The Stymphalian birds were the last generation of monsters in the Peloponnese, and since the power of Eurystheus did not extend beyond the Peloponnese, Hercules decided that his service to the king was over.

But the mighty strength of Hercules did not allow him to live in idleness. He longed for exploits and even rejoiced when Koprey appeared to him.

“Eurystheus,” said the herald, “orders you to clear the stables of the Elisian king Augeas of manure in one day.”

King Perseus and Queen Andromeda ruled the gold-abundant Mycenae for a long time and gloriously, and the gods sent them many children. The eldest of the sons was called Electrion. Electryon was no longer young when he had to take his father’s throne. The gods did not offend Electryon with their offspring: Electryon had many sons, one better than the other, but only one daughter - the beautiful Alcmene.

It seemed that in all of Hellas there was no kingdom more prosperous than the kingdom of Mycenae. But one day the country was attacked by the Taphians - fierce sea robbers who lived on the islands at the very entrance to the Gulf of Corinth, where the Aheloy River flows into the sea.

This new sea, unknown to the Greeks, blew into their faces with a wide-ranging roar. It stretched out before them like a blue desert, mysterious and menacing, deserted and harsh.

They knew: somewhere out there, on the other side of its seething abyss, lie mysterious lands, inhabited by wild peoples; their customs are cruel, their appearance is terrible. There somewhere they bark along the banks of the deep-flowing Istra scary people with dog faces - cynocephalous, canine-headed. There, beautiful and fierce Amazon warriors rush around the free steppes. There, further on, the eternal darkness thickens, and in it wander, looking like wild animals, the inhabitants of the night and the cold - the Hyperboreans. But where is all this?

Many misadventures awaited the brave travelers on the road, but they were destined to emerge from all of them with glory.

In Bithynia, the country of the Bebriks, they were detained by an invincible fist fighter, King Amik, a terrible killer; without pity or shame, he threw every foreigner to the ground with a blow of his fist. He challenged these new newcomers to battle, but young Polydeuces, brother of Castor, son of Leda, defeated the mighty one, breaking his temple in a fair fight.

Moving away from familiar shores, the Argo ship spent many days cutting through the waves of the calm Propontis, the sea that people now call Marmara.

The new moon had already arrived, and the nights became black, like the pitch with which they tar the sides of ships, when the sharp-sighted Lynceus was the first to point out to his comrades the mountain towering ahead. Soon the low shore began to appear in the fog, fishing nets appeared on the shore, and a town at the entrance to the bay appeared. Deciding to rest on the way, Tiphius directed the ship towards the city, and a little later the Argonauts stood on solid ground.

A well-deserved rest awaited the Argonauts on this island. "Argo" entered the Phaeacian harbor. Tall ships stood in countless rows everywhere. Having dropped anchor at the pier, the heroes went to the palace to Alcinous.

Looking at the Argonauts, at their heavy helmets, at the strong muscles of their legs in shiny greaves and at the tan of their brown faces, the peace-loving Phaeacians whispered to each other:

It must be Ares with his warlike retinue marching to the house of Alcinous.

The sons of the great hero Pelops were Atreus and Thyestes. Pelops was once cursed by the charioteer of King Oenomaus, Myrtilus, who was treacherously killed by Pelops, and with his curse doomed the entire family of Pelops to great atrocities and death. The curse of Myrtil weighed heavily on both Atreus and Thyestes. They committed a number of atrocities. Atreus and Thyestes killed Chrysippus, the son of the nymph Axione and their father Pelops. It was the mother of Atreus and Thyestes Hippodamia who persuaded them to kill Chrysippus. Having committed this atrocity, they fled from their father’s kingdom, fearing his wrath, and took refuge with the king of Mycenae Sthenel, son of Perseus, who was married to their sister Nikippa. When Sthenel died and his son Eurystheus, captured by Iolaus, died at the hands of Hercules’ mother Alcmene, Atreus began to rule over the Mycenaean kingdom, since Eurystheus did not leave behind heirs. His brother Thyestes was jealous of Atreus and decided to take away power from him in any way.

