There is not a single people who would not have their own idea of the universe, the gods who rule life, as well as their struggle for power and influence. The myths of Ancient Greece, a summary of which we will consider in our article, are also special because they pay a lot of attention to man. Mighty heroes are of divine origin, but remain human - mortal and vulnerable, in need of help. And nothing human is alien to them.
What is a myth?
Before studying the myths of Ancient Greece (a brief summary - more is not available to us due to the volume of the article), it is worth understanding what it is - a "myth". In fact, this is a story that reflects people's ideas about the world and order in it, as well as the role of man in the universe. According to ancient authors, people were active participants, and not just a crowd that expected mercy from immortal celestials. But first things first.
Another feature of Greek myths is their high level of order and culture. In addition, their character changed depending on the region of the country, since each policy had its own, more revered gods and heroes, from whom, as the Greeks believed, the population originated. Of course, over time, the legends changed, acquired a different meaning. But the most important thing in them is the content that tells about the life of society in the primitive era, not only in Greece. Researchers note that many stories echo the myths of other peoples who lived at that time, which may indicate that they were created in parallel and carry a grain of truth. The myths of Ancient Greece, the summary of which we are considering, is an attempt to explain the world around us and pass on to descendants views on morality and relations in society.
What are the ancient Greek legends about?
We will talk very briefly about the essence of ancient legends, since many ancient Greek myths have come down to us. A brief summary of them can take a whole book. For example, Nikolai Kun, the most famous researcher of the ancient heritage, collected, streamlined and translated more than two hundred legends. Many of them are presented in the form of cycles. We will try to divide them into several groups. It:
- myths about the origin of the world and gods;
- stories about the titans and the battle of the gods with the titans;
- myths about the gods who lived on Olympus;
- labors of Hercules;
- stories about people and heroes (Perseus, Theseus, Jason); a cycle about the Trojan War, its causes, course and end, as well as the return of the heroes of the battle home (the main characters of the myths are Paris, Menelaus, Helen, Achilles, Odysseus, Hector, Agamemnon);
- myths about world exploration and colonization (Argonauts).
Myths of Ancient Greece (summary). About Zeus the Thunderer
The Greeks paid much attention to the main god of Olympus. No wonder, because the angry Thunderer could punish with lightning for a disrespectful attitude or send another grief, and even turn away from the person, which was even worse. Zeus was considered the youngest son of the titans Kronos and Rhea - time and the mother goddess. Rhea saved him from being swallowed, as Kronos was swallowing all of his children, fearing for his power.
Having matured, he overthrows his tyrant father and brings all his brothers and sisters back to life, and also distributes power between them. He himself was responsible for the wind, clouds, thunder and lightning, storm and hurricane. Zeus could calm the elements or send her, helped the offended and punished those who deserved it. However, he could not control fate.
The love affairs of Zeus also describe the myths of Ancient Greece, a summary of which we are studying. God had a passion for beautiful girls and goddesses and seduced them in every possible way. From them he had many children - gods and goddesses, heroes, kings. Many of them were disliked by Hera, the legal wife of the Thunderer, who often persecuted them and harmed them.
Instead of an epilogue
In the pantheon of the ancient Greeks there were many gods responsible for all branches of their life - agriculture, navigation, trade, war, crafts, the other world. However, there were also beings, demigods, who patronized science and art, followed justice and morality. This means that great attention was paid to these aspects.
Every cultured person should know what the ancient myths of Hellas tell us, so it’s worth reading them at least briefly. But reading them in their entirety allows you to plunge into a wonderful world full of interesting and unusual.
October 16, 2015The Greek gods and goddesses, Greek heroes, myths and legends about them served as the basis, source of inspiration for European poets, playwrights and artists. Therefore, it is important to know their summary. The legends and myths of Ancient Greece, the entire Greek culture, especially of the late time, when both philosophy and democracy were developed, had a strong influence on the formation of the entire European civilization as a whole. Mythology has evolved over time. Tales, legends became known, because reciters wandered along the paths and roads of Hellas. They carried more or less long stories about a heroic past. Some gave only a summary.
The legends and myths of Ancient Greece gradually became familiar and beloved, and what Homer created was customary for an educated person to know by heart and be able to quote from anywhere. Greek scholars, seeking to streamline everything, began to work on the classification of myths, and turned the scattered stories into a harmonious series.
