The main characters of myths. Vera Smirnova: Heroes of Hellas

Greek myths, which tell of gods, goddesses and heroes, date back to the Bronze Age, a time of oral tradition. They were first recorded at the beginning of the 6th century. BC. and have continued to live in Western literature ever since. Myths were closely related to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks and interpreted the secrets of nature. They told about the creation of the world about the deeds of the deities, about the golden age of ancient Greek society, about the age of heroic demigods such as Theseus and Hercules, whose exploits inspired ordinary people. The Greeks imagined the gods as ideal people who possessed all the feelings characteristic of humans. The gods lived on Mount Olympus. The supreme god Zeus was considered the father of many Olympians. Each member of the Olympic family was assigned a divine role.

Zeus- the father of gods and people, ruled them from Mount Olympus.
Eris goddess of discord.
Klymene, mother Promethea who gave fire to people.
Hera Zeus's wife was very jealous.
Athena emerged from the head of Zeus in full battle garb, in Greek mythology she was the goddess of wisdom, strategy and war.
Poseidon, god of the seas, one of the brothers of Zeus. The symbol of his power is the trident. Myths bring to us stories about Poseidon's infidelity to his wife, the sea goddess Amphitrite, who was the goddess of the sea in Greek mythology. This statue is kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Paris must award the golden apple to the most beautiful of goddesses. Paris's dog helped him graze his flocks on Mount Ida, where the prince grew up.
Dionysus, the god of viticulture and wine, Zeus gave birth from his thigh.
Hades And Persephone ruled the kingdoms of the dead and the souls of the dead. Hades kidnapped Persephone from her mother Demeter, the goddess of fertility. Angry, Demeter sent a famine to the earth, and then Zeus decided that Persephone would live with her mother for part of the year.
Artemis, maiden goddess of the hunt, daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo. She is armed with a bow and arrows. The eternally young goddess is surrounded by dogs and nymphs. Having taken a vow of chastity, she was nevertheless also the goddess of childbirth.
Hermes was a messenger of the gods.
Aphrodite, goddess of love, was born from the foam of the sea.
Apollo, son of Zeus and brother of Artemis, god-healer and soothsayer, patron of the arts, was unusually handsome.

Labors of Hercules. Hercules(among the Romans - Hercules) - the greatest of the Greek heroes, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Endowed with superhuman strength, he achieved success and immortality by completing 12 tasks of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, which seemed impossible.
First he defeated the Nemean Lion, whose skin he always wore on himself from then on.
The second labor of Hercules was the victory over the Lernaean Hydra. The severed heads of this poisonous monster, raised by Hera, immediately grew back. As in his other exploits, Hercules was helped by Athena.
Then the huge boar that was ravaging Mount Erymanth was caught. Hercules delivered him to King Eurystheus alive. The king was so frightened that he hid in a large jug.
The sixth feat was the extermination of the Stymphalian birds. Hercules saved Lake Stymphalia from man-eating birds with copper beaks: having scared the birds with bronze rattles, he killed them with stones fired from a sling.

Hector, in ancient Greek mythology, one of the main heroes of the Trojan War. The hero was the son of Hecuba and Priam, the king of Troy. Hector had 49 brothers and sisters, but among the sons of Priam he was famous for his strength and courage. According to legend, Hector struck to death the first Greek to set foot on the soil of Troy, Protesilaus. The hero became especially famous in the ninth year of the Trojan War, challenging Ajax Telamonides to battle. Hector promised his enemy not to desecrate his body in case of defeat and not to remove his armor and demanded the same from Ajax. After a long struggle, they decided to stop the fight and exchanged gifts as a sign of mutual respect. Hector hoped to defeat the Greeks, despite Cassandra's prediction.

It was under his leadership that the Trojans broke into the fortified camp of the Achaeans, approached the navy and even managed to set fire to one of the ships. The legends also describe the battle between Hector and the Greek Patroclus. The hero defeated his opponent and took off Achilles' armor. The gods took a very active part in the war. They divided into two camps and each helped their favorites. Hector was patronized by Apollo himself. When Patroclus died, Achilles, obsessed with revenge for his death, tied the defeated dead Hector to his chariot and dragged him around the walls of Troy, but the hero’s body was not touched by either decay or birds, since Apollo protected him in gratitude for the fact that Hector during his lifetime he helped him several times. Based on this circumstance, the ancient Greeks concluded that Hector was the son of Apollo.

