If myths are sacred knowledge, then heroic epic of the peoples of the world - this is important and reliable information about the development of the people, expressed in the form of poetic art. And although the epic develops from myths, it is not always as sacred, because on the path of transition there are changes in the content and structure, which is served by the heroic epic of the Middle Ages or epic Ancient Rus' expressing ideas glorifying Russian knights defending the people, and glorifying prominent people and related great events.
In fact, the Russian heroic epic began to be called epics only in the 19th century, and until then they were folk “old times” - poetic songs that sang the life story of Russian people. Some researchers attribute the time of their addition to the X-XI centuries - the period Kievan Rus. Others consider it to be a later genre folk art and it belongs to the period of the Muscovite state.
The Russian heroic epic embodies the ideals of courageous and devoted to their kind heroes fighting with enemy hordes. Mythological sources include later epics describing such heroes as the Magus, Svyatogor and the Danube. Later, three heroes appeared - the famous and beloved defenders of the Fatherland.
This is Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich, who represent the heroic epic Kyiv period development of Rus'. These antiquities reflect the history of the formation of the city itself and the reign of Vladimir, to which the heroes went to serve. Unlike them Novgorod epics of this period are dedicated to blacksmiths and guslars, princes and noble farmers. Their characters are lovable. They have a resourceful mind. These are Sadko, Mikula, who represent light and solar world. On his defense, Ilya Muromets stands at his outpost and leads his patrol near the high mountains and dark forests. He fights evil forces for the sake of good on Russian soil.
Each has its own character trait. If the heroic epic gives Ilya Muromets tremendous strength, like Svyatogor, then Dobrynya Nikitich, in addition to strength and fearlessness, is an outstanding diplomat capable of defeating a wise snake. That is why Prince Vladimir instructs him diplomatic missions. Unlike them, Alyosha Popovich is cunning and savvy. Where he lacks power, there he puts cunning into action. Of course, heroes are generalized.
Epics have a fine rhythmic organization, and their language is melodious and solemn. As here there are epithets, comparisons. Enemies are presented as ugly, and Russian heroes as grandiose and sublime.
Folk epics do not have a single text. They were transferred to oral and therefore varied. Each epic has several options, reflecting the specific plots and motifs of the area. But miracles, characters and their reincarnations in different options are saved. fantasy elements, werewolves, resurrected heroes are transmitted on the basis of the historical idea of the people about the world around them. It is clear that all epics were written during the time of independence and power of Rus', so the era of antiquity has a conditional time here.
Fundamentals of literary criticism. Analysis artwork [tutorial] Esalnek Asiya Yanovna
Heroic epic
Heroic epic
This paragraph talks about different forms heroic epic.
Historically, the first type of narrative genres was the heroic epic, which in itself is heterogeneous, because it includes works similar in problem orientation, but different in age and type of characters. Most early form A heroic epic can be considered a mythological epic, the main character of which is the so-called ancestor, a cultural hero who performs the functions of the organizer of the world: he produces fire, invents crafts, protects the family from demonic forces, fights monsters, establishes rituals and customs. The closest thing to a similar type of hero is a character Greek mythology Prometheus.
Another version of the heroic epos is distinguished by the fact that the hero combines the features of a cultural ancestor hero and a brave warrior, knight, hero, fighting for the territory and independence of a tribe, people or state. Such heroes include, for example, the characters of the Karelian-Finnish epic, known as the Kalevala, or Kyrgyz epic called "Manas".
The most mature forms of the heroic epic include the Greek Iliad, the Spanish Song of Side, the French Song of Roland, Serbian youthful songs, and Russian epics. They depict heroes in the struggle for the interests of the people, for the most part in battles with foreign invaders. Of course, such heroes are extremely idealized and represent not real historical figures, but a utopian world that has gone into the past, in which the moods of the singer and his listeners seemed to merge, and the whole narration received an emotionally sublime coloring.
Works of the heroic epic in its various variations are found in almost all peoples on early stages development verbal creativity, but chronologically different time. So, Homer's Iliad dates back to the 8th century BC, Russian epics date back to the 11th-15th centuries of the Christian era. At the same time, different peoples such works have different names: epics, thoughts, epics, songs about deeds, sagas, runes, olonkho, etc.
