LECTURE No. 1. Culture of Ancient Russia

1. Culture of the pagan period

The history of the Old Russian state began long before the adoption of Christianity. The Christian culture of Russia was based on the pagan layer of culture.

The earliest information about ancient Russian culture is contained in the Tale of Bygone Years, the first significant all-Russian chronicle. It is recorded there that Prince Vladimir the Holy wanted to create an all-Russian pagan Pantheon of gods.

The main god of the Russians is Perun the Thunderer. It was believed that he lived in elevated places, was depicted as a horseman and had attributes - thunder and lightning, an ax. The "cattle god" Beles also occupied an important position (cattle in those days were identified with money). The weather was controlled by Stribog (wind god) and Dazhdbog (sun god). Of considerable importance was the female deity - Mokosh the spinner - the goddess of fate (thread - fate). The most cheerful and wild god is the god of fertility Yarilo.

The epic gradually took shape. His plots were preserved mainly in epics recorded many centuries later ("Mikhailo Potok", "Danube", "Volga and Mikula", about the heroes Dobrynya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets).

The most important feature of culture is undoubtedly the art of building, that is, architecture. No wonder they say that architecture is the soul of the people, embodied in stone. Russia for many years was a country of wood, and its architecture, pagan chapels, fortresses, towers, huts were built of wood. In the tree, Russian people, like the peoples living next to the Eastern Slavs, first of all expressed their perception of the beauty of architecture, a sense of proportion, the fusion of architectural structures with the surrounding nature. If wooden architecture dates back mainly to pagan Russia, then stone architecture is associated with Christian Russia.

Western Europe did not know such a transition, since from ancient times it built both temples and stone dwellings. Unfortunately, the ancient wooden buildings have not survived to this day, but the architectural style of the people has come down to us in later wooden structures, in ancient descriptions and drawings. Russian wooden architecture was characterized by a multi-tiered structure, crowning them with turrets and towers, the presence of various kinds of outbuildings - cages, passages, canopies. Intricate wood carving was a traditional decoration of Russian wooden buildings. Pagan Russia knew painting, sculpture, music, but in an exclusively pagan, folk expression. Ancient wood carvers, stone cutters created wooden and stone sculptures of pagan gods and spirits. Painters painted the walls of pagan temples, made sketches of magical masks, which were then made by artisans; musicians, playing stringed and woodwind instruments, entertained the tribal leaders and entertained the common people.

2. Life of Russia

The culture of the people is inextricably linked with their way of life, everyday life, just as the way of life of the people, determined by the level of development of the country's economy, is closely connected with cultural processes.

All the testimonies of contemporaries indicate that Kyiv was a large and rich city. No wonder the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, Anna Yaroslavna, who married the French king in the XNUMXth century, was surprised by the provinciality of the French capital.

In Kyiv, golden-domed churches shone with their domes, the palaces of Vladimir, Yaroslav the Wise, Vsevolod Yaroslavich struck with grace; Sophia Cathedral, the Golden Gate - a symbol of the victories of Russian weapons, surprised with monumentality, wonderful frescoes.

The houses were decorated with carpets and expensive fabrics. From the fortress walls of the city one could see in the green bushes the white-stone churches of the Caves and other Kyiv monasteries. In palaces, rich boyar mansions, life went on. Vigilantes were stationed here, countless servants crowded. From here came the administration of the principalities, here they judged and dressed, tribute and taxes were brought here. Feasts were often held in the hallways, in spacious gridirons, where overseas wine and their native honey flowed like a river, servants carried huge dishes with meat and game. Women sat at the table on an equal footing with men. The harpists delighted the ears of eminent guests, sang to them; large bowls, horns with wine went in a circle.

The favorite pastimes of rich people were falconry and hawk hunting. Races, tournaments, various games were arranged for the common people. Baths were an integral part of ancient Russian life.

Below, on the banks of the Dnieper, a merry Kyiv market was noisy, where goods and products were sold not only from all over Russia, but from all over the then world, including India and Baghdad. Hundreds of large and small ships crowded at the piers of the Dnieper. There were also huge princely multi-oared and multi-sail boats, and lively, nimble boats.

On long winter evenings, by the light of torches, women spun, men drank intoxicating drinks, honey, remembered the days gone by, composed and sang songs, listened to storytellers and storytellers of epics.

Author: Konstantinova S.V.

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