Animals in the fine arts history. Exhibition Animals

The role of animals in mythology is extremely great and is determined by the exceptional significance that they had at an early stage in the development of mankind, when people had not yet distinguished themselves from a number of living beings and did not oppose themselves to nature. In many cultural traditions, animals have been deified and placed at the top of the social hierarchy as sacred.

This topic introduces us to the images of animals that are reflected in the monuments of archeology, clothing, household items and folk art, weapons, numismatics and heraldry, works of literature, painting, graphics, arts and crafts.

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State educational institution

secondary school No. 508

with in-depth study of subjects

educational areas "Art" and "Technology"

Moskovsky district of St. Petersburg

METHODOLOGICAL MANUAL FOR THE COURSE "FAIRS OF THE YEAR"

TOPIC: "MYTHOLOGICAL ANIMALS IN ART"

("Water element")

Saint Petersburg

2010

The image of animals in myths and legends.

Topic: "The image of animals in myths and legends" is included in

The constructive part of the course "Wildlife and the World of Culture".

Second learning step: "Water and coastal environment".

aim of this course is:

1) the formation of a personality capable of

to perceive the world as a single integral system and oneself as a part

this system.

2) the formation of morality and human responsibility to nature.

Tasks: To teach to generalize the knowledge gained on the basis of the study

various sources of humanitarian cultural nature.

Develop motivation for independent cognitive activity.

Contribute to the formation of skills in educational research activities. Develop the ability for critical thinking.

To form a conscious attitude to the problems of the modern world.

Develop a love for animals.

Cultivate respect for the traditions of one's own and other peoples.

Classes are held in the form of conversations, lectures, practical exercises. Whole

The learning process is active and creative.

Students through creative activity master the value of culture,

get acquainted with folk traditions and heritage of the past. Students express their attitude to the animal world with the help of creative works. The study of the animal world as an integral part of wildlife

encourages children to recognize the importance of caring for the environment.

The world of animals surrounds a person from the moment of his birth and accompanies him throughout his life.

Man is a part of living nature, he interacts with it, cognizes and reflects it in his creative activity.

The image of animals is very often used in art.

Many peoples in the guise of animals depict beings with a higher level of consciousness, which were an intermediary between man and god.

The study of the topic begins with the introduction of the concept of "Animals in wildlife and human life"

Nature, man, culture - the main core of each lesson

The creation of an artistic image of animals can be decorative, pictorial, graphic.

Animals in myths and legends

“All that now, after a millennium

With a mature mind, you understand

Whereas people as pure as children

Already read on the face of beauty.

F. Schiller

From time immemorial, the respectful attitude of man towards animals and birds has been known. And, of course, numerous myths, legends and traditions were composed about them. Almost every animal can be found this or that legend, in which it appears in an unusual guise. Here are some of them.

The Slavs believed that we are all endowed with different characteristics inherent in different animals. Each animal, whether a beast, a bird or a fish, the smallest ant has its own character, history and magical power. Our gods are inherent in reincarnation. So if Perun likes to turn into an eagle, then Indrik is easier to transform into a snake. It depends directly on the qualities of the beast into which this or that god reincarnates. People could also turn into a beast. For example, folk tales are known about Volkodlaks (man - wolf), Koshkolaks (man - lynx), people - bears, deer, falcons, etc. Until now, the deep essence of animals has not been hidden behind a pile of millennia. Images appear in fairy tales, legends, songs, proverbs and sayings. In them, animals and birds speak and think, like us, at the same time in their own way, according to special laws, often cruel and incomprehensible, but with an appropriate attitude, true and fair. We find traits of animals in ourselves and those around us. We smile or sometimes we are horrified, seeing the light of reason in their eyes. Totem, sacred animals among the Slavic peoples are not uncommon.

The role of animals, as well as the animal (zoomorphic) element in general, is exceptionally great in mythology. It is determined by the significance that the Animals had at an early stage in the development of mankind, when they were not yet separated with all sharpness from the human collective.

Images of animals in other mythologies are also encoded in the corresponding months, days, years (usually in a 12-year cycle, in particular among the peoples of Central and Southeast Asia). In China, the months were associated successively with a rat, an ox, a tiger, a hare, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a pig, a monkey, a rooster, a dog, a pig. In Tibet and Mongolia - with a mouse, a cow, a tiger, a hare, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a sheep, a monkey, a rooster, a dog, a pig (cf. also the zoonymy of years in a 12-year cycle). In ancient Greece, the cat, dog, snake, crab, donkey, lion, goat, ox, hawk, monkey, ibis, crocodile were considered to be the conductors of the sun.

Ideas about the real features of animals, combined with their use in classifications, which are a way for a person to explain himself and the surrounding nature. Already in the most ancient monuments of fine arts dating back to the Upper Paleolithic, animals are the main object of images.

Mythologized images of animals in art

The role of animals in mythology is extremely great and is determined by the exceptional significance that they had at an early stage in the development of mankind, when people had not yet distinguished themselves from a number of living beings and did not oppose themselves to nature. In many cultural traditions, animals have been deified and placed at the top of the social hierarchy as sacred. Among many peoples, mythological ideas about the animals-ancestors of the human collective, as well as about animals as a special hypostasis of man, were widespread. Hence the prohibition to kill and eat the meat of certain animals and, on the contrary, the ritual eating of it at the prescribed time. For a long time, the features noticed by people in the animal world were a clear model for establishing a model for the life of human society.

From ancient times, ideas about the ability of a person to take the form of an animal have come down to our time. The ability to be a shapeshifter was attributed primarily to people who, according to mythological ideas, possessed magical powers. In the popular environment, ideas about the ability of sorcerers to turn into different animals are still alive, which will be discussed below. The motif of werewolves is widely and diversely represented in folklore: fairy tales, epics, legends, legends, etc. The images of animals themselves in fairy tales are endowed with unusual characteristics: they understand human speech and can talk. Often they act as grateful helpers and advisers to the hero, and sometimes, for example, a horse or a cat, as a magical gift from a deceased ancestor - a father or grandfather - predetermining the fate of a new owner. In traditional representations, animals can act as a hypostasis of anthropomorphic mythological characters: for example, people often represented a merman in the form of a fish, a brownie - in the form of a cat and other animals.

Animal images were often perceived as intermediaries between the world of people and the other world. Many cultural traditions, including Russian, are aware of the concept of the human soul in the form of a bird. The function of animal mediation between the worlds is very clearly seen in folklore works of various genres and in folk representations. In mythopoetic texts and traditional visual arts, different animals are distributed in accordance with archaic ideas about the three-membered vertical structure of world space. With its upper zone - the heavenly world - images of birds are associated; with the middle - terrestrial space - ungulates, bees; and with the lower zone - the underworld - reptiles, fish, mice and some other animals. In traditional culture, a certain set of meanings and characteristics has been assigned to one or another animal. The symbolism of animals that has developed in the popular consciousness is reflected in the most diverse areas of ritual and everyday life of a person: in dressing up, signs, interpretation of dreams, etc. The rituals of their sacrifices also testify to the special place of animals in mythological representations.

A comparison of the myths of different peoples made it possible to establish that in them, for all their diversity, a number of themes and motives are repeated. So, in many mythologies there are myths about animals, ideas about the origin of animals from people and that people were once animals. The mythological motif of the transformation of people into animals and plants is known to almost all peoples of the globe.

Glossary.

Mythological genre (from Gr. mythos - legend) - a genre of fine art dedicated to events and heroes, about which the myths of ancient peoples tell. All peoples of the world have myths, legends, traditions, and they constitute the most important source of artistic creativity. The mythological genre originates in late antique and medieval art, when Greco-Roman myths cease to be beliefs and become literary stories.

Artistic images of art are an important part of ideas about the universe, nature, and man. In the eternal search for Truth-Goodness-Beauty, the works of art of the past reveal the mythological picture of the world in all the unity of form and content. The ancient rock paintings of the Shulgan-tash (Kapovaya) cave, the culture of Arkaim, the Sarmatian art of the "animal style", the Bashkir folk art determine the richest content of the material and spiritual culture of the Southern Urals. Comparison of the main stages in the development of the history of the Urals since ancient times leads us to the issues of continuity of cultural heritage, the diatoge of cultures,

RELATIONSHIP OF MAN AND ANIMAL WORLD.

Human life has always been connected with nature. Having learned and subjugated many of the laws of nature, man imagined himself to be her "king", who was allowed to mindlessly use her gifts, disturb her balance and relationships. We hear about the results of such an attitude almost every day: endless natural disasters, environmental disasters. Shouldn't we learn from our ancestors to live in peace and harmony with nature.

