Axiological dominants in Russian epic heroes’ value system

Value categories are not directly manifested in Russian bylinas, being established obliquely through an artistic rendering of the consequences (whether positive or negative) that are raised by the hero’s axiologically motivated act. Therefore, it is possible, on the one hand, to identify and describe a number of axiological categories reinforced in Russian epic poetry through their permanent relationship with the consequences of the act they caused that are favorable for the hero. Among these categories are the honor of certain “external” - with respect to the hero - realities (i.e., sacred objects and principles), the collective fame of all Russian knights, the so-called “knightly gift” (in Russian, talan-uchast; literally, “talent-fate”) understood as a burden of unselfish service, and the “knightly heart” (serdce bogatyrskoe), treated in terms of its capability to be enraged by certain injustices or iniquities. All these categories coincide with the mindset of the “new man” as it was proclaimed by the Church Fathers (the renouncement of personal honor and personal fame, unselfish service using one’s own talent, and righteous zeal for the sacred objects). Simultaneously, the values depreciated in Russian bylinas, i.e., those connected with the negative consequences of the act they motivated: personal honor and personal fame, the “knightly heart” as a capacity to feel the so-called “heroic anger,” and the “knightly gift” seen as a personal right to wealth and high social status - coincide with the evil passions of the “old man,” which were discredited by the Church Fathers. All this allows us to assert that Russian folk epics should be seen as a phenomenon of Christian culture.