The legend is short. Parable of two wolves

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In the north of Moscow in Khovrino, an unfinished building resembling a ghost ship has stood for decades. It still brings fear to the residents of this Moscow region, since it has long had a bad reputation. This building is unfinished. Its construction began in 1980, but was never completed. This unfinished building is popularly called the Khovrinsky Abandoned Hospital and is one of the ten most terrible places in the world! The Khovrinskaya unfinished building is called everything: a house of horror, a cradle of nightmares, and even a citadel of darkness.

According to urban legend, the construction of this hospital began on bones, i.e. on the site where the old abandoned building once stood. Many people are sure that this explains all the failures that accompanied the construction process. Old-timers generally say that there used to be a large swamp on the site of the Khovrinskaya abandoned hospital. This is evidenced by the fact that currently the foundation of the unfinished building is sinking lower and lower into the groundwater. The construction of this architectural structure was suspended in 1985. Since the time the last builder left the territory of this building, the Khovrinskaya hospital has been living its own life, full of secrets and tragedies.

Another Russian legend is associated with a ghost train and, like the first, is urban. According to legend, every month in the Moscow metro a strange ghost train rushes along the rails at breakneck speed. According to eyewitnesses, sometimes he makes stops and opens the doors of his carriages. People who claimed to have seen the sign are sure that in its cabin the silhouette of the driver, dressed in a pre-war construction uniform, is clearly visible, and all the other cars of this strange train are filled with the souls of builders.

To understand the meaning of this legend, it is necessary to remember exactly how the Moscow metro was built. Its construction began in the 40s of the last century. Old-timers say that it was exhausting and hard work for all those involved in the construction of the Circle Line of the metro. The fact is that most of the builders were real prisoners, convicted of certain crimes of a political or criminal nature.

Moreover, the construction of this metro was marked by bloody events: at this time many workers allegedly died on the site. The fact is that from time to time unstable structures collapsed on them, and some people were generally driven into ventilation shafts and walled up without investigation or trial. After some time, at the cost of many human casualties, the “bloody” metro was finally completed. In this regard, the legend of the Russian ghost appeared. To this day, people complain that sometimes the phantom of a rusty train allegedly scares them. Eyewitnesses say that this train always appears after midnight and only on the Circle Line.

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

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

History of the origin of the toponym Peloponnese, peninsulas on peninsulas, no less cruel. According to legend, the ruler of this part of Greece was Pelops, the son of Tantalus, who in his youth was offered by his bloodthirsty father as a dinner to the gods. But the gods did not eat his body, and, having resurrected the young man, left him on Olympus. And Tantalus was doomed to eternal (tantalum) torment. Further, Pelops himself either descends to live among the people, or is forced to flee, but subsequently becomes the king of Olympia, Arcadia and the entire peninsula, which was named in his honor. By the way, his descendant was the famous Homeric king Agamemnon, the leader of the troops that besieged Troy.

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

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

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

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

The debate between supporters of the theory of creationism and evolutionary theory continues to this day. However, unlike the theory of evolution, creationism includes not one, but hundreds of different theories (if not more). In this article we will talk about ten of the most unusual myths of antiquity.

10. The myth of Pan-gu

The Chinese have their own ideas about how the world came into being. The most popular myth is the myth of Pan-gu, the giant man. The plot is as follows: at the dawn of time, Heaven and Earth were so close to each other that they merged into a single black mass.

According to legend, this mass was an egg, and Pan-gu lived inside it, and lived for a long time - many millions of years. But one fine day he got tired of such a life, and, swinging a heavy ax, Pan-gu got out of his egg, splitting it into two parts. These parts subsequently became Heaven and Earth. He was of unimaginable height - about fifty kilometers in length, which, by the standards of the ancient Chinese, was the distance between Heaven and Earth.

Unfortunately for Pan-gu and fortunately for us, the colossus was mortal and, like all mortals, died. And then Pan-gu decomposed. But not the way we do it - Pan-gu decomposed in a really cool way: his voice turned into thunder, his skin and bones became the firmament of the earth, and his head became the Cosmos. Thus, his death gave life to our world.

