L23A. Turning to flame. 27.-.29.

Trying to free himself, the captured character consistently changes his appearance, in particular turning into fire (and water).

Ancient Greece, Greeks, Ukrainians (Transcarpathia), Abkhazians.

The Balkans. Ancient Greece. 1. Zeus converges with Metis; she does not want him at first and takes on a different form to escape. Zeus and Poseidon argued for the right to marry Thetis, but Themis predicted that Thetis would have a son stronger than his father; some say that when Zeus wanted to marry Ferida, Prometheus predicted that whoever Thetis would give birth to him would reign over heaven; following Chiron's advice to seize Thetis and hold her, whatever form she took, Peleius waited for her and carried her away; Thetis turned into fire, water, or beast, but Peley did not let her go until he saw that it had regained its original appearance (Apol 1972, 3, XIII, 5:69; retelling in Yarkho 1982:297) .3 . Periclemen is the son of Peleus, king of Pylos. Poseidon gave him the ability to take the form of any creature. When Hercules devastated Pylos, Periclemenes took the form of a lion, snake, bee in the fight against him, but died (Apol.:16) 4. The sea elder Proteus had the gift of prophecy. His daughter (or wife) Eidotea advises Menelaus not to let go of Proteus until he regains his true form. Proteus turns into a lion, a leopard, a snake, a bull, a boar, a bird, a monkey, fire, water and a tree. Finally, he becomes a sleepy old man, telling Menelaus about the fate of the Greek army. (Od., iv, 384ff). When Odysseus grabs Proteus, he successively turns into a lion, a snake, a leopard, a wild boar, flowing water, and a blooming tree. Nereus, the sea elder, has the gift of prophecy. The nymphs advise Hercules not to let go of Nereus until he takes on his true form. Hercules finds Nereus asleep and binds him together, although Nereus changes his appearance all the time. Nerey tells Hercules where to find Hesperides apples. 7. Periclemen, the son of King Pylos Neleus (son of Poseidon), constantly changes his appearance while fighting Hercules, but Hercules kills him (Hercules ruins Pylos because Neley refused to cleanse him of the filth of killing Ifit, because he was a friend of Father Ifit) Zakharov, Torshilov 2003:221-222; Greeks: Crooke 1908 [the musician is enough for Nereid, she turns into a dog, a snake, a camel, a fire ; he does not let her out until the first rooster screams; after that, she retains her appearance, becomes his wife]: 167-168; Megas 1970, No. 76 [a village boy who played lyre well fell in love with one of Nereid; the old woman advises that before the rooster screams, grab her hair and not let her go until she stops changing her appearance; the Nereids brought him to their cave, he did as advised; The nereid turned into a dog, a snake, a camel, a fire; the rooster screamed, the Nereids disappeared, the captured young man went to the village; gave birth to a son, but was always silent; the old woman advised me to pretend that he was going to throw the child into the fire; Nereida screamed, grabbed the child, disappeared; others did not let her in again; she lived in a spring where she was seen with her child two or three times a year]: 202- 203.

Central Europe. Ukrainians (Transcarpathia) [the poor man's horse stops; an important man says that the horse will go if the poor man promises to give him what he does not know at home; at this time his wife gave birth; three months later, son Ivan grows up and leaves; the old man explains that he has been sold to the Devil; we must hide by the sea in a hollow, Devil's three daughters will come to swim, we must take the third ring; she will take the image of water, fire, snakes , but the ring must be given for the promise to become I.'s wife; so it happened, the wife takes I. to his father; he demands 1) to arrange a field on the site of the forest in a day, harvest, bake bread; 2) throw the bridge to the kingdom of far away (by order of the wife, the devils do everything); 3) kill a green hare; the wife enters the sea, pass by, father, mother I.; this was the hare; for the third time - grandmother I., I. shoots, grandmother turns into a hare; The devil tells the eldest daughters to turn into mares, but I.'s wife promises to give them for his brothers; I. and his wife run away, turn into a monastery and a monk, wheat and a boy, hell not finds out; for the third time Chertikha chases, recognizes her daughter and son-in-law in the form of a lake and a gander, takes away I.'s eyes; her daughter becomes a spring, Chertikha bends down to drink, drops her eyes, his wife returns them to I.; wedding]: Verkhovyna's Tales 1970:196-202.

Caucasus â€" Asia Minor. Abkhazians [the young man promises to marry someone who will sew him a full set of clothes in a day; the girl does not have enough time to sew on the fasteners; she asks God to bring the sun back a little; when after the wedding, the young go to bed, someone calls the young man; he returns in the morning tired; his sister, mother, are watching, they cannot grab him, for he turns into a snake, a frog, a flame; a wife holds; this young man is Amyz (month); his former wife Amra (sun) says that the new one separated them, but she will not allow their marriage to come true; she takes him away every evening]: Shakryl 1975, No. 88:393-395 (= Bgazhba 1983:31-33; =2002:36-38; =Hvartsky 1994:69-71).