Fairy tale, myth, legend... They have a lot in common. But there are also differences.

First, about the general things.

Common features in fairy tales and myths

Myths and fairy tales are works created by the people (we’ll talk about the author’s fairy tale a little later). Stories about events whose reality cannot be proven were transmitted orally. Information contained in myths, fairy tales and legends is passed on from generation to generation. Partly from these works we learn about the life of our ancestors, but we understand that this knowledge is not true or not always true.

Differences between fairy tale, myth and legend

Fairy tale

The difference between a fairy tale and a myth is that fairy tales are usually aimed at children. At any national fairy tale the people's worldview is expressed, there are instructions for children, and deep life wisdom is transmitted (often in a naive form), which has helped at all times and now helps resolve vital, moral, family, everyday and even state issues. The fairy tale contains eternal, enduring moral values.

Myth

Mythology tells about reality in the forms of figurative storytelling, in this way it is close to literature and essentially had a certain influence on its development. Myth is a more serious narrative. For a very long time, myths were the most important source of information about the past, making up most of the famous historical works of antiquity (Herodotus, Titus Livius).
But the main thing in a myth is its content, not its correspondence to historical events. It is believed that the myth expressed the childhood age of humanity, this is “the philosophical experience of the human soul, which dreams before it wakes up” (I.G. Herder).
Greek mythology was the basis and main content of all ancient Greek art. For example, Homer's epic (Iliad and Odyssey) is entirely based on Greek mythology. It was the same in other countries: the Hindu Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana; Iranian "Avesta"; German-Scandinavian Edda, etc.
The main characters of myths are mainly gods, titans and other fictional characters.
Later, the Greek poets of early antiquity subjected the myths to revision: they introduced the latest consciousness into them, ennobled them according to the laws of the morality existing at that time, and rethought them philosophically.

Legend

A legend differs from both a fairy tale and a myth in that it is one of the varieties of non-fairy tale prosaic folklore. A legend has a written basis based on legends about some historical events or personalities. In a broad sense, the legend should be understood as unreliable narrative about the facts of reality.
Events in legends are usually exaggerated and a lot of fiction is added. And then the legend comes closer to the fairy tale. Therefore, it is impossible to consider legends as completely reliable historical evidence, although legends are mainly based on real events.
Thus, a legend can only conditionally be considered a synonym for myth. Legends, like fairy tales, were passed down from mouth to mouth by wandering storytellers, but many legends were still written down.
There is an opinion that if legends are made about a person, this means public recognition of his activities. The word “legend” has acquired an additional meaning. For example, the expressions “this man is a legend of our cinema”, “a legend of our football”, “a legend of our stage”, etc. are often used.
IN figuratively legend refers to those covered in glory, admirable events of the past depicted in fairy tales, stories, etc. Usually a legend contains additional religious or social pathos.

Examples of legends

There is, for example, the legend of the philosopher's stone. Medieval alchemists described it as a certain reagent necessary for the successful transformation of metals into gold, as well as for the creation of the elixir of life.

D. Wright "The Alchemist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone" (1771)
The philosopher's stone has been sought for several centuries. Although most people consider the philosopher's stone a fiction, still in the 20th century. gold was often obtained from other elements in the process of work nuclear reactor. These are insignificant concentrations, expensive to extract, and negatively affect the operation of the reactor itself. Moreover, it does not serve as a universal medicine (elixir of life).
The legend of Robin Hood is no less famous. Robin Hood is a popular hero of medieval English folk ballads, a noble leader of forest bandits. According to legend, Robin Hood acted with his gang in Sherwood Forest near Nottingham: he robbed the rich and gave what he got to the poor.
The identity of the prototype of these ballads and legends has not been established. It is believed that he lived at the beginning of the 14th century, during the reign of King Edward II.

Illustration by L. Reid “Robin competes in shooting with Sir Guy” (1912)
Currently, the most popular is the artistic version of Walter Scott, according to which Robin lived in the second half of the 12th century. (that is, he was a contemporary of Richard Lion Heart). The following speaks against Scott's version: historical detail: archery competitions began to be held in England no earlier than the 13th century.
Ballads about Robin Hood were recorded back in the 14th century.
Are fairy tales, myths and legends created in our time?
Of course they are being created.

