artist Konstantin Vasiliev

Alyosha Popovich - Russian epic hero, hero of the ancient Slavic epic cycle, this old Russian hero closely associated with the Kyiv heroes Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich. In addition, between Alyosha and Dobrynya there is a striking similarity not in characters, but in adventures and some other circumstances of their lives; namely, the epics about the snake-fighting of Dobrynya and Alyosha are almost completely similar to each other. Proceeding from this, the well-known professor of the history of Russian literature, Orest Fedorovich Miller, compares Alyosha and Dobrynya with the Indian Indra, considers them a common Aryan property that has passed to us through tradition, and sees in them the original personification of the sun. Thus, the struggle between Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin Zmeevich takes on a naturally mythological illumination. Orest Fedorovich Miller considers Tugarin himself a mythical creature, the historian of the Slavic epic Alexander Nikolayevich Veselovsky is inclined to recognize in him the Polovtsian Khan Tugarkhan, the literary historian and folklorist Mikhail Georgievich Khalansky proves that he is in the closest connection with South Slavic folk beliefs in monstrous snakes; he also recognizes in Tugarin a mythical basis, obscured by features borrowed from book legends; he considers the convergence of his name with the name of Tugarkhan to be shaky and accepts here just an accidental consonance.

According to the Slavist Apollo Alexandrovich Maykov, Alyosha Popovich appears to be the embodiment of a number of vicious properties: cunning, selfishness, greed; his characterization was determined, probably, by his class nickname. In him, indeed, we find a mixture of various traits; he is distinguished above all by courage; but, in addition, he is proud, arrogant, quarrelsome, perky and rude; in battle, a turntable, cunning: he is, finally, a female mockingbird. Alexander Nikolayevich Veselovsky says approximately the same thing: “The bold, rushing, impudent Alyosha of old songs found himself in the later development of our epic as a woman’s mockingbird, a malicious accuser of female honor and an unfortunate womanizer. How this degeneration took place, it is difficult to say for sure. ".

The last character traits of Alyosha Popovich were clearly expressed in his relationship with his sister Zbrodovich. And this fact is explained by Orest Fedorovich Miller mythologically: in his opinion, this is an expression of the dark property of a light mythical creature, for example, the sun, which sometimes harms people with its too scorching rays. As for the Zbrodovichs themselves, they, according to the Slavist and researcher of Russian folk art Pyotr Alekseevich Bessonov, are crowded heroes, a rabble of dark daring men. Orest Fedorovich Miller, in his work "The Experience of the Historical Review of Russian Literature", expressed the opinion that the image of Alyosha Popovich over time is more and more clouded in the spirit of those attitudes of the people towards the weaknesses of the clergy, from which the proverb about "grabbing hands and envious eyes" emerged. "; and the more such traits developed in Alyosha, the more the title of the brave that still remained behind him lost its meaning.

The researcher of Slavic folklore Mikhail Georgievich Khalansky sees in Alyosha Popovich the Rostov hero Alexander Popovich mentioned in the Chronicles, who lived at the end of the 12th and at the beginning of the 13th century; epics about him were included in later chronicles, but regional Rostov legends about him were reflected in the epics. Thus, according to Khalansky, Alyosha is the hero of the Russian North. Alexander Nikolaevich Veselovsky does not agree with this assumption, who in his study "South Russian Epics" writes: "the mentions of the heroes Alyosha and Dobrynya are stretched over such a significant chronological space that the invasion of the song into the chronicle seems likely." It is obvious that Mikhail Georgievich Khalansky admits this invasion only in later chronicles. Further, Veselovsky continues: "Alyosha Popovich, under the influence of the epic, included in the north in the annals, coincided with Rostov, and this somewhat influenced the change in his tone, which in the epic was formed from a number of layers of different times." Finally, the writer and historical publicist Vladimir Vladimirovich Kallash in his work "Ethnographic Review" (1890) brings Alyosha closer to Alexander the Great, who, in single combat with Por, used the same trick that Alyosha used in the battle with Tugarin.

Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin Zmeevich

From far, far away, from the pure field
Here go daring two young men,
They ride horse-o-horse and saddle-o-saddle,
Bridle-o-bridle yes tosmyanuyu,
Yes, they talk to each other:
“Where are we going, brothers, how will we go?
Should we go - should we not go to Suzdal grad?
Yes, there is a lot of drinking in Suzdal-city,
Let the good fellows get drunk, -
An unkind glory will pass about us.
Yes to go - not to go to Chernihiv-grad?
In Chernihiv city, the girls are good,
With good girls will be recognized,
An unkind glory will pass about us.
Should we go - not to go to Kyiv-grad?
Yes to Kyiv-city for defense,
Yes, to us, good fellows, to vykhvalbu.
They come to the city to Kyiv,
In addition, to the prince, to Vladimir,
To the same to the grill to the light one.
Well done, yes, from good horses,
Yes, toss their unknitted horses,
No horses but unordered,
No one cares about horses, yes, really, it doesn’t matter.
Yes, they climb into the bright climate,
Yes, they put the cross from de written,
Bow-from lead yes in a learned way,
Prayer is done and everyone is to Jesus.
They strike with their foreheads on all four sides,
And to the prince and princess in a special way:
“Hello, Vladimir of Stolnokievskoy!
Hello, Princess Mother Apraksia!
Says Vladimir Stolnokievsky:
“Hello, good fellows!
What land, what city are you?
What father and what mother?
What is your name, good fellows?”

Says here daring good fellow:
“I call Olesha Popovitsom now,
Popa would be Levontya, the son of Rostov,
Yes, the other one is from Ekim - Olyoshin little boy.
Vladimir Stolnokievskoy says here:
“For a long time the news about you walked,
It happened to see Olyosha in the eyes.
Yes, the first place is near me,
Another place for you - opposite me,
The third place for you is where you want to go.
Olyoshenka Popovits says:
“I will not sit in a place next to you,
I will not sit in a place opposite you,
Yes, I sit in a place where I myself want to,
Yes, I sit on a petska on an ant,
Under the red is good under the trumpet window.
A little pores have passed
Yes, the green was unlocked on the heel,
Yes, climbing is a filthy miracle,
The dog Tugarin was Zmeevich-ot.
Yes, the dog does not pray to God,
Yes, the prince and princess do not bow,
He does not beat princes and boyars with his forehead.
The height of the dog is already three sazhons,
The width of the dog is two coverage,
Between his eyes and a red-hot arrow,
Between his ears and a span of paper.
He sat the dog at the oak table,
By the right hand of the prince, he is Vladimir,
On the left hand of the princess, he is Apraksia.

Olyoshka couldn’t resist baking:
“Oh, you are, Vladimir of Stolnokievsky!
Ali, you and the princess do not live in love?
Between you a miracle sits filthy,
Dog Tugarin-ot Zmeevich-ot.
They brought it to the table like a white swan,
The dog took out his damask knife,
He faked a dog, he is a white swan,
He threw, the dog, into her larynx,
It shifts from cheek to cheek,
Swan bone and spit it out.
Olyosha could not resist baking:
“At my father’s near the world,

It was an old yard dog
The dog dragged along the underframe,
Choked by a swan's bone,

To lie to him in the distance in an open field.
They brought something to the table and a canteen pie.

Forged a pie and on a damask knife,
He threw, the dog, into his larynx.

Olyosha could not resist baking:
“At my father’s near the world,
At the priest at Levonty Rostovsky
It was an old cow yard,
A cow dragged around the yard,
A cow was crushed by a pellet,
The dog Tugarin is not a minute away -
To lie to him in a distant open field.
The dog now says Tugarin-from:
“Yes, what is sitting on the stove for a stink,
Is he sitting for a stink and for a settlement?
Says Vladimir Stolnokievsky:
“Not a stink-from sitting and not a settlement,
Sits a mighty Ruska and a hero
And by the name of Olyoshenka Popovich, from.
The dog pulled out his damask knife,
Yes, the dog threw a knife on the bakery,
Yes, he threw Popovitsya at Olyoshenka.
Olyosha Ekimushko was picky,
After all, he grabbed the knife by the stem;
The knife had silver solders now,
By weight, the solders were twelve pounds.
Yes, they themselves boast:
“Here we have a visiting business,
And we have imported bread here,
We’ll drink on wine, at least we’ll pass on kalach. ”
The dog went out of the feast,
Yes, he himself said, these are the speeches:
"Be with me, Olesha, with me on the field."
Olyosha Popovits says:
"Yes, I'm with you, with the dog, at least the toper is ready."
Says Ekimushko and the little fellow:
“Oh, you are, Olyoshenka, a named brother!
Will you go yourself, or will you send me?”
Olyosha now says Popovits-from:
“Yes, I myself will go, but I won’t send you.”

