"The Tale of Bygone Years" as a literary monument. Moscow State University of Printing Arts

According to the chronicle, immediately after the adoption of Christianity by Russia, Vladimir Svyatoslavich “began to take deliberate children from [noble people] children, and start giving book learning” (PVL, p. 81). For training, books were brought from Bulgaria. Old Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) and Old Russian languages ​​are so close that Rus' was able to use a ready-made Old Church Slavonic alphabet, and Bulgarian books, being formally in a foreign language, essentially did not require translation. This greatly facilitated the acquaintance of Rus' with the monuments Byzantine literature, which for the most part penetrated into Rus' in the Bulgarian translation.

Later, during the time of Yaroslav the Wise, in Rus' they begin to translate directly from Greek. The chronicle reports that Yaroslav collected “many scribes and translations from Greek into Slovenian writing. And many books have been written off” (PVL, p. 102). The intensity of translation activity is confirmed both by direct data (lists of translated monuments that have come down to us or references to them in original works) and indirectly: the influx of translated literature at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th centuries. was not only a consequence of the established cultural ties of Rus' with Bulgaria or Byzantium, but above all was caused by an acute need, a kind of state necessity: having adopted Christianity, Rus' needed literature for worship, to get acquainted with the philosophical and ethical doctrines of the new religion, the ritual and legal customs of the church and monastic life.

For the activities of the Christian Church in Rus', liturgical books were needed first of all. The obligatory set of books that were necessary for worship in each individual church included the Aprakos Gospel, the Aprakos Apostle, the Missal, the Trebnik, the Psalter, the Lenten Triodion, the Colored Triodion, and the Common Menaion. Considering that in the annals in the narrative of the events of the 9th-11th centuries. 88 cities are mentioned (data of B. V. Sapunov), each of which had from several units to several dozen churches, then the number of books necessary for their functioning will amount to many hundreds. Only a few copies of manuscripts from the 11th-12th centuries have come down to us, but they confirm our ideas about the above-mentioned repertoire of liturgical books.

If the transfer of liturgical books to Russian soil was dictated by the needs of the church service, and their repertoire was regulated by the canon of liturgical practice, then in relation to other genres of Byzantine literature one can assume some selectivity.

But it is here that we encounter an interesting phenomenon, which D.S. Likhachev described as the phenomenon of “transplantation”: Byzantine literature in its individual genres not only influenced Slavic literature, but through it on Old Russian literature, but was - of course, in some its part - simply transferred to Rus'.

Patristics. First of all, this applies to Byzantine patristic literature. In Rus', the works of the "fathers of the church", theologians and preachers were known and enjoyed high authority: John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Athanasius of Alexandria and others.

Homilet writers (authors of teachings and sermons) were highly valued throughout the Russian Middle Ages. Their creations not only helped shape the moral ideals of the Christian world, but at the same time made us think about the properties of the human character, drew attention to various features of the human psyche, and influenced other literary genres with their experience of “human studies”.

Of the Homilet writers, John Chrysostom (d. 407) enjoyed the greatest authority. In his work, “the assimilation of the traditions of ancient culture by the Christian church has reached complete and classical completeness. He developed a style of preaching prose, which absorbed an incalculable wealth of expressive devices of rhetoric and brought with virtuosity of finishing to amazing expressiveness. The Teachings of John Chrysostom were included in collections from the 11th century. From the XII century. the list "Zlatostruya" has been preserved, containing mainly the "words" of Chrysostom, several "words" were included in the famous Assumption collection at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries.

In the lists of the XI-XII centuries. translations of other Byzantine homiletes have also been preserved - Gregory the Theologian, Cyril of Jerusalem, the "Ladder" of John of the Ladder, Pandects of Antiochus and Pandects of Nikon Montenegrin. The sayings and aphorisms of the "fathers of the church" (along with aphorisms extracted from the writings of ancient authors) made up a collection popular in Ancient Rus' - "Bee" (the oldest list of the turn of the 13th-14th centuries). In "Izbornik 1076" a significant place is occupied by "Stoslovets" Gennady - a kind of "moral code" of a Christian.

The works of the homiletic genre did not hide their instructive, didactic function. Turning directly to readers and listeners, homilete writers sought to convince them with the logic of their reasoning, extolled virtues and condemned vices, promised eternal bliss to the righteous, and threatened the negligent and sinners with divine punishment.

Lives of the Saints. Monuments of the hagiographic genre - the lives of the saints - also educated and instructed, but the main means of persuasion was not so much the word - sometimes indignant and accusing, sometimes insinuatingly instructive, but a living image. The action-packed narrative about the life of a righteous man, willingly using the plot and plot devices of the Hellenistic adventure novel, could not but interest the medieval reader. The hagiographer turned not so much to his mind, but to his feelings and ability to vivid imagination. Therefore, the most fantastic episodes - the intervention of angels or demons, miracles performed by saints - were sometimes described with detailed details that helped the reader to see and imagine what was happening. Sometimes the hagiographies reported accurate geographical or topographical signs, named the names of real historical figures - all this also created the illusion of authenticity, was intended to convince the reader of the veracity of the story and thereby give the hagiographies the authority of a "historical" narrative.

Lives can be divided into two plot types - lives-martyria, i.e., stories about the torment of fighters for the faith in pagan times, and lives that told about saints who voluntarily assumed the feat of seclusion or foolishness, distinguished by extraordinary piety, poverty-loving etc.

An example of the life of the first type is the Life of St. Irene. It tells how Irina's father, the pagan king Licinius, at the instigation of a demon, decides to destroy his Christian daughter; according to his sentence, she should be crushed by a chariot, but a miracle happens: the horse, tearing the traces, pounces on the king, bites off his hand and returns to its original place. Irina is subjected to various sophisticated tortures by King Zedekiy, but each time, thanks to divine intercession, she remains alive and unharmed. The princess is thrown into a ditch, teeming with poisonous snakes, but the "reptiles" immediately "press" against the walls of the ditch and die. They try to saw the saint alive, but the saw breaks and the executioners perish. She is tied to the mill wheel, but the water "by the command of God will flow around", etc.

Another type of life is, for example, the legend of Alexei the Man of God. Alexei, a pious and virtuous young man, voluntarily renounces wealth, honor, and female love. He leaves the house of his father - a rich Roman nobleman, his beautiful wife, having barely married her, distributes the money taken from the house to the poor, and for seventeen years lives on alms in the porch of the Church of the Virgin in Edessa. When the fame of his holiness spread everywhere, Alexei leaves Edessa and, after wandering, again finds himself in Rome. Recognized by no one, he settles in his father's house, feeds at the same table with the beggars, who are given daily alms by the pious nobleman, patiently endures the bullying and beatings of his father's servants. Another seventeen years pass. Alexei dies, and only then will the parents and the widow recognize their missing son and husband.

Pateriki. Patericons were widely known in Kievan Rus - collections of short stories about monks. The themes of patericon legends are quite traditional. Most often these are stories about monks who became famous for their asceticism or humility. So, in one legend it is told how the elders come to the hermit for a conversation with him, thirsting for guidance from him. But the recluse is silent, and when asked about the reason for his silence, he answers that he sees the image of the crucified Christ in front of him day and night. “This is the best instruction for us!” - exclaim the elders.

The hero of another story is a stylite. He is so alien to pride that he even lays out alms for the poor on the steps of his refuge, and does not give them from hand to hand, claiming that it is not he, but the Mother of God who bestows the suffering.

The patericon tells of a young nun who gouges out her own eyes after learning that their beauty aroused the lust of a young man.

The omnipotence of prayer, the ability of ascetics to work miracles are the plots of another group of patericon short stories. The righteous old man is accused of adultery, but through his prayer, the twelve-day-old baby, when asked “who is his father”, points his finger at the real father. At the prayer of a pious shipbuilder, on a hot day, rain pours over the deck, delighting travelers suffering from heat and thirst. A lion, having met a monk on a narrow mountain path, stands up on its hind legs to give it way, etc.

If the righteous are accompanied by divine help, then sinners in the paterinic legends expect a terrible and, which is especially characteristic, not posthumous, but immediate punishment: the defiler of the graves is gouged out by the revived dead; the ship does not move from its place until a child-killer woman descends from its side into the boat, and the abyss immediately swallows the boat with the sinner; the servant, who planned to kill and rob his mistress, cannot leave the place and stabs himself.

Thus, a certain fantastic world is depicted in patericons, where the forces of good and evil are constantly fighting for the souls of people, where the righteous are not just pious, but exaltedly fanatical, where miracles are performed in the most everyday situations, where even wild animals confirm the omnipotence of faith with their behavior. The plots of translated patericons influenced the work of Russian scribes: in Russian patericons and lives we will find direct analogies to episodes from Byzantine patericons.

Apocrypha. Apocrypha was also a favorite genre of ancient Russian readers. oldest translations which also date back to the Kievan era. Apocrypha (from the Greek ???????? - “secret, hidden”) were works that tell about biblical characters or saints, but were not included in the circle of monuments revered as sacred scripture or officially recognized by the church. There were apocryphal gospels (for example, “The Gospel of Thomas”, “The Gospel of Nicodemus”), lives (“The Life of St. Andrew the Fool”, “The Life of Basil the New”), legends, prophecies, etc. The apocrypha often contained a more detailed account of events or characters mentioned in the canonical biblical books. There were apocryphal stories about Adam and Eve (for example, about the second wife of Adam - Lilith, about the birds that taught Adam how to bury Abel), about the childhood of Moses (in particular, about testing the wisdom of the boy Moses by the pharaoh), about the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

The apocryphal “Walking of the Theotokos through Torment” describes the suffering of sinners in hell, the “Tale of Agapius” tells of paradise - a wonderful garden, where “beds and a meal decorated with precious stones” are prepared for the righteous, birds sing around with “various voices”, and plumage they have gold, and scarlet, and scarlet, and blue, and green ...

Apocrypha often reflected heretical ideas about the present and future world, rose to complex philosophical problems. The apocrypha reflects the doctrine according to which God is opposed by a no less powerful antipode - Satan, the source of evil and the culprit of human disasters; so, according to one apocryphal legend, the human body was created by Satan, and God only “put” his soul into it.

The attitude of the orthodox church towards apocryphal literature was complex. The oldest indexes (lists) of “true and false books”, in addition to “true” books, distinguished between “secret”, “hidden” books, which were recommended to be read only by knowledgeable people, and “false” books, which were certainly forbidden to read, since they contained heretical views . However, in practice, it was almost impossible to separate the apocryphal plots from the plots found in the “true” books: apocryphal legends were reflected in the monuments that enjoyed the highest authority: in the chronicles, palaea, in collections used in worship (Teremonniki, Menaion). Attitudes towards apocrypha changed over time: some monuments that were popular in the past were subsequently banned and even destroyed, but, on the other hand, in the Great Menaion of the Cheti, created in the 16th century. Orthodox churchmen, as a set of literature recommended for reading, included many texts that were previously considered apocryphal.

Among the first translations carried out under Yaroslav the Wise or during subsequent decades, there were also monuments of Byzantine chronography.

Chronicle of George Amartol. Among them, the Chronicle of George Amartol was of the greatest importance for the history of Russian chronicle writing and chronography. The author, a Byzantine monk, outlined in his work the entire history of the world from Adam to the events of the middle of the 9th century. In addition to the events of biblical history, the Chronicle told about the kings of the East (Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius), Alexander the Great, about the Roman emperors, from Julius Caesar to Costantius Chlorus, and then about the Byzantine emperors, from Constantine the Great to Michael III. Even on Greek soil, the Chronicle was supplemented by an extract from the "Chronicle of Simeon Logothetes", and the presentation in it was brought to the death of Emperor Romanus Lekapinus (he was deposed from the throne in 944, and died in 948). Despite its significant volume and breadth of historical range, Amartol's work presented world history in a peculiar perspective, primarily as church history. The author often introduces lengthy theological arguments into his exposition, scrupulously sets out debates at ecumenical councils, himself argues with heretics, denounces iconoclasm, and quite often replaces the description of events with arguments about them. Relatively detailed presentation We find the political history of Byzantium only in the last part of the "Chronicle", outlining the events of the 9th - the first half of the 10th century. The "Chronicle of Amartol" was used in compiling a short chronographic code - "Chronograph according to the great presentation", which in turn was involved in compiling the "Initial Code", one of the oldest monuments of Russian chronicle writing (see below, p. 39). Then the "Chronicle" was again turned to when compiling the "Tale of Bygone Years"; it became part of the extensive ancient Russian chronographic codes - the Hellenic Chronicler, the Russian Chronograph, etc.

Chronicle of John Malala. The Byzantine Chronicle, compiled in the 6th century, had a different character. Greekized Syrian John Malalas. Its author, according to the researcher of the monument, "set out to give a moralizing, in the spirit of Christian piety, instructive, and at the same time entertaining reading for a wide audience of readers and listeners." In the Chronicle of Malala, ancient myths are retold in detail (about the birth of Zeus, about the struggle of the gods with the titans, myths about Dionysus, Orpheus, Daedalus and Icarus, Theseus and Ariadne, Oedipus); the fifth book of the Chronicle contains the story of the Trojan War. Malala describes in detail the history of Rome (especially the most ancient - from Romulus and Remus to Julius Caesar), a significant place is also given to the political history of Byzantium. In a word, the "Chronicle of Malala" successfully supplemented the presentation of Amartol, in particular, it was through this "Chronicle" that Kievan Rus could get acquainted with the myths of ancient Greece. Separate lists of the Slavic translation of the Chronicle of Malala have not reached us, we know it only as part of the extracts included in the Russian chronographic compilations (Archive and Vilensky chronographs, both editions of the Hellenic Chronicler, etc.).

History of the Jewish War by Josephus Flavius. Perhaps already in the middle of the XI century. in Rus' was translated the "History of the Jewish War" by Josephus Flavius ​​- a monument of exceptionally authoritative in the Christian literature of the Middle Ages. "History" was written between 75-79 AD. n. e. Joseph ben Mattafie, a contemporary and direct participant in the anti-Roman uprising in Judea, who then went over to the side of the Romans. The book of Joseph is a valuable historical source, although extremely tendentious, for the author very unequivocally condemns his fellow tribesmen, but glorifies the military art and political wisdom of Vespasian and Titus Flavius. At the same time, "History" is a brilliant literary monument. Josephus skillfully uses the techniques of storytelling, his presentation is replete with descriptions, dialogues, psychological characteristics; The "speech" of the characters in the "History" is built according to the laws of ancient declamations; even talking about events, the author remains a refined stylist: he strives for a symmetrical construction of phrases, willingly resorts to rhetorical oppositions, skillfully constructed enumerations, etc. Sometimes it seems that for Flavius ​​the form of presentation is no less important than the subject itself, about which he writes.

The Old Russian translator understood and appreciated the literary merits of the “History”: he not only managed to preserve the refined style of the monument in translation, but in a number of cases enters into competition with the author, sometimes spreading the traditional stylistic description formulas, sometimes translating the indirect speech of the original into direct speech, sometimes introducing comparisons or clarifications that make the narrative more lively and imaginative. The translation of the "History" is a convincing evidence of the high culture of the word among the scribes of Kievan Rus.

Alexandria. Not later than the 12th century. an extensive narrative about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great was also translated from Greek - the so-called pseudo-Kallisthenov "Alexandria". It is based on the Hellenistic novel, created, apparently, in Alexandria in the 2nd-1st centuries. BC e., but later subjected to additions and revisions. Over time, the initial biographical narrative became more and more fictionalized, overgrown with legendary and fairy tale motifs, gradually turning into an adventure novel typical of the Hellenistic era. One of these later versions of "Alexandria" was translated into Rus'.

The real history of the actions of the famous commander is barely traced here, buried under layers of later traditions and legends. Alexander turns out to be no longer the son of the Macedonian king, but illegitimate son Olympias and the Egyptian king-sorcerer Nektonav. The birth of a hero is accompanied by miraculous signs. Contrary to history, Alexander conquers Rome and Athens, boldly comes to Darius, posing as the Macedonian ambassador, negotiates with the queen of the Amazons, etc. mothers; the hero informs Olympias about the miracles he has seen: giant people, disappearing trees, fish that can be boiled in cold water, six-legged and three-eyed monsters, etc. Nevertheless, ancient Russian scribes apparently perceived "Alexandria" as historical narrative, as evidenced by the inclusion of its full text in the composition of the chronographic codes. Regardless of how the novel about Alexander was perceived in Rus', the very fact that ancient Russian readers were acquainted with this most popular plot of the Middle Ages was of great importance: ancient Russian literature was thus introduced into the sphere of common European cultural interests, enriching their knowledge of the history of the ancient world.

