Abstract
the article analyzes the historical stages and development of the creation of an image, in particular the image of a child, which is an important element of fiction. Our study considers the creation of the image of a child and their artistic functions in the masterpieces of ancient literature - ancient Greek, Egyptian and Indian literature. In ancient civilizations, the image of a child was viewed not as a simple everyday reality, but as a symbol enriched with symbolic, divine, and cosmological meanings.