THE PLACE OF MYTHOLOGICAL ANIMALS IN ART.

This topic introduces us to the images of animals that are reflected in archeological monuments, clothing, household items and folk art, weapons, numismatics and heraldry, paintings, drawings, decorative and applied arts.

The ideas of the Slavs about the world order were most fully reflected and preserved for the longest time in folk art. Birds, horses, lions, griffins and double-headed eagles adorn items of Russian folk clothing, spinning wheels and gingerbread boards, furniture and utensils, are the main characters of folk toys, while the image of each animal is traditionally and deeply symbolic.

Over time, the attitude of people to the animal world changes, a person pays more attention to the beauty of the surrounding nature and its inhabitants, which is reflected in a wide variety of works of fine and decorative art.

Animals in Slavic mythology.

Animals in Slavic mythology The Slavs believed that we are all endowed with different characteristics inherent in different animals. Each animal, whether a beast, a bird or a fish, the smallest ant has its own character, history and magical power. Our gods are inherent in reincarnation.

Stork

symbolizes in a number of traditions abundance, fertility, longevity, maternal feelings (and at the same time filial piety), portends a good fate, the birth of children (as well as a heron).

Goose

In cosmogonic ideas and related myths, it often appears as a bird of chaos, but at the same time as the creator of the universe, who laid the golden egg - the sun (the image of the great Gogotun in Egyptian mythology). In a number of languages, the concepts of the sun and the goose are conveyed by similar linguistic elements. In the Gnostic tradition, the goose is the embodiment of the holy spirit, a symbol of foresight and vigilance. During the Middle Ages in Europe, geese were believed to be the mounts of witches. In a number of Siberian traditions, the so-called. "goose spirit", who was in charge of fate. The theme of an Aesopian fable about the murder of a goose that lays golden eggs refers to the idea of ​​senseless stupidity.

Crane

In some traditions, it acts as a herald of fertility, bringing rain. For many peoples, cranes were sacred birds, messengers of the gods, etc. Since ancient times, the crane has been a symbol of long life, health, happiness, strong love, fertility. The crane symbolizes vigilance, longevity, wisdom, devotion, honor. Religiosity, loyalty (wandering, flying after the leader), closed life, virtue, courtesy. Vigilance, good quality, good order in monastic life.

Devotion, righteousness, good deeds and monastic life. All these qualities are attributed to the crane because of its legendary. It is said that every night the cranes gather around their king. Certain cranes are chosen as guardians, and they must stay awake all night, chasing away sleep with all their might. Therefore, each guardian crane stands on one leg, raising the other. He holds a stone in his raised paw. Sleep the crane, and the stone will fall out of his paw and, falling on the paw on which he stands, will wake him up.

Frog

Frog - Mokosh's Creature Frog (frog) - has long been associated with the water world - streams of rain, rivers and fast streams, and especially with gloomy swamps covered with duckweed. The thin skin of frogs dries quickly in the sun, so they hide during the day, coming out only at night and in the rain. It was because of the forced secrecy that frogs were considered to belong [...].

R. Kipling.

Why does a whale have such a throat

It's been a long time, my dear boy. There was a Keith. He swam in the sea and ate fish. He ate both bream, and ruff, and beluga, and stellate sturgeon, and herring, and the herring aunt, and the roach, and her sister, and the nimble, fast loach-roller eel. Whatever fish gets caught, that one will be eaten. He opens his mouth, am - and you're done!

So in the end, only Rybka survived in the whole sea, and even that Little Stickleback. It was a sly Rybka. She floated next to Keith, at his very right ear, a little behind him so that he could not swallow it. That alone saved her. But then he stood on his tail and said: - I want to eat!

And the sly little Rybka said to him in a sly little voice:

Have you tasted Man, noble and generous Mammal?

No, Keith replied. - What does it taste like?

Very tasty, - said Rybka. - Delicious, but a little prickly.

Well, bring me half a dozen of them here, ”Kit said and hit the water with his tail so that the whole sea was covered with foam.

One is enough for you! said the Little Stickleback. - Swim to the fortieth degree of northern latitude and to the fiftieth degree of western longitude (these words are magical), and you will see a raft in the middle of the sea. A sailor sits on a raft. His ship went down. All he wears is blue canvas pants and suspenders (don't forget those suspenders, my boy!) and a hunting knife. But I must tell you in all honesty that this man is very resourceful, intelligent and brave.

Keith ran as fast as he could. He swam, swam and swam where he was told: to the fiftieth degree of western longitude and the fortieth degree of northern latitude. He sees, and it's true: in the middle of the sea - a raft, on a raft - a Sailor and no one else. The Sailor is wearing blue canvas trousers and suspenders (look, my dear, don't forget about suspenders!) and a hunting knife at the side of the belt, and nothing else. The sailor sits on a raft, and his legs dangle into the water. (His Mom let him dangle with his bare feet in the water, otherwise he wouldn't babble because he was very smart and brave.)

Keith's mouth opened wider and wider and wider and opened almost to the very tail. The whale had swallowed the Sailor, and his raft, and his blue canvas pants, and his suspenders (please don't forget the suspenders, my dear!), and even the hunting knife.

Everything fell into that warm and dark closet, which is called the stomach of the Whale. Keith licked his lips - like that! - and three times turned on the tail.

But as soon as the Sailor, very smart and brave, found himself in a dark and warm closet, which is called the stomach of the Whale, he let's somersault, kick, bite, kick, pound, thresh, clap, stomp, knock, strum, and in such an inappropriate place he danced a trepak that Keith didn't feel well at all (hope you didn't forget the braces?).

And he said to Little Stickleback:

I don't like a person, I don't like it. It gives me hiccups. What to do?

Well, then tell him to jump out, - advised Little Stickleback.

Keith shouted into his own mouth:

Hey you, get out! And look, behave yourself. I have hiccups because of you.

Well, no, - said the Sailor, - I feel good here too! Now, if you take me to my native shores, to the white cliffs of England, then I will perhaps think whether I should go out or stay.

And he stamped his feet even harder.

There is nothing to do, take him home, - said the cunning Rybka to Kit. “I told you he was very smart and brave.

Keith obeyed and set off. He swam and swam and swam, working all the way with his tail and two fins, although he was greatly hindered by hiccups.

At last the white cliffs of England appeared in the distance. The whale swam to the very shore and began to open its mouth - wider and wider and wider - and said to the Man:

It's time to go out. Transfer. Nearest stations: Winchester, Ash'eloth, Nashua, Keene and Fitchborough.

A little he said: "Fitch!" Sailor jumped out of his mouth. This Sailor was indeed very clever and brave. Sitting in Keith's stomach, he wasted no time: with a knife, he split his raft into thin splinters, folded them crosswise and tied them tightly with suspenders (now you understand why you should not forget about suspenders!), and he got a lattice, with which he blocked Keith's throat; And he said the magic words. You have not heard these words, and I will gladly tell them to you. He said:

I put a grate, I plugged Keith's throat.

With these words, he jumped onto the shore, onto small pebbles, and walked to his Mother, who allowed him to walk barefoot on the water. Then he got married, and began to live, live, and was very happy. Keith also got married and was also very happy. But from this day forward, forever and ever, he had a grating in his throat that he could neither swallow nor spit out. Because of this grate, only small fish got into his throat. That's why whales don't swallow humans anymore.

And the cunning Rybka swam away and hid in the mud, under the very threshold of the Equator. She thought Kit was angry, and was afraid to show himself in front of him.

The sailor took his hunting knife with him. The blue canvas trousers were still on; when he walked over the pebbles near the sea. But he was no longer wearing braces. They remained in Keith's throat. They were connected with splinters, from which the Sailor made a lattice.

That's all. This tale is over.

Tales about animals.

Crane and heron.

Once upon a time there were a crane and a heron, they built huts at the ends of the swamp. It seemed boring to the crane to live alone, and he decided to marry.

- Come on, I'll go woo a heron!

The crane went - tyap-tyap! Kneaded the swamp for seven miles, comes and says:

Is the heron at home?

At home.

- Marry me.

- No, crane, I will not marry you, your legs are in debt, your dress is short, there is nothing to feed your wife with. Go away, lanky!

The crane, as if it was not salty, went home. The heron then thought about it and said:

- Better than living aloneI'm going to marry a crane.

Comes to the crane and says:

- Crane, marry me!

- No, heron, I don't need you! I don't want to marry, I won't marry you. Get out!

The heron wept with shame and turned back.

The crane thought about it and said:

- Didn't take it rightfor myself a heron: after all, one is bored. I will now go and marry her.

