DOCSLIB.ORG

The Archer and the Steppe, Or, the Empires of Scythia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Archer and the Steppe, Or, the Empires of Scythia ASIA CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION ON CHINA AND THE CHINESE Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023035177 : THE AECHER MD.THE STEPPE; oc, THE EMPIRES OF SCYTHIA A HISTOET OF RUSSIA AND TARTAHY, FEOM THE EARLIEST AGES TILL THE FALL OF THE MONGUL POWEK IN EUROPE, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. BY F, K. GEAHAME. The seat Of mlgbtiest empire, from the destined walla Of Cambala, seat of Cathaian khan, And Saraarcand by Oxas, TImur's throng To Pekin. by Slndean kings, and thence To Agra and Lahore of great Mogul, Down to the golden Chersonese, or where The Persian in Ecbatan sat, or since In Hi^ahan, or where the Busslan czar In Moscow, or the Sultan In ByzEUice, Turkestan boviL-~Para4ise Lost, LONDON^ JAMES BLACKWOOD, PATEENOSTEE EOW. [TKe Eight of Translation is Reserved.^ W^^is" CONTENTS. EOOK I. Fa05I THE EAELIEST AUTHENTIC HISTORY OF SCTTHIA TO THE CONQUESTS OF THE MONGUL TAKTABS. CHAPTEK I. Introduction . ... CHAPTER n. Russia and iier Earliest Inhattitants CHAPTER IIL Ttie Asiatic ScytMans—Tlie Hans—Attila ... CHAPTER IV. Ttie Igours—Avars—Bulgarians—fSlavonians—Cliazars CHAPTEK V. The Cancasus—Georgia . CHAPTER VI. Tlie Finns—Russians—Novogorod and KioC-Burik—Oieg—Igor—Oiga CHAPTER VIL Europe In the Nlntli Century—Blarmaland—tlie Crimea ... CHAPTEK VIIL—FEOM 056 TO 071. Sviatozlaf—He subdues the Chazars—Invades the Greeit Empire—The Principalities —Defeat and Death of 8 viatozlaf . ... ... — 4 CONTENTS. Pace CHAPTEK IX.—FEOM 971 TO lOlS. Vladimir the Great^Tlie Riisaiana are converted to Cliristianity WS CHAPTEK X—FeOM 1015 TO 1053. 123 Svlatopolk—The Poles Invade Bnssia—Jaroslaf . CHAPTER Xr.—Fbom'4bOOT 800 to 1070. The AvaraorTurks—MahmoudofGhiznl—He invades India—The SeljuS Turks— 136 Togrul Beg—Alp Arslan-Malek Shall—The Polotzl . .... CHAPTEE XII.—Feom loss TO 1078. Iziaslaf—The Poles invade Kussia—SviatozIafII.—Vyzevold—irovogorod . .152 CHAPTEE XIII.—Fkom 1078 TO 1126. Vyzevold Jaroslafovitz—Svlatopolk Iziaslafovitz—Vladimir Monomachns . ,160 CHAPTER XIV.—Feom 1125 to U57. The Poles invade Russia-Yonrii Dolgoronki—^Moscow founded—Kingdom of Halich 167 CHAPTEK XV.—Feosi 1157 TO 1214. Continuation of the History of Russia—Invasion of the Poles—State of Society . 175 CHAPTEK XVX Affairs of Poland—Esthonia—Llvouia-Courland—The Teutonic Knights—Lithu- ania—Tlie Ottoman Turks—The Origin of the Monguls 184 BOOK n. FROM THE CONQUESTS OF THE MOHTGUIS TO THE RISE OF TIMUE. CHAPTER I._FS0M 1175 TO 1227. ZlngisKhan—The Conqnests of the Monguls . CHAPTEK n.—Feom 1214 TO 1246. The Princes of Kiof—Batti Khan—He conquers Russia, and ravages Poland and Hungary-^Embassy sent by the Pope to the Grand Khan—^Election of Couynk Karacorum—Camp of BatU at Serai 214 CHAPTER III.—Feom 1246 TO 1263. Yaroslaf of Novogorod—Mangou Khan—Kublai conquers China—Holagou conquers Persia—The Monguls Of China—Khans of Kipzak . 233 CONTENTS. 5 CHAPTEE IT.—FnOM 1240 TO 1302. EeienofAlexanderNCTskolinKussla—Noghai'sEebellloil—The Mongols of Persia— Abaga—Argun—yoyage ofthe Chinese Princess to Persia—Kazan . 249 CHAPTEE v.—Fedm 12n TO 1340. Continnation of the History of Enssla-Reigns of Taroslaf, DemeWns, and Andrea— Lithuania—The Genoese Colonies—Uzbek Khan—Executions of Michael, Deme- trius, and Alexander— .'."". Ivan L . 264 CHAPTER VI—FKOJHS40 TO 1352. l-'iiaracterof the Rnssiang—The Black Death . .275 CHAPTER VII,—Feom 1352 to 1392. Eeign of Demetrius Donskol—Klpzak—Lithnanla—Battle of the Don—Moscow burned—Monasteries—Literature—Poland—The Teutonic Knights . .281 BOOK III. THE HISTORY OP TIMUE AKD HIS SUCCESSOES. CHAPTER L—Fkom 1336 TO 1404. Timnr Bek or Tamerlane—His Conquests—Toktamish . CHAPTER n.—rEOM 1398 To 1400. Tiniur invades India—The Gipsies .... CHAPTEE III.—Fkom 1399 TO 1403. Timur marches against Georgia, Syria, and the Ottomans—Captures Bajazet CHAPTEE IV.—Feom M08 To 1530. Timur returns to Samarcand—Sets out for China—His Death—Troubles in the Em- pire—His Successors—The Emperor Baber . BOOK IV. CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA, TO THE FINAL EXTINCTION OF THE MONGUL POWER IN EUROPE. CHAPTER L TheFifleenthCenttiry-FallofConstnntlnople-TheMonguls—Their Conquerors and Descendants—The Cossacks ... ... 