Basic information about the mythology of ancient Greece. Myths of ancient Greece. Closer to people

Greek mythology is conditionally divided into two large sections: the deeds of the gods and the adventures of heroes. It should be noted that even despite the fact that they very often intersect, the line is drawn quite clearly and the child is able to notice it as well. The gods very often turn to the heroes for help, and the heroes, having the essence of demigods or titans, get out of certain situations in every possible way, creating positive stereotypes and doing good.

Greek mythology in the names of the gods

As always, the god of thunder sits at the top of the pantheon, who, nevertheless, is not the progenitor of all things, but only the heir. This is one of the distinguishing features of pagan beliefs from monotheistic ones, and all Greek mythology is clearly permeated with this fact. Gods who are not creators and creators, but only representing immortal beings, feeding their power with the worship and faith of people. The father and mother of all things were the ancestors of the parents of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades - the mother earth Gaia and the father sky Ouranos. They gave birth to gods and titans, among whom was the strongest - Kronos. Greek mythology ascribes supreme power and strength to him, but, nevertheless, having matured, Zeus overthrew his father and himself took his throne, dividing the Earth between the brothers: Poseidon - water spaces, Hades - the underworld, and he himself became the supreme thunder god and married Hera.

The next and intermediate step between the gods and people are various Greek mythology gave rise to Pegasus, Sirens, Minotaurs, Centaurs, Satyrs, Nymphs and many other creatures who, to one degree or another, possessed certain mystical powers. For example, Pegasus - could fly and became attached to only one person, and the sirens had the art of casting illusory spells. Moreover, most of these creatures in Greek mythology were endowed with reason and consciousness, sometimes much higher than that of an ordinary person.

And those who were people, but had at least a drop of divine blood in themselves, were called

heroes and demigods. Since they, possessing the power of the god-father, nevertheless remained mortal and very often opposed higher powers. One of the brightest heroes was Hercules, who became famous for his exploits, such as killing the hydra, Antaeus, and so on. You can always read more details in any book marked "Greek Mythology". The names of such heroes as Hector, Paris, Achilles, Jason, Orpheus, Odysseus and others, not only went down in history, they remained on everyone's lips to this day, like living proverbs and examples of how to behave in one or another a different situation.

indirect characters

There were also those who were neither gods nor heroes. These were ordinary people who accomplished feats of such magnitude that their deeds went down in history and are passed from mouth to mouth to this day. The wings of Daedalus and the arrogant stupidity of his son Icarus became instructive parable. The senseless and bloody victories of King Pyrrhus in the wars served as the basis for the saying "Pyrrhic victory", which takes its origins in his own words: "Another such victory and I will not have an army!".

Religion played a major role in Everyday life ancient Greeks. The main gods were considered the younger generation of celestials, who defeated their predecessors, the titans, who personified the universal forces. After the victory, they settled on the sacred Mount Olympus. Only Hades, the ruler of the kingdom of the dead, lived underground in his domain. The gods were immortal, but very similar to people - they were characterized by human features: they quarreled and reconciled, committed meanness and weaved intrigues, loved and cunning. A huge number of myths that have survived to this day, exciting and fascinating, are associated with the pantheon of Greek gods. Each god played his own role, occupied a certain place in a complex hierarchy and performed the function assigned to him.

The supreme god of the Greek pantheon is the king of all gods. He commanded thunder, lightning, the sky and the whole world. Son of Kronos and Rhea, brother of Hades, Demeter and Poseidon. Zeus had a difficult childhood - his father, the titan Kronos, fearing competition, devoured his children immediately after birth. However, thanks to his mother Rhea, Zeus managed to survive. Strengthened, Zeus threw his father from Olympus to Tartarus and received unlimited power over people and gods. He was very revered - the best sacrifices were brought to him. The life of every Greek from infancy was saturated with the praise of Zeus.

One of the three main gods of the ancient Greek pantheon. Son of Kronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus and Hades. He was subject to the water element, which he got after the victory over the titans. He personified courage and a quick temper - it was possible to appease him generous gifts.. but not for long. The Greeks blamed it for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. He was the patron saint of fishermen and sailors. The invariable attribute of Poseidon was a trident - with it he could cause storms and break rocks.

