Mythology Ancient Greece built on myths about the pantheon of gods, about the life of titans and giants, as well as about the exploits of heroes. In the myths of ancient Greece, the main active force was the Earth, giving rise to everything and giving everything a start.

What was first

So she gave birth to monsters personifying dark power, titans, cyclops, hecatoncheirs - hundred-armed monsters, the many-headed serpent Typhon, the terrible goddesses Erinnia, the bloodthirsty dog ​​Cerberus and the Lernean hydra and three-headed chimeras.

Society developed and these monsters were replaced by the heroes of Ancient Greece. Most of the heroes parents were gods, they were also people. Part of the culture of Greece is the myths about the exploits of these heroes, and some of the names of the heroes of Ancient Greece are well known.

Hercules

Hercules - popular, strong, courageous was the son of the god Zeus and Alcmene, a simple, earthly woman. He became famous for his twelve feats accomplished in his entire life. Zeus gave him immortality for this.

Odysseus

Odysseus is the king of Ithaca, he became famous for his deadly risky journeys from Troy to his homeland. Homer described these exploits in his poem The Odyssey. Odysseus was smart, cunning and strong. He managed to escape not only from the nymph Calypso, but also from the sorceress Kirk.

He managed to defeat the Cyclops by blinding him, he survived a lightning strike, and when he returned to his homeland, he punished all the "suitors" of his wife Penelope.

Perseus

It is impossible not to remember Perseus, if we talk about the names of the heroes of Ancient Greece. The son of Queen Danae and Zeus is Perseus. He accomplished a feat by killing Medusa Gorgon - a winged monster, from the look of which everything turned to stone. He accomplished the next feat when he freed Princess Andromeda from the clutches of the monster.

Achilles

Achilles became famous in the Trojan War. He was the son of the nymph Thetis and King Peleus. When he was a baby, his mother bought him in the waters of the river of the dead. Since then, he has been invulnerable to enemies, with the exception of his heel. Paris, the son of the Trojan king, hit him in this heel with an arrow.

Jason

The ancient Greek hero Jason became famous in Colchis. Jason went for the Golden Fleece to distant Colchis on the Argo ship with a team of brave Argonauts, married Medea, the daughter of the king of this country. They had two sons. Medea killed him and her two sons when Jason was about to marry a second time.

Theseus

The ancient Greek hero Theseus was the son of the sea king Poseidon. He became famous for killing the monster that lived in the Cretan labyrinth - the Minotaur. He got out of the labyrinth thanks to Ariadne, who gave him a ball of thread. In Greece, this hero is considered the founder of Athens.

The names of the heroes of Ancient Greece are also not forgotten thanks to the filmed animated and feature films.

More articles in this category:

Agamemnon- one of the main heroes of the ancient Greek national epic, the son of the Mycenaean king Atreus and Aeropa, the leader of the Greek army during the Trojan War.

Amphitryon- the son of the king of Tiryns Alkey and the daughter of Pelop Astidamia, the grandson of Perseus. Amphitryon took part in the war against the teleboys who lived on the island of Taphos, which was waged by his uncle, the Mycenaean king Electrion.

Achilles- in Greek mythology, one of the greatest heroes, the son of King Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons and the sea goddess Thetis, the grandson of Aeacus, the protagonist of the Iliad.

ajax- the name of two participants in the Trojan War; both fought near Troy as applicants for the hand of Helen. In the Iliad, they often appear side by side and are compared to two mighty lions or bulls.

Bellerophon- one of the main characters of the older generation, the son of the Corinthian king Glaucus (according to other sources, the god Poseidon), the grandson of Sisyphus. Bellerophon's original name is Hippo.

Hector- one of the main characters of the Trojan War. The hero was the son of Hecuba and Priam, the king of Troy. According to legend, he killed the first Greek who set foot on the land of Troy.

Hercules - national hero Greeks. Son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Gifted with mighty strength, he performed the most difficult work on earth and accomplished great feats. Having atoned for his sins, he ascended Olympus and achieved immortality.

Diomedes- the son of the Aetolian king Tydeus and the daughter of Adrasta Deipyla. Together with Adrast he took part in the campaign and the ruin of Thebes. As one of Helen's suitors, Diomedes subsequently fought near Troy, leading a militia on 80 ships.

Meleager- the hero of Aetolia, the son of the Calydonian king Oineus and Alfea, the husband of Cleopatra. Member of the campaign of the Argonauts. Meleager was most famous for his participation in the Calydonian hunt.

Menelaus- King of Sparta, son of Atreus and Aeropa, husband of Helen, younger brother of Agamemnon. Menelaus, with the help of Agamemnon, gathered friendly kings for the Ilion campaign, and he himself put up sixty ships.

Odysseus- "angry", king of the island of Ithaca, son of Laertes and Anticlea, husband of Penelope. Odysseus is the famous hero of the Trojan War, also famous for his wanderings and adventures.

Orpheus- the famous Thracian singer, the son of the river god Eagra and the muse Calliope, the husband of the nymph Eurydice, who set trees and rocks in motion with his songs.

Patroclus- the son of one of the Argonauts Menetius, a relative and ally of Achilles in the Trojan War. As a boy, he killed his friend during a dice game, for which his father sent him to Peleus in Phthia, where he was brought up with Achilles.

Peleus- the son of the king of Aegina Aeacus and Endeida, the husband of Antigone. For the murder of his half-brother Phocus, who defeated Peleus in athletic exercises, he was expelled by his father and retired to Phthia.

Pelops- the king and national hero of Phrygia, and then the Peloponnese. Son of Tantalus and the nymph Euryanassa. Pelops grew up on Olympus in the company of the gods and was the favorite of Poseidon.

Perseus- the son of Zeus and Danae, daughter of the king of Argos Acrisius. Slayer of the Gorgon Medusa and savior of Andromeda from the dragon's claims.

Talphibius- a messenger, a Spartan, together with Eurybatus was the herald of Agamemnon, carrying out his instructions. Talthybius, together with Odysseus and Menelaus, gathered an army for the Trojan War.

Teucer- the son of Telamon and the daughter of the Trojan king Hesion. The best archer in the Greek army near Troy, where more than thirty defenders of Ilion fell from his hand.

Theseus- the son of the Athenian king Aeneas and Ethera. He became famous for a number of exploits, like Hercules; kidnapped Helena with Peyrifoy.

Trophonius- originally a chthonic deity, identical with Zeus the Underground. According to popular belief, Trophonius was the son of Apollo or Zeus, the brother of Agamed, the pet of the goddess of the earth - Demeter.

Phoroneus- the founder of the Argos state, the son of the river god Inach and the Hamadryad Melia. He was honored as a national hero; sacrifices were made at his grave.

Frasimede- the son of the Pylos king Nestor, who arrived with his father and brother Antiloch near Ilion. He commanded fifteen ships and took part in many battles.

Oedipus- the son of the Finnish king Lai and Jocasta. He killed his father and married his mother without knowing it. When the crime was discovered, Jocasta hanged herself, and Oedipus blinded himself. Died pursued by Erinyes.

Aeneas- the son of Anchises and Aphrodite, a relative of Priam, the hero of the Trojan War. Aeneas, like Achilles among the Greeks, is the son of a beautiful goddess, a favorite of the gods; in battles he was defended by Aphrodite and Apollo.

Jason- the son of Aison, on behalf of Pelias, went from Thessaly for the Golden Fleece to Colchis, for which he equipped the campaign of the Argonauts.

Kronos, in ancient Greek mythology, was one of the titans, born from the marriage of the sky god Uranus and the earth goddess Gaia. He succumbed to the persuasion of his mother and castrated his father Uranus in order to stop the endless birth of his children.

To avoid repeating the fate of his father, Kronos began to swallow all his offspring. But in the end, his wife could not stand such an attitude towards their offspring and let him swallow a stone instead of a newborn.

Rhea hid her son, Zeus, on the island of Crete, where he grew up, fed by the divine goat Amalthea. He was guarded by kuretes - warriors who drowned out the cry of Zeus with blows to the shields so that Kronos would not hear.

Having matured, Zeus overthrew his father from the throne, forced him to expel his brothers and sisters from the womb, and after a long war took his place on the bright Olympus, among the host of gods. So Kronos was punished for his betrayal.

