Musicology Annotation << Back The Problem of Interpreting Musical Text: Iconic and Symbolic Forms in Circassians (Adyghes) Songs for the Treatment of Smallpox Gucheva Andzhela V. The article examines the signifi cance and symbolism of the image of the ruler of smallpox, who in the song of treating smallpox Circassians (Adyghes) begin to play the role of certain signs of the power of the ancient pantheon of deities, becoming cultural symbols of the musical and mythological picture of the world. Analysis of the song for the treatment of smallpox showed the ability of a person to go beyond the meanings, images, symbols and signs already realized and created by him to create an infinity of semantic interpretations of the subjective world of myth and the world of music, thereby man creates an inexhaustible source of subsequent interpretations of symbols and signs of the natural world, the world of deities and the world of man. Keywords: semantics of the musical picture of the world of the Circassians (Adyghes), deity, man, song for treating smallpox, chant, choral accompaniment «ezhu», poetic text. DOI: 10.25791/musicology.9.2023.1337 Pp. 30-35.