Myths of ancient Greece. Nikolai kun - legends and myths of ancient Greece

Nikolay Kun

Legends and myths of Ancient Greece

Part one. Gods and heroes

Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are presented mainly based on Hesiod’s poem “Theogony” (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from Homer’s poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” and the poem “Metamorphoses” (Transformations) by the Roman poet Ovid.

In the beginning there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. It contained the source of life in the world. Everything arose from boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. The goddess Earth, Gaia, also came from Chaos. It spreads wide, powerful, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is far from us, in immeasurable depths, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, was born the mighty force that animates everything, Love - Eros. The world began to be created. Boundless Chaos gave birth to the Eternal Darkness - Erebus and the dark Night - Nyukta. And from Night and Darkness came the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful bright Day - Hemera. The light spread throughout the world, and night and day began to replace each other.

The mighty, fertile Earth gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, and the Sky spread over the Earth. The high Mountains born of the Earth rose proudly towards him, and the ever-noisy Sea spread widely.

Mother Earth gave birth to the Sky, Mountains and Sea, and they have no father.

Uranus - Heaven - reigned in the world. He took the fertile Earth as his wife. Uranus and Gaia had six sons and six daughters - powerful, formidable titans. Their son, the Titan Ocean, flowing around the entire earth like a boundless river, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and the sea goddesses - the Oceanids. Titan Hipperion and Theia gave the world children: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selene and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astraeus and Eos came all the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and all the winds: the stormy northern wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Notus and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds heavy with rain.

In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - cyclops with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hecatoncheires), so named because each of them had a hundred hands. Nothing can resist their terrible power; their elemental power knows no bounds.

Uranus hated his giant children; he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the Earth goddess and did not allow them to come into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was oppressed by this terrible burden contained in her depths. She summoned her children, the Titans, and convinced them to rebel against their father Uranus, but they were afraid to raise their hands against their father. Only the youngest of them, the treacherous Kron, overthrew his father by cunning and took away his power.

As punishment for Kron, the Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible substances: Tanata - death, Eris - discord, Apata - deception, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of dark, heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deception, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world where Cronus reigned on the throne of his father.

The picture of the life of the gods on Olympus is given from the works of Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, which glorify the tribal aristocracy and the basileus leading it as the best people, standing much higher than the rest of the population. The gods of Olympus differ from aristocrats and basileus only in that they are immortal, powerful and can work miracles.

Birth of Zeus

Kron was not sure that power would remain in his hands forever. He was afraid that his children would rebel against him and would subject him to the same fate to which he doomed his father Uranus. He was afraid of his children. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him the children that were born and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cronus has already swallowed five: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades (Hades) and Poseidon.

Rhea did not want to lose her last child. On the advice of her parents, Uranus-Heaven and Gaia-Earth, she retired to the island of Crete, and there, in a deep cave, her youngest son Zeus was born. In this cave, Rhea hid her son from her cruel father, and instead of her son she gave him a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow. Krohn had no idea that he had been deceived by his wife.

Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished little Zeus; they fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. The bees brought honey to little Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikta. At the entrance to the cave, the young Kuretes struck their shields with their swords every time little Zeus cried, so that Kronus would not hear him cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.

Zeus overthrows Cronus. The fight of the Olympian gods with the titans

The beautiful and powerful god Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back into the world the children he had absorbed. One after another, Kron spewed out his children-gods, beautiful and bright, from the mouth. They began to fight with Kron and the Titans for power over the world.

This struggle was terrible and stubborn. The children of Kron established themselves on high Olympus. Some of the titans also took their side, and the first were the titan Ocean and his daughter Styx and their children Zeal, Power and Victory. This struggle was dangerous for the Olympian gods. Their opponents, the Titans, were powerful and formidable. But the Cyclopes came to the aid of Zeus. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them at the titans. The struggle had already lasted ten years, but victory did not lean on either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires from the bowels of the earth; he called them to help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they emerged from the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore entire rocks from the mountains and threw them at the titans. Hundreds of rocks flew towards the titans when they approached Olympus. The earth groaned, a roar filled the air, everything around was shaking. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle.

Zeus threw fiery lightning and deafeningly roaring thunder one after another. Fire engulfed the entire earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench covered everything with a thick veil.

Finally, the mighty titans wavered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians chained them and cast them into gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the copper indestructible gates of Tartarus, the hundred-armed hecatoncheires stood guard, and they guard so that the mighty titans do not break free from Tartarus again. The power of the titans in the world has passed.

The achievements of the ancient Greeks in art, science and politics had a significant impact on the development of European states. Mythology, one of the most well studied in the world, also played an important role in this process. For many hundreds of years it has appeared for many creators. The history and myths of Ancient Greece have always been closely intertwined. The realities of the archaic era are known to us precisely thanks to the legends of that period.

Greek mythology took shape at the turn of the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e. Tales of gods and heroes spread throughout Hellas thanks to the Aeds - wandering reciters, the most famous of whom was Homer. Later, during the period of Greek classics, mythological plots were reflected in the artistic works of the great playwrights - Euripides and Aeschylus. Even later, at the beginning of our era, Greek scientists began to classify myths, compile family trees of heroes - in other words, study the heritage of their ancestors.

Origin of the Gods

Ancient myths and legends of Greece are dedicated to gods and heroes. According to the ideas of the Hellenes, there were several generations of gods. The first couple to have anthropomorphic features was Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky). They gave birth to 12 titans, as well as one-eyed Cyclops and multi-headed and multi-armed giants, the Hecatoncheires. The birth of monster children did not please Uranus, and he cast them into the great abyss - Tartarus. This, in turn, did not please Gaia, and she persuaded her titan children to overthrow their father (the myths about the ancient gods of Greece are replete with similar motives). The youngest of her sons, Kronos (Time), managed to accomplish this. With the beginning of his reign, history repeated itself.

He, like his father, was afraid of his powerful children and therefore, as soon as his wife (and sister) Rhea gave birth to another child, he swallowed it. This fate befell Hestia, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera and Hades. But Rhea could not part with her last son: when Zeus was born, she hid him in a cave on the island of Crete and instructed the nymphs and curetes to raise the child, and brought a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to her husband, which he swallowed.

War with the Titans

The ancient myths and legends of Greece were filled with bloody wars for power. The first of them began after the grown-up Zeus forced Kronos to vomit the swallowed children. Having enlisted the support of his brothers and sisters and calling upon the giants imprisoned in Tartarus for help, Zeus began to fight his father and other titans (some later went over to his side). The main weapons of Zeus were lightning and thunder, which the Cyclops forged for him. The war lasted a whole decade; Zeus and his allies defeated and imprisoned their enemies in Tartarus. It must be said that Zeus was also destined for his father’s fate (to fall at the hands of his son), but he managed to avoid it thanks to the help of the titan Prometheus.

Myths about the ancient gods of Greece - the Olympians. Descendants of Zeus

Power over the world was shared by three titans, representing the third generation of gods. These were Zeus the Thunderer (he became supreme god ancient Greeks), Poseidon (lord of the seas) and Hades (master of the underground kingdom of the dead).

They had numerous descendants. All the supreme gods, except Hades and his family, lived on Mount Olympus (which exists in reality). In ancient Greek mythology, there were 12 main celestial beings. Zeus's wife Hera was considered the patroness of marriage, and the goddess Hestia was considered the patroness of the home. Demeter was in charge of agriculture, Apollo was in charge of light and the arts, and his sister Artemis was revered as the goddess of the moon and the hunt. The daughter of Zeus Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, was one of the most respected celestials. The Greeks, sensitive to beauty, also revered the goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite and her husband Ares, a warlike god. Hephaestus, the god of fire, was praised by artisans (in particular, blacksmiths). The cunning Hermes, the mediator between gods and people and the patron of trade and livestock, also demanded respect.

Divine Geography

The ancient myths and legends of Greece create a very contradictory image of God in the minds of the modern reader. On the one hand, the Olympians were considered powerful, wise and beautiful, and on the other, they were characterized by all the weaknesses and vices of mortal people: envy, jealousy, greed and anger.

As already mentioned, Zeus ruled over gods and people. He gave people laws and controlled their destinies. But not in all areas of Greece the Supreme Olympian was the most revered god. The Greeks lived in city-states and believed that each such city (polis) had its own divine patron. So, Athena favored Attica and its main city - Athens.

Aphrodite was glorified in Cyprus, off the coast of which she was born. Poseidon guarded Troy, Artemis and Apollo guarded Delphi. Mycenae, Argos and Samos offered sacrifices to Hera.

Other divine entities

The ancient myths and legends of Greece would not be so rich if only people and gods acted in them. But the Greeks, like other peoples of those times, were inclined to deify the forces of nature, and therefore other powerful creatures are often mentioned in myths. These are, for example, naiads (patrons of rivers and streams), dryads (patrons of groves), oreads (mountain nymphs), nereids (daughters of the sea sage Nereus), as well as various magical creatures and monsters.

In addition, goat-footed satyrs lived in the forests, accompanying the god Dionysus. Many legends featured wise and warlike centaurs. At the throne of Hades stood the goddess of vengeance Erinnia, and on Olympus the gods were entertained by muses and charites, patroness of the arts. All these entities often argued with the gods or entered into marriage with them or with people. Many great heroes and gods were born as a result of such marriages.

Myths of Ancient Greece: Hercules and his exploits

As for heroes, in every region of Greece it was also customary to honor their own. But invented in the north of Hellas, in Epirus, Hercules became one of the most beloved characters of ancient myths. Hercules is known for the fact that, while in the service of his relative, King Eurystheus, he performed 12 labors (killing the Lernaean Hydra, capturing the Kerynean fallow deer and the Erymanthian boar, bringing the belt of Hippolyta, delivering the people from the Stymphalian birds, taming the mares of Diomedes, going to the Kingdom of Hades and other).