Sisyphus had a son, the hero Glaucus, who ruled in Corinth after the death of his father. Glaucus had a son, Bellerophon, one of the great heroes of Greece. Bellerophon was as beautiful as a god and equal in courage to the immortal gods. Bellerophon, when he was still a youth, suffered a misfortune: he accidentally killed one citizen of Corinth and had to flee from hometown. He fled to the king of Tiryns, Proetus. The king of Tiryns received the hero with great honor and cleansed him of the filth of the blood he had shed. Bellerophon did not have to stay long in Tiryns. His wife Proyta, the godlike Antheia, was captivated by his beauty. But Bellerophon rejected her love. Then Queen Antheia was inflamed with hatred of Bellerophon and decided to destroy him. She went to her husband and told him:

O king! Bellerophon is seriously insulting you. You must kill him. He pursues me, your wife, with his love. This is how he thanked you for your hospitality!

Grozen Boreas, god of the indomitable, stormy north wind. He rushes frantically over the lands and seas, causing all-crushing storms with his flight. One day Boreas, flying over Attica, saw the daughter of Erechtheus Orithia and fell in love with her. Boreas begged Orithia to become his wife and allow him to take her with him to his kingdom in the far north. Orithia did not agree; she was afraid of the formidable, stern god. Boreas was also refused by Orithia's father, Erechtheus. No requests, no pleas from Borey helped. The terrible god became angry and exclaimed:

I deserve this humiliation myself! I forgot about my formidable, frantic strength! Is it right for me to humbly beg someone? I must act only by force! I drive thunderclouds across the sky, I raise waves on the sea like mountains, I uproot ancient oak trees like dry blades of grass, I scourge the earth with hail and turn the water into ice as hard as stone - and I pray, as if powerless mortal. When I rush in a frantic flight over the earth, the whole earth shakes and even the underground kingdom of Hades trembles. And I pray to Erechtheus as if I were his servant. I must not beg to give Orithia to me as a wife, but take her away by force!

Freed from serving King Eurystheus, Hercules returned to Thebes. Here he gave his wife Megara to his faithful friend Iolaus, explaining his act by the fact that his marriage with Megara was accompanied by unfavorable omens. In fact, the reason that prompted Hercules to part with Megara was different: between the spouses stood the shadows of their common children, whom Hercules killed many years ago in a fit of insanity.

Hoping to find family happiness, Hercules began to look for a new wife. He heard that Eurytus, the same one who taught young Hercules the art of using a bow, was offering his daughter Iola as a wife to the one who surpassed him in accuracy.

Hercules went to Eurytus and easily defeated him in the competition. This outcome greatly annoyed Eurytus. Having drunk a fair amount of wine to be more confident, he said to Hercules: “I don’t trust my daughter to such a villain like you. Or didn’t you kill your children from Megara? Besides, you are a slave of Eurystheus and deserve only beatings from free man".

Ancient myths and legends of Ancient Greece

They were created more than two thousand centuries ago and the famous scientist Nikolai Kun adapted them at the beginning of the 20th century, but the attention of young readers from all over the world does not fade even now. And it doesn’t matter if they study the myths of ancient Greece in the 4th, 5th or 6th grade - these works ancient folklore are considered cultural heritage all over the world. Moral and vivid stories about the ancient Greek gods have been studied far and wide. And now we read online to our children about who the heroes of the legends and myths of Ancient Greece were and try to express it in summary the meaning of their actions.

This fantasy world, is surprising in that, despite the horror of an ordinary mortal before the gods of Mount Olympus, sometimes ordinary residents of Greece could get into an argument or even fight with them. Sometimes short and simple myths express very deep meaning and can clearly explain to the child the rules of life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

© LLC “Philological Society “WORD””, 2009

© Astrel Publishing House LLC, 2009

The beginning of the world

Once upon a time, there was nothing in the Universe but dark and gloomy Chaos. And then the Earth appeared from Chaos - the goddess Gaia, powerful and beautiful. She gave life to everything that lives and grows on her. And everyone has since called her their mother.

The Great Chaos also gave birth to the gloomy Darkness - Erebus and the black Night - Nyukta and ordered them to guard the Earth. It was dark and gloomy on Earth at that time. This was until Erebus and Nyukta got tired of their hard, constant work. Then they gave birth to the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful shining Day - Hemera.

And so it went from then on. Night guards peace on Earth. As soon as she lowers her black covers, everything plunges into darkness and silence. And then it is replaced by a cheerful, shining Day, and everything around becomes light and joyful.

Deep under the Earth, as deep as one can imagine, the terrible Tartarus was formed. Tartarus was as far from the Earth as the sky, only with reverse side. Eternal darkness and silence reigned there...

And above, high above the Earth, lies the endless Sky - Uranus. The god Uranus began to reign over the whole world. He took as his wife the beautiful goddess Gaia - the Earth.

