Library of literature of ancient Rus' read online. Old Russian stories. Original Old Russian norms

Library of Russian classics. Ten centuries of Russian literature

Volume 1

Old Russian literature

Secrets of the literature of Ancient Rus'

Old Russian literature is not literature. This formulation, deliberately shocking, nevertheless accurately characterizes the features of the first period of Russian literature.

Old Russian literature is the beginning of Russian literature, its oldest period, which includes works written from the 11th to the 17th centuries, that is, over seven centuries (and all subsequent literature takes only three centuries). The life of a person in Ancient Rus' was not like the life of a citizen of Russia in the 18th–20th centuries: everything was different - the habitat, the forms of state structure, ideas about man and his place in the world. Accordingly, Old Russian literature is completely different from the literature of the 18th–20th centuries, and it is impossible to apply to it the criteria that define this concept over the next three centuries.

OLD RUSSIAN LITERATURE - RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. The greatest value for a person in Ancient Rus' was his faith. The value of the state and the value of the human person seemed insignificant compared with the value of religion, and each special person was not judged by how useful he was to society or how extraordinary he was. The most important thing was how he stood before God. For example, the favorite heroes of Ancient Rus' - princes Boris and Gleb - did not show themselves to be so good rulers what's their name brother Yaroslav the Wise. But it was they who were declared saints, unsuccessful politicians, but perfect people, ready to give their lives in the name of the religious demands of brotherly love and in imitation of the sacrifice of Christ.

And in literature those genres that were closer to church service, - sermon and life. They were intended not to entertain the reader, as in our days, not to glorify the power of the empire and statesmen, as in the 18th century, but tell about life in the name of God.

OLD RUSSIAN LITERATURE - CLASS LITERATURE. In Ancient Rus', completely specific ideas about the place of man in the world developed: the concept of personality, individuality - in modern meaning- it was unknown then. A person’s opinion of himself and those around him depended on what class he belonged to: rulers, warriors, clergy, merchants or “simpletons” - ordinary residents of cities and villages. Warriors and priests were considered the most respected, and they became central characters in ancient Russian literature. Moreover, the warrior had to be physically beautiful, developed, healthy and take care of his health. Thus, Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh proudly recalls his hunting exploits, because the prince does not rest while hunting, but maintains himself in good condition. physical fitness, and the health of the prince is the common good of the entire people. On the contrary, a monk in ancient Russian literature almost always turns out to be middle-aged: although Theodosius of Pechersk died before reaching fifty years of age, in people's memory he remained a wise old man. In addition, holy ascetics often refused treatment, considering the illness to be a manifestation of the will of God.

Old Russian literature is literature of benefit. Modern literature sets as its main goal to entertain the reader - it is even customary to teach by entertaining. In Ancient Rus', the religiosity of literature, if not excluded, then relegated entertainment to second place. The main thing was the benefit - in a moral sense, that is, praising virtues and exposing sins, as well as in the social sense - a sermon is useful, because it is preached in church and without it the service will be incomplete, life is also useful, because without knowledge of the life of a saint it is impossible to remember about him in church. The chronicle preserved customs, patterns of behavior, and laws for posterity.

All these factors led to the fact that the ancient Russian scribe abandoned fiction in his works, and although ancient Russian literature abounds in fiction - sometimes the most incredible - both the author and the reader perceived it as the pure truth.

Thus, in Ancient Rus' there was no difference between fiction and non-fiction (documentary) literature, that is, there was no literature in its modern sense. On the one hand, the writers did not set as their goal the creation of works of art, since there is no fiction in their works. On the other hand, everything they created turned out to be literature - a historical work (“The Tale of Bygone Years”), a guide to housekeeping (“Domostroy”), and polemical messages (the correspondence of Ivan the Terrible with A.M. Kurbsky).

OLD RUSSIAN LITERATURE - TRADITIONAL LITERATURE. The ancient Russian scribe - in contrast to the modern writer - avoided innovation, preferring to follow models.

Without a twinge of conscience, he allowed schematism in the depiction of heroes. Thus, in The Tale of Bygone Years, the princes of the Christian era strikingly resemble each other: tall, beautiful, brave, wise, merciful. “He was handsome in body, tall, round in face, wide shoulders, thin in the waist, kind in his eyes, cheerful in face<…>brave in battle, wise in advice and reasonable in everything…” (“The Tale of Boris and Gleb” about St. Boris); “Mstislav was powerful in body, handsome in face, with big eyes, brave in battle, merciful...” (“The Tale of Bygone Years” about Mstislav Vladimirovich); “Izyaslav was a husband with a handsome appearance and great body, a gentle disposition, he hated lies, loving the truth” (“The Tale of Bygone Years” about Izyaslav Yaroslavich). It seems that if the prince did not at all correspond to the ideal scheme, the writer either turned him into evil incarnate (Svyatopolk the Accursed in the stories about Boris and Gleb), or tried to do without characterization altogether. For example, Nestor in The Tale of Bygone Years, informing about the death of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, simply writes that the prince died “from cutting the nodule” - during a surgical operation. The presentation of the fact is not accompanied by either a description of the sovereign’s appearance or an analysis of his virtues. This is not accidental: the chronicler condemned Svyatoslav Yaroslavich for the illegal seizure of the throne, and therefore reported that he died unexpectedly, which means he did not repent of his sins.