The Tale of Akira the Wise. If "Alexandria" genetically ascended to the historical narrative and talked about a historical character, then "The Tale of Akira the Wise", also translated in Kievan Rus in XI - early XII c., by its origin is a purely fictional monument - an ancient Assyrian legend of the 7th century. BC e. Researchers have not come to a unanimous conclusion about the ways in which the "Tale of Akir" penetrated into Rus': there are suggestions that it was translated from the Syrian or from the Armenian original. The story lived in Rus' long life. Its oldest edition (apparently a translation very close to the original) has been preserved in four lists of the 15th-17th centuries. In the 16th or early 17th century The story has been radically revised. Its new editions (Short and Extended, ascending to it), which largely lost their original oriental flavor, but acquired the features of a Russian folk tale, were extremely popular in the 17th century, and the story continued to exist among the Old Believers right up to our time.

In the oldest edition of the Russian translation of the Tale, it was told how Akir, the wise adviser to King Sinagripp, was slandered by his adopted son Anadan and sentenced to death. But Akira's devoted friend, Nabuginael, saved and managed to securely shelter the convict. Some time later, the Egyptian pharaoh demanded that King Sinagripp send him a wise man who could solve the riddles proposed by the pharaoh and build a palace "between heaven and earth." For this, the pharaoh will pay Sinagripp "a three-year tribute." If the envoy of Sinagripp does not cope with the task, tribute will be exacted in favor of Egypt. All close associates of Sinagrippa, including Anadan, who has now become Akir's successor as the first noble, admit that they are unable to fulfill the demand of the pharaoh. Then Nabuginael informs the desperate Sinagripp that Akir is alive. The happy king forgives the disgraced sage and sends him under the guise of a simple groom to the pharaoh. Aqir solves the riddles and then cunningly avoids the last task - the construction of the palace. To do this, Akir teaches the eagles to lift a basket into the air; the boy sitting in it shouts for “stone and lime” to be served to him: he is ready to start building the palace. But no one can deliver the necessary cargo to the skies, and the pharaoh is forced to admit defeat. Akir returns home with a "three-year tribute", once again becomes close to Sinagripp, and the unmasked Anadan dies a terrible death.

The wisdom (or cunning) of a hero who frees himself from the need to perform an impossible task is a traditional fairy tale motif. And it is characteristic that with all the alterations of the Tale on Russian soil, it was the story of how Akir guesses the riddles of the pharaoh and by wise counterclaims forces him to renounce his claims, enjoyed unchanging popularity, it was constantly revised and supplemented with new details.

The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph. If the "Tale of Akira the Wise" in many of its elements resembles a fairy tale, then another translated story - about Barlaam and Joasaph - closely approaches the hagiographic genre, although in reality its plot is based on the legendary biography of the Buddha, which came to Rus' through Byzantine intermediary.

The Tale tells how Prince Joasaph, the son of the Indian pagan king Abner, becomes a Christian ascetic under the influence of the hermit Barlaam.

However, the plot, potentially teeming with " conflict situations”, turns out to be extremely smoothed out in the Tale: the author seems to be in a hurry to eliminate the obstacles that arise or simply “forget” about them. So, for example, Avenir imprisons young Joasaph in a secluded palace precisely so that the boy could not hear about the ideas of Christianity and did not learn about the existence of old age, illness, and death in the world. Nevertheless, Joasaph nevertheless leaves the palace and immediately meets a sick old man, and the Christian hermit Barlaam enters his chambers without any special obstacles. The pagan sage Nahor, according to the plan of Abner, in a dispute with the imaginary Barlaam, should debunk the ideas of Christianity, but suddenly, quite unexpectedly, he himself begins to expose paganism. They bring to Joasaph beautiful princess, she must persuade the young ascetic to sensual pleasures, but Joasaph easily resists the charms of the beauty and easily convinces her to become a chaste Christian. There are a lot of dialogues in the Tale, but all of them are devoid of both individuality and naturalness: Varlaam, Joasaph, and pagan sages speak equally pompously and "learned". Before us is like a lengthy philosophical debate, the participants of which are as conditional as the participants in the conversation in the genre of "philosophical dialogue". Nevertheless, The Tale of Varlaam was widely circulated; especially popular were the parables-apologists included in it, illustrating the ideals of Christian piety and asceticism: some of the parables were included in collections of both mixed and permanent composition (for example, in Izmaragd), and many dozens of their lists are known.

Devgen's deed. It is believed that even in Kievan Rus, a Byzantine epic poem about Digenis Akritas was translated (warriors guarding the borders of the Byzantine Empire were called Akritas). The time of translation is indicated, according to the researchers, by the data of the language - lexical parallels of the story (in the Russian version it was called "Devgeny's deed") and literary monuments of Kievan Rus, as well as the mention of Devgeny Akrit in "The Life of Alexander Nevsky". But the comparison with Akritus appears only in the third (according to the classification of Yu. K. Begunov) edition of the monument, probably created in the middle of the 15th century, and cannot serve as an argument in favor of the existence of the translation in Kievan Rus. Significant plot differences between the “Deeds of Devgenius” and the Greek versions of the epic about Digenis Akrita known to us leave open the question of whether these differences were the result of a radical reworking of the original during translation, whether they arose in the process of later alterations of the text on Russian soil, or whether the Russian text corresponds to the one that did not come down to us. before us the Greek version.

Devgeny (this is how the Greek name Digenis was rendered in the Russian translation) is a typical epic hero. He has extraordinary strength (even as a youth, Devgeny strangled a bear with his bare hands, and, having matured, he exterminates thousands of enemy soldiers in battles), he is handsome, knightly magnanimous. A significant place in the Russian version of the monument is occupied by the story of Devgeny's marriage to the daughter of a proud and stern Stratig. This episode has all the characteristic features of an "epic matchmaking": Devgeny sings a love song under the girl's windows; she, admiring the beauty and prowess of the young man, agrees to run away with him, Devgeny takes away his beloved in broad daylight, defeats her father and brothers in battle, then reconciles with them; the parents of the young arrange a multi-day magnificent wedding.

Devgeny is akin to the heroes of translated chivalric novels that spread in Rus' in the 17th century. (such as Bova Korolevich, Eruslan, Vasily the Golden-haired), and, apparently, this proximity to the literary taste of the era contributed to the revival of the handwritten tradition of the "Acts": all three lists that have come down to us date from the 17th-18th centuries.

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So, Kievan Rus in a short period of time acquired a rich and varied literature. A whole system of genres was transferred to the new soil: chronicles, historical stories, lives, patericons, "words", teachings. The significance of this phenomenon is increasingly being studied and comprehended in our science. It has been established that the system of genres of Byzantine or Old Bulgarian literature was not completely transferred to Rus': Old Russian scribes preferred some genres and rejected others. At the same time, genres arose in Rus' that had no analogy in “model literature”: the Russian chronicle is not similar to the Byzantine chronicle, and the chronicles themselves are used as material for independent and original chronographic compilations; completely original "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and "Instruction" by Vladimir Monomakh, "The Prayer of Daniil the Sharpener" and "The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan". Translated works not only enriched Russian scribes with historical or natural science information, introduced them to the plots of ancient myths and epic legends, they represented at the same time different types of plots, styles, manners of narration, being a kind of literary school for the ancient Russian scribes who were able to get acquainted with the ponderous verbose Amartol and the laconic Malala, stingy with details and details, with the brilliant stylist Flavius ​​and with the inspired rhetorician John Chrysostom, with heroic world the epic about Devgenia and the exotic fantasy of "Alexandria". It was rich material for reading and writing experience, an excellent school of literary language; she helped the Old Russian scribes to visualize the possible styles, to refine their hearing and speech on the colossal lexical richness of Byzantine and Old Slavonic literature.

But it would be a mistake to believe that translated literature was the only and main school of ancient Russian scribes. In addition to translated literature, they used the rich traditions of oral folk art, and above all, the traditions of the Slavic epic. It's not a guess or a reconstruction modern researchers: as we will see later, folk epic traditions are recorded in early chronicles and represent a completely exceptional artistic phenomenon that has no analogy in the monuments of translated literature known to us. Slavic epic legends are distinguished by a special manner of constructing the plot, a peculiar interpretation of the character of the characters, their style, which differs from the style of monumental historicism, which was formed mainly under the influence of monuments of translated literature.

