Vol 12, No 1, 2013 pp. 85-94
UDC 2-264:321.1
THE MYTHS OF RULERS OF ANCIENT CITIES AND CULTURES
Jelena Petković
University of Niš, Faculty of Philosophy, Serbia
Email: jelena.petkovic@filfak.ni.ac.rs
Accepting as our staring point the opinion that myth always accompanied the development of all societies and that it has a fundamental meaning for all cultures which in different ways have been based on numerous mythic content, in this paper the author will deal with the analysis of certain myths of rulers of ancient cities and cultures. At the same time, the value and functions of the first inscribed myths, which have, among other things, pointed out the divine origin of rulers, were meant to justify their pretensions to power through conquest and had a pronounced ontological and orientational function – myth as an explanation of the origin and essence of life and the socio-cultural frame of desired behavior. The author indicates that the ancient rulers pretentiously attempted to achieve divine status in order to retain power, where they were willingly aided by the skillfully designed content of various myths, special mythic rituals and religious ceremonies. They were portrayed as heroes saving their people, city, state, who become divinities through extensive cultural development and successful conquest in the countries of the Ancient East. Indicating the process of remythologization, the author refers to certain analogies of ancient and modern political myths.
Key words: myth, mythic content and ritual, ancient cities and cultures, the divine origin of rulers.
MITOVI O VLADARIMA DREVNIH GRADOVA I KULTURA
Polazeći od stava da je mit bio pratilac u razvoju svih društava i da ima temeljno značenje za sve kulture koje su na različite načine zasnivane na brojnim mitskim sadržajima, autor se u radu bavi analizom pojedinih mitova o vladarima drevnih gradova i kultura. Pri tome se naročito ukazuje na vrednost i funkcije prvozabeleženih mitskih priča, koje su, između ostalog, naglašavale božansko poreklo vladara, bile u funkciji opravdanja njihovih osvajačkih pretenzija i imale naglašenu saznajnu i orijentacionu funkciju – mit kao objašnjenje porekla i suštine života i socio-kulturni okvir poželjnog ponašanja. Autor ukazuje da su se drevni vladari pretenciozno zalagali za dosezanje božjeg statusa radi apologije vlasti, u čemu su im svesrdno pomagali vešto smišljeni sadržaji brojnih mitova, posebni mitski rituali i verske ceremonije. Oni su predstavljani kao heroji koji spasavaju svoj narod, grad, državu i koji postaju bogovi u uspostavljanju visokog kulturnog i osvajačkog napretka u državama Starog Istoka. Ukazujući na proces remitologizacije, autor napominje izvesne analogije drevnih i savremenih političkih mitova.
Ključne reči: mit, mitski sadržaji i rituali, drevni gradovi i kulture, božansko poreklo vladara.