Modern myths, fairy tales and legends

Nowadays, fairy tales, myths and legends, which are already many hundreds or even thousands of years old, are often modernized. The classic plot is transferred to modern conditions. Previously, girls expected a knight on a white horse, but now the knight is replaced successful businessman in a prestigious car. The modern Cinderella is a poor but pretty nurse who marries a “fairytale prince” (a rich man).
There are myths about secret technologies. For example, the myth about the existence of technologies with the help of which it is possible to change the gravitational field on a planetary scale or influence processes in the earth’s crust.
There is a legend that the Third Reich (Germany) achieved serious success in the development of “flying saucers” or psychotropic weapons that are capable of using radiation to force people to perform certain actions or instill in them any ideology.
There is a myth about technology that can change weather conditions or even cause earthquakes.
There are myths about secret government conspiracies, social experiments, conspiracies of large corporations, and aliens. Often these myths are absurd and are not supported by anything, but they arouse great interest among some people.
Myths about kidnappings are no less popular. The abductors are called aliens, criminals or secret organizations. One of the popular mythical plots is abduction for organs. In fact, you can use someone else's organs only if you have complete information O physical health the one who is supposedly being kidnapped.

Fascinating reading of myths and fairy tales brings pleasure not only to children, but also to adults. Moreover: their history, content, figurative structure, and poetics are studied by serious scientists, whose works explore the laws of the development of society, the emergence of religions, the rise and fall of civilizations. Myths and fairy tales are an inexhaustible source of information that allows you to penetrate into the secrets of the past and future. Mythical and fairy-tale plots, complementing each other, make it possible to recreate a holistic picture of the world and determine a person’s place in it.

Myths- This ancient legends, reflecting in the collective consciousness a generalized image of the surrounding world. In ancient mythological literature there was a special epic genre, which made it possible to create an integral system in the form of a figurative narrative mythical heroes, which, according to the ancients, determined the fate of man and the development of historical events.

Our ancestors perceived myths as reality, personifying divine powers and endowing them with the traits of earthly people. Myths described with particular solemnity the deeds of the gods and the exploits of heroes on whom the lives of mere mortals depended. Natural disasters, wars, changes of government - all significant events in myths found a simple and convincing explanation.

Myth-making was an integral part of the development of most ethnic cultures. This is evidenced by the famous literary monuments “Odyssey”, “Iliad”, “Mahabharata”, “Ramayana”, “Edda”.

Fairy tale also apply to the oldest species collective folk art. Fairytale fiction is a way to rethink patterns human life and explain the order of things that is determined by the will from above. In fairy tales different nations fragments of ethnic cult rites and pagan rituals were reflected. Associated with them magical transformations heroes, the motive of witchcraft, death and resurrection, the miraculous power of amulets.

If myths tell general ideas about the place of man in the strict hierarchy of earthly and divine forces, then the world of fairy tales is as close as possible to ordinary life. In it you can find interesting details of everyday life, family life, customs. Fairy tale characters taken and transferred to fictional world from ordinary life.

Myths, unlike fairy tales, are populated by gods and heroes. The structure of the myth is based on storyline, which may have multiple repetitions in other stories. The fairy tale has a strictly defined composition. Stable formative elements help preserve it: triple repetitions, situations testing heroes, an abundance of constant epithets.

The style of fairy tales is determined by ordinary colloquial speech with the inclusion of proverbs, sayings, and riddles. Describing the life of gods and heroes requires solemnity and a special rhythmic organization of speech.

Myths about Hercules

Conclusions website

1. Unlike fairy tales, which convey the idea of ​​our ancestors about the world around us at the everyday level, myths reflect a generalized image of reality as an ordered system of interaction of higher forces.
2. The content of fairy tales is perceived as fiction; myths were created as a popular interpretation of actually occurring events.
3. In a fairy tale, a person enters into confrontation with the forces of evil in order to achieve what he wants; in a myth, the story is told about gods and heroes who decide the destinies of mere mortals.
4. The plots of individual myths are interconnected, but develop freely, without strict narrative canons. Fairy tales maintain a strictly defined composition with stable formative elements.
5. The language of fairy tales is as close as possible to the folk language; myths are distinguished by a special solemnity of speech.