The traditionalism of ancient Russian literature was also expressed in the fact that writers used a special symbolic language that readers had to master. Any phenomenon of the surrounding world could act as a symbol. Thus, in Rus', the book “Physiologist”, translated from Greek, was very popular, containing descriptions of different breeds of animals and their symbolic interpretation: “The hedgehog has the shape of a ball and consists entirely of needles. The physiologist says about the hedgehog that it climbs the vine, gets to the bunch and shakes the bunch, throwing the berries to the ground. And lying down, he pricks the berries on his needles, and carries them to his children, and leaves the bunch empty.<…>And you, resident of the city<…>do not allow the hedgehog, the spirit of deceit, to climb your heart and left you, like a vine, desolate..." The author does not care about authenticity - his hedgehogs crawl on the vine: the habits of the beast are not self-sufficient (as in modern literature about animals), but symbolic, in in this case hinting at man's relationship with the devil. Symbolism also implied constant references to the Bible: as soon as the Russian prince broke the covenant of brotherly love, he was immediately called the “new Cain.” And in the life of Sergius of Radonezh, according to Epiphanius the Wise, the author of the life of the saint, the sacred number “three” played a special role. He even shouted three times in his mother’s womb, which was a Divine sign of veneration of the Trinity, in whose name Sergius then founded the monastery.

Finally, traditionalism determined compliance with the laws of the genre. Using the experience of his predecessors, the writer sought not to introduce anything new into the structure of his work. (He, however, did not always succeed in this - for example, Archpriest Avvakum decided to write a traditional life, but, contrary to all the rules, he made himself the hero, thereby declaring him a saint.)

Due to the same traditionalism, many works of ancient Russian literature are anonymous, and even if the name of the author was not forgotten, readers did not show any interest in his biography and the individual specifics of his work. Information about ancient Russian writers is, as a rule, scarce: in the opinion of people in Ancient Rus', the writer fulfills the will of God, he is not a creator, but only an instrument of the Creator.

OLD RUSSIAN LITERATURE - HANDWRITTEN LITERATURE. Printing in Rus' arose - through the efforts of Ivan Fedorov - only in the second half of the 16th century, but even after that they printed mainly church books.

In Ancient Rus', works were usually distributed by rewriting; errors and clerical errors inevitably crept into the text. There are almost no autographs left of ancient Russian writers: Maxim the Greek, Avvakum, Simeon of Polotsk are a rare and happy exception to the rule - however, they lived and worked relatively late. Most of the monuments of ancient Russian literature have reached the modern reader only in copies, which can be separated from the time of creation of the original version by several centuries (“The Tale of Law and Grace” by Hilarion, “Zadonshchina”, as far as is known - “The Tale of Igor’s Host”). In addition, the scribe not only had the opportunity to change the text: he did not consider it shameful, reasoning something like this: since what was composed was composed according to God’s will, then the improving correction is pleasing to God. Therefore, sometimes it is very difficult to restore the original, author’s appearance of an essay. For example, neither “The Tale of Bygone Years” nor “The Lay” of Daniil Zatochnik have been preserved in the form in which they were created. Scientists also argue about what in the famous “Life of Sergius of Radonezh” belongs to the author Epiphanius the Wise, and what to the editor Pachomius the Serb.

If the work...

We present to your attention fragments from the collection “Epics. Russians folk tales. Old Russian stories" performed by Honored Artist of Russia Nina Vasilyeva.

“Already a thousand years ago, no one in Rus' could testify to the beginning of singing epics and telling fairy tales. They passed down to those who lived about that time from their ancestors, along with customs and rituals, with those skills without which you cannot cut down a hut, you cannot get honey from a log, you cannot forge a sword, you cannot carve a spoon. These were a kind of spiritual commandments, covenants that the people honored...

The influence of epics and fairy tales was found in many works of fine and applied art. The master wrote on the icon of St. George slaying the dragon with a spear - the winner of the fairy-tale Serpent Gorynych emerged, and the rescued maiden resembled a princess - a meek victim of an earthly rapist, with whom the peasant son fiercely fought in the fairy tale...

Lots of credible traits ancient life and life gives epics documentary value... Epics satisfied not only the natural attraction to everything colorful, unusual, extraordinary: they expressed in their own way the social consciousness of the whole historical era. Who are they, Russian heroes, in the name of what do they perform feats and what do they defend?

V.P. Anikin,

“Russian literature is a thousand years old. We know our great classical writers well, but we know little about our literature of the first seven centuries. Every Russian person knows only “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” well. Meanwhile our ancient literature rich in works of various genres. The chronicles told about the history of our country, starting from ancient, pre-literate times and ending with the events of the turbulent 17th century. Biographies (“lives”) told about the lives of individual people. In ancient Russian literature there are works of oratory, descriptions of travel (“walkings”) to the East or Western Europe, journalistic works aimed at eradicating social evil and injustice, calling for truth and goodness. There are a number of so-called “military stories”. In the 17th century, stories of a domestic nature appeared. At the end of the same century, dramatic and poetic works appeared...

The works of Ancient Rus' captivate with their chaste purity. Old Russian literature does not dwell on descriptions of atrocities and does not cherish the dream of retribution against enemies. She calls for the sublime and the good. In it we find noble ideals...

