What is an epic
Do you know what an epic is? And how is it different from a fairy tale? Epic is a heroic epic of the Russian people. Heroic - because it deals with the great heroic heroes of antiquity. And the word "epic" comes from the Greek language and means "narration", "story". Thus, epics are stories about the exploits of famous heroes. Surely some of them are already familiar to you: Ilya Muromets, who defeated the Nightingale the Robber; Dobrynya Nikitich, who fought with the Serpent; merchant and guslar Sadko, who sailed on the sea in his beautiful ship and visited the underwater kingdom. In addition to them, there are stories about Vasily Buslaevich, Svyatogora, Mikhailo Potyk and others.
Bogatyrs
The most amazing thing is that these are not just fictional characters. Scientists believe that many of them actually lived many centuries ago. Imagine: in the 9th-12th centuries the state of Russia did not yet exist, but there was the so-called Kievan Rus. Various Slavic peoples lived on its territory, and the capital was the city of Kiev, in which the Grand Duke ruled. In epics, heroes often travel to Kiev to serve Prince Vladimir: for example, Dobrynya saved the prince's niece Zabava Putyatichna from the terrible Serpent, Ilya Muromets defended the capital city and Vladimir himself from the Pagan Idol, Dobrynya and Danube went to woo a bride for the prince. Times were turbulent, many enemies from neighboring lands raided Russia, so the heroes did not have to be bored.
It is believed that Ilya Muromets, known from the epics, was a warrior who lived in the 12th century. He bore the nickname Chobotok (that is, Boot), because he once managed to fight off enemies with the help of these shoes. For many years he fought with enemies and glorified himself with feats of arms, but with age, tired of wounds and battles, he became a monk at Theodosius Monastery, which in our time is called the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. And so, today, having arrived in the city of Kiev, you can see for yourself the grave of the Monk Ilya of Muromets in the famous caves of the Lavra. Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich were also famous heroes in Russia, mentions of which are preserved in the oldest documents - chronicles. In Russian epics there are also women-heroes, they are called by the old word Polenitsa. The Danube fought with one of them. The wife of Stavr Godinovich was distinguished by her courage and resourcefulness,who managed to lead Prince Vladimir himself around her finger and free her husband from prison.
How epics have come down to our days
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For many centuries and generations, epics have not been written down, but passed down from mouth to mouth by storytellers. Moreover, unlike fairy tales, they were not just told, but sung. In the villages of ancient Russia, which eventually turned into the Russian state, the peasants, doing routine work (for example, sewing or weaving nets), so as not to get bored, sang stories of heroic deeds. The son and daughter learned these tunes from their parents, then passed them on to their children. Thus, the glory and deeds of people who lived centuries ago were preserved in the memory of the people. Just imagine: at the beginning of the 20th century - in an era when trains and cinema already existed in large cities, in a distant northern village, at the end of the world, the old peasant, like his fathers and grandfathers, hummed epics that glorified the hero Dobrynya - his uncle Prince Vladimir and the glorious warrior of ancient Russia!!! Dobrynya and this peasant were separated by many centuries and a huge distance, and nevertheless the glory of the hero overcame these obstacles.