Gaia and Uranus had six daughters, beautiful and wise, and six sons, powerful and formidable titans, and among them the majestic Titan Ocean and the youngest, the cunning Cronus.

And then six terrible giants were born to Mother Earth at once. Three giants - Cyclopes with one eye in their forehead - could frighten anyone who just looked at them. But the other three giants, real monsters, looked even more terrible. Each of them had 50 heads and 100 arms. And they were so terrible to look at, these hundred-armed giants, the Hecatonchires, that even their father himself, the mighty Uranus, feared and hated them. So he decided to get rid of his children. He imprisoned the giants deep in the bowels of their mother Earth and did not allow them to emerge into the light.

The giants rushed about in the deep darkness, wanting to break out, but did not dare to disobey the order of their father. It was also hard for their mother Earth, she suffered greatly from such an unbearable burden and pain. Then she called her titan children and asked them to help her.

“Rise up against your cruel father,” she persuaded them, “if you don’t take away his power over the world now, he will destroy us all.”

But no matter how much Gaia tried to persuade her children, they did not agree to raise a hand against their father. Only the youngest of them, the ruthless Cronus, supported his mother, and they decided that Uranus should no longer reign in the world.

And then one day Kron attacked his father, wounded him with a sickle and took away his power over the world. Drops of the blood of Uranus that fell to the ground turned into monstrous giants with snake tails instead of legs and vile, disgusting Erinyes, who had snakes writhing on their heads instead of hair, and in their hands they held lit torches.

These were terrible deities of death, discord, revenge and deception.

Now the powerful, inexorable Kron, the god of Time, has reigned in the world. He took the goddess Rhea as his wife.

But there was no peace and harmony in his kingdom either. The gods quarreled among themselves and deceived each other.

Gods war

For a long time, the great and powerful Cronus, the god of Time, reigned in the world, and people called his kingdom the Golden Age. The first people were just born on Earth then, and they lived without any worries. The Fertile Land itself fed them. She gave abundant harvests. Bread grew spontaneously in the fields, wonderful fruits ripened in the gardens. People just had to collect them, and they worked as much as they could and wanted.

But Kron himself was not calm. Long ago, when he was just beginning to reign, his mother, the goddess Gaia, predicted to him that he, too, would lose power. And one of his sons will take it away from Cronus. So Kron was worried. After all, everyone who has power wants to reign as long as possible.

Kron also did not want to lose power over the world. And he commanded his wife, the goddess Rhea, to bring him her children as soon as they were born. And the father mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea's heart was torn with grief and suffering, but she could not do anything. It was impossible to persuade Kron. So he has already swallowed five of his children. Another child was soon to be born, and the goddess Rhea turned in desperation to her parents, Gaia and Uranus.

“Help me save my last baby,” she begged them with tears. “You are wise and all-powerful, tell me what to do, where to hide my dear son so that he can grow up and take revenge for such a crime.”

The immortal gods took pity on their beloved daughter and taught her what to do. And so Rhea brings her husband, the ruthless Cronus, a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes.

“Here is your son Zeus,” she told him sadly. - He was just born. Do whatever you want with it.

Kron grabbed the package and, without unwrapping it, swallowed it. Meanwhile, the overjoyed Rhea took her little son, made her way to Dikta in the dead of night and hid him in an inaccessible cave on a wooded Aegean mountain.

There, on the island of Crete, he grew up surrounded by kind and cheerful Kurete demons. They played with little Zeus and brought him milk from the sacred goat Amalthea. And when he cried, the demons began to rattle their spears against their shields, danced and drowned out his crying with loud cries. They were very afraid that the cruel Cronus would hear the child’s cry and realize that he had been deceived. And then no one will be able to save Zeus.

But Zeus grew very quickly, his muscles filled with extraordinary strength, and soon the time came when he, powerful and omnipotent, decided to enter into a fight with his father and take away his power over the world. Zeus turned to the Titans and invited them to fight with him against Cronus.

And a great dispute broke out among the titans. Some decided to stay with Cronus, others sided with Zeus. Filled with courage, they were eager to fight. But Zeus stopped them. At first he wanted to free his brothers and sisters from his father’s womb, so that he could fight with them against Cronus. But how can you get Kron to let his children go? Zeus understood that he could not defeat the powerful god by force alone. We need to come up with something to outsmart him.

Then the great titan Ocean, who was on the side of Zeus in this fight, came to his aid. His daughter, the wise goddess Thetis, prepared a magic potion and brought it to Zeus.