Comes and says:

- Heron, I decided to marry you; come for me.

- No, lanky, I won't marry you!

The crane went home. Then the heron thought:

- Why did she refuse such a fine fellow: it’s not fun to live alone, it’s better to go for a crane!

He comes to woo, but the crane does not want to. That's how they go to this day to woo each other, but they never get married.

Earth diving turtle

1. Grandfather and grandson are sitting on a tiny island, the grandson has nowhere to play. Grandfather sends different animals to dive to the bottom. The turtle floats up dead with earth on its paws. Grandfather throws the earth into the water, the earth grows. The vulture dries it up with its wings, creating valleys and mountains.

2. The earth is flooded, the turtle carries the survivors to the new land, gets the earth from the bottom or serves as a base on which other characters place the earth

3. The hero of Visaka confronts the horned underground cougars. They first try to freeze it, then surround it with water. Visaka makes a boat, tells the turtle to dive. When she emerges, he scrapes the silt from her legs and belly, molds a lump from this silt and from the branches brought to him by Dove, puts it on the water, creates land. Horned cougars remain underground.

4. The tortoise brought earth in its mouth from under the waters of the flood, the water bird brought a blade of grass. They put earth and a blade of grass on the turtle, and dry land grew out of them. Only the initiated know that the tortoise is the earth and we live on its shell.

5. The deity creates the sky, the sea, light, waterfowl, orders the birds to get dry land from the bottom of the sea. Goose, Duck, Loon do not dive, Coot brings silt from the bottom in its beak, puts it in the hand of the Creator. He sculpts a lump, creates land, looking for on whose back to approve it. Snails, crustaceans, fish are not suitable for this, only a grandmother turtle is able to hold a huge weight. Now she is mother earth.

6. During the flood, the Creator summons all who can dive. The birds don't reach the bottom. The creator himself turns into a red-headed duck and, together with the turtle, brings clay from the bottom. The earth grows, the tortoise itself represents the earth.

7. At first, only the sea is everywhere. Waterfowl do not dive to the bottom, the turtle dives, the birds pull it up by the rope. On the head and under the claws of the turtle there is a little dirt left, they make an island out of it, the earth grows out of the island.

8. Falcon, Old Man Coyote, turtle from the sky watching the flood. The turtle dives, tying a rope behind its leg, emerges. The falcon scrapes the dirt from under her nails, puts it on the water, the earth dries up, grows.

9. During the flood, the first ancestors are saved on the mountain. The woodpecker reports that the water is held back by a dam of clay. To find out how far to the bottom, Caiman throws a wild boar, tapir, and other animals into the water - they all drown. The crab dives, returns after four days. Caiman dives, taking Turtle and Armadillo with him. Turtle digs from below, Armadillo from above. The dam is destroyed, the water rushes into the gap and leaves. The armadillo, caiman and turtle have since been left with sand on their backs.

10. The Creator floated on the surface of the waters on a lotus flower, sent a raven to search for the land. Six months later, he met a tortoise standing with one foot in the water, reaching for the sky with its head. She told the crow that an underwater worm had swallowed the earth. The tortoise and the raven arrived at Logandi Raja, who ordered his brother to make a boat. The tortoise and the raven dived from it, the tortoise grabbed the worm by the neck, and it began to vomit up different kinds of earth. The raven took all the earth in its beak, pulled the rope, Logandi Raja pulled the divers up, the Creator rolled a ball out of the earth, placed it on the water, creating land.

Turtle - the basis of the Earth

1. The creator descends from the sky, creates a turtle, places earth on it.

2. Lonely Man wants to make a powerful tambourine. The skins of a beaver, a badger, the shell of an ordinary tortoise are not suitable. The sea turtle says that the world rests on its back (or on the backs of four turtles), but Lonely Man can make a tambourine out of a buffalo skin, taking its shell as a model.

3. The earth rested on a frog. God (to strengthen the support) added a shell to her ..

4. The earth rests on an elephant, an elephant on a snake, a snake on a turtle.

5. When the earth-supporting turtle moves, earthquakes occur.

6. The water spirit Gungong was defeated by his father, the fire spirit Zhurong. He brought down the mountain that served as a support for the sky, part of the firmament fell off, a world fire and a flood began. Nu Wa cut off the legs of a turtle, using them as props under the sky.

7. In search of land, the swan flew through the air, and the raven was under water. They saw a golden tortoise holding the earth in its paws, Khukhudei Mergen was informed. He shot at the turtle, it overturned, a firmament was formed on which the earth was created. According to another version, the earth was created by God on four paws of a golden tortoise, which lies on its back and supports our earth.

8. The hero pierced the turtle with an arrow, it capsized. The feathered end of an arrow protruded from the left side of her body, forming a forest out of it. On the right side there is an iron tip, that side was called iron (tumer zug). The sea poured out of the dying turtle, this side was called the northern water side. Flames blazed from the mouth of the turtle, this side was called the southern fire side. In the four paws of the turtle, lumps of earth were clamped, from which an earthly firmament with vegetation was formed.

9. Horned tortoise-snake swam to the surface in the middle of the ocean. A piece of earth or the excrement of a heavenly worm fell on her back from the sky, and the tortoise-snake herself or the carrier bird descended from the sky knocked the sea foam into a ball. The substance extracted from the sky and from the sea became the Earth on the back of a tortoise-snake.

Turtle is the progenitor of living beings

1. From the egg of a turtle, two birds, apparently a goose and a goose, arose, bringing mud from the bottom of the primary ocean. When this dirt came into contact with the skin of the dragon, earth was created. According to another version, many living creatures or even the whole world arose from a turtle egg. The texts are not always amenable to unambiguous interpretation, but the cosmogonic role of the turtle in them is undeniable.

sky turtle

Chinese legends say that one day the beautiful Jean-Hoa, walking, accidentally crushed the shell of a celestial tortoise, lurking in tall grass. Beauty was inconsolable. And then her husband distributed shards of tortoise shell to people. By chance, these shards fell into the ground and, they say, it was from them that rice appeared.

Origin of turtles

An ancient Indian legend says that once upon a time, young daring giants lived on Earth, who considered themselves higher than the gods. The gods were angry with the giants, and a terrible battle broke out between them. It lasted for a long time, but finally the giants could not stand it and fled in panic in all directions. Only their shields remained on the battlefield. To show their power, the gods breathed life into their shields. And then the shields also spread out in different directions, and then their heads and paws grew, and they turned into turtles.

Crocodile.

Crocodiles were worshiped in many places, but their cult acquired special significance in Thebes and in Fayum, an oasis in the Libyan desert, where, under the pharaohs of the XII dynasty, a grandiose irrigation system was created, a reservoir appeared and many crocodiles bred.

Crocodiles personified the god of the Nile waters Sebek, they were credited with the ability to command the floods of the River, bringing fertile silt to the fields. Just as the Apis bull was selected on special grounds, in Fayum, in the main cult center of crocodiles and Sebek - the city of Shedite (Greek Crocodilopol) they were looking for a crocodile, a suitable day to become the embodiment of the soul of Ba Sebek. Such a crocodile lived at the temple in a large aviary, was surrounded by care and honor, and pretty soon became tame; the priests decorated it with gold bracelets, amulets and rings. In Fayum and in the environs of Thebes, it was forbidden to kill crocodiles even with a direct threat to life. A man who was dragged away by a crocodile was buried with special honors. In the mortuary temple of Amenemhat III, burials of sacred crocodiles were found, which Herodotus also mentions. At the same time, along with the hippopotamus, the crocodile was considered the embodiment of evil and the enemy of Ra, associated with Set.

Gull

The girl is a seagull.

On the Black Sea there is a harsh, dumb island - red rocks on a lush green expanse. There are no little white huts on the island, curly leaves did not cover it. Only one green path winds: a spring stream washed red clay, overgrown with velvet grass. And then - everything is dead and deaf.

But no, not all: over there on a cliff above the sea, where the gray surf is always raging, at the very top a light burns at night. And in the daytime, sad seagulls curl over the cliff, scream over the raging sea

What is this cliff? Why is there fire? And why do seagulls love that harsh cliff?

For a long time, they say, that wild man sailed to the island from nowhere. Probably, the bitter fate drove the poor fellow around the world for a long time, until he found shelter on a wild island.

Child, yes, miserable belongings he carried out of the fragile boat to the shore and began to live and live for himself.

How he lived, what he ate - at first no one knew about it. Over time, people learned what a good heart this man had. Every night he kindled a huge fire, so that it could be seen far away, so that those ships that sailed along the green waves could safely pass by harsh stones and hidden, treacherous shallows! And if the ship crashed against the rocks, then a man in his fragile boat bravely rushed to the aid of the unfortunate.