From Wikipedia: Myth, having lost its functions, became a fairy tale. Initially, the fairy tale, which emerged from the myth, opposed the myth as:

1. Profane - sacred . Myth is connected with ritual, so the myth, at a certain time and in a certain place, reveals to the initiates secret knowledge;
2. Loose certainty - strict reliability . Fairy tales leaving ethnographic myth led to the fact that the artistic side of myth came to the fore in the fairy tale. The fairy tale became “interested” in the fascination of the plot.Historicity (quasi-historicity) of the myth became irrelevant for the fairy tale. The events of the fairy tale occur outside the geographical location within the framework of fairy-tale geography.

The difference between a myth and a fairy tale:

1 Various functions.

The main function of myth is explanatory. The main function of a fairy tale is entertaining and moralizing.

2 People's attitude.

The myth is perceived by both the narrator and the listener as reality. The fairy tale is perceived (at least by the narrator) as fiction.

In general about fairy tales, it will also be useful in other tickets related to this genre():

Fairy tales arose in time immemorial. Moreover, fairy tales do not at all testify to the primitiveness of the people's consciousness (otherwise they could not have existed for many hundreds of years), but to the ingenious ability of the people to create a single harmonious image of the world, connecting everything that exists in it - heaven and earth , man and nature, life and death. Apparently, the fairy tale genre turned out to be so viable because it is perfect for expressing and preserving fundamental human truths, the foundations of human existence.

Telling fairy tales was a common hobby in Rus'; both children and adults loved them. Usually, the storyteller, when narrating events and characters, reacted vividly to the attitude of his audience and immediately made some amendments to his narrative. That's why fairy tales have become one of the most polished folklore genres. The best way They also respond to the needs of children, organically corresponding to child psychology. A craving for goodness and justice, a belief in miracles, a penchant for fantasy, for a magical transformation of the world around us - the child joyfully encounters all this in a fairy tale.

In a fairy tale, truth and goodness certainly triumph. A fairy tale is always on the side of the offended and oppressed, no matter what it tells. It clearly shows where the correct life paths a person, what is his happiness and misfortune, what is his retribution for mistakes and how a person differs from an animal and a bird. Every step of the hero leads him to his goal, to final success. You have to pay for mistakes, and having paid, the hero again gains the right to luck. This movement of fairy-tale fiction expresses an essential feature of the people's worldview - a firm belief in justice, in the fact that the good human principle will inevitably defeat everything that opposes it.

A fairy tale for children contains a special charm; some secrets of the ancient worldview are revealed. They find in the fairy tale story independently, without explanation, something very valuable for themselves, necessary for the growth of their consciousness.

Imaginary, fantasy world turns out to be a mapping real world in its main principles. A fabulous, unusual picture of life gives the child the opportunity to compare it with reality, with the environment in which he, his family, and people close to him exist. This is necessary for developing thinking, since it is stimulated by the fact that a person compares and doubts, checks and is convinced. The fairy tale does not leave the child as an indifferent observer, but makes him an active participant in what is happening, experiencing every failure and every victory with the heroes. The fairy tale accustoms him to the idea that evil must be punished in any case.

Today the need for a fairy tale seems especially great. The child is literally overwhelmed by a constantly increasing flow of information. And although the mental receptivity of children is great, it still has its limits. The child becomes overtired, becomes nervous, and it is the fairy tale that frees his consciousness from everything unimportant and unnecessary, concentrating his attention on simple actions heroes and thoughts about why everything happens this way and not otherwise.

For children it doesn’t matter at all who hero fairy tales: man, animal or tree. Another thing is important: how he behaves, what he is like - handsome and kind or ugly and angry. The fairy tale tries to teach the child to evaluate the main qualities of the hero and never resorts to psychological complication. Most often, a character embodies one quality: the fox is cunning, the bear is strong, Ivan is successful in the role of a fool, and fearless in the role of a prince. The characters in the fairy tale are contrasting, which determines the plot: brother Ivanushka did not listen to his diligent, sensible sister Alyonushka, drank water from a goat’s hoof and became a goat - he had to be rescued; evil stepmother plots against his kind stepdaughter... This is how a chain of actions and amazing fairy-tale events arises.

The fairy tale is built on the principle chain composition , which usually includes threefold repetitions. Most likely, this technique was born in the process of storytelling, when the storyteller again and again provided listeners with the opportunity to experience a vivid episode. Such an episode is usually not just repeated - each time there is an increase in tension. Sometimes repetition takes the form of dialogue; then, if children play in a fairy tale, it is easier for them to transform into its heroes. Often a fairy tale contains songs and jokes, and children remember them first.

