THE ESTABLISHMENT OF UKRAINIAN MYTHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE FROM THE PRE-SCIENTIFIC PERIOD TO THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problem of the formation of Ukrainian mythology as a science from the pre-scientific period to the beginning of the 20th century. Ukrainian mythology is a part of all-Slavic mythology. The question of the formation of this science is a special place in our time, when Ukraine is choosing its right to understanding. The author examines the sources of the study of Ukrainian mythology and singles out the following: oral folk art, data from ethnography, archeology, onomastics, chronicles (instructions against paganism, Nestorʼs annals from 980 about the establishment of the Kumyriv by Prince Volodymyr, the biography of Prince Volodymyr in manuscripts of the 15th–17th centuries, etc.). Archaeological data – Zbrutskyi idol, pagan complex of the 2nd–5th centuries AD. in the village of Ivankivtsi in Khmelnytskyi, etc.).Scientists associate the beginning of the collection and study of information on Ukrainian mythology with the names of the ascetic of the “Russian Trinity” Hryhoriy Ilkevych (1801–1841), his work “On Russian Mythology according to folk tales” (1837), as well as the work of Ivan Vahylevych on the study of folk mythology and the work of Ya. Holovatsky “Essay on Old Slavic fables or mythology” (1866).The scientific period of the study of Ukrainian mythology is associated with the names of M. Kostomarov (“Slavic mythology”), O. Kotlyarevskyi (“On the funeral rites of pagan Slavs”), O. Potebny (“On some symbols in Slavic folk poetry”, “Language and thought”, “On the mythical meaning of some rites and beliefs”, “On the connection of some ideas in language”, “On Fate and creatures related to it”, “On bathing fires and related to their ideas” and others...).A notable phenomenon in the realm of mythology was the work of I. S. Nechuy-Levytskyi “Worldview of the Ukrainian People”. A significant event was the activity of P. Chubynskyiʼs expedition and M. Dragomanovʼs work “Little Russian Tales and Stories”.The scientific understanding of Ukrainian folk mythology belongs to V. Hnatyuk, in whose work the simplicity and accessibility of the presentation of the material is combined with deep scientific knowledge.An important milestone in the formation of Ukrainian mythology is the study of Ivan Franko (“Peopleʼs beliefs in Pidhirya”. The studies of D. Shcherbakivskyi, F. Kolessa, M. Sumtsov, A. Onyshchuk, T. Rylskyi, V. Dashkevich are significant. Keywords: mythology; Ukrainian mythology; worldviews of Ukrainians; mythological views; history; archeology; folkloristics; culturology; philology; psychology; mythical consciousness.