According to myths, Apollo, at a council of the gods, persuaded Zeus to give Hector’s body to the Trojans so that he could be buried with honor. The Supreme God ordered Achilles to give the body of the deceased to his father Priam. Since, according to legend, Hector’s grave was located in Thebes, researchers suggested that the image of the hero is of Boeotian origin. Hector was a very revered hero in Ancient Greece, which is proven by the presence of his image on ancient vases and in antique plastic. Usually they depicted scenes of Hector’s farewell to his wife Andromache, the battle with Achilles and many other episodes.

Hercules

Hercules, the greatest of heroes in Greek mythology, is the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Zeus needed a mortal hero to defeat the giants, and he decided to give birth to Hercules. The best mentors taught Hercules various arts, wrestling, and archery. Zeus wanted Hercules to become the ruler of Mycenae or Tiryns, key fortresses on the approaches to Argos, but jealous Hera thwarted his plans. She struck Hercules with madness, in a fit of which he killed his wife and three of his sons. To atone for his grave guilt, the hero had to serve Eurystheus, king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, after which he was granted immortality. The most famous is the cycle of tales about the twelve labors of Hercules. The first feat was to obtain the skin of the Nemean lion, which Hercules had to strangle with his bare hands. Having defeated the lion, the hero tanned its skin and wore it as a trophy.

The heroes of Greek myths and legends were not immortal like their gods. But they were not mere mortals either. Most of them traced their origins to the gods. Their great exploits and accomplishments, which were captured in myths and famous artistic creations, give us an idea of ​​the views of the ancient Greeks. So what did the most famous Greek heroes become famous for? We'll tell you below...

The king of the island of Ithaca and the favorite of the goddess Athena, was known for his extraordinary intelligence and courage, although no less for his cunning and cunning. Homer's Odyssey tells about his return from Troy to his homeland and his adventures during these wanderings. First, a strong storm washed Odysseus's ships to the shores of Thrace, where the wild Cycones killed 72 of his companions. In Libya, he blinded the Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon himself. After many trials, the hero ended up on the island of Eya, where he lived for a year with the sorceress Kirka. Sailing past the island of sweet-voiced sirens, Odysseus ordered himself to be tied to the mast so as not to be tempted by their magical singing. He safely passed through the narrow strait between the six-headed Scylla, devouring all living things, and Charybdis, absorbing everyone in her whirlpool, and went out into the open sea. But lightning struck his ship, and all his companions died. Only Odysseus escaped. The sea threw him onto the island of Ogygia, where the nymph Calypso kept him for seven years. Finally, after nine years of dangerous wanderings, Odysseus returned to Ithaca. There, together with his son Telemachus, he killed the suitors who were besieging his faithful wife Penelope and squandering his fortune, and began to rule Ithaca again.

Hercules (Romans - Hercules), the most glorious and powerful of all Greek heroes, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Forced to serve the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, he performed twelve famous feats. For example, he killed the nine-headed hydra, tamed and led away the hellish dog Cerberus from the underworld, strangled the invulnerable Nemean lion and dressed in his skin, erected two stone pillars on the banks of the strait separating Europe from Africa (the Pillars of Hercules - the ancient name of the Strait of Gibraltar), supported the heavenly vault, while the Titan Atlant obtained for him miraculous golden apples, guarded by the Hesperides nymphs. For these and other great exploits, Athena after her death carried Hercules to Olympus, and Zeus granted him eternal life.

, the son of Zeus and the Argive princess Danae, went to the country of the gorgons - winged monsters covered with scales. Instead of hair, poisonous snakes wriggled on their heads, and a terrible gaze turned anyone who dared to look at them to stone. Perseus beheaded the gorgon Medusa and married the daughter of the Ethiopian king Andromeda, whom he saved from a sea monster that was devouring people. He turned her former fiancé, who arranged the conspiracy, into stone, showing the severed head of Medusa.

, son of the Thessalian king Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, one of the main heroes of the Trojan War. As an infant, his mother dipped him into the sacred waters of the Styx, making his body invulnerable, with the exception of his heel, by which his mother held him, lowering him into the Styx. In the Battle of Troy, Achilles was killed by the son of the Trojan king Paris, whose arrow Apollo, who was helping the Trojans, aimed at his heel - his only vulnerable spot (hence the expression “Achilles’ heel”).