And grateful people were ready to give him treasures, money and everything that they carried on their ships. But the stranger did not take anything, only a little food, but firewood, and tar for the fire. And soon people learned about this strange old man, nicknamed him “sea stork”. And they also learned about his beloved daughter, who, like a mermaid, was rocked and caressed by the sea waves, and mute stones, and sea storms pitied and comforted.

And the old man's daughter grew up, and became marvelously beautiful: white as the foam of the sea; her fluffy braids, like sea grass, fell to her knees, and her blue eyes shone like the early sea; and teeth, like pearls, sparkled from under coral lips.

Once, after bathing, the girl fell asleep sweetly on the warm sand (the sea at that time was silent and dozing). And she hears a whisper through a dream. Then three of them gathered next to the stone: a baby bird, a sea pig, and a fish - a golden scale.

Here is a fish and says:

I will get her pearls, corals and bright gems from the bottom for saving me. Lying, unhappy, I'm on a spit - angry waves threw very far. The sun burned me, dried me, and the predatory snow-white martyn circled in the sky, and with it my death approached. And this kind maiden took me, smiled kindly at me, and easily lowered me into the sea. I came alive again...

And I’ll teach her well how to swim, dive, dance funny dances, I’ll tell her wonderful tales, ”said the guinea pig,“ because she feeds me, honestly shares her food with me. I would die without her...

And I, - the babich bird answered thoughtfully, - and I will tell her the news, which no one here knows. I was across the sea, I heard: ships and galleys would arrive here. On those ships and galleys there are marvelous people with forelocks (they are called Cossacks). They are not afraid of anyone, and they don’t even give gifts to the ancient sea, like other seafaring merchants, they only beat it with oars, they don’t respect it. And the sea was angry with the forelocks, and the evil fate condemned them all to sink, to give treasures to stones, but to us, sea servants. Nobody knows the big secret. And I must tell her, the merciful one, for the fact that she also saved me. Some villain broke my wings with an arrow, and I was dying on the green waves. And this dear girl caught me, whispered blood, applied healing herbs, fed, watered, looked after me until my wings grew together. For this, I will reveal to her a big secret ...

Be quiet! - rustled, waking up, angry waves. "Shut up, it's none of your business!" No one dares to resist the formidable.

Waves pounced on the stones, angrily rumbling between them. Frightened, the pig and the fish dived to the bottom, and the bird took off into the sky. But the waves woke up late: the girl heard the secret, quickly jumped to her feet and called loudly:

Come back, baby bird, come back! Tell me more about the secret! I don't need pearls, corals, merry dances, or wonderful fairy tales. Better yet, tell me where to look for forelock lads, how to save the untalented from misfortune?

And the waves are raging, and the waves are roaring:

Be quiet! Don't ask, stupid child. Humble yourself! It’s better not to argue with the sea: after all, the sea punishes heavily!

And the girl thinks: “Okay, rage, green waves, blacken with anger, rage. I will not give you those brave people to be devoured. I will pluck my mediocre brothers from the throat of the predatory sea! I won't say a word to my father. After all, he is old, and he cannot fight, but there will be a big bad weather, I see.

And the day is gone. And the sun went down to the sea. And silence came. Only one can hear in the darkness how the old man mutters, gathering for his night post.

The daughter said goodbye to her father, lay down in the cave. And as soon as her father began to kindle a fire, she got up, jumped into the canoe, prepared everything - she was waiting for the storm!

The sea is calm for now. But a rumble is heard in the distance: then a cloud, an ally of the sea, is coming, sparkling with its eyes, waving its black wings at the bright stars. And the stars go out with fear. Here the wind, her messenger, flew in, whistled, trying to put out the fire. But the grandfather guessed, threw in the pitch, and the fire blazed stronger. And the wind recoiled back, embarrassed, and again silence came ...

And again, but closer, a menacing cloud rumbled. And a whole flock of predatory winds swirled, howled, pushing the sleepy waves to the sides. Waves rushed in a crowd to the rocks. And the rocks were thrown at them with pebbles. Greedily, they swallowed the gifts and rushed back to the rocks.

And the cloud finds, and the thunder rumbles, and the lightning flashes predatory. And the storm drives the unfortunate galleys, breaks the masts, tears the sails, bathes in salty waves.

But the rowers bravely fight the sea, the forelocks do not give in! Here the sea drove them to the shore, now it shook them and threw them right on the rocks. And the rocks howled like beasts when they saw such prey. The Cossacks did not have time to blink an eye, the galleys were smashed to smithereens.

The maiden, not knowing fear, directs her boat into the sea, there are enough drowning people, quickly takes it out to the shore. Already here they have gathered a lot, but more still die. And you know the maiden saves, and the maiden does not want to hear that the sea roars menacingly to her:

Hey, back off, don't compete with me! My booty, I won't give it away in vain! Hey, back off, stupid! A terrible fate will punish you. Hey back off!

But in vain! The girl doesn't want to listen. Terrible waves rose, the fragile shuttle was picked up like a shell, thrown with anger on the rocks - smashed.

The girl is crying: she is not crying from pain, she is not crying from fear, she is crying because of the boat. It was a pity to her that there was nothing to save the unfortunate.

"No, I'll try again!" She immediately tore off her clothes and threw herself into the stormy sea. The sea did not take pity: it greedily swallowed her.

But the fate had mercy: the maiden did not die. She fluttered like a gray gull and flew over the sea, sobbing bitterly ...

And the old man did not know what his daughter had done. Yes, those Cossacks whom she saved told everything. The old man, as he stood by the fire, threw himself into the fire with grief ...

Both the daughter and the old man were killed.

But no, they didn't die! Every night a light flickers on the cliff, and gray gulls fly over the cliff, crying, screaming, as soon as they hear a predatory storm: they notify the sailors, but they tell us about an ancient legend, about a glorious girl-gull.

Swan.

In Thrace, the river god Eagra and the muse Calliope had a son, Orpheus. With an expression of a charming face and curls that descended from his high forehead, the child looked like the god Apollo. When he listened to the chirping and singing of birds, his eyes sparkled with joy and excitement. Mother, seeing in him the talent of a musician, took him to the mountains to the foot of Mount Pelion. There, covered with dense olive trees, was the cave of the wise centaur Chi-ron, the teacher of such famous heroes as Hercules, Jason, Lelei. Orpheus quickly learned everything that his wise mentor taught him. While other students preferred running and practicing archery and javelin throwing, Orpheus devoted himself entirely to the sounds of his teacher's music. All the time he played the lyre.

The centaur Chiron knew in advance what fate was destined for his students, and prepared them for future exploits. He knew that Orpheus was destined to become the greatest singer, and taught him how to sing and play. When Orpheus played, he listened attentively, corrected mistakes and taught how to strike the strings so that they would make the most pleasant and gentle sounds. Soon Orpheus mastered the art of singing and playing so much that he surpassed his teacher. Then he himself began to compose songs and hymns. Chiron was delighted with the hymn about truth. Chiron often made Orpheus sing this hymn to the heroes so that they would never forget him and fight for the triumph of truth in the world. "Because," said the wise Chiron, "without truth, there can be no true happiness on Earth."

When Orpheus sang and played the lyre, his beautiful voice carried through the valleys and sounded over the mountains. Not only people were fascinated by his singing and listened with rapture to his sonorous songs, but even the trees bowed their branches and the leaves stopped making noise. Even rocks and mountains listened to the divine songs of Orpheus. Bewitched by his singing, wild bloodthirsty animals gathered around him. From near and far forests, leaving their nests, birds flocked and, having listened, listened to the songs of Orpheus and the wonderful sounds of his lyre. The fame of the singer spread all over the world, and his songs delighted all people on Earth.

The songs of Orpheus became even more tender and beautiful after he married the nymph Eurydice, whom he dearly loved. But their happiness did not last long. Soon Eurydice went for a walk with her nymph friends in the morning and pick flowers in a nearby meadow by the river. Helios generously sent light and heat to Earth. The flowers opened their buds wide to meet his rays and emitted an intoxicating aroma. The nymphs frolicked merrily, and their songs and laughter resounded the forests and mountains. Running through the meadow, Eurydice, without noticing, stepped on a snake, which stuck its poisoned teeth into her leg. Eurydice screamed in pain, her friends ran to her cry, but it was too late. The dead Eurydice fell into their arms. The crying and sobs of the nymphs were so loud that Orpheus heard them. He immediately ran to the meadow. Seeing his beloved dead, he fell into despair. Orpheus grieved for a long time. From his sad songs, it seemed that all nature plunged into despair, as if mourning Eurydice with him.

