Greek legends about the gods. Myths and Legends * Gods of Ancient Greece and Rome

In Greek mythology, people's ideas about the origin of the world are manifested, and there is an analogy with other ancient religions.

Above all else, there was infinite Chaos in the world. It was not a void - it contained the origins of all things, gods and people. The Greeks imagined chaos in the form of a kind of open mouth (the word itself is related to the Greek "yawn") 4 . In the beginning, from Chaos arose the mother earth - the goddess Gaia and the sky - Uranus. From their union came the Cyclopes - Bront, Sterop, Arg ("thunder", "shine", "lightning"). Their only eye shone high in the middle of their foreheads, turning the underground fire into heavenly fire. The second, Uranus and Gaia, gave birth to the hundred-armed and fifty-headed hecatoncheir giants - Kotta, Briareus and Giesa (“anger”, “strength”, “arable land”). And finally, a great tribe of titans was born.

There were 12 of them - six sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia. The ocean and Tethys gave birth to all rivers. Gipperion and Theia became the ancestors of the Sun (Helios), the Moon (Selene) and the pink-fingered dawn (Eos). From Iapetus and Asia came the mighty Atlas, who now holds the firmament on his shoulders, as well as the cunning Prometheus, the narrow-minded Epimetheus and the daring Menetius. Two more pairs of titans and a titanide gave birth to gorgons and other amazing creatures. But the future belonged to the children of the sixth couple - Krona and Rhea.

Uranus did not like his offspring and he threw the Cyclopes and the hundred-armed giants into Tartarus, a terrible abyss (which was both a living being and had a neck). Then Gaia, indignant at her husband, persuaded the titans to rebel against Heaven. All of them attacked Uranus and deprived him of power. From now on, Kron, the most cunning of the titans, has become the ruler of the world. But he did not release the former captives from Tartarus, fearing their strength.

The Greeks called the reign of Cronus the Golden Age. However, this new ruler of the world was foretold that he, in turn, would be overthrown by his son. Therefore, Kron decided on a terrible measure - he began to swallow his sons and daughters. He swallowed Hestia first, then Demeter and Hera, then Hades and Poseidon. The very name Cron means “time” and it is not for nothing that people say that time swallows up its sons. last child- Zeus was replaced by his unfortunate mother Rhea with a stone wrapped in a diaper. Kronos swallowed the stone, and the young Zeus was hidden on the island of Crete, where the magical goat Amalthea 5 fed him with her milk.

When Zeus became an adult, he managed to free his brothers and sisters by cunning, and they began to fight against Kron and the titans. For ten years they fought, but victory was not given to either side. Then Zeus, on the advice of Gaia, freed the hundred-handed and cyclops languishing in Tartarus. From now on, the Cyclopes began to forge his famous lightning bolts for Zeus. The Hundred-Hands rained down on the titans a hail of stones and rocks. Zeus and his brothers and sisters, who became known as gods, were victorious. They, in turn, threw the titans into Tartarus (“where the roots of the sea and the earth are hidden”) and assigned hundred-armed giants to guard them. The gods themselves began to rule the world.

We consider it appropriate to characterize some of the most famous deities.

Zeus personifies the transition to patriarchy, since he is perceived as the supreme deity, the father of gods and people, the head of the Olympic family of gods. His appearance symbolizes the transition to the Olympic period, since Zeus, in order to be approved as the supreme god, is forced to fight monsters - Typhon and giants. At the same time, Zeus is close to people and, as it seems to us, only nominally has universal power. He sometimes fights for power with other gods (Hero, Poseidon, Athena), periodically he has children from mortal women (Hercules, Perseus, Minos, for example). The supremacy of Zeus is also manifested in the imposition of moral principles and statehood by him (it was Zeus who put shame and conscience into people as harbingers of morality; morality is the forerunner of law, and law arises simultaneously with the state).

In appearance, the listed and other important qualities of Zeus are manifested in the fact that he is usually depicted as a mighty giant in his prime with long hair and a beard (a symbol of worldly wisdom). The attributes of Zeus are the aegis, the scepter, sometimes the hammer (symbols of the rule of power).

Cult holidays in honor of Zeus are not numerous, since a number of his functions were assigned to other gods (Apollo - prophecy, Demeter - fertility, etc.). In honor of Zeus, the Olympic Games were held as a symbol of unity and mutual agreement of policies 6 .

However, some elements in the image of Zeus are vestiges of chthonic mythology. Zeus often appears in the form of animals (he kidnapped Europe, taking the form of a bull), one of the incarnations of Zeus is the monster Minotaur; Zeus lives in a polygamous marriage: he has three wives - Metis, Themis and Hera (only with the advent of patriarchy, people less and less remember the polygamy of the supreme god).