In Roman mythology, Kronos (Chroos - "time") is known as Saturn - a symbol of inexorable time. In ancient Rome, festivities were dedicated to the god Kronos - saturnalia, during which all rich people changed their duties with their servants and fun began, accompanied by abundant libations. In Roman mythology, Kronos (Chroos - "time") is known as Saturn - a symbol of inexorable time. In ancient Rome, festivities were dedicated to the god Kronos - saturnalia, during which all rich people changed their duties with their servants and fun began, accompanied by abundant libations.

Rhea("Ρέα", in ancient myth-making Greek goddess, one of the Titanides, the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, the wife of Kronos and the mother of the Olympic deities: Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter and Hera (Hesiod, Theogony, 135). Kronos, fearing that one of his children would deprive him of power, devoured them immediately after birth. Rhea, on the advice of her parents, saved Zeus. Instead of a born son, she planted a swaddled stone, which Kronos swallowed, and secretly from her father Rhea sent her son to Crete, to Mount Dikta. When Zeus grew up, Rhea attached her son to Kronos as a butler, and he was able to mix an emetic potion into his father's cup, freeing his brothers and sisters. According to one version of the myth, Rhea deceived Kronos at the birth of Poseidon. She hid her son among the grazing sheep, and gave Kronos the foal to swallow, referring to the fact that it was she who gave birth to him (Pausanias, VIII 8, 2).

The cult of Rhea was considered one of the very ancient, but was not very common in Greece itself. In Crete and Asia Minor, she mingled with the Asian goddess of nature and fertility, Cybele, and her worship came to a more prominent plane. Especially in Crete, the legend about the birth of Zeus in the grotto of Mount Ida, which enjoyed special reverence, was localized, as evidenced by the large number of dedications, partly very ancient, found in it. In Crete, the tomb of Zeus was also shown. The priests of Rhea were here called Curetes and identified with the Corybantes, the priests of the great Phrygian mother Cybele. Rhea entrusted them with the preservation of the baby Zeus; clattering with their weapons, the curets drowned out his crying so that Kronos could not hear the child. Rhea was depicted in a matronal type, usually with a crown of city walls on her head, or in a veil, mostly sitting on a throne, near which sit the lions dedicated to her. Its attribute was a tympanum (an ancient musical percussion instrument, the predecessor of the timpani). In the period of late antiquity, Rhea was identified with the Phrygian Great Mother of the gods and received the name Rhea-Cybele, whose cult was distinguished by an orgiastic character.

Zeus, Diy ("bright sky"), in Greek mythology, the supreme deity, the son of the titans Kronos and Rhea. The almighty father of the gods, the lord of the winds and clouds, rain, thunder and lightning caused storms and hurricanes with a blow of the scepter, but he could also calm the forces of nature and clear the sky of clouds. Kronos, fearing to be overthrown by his children, swallowed all the older brothers and sisters of Zeus immediately after their birth, but Rhea, together with younger son gave Kropos a stone wrapped in diapers, and the baby was secretly taken out and raised on the island of Crete.

The matured Zeus sought to pay off his father. His first wife, the wise Metis ("thought"), the daughter of the Ocean, advised him to give his father a potion, from which he would vomit all swallowed children. Having defeated the Kronos who gave birth to them, Zeus and the brothers divided the world among themselves. Zeus chose the sky, Hades - underground realm of the dead and Poseidon is the sea. The land and Mount Olympus, where the palace of the gods was located, were decided to be considered common. Over time, the world of Olympians changes and becomes less cruel. Ores, daughters of Zeus from Themis, his second wife, brought order into the life of gods and people, and Charites, daughters from Eurynome, the former mistress of Olympus, brought joy and grace; the goddess Mnemosyne gave birth to Zeus 9 muses. Thus, law, sciences, arts and moral norms have taken their place in human society. Zeus was also the father of famous heroes - Hercules, Dioscuri, Perseus, Sarpedon, glorious kings and sages - Minos, Radamanth and Aeacus. True, Zeus's love affairs with both mortal women and immortal goddesses, which formed the basis of many myths, caused constant antagonism between him and his third wife Hera, the goddess of legal matrimony. Some children of Zeus born out of wedlock, such as Hercules, were severely persecuted by the goddess. In Roman mythology, Zeus corresponds to the omnipotent Jupiter.

Hera(Hera), in Greek mythology, the queen of the gods, the goddess of the air, the patroness of the family and marriage. Hera, the eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea, raised in the house of Oceanus and Tethys, sister and wife of Zeus, with whom, according to Samos legend, she lived in a secret marriage for 300 years, until he openly declared her his wife and queen of the gods. Zeus honors her highly and communicates his plans to her, although he keeps her on occasion within her subservient position. Hera, mother of Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus, Ilithyia. Differs in imperiousness, cruelty and jealous disposition. Especially in the Iliad, Hera shows quarrelsomeness, stubbornness and jealousy - character traits that have passed into the Iliad, probably from the oldest songs that glorified Hercules. Hera hates and pursues Hercules, as well as all the favorites and children of Zeus from other goddesses, nymphs and mortal women. When Hercules was returning on a ship from Troy, she, with the help of the god of sleep Hypnos, put Zeus to sleep and, through the storm she raised, almost killed the hero. As punishment, Zeus tied the treacherous goddess to the ether with strong golden chains and hung two heavy anvils at her feet. But this does not prevent the goddess from constantly resorting to cunning when she needs to get something from Zeus, against whom she can do nothing by force.

In the struggle for Ilion, she patronizes her beloved Achaeans; the Achaean cities of Argos, Mycenae, Sparta are her favorite places of residence; she hates the Trojans for the Judgment of Paris. The marriage of Hera with Zeus, which originally had an elemental meaning - the connection between heaven and earth, then receives a relation to the civil institution of marriage. As the only legal wife on Olympus, Hera is the patroness of marriages and childbirth. A pomegranate apple, a symbol of marital love, and a cuckoo, a messenger of spring, the pores of love, were dedicated to her. In addition, the peacock and the crow were considered her birds.

The main place of her worship was Argos, where there was a colossal statue of her, made of gold and ivory by Polykleitos, and where every five years the so-called Hereae were celebrated in her honor. In addition to Argos, Hera was also honored in Mycenae, Corinth, Sparta, Samos, Plataea, Sicyon and other cities. Art represents Hera as a tall, slender woman, with a majestic posture, mature beauty, a rounded face, bearing an important expression, a beautiful forehead, thick hair, large, strongly opened "cow" eyes. The most remarkable image of her was the above-mentioned statue of Polikleitos in Argos: here Hera was sitting on a throne with a crown on her head, with a pomegranate in one hand, with a scepter in the other; at the top of the scepter is a cuckoo. Above the long tunic, which left only the neck and arms uncovered, a himation was thrown over, entwined around the camp. In Roman mythology, Hera corresponds to Juno.

Demeter(Δημήτηρ), in Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility and agriculture, civil organization and marriage, daughter of Kronos and Rhea, sister and wife of Zeus, from whom she gave birth to Persephone (Hesiod, Theogony, 453, 912-914). One of the most revered Olympian deities. The ancient chthonic origin of Demeter is attested by her name (literally, "mother earth"). Cult appeals to Demeter: Chloe ("greenery", "sowing"), Carpophora ("giver of fruits"), Thesmophora ("legislator", "organizer"), Sieve ("bread", "flour") indicate the functions of Demeter as goddess of fertility. She is a goddess gracious to people, of a beautiful appearance with hair the color of ripe wheat, an assistant in peasant labors (Homer, Iliad, V 499-501). She fills the farmer's barns with provisions (Hesiod, Opp. 300, 465). They call on Demeter so that the grains come out full-fledged and that the plowing is successful. Demeter taught people plowing and sowing, combining in a sacred marriage on a thrice-plowed field of the island of Crete with the Cretan god of agriculture Jason, and the fruit of this marriage was Plutos, the god of wealth and abundance (Hesiod, Theogony, 969-974).

Hestia-goddess of the virgin hearth, the eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea, the patroness of unquenchable fire, uniting gods and people. Hestia never returned her advances. Apollo and Poseidon asked for her hands, but she vowed to remain a virgin forever. One day, the drunken god of gardens and fields, Priapus, tried to dishonor her, sleeping, at a festival where all the gods were present. However, at the moment when the patron of voluptuousness and sensual pleasures, Priapus was preparing to do his dirty deed, the donkey screamed loudly, Hestia woke up, called for the help of the gods, and Priapus turned in fear and fled.

Poseidon, in ancient Greek mythology, the god of the underwater kingdom. Poseidon was considered the ruler of the seas and oceans. The underwater king was born from the marriage of the goddess of the earth Rhea and the titan Kronos and immediately after birth was swallowed up by his father, who was afraid that they would take away his power over the world. Zeus later freed them all.

