Founding of Kiev

Kyi - founder of Kiev

Kyi, Schek and Khoryv three brothers, sometimes mentioned along with their sister Lybid who according to the Primary Chronicle were the founders of Kyiv (Kiev) (now the capital of Ukraine). Archaeological excavations have shown, there indeed was an ancient settlement from the 6th century.

Some speculate that Kyi was a real person, a knyaz from the tribe of eastern Polans. But the majority of scholars consider them as purely mythological. Kyi, Schek and Khoryv are depicted in two almost-identical sculptures, one at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, and another at Navodnytsky Park, both in Kiev.

The legend of Kyi, Schek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid, can be interpreted as an example of a common mythological process whereby geographical names are personified and incorporated into the foundation myths of a place or people, often as eponymous ancestors.

There are numerous different theories concerning the origin of the names, among the most popular is that legend of three brothers and their sister is an attempt to explain the local names. Kyi appears to be derived from a Turkic word meaning "high river-bank", and denotes the hilly right (western) bank of the Dnieper on which the earliest settlement was located. Schek and Khoryv represent the Schekavytsia and Khoryvytsia mountains near Kiev, Lybid river is a right tributary of the Dnieper.

on material of Wikipedia