Chapter 1. LITERATURE OF THE XI - BEGINNING OF THE XIII CENTURY

2. Translation literature of the 11th - early 13th centuries.

We begin our consideration of Old Russian literature of the older period with a review of translated literature. This is not accidental: translations in the XI-XII centuries. in some cases preceded the creation of original works of the same genre. In general, Rus' began to read someone else's before writing its own. But one should not see in this some kind of evidence of the "inferiority" of the culture of the Eastern Slavs. All European medieval states "learned" from the countries, heirs of the centuries-old ancient culture - the culture of Ancient Greece and Rome. For Rus', Bulgaria and Byzantium played the most important role in this respect. We also emphasize that the perception of a foreign culture, with its centuries-old traditions, was active, creative among the Eastern Slavs, met the internal needs of the developing Ancient Rus', and stimulated the emergence of original literature. Byzantine and Bulgarian books in Rus'. The phenomenon of "transplantation". Before considering the question of what works and genres of translated literature became known in Ancient Rus' in the first centuries after the creation of writing, let's take a closer look at the nature of the work of Old Russian translators. A significant part of the books, and in particular liturgical ones, was brought in the 10th-11th centuries. from Bulgaria. The Old Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) and Old Russian languages ​​are so close that Rus' was able to use the ready-made Old Slavonic Cyrillic alphabet, created by the great Bulgarian enlighteners Cyril and Methodius in the 9th century, and the Bulgarian books, being formally “foreign languages”, essentially did not require translation; Separate features of the Bulgarian morphological system, as well as part of the vocabulary of the Bulgarian language (the so-called Old Slavonicisms), entered the system of the Old Russian literary language. Simultaneously, translations are carried out directly from Greek, while the Old Russian translators not only managed to create accurate translations adequate to the original, but also preserved the style and rhythm of the Greek originals. Less often, translations from other languages ​​were made. Features of the relationship of ancient Slavic literatures among themselves and their relationship with the literature of Byzantium were sometimes considered as a process of influence of one literature on another. Old Russian literature, which is younger compared to the literature of Bulgaria and, even more so, to the literature of Byzantium, appears in such a formulation of the question as a passive object of such influence. It would be more correct to speak, however, not about “influence”, but about a peculiar process of transplantation (“transplantation”) of the literature of one country into another - about the transfer of Byzantine literature to Russian soil. The fact is that before the adoption of Christianity in Ancient Rus' there was no literature (the art of the word was represented by folklore) and, therefore, Byzantine literature had nothing to influence. Therefore, at first after the adoption of Christianity, Byzantine literature - directly or through Bulgarian mediation - was simply transferred to Rus' (transplanted). This transfer, however, was not mechanical: the works were not simply translated or copied, they continued their literary history on new ground. This means that new editions of works were created, their plot changed, the original language of translation was Russified, and new compilations were created on the basis of translated works. This was especially true of secular and historical works of narration; liturgical works, writings of the "fathers of the church" or biblical books to a greater extent retained their canonical text. Therefore, the division of ancient Russian literature into original and translated literature can only be significant in the sense that we point to the origin of the monument, and not to its place in the literature of ancient Rus'. The phenomenon of transplantation turned out to be extremely progressive: thanks to it, Rus' in a short time received literature with an extensive system of genres, literature represented by dozens or even hundreds of monuments. Already a few decades after the start of this process in Rus', following the model of translated monuments, their own original works began to be created - lives, solemn and instructive words, stories, etc. Literature mediator. Medieval literatures are also characterized by another specific feature - the existence of intermediary literatures, i.e. literatures, the “book fund” of which (in other words, the sum of their literary monuments) turns out to be largely common to different national literatures. For the southern and eastern Slavs, the function of such intermediary literature was performed by ancient Bulgarian literature. It included both monuments of ancient Christian literature (translations from Greek), and monuments created by Bulgarian authors in Moravia and the Czech Republic, and in subsequent centuries, monuments created in Rus' and Serbia. Literature-intermediary united the bookishness of the Slavic peoples (especially Bulgaria, Serbia and Rus') for a very long time, almost until the beginning of the new time, although, of course, the proportion of “own” works in each of the individual national literatures increased more and more. Genres of translated literature. Bible books. Let us now turn to the main genres of translated literature of the 11th-13th centuries. Such a wide time frame is a forced condition, since the works of this period, as a rule, have been preserved only in later lists, and we can only determine the time of their translation or penetration into the literature of Ancient Rus' using indirect data. The basis for the Christian doctrine and worldview was the biblical books (or Holy Scripture), as well as the writings of the most authoritative theologians. The Bible includes the books of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament includes the so-called "Pentateuch of Moses" (the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), which tells about the creation of the world, about ancient history the Jewish people; the main religious and moral prescriptions are given. In subsequent books: the book of Joshua, the book of Judges and the four books of Kings - the history of the Jews in Palestine is set out until the destruction of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Of the prophetic books, the books of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were the most famous in Ancient Rus'; the rest of the books are usually referred to as the books of the minor prophets. Huge was the popularity of the Psalter - a collection of 150 psalms (prayers and hymns). The church tradition considers the author of the psalms to be mainly King David, but in fact they were composed over a long time, belong to various authors, and some ultimately go back to folklore. Didactic teachings and aphorisms are contained in the books: “Parables of Solomon”, “Wisdom of Solomon” and “Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach”. In the book of the prophet Daniel, prophecies of an eschatological nature were set forth, that is, prophecies about the death of the world and the advent of the kingdom of justice. IN New Testament included the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostolic Epistles, and the Apocalypse. Gospels (from the Greek. evangelion - good news) were attributed to the disciples of Christ - the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; they told about the earthly life of Jesus and expounded his teachings. The preaching of Christianity by the apostles is described in the book of Acts; in the "Apocalypse" of John the Theologian, the near end of the world is depicted in symbolic images. The Bible was fully translated into Rus' only in the 15th century, but individual biblical books became known in Slavic translations (through Bulgarian mediation) already in Kievan Rus. The books of the New Testament and the Psalter were most widely used at this time. Probably, certain books of the Old Testament were also known (the Pentateuch, the book of Joshua, the books of Judges and Kings, some of the books of the prophets, the book of Ruth). It is difficult to judge the time of their appearance in Rus', since the oldest lists that have come down to us date back to the 14th century, but at the same time, according to indirect data, we can establish that, for example, in the chronographic code of the middle of the 13th century. all the books of the "Pentateuch", the books of Joshua, Judges, the books of Kings and passages from some other Old Testament books were included. Russian readers could also get acquainted with the content of the Old Testament books through the Greek chronicles (especially through the “Chronicle of Georgy Amartol”), through Paley, who expounded and interpreted the text of the Old Testament, and, finally, through the Paremiion, a collection of passages from various books of the Bible. Biblical books, Paley, chronicles, writings of the "fathers of the church" were intended for independent reading by believers. In the church, during the service, other liturgical books specially designed for the church rite were read. These included, firstly, the gospels-aprakos and the apostle-aprakos (from the Greek. apraktos - festive) - selected readings from the gospels and apostolic acts and epistles, arranged in the order of reading them during church services (certain readings on certain days of the week or on days church holidays). In the church, the Paremiynik, service menaion (books containing praises to the saints), various kinds of service books, books of hours, breviaries, troparia and other books were read. Books of sacred scripture and liturgical books, in addition to purely teaching and service functions, had a considerable aesthetic value: The Bible contained vivid plot stories, the books of the prophets were distinguished by increased emotionality, vivid imagery, passion in exposing vices and social injustice; the psalter and service menaias were brilliant examples of church poetry, although their Slavic translations were prosaic. Patristics. In ancient Russian, as well as in any other medieval Christian literature, patristics enjoyed great authority - the writings of Roman and Byzantine theologians of the 3rd-11th centuries, revered as "fathers of the church" (in Greek. pater - father, hence the name of their works - patristics). In the writings of the “fathers of the church”, the dogmas of the Christian religion were substantiated and commented on, polemics were conducted with heretics, and the foundations of Christian morality or the rules of monastic life were presented in the form of teachings and instructions. In Rus', the writings of John Chrysostom (344-407), an outstanding Byzantine preacher, were widely disseminated. In his “words” and sermons, Chrysostom instructed believers in Christian virtues, vividly and temperamentally denounced vices, sometimes discussing the most important social problems. From the works of John Chrysostom, collections were compiled - "Chrystal Stream" (the oldest of the surviving lists belongs to the XII century), "Chrysostom"; his "words" were part of the "Triumphants", and at a later time - in the collections "Margaret" (in Greek. pearl). The works of the Byzantine preacher Gregory of Nazianzus (Theologian) (329-390), Basil of Caesarea (c. 330-379), the author of polemical and dogmatic works, as well as the popular in the Middle Ages book "Shestodnev" (a cycle of sermons) also enjoyed authority in Ancient Russia. on the themes of the Bible story about the creation of the world), Ephraim the Syrian (d. 373), Athanasius, author of Pareneses (parenesis - exhortation, a set of instructions for people who converted to Christianity), John of Sinai (d. 649), author of the Ladder (teachings on the self-improvement of monks), Athanasius of Alexandria (293-373) - a fighter for the tenets of Orthodoxy against various early heresies Christianity. Patristic literature played an important role in shaping the ethical ideals of the new religion and in strengthening the foundations of Christian dogma. At the same time, the works of Byzantine theologians, most of them brilliant rhetoricians who mastered the best traditions of classical ancient eloquence, contributed to the improvement of the oratory of Russian church writers. In Kievan Rus, collections are also known in which; along with the works of the "fathers of the church", other monuments of various contents were read. The oldest collections that have come down to us are the collections of the 70s. 11th century One of them, Svyatoslav's "Izbornik" of 1073, is a copy from a Bulgarian collection compiled at the beginning of the 10th century. for the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon. In Rus', Izbornik was rewritten for the Kyiv prince Izyaslav, but then the prince's name was scraped out and replaced with the name of Svyatoslav, who seized the throne in 1073. The collection is a large format folio with luxurious decoration. The frontispiece of the book (left side of the first sheet) depicts Svyatoslav surrounded by his family. Among the articles of the "Izbornik" there is a treatise on poetics - an article by George Hirovoska (VI-VII centuries) "On Images", which explains the meaning of various tropes (allegories, metaphors, hyperbole, etc.), while they are illustrated with examples, extracted, in particular, from the Iliad and the Odyssey. Svyatoslav's "Izbornik" subsequently corresponded more than once. At present, 27 copies of it dating back to the 15th-17th centuries have been discovered. Russian edition. Another collection - "Izbornik 1076", simply designed, in a small format, was compiled, as the manuscript says, "in the summer of 6584 (1076) ... under Svyatoslav, the princes of the Russian land." Among the works of this "Izbornik" is an article glorifying the reading of books, as well as "Stoslovets Gennady" - a set of sayings of the Patriarch Gennady of Constantinople (d. 471). Collections of sayings appeared in Rus' at a later time. Among them, the collections “The Wisdom of Menander the Wise”, “The Sayings of Hesychius and Barnabas” and especially “The Bee”, a collection of sayings of ancient philosophers and writers, as well as quotations from the Bible and works of the “Church Fathers”, were especially popular. The fundamental study of collections of sayings and aphorisms belongs to M. N. Speransky. Lives of the Saints. Collections of sayings and aphorisms had an openly edifying, didactic purpose. Speaking directly to readers and listeners, preachers and theologians extolled the virtues and condemned the vices, promised the righteous eternal bliss after death, and threatened the negligent and sinners with divine punishment. They also brought up and instructed in Christian virtues and monuments of another genre - the lives of saints, stories about the life, suffering or pious deeds of people canonized by the church, that is, recognized as saints and officially honored with veneration. hagiographic literature also called hagiography (from the Greek. agios - saint and graph - writing). In hagiographies, we often meet with an action-packed narrative, as their authors willingly used the plot and plot devices of ancient Greek adventure novels. Hagiographers, as a rule, also spoke about the miracles performed by the saints (which was supposed to confirm their holiness); at the same time, these miracles, or the intervention of miraculous forces - angels or demons - were described in the lives with vivid and detailed details; the authors of the lives strove and were able to achieve the illusion of the plausibility of the most fantastic episodes. Already in Kievan Rus many Byzantine hagiographies were translated. Lists or references by Russian authors to the lives of Alexei, the Man of God, Basil the New, Savva the Sanctified, Irina, Anthony the Great, Theodora and others have been preserved. An example of a life-novel (the term of the researcher of Byzantine hagiography P. Bezobrazov) can be "The Life of Eustathius Plakida". Eustathius was a "stratilate" (military leader), glorified both by military prowess and "righteous deeds." However, Placis was a pagan. Once, while hunting, he met a wonderful deer, who, in a human voice, called Plakida to be baptized. Immediately, Eustathius heard a voice announcing that he would have to prove the sincerity of his faith by his deeds and endure all the suffering that would fall to his lot. Indeed, Plakida soon loses all her wealth and, ashamed of her poverty, leaves her native city. He is separated from his wife, his children are kidnapped by a wolf and a lion, and the father considers them dead. For 15 years, Evstafiy, not knowing anything about his relatives, lives in a certain village, where he guards "zhita" (bread). But here enemies attack Rome, and the emperor sends to find Plakida, who was famous in the past for his valor. The soldiers accidentally find Eustathius and bring him to Rome. At the head of the army, Eustathius goes on a victorious campaign. In the meantime, the brothers, the sons of Plakida, also accidentally meet and recognize each other, and they meet in the house of a mother they did not recognize at first (and also at first did not recognize them). Then the wife and children find Eustace himself. However, the life does not end with this happy ending: following the canon of the life-martyria (that is, the story of the martyr saint), the hagiographer tells how, after the death of the emperor Trajan, who loved Eustathius, his successor demands that Placida make sacrifices in the temple of Apollo. He refuses and, together with his wife and sons, perishes after terrible tortures. Another type of life can be considered on the example of "The Life of Alexei, the Man of God." Alexei, a pious and virtuous young man, voluntarily renounces wealth, honor, and female love. He leaves the house of his father - a rich Roman nobleman, a beautiful wife, having just married her, distributes the money taken from the house to the poor, and for seventeen years lives on alms in the porch of the Church of the Virgin in Edessa. When the fame of his holiness spread everywhere, Alexei leaves Edessa and, after wandering, again finds himself in Rome! Recognized by no one, he settles in his father's house, feeds at the same table with the beggars, who are given daily alms by the pious nobleman, patiently endures the bullying and beatings of his father's servants. Another seventeen years pass. Alexei dies, and only then do the parents and the widow find out that the missing son and husband lived near them. Pateriki. Patericons were widely known in Kievan Rus - collections of short stories, mostly about monks who became famous for their piety or asceticism. The Sinai patericon, translated into Rus' in the 11th century, tells, for example, about a stylite, who is so alien to pride that even alms for the poor are laid out on the steps of his refuge, and do not give from hand to hand, claiming that it is not he, but the Mother of God bestows on the suffering. The patericon tells of a young nun who gouges out her own eyes after learning that their beauty aroused the lust of a young man. The righteous old man is accused of adultery, but through his prayer, the twelve-day-old baby, when asked “who is his father”, points his finger at the real father; at the prayer of a pious shipbuilder, on a hot day, rain pours over the deck, quenching the thirst of travelers suffering from the heat. A lion, having met a monk on a narrow mountain path, stands up on its hind legs to give it way, etc. If the righteous are accompanied by divine help, then the sinners in the paterinic legends are in for a terrible - and which is especially characteristic - not a posthumous, but an immediate punishment. : a thief, a defiler of graves, is gouged out by a revived dead man; the ship does not move from its place until a woman child-killer descends from its side into the boat, and this boat with the sinner is immediately swallowed up by the abyss; the servant, who planned to kill and rob his mistress, cannot leave the place and stabs himself. The patericons depict a certain fantastic world in which the forces of good and evil are constantly fighting for the souls of people, where the righteous are not just pious, but pious to the point of frenzy and exaltation, where miracles are sometimes performed in the most everyday environment. The plots of translated patericons influenced the work of ancient Russian scribes: in Russian patericons and lives we sometimes find similar episodes and characteristics borrowed from Byzantine patericon legends. Separate patericon legends were used in the works of Russian writers of the 19th century. - L. N. Tolstoy, N. S. Leskov, V. M. Garshin. Apocrypha(gr. apocrypha- hidden). In addition to the traditions included in the canonical, biblical books, i.e., in the Old and New Testaments, apocrypha - legends about the characters of biblical history, but differing in plot from those contained in the biblical canonical books, became widespread in medieval writing. Sometimes in the apocrypha, from other worldview positions, the origin of the world, its structure, or the question of the "end of the world" that worried the minds in the Middle Ages was considered. Finally, apocryphal motifs could be included in works of traditional genres, such as hagiographies. Initially, there were apocrypha, designed for the most sophisticated readers in theological matters, who could harmonize apocryphal versions with traditional ones, and "renounced books", which contained heretical views unconditionally hostile to orthodox views. But these differences were not always strictly recognized, the line between apocryphal and renounced books was very shaky, different scribes evaluated them differently, and therefore both groups of monuments are usually considered within the same apocryphal literature. It is sometimes very difficult to single out the apocrypha from among the “true” (the term of the ancient Russian scribes) books: there is complete unanimity on this issue in medieval literature did not have. Strictly speaking, some of the biblical books (“The Wisdom of Solomon”, “The Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach”, “Tobit”, etc.) should also be recognized as apocryphal. Apocryphal plots are found in chronicles, annals, paley, and the apocrypha themselves - in collections, along with authoritative and revered works. The lists of banned books (“indexes”) compiled in Byzantium and among the Slavs did not always correspond to each other, and sometimes in practice their recommendations were often bypassed. Apocrypha were already known to the literature of Kievan Rus. In the lists until the XIII century. apocryphal legends about the prophet Jeremiah, the apocrypha "The Walking of Agapius to Paradise", "The Tale of Aphrodite", "The Walking of the Virgin through the Torments" and a number of others have been preserved. We will also meet apocryphal legends in the Primary Chronicle: there are, for example, apocryphal details in the story about the childhood of the prophet Moses (how he, while playing, dropped the crown from the head of the Egyptian pharaoh), and in the answer of the Magi cited in the chronicle (in the article of 1071) , the leaders of the uprising in the Rostov land, governor Yan Vyshatich, the Bogomil ideas about the creation of man are expounded: “create devil man and God put your soul into it.” In the description of his journey to Palestine at the beginning of the XII century. Abbot Daniel also mentions some apocryphal legends. Apocrypha is characterized by an abundance of miracles, fantasy, and exoticism. So, for example, in the apocryphal Chronicles of Jeremiah, it is told how the young man Abimelech, returning to the city with a basket of figs (figs), sat down in the shade of a tree and fell asleep. He slept for 66 years, but miraculously the figs he picked were so fresh that juice was still dripping from them. Another apocrypha tells how the pious abbot Agapius went in search of paradise. Paradise is described as a wondrous garden filled with a radiance that is seven times brighter than sunlight. The bread received by Agapius in paradise is capable of working miracles: it satiates shipbuilders dying of hunger, resurrects a youth who died two weeks before, and Agapius himself feeds on the “ukruh” (slice) of this bread for forty years. At the same time, the apocrypha satisfied not only literary, but also theological interests. They posed problems that especially worried the minds of religious people: about the causes of disorder in this world, which, as the church taught, was created and controlled by an omnipotent and just deity, about the future of the world, about the fate of a person after his death, etc. This topic devoted, for example, to the popular apocrypha - "The Walking of the Virgin through the torments." It tells how the Mother of God, accompanied by the Archangel Michael and angels, descends into hell. She sees the torment of sinners there: some are constantly “in great darkness”, because they did not believe in God, others are immersed in a fiery river, because during their lifetime they were cursed by their parents, or they violated the oath on the cross; gossips and lazy people who overslept matins, slanderers and lechers, drunkards and money-lovers are in terrible torment in hell. The Mother of God sheds tears, seeing the terrible torments of sinners, and decides to ask God to have mercy on them. But God the Father refuses to take pity on them, for he cannot forgive people for the crucifixion of Christ. And only after a new request, with which the prophets, evangelists, apostles and all angels turn to him together with the Mother of God, God the Father sends Christ to descend into hell, and he, having severely reproached people for not observing the divine commandments, grants them deliverance from torment in for two months a year. Unlike the Apocrypha of Jeremiah and Abimelech, which contains all the elements of an entertaining story of miracles, the Apocrypha of the Mother of God raises, thus, the question of divine justice, calls into question the “inexpressible love of mankind” of God: after all, the Mother of God with angels and saints is forced to persistently beg for mitigation of the terrible torments of sinners, and God for a long time remains relentless and stern. Perhaps it was precisely this idea that put The Walk in a series of apocryphal works, although the tendency to frighten people with divine retribution for their sins, it would seem, fully corresponded to the spirit of church teachings and instructions. Apocrypha were found in ancient Russian literature throughout its history, and in the future we will have to return to apocryphal stories that became widespread at a later time. Chronicles. Among the first translations and the first books brought