Poseidon lived in an underwater palace, among a host of gods obedient to him. Among them was his son Triton, Nereids, Amphitrite's sisters and many others. The god of the seas was equal in beauty to Zeus himself. By sea, he moved in a chariot, which was harnessed to wondrous horses.

With the help of a magic trident, Poseidon controlled the deep sea: if there was a storm on the sea, then as soon as he held out the trident in front of him, the enraged sea calmed down.

The ancient Greeks greatly revered this deity and, in order to achieve his location, brought many sacrifices to the underwater ruler, throwing them into the sea. This was very important for the inhabitants of Greece, since their well-being depended on whether merchant ships would pass through the sea. Therefore, before going to sea, travelers threw a sacrifice to Poseidon into the water. In Roman mythology, it corresponds to Neptune.

Hades, Hades, Pluto ("invisible", "terrible"), in Greek mythology, the god of the kingdom of the dead, as well as the kingdom itself. Son of Kronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia. When the world was divided after the overthrow of his father, Zeus took the sky for himself, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld; the brothers agreed to rule the land together. The second name of Hades was Polydegmon ("recipient of many gifts"), which is associated with the countless shadows of the dead that live in his domain.

The messenger of the gods, Hermes, forwarded the souls of the dead to the ferryman Charon, who transported only those who could pay for the crossing through the underground river Styx. The entrance to the underground kingdom of the dead was guarded by the three-headed dog Kerberos (Cerberus), who did not allow anyone to return to the world of the living.

Like the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks believed that the kingdom of the dead is located in the bowels of the earth, and the entrance to it is in the extreme west (west, sunset are symbols of dying), beyond the Ocean River, washing the earth. The most popular myth about Hades is associated with the abduction of Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and the goddess of fertility Demeter. Zeus promised him his beautiful daughter without asking her mother's consent. When Hades took the bride away by force, Demeter almost lost her mind from grief, forgot about her duties, and hunger seized the earth.

The dispute between Hades and Demeter over the fate of Persephone was resolved by Zeus. She must spend two thirds of the year with her mother and one third with her husband. Thus, the alternation of the seasons was born. Once Hades fell in love with the nymph Minta or Mint, who was associated with the waters of the realm of the dead. Upon learning of this, Persephone, in a fit of jealousy, turned the nymph into a fragrant plant.

Rhea, christened by Kron, bore him light children, - the Virgin - Hestia, Demeter and the golden-shod Hera, the glorious power of Hades, who lives under the earth, And the providence - Zeus, the father of both immortals and mortals, whose thunders tremble the wide earth. Hesiod "Theogony"

Greek literature originated from mythology. Myth- this is a show ancient man about the world around him. Myths were created at a very early stage in the development of society in various areas of Greece. Later, all these myths merged into a single system.

With the help of myths, the ancient Greeks tried to explain all natural phenomena, presenting them in the form of living beings. At first, experiencing a strong fear of the elements, people portrayed the gods in a terrible animal form (Chimera, Gorgon Medusa, Sphinx, Lernean Hydra).

Later, however, the gods become anthropomorphic, that is, they have a human appearance and they have a variety of human qualities (jealousy, generosity, envy, generosity). The main difference between the gods and people was their immortality, but with all their greatness, the gods communicated with mere mortals and even often entered into love relationships with them in order to give birth to a whole tribe of heroes on earth.

There are 2 types of ancient Greek mythology:

1. cosmogonic (cosmogony - the origin of the world) - ends with the birth of Kronos
2. theogonic (theogony - the origin of gods and deities)

The mythology of Ancient Greece went through 3 main stages in its development:

1. pre-Olympic- this is basically a cosmogonic mythology. This stage begins with the idea of ​​the ancient Greeks that everything came from Chaos, and ends with the murder of Kron and the division of the world between the gods.
2. Olympic(early classic) - Zeus becomes the supreme deity and with a retinue of 12 gods settles on Olympus.
3. late heroism- heroes are born from the gods and mortals, who help the gods in establishing order and in the destruction of monsters.

On the basis of mythology, poems were created, tragedies were written, and lyricists dedicated their odes and hymns to the gods.

There were two main groups of gods in Ancient Greece:

1. titans - gods of the second generation (six brothers - Oceanus, Kei, Crius, Gipperion, Iapetus, Kronos and six sisters - Thetis, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Teia, Themis, Rhea)
2. olympic gods - Olympians - gods of the third generation. The Olympians included the children of Kronos and Rhea - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, as well as their descendants - Hephaestus, Hermes, Persephone, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Athena, Apollo and Artemis. The supreme god was Zeus, who deprived the power of his father Kronos (the god of time).

The Greek pantheon of the Olympian gods traditionally included 12 gods, but the composition of the pantheon was not very stable and sometimes consisted of 14-15 gods. Usually they were: Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hestia, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Hades. The Olympic gods lived on the sacred Mount Olympus ( Olympos) in Olympia, off the coast of the Aegean Sea.

Translated from ancient Greek, the word pantheon means "all gods". Greeks

divided the deities into three groups:

• Pantheon (great Olympian gods)
• Inferior deities
• monsters

Heroes occupied a special place in Greek mythology. The most famous of them:

v Odysseus

Supreme gods of Olympus

Greek gods	Functions	roman gods
	god of thunder and lightning, sky and weather, law and fate, attributes - lightning (three-pronged pitchfork with notches), scepter, eagle or chariot drawn by eagles
	goddess of marriage and family, goddess of the sky and starry skies, attributes - diadem (crown), lotus, lion, cuckoo or hawk, peacock (two peacocks drove her wagon)
Aphrodite	"foam-born", the goddess of love and beauty, Athena, Artemis and Hestia were not subject to her, attributes - a rose, an apple, a shell, a mirror, a lily, a violet, a belt and a golden bowl that bestows eternal youth, a retinue - sparrows, doves, a dolphin, satellites - Eros, charites, nymphs, ororas.
	god of the underworld of the dead, "generous" and "hospitable", attribute - magic cap of invisibility and three-headed dog Cerberus
	the god of insidious war, military destruction and murder, he was accompanied by the goddess of discord Eris and the goddess of violent war Enyo, attributes - dogs, a torch and a spear, there were 4 horses in the chariot - Noise, Horror, Shine and Flame
	god of fire and blacksmithing, ugly and lame on both legs, attribute - blacksmith's hammer
	the goddess of wisdom, crafts and art, the goddess of just war and military strategy, the patroness of heroes, the “owl-eyed”, used male attributes (helmet, shield - aegis from the skin of the goat amalthea, decorated with the head of Medusa Gorgon, spear, olive, owl and snake), was accompanied by Nicky
	god of invention, theft, trickery, trade and eloquence, patron of heralds, ambassadors, shepherds and travelers, invented measures, numbers, taught people, attributes - a winged rod and winged sandals	Mercury
Poseidon	god of the seas and all water bodies, floods, droughts and earthquakes, patron of sailors, attribute - a trident that causes storms, breaks rocks, knocks out springs, sacred animals - a bull, a dolphin, a horse, a sacred tree - a pine
Artemis	goddess of hunting, fertility and female chastity, later - goddess of the moon, patroness of forests and wild animals, forever young, she is accompanied by nymphs, attributes - hunting bow and arrows, sacred animals - doe and bear
Apollo (Phoebus), Kifared	“golden-haired”, “silver-armed”, god of light, harmony and beauty, patron of arts and sciences, leader of the muses, predictor of the future, attributes - silver bow and golden arrows, golden cithara or lyre, symbols - olive, iron, laurel, palm tree, dolphin , swan, wolf
	goddess of the hearth and sacrificial fire, virgin goddess. was accompanied by 6 priestesses - vestals who served the goddess for 30 years
	"Mother Earth", the goddess of fertility and agriculture, plowing and harvest, attributes - a sheaf of wheat and a torch
	god of fruitful forces, vegetation, viticulture, winemaking, inspiration and fun	Bacchus, Bacchus

Minor Greek gods

Greek gods	Functions	roman gods
Asclepius	"opener", god of healing and medicine, attribute - a staff entwined with snakes
Eros, Cupid	the god of love, the "winged boy", was considered a product of the dark night and have a bright day, Heaven and Earth, attributes - a flower and a lyre, later - arrows of love and a flaming torch
	"the sparkling eye of the night", the goddess of the moon, the queen of the starry sky, has wings and a golden crown
Persephone	goddess of the realm of the dead and fertility	Proserpina
	the goddess of victory, depicted winged or in a pose of rapid movement, attributes - a bandage, a wreath, later - a palm tree, then - a weapon and a trophy	Victoria
	goddess of eternal youth, depicted as a chaste girl pouring nectar
	“pink-fingered”, “beautiful-haired”, “golden-throned” goddess of the dawn
	goddess of happiness, chance and good luck
	god of the sun, owner of seven herds of cows and seven herds of sheep
Kronos (Chronos)	god of time, attribute - sickle
	goddess of furious war
Hypnos (Morpheus)
	goddess of flowers and gardens
	god of the west wind, messenger of the gods
Dike (Themis)	goddess of justice, justice, attributes - scales in the right hand, blindfold, cornucopia in the left hand; The Romans put a sword into the hand of the goddess instead of a horn
	god of marriage	Thalassium
Nemesis	winged goddess of revenge and retribution, punishing for violation of social and moral norms, attributes - scales and bridle, sword or whip, chariot drawn by griffins	Adrastea
	golden-winged goddess of the rainbow
	earth goddess

In addition to Olympus in Greece, there was sacred mountain Parnassus, where they lived muses - 9 sisters, Greek deities who personified poetic and musical inspiration, patrons of the arts and sciences.

