TÜRK DESTAN KAHRAMANLARININ BABALIK VAZİFELERİ: OĞUZ KAĞAN VE DEDE KORKUT ÖRNEKLERİ
PATERNITY DUTIES OF TURKISH EPIC HEROES: OĞUZ KAĞAN AND DEDE KORKUT EXAMPLES

Summary/Abstract: The history of every nation is full of unknowns. This obscurity increases as it goes back into the past. One of the main reasons why we have little information about the past is that the written tradition emerged in recent periods of history. The oral tradition has preserved the information about the old periods without written sources. Much information that is not included in written sources is found in oral sources today. This makes the oral tradition even more critical. Important information that is not included in the written sources is included in narrative types such as myth, fairy tale, epic, legend, and folk stories. Therefore, today, oral sources have started to be accepted as the primary sources of many branches of science. Turkish epics are also essential oral sources of Turkish history. The rulers, believed to be chosen by God in the old Turkish states, had some duties against the people. This study examined the appearance of these duties in epic texts. In the old Turkish states, rulers had the duty of paternity. The ruler was on duty to protect his nation like a father. The Turkish ruler, believed to be of divine origin, had to feed, drink, dress, and protect his people. Our study evaluated the paternity duties of the heroes in the Oğuz Kağan Epic and Dede Korkut's stories. As a result of the evaluation, it was seen that the paternity duties of the old Turkish rulers existed in epic heroes. The heroes of the Turkish epics believed that they were obliged to fulfil some duties against the people and acted with this thought.

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