to Rus' from Bulgaria were Byzantine chronicles. Chronicles or chronographs are works of historiography that set forth world history. The Chronicle of George Amartol played a particularly important role in the development of original Russian chronicle writing and Russian chronography. Its compiler is a Byzantine monk. Amartol in Greek - a sinner; is the traditional self-deprecating epithet of a monk. "The Chronicle of George Amartol" begins the narrative from the "creation of the world"; then he recounts biblical history, the history of the Babylonian and Persian kings, tells about the Roman emperors, from Julius Caesar to Constantine Chlorus, and then about the emperors of Byzantium - from Constantine the Great to Michael III. Thus, initially the "Chronicle" was brought to the events of the middle of the 9th century, but later, still on Greek soil, it was supplemented by an extract from the "Chronicle of Simeon Logothetes", and the narrative was brought to the middle of the 10th century. The chronicler was most interested in church history. He constantly gives lengthy theological arguments, tells in detail about church councils, about heresies and about the struggle of various currents in the Byzantine church; actually historical events are presented by him very briefly, and only in the final part of the work (belonging to the pen of Amartol's successor - Simeon Logofet) does the reader get acquainted with the complex political life of Byzantium in the 9th-10th centuries. The Old Russian scribe, on the contrary, was largely interested in history as such: the fate of the great powers of antiquity, information about their most prominent rulers, as well as various entertaining stories from the lives of prominent kings, emperors or sages. For example, the story of the boys Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf and later became the founders of the great city, and the description of the deeds of Alexander the Great, who subjugated almost the whole world to his power, were especially popular among medieval scribes. Back in the 11th century. Russian scribes, on the basis of extracts from the Chronicle of Georgy Amartol, compiled an abbreviated chronographic code, which was called, as they believe, the Chronograph according to the great exposition. It contained very brief information about the kings and emperors of the countries of the East, Rome and Byzantium, included several entertaining historical legends and stories about miracles and heavenly signs, expounded the decisions of church councils. "Chronograph according to the great presentation" was used in compiling the Russian chronicle. The Chronicle of George Amartol was distributed in separate lists, and also almost completely became part of the extensive chronographic code of the 13th - 14th centuries. - "Chronicler of the Hellenic and Roman". The Old Russian translation of The Chronicle of Georgy Amartol was researched and published by V. M. Istrin. Chronicle of John Malala. Not later than the 11th century. in Rus', the “Chronicle” of John Malala, who lived in the city of Antioch (in the Byzantine province of Syria) in the 6th century, also became known. n. e. Unlike George Amartol, John Malala wrote simply and artlessly, destining his work not for learned monks, but for the broad masses of readers, striving for an entertaining presentation. The Chronicle of John Malala consists of 18 books. Four of them (the first, second, fourth and fifth) outlined ancient myths and the history of the Trojan War. Further in the "Chronicle" tells about the eastern kings, the history of Rome and, finally, the history of Byzantium, up to the time of the reign of Emperor Justinian (VI century). The “Chronicle of John Malala” was of value to ancient Russian historiographers and scribes primarily because it significantly supplemented the “Chronicle of George Amartol”: it was Malala who contained detailed and entertaining stories about the Persian kings, the history of Romulus, Remus and the first Roman kings, the history of reign of some Byzantine emperors. Therefore, in the ancient Russian chronographic codes, the text of Malala not only supplemented, but also partially replaced the sparse story of the Chronicle of Georgy Amartol. In addition, in the "Chronicle of John Malala", as already mentioned, some ancient myths were retold (albeit very briefly); these retellings were used by Russian chroniclers and chroniclers. For the first time, the "Chronicle of John Malala" was involved already in the preparation of the "Chronograph according to the great exposition" in the 11th century. The full text of the Slavic translation of the "Chronicles of John Malala" has not been preserved, we can reconstruct it only from extracts from the Russian chronographic codes. "History of the Jewish War" by Josephus Flavius. Not later than the beginning of the XII century. in Rus' was translated "History of the Jewish War", a monument extremely popular in European medieval literatures. "History" was written between 75-79. Joseph, the son of Mattathia - a participant in the uprising in Judea against Rome, who then went over to the side of the Romans and received the right to bear the family nickname of the emperors Flavius. The "History" consists of seven books (or "words"). The first two books deal with the history of Judea from 175 B.C.E. e. and ending with 66 AD. e. - the time of the uprising against Roman rule, in the third - sixth books tells about the suppression of the uprising by Vespasian, and then his son Titus, about the siege, capture and destruction of Jerusalem; finally, in the last, 7th book, the triumph of Vespasian and Titus in Rome is told. The works of Josephus Flavius ​​are by no means a dry historical chronicle - they are rather a literary and journalistic work. The author is tendentious, he does not hide his admiration for the power of the Roman emperors and dissatisfaction with his political opponents - the common people of Judea, whom he considers guilty of the failure of the uprising, but he cannot hide his admiration for the courage of the rebels and sympathy for the suffering that befell them. Journalistic spirit works manifested, in particular, in the speeches of the characters - Vespasian, Titus and Joseph himself (the author speaks of himself in the third person); the main purpose of these speeches, built according to all the rules of ancient recitations, is to convince the rebels of the pernicious intentions and glorify the nobility and valor of the Romans. The stylistic art of Josephus Flavius ​​is manifested not only in the monologues and dialogues of the characters, but also in the descriptions - whether these are descriptions of the nature of Judea or its cities, battles or terrible scenes of famine in besieged Jerusalem; rhythmic syllable, vivid comparisons and metaphors, precise epithets, concern for euphony (clearly manifested in the original "History") - all this indicates that the author attached great importance to the literary side of the work. The Old Russian translator managed to save artistic merit the original, the richness of his vocabulary, the emotionality of his speeches, the liveliness of his descriptions. The translation also preserved the rhythmic articulation of phrases and the parallelism of syntactic constructions inherent in the original. Moreover, the translator independently expands and concretizes the descriptions, replaces the indirect speech of the original with direct speech, adds new comparisons, metaphors, figurative expressions traditional for Russian original monuments. Thus, the translation of the "History" testifies to the high skill of the ancient Russian scribes of the 11th-12th centuries. The popularity of the "History" was very great. And not only because it told about one of the most important events in world history: full of combat episodes, it was in tune with the Russian reader, who himself had repeatedly experienced the hardships of wars and enemy invasions. It is no coincidence that the chroniclers of the XII-XIII centuries. used in their story the images they loved or turns of speech from the battle scenes of the "History". More than 30 copies of the Old Russian translation of the History have been preserved, the oldest of them are read as part of the Archiv and Vilna chronographs (end of the 15th-16th centuries), dating back to the chronographic code of the middle of the 13th century. . Chronographic Alexandria. Not later than the 12th century. an extensive novel about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great, the so-called “Alexandria” of Pseudocallisthenes, was translated from Greek (Callisthenes, the historian who accompanied Alexander on his campaigns, was erroneously considered its author). The original historical and biographical outline of the story about Alexander in "Alexandria" is barely traced: this is already a typical adventure novel of the Hellenistic era, where the biography of the Macedonian king is colored with numerous legendary and fantastic details, and almost main theme The work is a description of outlandish lands that Alexander allegedly visited during his campaigns. One of the editions of "Alexandria" was translated into Rus'. This translation is found mainly in the composition of chronographic codes, therefore it is called chronographic "Alexandria", in contrast to the other, the so-called Serbian "Alexandria", which came to Rus' through South Slavic mediation in the 15th century. As already mentioned, "Alexandria" is not so much a historical novel or a fictionalized biography of the hero as a novel of adventures, and the personality of Alexander itself acquires some completely legendary features. So, he is declared not the son of the Macedonian king Philip, but the son of the former Egyptian sorcerer king Nektonav, who appeared to Philip's wife Olympias under the guise of the god Ammon. The birth of Alexander is accompanied by miraculous signs: thunder rumbles, the earth shakes. Contrary to history, "Alexandria" tells about Alexander's campaign in Sicily, about the conquest of Rome by him. This is no coincidence: the Macedonian commander appears in the novel not only as the winner of the great Persian state, but also as a hero who managed to conquer the whole world. Characteristic, for example, is the interpretation of the episode of the death of Darius: mortally wounded by his satraps, the king himself gives Alexander power over Persia and gives him his daughter Roxana as his wife; while in reality Roxana, one of Alexander's wives, was not the daughter of Darius, but of a Bactrian satrap. There are a lot of sharp plot conflicts in the novel. So, Alexander goes to Darius under the guise of his own ambassador and only accidentally escapes exposure and captivity. Another time, he, posing as his associate Antigonus, comes to Queen Candace, whose son is eager to deal with Alexander, for he killed his father-in-law, the Indian king Por. Candace recognizes Alexander, and he manages to avoid danger only because the queen decides to hide the secret of her guest in gratitude for saving her other son. Alexander's death is also surrounded by mystery. The hero becomes aware of the imminent death from a sign; when he dies, the sky darkens, a bright star lights up and descends into the sea, the "idol of Babylon" oscillates. "Alexandria" was read as part of Russian chronographic codes and, therefore, was perceived as a historical narrative about the famous commander of antiquity. But in fact, ancient Russian scribes got acquainted with the most popular literary plot in medieval Europe, which formed the basis of numerous prose novels and poems created in the 10th-12th centuries. in Italy, Germany, France and other countries. In the second edition of "Alexandria" (which became part of the second edition of the Hellenic Chronicler), the element of entertainment was even more strengthened: stories about Alexander's campaigns in unknown lands inhabited by strange creatures were supplemented with new details, an episode was added in which the hero rises into the sky or descends into the sea. bottom, etc. "Alexandria" of various editions is one of the essential components of all Russian chronographic codes and chronographs up to the 17th century. . Devgenian act. In the XI-XII centuries. a translation of the Byzantine epic legend about the hero Digenis Akrita was also carried out. The Greek original of the translation has not been preserved, only lists of the XIV-XVI centuries have come down to us. Greek poem about Digenis, reflecting, apparently, the later processing of this epic. In the Old Russian translation of the story about Digenis, usually referred to as the "Deed of Devgen", it is told how the Arabian king Amir abducts a young beautiful Greek woman. Three of her brothers, who went looking for the girl, overcome the king. He decides to be baptized and move to the Greek land after his beloved. From the marriage of Amir and a Greek woman, Devgeny is born. From childhood, he amazes everyone with his strength and courage: while hunting, Devgeny strangles a bear with his hands, cuts a lion in two. Further, it tells about the victory of Devgeny over Philippa and the heroic maiden Maximiana; Devgeny learns from Maximiana that by marrying her, he will live 16 years, and by marrying Stratigovna, 36, this prompts him to seek Stratigovna's hand. The "Acts" tells in detail about the marriage of Devgeny. In the Greek poem, his chosen one bears the name of Evdokia, in the old Russian story she is named after her father - Stratigovna (strategist - military leader, here the name of the military rank turns into its own name). Devgeny arrives in the city where the girl lives, on a richly dressed horse, prancing under her windows, singing a "sweet song"; the young people get to know each other, and Devgeny persuades Stratigovna to run away with him. She agrees, but Devgeny believes that by kidnapping the girl in the absence of her father and brothers (they left to hunt at that time), he will cover himself with shame. Therefore, the young man waits for the return of the relatives of his chosen one, openly takes her away literally in front of his father: the Stratig is warned by the servants, but refuses to believe in the possibility of such a daring kidnapping. Devgeny waits at the walls of the city, while the Stratig and his sons set off in pursuit of him, and overcomes them in battle. Stratig agrees to the marriage of his daughter with Devgen. The families of the bride and groom exchange gifts and celebrate a magnificent wedding. The final part of Devg.eniev's deeds tells about the hero's victory over Tsar Vasily. "Devgeny's deed" has all the features of an epic tale: the hero is not only a handsome and daring warrior - his strength and courage (as well as his mother's three brothers, by the way) acquires absolutely fantastic features: in one "race" Devgeny kills several thousand enemy soldiers . The scene of Stratigovna's abduction is very effective, for all its implausibility: Devgeny has been rampaging in her father's yard for three hours, challenging him to a duel, breaking the gates with a spear, but Stratig stubbornly insists that even a bird does not dare to fly into his yard! However, the strength of Devgen’s opponents is also depicted in hyperbolic proportions: for example, the “kmetis” (knights-heroes) of King Amir are able to go out alone against a thousand, and two against the “darkness” (ten thousand, countless). Although the translation of the Byzantine legend about Digenis Akrita was carried out, apparently, as early as the 11th-12th centuries. (this is indicated by the vocabulary data and the similarity of some phraseological phrases of the "Deeds of Devgen" with the Galicia-Volyn chronicle of the 13th century), only three very late lists of the monument have come down to us: Tikhonravovsky - the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, Titovsky and Pogodinsky - the middle of the 18th V. At the same time, the Tikhonravovsky list represents one edition of "Devgeniev's deeds", called the first by the researchers, and the other two lists - the second, with significant updates in vocabulary and abbreviations. None of the Russian lists has preserved the full text of "Devgeniev's deeds": the Tikhonravovsky list contains a description of the exploits of Devgeny on the hunt, tells about the abduction of Stratigovna by him and about the victory over Tsar Vasily. The Pogodinsky and Titovsky lists tell the story of Amir, tell about the victory of Devgeny over Philippa and Maximian, but the story of the hero’s matchmaking with Stratigovna is shorter, and the story of the victory over Tsar Vasily is completely omitted. The Tale of Akira the Wise. In Kievan Rus, the translation of The Tale of Akira the Wise was also known. This story arose in Assyro-Babylonia in the 7th century. BC e. . The "Tale" tells how Akir, adviser to the king of the Adora and Naliva countries (i.e., Assyria and Nineveh) Sinagripa, by divine direction, adopts his nephew Anadan. He raised and educated him, taught him all the wisdom (the story contains a long list of Akira Anadana's instructions) and, finally, introduced him to the king as his student and successor. However, Anadan begins to run amok in Akir's house, and when he tries to curb him, he carries out an insidious plan: by forging Akir's handwriting, Anadan writes forged letters that will have to convince Sinagrip that Akir is plotting treason. The king is shocked by the imaginary betrayal of his adviser, and Akir cannot justify himself from surprise and only manages to ask permission so that the death sentence passed on him at the insistence of Anadan is carried out by his old friend. Akira manages to convince his friend of his innocence, he executes the criminal instead of Akira, and hides Akira himself in the dungeon. The Egyptian pharaoh, having heard about the execution of Akir, sends envoys to Sinagrip demanding that one of his close associates build a house between heaven and earth. Synagrip in despair: Anadan, whom he counted on, refuses to help, saying that only a god can accomplish this task. Then a friend of Akira informs the king that the disgraced adviser is alive. The king sends Akira to Egypt, where he solves all the ingenious riddles that the pharaoh offers him. Akir forces the pharaoh to refuse the demand to build a house: the eagles trained by Akir raise a boy in the sky, who asks for stones and lime, and the Egyptians, of course, cannot do this. Having received tribute for three years, Akir returns to Sinagrip, chains Anadan at the porch of his house and begins to reproach him for his evil deeds. In vain Anadan prays for forgiveness. Unable to withstand Akira's caustic reproaches, he swells up, "like a jug", and bursts with anger. This story is interesting as an action-packed work: the cunning and deceit of Anadan, who slanders his adoptive father, and the wisdom of Akir, who finds a worthy way out of all the difficulties in which the pharaoh is trying to put him, create many sharp collisions in the work. On the other hand, almost a quarter of the story is occupied by the instructions with which Akir addresses Anadan: here are maxims on the topics of friendship, justice, generosity, etiquette of behavior, and denunciation of "evil wives". Medieval scribes were fond of wise sayings and aphorisms. In various editions and lists of The Tale of Akira, the composition of maxims changes, but nevertheless they remain an indispensable part of its text. The only complete list of the oldest edition of the "Tale of Akira" from the collection of the Society of Russian History and Antiquities (in the State Library named after V.I. Lenin) refers to the 15th century; the other two - Vakhrameevsky (XV century) and Khludovsky (XVII century) are incomplete. In the Solovetsky list (now lost) only half of the text of the "Tale" according to the older edition was read. The same edition was read in the Musin-Pushkin collection (together with The Tale of Igor's Campaign and Devgeniev's Act), which died in 1812. Later, in the 17th century. (or in the second half of the 16th century) a new edition of the Tale of Akira is being created. In essence, this is a rather free retelling of the ancient edition of the story, while both the plot and its images are strongly Russified, moving closer to the plot and characters of the folk tale. The oldest edition of The Tale of Akira was researched and published by A. D. Grigoriev. Natural science essays. Byzantine science of the early Middle Ages was closely connected with theology. The world of nature, information about which Byzantine scientists could draw both from their own observations and from the writings of ancient philosophers and naturalists, was considered primarily as a clear evidence of the wisdom of God who created the world, or as a kind of living allegory: natural phenomena, the habits of living beings or the world of minerals - all this seemed to be a kind of embodiment in living and material images of some eternal truths, concepts or morals. Russian scribes also got acquainted with the works of Byzantine scientific thought of the early Middle Ages. Although it is not possible to establish the exact time of the penetration of some translations into Rus', it is possible that they became known in Rus' even before the Mongol invasion. Six days. Six days were very popular in medieval Christian literature. These are works that comment on a brief biblical story about the creation by God of the sky, stars, luminaries, earth, living beings, plants and man for six days (hence the name of the book - "Six Days"). This commentary turned into a collection of all the information about animate and inanimate nature that Byzantine science had at that time. Of the many six-days that existed, for example, in Byzantine literature, in Rus' were known the “Shestodnev” of John, Exarch of Bulgaria, the “Shestodnev” of Severian Gevalsky, and later the “Shestodnev” of George Pizida. The Six Days by John, Exarch of Bulgaria is a compilation work based on the Six Days by Basil the Great and Severian of Geval, but the author used many other sources along with this and supplemented the work with his own reasoning. It consists of a prologue and six "words". They tell about the heavenly bodies and the Earth, about atmospheric phenomena, about animals, plants, about the nature of man himself. All this information, sometimes reflecting the natural science ideas of that time, sometimes frankly fantastic, is permeated with one and the same idea: admiration for the wisdom of God, who created such a beautiful, diverse, rationally arranged world. This idea from "Shestodnev" attracted the attention of Vladimir Monomakh, who in his "Instruction" quotes the monument and expresses his admiration for "how the sky is arranged, how is the sun, how is the moon ... and the earth is laid on the waters", how variety of animals and birds. "Shestodnev" John, Exarch of the Bulgarian - the most common in Russian writing. The oldest of the lists stored in our libraries is Serbian (1263), Russian lists date back to the 15th century. and subsequent, but the appeal to the "Shestodnev" by Vladimir Monomakh and the presence of fragments from it in the chronographic code of the XIII century. testify that the translation of the monument was known in Rus' much earlier. "Physiologist". If the "Six Days" told about nature as a whole - from the luminaries to plants and animals, then in another monument, of a natural science nature, the "Physiologist" was told mainly about living beings, as real ones (lion, eagle, ant, whale, elephant and etc.), and fantastic (phoenix, sirens, centaur), and only about some plants or precious stones (diamond, flint, magnet, etc.). Each story reported on the properties of a creature or object, and then gave a symbolic interpretation of these properties. However, as a rule, both the habits of animals and the features of plants or stones in the presentation of the "Physiologist" are completely fantastic, because its main goal is to find an analogy between the properties of a creature or object and some theological concept. So, for example, it is said about the pelican that, barely born, its chicks begin to peck at their parents until they, exhausted, kill them. But, having mourned the ruined children for three days, the parents decide to revive them. To do this, the mother punches her rib, and the chicks, sprinkled with her blood, come to life. The behavior of the pelican, says the Physiologist, symbolizes the fate of the human race, which fell away from God, but was saved by the blood shed for it by Christ. Like this fantasy story about the custom of lions (that the lioness gives birth to a dead cub, and the father revives him three days later by blowing on him) also correlates with the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ. Nevertheless, the stories about the animals themselves are, as a rule, very entertaining: thus, the same lion is reported as if he sleeps with his eyes open; the crocodile cries as it devours its prey; the phoenix bird itself burns itself on the fire of the altar, but a "worm" is born in the ashes, which on the second day turns into a chick, and on the third - into an adult bird. It tells about the habits of the fox: she pretends to be dead, and as soon as the birds sit down and start pecking at her, she jumps up and grabs them. Salamander (a species of amphibians), according to the "Physiologist", entering the fire, extinguishes it. In some editions of the monument, it is said that after the death of the “husband” (i.e., the male), the turtledove (forest pigeon) remains alone: ​​she sits on a dry tree, “crying her friend (friend, beloved)”. We know the lists of the "Physiologist" only from the 15th century, but we can assume that the monument was already translated in Kievan Rus: it is characteristic that in the letter of the Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh (died in 1125) there is the same image of a woman crying on a dry tree turtledoves in relation to the widow of his dead son. "Christian Topography". Famous in ancient Rus' and "Christian topography" Cosmas Indikoplova. Cosmas was a merchant who traveled around 530 to Egypt, Ethiopia and Arabia. In India itself, despite his nickname - Indikoplova (i.e., sailing to India), Cosmas, it is believed, was not there, and he cites information about this country from other people's stories. The monument consists of 12 "words" (chapters), which contain an argument about the structure of the Universe. In particular, Cosmas claims that the Earth is flat; she and the sky covering her are likened to a room with a vaulted ceiling. The sky we see consists of water, and above it another sky stretches, invisible to us. The movement of the luminaries and atmospheric phenomena are controlled by angels specially assigned for this. Equally legendary is the information about the animal and plant world of those countries about which Cosmas speaks. Extracts from the “Christian topography” of Cosmas are already found in manuscripts of the 13th century, however, complete lists of the monument have come down to us only from a later time.

