything significant, talented and original. By this he connected his name with the history of our national music for the second half of XIX centuries. By sincerity of conviction, disinterested enthusiasm, vehemence of presentation and feverish energy, S. stands completely apart not only among our music critics but also European. In this respect, he somewhat resembles Belinsky, leaving aside, of course, any comparison of their literary talents and significance. S.'s great merit in front of Russian art should be put in his inconspicuous work as a friend and adviser to our composers [Starting with Serov, whose friend S. was for a long series of years, and ending with representatives of the young Russian school - Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Glazunov, etc.], who discussed with them their artistic intentions, details of the script and libretto, busied themselves with their personal affairs and contributed to the perpetuation of their memory after their death (Glinka's biography, for a long time the only one we have, biographies of Mussorgsky and our other composers, publication of their letters, various memoirs and biographical materials, etc.). S. did a lot as a historian of music (Russian and European). European art his articles and brochures are devoted to: "L" abb And Santini et sa collection musicale Yu Rome" (Florence, 1854; Russian translation in the "Library for Reading", for 1852), a lengthy description of the autographs of foreign musicians belonging to the Imperial Public Library ( " Domestic Notes", 1856), "Liszt, Schumann and Berlioz in Russia" ("Severny Vestnik", 1889, NN 7 and 8; an extract from here "Liszt in Russia" was published with some additions in the "Russian Musical Newspaper" 1896 ., NN 8--9), "Letters of a great man" (Fr. Liszt, "Northern Herald", 1893), " New biography Liszt" ("Northern Herald", 1894) and others. Articles on the history of Russian music: "What is beautiful demestvennaya singing" ("Proceedings of the Imperial Archaeological Society", 1863, vol. V), a description of Glinka's manuscripts (" Report of the Imperial Public Library for 1857.), a number of articles in the III volume of his works, including: Our Music for the Last 25 Years (Bulletin of Europe, 1883, N10), Brakes of Russian Art (there same, 1885, NN 5-6) and others; biographical sketch "N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov" ("Northern Herald", 1899, N12), "German organs among Russian amateurs" ("Historical Bulletin", 1890, N11), "In Memory of M. I. Glinka" ("Historical Bulletin", 1892 , N 11, etc.), "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by M. I. Glinka, on the 50th anniversary of the opera "(" Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters "1891--92, etc.), "Glinka's Assistant" (Baron F. A Ral, "Russian Antiquities", 1893, N11, about him "Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters", 1892--93), a biographical sketch of C. A. Cui ("Artist", 1894, N 2); a biographical sketch by M. A. Belyaev ("Russian Musical Newspaper", 1895, N 2), "Russian and foreign operas performed at the Imperial Theaters in Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries" ("Russian Musical Newspaper", 1898, NN 1, 2, 3, etc.), "The Composition attributed to Bortnyansky" (project for printing hook singing; in the Russian Musical Newspaper, 1900, No. 47), etc. The editions of the letters of Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Serov made by S. , Borodin, Mussorgsky, Prince Odoevsky, Liszt, etc. The collection of materials for the history of Russian church singing, compiled by S. in the late 50s, is also very valuable. and handed over by him to the famous musical archaeologist D. V. Razumovsky, who used it for his major work on church singing in Russia. S. cared a lot about the department of musical autographs of the Public Library, where he gave a lot of various manuscripts of our and foreign composers. See "Russian Musical Newspaper", 1895, NN9 and 10: F., "V.V.S. Outline of his life and work as a music writer".

FROM. Bulich.

Text source: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron .

II.

Stasov Vladimir Vasilievich

- Historian of art and literature, music and art critic and archaeologist. The son of the famous architect V.P. Stasov. He graduated from the course at the Imperial School of Law. The scientific and critical activities of S. are very diverse (Russian history, folklore, art history). The main historical and literary work of S. - "The Origin of Russian Epics" - caused great controversy in scientific circles. In it, S., relying on the theory of Benfey, developed the idea that Russian epics do not have anything really Russian in themselves and are the transfer of Eastern (Indian, etc.) themes and motifs to Russian soil through the Turkic and Mongolian peoples. The main goal of the work, as the author himself pointed out, is the struggle against the Slavophile interpretation of the images of epic heroes as the embodiments of true Russian folk soul. The work provoked fierce attacks on the author (Hilferding, O. Miller, Bessonov, and others). But S.'s point of view was supported by V. F. Miller and especially by G. N. Potanin. S. really overestimated the importance of oriental motifs in epics, allowing often superficial and schematic convergence of Russian works with oriental ones. However, his work at one time played a big role in the destruction of the Slavophile interpretation of Russian folklore, showing the need to take into account international relations when studying the history of Russian oral poetry. In numerous critical articles covering the field of music, theater, painting and literature, S. always put the ideological and truthfulness of the work in the first place. An enemy of any external effects, S. considered the main task of the artist to recreate "those characters, types, events of daily life that Gogol first taught to see and create." In accordance with this, S. was a literal spokesman for the artistic ideology of the "new Russian musical school," which he called the "mighty bunch," whose creative practice contained elements of populism and realism. In the field of painting, S. was an ardent defender of the Wanderers. In literature, S. highly rated Tolstoy and severely criticized early Turgenev for "warm water of meekness and humility", although his subsequent works, in particular "Nov", mistakenly put very high. A supporter of the national identity of Russian art, S., although he was alien to the reactionary Slavophile interpretation of identity, was at the same time hostile to its revolutionary democratic understanding. Therefore, Stasov could not understand the true nature of Russian folk epic poetry.

Bibliography:

I. Collected works, vol. I-IV, St. Petersburg, 1894--1901; Selected works in two volumes, ed. "Art", vol. I, M. - L., 1937. II. Vl. Karenin, Vladimir Stasov. Essay on his life and work, ch. 1 and 2, ed. "Thought", L., 1927; Leo Tolstoy and V.V. Stasov. Correspondence. 1878--1906. Ed. and notes by V. D. Komarova and L. B. Modzalevsky, ed. "Surf", L., 1929.

N. L.

Text source: Literary encyclopedia: In 11 volumes - [M.], 1929--1939. T. 11. - M .: Artist. lit.,1939 . -- Stb. 15--16. The original is here: http://feb-web.ru/feb/litenc/encyclop/leb/leb-0151.htm

Epics of the Kyiv cycle, as a historical source coursework on foreign literature, diploma from English literature. Alexander Khrolenko - The Language of Folklore

I.P. Sakharov Songs of the Russian people. Part 1. St. Petersburg, 1838

I.I. Sreznevsky Work and opinions of N.V. Berg regarding folk songs // IORYAS. T. IV. Issue. 7. 1855

A. Grigoriev Russian folk songs from their poetic and musical side // Otechestvennye zapiski. 1860. Vol. 129, March

A.A. Afanasiev Concerning the VIth edition of the ethnographic collection // Book Bulletin. SPb., 1865

Vlad. Stasov The origin of Russian epics // Bulletin of Europe. 1868. Vol. IV. Book. 7

P. Glagolevsky Syntax of the language of Russian proverbs. SPb., 1873