“THE RETURN OF EUROPE”: ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ANCIENT HERITAGE IN THE RUSSIAN CULTURE

Annotation

The ancient Greeks, who stood at the origins of the Western civilization, created a myth about the abduction of Europe from Asia. The tale about the abduction of the Asian princess by the Greek God Zeus alludes to the predatory nature of the West. This myth makes it quite clear that the nature of the European culture, assuming a name of ‘Europe’, in fact derives from oriental realities. In the 4th century AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great moved the capital of his Empire to the East, and the foundation of the New Rome was a symbolic return of Europe to Asia, its native land. The Byzantine Empire — the godmother of the Roman Empire — became a new embodiment of the ancient civilization; and throughout the Middle Ages remained the stronghold of the Orthodox Church. Vladimir the Great’s choice of religion maintained the continuity of this cultural tradition. Ages-long contacts of Ancient Rus and Russia with successors of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome had a great impact on the atmosphere of the Russian world, on the Russian statehood and the Russian logos. Having made its civilizational choice and ‘associating’ itself through Christianity with the Greek- Roman tradition, Ancient Rus started gradually absorbing the ancient heritage, and with time, this reception became an inalienable part of our culture. Though the GreekRoman elements had been acquired, they were imbibed, digested and finally took root in the Russian culture, becoming its property. The adoption of Christianity was the first step toward succession to the Antiquity; and a claim to proprietorship was made. Together with the faith, Ancient Rus inherited the creative imperial spirit. The Russian world, existing in between Europe and Asia, started gradually adapting to the classic European culture.

Keywords

East and West, myth about the abduction of Europe from Asia, Byzantine Empire, Ancient Rus, adoption of Christianity, ancient culture, Russian world, reception, Greek- Roman heritage

Literature

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