1. The specifics of ancient Russian literature. Features of medieval aesthetics and poetics.

Russian literature until the 18th century. "ancient", the initial stage in the development of great Russian literature, which has acquired world significance. High ideology, nationality, a lively connection with pressing issues public life, publicism, topicality due to the fact that she was directly involved in the ideological and political struggle of its time, reflecting the class struggle in Russian society. cognitive value, educational value, themes of patriotism, state building, political unity and heroism of the Russian people, elements of oral poetry, features of real life. many themes, images and motifs of ancient Russian literature were used by Russian writers of modern times. the end of ancient Russian literature and the beginning of a new one - late XVII V. Russian literature at this time puts forward new themes and new ideas related to the fact that it is at the service of the state system reformed by Peter. At the same time, new literary genres and styles were developing. So, ancient Russian literature has approximately six and a half centuries of existence. Periods:

1. 11-12 centuries. The predominance of Byzantine literature monuments. The first lives, chronicles. Center - Kyiv, novgorod. In the rest it is poorly developed. (Illarion of Kyiv, Life)

2. 12th-13th centuries period of feudal fragmentation. emergence of new centers. Original monuments + translated. (Pov. vremenny years, the word about Igor's regiment, oratorical prose, Kirill Turovsky)

3. 13th century Tatar-Mongol yoke. The decline of national identity and cultural life. Decline of chronicles. A special genre is about ruin. (pov. About the battle on the Kalka River, about the ruin of Ryazan by Batu, A. Nevsky)

4. 14th century The rise of national consciousness. Battle of Kulikovo 1382 (Zadonshchina, the word of Dmitry Ivanovich, oh mother's massacre)

5. 15th century pre-renaissance ideas. Awareness of the role of the individual, humanism, in a weak form, manifests the inner world of a person. Change of monumental-historical style to national-expressive. (walking of A. Nikitin, life of Radonezh, epiphanius the wise)

6. 16th century Moscow is leading the way. The destruction of the feudal and the formation of a centralized system of government. State propaganda. values, the priority of the state-va over individuality. the inner world of the individual is not interesting. A person serves the state. The priority of the letter over the spirit. Copying texts (it didn't always make sense) Literature's task is to summarize information according to def. Subject. (Domostroy, journalism, Peresvet, correspondence between Grozny and Kurbsky)

7. 17th century Confusion, chaos. Reorientation to Western culture. The destruction of the traditional mentality and the system of genres. individualistic tendencies. Liberation from the canons. Satirical literature, poetry, dramaturgy.

8. 18th century The most non-literary. The era of classicism.

Printing - in the middle of the XVI century. served primarily liturgical literature. The handwritten tradition of ancient Russian literature contributed to the variability of literary monuments. The concept of literary property and individual author's monopoly on a literary work was absent in ancient Rus'. The development of ancient Russian literature in general proceeded in parallel with the evolution of the literary language. In the monuments with church-religious themes, the presence of elements of the Church Slavonic language is also evident. The literary process in ancient Rus' was in close connection with the change in the material and technique of writing. Features: - bookishness is not art - literature as comments on scripture - reverse plagiarism - canon - symbolism - features of postmodernism (total text, death of the author, everything has already been written) - language (diglasia) Old Church Slavonic, Church Slavonic. - marginalia - marginal notes not related to the text

2. Genre system of ancient Russian literature.

· Chronographs told about the history of the world; (translated Alexandria)

· about the history of the fatherland - chronicles, monuments of historical writing and literature of Ancient Rus', the narration in which was conducted over the years. They told about the events of Russian and world history.

· There was an extensive literature of moralistic biographies - the lives of the saints, or hagiography. Collections of short stories about the life of monks were widely distributed. Such collections were called pateriks.

· The genres of solemn and instructive eloquence are represented by various teachings and words. In the solemn words pronounced in the church during the service, Christian holidays were glorified. In the teachings, vices were denounced, virtues were glorified.

· Walkings told about journeys to the holy land of Palestine.

Church texts of the gospel

Literature in its genre structure, as it were, repeated the structure of feudal society. Scattered works were grouped into a coherent whole: chronicles, chronographs, patericons, etc. Separate parts of the work could belong to different genres.

The development of ancient Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries proceeds through the gradual destruction of the stable system of church genres and their transformation. The genres of worldly literature are being fictionalized 2 . They increase interest in the inner world of a person, the psychological motivation of his actions, appear entertaining, everyday descriptions. For changing historical heroes come fictitious. In the 17th century, this leads to fundamental changes in the internal structure and style of historical genres and contributes to the birth of new, purely fictional works. Virche poetry, court and school drama, democratic satire, household story, picaresque short story.

3. Translation literature of Kievan Rus.
translations in the XI-XII centuries. in some cases preceded the creation of original works of the same genre. Rus' began to read someone else's before writing its own. The most important role in this respect was played by Bulgaria and Byzantium.

Byzantine and Bulgarian books in Rus'. The phenomenon of "transplantation"

A significant part of the books, and in particular liturgical ones, was brought in the 10th-11th centuries. from Bulgaria. The Old Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) and Old Russian languages ​​are so close that Rus' was able to use the ready-made Old Slavonic Cyrillic alphabet created by the great Bulgarian enlighteners Cyril and Methodius. translations directly from Greek. Less frequently translated from other languages

transplantation ("transplantation") of the literature of one country into another - about the transfer of Byzantine literature to Russian soil. before the adoption of Christianity, the art of the word was represented by folklore. works were not just translated or copied, they continued their literary history on new ground. This means that new editions of works were created, their plot changed. Already a few decades after the start of this process in Rus', following the model of translated monuments, their own original works began to be created - lives, solemn and instructive words, stories, etc.

Genres of translated literature. Bible books. Let us now turn to the consideration of the main genres of translation Literature XI-XIII centuries

The basis for the Christian doctrine and worldview was the biblical books (or Holy Scripture), as well as the works of the most authoritative theologians. The Bible was fully translated into Rus' only in the 15th century, but individual biblical books became known in Slavic translations (through Bulgarian mediation) Kievan Rus. The books of the New Testament and the Psalter were most widely used at this time.

The books of sacred scripture and liturgical books, in addition to purely teaching and service functions, also had considerable aesthetic significance: the Bible contained vivid plot stories, the books of the prophets were distinguished by increased emotionality, vivid imagery, passion in exposing vices and social injustice; the psalter and service menaias were brilliant examples of church poetry, although their Slavic translations were prosaic.

Patristics. writings of Roman and Byzantine theologians of the III-XI centuries, revered as "fathers of the church". the dogmas of the Christian religion were commented on, polemics with heretics were conducted, the foundations of Christian morality or the rules of monastic life were expounded in the form of teachings and instructions (the works of John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea ...) in strengthening the foundations of Christian dogma, contributed to the improvement of the oratory of Russian church writers.

Collections of sayings "The Wisdom of Menander the Wise", "The Sayings of Hesychius and Barnabas" and especially - "Bee", were studied by M. N. Speransky.

Lives of the Saints. stories about the life, suffering or pious deeds of people canonized by the church, that is, recognized as saints and officially honored with veneration. Hagiography. the plot and plot devices of ancient Greek adventure novels, the intervention of miraculous forces - angels or demons, the illusion of the plausibility of the most fantastic episodes were used. (the lives of Alexei, the Man of God, Basil the New, Savva the Sanctified, Irina, Anthony the Great, Theodora and others. An example of a life-novel is the Life of Eustathius Plakida).

Pateriki.- collections of short stories, mostly about monks who became famous for their piety or asceticism.

If the righteous are accompanied by divine help, then the sinners in the paterinic legends are in for a terrible - and what is especially characteristic - not a posthumous, but an immediate punishment: a thief, a defiler of graves, is gouged out by a living dead; the ship does not move from its place until a woman child-killer descends from its side into the boat, and this boat with the sinner is immediately swallowed up by the abyss; the servant, who planned to kill and rob his mistress, cannot leave the place and stabs himself. The patericons depict a certain fantastic world in which the forces of good and evil are constantly fighting for the souls of people, where the righteous are not just pious, but pious to frenzy and exaltation where miracles are sometimes performed in the most everyday environment.

The plots of translated patericons influenced the work of ancient Russian scribes: in Russian patericons and lives we sometimes find similar episodes and characteristics borrowed from Byzantine patericon legends

Apocrypha- renounced, heretical books. legends about the characters of biblical history, however, the plot is different from those contained in the biblical canonical books. Sometimes in the apocrypha, from other worldview positions, the origin of the world, its structure, or the question of the "end of the world" that worried the minds in the Middle Ages was considered. Finally, apocryphal motifs could be included in works of traditional genres, such as hagiographies. Apocryphal plots are found in chronicles, annals, paley, and the apocrypha themselves - in collections, along with authoritative and revered works. apocryphal tales about the prophet Jeremiah, apocrypha "The Journey of Agapius to Paradise", "The Tale of Aphrodite", "The Journey of the Virgin through the Torments" and a number of others. At the same time, the apocrypha satisfied not only literary, but also theological interests. They posed problems that especially worried the minds of religious people: about the causes of disorder in this world, which, as the church taught, was created and controlled by an omnipotent and just deity, about the future of the world, about the fate of a person after his death, etc. This topic dedicated, for example, to the popular apocrypha - “The Virgin’s Passage through the Torments.” Apocrypha were found in ancient Russian writing throughout its history, and in the future we will have to return to apocryphal stories that became widespread at a later time.

Chronicles."Chronicle of George Amartol" - a sinner; is the traditional self-deprecating epithet of a monk. from the "creation of the world"; then he sets out biblical history, the history of the Babylonian and Persian kings, tells about the Roman emperors, about the emperors of Byzantium. “Chronicles of Simeon Logothetes” The chronicler was most interested in church history. The Old Russian scribe, on the other hand, was largely interested in history as such: the fate of the great powers of antiquity, information about their most prominent rulers, as well as various entertaining stories from the life of prominent tsars, emperors or sages. an abbreviated chronographic code, called the "Chronograph according to the great exposition." brief information about the kings and emperors of the countries of the East, Rome and Byzantium, legends and stories about miracles and heavenly signs, expounded the decisions of church councils. "Chronograph according to the great presentation" was used in compiling the Russian chronicle. " Chronicle of John Malala. Not later than the 11th century. ancient myths and the history of the Trojan War were expounded. the history of Rome and, finally, the history of Byzantium up to the time of the reign of Emperor Justinian (VI century).

"History of the Jewish War" by Josephus Flavius. Not later than the beginning of the XII century. The first two books deal with the history of Judea from 175 B.C.E. e. and ending with 66 AD. e. - the time of the uprising against Roman rule, in the third - sixth books tells about the suppression of the uprising by Vespasian, and then his son Titus, about the siege, capture and destruction of Jerusalem; finally, the last, 7th book tells about the triumph of Vespasian and Titus in Rome. The works of Josephus Flavius ​​are by no means a dry historical chronicle - it is rather a literary and journalistic work. The journalistic spirit of the work is manifested, in particular, in the speeches of the characters - Vespasian, Titus and Joseph himself (the author speaks of himself in the third person); the main purpose of these speeches, built according to all the rules of ancient recitations, is to convince the rebels of the pernicious intentions and glorify the nobility and valor of the Romans. The stylistic art of Josephus Flavius ​​is manifested not only in the monologues and dialogues of the characters, but also in the descriptions - whether these are descriptions of the nature of Judea or its cities, battles or terrible scenes of famine in besieged Jerusalem; rhythmic syllable, vivid comparisons and metaphors, precise epithets, concern for euphony (clearly manifested in the original "History") - all this indicates that the author attached great importance to the literary side of the work.

Chronographic Alexandria. Not later than the 12th century. an extensive novel about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great, the so-called “Alexandria”, was translated from Greek. As already mentioned, “Alexandria” is not so much a historical novel or a fictionalized biography of the hero as a novel of adventures, and the personality of Alexander itself acquires some completely legendary features. So, he is declared not the son of the Macedonian king Philip, but the son of the former Egyptian sorcerer king Nektonav, who appeared to Philip's wife Olympias under the guise of the god Ammon. The birth of Alexander is accompanied by miraculous signs: thunder rumbles, the earth shakes. Contrary to history, "Alexandria" tells about Alexander's campaign in Sicily, about the conquest of Rome by him. This is no coincidence: the Macedonian commander appears in the novel not only as the winner of the great Persian state, but also as a hero who managed to conquer the whole world. Characteristic, for example, is the interpretation of the episode of the death of Darius: mortally wounded by his satraps, the king himself gives Alexander power over Persia and gives him his daughter Roxana as his wife; whereas, in reality, Roxana, one of Alexander's wives, was not the daughter of Darius, but of the Bactrian satrap. There are many sharp conflicts in the plot in the novel. So, Alexander goes to Darius under the guise of his own ambassador and only accidentally escapes exposure and captivity. Another time, he, posing as his associate Antigonus, comes to Queen Candace, whose son is eager to deal with Alexander, for he killed his father-in-law, the Indian king Por. Candace recognizes Alexander, and he manages to avoid danger only because the queen decides to hide the secret of her guest in gratitude for saving her other son. The death of Alexander is also surrounded by mystery. The hero becomes aware of the imminent death from a sign; when he dies, the sky darkens, a bright star lights up and descends into the sea, the "idol of Babylon" oscillates.

Devgenian act. In the XI-XII centuries. a translation of the Byzantine epic legend about the hero Digenis Akrita was also carried out

The Tale of Akira the Wise. Akir, adviser to the king of the Adora and Naliva countries (i.e., Assyria and Nineveh) Sinagripa, by divine direction, adopts his nephew Anadan. He raised and educated him, taught him all the wisdom (the story contains a long list of Akira Anadana's instructions) and, finally, introduced him to the king as his disciple and successor. However, Anadan begins to run amok in Akir's house, and when he tries to curb him, he carries out an insidious plan: by forging Akir's handwriting, Anadan writes forged letters that will have to convince Sinagrip that Akir is plotting treason. The king is shocked by the imaginary betrayal of his adviser, and Akir cannot justify himself from surprise and only manages to ask permission so that the death sentence passed on him at the insistence of Anadan is carried out by his old friend. Akira manages to convince his friend of his innocence, he executes the criminal instead of Akira, and hides Akira himself in the dungeon. The Egyptian pharaoh, having heard about the execution of Akir, sends envoys to Sinagrip demanding that one of his close associates build a house between heaven and earth. Synagrip in despair: Anadan, whom he counted on, refuses to help, saying that only a god can accomplish this task. Then a friend of Akira informs the king that the disgraced adviser is alive. The king sends Akira to Egypt, where he solves all the ingenious riddles that the pharaoh offers him. Akir forces the pharaoh to refuse the demand to build a house: the eagles trained by Akir raise a boy in the sky, who asks for stones and lime, and the Egyptians, of course, cannot do this. Having received tribute for three years, Akir returns to Sinagrip, chains Anadan at the porch of his house and begins to reproach him for his evil deeds. In vain Anadan prays for forgiveness. Unable to withstand Akir's caustic reproaches, he swells up “like a jug” and bursts with anger. the pharaoh tries to put it, create a lot of sharp collisions in the work. On the other hand, almost a quarter of the story is occupied by the instructions with which Akir addresses Anadan: here are maxims on the topics of friendship, justice, generosity, etiquette of behavior, and denunciation of "evil wives".