Pallas Athena - in Greek mythology, the goddess of just war and victory, as well as wisdom, knowledge, arts and crafts; warrior, patroness of cities and states, sciences and crafts, intelligence, dexterity, ingenuity, daughter of Hera (or oceanides Metis) 7 . Favorite daughter of Zeus. Metis was the first wife of Zeus. Zeus swallowed her, because according to the prediction of moira (or according to Metis herself), after Athena she was to give birth to a son who would become the ruler of the sky. But after a while he felt a terrible headache and ordered Hephaestus to cut his head. From the split skull of Zeus, the warrior Pallas Athena came out in full armor, in a helmet, with a spear and a shield.

She was one of the most revered goddesses of Greece, competing in importance with Zeus. She was equal in strength and wisdom. She was distinguished by independence and was proud of the fact that she forever remained a virgin.

Athena was depicted as Pallas(victorious warrior) or polyades(patrons of cities and states). From the name of Pallas came the word "palladium" (a wooden image of Athena, which had a miraculous effect). The city that owned palladium was considered under the auspices of the goddess. There was a legend about the palladium stored in Troy, telling that it fell from the sky. After the Trojan War, Aeneas brought it to Rome and since then the palladium has been kept in the Temple of Vesta.

Attributes - an olive, an owl (a symbol of wisdom) and a snake (rudiments of chthonic mythology, when all living things frightened a person and seemed to him the personification of power). She was the patroness of snakes (in the temple in Athens she lived huge snake- guardian of the Acropolis).

Her constant epithet - “light-eyed” (more precisely, “owl-eyed”) - indicates that in ancient times the goddess was represented in the form of an owl, which later became a sacred animal (hence the saying “to carry owls to Athens” - to do extra work). She also bore the epithets "Tritonida" because of her birthplace near Lake Triton in Libya, "Party snake", "Worker", "City", "City defender".

Athena is the patroness of Athens. In a dispute for the possession of Attica and for the right to give a name to the city (later Athens), Poseidon defeated. The dispute, which took place on the hill of Ares, was decided by twelve gods, including Zeus - whose gift to Attica was more valuable. Poseidon knocked out a salt spring from a barren rock with a trident (according to another legend, he created a horse), and Athena plunged a spear deep into the ground and a sacred olive (olive tree) grew.

Athena was considered the founder of the state, the inventor of the chariot and ship, flute and pipe, ceramic pot, rake, plow, yoke for oxen and bridle for horses. She taught weaving, spinning and cooking. In addition, Athena established laws and the Areopagus, the highest court in Athens 8 .

She helped Hercules, Prometheus in stealing fire for people, and also patronized the Argonauts, Odysseus, Achilles, Perseus. When Perseus defeated the Gorgon Medusa, he gave her head to Athena, and she adorned her shield with it - the aegis.

Among the victims of Athena are the princess Arachne, who was turned into a spider by the goddess, and Tiresias, who accidentally saw her while bathing and was blinded by the goddess for this.

The holidays of the first germination of bread, the beginning of the harvest, the giving of dew for crops, and the aversion of rain were dedicated to Athena.

Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty, the daughter of Zeus and Dione. However, the ancient chthonic origin of the goddess is expressed in a myth, according to which she originated from the blood of Uranus castrated by Cronus, which fell into the sea and formed foam. In addition, she is the goddess of fertility.

The patronage of love is manifested primarily in the guise of a goddess. Aphrodite is a recognized beauty, whose recognition is sought by many gods. But as if to confirm that love does not depend on appearance, the husband of Aphrodite is the ugliest god of Olympus - the lame Hephaestus.

The actions of Aphrodite are also primarily associated with patronage in love. For example, she promises Helen's love to Paris and fulfills this promise. Helping those who love, Aphrodite punishes those who reject love. She punished Ipollita and Narcissus.

A fetishistic vestige in the image of Aphrodite is her belt, which she gave to Hera to seduce Zeus. This belt contains love, desire, words of seduction.

Sanctuaries of the goddess were in different regions of Greece.

Hermes is the messenger of the gods, the guide of the souls of the dead, the patron of travelers, thieves and merchants. He is an intermediary between gods and people and sometimes sends prophetic dreams. With the development of cattle breeding, Hermes is also perceived as the patron of shepherds, multiplying the offspring of livestock. Later, he was also considered the patron of trade.

The patronage of Hermes is manifested in the deeds of God. He handed Nefele, the mother of Gella and Frix, a golden-fleeced ram, on which the children escaped from their stepmother; Perseus was given a sword to kill the Gorgon Medusa; Odysseus was helped to escape Kirk's witchcraft.

The rudiment of chthonic mythology in the image of Hermes is, first of all, his name, which can be translated as "a pile of stones" - a kind of symbol of immortality. Other fetishistic rudiments are golden winged sandals and a golden magic rod, with the help of which Hermes sends dreams to people.

Hermes was revered at the anthesteria - the holiday of the awakening of spring and the veneration of the dead.