357 CHAPTEE IL The Horde of Tonshi—Eelgnof Vassill,or Bazll the Blind—Manners and Customs of the Russians . .368 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IIL ThcEeignOflvanVassilovitz—His Conquests—Marriage with Sopliiaof Byzantiam —State of the Churoli—A new Code of laws—War -witli Kipzak—Embassies to Moscow . 382 CHAPTER IV. Embassy to Vienna and Copenhagen—War with Finland . 413 CHAPTER V. .Survey of Russia-Siberia—Its Conquest—The Crimea—Her Khan submits to the Tnrl£s . 4ir CHAPTER VI. War between Moscow and Poland—Coronation of Demetrius—Death of Ivan III.— Accession of Bazil IV.—Prince Ghnski—Pillage of Moscow—War with Kazan- Death ofBazil—Accession ofIvan the Terrible—Capture ofKazan and Astralshan- Extinctionof the Mongul power in Europe ... 437 APPENDIX. Poems describinq the Places and Manners of the People, and the Country op Russia, bt Master George Turbervtu^, 1568 .471 PcsHKiH's Lay of the Wise Oleg . 477 BOOK I. FEOM THE EAELIEST AUTHENTIC HISTOEY OF SCTTHIA TO THE CONQUESTS OF THE MONGUL TAETAES. First then from henoe Turn to the orient sun, and pass the height Of these ancultored mountains ; thence descend To where the wandering Scythians, tradn'd to beat The distant wounding bow, on wheels aloft Eoll on their wattled cottages. Poitek's " Translation of Eschylus.' THE ARCHER AND THE STEPPE. CHAPTER I. |:rfnjbjtdicrn. Oft o'er the trembling nations from afar, Has Scythia breathed the llvhig cloud of war.^GEAT. Cubing the century before, and that succeeding the Chris- tian era, the whole power, influence, and civilisation of the entire known world were centred in one proud and despotic militaiy state. Eome, by conquest and intimidation, had rendered herself mistress of all the explored and most favoui-ed parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe; heriegions held in obedience every nation, from the extremities of Greece to the British isles and the Atlantic ocean ; her eagles were borne and dreaded from the sands of Egypt and Arabia, to where the barbarous Teuton, on the shores of the Baltic, encountered the rough weapons of the Goth ; the wide wastes of Scythia alone were to her unknown and untrodden plains, and from Scythia her final invaders and conquerors came. This name was the vague and general appellation bestowed by the Greeks and the Romans upon aU the countries that extended from the banks of the Dnieper to the borders of the almost fabulous Cathay.* In those days they were divided by the ancients into European and Asiatic Scythia; to modern geographers they are known as Russia and Tartary. The former, as the barrier between Asia and Europe, the theatres of present action and civilisation, and past grandeur and fame, has been agitated from time to time by the revolu- tions with which both have been convulsed ; and over her has the first fury of every tempest rolled, that has so frequently burst forth from the centre of the greater con- tinent, and rushed like a whirlwind over half the earth. • The ancient name of China. 10 THE ARCHER AND THE STEPPE. From the depths of Tartary, or Asiatic Scythia, has ori- ginally issued every torrent of invading barbarians that have overrun Eastern Europe for the last nine hundred years. Ci-adled on the gloomy steppes of Mongolia, where the earth for nine mohtTia remains buned under a thick bed of siiow, and where the Sole vegetation consists of short grass, and a few scanty tufts of heath, these hordes of martial shepherds have periodically poured down in search of a richer country and more grateful soil, and, spreading over the barren plains of Tartary and Eussia, have formed themselves into moving empires, who for a few years have domineered over the sur- rounding trembling nations, and then vanished and melted away ; leaving little other trace of their existence than the record of destruction. Such were the monarchies of the Huns, the Igoura, and Avars ; the Chazars, Polotzi,, and Monguls ; while the Ottoman Turks, who. are also Scythian in origin and descent, more fortunate than their pr,edecessors, have maintained a position in one of the finest countries of Europe for the last four hundred years. As the most enduring, most powerful, and the most known, both in ancient ami modern times, of these turbulent nations of the north, -Russia occupies hy far th« most prominent part in the history of the Scythian empires ; amd I shall thSEefore make the. annals of that country my principal subject. Afteu tracing the