Not everyone knows that these acts were carried out by Hercules as atonement for his guilt (in a fit of madness, he destroyed his family). After the death of Hercules, the gods accepted him into their ranks: even Hera, who plotted intrigues against him throughout the hero’s life, was forced to recognize him.

Conclusion

Ancient myths were created many centuries ago. But they have by no means primitive content. The myths of Ancient Greece are the key to understanding modern European culture.

Nikolay Kun

Legends and myths of Ancient Greece

© Publishing House LLC, 2018

Part one

Gods and heroes

Origin of the world and gods

Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are presented mainly based on Hesiod’s poem “Theogony” (“The Origin of the Gods”). Some legends are also borrowed from Homer’s poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” and the poem “Metamorphoses” (“Metamorphoses”) by the Roman poet Ovid.

In the beginning there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. It contained the source of life. Everything arose from boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. The goddess Earth, Gaia, also came from Chaos. It spreads wide, powerful, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast bright sky is far from us, in immeasurable depths the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss full of eternal darkness. From Chaos was born a mighty force that animates everything, Love - Eros. Boundless Chaos gave birth to the eternal Darkness - Erebus and the dark Night - Nyukta. And from Night and Darkness came the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful bright Day - Hemera. The light spread throughout the world, and night and day began to replace each other.

The mighty, fertile Earth gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, and the Sky spread over the Earth. The high Mountains born of the Earth rose proudly towards him, and the ever-noisy Sea spread widely.

Uranus - Heaven - reigned in the world. He took the fertile Earth as his wife. Uranus and Gaia had six sons and six daughters - powerful, formidable titans. Their son, the Titan Ocean, flowing around the entire earth, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and the sea goddesses - the Oceanids. Titan Hipperion and Theia gave the world children: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selene and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astraeus and Eos came the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and the winds: the stormy northern wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Notus and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds heavy with rain.

In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - cyclops with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hecatoncheires), so named because each of them had a hundred hands. Nothing can resist their terrible power; their elemental power knows no bounds.

Uranus hated his giant children; he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the Earth goddess and did not allow them to come into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was oppressed by the terrible burden contained in her depths. She summoned her children, the Titans, and convinced them to rebel against their father Uranus, but they were afraid to raise their hand against their father. Only the youngest of them, the treacherous Kron, overthrew his father by cunning and took away his power.

As punishment for Kron, the Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible deities: Tanata - death, Eris - discord, Apata - deception, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of gloomy heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deception, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world where Cronus reigned on the throne of his father.

Birth of Zeus

Kron was not sure that power would remain in his hands forever. He was afraid that his children would rebel against him and doom him to the same fate to which he doomed his father Uranus. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him the children that were born and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cronus has already swallowed five: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades (Hades) and Poseidon.

Rhea did not want to lose her last child. On the advice of her parents, Uranus-Heaven and Gaia-Earth, she retired to the island of Crete, and there, in a deep cave, her son Zeus was born. In this cave, Rhea hid him from his cruel father, and gave Krona a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow instead of his son. Krohn had no idea that he had been deceived.

Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished little Zeus. They fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. Bees brought honey to Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikta. Whenever little Zeus cried, the young Kuretes guarding the cave struck their shields with swords so that Kronos would not hear his crying and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.

Zeus overthrows Cronus. The fight of the Olympian gods with the titans

Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back into the world the children he had swallowed. One by one, Kron spewed out his children-gods from the mouth. They began to fight with Kron and the Titans for power over the world.

This struggle was terrible and stubborn. The children of Kron established themselves on high Olympus. Some titans also took their side, and the first were the titan Ocean and his daughter Styx with their children Zeal, Power and Victory.

This struggle was dangerous for the Olympian gods. Their opponents were powerful and formidable. But the Cyclopes came to the aid of Zeus. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them at the titans. The struggle lasted ten years, but victory did not lean on either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires from the bowels of the earth and call on them for help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they emerged from the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore entire rocks from the mountains and threw them at the titans. Hundreds of rocks flew towards the titans as they approached Olympus. The earth groaned, a roar filled the air, everything around was shaking. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle. Zeus threw fiery lightning and deafeningly roaring thunder one after another. Fire engulfed the entire earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench covered everything with a thick veil.

Finally the titans wavered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians chained them and cast them into gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the indestructible copper gates of Tartarus, hundred-armed giants - Hecatoncheires - stood guard so that the mighty titans would not break free from Tartarus. The power of the titans in the world has passed.

The fight between Zeus and Typhon

But the struggle did not end there. Gaia-Earth was angry with the Olympian Zeus for treating her defeated titan children so harshly. She married the gloomy Tartarus and gave birth to the terrible hundred-headed monster Typhon. Huge, with a hundred dragon heads, Typhon rose from the bowels of the earth. He shook the air with a wild howl. The barking of dogs, human voices, the roar of an angry bull, the roar of a lion were heard in this howl. Turbulent flames swirled around Typhon, and the earth shook under his heavy steps. The gods shuddered in horror. But Zeus the Thunderer boldly rushed towards Typhon, and the battle began. Lightning flashed again in the hands of Zeus, and thunder rumbled. The earth and the firmament shook to the ground. The earth burst into flames, just as during the fight against the titans. The seas were boiling at the mere approach of Typhon. Hundreds of fiery lightning arrows rained down from the thunderer Zeus; It seemed that even the air and dark thunderclouds were burning from their fire. Zeus incinerated all of Typhon's hundred heads. Typhon collapsed to the ground, such heat emanated from his body that everything around him melted. Zeus raised Typhon's body and threw it into the gloomy Tartarus, which gave birth to him. But even in Tartarus, Typhon also threatens the gods and all living things. It causes storms and eruptions; he gave birth to Echidna, half-woman, half-snake, the terrible two-headed dog Ortho, the hellish dog Kerberus (Cerberus), the Lernaean Hydra and the Chimera; Typhon often shakes the earth.

The Olympian gods defeated their enemies. No one could resist their power anymore. They could now calmly rule the world. The most powerful of them, the thunderer Zeus, took the sky for himself, Poseidon took the sea, and Hades took the underground kingdom of the souls of the dead. The land remained in common possession. Although the sons of Kron divided the power over the world among themselves, the lord of the sky, Zeus, still reigns over everyone; he rules people and gods, he knows everything in the world.

Zeus reigns high on bright Olympus, surrounded by a host of gods. Here are his wife Hera, and golden-haired Apollo with his sister Artemis, and golden Aphrodite, and the mighty daughter of Zeus Athena, and many other gods. Three beautiful oras guard the entrance to high Olympus and raise a thick cloud covering the gates when the gods descend to earth or ascend to the bright halls of Zeus. High above Olympus the blue bottomless sky stretches, and golden light pours from it. There is no rain or snow in the kingdom of Zeus; There is always a bright, joyful summer there. And the clouds swirl below, sometimes covering the distant land. There, on earth, spring and summer are replaced by autumn and winter, joy and fun are replaced by misfortune and grief. True, even the gods know sorrows, but they soon pass, and joy reigns again on Olympus.

The gods feast in their golden palaces, built by the son of Zeus Hephaestus. King Zeus sits on a high golden throne. The courageous, beautiful face of Zeus breathes with greatness and a proudly calm consciousness of power and might. At the throne are his goddess of the world, Eirene, and the constant companion of Zeus, the winged goddess of victory Nike. Here comes the majestic goddess Hera, wife of Zeus. Zeus honors his wife; Hera, the patroness of marriage, is treated with honor by all the gods of Olympus. When, shining with her beauty, in a magnificent outfit, Hera enters the banquet hall, all the gods stand up and bow before the thunderer’s wife. And she goes to the golden throne and sits next to Zeus. Near the throne of Hera stands her messenger, the goddess of the rainbow, the light-winged Iris, always ready to quickly fly on rainbow wings to the farthest ends of the earth and carry out the commands of Hera.

The gods are feasting. The daughter of Zeus, young Hebe, and the son of the king of Troy, Ganymede, the favorite of Zeus, who received immortality from him, offer them ambrosia and nectar - the food and drink of the gods. Beautiful harites and muses delight them with singing and dancing. Holding hands, they dance in circles, and the gods admire their light movements and wondrous, eternally youthful beauty. The feast of the Olympians becomes more fun. At these feasts the gods decide all matters; at them they determine the fate of the world and people.

From Olympus, Zeus sends his gifts to people and establishes order and laws on earth. The fate of people is in the hands of Zeus: happiness and unhappiness, good and evil, life and death. Two large vessels stand at the gates of Zeus's palace. In one vessel there are gifts of good, in the other - evil. Zeus draws good and evil from vessels and sends them to people. Woe to the man to whom the Thunderer draws gifts only from a vessel of evil. Woe to those who violate the order established by Zeus on earth and do not comply with his laws. The son of Kron will move his thick eyebrows menacingly, black clouds will cloud the sky. The great Zeus will be angry, and the hair on his head will rise terribly, his eyes will light up with an unbearable brilliance; he will wave his right hand - thunderclaps will roll across the entire sky, fiery lightning will flash and high Olympus will shake.

The goddess Themis, who preserves the laws, stands at the throne of Zeus. At the command of the Thunderer, she convenes meetings of the gods on Olympus and popular meetings on earth, and watches that order and law are not violated. On Olympus is also the daughter of Zeus, the goddess Dike, who oversees justice. Zeus severely punishes unrighteous judges when Dike informs him that they do not comply with the laws given by Zeus. Goddess Dike is the defender of truth and the enemy of deception.

But although Zeus sends happiness and misfortune to people, the fate of people is still determined by the inexorable goddesses of fate - the Moirai, who live on Olympus. The fate of Zeus himself is in their hands. Fate rules over mortals and gods. No one can escape the dictates of inexorable fate. There is no such force, such power that could change at least something in what is intended for gods and mortals. Some Moirai know the dictates of fate. Moira Clotho spins the life thread of a person, determining his lifespan. The thread breaks and life ends. Moira Lechesis takes out, without looking, the lot that falls to a person in life. No one is able to change the fate determined by the moiras, since the third moira, Atropos, puts everything that her sisters meant in a person’s life in a long scroll, and what is included in the scroll of fate is inevitable. The great, harsh moiras are inexorable.