Greek Muses

	What patronizes	Attributes
Calliope ("beautiful")	muse of epic or heroic poetry	wax tablet and stylus (bronze rod for writing)
("glorifying")	muse of history	papyrus scroll or scroll case
("pleasant")	muse of love or erotic poetry, lyrics and marriage songs	kifara (stringed plucked musical instrument, a type of lyre)
("beautiful")	muse of music and lyric poetry	avlos (a wind musical instrument similar to a pipe with a double tongue, the predecessor of the oboe) and syringa (a musical instrument, a kind of longitudinal flute)
("celestial")	muse of astronomy	spotting scope and leaf with celestial signs
Melpomene ("singing")	muse of tragedy	wreath of vine leaves or ivy, theatrical mantle, tragic mask, sword or club.
Terpsichore ("delightful dancing")	muse of dance	head wreath, lyre and plectrum (mediator)
polyhymnia ("multi-singing")	muse of sacred song, eloquence, lyric, chant and rhetoric
("blooming")	muse of comedy and bucolic poetry	comic mask in hands and wreath ivy on the head

Inferior deities in Greek mythology, these are satyrs, nymphs and ororas.

satires - (Greek satyroi) - these are forest deities (the same as in Russia goblin), demons fertility, retinue of Dionysus. They were depicted as goat-legged, hairy, with horse tails and small horns. Satyrs are indifferent to people, mischievous and cheerful, they were interested in hunting, wine, pursued forest nymphs. Their other hobby is music, but they only played wind instruments that make sharp, piercing sounds - flutes and pipes. In mythology, they personified a rough, base beginning in nature and man, therefore they were represented with ugly faces - with blunt, wide noses, swollen nostrils, disheveled hair.

nymphs - (the name means "source", among the Romans - "bride") the personification of living elemental forces, noticed in the murmur of a stream, in the growth of trees, in the wild charms of mountains and forests, spirits of the earth's surface, manifestations of natural forces acting in addition to man in the solitude of grottoes , valleys, forests, away from cultural centers. They were depicted as beautiful young girls with wonderful hair, with a dress of wreaths and flowers, sometimes in a dancing pose, with bare legs and arms, with loose hair. They are engaged in yarn, weaving, sing songs, dance in the meadows to the flute of Pan, hunt with Artemis, participate in the noisy orgies of Dionysus, and are constantly fighting with annoying satyrs. In the view of the ancient Greeks, the world of nymphs was very extensive.

The azure pond was full of flying nymphs,
Dryads animated the garden,
And the bright water spring was sparkling from the urn
Laughing naiads.

F. Schiller

Nymphs of the mountains oreads,

nymphs of forests and trees - dryads,

spring nymphs - naiads,

nymphs of the oceans oceanides,

nymphs of the sea nerids,

nymphs of the valleys sing,

meadow nymphs - limeades.

Ory - the goddess of the seasons, they were in charge of order in nature. Guardians of Olympus, now opening, then closing its cloudy gates. They are called gatekeepers of heaven. Harness the horses of Helios.

In many mythologies, there are numerous monsters. In ancient Greek mythology, there were also many of them: Chimera, Sphinx, Lernean Hydra, Echidna and many others.

In the same vestibule, the shadows of monsters crowd around:

Scylla biform here and herds of centaurs live,

Here Briares the hundred-handed lives, and the dragon from Lerna

The swamp hisses, and the Chimera intimidates enemies with fire,

Harpies fly in a flock around the three-bodied giants ...

Virgil, "Aeneid"

Harpies - these are evil abductors of children and human souls, suddenly flying in and just as suddenly disappearing like the wind, terrifying people. Their number ranges from two to five; depicted as wild, half-female, half-birds of a disgusting appearance with wings and paws of a vulture, with long sharp claws, but with the head and chest of a woman.

Gorgon Medusa - monster with woman's face and snakes instead of hair, whose gaze turned a man to stone. According to legend it was beautiful girl with beautiful hair. Poseidon, seeing Medusa and falling in love, seduced her in the temple of Athena, for which the goddess of wisdom in anger turned the hair of the Gorgon Medusa into snakes. The Gorgon Medusa was defeated by Perseus, and her head was placed on the auspices of Athena.

Minotaur - a monster with a human body and a bull's head. He was born from the unnatural love of Pasiphae (wife of King Minos) and a bull. Minos hid the monster in the labyrinth of Knossos. Every eight years, 7 boys and 7 girls descended into the labyrinth, intended for the Minotaur as victims. Theseus defeated the Minotaur, and with the help of Ariadne, who gave him a ball of thread, got out of the labyrinth.

Cerberus (Cerberus) - this is a three-headed dog with a snake tail and snake heads on its back, guarding the exit from the kingdom of Hades, not allowing the dead to return to the kingdom of the living. He was defeated by Hercules during one of the labors.

Scylla and Charybdis - These are sea monsters located at the distance of an arrow flight from each other. Charybdis is a sea whirlpool that absorbs and spews water three times a day. Scylla ("barking") - a monster in the form of a woman, whose lower body was turned into 6 dog heads. When the ship passed the rock where Scylla lived, the monster, opening all its mouths, abducted 6 people from the ship at once. The narrow strait between Scylla and Charybdis was a mortal danger to all who sailed through it.

Also in ancient Greece, there were other mythical characters.

Pegasus - a winged horse, a favorite of the muses. Flying at the speed of the wind. To ride a Pegasus meant to receive poetic inspiration. He was born at the origins of the Ocean, therefore he was named Pegasus (from the Greek "stormy current"). According to one version, he jumped out of the body of the Gorgon Medusa after Perseus cut off her head. Pegasus delivered thunder and lightning to Zeus on Olympus from Hephaestus, who made them.

From the foam of the sea, from the azure wave,

Faster than an arrow and more beautiful than a string,

An amazing fairytale horse is flying

And easily catches heavenly fire!

He likes to splash in colored clouds,

And often walks in magic verses.

So that the ray of inspiration in the soul does not go out,

I saddle you, snow-white Pegasus!

Unicorn - a mythical creature symbolizing chastity. Usually depicted as a horse with one horn coming out of his forehead. The Greeks believed that the unicorn belonged to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Subsequently, in medieval legends, there was a version that only a virgin could tame him. Having caught a unicorn, it can only be held by a golden bridle.

centaurs - wild mortal creatures with the head and torso of a man on the body of a horse, inhabitants of mountains and forest thickets, accompany Dionysus and are distinguished by their violent temper and intemperance. Presumably, centaurs were originally the embodiment of mountain rivers and turbulent streams. In heroic myths, centaurs are the educators of heroes. For example, Achilles and Jason were raised by the centaur Chiron.

(or their descendants) and mortal people. Heroes differed from the gods in that they were mortal. More often they were the descendants of a god and a mortal woman, less often - a goddess and a mortal man. Heroes, as a rule, possessed exceptional or supernatural physical abilities, creative talents, etc., but did not possess immortality. The heroes were supposed to fulfill the will of the gods on earth, to bring order and justice into people's lives. With the help of their divine parents, they performed all sorts of feats. Heroes were highly revered, legends about them were passed down from generation to generation.
Heroes ancient Greek myths were Achilles, Heracles, Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus, Jason, Hector, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Pelops, Phoroneus, Aeneas.
Let's talk about some of them.

