Kopala ( ka, კოპალა) is a traditional

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

demigod A demigod is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (divine illumination). An immortality, immor ...

revered in the highlands of

Pshavi Pshavi ( ka, ფშავი) is a small historic region of northern Georgia (country), Georgia, nowadays part of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti ''mkhare'' ("region"), and lying chiefly among the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains along t ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It is said that he once was in a boulder-throwing contest against a number of ''devebi'', or

ogres An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world. ...

, to see who could throw a boulder the farthest. The ogres' champion picked up a boulder and hurled it across the valley to the mountain on the other side of the

Aragvi The Aragvi ( ka, wikt:არაგვი, არაგვი, tr ) and its basin are in Georgia (country), Georgia on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The river is long, and its basin covers an area of . The ground strata are most ...

river. Kopala tested a boulder, but decided it was too light. So he picked up another boulder, pressed it against the first, and threw them both across the valley. These nearly failed to surpass the ogre's throw, but at the crucial moment the god "Kviria" struck the boulder with his whip, causing it to fly further than the ogre's boulder, and it landed on top of the ogres' fortress of Tsikhetgori. As a result of their defeat in an ensuing battle which Kopala fought with his companion "Iakhsar", the surviving ogres retreated underground allowing mankind to settle in the area unmolested.

References

* *Shorena Kurtsikidze & Vakhtang Chikovani, Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-Chechnya Border: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries, Munich: Lincom Europa, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:K'op'Ala Georgian mythology Georgian words and phrases

See also

References