“O mighty and omnipotent Zeus,” she told him, “this miraculous nectar will help you free your brothers and sisters.” Just make Kron drink it.

Cunning Zeus figured out how to do this. He sent Cronus a luxurious amphora with nectar as a gift, and Cronus, suspecting nothing, accepted this insidious gift. He drank the magic nectar with pleasure and immediately vomited out first a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, and then all his children. One after another they came into the world, and his daughters, the beautiful goddesses Hestia, Demeter, Hera, and his sons Hades and Poseidon. During the time they were sitting in their father's womb, they became quite adults.

All the children of Kron united, and a long and terrible war them with their father Cronus for power over all people and gods. New gods established themselves on Olympus. From here they waged their great battle.

The young gods were omnipotent and formidable; the mighty titans supported them in this struggle. The Cyclopes forged for Zeus menacing roaring thunder and fiery lightning. But on the other side there were powerful opponents. The powerful Kron had no intention of giving up his power to the young gods and also gathered formidable titans around him.

This terrible and cruel battle of the gods lasted for ten years. No one could win, but no one wanted to give up. Then Zeus decided to call to his aid the mighty hundred-armed giants, who were still sitting in a deep and dark dungeon. Huge, scary giants came to the surface of the Earth and rushed into battle. They tore entire rocks from mountain ranges and threw them at the titans besieging Olympus. The air was torn apart by a wild roar, the Earth groaned in pain, and even distant Tartarus shook from what was happening above. From the heights of Olympus, Zeus threw down fiery lightning, and everything around was blazing with a terrible flame, the water in the rivers and seas was boiling from the heat.

Finally the titans wavered and retreated. The Olympians shackled them and threw them into gloomy Tartarus, into the deep, eternal darkness. And at the gates of Tartarus, formidable hundred-armed giants stood guard so that the mighty titans could never break free from their terrible captivity.

But the young gods did not have to celebrate their victory. The goddess Gaia was angry with Zeus for treating her titan sons so cruelly. To punish him, she gave birth to the terrible monster Typhon and sent him to Zeus.

The Earth itself shook, and huge mountains rose up when the huge Typhon emerged into the light. On different voices howled, roared, barked, and screamed all his hundred dragon heads. Even the gods shuddered in horror when they saw such a monster. Only Zeus was not at a loss. He waved his mighty right hand - and hundreds of fiery lightning rained down on Typhon. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed with unbearable brilliance, water boiled in the seas - real hell was happening on Earth at that time.

But then the lightning sent by Zeus reached its target, and one after another the head of Typhon burst into flames. He fell heavily onto the wounded Earth. Zeus picked up a huge monster and threw it into Tartarus. But even there Typhon did not calm down. From time to time he begins to go on a rampage in his terrible dungeon, and then terrible earthquakes occur, cities collapse, mountains split, and fierce storms sweep away all life from the face of the earth. True, Typhon’s rampage is now short-lived; he will throw out his wild forces- and it will calm down for a while, and again everything on earth and in heaven goes on as usual.

This is how the great battle of the gods ended, after which new gods reigned in the world.

Poseidon, lord of the seas

Deep at the very bottom of the sea, the brother of the mighty Zeus, Poseidon, now lives in his luxurious palace. After that great battle, when the young gods defeated the old, the sons of Kron cast lots, and Poseidon got power over all the sea elements. He descended to the bottom of the sea, and remained there to live forever. But every day Poseidon rises to the surface of the sea to travel around his endless possessions.

Majestic and beautiful, he rushes on his mighty green-maned horses, and the obedient waves part before his master. Poseidon is not inferior to Zeus himself in power. Still would! After all, as soon as he waves his formidable trident, a furious storm rises on the sea, huge waves rise to the very sky and, with a deafening roar, fall down into the very abyss.

The mighty Poseidon is terrible in his anger, and woe to anyone who finds himself at sea at such a time. Like weightless splinters, huge ships rush along the raging waves until, completely broken and twisted, they collapse into the depths of the sea. Even marine life - fish and dolphins - try to climb deeper into the sea in order to wait out the wrath of Poseidon there in safety.

But now his anger passes, he majestically raises his sparkling trident, and the sea calms down. Unprecedented fish rise from the depths of the sea, attach themselves to the back of the chariot of the great god, and cheerful dolphins rush after them. They tumble in the sea waves, entertaining their mighty master. The beautiful daughters of the sea elder Nereus splash in the coastal waves in cheerful flocks.