, the son of the Thessalian king Eson, went with his companions to distant Colchis on the Black Sea to get the skin of a magic ram, the golden fleece, protected by a dragon. Among the 50 Argonauts who took part in the expedition on the ship "Argo" were Hercules, the pepper Orpheus and the Dioscuri twins (sons of Zeus) - Castor and Polydeuces.
After numerous adventures, the Argonauts brought the fleece to Hellas. Jason married the daughter of the Colchian king, the sorceress Medea, and they had two boys. When a few years later Jason decided to marry the daughter of the Corinthian king Creus, Medea killed her rival, and then her own children. Jason died under the wreckage of the dilapidated ship "Argo".

Oedipus, son of the Theban king Laius. Oedipus's father was predicted to die at the hands of his own son, so Laius ordered the child to be thrown to be devoured by wild animals. But the slave took pity and saved him. As a young man, Oedipus received a prediction from the Delphic Oracle that he would kill his father and marry his own mother. Frightened by this, Oedipus left his adoptive parents and went wandering. On the way, in a random quarrel, he killed a noble old man. But on the way to Thebes he met the Sphinx, who guarded the road and asked the travelers a riddle: “Who walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?” Those who could not answer were devoured by the monster. Oedipus solved the riddle: “Man: as a child he crawls on all fours, as an adult he walks upright, and in old age he leans on a stick.” Shattered by this answer, the Sphinx threw itself into the abyss. The grateful Thebans chose Oedipus as their king and gave him the king's widow Jocasta as his wife. When it turned out that the old man killed on the road was his father King Laius, and Jocasta his mother, Oedipus blinded himself in despair, and Jocasta committed suicide.

, the son of Poseidon, also accomplished many glorious deeds. On the way to Athens he killed six monsters and robbers. In the Knossos labyrinth he destroyed the Minotaur and found a way out with the help of a ball of thread, which was given to him by the daughter of the Cretan king Ariadne. He was also revered as the creator of the Athenian state.

PREFACE

Many, many centuries ago, a people settled on the Balkan Peninsula who later became known as the Greeks. Unlike modern Greeks, we call that people by the ancient Greeks, or Hellenes, and their country Hellas.

The Hellenes left a rich legacy to the peoples of the world: majestic buildings that are still considered the most beautiful in the world, beautiful marble and bronze statues and great works of literature that people still read today, although they were written in a language that no one has spoken on earth for a long time. . These are the “Iliad” and “Odyssey” - heroic poems about how the Greeks besieged the city of Troy, and about the wanderings and adventures of one of the participants in this war - Odysseus. These poems were sung by wandering singers, and they were created about three thousand years ago.

The ancient Greeks left us with their legends, their ancient tales - myths.

The Greeks have come a long way in history; it took centuries before they became the most educated, most cultured people of the ancient world. Their ideas about the structure of the world, their attempts to explain everything that happens in nature and in human society are reflected in myths.

Myths were created when the Hellenes did not yet know how to read and write; developed gradually over several centuries, passed on from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, and were never written down as a single, solid book. We already know them from the works of the ancient poets Hesiod and Homer, the great Greek playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and writers of later eras.

This is why the myths of the ancient Greeks have to be collected from a variety of sources and retold.

Based on individual myths, it is possible to recreate a picture of the world as the ancient Greeks imagined it. Myths tell that at first the world was inhabited by monsters and giants: giants with huge snakes writhing instead of legs; hundred-armed, huge as mountains; the fierce cyclops, or cyclops, with one sparkling eye in the middle of the forehead; formidable children of Earth and Sky - mighty titans. In the images of giants and titans, the ancient Greeks personified the elemental powerful forces of nature. Myths say that subsequently these elemental forces of nature were curbed and subdued by Zeus - the deity of the sky, the Thunderer and the Cloudbreaker, who established order in the world and became the ruler of the universe. The Titans were replaced by the kingdom of Zeus.

In the minds of the ancient Greeks, the gods were similar to people and the relationships between them resembled the relationships between people. The Greek gods quarreled and made peace, constantly interfered in people's lives, and took part in wars. Each of the gods was engaged in some kind of business, “in charge” of a certain “economy” in the world. The Hellenes endowed their gods with human characters and inclinations. The Greek gods differed from people - “mortals” only in their immortality.