Major Greek gods
The very first myths are devoted to the struggle of various gods among themselves. Some of them did not have human features - these are the offspring of the goddess Gaia-Earth and Uranus-Heaven - twelve titans and six more monsters that terrified their father, and he plunged them into the abyss - Tartarus. But Gaia persuaded the remaining titans to overthrow her father. This was done by the insidious Kronos - Time. But, having married his sister, he was afraid of children being born and swallowed them immediately after birth: Hestia, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, Hades. Having given birth to the last child - Zeus, the wife deceived Kronos, and he could not swallow the baby. And Zeus was safely hidden in Crete. This is just a summary. The legends and myths of ancient Greece scary describe the events taking place.
Zeus' war for power
Zeus grew up, matured and forced Kronos to return his swallowed sisters and brothers to the white world. He called them to fight the cruel father. In addition, part of the titans, giants and cyclops took part in the struggle. The struggle has been going on for ten years. The fire raged, the seas boiled, nothing could be seen from the smoke. But the victory went to Zeus. Enemies were overthrown in Tartarus and taken into custody.
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Gods on Olympus
Zeus, whom the Cyclopes forged with lightning, became the supreme god, Poseidon obeyed all the waters on earth, Hades - the underworld of the dead. This was already the third generation of gods, from which all the other gods and heroes originated, about whom stories and legends will begin to tell. 
The ancients refer to the cycle of Dionysus, the god of wine and winemaking, fertility, the patron of the night mysteries, which were held in the darkest places. The mysteries were terrible and mysterious. So the struggle of the dark gods with the light ones began to take shape. There were no real wars, but the dark gods began to gradually give way to the bright sun god Phoebus with his rational principle, with his cult of reason, science and art. 
And the irrational, the ecstatic, the sensuous receded. But these are two sides of the same phenomenon. And one was impossible without the other. The goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus, patronized the family. 
Ares - war, Athena - wisdom, Artemis - the moon and hunting, Demeter - agriculture, Hermes - trade, Aphrodite - love and beauty. 
Hephaestus - artisans. Their relationship between themselves and people are the legends of the Hellenes. They were fully studied in pre-revolutionary gymnasiums in Russia. Only now, when people are mostly concerned with earthly concerns, do they, if necessary, pay attention to their summary. The legends and myths of Ancient Greece are becoming more and more a thing of the past.
Who was patronized by the gods
They don't like people very much. Often they envied them or lusted after women, they were jealous, they were greedy for praise and honors. That is, they were very similar to mortals, if we take their description. Tales (summary), legends and myths of Ancient Greece (Kun) describe their gods in a very contradictory way. “Nothing pleases the gods so much as the collapse of human hopes,” said Euripides. And Sophocles echoed him: "The gods most willingly help a man when he goes towards his death."
All the gods obeyed Zeus, but for people he mattered as a guarantor of justice. It was when the judge judged unrighteously that a person turned to Zeus for help. In matters of war, only Mars dominated. Wise Athena patronized Attica. 
To Poseidon, all the sailors, going to sea, made sacrifices. In Delphi, one could ask for mercy from Phoebus and Artemis.
Myths about heroes
One of the favorite myths was about Theseus, the son of the king of Athens, Aegeus. He was born and raised in the royal family in Troezen. When he grew up and was able to get his father's sword, he went to meet him. Along the way, he destroyed the robber Procrustes, who did not allow people to pass through his territory. When he got to his father, he learned that Athens paid tribute in girls and boys to Crete. Together with another batch of slaves, under mourning sails, he went to the island to King Minos to kill the monstrous Minotaur. 
Princess Ariadne helped Theseus through the labyrinth in which the Minotaur was located. Theseus fought the monster and destroyed it. 
The Greeks joyfully, freed forever from tribute, returned to their homeland. But they forgot to change the black sails. Aegeus, who did not take his eyes off the sea, saw that his son was dead, and out of unbearable grief threw himself into the depths of the waters over which his palace stood. The Athenians rejoiced that they were forever freed from tribute, but also wept when they learned of the tragic death of Aegeus. The myth of Theseus is long and colorful. This is his summary. The legends and myths of Ancient Greece (Kun) will give an exhaustive description of him.
Epos - the second part of the book by Nikolai Albertovich Kuhn
The legends of the Argonauts, the Trojan War, the travels of Odysseus, the revenge of Orestes for the death of his father, and the misadventures of Oedipus in the Theban cycle make up the second half of the book that Kuhn wrote, Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece. A summary of the chapters is given above.
