Baština (Jan 2019)
The Helen myth in Serbian medieval literature
Abstract
Symbolic mythic form in a literary work are not only downloaded narratives or symbols, but also indicators of the essential connection of literary patterns through changes to epochs and poetics. In the corpus of Ancient and medieval literature, mythic patterns and their connotations form the eidos and obtain sublime and essential meaning. Medieval literature is Godseeking and tendentious. It is never created from purely literary motives. Literary text is always a functional bearer of a Christian idea. It is a common belief that the medieval text relies solely on biblically meaningful and metaphorical context, but the Hellenic heritage is preserved in Serbian medieval texts, and Christian medieval literature becomes a sublimation of the centuries-old search for existential meaning.