Hera is the wife and sister of Zeus in Greek mythology. Hera's marriage to her brother is a vestige of an ancient consanguineous family. Hera personifies, as mentioned earlier, a stable monogamous family. This explains her hatred for the illegitimate children of Zeus - in particular, for Hercules, whom Hera puts all sorts of obstacles. Through a monogamous marriage with Zeus, Hera gains supreme power over other goddesses. Another important function of Hera is to help women in childbirth. It follows from the main mission of the goddess - the protection of the strength of marriage bonds. Hera is the mother of the goddess of childbirth, Ilithyia, whom she sent to speed up the birth of Nikippa and thereby contribute to the accession of Eurystheus instead of Hercules.

At the same time, the image of Hera testifies to the fall of matriarchy. When Hera, in retaliation to Zeus, gives birth without a husband to Hephaestus, the child turns out to be ugly, and from evil Hera throws him off Olympus, which makes Hephaestus lame.

The archaism of Hera is manifested in the fact that one of the bloodiest gods of the pre-Olympic period, the god of war Ares, is considered her son. In addition, during the Chthonic period, Hera was usually depicted with the eyes of a cow, which is also a vestige of ancient mythology.

Demeter - in ancient Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility, the patroness of agriculture; daughter of Kronos and Rhea, sister of Zeus.

The myth about Demeter, which took shape in the ancient center of her cult - the Attic settlement of Eleusis, reflected the primitive idea of ​​periodic death and rebirth flora; Demeter's daughter Persephone (Cora) was abducted by God underworld Hades, and the angry Demeter deprived the earth of fertility; therefore, Zeus ordered Persephone to spend two-thirds of the year with her mother on earth, but for the time between the summer harvest of winter crops and the appearance of the first sprouts of a new crop in autumn, Persephone had to return to the kingdom of the dead.

The cult of Demeter, widespread in many parts of Greece, merged into Ancient Rome with the cult of the Italian plant deity Ceres.

Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. In the image of this god, archaic and chthonic features merged, so the deity performs contradictory functions - both destructive and beneficent. However, it is believed that Apollo appeared already in the Olympic period, since he and Artemis were born on the floating island of Asteria, since Hera forbade Leto to enter the solid land for betraying Zeus, which indicates an increase in the role of the family 9 . Apollo is a rather cruel god: with his arrows he sends sudden death to the elderly, participates in the murder of Patroclus by Hector and Achilles by Paris, fights with Hercules, destroys the children of Niobe, skins the satyr Marsyas for the audacity of the latter. At the same time, he is a doctor who stopped the plague during the Peloponnesian War, a protector from troubles, a soothsayer, a founder and builder of cities, a patron of singers and musicians.

The image of Apollo reflected the originality of Greek mythology in its historical development. The archaic Apollo is characterized by the presence of plant functions, its proximity to agriculture and shepherding. The zoomorphism of Apollo is manifested in his connection and even identification with the raven, swan, wolf, mouse, ram 10 .

During the Olympic period, Apollo helps people, teaches them wisdom and arts, builds cities for them, protects them from enemies. The image of the deity is also undergoing changes: from now on, Apollo is perceived as the ideal of male beauty.

Dionysus is the god of the fruitful forces of the earth, vegetation, viticulture, winemaking. The cult of Dionysus appeared in Greece during the Olympian period. This was manifested in myths about the illegitimate birth of a god, his struggle for the right to enter the number of Olympic gods. Dionysus teaches people viticulture and winemaking, seeks to save them at least for a while from worries. This is manifested in the guise of the eternally young handsome Dionysus. At the same time, the archaic zoomorphic origin of Dionysus was reflected, in particular, in the myth of the pirates who wanted to sell Dionysus into slavery, but the shackles fell from the hands of the deity, and the tackle was braided vines. The robbers turned into dolphins at the request of Dionysus.

Thus, we can say that the religious ideas and religious life of the ancient Greeks were in close connection with all their historical life. Already in the most ancient monuments of Greek creativity, the anthropomorphic nature of Greek polytheism is clearly reflected, which is explained by the national characteristics of the entire cultural development in this area; concrete representations, generally speaking, predominate over abstract ones, just as, quantitatively, humanoid gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, predominate over deities of abstract significance (who, in turn, receive anthropomorphic features). In this or that cult, various writers or artists associate various general or mythological (and mythographic) ideas with this or that deity.

We know different combinations, the hierarchy of the genealogy of divine beings - "Olympus", various systems of "twelve gods" (for example, in Athens - Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes). Such combinations are explained not only from the creative moment, but also from the conditions of the historical life of the Hellenes; in Greek polytheism, later layers can be traced (oriental elements; deification - even during life). In the general religious consciousness of the Hellenes, apparently, there was no definite generally recognized dogmatics.

The most interesting and instructive stories, fascinating stories and adventures gave the world Greek mythology. The narrative immerses us in a fairy-tale world where you can meet heroes and gods, scary monsters and unusual animals. The myths of ancient Greece, written many centuries ago, are currently the greatest cultural heritage of all mankind.

What are myths

Mythology is an amazing separate world in which people opposed the deities of Olympus, fought for honor and resisted evil and destruction.

However, it is worth remembering that myths are works created exclusively by people using fantasy and fiction. These are stories about gods, heroes and deeds, unusual phenomena nature and mysterious creatures.