9. Chernobog and Belobog

This is one of the most significant myths of the Slavs. It tells about the confrontation between Good and Evil - the White and Black gods. It all started like this: when there was only one continuous sea around, Belobog decided to create dry land, sending his shadow - Chernobog - to do all the dirty work. Chernobog did everything as expected, however, having a selfish and proud nature, he did not want to share power over the firmament with Belobog, deciding to drown the latter.

Belobog got out of this situation, did not allow himself to be killed, and even blessed the land erected by Chernobog. However, with the advent of land, one small problem arose: its area grew exponentially, threatening to swallow everything around.

Then Belobog sent his delegation to Earth with the goal of finding out from Chernobog how to stop this matter. Well, Chernobog sat on a goat and went to negotiate. The delegates, seeing Chernobog galloping towards them on a goat, were imbued with the comedy of this spectacle and burst into wild laughter. Chernobog did not understand the humor, was very offended and flatly refused to talk to them.

Meanwhile, Belobog, still wanting to save the Earth from dehydration, decided to spy on Chernobog, making a bee for this purpose. The insect coped with the task successfully and found out the secret, which was as follows: in order to stop the growth of land, you need to draw a cross on it and say the cherished word - “enough.” Which is what Belobog did.

To say that Chernobog was not happy is to say nothing. Wanting revenge, he cursed Belobog, and he cursed him in a very original way - for his meanness, Belobog was now supposed to eat bee feces for the rest of his life. However, Belobog was not at a loss, and made bee excrement as sweet as sugar - this is how honey appeared. For some reason, the Slavs did not think about how people appeared... The main thing is that there is honey.

8. Armenian duality

Armenian myths resemble Slavic ones, and also tell us about the existence of two opposite principles - this time male and female. Unfortunately, the myth does not answer the question of how our world was created; it only explains how everything around us works. But that doesn't make it any less interesting.

So here's the quick gist: Heaven and Earth are a husband and wife separated by an ocean; The sky is a city, and the Earth is a piece of rock, which is held on its huge horns by an equally huge bull - when it shakes its horns, the earth bursts at the seams from earthquakes. That, in fact, is all - this is how the Armenians imagined the Earth.

There is an alternative myth where the Earth is in the middle of the sea, and Leviathan floats around it, trying to grab onto its own tail, and constant earthquakes were also explained by its flopping. When Leviathan finally bites its tail, life on Earth will cease and the apocalypse will begin. Have a nice day.

7. The Scandinavian myth of the ice giant

It would seem that there is nothing in common between the Chinese and the Scandinavians - but no, the Vikings also had their own giant - the origin of everything, only his name was Ymir, and he was icy and with a club. Before his appearance, the world was divided into Muspelheim and Niflheim - the kingdoms of fire and ice, respectively. And between them stretched Ginnungagap, symbolizing absolute chaos, and there, from the fusion of two opposing elements, Ymir was born.

And now closer to us, to the people. When Ymir began to sweat, a man and a woman emerged from his right armpit along with the sweat. It’s strange, yes, we understand this - well, that’s how they are, harsh Vikings, nothing can be done. But let's get back to the point. The man's name was Buri, he had a son Ber, and Ber had three sons - Odin, Vili and Ve. Three brothers were gods and ruled Asgard. This seemed to them not enough, and they decided to kill Ymir’s great-grandfather, making a world out of him.

Ymir was not happy, but no one asked him. In the process, he shed a lot of blood - enough to fill the seas and oceans; From the skull of the unfortunate man, the brothers created the vault of heaven, broke his bones, making mountains and cobblestones out of them, and made clouds from the torn brains of poor Ymir.

Odin and the company immediately decided to populate this new world: so they found two beautiful trees on the seashore - ash and alder, making a man from the ash, and a woman from the alder, thereby giving rise to the human race.

6. Greek myth about marbles

Like many other peoples, the ancient Greeks believed that before our world appeared, there was only complete Chaos around. There was neither the sun nor the moon - everything was dumped into one big pile, where things were inseparable from each other.

But then a certain god came, looked at the chaos reigning around, thought and decided that all this was not good, and got down to business: he separated the cold from the heat, the foggy morning from a clear day, and everything like that.