It follows from the foregoing that the typological quality of the neck, which gives grounds to classify works as a heroic epic genre, is, firstly, in emphasizing the strength, courage, courage of the hero, and secondly, in emphasizing the purpose and meaning of his actions, their focus on the common good, whether it be the dispensation of the world or the fight against enemies. Such aspirations German philosopher early XIX century G.W.F. Hegel called substantial, that is, universally significant, and the period when heroes of this type began to appear and works glorifying them, "the heroic state of the world." Objective prerequisites for the emergence of genres of the heroic type could have developed later, especially in connection with the understanding of national liberation wars, in particular the fight against fascism in the 40s of the XX century. The reflection of these processes is easy to find in the works different writers dedicated to World War II.
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1). The question of the origin of the heroic epic - one of the most difficult in literary science - has given rise to a number of different theories. Two stand out among them: "traditionalism" and "anti-traditionalism." The foundations of the first of these were laid by the French medievalist Gaston Paris (1839-1901) in his major work The Poetic History of Charlemagne (1865). The theory of Gaston Paris, called the "cantilena theory", is reduced to the following main provisions. The fundamental principle of the heroic epic was small lyrical-epic songs-cantilenas, widespread in the 8th century. Cantilenas were a direct response to certain historical events. For hundreds of years, cantilenas existed in oral tradition, and from the tenth century. the process of their merging into large epic poems begins. The epic is the product of long-term collective creativity, the highest expression of the spirit of the people. Therefore, it is impossible to name a single creator of an epic poem, while the very recording of poems is a process rather mechanical than creative,
The positions of "traditionalists" and "anti-traditionalists" were brought together to a certain extent in his theory of the origin of the heroic epic by Alexander Nikolaevich Veselovsky. The essence of his theory is as follows. imagination. After a while, the attitude to the events set forth in the songs becomes calmer, the sharpness of emotions is lost and then an epic song is born. Time passes, and songs, in one way or another close to each other, add up to cycles. And finally, the cycle turns into an epic poem "As long as the text exists in the oral tradition, it is the creation of a collective. At the last stage of the formation of the epic, the individual author plays a decisive role. The recording of poems is not a mechanical act, but a deeply creative one.
The foundations of Veselovsky's theory retain their significance for modern science(V. Zhirmunsky, E. Meletinsky), which also refers the emergence of the heroic epic to the 8th century, believing that the epic is the creation of both oral collective and written-individual creativity.
Only the question of the fundamental principles of the heroic epic is being corrected: they are usually considered to be historical legends and the richest arsenal of figurative means of the archaic epic.
It is no coincidence that the beginning of the formation of the heroic (or state) epic is attributed to the 8th century. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), for a number of centuries, there was a transition from slave-owning forms of statehood to feudal ones, and among the peoples Northern Europe- the process of the final decomposition of patriarchal-clan relations. The qualitative changes associated with the establishment of a new statehood definitely make themselves felt in the 8th century. In 751, one of the largest feudal lords in Europe, Pepin the Short, became the king of the Franks and the founder of the Carolingian dynasty. Under the son of Pepin the Short, Charlemagne (reigned: 768-814), a huge state was formed in territory, including the Celtic-Romanesque-Germanic population. In 80b, the pope crowned Charles with the title of emperor of the newly revived Great Roman Empire. In turn, Kara completes the Christianization of the Germanic tribes, and seeks to turn the capital of the empire, Aachen, into Athens. The formation of the new state was difficult not only because of internal circumstances, but also because of external ones, among which one of the main places was occupied by the unceasing war of the Christian Franks and Muslim Arabs. So the story powerfully entered into life medieval man. And the heroic epic itself became a poetic reflection of the historical consciousness of the people.
The appeal to history determines the decisive features of the difference between the heroic epic and the archaic epic. The central themes of the heroic epic reflect the most important trends historical life, a specific historical, geographical, ethnic background appears, mythological and fairy-tale motivations are eliminated. The truth of history now determines the truth of the epic.
The heroic poems created by different peoples of Europe have much in common. This is explained by the fact that a similar historical reality has undergone artistic generalization; this reality itself was comprehended from the point of view of the same level of historical consciousness. In addition, the image served artistic language having common roots in European folklore. But at the same time, in the heroic epic of each individual people many unique, nationally specific features.