The origin of legends is no different from the origin folk tales and legends. The Greeks invented and retold unusual stories that mixed truth and fiction.

It is possible that the share of truth was present in the stories - the basis could be taken life case or an example.

Source of the myths of ancient Greece

Where did modern people myths and their plots are known for certain? It turns out that Greek mythology was preserved on the tablets of the Aegean culture. They were written in Linear B, which was deciphered only in the 20th century.

The Crete-Mycenaean period, to which this type of writing belongs, knew most of the gods: Zeus, Athena, Dionysus, and so on. However, due to the decline of civilization and the emergence of ancient Greek mythology, mythology could have its gaps: we know it only from the latest sources.

Various plots of the myths of Ancient Greece were often used by writers of that time. And before the onset of the Hellenistic era, it became popular to create their own legends based on them.

The largest and most famous sources are:

1. Homer, Iliad, Odyssey
2. Hesiod "Theogony"
3. Pseudo-Apollodorus, "Library"
4. Gigin, "Myths"
5. Ovid, "Metamorphoses"
6. Nonnus, "Acts of Dionysus"

Karl Marx believed that the mythology of Greece was a vast repository of art, and also created the ground for it, thus fulfilling a dual function.

ancient greek mythology

Myths did not appear overnight: they took shape over several centuries, passed from mouth to mouth. Thanks to the poetry of Hesiod and Homer, the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, we can get acquainted with the stories at the present time.

Each story has value, keeping in itself the atmosphere of antiquity. Specially trained people - mythographers - began to appear in Greece in the 4th century BC.

These include the sophist Hippias, Herodotus of Heracles, Heraclitus of Pontus and others. Dionysius of Samoia, in particular, was engaged in compiling genealogical tables and studied tragic myths.

There are many myths, but the most popular are stories related to Olympus and its inhabitants.

However, the complex hierarchy and history of the origin of the gods can confuse any reader, and therefore we propose to understand this in detail!

With the help of myths, it becomes possible to recreate the picture of the world in the view of the inhabitants of Ancient Greece: the world is inhabited by monsters and giants, among which are giants - one-eyed creatures and Titans.

Origin of the gods

Eternal, boundless Chaos enveloped the Earth. It contained the world source of life.

It was believed that it was Chaos that gave birth to everything around: the world, the immortal gods, the goddess of the Earth, Gaia, who gave life to everything growing and living, and the mighty force that animates everything - Love.

However, a birth also took place under the Earth: the gloomy Tartarus was born - an abyss of horror filled with eternal darkness.

In the process of creating the world, Chaos gave birth to Eternal Darkness, called Erebus, and dark night named Nikta. As a result of the union of Nikta and Erebus, Ether was born - eternal Light and Hemera, bright day. Thanks to their appearance, the light filled the whole world, and day and night began to replace each other.

Gaia, a powerful and gracious goddess, created an immense blue sky- Uranus. Spread over the Earth, he reigned throughout the world. High mountains proudly reached out to him, and the noisy Sea spread over the whole Earth.

Goddess Gaia and her Titan children

After Mother Earth created the Sky, Mountains and Sea, Uranus decided to take Gaia as his wife. From the divine union came 6 sons and 6 daughters.

Titan Ocean and the goddess Thetis created all the rivers that rolled their waters to the sea, and the goddesses of the seas, called oceanides. Titan Gipperion and Theia gave the world Helios - the Sun, Selena - the Moon and Eos - the Dawn. Astrea and Eos gave birth to all the stars and all the winds: Boreas - the north, Eurus - the east, Notus - the south, Zephyr - the west.

The overthrow of Uranus - the beginning of a new era

The goddess Gaia - the mighty Earth - gave birth to 6 more sons: 3 cyclops - giants with one eye in the forehead, and 3 fifty-headed hundred-armed monsters called Hekantocheirs. They possessed boundless power that knew no limits.

Struck by the ugliness of his giant children, Uranus renounced them and ordered them to be imprisoned in the bowels of the Earth. Gaia, being a Mother, suffered, weighed down by a terrible burden: after all, her own children were imprisoned in her bowels. Unable to stand it, Gaia called her children-titans, persuading them to rebel against their father - Uranus.

Battle of the gods with the titans

Being great and powerful, the titans were still afraid of their father. And only Kronos, the youngest and most treacherous, accepted his mother's offer. Having outwitted Uranus, he overthrew him, seizing power.

As a punishment for the deed of Kronos, the goddess Night gave birth to death (Tanat), discord (Eris), deceit (Apata),

Kronos devouring his child

destruction (Ker), nightmare(Hypnos) and vengeance (Nemesis) and other terrible gods. All of them brought horror, discord, deceit, struggle and misfortune to the world of Kronos.

Despite his cunning, Kronos was afraid. His fear was built on personal experience: after all, the children could overthrow him, as he once overthrew Uranus - his father.

