The Thesis are devoted to the research of creation of the typology of character in folklore and belles-lettres, based upon genuine facts and legends about Ivan Sirko, who was at the same time a legendary hero and a real historical person, an ataman of Zaporozhye Forces. Analysis of folklore heritage, Cossack chronicles and literary writings make it clear that the national events and heroes in folklore are suffered from idealization extensively, but well-defined value criteria peculiar to them. The chroniclers and prose writers assume these criteria as a basis in their works. The manner of using folklore materials in the narrative structures modifies from the total apologetization to ambivalence. The interpretation of history in works of art means a creation of a proper model of the world, which imparts teleological sense to the events, which take place at present with the help of taking out a narration, which is connected and permeated by the united idea. So-called historical truth occurs in every concrete work and has two main functions: degree of learning certain facts and creative level of its vision. The capability of Art for creation figurative pictures of imaginary world, making its new and semeiotic patterns is founded in production of own artistic vision of the history. In theoretical part the proportion of so-called historical truth and artistic inventions are examined. On the one hand, the writer keeps to the objective ponderability of documents, but on the other hand he takes into consideration his own intuition, architype memory, the spirit of the past, which lays in the sense of folk-lore songs, legends, stories, peculiarities of national mentality. A talent of narrator, the skills of plot and character creation plays an impressive role. Analysis of different artistic views of historical epoch (by the example of M. Gorban, G. Babenko, A. Kaschenko, S. Cherkasenko, V. Domontovich, V. Cherednichenko, V. Malik, O. Pakhuchyj, A. Khimko, V. Kulakovskyj, Yu. Mushketik and others) explains precedingconception. Depend upon degree of documentary historical method, three conditional groups of texts were determined with such specifics as: 1) inclination to empirical documentary; 2) intensification of historiosophical and psychological essences and subjective nature of the vision of the past; 3) deviation from empirical documentary, assignment a meaning to allusion meaning of the history. A conclusion was drawn that typology of Ivan Sirko's character is founded considerably on idealized in folk-lore image of courageous and severe warrior, Cossack's leader, the defender of national and Christian objects of worship.