One day, Poseidon, as always, was racing across the sea in his fast-flying chariot and on the shore of the island of Naxos he saw a beautiful goddess. It was Amphitrite, the daughter of the sea elder Nereus, who knows all the secrets of the future and gives wise advice. Together with her Nereid sisters, she was resting on a green meadow. They ran and frolicked, holding hands, and led merry round dances.

Poseidon immediately fell in love with the beautiful Amphitrite. He had already sent his mighty horses to the shore and wanted to take her away in his chariot. But Amphitrite was frightened by the frantic Poseidon and escaped from him. She slowly made her way to the Titan Atlas, who holds the vault of heaven on his powerful shoulders, and asked him to hide her somewhere. Atlas took pity on the beautiful Amphitrite and hid her in a deep cave at the bottom of the Ocean.

Poseidon searched for Amphitrite for a long time and could not find her. Like a fiery tornado he rushed across the expanses of the sea; All this time the fierce storm did not subside at sea. All the inhabitants of the sea: fish, dolphins, and all the underwater monsters - went in search of the beautiful Amphitrite to calm their raging master.

Finally, the dolphin managed to find her in one of the remote caves. He swam quickly to Poseidon and showed him Amphitrite’s refuge. Poseidon rushed to the cave and took his beloved with him. He did not forget to thank the dolphin who helped him. He placed it among the constellations in the sky. Since then, the dolphin has lived there, and everyone knows that there is a constellation in the sky called Dolphin, but not everyone knows how it got there.

And the beautiful Amphitrite became the wife of the powerful Poseidon and lived happily with him in his luxurious underwater castle. Since then, fierce storms rarely occur at sea, because the gentle Amphitrite knows very well how to tame the anger of her powerful husband.

The time has come, and the divine beauty Amphitrite and the ruler of the seas Poseidon had a son - the handsome Triton. As handsome as the son of the ruler of the seas is, he is also playful. As soon as he blows into the conch shell, the sea will immediately become agitated, the waves will rustle, and a menacing storm will fall on the unlucky sailors. But Poseidon, seeing his son’s pranks, immediately raises his trident, and the waves, as if by magic, calm down and, whispering gently, serenely splash, caressing the transparent, clean sea sand on the shore.

The old man of the sea Nereus often visits his daughter, and her cheerful sisters also sail to her. Sometimes Amphitrite goes with them to play on the seashore, and Poseidon no longer worries. He knows that she will no longer hide from him and will definitely return to their wonderful underwater palace.

Gloomy Kingdom

The third brother of the great Zeus, the stern Hades, lives and reigns deep underground. He was given the underworld by lot, and since then he has been the sovereign master there.

Dark and gloomy in the kingdom of Hades, not a single ray of light sunlight does not penetrate there through the thickness. Not a single living voice disturbs the sad silence of this gloomy kingdom, only the plaintive groans of the dead fill the entire dungeon with a quiet, indistinct rustle. There are already more dead here than living on earth. And they keep coming and coming.

The sacred river Styx flows on the borders of the underworld, and the souls of the dead fly to its banks after death. They patiently and resignedly wait for the carrier Charon to sail for them. He loads his boat with silent shadows and takes them to the other shore. He only takes everyone in one direction; his boat always sails back empty.

And there, at the entrance to the kingdom of the dead, sits a formidable guard - the three-headed dog Kerber, the son of the terrible Typhon, with evil snakes hissing and writhing on his neck. Only he guards the exit more than the entrance. Without delay, he allows the souls of the dead to pass through, but not one of them comes back out.

And then their path lies to the throne of Hades. In the middle of his underground kingdom, he sits on a golden throne with his wife Persephone. One day he kidnapped her from the earth, and since then Persephone has lived here, in this luxurious, but gloomy and joyless underground palace.

Every now and then Charon brings new souls. Frightened and trembling, they flock together in front of the formidable ruler. Persephone feels sorry for them, she is ready to help them all, calm them down and console them. But no, she can’t do that! The inexorable judges Minos and Rhadamanthus sit nearby. They weigh the unfortunate souls on their terrible scales, and it immediately becomes clear how much a person has sinned in his life and what fate awaits him here. It’s bad for sinners, and especially for those who themselves did not spare anyone during their lives, robbed and killed, and mocked the defenseless. Now the inexorable goddess of vengeance, Erinyes, will not give them a moment of peace. They rush throughout the dungeon after criminal souls, chasing them, waving menacing whips, disgusting snakes writhing on their heads. There is nowhere for sinners to hide from them. How they would like, at least for a second, to find themselves on earth and say to their loved ones: “Be kinder friend to friend. Don't repeat our mistakes. A terrible reckoning awaits everyone after death.” But from here there is no way to earth. There are only here from the ground.