origin of her people, I shall glance at the progress of the Huns, the Chazars, and the numerous other Tartac tribes, whosei names were only known, by their inroads in the middle ages, to the countries and inhabitants of eastern, Europe. Then, sketching, the rise of the Russian monarchy, I shall proceed to thei conquests of Zingis Khan and the Monguls, and ther wars of his descendant, and still; more formidable cQvuitiymaai Timur, with the short-livedi domination of Samaccand. , The: ancient patrimony of the Tartars is now included in. the empire* of Russia and China ; but, their conquests, which extended qvcb India^ China^ Russia, Siberia, and Greece, have? left upon the inhabitants of both, those corantries a deep impress- of their long and tyrannical sway ; and there is great resemblance in many of their customs * and laws,, their jealousy of foreign nations, dEess, appearance, and character, * AmonggC thpso mny bBmentlbned one which prevails alike In St. Petersburff, Pekin, and Constantinople, which calls on the Emperor or Sultan, whenever a flre breaks out in the capital, to assist personally iU' its extinctJoja.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Byzantine Liturgy and The
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Byzantine Liturgy and the Primary Chronicle A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Languages and Literatures by Sean Delaine Griffin 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Byzantine Liturgy and the Primary Chronicle by Sean Delaine Griffin Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Languages and Literatures University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Gail Lenhoff, Chair The monastic chroniclers of medieval Rus’ lived in a liturgical world. Morning, evening and night they prayed the “divine services” of the Byzantine Church, and this study is the first to examine how these rituals shaped the way they wrote and compiled the Povest’ vremennykh let (Primary Chronicle, ca. 12th century), the earliest surviving East Slavic historical record. My principal argument is that several foundational accounts of East Slavic history—including the tales of the baptism of Princess Ol’ga and her burial, Prince Vladimir’s conversion, the mass baptism of Rus’, and the martyrdom of Princes Boris and Gleb—have their source in the feasts of the liturgical year. The liturgy of the Eastern Church proclaimed a distinctively Byzantine myth of Christian origins: a sacred narrative about the conversion of the Roman Empire, the glorification of the emperor Constantine and empress Helen, and the victory of Christianity over paganism. In the decades following the conversion of Rus’, the chroniclers in Kiev learned these narratives from the church services and patterned their own tales of Christianization after them. The ii result was a myth of Christian origins for Rus’—a myth promulgated even today by the Russian Orthodox Church—that reproduced the myth of Christian origins for the Eastern Roman Empire articulated in the Byzantine rite.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Sea-Caspian Steppe: Natural Conditions 20 1.1 the Great Steppe
    The Pechenegs: Nomads in the Political and Cultural Landscape of Medieval Europe East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450 General Editors Florin Curta and Dušan Zupka volume 74 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ecee The Pechenegs: Nomads in the Political and Cultural Landscape of Medieval Europe By Aleksander Paroń Translated by Thomas Anessi LEIDEN | BOSTON This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided no alterations are made and the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder. Publication of the presented monograph has been subsidized by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education within the National Programme for the Development of Humanities, Modul Universalia 2.1. Research grant no. 0046/NPRH/H21/84/2017. National Programme for the Development of Humanities Cover illustration: Pechenegs slaughter prince Sviatoslav Igorevich and his “Scythians”. The Madrid manuscript of the Synopsis of Histories by John Skylitzes. Miniature 445, 175r, top. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Proofreading by Philip E. Steele The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at http://catalog.loc.gov/2021015848 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”.
