Myth of Sovius and the Chronograph of 1262. On the basis of the Archival, Warsaw and Vilnius copies and the copy of Zabelin
Abstrakt
What genesis, what characteristics the so-called myth of Sovius has in the Chronograph of 1262, what are the structure and the size of this tale, what is the origin of Sovius's name? Only a comprehensive research of the extant sources, allowing to make sounder conclusions about this legend, makes it possible to venture into a more speculative area of mythology and comparative folklore studies. In this respect, the present book, (while rather late-appearing, considering the tradition in the research of the legend of Sovius) is supposed to lay groundwork for further research.
The author hopes for a critical revision of earlier reconstructions, various myths about the myth, as well for increase in intensity of research based on textological facts and arguments. So far, the Chronograph of 1262 has been understood as a banal compilation, which accidentally combined rare and mutually unrelated texts.
As a "repository" full to the brim of various rarities, the Chronograph was dissected into various smaller pieces, which were used for specific purposes by mythologists (the myth of Sovius), by Byzantinists (Malalas chronicle), by specialists in ancient Bulgarian literature (Shestodnev by Ekzarch the Bulgarian) etc. The present work offers a new, essentially different outlook on the Chronograph as on a harmonious whole, an exceptional literary achievement, a vivid example of ancient Lithuanian literature.
The book consists of three parts (I - analysis of literary genesis and outline of the authorial text; II - analysis of the masterpiece on the basis of all known manuscripts, indicating their different redactions; III - reconstruction of the authorial text on the basis of textological analysis.