Time categories within the concepts of myth and symbol in the heritage of A. F. Losev and Mircea Eliade

The study of the concept of time and especially mythological time in the works of A. F. Losev and Mircea Eliade seems relevant, since it allows drawing a parallel between the ideas of domestic and Western thinkers. The article uses a comparative method to compare the concept of time in the system of Losev with the concept of Mircea Eliade. A detailed review and analysis of the category of myth in the ontological system of Losev is given; special attention is paid to the analysis of the concept of time and eternity in his works, the views of Losev are compared with M. Eliade’s idea of “mythological time” (Mythical Time, Time of Dreams, Time before Time). The analogies between the ideas of A. F. Losev about time and eternity in myth and the teaching of St. Maximus the Confessor about the logoi and tropos are also considered. It is shown that in the context of his theory of myth A. F. Losev asserts synthetic identity, dialectical unity of time and eternity, tropos with logos through the achievement of the lost (primordial) past or eschatological future; in M. Eliade’s theory of myth, the emphasis is on returning to the “past”, the heavenly state, before the fall or even before (during) creation.