Communicating an Indo-European Myth to the Christian Kievan Rus’: Boris and Gleb as the Divine Twins

Resumen

Princes Boris and Gleb were the first East Slavic saints canonized after the baptism of their father, prince Vladimir of Kiev, in 988. Murdered by their half-brother Svjatopolk in the fight for the power that followed Vladimir's death in 1015, they were canonized in the Kievan Rus' already in 1071, and their cult became a way to legitimate and strengthen the Christian faith as well as the reigning dynasty. However, they share many motifs and attributes in common, and even some parts of the story, with the old Indo-European myth on the Divine Twins, that is embodied by the Indian Asvins, the Greek Dioskouroi, and even the Roman founding brothers Romulus and Remus. Here, we can find also the sacrificed twin myth in their quarrel over kingship, the same as the fight between Vladimir's sons after his death.