Nothing could make Orpheus forget Eurydice. Wherever he went, whatever he did, but every day his despair grew stronger. He had no more joy in life. Finally, he decided to go to the underworld and beg Hades and his wife Persephone to return Eurydice to him. Near Tenar, Orpheus descended through a bottomless dark abyss to the sacred river Styx. But how do you get across it? The carrier Charon refused: his job was to transport only dead people, not living people, to the other side of the Styx, to the kingdom of shadows. Orpheus begged Charon in vain. His icy heart was not touched by the grief of Orpheus. Then Orpheus took off his golden lyre from his shoulder, sat down on the bank and began to play. Divine sounds rushed over the black waters of the Styx. They bewitched even Charon, who did not notice how Orpheus climbed into the boat and drove it to the other side. Having crossed to the other side, Orpheus went to the throne of Hades, accompanied by many shadows gathered to the sounds of his wondrous songs.

Appearing before Hades, Orpheus continued to sing and play the lyre. In his song, he expressed the pain caused by the early death of Eurydice, he sang about the suffering that he experienced after her death. And this music and song was so beautiful that even Persephone and Hades shed more than one tear in deep thought.

Saddened Hades, listening to Orpheus, and asked him about the purpose of coming to the underworld. Orpheus asked to return Eurydice to life, because life without her was unbearable. Hades was touched and agreed to return Eurydice to the kingdom of the living, but on one condition: Orpheus must follow the god Hermes, who will lead him out of the underworld, and Eurydice will follow Orpheus, but Orpheus cannot look back at Eurydice; if he turns around and looks at her, Eurydice will forever remain in the realm of the dead.

Orpheus accepted this condition. And so they set off along a narrow and steep path strewn with sharp stones, leading up to the Earth, bathed in the rays of Helios. Their path was difficult. Around only deathly silence and impenetrable darkness, and no matter how Orpheus listened, no steps were heard behind. Isn't Eurydice following him? Doubts began to torment Orpheus. He forgot that Eurydice is still a disembodied shadow in the realm of Hades and therefore he cannot hear her steps.

Already the rays of Helios gradually began to penetrate the darkness, it became brighter. A little more, and Orpheus and Eurydice will come to Earth. But does she go behind Orpheus? Did she stay with Hades? Is there any point in returning to life without her in order to doom yourself to suffering again? Thinking about this, Orpheus forgot about the condition, looked around and saw the shadow of Eurydice. He stretched out his hands to her, but she instantly disappeared into the impenetrable darkness of the realm of the dead ... The second time Orpheus had to go through the loss of Eurydice. His heart was bursting with pain. After all, just a moment before leaving for Earth, along with Eurydice, where they would be illuminated again by the rays of happiness, she, through his fault, disappeared irrevocably in the underworld. For a long time Orpheus poured out his grief for Eurydice in tears. He did not want to return to Earth without her and again went down into the impenetrable darkness. Again he came to the bank of the gloomy river Styx and stood before Charon. But nothing touched the heart of the aged boatman. For seven days and seven nights, Orpheus begged Charon to take him to the other side, play the lyre for him and sing the saddest songs, but they did not touch Charon's icy heart. He did not even let Orpheus near his boat. Broken and desperate, Orpheus returned back and went to his native Thrace.

The songs of Orpheus were silenced. The gentle sounds of his lyre were no longer heard. So for four years he grieved for Eurydice and did not even look at any other woman ...

One spring day, when all nature rejoiced under the golden rays of Helios, multi-colored flowers strewn the branches of trees, everything was fragrant with youth and freshness, and the birds sang merrily, Orpheus seemed to wake up from a deep sleep and took his lyre. He sat down on a hillock and, lightly touching the strings with his fingers, sang. His song resounded around and resounded mountains and valleys. Wild animals gathered near Orpheus and listened to him in rapture, the birds stopped singing, fascinated by his wondrous singing. As if enchanted by his gentle song, the leaves of the trees stopped rustling. All nature listened to the extraordinary singer. At this magical moment, a light breeze brought laughter, screams and screams from somewhere far away. They were Kikonian women who held a celebration in honor of Bacchus. They came closer and closer, and their cries were heard louder and louder. Suddenly one of them, the most drunk, who could hardly stand on her feet, pointed at Orpheus with her hand and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Here he is, our enemy, the misogynist!"

A hail of stones and thirs fell on Orpheus. His song broke off, and he fell dead from the hillock. Like bloodthirsty hyenas, enraged bacchantes attacked his body. They tore it apart and threw the lyre and the head of Orpheus, stained with blood, into the waters of the river Gebr (river Maritsa).

In the underworld of shadows, Eurydice met Orpheus, and nothing could separate them.

The gods turned the singer Orpheus into a snow-white swan and raised him to heaven in the form of a constellation. Widely opening its wings, stretching out its long neck, the swan flies to the Earth, to its beloved Eurydice.

The waters of Gebra carried the lyre of Orpheus, gently rocking it on the quiet waves. Its strings responded with a sad song that resounded the Thracian valley and the Rhodopes. All nature was saddened. The death of Orpheus was mourned by trees, flowers and herbs. In the forests, the sonorous songs of birds, which also mourned for the singer, fell silent, and even wild animals shed tears. The rocks in the mountains burst into tears, and their tears flowed in stormy streams. Rivers overflowed, and muddy waters flowed to the distant sea to pour their pain and sorrow into it.

Dressed in black clothes, with their hair down as a sign of sorrow, the nymphs came out of the streams and rivers. But not carefree laughter, but weeping for the marvelous singer Orpheus resounded far across the neighborhood. And the river, immersed in sorrow, carried away the lyre and the head of Orpheus farther and farther and, together with its pain, splashed everything into the boundless sea. They took the lyre and the head of the wave and carried it to the island of Lesvos. From a light breeze, the strings of the lyre quivered softly, and the enchanting sounds spread far from the island.

The gods turned the golden lyre of Orpheus into the constellation Lyra, leaving it forever in the sky. It reminds people of the magical songs of the legendary singer, with which he fascinated all nature.

Dolphin

Dolphins, familiar to everyone and such cute creatures, are often depicted among different peoples, clearly symbolizing something. Let's think - what? Maybe our ancient ancestors guessed that dolphins are not fish, although they live in the water. In fact, dolphins are creatures living in two elements, sea and air. They belong to two worlds and, as the ancients believed, serve as a link between the earthly and heavenly. They are the kings of fish, and the saviors of shipwrecked people, and escorting souls to the other world. They became an allegory (symbol) of salvation, freedom, nobility, love and pleasure. Two dolphins, looking in different directions, personified the duality of nature, death and birth, and two dolphins together - the golden mean between extremes, a symbol of balance.

In Sumerian mythology, the dolphin is associated with Enki, the god of wisdom, the owner of the underground world ocean of fresh waters. According to legend, people lived like animals until the first man Oannes (an epithet of the god Enki) emerged from the sea in the form of a half-dolphin. And by

another version - half-fish, half-man. He taught the inhabitants of Babylonia writing, science, construction, and agriculture. In addition, the dolphin is an attribute of the goddess Ishtar and is dedicated to Atargatis, the goddess of fertility and prosperity in West Semitic mythology. Also among the Egyptians, Isis - the goddess of not only fertility, but also wind, water and navigation, was often depicted with a dolphin. Among the Hindus, the dolphin is the horse of Kama, the god of love.

In Minoan culture, in ancient Crete, the dolphin personified power on the seas. Almost four thousand years ago, ancient artists depicted dolphins on a fresco in the palace of Knossos, Minos. There, like sea deities, huge animals, gliding smoothly, perform their dance in transparent waters, protecting the peace and tranquility of the underwater kingdom. Among the Greeks, dolphins often accompany the gods - Aphrodite, Poseidon, Apollo, Dionysus. If he is with Delphic Apollo, then he symbolizes light and the sun, but if he is depicted with Aphrodite or Eros, then he has lunar symbolism. Dolphin is one of the incarnations of Poseidon. According to legend, one of the dolphins married the god of the seas and Amphitrite. After a fight with the monstrous Python, Apollo, in the form of a dolphin, catches up with the ship of the Cretan sailors and brings it to the pier of the city of Chrisa. From there, through a fertile valley, sailors come to the foot of Parnassus, where the main shrine of the Hellenic world, the Delphic oracle, was located.

