Герой, який уособлює прихід весни, стихію води та родючість у вірменському та іранському фольклорі

Abstract

In the article we have attempted to examine the characters of one of the shared heroes found in Armenian and Iranian folk tales and festive ceremonies, Kosa, and his companions, the flower-spring bride and the demon giant. They embody the cyclical alternation of the seasons, namely winter and spring, springtime agricultural work, fertility, the water element and rain that ensure the germination of seeds sown in the soil. These heroes, who have identical functions in the tales of both peoples, are the survivors of their shared ancient deities. These spirit-deities have been preserved in the collective memory of generations in anthropomorphized forms, gradually transforming into ordinary heroes. In the folklore of the peoples living in regions with a dry continental climate, particular significance is naturally attached to the water element, rain-invoking rituals, spring agricultural works, soil fertility enhancement, and the ritual ceremonies associated with them. These shared heroes found in Armenian and Iranian folk tales are closely related to the worship of the mother goddess of fertility, Anahit. In the Armenian and Iranian folk tales woven around the hero known as Kosa, this figure is mainly fictionalized in the roles of a womanizer who abducts women, an ingenious trickster, a cunning thief, and a wealthy landowner who tortures his servants. In the course of analyzing the hero’s character, we have also drawn on relevant material from the rituals of spring holidays. In the folk plays dedicated to the awakening of spring and the accompanying rain-invoking rituals, Kosa’s demonic rival persistently courts his bride attempting to seduce and abduct her. We witness the fictionalized story of this rivalry as a recurring narrative of the love triangle with varying success in numerous fairy tales centered on the motif of returning the abducted wife. In folk play-performances staged during the Armenian Barekendan, Trndez, Hambardzum, and Iranian Kousegardani, Kousebarneshin Arus Goli, and other holidays, this hero or his alter egos (Aklatiz, Pas papuk, Pir babu) assume a central role. In Armenian and Iranian folklore, Kosa embodies the death and rebirth of nature, the awakening of spring, rain-invoking rituals, and the image of a fertile male serving the temple of the goddess Anahit.