Olyosha went on foot along the road,
I took a road shalyga in my hands
Yes, this shalyga is propped up.
He watched the dog in the open field -
The dog flies in the sky
Yes, the wing of the horse is non-paper,
At that time he was Olesha, the son of Popovits-ot,
He prays to the Almighty Savior,
Wonderful Mother of God Theotokos:
“Oh, Thou art the Savior and our Almighty!
Wonderful is Mother and Mother of God! Went,
Lord, heavy rain from the sky, help,
Lord, paper wing, let go,
Lord, Tugarin on the damp earth.
Olyosha's prayer to God was profitable,
The Lord sent heavy rain from the sky,
Tugarin's paper wing got wet,
The Lord lowered the dog on the damp ground.
Yes, Tugarin rides across the open field,
He screams, yells yes at the top of his head:
“Yes, do you want, Olyosha, I will stop with a horse?
Do you want, Olyosha, I'll chip with a spear?
Do you want, Olyosha, I will swallow alive?
That's why de Olyoshenka was a screw -
Tucked under the horse's mane.
Let the dog look across the open field:
“Yes, where is Olesha now, stoptan lies?”
Yes, at that time Olyoshenka Popovits-from
Jumped out from under the horse's mane,
He waves a roadside shalyga
According to Tugarinova de on a violent head.

The head rolled off the shoulders like a button,
A corpse fell on the damp ground.
Yes, at that time Olyosha son Popovits-from
Has Tugarin's good horse,
With his left hand, yes, he holds a horse,
With his right hand, he flogs a corpse.
Rossek is a corpse, but in small parts,
Rozmet something corpse and across the open field,
Forged Tugarinov's wild head,
Olyosha faked something on the spear,
I took him to the prince to Vladimir.
Brought something to the grill to the bright one,
Yes, he himself spoke de such speeches:
“Oh, you are, Vladimir of Stolnokiev!
If you don’t have a beer boiler now, -
Yes, those are Tugarinov's violent head;
If you don’t have large beer bowls, -
Duck, those Tugarinovs are clear oci;
If you don’t have big dishes, -
Duck, those Tugarinovs are big ears.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine conducted a brilliant special operation to combat the "Russian threat". She passed not in the Donbass and not on the border with the Crimea, but in ... "Wikipedia".

According to Ukrainian Vesti, representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in an Internet encyclopedia article dedicated to Ilya Muromets,.

Instead of the village of Karacharovo, which is near Murom in the Vladimir region, the Ukrainian military indicated the city of Morovsk near Chernigov, which in ancient times was called Murom.

According to Ukrainian journalists, the special operation was carried out not by chance, but in connection with the release in the fall of 2017 of the first Ukrainian fantasy film The Stronghold, where well-known heroes will act. At the same time, the film insists that the heroes are not Russian, but Ukrainian.

It is impossible to call everything that is happening otherwise than insanity. If only because, regardless of whether Ilya Muromets was born near Chernigov or near Murom, he, like his comrades in arms, was undoubtedly Russian or, if you like, Russian. None of the prototypes of Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich could call himself a “Ukrainian”, even theoretically, since the heroes acted at a time when the division of one ancient Russian people into three branches, which are now called Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, had not yet occurred .

When they talk about heroes, it’s not in vain that they mention that they are “epic”: over the centuries of oral tales, their biography has been repeatedly supplemented with new adventures, so it’s quite difficult to find out how it all began.

There are a lot of versions about who exactly was the prototype of the heroes, but now we will only talk about those that seem to be the most convincing, and to which most historians are inclined.

A. P. Ryabushkin. Ilya Muromets. Illustration for the book "Russian epic heroes". Reproduction

Ilya Muromets - Ilya Chobotok, St. Elijah of the Caves

The relics of a monk are buried in the Near Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Elijah Pechersky canonized as a saint in the 17th century. This man lived in the 12th century and in his secular life bore the name Ilya Chobotok. He received his nickname for the fact that, possessing extraordinary strength, he once fought off enemies with a chobot, that is, a boot.

Ilya Chobotok was a native of the Vladimir village of Karacharovo, where not only legends about him have been preserved, but people who are considered his descendants still live: Gushchin family. It is famous for its extraordinary strength: according to legend, until the 19th century, men of this kind were forbidden to participate in such a popular pastime in Russia as fisticuffs.

Ilya Chobotok entered the service of the squad of the Kyiv prince and occupied a high position among the squads.

The relics of Ilya Pechersky. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Examination of the remains in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, carried out in Soviet times, showed that Ilya Pechersky was a physically strong man of high stature, who had traces of numerous wounds. This is characteristic of a warrior. In addition, traces were found indicating a disease of the spine. As we remember, the epic says that Ilya could not walk until the age of 33.