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Museums Visit More Than 80 Million Visitors, 1/3 of Who Are Visitors Under 18
    Moscow 4 There are more than 3000 museums (and about 72 000 museum workers) in Russian Moscow region 92 Federation, not including school and company museums. Every year Russian museums visit more than 80 million visitors, 1/3 of who are visitors under 18 There are about 650 individual and institutional members in ICOM Russia. During two last St. Petersburg 117 years ICOM Russia membership was rapidly increasing more than 20% (or about 100 new members) a year Northwestern region 160 You will find the information aboutICOM Russia members in this book. All members (individual and institutional) are divided in two big groups – Museums which are institutional members of ICOM or are represented by individual members and Organizations. All the museums in this book are distributed by regional principle. Organizations are structured in profile groups Central region 192 Volga river region 224 Many thanks to all the museums who offered their help and assistance in the making of this collection South of Russia 258 Special thanks to Urals 270 Museum creation and consulting Culture heritage security in Russia with 3M(tm)Novec(tm)1230 Siberia and Far East 284 © ICOM Russia, 2012 Organizations 322 © K. Novokhatko, A. Gnedovsky, N. Kazantseva, O. Guzewska – compiling, translation, editing, 2012 [email protected] www.icom.org.ru © Leo Tolstoy museum-estate “Yasnaya Polyana”, design, 2012 Moscow MOSCOW A. N. SCRiAbiN MEMORiAl Capital of Russia. Major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation center of Russia and the continent MUSEUM Highlights: First reference to Moscow dates from 1147 when Moscow was already a pretty big town.
    [Show full text]
  • The Crimean Tatar Question: a Prism for Changing Nationalisms and Rival Versions of Eurasianism*
    The Crimean Tatar Question: A Prism for Changing Nationalisms and Rival Versions of Eurasianism* Andrew Wilson Abstract: This article discusses the ongoing debates about Crimean Tatar identity, and the ways in which the Crimean Tatar question has been crucial to processes of reshaping Ukrainian identity during and after the Euromaidan. The Crimean Tatar question, it is argued, is a key test in the struggle between civic and ethnic nationalism in the new Ukraine. The article also looks at the manner in which the proponents of different versions of “Eurasianism”—Russian, Volga Tatar, and Crimean Tatar—have approached the Crimean Tatar question, and how this affects the attitudes of all these ethnic groups to the Russian annexation of Crimea. Key words: Crimean Tatars, Euromaidan, Eurasianism, national identity, nationalism—civic and ethnic Introduction In the period either side of the Russian annexation of Crimea, the Crimean Tatar issue has become a lodestone for redefining the national identities of all the parties involved. The mainstream Crimean Tatar movement has been characterized by steadfast opposition first to the Yanukovych regime in Ukraine and then to Russian rule. This position has strengthened its longstanding ideology of indigenousness and special rights, but it has also * The author is extremely grateful to Ridvan Bari Urcosta for his invaluable help with research for this article, to Bob Deen and Zahid Movlazada at the OSCE HCNM, to Professor Paul Robert Magocsi, and to the anonymous reviewers who made useful comments and criticisms. 1 2 ANDREW WILSON belatedly cemented its alliance with Ukrainian nationalism. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s would‐be new supra‐ethnic civic identity draws heavily on the Crimean Tatar contribution.