Fairy tale has its own language - laconic, expressive, rhythmic. Thanks to language, a special fantasy world is created, in which everything is presented large, prominently, and is remembered immediately and for a long time - heroes, their relationships, surrounding characters and objects, nature. There are no halftones - there are deep ones, bright colors. They attract a child to them, like everything colorful, devoid of monotony and everyday dullness.

“In childhood, fantasy,” wrote V. G. Belinsky, “is the predominant ability and strength of the soul, its main figure and the first intermediary between the spirit of the child and the world of reality located outside it.” Probably, this property of the children's psyche - a craving for everything that miraculously helps to bridge the gap between the imaginary and the real - explains this undying interest of children in fairy tales for centuries. Moreover, fairy-tale fantasies are in line with the real aspirations and dreams of people. Let's remember: the flying carpet and modern airliners; a magic mirror showing distant distances, and a TV.

And yet most of all attracts children fairy tale hero . Usually this is an ideal person: kind, fair, handsome, strong; he certainly achieves success, overcoming all sorts of obstacles, not only with the help of wonderful assistants, but above all thanks to his personal qualities - intelligence, fortitude, dedication, ingenuity, ingenuity. Every child would like to be like this, and the ideal hero of fairy tales becomes the first role model.

Based on theme and style, fairy tales can be divided into several groups, but usually researchers distinguish three large groups: tales about animals, fairy tales, and everyday (satirical) tales.

Tales about animals. Young children, as a rule, are attracted to the animal world, so they really like fairy tales in which animals and birds act. In a fairy tale, animals acquire human traits - they think, speak, and act. Essentially, such images bring to the child knowledge about the world of people, not animals.

In this type of fairy tale, there is usually no clear division of characters into positive and negative. Each of them is endowed with one particular trait, an inherent character trait, which is played out in the plot. So, traditionally the main feature of a fox is cunning, therefore we're talking about usually about how she fools other animals. The wolf is greedy and stupid; in his relationship with the fox, he certainly gets into trouble. The bear does not have such an unambiguous image; the bear can be evil, but it can also be kind, but at the same time it always remains a klutz. If a person appears in such a fairy tale, then he invariably turns out to be smarter than the fox, the wolf, and the bear. Reason helps him defeat any opponent.

Animals in fairy tales observe the principle of hierarchy: everyone recognizes the strongest as the most important. It's a lion or a bear. They always find themselves at the top of the social ladder. This brings “tales about animals closer to fables, which is especially clearly seen by the presence in both of them of similar moral conclusions - social and universal. Children easily learn: the fact that a wolf is strong does not make him fair (for example, in the fairy tale about the seven kids). The sympathy of the listeners is always on the side of the just, not the strong.

Among the tales about animals, there are some quite scary ones. A bear eats an old man and an old woman because they cut off his paw. An angry beast with a wooden leg, of course, seems terrible to kids, but in essence it is the bearer of fair retribution. The narrative allows the child to figure out a difficult situation for himself.

An everyday (satirical) fairy tale is closest to everyday life and does not even necessarily include miracles. Approval or condemnation is always given openly, the assessment is clearly expressed: what is immoral, what is worthy of ridicule, etc. Even when it seems that the heroes are simply fooling around, amusing the listeners, their every word, every action is filled with significant meaning and is connected with important aspects of a person’s life.

The constant heroes of satirical fairy tales are “ordinary” poor people. However, they invariably prevail over a “difficult” person - a rich or noble person. Unlike the heroes of a fairy tale, here the poor achieve the triumph of justice without the help of miraculous helpers - only thanks to intelligence, dexterity, resourcefulness and even fortunate circumstances.

Household satirical tale for centuries it has absorbed the characteristic features of the life of the people and their relationship to those in power, in particular to judges and officials. All this, of course, was conveyed to the little listeners, who were imbued with the healthy folk humor of the storyteller. Fairy tales of this kind contain the “laughter vitamin”, which helps to the common man maintain your dignity in a world ruled by bribery officials, unrighteous judges, stingy rich people, arrogant nobles.

IN everyday tales sometimes animal characters appear, and perhaps the appearance of such abstract characters, like Truth and Falsehood, Woe and Misfortune. The main thing here is not the selection of characters, but the satirical condemnation of human vices and shortcomings.