There is also a goddess of fate on Olympus - Tyukhe, the goddess of happiness and prosperity. From the cornucopia, the horn of the divine goat Amalthea, whose milk Zeus was fed, she pours gifts to people, and happy is the person who meets life path goddess of happiness Tyukhe. But how rarely does this happen, and how unhappy is the person from whom the goddess Tyukhe, who had just given him her gifts, turns away!

Thus, surrounded by a host of gods, Zeus reigns on Olympus, protecting order throughout the world.

Poseidon and the deities of the sea

Deep in the depths of the sea stands the wonderful palace of the brother of the thunderer Zeus, the earth shaker Poseidon. Poseidon rules over the seas, and the waves of the sea are obedient to the slightest movement of his hand, armed with a formidable trident. There, in the depths of the sea, lives with Poseidon and his beautiful wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the prophetic sea elder Nereus, who was kidnapped by Poseidon from her father. He once saw how she led a round dance with her Nereid sisters on the shore of the island of Naxos. The god of the sea was captivated by the beautiful Amphitrite and wanted to take her away in his chariot. But Amphitrite took refuge with the titan Atlas, who holds the vault of heaven on his mighty shoulders. For a long time Poseidon could not find the beautiful daughter of Nereus. Finally, a dolphin opened her hiding place to him; For this service, Poseidon placed the dolphin among the celestial constellations. Poseidon stole the beautiful daughter Nereus from Atlas and married her.

Since then, Amphitrite has lived with her husband Poseidon in an underwater palace. Sea waves roar high above the palace. A host of sea deities surround Poseidon, obedient to his will. Among them is Poseidon's son Triton, who with the thunderous sound of his shell trumpet causes menacing storms. Among the deities are the beautiful sisters of Amphitrite, the Nereids. Poseidon rules over the sea. When he rushes across the sea in his chariot drawn by marvelous horses, the ever-noisy waves part. Equal in beauty to Zeus himself, Poseidon quickly rushes across the boundless sea, and dolphins play around him, fish swim out of the depths of the sea and crowd around his chariot. When Poseidon waves his formidable trident, then sea waves, covered with white crests of foam, rise like mountains, and a fierce storm rages on the sea. The sea waves crash noisily against the coastal rocks and shake the earth. But Poseidon extends his trident over the waves - and they calm down. The storm subsides, the sea is calm again, smooth as a mirror, and barely audibly splashes along the shore - blue, boundless.

Among the deities surrounding Poseidon is the prophetic sea elder Nereus, who knows all the innermost secrets of the future. Nereus is alien to lies and deception; He reveals only the truth to gods and mortals. The advice given by the prophetic elder is wise. Nereus has fifty beautiful daughters. Young Nereids splash merrily in the waves of the sea, sparkling with beauty. Holding hands, a line of them swim out of the depths of the sea and dance in a circle on the shore under the gentle splash of the waves of the calm sea quietly rushing onto the shore. The echo of the coastal rocks repeats the sounds of their gentle singing, like the quiet roar of the sea. The Nereids patronize the sailor and give him a happy voyage.

Among the deities of the sea is the old man Proteus, who, like the sea, changes his image and turns, at will, into various animals and monsters. He is also a prophetic god, you just need to be able to catch him unexpectedly, master him and force him to reveal the secret of the future. Among the companions of the earth shaker Poseidon is the god Glaucus, the patron saint of sailors and fishermen, and he has the gift of divination. Often, emerging from the depths of the sea, he discovered the future and gave wise advice to people. The gods of the sea are mighty, their power is great, but the great brother of Zeus, Poseidon, rules over them all.

All seas and all lands flow around the gray Ocean - the titan god, equal to Zeus himself in honor and glory. He lives far on the borders of the world, and the affairs of the earth do not disturb his heart. Three thousand sons - river gods and three thousand daughters - Oceanids, goddesses of streams and springs, near the Ocean. The sons and daughters of the Ocean give prosperity and joy to mortals with their ever-rolling life-giving water; they water the whole earth and all living things with it.

Kingdom of Dark Hades

Deep underground, the inexorable, gloomy brother of Zeus, Hades, reigns. The rays of the bright sun never penetrate there. Bottomless abysses lead from the surface of the earth to the sad kingdom of Hades. Dark rivers flow through it. The chilling sacred river Styx flows there, the gods themselves swear by its waters.

Cocytus and Acheron roll their waves there; the souls of the dead resound with lamentations full of sadness on their gloomy shores. In the underground kingdom flow the waters of the Lethe River, giving oblivion of all earthly things. Across the gloomy fields of the kingdom of Hades, overgrown with pale asphodel flowers, ethereal light shadows of the dead rush. They complain about their joyless life without light and without desires. Their moans are heard quietly, barely perceptible, like the rustling of withered leaves driven by the autumn wind. There is no return for anyone from this kingdom of sadness. The three-headed dog Kerber, on whose neck snakes move with a menacing hiss, guards the exit. The stern old Charon, the carrier of the souls of the dead, will not carry a single soul through the gloomy waters of Acheron back to where the sun of life shines brightly.

Peter Paul Rubens. The Rape of Ganymede. 1611–1612

The ruler of this kingdom, Hades, sits on a golden throne with his wife Persephone. He is served by the inexorable goddesses of vengeance, Erinyes. Menacing, with whips and snakes, they pursue the criminal; they do not give him a minute of peace and torment him with remorse; You can’t hide from them anywhere, they find their prey everywhere. The judges of the kingdom of the dead, Minos and Rhadamanthus, sit at the throne of Hades.

Here, at the throne, is the god of death Tanat with a sword in his hands, in a black cloak, with huge black wings. These wings blow with grave cold when Tanat flies to the bed of a dying man to cut off a strand of hair from his head with her sword and tear out his soul. Next to Tanat are the gloomy Kera. On wings they rush, frantic, across the battlefield. The Kers rejoice as they see the slain warriors fall one after another; With their blood-red lips they fall to the wounds, greedily drink the hot blood of the slain and tear out their souls from the body. Here, at the throne of Hades, is the beautiful young god of sleep, Hypnos. He silently flies on his wings above the ground with poppy heads in his hands and pours a sleeping pill from the horn. Hypnos gently touches the eyes of people with her wonderful rod, quietly closes her eyelids and plunges mortals into a sweet sleep. The god Hypnos is powerful, neither mortals, nor gods, nor even the thunderer Zeus himself can resist him: and Hypnos closes his menacing eyes and plunges him into deep sleep.

The gods of dreams also rush about in the dark kingdom of Hades. Among them there are gods who give prophetic and joyful dreams, but there are also gods who give terrible, depressing dreams that frighten and torment people. There are gods of false dreams: they mislead a person and often lead him to death.

The kingdom of Hades is full of darkness and horror. There the terrible ghost of Empus with donkey legs wanders in the darkness; Having lured people into a secluded place in the darkness of the night by cunning, it drinks all the blood and devours their still trembling body. The monstrous Lamia also wanders there; she sneaks into the bedrooms of happy mothers at night and steals their children to drink their blood. The great goddess Hecate rules over all ghosts and monsters. She has three bodies and three heads. On a moonless night she wanders in deep darkness along the roads and at the graves with all her terrible retinue, surrounded by Stygian dogs. She sends horrors and painful dreams to the earth and destroys people. Hecate is called upon as an assistant in witchcraft, but she is also the only assistant against witchcraft for those who honor her and sacrifice dogs to her at the crossroads, where three roads diverge. The kingdom of Hades is terrible, and people hate it.

The goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus, patronizes marriage and protects the holiness and inviolability of marriages. She sends the spouses numerous offspring and blesses the mother during the birth of the child.

After Hera and her brothers and sisters were spewed out of his mouth by Kronus, defeated by Zeus, Hera's mother Rhea carried her to the ends of the earth to the gray Ocean; Hera was raised there by Thetis. Hera lived for a long time away from Olympus, in peace and quiet. The Thunderer Zeus saw her, fell in love and kidnapped her from Thetis. The gods celebrated the wedding of Zeus and Hera magnificently. Iris and the Charites clothed Hera in luxurious clothes, and she shone with her majestic beauty among the gods of Olympus, sitting on a golden throne next to Zeus. All the gods presented gifts to the queen Hera, and the goddess Earth-Gaia grew from her bowels a wondrous apple tree with golden fruits as a gift to Hera. Everything in nature praised Hera and Zeus.

Hera reigns on high Olympus. She, like her husband Zeus, commands thunder and lightning, at her word the sky is covered with dark rain clouds, and with a wave of her hand she raises menacing storms.

Hera is beautiful, hair-eyed, lily-armed, from under her crown a wave of wondrous curls fall, her eyes glow with power and calm majesty. The gods honor Hera, and her husband, the cloud suppressor Zeus, honors her and consults with her. But quarrels between Zeus and Hera are also common. Hera often objects to Zeus and argues with him at the councils of the gods. Then the Thunderer gets angry and threatens his wife with punishment. Hera falls silent and holds back her anger. She remembers how Zeus bound her with golden chains, hung her between the earth and the sky, tied two heavy anvils to her feet, and subjected her to scourging.

Hera is powerful, there is no goddess equal to her in power. Majestic, in long luxurious clothes woven by Athena herself, in a chariot drawn by two immortal horses, she rides down from Olympus. The chariot is all made of silver, the wheels are made of pure gold, and their spokes sparkle with copper. Fragrance spreads across the ground where Hera passes. All living things bow before her, the great queen of Olympus.