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents
    Electronic Antiquity 12.2 (May 2009) Article: Foulmouthed Shepherds: Sexual Overtones As a Sign of Urbanitas in Virgil’s Bucolica 2 and 3 Stefan van den Broeck [PDF 2.7 MB] [email protected] Reviews: Efstratios Sarischoulis, Schicksal, Götter und Handlungsfreiheit in den Epen Homers (Fate, Gods and the Freedom of Action in the Epic Poems of Homer). Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart, 2008. ISBN: 3515091688. 312pp. Reviewed by Lucas Fassnacht [PDF 109 KB] Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen, Germany [email protected] Genevieve Liveley and Patricia Salzman-Mitchell (eds.), Latin Elegy and Narratology: Fragments of Story (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2008), ISBN 0814204066. xiii + 288pp. Reviewed by Ian Fielding [PDF 333 KB] University of Warwick and University of Wisconsin-Madison ([email protected]) Gendered Dynamics in Latin Love Poetry, eds. Ronnie Ancona and Ellen Greene. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. ISBN: 0801881986. 384pp. Reviewed by Hunter H. Gardner [PDF 183 KB] University of South Carolina [email protected] A Brief History of Ancient Astrology, by Roger Beck. Blackwell, 2007. ISBN 1-4051-1074-0. xiii + 159pp; Fig. 10, Tab. 4. Reviewed byJohn M. McMahon [PDF 261 KB] Le Moyne College [email protected] A History of the Later Roman Empire AD 284-641. The Transformation of the Ancient World, by Stephen Mitchell. Blackwell History of the Ancient World. Blackwell Publishing, 2007. ISBN: 1405108568. 469pp. Reviewed by Charles F Pazdernik [PDF 247 KB] Grand Valley State University [email protected] 1 FOULMOUTHED SHEPHERDS: SEXUAL OVERTONES AS A SIGN OF URBANITAS IN VIRGIL’S BUCOLICA 2 AND 3 Stefan van den Broeck [email protected] Abstract: This article argues that Virgil introduced sexual overtones, an urbane motif par excellence, in Bucolica 2 and 3 – the oldest of his bucolic poems - to forestall criticism from his intended audience: the Poetae Novi and their aficionados, who would have regarded bucolic poetry – however unjustly – as ‘rustic’.
    [Show full text]
  • The Heroes PREFACE MY DEAR CHILDREN
    The Heroes PREFACE MY DEAR CHILDREN, Some of you have heard already of the old Greeks; and all of you, as you grow up, will hear more and more of them. Those of you who are boys will, perhaps, spend a great deal of time in reading Greek books; and the girls, though they may not learn Greek, will be sure to come across a great many stories taken from Greek history, and to see, I may say every day, things which we should not have had if it had not been for these old Greeks. You can hardly find a well-written book which has not in it Greek names, and words, and proverbs; you cannot walk through a great town without passing Greek buildings; you cannot go into a well-furnished room without seeing Greek statues and ornaments, even Greek patterns of furniture and paper; so strangely have these old Greeks left their mark behind them upon this modern world in which we now live. And as you grow up, and read more and more, you will find that we owe to these old Greeks the beginners of all our mathematics and geometry - that is, the science and knowledge of numbers, and of the shapes of things, and of the forces which make things move and stand at rest; and the beginnings of our geography and astronomy; and of our laws, and freedom, and politics - that is, the science of how to rule a country, and make it peaceful and strong. And we owe to them, too, the beginning of our logic - that is, the study of words and of reasoning; and of our metaphysics - that is, the study of our own thoughts and souls.