According to legend, the Tyrrhenian sea robbers were turned into dolphins, who did not see the powerful god Dionysus in the beautiful young man they captured. Since then, they are destined to serve forever in his retinue. In the ancient mysteries, Dionysus was compared to a magical dolphin diving into the abyss and rising to the surface of the water... He is immortal and exists outside the boundaries of space and time, either appearing or disappearing in an endless chain of incarnations.

In Christian symbolism, the dolphin symbolized Jesus Christ as the creator and savior. A dolphin with an anchor or a ship represents the church led by Christ. A dolphin pierced by a trident or chained to an anchor means the crucified Christ.

The myths of many peoples speak of a dolphin as a divine being, possessing the gift of prophecy, capable of flying out of the water with one jump and reaching the sky in order to take its place among the constellations.

geese

Rome was attacked many times by enemies. In 390 there was a war with the Gauls. Having crossed the Alps, the Gauls moved deep into Italy and soon laid siege to Rome. The defenders of the city courageously repulsed the attacks of the enemy. But food supplies soon ran out, and famine began in the city. Everything that was edible was eaten. Only the sacred geese remained that lived in the temple of the goddess Juno on Capitol Hill. Many times the hungry defenders of the city thought about these geese, but they were afraid of the wrath of the great goddess - the patroness of Rome.

One day, in the middle of the night, a noise woke one of the warriors. Waking up, Mark Manlius (that was his name) listened: on the top of the hill the geese were cackling. Mark Manlius quickly climbed the city wall and literally came face to face with the Gaul. That night, the enemy secretly attempted to storm the city. Mark Manlius threw the Gaul off the wall. Falling, the enemy screamed. Other Gauls also began to fall. From the scream and noise, the geese cackled even louder. The defenders of Rome instantly awakened and began to defend the city. The Gauls were left with nothing. How to get away from the walls of the city. The Romans won.

Shark

The shark is one of the main characters of the myths and legends of the peoples inhabiting the islands of the Polynesian and Hawaiian archipelagos.

For some primitive tribes, the shark was a vengeful, but deity, for others, an evil spirit full of deceit. Often the worship of the shark took on very complex forms: the shark played several roles, the man turned into a shark, the shark into a man. On many islands in the Pacific, this terrifying deity was not satisfied with occasionally carrying a man, woman, or child into the sea during his mysterious raids. It demanded the highest tribute - human sacrifices. And on a certain day, the leader or high priest of the tribe went out to the people, accompanied by an attendant who carried a noose that looked like a shark trap. At the sign of the leader, he threw it with force into the crowd. The person on whom this noose fell was immediately strangled on the spot. Then, according to a certain ritual, his body was cut into pieces and thrown into the sea to insatiable deities.

One day on the island of Oahu, a young woman was struggling to call her brother for help. When her brother heard her, she had already given birth and wrapped the baby in a blanket. The child's mother was still screaming when her brother arrived. Then he asked her why she was screaming. She asked him to open the blanket and look at the baby. The brother did this and saw that the child had the body of a shark and the head of a man. The surprised brother told his sister to release the child into the ocean, otherwise the child would inevitably die. She refused to listen to him because the child was hers despite the ugly body.

In the end, her brother's argument convinced her of the futility of her wishes and that it was in the best interests of the child to release the child into the ocean. They both went to Black Point in Cala, and when they arrived, the brother released the child into the water. While placing the child in the water, the brother spoke to him in Hawaiian. The child then made a single splash with its tail and swam away.

Every morning, the mother returned to the same place to collect seaweed. While she was working, the baby shark would appear and feed on milk from her breasts.

Time passed, and the child turned into an adult well-formed shark.

One morning, while her mother was gathering seaweed, a school of sharks began to swim around her. Suddenly, her baby shark appeared next to her and hit her with his tail fin with such force that the mother was thrown into shallow water, far from the other sharks. This was followed by a fierce battle of her child with other sharks. The mother was unaware of the outcome of this battle and she never saw her "child" again.

Tired of endless waiting, the woman eventually returned to her birthplace on the island of Maui.

One day, ten years later, she and her mother were gathering seaweed on the shore, but did not return home. Her brother and friends started looking for them. The search party found these two women, dead, floating with their bags filled with seaweed right on top of them. The group attempted to save the bodies, but a large shark prevented them from doing so. The woman's brother recognized her as his sister's lost offspring, a baby shark.

World creation.

One of the versions of the Slavic myth about the creation of the world. The ancient Slavs imagined the world to be like a big egg. In the middle of the Universe, as the Slavs saw it, like a yolk, the Earth is located.

At the beginning of time, the world was shrouded in darkness. And there was only Rod in this darkness - our progenitor, the spring of the universe, the father of the gods. And Rod was enclosed in an egg, he was an unsprouted seed, he was an unopened bud. But the end came to imprisonment and Rod gave birth to Love - Mother Lada, destroying her prison by her power. And then the world was filled with Love, and Rod gave birth to the kingdom of heaven, and under it created the heavenly. He cut the umbilical cord with a rainbow, separated the Ocean - the blue sea from the heavenly waters with a firmament of stone. He erected three vaults in heaven. Divided Light and Darkness, Truth and Falsehood. Rod then gave birth to Mother Earth, and the Earth went into the dark abyss, she was buried in the Ocean.

The sun then came out of his face - the very Kind of heaven, the progenitor and father of the gods! A bright moon - from his chest, frequent stars - from his eyes, clear dawns - from his eyebrows, dark nights - yes from his thoughts, violent winds - from his breath, rain and snow, and hail - from his tears, thunder with lightning - his voice became - the very Kind of heaven, the progenitor and father of the gods!

The heavens and all under heaven were born for love. He is the father of the gods, he is the mother of the gods, he is born by himself and will be born again. Rod - all the gods, and all under heaven, he - what was, and what is to be, what was born and what will be born.

Rod gave birth to the heavenly Svarog and breathed into him his mighty spirit. He gave him four heads, so that he - the world looked in all directions, so that nothing would hide from him, so that he would notice everything in heaven. Svarog began to pave the way for the Sun across the blue vault of heaven, so that the horse-days raced across the sky, after the morning so that the day began, and to replace the day, the night flew.

Svarog began to walk around the sky, began to look around his possessions. He sees - the Sun rolls across the sky, The bright moon sees the stars, and under it the Ocean spreads and worries, foams with foam. He looked around his possessions, did not notice only Mother Earth.

Where is mother earth? - saddened. Then he noticed - a small dot in the ocean-sea turns black. It’s not a dot in the sea that turns black, it’s a gray duck swimming, generated by sulfur foam. He swims in the sea, as if spinning on needles, does not sit in one place, does not stand - everything jumps and spins.

Do you know where the earth lies? - Svarog asked the gray duck.

Below me, the Earth, she says, is buried deep in the Ocean...

At the behest of the Heavenly Clan, at the will and desire of the welder, you get the Earth from the depths of the sea! - demanded Svarog then.

The duck said nothing, dived into the Ocean-Sea, hid in the abyss for a whole year. As the year ended - rose from the bottom.

I did not have enough spirit a little bit, I did not swim to the Earth a bit. I didn’t swim all the hair ...

Help us, Rod! - called Svarog.

Then the violent winds rose, the blue sea roared ... Rod blew strength into the duck with the wind. And Svarog said to the gray duck:

At the behest of the Heavenly Family, at the will and desire of the welder, you get the Earth from the depths of the sea!

Again the duck said nothing, dived into the Ocean-Sea and hid in the abyss for two years. As the term is over - rose from the bottom.

I did not have enough spirit a little bit, I did not swim to the Earth a bit. I missed half a hair...

Help, father! - Svarog called again.

Then the violent winds rose again, and menacing clouds went across the sky, a great storm broke out, the voice of Rod - thunder shook the heavens, and lightning struck the duck. Rod breathed that great strength into a formidable storm into the gray duck.

And Svarog cursed the gray duck:

At the behest of the Heavenly Family, at the desire-desire of the welder, you get the Earth from the depths of the sea!

For the third time, the duck did not say anything, dived into the Ocean-Sea and hid in the abyss for three years. As the term is over - rose from the bottom. She brought a handful of earth in her beak.

Svarog took a handful of earth, began to crush in his palms.

Warm up, Red Sun, light up, Bright moon, help, violent winds! We will mold from the damp earth the Earth-mother, the mother of the nurse. Help us, Rod! Lada, help!

The earth is crushed by Svarog - the Sun warms, the Moon shines and the winds blow. The winds blew the earth from the palm, and it fell into the blue sea. The Red Sun warmed her - the Cheese Earth baked on top with a crust, then cooled her Bright Moon.