Fearing for his life, Kronos ordered his wife Rhea to bring him born children. To Rhea's horror, 5 of them were eaten: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.

Zeus and his reign

Heeding the advice of her father Uranus and her mother Gaia, Rhea fled to the island of Crete. There, in a deep cave, she gave birth to her youngest son, Zeus.

Hiding the newborn in it, Rhea tricked the hard Kronos into swallowing a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of her son.

As time went. Kronos did not figure out his wife's deceit. Zeus grew up while in Crete. His nannies were nymphs - Adrastea and Idea, instead of mother's milk, he was fed with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea, and industrious bees carried honey to baby Zeus from Mount Dikta.

If Zeus began to cry, the young Curetes, who stood at the entrance to the cave, struck their shields with their swords. Loud sounds they drowned out the crying so that Kronos would not hear it.

The myth of the birth of Zeus: feeding the milk of the divine goat Amalthea

Zeus grew up. Having defeated Kronos in battle with the help of the Titans and the Cyclopes, he became the supreme deity of the Olympian Pantheon. Lord heavenly powers commanded thunder, lightning, clouds and showers. He dominated the universe, giving people laws and protecting order.

Views of the Ancient Greeks

The Greeks believed that the gods of Olympus are like people, and the relationship between them is comparable to human. Their lives were also filled with quarrels and reconciliations, envy and interference, resentment and forgiveness, joy, fun and love.

In the views of the ancient Greeks, each deity had its own occupation and sphere of influence:

• Zeus - lord of the sky, father of gods and people
• Hera - the wife of Zeus, the patroness of the family
• Poseidon - the sea
• Hestia - family hearth
• Demeter - agriculture
• Apollo - light and music
• Athena - wisdom
• Hermes - trade and messenger of the gods
• Hephaestus - fire
• Aphrodite - beauty
• Ares - war
• Artemis - hunting

From the earth, people each turned to their god, according to their destiny. Temples were built everywhere to propitiate them, and gifts were offered instead of sacrifices.

In Greek mythology, not only Chaos, the Titans and the Olympian Pantheon mattered, there were other gods.

• Nymphs Naiads who lived in streams and rivers
• Nereids - nymphs of the seas
• Dryads and Satyrs - nymphs of the forests
• Echo - nymph of mountains
• Goddesses of fate: Lachesis, Clotho and Atropos.

The rich world of myths was given to us by ancient Greece. It's filled deep meaning and instructive stories. Thanks to them, people can learn ancient wisdom and knowledge.

How many different legends are there this moment, do not count. But believe me, every person should get acquainted with them after spending time with Apollo, Hephaestus, Hercules, Narcissus, Poseidon and others. Welcome to the ancient world of the ancient Greeks!

There is not a single people who would not have their own idea of ​​the universe, the gods who rule life, as well as their struggle for power and influence. Myths of Ancient Greece, summary which we will consider in our article, are also special because they pay a lot of attention to a person. Mighty heroes are of divine origin, but remain human - mortal and vulnerable, in need of help. And nothing human is alien to them.

What is a myth?

Before studying the myths of Ancient Greece (a brief summary - more is not available to us due to the volume of the article), it is worth understanding what it is - a "myth". In fact, this is a story that reflects people's ideas about the world and order in it, as well as the role of man in the universe. According to ancient authors, people were active participants, and not just a crowd that expected mercy from immortal celestials. But first things first.

Another feature of Greek myths is their high level orderliness and culture. In addition, their character changed depending on the region of the country, since each policy had its own, more revered gods and heroes, from whom, as the Greeks believed, the population originated. Of course, over time, the legends changed, acquired a different meaning. But the most important thing in them is the content that tells about the life of society in the primitive era, not only in Greece. Researchers note that many stories echo the myths of other peoples who lived at that time, which may indicate that they were created in parallel and carry a grain of truth. The myths of Ancient Greece, the summary of which we are considering, is an attempt to explain the world and pass on to posterity views on morality and relations in society.

What are the ancient Greek legends about?

We will talk very briefly about the essence of ancient legends, since many ancient Greek myths have come down to us. A brief summary of them can take a whole book. For example, Nikolai Kun, the most famous researcher of the ancient heritage, collected, streamlined and translated more than two hundred legends. Many of them are presented in the form of cycles. We will try to divide them into several groups. This is:

• myths about the origin of the world and gods;
• stories about the titans and the battle of the gods with the titans;
• myths about the gods who lived on Olympus;
• labors of Hercules;
• stories about people and heroes (Perseus, Theseus, Jason); a cycle about the Trojan War, its causes, course and end, as well as the return of the heroes of the battle home (the main characters of the myths are Paris, Menelaus, Helen, Achilles, Odysseus, Hector, Agamemnon);
• myths about world exploration and colonization (Argonauts).

Myths of Ancient Greece (summary). About Zeus the Thunderer

The Greeks paid much attention to the main god of Olympus. No wonder, because the angry Thunderer could punish with lightning for a disrespectful attitude or send another grief, and even turn away from the person, which was even worse. Zeus was considered younger son the titans Kronos and Rhea - time and the mother goddess. Rhea saved him from being swallowed, as Kronos was swallowing all of his children, fearing for his power.