Just as each Greek tribe had its own leader, military leader, judge and master, so among the gods the Greeks considered Zeus to be the leader. According to the beliefs of the Greeks, the family of Zeus - his brothers, wife and children shared power over the world with him. Zeus's wife, Hera, was considered the guardian of the family, marriage, and home. Zeus' brother, Poseidon, ruled the seas; Hades, or Hades, ruled the underworld of the dead; Demeter, sister of Zeus, goddess of agriculture, was in charge of the harvest. Zeus had children: Apollo - the god of light, patron of sciences and arts, Artemis - goddess of forests and hunting, Pallas Athena, born from the head of Zeus, - goddess of wisdom, patroness of crafts and knowledge, lame Hephaestus - god of the blacksmith and mechanic, Aphrodite - goddess love and beauty, Ares - the god of war, Hermes - the messenger of the gods, the closest assistant and confidant of Zeus, the patron of trade and navigation. Myths say that these gods lived on Mount Olympus, always hidden from the eyes of people by clouds, ate the “food of the gods” - nectar and ambrosia, and decided all matters at feasts with Zeus.

People on earth turned to the gods - to each according to his “specialty”, erected separate temples for them and, in order to appease them, brought gifts - sacrifices.

Myths say that, in addition to these main gods, the entire earth was inhabited by gods and goddesses who personified the forces of nature.

The nymphs Naiads lived in rivers and streams, Nereids lived in the sea, Dryads and Satyrs with goat legs and horns on their heads lived in the forests; The nymph Echo lived in the mountains.

Helios reigned in the sky - the sun, who every day traveled around the whole world on his golden chariot drawn by fire-breathing horses; in the morning his departure was announced by the ruddy Eos - dawn; At night, Selena, the moon, was sad above the earth. The winds were personified by different gods: the menacing northern wind was Boreas, the warm and soft wind was Zephyr. Human life was controlled by three goddesses of fate - the Moiras, who spun the thread of human life from birth to death and could break it whenever they wanted.

In addition to myths about gods, the ancient Greeks had myths about heroes. Ancient Greece was not a single state; it all consisted of small city-states, which often fought among themselves, and sometimes entered into an alliance against a common enemy. Every city, every region had its own hero. The hero of Athens was Theseus, a brave young man who defended his hometown from conquerors and defeated the monstrous bull Minotaur in a duel, to which the Athenian boys and girls were devoured. The hero of Thrace was the famous singer Orpheus. Among the Argives, the hero was Perseus, who killed Medusa, whose one glance turned a person to stone.

Then, when the unification of the Greek tribes gradually took place and the Greeks began to recognize themselves as a single people - the Hellenes, the hero of all Greece appeared - Hercules. A myth was created about a journey in which heroes of different Greek cities and regions participated - about the campaign of the Argonauts.

The Greeks have been seafarers since ancient times. The sea washing the shores of Greece (Aegean) was convenient for swimming - it is dotted with islands, calm most of the year, and the Greeks quickly mastered it. Moving from island to island, the ancient Greeks soon reached Asia Minor. Gradually, Greek sailors began to explore the lands that lay north of Greece.

The myth of the Argonauts is based on memories of many attempts by Greek sailors to get into the Black Sea. Stormy and without a single island on the way, the Black Sea frightened Greek sailors for a long time.

The myth about the campaign of the Argonauts is also interesting for us because it talks about the Caucasus, Colchis; the river Phasis is the present-day Rion, and gold was actually found there in ancient times.

Myths say that together with the Argonauts, the great hero of Greece, Hercules, went on a campaign for the Golden Fleece.

Hercules is the image of a folk hero. In the myths about the twelve labors of Hercules, the ancient Greeks talk about the heroic struggle of man against the hostile forces of nature, about the liberation of the earth from the terrible domination of the elements, about the pacification of the country. The embodiment of indestructible physical strength, Hercules is at the same time a model of courage, fearlessness, and military courage.

In the myths about the Argonauts and Hercules, we are confronted with the heroes of Hellas - brave sailors, discoverers of new paths and new lands, fighters liberating the earth from the monsters with which the primitive mind populated it. The images of these heroes express the ideals of the ancient world.