Hera often suffers insults from her husband Zeus. This is what happened when Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Io and, in order to hide her from Hera, turned Io into a cow. But the Thunderer did not save Io. Hera saw the snow-white cow Io and demanded that Zeus give it to her. Zeus could not refuse Hera. Hera, having taken possession of Io, gave her under the protection of the stoic Argus. Unhappy Io could not tell anyone about her suffering: turned into a cow, she was speechless. Sleepless Argus guarded Io. Zeus saw her suffering. Calling on his son Hermes, he ordered him to kidnap Io.

Hermes quickly rushed to the top of the mountain where the steadfast guard Io stood guard. He put Argus to sleep with his speeches. As soon as his hundred eyes closed, Hermes drew his curved sword and cut off Argus’s head with one blow. Io was freed. But Zeus did not save Io from the wrath of Hera. She sent a monstrous gadfly. With its terrible sting, the gadfly drove the unfortunate sufferer Io from country to country, distraught with torment. She did not find peace anywhere. In a frantic run, Io rushed further and further, and the gadfly flew after her, constantly stabbing her body with a sting; the sting of the gadfly burned Io like a hot iron. Where did Io run, what countries did she visit! Finally, after long wanderings, she reached in the country of the Scythians, in the far north, the rock to which the titan Prometheus was chained. He predicted to the unfortunate woman that only in Egypt would she get rid of her torment. Io rushed on, driven by the gadfly. She endured much torment and saw many dangers before she reached Egypt. There, on the banks of the blessed Nile, Zeus returned her to her former image, and her son Epaphus was born. He was the first king of Egypt and the founder of a generation of heroes, to which the greatest hero of Greece, Hercules, belonged.

Birth of Apollo

The god of light, golden-haired Apollo, was born on the island of Delos. His mother Latona, persecuted by the goddess Hera, could not find shelter anywhere. Pursued by the dragon Python sent by Hera, she wandered all over the world and finally took refuge in Delos, which at that time was rushing along the waves of a stormy sea. As soon as Latona entered Delos, huge pillars rose from the depths of the sea and stopped this deserted island. He became unshakable in the place where he still stands. The sea roared around Delos. The cliffs of Delos rose sadly, bare, without the slightest vegetation. Only sea gulls found shelter on these rocks and filled them with their sad cry. But then the god Apollo was born, and streams of bright light spread everywhere. They covered the rocks of Delos like gold. Everything around blossomed and sparkled: the coastal cliffs, Mount Kint, the valley, and the sea. The goddesses gathered on Delos loudly praised the born god, offering him ambrosia and nectar. All nature rejoiced along with the goddesses.

The struggle between Apollo and Python and the foundation of the Delphic Oracle

Young, radiant Apollo rushed across the azure sky with a cithara in his hands, with a silver bow over his shoulders; golden arrows rang loudly in his quiver. Proud, jubilant, Apollo rushed high above the earth, threatening everything evil, everything born of darkness. He strove to where Python lived, who was pursuing his mother Latona; he wanted to take revenge on him for all the evil that he caused her.

Apollo quickly reached the gloomy gorge, the home of Python. Rocks rose all around, reaching high into the sky. Darkness reigned in the gorge. A mountain stream, gray with foam, rushed rapidly along its bottom, and fog swirled above the stream. The terrible Python crawled out of his lair. His huge body, covered with scales, twisted between the rocks in countless rings. Rocks and mountains trembled from the weight of his body and moved from place. The furious Python brought devastation to everything, he spread death all around. The nymphs and all living things fled in horror. Python rose, powerful, furious, opened his terrible mouth and was ready to swallow Apollo. Then the ringing of the string of a silver bow was heard, as a spark flashed in the air of a golden arrow that could not miss, followed by another, a third; arrows rained down on Python, and he fell lifeless to the ground. The triumphant victory song (paean) of the golden-haired Apollo, the conqueror of Python, sounded loudly, and the golden strings of the god’s cithara echoed it. Apollo buried the body of Python in the ground where the sacred Delphi stands, and founded a sanctuary and an oracle in Delphi in order to prophesy in it to people the will of his father Zeus.

From a high shore far out to sea, Apollo saw a ship of Cretan sailors. Having turned into a dolphin, he rushed into the blue sea, overtook the ship and flew up from the sea waves to its stern like a radiant star. Apollo brought the ship to the pier of the city of Chris and led the Cretan sailors through a fertile valley to Delphi. He made them the first priests of his sanctuary.

Based on Ovid's poem "Metamorphoses".

The bright, joyful god Apollo knows sadness, and grief befell him. He experienced grief shortly after defeating Python. When Apollo, proud of his victory, stood over the monster killed by his arrows, he saw next to him the young god of love Eros, pulling his golden bow. Laughing, Apollo said to him:

“What do you need, child, such a formidable weapon?” It’s better for me to send the smashing golden arrows with which I just killed Python. Can you be equal in glory to me, Arrowhead? Do you really want to achieve greater glory than me?

The offended Eros answered Apollo:

- Your arrows, Phoebus-Apollo, do not miss, they strike everyone, but my arrow will strike you.

Eros flapped his golden wings and in the blink of an eye flew up to high Parnassus. There he took two arrows from his quiver. One, wounding the heart and evoking love, he pierced the heart of Apollo, the other - killing love - Eros sent into the heart of the nymph Daphne, daughter of the river god Peneus.

Once he met the beautiful Daphne Apollo and fell in love with her. But as soon as Daphne saw the golden-haired Apollo, she began to run with the speed of the wind: after all, the arrow of Eros, killing love, pierced her heart. The silver-bowed god hurried after her.

“Stop, beautiful nymph,” cried Apollo, “why are you running from me, like a lamb pursued by a wolf?” Like a dove fleeing from an eagle, you rush! After all, I’m not your enemy! Look, you hurt your feet on the sharp thorns of the thorns. Oh wait, stop! After all, I am Apollo, the son of the thunderer Zeus, and not a mere mortal shepherd.

Heroes, myths and legends about them. Therefore, it is important to know their brief content. The legends and myths of Ancient Greece, the entire Greek culture, especially of the late period, when both philosophy and democracy were developed, had a strong influence on the formation of the entire European civilization as a whole. The mythology evolved over a long period of time. Tales and legends became famous because reciters wandered along the paths and roads of Hellas. They carried more or less long stories about the heroic past. Some gave only a brief summary.

The legends and myths of Ancient Greece gradually became familiar and beloved, and what Homer created was customary for an educated person to know by heart and be able to quote from anywhere. Greek scientists, who sought to put everything in order, began to work on the classification of myths, and turned disparate stories into an orderly series.

Main Greek gods

The very first myths are dedicated to struggle various gods between themselves. Some of them did not have human features - these were the offspring of the goddess Gaia-Earth and Uranus-Sky - twelve titans and six more monsters who horrified their father, and he plunged them into the abyss - Tartarus. But Gaia persuaded the remaining titans to overthrow their father.

This was done by the insidious Kronos - Time. But, having married his sister, he was afraid of the children being born and swallowed them immediately after birth: Hestia, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, Hades. Having given birth to the last child, Zeus, the wife deceived Kronos, and he was unable to swallow the baby. And Zeus was safely hidden in Crete. This is just a summary. The legends and myths of Ancient Greece terribly describe the events taking place.

Zeus's war for power

Zeus grew up, matured and forced Kronos to return his swallowed sisters and brothers to the world. He called them to fight their cruel father. In addition, some of the titans, giants and cyclops took part in the fight. The struggle lasted ten years. The fire raged, the seas boiled, nothing was visible from the smoke. But the victory went to Zeus. The enemies were overthrown into Tartarus and taken into custody.

Gods on Olympus

Zeus, to whom the Cyclops bound lightning, became the supreme god, Poseidon controlled all the waters on earth, and Hades controlled the underground kingdom of the dead. This was already the third generation of gods, from which all the other gods and heroes descended, about whom stories and legends would begin to be told.

The ancients attributed to the cycle about Dionysus, winemaking, fertility, the patron of night mysteries, which were held in the darkest places. The mysteries were terrible and mysterious. This is how the struggle between the dark gods and the light gods began to take shape. There were no real wars, but they gradually began to give way to the bright sun god Phoebus with his rational principle, with his cult of reason, science and art.

And the irrational, ecstatic, sensual retreated. But these are two sides of the same phenomenon. And one was impossible without the other. The goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus, patronized the family.

Ares - war, Athena - wisdom, Artemis - the moon and hunting, Demeter - agriculture, Hermes - trade, Aphrodite - love and beauty.

Hephaestus - to artisans. Their relationships between themselves and people make up the legends of the Hellenes. They were fully studied in pre-revolutionary gymnasiums in Russia. Only now, when people are concerned mostly with earthly concerns, do they, if necessary, pay attention to their brief content. The legends and myths of Ancient Greece are moving further into the past.

Who was patronized by the gods

They weren't very kind to people. They often envied them or lusted after women, were jealous, and were greedy for praise and honors. That is, they were very similar to mortals, if we take their description. Tales (summary), legends and myths of Ancient Greece (Kun) describe their gods in very contradictory ways. “Nothing pleases the gods more than the collapse of human hopes,” Euripides believed. And Sophocles echoed him: “The gods most willingly help a person when he goes towards his death.”

All gods obeyed Zeus, but for people he was important as a guarantor of justice. It was when the judge judged unjustly that man turned to Zeus for help. In matters of war, only Mars dominated. Wise Athena patronized Attica.

All sailors made sacrifices to Poseidon when they went to sea. In Delphi one could ask for favors from Phoebus and Artemis.

Myths about heroes

One of the favorite myths was about Theseus, the son of King Aegeus of Athens. He was born and raised in the royal family in Troezen. When he grew up and was able to get his father's sword, he went to meet him. Along the way, he destroyed the robber Procrustes, who did not allow people to pass through his territory. When he got to his father, he learned that Athens was paying tribute to Crete with girls and boys. Together with another batch of slaves, under mourning sails, he went to the island to kill the monstrous Minotaur.