We are used to the works we read being entertaining. Entertaining for us is mainly associated with the rapid development of a complex plot. The writers of Ancient Rus' also, of course, sought to interest the reader. But their plot is simple, the story is told calmly and leisurely. The people of Ancient Rus' read books earnestly, slowly, rereading the same work several times, reverently seeking in it instructions, advice, or images of significant events from the history of their country or other countries. It is not for nothing that books have been figuratively compared to the depths of the sea, and the reader – to a pearl diver...

Old Russian literature is also valuable for its own artistic achievements and the fact that it prepared the emergence of great Russian literature of modern times. Knowledge of ancient Russian literature helps to understand more fully and deeply literature XIX-XX centuries.

But the value of ancient Russian literature lies not only in this. For us, she is that pure and life-giving source to which we turn in times of troubles and trials, “in days of doubt and painful thoughts,” as well as in times of recovery. We draw deep thoughts from it, find high ideals and beautiful images in it. Her faith in goodness and the victory of justice, her ardent patriotism strengthens and inspires us. M.V. Lomonosov called Russian chronicles “books of glorious deeds.” The same can be said about most of the ancient Russian stories.”

D.S. Likhachev,
T.N. Mikhelson,
from the preface to the collection “Epics. Russian folk tales. Old Russian stories."

There are 43 gears in a cycle. Total time 13 hours 3 minutes.
The zip archive size is 362 MB.

Epics.

1 Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber
2 Ilya Muromets and Kalin Tsar 1
3 Ilya Muromets and Kalin Tsar 2
4 Dobrynya and the snake
5 Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich
6 Stavr Godinovic
7 Sadko
8 Solovey Budimirovich
9 Vasily Buslaevich
10 Vavilo and the buffoons

Russian folk tales.

11 Kuzma Skorobogaty
12 Tiny Khavroshechka
13 White duck
14 Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf Part 1
15 Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf Part 2
16 Go there - I don’t know where, bring that - I don’t know what
17 Go there - I don’t know where, bring that - I don’t know what ch2
18 Go there - I don’t know where, bring that - I don’t know what ch3

Old Russian stories.

19 From The Tale of Bygone Years The settlement of the Slavs
20 From “The Tale of Bygone Years” From the tales of Prince Oleg
21 From “The Tale of Bygone Years” From the tales of Olga
22 From “The Tale of Bygone Years” Customs of Svyatoslav
23 From “The Tale of Bygone Years” From the tales of Vladimir
24 From “The Tale of Bygone Years” The feat of the young man-kozhemyaka
25 From “The Tale of Bygone Years” Battle of Larch
26 From the teachings of Vladimir Monomakh
27 Campaign of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich Novgorod-Seversky against the Polovtsians
28 A Word about Igor's Campaign part 1
29 A Word about Igor's Campaign part 2
30 From “The Prayer of Daniel the Imprisoner”
31 The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu Part 1
32 The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu Part 2
33 The Tale of Mercury of Smolensk, The Tale of Shevkal, Advice from Bishop Semeon of Tver, The Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land
34 From “The Life of Prince Alexander Nevsky”
35 From “The Tale of the Life of Sergius of Radonezh” part 1
36 From “The Tale of the Life of Sergius of Radonezh” part 2
37 From “The Tale of Mamaev's massacre» ch1
38 From “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev” part 2
39 The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom
40 The story of the merchant Dmitry Basarga and his son Borzosmysl
41 From “Walking across Three Seas” by Afanasy Nikitin
42 Capture of Kazan Part 1
43 Capture of Kazan Part 2

Image - Viktor Vasnetsov “Bogatyrs” (1881-1898). State Tretyakov Gallery.

1. The concept of ancient Russian literature and folklore

The Baptism of Rus' and the beginning of the “book teaching”

Literature Kievan Rus(XI - first third of the XIII century)

Apocrypha

Bibliography

1. The concept of ancient Russian literature and folklore

The concept of ancient Russian literature means strictly terminological meaning literature Eastern Slavs XI-XIII centuries until their subsequent division into Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Since the 14th century The special book traditions that led to the formation of Russian (Great Russian) literature are clearly visible, and from the 15th century. - Ukrainian and Belarusian (for example, the all-Russian nature of the Belarusian First Chronicle around 1441).

All attempts to find traces of East Slavic literature before the baptism of Rus' in 988 ended in failure. The evidence presented is either crude forgeries (the pagan chronicle “Vlesova Book”, covering a huge era from the 9th century BC to the 9th century AD inclusive), or untenable hypotheses (the so-called “Chronicle of Askold” in the Nikon Code of the 16th century. among articles 867-889). This does not mean at all that writing was completely absent in pre-Christian Rus'. Archaeological finds show that in the 10th century, even before the baptism of Rus', the Cyrillic alphabet could be used in everyday life and in the government apparatus, gradually preparing the ground for the spread of writing. The predecessor of Old Russian literature was folklore, widespread in the Middle Ages in all layers of society: from peasants to the princely-boyar aristocracy. Long before Christianity, it was already litteratura sine litteris, literature without letters, with a special genre system. In the ancient Russian written era, folklore and literature with their system of genres existed in parallel, mutually complemented each other, sometimes coming into close contact. Folklore accompanied Old Russian literature throughout its history (from the chronicles of the 11th - early 12th centuries to the "Tale of Misfortune" of the transitional era), although in general it was poorly reflected in writing.

