Just like in all of the
world literatures, the
first examples of the
Turkish Literatures
were the epics. The
term of "destan" (epic)
was and has been
used for several verse
genres and types
within the Turkish
literary traditions.
WHAT IS THE EPIC?
• The epics that are the
offset works of all the
world literatures are the
long stories written in
verse style.
CONTENT
•
•
•
The national identity
Characteristics of each nation
The common way of thinking
about the world conceptions
• The memories and
expectations
• CONTENT
•
•
•
•
Conquests
Strength
Horse-riding
Warrior
characteristics
SOME OF TURKISH
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
• KÖROĞLU MYTH
• KIZ KULESİ (MAIDEN’S TOWER)
MYTH
• DEDE KORKUT
• NASREDDIN HODJA
KÖROĞLU MYTH
• The epic of
Köroğlu exists in
many variants in
a number of
different Turkısh
languages and is
common to
several different
cultures.
STORY
• The chieftain of Bolu orders Yusuf, whom he
depends on very much, to find a very capable and
valuable horse. Stableman Yusuf, looks for the horse
wanted by the chieftain of Bolu for a very long time.
He finds two colts that he believes to have the
qualities when they get older and purchases them.
The chieftain gets very angry when he sees these
weak colts and orders Yusuf to be blinded. Yusuf,
who is blinded and fired, returns home with the weak
colts. He looks after the colts by directions he gives
to his son, Rushen Ali. Rushen Ali, who is known as
Köroglu (son of the blind) as his father is blind,
trains the colts as his father directs him. One of the
colts becomes an extraordinary hero and is named
as Kırat (White Horse).
• Kırat becomes as famous as Köroglu, the
hero of the myth. Stableman Yusuf goes to
the spring in order to drink the secret foam
which will open his eyes and make him
strong so that he can have his revenge.
However, Köroglu drinks the secret foam
himself while he was supposed to bring it to
his father. His father shows consent to his
fate but tells his son to have his revenge
absolutely. Köroglu settles in Çamlıbel,
gathers courageous men around him and
takes his father's revenge. He spends his life
helping the poor and the miserable.
•
THE END……
Istanbul's city pictures almost always
include "Kiz Kulesi". "Kiz Kulesi" is
called in English Maiden's Tower or
Leander's Tower. The Maiden's Tower is
located on a small islet at a very short
distance from the shores of the district
"Uskudar" in the Asian side of the city. It
can be seen from Topkapi Palace,
Dolmabahçe Palace, Ortakoy distric and
many other interesting places of Istanbul.
STORY
• According to a Turkish
legend a princess was
locked up in the tower by
her father because of a
prophecy. The prophecy
alerted him saying that his
daughter would die by the
bite of a snake. The father
wanted to protect the
princess and put her in the
Maiden's tower.
Unfortunately at the end of
the story, the princess dies
by the snake that was
brought to the islet in a
basket of grapes.
DEDE KORKUT
THE BOOK OF DEDE
KORKUT
• The Book of Dede
Korkut is the most
famous epic story of
the Oghuz Turks.The
book’s mythic narrative
is part of the cultural
heritage of Turkic
states some of those
are Turkey,Azerbaijan
and Turkmenistan,as
well as to a lesser
degree Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan.
WHO IS NASREDDIN
HODJA?
• We, the people in Turkey are all familiar with
the jokes and stories of Nasreddin Hodja.
Since our childhood, we have been hearing
these jokes all along. These funny stories are
part of our culture. The whole thing dates
back to the man, Nasreddin Hodja who has
lived in central Turkey, in the small town
called Aksehir. The jokes were part of his
daily life and they became accepted and
welcomed by the public since his time.
• He was a man with
great humor, he was
very clever and had
an answer to almost
all the problems and
the dilemmas of his
time. Even today,
about 600 years
after he has lived
and passed away,
we still laugh and
think about his
tricks.He still lives
among us with his
joke.
HODJA’S DREAM
• In his dream some people gave the
Hodja nine gold coins, but Hodja
wanted ten.-So he refused them.
Suddenly he awoke and saw that his
hands were empty. So he quickly
closed his eyes again and said: “It's
okay, I'll take the nine coins.”