The most significant of heroic poems peoples Western Europe are considered: French - "Song of Roland", German - "Song of the Nibelungs", Spanish - "Song of my Sid". These three great poems make it possible to judge the evolution of the heroic epic: the Nibelungenlied contains a whole series of archaic features, "The Song of my Sid" is an epic at its end, "The Song of Roland" is the moment of its highest maturity.
2) GENERAL FEATURES OF THE HEROIC EPOS
During the period of the Mature Middle Ages, the development of the traditions of folk epic literature continues. This is one of the significant stages in its history, when the heroic epic became the most important link in medieval literary literature. The heroic epic of the Mature Middle Ages reflected the processes of ethnic and state consolidation and the emerging seigneurial-vassal relations. Historical theme expanded in the epic, displacing the fabulous mythological one, the meaning of Christian motives and patriotic pathos intensified, a large epic form and a more flexible style were developed, which was facilitated by some distance from purely folklore samples. However, all this led to a certain impoverishment of the plot and mythopoetic imagery, so subsequently the chivalric romance again turned to folklore fiction. All these features of the new stage in the history of the epic are closely interconnected internally. The transition from the epic archaic to the epic classics, in particular, was expressed in the fact that the epics of the peoples who had reached the stage of a distinct state consolidation abandoned the language of myth and fairy tale and turned to the development of plots taken from historical traditions(still continuing to use, of course, the old plot and language clichés that go back to myths).
Tribal interests were pushed aside by national interests, albeit in an embryonic form, so in many epic monuments we find pronounced patriotic motives, often associated with the struggle against foreign and heterodox conquerors. Patriotic motifs, as is specific to the Middle Ages, partly appear in the form of opposition of Christians to "infidel" Muslims (in Romanesque and Slavic literatures).
As said, the epic at the new stage depicts feudal strife and seigneurial-vassal relations, but due to epic specifics vassal loyalty (in the "Song of the Nibelungs", "Songs of Roland", "Songs of my Sid"), as a rule, merges with loyalty to the clan, tribe, home country, the state. characteristic figure in the epic of this time - the epic "king", whose power embodies the unity of the country. He is shown in difficult relationship with the main epic hero- the bearer of popular ideals. Vassal loyalty to the king is combined with a story about his weakness, injustice, with a very critical image court environment and feudal strife (in the cycle of French poems about Guillaume of Orange). The epic also reflects anti-aristocratic tendencies (in songs about Dietrich of Bern or in "Songs about my Sid"). In the epic-heroic works of the XII-XIII centuries. sometimes the influence of the courtly (knightly) novel also penetrates (in the Nibelungenlied). But even with the idealization of courtly forms of life, the epic basically retains folk-heroic ideals, heroic aesthetics. In the heroic epic, some tendencies are also manifested that go beyond its limits. genre nature, for example, hypertrophied adventurousness (“Raoul de Cambrai”, etc.), material motivations for the hero’s behavior, patiently overcoming adverse circumstances (in “The Song of My Sid”), drama, reaching tragedy (in the “Nibelungs” and in “The Song of Roland"). These Diverse Trends Show Hidden Opportunities epic kind poetry, anticipate the development of the novel and tragedy.
The stylistic features of the epic are now largely determined by the departure from folklore and a deeper processing folk traditions. In the process of transition from oral improvisation to recitation from manuscripts, numerous enjambements appear, i.e. transfers from verse to verse, synonymy develops, flexibility and variety of epic formulas increase, sometimes the number of repetitions decreases, a clearer and more harmonious composition becomes possible (“Song of Roland").
Although broad cyclization is familiar and oral creativity(for example, in folklore Central Asia), but basically creating epic works large volume and their addition into cycles is supported by the transition from oral improvisation to a handwritten book. Apparently, bookishness also contributes to the emergence of a “psychological” characteristic, as well as the interpretation of a heroic character in terms of a kind of tragic guilt. However, the interaction of folklore and literary literature actively continues: in the composition and especially the performance of many epic works, the participation of shpilmans and jugglers during this period is great.
6) One of the most remarkable monuments medieval literature is considered an epic legend of the French people - "The Song of Roland".