2. The Baptism of Rus' and the beginning of the “book teaching”

The adoption of Christianity in 988 under the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir the Saint brought Rus' into the orbit of the Byzantine world. After baptism, the rich Old Church Slavonic literature created by the Thessalonica brothers Cyril the Philosopher, Methodius and their disciples was transferred to the country from the southern and to a lesser extent from the western Slavs. A huge corpus of translated (mainly from Greek) and original monuments included biblical and liturgical books, patristics and church teaching literature, dogmatic-polemical and legal works, etc. This literary fund is common to the entire Byzantine-Slavic Orthodox world , ensured within it a consciousness of religious, cultural and linguistic unity for centuries. From Byzantium the Slavs adopted primarily church-monastic book culture. The rich secular literature of Byzantium, which continued the traditions of antiquity, with few exceptions was not in demand by them. South Slavic influence at the end of the 10th-11th centuries. marked the beginning of ancient Russian literature and book language.

Ancient Rus' was the last of the Slavic countries to accept Christianity and became acquainted with the Cyril and Methodius book heritage. However, in a surprisingly short time, she turned it into her National treasure. Compared to other Orthodox Slavic countries, Ancient Rus' created a much more developed and genre-diverse national literature and immeasurably better preserved the pan-Slavic fund of monuments.

Old Russian literature, with all its originality, had the same basic features and developed according to the same general laws as other medieval European literatures. Her artistic method was determined by the theocentric and providential nature of medieval thinking and was distinguished by a symbolic worldview, historicism, didacticism and etiquette. It was characterized by canonicity, traditionality and retrospectiveness.

According to a well-founded position, dating back to the works of E.R. Curtius, all European literature developed until the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. as literature of the rhetorical type, regardless of the presence or absence of theoretical treatises on the art of eloquence. Old Russian literature was no exception, although the first rhetoric in Russia appeared only at the beginning of the 17th century. and preserved in the most early list 1620 (the original translation was the Latin short “Rhetoric” of Philip Melanchthon of the 16th century). Throughout the Old Russian era, Church Slavonic biblical and liturgical books containing poetic and structural patterns different types texts, determined cultural consciousness and character literary process. Exemplary works replaced theoretical guides to the art of words that existed in Western Europe. Reading them, we comprehended the secrets literary technique many generations of ancient Russian scribes. The medieval author constantly turned to the “revered scriptures”, using their vocabulary and grammar, sublime symbols and images, figures of speech and tropes. Literary examples, consecrated by hoary antiquity, seemed unshakable and served as a measure writing skills. This rule constituted the alpha and omega of ancient Russian creativity.

Biblical books contained standards of literary genres. In the Izbornik of 1073 - an Old Russian manuscript dating back to the translation from Greek of the collection of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon (893-927), in the article "from the apostolic charter" a classification of biblical texts is given as ideal role models: the standard of historical and narrative works is the Old Testament books of Kings, an example in the genre of church hymns - the Psalter, exemplary “cunning and creative” works (Greek. related to the writing of the wise and poetic ) - books of the prophet Job and the Proverbs of Solomon. Such views, inherited from Byzantium, were extremely stable. Almost 4 centuries later, the Tver monk Thomas called in the “Laudatory Word about the Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich” (c. 1453) the book of Kings, the epistolary genre - the apostolic epistles, and the “soul-saving books” - lives.

For ancient Russian scribes, the existence of a special hierarchy literary texts it was obvious. The genre classification is given in the preface of Metropolitan Macarius to the Great Menaions Chetiim (finished ca. 1554). The works that formed the core of traditional book literature are arranged in strict accordance with their place on the hierarchical ladder of genres. Its top level is occupied by the Gospel with theological interpretations. Next comes the Apostle with interpretations, then - the Explanatory Psalms, after them - the works of the church fathers: collections of works by John Chrysostom “Chrysostom”, “Margarit”, “Chrysostom”, works of Basil the Great, words of Gregory the Theologian with comments by Metropolitan Nikita of Irakli, “Pandects” and “Taktikon” by Nikon Chernogorets and others, followed by oratorical prose with its own genre subsystem: 1) prophetic words, 2) apostolic, 3) patristic, 4) festive, 5) laudable, and the series concludes with hagiographic literature, which has a special hierarchy: 1) lives of martyrdom, 2) venerable ones, 3) patericons of ABC, Jerusalem, Egypt, Sinai, Skete, Kiev-Pechersk and 4) lives of Russian saints canonized by the councils of 1547 and 1549. Old Russian genre system, having developed under the influence of the Byzantine, was rebuilt and developed over the course of seven centuries of its existence. However, it remained in its main features until the New Age.

literature folklore bookishness apocrypha

3. Literature of Kievan Rus (XI - first third of the XIII century)

The “book teaching” started by Vladimir the Saint quickly achieved significant success. Numerous finds of birch bark letters and epigraphic monuments in Novgorod and other ancient Russian cities show high level literacy already in the 11th century. The oldest book Among the surviving ones in Rus' is the Novgorod Codex (no later than the 1st quarter of the 11th century) - a triptych of three waxed tablets, found in 2000 during the work of the Novgorod archaeological expedition. In addition to the main text - two psalms, the codex contains "hidden" texts, scratched into wood or preserved as faint imprints on tablets under wax. Among the “hidden” texts read by A. A. Zaliznyak, especially interesting is a previously unknown composition of four separate articles about the gradual movement of people from the darkness of paganism through the limited benefit of the Law of Moses to the light of the teachings of Christ (tetralogy “From Paganism to Christ”).