Princess Ariadne helped Theseus through the labyrinth in which the Minotaur was located. Theseus fought the monster and destroyed it.

The Greeks joyfully, freed forever from tribute, returned to their homeland. But they forgot to change the black sails. Aegeus, who did not take his eyes off the sea, saw that his son had died, and from unbearable grief he threw himself into the abyss of the waters above which his palace stood. The Athenians rejoiced that they were freed from tribute forever, but they also cried when they learned about the tragic death of Aegeus. The myth of Theseus is long and colorful. This is its summary. Legends and myths of Ancient Greece (Kun) will give a comprehensive description of it.

The epic is the second part of the book by Nikolai Albertovich Kun

The legends of the Argonauts, the voyages of Odysseus, Orestes' revenge for the death of his father, and the misadventures of Oedipus in the Theban cycle form the second half of the book that Kuhn wrote, Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece. A summary of the chapters is indicated above.

Returning from Troy to his native Ithaca, Odysseus spent a lot of time for long years in dangerous wanderings. The way home through the stormy sea was difficult for him.

God Poseidon could not forgive Odysseus for the fact that, saving his life and the lives of his friends, he blinded the Cyclops and sent unheard-of storms. Along the way, they were killed by sirens, captivated by their unearthly voices and mellifluous singing.

All his companions died while traveling across the seas. All were destroyed by evil fate. Odysseus languished in captivity with the nymph Calypso for many years. He begged to be allowed to go home, but the beautiful nymph refused. Only the requests of the goddess Athena softened the heart of Zeus, he took pity on Odysseus and returned him to his family.

The legends of the Trojan cycle and the campaigns of Odysseus were created by Homer in his poems - “The Iliad” and “Odyssey”; the myths about the campaign for the Golden Fleece to the shores of Pontus Evsinsky are described in the poem of Apollonius of Rhodes. Sophocles wrote the tragedy “Oedipus the King,” and the playwright Aeschylus wrote the tragedy about the Arrest. They are given in a summary of “Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece” (Nikolai Kun).

Myths and legends about gods, titans, and numerous heroes disturb the imagination of artists of the word, brush and cinematography of our days. Standing in a museum near a painting painted on a mythological theme, or hearing the name of the beautiful Helen, it would be good to at least have a little idea of ​​what is behind this name (a huge war) and to know the details of the plot depicted on the canvas. “Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece” can help with this. A summary of the book will reveal the meaning of what you saw and heard.

The most ancient gods of Ancient Greece, known to us from myths, were personifications of those forces of nature, whose activity determines physical life and arouses in the human heart either fear and horror, or hope and trust - personifications of forces mysterious to man, but obviously dominating his fate, which were the first objects of idolization among all peoples. But the gods of Ancient Greece were not only symbols of the forces of external nature; they were at the same time the creators and guardians of all moral goods, personifications of all forces moral life. All those forces of the human spirit by which cultural life is created, and the development of which Greek people gave him such an important meaning in the history of mankind, they were invested by him in the myths about the gods. The gods of Greece are personifications of all the great and beautiful forces of the Greek people; the world of the gods of Ancient Greece is a complete reflection of Greek civilization. The Greeks made their gods in myths similar to people, therefore they felt obliged to become like gods; caring about improving was a religious duty for them. Greek culture has a close connection with the Greek religion.

Gods of Ancient Greece. Video

Different generations of gods of Ancient Greece

The basis of the religion of Ancient Greece in Pelasgian times was the worship of the forces of nature, manifested in heaven, on earth, and in the sea. Those gods who were the most ancient personifications of the forces of earth and sky among the pre-Greek Pelasgians were overthrown by a series of catastrophes, the legends of which were preserved in ancient Greek myths about the struggle of the Olympians with the titans and giants. The new gods of Ancient Greece, who took away dominion from the previous ones, descended from them, but already had a completely human image.

Zeus and Hera

So, new humanoid gods began to rule the world, the main one in the myths was Zeus, the son of Cronus; but the former gods, personified forces of nature, retained their mysterious effectiveness, which even the omnipotent Zeus could not overcome. Just as omnipotent kings are subject to the laws of the moral world, so Zeus and other new gods of Ancient Greece are subject to the laws of nature and fate.

Zeus, the main god in the myths of Ancient Greece, is the collector of clouds, sitting on a throne in the heights of the ether, shaking with his lightning shield, Aegis (thundercloud), life-giving and fertilizing the earth, and at the same time the establisher and guardian of legal order. Under his protection are all rights, and especially family rights and the custom of hospitality. He commands rulers to be concerned about the welfare of the governed. He gives prosperity to kings and peoples, cities and families; he is also justice. He is the source of everything good and noble. He is the father of the goddesses of the clock (Or), personifying the correct course of the annual changes of nature and the correct order of human life; he is the father of the Muses, who give joy to the human heart.

His wife, Hera, in the myths of Ancient Greece, is a grumpy goddess of the atmosphere, having as her servants the rainbow (Iris) and clouds (the Greek name for cloud, nephele, a feminine word), and at the same time the establisher of the sacred marriage union, in honor of which the Greeks celebrated celebration of spring, abundant with flowers, solemn ceremonies. The goddess Hera is a strict guardian of the sanctity of the marriage union and under her protection is a housewife faithful to her husband; She blesses marriages with children and protects children. Hera relieves women of the suffering of childbirth; She is assisted in this care by her daughter Eileithyia.

Pallas Athena

Pallas Athena

The virgin goddess Pallas Athena, according to the myths of Ancient Greece, was born from the head of Zeus. Initially, she was considered the goddess of the clear sky, who disperses dark clouds with her spear, and the personification of victorious energy in any struggle. Athena was always depicted with a shield, sword and spear. Her constant companion was the winged goddess of victory (Nike). Among the Greeks, Athena was the guardian of cities and fortresses, and she also gave people correct, fair social and state orders. The image of the goddess Athena personified wise balance, a calm, insightful mind, necessary for the creators of works of mental activity and art.

Statue of Virgin Athena in the Parthenon. Sculptor Phidias

In Ancient Greece, Pallas was most revered by the Athenians, the inhabitants of the city named after this goddess. The public life of Athens was imbued with service to Pallas. A huge statue of Athena by Phidias stood in the magnificent temple of the Athenian Acropolis - the Parthenon. Athena was associated with the famous ancient Greek city by many myths. The most famous of them was the myth about the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica. The goddess Athena won it by giving the region the basis of its agriculture - the olive tree. Ancient Athens celebrated many festivals in honor of its beloved goddess. The main ones were the two Panathenaic holidays - Great and Small. Both of them, according to the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods, were founded by one of the most ancient ancestors of Athens - Erechtheus. The Lesser Panathenaea was celebrated annually, and the Great Panathenaea once every four years. On the great Panathenaea, all the inhabitants of Attica gathered in Athens and organized a magnificent procession, during which a new mantle (peplos) was carried to the Acropolis for the ancient statue of the goddess Pallas. The procession marched from Keramik, along the main streets, which were crowded with people in white clothes.

God Hephaestus in Greek myths

Hephaestus, the god of heavenly and earthly fire, was close in importance to Pallas Athena, the goddess of the arts, in ancient Greek myths. The activity of Hephaestus was most strongly manifested by volcanoes on the islands, especially on Lemnos and Sicily; but in the application of fire to the affairs of human life, Hephaestus helped a lot in the development of culture. Prometheus, who brought fire to people and taught them the arts of life, is also closely related to the concept of Athena. The Attic festival of running with torches was dedicated to these three gods - a competition in which the winner was the one who would be the first to reach the goal with a burning torch. Pallas Athena was the inventor of those arts that women practiced; the lame Hephaestus, about whom poets often joked, was the founder of the art of blacksmithing and a master in metal work. Like Athena, he was the god of the hearth and hearth in Ancient Greece. family life, therefore, under the auspices of Hephaestus and Athena, a wonderful holiday of the “state family” was celebrated in Athens, the holiday of Anaturium, at which newborn children were surrounded by the steep hearth, and this ritual consecrated their acceptance into the family union of the state.

God Vulcan (Hephaestus). Statue by Thorvaldsen, 1838

Hestia

The importance of the hearth as the center of family life and the beneficial influence of a stable home life on moral and social life were personified in the myths of Ancient Greece by the maiden goddess Hestia, a representative of the concepts of a stable settled life, a well-maintained home life, whose symbol was the sacred fire of the hearth. Initially, Hestia was in ancient Greek myths about the gods the personification of the earth, above which the ethereal fire of the sky burns; but later it became a symbol of civil improvement, which gains strength on earth only through the union of earth with heaven, as a divine institution. Therefore, in every Greek home, the hearth was the religious center of the family. Whoever approached the hearth and sat on its ashes acquired the right to protection. Each clan union of Ancient Greece had a common sanctuary of Hestia, in which symbolic rites were reverently performed. In ancient times, when there were kings and when the king made sacrifices as a representative of the people, resolved litigation, gathered noble people and ancestors for council, the hearth of the royal house was a symbol of the state connection of the people; Afterwards, the prytanium, the religious center of the state, had the same significance. An unquenchable fire burned on the state hearth of the prytaneum, and the prytanes, the elected rulers of the people, had to take turns staying constantly at this hearth. The hearth was the connection between earth and heaven; therefore Hestia was also the goddess of sacrifice in Ancient Greece. Each solemn sacrifice began with a sacrifice to her. And all public prayers of the Greeks began with an appeal to Hestia.