Natural science essays. Byzantine science of the early Middle Ages was closely connected with theology. The world of nature, information about which Byzantine scientists could draw both from their own observations and from the writings of ancient philosophers and naturalists, was considered primarily as a clear evidence of the wisdom of God who created the world, or as a kind of living allegory: natural phenomena, the habits of living beings or the world of minerals - all this seemed to be a kind of embodiment in living and material images of some eternal truths, concepts or morals.

Six days. works commenting on a brief biblical story about the creation by God of the sky, stars, luminaries, earth, living beings, plants and man for six days (hence the name of the book - “Six Days

"Physiologist". about living creatures, both real (lion, eagle, ant, whale, elephant, etc.), and fantastic (phoenix, sirens, centaur), and only about some plants or precious stones (diamond, flint, magnet, etc.). ) Each story reported on the properties of a creature or object, and then gave a symbolic interpretation of these properties. However, as a rule, both the habits of animals and the features of plants or stones in the presentation of the "Physiologist" are completely fantastic, because its main goal is to find an analogy between the properties of a creature or object and some theological concept.

"Christian Topography" Cosmas of Indikoplof. Cosmas was a merchant who traveled around 530 to Egypt, Ethiopia and Arabia. In India itself, despite his nickname - Indikoplova (i.e., sailing to India), Cosmas, it is believed, was not, and he cites information about this country from other people's stories. The monument consists of 12 "words" (chapters), which contain an argument about the structure of the Universe. In particular, Cosmas claims that the Earth is flat; she and the sky covering her are likened to a room with a vaulted ceiling. The sky we see consists of water, and above it another sky stretches, invisible to us. The movement of the luminaries and atmospheric phenomena are controlled by angels specially assigned for this. Equally legendary is the information about the animal and plant world of those countries about which Cosmas speaks.

4. The Bible as a translated monument of ancient Russian literature.

Old Bulgarian translations from Greek - biblical books - Old Testament, that is, telling about the ancient fate of the Jewish people, and New Testament, that is, associated with the initial period of Christianity. The reliability of the stories is minimal, as is the reliability of the authorship of individual parts of the Bible. The Bible books of the Old Testament consisted of three sections: "Law", "Prophets" and "Scriptures". The "Law" or "Pentateuch of Moses" included the books "Genesis", "Exodus", "Leviticus", "Numbers" and "Deuteronomy" and contained rules and regulations relating to the religious and social life of the Jews, legendary information about the creation of the world and man, and the legend of the origin of the Jewish people and their destinies before they occupied Palestine. The biblical books of the New Testament comprise the Gospels (from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles, or, in short, the Apostle, and the Revelation, or the Apocalypse of John the Theologian. the foundations of Christian mythology, which reflected the diverse layers of various ancient religious systems, myths and legends. The Apostolic Epistles set the task of popularizing, interpreting and explaining the Gospel in relation to those circumstances that were caused by social and religious practice individual Christian communities, faith groups or individuals. catastrophic events, the second coming to earth of Christ, finally defeating his enemy and the enemy of the entire human race - the Antichrist. Ancient Russian literature often used biblical quotations and in some cases used biblical style and figurative means of the Bible. Especially popular since ancient times fell to the lot of the Psalter. This was due to her poetic merits, verbal expressiveness and through her penetrating religious lyricism. These qualities of the Psalter made it not only table book for reading, but also as an educational book, and this role she performed for many centuries. The texts of Proverbs and Wisdom of Solomon were also popular in ancient Russian literature, attracting the old Russian reader not only for their content, but also for their sharp aphorism. As for the Gospel and the Apostle, they served us as the main source for religious and moral formulations in the spirit of Christian doctrine. Liturgical books, in addition to the biblical ones, also include Service Menaia. The poetic style and verbal formulas of prayers and chants were used to a certain extent by our ancient literature.

5. Hagiographic Literature of the 11th-12th Centuries. "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves", "The Tale of Boris and Gleb".

life, or hagiographic (from the Greek auos - saint), through which the church sought to give its flock examples of the practical application of abstract Christian provisions. The conditional, idealized image of a Christian ascetic, whose life and activity took place in an atmosphere of legend and miracle, was the most suitable conductor of the ideology that the church was called to spread. The author of the life, the hagio-graph, pursued, first of all, the task of giving such an image of the saint, which would correspond to the established idea of ​​​​an ideal church hero. Only such facts were taken from his life that corresponded to this idea, and everything that disagreed with him was hushed up. Usually the saint's life began with a brief mention of his parents, who turned out to be for the most part pious and noble people at the same time. Then there was a discussion about the behavior of the future saint in childhood. He is distinguished by modesty, obedience, diligence in book business, eschews games with peers and is completely imbued with piety. In the future, often from his youth, his ascetic life begins, mostly in a monastery or in desert solitude. It is accompanied by an ascetic mortification of the flesh and a struggle with all sorts of passions. In order, for example, to get rid of female temptation, the saint inflicts physical pain on himself: he cuts off his finger, thus distracting from carnal lusts (cf. the corresponding episode in L. Tolstoy's "Father Sergius"), etc. The saint is often pursued by demons in which the same sinful temptations are embodied, but by prayer, fasting and abstinence, the saint overcomes the devil's obsession. He has the ability to work miracles and communicate with the heavenly powers. The death of a saint is for the most part peaceful and quiet: the saint painlessly departs to another world, and his body emits a fragrance after death; miraculous healings take place at the tomb of the saint and on his grave: the blind receive their sight, the deaf receive hearing, the sick are healed. The life usually ends with praise to the saint. Byzantium in the 4th century sample - the life of Anthony the Great, written by Athanasius of Alexandria. translated lives of Nicholas the Wonderworker, Anthony the Great, John Chrysostom, Savva the Sanctified, Basil the New, Andrei the Holy Fool, Alexei the Man of God, Vyacheslav of Czech (the latter of West Slavic origin), etc. In the 11th - early 12th centuries. the first Russian lives are created: two lives of Boris and Gleb, "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves", "The Life of Anthony of the Caves" (not preserved until modern times). Their writing was not only a literary fact, but also an important link in the ideological policy of the Russian state. At this time, the Russian princes persistently sought the rights of the Patriarch of Constantinople to canonize their Russian saints, which would significantly increase the authority of the Russian Church. The creation of a life was an indispensable condition for the canonization of a saint. We will consider here one of the lives of Boris and Gleb - “Reading about the life and destruction” of Boris and Gleb and “The Life of Theodosius of the Caves”. Both lives were written by Nestor. Comparing them is especially interesting, since they represent two hagiographic types - the martyr's life (the story of the martyrdom of the saint) and the monastic life, which tells about everything life path the righteous man, his piety, asceticism, miracles performed by him, etc. Nestor, of course, took into account the requirements of the Byzantine hagiographic canon. There is no doubt that he knew translated Byzantine hagiographies. But at the same time, he showed such artistic independence, such an outstanding talent, that the very creation of these two masterpieces makes him one of the outstanding ancient Russian writers, regardless of whether he is also the compiler of The Tale of Bygone Years (this question remains controversial for the time being).

6. Metropolitan Hilarion's "Sermon on Law and Grace" as an exegetical text.

Among the genres of Byzantine literature, the works of the Church Fathers - theologians and preachers - occupied an honorable place. These "words" and teachings of Byzantine authors were widely known in Rus', and already in the 11th century. original works of Russian writers appear: Metropolitan Hilarion's "Word on Law and Grace", the teachings of the Novgorod bishop Luka Zhidyata and the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Theodosius; in the 12th century Old Russian literature is enriched with such masterpieces of solemn eloquence as the "words" of Cyril of Turov.

"The Word of Law and Grace". The “Sermon on Law and Grace”, written by the Kyiv priest Hilarion (the future metropolitan), according to N. N. Rozov, was first pronounced by him in 1049 in honor of the completion of the construction of Kiev defensive structures.

However, the meaning of the "Word" goes far beyond the genre of solemn festive words pronounced in church in front of believers. Hilarion's "Word" is a kind of church-political treatise in which the Russian land and its princes are glorified.

The Word begins with a lengthy theological discourse. Contrasting the Old and New Testaments, Hilarion holds the idea that the Old Testament is a law established for the Jewish people alone, while the New Testament is grace that applies to all peoples who have adopted Christianity without exception. Hilarion returns to this important thought several times; to confirm it, he reveals the symbolism of biblical images, recalls the sayings of the "fathers of the church", with various arguments and arguments he supports his thesis about the superiority of Christianity over Judaism intended for one people, about the high calling of Christian peoples.

This first, dogmatic part of the "Word" leads to the central idea of ​​the work: Prince Vladimir, on his own impulse (and not on the advice or insistence of the Greek clergy), did a "great and wondrous" deed - he baptized Rus'. Vladimir is the "teacher and mentor" of the Russian land, thanks to whom "the grace-filled faith" and "to our language (people) of the Russian doide." The role of Vladimir as the baptizer of Rus' grows to a universal scale: Vladimir is “equally minded”, “loving Christ equally” to Constantine the Great himself, the emperor of the “two Romes” - Eastern and Western, who, according to church tradition, proclaimed Christianity the state religion in Byzantium and was extremely revered in the empire. Equal deeds and equal merits give the right to equal respect. So Hilarion leads the listeners to the idea of ​​the need to recognize Vladimir as a saint. He puts him on a par with the apostles John, Thomas, Mark, to whom belongs the merit of converting various countries and lands to the Christian faith. At the same time, Hilarion seeks to glorify the power of the Russian land and emphasize its authority. The phraseology of a church sermon is sometimes replaced by the phraseology of annalistic praise: the ancestors of Vladimir - Igor and Svyatoslav became famous all over the world for their courage and bravery, "victories and strength"; and they ruled not in the "unknown land", but in Rus', which "is known and heard by all four ends of the earth." And Vladimir himself is not only a faithful Christian, but a mighty “one-ruler of his land”, who managed to conquer neighboring countries “with the world, but with the sword”.

The third and final part of the Lay is dedicated to Yaroslav the Wise. Hilarion portrays him not only as a continuer of Vladimir's spiritual precepts, not only as a zealous builder of new churches, but also as a worthy "viceroy ... dominion" of his father. Even in prayer, Hilarion does not forget about the worldly, political needs of Rus': he prays to God to “drive out” enemies, establish peace, “tame” neighboring countries, “make the boyars wiser,” strengthen cities ... years of the XI century, when Yaroslav by all means achieves the independence of the Russian Church and the Russian public policy and when the idea of ​​the equality of Rus' in relations with Byzantium (rather than subordination to it) took on the sharpest forms, influencing even church building; for example, churches were built in Rus' that were named after the famous Constantinople cathedrals: St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev and St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, the churches of St. Irene and St. George in Kiev, the Kiev Golden Gates, etc. as if it were a rival of Constantinople.

There is a well-founded opinion that Hilarion also owns the first work on Russian history: a cycle of stories about the Christianization of Rus', from which, perhaps, Russian chronicle writing began; this is evidenced by the seemingly numerous textual parallels contained in both monuments

7. Solemn words of Cyril of Turov.

Kirill Turovsky. The later “Life of Cyril” reports that he took the monastic vows early, became a recluse (i.e., lived in solitude in a cell) and during his seclusion “set forth a lot of divine writings.” Later, the prince and the townspeople begged Cyril to take the episcopal chair in the city of Turov (in the north-west of the Kyiv land). Cyril died no later than 1182. The authority of Cyril's creations was so great that many of his "words" were included in the collections "Chrysostom" and "The Solemn" along with the works of John Chrysostom. The authorship of a number of works inscribed with the name of Cyril of Turov is debatable, but with sufficient the basis can be considered that he owns the "Parable of the Soul and Body", "The Tale of the Belarusian and the Minish", "The Tale of the Chernoriz rank", eight "words" for church holidays, thirty prayers and two canons (a cycle of hymns in honor of St. ).

“The Parable of the Soul and the Body”, written, according to I.P. Eremin, between 1160-1169, is an accusatory pamphlet against the Rostov Bishop Fedor (Fedorets). The parable is based on the story of the blind man and the lame man. Its essence is as follows. A certain owner of the vineyard instructed two watchmen to guard it: one - the blind, the other - the lame. He calculated that the lame would not be able to enter the vineyard, and the blind, if he entered, would get lost. However, the lame will see the thief, and the blind will hear him. But the watchman decided to outwit the master: the lame man sat astride the blind man and showed him where to go. In this way they were able to plunder the vineyard, but paid dearly for it. In the parable, the blind man is an allegory of the soul, and the lame is an allegory of the body. At the same time, it is the soul (the blind man) that seduces the body (the lame man) into misconduct. Cyril of Turovsky, interpreting the Parable, allowed the reader to guess that Bishop Fyodor is meant by the blind, and Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky by the lame. The reason for writing the parable was the prince's attempt to establish a bishopric in Vladimir, independent of the Kiev metropolitan, for which Fedor went to Constantinople to accept consecration from the local patriarch, and deceived the latter, saying that there was no metropolitan in Kiev - he died. Subsequently, the deception was revealed, Metropolitan of Kyiv excommunicated Fedor from the church, and Andrei Bogolyubsky's attempt to achieve church autonomy from Kyiv was condemned. The most famous were the solemn "words" of Cyril, intended for reading in the church on church holidays. In these “words”, Cyril supplements and develops the gospel stories underlying them with new details, composes character dialogues, thus creating a new story that would provide him with great opportunities for allegorical interpretation of the meaning of a particular holiday. The main artistic principle in “ words" by Cyril is a rhetorical amplification. “One or another topic with him,” writes I. P. Eremin, “always verbally varies, spreads until its content is completely exhausted.” Each topic was dressed in the form of a rhetorical tirade, in which sentences that were synonymous in meaning and of the same type in terms of syntactic structure alternated. writing: “Great is the teacher and wise of the storyteller to demand the church to decorate the holiday,” while we, “poor in word” and “muddy in mind,” Cyril continues, “we can only say “little something” about the holiday. Further, the author characterizes the Easter holiday: when “to everything there was a change (change)”: the earth became the sky, cleansed of demonic filth, people were renewed, because from pagans they became Christians ... The new week is the renewal of people who have adopted the Christian faith. Kirill Turovsky paints a picture of the spring awakening of nature: the sky brightens, freed from clouds, the sun rises to a height and warms the earth, the winds blow softly, the earth gives birth to green grass, jumping, rejoicing in spring, “lambs and ounces” (i.e., lambs and bulls ), flowers bloom and leaves bloom on trees ... However, Kirill Turovsky immediately draws a parallel to each element of this description, after which it becomes clear that this vivid picture is just a series of metaphors and comparisons designed to elevate, glorify and, most importantly, explain to believers certain tenets of the Christian faith. Spring is the faith of Christ, “lambs” are “meek people”, “untsy” are “idols” of pagan countries who have joined or will join Christianity, etc. Each of Cyril’s “words” is a vivid example of festive, solemn eloquence . The author is fluent in rhetorical art: he either addresses the audience, then conveys the gospel story or a complex theological concept with the help of colorful allegories, as shown above, then he questions and immediately answers himself, argues with himself, proves to himself. Researchers of the work of Cyril of Turov have long established that in allegories, and in the methods of their interpretation, and in the rhetorical figures themselves, the author is far from always original: he relies on Byzantine samples, quotes or retells fragments from the “words” of famous Byzantine preachers. But in general, the works of the Bishop of Turov are not just compilations from other people's images and quotations - they are a free rethinking of traditional material, which results in a new work, perfect in form, educating listeners with a sense of the word, captivating them with the harmony of rhythmically constructed speech periods. Syntactic parallelism of forms, the widespread use of morphological rhyme (the use of a number of similar grammatical forms) in the “words” of Cyril of Turov, as it were, compensated for the lack of book poetry, prepared the Russian reader for the perception of the “weaving of words” and the ornamental style of the XIV-XVI centuries. Let's give just one example. In the tirade "(Christ) introduces the soul of the saints the prophet into the kingdom of heaven, divides by his saint the mountainous city of the monastery, opens paradise to the righteous, crowns the martyrs who suffer for him ..." each of the three members of the syntactic construction (predicate, direct and indirect objects) turns out to be parallel . Further, its rhythmic pattern becomes even more complicated, since the direct object, expressed in the constructions of the above passage in one word, now turns into a phrase, each of the components of which, in turn, has parallel constructions: “all that creates will have mercy on him and keep his commandments , sends our noble prince health to our bodies and souls, salvation and overcoming the enemy ... blesses all the peasants, the small with the great, the poor with the rich, the slaves with the free, the old with the husks and the married with the girls ... "The work of Cyril of Turov testifies that the ancient Russian 12th century scribes reached the heights of literary perfection, fluently mastered the whole variety of techniques developed by ancient rhetoric and developed by the classical solemn eloquence of Byzantium. Kirill Turovsky, having embodied in his work those principles of "brothel interpretation" that Kliment Smolyatich defended, followed him in the art of widespread use of the method of rhetorical amplification.