Minor historical fact formed the basis of this heroic epic and, over time, enriched by a number of later events, helped to spread the legends about Roland, about the wars of Charlemagne in many literatures of Western Europe.
The Song of Roland clearly expresses the ideology of a feudal society, in which the faithful service of a vassal to his overlord was an untouchable law, and its violation was considered betrayal and treason. However, the features of courageous steadfastness, military prowess, disinterested friendship and a thoughtful attitude to what is happening were not received in the poem, as well as in the remarkable monument of the creativity of the Russian people "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", class-feudal confinement; on the contrary, these convincing properties of the valiant defenders of the motherland - military leaders-peers and their vassals, were perceived as typical, popular. An even greater degree of recognition and sympathy from the broad masses of the people was facilitated by thoughts about defending the fatherland, about shame and the danger of defeat, which run like a red thread through the entire poem.
epic(ancient Greek ἔπος - “word”, “narrative”) - a heroic narrative about the past, containing complete picture folk life and representing in a harmonious unity a certain epic world and heroes-heroes. .
medieval epic
medieval epic- heroic folk tale, which was created by wandering singers or people during the Middle Ages. The epic was intended to be sung, accompanied by a harp or viola (small violin).
GENERAL FEATURES OF THE HEROIC EPO OF THE MATURE MIDDLE AGES
During the period of the Mature Middle Ages, the development of the traditions of folk epic literature continues. This is one of the significant stages in its history, when the heroic epic became the most important link in medieval literary literature. The heroic epic of the Mature Middle Ages reflected the processes of ethnic and state consolidation and the emerging seigneurial-vassal relations. The historical theme in the epic expanded, supplanting the fabulous mythological one, the importance of Christian motifs increased and patriotic pathos intensified, a large epic form and more flexible style were developed, which was facilitated by some distance from purely folklore samples. However, all this led to a certain impoverishment of the plot and mythopoetic imagery, so subsequently the chivalric romance again turned to folklore fiction. All these features of the new stage in the history of the epic are closely interconnected internally. The transition from the epic archaic to the epic classics, in particular, was expressed in the fact that the epics of the peoples who had reached the stage of a distinct state consolidation abandoned the language of myth and fairy tale and turned to the development of plots taken from historical legends (still continuing to use, of course, old plot and language clichés dating back to myths).
Tribal interests were pushed aside by national interests, albeit in an embryonic form, so in many epic monuments we find pronounced patriotic motives, often associated with the struggle against foreign and heterodox conquerors. Patriotic motifs, as is specific to the Middle Ages, partly appear in the form of opposition of Christians to "infidel" Muslims (in Romanesque and Slavic literatures).
As said, the epic at the new stage depicts feudal strife and seigneurial-vassal relations, but due to the epic specifics, vassal fidelity (in the Nibelungenlied, Roland Song, Song of my Side) usually merges with fidelity to the clan, tribe, native country, state. A characteristic figure in the epic of this time is the epic "king", whose power embodies the unity of the country. He is shown in a difficult relationship with the main epic hero - the bearer of folk ideals. Vassal loyalty to the king is combined with a story about his weakness, injustice, with a very critical image of the court environment and feudal strife (in the cycle of French poems about Guillaume of Orange). The epic also reflects anti-aristocratic tendencies (in songs about Dietrich of Bern or in "Songs about my Sid"). In the epic-heroic works of the XII-XIII centuries. sometimes the influence of the courtly (knightly) novel also penetrates (in the Nibelungenlied). But even when
idealization of courtly forms of life, the epic basically preserves folk-heroic ideals, heroic aesthetics. In the heroic epic, some tendencies are also manifested that go beyond its genre nature, for example, hypertrophied adventurousness (“Raoul de Cambrai”, etc.), material motivations for the hero’s behavior, patiently overcoming adverse circumstances (in “The Song of My Sid”), drama , reaching the point of tragedy (in the Nibelungen and in the Song of Roland). These diverse trends testify to the hidden possibilities of the epic kind of poetry, anticipate the development of the novel and tragedy.
The stylistic features of the epic are now largely determined by the departure from folklore and a deeper processing of folklore traditions. In the process of transition from oral improvisation to recitation from manuscripts, numerous enjambements appear, i.e. transfers from verse to verse, synonymy develops, flexibility and variety of epic formulas increase, sometimes the number of repetitions decreases, a clearer and more harmonious composition becomes possible (“Song of Roland").