Sometimes such a specific element of children's folklore as a shapeshifter is introduced into a fairy tale. In this case, a shift in real meaning occurs, encouraging the child to correctly arrange objects and phenomena. In a fairy tale, the shapeshifter becomes larger, grows into an episode, and already forms part of the content. Displacement and exaggeration, hyperbolization of phenomena give the child the opportunity to laugh and think.

Fairy tales. This is the most popular and most loved genre by children. Everything that happens in fairy tale fantastic and significant in its task: its hero, finding himself in one or another dangerous situation, saves friends, destroys enemies - fights for life and death. The danger seems especially strong and terrible because its main opponents are not ordinary people, but representatives of the supernatural. dark forces: Serpent Gorynych, Baba Yaga, Koschey the Immortal, etc. By winning victories over these evil spirits, the hero, as it were, confirms his high human beginning, his closeness to the bright forces of nature. In the struggle he becomes even stronger and wiser, makes new friends and receives every right fortunately - to the great satisfaction of the little listeners.

In the plot of a fairy tale main episode- this is the beginning of the hero’s journey for the sake of one or another important task. On his long journey, he encounters treacherous opponents and magical helpers. He has very effective means at his disposal: a flying carpet, a wonderful ball or mirror, or even a talking animal or bird, a swift horse or a wolf. All of them, with some conditions or without them at all, in the blink of an eye fulfill the requests and orders of the hero. They do not have the slightest doubt about his moral right to give orders, since the task assigned to him is very important and since the hero himself is impeccable.

The dream of the participation of magical helpers in people’s lives has existed since ancient times - since the times of the deification of nature, belief in the Sun God, in the ability to summon light forces with a magic word, witchcraft and ward off dark evil.

Fairy tales represent the most genre-specific group of plots in oral folk prose. Many of them are built according to a single compositional scheme and have a limited set of characters with strictly defined functions. But among the plots of fairy tales there are many that do not fit into a given scheme and do not even have the traditional characteristics of a fairy tale. happy ending(“anti-fairy tales”). The main feature of the world of fairy tales is its division into “ours” and “not ours” (“far away kingdom” of Russian fairy tales). The hero goes to another world for a bride or wonderful objects. He comes into contact with the donor, receives a wonderful object or acquires a wonderful helper, performs difficult tasks and returns safely to his world. The fairy tale takes place in the indefinite past tense. On the one hand, it indicates its longevity and complete uncertainty (“a long time ago”), on the other hand, the eternity of this endlessly lasting action (“they began to live and get along and make good things, and now they live and will outlive us” in Russian fairy tales) .

The hero of a fairy tale is usually subjected to two tests - preliminary (and for this he receives a magical gift) and main (victory over a dragon, snake, Koshchei or other wonderful enemy, miraculous escape with transformations and throwing magical objects). In the exposition he can be presented as an epic hero of wonderful or noble origin, unusual physical strength, or as a low hero, a “fool”. But both the prince and the fool achieve the desired goal. Characteristic of fairy tales happy ending expresses faith in the triumph of the ideals of goodness and justice, the dream that any person is worthy of happiness and can achieve it. Diversity and diversity fairy tale images, the variability of plot moves and compositional solutions of a fairy tale requires the creation of a complex, multi-component typology.

The simplest and most understandable solution to the problem is the classification of fairy tales according to the thematic principle, as a result of which heroic, miraculous and adventurous tales are distinguished.

• Subject heroic tales is the theme of the hero protecting “his” world and the people living in it from enemies, expressed in the motive of the hero’s struggle with scary monster, “snake” (motive of snake fighting).
• Miraculous tales tell about a miracle and the unusual (“miraculous”) creatures associated with it - wonderful grooms and wives with supernatural abilities and living on the border of two worlds - human and natural, wonderful children and various kinds of magical objects (curiosities).
• Adventurous fairy tales lie on the border between magical and social fairy tales, combining their main features: although they do not tell about miracles or wonders, their plot is as entertaining and captivating as the plot of wonderful fairy tales; although their events seem incredible and unreal, they are always motivated in everyday and social terms, as in social fairy tales.

The thematic classification of fairy tales, for all its simplicity and transparency, does not cover the entire variety of material being systematized. It can be supplemented plot classification fairy tales, developed by folklorists in parallel with the thematic one.