8. Teaching literature of Kievan Rus. "Instruction" by Vladimir Monomakh.

outside the traditional genre system. One of these works is the famous "Instruction" by Vladimir Monomakh. these are four independent works; three of them, indeed, belong to Vladimir Monomakh: this is actually "Instruction", autobiography and "Letter to Oleg Svyatoslavich". Prayer does not belong to Monomakh. Recall that all four of these works are known to us in one list: they are inserted into the text of The Tale of Bygone Years in the Laurentian Chronicle, as if dividing the text of the chronicle article of 1096.

The "Instruction" was written by Monomakh, apparently in 1117. He taught to observe the norms of Christian morality: to be "meek", to listen to the "elders" and obey them, "to have love with exact (equal) and smaller ones", not to offend orphans and widows - the contours of a certain political program are visible. The main idea of ​​the "Instruction": the prince must unquestioningly obey the "eldest", live in peace with other princes, not oppress the younger princes or boyars; the prince should avoid unnecessary bloodshed, be a hospitable host, not indulge in laziness, not be carried away by power, not rely on tiuns (managers of the prince's household) in everyday life and on the governor on campaigns, delve into everything himself ...

Reinforcing their instructions and teachings by personal example. The "Instruction" ends with a call not to be afraid of death either in battle or on a hunt, valiantly performing "a man's work." Another essay by Monomakh is "Letter to Oleg Svyatoslavich". The reason for writing it was the inter-princely strife, during which Oleg killed Monomakh's son, Izyaslav. True to his principles of justice and "brotherly love", Monomakh calls for prudence and reconciliation. This letter strikes not only with the generosity and statesmanship of the prince, but also with penetrating lyricism, especially in that part of the letter where Monomakh asks Oleg to let Izyaslav's widow go to him. not a clergyman, but a statesman. The author was fluent in different styles of the literary language and skillfully applied them according to the genre and theme of the work. Monomakh calls his children to an active life, to constant work, and convinces them never to be lazy and not indulge in depravity. You cannot rely on servants or governors, and you yourself must enter into everything and supervise everything, so that no misfortune happens. Drunkenness and fornication should be avoided, because both the soul and the body perish from this. What you know, you shouldn’t forget, and what you don’t know, you should learn, as Monomakh’s father (Vsevolod) studied, who learned five languages ​​while sitting at home, for which they pay honor in foreign lands. In the "Instruction" Monomakh expresses poetic admiration for the beauties of nature. At its core, the language of the "Instructions" and letters to Oleg of Chernigov is the native Russian language, only to a small extent complicated by Church Slavonicisms, most often present in the instructive part of the "Instruction" itself and less often in its autobiographical part and in a letter to the Chernigov prince Oleg ".

9. Old Russian chronicle. "The Tale of Bygone Years".

"The Tale of Bygone Years". The Chronicle - a systematic chronicle, kept from year to year - has grown to a large extent on the basis of an oral historical epic.

Chronicle as literary genre in the middle of the 11th century. However, the oldest lists of chronicles belong to a later time: XIII and XIV centuries. - The synodal list of the Novgorod First Chronicle, the Lavrentievsky list refers to 1377, the Ipatiev Chronicle to the first quarter of the 15th century.

The study of chronicles is further complicated by the following circumstance. in almost every chronicle, the history of Rus' is described “from the very beginning” - the text of the Tale of Bygone Years is given in full or in abbreviation, sometimes very significant, telling “where the Russian land came from.”

The Tale of Bygone Years, which will be discussed later, was created at the beginning of the 12th century. Compiled by Nestor. was an integral, literary exposition of the history of Rus'.

code, a work based on previous chronicle writings, which included fragments from various sources, literary, journalistic, folklore, etc. presentation “from the very beginning”, from the creation of the world, and the genealogical lines of the ruling dynasties are elevated to mythical heroes or even the gods.

imbued with a single patriotic idea: a story about great beginnings: the beginning of Russian statehood, the beginning of Russian culture, about the beginnings, which, according to the chroniclers, promise in the future the power and glory of their homeland. frequent plot stories.

the chronicle is full of analogies, broad historical perspectives. Therefore, the chronicle speaks of the main characters of this historical mystery - kings, princes, governors and the main functions corresponding to their position in society. The prince is portrayed predominantly at the most central moments of his activity - upon accession to the throne, during battles or diplomatic actions; the death of a prince is a kind of result of his activity, and the chronicler seeks to express this result in a ceremonial posthumous obituary, which lists the valor and glorious deeds of the prince, while precisely those of his virtues that befit him as a prince and a Christian. The ceremoniality of the image requires compliance with the etiquette of verbal expression

almost all chronicles of subsequent centuries began with the Tale.

10. " A Word about Igor's Campaign" and its epoch. The ideological content of the work.

"The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and monuments of ancient Russian literature. influenced other monuments of ancient Russian literature on the story of the Battle of Kulikovo - "Zadonshchina". To imitate another work, to quote or paraphrase it was in the custom of medieval scribes. to "The Tale of Akira the Wise".

a significant place is occupied by the controversy about the authenticity of the monument or about the time of its creation.

Distrust of the antiquity of the Lay arose after the destruction of the manuscript in a fire in 1812. The Lay seemed unnaturally perfect for the level of artistic culture of Kievan Rus. "dark places" of the "Words", an abundance of incomprehensible words in it, which at first they tried to explain using the material of other Slavic languages.

The historical basis of the plot "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". Let us consider the events of 1185 as they appear before us according to the chronicle story.

The ideological content of the Word. The author of the "Word" persistently emphasizes the main idea of ​​the work: the unity of the princes in the struggle against the steppe inhabitants is necessary, it is necessary to stop the strife and "which" - wars between individual feudal lords, into which the warring parties drew the Polovtsy. objects to civil strife, encroachments on foreign lands, convinces the princes of the need to live in peace and unconditionally obey the senior in position - the Grand Duke of Kyiv. The author discusses them, evaluates them, considers them against the backdrop of a broad historical perspective, almost against the backdrop of the entire Russian history. It is these genre features of the Lay that determine the originality of its composition and the system of its images.

11. Artistic originality"Words about Igor's Campaign" (genre, composition, system of images).

Composition "Words". the introduction is a memory of the singer Boyan. The chronological range is defined (“from old Vladimer to the current Igor”), the author tells about Igor’s daring plan to “bring” his regiments to the Polovtsian land, “to drink the Don’s helmet”. the meeting of Igor and Buy Tur Vsevolod, a contrast with the subsequent story about the terrible signs that marked the beginning of Igor's campaign and which portend its tragic outcome: this is a solar eclipse, and unusual ominous sounds in the silence of the night. The story of the second battle, fatal for Igor, is interrupted by the author's digression - a recollection of the times of Oleg Svyatoslavich - the theme of destructive civil strife, because of which the prosperity of all Russians perishes. the battle of Igor against the Polovtsy, the consequences of Igor's defeat will affect Rus'. Nature itself mourns the defeat of Igor. The insert about the troubles of the entire Russian land says that the Russian princes themselves are to blame for them, who began to “sedition” on themselves. Only in uniting all Russian forces against the nomads is a guarantee of victory, and an example of this is the defeat that Svyatoslav of Kiev inflicted on the Polovtsy, when the Polovtsian Khan Kobyak was captured and "fell" "in the grid of Svyatoslavl." a prophetic dream of Svyatoslav, predicting grief and death for him. Insert about the time of Vseslav Polotsky. He also did not achieve victory, despite temporary successes. In Putivl, Yaroslavna prays to the forces of nature to help her husband, to rescue him from captivity. It is characteristic that in this lyrical lament, built on the model of folk lamentation, there are social motives characteristic of the entire monument: Yaroslavna cares not only about her husband, but also about his “howls”, she recalls glorious campaigns Svyatoslav of Kyiv on Khan Kobyak. Yaroslavna's lament is closely connected with the subsequent story of Igor's escape from captivity. Nature helps Igor: the Donets River talks friendly with the prince, crows, jackdaws and magpies fall silent so as not to give out the whereabouts of the fugitives to the pursuers, woodpeckers show them the way, nightingales delight with songs. The dispute between the khans Konchak and Gza about what to do with Igor's captured son Vladimir continues this story, full of symbols taken from the world of wildlife, about the flight of the prince: Igor flies "falcon" to his homeland, and the khans decide the fate of the "falcon". two types of metaphors - military symbols ("falcon" - a daring warrior) and folklore symbols, in this case - dating back to the symbolism of wedding songs, where the groom is "falcon", and the bride is "red girl", "swan". The epilogue of the Lay is festive and solemn: Igor, having returned to Rus', arrives in Kyiv, to the great Svyatoslav; "countries are happy, hail fun." A toast in honor of the prince ends the “Word”.

Genre Words. the focus is on reasoning, an assessment of Igor's act, reflections on the causes of the "tightness" and sadness that has engulfed the entire Russian land in the present, an appeal to the events of the past with its victories and misfortunes. The Word (as well as a number of other monuments) appears, as it were, outside the genre system. A. N. Robinson and D. S. Likhachev compare with the genre of the so-called "chanson de gesture" - "songs about exploits", analogies "The Song of Roland" or other similar works of the Western European feudal epic. The Lay combines the epic and the literary beginnings. “The epic is full of calls for the defense of the country ... - writes D. S. Likhachev. - Its “direction” is characteristic: the call comes, as it were, from the people (hence the folklore beginning), but it is addressed to the feudal lords - the golden word of Svyatoslav, and hence the book beginning.

Poetics of the Word. features of the epic and style of monumental historicism. events, actions, and the very qualities of the heroes of the Lay are evaluated against the background of all Russian history, against the backdrop of events not only in the 12th, but also in the 11th century, the ceremonial, etiquette of the Lay (like glory and lamentations). And the princes themselves in the Lay are depicted in ceremonial positions. The capture of Igor is reported as a ceremonial action: the prince is transplanted from the golden princely saddle into the saddle of a slave (koshcheevo). author's digressions, historical digressions, in which the main idea of ​​the "Word" is usually most clearly distinguished - the condemnation of princely strife, reflection on the sorrows of the Russian land, which is subjected to Polovtsian raids.

Epic side by side with book elements. Author's reasoning, appeals, folklore elements. Hyperbolization typical of folklore, images of a battle-feast, and an abusive field identified with peaceful arable land, and images of a wolf, a tour, falcons, with which the heroes of the Lay are compared, are also folklore; epithets. Plans for a realistic (historical-documentary) depiction of characters and events and descriptions fantasy world forces hostile to the "Russians". Many episodes of The Word have symbolic overtones. there is no static landscape. It was noted that "the artistic system of the Lay is built entirely on contrasts." One of these contrasts is the opposition of images-metaphors: the sun (light) and darkness (night, darkness). Igor is the “bright light”, and Konchak is the “black raven”, on the eve of the battle, black clouds come from the sea, they want to cover 4 suns. IN prophetic dream Svyatoslav sees that he is being covered with “black papoloma” (as the body of the deceased was usually covered), blue (black) wine was poured for him, “beaded (gray) lies” were croaked all night. But when Igor returns from captivity to Rus', again "the sun shines in heaven."

Rhythm of the Word. rhythm is deliberate, part of the author's artistic tasks, but this is rhythmic prose; moreover, rhythmic fragments in the "Word" alternate with fragments in which the rhythm is either different or absent altogether. repetitions of similar syntactic constructions, and “rhythmic balance”, when “several short syntactic units are replaced by one or two long ones; several long ones are concluded with one or two short ones. The peculiarity of the language is “to combine similar-sounding words”, to resort to a kind of sound writing (see, for example: “moaning at night; trampling filthy regiments of the Polovtsian ... across the field; tight to them tuli zatche; cowardly ... dew”).

12. The genre of patericon in ancient Russian literature. Kiev-Pechersk Patericon.

Paterik (father's book, senile book, a genre of ascetic literature, a collection of sayings of the holy fathers of ascetics or stories about them.) in which, in alphabetical order (by the names of the saints from St. Anthony to St. Or), the sayings of the elders are collected (in the Greek tradition, the book is called Αποφθέγματα των άγίων γερόντων - “sayings of the holy elders”), the Egyptian patericon or “History of the monks in Egypt” (Historia Monachorum in Aegypto ), containing brief stories about Egyptian anchorites, their parables and aphorisms, and Lavsaik (Greek Λαυσαϊχόν, Historia Lausiaca), a story about the Egyptian monks Palladius, Bishop of Elenopol, written by him at the request of the Byzantine dignitary Lavs (about the significance last book testifies to the fact that the stories from it are read in the Orthodox divine service at Matins during the whole time of Great Lent). a collection of stories about the founding of the Kiev Caves Monastery and the lives of its first inhabitants. The basis was two letters written in the XIII century. The first was written by a former monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, later Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal Simon (died in 1226) to his student and friend, the Kiev-Pechersk monk Polycarp; the purpose of this epistle is to teach Polycarp Christian humility and meekness by telling about the miraculous life of the ascetics who glorified the Pechersk monastery. The second was written by the Kiev-Pechersk monk Polycarp to the Kiev-Pechersk archimandrite Akindin and also consists of stories about the monks of the monastery. Later, legends about the beginning of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, about the decoration of the monastery, about the first ascetics, as well as articles related to the subject of the Patericon, and sometimes without any connection with it, were added to these messages. Here you can find the answer of Theodosius to the question of Grand Duke Izyaslav about the Latins, legends about the origin and initial state of the Russian church, about the baptism of the Slavs, and so on. Historians find in the "Paterik" information about economic, social and cultural relations in Kievan Rus, animistic ideas of those times when pagan beliefs coexisted with Christianity. "Paterik" was edited many times; the oldest list dates back to the 15th century, the latest to the 17th century. The oldest lists: Arsenievsky, compiled in 1406 for the Bishop of Tver Arseny, contains stories about the saints and the story of Simon about the creation of the Caves Church of the Most Holy Theotokos (“The Word on the Creation of the Church of the Caves”); two Kassian, compiled in 1460 and 1462 on behalf of the Kiev-Pechersk cleric, later the ustavnik, monk Cassian; contain the complete works of Simon and Polycarp and the story of the founding of the church, which is divided into two parts: the first, about the church, is placed at the beginning of the Patericon; the second (on the binding of the shrine of Theodosius) after the life of St. Theodosius. In 1635, a printed "Paterik" was published, edited by Sylvester Kossov in Polish; the appendix of this edition includes the lives of Nestor, Simon and Polycarp. In 1661, the first Church Slavonic edition was published (initiator - Archimandrite Innokenty (Gizel)). In 1759, a new edition was published in the Moscow Synodal Printing House, carefully revised and verified in accordance with the teachings of Orthodox Church(the rector of the Novgorod Seminary, Archimandrite Joasaph (Mitkevich) participated in the editing]); subsequently it was reprinted several times. Separate parts of the "Paterik" were translated into Russian. In 1870, a Russian translation by M.A. Viktorova was published.

