In the Russian fairy tale about Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka, a boy, turned into a goat after drinking some water from a goat's trail, sings to his drowned sister, running along the river bank:
Many attribute this to folk fantasy and just a fairy tale plot. However, it is not. This motive appeared in the fairy tale for a reason. It was originally a ritual Christmas song. And, of course, it is not so short.
In his book “The Winter Period of the Russian Folk Agricultural Calendar of the 16th-19th centuries. Essays on the history of folk beliefs (1957) V. I. Chicherov gives this carol in the following form:
The song is full of symbolism, because the famous Christmastide action was “Driving a goat” through the village, and maidens for marriage were presented as drowned women in the songs. Like the described goat sacrifice itself, it may be a rite of initiation of a young man into adulthood or a wedding motive, and not a real murder of an animal. After all, it is known that the Christmastide period was filled with just initiative and wedding moments.
The complaint song of the goat, by the way, in Greek is "Tragedy", since "tragos" is a goat, and "Odia" is a song. Tragedies are the oldest theatrical genre dedicated to Dionysus, the god of winemaking and initiation, and as they say, at the beginning of the performance, a goat was sacrificed right on the stage. Meanwhile, in Russia, during the Christmas week, it was customary to sing the so-called "Grapes" and arrange theatrical performances of mummers. The parallels suggest themselves.
And one more curious moment, this time from astrology. The Yule period passes under the sign of Capricorn, which is a creature of a double nature: above - a goat, and below - a fish's tail. So in this Christmas carol we see a kid and a drowned woman (mermaid) communicating with each other.
Interesting "coincidences", isn't it?
Author: peremyshlin