Leaning on his formidable striking sword, in a wide black cloak, the terrible god of death Tanat stands near the throne. As soon as Hades waves his hand, Tanat takes off from his place and flies on his huge black wings to the bed of the dying man for a new victim.

But it was as if a bright ray swept through the gloomy dungeon. This is the beautiful young Hypnos, the god who brings sleep. He came down here to greet Hades, his lord. And then he will again rush to the ground, where people are waiting for him. It will be bad for them if Hypnos lingers somewhere.

He flies above the ground on his light, lacy wings and pours sleeping pills from his horn. He gently touches his eyelashes with his magic wand, and everything is immersed in sweet Dreams. Neither people nor immortal gods can resist the will of Hypnos - he is so powerful and omnipotent. Even the great Zeus obediently closes his menacing eyes when he waves the beautiful Hypnos with his wonderful rod.

The gods of dreams often accompany Hypnos on flights. They are very different, these gods, just like people. There are kind and cheerful ones, and there are gloomy and unfriendly ones. And so it turns out: to whom which god flies, the person will see such a dream. Someone will dream of a joyful and happy dream, and for some, anxious, joyless.

Also roaming the underworld are the terrible ghost Empusa with donkey legs and the monstrous Lamia, who loves to sneak into children’s bedrooms at night and drag away little children. The terrible goddess Hecate rules over all these monsters and ghosts. As soon as night falls, this whole creepy company comes out onto the ground, and God forbid anyone meets them at this time. But at dawn they again hide in their gloomy dungeon and sit there until dark.

This is what it is like – the kingdom of Hades, terrible and joyless.

Olympians

The most powerful of all the sons of Cronus - Zeus - remained on Olympus, he was given the sky by lot, and from here he began to reign over the whole world.

Below, on Earth, hurricanes and wars are raging, people are aging and dying, but here, on Olympus, peace and tranquility reigns. There is never winter or frost here, it never rains or the winds blow. A golden glow spreads around day and night. Immortal gods live here in the luxurious golden palaces that Master Hephaestus built for them. They feast and have fun in their golden palaces. But they don’t forget about business, because each of them has their own responsibilities. And now Themis, the goddess of law, called everyone to the council of the gods. Zeus wanted to discuss how best to control people.

The great Zeus sits on a golden throne, and in front of him in a spacious hall are all the other gods. Near his throne, as always, is the goddess of peace Eirene and the constant companion of Zeus, the winged Nike, the goddess of victory. Here are the fleet-footed Hermes, the messenger of Zeus, and the great warrior goddess Pallas Athena. Beautiful Aphrodite shines with her heavenly beauty.

The always busy Apollo is late. But now he flies up to Olympus. Three beautiful Oras, who guard the entrance to high Olympus, have already opened a thick cloud in front of him to clear his way. And he, shining with beauty, strong and mighty, throwing his silver bow over his shoulders, enters the hall. His sister, the beautiful goddess Artemis, a tireless hunter, joyfully rises to meet him.

And then the majestic Hera, in luxurious clothes, a beautiful, fair-haired goddess, the wife of Zeus, enters the hall. All the gods rise and greet respectfully great Hera. She sits down next to Zeus on her luxurious golden throne and listens to what the immortal gods are talking about. She also has her own constant companion. This is the light-winged Iris, the goddess of the rainbow. At the first word of her mistress, Iris is ready to fly to the most remote corners of the Earth to fulfill any of her instructions.

Today Zeus is calm and peaceful. The rest of the gods are also calm. This means that everything is in order on Olympus, and things are going well on Earth. Therefore, today the immortals have no sorrows. They joke and have fun. But it also happens differently. If the mighty Zeus gets angry, he will wave his formidable right hand, and immediately a deafening thunder will shake the entire Earth. One after another he throws dazzling fiery lightning. Things go badly for those who somehow displease the great Zeus. It happens that even an innocent person at such moments becomes an involuntary victim of the uncontrollable anger of the ruler. But there’s nothing you can do about it!

And there are also two mysterious vessels standing at the gates of his golden palace. In one vessel lies good, and in the other - evil. Zeus scoops up from one vessel, then from another and throws handfuls onto the Earth. All people should receive an equal share of good and evil. But it also happens that someone gets it more good, and only evil is rained down on someone. But no matter how much Zeus sends good and evil from his vessels to the Earth, he is still unable to influence the fate of people. This is done by the goddesses of fate - the Moiras, who also live on Olympus. The great Zeus himself depends on them and does not know his fate.