Then he set to work on the Earth, rolling it into a ball and dividing this ball into five parts: at the equator it was very hot, at the poles it was extremely cold, but between the poles and the equator it was just right, you couldn’t imagine anything more comfortable. Further, from the seed of an unknown god, most likely Zeus, known to the Romans as Jupiter, the first man was created - two-faced and also in the shape of a ball.

And then they tore him in two, making him a man and a woman - the future of you and me.

5. An Egyptian god who loved his shadow very much

In the beginning there was a great ocean, whose name was “Nu,” and this ocean was Chaos, and besides it there was nothing. It was not until Atum, by an effort of will and thought, created himself out of this Chaos. Yes, the man had balls. But further - more and more interesting. So, he created himself, now he had to create land in the ocean. Which is what he did. After wandering around the earth and realizing his total loneliness, Atum became unbearably bored, and he decided to plan on more gods. How? And just like that, with an ardent, passionate feeling for your own shadow.

Thus fertilized, Atum gave birth to Shu and Tefnut, spitting them out of his mouth. But, apparently, he overdid it, and the newborn gods were lost in the ocean of Chaos. Atum grieved, but soon, to his relief, he found and rediscovered his children. He was so glad to be reunited that he cried for a long, long time, and his tears, touching the earth, fertilized it - and people grew out of the earth, many people! Then, while people impregnated each other, Shu and Tefnut also had coitus, and they gave birth to other gods - more gods to the god of gods! - Gebu and Nutu, who became the personification of the Earth and the sky.

There is another myth in which Atum is replaced by Ra, but this does not change the main essence - there, too, everyone fertilizes each other en masse.

4. The myth of the Yoruba people - about the Sands of Life and the chicken

There is such an African people - the Yoruba. So, they also have their own myth about the origin of all things.

In general, it was like this: there was one God, his name was Olorun, and one fine day the idea came to his mind that the Earth needed to be equipped somehow (at that time the Earth was one continuous wasteland).

Olorun didn’t really want to do this himself, so he sent his son, Obotala, to Earth. However, at that moment, Obotala had more important things to do (in fact, there was a gorgeous party planned in heaven, and Obotala simply could not miss it).

While Obotala was having fun, all the responsibility fell on Odudawa. Having nothing at hand except chicken and sand, Odudawa nevertheless set to work. His principle was the following: he took sand from a cup, poured it onto the Earth, and then let the chicken run around in the sand and trample it thoroughly.

After carrying out several such simple manipulations, Odudawa created the land of Lfe or Lle-lfe. This is where Odudawa's story ends, and Obotala appears on the stage again, this time completely drunk - the party was a great success.

And so, being in a state of divine alcoholic intoxication, the son of Olorun set about creating us humans. It turned out very badly for him, and he created disabled people, dwarfs and freaks. Having sobered up, Obotala was horrified and quickly corrected everything by creating normal people.

According to another version, Obotala never recovered, and Odudawa also made people, simply lowering us from the sky and at the same time assigning himself the status of ruler of humanity.

3. Aztec "War of the Gods"

According to Aztec myth, there was no primordial Chaos. But there was a primary order - an absolute vacuum, impenetrably black and endless, in which in some strange way the Supreme God - Ometeotl - lived. He had a dual nature, possessing both feminine and masculine principles, was good and at the same time evil, was both warm and cold, truth and lies, white and black.

He gave birth to the remaining gods: Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Xipe Totec, who, in turn, created giants, water, fish and other gods.

Tezcatlipoca ascended to the heavens, sacrificing himself and becoming the Sun. However, there he encountered Quetzalcoatl, entered into battle with him and lost to him. Quetzalcoatl threw Tezcatlipoca from the sky and became the Sun himself. Then, Quetzalcoatl gave birth to people and gave them nuts to eat.

Tezcatlipoca, still harboring a grudge against Quetzalcoatl, decided to take revenge on his creations by turning people into monkeys. Seeing what happened to his first people, Quetzalcoatl flew into a rage and caused a powerful hurricane that scattered the vile monkeys throughout the world.

While Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc were at war with each other, Tialoc and Chalchiuhtlicue also turned into suns in order to continue the cycle of day and night. However, the fierce battle between Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca affected them too - then they too were thrown from heaven.