It is believed that, most likely, Chobotok became a monk after another wound made him unsuitable for further service.

At the same time, it is very likely that the monk Iliya Pechersky died in battle. In 1204, Prince Rurik Rostislavich, together with the Polovtsy, captured Kyiv and ruined the Lavra. An experienced warrior, albeit after a serious wound, the monk Elijah could not help but stand in the way of the invaders.

Andrei Ryabushkin. Nikitich. 1895. Illustration for the book "Russian epic heroes". Reproduction

Dobrynya Nikitich - Dobrynya, governor of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun

In epics Nikitich most often appears as a hero in the service Prince Vladimir, and extremely close to it. Therefore, the most likely prototype should be considered the voivode Prince Vladimir Dobrynya, who was the uncle of the baptist of Russia, was the brother of his mother Malusha.

His exact place of birth is unknown. Some researchers point to the surroundings of modern Vladimir-Volynsky. It is known that Dobrynya was an influential person during the reign of Father Vladimir, Prince Svyatoslav, and that is why he turned out to be the mentor of young Vladimir, sent by his father to reign in Novgorod.

Dobrynya was very active during the period when Vladimir fought for the right to become prince of Kyiv. The chronicle claims that it was he who inspired the prince to take tough actions against Polotsk, including the rape of the bride of Prince Yaropolk Rognedy. There was nothing extraordinary in the capture of women by force at that time, but Dobrynya, irritated by Rogneda's and her entourage's allusions to the "slave" status of his sister Malusha, persuaded Vladimir to act, as they say now, with special cynicism.

After Vladimir became the prince of Kyiv, Dobrynya was appointed viceroy in Novgorod, and, apparently, he remained so until his death. The governor of Novgorod was also the son of Dobrynya, Konstantin Dobrynich. Being a Companion Yaroslav the Wise, Konstantin Dobrynich fell into disgrace, then transferred to Murom, where he died in 1022.

A. P. Ryabushkin. Alyosha Popovich. Epic hero. Reproduction

Alyosha Popovich - Alexander Popovich, Rostov boyar, ally of Dobrynya of the Golden Belt

In the annals of the beginning of the XIII century appears Alexander Popovich. “Someone from Rostov, a resident Alexander, the verb Popovich, and his servant was named Torop; Servant of that Alexander to the Grand Duke Vsevolod Yuryevich ... ”, the historical document says.

According to the information that has come down to us, a native of Rostov, Olesha or Alexander Popovich, was a noble boyar and at the same time one of the strongest warriors in his homeland. He was in the service of the prince Vsevolod the Big Nest, whose descendants ruled Russia until the extinction of the Rurik dynasty.

Alexander Popovich served the son of Vsevolod, Konstantin Vsevolodovich, and was embroiled in his confrontation with his brother, Yuri Vsevolodovich. After the death of Konstantin in 1218, the boyar feared problems and had good reason: he personally killed several best warriors Yuri. Therefore, Alexander Popovich left for Kyiv, where he entered the service of the prince Mstislav the Old.

And here his fate unexpectedly intersects with another contender for the role of the prototype of Dobrynya Nikitich: a native of Ryazan Dobrynya Golden Belt. This warrior received his nickname from the profession of his father, who was engaged in trade with foreigners. Eminent merchants during this period were called "golden belts".

Dobrynya early mastered the art of war and entered the service of the Rostov prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich, becoming fellow soldier Alexander Popovich.

After the death of the prince, he was among those who went to serve in Kyiv.

Chronicles claim that the Ryazan Dobrynya and Alexander Popovich participated in the first battle of the Russians with the Tatar-Mongols, which took place on the Kalka River in May 1223.

Among the dead at Kalka were at least nine princes, including Mstislav the Old. Many Russian soldiers died there, including Alexander Popovich and Dobrynya the Golden Belt.

They died without even realizing that 800 years later their descendants would diligently rewrite their biography to please the current political moment.

