The O. Frejdenberg“s concept of Metaphors of archaic consciousness gives the opportunity to restore the already lost meanings of things, phenomena and processes of the past cultures. These restored meanings of the phenomena of ancient culture can be found in the notes to the article. These are questions for the student exam after giving lectures on cultural studies, which the author has read for a long time at Odessa universities. The application of Frejdenberg’s concept in the study of the origin of tragedy and comedy led to the fact that outdated views on the origin of these types of drama were refuted. This refutation was based on facts that baffled scholars. It was believed that tragedy is a tragodia, a song of the goats, the Satyrs, who had a goat-like enclosure. But the first images of these satyrs appeared only in the 5th century BC. At that time, the tragedy had already blossomed. Based on the works of O. Frejdenberg, the article shows that the dominant moment in the genesis of the tragedy was fertility rites (alimentaryism as a «food metaphor»), and therefore it originates not from the «song of the goats» (tragos-odia), but from songs, dedicated to food (“tragein” is «to eat»). For this reason, the origins of the tragedy should be seen in the rituals accompanied by songs of food (tragein-odia). From this word came the words-derivatives related to food. Tragema and trogalias are a fruits and other edible products, as well as dessert as part of a dinner. The tragemates are the bean cereals and beans themselves. The tryuge are the gifts of the «golden autumn», and the word tryugos means wine. The term tragos, therefore, refers not only to the goat, but also to food products (grain, spelled), etc. Similarly, the origins of comedy cannot be reduced to the «merry song» of the komos, the rampant precession alone (as the meaning of the word comedy was interpreted). But we cannot replace the object itself with one of the properties of this object. The gaiety of the song is a manifestation of the cheerful character of the whole Komos, which is a multi-valued ritual complex. The origins of the Komos also go to fertility rites, in the semantic centre of which is food in the form of drunkenness and gluttony. The essence of the Komos is à mirth. A cheerful song and a joyful procession are just a concrete manifestation of this essence. And, when we are searching for the essence of the Komos, it is important not that the komasts sang a funny song, but why they did it. The meaning of the Komos stands close to the Ukrainian name of the nuptials, wedding, as “vesillja“ (gladness, fun, rejoicing, etc.). This closeness of the meanings of the Komos and the wedding can be justified by the fact that the Êomos was essentially the wedding of the deity and the goddess of fertility. Just as the wedding did not boil down to fun alone, for in this rite the mourning of the bride took place, so the Komos did not boil down to just a fun song. It included moments of crying and sadness, as well as aggressive actions in their contamination with the information code (invectives, scolding of getters). Geter (as a substitute for the fertility goddess) was the ultimate goal of the procession, ending with a symbolic copulation with her of the leader of the procession (who played the role of the fertility deity). This sexual intercourse occurred simultaneously with the sunrise. The rising sun conquered the darkness of the night, what has meant that life conquered death, which was confirmed by the «productive act» (O. Frejdenberg) on the threshold of the beloved”s house. The main reason for the cheerful nature of the Komos was the triumph of life. Obviously, the comedy has absorbed all these phenomena and therefore its usual understanding only as a procession of joyful revellers with a fun song is not enough. It is proposed to derive “comedy“ from the whole spectrum of the meanings of a Komos, first of all, from the triumph of life, the continuation of which is guaranteed by a rich harvest and gifts of orchards and vineyards (that is, not as a com-odia, but as a comos-odia), as spee. So, komos also means feast, game, booze (in English there is a similar word, spree, which means fun, booze, binge, game, pranks, feasting, etc.) accompanied by merry revelry and drunken orgies (that is, not as a «funny song», comedyodia, but as a comos-odia, a song of the «wedding»). The food origins of comedy also are seen in the names of the varieties of this type of drama. “Satire” – comes from «satura», a dish full of seeds and fruits like panspermia and pankarpia, ‘Farce” comes from the Greek lentil soup “fake(s)“ (sakes), and then from “farsch” «minced meat» (as filling of pie, sausage gut, dumplings). The Roman analogue of “sakes“ – “faba“ gave the name to the mimic genre, faba-mim (theatre of satirical improvisation). In addition, among many nations of the world, a clowns in comedy performances have a food names (Sausage, Herring, Soup, Pasta-Macaroni, Pudding, Parsley, Peas etc.). Thus, the tragedy got its name not from the «song of the goats», but from the «food song» (trageinodia), and the comedy is not just a «funny song», but the song of the Komos such a complex rite with its grandiose eating and drinking, komos-odia., Концепция метафор первобытного сознания О. Фрейденберг позволяет восстановить уже утраченные смыслы вещей, явлений, процессов культуры. Применение этой концепции к поиску аутентичных источников трагедии и комедии позволило пересмотрены устаревшие взгляды на происхождение этих видов драмы. Доминирующим моментом генезиса трагедии и комедии была алиментарнисть («метафора еды»), и поэтому они берут свое начало не с «песни козлов» (трагос-одии»), и не совсем с «веселой песни» (комед-одии), а с «одий» еды (трагейн-одия) и с обряда комоса с его обжорством, пьянством и публичным« браком, воспетых в «свадебной песне» (комос-одия)., Концепція метафор первісної свідомості О. Фрейденберг дозволяє відновити вже втрачені смисли речей, явищ, процесів культури. Застосування цієї концепції до пошуку автентичних джерел трагедії та комедії дозволило переглянуті застарілі погляди на походження цих видів драми. Домінуючим моментом генезису трагедії та комедії була аліментарність («метафора їжі»), і тому вони беруть свій початок не з «пісні козлів (трагос-одії»), і не зовсім з «веселої пісні» (комед-одії), а з «одій» їжі (трагейн-одія) та з обряду комосу з його обжерством, пиятикою та ще й із прилюдним «шлюбом», оспіваних у «пісні весілля» (комос-одія).