In the end, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc stopped their feud, forgetting past grievances and creating new people - the Aztecs - from the dead bones and blood of Quetzalcoatl.

2. Japanese “World Cauldron”

Japan. Again Chaos, again in the form of an ocean, this time as dirty as a swamp. In this ocean-swamp, magical reeds (or reeds) grew, and from this reeds (or reeds), like our children from cabbage, gods were born, a great many of them. All of them together were called Kotoamatsukami - and that’s all that is known about them, for as soon as they were born, they immediately hastened to hide in the reeds. Or in the reeds.

While they were hiding, new gods appeared, including Ijinami and Ijinagi. They began to stir the ocean until it thickened, and from it the land was formed - Japan. Ijinami and Ijinagi had a son, Ebisu, who became the god of all fishermen, a daughter, Amaterasu, who became the Sun, and another daughter, Tsukiyomi, who became the Moon. They also had one more son, the last - Susanoo, who, for his violent temper, received the status of the god of wind and storms.

1. Lotus flower and “Om-m”

Like many other religions, Hinduism also features the concept of the world emerging from the void. Well, as if out of nowhere, there was an endless ocean in which a giant cobra swam, and there was Vishnu, who slept on the cobra’s tail. And nothing more.

Time passed, days followed each other one after another, and it seemed that it would always be like this. But one day, everything around was filled with a sound that had never been heard before - the sound of “Om-m”, and the previously empty world was overwhelmed with energy. Vishnu awoke from sleep, and Brahma appeared from the lotus flower at his navel. Vishnu ordered Brahma to create the world, and in the meantime he disappeared, taking with him a snake.

Brahma, sitting in the lotus position on a lotus flower, set to work: he divided the flower into three parts, using one to create Heaven and Hell, another to create Earth, and the third to create heaven. Brahma then created animals, birds, people and trees, thus creating all living things.

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Modern people are unlikely to believe in myths and legends. However, despite the many reliable facts available, the legends still do not lose their popularity. Each guide uses the most striking stories to attract the attention of listeners. After all, legends evoke a feeling of surprise and admiration, especially when the topic concerns unique and unlike anything else places.

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland. Although scientists claim that the Giant's Causeway was formed as a result of an ancient volcanic eruption, there is a legend about the Celtic hero Finn McCool, who decided to fight the one-eyed giant Goll. To do this, he drove many columns into the bottom of the Irish Sea, which formed a kind of bridge. Having worked hard, the hero lay down to rest, and in the meantime Goll himself crossed the bridge to Ireland. Finn's wife, sensing danger, ran out to meet the giant and assured the monster that the sleeping Finn was a baby. Then she treated the uninvited guest to flatbreads in which the frying pans were hidden, and her husband to ordinary ones. The first broke his teeth, and the second ate his portion without even wincing. Frightened Goll, seeing the power of such a child, imagined his father and fled from the country, breaking the bridge behind him.

Palace complex Forbidden City in Beijing

This palace complex is considered the most extensive of its kind - 720 thousand m². If you went back in time, you would not be able to get inside without losing your head for it. Today, everyone has the opportunity to visit here and learn the legends that envelop this place. One of the most popular is that Emperor Zhu Di dreamed of four watchtowers that had never been seen before. Having woken up, he ordered that the structures taken away in a dream be erected in three months at the corners of the walls of the Forbidden City. In case of failure to comply with the order, the builders faced the death penalty. After a month, the chief architect was unable to develop a construction plan. Out of despair, he went for a walk around the city, during which he came across a seller of cages with grasshoppers. For fun, he bought one of the cages and was amazed. It was her design that was the ideal model of towers. The Emperor was more pleased than ever with the result; the old man selling grasshoppers turned out to be the god of carpenters, Lu Ban.