Brother of Zeus and Poseidon, closing the top three most influential gods of the ancient Greek pantheon. Immediately after birth, he was swallowed by his father Kronos, but was subsequently released from the womb of the latter by Zeus. He ruled the underground kingdom of the dead, inhabited by the gloomy shadows of the dead and demons. One could only enter this kingdom - there was no turning back. One mention of Hades caused awe among the Greeks, because the touch of this invisible cold god meant death for a person. Fertility also depended on Hades, giving a harvest from the depths of the earth. He commanded the underground riches.

Wife and sister of Zeus. According to legend, they kept their marriage a secret for 300 years. The most powerful of all the goddesses of Olympus. The patroness of marriage and conjugal love. Protected mothers during childbirth. She was distinguished by her amazing beauty and ... monstrous character - she was vicious, cruel, quick-tempered and jealous, often sending misfortunes to the earth and people. Despite its character, it was revered by the ancient Greeks almost on a par with Zeus.

God of unjust war and bloodshed. Son of Zeus and Hera. Zeus hated his son and tolerated it only because of his close relationship. Ares was distinguished by cunning and treachery, starting a war only for the sake of bloodshed. He had an impulsive, irascible character. He was married to the goddess Aphrodite, from her he had eight children, to whom he was very attached. All images of Ares contain military paraphernalia: a shield, helmet, sword or spear, sometimes armor.

Daughter of Zeus and the goddess Dione. Goddess of love and beauty. Personifying love, she was a very unfaithful wife, easily falling in love with others. In addition, she was the embodiment of eternal spring, life and fertility. The cult of Aphrodite was very revered in Ancient Greece- dedicated to her magnificent temples and made great sacrifices. An invariable attribute of the goddess's attire was a magical belt (the belt of Venus), which made those who wore it unusually attractive.

Goddess of just war and wisdom. She was born from the head of Zeus .. without the participation of a woman. Born in full combat gear. Depicted as a virgin warrior. She patronized knowledge, crafts and arts, sciences and inventions. She is credited with inventing the flute. She was a favorite of the Greeks. Her images invariably accompanied the attributes (or at least one attribute) of a warrior: armor, spear, sword and shield.

Daughter of Kronos and Rhea. Goddess of fertility and agriculture. As a child, she repeated the fate of her brother Hades and was devoured by her father, but then she was saved by being taken out of his womb. She was the lover of her brother Zeus. From a relationship with him, she had a daughter, Persephone. According to legend, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades, and Demeter wandered the earth for a long time in search of her daughter. During her wanderings, the land was struck by crop failure, which caused famine and death of people. People stopped bringing gifts to the gods, and Zeus ordered Hades to return the mother's daughter.

Son of Zeus and Semele. The youngest of the inhabitants of Olympus. God of winemaking (he was credited with the invention of wine and beer), vegetation, the productive forces of nature, inspiration and religious ecstasy. The cult of Dionysus was distinguished by uncontrollable dancing, bewitching music and immoderate drunkenness. According to legend, Hera, the wife of Zeus, who hated illegitimate child thunderer, sent madness on Dionysus. He himself was credited with the ability to drive people crazy. Dionysus wandered all his life and even visited Hades, from where he rescued his mother Semele. Once every three years, the Greeks held Bacchic festivities in memory of the campaign of Dionysus against India.

Daughter of the Thunderer Zeus and the goddess Leto. She was born at the same time as her twin brother, the golden-haired Apollo. Virgin goddess of hunting, fertility, female chastity. The patroness of women in childbirth, bestowing happiness in marriage. Being a protector during childbirth, she was often depicted as having many breasts. In honor of her, a temple was built in Ephesus, which was one of the seven wonders of the world. Often depicted with a golden bow and a quiver over her shoulders.

God of fire, patron of blacksmiths. Son of Zeus and Hera, brother of Ares and Athena. However, the paternity of Zeus was questioned by the Greeks. Various versions have been put forward. One of them - the obstinate Hera gave birth to Hephaestus from her thigh without male participation, in revenge on Zeus for the birth of Athena. The child was born weak and lame. Hera refused him and threw him off Olympus into the sea. However, Hephaestus did not die and found shelter with the sea goddess Thetis. The thirst for revenge tormented Hephaestus, rejected by his parents, and in the end he had a chance to take revenge. Being a skilled blacksmith, he forged a golden throne of incredible beauty, which he sent as a gift to Olympus. The delighted Hera sat on him and immediately found herself bound by previously invisible fetters. No persuasion and even the order of Zeus had no effect on the blacksmith god - he refused to release his mother. Only Dionysus was able to cope with the shrew, having drunk him.

