Folk heroes, fictional and real: examples

Folk heroes are a special category of persons and characters who enjoy special love and popularity among ordinary people whose memory, as is known, provides them with immortal fame. They can be fictional, semi-legendary, as well as real historical figures whose actions and life become the object of folklore creativity.

general characteristics

People's heroes are personal in all respects. On the one hand, they enjoy recognition and veneration for specific merits, on the other - among them there are also those who have not done anything outstanding, but nevertheless entered the human memory as bearers of certain national traits, which makes them particularly recognizable. Therefore, many subconsciously perceive them as the embodiment of the spirit of any country or nation. Historical figures for their exploits for a long time become the main characters of folklore, songs, legends, legends. But often it happens the other way round: the characters of literary works turn out to be so colorful that they go beyond the framework of the artistic world and begin to live an independent life already like folk heroes.

Robin Hood

The person of this person has not been established. According to the literary tradition laid by V. Scott, this man lived in the 12th century in England, during the reign of Richard the Lionheart. However, most historians agree that he was born in the 14th century. The reason for his popularity, probably, is known to everyone: he took away wealth from wealthy people and gave them to the poor. According to legend, the place of his dwelling was the famous Sherwood forest, where the hero hid with his "forest squad".

About its origin is not known for certain: according to one version, Robin Hood was a simple peasant, some speak of his noble roots, even the genus to which he belonged might be called: Huntington. About a noble robber in his homeland there is a whole cycle of ballads, songs, legends. He repeatedly became the protagonist of works of art ("Ivanhoe"), his adventures were repeatedly filmed in different ways.

Wilhelm Tell

Often folk heroes are semi-legendary. Such, for example, is V. Tell, who, according to legend, was a simple peasant. He became famous for his exploits during the times of Austrian domination in the Swiss lands. Most likely, this person or his prototype came from the mountain canton of Uri, whose inhabitants expressed particularly violent discontent with foreign domination. The feat of this hero is that he refused to bow to the governor's hat, which was hung on the main square. As a test, he was ordered to shoot an apple on his own son's head. He successfully passed this test, but later admitted that if he had not been, he would have killed the vicar with another hand. Subsequently, an armed confrontation between the canton and the Austrians began, as a result of which he defeated the enemy. This plot formed the basis of the eponymous opera by D. Rossini and the drama of F. Schiller.

Joan of Arc

The image of the national hero remains for a long time in the memory of several generations. Often they became historical figures. Jeanne d'Arc, of course, is one of the most well-known and heroines to be initiated. It came from a simple peasant family, and during the Hundred Years' War, French troops under its command won a number of major victories. It is with her name connected with the memory of these distant events. Subsequently, she was canonized.

Subscriber of Siberia and commander

In our country not only warriors, but also travelers often became actors of songs, legends, legends. Ermak Timofeevich, the conqueror of Siberia, is a vivid example of this. This man was famous for having mastered distant lands beyond the Urals, which earned him real fame. In fact, in the 16th century, the annexation of such a huge territory was an important stage in the formation and strengthening of the unified Russian state. His victories, successful campaigns and a tragic death literally shocked his contemporaries, who gave their generation a love for the brave ataman. Not only the development, but also the accession of the Trans-Uralian lands, Ermak Timofeevich is famous. The conqueror of Siberia firmly entered the people's memory. And this is due to the fact that his travels have become a real landmark event of his time.

Another historical figure, which has received universal recognition, is Kutuzov, a popular hero who, like no one else, enjoyed the love and respect of ordinary soldiers. He very subtly felt the mood of the Russian people during the war with Napoleon and, skillfully using it in battles, eventually led the army to victory.

Ivan Susanin

Some of Russia's national heroes are also historical figures. These include a simple peasant who, according to some assumptions, was the feudal nobility of the Shestovs, or a clerk in their patrimony, or the headman. In the estate of these landowners for a while sheltered in the year of the Time of Troubles Mikhail Fedorovich. When the Poles came to kill him, Susanin, with the help of his son-in-law, warned the future king of danger, and he led the enemies into an impenetrable locality, for which he took a terrible death from them. This person is still known to every inhabitant of our country, his image inspired composer M. Glinka to create the opera "Life for the Tsar", which still does not come off the stage.

Miguel Hidalgo

People's heroes of different countries are also known outside their homelands. The Mexican Catholic priest, who called on the people to fight against Spanish rule, is still known in history. In the early 19th century, he raised the rebels to fight. Despite the successful actions of the revolutionaries, he was arrested and in 1811 was shot. Nevertheless, in ten years, Mexico gained independence.

Giuseppe Garibaldi and Ulysses Grant

The first prominent politician of the Italian struggle for independence and unification became a kind of personification of the national struggle of the people. He participated in the battles against the Austrian authorities in the late 1840s, but the first stage of the uprising ended unsuccessfully. After about a decade the confrontation resumed, and this time it ended with the unification of the disparate Italian lands into a single state.

U. Grant is known as a talented commander and leader of the North during the Civil War in the states. He was a simple peasant, received a military education, but later headed volunteer detachments of insurgents in Illinois. Volunteers from the Missouri area began to flock to him. He is known for achieving his goal at any cost, sacrificing literally everything for victory and not taking into account the possible serious consequences of the defeat. This tactic was justified, which earned him immense popularity among Americans.

The heroes of the past

These include people who lived in the period of Ancient Rus. First of all, they are, of course, the famous heroes, defenders of the Russian outposts, who defended the land from enemy invasions. The names of Ilya Muromets and his faithful comrades Dobryni Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich are known in our country to any schoolchild. In addition to them, a very popular character is Nikita Kozhemyaka. A feature of the legends about him is that they show how this hero had heroic strength before the feats. According to the plot of fairy tales, he saved the princess, defeating the serpent, and plowed a huge furrow on it, which went down in history as "Serpent Vales".

Faces of War

A prominent place in this row is occupied by hero children who, at a very young age, became famous for their exploits against the invaders. One of them is Valya Kotik, a partisan boy, which every Soviet schoolchild probably knew. He was born in Ukraine and, being a schoolboy, took an active part in the partisan movement. At first he was connected, and then he participated in real battles. One of the most significant actions is the disruption of the telephone cable that connected the local enemy units with the Hitler's bid in the Polish capital. In addition, he participated in undermining the enemy's echelons. He deserved the salvation of the partisan detachment when he gave the alarm in time, so that the soldiers were able to repel the invaders. The boy was fatally wounded a year before the end of the war and was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Children-heroes entered the people's memory due to the fact that they performed exploits, which seemed to be completely inconsistent with their young age. Lenya Golikov was born in the Novgorod region. At the beginning of the war he immediately joined the partisan detachment. He became a scout for the brigade, participated in more than two dozen operations. The boy was undermining enemy cars. Once due to his actions in the hands of the partisans were valuable plans for mine fields, reports. He died tragically in 1943, when the detachment was surrounded, and only six of them managed to escape. For merits the young pioneer also received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

It often happened that literary characters became popular. Among the actors of children's works, the Malchisha-Kibalchish first of all should be mentioned. He acted during the Civil War. His image was created by writer A. Gaidar so successfully that he gained great popularity among the people.

But the most famous was, perhaps, the character of the poem by V. Tvardovsky. Vasily Terkin, a popular hero, turned out to be very convincing and believable, since the author wrote it off with a simple Russian soldier, which explains his popularity.