Avenue of the Baobabs, Madagascar

Alley of Baobabs, Madagascar. The island is famous not only for lemurs, but also for giant trees. The Alley of Baobabs is located in its western part. According to one legend, one day God was in a bad mood and a baobab came across his hand. Spilling out his anger, he uprooted the tree and inserted it back into the ground, crown down.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls. The facility is located on the border between the United States and Canada. The guides' favorite legend is that of the Maiden of the Mist; According to one version, the daughter of a Seneca tribe leader named Lelavala was chosen as a sacrifice to a god who lived in the depths of the waterfall. In this way, the inhabitants of the tribe wanted to appease the angry god who was poisoning the water. The selfless girl voluntarily went in a canoe to meet death, but she was saved by the god Hanu, who told about a terrible serpent that settled in the river and was the cause of all troubles. Lelavala returned to the village and told her father about the monster. Gathering warriors, the leader entered into battle with the serpent and defeated him.

Great Sphinx, Egypt

The sculpture, overlooking the Giza plateau, is considered one of the oldest surviving to this day. It represents a figure lying on the sand with the body of a lion and the head of a man. The history of the Great Sphinx is shrouded in many legends and speculations. One of the most popular is the legend of Crown Prince Thutmose, the son of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiya. One day, while hunting in the desert, Thutmose recalled his guards to pray alone at the pyramids. Tired of the midday sun, he lay down to rest in the shadow of the Sphinx, which at that time was covered shoulder-deep in sand. However, the statue came to life and spoke to the man. She told Thutmose about the future reign and ordered him to clean his paws of sand. Then she looked at the prince with huge bright eyes and he lost consciousness. Having woken up, the heir swore an oath to fulfill the request. Having become Pharaoh Thutmose IV, he ordered the statue to be dug up and a granite stele installed.

the great Wall of China

One of the most romantic and heartbreaking legends about the construction of the Great Wall of China is the tale of Meng Jiang Nu. Living next door were two married couples named Meng and Jiang, who had no children. One day, Wife Jiang planted a lagenaria, which sent its vine through the wall to the neighbors. Over time, the plant produced a harvest in the form of a huge pumpkin. Friendly neighbors decided to divide it in half. After cutting the fruit open, they found a child inside. The girl was named Meng Jiang Nyu and began to be raised together. She grew up to be a real beauty, the likes of which the world has never seen; She married Fan Xiliang, who was hiding from the government, which forced all young people to build the Great Wall of China. The happiness of the young did not last long; Fanya Silyan was found and forcibly sent to a construction site. The girl waited for her beloved for a whole year without receiving any news. Then she went in search of him, but they were in vain. No one knew where her husband was, and it was later discovered that he died of exhaustion and was buried in the wall. Meng Jiang Nu, unable to relieve her pain, cried for three days and three nights. Part of the wall she was standing against collapsed. The emperor intended to punish the widow for the damage, but when he saw her beautiful face, he proposed marriage. Meng Jiang Nu agreed, but on the condition that she bury her ex-husband properly. The emperor complied with the demand, but after this Meng Jiang Nu committed suicide by drowning herself in the sea.

Volcano Etna, Sicily

Volcano Etna, Sicily. The volcano is one of the highest and most active in Europe. Throughout its history, it has erupted more than 200 times. In 1669, Etna's eruption lasted four months, destroying 12 villages. According to legend, this eruption was caused by none other than the hundred-headed monster Typhon (son of Gaia), who was imprisoned by Zeus inside Etna. Every time Typhon was angry, there was an earthquake and eruption.

Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu, Japan

The mountain is considered one of the most recognizable natural attractions in the country. The object is a popular theme in Japanese art; it can be found in songs, movies, and, of course, legends and myths. One of the legends tells about a married couple who lived near Mount Fuji. The husband was a bamboo collector. One day, while cutting raw materials, he found a girl the size of a thumb in the bamboo. Rejoicing, the couple took the child into their care, since they did not have any children of their own. Then, continuing his work, the man discovered a gold bar in the bamboo. The suddenly rich family lived happily. The girl, who was named Kaguya-hime, grew up to be a beautiful girl. Many tried to win her hand, even the emperor himself, but the beauty refused everyone, wanting to return to where she came from - to the Moon. One day during a full moon, Luna's subjects finally came to Kaguya-hime to take her home. The girl left the emperor a gift in the form of the elixir of life and a letter. He, in turn, ordered the gifts to be taken to the mountain and burned, since he did not want to live forever without love. So the flame of the elixir and the letters turned Mount Fuji into a volcano.