Son of Zeus and Pleiades Maya. God of trade, profit, eloquence, agility and athleticism. He patronized merchants, helping them to get generous profits. In addition, he was the patron of travelers, ambassadors, shepherds, astrologers and magicians. He also had another honorary function - he accompanied the souls of the dead to Hades. He was credited with the invention of writing and numbers. From infancy, Hermes was distinguished by a penchant for theft. According to legend, he even managed to steal the scepter from Zeus. He did it as a joke ... as a baby. The invariable attributes of Hermes were: a winged rod capable of reconciling enemies, a wide-brimmed hat and winged sandals.

A long time ago - so long ago that even then time flowed in the opposite direction, the ancient Hellenes lived on the Balkan Peninsula, who left the richest heritage to the peoples of the whole world. These are not only majestic buildings, beautiful antique wall paintings and marble statues, but also great works of literature, as well as ancient legends that have survived to this day - the myths of Ancient Greece, which reflect the ancient Greeks' idea of \u200b\u200bthe structure of the world and, in general, about all processes occurring in nature and in society. In a word, their world outlook and outlook.

Greek mythology evolved over several centuries, passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. Myths have come to us already in the poetry of Hesiod and, as well as in the works of the Greek playwrights Aeschylus, and others. That is why they had to be collected from a variety of sources.

Mythographers appeared in Greece around the 4th century BC. These include the sophist Hippias, as well as Heraclitus Pontus and many others. For example, Dionysius of Samoia compiled genealogical tables and studied tragic myths.

In the heroic period, mythological images are centralized around myths associated with the legendary Mount Olympus.

According to the myths of ancient Greece, you can recreate a picture of the world in the view of its ancient inhabitants. So, according to Greek mythology, the world was inhabited by monsters and giants: giants, one-eyed cyclops (Cyclops) and mighty Titans - formidable children of the Earth (Gaia) and Heaven (Uranus). In these images, the Greeks personified the elemental forces of nature, which were subdued by Zeus (Dias) - the Thunderer and Cloudbreaker, who established order in the world and became the ruler of the Universe.

Jean-Baptiste Moses
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

In the beginning there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos , which contained the source of the life of the world: everything arose from Chaos - the whole world, and the immortal gods, and the goddess Earth - Gaia, who gives life to everything that lives and grows on it; and the mighty force that animates everything, Love - Eros.

Deep under the Earth, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss full of eternal darkness.

Creating the world, Chaos gave birth to Eternal Darkness - Erebus and dark night- Nobody. And from Night and Darkness came the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful bright Day - Hemera (Imera). Light spread all over the world, and night and day began to replace each other.

The mighty, fertile Gaia gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, which spread over the Earth, reigning throughout the world. The high Mountains, born of the Earth, proudly rose to him, and the eternally noisy Sea spread wide.

After the Heaven, Mountains and Sea originated from Mother Earth, Uranus married the blessed Gaia, from whom he had six sons - mighty, formidable titans - and six daughters. The son of Uranus and Gaia is the titan Ocean, flowing around, like a boundless river, the whole earth, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that rolled their waves to the sea, as well as sea goddesses - oceanids. Titan Gipperion and Theia gave the world the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selena and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos. All the stars that burn in the night sky and all the winds originated from Astrea and Eos: the north wind - Boreas (Βορριάς), the east - Eurus (Εύρος), the southern Not (Νοτιάς) and the westerly, gentle wind Zephyr (Ζέφυρος), carrying abundant rain clouds.

Noel Kuapel

In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - cyclops with one eye in their foreheads - and three fifty-headed hundred-armed giants - Hekatonkheires, against whom nothing could resist, because their elemental strength knew no bounds.

Uranus hated his giant children and imprisoned them in the bowels of the Earth, not allowing them to come out into the light. Mother Earth suffered from the fact that she was crushed by a terrible burden, enclosed in the depths of her bowels. Then she called her children, the titans, to persuade them to rebel against Uranus. However, the titans were afraid to raise a hand against their father. Only the youngest of them, the treacherous Kronos, by cunning overthrew Uranus, taking away his power.