13. Military stories of the era of the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

The first clash between the Russians and the Tatars took place in 1223 in the south, on the Kalka River, when the Russians, who had united with the Polovtsy, were defeated by the Tatar army. In connection with this defeat, between 1223 and 1237, a story arose within Kyiv. We are especially curious about the later versions of the story about the battle on the Kalka with mention of the death among the princes of Alexander Popovich with seventy brave or Alexander Popovich, his servant Toropets, Dobrynya Ryazanich - the Golden Belt and seventy great and brave heroes. This mention of Alexander Popovich is in direct connection with the epic about the death of Russian heroes, including Alexander Popovich and Dobrynya." most to the spiritual environment, and after that it reflected in itself those repentant-pious motives that characterize, among other things, the preaching of that time. These motives, interspersed with quotations from the "Holy Scripture" sound even stronger in the description of the devastation by the Tatars northern Rus' , mainly the Suzdal land and the city of Vladimir, read in the Laurentian Chronicle under 1237. Using a quote from the Psalter, the author exclaims: “God! having come to the tongues on your property, defiling your holy church, laying Jerusalem like a vegetable store, laying the corpses of your servants to the birds of heaven, the flesh of your saints to the beast of the earth; shedding their blood like water." In connection with the devastation of Batu in the same year, 1237, the Ryazan land was created (perhaps soon after this event) a story about the devastation of Ryazan by Batu, which is preceded by a story about the transfer of the icon of St. Nicholas from Korsun to Ryazan by priest Evstafiy. It is known in texts only from the 16th century. and is read in later chronicles and in some collections. It is undoubtedly based on epic tales, oral poetic works related to the event itself. The episode of the death of Fyodor and his wife Evpraksia, reflected in the epic about Danil Lovchanin, as well as the story of Evpatiy Kolovrat, obviously, go back to special folk historical songs. The phraseology of the story is also connected with the poetics of oral folk art in cases where the prowess of the Ryazan people is depicted: “the team is affectionate”, “the frisky ones”, “dared men”, “patterning and Rezan upbringing”, “Rezan domination”, “strong governors”. Throughout the tone of the story, the ideal ideas about the chivalrous relationship between the prince and the squad strongly make themselves felt. The princes invariably take care of their squad and mourn the warriors who died in battle, while the squad wants to "drink the cup of death with their sovereigns equally." Inspired by devotion to their princes, the “daring and frisky Rezanians” fight “strongly and mercilessly, as if they were postonating the land”, “one with the thousand, two with the darkness”, and when they are unable to defeat the enemy, they all die, having drunk a single mortal bowl. The story lacks that repentant tone that we noted in previous monuments written on the theme of the Tatar invasion. Not to passive submission to a terrible disaster, but to an active struggle against it, the story calls with all its content. And the end of it is cheerful and confident. The Ryazan land is recovering from the Batu invasion and is being rebuilt, the people of Ryazan rejoice at the liberation from the “godless, malevolent king Batu”. Obvious signs of the rhythmic structure of the story have been partly noted above. They can be traced also on other samples. When the Tatars took possession of Ryazan, they took the Grand Duchess Agripena, the mother of the Grand Duke, with daughters-in-law and with other princesses, the swords of isekosh, and betrayed the bishop and the priestly rank by fire, burning in the holy church, and many frost from the weapon fell, and in the city of many people, and wives, and children, the swords of isekosh, and others in the river are drowned, and herey, the black-bearer to the remains of isekosh, and the whole hail has been burned, and all deliberately patterned, Rezan wealth , and their relative, Kiev and Chernigov, poimasha, and ruined the temples of God, and shed a lot of blood in the holy altars. It is said about the princes and soldiers who died defending Ryazan: from the beasts of their body they are consumed and from many birds they are torn to pieces. All the noted features of the story about the ruin of Ryazan by Batu make it very highly regarded as a monument of our early narrative literature of the military genre, assigning it almost the second place after The Tale of Igor's Campaign.

14. "The Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land" and "The Life of Alexander Nevsky" in the process of genre formation of the 13th century.

Among the northern Russian monuments associated with the invasion of the Tatars is the “Word about the destruction of the Russian land”, found by Kh. M. Loparev in the early 1890s in a manuscript of the 15th century. Pskov Caves Monastery and then published by him ". It is small in volume (in the manuscript it takes 45 lines). The "Word" lists the natural and material wealth that abounded in the "light-bright and beautifully decorated land of Ruska" before the Tatar invasion. then in Russia there were formidable princes, honest boyars, many nobles.Large spaces and the peoples living on them were subjugated to the Grand Duke Vsevolod, his father Yuri, Prince of Kiev, his grandfather Vladimir Monomakh, in whose name the Polovtsy frightened children in the cradle and under whom the Lithuanians from their swamps did not show up, and the Hungarians fortified their stone cities with iron gates so that he would not enter them through them, while the Germans rejoiced, living far beyond the blue sea. Various neighboring tribes paid tribute to Vladimir with honey, and the Byzantine king Manuel, fearing how "If Vladimir hadn't taken Constantinople, he would send him great gifts. So it was before, but now the disease happened to Christians. Such is the content of this outstanding monument, imbued with a sense of deep patriotism, pride in the past of the Russian land and sorrow for its disasters caused to it by the Tatars. Following him is the life of Alexander Nevsky, which does not have a special title here and is not even separated from the text of the “Word of Perdition” by a special line. "The Word of Doom" was the first part of the trilogy that has not been preserved in its entirety. N. I. Serebryansky suggested that the "Word of Perdition" is a preface to the secular biography of Alexander Nevsky, which has not come down to us, written by one of the prince's combatants and appeared shortly after his death. "However, the "Word" can hardly be considered the original introduction to the secular biography of Alexander Nevsky or to his church life.The artistic style of the "Word of Perdition" is a combination of bookish style with oral and poetic forms of song speech.Bookish style affects mainly in the enumeration of the riches with which the Russian land abounds, and in the composition-epithets. the epic image of Vladimir Monomakh. "The Word of Perdition" had a great influence on the introductory part of one of the editions of the life of Prince Fyodor Yaroslavsky, which arose in the late 15th - early 16th centuries under the pen of Andrei Yuryev, but here this introductory part adjoins the life of Fyodor much more organically, than the "Word of Perdition" to the life of Alexander Nevsky.

Life of Alexander Nevsky, especially famous for his valiant victory over the German knights, is written at the end of the 13th century or in the very early XIV V. Judging by the similarity of the literary manner of the life of Alexander Nevsky with the literary manner of the Galicia-Volyn chronicle (see below) and the "Deeds of Devgen", translated, one must think, in the Galicia-Volyn land, the author of the life was a native of the Galicia-Volyn principality, who moved with Metropolitan Cyril III to the court of Alexander Nevsky". As we can see, Alexander Nevsky is depicted in his life primarily as an ideal prince and warrior, endowed with all positive spiritual and physical qualities to the highest degree. He is likened more than once to the most prominent biblical characters. Such an image of the prince could be most likely given by a person close to him, and this image was present, one must think, already in that secular biographical story about Alexander, which presumably formed the basis of the most ancient life.The author of the life used in some cases a compilation Chronograph, consisting of biblical books, the Chronicles of Georgy Amartol and John Malala, "Alexandria" and "The Tale of the Devastation of Jerusalem" by Josephus Flavius ​​and included in the so-called Archival Collection, compiled in 1262, a year before the death of Alexander Nevsky. Separate episodes of life could have arisen under the influence of "Devgeniev's deeds." A number of small episodes and stereotyped formulas in the life of Alexander Nevsky go back to hagiographic literature, original (“The Tale” about Boris and Gleb and parimia in honor of them, etc.) and partially translated, and to Russian chronicles

In connection with the adoption of Christianity in Kyiv, translation activity is developing, reaching its peak in the 30-40s of the XI century, as evidenced by the "Tale of Bygone Years" under 1037. In accordance with the demands of the time, first of all, liturgical books, collections of lives, works of the "fathers of the church", church history and natural science works were translated. However, Russian translators did not pass by secular literature, which, by the nature of its ideological and artistic content, corresponded to the spirit of the times. Old Russian scribes translated from Greek a number of military, historical and didactic stories, which contributed to the consolidation of the secular ideal that was promoted by the original literature. The translators did not set as their goal the exact transmission of the original, but sought to bring it as close as possible to the demands of their time and their environment. Therefore, translated works were subjected to editorial revision - a well-known Russification. In the 11th century, the historical chronicles of John Malala of Antioch, George Sinkell, George Amartol were translated into Old Russian, setting out the events of world and Byzantine history from a Christian point of view. The chronicle of John Malala (6th century) was predominantly secular in nature and included many pagan mythological stories. Therefore, obviously, she was not popular in Rus'. The chronicle of George Sinkell (VIII century) brought the presentation only to the emperor Diocletian (III century) and also did not become widespread. The chronicle of George Amartol, created in the 9th century, was popular. and supplemented by Simon Logothetes in the 10th century. This chronicle was dominated by the ecclesiastical didactic point of view on historical events, the presentation of which was brought up to 948. The materials of this chronicle served not only as edifying reading, they introduced the events of world history, made it possible for Russian chroniclers to more correctly understand the place of the Russian land in the historical destinies of the world.

A kind of medieval "natural-science" encyclopedia was "Shestodnev" And "Physiologist". Six days were very popular in medieval Christian literature, commenting on the brief biblical story about the creation by God of the sky, stars, luminaries, earth, living beings, plants and man within six days. This is a kind of collection of information about animate and inanimate nature that science had at that time. In Rus', the “Shestodnev” of John, Exarch of Bulgaria, the “Shestodnev” of Severian Gevalsky and the “Shestodnev” of George Pizida were known. John's Six Days is a compilation work, but using many sources, the author supplemented his work with his own reasoning. The work consists of a prologue and six "words", which tell about the heavenly bodies, about the Earth, about atmospheric phenomena, about animals, about plants and about a person. All this information, reflecting the natural science ideas of that time, sometimes frankly fantastic, is permeated with the same idea: admiration for the wisdom of God, who created such a beautiful, diverse, rationally arranged world. The description of animals, both real and fantastic, is dedicated to "Physiologist" . At the same time, the interpretation was given in the spirit of the Christian worldview. The described properties of animals were explained as a certain state of the human soul. Each story reported on the properties of a creature or object, and then gave a symbolic interpretation of these properties.

A Russian person got acquainted with the structure of the universe according to the "Christian topography of Kozma Indikoplov (a voyager to India)". Based on the scriptures, Cosmas argued that the earth is a plane, washed on all sides by the ocean. At the corners is a wall of mountains to which the visible sky is attached. Lights move across this sky: the sun, the moon, the stars. Their movement is controlled by special angels who monitor the correct change of day and night. There are seven heavens in total, and in the seventh heaven, invisible, the Lord God himself dwells.

At the end of the 12th century, a collection of sayings was compiled "Bee".

The selection of works to be translated into Old Russian was determined by the needs of the upper classes of feudal society. The tasks of strengthening Christian morality, the new religion were in the foreground, and this led to the predominance of church translated literature over secular. The same tasks determined the choice of secular narrative literature, which in turn contributed to the development of a secular ideal.

The story was very popular "Alexandria" dedicated to the life and deeds of the famous ancient commander Alexander the Great. This story, created after the death of Alexander (died in 323 BC), was attributed to the pen of Aristotle's disciple Callisthenes. But Callisthenes died before Alexander, so this ancient edition is called pseudo-callisthenian. The story was translated into Old Russian in the 11th-12th centuries. The story was perceived as purely historical, dedicated to describing the life and work of a real historical personality. She talked about his extraordinary birth, his exploits, military prowess, the conquest of lands abounding in all sorts of miracles, about his early death, and painted Alexander as a hero endowed with great intelligence, wisdom, a thirst for knowledge and outstanding physical and mental qualities.

The image of a courageous Christian warrior, defender of the borders of his state, stands at the center of the translated story. "Devgeny's act". The story consists of two independent parts, the first tells about Devgen's parents: his father is the Arabian king Amir, and his mother is a Greek, kidnapped by Amir, but rescued by her brothers. She marries Amir after he converts to Christianity. The second part is devoted to the description of the exploits of Devgen. Devgeny is portrayed as a beautiful young man who has been distinguished by extraordinary strength since childhood. In a hyperbolic, purely epic plan, the courage, strength, courage of young Devgen is emphasized. There is also a motif of snake fighting characteristic of folklore in the story: Devgeny defeats the four-headed snake. Like the heroes of a Russian fairy tale, Devgeny gets himself a bride - the beautiful Stratigovna, defeats her father and brothers. At the same time, Devgeny is a pious Christian hero: he wins all his victories thanks to his constant trust in God and God's power.

In the XI - XII centuries. was translated into Old Russian "History of the Jewish War" famous Jewish historian Josephus Flavius ​​under the name " The Story of the Destruction of Jerusalem". The story covers a wide range of events - from 167 BC. before 72 AD The central place is occupied by the description of the struggle of the rebellious Jewish people against the Roman legions. The translation makes extensive use of stylistic formulas of military tales that are absent in the Greek original. In general, the translators made their own additions, which include inserts about Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, sharp attacks against the Romans and a negative characterization of Herod the Great. The story attracted the Old Russian reader with its historicism (it was, as it were, a continuation of the Bible) and colorful descriptions of military events.

The popularity of "History" was very great, and not only because it told about one of the important events in world history: full of combat episodes, it was in tune with the Russian reader, who himself had repeatedly experienced the hardships of wars and enemy invasions.

Didactic translated stories served as a means of promoting the new Christian morality, which include "The Tale of Akira the Wise" And "The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph".

"The Tale of Akira the Wise" is a Syrian tale. The central place in the story is occupied by the image of the ideal adviser to the king, the wise and virtuous Akira. His activity is subordinated to concerns about the welfare of his state. The main part is made up of morals - this small parables ending with aphorisms. In the Russian translation, the story was adapted to the usual forms of Christian moral literature. The moralizing parables and aphorisms of the story gradually acquired an independent meaning and were included in the collection "Bee", becoming proverbs.

The Tale tells how Akir, adviser to the king of the Ador and Naliva countries (i.e. Assyria and Nineveh) Sinagripa, adopts his nephew Anadan by divine direction. He raised and educated him, taught him all the wisdom and, finally, introduced him to the king as his disciple and successor. However, Anadan begins to run amok in Akir's house, and when he tries to curb him, he carries out an insidious plan: by forging Akir's handwriting, Anadan writes forged letters that will have to convince Sinagrip that Akir is plotting treason. The king is shocked by the imaginary betrayal of his adviser, and Akir cannot justify himself from surprise and only manages to ask permission so that the death sentence passed on him at the insistence of Anadan is carried out by his old friend. Akira manages to convince his friend of his innocence, the friend executes the criminal instead of Akira, and hides Akira himself in the dungeon.

The Egyptian pharaoh, having heard about the execution of Akir, sends envoys to Sinagrip demanding that one of his close associates build a house between heaven and earth. Synagrip in despair: Anadan, whom he counted on, refuses to help, saying that only a god can accomplish this task. Then a friend of Akira informs the king that the disgraced adviser is alive. The king sends Akira to Egypt, where he solves all the ingenious riddles that the pharaoh offers him. Akir forces the pharaoh to abandon the demand to build a house: the eagles trained by Akir raise a boy in the sky, who asks to give him stones and lime, and the Egyptians, of course, cannot do this. Having received tribute for three years, Akir returns to Sinagrip, chains Anadan at the porch of his house and begins to reproach him for his evil deeds. In vain Anadan prays for forgiveness. Unable to withstand Akira's caustic reproaches, he swells up, "like a jug", and bursts with anger.

This story is interesting as an action-packed work, where deceit is exposed and truth and justice triumph.

"The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph" glorifies the victory of Christianity over paganism. The story recalled the recent events associated with the adoption of Christianity by Russia and served as a means of combating the remnants of paganism. The story convinces (in the person of Varlaam) of the truth of the Christian dogma. The hero of the story is the son of the Indian king Abner Joasaph, who is convinced of the vanity of the fleeting earthly life. He begins to think about the question - "is there another life." The hermit Barlaam helps Joasaph to resolve this issue. He preaches the Christian doctrine to Joasaph and baptizes him. Abner's attempts to turn his son away from the new faith end in failure, and Abner himself is forced to admit that his son is right and accept Christianity.

If the "Tale of Akira the Wise" in many of its elements resembles a fairy tale, then the "Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph" closely approaches the hagiographic genre, although in reality its plot is based on the legendary biography of the Buddha, which came to Rus' through Byzantine intermediary.