Achilles

Achilles was the bravest of heroes. He participated in the campaign against Troy led by the Mycenaean king Agamemnon.

Achilles. Greek antique bas-relief
Author: Jastrow (2007), from Wikipedia
Achilles was the son of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and the sea goddess Thetis.
There are several legends about the childhood of Achilles. One of them is the following: Thetis, wanting to make her son immortal, immersed him in the waters of Styx (according to another version, in fire), so that only the heel by which she held him remained vulnerable; hence the proverb "Achilles' heel" that exists to this day. This saying denotes someone's weak side.
As a child, Achilles was called Pyrrisius ("Ice"), but when the fire burned his lips, he was called Achilles ("lipless").
Achilles was raised by the centaur Chiron.

Chiron teaching Achilles to play the lyre
Another teacher of Achilles was Phoenix, a friend of his father Peleus. The centaur Chiron returned Phoenix's sight, which was taken from him by his father, who was falsely accused by a concubine.
Achilles joined the campaign against Troy at the head of 50 or even 60 ships, taking with him his tutor Phoenix and childhood friend Patroclus.

Achilles bandaging the hand of Patroclus (picture on the bowl)
The first shield of Achilles was made by Hephaestus, this scene is also depicted on vases.
During the long siege of Ilion, Achilles repeatedly launched raids on various neighboring cities. According to the existing version, he wandered the Scythian land for five years in search of Iphigenia.
Achilles is the main character in Homer's Iliad.
Having slain many enemies, Achilles in the last battle reached the Skean gates of Ilion, but here an arrow shot from the bow of Paris by the hand of Apollo himself hit him in the heel, and the hero died.

Death of Achilles
But there are later legends about the death of Achilles: he appeared in the temple of Apollo in Fimbra, near Troy, to marry Polyxena, the youngest daughter of Priam, where he was killed by Paris and Deiphobes.
Greek writer of the first half of the 2nd century AD. e. Ptolemy Hephaestion tells that Achilles was killed by Helen or Penthesilea, after which Thetis resurrected him, he killed Penthesilea and returned to Hades (the god of the underworld of the dead).
The Greeks erected a mausoleum for Achilles on the banks of the Hellespont, and here, in order to pacify the shadow of the hero, they sacrificed Polyxena to him. For the armor of Achilles, according to the story of Homer, Ajax Telamonides and Odysseus Laertides argued. Agamemnon awarded them to the latter. In the Odyssey, Achilles is in the underworld, where Odysseus meets him.
Achilles was buried in a golden amphora, which Dionysus presented to Thetis.

Hercules

A. Canova "Hercules"
Author: Lucius Commons - foto scattata da me., from Wikipedia
Hercules is the son of the god Zeus and Alkmena, the daughter of the Mycenaean king.
Numerous myths have been created about Hercules, the most famous is the cycle of legends about 12 exploits performed by Hercules when he was in the service of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus.
The cult of Hercules was very popular in Greece, from where it spread to Italy, where he is known by the name of Hercules.
The constellation Hercules is located in the northern hemisphere of the sky.
Zeus took the form of Amphitryon (husband of Alcmene), stopped the sun, and their night lasted three days. On the night when he was to be born, Hera made Zeus swear that today's newborn would be the supreme king. Hercules was from the Perseid family, but Hera delayed the birth of his mother, and his cousin Eurystheus was the first to be born (premature). Zeus concluded an agreement with Hera that Hercules would not be under the rule of Eurystheus all his life: after ten labors performed on behalf of Eurystheus, Hercules would not only be freed from his power, but even receive immortality.
Athena tricks Hera into breastfeeding Hercules: having tasted this milk, Hercules becomes immortal. The baby hurts the goddess, and she tears him from her breast; the splashed stream of milk turns into Milky Way. Hera was the adoptive mother of Hercules.
In his youth, Hercules accidentally killed Lin, brother of Orpheus, with a lyre, so he was forced to retire to the wooded Kiteron, into exile. There, two nymphs appear to him (Depravity and Virtue), who offer him a choice between the easy road of pleasures and the thorny path of labors and exploits. Virtue convinced Hercules to go his own way.

Annibale Carracci "The Choice of Hercules"

12 Labors of Hercules

1 Strangling the Nemean Lion
2. Killing the Lernaean Hydra
3. Extermination of Stymphalian birds
4. Capture of the Kerinean fallow deer
5. Taming the Erymanthian boar and the battle with the centaurs
6. Cleaning the Augean stables.
7. Taming the Cretan Bull
8. The abduction of the horses of Diomedes, the victory over King Diomedes (who threw strangers to be eaten by his horses)
9 The Abduction Of The Girdle Of Hippolyta, Queen Of The Amazons
10. The abduction of the cows of the three-headed giant Gerion
11. Theft of golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides
12. Taming the guardian of Hades - the dog Cerberus

Antoine Bourdelle "Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds"
Stymphalian birds are birds of prey that lived near the Arcadian city of Stymphalus. They had copper beaks, wings and claws. They attacked people and animals. Their most formidable weapons were feathers, which the birds poured on the ground like arrows. They devoured crops in the area or ate people.
Hercules performed many other feats: with the consent of Zeus, he freed one of the titans - Prometheus, to whom the centaur Chiron gave his gift of immortality for the sake of liberation from torment.

G. Fuger "Prometheus brings fire to people"
During his tenth labor, he places the Pillars of Hercules on the sides of Gibraltar.

Pillars of Hercules - Rock of Gibraltar foreground) and the mountains of North Africa (on the back)
Author: Hansvandervliet - Own work, from Wikipedia
Participated in the campaign of the Argonauts. Defeated the king of Elis Avgii and established the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games, he won the pankration. Some authors describe the struggle of Hercules with Zeus himself - their contest ended in a draw. He established the Olympic stages 600 feet long. In running, he overcame stages without taking a breath. Accomplished many other feats.
There are also many legends about the death of Hercules. According to Ptolemy Hephaestion, having reached the age of 50 and finding that he could no longer draw his bow, he threw himself into the fire. Hercules ascended to heaven, was accepted among the gods, and Hera, reconciled with him, marries her daughter Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, to him. Happily lives on Olympus, and his ghost is in Hades.

Hector

The bravest leader of the Trojan army, the main Trojan hero in the Iliad. He was the son of the last Trojan king Priam and Hecuba (the second wife of King Priam). According to other sources, he was the son of Apollo.

Return of Hector's body to Troy

Perseus

Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos. He defeated the monster Gorgon Medusa, was the savior of the princess Andromeda. Perseus is mentioned in Homer's Iliad.

A. Canova "Perseus with the head of the Gorgon Medusa." Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
Author: Yucatan - Own work, from Wikipedia
Gorgon Medusa - the most famous of the three Gorgon sisters, a monster with a woman's face and snakes instead of hair. Her gaze turned a man to stone.
Andromeda is the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and Cassiopeia (had divine progenitors). Cassiopeia once boasted that she surpassed the beauty of the Nereids (sea deities, daughters of Nereus and the oceanids of Dorida, according to appearance reminiscent of Slavic mermaids), the angry goddesses turned to Poseidon with a request for revenge, and he sent a sea monster that threatened the death of Kefey's subjects. The oracle of Ammon announced that the wrath of the deity would be tamed only when Cepheus sacrificed Andromeda to the monster, and the inhabitants of the country forced the king to decide on this sacrifice. Chained to a cliff, Andromeda was left to the mercy of the monster.

Gustave Doré "Andromeda Chained to a Rock"
In this position, Perseus saw her. He was struck by her beauty and promised to kill the monster if she agreed to marry him (Perseus). Andromeda's father Kefey gladly agreed to this, and Perseus accomplished his feat by showing the face of the Gorgon Medusa to the monster, thereby turning him into stone.

Perseus and Andromeda
Not wanting to reign in Argos after the accidental murder of his grandfather, Perseus left the throne to his kinsman Megapenthus, and he himself went to Tiryns (an ancient city on the Peloponnese peninsula). Founded Mycenae. The city got its name due to the fact that Perseus lost the tip (mike) of the sword in the vicinity. It is believed that among the ruins of Mycenae, the underground spring of Perseus has been preserved.
Andromeda bore Perseus a daughter, Gorgofon, and six sons: Perseus, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Eleus, Mestor, and Electryon. The eldest of them, Persian, was considered the ancestor of the Persian people.