The ancient Greek myths depict the “childhood of human society,” which in Hellas, according to Karl Marx, “developed most beautifully and has an eternal charm for us.” In their myths, the Hellenes showed a remarkable sense of beauty, an artistic understanding of nature and history. The myths of Ancient Greece have inspired poets and artists around the world for many centuries. In the poems of Pushkin and Tyutchev and even in the fables of Krylov we will more than once find images from the myths of Hellas. If we did not know the ancient Greek myths, much in the art of the past - in sculpture, painting, poetry - would be incomprehensible to us.

The images of ancient Greek myths have been preserved in our language. We do not believe now that there ever existed mighty giants, whom the ancient Greeks called titans and giants, but we still call great things gigantic. We say: “the torment of Tantalus”, “the labor of Sisyphean” - and without knowledge of Greek myths these words are incomprehensible.

A hero is the son or descendant of a deity and a mortal man. In Homer, a hero is usually called a brave warrior (in the Iliad) or a noble man with glorious ancestors (in the Odyssey). For the first time, Hesiod calls the “kind of heroes” created by Zeus “demigods” (h m i q e o i, Orr. 158-160). In the dictionary of Hesychius of Alexandria (VI century) the concept hero explained as “powerful, strong, noble, significant” (Hesych. v. h r o z). Modern etymologists give different interpretations of this word, highlighting, however, the function of protection, patronage (root ser-, variant swer-, wer-, cf. Lat. servare, “protect”, “save”), and also bringing it closer to the name of the goddess Hera - H r a).

The history of the heroes belongs to the so-called classical or Olympian period of Greek mythology (2nd millennium BC, flourishing in the 2nd millennium BC), associated with the strengthening of patriarchy and the rise of Mycenaean Greece. The Olympian gods, who overthrew the Titans, in the fight against the pre-Olympic world of monstrous creatures of mother earth - Gaia, create generations of heroes by marrying into the mortal race. There are so-called catalogs of heroes indicating their parents and place of birth (Hes. Theog. 240-1022; frg. 1-153; Apoll. Rhod. I 23-233). Sometimes the hero does not know his father, is raised by his mother and goes on a quest, performing feats along the way.

The hero is called upon to carry out the will of the Olympians on earth among people, ordering life and introducing justice, measure, and laws into it, despite the ancient spontaneity and disharmony. Usually the hero is endowed with exorbitant strength and superhuman capabilities, but he is deprived of immortality, which remains the privilege of a deity. Hence the inconsistency and contradiction between the limited capabilities of a mortal being and the desire of the heroes to establish themselves in immortality. There are known myths about the attempts of the gods to make heroes immortal; Thus, Thetis tempers Achilles in fire, burning out everything mortal in him and anointing him with ambrosia (Apollod. III 13, 6), or Demeter, patronizing the Athenian kings, tempers their son Demophon (Hymn. Hom. V 239-262). In both cases, the goddesses are hindered by unreasonable mortal parents (Peleus is the father of Achilles, Metanira is the mother of Demophon).

The desire to disrupt the original balance of the forces of death and the immortal world is fundamentally unsuccessful and is punished by Zeus. Thus, Asclepius, the son of Apollo and the mortal nymph Coronis, who tried to resurrect people, that is, to grant them immortality, was struck by the lightning of Zeus (Apollod. III 10, 3-4). Hercules stole the apples of the Hesperides, which bestow eternal youth, but then Athena returned them to their place (Apollod. II 5, 11). Orpheus's attempt to bring Eurydice back to life is unsuccessful (Apollod. I 3, 2).

The impossibility of personal immortality is compensated in the heroic world by exploits and glory (immortality) among descendants. The personality of the heroes is mostly of a dramatic nature, since the life of one hero is not enough to realize the plans of the gods. Therefore, myths reinforce the idea of ​​the suffering of a heroic person and the endless overcoming of trials and difficulties. Heroes are often persecuted by a hostile deity (for example, Hercules is pursued by Hera, Apollod II 4, 8) and depends on a weak, insignificant person through whom the hostile deity acts (for example, Hercules is subordinate to Eurystheus).