Alyosha Popovich- one of the three most famous epic heroes, the youngest of them at the outpost of the heroic. According to legend, he was from. Alyosha Popovich is weaker than Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich, but more than compensates for this with his cunning and sharpness. No wonder Alyosha had the nickname "Popovich" - the priest's sons were considered by the people to be very dexterous and cunning. The image of Alyosha Popovich is significantly different from his older colleagues. If Ilya Muromets personifies confident strength, wise solidity and experience, Dobrynya Nikitich personifies nobility and intelligence, education and culture, then Alyosha Popovich personifies provocative youth with its possible shortcomings. Alyosha Popovich is bold and cheerful, ardent and unrestrained, witty and loves to joke, and at the same time frivolous, greedy, arrogant and boastful. He can deceive a comrade and seduce someone else's wife. But when the time comes to fight the enemies, Alyosha Popovich is always ready to defend his native land.

According to one of the versions, one of the historical prototypes of the epic hero is the “Rostov brave” Alexander (Olesha) Popovich, who is mentioned in various chronicles of the 15th-17th centuries. (most fully - in the Tver chronicle of 1534). How Alexander Popovich was a real historical person, or stories about him are introduced into the chronicles from epics, is a rather complicated question. According to the Tver Chronicle, Alexander was the son of the Rostov priest Leonty and lived in the late 12th - early 13th centuries. He served the Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod Yuryevich the Big Nest, and then his eldest son, the first Rostov prince Konstantin. Alexander Popovich was an excellent warrior and became very famous. He participated in the internecine war of the sons of Vsevolod the Big Nest, including the Battle of Lipitsa in 1216, in which Konstantin fought against his brothers Yuri (Grand Duke of Vladimir) and Yaroslav (father of Alexander Nevsky). Constantine won and became a Grand Duke himself, but died in 1218. Nothing good could be expected from Yuri, who had regained his throne, and Alexander Popovich went to the service of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Mstislav. In 1223 he participated in the battle with the Mongols at Kalka, in which he died. Probably, over the course of time, a layering of different plots took place on the life of Alexander Popovich, as a result of which his image underwent a complex evolution. And since Alexander had the nickname Popovich, he was given the features of a “real priest”.

Anecdote: Somehow Ilya Muromets (IM) met with Alyosha Popovich (AP).

- AP: Hello, hero!
- IM: Hello, hello!
AP: What's your name?
- IM: Ilya Muromets!
– AP: And what places will you come from?
– IM: From Murom! What is your name?
- AP: My name is Alyosha Popovich, but from what place - I won’t say!

RUSSIAN MYTHOLOGY

ALYOSHA POPOVICH

mythologized image of the hero in the Russian epic epic.

Alyosha Popovich, as the youngest, is the third in importance in the heroic trinity, along with Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich. A.P. is the son of the Rostov priest Le (v) ontius (rarely Fedor).

All heroes are united by a common origin from the North-East. Russia (Murom, Ryazan, Rostov), ​​a trip to Kyiv, associated with a duel with a monster, a heroic service in Kyiv at the court of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun. Alyosha Popovich is distinguished not by strength (sometimes his weakness is even emphasized, his lameness is indicated, etc.), but courage, prowess, onslaught, on the one hand, and resourcefulness, sharpness, cunning, on the other. Sometimes he is cunning and ready to deceive even his named brother Dobrynya Nikitich, infringes on his rights; he is boastful, arrogant, unnecessarily crafty and evasive; his jokes are sometimes not only cheerful, but also insidious, even evil; his comrades-heroes from time to time express their censure and condemnation to him.

In general, the image of A.P. reflects a certain inconsistency and duality.

One of the most archaic stories associated with Alyosha Popovich is his battle with Tugarin. A.P. strikes Tugarin on the way to Kyiv or in Kyiv (a variant is known in which this duel occurs twice). Tugarin threatens A.P. to suffocate him with smoke, cover him with sparks, burn him with fire-flames, shoot him with firebrands or swallow him alive. The battle between A.P. and Tugarin often takes place near the water (Safast River). Having overcome Tugarin, A.P. dissected his corpse, scattered it “over an open field” (cf. Indra’s actions in relation to the defeated Vritra). A similar version of the plot about the battle between A.P. and Tugarin is the epic “Alyosha kills the Skim-beast”, where A.P.’s opponent reminds Tugarin to many.

