Dzhidzhora Y. Formation of the cult of the first Kiev saints in early medieval hymnographic memories

Abstract

In the article the author investigates the circumstances for the formation of the cult of the first Kiev saints
(Prince Volodymyr and Princess Olga, Prince Martyrs Boris and Gleb) in the early Kiev hymnology. It is in the
first hagiographic and hymnographic works that the principles of the religious formation of the cult of Kievan
princes are laid. The features of the literary glorification of the first saints are analyzed through the basic
category of medieval thinking – a symbol. As a result of symbolizing the image of the saint in the hymnographic
works, pairs of subjects of comparison appear (saint – character of sacred history). A partially identical relation
is established between the subjects of the comparison. Symbolic identification of subjects of comparison acts as a
way of reproducing the images of the saints and the form of exegesis, which allows them to reveal their spiritual
essence deeper