As punishment for Kronos, the goddess Night gave birth to Tanata - death, Eridu - discord, Apata - deceit, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with nightmare visions, Nemesis - revenge for crimes - and many other gods who brought Kronos into the world, who reigned on the throne of his father , horror, strife, deceit, struggle and misfortune.

Kronos himself did not have confidence in the strength and durability of his power: he was afraid that his children would rise up against him and he would suffer the fate of his own father Uranus. In this regard, Kronos ordered his wife Rhea to bring him born children, five of which he ruthlessly swallowed: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon.

Noel Kuapel
Charles William Mitchell

Rhea, in order not to lose her last child, on the advice of her parents, Uranus-Heaven and Gaia-Earth, retired to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to her youngest son Zeus in a deep cave. Hiding a newborn in a cave, Rhea let the cruel Kronos swallow a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of her son. Kronos did not even suspect that he had been deceived by his wife, while Zeus grew up in Crete under the supervision of the nymphs Adrastea and Idea, who fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. The bees carried honey to little Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikta, and at the entrance to the cave, young curets hit their shields with swords whenever little Zeus cried, so that the all-powerful Kronos would inadvertently hear his cry.

The titans were replaced by the kingdom of Zeus, who defeated his father Kronos and became supreme deity Olympic pantheon; ruler heavenly powers who commands thunder, lightning, clouds and showers. Dominating the universe, Zeus gave people laws and guarded order.

According to the ancient Greeks Olympic gods were like people and the relationship between them resembled the relationship between people: they quarreled and reconciled, envied and interfered in people's lives, were offended, took part in wars, rejoiced, had fun and fell in love. Each of the gods had a specific occupation, being responsible for a specific area of \u200b\u200blife:

Zeus (Dias) - the ruler of the sky, the father of gods and people.
Hera (Ira) - the wife of Zeus, the patroness of the family.
Poseidon is the lord of the seas.
Hestia (Estia) is the protector of the family hearth.
Demeter (Dimitra) - the goddess of agriculture.
Apollo is the god of light and music.
Athena is the goddess of wisdom.
Hermes (Ermis) - the god of trade and the messenger of the gods.
Hephaestus (Ifestos) is the god of fire.
Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty.
Ares (Aris) is the god of war.
Artemis is the goddess of the hunt.

People on earth turned to the gods - to each according to his "specialty", erected temples for them and, in order to propitiate them, brought gifts as sacrifices.

Ancient Greek mythology expressed the living sensory perception surrounding reality with all its diversity and colors. Behind every phenomenon of the material world - thunderstorm, war, storm, dawn, lunar eclipse, according to the Greeks, there was an act of one or another god.

Theogony

Classical Greek pantheon numbered 12 Olympian deities. However, the inhabitants of Olympus were not the first inhabitants of the earth and the creators of the world. According to the Theogony of the poet Hesiod, the Olympians were only the third generation of gods. At the very beginning there was only Chaos, from which eventually came:

Nyukta (Night),
Gaia (Earth),
Uranus (Sky),
Tartarus (Abyss),
Skotos (Darkness),
Erebus (Darkness).

These forces should be considered the first generation of the Greek gods. The children of Chaos entered into marriages with each other, giving birth to gods, seas, mountains, monsters and various amazing creatures - hekatoncheirs and titans. The grandchildren of Chaos are considered to be the second generation of the gods.

Uranus became the ruler of the whole world, and Gaia, the mother of all things, became his wife. Uranus was afraid and hated his numerous children-titans, therefore, immediately after their birth, he hid the babies back into the womb of Gaia. Gaia suffered greatly from the fact that she could not be born, but the youngest of the children, the titan Kronos, came to her aid. He deposed and castrated his father.

The children of Uranus and Gaia were finally able to come out of their mother's womb. Kronos married one of his sisters - the titanide Rhea and became the supreme deity. His reign became a real "golden age". However, Kronos feared for his power. Uranus predicted to him that one of the children of Kronos would do the same to him as Kronos himself did to his father. Therefore, all the children born to Rhea - Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter - were swallowed by the titan. The last son - Zeus - Rhea managed to hide. Zeus grew up, freed his brothers and sisters, and then began to fight with his father. So the titans and the third generation of gods, the future Olympians, clashed in the battle. Hesiod calls these events "titanomachia" (literally "Battles of the Titans"). The struggle ended with the victory of the Olympians and the fall of the titans into the abyss of Tartarus.