    [Show full text]
  • Pagan Beliefs in Ancient Russia. by Luceta Di Cosimo, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Aethelmearc
    1 Pagan Beliefs in Ancient Russia. By Luceta di Cosimo, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Aethelmearc. [email protected] ©2006-2017 Slavic mythology is a difficult subject. The historical evidence is fragmented, with many conflicting sources and multiple later literary inventions. This is a brief reconstruction of ancient Russian mythology. The first archaeological findings that can be attributed to Slavs date to approximately 6th c. AD. The origins of Slavs are still debated. The pagan Slavic society was an oral society. Christianity, which introduced writing, was more concerned with eradication rather than preservation of pagan beliefs. No one really tried to preserve and record whatever remained, until late period. Then, there is some evidence recorded from the Germans who visited Russia in 18th c., but a lot of it is based on the written 15thc. sources, rather than eyewitness accounts. The 19th c. Europe saw renewed interest in folklore, and combined with rise of nationalism and need for developed mythos, a lot of what was left was recorded, but a lot was altered to make it more palatable, and questionable things (especially with fertility rituals) were edited out as not to besmirch the emerging national character. During the Soviet time, the study of any religion was problematic, due to mandatory atheism. Eventually, the study of the early Slavic traditions was permitted, and even encouraged, but, everything had to pass stringent censorship rules, and could not contradict Marxist-Leninist philosophy. So, people who had the material (in the USSR) could not publish, and people who actually could publish (in the West) did not have access to the materials.
    [Show full text]
  • Portable Library of Liberty DVD Which Contains Over 1,000 Books and Quotes About Liberty and Power, and Is Available Free of Charge Upon Request
    The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 [1776] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • The Crimea in the East European Context1
    j:makieta 13-5-2019 p:11 c:1 black–text PHILOLOGICAL STUDIES. LITERARY RESEARCH [PFLIT] Warszawa 2019 PFLIT, issue 9(12), part 1: 11–32 KERSTIN S. JOBST Institute of East European History University of Vienna A SACRAL AND MYTHICAL LANDSCAPE: THE CRIMEA IN THE EAST EUROPEAN CONTEXT1 Keywords: Crimea, myth, sacral spaces, collective identities Słowa kluczowe: Krym, mit, przestrzenie sakralne, zbiorowe tożsamości Summary TheCrimeanpeninsulaplaysadecisiveroleasamythicalplacebothinliterature(e.g.byGoethe, Pushkin, Mickiewicz) and in many (pre-)national contexts and narratives: in the early modern period, for instance, the Polish nobility had developed the idea of its Sarmatian ancestry, an ethnos which in antiquity settled in the Black Sea area and the peninsula. German-speaking intellectuals in the 19th century developed an “enthusiasm for the Crimean Goths”. They believed that they had discovered their ancestors in the Gothic Crimean inhabitants, who had been extinct since early modern times. But above all the National Socialists attempted to legitimize their political claims to the peninsula. The mythical and legendary narrations associated with the Crimea in Russian culture, however, were particularly effective: The alleged baptism of Grand Duke Vladimir in Chersones in 988, which is said to have brought Christianity to the Kievan Rus˙, plays a central role here, as do the numerous writers who drew inspiration from the Crimea. These narratives were used also by Russian political agents to legitimize the annexation of the Crimea in 2014. KRAJOBRAZ SAKRALNY I MITYCZNY. KRYM W KONTEKŚCIE WSCHODNIOEUROPEJSKIM Streszczenie Półwysep Krymski odgrywa ogromną rolę jako miejsce mityczne zarówno w utworach lite- rackich (np. Goethego, Puszkina, Mickiewicza), jak i w wielu (przed)narodowych kontekstach i narracjach: np.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poetry of Prose
    the poetry of prose Readings in Russian Literature Jostein Børtnes bergen 2007 slavica bergensia 8 General editor: Ingunn Lunde ADVISORY BOARD Jostein Børtnes, University of Bergen Michael S. Gorham, University of Florida Knut Andreas Grimstad, University of Oslo Daniela S. Hristova, University of Chicago Peter Alberg Jensen, Stockholm University Tore Nesset, University of Tromsø Alexander Pereswetoff-Morath, Stockholm University Ursula Phillips, University College London Tine Roesen, University of Bergen Irina Sandomirskaja, Södertörn University College Rasmus T. Slaattelid, University of Bergen Jens Nørgård Sørensen, University of Copenhagen William M. Todd iii, Harvard University Dirk Uffelmann, University of Passau Susanna Witt, Stockholm © 2007 Jostein Børtnes issn: 1501–8954 isbn: 978–82–90249–34–7 Composed in Minion Pro & ScalaSans by Ingunn Lunde Printed by John Grieg as, Bergen, Norway Published and distributed by Dept. of Foreign Languages University of Bergen P.O. Box 7805 n – 5020 Bergen Norway e-mail: [email protected] http://www.hf.uib.no/i/russisk/slavicabergensia/slavberg.html Contents Preface 7 Introduction 9 Chapter One · Medieval East Slavic Literature 988–1730 15 Chapter Two · Religion and Art in the Russian Novel 58 Chapter Three · The Function of Hagiography in 90 Dostoevsky’s Novels Chapter Four · Polyphony in The Brothers Karamazov: 97 Variations on a Theme Chapter Five · Dostoevskian Fools — Holy and Unholy 109 Chapter Six · Dostoevsky’s Idiot or 126 the Poetics of Emptiness Chapter Seven · Male Homosocial Desire in The Idiot 137 Chapter Eight · The Last Delusion in an Infinite Series of 152 Delusions: Stavrogin and the Symbolic Structure of Demons Chapter Nine · The Poetry of Prose: The Art of 166 Parallelism in Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons Chapter Ten · Seeing the World Through Genres 192 Index of Names 208 Preface I have taken advantage of this re-edition of my essays to make a few adjustments in the texts.