So Svarog created Mother Earth. He established three underground vaults in it - three underground kingdoms. And so that the Earth would not go into the sea again, Rod gave birth under it to Yusha, a powerful one - a wondrous, powerful snake. His lot is hard - to hold Mother Earth for many thousands of years.

Thus Mother Earth Cheese was born. So on the Serpent she rested. If Yusha-Serpent moves - Mother Earth Cheese will turn.

Russian State Pedagogical University. A.I. Herzen

Faculty of Fine Arts

Department of Art Education and Museum Pedagogy

COURSE WORK

IN ART HISTORY

"The Image of Animals in Folk Art"

Completed by a student

III course OZO group No. 4

Ivanova L.G.

INTRODUCTION

Chapter I. Animals as a symbol in folk art.

1 Folk art: specificity and symbolism.

2 Zoomorphic pendants.

Chapter II. The image of a bird in folk art.

1 Bird symbol.

2 whistle birds.

3 Image of a bird in Russian folk embroidery.

4 Bird's egg in folk art.

CONCLUSION

Bibliography.

INTRODUCTION

folk art folklore bird

Course work is devoted to the image of animals in folk art.

We live among symbols without even realizing it.

In everyday life, works of art, a person often replaces various phenomena and concepts with a sign symbolizing the elements, gods, animals. These marks may vary. From geometrically simple (cross, triangle, disk) to the image of a person and other living beings, their combinations.

A symbol is a sign that has a system-functional meaning. It is created and used in public life for a specific purpose - the storage and transmission of information, sometimes intended for certain circles or groups. The symbol determines the conditionality, informativeness, ambiguity.

Symbolism is a system of signs or figurative structures, saturated with a variety of semantic shades. And the symbols themselves are closely connected with ideology, everyday life, and are considered a kind of "instruction" for human behavior in society.

At the same time, an allegory is a simple encrypted thought with the only possible content.

And the third concept, widely used in art, is an attribute - an object, an animal, a sign - which is depicted with a certain character and by which it can be identified.

In primitive times, when a system of symbols was taking shape, people tried to determine the nature and phenomena surrounding them with the help of signs, totems, gods, and also to influence them in the desired direction.

Cult symbolism, which has undergone minor changes, retained its significance for centuries and even millennia. A clear system of symbols of Ancient Egypt, of course, was not a discovery of that time. It was created over the centuries and not by one person, but by society as a whole.

Ancient symbolism borrowed a lot from Ancient Egypt, became widespread in Western Europe after the crusade to Constantinople in the XIII century.

Symbols are multi-valued. Each sign can have a large number of meanings and, most importantly, they can not only complement, but also contradict each other.

There are two ways to create symbolic systems. One develops, is filled with new values ​​in a certain region, the other is inherited or migrates from other regions. Probably, this explains the fact that in various epics of the world and folk ideas there is a significant similarity in the use of symbols and their meanings. This is especially noticeable in the works of ancient Egyptian and ancient authors, in Irish sagas, German epics, Slavic epics, and in general among the peoples of Indo-European culture.

At the same time, some symbols belong to a certain region, have developed and are used in the life of this society.

Much is now forgotten. However, the preservation of the old symbols - according to D.S. Likhachev - is one of the tasks of modern society and is considered by him as the concept of "ecology of culture".

One of the embodiments of symbolism in world culture is folk art.

Russian folk art is a kind of Troy, hidden from us by layers of cultural epochs. First of all, it is a fusion of customs, styles, rituals of many peoples inhabiting our land, where geography has always dominated religion and blood.

Some crafts have a long history and traditions that go back to antiquity, others have arisen before our eyes, literally in the last decade. They are very diverse.

Even before the advent of writing, people began to write their books, using ornamental signs, images of birds, animals, people, and plants. In these books, he talked about his life, about his beliefs, customs, his idea of ​​the world - in a word, about everything that surrounded a person, what he carried in himself, and what Georgy Gachev calls the national cosmos.

And many centuries after the invention of writing, and even to this day, the people continue this work, reproducing the features and cuts, and signs of the people's memory, perhaps even forgetting their meaning.

The purpose of this course work is to consider the image of animals in folk art.

Work tasks:

identify the specifics of folk art;

consider the image of a bird in folk art.

Chapter I. Animals as a symbol in folk art

1 Folk art: specificity and symbolism

In its pre-princely period, being free, the Russian land gave shelter to many tribes and peoples fleeing conquerors, famine, conflicts - from the south, west and east. And only by the end of the first millennium did they try to unite into a kind of super-ethnos, within the limits of both a single supra-general Russian language and a single supra-general God, not forgetting the faiths and customs of their tribes that they brought with them. That is why, speaking about the main plots of Russian folk art, one has to turn to the experience of the cultures of both our north and the west, south and east, and see in folk art a kind of supertext of the common book of people's memory.

Few now remember that clay and wooden figures, images on fabric in the distant past participated in magical rites, were a visible, real embodiment of totems - the mythical ancestors of a given clan (tribe), idols, spirits, gods, people and animals sacrificed powerful forces of nature. But today we can make an attempt to understand, to read what was written in the folk book. The materials on which she wrote were different. Genres are also different - toys, embroidery, household utensils, housing and clothing.

Folk toy - in its original form a cult and ritual sculpture, an instrument of magic - at the same time was a phenomenon of folk art, in which the aesthetic and sacred principles were merged into one.

Echoes of ancient paganism are preserved in the images of toys, there is a “memory” of the distant past: of the beliefs and superstitious ideas of the people. As this issue was developed, it turned out that it is significant, very serious, and the images of folk toys often have in their life and origin not only centuries, but also thousands of years ago, sometimes even more ancient. The toy combined two amazing features: on the one hand, it often turned out to be very ancient in shape, comparable to samples, say, even of the early antique period (such are the similarities of many female clay figurines with the well-known and now snakes - from the Palace of Knossos in Crete, discovered by the famous archaeologist Evans); on the other hand, the toys turned out to be filled with amazing vitality, which made them native to every era, despite their long existence and the slight changes that took place in their forms. Clay and wooden horse-whistle are always extremely generalized in form, expressive; the master does not convey any details, but focuses our attention on the head of the skate, on his muzzle and flexible neck; the torso is given in an extremely generalized, simple way, and in the further form we seem to “guess” the appearance of the skate. Its image echoes, for example, the images of bronze skates-pendants of the ancient Slavic tribes of the Vyatichi, Radimichi, Krivichi and other XI-XIII centuries. The resemblance is striking. We see the same images, but in wood and clay, on the toys of the Russian North, in a number of Gorodets toys, in numerous and unusually diverse toys made of clay, Abashev, Filimonov, Vyatka (Dymkov) and many others. And everywhere they express an ancient, full of great content and sometimes quite complex mythological image. Of course, it has long been forgotten, lost, but the efforts of scientists lift the veil over the mystery, and we begin to see what is no longer visible at first glance. Their ornamentation is also often ancient: it is a primitive geometric pattern, the same as many archaeological items, not only on ancient sculpture, but also on items of various types and purposes in general. This antiquity of the ornament of toys was noted by many, and, as a rule, it accompanies the most ancient toys in form and image. So simple and extremely laconic in their strong and strong coloring are northern wooden and clay skates; in the Gorky region, the most primitive wooden skates were made in Lyskovo and Yakovlev; their painting has a simple geometric character; many ancient images were preserved by Filimonovskaya and Abashevskaya clay toys. Now many other centers of the simplest clay toys have been discovered and are being directly investigated. It is very typical for the northern and especially central regions of our country, where clay toys are very widespread, where craftsmen sculpt figures of horses and riders, animals and birds, some of them serve as whistles (this is usually the most ancient type of product).

Animals in painting

I am sure that you have often admired the paintings in which animals were depicted. Such works very often attract us and arouse our interest, as well as portraits of people in whom we are also interested. Therefore, paintings with painted animals are a kind of "their portrait". And I also want to remind you that it was with the image of animals in caves, on the rocks that fine art began. Although the beginning goes far into the past, the tradition of drawing animals has remained. And thanks to her, we continue to look at such works with admiration, respect, and sometimes with a smile.

I want to briefly talk about the animal genre and its features, and then I invite you to see the work of the American artist - animal painter Persis Clayton Weirs (Persis Clayton Weirs)

Animal genre - a kind of direction in the visual arts. The name of this genre comes from the Latin "animal", in translation - "animal". It combines natural science and artistic principles, and the main task of the animal painter is the accurate depiction of the animal and its artistic and figurative characteristics. You also need to be able to turn on decorative expressiveness or endow animals with features, actions and even experiences. Therefore, the image of animals in the visual arts requires a special approach and very fine craftsmanship. Perhaps this has influenced the fact that many works of animal artists are recognized as high works of art. One such author is Persis Clayton Weirs.