HEROES

HEROES

ancient mythology

Achilles
Hector
Hercules
Odysseus
Orpheus
Perseus
Theseus
Oedipus
Aeneas
Jason

Achilles -
one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology,
son of King Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis.
Zeus and Poseidon wanted to have a son from the beautiful Thetis,
but the titan Prometheus warned them,
that the child will surpass the greatness of his father.
And the gods prudently arranged the marriage of Thetis with a mortal.
Love for Achilles, as well as the desire to make him invulnerable and
to give immortality forced Thetis to bathe the child in the river Styx,
flowing through Hades, the land of the dead.
Since Thetis was forced to hold her son by the heel, t
this part of the body remained defenseless.
Achilles was mentored by the centaur Chiron, who fed him
entrails of lions, bears and wild boars, taught to play the cithara and sing.
Achilles grew up a fearless warrior, but his immortal mother, knowing
that participation in the campaign against Troy will bring death to the son,
she dressed him up as a girl and hid him among the women in the palace of Tsar Lykomed.
When the leaders of the Greeks became aware of the prediction of the priest Kalhant,
the grandson of Apollo, that without Achilles the campaign against Troy is doomed to failure,
they sent the cunning Odysseus to him.
Arriving at the king under the guise of a merchant, Odysseus laid out before the assembled
women's jewelry interspersed with weapons.
The inhabitants of the palace began to consider jewelry,
but suddenly, at the sign of Odysseus, an alarm sounded -
the girls fled in fright, and the hero grabbed his sword, betraying himself with his head.
After being exposed, Achilles willy-nilly had to sail to Troy,
where he soon quarreled with the Greek leader Agamemnon.
According to one version of the myth, this happened because,
wanting to provide the Greek fleet
favorable wind, Agamemnon secretly from the hero,
under the pretext of marriage with Achilles, summoned to Aulis
his daughter Iphigenia and sacrificed her to the goddess Artemis.
Angered, Achilles retired to his tent, refusing to fight.
However, his death true friend and brother of Patroclus
at the hands of the Trojan Hector forced
Achilles to immediate action.
Having received armor as a gift from the blacksmith god Hephaestus,
Achilles slew Hector with a blow of a spear and twelve days
mocked his body near the tomb of Patroclus.
Only Thetis was able to convince her son to give the remains of Hector to the Trojans.
for funeral rites
the sacred duty of the living towards the dead.
Returning to the battlefield, Achilles slew hundreds of enemies.
But his own life was coming to an end.
Arrow of Paris, aptly directed by Apollo,
inflicted a fatal wound on the heel of Achilles,
the only vulnerable spot on the hero's body.
Thus perished the valiant and presumptuous Achilles,
the ideal of the great commander of antiquity, Alexander the Great.

1. Teaching Achilles
Pompeo Batoni, 1770

2.Achilles at Lycomedes
Pompeo Batoni, 1745

3. Ambassadors of Agamemnon to Achilles
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
1801, Louvre, Paris

4. The centaur Chiron returns the body
Achilles by his mother Thetis
Pompeo Batoni, 1770

HECTOR -
in ancient Greek mythology, one of the main characters 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 it was he who was famous
with his strength and courage. According to legend, Hector struck the first Greek to death,
who set foot on the land 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 bodies
in case of defeat and not to take off his armor and demanded the same from Ajax.
After a long struggle, they decided to stop the fight and as a sign
mutual respect exchanged gifts.
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 removed the armor of Achilles from him.
The gods took a very active part in the war. They split into two camps
and helped each of his 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 body of the hero was not touched by decay,
not a bird, since Apollo protected him in gratitude for
that Hector during his lifetime helped him more than once.
Based on this circumstance, the ancient Greeks concluded that
that Hector was the son of Apollo.
According to myths, Apollo persuaded Zeus at the council of the gods
hand over Hector's body to the Trojans,
to be buried with honor.
The supreme god ordered Achilles to give the body of the deceased to his father Priam.
Since, according to legend, the tomb of Hector was in Thebes,
the researchers suggested that the image of the hero is of Boeotian origin.
Hector was a very revered hero in ancient Greece,
which proves the existence of his image
on ancient vases and antique plastic.
Usually they depicted scenes of Hector's farewell to his wife Andromache,
the battle with Achilles and many other episodes.

1. Andromache at the body of Hector
Jacques Louis David
1783, Louvre, Paris

]

HERCULES -
in ancient Greek mythology, the greatest of the heroes,
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, archery.
Zeus wanted Hercules to become the ruler of Mycenae or Tiryns, the key fortresses on the approaches to Argos,
but jealous Hera upset his plans.
She struck Hercules with madness, in a fit of which he killed
wife and three of their sons.
To atone for a heavy guilt, the hero had to serve Eurystheus for twelve years,
king of Tiryns and Mycenae, after which he was granted immortality.
The most famous is the cycle of legends about the twelve labors of Hercules.
The first feat was to obtain the skin of a Nemean lion,
whom Hercules had to strangle with his bare hands.
Having defeated the lion, the hero dressed his skin and wore it as a trophy.
The next feat was the victory over the hydra, the sacred nine-headed snake of Hera.
The monster lived in a swamp near Lerna, not far from Argos.
The difficulty was that instead of the head cut off by the hero, the hydra
immediately grew two new ones.
With the help of his nephew Iolaus, Hercules mastered the fierce Lernean hydra -
the young man burned the neck of each head cut off by the hero.
True, the feat was not counted by Eurystheus, since Hercules was helped by his nephew.
The next feat was not so bloody.
Hercules should have caught the Kerinean doe, the sacred animal of Artemis.
Then the hero caught the Erymanthian boar, which was devastating the fields of Arcadia.
At the same time, the wise centaur Chiron accidentally died.
The fifth feat was the cleaning of the Augean stables from manure,
what the hero did in one day, directing the waters of the nearest river at them.
The last of the feats performed by Hercules in the Peloponnese was
expulsion of Stymphalian birds with pointed iron feathers.
Sinister birds were afraid of copper rattles,
made by Hephaestus and given to Hercules
favored by the goddess Athena.
The seventh feat was the capture of a fierce bull, which Minos, king of Crete,
refused to sacrifice to the god of the sea Poseidon.
The bull copulated with the wife of Minos Pasiphae, who gave birth from him to the Minotaur, a man with a bull's head.
Hercules performed the eighth labor in Thrace,
where he subjugated the cannibal mares of King Diomedes to his power.
The remaining four feats were of a different kind.
Eurystheus ordered Hercules to get the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the warlike Amazons.
Then the hero kidnapped and delivered to Mycenae the cows of the three-headed giant Geryon.
After that, Hercules brought Eurystheus the golden apples of the Hesperides, for which he had to
strangle the giant Antaeus and deceive Atlas, holding the firmament on his shoulders.
The last feat of Hercules - a journey to the kingdom of the dead - was the most difficult.
With the assistance of the queen of the underworld, Persephone, the hero was able to bring out
and deliver the three-headed dog Kerberos (Cerberus), the guardian of the underworld, to Tiryns.
The end of Hercules was terrible.
The hero died in terrible agony, wearing a shirt that his wife Dejanira,
on the advice of the centaur Ness, dying at the hands of Hercules,
soaked this half-man-half-horse with poisonous blood.
When the hero of the last strength climbed the funeral pyre,
purple lightning struck from heaven and
Zeus accepted his son into the host of immortals.
Some of the exploits of Hercules are immortalized in the names of the constellations.
For example, the constellation Leo is in memory of the Nemean lion,
the constellation of Cancer reminds of the huge cancer Karkina,
sent by the Hero to help the Lernean hydra.
In Roman mythology, Hercules corresponds to Hercules.

