Introduction
Throughout history people have been trying to make sense of the world around them which also coincided with the creation of the written word and this myths and stories are created. The re-imagining of the creation of the world as stories of love, betrail and greed and the strife of good versus evil.
In BG legends the main characters are usually a mixture of humans and mythological creatures participating in events, usually tragic.
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Gods;
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Devil;
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Saints;
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Fine young men and women (usually of particular strength and beauty);
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Dragons (Zmei,Lamia);
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Craftsmen and men or women of particular skill, which seems almost magical (the Devil’s bridge builder)
What is typical for the Bulgarian mythos is the entangling of historical moments and mythological heroes or heroes turned into myth. Also certain regions hold a very dear part in the Bulgarian mythos; like mountain, lakes, caves and naturally occurring rock phenomena formations.Examples of these you can see in the Devil’s throat and bridge stories and also in the Rhodopa myth. The Balkan plays an important part in our history and thus has been given this larger than life vison: he is a god, he is alive.
It is also interesting how some of the everyday strife and fear has also seeped into our stories as we always have these young maidens who are taken by force and forced to be married. This was an all to real thing and it saw its reflection in the stories. And it is always the fairest and most gracious of maiden a symbol of the purity and potential of a nation.
Another interesting symbol is that of the dragon or zmei. Zmei which is Smok in polish, comes from the word snake(Smok,zmia) in Bulgarian. Here we can see how this symbol is common in the Blakan mythos and a common thread. In Bulgarian myths it is believed that a man can be cursed and turned into a zmei by magic. But they also can be born form a woman and another zmei. Here we have the captures maiden being forced to get married and give birth to a child in Pirin's dragon. It is interesting to note that zmei is always male. Another symbol like that is the lamia, she is always female and is said in some regions to be the sister of the zmei.
Of course we cannot be talking about myths without gods. And we see that our stories do not fall behind the Greek ones . We also have some jealous gods that turn innocent maidens into mountains like the story of Rhodopa. We also share the Orpheus myth and it is said that the way through which he went into Hades is though the Devil's throat cave.
Bulgarian have a colorful and vast mythos which tells of history and memory. And as with all nations the strife is but the same: good versus evil. The never-ending battle that transcends boarders and nations and is in every human soul. Maidens and dragons, brave men against supernatural forces, light versus dark.