Although extensive cyclization is also familiar to oral art (for example, in the folklore of Central Asia), the creation of epic works of large volume and their addition into cycles is mainly supported by the transition from oral improvisation to a handwritten book. Apparently, bookishness also contributes to the emergence of a “psychological” characteristic, as well as the interpretation of a heroic character in terms of a kind of tragic guilt. However, the interaction of folklore and literary literature actively continues: in the composition and especially the performance of many epic works, the participation of shpilmans and jugglers during this period is great.
Heroic E. as a genre (or group of genres), i.e. heroic narrative about the past, containing a complete picture of Nar. life and representing in a harmonious unity a certain epic world and heroes-heroes. Heroic E. exists both in book and oral form, and most of the book monuments of E. have folklore sources; the very features of the genre were formed at the folklore stage. Therefore, heroic E. is often called folk E. However, such an identification is not entirely accurate, since the book forms of E. have their own stylistic and sometimes ideological specifics, and ballads, historical legends and songs that are certainly attributable to folk E. folk novel etc. can be considered heroic E. only with significant reservations. Heroic epic has come down to us both in the form of extensive epics, book (Iliad, Odyssey, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Beowulf) or oral (Dzhangar, Alpamysh, Manas, etc.). and in the form of short "epic songs" (Russian epics, South Slavic youth songs, poems by Edda the Elder), partly grouped into cycles, less often - prose tales [sagas, the Nart (Nart) epic]. Folk heroic epos arose (on the basis of the traditions of the mythological E. and heroic tale, later - historical legends and partly panegyrics) in the era of the decomposition of the primitive communal system and developed in ancient and feudal society, under conditions of partial preservation of patriarchal relations and ideas, in which the image typical of heroic E. public relations as blood, ancestral, it might not yet represent a conscious artistic device. IN archaic forms E. (Karelian and Finnish runes, heroic poems of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Siberia, Nart epic, the oldest parts of the Babylonian "Gilgamesh", Edda the Elder, "Sasuntsi David", "Amiraniani") heroism still appears in a fabulously mythological shell (heroes possess not only military, but also "shamanic" power, epic enemies appear in the guise of fantastic monsters) ; main themes: the fight against "monsters", heroic matchmaking to the "betrothed", tribal revenge. In the classical forms of E., bogatyrs-leaders and warriors represent historical nationality, and their opponents are often identical with the historical "invaders", foreign and heterodox oppressors (for example, the Turks and Tatars in Slav. E.). The "epic time" here is no longer a mythical epoch of first creation, but a glorious historical past at the dawn of national history. The most ancient state political formations (for example, Mycenae - "Iliad", the Kiev state of Prince Vladimir - epics, the state of four Oirots - "Dzhangar") act as a national and social utopia turned into the past. In the classical forms of E., historical (or pseudo-historical) persons and events are sung, although the very depiction of historical realities is subject to traditional plot schemes; sometimes ritual-mythological models are used. The epic background is usually the struggle of two epic tribes or nationalities. Often in the center military event- historical ( Trojan War in the Iliad, the battle on Kurukshetra in the Mahabharata, on the Kosovo Field - in Serbian youth songs), less often - mythical (the fight for Sampo in the Kalevala). Power is usually concentrated in the hands of an epic prince (Vladimir - in epics, Charlemagne - in the "Song of Roland"), but the bearers of active action are heroes, whose heroic characters, as a rule, are marked not only by courage, but also by independence, obstinacy, even fury (Achilles - in the Iliad, Ilya Muromets - in epics). Their obstinacy sometimes leads them to conflict with the authorities (in the archaic epic - to the fight against God), but the directly social nature of the heroic deed and the commonality of patriotic goals for the most part provide a harmonious resolution of the conflict. In E., the actions (deeds) of the characters are drawn mainly, and not their emotional experiences, but their own plot story complemented by numerous static descriptions and ceremonial dialogues. The stable and relatively homogeneous world of E. corresponds to a constant epic background and often measured verse; the integrity of the epic narrative is preserved when focusing on individual episodes.