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the son of Vladimir Grand Duke Kyiv Yaroslav the Wise organized translation and book-writing works in Kyiv. In the XI-XII centuries. in Ancient Rus' there were various schools and centers engaged in translations mainly from Greek. From this time, the following have been preserved: “The Miracles of Nicholas of Myra” (1090s) - the most revered saint in Rus', “The Life of Basil the New” (11th century), depicting vivid pictures hellish torment, heaven and Last Judgment like those Western European legends (like the “Vision of Tnugdal”, mid-12th century) that fed “ Divine Comedy» Dante, Northern Russian translation of “The Life of Andrei the Fool” (XI century or no later than the beginning of the 12th century), under whose influence the feast of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary was established in Rus' in the 1160s, outstanding work world medieval literature “The Tale of Varlaam and Joasaph” (no later than the mid-12th century), possibly in Kyiv. Obviously, in the south-west of Rus', in the Principality of Galicia, a monument of ancient historiography was translated - “The History of the Jewish War” by Josephus (no later than the 12th century).

Translation work was apparently carried out at the metropolitan see, founded in 1037 in Kyiv. Translations of dogmatic, church teaching, epistolary and anti-Latin works of Metropolitans of Kyiv John II (1077-1089) and Nicephorus (1104-1121), Greeks by origin, who wrote in their own language, have been preserved. native language. Nikifor's message to Vladimir Monomakh “about fasting and abstinence of feelings” is marked by high literary merits and professional translation techniques. In the first half of the 12th century. A notable scribe was Theodosius the Greek, who translated for the prince-monk Nicholas (Svyatosha) the message of Pope Leo I the Great about the Council of Chalcedon.

Under Yaroslav the Wise, the “Russian Truth” (Brief edition of the 1st half of the 11th century) began to take shape - the main written code of laws of Kievan Rus, the oldest chronicle code was compiled at the metropolitan department (1037 - early 1040s), appeared one of the most profound works of the Slavic Middle Ages is Hilarion’s “Sermon on Law and Grace” (between 1037-1050). Using the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians (4: 21-31), Hilarion proves with dogmatic impeccability the spiritual superiority of the New Testament (Grace) over the Old Testament (Law). In a rhetorically sophisticated form, he writes about the global significance of the baptism of Rus', glorifies the Russian land, a full-fledged power in the family of Christian states, and its princes - Vladimir and Yaroslav. The work of Hilarion, who in 1051 became the first Metropolitan of Kyiv from the Eastern Slavs with the support of Yaroslav the Wise, is fully consistent with the level of medieval Greek and Latin church eloquence. Even in ancient times, it became known outside of Rus' and influenced the work of the Serbian hagiographer Domentian (13th century).

The rhetorically decorated work of Jacob “Memory and Praise to the Russian Prince Vladimir” (11th century) is also dedicated to the solemn glorification of the Baptist of Rus'. Jacob had access to the chronicle that preceded the Primary Code and used its unique information.

The most important literary center there was the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, which educated a bright galaxy of ancient Russian writers, preachers and educators. Quite early, in the second half of the 11th century, the monastery established book connections with Constantinople and, apparently, with the Sazavsky monastery - the last center of Slavic Glagolitic writing in the Czech Republic in the 11th century.

The life of one of the founders of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, Anthony (d. 1072-1073), is one of the earliest monuments of ancient Russian hagiography. Although it has not reached us, it was used in the Primary Chronicle. Anthony's student Theodosius of Pechersk (d. 1074), “the father of Old Russian monasticism,” was the author of church teaching and anti-Latin works, and the initiator of work on the translation of church and liturgical literature in the 1060s. in connection with the introduction in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery (and after it throughout Rus') of the Constantinople Studite Charter: the charter itself, the catechumen teachings of Theodore the Studite, his life, etc.

Chronicles were kept in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, the code of Nikon the Great (c. 1073) and the Initial Code (c. 1095) were compiled. Both of them were included in the “Tale of Bygone Years” (1110s) - most valuable monument ancient Russian culture and historical thought. The creator of its first edition (1110-1112 or 1113) is considered to be the Kiev-Pechersk monk Nestor. “The Tale of Bygone Years” is a complex collection of composition and sources. It includes warrior-epic legends (about the death of Prince Oleg the Prophet from the bite of a snake that crawled out of the skull of his beloved horse, under 912, about Princess Olga’s revenge on the Drevlyans under 945-946), folk tales (about an old man who saved Belgorod from the Pechenegs, around 997), toponymic legends (about the Kozhemyak youth who defeated the Pecheneg hero, around 992), stories of contemporaries (voivode Vyshata and his son, voivode Yan), treaties with Byzantium in 911, 944 and 971. , church teachings (a speech by a Greek philosopher under 986), hagiographic texts (about princes Boris and Gleb under 1015), military stories, etc. In its structure, presentation of material and events by year, “The Tale of Bygone Years” similar to the Latin annals and different from the Byzantine chronicles, which did not know weather records. “The Tale of Bygone Years” became a role model in the chronicle genre for centuries and was preserved in the later collections of the 14th-16th centuries.