Having matured, he overthrows his tyrant father and brings all his brothers and sisters back to life, and also distributes power between them. He himself was responsible for the wind, clouds, thunder and lightning, storm and hurricane. Zeus could calm the elements or send her, helped the offended and punished those who deserved it. However, he could not control fate.

The love affairs of Zeus also describe the myths of Ancient Greece, a summary of which we are studying. God had a passion for beautiful girls and goddesses and seduced them in every possible way. From them he had many children - gods and goddesses, heroes, kings. Many of them were disliked by Hera, lawful spouse Thunderer, often pursued them and harmed them.

Instead of an epilogue

In the pantheon of the ancient Greeks there were many gods responsible for all branches of their life - agriculture, navigation, trade, war, crafts, other world. However, there were also beings, demigods, who patronized science and art, followed justice and morality. This means that great attention was paid to these aspects.

Every cultured person should know what the ancient myths of Hellas tell us, so it’s worth reading them at least briefly. But reading them in their entirety allows you to plunge into wonderful world full of interesting and unusual.

Greece and myths- the concept is inseparable. It seems that everything in this country - every plant, river or mountain - has its own fairy tale story, passed down from generation to generation. And this is no coincidence, since the myths in allegorical form reflect the whole structure of the world and the philosophy of life of the ancient Greeks.

And the name Hellas () itself also has a mythological origin, because. the progenitor of all Hellenes (Greeks) is considered the mythical patriarch Hellenes. The names of the mountain ranges that cross Greece, the seas washing its shores, the islands scattered in these seas, lakes and rivers are associated with myths. As well as the names of regions, cities and villages. About some stories that I really want to believe, I will tell you. It should be added that there are so many myths that even for the same toponym there are several versions. Since myths are oral art, they have come down to us already recorded by ancient writers and historians, the most famous of which is Homer. I'll start with the name Balkan Peninsula on which Greece is located. The current "Balkans" is of Turkish origin, meaning simply " Mountain chain". But earlier the peninsula was named after Aemos, the son of the god Boreas and the nymph Orithinas. The sister and at the same time the wife of Amos was called Rhodope. Their love was so strong that they addressed each other by the names of the supreme gods, Zeus and Hera. For their insolence, they were punished by turning into mountains.

The history of the origin of the toponym Peloponnese, a peninsula on a peninsula, no less brutal. According to legend, the ruler of this part of Greece was Pelops, the son of Tantalus, in early years offered by the bloodthirsty father as a supper to the gods. But the gods did not begin to eat his body, and, having resurrected the young man, they left him on Olympus. And Tantalus was doomed to eternal (tantalic) torment. Further, Pelops himself descends to live with people, or is forced to flee, but later becomes the king of Olympia, Arcadia and the entire peninsula, which was named after him. By the way, his descendant was the famous Homeric king Agamemnon, the leader of the troops that besieged Troy.

One of the most beautiful islands in Greece Kerkyra(or Corfu) has a romantic story of the origin of its name: Poseidon, the god of the seas, fell in love with the young beauty Korkyra, the daughter of Asop and the nymph Metope, kidnapped her and hid her on a hitherto unknown island, which he named after her. Korkyra eventually turned into Kerkyra. Another story about lovers remained in the myths of the island Rhodes. This name was borne by the daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite (or Aphrodite), who was the beloved of the sun god Helios. It was on this newly born island of foam that the nymph Rhodes was married to her beloved.

origin of name Aegean Sea many people know thanks to a good Soviet cartoon. The story is this: Theseus, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, went to Crete to fight the monster there - the Minotaur. In case of victory, he promised his father to raise white sails on his ship, and in case of defeat, black ones. With the help of the Cretan princess, he slew the Minotaur, and went home, forgetting to change the sails. Seeing his son's mourning ship in the distance, Aegeus, out of grief, threw himself off a cliff into the sea, which was named after him.

ionian sea bears the name of the princess and at the same time the priestess of Io, who was seduced supreme god Zeus. However, his wife Hera decided to take revenge on the girl by turning her into a white cow and then killing her with the hands of the giant Argos. With the help of the god Hermes, Io managed to escape. She found refuge and human form in Egypt, for which she had to cross the sea, which is called the Ionian.

Myths of Ancient Greece they also tell about the origin of the universe, the attitude to the divine and human passions. For us, they are of interest, primarily because they give us an understanding of how European culture was formed.