Persis Clayton Weirs - American artist - animal painter, without special art education, learned to draw animals, watching them in nature. In her first paintings, horses are mostly present, but in the future she already paints not only domestic animals, but also wild ones. Apparently, the nature that she sees while constantly living in Maine influenced the development of her talent for drawing. She started drawing seriously at the age of 23. She not only draws, but also illustrated several books. Her paintings were shown at annual exhibitions in Georgetown and other cities. She has exhibited at the Washington International Horse Show and the St. Louis Galleries, and one of her works has been featured in the Birds in Art exhibition at the Lee Yoki Woodson Art Museum in Waso. The original of this painting was selected to participate in the international exhibition in Beijing. In her works she conveys love and respect for nature and its charm.

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In the plots of Paleolithic drawings and sculptures, their direct connection with the basis of the existence of people of the Ice Age is clearly evident: with the hunt for bulls, horses, goats, mammoth and rhinoceros. The cave dweller of the ice age had to deal with such predators as a lion, a leopard, a wolf, a hyena.

It is not surprising that the image of the beast, hunting and its results are presented in many cases quite clearly, with all the expressiveness that Paleolithic man was capable of. At the same time, the primitive artist depicted hunting not only because of an internal need, but also with a very specific practical purpose.

As evidenced by ethnographic data, the image of hunting, killed and wounded animals, or even just animal figures always aims to bewitch and bewitch the beast, master it, and ensure the success of the hunt.

This naive belief has a logical basis - a principle that can be expressed by the formula: like causes like. The depicted beast is "participated" in the real beast, therefore the wound inflicted on the image of the beast means the wound inflicted on the living beast. The cave paintings show wounded, dying animals, wounds, as well as the weapons with which they were inflicted.

The famous dying bear from the Three Brothers Cave, engraved on a rock, is also presented in this form. The beast, huge and heavy, is shown in a miserable and helpless state, like a target for numerous blows. Dozens of ovals and circles - wounds - are inscribed in the contour of his body. Blood, depicted in whole bunches of strokes, gushing from the open mouth, and with it, life leaves.

The drawings of the wounded animals specifically show the cause of their death. On the body of a bear from Montespan, oblique lines converging in the form of a triangle are scratched. These are undoubtedly darts or arrows with long teeth, like a harpoon. In addition to hunting animals with spears, darts or arrows, other methods of hunting, especially mammoth and rhinoceros, with the help of traps and wolf pits, as well as various structures in the form of hedges or even nets, should have been reflected in the Paleolithic paintings.

It is very likely that these tektiforms - hunting pits with stakes at the bottom - are depicted on the figures of mammoths in the Font de Gomes cave, where they look like a hut shown in section. It has a gable roof. Inside, beams or rafters are shown with oblique stripes. In the middle rises a central pillar, the end of which protrudes outward. In the Cave of Bernifal, a mammoth is engraved inside a tectiform. He must have been caught and is sitting in a trap.

In the caves of Spain, in Altamira, as well as in Castillo, mysterious signs in the form of "ladders" and "ribbons" are painted on the walls, which can conditionally indicate the device of hunting fences for catching animals. There is one scene in Montespan, which shows a horse, shaded with vertical lines, as if caught in a trapping fence - a palisade.

Paleolithic rock paintings were meant to magically ensure the luck of a hunt. The idea of ​​mastering the beast, of defeating it, the desire to ensure the success of the hunt by witchcraft methods is the main idea of ​​Paleolithic art. However, it would be wrong to limit magical rites and related ideas about the role and significance of cave images only to the magic of killing.

At the other pole of primitive magic were the rites of resurrection and reproduction of animals - the magic of fertility. Paleolithic man, like us, thought not only about today, but also about tomorrow, sought to look into the future. The hunter knew that by mercilessly exterminating animals, he undermines the basis of his own well-being and developed a whole system of magical rites that were supposed to ensure the resurrection of dead animals and the reproduction of animal livestock.

The idea of ​​fertility is expressed in clay images of two bison from the Tyuc d'Auduber cave. The animals seem to be running in the same direction, with the one behind chasing the one in front. Anterior female beast. He has an open vulva. Posterior, with a tense phallus, male. The idea of ​​reproduction of animals, expressed so insistently, in such a naive form, obviously, lay at the basis of all witchcraft rites that took place under the arches of this cave.

The idea of ​​reproduction also determined the features of the image of a number of animal figures. Their sagging heavy bellies clearly indicate that the artist pursued a specific goal - to depict a pregnant female.

The rites of reproduction and resurrection of animals were preserved until recently among some northern peoples. Perhaps their long-standing prototype was reflected in the colorful composition from Nio. On the left, there is a figure of a bison in an unusual position. A heavy and massive beast stands on its hind legs. His front legs are bent and lowered down. In Nio, the bison is combined with conventional signs: red spots are neatly drawn in front of it, from which regular ovals are formed. A little further on, typical "claviforms" are visible, similar to clubs or stylized female figures.

The peculiar posture of the bison in Nio and its unusual surroundings with symbolic signs indicate that this whole unique composition has some kind of deep meaning, most likely associated with hunting rites. Max Raphael wrote that the bison from Nio is shown not alive, but dead, during the ceremony of his "propitiation" and "reconciliation" with the hunters, and the conventional signs indicate the weapons and sacrifices placed in front of him. Depicting weapons, clubs - claviforms, the clan that performed the ritual sought to "shift" the blame onto the weapon, just as the hunters of Siberia did, who told the beast that it was not they who killed him, but a gun, ax, knife or bow.

A new exhibition at the Sergey Andriyaka School of Watercolor presents paintings, drawings (including book drawings), sculptures, examples of arts and crafts with scenes on the theme of wildlife

Sergey Andriyaka watercolor school, November 30, 2012 - February 2, 2013
Moscow, Gorokhovsky per., 17

Today, the exhibition "Animals in the Fine Arts" opens at the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the School of Watercolors by Sergey Andriyaka. The exposition includes painting, graphics, sculpture, examples of decorative and applied arts with scenes on the theme of wildlife; book illustration, where the main characters of the works are animals, birds, insects and underwater inhabitants created by artists of the 18th - 21st centuries.

The fauna of our planet is so great and diverse that it is simply impossible to tell about all the masters of this genre from its origins to the present day within the framework of one exhibition. And since it is deployed within the walls of an educational institution - the School of Watercolors by Sergey Andriyaka, the authors of the project reveal this topic in the form of answers to the questions: “Why today, in the age of digital technology and the Internet, be able to draw animals? Where did the masters of the past draw inspiration, who were their teachers? In what area of ​​creative activity can modern artists painting animals and birds apply their knowledge and skills?

Thanks to this educational and methodological approach, visitors have a unique opportunity to see animals through the eyes of animal painters of different eras and "specialties": painters - masters of the genre, leading pedagogical activities; graphic designers - designers of children's books and masters of scientific illustration, animated films; sculptors whose works are in the collections of the Museum of Ceramics; artists who paint wild animals and birds in their natural surroundings. Looking around the exhibition, an attentive visitor will highlight several themes in the exposition: “portraits of animals”, “master and student”, “mother and child”, “children not in a cage”, “an excursion into the history of animalistics”, etc. The only thing that was deliberately abandoned authors, so it is from the scenes of hunting, violence and death.

You will see a cautious tiger hiding in the reeds; a young foal touchingly clinging to her mother's neck; a long-eared dog looking straight into your soul with huge eyes ... One of the "pearls" of the exhibition was the painting "Parrots", written in 1766 by the German painter I. F. Groot, whom art historians consider one of the founders of animalistics in Russia. The work came to the exhibition from the funds of the State Tretyakov Gallery. And you will also see sheets from the album “The Image of an Animal in Art” by the famous animal sculptor V. A. Vatagin, old atlases with portraits of mysterious creatures created by the imagination of medieval artists; admire the chess pieces, where one of the kings is made in the form of a lion, the king of animals, the other is a polar bear, the owner of the Arctic; learn how and with what to draw underwater; you will see a magnificent ornament, where images of fish, crabs, shells and water plants are intricately intertwined. And illustrations for children's books about animals and working materials for cartoons will cheer you up and help explain to your child the difference between an animal painter and an animator.

A significant part of the exhibits that came to the exhibition from the funds of both art and natural science museums in Moscow is presented to a wide audience for the first time. During the exhibition, it is planned to conduct trial lessons in watercolor painting, round tables, excursions and meetings with artists.

Source: press release of Sergey Andriyaka's School of Watercolors

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