The chronicle includes “The Tale of the Blinding of Prince Vasilko Terebovlsky” (1110s), which arose as an independent work. literary skill an eyewitness to the dramatic events of Vasily. By genre it is historical story about princely crimes during the internecine wars of 1097-1100.

The Tale of Bygone Years includes the “Instruction” of Prince Vladimir Monomakh (d. 1125), created in several stages and consisting of an instruction for children, an autobiography - a chronicle of the life and military campaigns of Monomakh and a letter to his rival, Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich of Chernigov. The ideal of the “Instruction” is a wise and fair sovereign, sacredly faithful to treaties, a brave warrior prince and a pious Christian. Monomakh’s combination of teaching and autobiographical elements finds a striking parallel in the apocryphal “Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs,” known in medieval Byzantine, Latin and Slavic literature. The “Testament of Judas on Courage,” which is part of the apocrypha, had a direct influence on Monomakh.

Typologically, his work is close to medieval Western European teachings to children - heirs to the throne. It is included in the circle of such works as the “Testament”, attributed to the Byzantine emperor Basil I the Macedonian, monuments of Anglo-Saxon literature: “Instructions” of King Alfred the Great and “Paternal Instructions” (8th century) used for raising royal children, etc. Some of them Monomakh could know in an oral retelling. His mother came from the family of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh, and his wife was the daughter of the Anglo-Saxon king Harald Gita.

A prominent writer of the late 11th - early 12th centuries. there was a Kiev-Pechersk monk Nestor. His “Reading about the Life of Boris and Gleb”, together with other monuments of hagiography of the 11th-12th centuries. (the anonymous “The Tale of Boris and Gleb”, “The Tale of the Miracles of Roman and David”) form a widespread cycle about the bloody internecine war of the sons of Prince Vladimir the Saint for the Kiev throne. Boris and Gleb (baptized Roman and David), killed in 1015 on the orders of their elder brother the usurper Svyatopolk, are depicted as martyrs not so much of a religious as of a political idea. By their death they affirm the triumph of brotherly love and the need for the subordination of the younger princes to the eldest in the family in order to preserve the unity of the Russian land. The passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb, the first canonized saints in Rus', became its heavenly patrons and protectors. “After the “Reading,” Nestor created the “Life of Theodosius of Pechersk,” which became a model in the genre of monastic life and was later included in the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon.”

This last major work of pre-Mongol Rus' is a collection short stories about the history of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, its monks, their ascetic life and spiritual exploits. The formation of the monument began in the 20-30s. XIII century It was based on the correspondence and writings of two Kiev-Pechersk monks Simon, who by that time had become the bishop of Vladimir-Suzdal, and Polycarp. The source of their stories about the events of the 11th - first half of the 12th centuries. Monastic and family traditions, folk tales, the Kiev-Pechersk chronicle, and the lives of Anthony and Theodosius of the Pechersk appeared. At the intersection of oral and written traditions (folklore, hagiography, chronicles, oratorical prose) the genre of patericon was formed in Ancient Rus'. The Old Slavic translated patericon served as a model for its creators. In terms of artistic merit, the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon” is not inferior to the Skitsky, Sinai, Egyptian and Roman patericons translated from Greek, which were included in the golden fund of medieval Western European literature. Despite the constant success among readers, the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon did not create a special literary direction and 300 years, before the appearance of the Volokolamsk Patericon in the 30s-40s. XVI century (see § 6.4), remained the only original monument of this genre in ancient Russian literature.

Apparently, on Mount Athos (or in Constantinople), the pan-Orthodox cultural centers, through the joint works of Old Russian and South Slavic scribes, the Prologue was translated from Greek and supplemented with new articles. This hagiographic and church teaching collection, dating back to the Byzantine Synaxarion (the generic name is collection ), contains brief editions of hagiographic texts, arranged in the order of the church calendar (from September 1). The translation was carried out no later than the 12th century, since the oldest surviving copy (Sophia Prologue) dates back to the end of the 12th - beginning of XIII V. In Ancient Rus', the Prologue was repeatedly edited, supplemented with Russian and Slavic articles and generally belonged to the favorite reading circle, as evidenced by a large number of lists and began in the 17th century. editions of the monument.

In the north of Rus', Novgorod was the literary and book center. Already in the middle of the 11th century. there, at St. Sophia Cathedral, chronicles were being written. At the end of the 1160s. priest German Voyata, having revised the previous chronicle, compiled an archbishop's codex. The Novgorod rulers not only supervised the chronicle work, but also were engaged in creative work. A monument to simple and unadorned church teaching eloquence is the short “Instruction to the Brethren” (30-50s of the 11th century) by Bishop Luke Zhidyata on the foundations of the Christian faith. (Luke's nickname is an abbreviation old Russian name Zhidoslav or George: Gyurgiy-Gyurata-Zhidyata.) Archbishop Anthony (in the world Dobrynya Yadrejkovich) in the “Book of the Pilgrim” described the journey to Constantinople before its capture by the crusaders in 1204. This event is dedicated to the testimony of an unknown eyewitness, included in the First Novgorod Chronicle, - "The Tale of the Capture of Constantinople by the Friags." Written with outward impartiality and objectivity, the story significantly complements the picture of the defeat of Constantinople by the crusaders of the Fourth Campaign, drawn by Latin and Byzantine historians and memoirists. By this time, the theme of the crusades and the genre of “walkings” had a hundred-year history in ancient Russian literature.

