The most interesting ancient myths. Interesting legend

Every nation has beautiful and amazing legends. They are varied in theme: legends about the exploits of heroes, stories about the origin of the names of geographical objects, scary stories about supernatural creatures and novelistic tales about lovers.

Definition of the term

A legend is an unreliable account of an event. It is very similar to the myth and can be considered its approximate analogue. But legend and myth still cannot be called completely identical concepts. If we are talking about myth, then there are fictional heroes who have nothing to do with reality. The legend is based on real events, later supplemented or embellished. Since many fictitious facts are added to them, scientists do not accept legends as reliable.

If we take the classical meaning of the word as a basis, then a legend is a legend presented in artistic form. Such legends exist among almost all nations.

The best legends of the world - they will be discussed in the article.

Types of legends

1. Oral legends are the most ancient type. They spread through wandering storytellers.

2. Written traditions - recorded oral stories.

3. Religious legends - stories about events and persons from church history.

4. Social legends - all other legends that are not related to religion.

5. Toponymic - explaining the origin of the names of geographical objects (rivers, lakes, cities).

6. Urban legends are the newest type that has become widespread these days.

In addition, there are many more varieties of legends, depending on the plot that underlies them - zootropomorphic, cosmogonic, etiological, eschatonic and heroic. There are very short legends and long narratives. The latter are usually associated with a story about the heroic achievements of a person. For example, the legend about the hero Ilya Muromets.

How did legends arise?

Legenda is translated from Latin as “that which must be read.” The history of legends goes back a long way and has the same roots as myth. having no idea about the causes of many natural phenomena occurring around him, he composed myths. Through them he tried to explain his vision of the world. Later, based on mythology, amazing and interesting legends about heroes, gods and supernatural phenomena began to arise. Many of them have been preserved in the traditions of the peoples of the world.

Atlantis - the legend of the lost paradise

The best legends that arose in ancient times have survived to this day. Many of them still captivate the imagination of adventurers with their beauty and realism. The story of Atlantis says that in ancient times there was an island whose inhabitants achieved incredible heights in many sciences. But then it was destroyed by a strong earthquake and sank along with the Atlanteans - its inhabitants.

We must express gratitude to the great ancient Greek philosopher Plato and the no less revered historian Herodotus for the story of Atlantis. An interesting legend excited the minds of these outstanding scientists of ancient Greece during their lifetime. It has not lost its relevance even today. The search for the wonderful island, which sank thousands of years ago, continues to this day.

If the legend of Atlantis turns out to be true, this event will rank among the greatest discoveries of the century. After all, there was an equally interesting legend about the mythical Troy, the existence of which Heinrich Schliemann sincerely believed. In the end, he managed to find this city and prove that there was some truth in the ancient legends.

Founding of Rome

This interesting legend is one of the most famous in the world. The city of Rome arose in ancient times on the banks of the Tiber. The proximity of the sea made it possible to engage in trade, and at the same time the city was well protected from a sudden attack by sea robbers. According to legend, Rome was founded by the brothers Romulus and Remus, who were suckled by a she-wolf. By order of the ruler, they were supposed to be killed, but a careless servant threw the basket with the children into the Tiber, hoping that it would drown. She was picked up by a shepherd and became the foster father for the twins. Having matured and learned about their origin, they rebelled against a relative and took power from him. The brothers decided to found their own city, but during construction they quarreled, and Romulus killed Remus.

He named the built city after himself. The legend about the emergence of Rome belongs to toponymic legends.

The Legend of the Golden Dragon - The Path to the Heavenly Temple

Among the legends, stories about dragons are very popular. Many nations have them, but traditionally it is one of the favorite themes of Chinese folklore.

The legend of the golden dragon says that between heaven and earth there is a bridge that leads to the Heavenly Temple. It belongs to the Lord of the World. Only pure souls can enter it. Two golden dragons stand guard over the shrine. They sense an unworthy soul and can tear it apart when trying to enter the temple. One day one of the dragons angered the Lord, and he expelled him. The dragon descended to earth, met other creatures and dragons of different stripes were born from him. The Lord became angry when he saw them and destroyed everyone except those not yet born. Having been born, they hid for a long time. But the Lord of the World did not destroy the new dragons, but left them on earth as his governors.