Myth, at its core, is one of the forms of history that satisfies the inherent need of the human race for its own identification and answers emerging questions about the origin of life, culture, relationships between people and nature. Thus, Greek mythology had a fairly strong impact on the development ancient culture and in general, the formation of Myths and legends of Ancient Greece preserve the past of humanity, being its history in all its manifestations.

Since ancient times, the Greeks formed the idea of ​​an eternal, limitless and harmoniously united Cosmos. They were based on emotional and intuitive penetration into the mystery of this boundless Chaos, the source of life in the world, and man was perceived as part of cosmic unity. On early stages stories, legends and myths of Ancient Greece reflected ideas about the surrounding reality, played the role of a guide in Everyday life. This fantastic reflection of reality, being the primary source of worldview formation, expressed man’s powerlessness before nature and its elemental forces. However, the ancients were not afraid to explore a world filled with fear. The myths and legends of Ancient Greece indicate that the boundless thirst for knowledge of the surrounding world prevailed over the fear of an unknown danger. Suffice it to recall the numerous exploits mythical heroes, the fearless adventures of the Argonauts, Odysseus and his crew.

The myths and legends of Ancient Greece represent the oldest form of understanding natural phenomena. The appearance of the rebellious and wildlife personified in the form of animate and very real creatures. Fantasy has populated the world with good and evil mythical creatures. Thus, dryads, satyrs, and centaurs settled in picturesque groves, oreads lived in the mountains, nymphs lived in rivers, and oceanids lived in the seas and oceans.

What distinguishes the myths and legends of Ancient Greece from the tales of other peoples is characteristic feature, which consists in the humanization of divine beings. This made them closer and more understandable ordinary people, most of whom perceived these legends as their own ancient history. Mysterious, beyond the understanding and influence of the common man, the forces of nature became more understandable to the imagination of the common man.

The people of Ancient Greece became the creators of unique and colorful legends about the lives of people, immortal gods and heroes. Myths harmoniously intertwine memories of the distant and little-known past and poetic fiction. No other human creation is distinguished by such richness and completeness of images. This explains their unforgettableness. The myths and legends of Ancient Greece provided images that are often used in art in various ways. Inexhaustible legendary subjects have often been used and are still popular among historians and philosophers, sculptors and artists, poets and writers. From myths they draw ideas for their own works and often introduce into them something new that corresponds to a certain historical period.

reflecting a person’s moral views, his aesthetic attitude to reality, helped shed light on the political and religious institutions of that time and understand the nature of myth-making.

Recognized as a fundamental phenomenon world history. It served as the basis for the culture of all of Europe. Many images Greek mythology firmly fixed in the language, consciousness, artistic images, philosophy. Everyone understands and is familiar with such concepts as “Achilles’ heel”, “Hymen’s bonds”, “cornucopia”, “ Augean stables", "Sword of Damocles", "Ariadne's thread", "apple of discord" and many others. But often, when using data in speech idioms, people do not think about their true meaning and history of occurrence.

Ancient Greek mythology played an important role in the development of modern history. Her research has revealed important information about the life of ancient civilizations and the formation of religion.

Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are set out mainly based on Hesiod’s poem “Theogony” (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from Homer’s poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” and the poem “Metamorphoses” (Transformations) by the Roman poet Ovid.

In the beginning there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. It contained the source of life in the world. Everything arose from boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. The goddess Earth, Gaia, also came from Chaos. It spreads wide, powerful, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is far from us, in immeasurable depths, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, was born the mighty force that animates everything, Love - Eros. The world began to be created. Boundless Chaos gave birth to the Eternal Darkness - Erebus and the dark Night - Nyukta. And from Night and Darkness came the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful bright Day - Hemera. The light spread throughout the world, and night and day began to replace each other.

The mighty, fertile Earth gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, and the Sky spread over the Earth. The high Mountains born of the Earth rose proudly towards him, and the ever-noisy Sea spread widely.

Mother Earth gave birth to the Sky, Mountains and Sea, and they have no father.

Uranus - Heaven - reigned in the world. He took the fertile Earth as his wife. Uranus and Gaia had six sons and six daughters - powerful, formidable titans. Their son, the Titan Ocean, flowing around the entire earth like a boundless river, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and the sea goddesses - the Oceanids. Titan Hipperion and Theia gave the world children: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selene and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astraeus and Eos came all the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and all the winds: the stormy northern wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Notus and the western gentle wind Zephyr carrying clouds heavy with rain.