The birth of Alyosha Popovich was miraculous, reminiscent of the birth of the Volkh: it is accompanied by thunder; “Alyoshenka Chudorodych young”, barely born, asks his mother for blessings to walk around the wide world, not to swaddle him with swaddling clothes, but with chain mail; he can already sit on a horse and wield it, act with a spear and a saber, etc. The cunning and dexterity of A.P. is akin to the “tricks-wisdoms” of the Volkh, and his jokes and tricks are close to the magical transformations of the Volkh. In the epics about him and the sister of the Zbrodovichs (Petrovichs, etc.), Elena (Petrovna) becomes the wife of A.P., she is also Elenushka, Olena, Olenushka (Volkh’s wife is also called Elena).

it woman's name as it were, it approaches the name of A.P. (options - Olesha, Valesha and Yeleshenka): Olesha-Olenushka, Yeleshenka - Elena and Olepushka, and thus a “homonymous” married couple is formed, similar to Volos-Veles - Volosya or Yols - Yelesikha. The “matrimonial” failure of A.P. is also repeated in the epics about the unsuccessful matchmaking of A.P. to the wife of Dobrynya Nikitich Nastasya Nikulishna during the absence of her husband (A.P. spreads a false rumor about the death of Dobrynya) and in one of the variants of the epic about Alyosha and the sister of the Zbrodovichs, where the brothers cut off A.P.’s head for disgracing their sister (in other versions of this plot, Alyosha Popovich is in danger, as is the Zbrodovich’s sister Nastasya Zbrodovichna, whose brothers are going to cut off her head). When the sister is about to part with her life, A.P. asks not to destroy her and give her to him as his wife.

The opinion previously accepted by researchers that the historical prototype of A.P. was a certain Alexander Popovich, who died in the Battle of Kalka in 1224, as the chronicle reports, is being seriously questioned: the actualization of the theme of Alexander Popovich in later chronicles may reflect acquaintance with epics about A.P.

Archaic relics are characteristic in the descriptions of Alyosha Popovich himself and all three heroes (see Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich), to which he is included: in all these characters, their once closer ties with the chthonic element shine through, and therefore, with a deep reconstruction, three epic heroes can be compared with the fabulous triad - Gorynya, Dubypya and Usynya.

Alyosha Popovich is the youngest of the three heroes, the main heroes of the Russian epic. Alyosha's name Ancient Russia was a diminutive of Alexander. The chronicles mention several Alexandrov Popoviches who lived in different time. One of them fought with the Polovtsy in 1100, the other was a combatant of the Rostov prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich and in 1216 participated in the Battle of Lipitsk against the Vladimir prince Yuri; the third - died in the battle with the Tatars at Kalka in 1223.

The question of whether any of these heroes served as a prototype of Alyosha Popovich, or whether the reverse process occurred, and the chroniclers who compiled the chronicles several centuries after the events described in them endowed real characters with the name of the epic hero, remains open.

The epics say that Alyosha was born in Rostov the Great and was the son of a "Rostov priest".

In different epics, the image of Alyosha Popovich turns with different facets. In the more ancient ones, he is primarily a warrior, brave, although somewhat reckless - "brave with a pretense." Later, Alyosha often appears as a frivolous braggart and "woman charmer".

The central epic from the cycle about Alyosha Popovich tells about his victory over Tugarin Zmeevich. At its core, this epic is one of the most ancient. In it, Alyosha Popovich is not yet in the service of Prince Vladimir, but is an independent wandering warrior, traveling around the world with his fellow squire in search of exploits and adventures. In the image of Tugarin, two characters merged into one: the more ancient, mythical - the winged serpent, and the later, historical - the Polovtsian Khan Tugor-kan, who was killed in Kyiv in 1096.

About the snake nature of Tugarin says his patronymic - Zmeevich, as well as the ability to fly through the air. But in the epic, the wings are not his inalienable accessory: he “puts them on”, and in almost all versions of the epic it is indicated that the wings are “paper”.

It is historically reliable that the servants carry Tugarin “on a golden board” - this way of transportation was typical for the steppe lords.

Alyosha Tugarin defeated and brought Tugarin's head to Kyiv to the prince's court, and threw it among Vladimirov's court. “Goy, thou art, Alyosha Popovich is young! You gave me light, perhaps you live in Kyiv, serve me, Prince Vladimir! - was the joyful word of Prince Stolnokievsky to him. The joy of the prince was reflected with joy throughout Kyiv, dispersed from Kyiv throughout Russia ...

The image of Princess Apraksia, the unfaithful wife of Prince Vladimir, is interesting. Evpraksia Vsevolodovna, the sister of Vladimir Monomakh, can be considered its prototype. Eupraxia was married to the Saxon Count Staden, soon became a widow and became the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. Contemporaries called Evpraksia "a shameless, depraved woman." Subsequently, she fled from her husband, accusing him of many atrocities, and returned to Kyiv. Popular rumor could attribute to her a connection with Tugor-kan, although in reality he was killed a year before her return to Kyiv.