Modern researchers are inclined to believe that the titanomachy was not an empty fantasy based on nothing. In fact, this episode reflected important social changes in the life of ancient Greece. The archaic chthonic deities - the titans, who were worshiped by the ancient Greek tribes, gave way to new deities who personified order, law and statehood. The tribal system and matriarchy went into the past, they are being replaced by the polis system and the patriarchal cult of epic heroes.

Olympian gods

Thanks to numerous literary works, many ancient Greek myths. Unlike Slavic mythology, preserved in a fragmentary and incomplete form, ancient Greek folklore was deeply and comprehensively studied. The pantheon of the ancient Greeks included hundreds of gods, however, only 12 of them played the leading role. There is no canonical list of Olympians. In different versions of myths, different gods may enter the pantheon.

Zeus

Zeus was at the head of the ancient Greek pantheon. He and his brothers - Poseidon and Hades - cast lots to divide the world among themselves. Poseidon got the oceans and seas, Hades got the kingdom of the souls of the dead, and Zeus got the sky. Under the rule of Zeus, law and order are established throughout the earth. For the Greeks, Zeus was the personification of the Cosmos, opposing the ancient Chaos. In a narrower sense, Zeus was the god of wisdom, as well as thunder and lightning.

Zeus was very prolific. From goddesses and earthly women, he had many children - gods, mythical creatures, heroes and kings.

A very interesting moment in the biography of Zeus is his struggle with the titan Prometheus. The Olympian gods destroyed the first people who lived on earth since the time of Kronos. Prometheus created new people and taught them crafts, for their sake, the titan even stole fire from Olympus. Enraged, Zeus ordered Prometheus to be chained to a rock, where an eagle flew daily, pecking at the liver of a titan. In order to take revenge on the people created by Prometheus for their self-will, Zeus sent Pandora to them - a beauty who opened a box in which diseases and various misfortunes of the human race were hidden.

Despite such a vengeful disposition, in general, Zeus is a bright and fair deity. Next to his throne are two vessels - with good and evil, depending on the actions of people, Zeus draws gifts from the vessels, sending either punishment or mercy to mortals.

Poseidon

The brother of Zeus - Poseidon - the lord of such a changeable element as water. Like the ocean, it can be wild and wild. Most likely, Poseidon was originally an earthly deity. This version explains why the cult animals of Poseidon were completely "land" bull and horse. Hence the epithets with which the god of the seas was endowed - “shaking the earth”, “land holder”.

In myths, Poseidon often opposes his thunder brother. For example, he supports the Achaeans in the war against Troy, on the side of which Zeus was.

Almost the entire commercial and fishing life of the Greeks depended on the sea. Therefore, rich sacrifices were regularly made to Poseidon, throwing them directly into the water.

Hera

Despite the huge number of connections with a variety of women, the closest companion of Zeus all this time was his sister and wife, Hera. Although Hera was the main female deity on Olympus, in fact she was only the third wife of Zeus. The first wife of the Thunderer was the wise oceanid Metis, whom he imprisoned in his womb, and the second was the goddess of justice Themis - the mother of the seasons and moira - the goddesses of fate.

Although the divine spouses often quarrel and cheat on each other, the union of Hera and Zeus symbolizes all monogamous marriages on earth and the relationship between a man and a woman in general.

Distinguished by a jealous and sometimes cruel disposition, Hera was still the guardian of the family hearth, the protector of mothers and children. The Greek women prayed to Hera to send them a good husband, pregnancy, or an easy birth.

Perhaps Hera's confrontation with her husband reflects the chthonic nature of this goddess. According to one version, touching the earth, she even gives birth to a monstrous snake - Typhon. Obviously, Hera is one of the first female deities of the Peloponnesian Peninsula, an evolved and reworked image of the mother goddess.

Ares

Ares was the son of Hera and Zeus. He personified the war, and, moreover, the war was not in the form of a liberation confrontation, but a senseless bloody massacre. It is believed that Ares, who absorbed part of the chthonic rampage of his mother, is extremely treacherous and cunning. He uses his power to sow murder and discord.

In the myths, Zeus's dislike for the bloodthirsty son can be traced, however, even a just war is impossible without Ares.