Returning from Troy to his native Ithaca, Odysseus spent many long years in dangerous wanderings. It was difficult for him to get home on the stormy sea. 
God Poseidon could not forgive Odysseus that, saving his life and the lives of his friends, he blinded the Cyclops, the son of Poseidon, and sent unheard-of storms. On the way, they died from the sirens, who carried away with their unearthly voices and sweet-sounding singing. 
All his companions perished in their voyages across the seas. All were destroyed by an evil fate. In captivity at the nymph Calypso, Odysseus languished for many years. He begged to let him go home, but the beautiful nymph refused. Only the requests of the goddess Athena softened the heart of Zeus, he took pity on Odysseus and returned him to his family.
The legends of the Trojan cycle and about the campaigns of Odysseus were created in his poems by Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, the myths about the campaign for the Golden Fleece to the shores of the Pontus Eusinsky are described in the poem of Apollonius of Rhodes. Sophocles wrote the tragedy "Oedipus the King", the tragedy of the Arrest - the playwright Aeschylus. They are given by a summary of "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece" (Nikolai Kun).
Myths and legends about gods, titans, numerous heroes disturb the imagination of artists of the word, brush and cinematography of our days. Standing in a museum near a picture painted on a mythological theme, or hearing the name of the beautiful Helen, it would be nice to have at least a little idea of \u200b\u200bwhat is behind this name (a huge war), and to know the details of the plot depicted on the canvas. This can be helped by "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece." The summary of the book will reveal the meaning of what he saw and heard.
"Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are set out mainly from Hesiod's poem "Theogony" (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" and the poem of the Roman poet Ovid "Metamorphoses" (Transformations) .
In the beginning, there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. In it was the source of the life of the world. Everything arose from the boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. From Chaos came the goddess Earth - Gaia. It spread wide, mighty, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is from us, in the immeasurable depth, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss, full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, a mighty force was born, all animating Love - Eros. The world began to form. 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. Light spread over the world, and night and day began to replace each other ... "
Nikolai Kun
Legends and myths of Ancient Greece
Part one. gods and heroes
Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are set out mainly in Hesiod's poem "Theogony" (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from the poems of Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey" and the poem of the Roman poet Ovid "Metamorphoses" (Transformation).
In the beginning, there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. In it was the source of the life of the world. Everything arose from the boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. From Chaos came the goddess Earth - Gaia. It spread wide, mighty, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is from us, in the immeasurable depth, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss, full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, a mighty force was born, all animating Love - Eros. The world began to form. 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. Light spread over 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, proudly rose to him, and the eternally noisy Sea spread wide.
Mother Earth gave birth to Heaven, Mountains and the Sea, and they have no father.
Uranus - Sky - reigned in the world. He took the blessed Earth as his wife. Six sons and six daughters - mighty, formidable titans - were Uranus and Gaia. Their son, the titan Ocean, flowing around like a boundless river, the whole earth, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and sea goddesses - oceanides. Titan Gipperion and Theia gave children to the world: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selena and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astrea and Eos came all the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and all the winds: the stormy north wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Noth and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds abundant with rain.
In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - Cyclopes with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hekatoncheirs), so named because each of them had one hundred hands. Nothing can stand against their terrible strength, their elemental strength knows no limit.
Uranus hated his giant children, he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the goddess Earth and did not allow them to come out into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was crushed by this terrible burden, enclosed in her depths. She called her children, the titans, and urged 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 Kronos, overthrew his father by cunning and took power away from him.
The Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible substances as punishment for Kron: Tanata - death, Eridu - discord, Apatu - deceit, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of gloomy, heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deceit, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world, where Kron reigned on the throne of his father.
Gods
The picture of the life of the gods on Olympus is given according to the works of Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, glorifying 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.
Zeus
Birth of Zeus
Kron was not sure that power would forever remain in his hands. He was afraid that the children would rise up against him and find him the same fate that he condemned his father Uranus to. He was afraid of his children. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him newborn children and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cron 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, her youngest son Zeus was born. In this cave, Rhea hid her son from a cruel father, and gave him a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow instead of his son. Kron did not suspect that he was deceived by his wife.
Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished the little Zeus, they fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. Bees carried honey to little Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikty. At the entrance to the cave, young Kuretes struck shields with swords whenever little Zeus cried, so that Kron would not hear his cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.