Treasures and Treasures

Legends about gold occupy not the last place in the list of popular legends. One of the most famous and beautiful myths of ancient Greece tells about the Argonauts' search for the Golden Fleece. For a long time, the legend about the treasure was considered simply a legend until Heinrich Schliemann found a treasure of pure gold at the excavation site of Mycenae, the capital of the legendary king.

Kolchak's Gold is another famous legend. During the Civil War, most of Russia's gold reserves ended up in hands - about seven hundred tons of gold. It was transported in several trains. Historians know what happened to one train. He was captured by the rebel Czechoslovak Corps and handed over to the authorities (Bolsheviks). But the fate of the remaining two is unknown to this day. The precious cargo could have been dumped into a mine, hidden or buried in the vast area between Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk. All the excavations that have been carried out so far (starting with the security officers) have not yielded any results.

The Well to Hell and the Library of Ivan the Terrible

Russia also has its own interesting legends. One of them, which appeared relatively recently, is one of the so-called urban legends. This is a story about a well to hell. This name was given to one of the deepest man-made wells in the world - Kola. Its drilling began in 1970. The length is 12,262 meters. The well was created exclusively for scientific purposes. Now it is mothballed because there are no funds to maintain it in working condition. The legend appeared in 1989, when a story was heard on American television that sensors lowered to the very depths of the well recorded sounds similar to moans and screams of people.

Another interesting legend, which may well be true, speaks of a library of books, scrolls and manuscripts. The last owner of the precious collection was Ivan IV. It is believed that she was part of the dowry of the niece of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine.

Fearing that the precious books in wooden Moscow might be burned in a fire, she ordered the library to be placed in the basements under the Kremlin. According to the seekers of the famous Liberia, it may contain 800 volumes of priceless works of ancient and medieval authors. Now there are about 60 versions of where the mysterious library may be stored.

Do you know why the Chow Chow dog has a blue tongue? If such a question had been asked to a resident of Ancient China, he would not have had any difficulty answering. There is an interesting Chinese legend that says: “In very ancient times, when God had already created the Earth and populated it with animals, birds, insects, and fish, he was engaged in the distribution of stars in the sky. During this work, quite by accident, a piece of his sky fell off and fell to Earth. All the animals and birds, in horror, ran away and hid in secluded places. And only the bravest Chow Chow dog was not afraid to approach the fragment of sky, sniff it and lightly lick it with his tongue. Since then, the Chow Chow dog, and all its descendants, have had a blue tongue.” Thanks to this beautiful legend, the Chow Chow is still called “the dog that licked the sky.”

The Austrian city of Salzburg is known not only for its picturesque surroundings and famous resorts, but also for its many historical attractions. And, perhaps, the main one is the Mirabell Palace with a complex of fabulous gardens. The pink stone from which the palace is built gives it lightness and airiness. Of course, this is a beautiful creation of architecture, but it is not considered the main highlight, namely the Mirabell Gardens. Fountains, a garden of dwarfs, stone lions, trees and flower beds - very fancy shapes, graceful balustrades, a theater with hedges - it’s impossible to describe everything. This is a must see. The real pride of Austria.

Venice, a city shrouded in a light haze, seems almost ephemeral and exists only in our imagination. But you can still see it not only in pictures and in movies, it actually exists with all its squares, canals, bridges, cathedrals. I think that everyone who has not been there dreams of taking a romantic trip to Venice in order to capture the mysterious and enigmatic essence of this unusual and magnificent city. The gondola is rightfully considered one of the main symbols of the city. Perhaps someone noticed that they are all the same color and, like black swans, cut through the waters of the canals of Venice. There is a legend that answers the question: Why are all the Venetian gondolas in the “city of love” black?

Salzburg is one of the most beautiful and unusual cities in Austria. Located at the very foot of the Alpine mountains, literally 5 kilometers from the border with Germany. The name of the city itself is associated with a nearby deposit of table salt. They have been mining it since time immemorial. According to legend, a fortress was built here to control the export of salt. This is how the name Salzburg appeared, which means Salt Fortress.