Athena

The birth of Athena was very unusual. One day, Zeus began to suffer severe headaches. To alleviate the suffering of the Thunderer, the god Hephaestus strikes him on the head with an ax. From the resulting wound comes a beautiful maiden in armor and with a spear. Zeus, seeing his daughter, was very happy. The newborn goddess was named Athena. She became the main assistant to her father - the keeper of law and order and the personification of wisdom. Formally, the mother of Athena was Metis, imprisoned inside Zeus.

Since the warlike Athena embodied both the feminine and the masculine, she did not need a spouse and remained virgin. The goddess patronized warriors and heroes, but only those of them who wisely disposed of their strength. Thus, the goddess balanced the rampage of her bloodthirsty brother Ares.

Hephaestus

Hephaestus - the patron of blacksmithing, crafts and fire - was the son of Zeus and Hera. He was born lame in both legs. Hera was unpleasant to an ugly and sick baby, so she threw him off Olympus. Hephaestus fell into the sea, where Thetis picked him up. On the seabed, Hephaestus mastered blacksmith craft and began to forge wonderful things.

For the Greeks, Hephaestus, thrown from Olympus, personified, although ugly, but very smart and kind god, helping everyone who turns to him.

To teach his mother a lesson, Hephaestus forged a golden throne for her. When Hera got into it, the fetters closed on her arms and legs, which none of the gods could unchain. Despite all the persuasion, Hephaestus stubbornly did not want to go to Olympus in order to free Hera. Only Dionysus, who intoxicated Hephaestus, managed to bring the blacksmith god. After her release, Hera recognized her son and gave him Aphrodite as his wife. However, Hephaestus did not live long with a windy wife and entered into a second marriage with Charita Aglaya, the goddess of goodness and joy.

Hephaestus is the only Olympian who is constantly busy with work. He forges lightning bolts for Zeus, magic items, armor and weapons. From his mother, he, like Ares, inherited some chthonic features, however, not so destructive. The connection of Hephaestus with the underworld is emphasized by its fiery nature. However, the fire of Hephaestus is not a destructive flame, but a hearth that warms people, or a blacksmith's forge, with which many useful things can be made.

Demeter

One of the daughters of Rhea and Kronos - Demeter - was the patroness of fertility and agriculture. Like many female deities who personify Mother Earth, Demeter had a direct connection with the world of the dead. After the abduction by Hades of her daughter, Persephone, with Zeus, Demeter fell into mourning. Eternal winter reigned on the earth, thousands of people died of hunger. Then Zeus demanded that Persephone spend only one third of the year with Hades, and return to her mother for two thirds.

It is believed that Demeter taught people how to farm. She also gave fertility to plants, animals and people. The Greeks believed that the mysteries dedicated to Demeter blurred the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead. Archaeological data show that in some areas of Greece, Demeter even made human sacrifices.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite - the goddess of love and beauty - appeared on earth in a very unusual way. After the castration of Uranus, Kronos threw his father's reproductive organ into the sea. Since Uranus was very prolific, the beautiful Aphrodite emerged from the sea foam that formed in this place.

The goddess knew how to send love to people and gods, which she often used. One of the main attributes of Aphrodite was her wonderful belt, which made any woman beautiful. Because of the changeable disposition of Aphrodite, many suffered from her charms. The vengeful goddess could severely punish those who rejected her gifts or offended her in some way.

Apollo and Artemis

Apollo and Artemis are the children of the goddess Leto and Zeus. Hera was extremely angry with Summer, so she pursued her throughout the earth and for a long time did not allow her to be born. In the end, on the island of Delos, surrounded by Rhea, Themis, Amphitrite and other goddesses, Leto gave birth to two twins. Artemis was the first to be born and immediately began to help her mother in the birth of her brother.

With a bow and arrows, Artemis, surrounded by nymphs, began to wander through the forests. The virgin hunter goddess was the patroness of wild and domestic animals and all life on earth. Both young girls and pregnant women, whom she protected, turned to her for help.

Her brother became the patron of the arts and healing. Apollo brings harmony and tranquility to Olympus. This god is considered one of the main symbols classical period in the history of ancient Greece. He brings elements of beauty and light into everything he does, gives people the gift of foresight, teaches them to heal diseases and play music.