Myths about the god Apollo

For more details, see the separate article God Apollo

The god of shining light, Apollo, was the son of Zeus from Latona (who was the personification of the dark night in ancient Greek myths). His cult was brought to Ancient Greece from Asia Minor, where the local god Apelun existed. According to Greek myths, Apollo spends the winter in the distant land of the Hyperboreans, and in the spring he returns to Hellas, pouring life into nature and joy and the desire to sing into man. Apollo was therefore recognized as the god of singing - and in general of that inspiring force that gives rise to art. Thanks to its revitalizing qualities, the cult of this god was also associated with the idea of ​​healing and protection from evil. With your well-aimed arrows ( sun rays) Apollo destroys all filth. This idea was symbolically expressed by the ancient Greek myth about the killing of the terrible serpent Python by Apollo. The skillful shooter Apollo was considered the brother of the goddess of hunting Artemis, together with whom he killed the sons of an overly proud woman with arrows. Niobe.

The ancient Greeks considered poetry and music to be the gift of Apollo. Poems and songs were always performed at his holidays. According to legend, having defeated the monster of darkness, Python, Apollo composed the first paean (victory hymn). As the god of music, he was often depicted with a cithara in his hands. Since poetic inspiration is akin to prophetic inspiration, in the myths of Ancient Greece Apollo was also recognized as the supreme patron of soothsayers, who gives them the prophetic gift. Almost all Greek oracles (including the main one, the Delphic one) were founded in the sanctuaries of Apollo.

Apollo Saurocton (killing the lizard). Roman copy of a 4th century statue of Praxiteles. BC

The god of music, poetry, and singing, Apollo, was in the myths of Ancient Greece the ruler of the goddesses of the arts - muses, nine daughters of Zeus and the goddess of memory Mnemosyne. The groves of Parnassus and Helicon, located in the vicinity of Delphi, were considered the main abode of the muses. As the ruler of the muses, Apollo had the epithet "Muzageta". Clio was the muse of history, Calliope - epic poetry, Melpomene - tragedy, Thalia - comedy, Erato - love poetry, Euterpe - lyric poetry, Terpsichore - dancing, Polyhymnia - hymns, Urania - astronomy.

The sacred plant of Apollo was the laurel.

The god of light, purity and healing, Apollo in the myths of Ancient Greece not only heals people from ailments, but also cleanses them from sins. From this side, his cult comes into even closer contact with moral ideas. Even after defeating the evil monster Python, Apollo considered it necessary to cleanse himself of the filth of murder and, to atone for him, went to serve as a shepherd for the Thessalian king Admetus. By this, he gave people an example that those who committed bloodshed must always repent, and became the purifier god of murderers and criminals. In Greek myths, Apollo healed not only the body, but also the soul. Repentant sinners found forgiveness from him, but only with sincerity of repentance. According to ancient Greek customs, the murderer was supposed to earn forgiveness from the relatives of the murdered person, who had the right to take revenge on him, and spend eight years in exile.

Apollo was the main tribal god of the Dorians, who celebrated two great holidays in his honor every year: Carnea and Iakinthia. The Carnean festival was celebrated in honor of Apollo the warrior, in the month of Carnea (August). During this holiday, war games, singing and dancing competitions were held. Hyacinthia, celebrated in July (nine days), was accompanied by sad rites in memory of the death of the beautiful young man Jacinthus (Hyacinth), the personification of flowers. According to the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods, Apollo accidentally killed this favorite of his while throwing a discus (a symbol of how the disc of the sun kills flowers with its heat). But Hyacinth was resurrected and taken to Olympus - and at the festival of Hyacinthius, after the sad rites, cheerful processions of young men and girls with flowers took place. The death and resurrection of Jacinthos personified the winter death and spring rebirth of plants. This episode of ancient Greek myth appears to have developed under strong Phoenician influence.

Myths about the goddess Artemis

Apollo's sister, Artemis, the virgin goddess of the moon, walked through the mountains and forests, hunting; bathed with the nymphs, her companions, in cool streams; was the patroness of wild animals; at night she watered the thirsty earth with life-giving dew. But at the same time, in the myths of Ancient Greece, Artemis was also a goddess who destroyed sailors, so in ancient times in Greece, people were sacrificed to her to appease her. With the development of civilization, Artemis became the goddess of virginal purity, the patroness of brides and girls. When they got married, they brought gifts to her. Artemis of Ephesus was the goddess of fertility, who gave harvests to the earth and children to women; in the idea of ​​it, the myths of Ancient Greece were probably joined by eastern concepts. Artemis was depicted as having many breasts on her chest; this meant that she was a generous nurse of people. At the magnificent temple of Artemis there were many hierodulae and many attendants, dressed in men's clothing and armed; therefore, in ancient Greek myths it was believed that this temple was founded by the Amazons.

Artemis. Statue in the Louvre

The original physical meaning of Apollo and Artemis in the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods was increasingly obscured by a moral one. Because Greek mythology created a special sun god, Helios, and a special moon goddess, Selene. – A special god, the son of Apollo, Asclepius, was also made a representative of the healing power of Apollo.

Ares and Aphrodite

Ares, the son of Zeus and Hera, was originally a symbol of the stormy sky, and his homeland was Thrace, the country of winter storms. Among the ancient Greek poets he became the god of war. Ares is always armed; he loves the noise of battle. Ares is furious. But he was also the founder of the sacred Athenian tribunal, which tried cases of murder, which had its meetings on a hill dedicated to Ares, the Areopagus, and was called by the name of this hill, also the Areopagus. Both as the god of storms and as the furious god of battles, he is the opposite of Pallas Athena, the goddess of clear skies and judicious conduct of battles. Therefore, in the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods, Pallas and Ares are hostile to each other.

In the concepts of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, a moral element was also added to the physical nature of love in ancient Greek myths over time. The cult of Aphrodite passed to Ancient Greece from the colonies founded by the Phoenicians on Cyprus, Kythera, Thasos and other islands. In the myths of the Phoenicians, the concept of the perceiving and giving birth element of the forces of nature was personified by two goddesses, Asherah and Astarte, whose ideas were often mixed. Aphrodite was Asherah and Astarte. In the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods, she corresponded to Asherah, when she was a goddess who loved gardens and flowers, living in groves, the goddess of joyful spring and voluptuousness, enjoying the love of the beautiful young man Adonis in the forest on the mountain. She corresponded to Astarte when she was revered as the “goddess of the heights”, like the stern, spear-wielding Aphrodite Urania (heavenly) or Aphrodite of Acreia, whose places of worship were the peaks of the mountains, who imposed on her priestesses a vow of eternal maidenhood, guarded the chastity of conjugal love and family morality . But the ancient Greeks knew how to combine these opposing ideas and, from their combination, created in myth a wondrous image of a graceful, charming, physically beautiful and morally sweet goddess, delighting the heart with the beauty of her forms, arousing tender affection. This mythological combination of physical feeling with moral attachment, giving sensual love its natural right, protected people from the gross vulgarity of eastern unbridled voluptuousness. The ideal of female beauty and grace, the sweetly smiling Aphrodite of ancient Greek myths and the goddesses of the east, burdened with heavy and precious attire, are completely different creatures. The difference between them is the same as between the joyful service to the goddess of love in the best times of Ancient Greece and the noisy Syrian orgies, at which the goddess, surrounded by eunuchs, was served with unbridled revelry of coarse sensuality. True, in later times, with the depravity of morals, vulgar sensuality penetrated into the Greek service to the goddess of love. Aphrodite of Heaven (Urania), the goddess of honest love, patroness of family life, was pushed aside in the myths about the gods by Aphrodite of the People (Pandemos), the goddess of voluptuousness, whose holidays in big cities turned into revelry of vulgar sensuality.

Aphrodite and her son Eros (Eros), transformed by poets and artists into the oldest among the theogonic gods, into the youngest of the Olympian gods, and who became a young man accompanying his mother, later even a child, were favorite objects of ancient Greek art. The sculpture usually depicted Aphrodite naked, emerging from the waves of the sea; she was given all the charm of a beauty whose soul is full of feelings of love. Eros was depicted as a boy with soft, rounded body contours.

Myths about the god Hermes

With the development of culture in the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods, the Pelasgian god of nature Hermes, to whom Arcadian shepherds made sacrifices on Mount Cyllene, also acquired moral significance; he was among them the personification of the power of the sky, which gives grass to their pastures, and the father of their ancestor, Arcas. According to their myths, Hermes, while still a baby, wrapped in a cradle linen (in the fog of dawn), stole the flocks (light clouds) of the sun god, Apollo, and hid them in a damp cave near the seashore; stretching the strings on the shell of a turtle, he made a lyre and, giving it to Apollo, acquired the friendship of this more powerful god. Hermes also invented the shepherd's pipe, with which he walks through the mountains of his homeland. Subsequently, Hermes became the guardian of roads, crossroads and travelers, the keeper of streets and boundaries. On the latter, stones were placed, which were symbols of Hermes, and his images, which gave the boundaries of the plots holiness and strength.

God Hermes. Sculpture of Phidias (?)

Herms (that is, symbols of Hermes) were originally just heaps of stones piled on boundaries, near roads and especially at crossroads; these were boundary and waymarks considered sacred. Passers-by threw stones back where they had been placed before. Sometimes oil was poured on these heaps of stones dedicated to the god Hermes, as on primitive altars; they were decorated with flowers, wreaths, and ribbons. Subsequently, the Greeks placed triangular or tetrahedral stone pillars as waymarks and boundary markers; over time, they began to give them more skillful decoration; they usually made a pillar with a head, sometimes with a phallus, a symbol of fertility. Such herms stood along the roads, streets, squares, at gates, at doors; They were also placed in palaestras and gymnasiums, because Hermes was the patron of gymnastic exercises in the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods.