1. Hercules and Kerberos
Boris Vallejo, 1988

2. Hercules and Hydra
Gustave Moreau, 1876

3. Hercules at the Crossroads
Pompeo Batoni, 1745

4. Hercules and Omphala
François Lemoine, ca.1725

ODYSSEUS -
"angry", "angry" (Ulysses). In Greek mythology, the king of the island of Ithaca,
one of the leaders of the Achaeans in the Trojan War.
He is famous for his cunning, dexterity and amazing adventures.
The brave Odysseus was sometimes considered the son of Sisyphus, who seduced Anticlea
even before marriage with Laertes,
and according to some versions, Odysseus is the grandson of Autolycus, "the perjurer and thief", the son of the god Hermes,
inherited their mind, practicality and enterprise.
Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks, had high hopes for the ingenuity and mind of Odysseus.
Together with the wise Nestor, Odysseus was instructed to persuade the great warrior
Achilles to take part in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks,
and when their fleet was stuck in Aulis, it was Odysseus who tricked his wife
Release Agamemnon Clytemnestra to Aulis Iphigenia
under the pretext of her marriage to Achilles.
In reality, Iphigenia was intended to be a sacrifice to Artemis,
who otherwise disagreed
provide Greek ships tailwind.
It was Odysseus who came up with the idea with the Trojan horse, which brought victory to the Achaeans.
The Greeks pretended to lift the siege from the city, and went to sea,
leaving a huge hollow horse on the shore,
inside the body of which a detachment of soldiers hid under the leadership of Odysseus.
The Trojans, rejoicing at the departure of the Achaeans, dragged the horse into the city.
They decided to present the statue as a gift to Athena and provide the city with the patronage of the gods.
At night, armed Achaeans poured out of the horse through a secret door,
killed the guards and opened the gates of Troy.
Hence the ancient saying: "Fear the Achaeans (Danaans) who bring gifts," and
expression "Trojan horse".
Troy fell, but the brutal massacre perpetrated by the Greeks
caused the strongest wrath of the gods, especially Athens,
after all, the favorite of the gods, Cassandra, was raped in her sanctuary.
The wanderings of Odysseus were a favorite story of the Greeks and Romans,
who called him Ulysses.
From Troy, Odysseus headed for Thrace,
where he lost many people in the battle with the Kikons.
Then a storm carried him to the land of lotophages ("lotus eaters"),
whose food made the aliens forget about their homeland.
Later, Odysseus fell into the possession of the Cyclopes (Cyclopes),
being a prisoner of the one-eyed Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon.
However, Odysseus and his companions managed to avoid certain death.
On the island of the lord of the winds, Aeol, Odysseus received a gift - fur,
filled with fair winds,
but the curious sailors loosened the fur and the winds scattered in all directions,
stop blowing in the same direction.
Then the ships of Odysseus were attacked by the Laestrigons, a tribe of cannibal giants,
but the hero managed to get to the island of Eya, the possession of the sorceress Circe (Kirki).
With the help of Hermes, Odysseus was able to force the sorceress to return
human appearance to members of his team,
whom she turned into pigs.
Further, on the advice of Kirka, he visits the underworld of the dead,
where the shadow of the blind soothsayer Tiresias warns the brave Odysseus
about the dangers ahead.
Leaving the island, the ship of Odysseus sailed past the coast,
where sweet-voiced sirens with their marvelous singing
lured sailors to sharp rocks.
The hero ordered his companions to cover their ears with wax and tie themselves to the mast. Happily passing the wandering rocks of Plankta,
Odysseus lost six men who were dragged away and devoured by the six-headed Sketa (Scylla).
On the island of Trinacia, as Tiresias predicted, hungry travelers
seduced by the fat herds of the sun god Helios.
As punishment, these sailors died from a storm sent by Zeus at the request of Helios.
The surviving Odysseus was almost swallowed by the monstrous whirlpool of Charybdis.
Exhausted from exhaustion, he was washed up on the island of the sorceress Calypso,
who married him and proposed marriage.
But even the prospect of immortality did not seduce Odysseus,
rushing home, and seven years later the gods forced
the nymph in love to let the traveler go.
After another shipwreck, Odysseus, with the help of Athena, took the form
poor old man, returned home, where long years his wife Penelope was waiting for him.
Besieged by noble suitors, she played for time, announcing that she would marry,
when he finishes weaving a shroud for his father-in-law Laertes.
However, at night Penelope unraveled what was woven during the day.
When the servants revealed her secret, she agreed to marry the one
who can draw the bow of Odysseus.
The test was passed by an unknown beggar old man, who, throwing off his rags,
turned out to be a mighty Odysseus.
After twenty years of separation, the hero embraced his faithful Penelope,
which Athena before the meeting awarded with a rare beauty.
According to some versions of the myth, Odysseus, unrecognized, fell at the hands of Telegon,
his son from Circe (Kirki), according to others -
died peacefully at an advanced age.

1. Odysseus in the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus
Jacob Jordaens, 1630

2. Odysseus and Sirens
John William Waterhouse, 1891

3. Circe and Odysseus
John William Waterhouse 1891

4. Penelope waiting for Odysseus
John William Waterhouse, 1890

ORPHEUS -
in ancient Greek mythology, a hero and a traveler.
Orpheus was the son of the Thracian river god Eagra and the muse Calliope.
He was known as a talented singer and musician.
Orpheus took part in the campaign of the Argonauts, with his game on the forming
and by his prayers he calmed the waves and helped the rowers of the Argo.
The hero married the beautiful Eurydice, and when she suddenly died from a snakebite,
followed her to the underworld.
Guardian underworld, the evil dog Cerberus,
Persephone and Hades were enchanted magic music young men.
Hades promised to return Eurydice to earth on the condition that
that Orpheus will not look at his wife until he enters his house.
Orpheus could not restrain himself and looked at Eurydice,
as a result, she remained forever in the realm of the dead.
Orpheus did not treat Dionysus with due respect, but honored Helios,
whom he named Apollo.
Dionysus decided to teach the young man a lesson and sent a maenad at him,
who tore the musician to pieces and threw him into the river.
Parts of his body were collected by the Muses, who mourned the death of a beautiful youth.
The head of Orpheus floated down the river Gebr and was found by the nymphs,
then she got to the island of Lesbos, where she was received by Apollo.
The musician's shadow fell into Hades, where the couple were reunited.

1. Orpheus and Eurydice
Frederic Leighton, 1864

2. Nymphs and the head of Orpheus
John Waterhouse, 1900

PERSEUS -
in Greek mythology, the ancestor of Hercules, the son of Zeus and Danae,
daughter of the king of Argos Acrisius.
Hoping to prevent the fulfillment of the prophecy about the death of Acrisius at the hands of his grandson,
Danae was imprisoned in a copper tower, but the almighty Zeus penetrated there,
turning into a golden rain, and conceived Perseus.
The terrified Acrisius seated the mother and child
into a wooden box and threw it into the sea.
However, Zeus helped his beloved and son safely
get to Serif Island.
The matured Perseus was sent by the local ruler Polydectes,
who fell in love with Danae, in search of the Gorgon Medusa,
with a glance that turns all living things into stone.
Fortunately for the hero, Athena hated Medusa and, according to one of the myths,
out of jealousy, she rewarded the once beautiful gorgon with deadly beauty.
Athena taught Perseus what to do.
First, the young man, following the advice of the goddess, went to the old women-grays,
three of them had one eye and one tooth.
By cunning, having taken possession of the eye and tooth, Perseus returned them to the grays in exchange
to indicate the way to the nymphs who gave him a cap of invisibility,
winged sandals and a Medusa head bag.
Perseus flew to the western end of the world, to the Gorgon's cave, and,
looking at the reflection of the mortal Medusa in his copper shield, cut off her head.
Putting it in a bag, he sped off in an invisibility cap,
unnoticed by the snake-haired sisters of the monster.
On the way home, Perseus saved the beautiful Andromeda from the sea monster.
and married her.
Then the hero went to Argos, but Acrisius,
having learned about the arrival of his grandson, he fled to Larissa.
And yet he did not escape fate - during the festivities in Larissa,
participating in competitions, Perseus threw a heavy bronze disk,
hit Acrisius in the head and struck him to death.
The grief-stricken inconsolable hero did not want to rule in Argos
and moved to Tiryns.
After the death of Perseus and Andromeda, the goddess Athena raised the spouses to heaven, turning them into constellations.

