General Turkish Sources of The Mythological Motifs of The Koroğlu Epic

Abstract

Turks have established many great states since ancient times and have experienced a history full of great migrations and wars. As a result, it is quite natural that there are many famous heroic epics in Turkish literature. Even some of these epics are about real historical figures and events. We can give Dede Korkut, Edigey and many more as examples. In a way, Köroğlu is one of such epics. In general, it is very difficult to find a second epic that is as widespread as Köroğlu in the Turkish world. If we look at Turkish geography, there are hundreds of versions of this epic in Turkestan, Azerbaijan, Anatolia and many Turkish homelands. It is possible to come across many elements from ancient and medieval Turkish mythology in the Köroğlu epic. This issue has attracted the attention of many researchers, and scientists such as A.Z.V.Togan, M.F.Köprülü, E.Abid, P.N.Boratav have put forward many ideas on this subject. They focused more on the horse motif. They rightly considered the horse coming out of water motif in Kökenar as the basis of the horse coming out of water motif in Köroğlu. However, the mythological motifs in the Köroğlu epic, which has parallels with other Turkish epics, do not end there. There are many mythological elements in both the Eastern and Western variants of the Köroğlu epic. In this regard, Eastern variants stand out more. And if we examine these motives carefully, we will see that their similarities and alternatives are found in many Turkish heroic epics. Researching these issues both reinforces the general view about the Turkish epic tradition and helps us better understand the position of the Köroğlu epic within Turkish epic writing. Namely, in some variants in Turkestan, the motif of Köroğlu marrying a fairy girl, and in the Azerbaijani version, the motif of Köroğlu's child being fed by a wolf is a motif frequently seen not only in the Turkish epic tradition but also in world folklore. According to her, when examining the mythological motifs in the Köroğlu epic, it would be useful to consider not only the alternatives of these motifs in Turkish folklore and mythology, but also their alternatives in world folklore and mythology. We can give Hercules, Remus, Romulus and many other mythological motifs as examples. The main reason for this is that Turks have had relations with Chinese, Greeks, Persians, Arabs and many other people for different reasons since ancient times. We can give geographical location, trade, migration, war and many other examples of these reasons. This influence has shown itself not only in folklore but also in other areas. As examples, we can give written literature, science, philosophy and many more.  This means that folklore and mythology do not arise spontaneously, but are born out of real history, geography and culture. The Köroğlu epic also bears traces of old Turkish mythology. But also in the 16th century. The end of the century and the 17th century. It also deals with some events that took place at the beginning of the century. Therefore, while researching the Köroğlu epic, the links between mythology and reality should be carefully examined.