The paper analyzes the Khakas myths in the course of their historical development. The author distinguishes three groups of specific textual features characteristic of myth: the cohesive narration-plot, the text explaining a ritual, the text explaining an object. The author examines the evolution of this genre tracing it from the early stages of its existence when myth was characterized by simplicity of its message and a small set of literary and stylistic means to the stage when its structure became complicated and myth took the form of a comprehensive narrative.