Zeus overthrows Kron. The struggle of the Olympian gods with the titans
The beautiful and mighty god Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back the children he had devoured into the world. One by one, the monster from the mouth of Kron spewed his children-gods, beautiful and bright. 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 the 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. Mighty and formidable were their opponents the titans. But Zeus came to the aid of the Cyclopes. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them into the titans. The struggle had been going on for ten years, but the victory did not lean to either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed hecatoncheir giants from the bowels of the earth; he called them for help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they came out of the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore off 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 shook around. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle.
Zeus threw one fiery lightning after another and deafening roaring thunders. Fire engulfed the whole earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench shrouded everything in a thick veil.
Finally, the mighty titans faltered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians bound them and cast them into the gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the indestructible copper gates of Tartarus, hundred-armed hecatoncheirs stood guard, and they guard so that the mighty titans do not break free again from Tartarus. The power of the titans in the world has passed.
Nikolai Kun
Legends and myths of Ancient Greece
Part one. gods and heroes
Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are set out mainly in Hesiod's poem "Theogony" (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from the poems of Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey" and the poem of the Roman poet Ovid "Metamorphoses" (Transformations).
In the beginning, there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. In it was the source of the life of the world. Everything arose from the boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. From Chaos came the goddess Earth - Gaia. It spread wide, mighty, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is from us, in the immeasurable depth, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss, full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, a mighty force was born, all animating Love - Eros. The world began to form. 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. Light spread over 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, proudly rose to him, and the eternally noisy Sea spread wide.
Mother Earth gave birth to Heaven, Mountains and the Sea, and they have no father.
Uranus - Sky - reigned in the world. He took the blessed Earth as his wife. Six sons and six daughters - mighty, formidable titans - were Uranus and Gaia. Their son, the titan Ocean, flowing around like a boundless river, the whole earth, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and sea goddesses - oceanides. Titan Gipperion and Theia gave children to the world: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selena and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astrea and Eos came all the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and all the winds: the stormy north wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Noth and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds abundant with rain.
In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - Cyclopes with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hekatoncheirs), so named because each of them had one hundred hands. Nothing can stand against their terrible strength, their elemental strength knows no limit.
Uranus hated his giant children, he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the goddess Earth and did not allow them to come out into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was crushed by this terrible burden, enclosed in her depths. She called her children, the titans, and urged 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 Kronos, overthrew his father by cunning and took power away from him.
The Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible substances as punishment for Kron: Tanata - death, Eridu - discord, Apatu - deceit, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of gloomy, heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deceit, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world, where Kron reigned on the throne of his father.
The picture of the life of the gods on Olympus is given according to the works of Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, glorifying 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.
Birth of Zeus
Kron was not sure that power would forever remain in his hands. He was afraid that the children would rise up against him and find him the same fate that he condemned his father Uranus to. He was afraid of his children. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him newborn children and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cron 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, her youngest son Zeus was born. In this cave, Rhea hid her son from a cruel father, and gave him a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow instead of his son. Kron did not suspect that he was deceived by his wife.
Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished the little Zeus, they fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. Bees carried honey to little Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikty. At the entrance to the cave, young Kuretes struck shields with swords whenever little Zeus cried, so that Kron would not hear his cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.
Zeus overthrows Kron. The struggle of the Olympian gods with the titans
The beautiful and mighty god Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back the children he had devoured into the world. One by one, the monster from the mouth of Kron spewed his children-gods, beautiful and bright. 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 the 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. Mighty and formidable were their opponents the titans. But Zeus came to the aid of the Cyclopes. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them into the titans. The struggle had been going on for ten years, but the victory did not lean to either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed hecatoncheir giants from the bowels of the earth; he called them for help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they came out of the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore off 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 shook around. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle.
Zeus threw one fiery lightning after another and deafening roaring thunders. Fire engulfed the whole earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench shrouded everything in a thick veil.
Finally, the mighty titans faltered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians bound them and cast them into the gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the indestructible copper gates of Tartarus, hundred-armed hecatoncheirs stood guard, and they guard so that the mighty titans do not break free again from Tartarus. The power of the titans in the world has passed.
Part one. gods and heroes
Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are set out mainly in Hesiod's poem "Theogony" (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from the poems of Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey" and the poem of the Roman poet Ovid "Metamorphoses" (Transformations).