From the concept of the god of rain penetrating the earth, the idea of ​​mediation between heaven, earth and the underworld developed, and Hermes became in the myths of Ancient Greece the god who escorts the souls of the dead to the underworld (Hermes Psychopompos). Thus, he was placed in close connection with the gods living in the earth (chthonic gods). These ideas came from the concept of the connection between the emergence and death of plants in the cycle of life of nature and from the concept of Hermes as the messenger of the gods; they served as the source of many ancient Greek myths, which placed Hermes in very diverse relationships to the everyday affairs of people. The original myth already made him a cunning man: he cleverly stole Apollo’s cows and managed to make peace with this god; Hermes knew how to get out of difficult situations with clever inventions. This trait remained an invariable feature of the character of the god Hermes in later ancient Greek myths about him: he was the personification of everyday dexterity, the patron of all activities in which success is given by the ability to speak deftly and the ability to remain silent, hide the truth, pretend, and deceive. In particular, Hermes was the patron god of trade, oratory, embassies and diplomatic affairs in general. With the development of civilization, the concepts of these activities became predominant in the concept of Hermes, and his original pastoral meaning was transferred to one of the minor gods, Pan, "god of the pastures", just as the physical meaning of Apollo and Artemis was transferred to the less important gods, Helios and Selene.

God Pan

Pan was in ancient Greek myth the god of goat herds who grazed the wooded mountains of Arcadia; there he was born. His father was Hermes, his mother was the daughter of Dryope (“forest god”). Pan walks through shady valleys, caves serve as shelter for him; he has fun with the nymphs of the forest and mountain springs, dancing to the sounds of his shepherd's pipe (syringa, syrinx), an instrument that he himself invented; sometimes he himself dances with the nymphs. Pan is sometimes kind to the shepherds and becomes friends with us; but sometimes he causes trouble for them, raising a sudden fear in the herd (“panic” fear), so that the whole herd scatters. God Pan forever remained in Ancient Greece as a merry fellow of shepherd's holidays, a master of playing the reed pipe, funny for the townspeople; Later art characterized Pan's closeness to nature, giving his figure goat legs, or even horns and other animal features.

God Pan and Daphnis, hero of an ancient Greek novel. Antique statue

Poseidon in the myths of Ancient Greece

For more details, see the separate article God Poseidon

The gods of the sea and flowing waters and the gods living underground, more than the deities of the sky and air, retained the original meaning of the personified forces of nature: but they also received human traits. Poseidon - in the myths of Ancient Greece, the divine power of all waters, the god of the sea and all rivers, streams, springs that fertilize the earth. Therefore, he was the main god on the seaside and on the capes. Poseidon is strong, broad-shouldered, and has an indomitable character. When he strikes the sea with his trident, a storm arises, the waves crash against the rocks of the shores so that the earth trembles, the cliffs crack and collapse. But Poseidon is also a good god: he produces springs from the cracks of the rocks to fertilize the valleys; he created and tamed the horse; he is the patron of horse races and all war games, the patron of all daring journeys, whether on horseback, in chariots, by land, or by sea in ships. In ancient Greek myths, Poseidon is a mighty builder who established the earth and its islands, and laid strong boundaries for the sea. He raises storms, but he also gives favorable winds; at his command, the sea swallows ships; but he also guides the ships into the pier. Poseidon – patron of navigation; he protects maritime trade and controls the course of naval warfare.

The god of ships and horses, Poseidon played, according to the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods, an important role in all campaigns and sea expeditions of the heroic age. The birthplace of his cult was Thessaly, the country of the Neptunian formation, horse herds and navigation; then his service spread to Boeotia, Attica, and throughout the Peloponnese, and his holidays early began to be accompanied by war games. The most famous of these games in honor of the god Poseidon took place in the Boeotian city of Onchest and on Isthmus. In Onkhest, his sanctuaries and their grove stood picturesquely on a beautiful and fertile hill above Lake Kopai. The location of the Isthmian Games was a hill near Schoinos, "Reeds", a lowland overgrown with reeds, shaded by a pine grove. Symbolic rituals were introduced into the worship of Poseidon on Isthmus, borrowed from the legend of the death of Melicert, that is, from the Phoenician service to Melqart. – The wind-fast horses of the heroic age were created by the god Poseidon; in particular, Pegasus was created by him. – Poseidon’s wife, Amphitrite, was the personification of the roaring sea.

Like Zeus, Poseidon had many love affairs in the myths of ancient Greece about the gods, many sea gods and goddesses, and many heroes were his children. Tritons, the number of which was countless, belonged to Poseidon's retinue. These were cheerful creatures of various forms, personifications of noisy, ringing, sliding waves and mysterious forces of the depths of the sea, fantastically transformed sea animals. They played on trumpets made from shells, frolicked, and trailed the Nereids. They were one of my favorite objects of art. Proteus, the sea god, prophet of the future, who, according to ancient Greek myths, had the ability to take all sorts of forms, also belonged to Poseidon’s large retinue. When the Greek sailors began to sail far away, then, returning, they amazed their people with myths about the wonders of the western sea: about the sirens, beautiful sea maidens who live there on underwater islands under the bright surface of the waters and with seductive singing insidiously lure sailors to destruction, about the good Glaucus , the sea god who predicts the future, about the terrible monsters Scylla and Charybdis (personifications of a dangerous rock and whirlpool), about the wicked Cyclops, one-eyed giants, the sons of Poseidon, living on the island of Trinacria, where Mount Etna is, about the beautiful Galatea, about a rocky, walled island , where the god of the winds Aeolus lives cheerfully in a magnificent palace with his airy sons and daughters.

Underground gods – Hades, Persephone

The greatest similarity with eastern religions in the myths of Ancient Greece was the worship of those gods of nature who acted both in the bowels of the earth and on its surface. Human life is in such close connection with the development and withering of vegetation, with the growth and ripening of bread and grapes, that worship, folk beliefs, art, religious theories and myths about the gods combined their most profound ideas with the mysterious activities of the gods of the earth. The circle of phenomena of plant life was a symbol of human life: luxurious vegetation quickly fades from the heat of the sun or from the cold; It dies with the onset of winter and is reborn in the spring from the ground in which its seeds hid in the fall. It was easy to draw a parallel to ancient Greek mythology: so a person, after a short life under the joyful light of the sun, descends into the dark underground kingdom, where instead of the radiant Apollo and the bright Pallas Athena, the gloomy, stern Hades (Hades, Aidoneus) and the stern beauty, his wife, reign in a magnificent palace , the formidable Persephone. Thoughts about how close birth and death are to each other, about the fact that the earth is both the mother’s womb and the coffin, served in the myths of Ancient Greece as the basis for the cult of the underground gods and gave it a dual character: there was a joyful side and a sad side. And in Hellas, as in the East, service to the gods of the earth was exalted; its rituals consisted of expressing feelings of joy and sadness, and those performing them had to endlessly indulge in the action of the emotional disturbances they caused. But in the East, this exaltation led to the perversion of natural feelings, to the fact that people mutilated themselves; and in Ancient Greece, the cult of the gods of the earth developed the arts, stimulated reflection on religious issues, and led people to acquire sublime ideas about divinity. The festivals of the gods of the earth, especially Dionysus, greatly contributed to the development of poetry, music, and dance; plastic artist loved to take objects for her works from the circle of ancient Greek myths about cheerful fantastic creatures accompanying Pan and Dionysus. And the Eleusinian mysteries, the teachings of which spread throughout the Greek world, gave profound interpretations to the myths about the “earth-mother,” the goddess Demeter, about the abduction of her daughter (Kore) Persephone by the harsh ruler of the underworld, about the fact that Persephone’s life goes on on earth, then underground. These teachings inspired people that death is not terrible, that the soul survives the body. The forces ruling in the bowels of the earth aroused reverent caution in the ancient Greeks; it was impossible to speak about these forces without fear; thoughts about them were conveyed in the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods under the guise of symbols; they were not expressed directly, they had only to be unraveled under allegories. Mysterious teachings surrounded these formidable gods with solemn mystery, in the secrecy of darkness creating life and perceiving the dead, ruling the earthly and afterlife of man.

Persephone's gloomy husband, Hades (Hades), “Zeus of the underworld,” rules in the depths of the earth; there are sources of wealth and fertility; therefore he is also called Pluto, the “enricher.” But there are all the horrors of death. According to ancient Greek myths, wide gates lead to the vast dwelling of the king of the dead, Hades. Everyone can enter them freely; their guardian, the three-headed dog Cerberus, kindly lets those entering through, but does not allow them to return back. Weeping willows and barren poplars surround the vast palace of Hades. The shadows of the dead hover over gloomy fields overgrown with weeds, or nest in the crevices of underground rocks. Some of the heroes of Ancient Greece (Hercules, Theseus) went to the underground kingdom of Hades. According to different myths, the entrance to it was in different countries, but always in wild areas, where rivers flow through deep gorges, the water of which seems dark, where caves, hot springs and vapors show the proximity of the kingdom of the dead. Thus, for example, there was an entrance to the underworld at the Thesprotian Gulf in southern Epirus, where the Acheron River and Lake Acheruz infected their surroundings with miasma; at Cape Tenar; in Italy, in a volcanic area near the city of Qom. In the same areas there were those oracles whose answers were given by the souls of the dead.

Ancient Greek myths and poetry spoke a lot about the kingdom of the dead. Fantasy sought to give curiosity accurate information that science did not provide, to penetrate the darkness surrounding the afterlife, and inexhaustibly created new images belonging to the underworld.

The two main rivers of the underworld, according to Greek myths, are the Styx and Acheron, “the dully roaring river of eternal sorrow.” In addition to them, there were three more rivers in the kingdom of the dead: Lethe, whose water destroyed the memory of the past, Pyriphlegethon (“Fire River”) and Cocytus (“Sobbing”). The souls of the dead were taken to the underworld of Hades by Hermes. Stern old man Charon transported in his boat through the Styx, which surrounded the earthly kingdom, those souls whose bodies were buried with an obol placed in the coffin to pay him for the transportation. The souls of unburied people had to wander homeless along the river bank, not accepted into Charon’s boat. Therefore, whoever found an unburied body was obliged to cover it with earth.