If anyone has ever visited Krakow, they will never forget the enchanting atmosphere of this city. Complex history, unique culture, unique architecture make Krakow a real paradise for poets, musicians, artists and just anyone. The city, covered in legends, gladly reveals its secrets to everyone who visits it. If you are not lucky enough to visit there, I highly recommend reading the book by N.G. Frolova "Old Krakow". One of the parts of this book is called “Characters of a City Play.” Who does not participate in this eternal Krakow performance: musicians, poets, warriors, kings, artists, adventurers...

This monument first appeared in St. Petersburg in 1999 on Malaya Sadovaya Street 3. The work of sculptor V.A. Sivakova. The exact name is “Monument to the Stray Dog Gavryusha.” But as soon as he was not called a monument to a good dog, and Gavryusha, and even just Nyusha. After sitting there for 8 years, the dog gave birth to either a rumor or a legend. The teenagers really loved the dog. And so they came up with the idea that if you write a wish to a dog, it will definitely come true. Since then, the courtyard on Malaya Sadovaya, where the dog stood, has become a place of pilgrimage for tourists and city residents.

Saint John of Nepomuk is one of the most revered Czech saints by the residents of Prague. He is considered the patron saint of Prague and the entire Czech Republic. He lived in the 14th century, during the reign of King Wenceslas IV, and was a priest. It is not known exactly what John of Nepomuk did wrong before the king, but one of the most plausible assumptions is the following. As the queen's confessor, he refused to reveal the secret of his wife's confession to Wenceslas IV. For what, after much torture and torment. the king ordered his execution. The priest was put in a sack and thrown from the Charles Bridge into the Vltava.

Charles Bridge is one of the main attractions of Prague. It was built by order of King Charles IV in 1357. For five centuries it was the only bridge across the Vltava. Later in the 17th century it began to be decorated with sculptures, the number of which reached 30. So the bridge turned into a real open-air art gallery. Nowadays, the bridge is a pedestrian bridge and is favored by artists, souvenir sellers, street musicians and, of course, tourists. Many legends of Old Prague are associated with the Charles Bridge. Here is one of them.

The contents of the section are legends and sagas, epics and epics, canons and apocrypha of religions from all over the world.

Myth(Greek μῦθος - legend, tradition) - a story, an archaic story about gods, spirits (later about heroes). Myth is historically the first form of culture, compensating for the lack of practical mastery of nature through semantic twinning with it.

Added approx. 2006-2007

Ancient Greek geographers called the flat region between the Tigris and Euphrates Mesopotamia (Interfluve). The self-name of this area is Shinar. The center of development of the most ancient civilization was in Babylonia...

The Hittite religion, like the entire Hittite culture, developed through the interaction of cultures of different peoples. During the period of unification of the disparate city-states of Anatolia into a single kingdom, local traditions and cults apparently were preserved...

The main monuments that reflected the mythological ideas of the Egyptians are various religious texts: hymns and prayers to the gods, records of funeral rites on the walls of tombs...

The earliest mentions of Ugarit were found in Egyptian documents of the 2nd millennium BC. Two huge royal palaces were excavated, which amazed contemporaries with their luxury, temples of the gods Balu, Daganu and, possibly, Ilu, houses, workshops, and a necropolis. An archive from the 14th century was also found. BC, including magical and religious texts...

The myths of Ancient Greece - their essence becomes understandable only when taking into account the peculiarities of the primitive communal system of the Greeks, who perceived the world as the life of one huge tribal community and in myth generalized the entire diversity of human relationships and natural phenomena...

Northern mythology represents an independent and richly developed branch of Germanic mythology, which, in turn, in its main features goes back to ancient Proto-Indo-European history...

Vedic mythology - a set of mythological ideas of the Vedic Aryans; Usually, Vedic mythology is understood as the mythological ideas of the Aryans from the period of the creation of the Vedas, and sometimes from the period of the creation of the Brahmins...

Buddhist mythology, a complex of mythological images, characters, symbols associated with the religious and philosophical system of Buddhism, which arose in the 6th-5th centuries. BC. in India, during the period of the centralized state, and widespread in South, Southeast and Central Asia and the Far East...

Unlike ancient mythology, well known from fiction and works of art, as well as the mythologies of the countries of the East, the texts of the Slavic myths have not reached our time, because at that distant time when the myths were created, they did not yet know writing...