At the beginning of the 12th century. The abbot of one of the Chernigov monasteries, Daniel, visited the Holy Land, where he was warmly received by the King of Jerusalem Baldwin (Baudouin) I (1100-1118), one of the leaders of the First Crusade. In “The Walk,” Daniel portrayed himself as a messenger of the entire Russian land as a kind of political whole. His work is an example of pilgrimage notes, a valuable source historical information about Palestine and Jerusalem. In form and content it resembles numerous itineraria travel books Western European pilgrims.

Daniel described in detail the route, the sights and shrines he saw, along the way retelling the church-canonical traditions and apocrypha associated with them.

Apocrypha

As in medieval Europe, in Rus', in addition to orthodox literature, apocrypha (Greek. secret, hidden ) - legendary works not included in the generally accepted church canon. Their main flow came from Bulgaria, where in the 10th century. The dualistic heresy of the Bogomils was strong. The Apocrypha forms a kind of common people's Bible. Thematically, they are divided into Old Testament (“The Tale of How God Created Adam”, “Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs”, Apocrypha about Solomon, “Book of Enoch”), New Testament (“Gospel of Childhood”, or “Gospel of Thomas”, “First Gospel of James”, “ The Gospel of Nicodemus", "The Tale of Aphroditian", the legend of King Abgar), eschatological afterlife and the ultimate destinies of the world (“Vision of the Prophet Isaiah”, “Walk of the Virgin Mary through Torment”, “The Tale of Our Father Agapius”, “Revelation of Methodius of Patara”), etc.

Great love among the people, the “Conversation of the Three Hierarchs” (Basily the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom), preserved in ancient Russian copies from the 12th century, was used. Written in the form of questions and answers to the most various topics: from biblical to “natural science”, it reveals, on the one hand, clear points of contact with medieval Greek and Latin literature(eg Joca monachorum Monastic games ), and on the other hand, throughout its manuscript history it has experienced the strong influence of folk superstitions, pagan ideas, and riddles. Many apocrypha were included in the dogmatic-polemical compilation “Explanatory Palea” (possibly from the 13th century) and its revision “Chronographic Palea”, which are a kind of analogue of the Latin historical Bible (Biblia historiale).

The Apocrypha was included in special lists of renounced books. The oldest Slavic index of the apocrypha, translated from Greek, is placed in the Izbornik of 1073. Independent lists of renounced books, reflecting the real literary situation, appear in Rus' no earlier than the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. and have a recommendatory, rather than strictly prohibitive (with subsequent punitive sanctions) nature. Many apocrypha (“The First Gospel of James”, “The Tale of Aphroditian”, etc.) may not have been perceived as “false writings”, they were revered along with canonical literature and were used in church life as readings on appropriate holidays.

Bibliography

.Gessen S.I. Fundamentals of pedagogy. - M., 2005. - P. 88.

.Guseva L.N., Korotkaya L.L. Ancient Russian literature in research. - Minsk, 1979. - P. 451.

.Eremin I.P. Lectures on ancient Russian literature. - L., 1987. - P. 105.

.Klyuchevsky V.O. Old Russian Lives saints like historical source. - M., 1989. - P. 32.

.Kuskov V.V. History of Old Russian Literature. - M., 2002. - P. 243.

.Likhachev D.S. History of Russian literature of the 11th - 17th centuries. - M., 1985. - P. 88.

.Olshevskaya L.A., Travnikov S.N. Literature of Ancient Rus' and the 18th century. - M., 1996. - P. 328.

.Prokofiev N.I. Ancient Russian literature: Reader. - M., 1988. - P. 316.

.Dictionary of scribes and bookishness of Ancient Rus'. - St. Petersburg, 1995. T. 1-5. - P. 367.

.Solovkov I.A. History of pedagogy. - M., 2003. - P. 82.

.Speransky M.N. History of ancient Russian literature. - St. Petersburg, 2002. - P. 93-97.

.Tvorogov O.V. Old Russian literature. - M., 1995. - P. 115.

.Trofimova N.V., Karavashkin A.V. Old Russian literature: Workshop for philology students. - M., 1998. - P. 64

.Shamaro L.A. History of pedagogy. - M., 2008. - P.51.

Old Russian tales, literary works (11th-17th centuries), covering Various types narratives. Translated stories with moralizing tendencies and developed plots were widespread in literature (the story of Akira the Wise; the story “About Barlaam and Joasaph”; the military narrative “The History of the Jewish War” by Josephus; “Alexandria”; “The Deed of Devgenia”, etc.). The original Russian stories initially had a legendary-historical character and were included in the chronicles (about Oleg the Prophet, about Olga's revenge, about the baptism of Vladimir, etc.). Subsequently, historical works developed in two main directions—historical-epic and historical-biographical. The first cultivated the principles of narration about events, mainly military ones (stories about the internecine wars of princes; about the wars with the Polovtsians of the 11th-12th centuries; about the Tatar-Mongol invasion of the 13th-14th centuries; “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev”, 15th century). Military stories often turned into extensive fictionalized “stories” (“The Tale of Tsar Grad”, 15th century; “The Story of the Kazan Kingdom”, 16th century, etc.), in some cases acquiring folklore-epic overtones (“The Tale about the destruction of Ryazan by Batu”, 14th century; “The Tale of the Seat of Azov”, 17th century, etc.). Stories of this type include druzhina-epic (12th century) and (14th century). Military stories are characterized by patriotic ideals and colorful battle descriptions. Among the narratives about events, stories also stand out: dedicated to problems statehood. Legendary historical narratives of the period of formation of the Russian centralized state were devoted to the continuity of world monarchies and the origin of the Rurik dynasty (the stories “About the Kingdom of Babylon”, “About the Princes of Vladimir”, etc., 15-16 centuries). Then the main theme of the stories becomes a historical and journalistic description of the crisis of Moscow statehood in “ Time of Troubles"and changes in reigning dynasties ("The Tale of 1606", "The Legend" by Abraham Palitsyn, "The Chronicle Book" by I. Katyrev-Rostovsky, etc.).