The ideas of the ancient Greeks about the life of the dead in the kingdom of Hades changed with the development of civilization. In the oldest myths, the dead are ghosts without consciousness, but these ghosts instinctively do the same things they did when they were alive; – these are the shadows of living people. Their existence in the kingdom of Hades was dreary and sad. The shadow of Achilles tells Odysseus that she would rather live on earth as a day laborer for a poor man than to be the king of the dead in the underworld. But making sacrifices to the dead improved their miserable fate. The improvement consisted either in the fact that the severity of the underground gods was softened by these sacrifices, or in the fact that the shadows of the dead drank the blood of the sacrifices, and this drinking restored them to consciousness. The Greeks offered sacrifices to the dead at their tombs. Facing the west, they slaughtered the sacrificial animal over a deep hole deliberately dug in the ground, and the blood of the animal flowed into this hole. Later, when ideas about the afterlife were more fully developed in the Eleusinian mysteries, the myths of Ancient Greece began to divide the underground kingdom of Hades into two parts, Tartarus and Elysium. In Tartarus, the villains, condemned by the judges of the dead, led a miserable existence; they were tormented by the Erinyes, strict guardians of moral laws, who inexorably took revenge for any violation of the requirements of moral feeling, and countless evil spirits, in the invention of which Greek fantasy showed the same inexhaustibility as Egyptian, Indian and medieval European. Elysium, which, according to ancient Greek myths, lay near the ocean (or an archipelago on the ocean called the Isles of the Blessed) was the region of the afterlife of heroes of ancient times and the righteous. There the wind is always soft, there is no snow, no heat, no rain; there, in the myths about the gods, the good Cronus reigns; the earth gives harvest there three times a year, the meadows there bloom forever. Heroes and the righteous lead a blissful life there; on their heads there are wreaths, near their hands there are garlands of the most beautiful flowers and branches of beautiful trees; they enjoy singing, horse riding, and gymnastic games.

The most just and wise kings-legislators of the mythical Cretan-Carian time live there, Minos and Rhadamanthus, and the pious ancestor of the Aeacides, Aeacus, who, according to later myth, became judges of the dead. Under the chairmanship of Hades and Persephone, they examined the feelings and affairs of people and decided, based on the merits of the deceased person, whether his soul should go to Tartarus or Elysium. – Just as they and other pious heroes of ancient Greek myths were rewarded for their beneficial activities on earth by continuing their activities in the afterlife, so the great lawless people of mythical stories were subjected by divine justice to punishments in accordance with their crimes. Myths about their fate in the underworld showed the Greeks what bad inclinations and passions lead to; this fate was only a continuation, a development of the deeds they had committed in life and which gave rise to the torment of their conscience, the symbols of which were pictures of their material torment. Thus, the daring Tityus, who wanted to rape the mother of Apollo and Artemis, lies thrown to the ground; two kites constantly torment his liver, an organ that, according to the Greeks, was the seat of sensual passions (an obvious alteration of the myth of Prometheus). The punishment for another mythical hero, Tantalus, for his former lawlessness was that the cliff hanging over his head constantly threatened to crush him, and besides this fear he was tormented by thirst and hunger: he stood in the water, but when he bent down to drink, the water moved away from his lips and dropped “to the black bottom”; fruits hung before his eyes; but when he stretched out his hands to pluck them, the wind lifted the branches upward. Sisyphus, the treacherous king of Ephyra (Corinth), was condemned to roll a stone up a mountain, which constantly rolled down; - the personification of the waves constantly running onto the shores of the Isthmus and running off them. The eternal futile labor of Sisyphus symbolized unsuccessful cunning in ancient Greek myths, and the cunning of Sisyphus was the mythical personification of the quality developed in merchants and sailors by the riskiness of their affairs. Ixion, king of the Lapiths, “the first murderer,” was tied to a fiery, ever-turning wheel; this was his punishment for the fact that, while visiting Zeus, he violated the rights of hospitality and wanted to rape the chaste Hera. – The Danaids always carried water and poured it into a bottomless barrel.

Myths, poetry, and art of Ancient Greece taught people goodness, turned them away from vices and evil passions, depicting the bliss of the righteous and the torment of the wicked in the afterlife. There were episodes in myths that showed that, having descended into the underworld, one can return from there to earth. So, for example, it was said about Hercules that he defeated the forces of the underworld; Orpheus, by the power of his singing and his love for his wife, softened the harsh gods of death, and they agreed to return Eurydice to him. In the Eleusinian mysteries, these legends served as symbols of the idea that the power of death should not be considered insurmountable. Ideas about the underworld of Hades received an interpretation in new myths and sacraments that reduced the fear of death; the gratifying hope of bliss in the afterlife was manifested in Ancient Greece under the influence of the Eleusinian mysteries, and in works of art.

In the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods, Hades little by little became the good ruler of the kingdom of the dead and the giver of wealth; the attributes of horror were eliminated from ideas about it. The genius of death in the most ancient works of art was depicted as a dark-colored boy with crooked legs, symbolically denoting the idea that life is broken by death. Little by little, in ancient Greek myths, he took on the appearance of a beautiful young man with a bowed head, holding in his hand an overturned and extinguished torch, and became completely similar to his meek brother, the Genius of Sleep. They both live with their mother, Night, in the west. From there, every evening, a winged dream flies in and, sweeping over people, showers calm on them from a horn or from a poppy stalk; he is accompanied by the geniuses of dreams - Morpheus, Phantasm, bringing joy to the sleeping. Even the Erinyes lost their mercilessness in ancient Greek myths and became the Eumenides, “Well-wishers.” So, with the development of civilization, all the ideas of the ancient Greeks about the underground kingdom of Hades softened, ceased to be terrible, and its gods became beneficial, life-giving.

The goddess Gaia, who was the personification of the general concept of the earth, generating everything and taking everything back into itself, did not appear in the foreground in the myths of Ancient Greece. Only in some of the sanctuaries that had oracles, and in the theogonic systems that outlined the history of the development of the cosmos, was mention of her as the mother of the gods. Even the ancient Greek oracles, which initially all belonged to her, almost all passed under the authority of the new gods. The life of nature developing on earth was produced from the activity of the deities who ruled its various regions; service to these gods, who had a more or less special character, is in very close connection with the development of Greek culture. The power of vegetation, producing forests and green meadows, vines and bread, was explained even in Pelasgian times by the activity of Dionysus and Demeter. Later, when the influence of the East penetrated into Ancient Greece, these two gods were joined by a third, borrowed from Asia Minor, the earth goddess Rhea Cybele.

Demeter in the myths of Ancient Greece

Demeter, “earth-mother,” was in the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods the personification of that power of nature, which, with the assistance of sunlight, dew and rain, gives growth and ripening to bread and other fruits of the fields. She was a “blond” goddess, under whose protection people plow, sow, reap, knit bread into sheaves, and thresh. Demeter gives harvests. She sent Triptolemus to walk all over the earth and teach people arable farming and good morals. Demeter married Jasion, the sower, and bore him Plutos (wealth); she punished the wicked Erysichthon, who “spoils the earth,” with insatiable hunger. But in the myths of Ancient Greece she is also the goddess of married life, giving birth to children. The goddess who taught people agriculture and proper family life, Demeter was the founder of civilization, morality, and family virtues. Therefore, Demeter was the “giver of laws” (Thesmophoros), and the five-day festival of Thesmophoria, “laws,” was celebrated in her honor. The rituals of this holiday, performed by married women, were a symbolic glorification of agriculture and marriage. Demeter was the main goddess of the Eleusinian festival, the rites of which had as their main content the symbolic glorification of the gifts people received from the gods of the earth. The Amphictyon League, which met at Thermopylae, was also under the patronage of Demeter, the goddess of civil improvement.

But the highest significance of the cult of the goddess Demeter was that it contained the doctrine of the relationship between life and death, the bright celestial world and the dark kingdom of the bowels of the earth. The symbolic expression of this teaching was the beautiful myth of the abduction of Persephone, daughter of Demeter, by the ruthless ruler of the underworld. Demeter "The Sorrowful" (Achaia) walked all over the earth, looking for her daughter; and in many cities the festival of Demeter the Sorrowful was celebrated, the sad rites of which bore a resemblance to the Phoenician cult of Adonis. The human heart yearns for clarification of the question of death; The Eleusinian mysteries were an attempt by the ancient Greeks to solve this riddle; they were not a philosophical exposition of concepts; they acted on the feeling with aesthetic means, consoled, aroused hope. Attic poets said that blessed are those dying who are initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries of Demeter: they know the purpose of life and its divine beginning; For them, the descent into the underworld is life, for the uninitiated it is horror. Demeter's daughter, Persephone, was in the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods the connection between the kingdom of the living and the underworld; she belonged to both.

Myths about the god Dionysus

For more details, see the separate article God Dionysus

Dionysus in the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods originally personified the abundance of plant power. It was clearly manifested in the form of bunches of grapes, whose juice intoxicated people. The vine and wine became symbols of Dionysus, and he himself became the god of joy and fraternal rapprochement of people. Dionysus is a powerful god who overcomes everything hostile to him. Like Apollo, he gives inspiration, excites a person to sing, but not harmonious, but wild and violent songs, reaching the point of exaltation - those that later formed the basis of ancient Greek drama. In the myths of Ancient Greece about Dionysus and in the holiday of Dionysius, various and even opposite feelings were expressed: the joy of that time of year when everything blooms, and sadness when the vegetation withers. Joyful and sad feelings then began to be expressed separately - in comedies and tragedies that arose from the cult of Dionysus. In ancient Greek myths, the symbol of the generative force of nature - the phallus - was closely related to the veneration of Dionysus. Initially, Dionysus was a rude god of the common people. But in the era of tyranny its importance increased. The tyrants, who most often acted as leaders of the lower classes in the struggle against the nobility, deliberately contrasted the plebeian Dionysus with the refined gods of the aristocracy and gave the festivities in honor of him a broad, national character.