Hestia

Unlike most of the cruel and vindictive Olympians, Zeus' older sister, Hestia, was distinguished by a peaceful and calm disposition. The Greeks revered her as a guardian hearth and sacred fire. Hestia adhered to chastity and refused all the gods who offered her marriage.

The cult of Hestia was very widespread in Greece. It was believed that she helps to hold sacred ceremonies and preserves peace in families.

Hermes

The patron of trade, wealth, dexterity and theft - Hermes, most likely, was originally an ancient Asia Minor demon-rogue. Over time, the Greeks turned the petty trickster into one of the most powerful gods. Hermes was the son of Zeus and the nymph Maya. Like all children of Zeus, he demonstrated his amazing abilities from birth. So, on the very first day after his birth, Hermes learned to play the cithara and stole the cows of Apollo.

In myths, Hermes appears not only as a deceiver and a thief, but also as a faithful assistant. He often rescued heroes and gods from difficult situations, bringing them weapons, magical herbs, or some other necessary items. A distinctive attribute of Hermes were winged sandals and a caduceus - a rod around which two snakes twined.

Shepherds, merchants, usurers, travelers, swindlers, alchemists and fortune-tellers revered Hermes.

Hades

Hades - the ruler of the world of the dead - is not always included among the Olympian gods, since he did not live on Olympus, but in gloomy Hades. However, he was certainly a very powerful and influential deity. The Greeks were afraid of Hades and preferred not to pronounce his name out loud, replacing it with various epithets. Some researchers believe that Hades is a different hypostasis of Zeus.

Although Hades was the god of the dead, he also bestowed fertility and wealth. At the same time, he himself, as befits such a deity, did not have children, he even had to kidnap his wife, because none of the goddesses wanted to descend into the underworld.

The cult of Hades was almost not widespread. Only one temple is known, where only once a year sacrifices were made to the king of the dead.

dialectic religion philosophy socrates

How to explain why a volcano erupts, lightning rumbles, there is a drought, or the sea storms, destroying everything in its path? The ancient Greeks found the answer - the actions of the Gods. The mythology of Ancient Greece is a whole world order with a large family of Gods, an explanation of all natural phenomena and forces that control human life. What were the myths about? Did mortals become heroes of legends? Where is the fiction, and where is the truth?

Greek mythology or the mythology of ancient Greece arose much later than most of the ancient ideas of the Greek people about the world. The Hellenes, like other peoples of antiquity, sought to somehow unravel the formidable and often incomprehensible natural phenomena, to know those mysterious unknown forces that govern human life.

The fantasy of the ancient Greeks and gave rise to ancient Greek mythology, inhabited the world good and evil fabulous creatures: dryads settled in groves and trees, nymphs in rivers, oreads in mountains, oceanids in oceans and seas. The image of nature, wild and rebellious, was personified by centaurs and satyrs. When studying Greek mythology, it becomes clear that the world at that time was ruled by immortal gods, kind and wise. They lived on the top of the huge Mount Olympus and were presented as beautiful and perfect creatures, similar to appearance on people. They were a single family, the head of which was Zeus the Thunderer.

The virtues of the ancient Greeks were considered moderation, justice, courage, prudence. One of the invariably punished sins was "hubris" - criminal pride, opposition to the divine will.

The humanization of divine beings is a characteristic feature of the Greek religion, which made it possible to bring Greek mythology closer. ordinary people. External beauty was considered as the highest measure of perfection. So, the mighty forces of nature, previously beyond the control of either man, let alone his influence, became understandable, became more understandable and understandable to the imagination of an ordinary person.

The Greek people became the creator of myths and legends, unique in their beauty, about the life of people, gods and heroes. IN ancient Greek mythology memories of a distant, long-forgotten past and poetic fiction merged into one. Separate legends about the Greek gods were combined into complex cosmogonic legends (about the emergence of man and the world). Greek mythology is a primitive attempt to comprehend reality, to give the whole natural picture expediency and harmony, to expand life experience.

According to myth, a white lily - a symbol of innocence and purity - grew from the milk of the goddess Hera, who found the baby Hercules and wanted to give him milk. But the boy, sensing an enemy in her, pushed her away, and the milk spilled across the sky, forming the Milky Way. A few drops fell to the ground and turned into lilies.

