Christianity In The Primary Chronicles

In The Primary Chronicles, the establishment of Christianity is strategic via the characterization of two female characters, Anna and Olga. In Kievan Rus’, women are expected to be passive; they must serve their husband and worship God. The concept of passivity is widely associated with Christianity whereas activity is perceived to be pagan. Anna is a representative of this ideal because she accepts Vladimir’s marriage proposal in exchange for the conversion of Rus. Olga, on the contrary, emanates a quite violent, pagan like character when she ferociously avenges her husband 's death. In a sense, Christianity strikes a parallel to Anna while Paganism parallels Olga’s character. These seemingly different female characters share the same purpose …show more content…
When Vladimir sees the light both visually after regaining his eyesight and metaphorically via Christianity, he feels almost obligated to convert Rus from its Pagan darkness to the Christian light. After deciding to convert Rus, Vladimir orders “that the idols should be overthrown and that some should be cut to pieces and others burned with fire” (The Primary Chronicles 70). The fact that he demands these idols be burned and cut highlights the inherent violence brought by Christianity’s establishment. Unlike Olga, Anna isn’t directly inflicting the violence but is doing so through Vladimir. Upon destroying the pagan idols, Vladimir seeks to diminish religious freedom when he sends heralds throughout the whole city to “proclaim that if any inhabitant,rich or poor, did not betake himself to the river, he would risk the prince’s displeasure” (The Primary Chronicles 70). Vladimir is so mesmerized by Christianity that he is forcing it upon his citizens. Although we don’t get a direct feel for how the inhabitants may have felt about the conversion, it is clearly fabricated by the scribes in order to fit the Christian teleology. Once again, it may seem that Vladimir is causing these acts of violence, however, the violence stems from Anna because it is she who pressures Vladimir to accept Christianity. After he accepts Christianity and is cured of his blindness, Vladimir violently destroys the pagan idols and forces it upon his people. The use of force and violence is associated with Paganism because it involves the “taking” of cultures in order to establish Christianity. Nevertheless, the monks perform a sleight of hand, because the show establishment of Christianity through very actively aggressive, Pagan