The sons of the great hero Pelops were Atreus and Thyestes. Pelops was once cursed by the charioteer of King Oenomaus Myrtilus, who was treacherously killed by Pelops, and doomed the whole family of Pelops with his curse to great atrocities and death. The curse of Myrtilus also weighed on Atreus and Fiesta. They have committed a number of evil deeds. Atreus and Thyestes killed Chrysippus, the son of the nymph Axion and their father Pelops. It was the mother of Atreus and Fiesta Hippodamia who persuaded Chrysippus to kill. Having committed this atrocity, they fled from the kingdom of their father, fearing his wrath, and took refuge with the king of Mycenae Sthenelus, the son of Perseus, who was married to their sister Nikippe. When Sthenel died and his son Eurystheus, captured by Iolaus, died at the hands of the mother of Hercules Alcmene, began to rule over the Mycenaean kingdom of Atreus, since Eurystheus left no heirs. Atreus was jealous of his brother Fiesta and decided to take away power from him by any means.

Sisyphus had a son, the hero Glaucus, who ruled in Corinth after his father's death. Glaucus also had a son, Bellerophon, one of the great heroes of Greece. Beautiful as a god was Bellerophon and courage equal to the immortal gods. Bellerophon, when he was still a youth, suffered a misfortune: he accidentally killed a citizen of Corinth and had to flee from his native city. He fled to the king of Tiryns, Proyt. With great honor, the king of Tiryns accepted the hero and cleansed him of the filth of the blood shed by him. Bellerophon did not stay long in Tiryns. Captivated by his beauty, the wife of Proyta, the goddess Anteia. But Bellerophon rejected her love. Then Queen Anteia flared up with hatred for Bellerophon and decided to destroy him. She went to her husband and said to him:

Oh king! Bellerophon heavily offends you. You must kill him. He haunts me, your wife, with his love. That's how he thanked you for your hospitality!

Grozen Borey, god of the indomitable, stormy north wind. He frantically rushes over the lands and seas, causing with his flight all-destroying storms. Once Boreas, flying over Attica, saw the daughter of Erechtheus Orithyia and fell in love with her. Boreas begged Orithyia to become his wife and allow him to take her with him to his kingdom in the far north. Orithia did not agree, she was afraid of a formidable, stern god. Denied Boreas and Orithyia's father, Erechtheus. No requests, no pleas from Boreas helped. The terrible god was angry and exclaimed:

I deserve such humiliation myself! I forgot about my formidable, violent power! Is it proper for me to humbly beg anyone? Only force should I act! I'm racing through the sky thunderclouds, I raise waves on the sea, like mountains, waves, I uproot, like dry blades of grass, century-old oaks, I scourge the earth with hail and turn water into ice, hard as a stone - and I pray, like a powerless mortal. When I fly in a furious flight above the earth, the whole earth trembles and trembles even the underworld of Hades. And I pray to Erechtheus as if I were his servant. I must not beg to give me Orithia as a wife, but take her away by force!

Perseus did not stay long after this bloody battle in the kingdom of Cepheus. Taking with him the beautiful Andromeda, he returned to Serif to King Polydectes. Perseus found his mother Danae in great grief. Fleeing from Polydectes, she had to seek protection in the temple of Zeus. She did not dare to leave the temple for a single moment. Enraged, Perseus came to the palace of Polydectes and found him with friends at a sumptuous feast. Polydectes did not expect Perseus to return, he was sure that the hero died in the fight against the Gorgons. The king of Serif was surprised when he saw Perseus in front of him, and he calmly said to the king:

Your order is fulfilled, I brought you the head of Medusa.

Beautiful, equal to the Olympian gods themselves in their beauty, young son King of Sparta, Hyacinth, was a friend of the god of the arrowhead Apollo. Apollo often appeared on the banks of the Eurotas in Sparta to his friend and spent time with him, hunting along the slopes of the mountains in densely overgrown forests or having fun with gymnastics, in which the Spartans were so skillful.

Once, when the hot afternoon was approaching, Apollo and Hyacinth competed in throwing a heavy disc. Higher and higher the bronze disk flew up to the sky. Here, straining his strength, the mighty god Apollo threw the disc. A disk flew up high to the very clouds and, sparkling like a star, fell to the ground. Hyacinth ran to the place where the disk was supposed to fall. He wanted to pick it up and throw it as soon as possible in order to show Apollo that he, a young athlete, would not yield to him, God, in the ability to throw a discus. The disk fell to the ground, bounced off the blow, and with terrible force hit Hyacinth, who ran up, in the head. Hyacinth fell to the ground with a groan. A stream of scarlet blood gushed from the wound and dyed the dark curls of the beautiful young man.

The son of Zeus and Io, Epaphus, had a son Bel, and he had two sons - Egypt and Danai. The whole country, which is irrigated by the blessed Nile, was owned by Egypt, from which this country received its name. Danai ruled in Libya. The gods gave Egypt fifty sons. I give fifty beautiful daughters. The Danaids captivated the sons of Egypt with their beauty, and they wanted to marry beautiful girls, but Danai and the Danaids refused them. The sons of Egypt gathered a large army and went to war against Danae. Danaus was defeated by his nephews, and he had to lose his kingdom and flee. With the help of the goddess Pallas Athena, Danai built the first fifty-oared ship and set off on it with his daughters into the boundless, eternally noisy sea.