It takes more than one generation to create a great hero. Zeus marries mortal women three times (Io, Danae and Alcmene), so that after thirty generations (Aeschylus “Chained Prometheus”, 770 next) Hercules is born, among whose ancestors were Danaus, Perseus and other sons and descendants of Zeus. Thus, there is an increase in heroic power, reaching its apotheosis in the myths about pan-Greek heroes, such as Hercules.

Early heroism - the exploits of heroes destroying monsters: the fight of Perseus with the gorgon, Bellerophon with the chimera, a series of labors of Hercules, the pinnacle of which is the fight with Hades (Apollod. II 7, 3). Late heroism is associated with the intellectualization of heroes, their cultural functions (the skilled craftsman Daedalus or the builders of the Theban walls Zet and Amphion). Among the heroes are singers and musicians who have mastered the magic of words and rhythm, tamers of the elements (Orpheus), soothsayers (Tiresias, Kalkhant, Trophonius), riddle solvers (Oedipus), cunning and inquisitive (Odysseus), legislators (Theseus). Regardless of the nature of heroism, the exploits of heroes are always accompanied by the help of a divine parent (Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon) or a god whose functions are close to the character of a particular hero (wise Athena helps smart Odysseus). Often, the rivalry of the gods and their fundamental difference from each other affects the fate of the hero (the death of Hippolytus as a result of a dispute between Aphrodite and Artemis; violent Poseidon pursues Odysseus in defiance of the wise Athena; Hera, the patroness of monogamy, hates Hercules, the son of Zeus and Alcmene).

Often heroes experience a painful death (self-immolation of Hercules), die at the hands of a treacherous villain (Theseus), or at the will of a hostile deity (Hyakinthos, Orpheus, Hippolytus). At the same time, the exploits and sufferings of the heroes are considered as a kind of test, the reward for which comes after death. Hercules gains immortality on Olympus, having received the goddess Hebe as his wife (Hes. Theog. 950-955). However, according to another version, Hercules himself is on Olympus, and his shadow wanders in Hades (Hom. Od. XI 601-604), which indicates the duality and instability of the deification of heroes. Achilles, killed near Troy, then ends up on the island of Levka (analogous to the islands of the blessed), where he marries Helen (Paus. III 19, 11-13) or with Medea in the Champs Elysees (Apoll. Rhod. IV 811-814), Menelaus ( son-in-law of Zeus), without experiencing death, is transferred to the Elysian Fields (Hom. Od. IV 561 -568). Hesiod considers it obligatory for most heroes to move to the islands of the blessed (Orr. 167-173). The son of Apollo, Asclepius, killed by the lightning of Zeus, is thought of as a hypostasis of Apollo, acquires the divine functions of a healer, and his cult even supplants the cult of his father Apollo in Epidaurus. The only hero is the demigod Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Semele, who becomes a deity during his lifetime; but this transformation of him into a god is prepared by the birth, death and resurrection of Zagreus - the archaic hypostasis of Dionysus, the son of Zeus of Crete and the goddess Persephone (Nonn. Dion. VI 155-388). In the song of the Elean women, the god Dionysus is addressed as Dionysus the Hero. (Anthologia lyrica graeca, ed. Diehl, Lips., 1925, II p. 206, frg. 46). Thus, Hercules was the model for the concept of the hero-god (Pind. Nem. III 22), and Dionysus was considered a hero among the gods.

The development of heroism and independence of heroes leads to their opposition to the gods, to their insolence and even crimes, which accumulate over generations of heroic dynasties, leading to the death of heroes. There are known myths about the ancestral curse experienced by the heroes of the end of the classical Olympian period, corresponding to the time of the decline of Mycenaean rule. These are the myths about the curses weighing down on the family of Atrides (or Tantalids) (Tantalus, Pelops, Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Orestes), Cadmids (children and grandchildren of Cadmus - Ino, Agave, Pentheus, Actaeon), Labdacids (Oedipus and his sons), Alkmeonids. Myths are also created about the death of the entire family of heroes (myths about the war of the seven against Thebes and the Trojan War). Hesiod views them as wars in which the heroes destroyed each other (Orr. 156-165).