The unforgettableness of the myths and legends of ancient Greece is explained extremely simply: no other human creation is distinguished by such richness and fullness of images. In the future, philosophers and historians, poets and artists, sculptors and writers turned to ancient Greek mythology, drawing ideas from their own works in the inexhaustible sea of legendary plots, introducing new ideas into myths. mythological worldview, which corresponded to that historical period.

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

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

Food, drinks and things were sacrificed to the gods. Animal sacrifices - hecatombs - were widespread. The libation of drinks (libation) was also popular, and during disasters, people or animals expelled from the settlement to avert the wrath of the gods (farmaki).

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

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

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

The planet Mars bears the name of the god of war Ares-Mars, because it has a red, "bloody" color. And its satellites, discovered in 1877, are named after the sons of Ares - Phobos (the god of fear) and Deimos (the god of horror).

Three brothers - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades divided the universe among themselves. The middle brother Poseidon inherited the sea. He took the beautiful Amphitrite as his wife and lives with her in a wonderful underwater palace. Their son Triton, who was represented as combining the features of a man, a horse and a fish, blowing into a sea shell, causes terrible storms. Poseidon himself loves to race across the stormy sea in a chariot drawn by sea horses and shaking his formidable trident. The blue curls of the great god are fluttering in the wind. Poseidon is surrounded by Nereids - the beautiful daughters of the sea elder Nereus and Proteus - who changes his appearance like the sea and has the gift of prediction (on the facades of some St. Petersburg houses and lattices we can see some of these amazing creatures).

The younger brother, dark-haired Hades, the owner of the invisibility cap, received the underworld in control. He married Persephone, the daughter of Zeus himself. Sad life in the kingdom of Hades (which is also called Hades). It is surrounded by the river Styx, through which the souls of the dead are transported by the stern old man Charon. The entrance is guarded by the formidable three-headed dog Cerberus, who does not let anyone back. Those who fall into Hades have, however, a different fate. The souls of people whose good and bad deeds equalize each other, “clothed with wings” roam among meadows overgrown with pale tulips and groves of black poplars. The souls of villains and perjurers suffer severe punishments (for example, the deceiver Sisyphus must always lift a heavy stone up the mountain, which, as soon as it reaches the top, immediately rolls down). The souls of the righteous dwell in Elysium, the land of the never-setting sun and the Isles of the Blessed. They say that Cron rules there, who was pardoned by his son Zeus.

The ancient Greeks had not only powerful gods, but also smaller, "everyday" deities. For example, Aloe, the son of Poseidon, was revered as a deity of threshed grain.

Zeus, revered as the elder and "king of the gods", received heaven and earth during the division. He married Hera (“lady”), who became the patroness of family and marriage. They had beautiful daughters Ilithyia and Hebe and sons - the master Hephaestus and the warlike Ares. The magnificent home of the gods is located on Mount Olympus, where summer reigns forever. Young Hebe brings ambrosia and nectar to the gods at feasts - the food of the gods. Zeus, in the form of a mature, black-haired man, proudly sits on a golden throne. Next to him is his sacred eagle. Near the throne stands Irida with rainbow wings - the messenger of the gods.

Along with the gods, heroes, or titans, were "involved" in the myths. Heroes were considered semi-divine personalities, standing between gods and people. Heroes were also people who really existed, historical figures - the Athenian commander (Miltiades), statesmen (Solon), founders philosophical schools, the largest poets, whose work played a big role in the life of the Greeks. Their tombs were often located in the center of cities as a reminder of past exploits. There were heroes and legendary figures created by folk fantasy.

One of the most famous and noble martyr heroes in mythology was Prometheus, who rendered an invaluable service to the human race. Among the favorite folk heroes was Hercules, endowed with huge force. Literally, his name means "performing feats because of the persecution of Hera." When Hera planned to kill the infant Hercules by setting two snakes on him, Hercules strangled them. Surpassing everyone in strength, not knowing rivals in military exercises, Hercules performed 12 labors. Among them is the killing of a monstrous lion; the destruction of the hydra - a monster with a snake body and nine dragon heads; the extermination of the Stymphalian birds that devastated the area, chasing animals and people, tearing them apart with their copper beaks, and many others. These and other episodes form a whole cycle of exciting short stories.

Basic information about the mythology of ancient Greece. Myths of ancient Greece. Closer to people