For a long time, the ship of Danae sailed along the sea waves and, finally, sailed to the island of Rhodes. Here Danai stopped; he went ashore with his daughters, founded a sanctuary for his patron goddess Athena and made rich sacrifices to her. Danai did not stay in Rhodes. Fearing the persecution of the sons of Egypt, he sailed with his daughters further, to the shores of Greece, to Argolis, the homeland of his ancestor Io. Zeus himself guarded the ship during a dangerous voyage across the boundless sea. After long way the ship landed on the fertile shores of Argolis. Here Danai and the Danaids hoped to find protection and salvation from the hated marriage with the sons of Egypt.

Many crimes were committed by people of the copper age. Arrogant and impious, they did not obey the Olympian gods. The Thunderer Zeus was angry with them; Zeus was especially angered by the king of Lycosura in Arcadia, Lycaon. Once Zeus, under the guise of a mere mortal, came to Lycosur. So that the inhabitants knew that he was a god, Zeus gave them a sign, and all the inhabitants fell on their faces before him and honored him as a god. Only Lycaon did not want to give divine honors to Zeus and mocked everyone who honored Zeus. Lycaon decided to test whether Zeus is a god. He killed a hostage who was in his palace, boiled part of his body, fried part and offered it as a meal to the great thunderer. Zeus was terribly angry. With a lightning strike, he destroyed Lycaon's palace, and turned him into a bloodthirsty wolf himself.

the greatest artist, the sculptor and architect of Athens was Daedalus, a descendant of Erechtheus. It was said about him that he carved such marvelous statues from snow-white marble that they seemed alive; the statues of Daedalus seemed to be watching and moving. Many tools were invented by Daedalus for his work; he invented the ax and the drill. The glory of Daedalus went far.

This great artist had a nephew Tal, the son of his sister Perdika. Tal was a student of his uncle. Already in his early youth, he amazed everyone with his talent and ingenuity. It could be foreseen that Tal would far surpass his teacher. Daedalus was jealous of his nephew and decided to kill him. Once Daedalus stood with his nephew on the high Athenian Acropolis at the very edge of the cliff. No one was visible around. Seeing that they were alone, Daedalus pushed his nephew off the cliff. The artist was sure that his crime would go unpunished. Falling from a cliff, Tal crashed to death. Daedalus hastily descended from the Acropolis, raised the body of Tal and already wanted to secretly bury it in the ground, but the Athenians caught Daedalus when he was digging a grave. The crime of Daedalus was revealed. The Areopagus sentenced him to death.

The wife of the king of Sparta Tyndareus was the beautiful Leda, the daughter of the king of Aetolia, Thestia. Throughout Greece, Leda was famous for its wondrous beauty. She became the wife of Zeus Leda, and she had two children from him: a beautiful, like a goddess, daughter Elena and a son, great hero Polydeuces. From Tyndareus, Leda also had two children: a daughter, Clytemnestra, and a son, Castor.

Polydeuces received immortality from his father, and his brother Castor was mortal. Both brothers were great heroes of Greece. No one could surpass Castor in the art of driving a chariot, he humbled the most indomitable horses. Polydeuces was the most skillful fist fighter who knew no equal. The Dioscuri brothers participated in many exploits of the heroes of Greece. They were always together, the most sincere love bound the brothers.

The king of the rich Phoenician city of Sidon, Agenor, had three sons and a daughter, beautiful as an immortal goddess. The name of this young beauty was Europe. I once had a dream of Agenor's daughter. She saw how Asia and that continent that is separated from Asia by the sea fought for her in the form of two women. Every woman wanted to own Europe. Asia was defeated, and she, who brought up and nurtured Europe, had to give way to another. In fear, Europe woke up, she could not understand the meaning of this dream. The young daughter of Agenor humbly began to pray that the gods would avert misfortune from her if sleep threatened them. Then, dressed in purple clothes woven with gold, she went with her friends to a green meadow covered with flowers, to the seashore. There, frolicking, the Sidonian virgins collected flowers in their golden baskets. They collected fragrant, snow-white daffodils, colorful crocuses, violets and lilies. The very same daughter of Agenor, shining with her beauty among her friends, like Aphrodite, surrounded by Charites, collected only scarlet roses in her golden basket. Having collected flowers, the maidens began to dance with laughter. Their young voices carried far across the flowering meadow and the azure sea, drowning out its quiet gentle splash.

The myths of Ancient Greece about heroes were created before the advent of writing in this country. Initially, it was purely oral creativity, transmitted from person to person. These are legends about the archaic life of the Greek people, in which real facts are associated in legends about heroes with the fantasy of the narrator. The memory of men and women who accomplished real feats, being ordinary citizens or high-born representatives of the people, the stories about their accomplishments help the Greeks look at their ancestors as beings favored by the gods and, sing, being related to them. In fantasy ordinary people these citizens turn out to be the descendants of the gods who created a family with mere mortals. Even now in schools they are forced to read the myths of ancient Greece about such heroes as Theseus, Prometheus, Odysseus and others.