ABSTRACT
The work “Ivan the Terrible and His Sons,” or, as it may also be called, “The Wrath of Ivan the Terrible Against His Son,” is an example of the genre called the “historical song,” which emerged toward the end of a creative epic tradition and became fully developed in the sixteenth century (Putilov 1960; Sokolova 1960; Stief 1953). A cycle of such songs is devoted to the reign and personality of Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, who ruled Muscovite Russia from 1533 to 1584 and, in 1547, was the first grand prince to be crowned tsar. The epithet “terrible” at the time indicated respect rather than fear; in songs, Ivan the Terrible is often addressed simply as “Ivan Vasilyevich.” All the main characters in this work were historical in origin. Ivan the Terrible had two sons, named Ivan and Fyodor; their mother, Anastasia Romanovna, was the tsar’s first wife, whom he married in 1547. Nikita Romanovich was her brother; he was an important adviser at court and belonged to the Romanov family, one of whose members, Mikhail, was elected tsar in 1613 at the end of the Time of Troubles (1598–1613). Malyuta Skuratov was one of the leaders of the oprichnina, a separate state administration that Ivan the Terrible created in 1565 to deal with suspected “treachery” or internal resistance to his rule, especially by the boyars or older aristocracy. The members of the oprichnina numbered several thousand, wore black clothing, and carried a broom as a symbol that they were “sweeping away treachery.” Today one might apply the term “secret police” to describe the oprichnina, which conducted a reign of terror against the population until the organization was abolished in 1572.