At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The cult of deceased heroes, completely unfamiliar to Homeric poems, but known from the Mycenaean royal burials, became widespread. The cult of heroes reflected the idea of ​​divine reward after death, the belief in the continuation of the intercession of heroes and the patronage of their people. Sacrifices were made at the graves of heroes (cf. sacrifices to Agamemnon in Aeschylus’s “Choephori”), sacred areas were assigned to them (for example, Oedipus in Colonus), singing competitions were held near their burials (in honor of Amphidamantus in Chalkis with the participation of Hesiod, Orr. 654-657 ). Laments (or phren) for heroes, glorifying their exploits, served as one of the sources of epic songs (cf. “glorious deeds of men” sung by Achilles, Homer “Iliad”, IX 189). The pan-Greek hero Hercules was considered the founder of the Nemean Games (Pind. Nem. I). Sacrifices were made to him in different temples: in some as an immortal Olympian, in others as a hero (Herodot. II 44). Some heroes were perceived as hypostases of god, for example Zeus (cf. Zeus - Agamemnon, Zeus - Amphiaraus, Zeus - Trophonius), Poseidon (cf. Poseidon - Erechtheus).

Where the activities of the heroes were glorified, temples were built (the temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus), and an oracle was consulted at the site of his disappearance (the cave and oracle of Trophonius, Paus. IX 39, 5). In the VII-VI centuries. BC. with the development of the cult of Dionysus, the cult of some ancient heroes - eponyms of cities - lost its significance (for example, in Sikyon, under the tyrant Cleisthenes, the veneration of Adrastus was replaced by the veneration of Dionysus, Herodot. V 67). Religious and cult heroism, sanctified by the polis system, played an important political role in Greece. Heroes were thought of as defenders of the polis, a mediator between gods and people, and a representative for people before God. After the end of the Greco-Persian War (as Plutarch reports), at the behest of the Pythia, the remains of Theseus were transferred from the island of Skyros to Athens. At the same time, sacrifices were made to heroes who died in battles, for example at Plataea (Plut. Arist. 21). Hence the deification after death and the inclusion of famous historical figures among the heroes (Sophocles after his death became a hero named Dexion). Outstanding commanders received the honorary title of hero after their death (for example, Brasidas after the Battle of Amphipolis, Thuc. V 11, 1). The cult of these heroes was influenced by the ancient veneration of mythological characters, who began to be perceived as ancestors - patrons of the family, clan and polis.

The hero, as a universal category of characters that is found in any mythology, can rarely be defined terminologically as clearly as in Greek mythology. In archaic mythologies, heroes are very often classified together with great ancestors, and in more developed ones they turn out to be legendary ancient kings or military leaders, including those bearing historical names. Some researchers (S. Autran, F. Raglan, etc.) directly trace the genesis of mythological heroes to the phenomenon of the sorcerer king (priest), described by J. Fraser in The Golden Bough, and even see in the heroes a ritual hypostasis of a deity (Raglan). However, such a view is not applicable to the most archaic systems, which are characterized by the idea of ​​the hero as the first ancestor participating in creation, inventing the “kitchen” fire, cultivated plants, introducing social and religious institutions, and so on, that is, acting as a cultural hero and demiurge.

Unlike gods (spirits), who are able to create cosmic and cultural objects purely magically, by naming them verbally, and “extract” them one way or another from themselves, heroes for the most part find and obtain these objects ready-made, but in remote places, other worlds , overcoming various difficulties, taking or kidnapping them (like cultural heroes) from the original guardians, or heroes make these objects like potters, blacksmiths (like demiurges). Typically, the creation myth schema includes, as a minimum set of “roles,” the subject, the object, and the source (the material from which the object is extracted/made). If the role of the subject of creation instead of the deity is played by a hero-provider, this usually leads to the appearance of an additional role of an antagonist.

Spatial mobility and numerous contacts of heroes, especially hostile ones, contribute to the narrative development of the myth (up to its transformation into a fairy tale or heroic epic). In more developed mythologies, heroes explicitly represent the forces of the cosmos in the struggle against the forces of chaos - chthonic monsters or other demonic creatures that interfere with the peaceful life of gods and people. Only in the process of the beginning “historicization” of myth in epic texts do heroes acquire the appearance of quasi-historical characters, and their demonic opponents can appear as heterodox foreign “invaders”. Accordingly, in fairy-tale texts, mythical heroes are replaced by conventional figures of knights, princes and even peasant sons (including younger sons and other heroes who “do not show promise”), defeating fairy-tale monsters by force, or cunning, or magic.