Why is this on a site that was originally designed for myths and various religious and anti-religious things? - There is simply no desire to expand myths now. Did not hear? - Ukraine was attacked. And the devastation in the minds from Sikelev is worse than the religious one. More about myths later.

March 7, 2019

Orthodox Christians celebrate the day of the Holy Martyr Eugenia

321- by decree of the Roman Emperor Constantine, Sunday was declared a day off

1274- Thomas Aquinas, philosopher and theologian, saint, died

1530- The Pope denied the English King Henry VIII the right to divorce, which prompted the King to create the Church of England

1693- Pope Clement XIII was born (Carlo della Tore Rezzonico)

1724- Pope Innocent XIII (Michelangelo dei Conti) died

1768- according to the agreement between Russia and Poland, Orthodox and Catholics were equal in rights on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

1965- for the first time in Canada, services were held in English in Catholic churches

1984- Polish students staged a sit-in at Stanisław Staszek College in Metn, demanding that crucifixes be reinstated in classrooms

Random Joke

Holy father? I have sex with my fiancee 15 times a day... Is this a sin?
- Yes, my son, lying is a great sin.

The Creator sat on the Throne and reflected. Behind Him stretched the boundless expanse of heaven, bathed in the splendor of light and colors; in front of Him the black night of Space stood like a wall. He rose to the very zenith, like a majestic steep mountain, and His divine head shone in the heights like a distant sun...

Sabbath day. As usual, no one follows it. Nobody but our family. Sinners everywhere gather in crowds and indulge in fun. Men, women, girls, boys - everyone drinks wine, fights, dances, gambles, laughs, screams, sings. And they do all sorts of other abominations...

Received the Mad Prophet today. He is a good man, and, in my opinion, his intelligence is much better than his reputation. He received this nickname a long time ago and completely undeservedly, since he simply makes forecasts and does not prophesy. He doesn't pretend to be. He makes his forecasts based on history and statistics...

The first day of the fourth month of the year 747 from the beginning of the world. Today I am 60 years old, for I was born in the year 687 from the beginning of the world. My relatives came to me and begged me to marry so that our family would not be cut off. I am still young to take on such concerns, although I know that my father Enoch, and my grandfather Jared, and my great-grandfather Maleleel, and great-great-grandfather Cainan, all married at the age that I have reached on this day...

Another discovery. One day I noticed that William McKinley looked very sick. This is the very first lion, and I became very attached to him from the very beginning. I examined the poor fellow, looking for the cause of his illness, and discovered that he had an unchewed head of cabbage stuck in his throat. I couldn't pull it out, so I took a broomstick and pushed it in...

...Love, peace, peace, endless quiet joy - this is how we knew life in the Garden of Eden. Living was a pleasure. The passing time left no traces - no suffering, no decrepitude; illnesses, sorrows, and worries had no place in Eden. They were hiding behind its fence, but could not penetrate it...

I'm almost a day old. I showed up yesterday. So, at least, it seems to me. And, probably, this is exactly so, because if there was the day before yesterday, I did not exist then, otherwise I would remember it. It is possible, however, that I simply did not notice when it was the day before yesterday, although it was...

This new creature with long hair really bothers me. It sticks out in front of my eyes all the time and follows me on my heels. I don’t like it at all: I’m not used to society. I wish I could go to other animals...

Dagestanis is a term for the peoples originally living in Dagestan. There are about 30 peoples and ethnographic groups in Dagestan. In addition to Russians, Azerbaijanis and Chechens, who make up a significant proportion of the population of the republic, these are Avars, Dargins, Kumti, Lezgins, Laks, Tabasarans, Nogais, Rutuls, Aguls, Tats, etc.

Circassians (self-called Adyghe) are a people in Karachay-Cherkessia. In Turkey and other countries of Western Asia, Circassians are also called all people from the North. Caucasus. Believers are Sunni Muslims. The Kabardino-Circassian language belongs to the Caucasian (Iberian-Caucasian) languages ​​(Abkhazian-Adyghe group). Writing based on the Russian alphabet.

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.

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

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

Origin of the Gods

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

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

War with the Titans

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

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

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

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

Divine Geography

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

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

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

Other divine entities

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

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

Myths of Ancient Greece: Hercules and his exploits

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

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

Conclusion

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