Abstract
The article analyzes how Adyghe youngsters’ initiation ritual is represented in the epos. The mentioned ritual is intended to symbolize young people’s readiness for adulthood, in particular, for the active life cycle period when the youngster acquires a right to participate in military or hunting campaigns (zeko) together with experienced riders, in all kinds of the adult community members’ activity, to become independent and to settle down to married life. The ritual presupposes that youngsters should demonstrate their weapon, martial arts skills, usage of tools and readiness and ability to overcome the difficulties associated with the warrior’s everyday life or labour activity. The paper considers not only the ethnographic aspect of the problem but also the representation of the initiation ritual in folklore: the author provides the fragments of epic legends, historical-heroic songs, fairy tales, where heroes manifest the qualities of an ideal society member. The article also presents a list of occasional well-wishes, proverbs and sayings. The study is based on the long-term experience of previous researchers.
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