1. Perseus and Andromeda
Peter Paul Rubens, 1639

2. The sinister head of the Gorgon
Edward Burne-Jones, 1887

THESEUS -
("strong"), in Greek mythology, a hero, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus and Ephra.
The childless Aegeus received advice from the Delphic oracle - not to untie
your wineskin until you return home. Aegeus did not guess the prediction, but the Troesen king Pittheus,
with whom he was visiting, he realized that Aegeus was destined to conceive a hero. He got the guest drunk and put him to bed
with his daughter Ephra. On the same night, Poseidon also approached her.
Thus was born Theseus, the great hero, the son of two fathers.
Before leaving Ephra, Aegeus led her to a boulder, under which he hid his sword and sandals.
If a son is born, he said, let him grow, mature,
and when he can move the stone,
then send it to me. Theseus grew up, and Ephra discovered the secret of his birth.
The young man easily took out his sword and sandals, and on the way to Athens he dealt
with the robber Sinis and the Crommion pig.
Theseus was able to defeat the monstrous Minotaur, the bull-man,
only with the help of the princess Ariadne, who fell in love with him, who gave him a guiding thread.
In Athens, Theseus learned that fifty sons of his cousin Pallas claimed the throne of Aegeus,
and Aegeus himself fell under the power of the sorceress Medea,
abandoned by Jason, who hoped that her son Med would receive the throne.
Theseus hid his origin, but Medea, knowing who he was,
persuaded Aegeus to give the stranger a bowl of poison.
Theseus was saved by the fact that his father recognized his sword, with which the hero cut meat.
Theseus performed the following feats for the benefit of Athens.
He dealt with the sons of Pallas and the marathon
bull that ravaged the fields, defeated the bull-man Minotaur.
The monster that lived in the labyrinth was given to be eaten by young Athenians
as an atoning sacrifice for the death of the king's son in Athens.
When Theseus volunteered to fight the Minotaur, his old father fell into despair.
They agreed that if Theseus escaped death, then, returning home,
change the sail from black to white.
Theseus, having killed the monster, got out of the labyrinth thanks to the daughter of Minos, Ariadne, who fell in love with him,
following the thread tied at the entrance (the guiding "thread of Ariadne").
Theseus and Ariadne then secretly fled to the island of Naxos.
Here Theseus left the princess and fate punished him.
Returning home, Theseus forgot to change the sail as a sign of victory.
Theseus' father Aegeus, seeing the black cloth, threw himself off the cliff into the sea.
Theseus accomplished a number of other feats. He captured the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta,
who gave birth to his son Hippolyta, gave shelter to the outcast Oedipus and his daughter Antigone.
True, Theseus was not among the Argonauts;
at this time he helped the king of the Lapiths Pirithous
kidnap the mistress of Hades Persephone.
For this, the gods decided to forever leave the daredevil in Hades,
But Theseus was saved by Hercules.
However, grief again knocked on his house when the second wife, Phaedra,
longed for his son Hippolytus, who was horrified to keep silent about her passion.
Humiliated by the refusal, Phaedra hanged herself,
in a suicide note accusing her stepson of trying to dishonor her.
The young man was expelled from the city,
and he died before his father knew the truth.
In his old age, Theseus impudently kidnapped the twelve-year-old daughter of Zeus Helen,
declaring that only she is worthy of being his wife,
but Helen's brothers, the Dioscuri, rescued their sister and expelled Theseus.
The hero died on the island of Skyros at the hands of the local king, who,
fearing the still mighty Theseus, he pushed the guest off the cliff.

1. Theseus and the Minotaur
Vase 450g. BC.

2. Theseus
with Ariadne and Phaedra
B. Jennari, 1702

3. Theseus and Ephra
Lovren de la Hire, 1640

OEDIPUS -
a descendant of Cadmus, from the Labdakid clan, the son of the Theban king Laius and Jocasta, or Epicaste,
beloved hero of Greek folk tales and tragedies, due to the multitude of which
it is very difficult to imagine the myth of Oedipus in its original form.
According to the most common legend, the oracle predicted Lai
about the birth of a son who will kill him himself,
marries his own mother and brings disgrace upon the entire Labdakid household.
Therefore, when Lai's son was born, the parents, piercing his legs
and tying them together (why they swelled up),
sent him to Cithaeron, where Oedipus was found by a shepherd,
sheltered the boy and then brought him to Sicyon,
or Corinth, to King Polybus, who raised the adopted child as his own son.
Having once received a reproach at a feast for doubtful origin,
Oedipus asked for clarification
to the oracle and received advice from him - to beware of patricide and incest.
As a result, Oedipus, who considered Polybus his father, left Sicyon.
On the road he met Lai, started a quarrel with him, and in his temper
killed him and his retinue.
At this time in Thebes the monster Sphinx was devastating,
asking for several years in a row
to each a riddle and devouring all those who did not guess it.
Oedipus solved this riddle
(what creature walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon,
and in the evening at three? The answer is man
as a result of which the Sphinx threw herself off a cliff and died.
In gratitude for delivering the country from a long disaster, the Theban citizens
made Oedipus their king and gave him the widow of Laius, Jocasta -
his own mother.
Soon the double crime committed by Oedipus out of ignorance was revealed,
and Oedipus gouged out his eyes in despair, and Jocasta took her own life.
According to an ancient legend (Homer, Odyssey, XI, 271 et seq.)
Oedipus remained to reign in Thebes and died,
pursued by the Erinyes.
Sophocles tells about the end of Oedipus' life differently:
when the crimes of Oedipus were revealed, the Thebans with the sons of Oedipus:
Eteocles and Polynices at the head expelled the aged and blind king from Thebes,
and he, accompanied by his faithful daughter Antigone, went to the place of Colon
(in Attica), where in the sanctuary of Erinyes,
who at last, through the intervention of Apollo, subdued their anger,
ended his life of misery.
His memory was considered sacred, and his grave was one of the palladiums of Attica.
As a character, Oedipus is displayed in the tragedies of Sophocles "Oedipus Rex" and
"Oedipus in Colon" (both tragedies are available in poetic Russian translation
D. S. Merezhkovsky, St. Petersburg, 1902),
in the tragedy of Euripides "Phoenician women"
(poetic Russian translation by I. Annensky, "The World of God", 1898, No. 4)
and in Seneca's tragedy Oedipus.
There were many other poetic works dealing with the fate of Oedipus.

1. Bookplate by Sigmund Freud.
The ex-libris depicts Oedipus the King talking to the Sphinx.

2. Oedipus and the Sphinx
J.O.Ingres

3. Oedipus and the Sphinx, 1864
Gustave Moreau

4. Oedipus the Wanderer, 1888
Gustave Moreau

AENEAS -
in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of the handsome shepherd Anchises and Aphrodite (Venus),
participant in the defense of Troy during the Trojan War, a glorious hero.
A brave warrior, Aeneas participated in decisive battles with Achilles and escaped death
only through the intercession of his divine mother.
After the fall of devastated Troy, at the behest of the gods, he left the burning city
and together with the old father,
wife Creusa and young son Askaniy (Yul),
capturing images of the Trojan gods,
accompanied by satellites on twenty ships went in search of new homeland.
Having survived a series of adventures and a terrible storm, he reached the Italian city of Kuma,
and then ended up in Latium, a region in Central Italy.
The local king was ready to give for Aeneas (widowed along the way) his daughter Lavinia
and give him land to found a city.
Having won in a duel Turnn, the leader of the warlike tribe of rutuls
and pretender to the hand of Lavinia,
Aeneas settled in Italy, which became the successor to the glory of Troy.
His son Askaniy (Yul) was considered the progenitor of the Yuliev clan,
including the famous emperors Julius Caesar and Augustus.

1. Venus giving Aeneas armor made by Vulcan, 1748
Pompeo Batoni

2. Mercury appearing to Aeneas (fresco), 1757
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

3. The battle of Aeneas with the harpies
Francois Perrier, 1647

Jason -
("healer"), in Greek mythology, the great-grandson of the god of the winds Eol, the son of King Iolk Aeson and Polymede.
Hero, leader of the Argonauts.
When Pelias overthrew his brother Aeson from the throne, he, fearing for the life of his son,
gave him under the care of the wise centaur Chiron, who lived in the Thessalian forests.
The Delphic oracle predicted to Pelias that a man in one sandal would destroy him.
This explains the fear of the king when the matured Jason returned to the city,
lost his sandal along the way.
Pelias decided to get rid of the impending threat and promised to recognize Jason as the heir if he, risking his life, would get the golden fleece in Colchis.
Jason and his team on the Argo ship, having experienced many adventures, returned to their homeland with a wonderful rune.
With their success - victory over the dragon and formidable warriors,
sprouting from his teeth,
they were largely obliged to the Colchis princess Medea, since Eros,
at the request of Athena and Hera, who patronized Jason,
instilled in the heart of the girl love for the hero.
Upon their return to Iolk, the Argonauts learned
that Pelias killed Jason's father and all his relatives.
According to one version, Pelias dies from the spell of Medea, whose name means "insidious."
According to another, Jason resigned himself to exile, lived happily with Medea for ten years.
and they had three children.
Then the hero married Princess Glauca; in
in revenge, Medea killed her and killed her sons from Jason.
Years passed. The aged hero eked out his days, until one day he wandered onto the pier,
where the famous "Argo" stood.
Suddenly, the mast of the ship, rotten from time, gave way
and fell on Jason, who fell dead.

1. Jason and Medea
John William Waterhouse, 1890

2. Jason and Medea
Gustave Moreau, 1865