In the general religious understanding of the ancient Hellenes, there was a variety of cult concepts. All this is confirmed by numerous archaeological excavations and artifacts. It has been proven in which area certain gods were extolled. For example, Apollo - in Delphi and Delos, the capital of Greece was named after Athena, the god of healing Asclepius (son of Apollo) - in Epidaurus, Poseidon was respected by the Ionians in the Peloponnese, and so on.

The shrines of the Greeks were opened in honor of this: Delphi, Dodon and Delos. Almost all of them are shrouded in some kind of mystery, which is deciphered in myths and legends. We will describe the most interesting myths of Ancient Greece (short) below.

Cult of Apollo in Greece and Rome

He was called "four-armed" and "four-eared." Apollo had about a hundred sons. He himself was either five or seven. There are countless monuments in honor of the saint, as well as huge temples named after him, located in Greece, Italy, and Turkey. And this is all about HIM: about Apollo - the mythical hero and god of Hellas.

The ancient gods did not have surnames, but Apollo had several: Delphic, Rhodes, Belvedere, Pythian. This happened in the territories where his cult grew most.

Two millennia have passed since the birth of the cult, but the fairy tale about this handsome man is still believed today. How did he enter into “naive mythology” and why was he invented in the souls and hearts of the Greeks and residents of other countries?

The veneration of the son of Zeus originated in Asia Minor two thousand years BC. Initially, myths depicted Apollo not as a man, but as a zoomorphic creature (the influence of pre-religious totemism) - a ram. A Dorian version of the origin is also possible. But, as before, the important center of the cult is the Sanctuary at Delphi. In it, the soothsayer made all kinds of predictions; according to her instructions, twelve mythical exploits of Apollo’s brother Hercules took place. From the Hellenic colonies in Italy, the cult of the Greek god took hold in Rome.

Myths about Apollo

God is not alone. Archaeological sources provide information about various sources of its origin. Who were Apollos: the son of the guardian of Athens, Corybantus, Zeus the third and several other fathers. Mythology attributes to Apollo the thirty heroes he killed (Achilles), dragons (including Python), and Cyclops. They said about him that he could destroy, but he could also help and predict the future.

Mythology spread about Apollo even before his birth, when the supreme goddess Hera learned that Leto (Laton) was to give birth to a boy (Apollo) from her husband Zeus. With the help of a dragon, she drove the expectant mother onto a deserted island. Both Apollo and his sister Artemis were born there. They grew up on this island (Delos), where he vowed to destroy the dragon for persecuting his mother.

As described in ancient myth, the quickly matured Apollo took his bow and arrows into his hands and flew away to where Python lived. The beast crawled out of the terrible gorge and attacked the young man.

It looked like an octopus with a large scaly body. Even the rocks moved away from him. The alarmed monster attacked the young man. But the arrows did their job.

Python died, Apollo buried him, and the real Temple of Apollo was built here. In its premises there was a real priestess-soothsayer from peasant women. She uttered prophecies allegedly through the lips of Apollo. Questions were written on tablets and handed over to the temple. They were not fictional, but from real earthly people from different centuries of the existence of this temple. Archaeologists found them. No one knows how the priestess commented on the questions.

Narcissus - a mythical hero and a real flower

To paraphrase the ancient sage, we can say: if you have extra money, then do not buy more bread than you can eat; buy a narcissus flower - bread for the body, and it is for the soul.

Thus, the mythical short story about the narcissistic young man Narcissus from Ancient Hellas grew into the name of a beautiful spring flower.

The Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, took cruel revenge on those who rejected her gifts and who did not submit to her authority. Mythology knows several such victims of it. Among these is the young man Narcissus. Proud, he could not love anyone, only himself.

I found anger at the goddess. One spring, while hunting, Narcissus approached a stream; he was simply captivated by the purity of the water, its mirroriness. But the stream was truly special, perhaps also enchanted by Aphrodite. The goddess did not forgive anyone if they did not pay attention to her.

No one drank water from the stream; not even a branch or flower petals could fall into it. So Narcissus looked at himself. He leaned down to kiss his reflection. But there is only cold water there.