In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - cyclops with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hecatoncheires), so named because each of them had a hundred hands. Nothing can resist their terrible power; their elemental power knows no bounds.

Uranus hated his giant children; he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the Earth goddess and did not allow them to come into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was oppressed by this terrible burden contained in her depths. She summoned her children, the Titans, and convinced them to rebel against their father Uranus, but they were afraid to raise their hands against their father. Only the youngest of them, the treacherous Kron, overthrew his father by cunning and took away his power.

As punishment for Kron, the Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible substances: Tanata - death, Eris - discord, Apata - deception, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of dark, heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deception, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world where Cronus reigned on the throne of his father.

The picture of the life of the gods on Olympus is given from the works of Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, which glorify the tribal aristocracy and the basileus leading it as the best people standing much higher than the rest of the population. The gods of Olympus differ from aristocrats and basileus only in that they are immortal, powerful and can work miracles.

Kron was not sure that power would remain in his hands forever. He was afraid that his children would rebel against him and would subject him to the same fate to which he doomed his father Uranus. He was afraid of his children. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him the children that were born and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cronus has already swallowed five: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades (Hades) and Poseidon.

Rhea did not want to lose her last child. On the advice of her parents, Uranus-Heaven and Gaia-Earth, she retired to the island of Crete, and there, in a deep cave, she was born younger son Zeus. In this cave, Rhea hid her son from her cruel father, and instead of her son she gave him a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow. Krohn had no idea that he had been deceived by his wife.

Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished little Zeus; they fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. The bees brought honey to little Zeus from the slopes high mountain Dictations. At the entrance to the cave, the young Kuretes struck their shields with their swords every time little Zeus cried, so that Kronus would not hear him cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.

The beautiful and powerful god Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back into the world the children he had absorbed. One after another, Kron spewed out his children-gods, beautiful and bright, from the mouth. They began to fight with Kron and the Titans for power over the world.

This struggle was terrible and stubborn. The children of Kron established themselves on high Olympus. Some of the titans also took their side, and the first were the titan Ocean and his daughter Styx and their children Zeal, Power and Victory. This struggle was dangerous for the Olympian gods. Their opponents, the Titans, were powerful and formidable. But the Cyclopes came to the aid of Zeus. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them at the titans. The struggle had already lasted ten years, but victory did not lean on either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires from the bowels of the earth; he called them to help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they emerged from the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore entire rocks from the mountains and threw them at the titans. Hundreds of rocks flew towards the titans when they approached Olympus. The earth groaned, a roar filled the air, everything around was shaking. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle.

Zeus threw fiery lightning and deafeningly roaring thunder one after another. Fire engulfed the entire earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench covered everything with a thick veil.

Finally, the mighty titans wavered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians chained them and cast them into gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the copper indestructible gates of Tartarus, the hundred-armed hecatoncheires stood guard, and they guard so that the mighty titans do not break free from Tartarus again. The power of the titans in the world has passed.

But the struggle did not end there. Gaia-Earth was angry with the Olympian Zeus for treating her defeated titan children so harshly. She married the gloomy Tartarus and gave birth to the terrible hundred-headed monster Typhon. Huge, with a hundred dragon heads, Typhon rose from the bowels of the earth. He shook the air with a wild howl. The barking of dogs, human voices, the roar of an angry bull, the roar of a lion were heard in this howl. Turbulent flames swirled around Typhon, and the earth shook under his heavy steps. The gods shuddered with horror, but Zeus the Thunderer boldly rushed at him, and the battle broke out. Lightning flashed again in the hands of Zeus, and thunder rumbled. The earth and the firmament were shaken to the core. The earth flared up again with a bright flame, just as during the fight with the titans. The seas were boiling at the mere approach of Typhon. Hundreds of fiery lightning arrows rained down from the thunderer Zeus; it seemed as if their fire was making the very air burn and the dark thunderclouds were burning. Zeus incinerated all of Typhon's hundred heads. Typhon collapsed to the ground; such heat emanated from his body that everything around him melted. Zeus raised Typhon's body and threw it into the gloomy Tartarus, which gave birth to him. But even in Tartarus, Typhon also threatens the gods and all living things. It causes storms and eruptions; he gave birth to the terrible two-headed dog Orff with Echidna, half-woman, half-snake, hellhound Kerbera, Lernaean Hydra and Chimera; Typhon often shakes the earth.