FOLKLORISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE LEGEND “ARA THE BEAUTIFUL”

Abstract

Guided by the well-known theoretical definitions of the myth transformation into a fairy
tale, the author of the article carried a folkloristic analysis of the legend “Ara the Beautiful”
recorded by the eminent ethnographer and folklorist Yervand Lalayan in 1902. It shows how
the myth of Ara the Beautiful and Semiramis, mentioned in the medieval Armenian
historiography, was originally a mythological work, but later gradually lost its mythological
appearance, changed its nature and became a fairy tale undergoing a process of transformation. It became an extended story with a more fabulous nature and a reminiscent of a fairy tale. By studying the legend-fairy tale in detail, the author of the article has discovered both the typological features of a fairy tale that are vivid in it, and also has shown those motives in the plot which are based on mythical symbolism and can be interpreted in a mythological context.