Mythical heroes appear on behalf of the human (ethnic) community before gods and spirits, and often act as intermediaries (mediators) between different mythical worlds. In many cases, their role is vaguely comparable to that of shamans.

Heroes sometimes act on the initiative of the gods or with their help, but they, as a rule, are much more active than the gods, and this activity constitutes, in a certain sense, their specificity.

The activity of heroes in developed examples of myth and epic contributes to the formation of a special heroic character - brave, frantic, prone to overestimating their own strengths (cf. Gilgamesh, Achilles, heroes of the German epic, etc.). But even within the class of gods, active characters can sometimes be identified who perform the function of mediation between parts of the cosmos, defeating demonic opponents in the struggle. Such hero gods are, for example, Thor in Scandinavian mythology, Marduk in Babylonian mythology. On the other hand, heroes even of divine origin and endowed with “divine” power can sometimes quite clearly and even sharply confront the gods. Gilgamesh, characterized in the Akkadian poem "Enuma Elish" as a being two-thirds divine and superior to the gods in many qualities, still cannot be compared with the gods, and his attempt to achieve immortality ends in failure.

In some cases, the frantic nature of the heroes or the consciousness of internal superiority over the gods leads to fighting against God (cf. the Greek Prometheus and similar heroes of the mythology of the Caucasian-Iberian peoples of Amirani, Abrskil, Artavazd, and also Batradz). To perform feats, heroes need supernatural strength, which is only partly inherent in them from birth, usually due to divine origin. They need the help of gods or spirits (later this need of the heroes decreases in the heroic epic and increases even more in the fairy tale, where miraculous helpers often act for them), and this help is mostly acquired through a certain skill and tests such as initiation tests, that is initiation practiced in archaic societies. Apparently, the reflection of initiation rites is obligatory in the heroic myth: the departure or expulsion of the hero from his society, temporary isolation and wanderings in other countries, in heaven or in the lower world, where contacts with spirits take place, the acquisition of helping spirits, the fight against some demonic opponents. A specific symbolic motif associated with initiation is the swallowing of the young hero by a monster and subsequent release from his womb. In many cases (and this precisely indicates a connection with initiation), the initiator of the tests is the divine father (or uncle) of the hero or the leader of the tribe, who gives the young man “difficult tasks” or expels him from the tribe.

Exile (difficult tasks) is sometimes motivated by the hero's misdeed (breaking a taboo) or the danger he poses to the father (chief). The young hero often violates various prohibitions and even often commits incest, which at the same time signals his heroic exclusivity and achieved maturity (and perhaps also the decrepitness of his father-leader). Trials in myth can take the form of persecution, attempts at extermination by god (father, king) or demonic creatures (evil spirits), the hero can turn into a mystery victim passing through temporary death (departure/return - death/resurrection). In one form or another, trials are an essential element of heroic mythology.

The story about the miraculous (at least unusual) birth of the hero, his amazing abilities and early attainment of maturity, his training and especially preliminary tests, the various vicissitudes of heroic childhood form an important part of the heroic myth and precede the description of the most important feats of general significance for society.

The biographical “beginning” in the heroic myth is, in principle, similar to the cosmic “beginning” in the cosmogonic or etiological myth. Only here the ordering of chaos is related not to the world as a whole, but to the formation of an individual who turns into a hero who serves his society and is able to further support cosmic order. In practice, however, the preliminary trials of the hero in the process of his social education and the main actions are often so intertwined in the plot that it is difficult to clearly separate them. A heroic biography sometimes also includes the story of the hero’s marriage (with corresponding competitions and trials on the part of the wonderful bride or her father; these motifs receive especially rich development in the fairy tale), and sometimes the story of his death, interpreted in many cases as a temporary departure to another life. peace while maintaining the prospect of return/resurrection.

Heroic biography correlates quite clearly with the cycle of “transitional” rites that accompany birth, initiation, marriage and death. But at the same time, the heroic myth itself, due to the paradigmatic function of the myth, should serve as a model for the performance of transitional rites (especially initiation) during the social education of full members of a tribe, religious or social group, as well as during the entire life cycle and normal generational change. myth is the most important source of formation of both heroic epics and fairy tales.

Myths and legends of the peoples of the world. Ancient Greece / A.I. Nemirovsky.- M.: Literature, World of Books, 2004