He forgot about hunting and the desire to drink water. I admire everything, I forgot about food and sleep. And suddenly he woke up: “Did I really love myself so much, but we can’t be together?” He began to suffer so much that his strength left him. Feels like he will go into the kingdom of darkness. But the young man already believes that death will end his torments of love. He is crying.

Narcissus's head dropped completely to the ground. He died. The nymphs cried in the forest. They dug a grave, went for the body, but he wasn’t there. A flower grew on the grass where the young man's head fell. They named him Narcissus.

And the nymph Echo remained forever to suffer in that forest. And she didn’t respond to anyone else.

Poseidon - Lord of the Seas

Zeus sits in all his divine majesty on Mount Olympus, and his brother Poseidon went into the depths of the sea and from there the water boiled, bringing trouble to the sailors. If he wants to do this, he takes his main weapon in his hand - a club with a trident.

He also has a better palace than his brother on land. And he reigns there with his charming wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the sea god. Together with Poseidon, she rushes across the waters in a chariot harnessed to horses or zoomorphic creatures - tritons.

Poseidon looked for a wife from the waters on the shores of the island of Naxos. But she ran away from him to the handsome Atlas. Poseidon himself could not find the fugitive. He was helped by dolphins, who took her to the palace at the bottom of the sea. For this, the lord of the sea gave the dolphins a constellation in the sky.

Perseus: almost like a good person

Perseus is perhaps one of the few sons of Zeus who did not have negative character traits. Like the drunken Hercules with his attacks of inexplicable anger, or Achilles, who did not take into account the interests of others and admired only his own “I”.

Perseus was handsome, like a god, brave and dexterous. I always tried to achieve success. The mythology of Perseus is like this. His grandfather, one of the kings of the earth, dreamed in a dream that his grandson would bring him death. Therefore, he hid his daughter in a dungeon behind stones, bronze and locks, away from men. But all the obstacles were nothing to Zeus, who liked Danae. He came to her through the roof in the form of rain. And a son was born, named Perseus. But the evil grandfather hammered the mother and child into a box and sent them floating in the box on the sea.

The prisoners still managed to escape on one of the islands, where the waves washed the box to the shore; fishermen arrived in time and rescued the mother and son. But a man reigned on the island, no better than Danae’s father. He began to pester the woman. And so the years passed, and now Perseus could stand up for his mother.

The king decided to get rid of the young man, but so as not to incur the wrath of the god Zeus. He cheated by accusing Perseus of non-divine origin. To do this, it was necessary to perform a heroic act, for example, kill the evil Gorgon jellyfish and drag her head to the king’s palace.

It really was not only a sea monster, but also a flying monster that turned those who looked at it into stone. It was impossible to do without the gods here. The son of Zeus was helped. He was given a magic sword and a mirror shield. In search of the monster, Perseus traveled through many countries and through many obstacles set up by his opponents. The nymphs also gave him things useful for the journey.

Finally, he reached the abandoned country where the sisters of that same Gorgon lived. Only they could lead the young man to her. The sisters had one eye and one tooth out of three. While the younger gorgon with the eye led, the others could not do anything. Further across the sky he flew to the monster. And right away I came across a sleeping jellyfish. Before she woke up, the young man cut off her head and put it in his bag. And set course across the sky to his island. So he proved his destiny to the king and, taking his mother, returned to Argos.

Hercules gets married

Many accomplished feats and slave labor of Queen Omphale took away the strength of Hercules. He wanted a quiet life at home. “It’s not difficult to build a house, but you need a loving wife. So we need to find her,” the hero made plans.

I once remembered a boar hunt near Calydon with a local prince and a meeting with his sister Deianira. And he went to South Aetolia to get married. At this time, Deianira was already being married off, and many suitors arrived.

There was also a river god - a monster whom the world has never seen. Deianira's father said that he would give his daughter to the one who defeats God. Only Hercules remained among the suitors, since the others, seeing their rival, changed their minds about getting married.

Hercules grabbed his opponent with his hands, but he stood like a rock. And so on several times. The result for Hercules was almost ready when the god turned into a snake. The son of Zeus strangled two snakes in the cradle, and did it here too. But the old man became a bull. The hero broke one horn, and it gave up. The bride became the wife of Hercules.

These are the myths of Ancient Greece.