    [Show full text]
  • GALLO-SCYTHIANS - Celtic Ukraine
    GALLO-SCYTHIANS - Celtic Ukraine ‘’…to the Maeotic Lake on the east, where it bordered on Pontic Scythia, and that from that point on Gauls and Scythians were mingled’’. (Plutarch, Mar. 11:4-5) From the beginning of the 3rd c. BC the territory of today’s Ukraine, previously defined by the Scythians of the North Pontic steppes and Hellenistic influences from the Black Sea zone, was supplemented by the Celtic culture from the west. The influence of the latter can be roughly divided into 2 separate spheres – the area of today’s Western Ukraine, where comprehensive evidence of Celtic migration/settlement is to be observed, and the central/eastern part where La Têne material testifies to the presence of small Celtic groups, and the development of a Celto- Scythian (/Bastarnae) population, well attested to in ancient historical sources. WESTERN UKRAINE Celtic presence in Ukraine is best recorded on the Tisza river, where their arrival is marked by new building, pottery making and metal-working techniques, and the emergence of new economic and political centres (Kazakevich 2012 a). At the moment, over two dozen La Têne sites have been identified in the Ukrainian Upper Tisza, the best documented of these being the major Celtic settlement(s) on the Galish and Lovachka hills, near the modern town of Mukacheve. The Celtic military equipment from Galish-Lovachka included a short sword with an X-shaped handle, 2 La Têne swords, 12 curved daggers (see ‘Daggers’ article), 27 spearheads, 2 javelin heads, 14 arrow heads, and 9 iron chain belts, as well as finds of horse equipment and chariot fittings (Bidzilya 1971: 72-76, 80, fig.
    [Show full text]
  • The Frontiers of Graeco-Roman Religions: Greeks and Non-Greeks from a Religious Point of View
    THE FRONTIERS OF GRAECO-ROMAN RELIGIONS: GREEKS AND NON-GREEKS FROM A RELIGIOUS POINT OF VIEW E!"#$ M%&'( G)'*$!+, Ancient Greeks seemed to be very concerned about who was Greek and who was not. At least, this is what we can infer from the great number of literary sources which dealt with the topic in one way or another. From Herodotus’ Histories to, say, Tatian’s Address to the Greeks (to give just one example of extremely opposite genres and aims), the frontier of Greekness was an important issue not only to the Greek mind, but also to the minds of other intellectuals from all over the oikouméne.However, Greekness was rarely systematically de-ned. .e features of Greekness could be found in all forms of art, and covered areas from descent and language to more general ways of life.1 In this general picture religion played a key role, or, to be more precise, some religious aspects did. In the -/h century 01 Herodotus wrote “so that things done by man not be forgotten in time, and that great and marvellous deeds, some displayed by the Hellenes, some by the barbarians, not lose their glory” (.). His approach to these two large groups, “Hellenes” and “barbarians”, set a kind of agenda for those intending to describe new peoples. Among the categories that could be explored when dealing with a foreign people, religion occupied a privileged position. Herodotus focused on a handful of religious aspects to explain the distance between they-barbarians and we-Greeks. .e result was not a clear picture of what Greek religion actually was, nor even of what religion meant for Herodotus.
    [Show full text]