About the Heroic Image in the Epic «David of Sasun»

Abstract

The article is devoted to the heroic image in the national epic «David of Sasun», which is an ancient Armenian heroic epic, as well as the pinnacle of Armenian classical folk literature. The subject of the study is the heroic image of four generations of Sasun. The purpose of this study is to study the typological features of the heroes of Sasun, to explain their origin and the transformation of characters due to territorial features. The article shows that to a large extent they are similar to the images of early ancient Homer's heroes with primitive colors, noble origin and mighty power. They are distinguished by amazing strength, great kindness and bravery, an acute sense of justice and compassion, a high degree of patriotism, strong sense of collectivism and valuable civilian consciousness. In general, being a kind of symbol, the image of the Sasun’s heroes reflects the deep desire of the Armenian people, who have suffered from foreign aggression for a long time, for world peace, national independence and a strong national defender. But at the same time, the author identifies those features that distinguish them from the heroes of other epics in the article. The fact is that over time, being passed from mouth to mouth, they "localized" on the territory of the Armenian Highlands and acquired the qualities inherent in this people with fundamentally different thinking, activities and ideas about bravery, about war. The article shows the similarities and differences between the heroes of the Armenian and Greek epics, the distinctive characteristics of the behavior and character of the heroes of the Armenian epic. The major research methods are text analysis and comparative study.