MAIN MYTHS RELATED TO THE LAKE VAN BASIN (PRELIMINARY ATTEMPT OF CLASSIFICATION AND TYPOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION OF MYTHOLOGICAL NARRATIVES)

Abstract

As known, geographical environment, climatic conditions stipulate any region’s population’s culture and mythological imagination to a significant extent. A great deal of myths, legends, beliefs, most of which probably originated in Hittite, Urartian, Early Armenian periods mostly survived to the twentieth century. Many researchers, including us, have discussed this mythological heritage on different occasions and from various perspectives; however, we believe that it’s necessary to make a systematization of the region’s mythological material per mythological narratives which may contribute to more comprehensive understanding of the Lake Van basin’s inhabitants’ mythological thinking and world view. The preliminary study leading to the systematization of the material shows that the following mythological narratives can be singled out.

Keywords

• myth
• van
• ritual
• lake van basin
• dragon-fight
• solar myth
• hayots dzor
• pantheon
• eschatological.