In the beginning, there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. In it was the source of the life of the world. Everything arose from the boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. From Chaos came the goddess Earth - Gaia. It spread wide, mighty, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is from us, in the immeasurable depth, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss, full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, a mighty force was born, all animating Love - Eros. The world began to form. 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. Light spread over 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, proudly rose to him, and the eternally noisy Sea spread wide.
Mother Earth gave birth to Heaven, Mountains and the Sea, and they have no father.
Uranus - Sky - reigned in the world. He took the blessed Earth as his wife. Six sons and six daughters - mighty, formidable titans - were Uranus and Gaia. Their son, the titan Ocean, flowing around like a boundless river, the whole earth, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and sea goddesses - oceanides. Titan Gipperion and Theia gave children to the world: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selena and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astrea and Eos came all the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and all the winds: the stormy north wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Noth and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds abundant with rain.
In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - Cyclopes with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hekatoncheirs), so named because each of them had one hundred hands. Nothing can stand against their terrible strength, their elemental strength knows no limit.
Uranus hated his giant children, he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the goddess Earth and did not allow them to come out into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was crushed by this terrible burden, enclosed in her depths. She called her children, the titans, and urged 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 Kronos, overthrew his father by cunning and took power away from him.
The Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible substances as punishment for Kron: Tanata - death, Eridu - discord, Apatu - deceit, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of gloomy, heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deceit, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world, where Kron reigned on the throne of his father.
Gods
The picture of the life of the gods on Olympus is given according to the works of Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, glorifying 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.
Zeus
Birth of Zeus
Kron was not sure that power would forever remain in his hands. He was afraid that the children would rise up against him and find him the same fate that he condemned his father Uranus to. He was afraid of his children. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him newborn children and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cron 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, her youngest son Zeus was born. In this cave, Rhea hid her son from a cruel father, and gave him a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow instead of his son. Kron did not suspect that he was deceived by his wife.
Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished the little Zeus, they fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. Bees carried honey to little Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikty. At the entrance to the cave, young Kuretes struck shields with swords whenever little Zeus cried, so that Kron would not hear his cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.
Zeus overthrows Kron. The struggle of the Olympian gods with the titans
The beautiful and mighty god Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back the children he had devoured into the world. One by one, the monster from the mouth of Kron spewed his children-gods, beautiful and bright. 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 the 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. Mighty and formidable were their opponents the titans. But Zeus came to the aid of the Cyclopes. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them into the titans. The struggle had been going on for ten years, but the victory did not lean to either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed hecatoncheir giants from the bowels of the earth; he called them for help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they came out of the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore off 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 shook around. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle.
Zeus threw one fiery lightning after another and deafening roaring thunders. Fire engulfed the whole earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench shrouded everything in a thick veil.
Finally, the mighty titans faltered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians bound them and cast them into the gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the indestructible copper gates of Tartarus, hundred-armed hecatoncheirs stood guard, and they guard so that the mighty titans do not break free again from Tartarus. The power of the titans in the world has passed.
Zeus fighting Typhon
But the fight didn't end there. Gaia-Earth was angry with the Olympian Zeus because he acted so harshly with her defeated children-titans. 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. With a wild howl he shook the air. The barking of dogs, human voices, the roar of an angry bull, the roar of a lion were heard in this howl. Stormy flames swirled around Typhon, and the earth shook under his heavy steps. The gods shuddered in horror, but Zeus the Thunderer boldly rushed at him, and the battle caught fire. Again, lightning flashed in the hands of Zeus, thunder rumbled. The earth and the vault of heaven shook to their foundations. The earth flared up again with a bright flame, as it had during the struggle with the titans. The seas boiled at the mere approach of Typhon. Hundreds of fiery arrows-lightnings of the Thunderer Zeus rained down; it seemed that from their fire the very air was burning and dark thunderclouds were burning. Zeus burned all of Typhon's hundred heads to ashes. Typhon collapsed to the ground; such heat emanated from his body that everything around him melted. Zeus raised the body of Typhon and cast it into the gloomy Tartarus, which gave birth to him. But even in Tartarus, Typhon threatens the gods and all living things. He causes storms and eruptions; he gave birth with Echidna, a half-woman half-snake, the terrible two-headed dog Orff, the hellish dog Cerberus, the Lernean hydra and the Chimera; Typhon often shakes the earth.