Another direction of P.D. developed the principles of the narrative of heroes, initially based on the Christian-providential, solemn-rhetorical description of the actions of outstanding princes in the fight against external enemies (the lives of Alexander Nevsky, Dovmont of Pskov, 13th century; Dmitry Donskoy, 15th century). ; these works occupied an intermediate position between traditional military stories and the lives of saints. Gradually, the historical and biographical narrative began to move its heroes into everyday settings: the story of Peter and Fevronia of Murom (15-16 centuries), imbued with fairy-tale symbolism; the story of the noblewoman Juliania Lazarevskaya (17th century), etc. Interest in the exploits of the heroes is replaced by attention to the relationships between people, to the behavior of the individual in everyday life, which, however, was still determined by church and ethical norms. Stories of the biographical type branched into instructive lives-autobiographies (the lives of Avvakum, Epiphanius) and narratives of a semi-secular and then secular nature, imbued with medieval-traditional morality (folklore-lyrical “The Tale of Woe-Misfortune”, book-fiction “The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn” ", 17th century). The narrative is increasingly detached from the historical outline and masters the art of plotting. At the end of the 17th century. satirical stories with an element of literary parody appeared (“The Tale of Ersha Ershovich”, “Shemyakin’s Court”, etc.). Acute, complex everyday situations are equipped with naturalistic details characteristic of an early short story (the story about the merchant Karp Sutulov and his wife, 17th century; “The Tale of Frol Skobeev,” early 18th century). Translated stories, the characters of which are Russified in a fairy-tale spirit (“About Bova-Korolevich”, “About Eruslan Lazarevich”, etc.), and collections of Western European short stories (“The Great Mirror”, “Phatsetii”, etc.) are coming back into fashion again. P. d. make a natural evolution from the medieval historical narrative to the fictional story of modern times.

Lit.: Pypin A. N., Essay literary history ancient stories and Russian fairy tales, St. Petersburg, 1857; Orlov A. S., Translated stories feudal Rus' and the Moscow State of the XII-XVII centuries, [L.], 1934; An old Russian story. Articles and research. Ed. N.K. Gudziya, M. - L., 1941; The origins of Russian fiction. [Ans. ed. Y. S. Lurie], L., 1970; History of Russian literature, vol. 1, M. - L., 1958..

Old Russian literature can rightfully be considered the basis of all genres and all books ever written in Ukrainian, Belarusian or Russian.. From the moment the alphabet was invented by Cyril and Methodius, from the moment when civilized writing replaced archaic devils and crap, this literature laid the foundation for the entire book, printing and educational business in our country. That's why it's like that it is important to pay attention to it and get to know the works of ancient Russian literature better. On our website you will find the best books of this interesting and ancient genre.

History of the genre of ancient Russian literature

Old Russian literature began to develop, as already noted, with the invention of a convenient and practically modern alphabet. The Solunskys did it brothers Cyril and Methodius, who were even canonized for such a high achievement. Indeed, it is difficult to overestimate their contribution to the history of all Slavic countries.

The genre of ancient Russian literature is heterogeneous. In it you can find legends about the lives of saints, chronicle data, office records and much more. For example, you can often find chronicle data that is a myth, legend or tale written down as if it really happened. This is of great interest and uniqueness. ancient Russian works for the modern reader. Especially books like this. carefully collected on our website (they can be read online) will be relevant for historians, philologists, students and schoolchildren.

Features of Old Russian literature

First of all, it is the language. Old Russian legends, chronicles and(lives of saints) not written those easy to understand language, to which the modern reader is accustomed. This ancient one the language is rich in comparisons, hyperboles and many other techniques, which are sometimes difficult to understand the meaning of the story. That's why our online library contains only adapted texts translated into modern languages, which have retained some of the terms that are understandable. Thus, you can safely read books online and find out ancient history free. You may also be interested in reading books about Ancient Rus' in the popular science genre.

Another feature of Old Russian literary works there was a lack of idleness, that is, books were not secular. They were serious, there was no humor or overly extended plots. This is partly caused by the psychology of the ancient monastic writers who had to write down certain events on paper for the first time. But more often than not, the stinginess and severity of the genre is explained by the high cost of materials for books. Thus, writers simply did not have the opportunity to write down jokes and other “frivolous” things.

The development of the genre of lives of saints, also called hagiography, served as a kind of catalyst for ancient Russian literature. Lives were replaced for the ancient reader and, and, and even. By the way, all these genres originate precisely from innocent biblical and gospel stories about the lives and adventures of saints.

The best books of the genre of ancient Russian literature

Despite all the interestingness and originality of the genre, not many books in it have survived. Thematically, they can be divided into several groups.