So, V.Ya. Propp identified fairy tales of six plot types3:

• tales about snake fighting (the hero’s struggle with a wonderful opponent);
• tales about the search for and release from captivity or witchcraft of a bride or groom;
• tales of a wonderful helper;
• tales about a wonderful object;
• tales of miraculous power or skill;
• other wonderful tales(fairy tales that do not fit into the first five groups).

The scientist also identified seven types of actors according to their functions:

• pest (antagonist),
• donor,
• wonderful helper
• kidnapped hero (requested item),
• sender,
• hero,
• false hero.

So, a fairy tale is one of the most developed and beloved genres of folklore by children. More fully and brightly than any other type of folk art, it reproduces the world in all its integrity, complexity and beauty. A fairy tale provides rich food for children's imagination, develops imagination - this the most important feature creator in any area of ​​life. And accurate expressive language fairy tales are so close to the mind and heart of a child that they are remembered for a lifetime. It is not without reason that interest in this type of folk art does not dry out. From century to century, from year to year, classic recordings of fairy tales and their literary adaptations are published and republished. Fairy tales are heard on the radio, broadcast on television, staged in theaters, and filmed.

Studying long-vanished cultures and examining monuments of folk art that have come down to us, scientists have noticed that all peoples globe there are stories about some fantastic characters and all sorts of miracles. But since these stories were considered fiction, artistic fantasy, they began to be called mythology, and each individual such story was called a myth, which translated from Greek means nothing more than a word.

It has now been reliably established that the mythological stage existed in cultural development every people. After all, myths replaced literature and history, and also served as an example to the younger generation, and imitation of a certain mythology gave a person a sense of unity with other people.

It was the myths that told about gods and other divine heroes that gave people models of behavior. Models that have stood the test of time have helped many nations survive and then become moral standards.

Philologists back in the 19th century began to compare the myths that peoples had different countries and came to the clear conclusion that their topics were no different great variety. For example, almost all peoples have mythical stories about the origin of the earth and sky, about cultural ancestors and about various natural disasters. This could mean that people who belonged to different cultures, thought about the world and about themselves very much in a similar way, which in turn pointed to common prerequisites for mutual understanding and communication.

General concepts about fairy tales

Scientists interpret the fairy tale in different ways. Some of them characterize fairy-tale fiction as out of touch with reality, others are trying to understand how fairy-tale fantasy refracts the attitude of storytellers to the reality that surrounds them. The fairy tale has not only many interpretations, but also many definitions. So a number of scientists involved in folklore called each fairy tale oral history. Others believed that the fairy tale contained an entertaining, but not devoid of fantasy, fiction. But one thing is certain: a fairy tale is a wonderful work of art, since treasures are embodied in fairy tales with unusual generosity colloquial speech ordinary people.

Present in fairy tales boundless imagination and invention, which inspires confidence in victory over evil forces. Fairy tales do not know irreparable misfortunes and troubles. They advise not to put up with evil, but to fight it, condemn profit, self-interest and greed, teach goodness and justice. Fairy tales are filled with miracles, especially fairy tales.

Thus, fairy tales are oral fictional narratives prosaic in nature with content that requires fantastic techniques when depicting reality.

Fantasy fairy tales

Fantasy fairy tales are created by the collective efforts of the people. His life is reflected in her, like in a mirror. It is thanks to fairy tales that the centuries-old history of the people is revealed.

Fairy-tale fiction has a real basis, since any change in the life of the people necessarily leads to a change in the fantastic images present in a particular fairy tale. Fairy-tale fiction, having arisen once, develops in connection with the existing ideas of the people and their concepts, then undergoing new processing, and changes over the centuries explain the features of this or that fiction, which is the basis of fairy tales.

Types of fairy tales

There are fairy tales about animals, fairy tales and short stories. Each such variety has not only its own characteristics, but also a number of very specific features that distinguish each type of fairy tale from one another. These features were formed as a result of the creativity of the people, their artistic practice, developing over several centuries.

The meaning of fairy tales

Fairy tales have never been distinguished by unfounded fantasy. The reproduction of reality in fairy tales has always been combined with the thoughts of its authors. Therefore, today, in this century technical progress people still need fairy tales. After all human soul, as in ancient times, is open to charms and the more stunning the technical discoveries, the stronger human feelings, which confirm people in the greatness of life and the infinity of its beauty.