The Olympian gods defeated their enemies. No one else could resist their power. They could now safely rule the world. The most powerful of them, the Thunderer Zeus, took the sky, Poseidon - the sea, and Hades - the underworld of the souls of the dead. The land remained in common ownership. Although the sons of Kron divided power over the world among themselves, Zeus, the ruler of the sky, reigns over all of them; he rules over people and gods, he knows everything in the world.
Olympus
Zeus reigns high on the bright Olympus, surrounded by a host of gods. Here is his wife Hera, and the golden-haired Apollo with his sister Artemis, and the golden Aphrodite, and the mighty daughter of Zeus Athena, and many other gods. Three beautiful Horas guard the entrance to the high Olympus and raise a thick cloud that closes the gate when the gods descend to earth or ascend to the bright halls of Zeus. High above Olympus, the blue, bottomless sky spreads wide, and golden light pours from it. Neither rain nor snow occurs in the kingdom of Zeus; always there is a bright, joyful summer. And clouds swirl below, sometimes they close the distant land. There, on earth, spring and summer are replaced by autumn and winter, joy and fun are replaced by misfortune and grief. True, the gods also know sorrows, but they soon pass, and joy is again established on Olympus.
The gods feast in their golden palaces built by the son of Zeus Hephaestus. King Zeus sits on a high golden throne. The courageous, divinely beautiful face of Zeus breathes with greatness and proudly calm consciousness of power and might. At his throne is the goddess of peace, Eirene, and the constant companion of Zeus, the winged goddess of victory Nike. Here comes the beautiful, majestic goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus. Zeus honors his wife: Hera, the patroness of marriage, is honored by all the gods of Olympus. When, shining with her beauty, in a magnificent outfit, the great Hera enters the banquet hall, all the gods stand up and bow before the wife of the Thunderer Zeus. And she, proud of her power, goes to the golden throne and sits next to the king of the gods and people - Zeus. Near the throne of Hera stands her messenger, the goddess of the rainbow, the light-winged Irida, always ready to quickly rush on rainbow wings to fulfill Hera's orders to the farthest reaches of the earth.
The gods feast. The daughter of Zeus, the young Hebe, and the son of the king of Troy, Ganymede, the favorite of Zeus, who received immortality from him, offer them ambrosia and nectar - the food and drink of the gods. Beautiful charites and muses delight them with singing and dancing. Holding hands, they dance, and the gods admire their light movements and marvelous, eternally young beauty. The feast of the Olympians becomes more fun. At these feasts, the gods decide all matters, at them they determine the fate of the world and people.
From Olympus, Zeus sends his gifts to people and establishes order and laws on earth. The fate of people is in the hands of Zeus; happiness and unhappiness, good and evil, life and death - everything is in his hands. Two large vessels stand at the gates of the palace of Zeus. In one vessel are gifts of good, in the other - of evil. Zeus draws good and evil from them and sends them to people. Woe to that person to whom the thunderer draws gifts only from a vessel with evil. Woe to the one who violates the order established by Zeus on earth and does not comply with his laws. The son of Kronos will menacingly move his thick eyebrows, then black clouds will cloud the sky. The great Zeus will be angry, and the hair on his head will rise terribly, his eyes will light up with an unbearable brilliance; he will wave his right hand - thunder will roll across the sky, fiery lightning will flash, and the high Olympus will shake.
Not only Zeus keeps the laws. At his throne stands the goddess Themis, who keeps the laws. She convenes, at the command of the Thunderer, meetings of the gods on the bright Olympus, people's meetings on earth, observing that order and law are not violated. On Olympus and the daughter of Zeus, the goddess Dike, who watches over justice. Zeus severely punishes unrighteous judges when Dike informs him that they do not comply with the laws given by Zeus. Goddess Dike is the protector of truth and the enemy of deceit.
Zeus keeps order and truth in the world and sends people happiness and sorrow. But although Zeus sends happiness and misfortune to people, nevertheless the fate of people is determined by the inexorable goddesses of fate - moira, living on the bright Olympus. The fate of Zeus himself is in their hands. Doom rules over mortals and over the gods. No one can escape the dictates of inexorable fate. There is no such force, no such power that could change at least something in what is destined for the gods and mortals. You can only humbly bow before fate and submit to it. Some moira know the dictates of fate. Moira Klotho spins the life thread of a person, determining the duration of his life. The thread will break, and life will end. Moira Lachesis draws, without looking, the lot that falls to a person in life. No one is able to change the fate determined by moira, since the third moira, Atropos, puts everything that her sister’s person was assigned in life to a long scroll, and what is listed in the scroll of fate is inevitable. Great, severe moira are inexorable.
