2014 Vol. 5 №1

This article analyses the problem of understanding the deeds of a holy fool in Russian Orthodox culture. Through considering the images of two “classical” saints – Simeon the Holy Fool ad Andrew the Holy Fool, the author emphasises the idea of humility as the dominant type of behaviour and the main personal characteristic thus objecting to S.A.Ivanov’s concept of aggression as the key typological feature of holy fools. The article also analyses images of saint in the anthropological and axiological aspects, which makes it possible to explain the motivation of the “paradoxical” behaviour of holy fools and prove that the corresponding type of holiness relates to the ideas of boldness and humility as the ultimate form of self-denial.

Based on the work of a famous 19th century Russian author, this article focuses on the development of the theme of robbers’ life, which was introduced by Pushkin and became central to Russian Romanticism. An analysis of the poem in the axiological aspect shows that A. Veltman – as well as other Russian poets – is interested in the moral and psychological reasons behind this phenomenon rather than social ones. The plot structure and the author’s position suggest that robbery is depicted in the poem as a cardinal sin that cannot be justified; it forces a person to abandon the moral law and leads to spiritual death.