Similarities between fairy tale and myth

So, what unites a fairy tale and a myth? Philological scientists, when comparing fairy tales and myths, came to the conclusion that both fairy tales and myths created by the people, both have some kind of plot with a fantastic slant and fictional characters. But that's probably where the similarities end.

The difference between a fairy tale and a myth

Along with the similarities, there are also differences between fairy tales and myths, which are as follows:

1. A fairy tale is fiction, and a myth is reality. In other words, myth animates everything and strives to find magic in every human practice.
2. A fairy tale tells about a story from the point of view of an individual or individuals, but a myth deals with events on a global scale. For example, about the origin of the earth and sky, about cultural ancestors and about various natural disasters.
3. A fairy tale teaches how to act in a given situation, and a myth tells about the structure of the whole world.
4. Only a fairy tale can be considered art artistic word. Myth does not relate entirely to art; it is interesting only in its transmission of reality.
5. A fairy tale, unlike myths, can have an authorship.

Folk art of words - heroic epics, fairy tales, myths, legends, songs, proverbs, riddles - is called folklore, which means wisdom, knowledge. Indeed, in all these literary genres simple, concise and clear folk wisdom. Works of oral folk art that arose in ancient times accompany us even now, in Everyday life. Both children and adults know folk songs, fairy tales, riddles and proverbs.

Myths are a type of folklore, ancient folk tales about gods, fantastic creatures, heroes, demigods, miracles, conveying the ideas of ancient peoples about the origin of the world and natural phenomena.

The tales of the ancient Greeks - myths, which also belong to folk art - are particularly rich and diverse in artistic imagination.

In the imagination of the ancient Greeks, gods inhabited not only the earth, but also the air, water and even the underworld. Ancient Greek myths not only talked about the lives of gods and titans, but also glorified the names of the most worthy people who courageously fought for justice, freedom and honor. The gods are perfect people: with enormous physical strength, amazingly beautiful and immortal, able to perform miraculous and inexplicable things from the point of view of ordinary people actions. Here is the man who brought fire to people - Prometheus. Here is a man of extraordinary strength, who has just accomplished another feat, defeating the terrible hydra - this is Hercules. Here is a handsome young man. Leaning over the mirror surface of the lake, admiring its beauty - this is Narcissus. From the following myth you can find out what led to the Trojan War. Reading myths Ancient Greece, you travel to distant countries and learn a lot of unusual things. But often the gods are no different from ordinary people: they also love, suffer, have fun, quarrel with each other, eat and drink, tell various stories.

If fairy tales are fictional stories invented for a specific purpose, then myths are actual, real ideas of people about the world around them. Our distant ancestors sacredly believed in everything that is said in the myths, hence their deification of all living things, the worship of the gods. Myths older than fairy tales. They combine people’s beliefs, their initial knowledge about the world around them, about life, as well as religion, science and art.

We are all in early childhood listened to fairy tales that mothers and grandmothers told us. Fairy tales appeared a long time ago and for many centuries they played the same role in human life. important role, which books are playing now. Fairy tales are a big section ancient literature, folklore narrative works about fictitious persons and events, mainly involving magical, fantastic forces. Fairy tales often feature animals with human characters. Fairy tales are full of life and humor, they ridicule the greed, cowardice and deceit of the rich and praise the hard work, generosity and truthfulness of the common people.

Fairy tales are very diverse: these are tales about animals, and instructive ones. short tales about lazy, stubborn or stupid people- social, everyday, and fairy tales - entertaining magical stories about the wonderful adventures of heroes. Each type of fairy tale has a special content, images, and style.

Tales about animals arose in ancient times. For many peoples they are similar in character and content; they contain traces of primitive beliefs and ideas of man. Now Russian fairy tales about animals are most often perceived as allegorical stories about people: behind the images of animals there are images of people. The cunning fox, the cowardly hare, the stupid and greedy wolf are constant heroes of fairy tales.

Fairy tales are also very ancient; in my opinion, they are the most interesting. Their action can take place in a miraculous far away kingdom, the thirtieth state, the heroes in these fairy tales have magical qualities - they fly on magic carpets, walk in walking boots, hide under an invisible hat and miraculously build extraordinary palaces and cities in one night.

The Russian people have created a lot of satirical (social and everyday) tales about stupid, evil or stubborn people, about cruel bars and greedy priests, ridiculing their negative qualities.

All fairy tales reflect the people's dream of a better life, good always triumphs over evil, truth and justice triumph over lies.