There is also a goddess of fate on Olympus - this is the goddess Tyukhe, the goddess of happiness and prosperity. From the horn of plenty, the horn of the divine goat Amalthea, whose milk Zeus himself was fed, she will send gifts to people, and happy is the person who meets the goddess of happiness Tyukhe on his life path; but how rarely does this happen, and how unfortunate is the person from whom the goddess Tyuhe, who has just given him her gifts, will turn away!
So reigns, surrounded by a host of bright gods on Olympus, the great king of people and gods Zeus, guarding order and truth throughout the world.
Poseidon and the gods of the sea
Deep in the abyss of the sea stands the wonderful palace of the great brother of the Thunderer Zeus, the shaker of the earth Poseidon. Poseidon rules over the seas, and the waves of the sea are obedient to the slightest movement of his hand, armed with a formidable trident. There, in the depths of the sea, lives with Poseidon and his beautiful wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the sea prophetic elder Nereus, who was kidnapped by the great ruler of the sea depths Poseidon from her father. He saw one day how she led a round dance with her Nereid sisters on the coast of the island of Naxos. The god of the sea was captivated by the beautiful Amphitrite and wanted to take her away in his chariot. But Amphitrite took refuge with the titan Atlas, who holds the vault of heaven on his mighty shoulders. For a long time Poseidon could not find the beautiful daughter of Nereus. At last the dolphin opened her hiding place to him; for this service, Poseidon placed the dolphin among the celestial constellations. Poseidon stole the beautiful daughter of Nereus from Atlas and married her.
Since then, Amphitrite lives with her husband Poseidon in an underwater palace. High above the palace, the waves of the sea roar. A host of sea deities surrounds Poseidon, obedient to his will. Among them is the son of Poseidon, Triton, who causes terrible storms with the thunderous sound of his pipe from the shell. Among the deities are the beautiful sisters of Amphitrite, the Nereids. Poseidon rules over the sea. When he rushes across the sea in his chariot drawn by marvelous horses, then the ever-noisy waves part and give way to the lord Poseidon. Equal in beauty to Zeus himself, he quickly rushes across the boundless sea, and dolphins play around him, fish swim out of the depths of the sea and crowd around his chariot. When Poseidon waves his formidable trident, then, like mountains, the sea waves rise, covered with white ridges of foam, and a fierce storm rages on the sea. Then the sea waves beat with noise against the coastal rocks and shake the earth. But Poseidon stretches his trident over the waves, and they calm down. The storm subsides, the sea is calm again, exactly like a mirror, and splashes a little audibly near the shore - blue, boundless.
Many deities surround the great brother of Zeus, Poseidon; among them is the prophetic sea elder, Nereus, who knows all the innermost secrets of the future. Nereus is alien to lies and deceit; only the truth he reveals to the gods and mortals. Wise advice given by the prophetic elder. Nereus has fifty beautiful daughters. Young Nereids splash merrily in the waves of the sea, sparkling among them with their divine beauty. Holding hands, they swim out of the depths of the sea in a string and dance on the shore to the gentle splash of the waves of a calm sea quietly running ashore. The echo of the coastal rocks then repeats the sounds of their gentle singing, like the quiet roar of the sea. Nereids patronize the sailor and give him a happy voyage.
Among the deities of the sea is the elder Proteus, who, like the sea, changes his image and turns, at will, into various animals and monsters. He is also a prophetic god, you just need to be able to catch him unexpectedly, take possession of him and force him to reveal the secret of the future. Among the satellites of the oscillator of the earth Poseidon is the god Glaucus, the patron saint of sailors and fishermen, and he has the gift of divination. Often, emerging from the depths of the sea, he opened the future and gave wise advice to mortals. The gods of the sea are mighty, their power is great, but the great brother of Zeus Poseidon rules over all of them.
All the seas and all the lands flow around the gray Ocean - the titan god, equal to Zeus himself in honor and glory. He lives far on the borders of the world, and the affairs of the earth do not disturb his heart. Three thousand sons - river gods and three thousand daughters - oceanids, goddesses of streams and sources, near the Ocean. The sons and daughters of the great god of the Ocean give prosperity and joy to mortals with their ever-rolling living water, they water the whole earth and all living things with it.
The kingdom of gloomy Hades (Pluto)
Deep underground reigns Zeus' unforgiving, grim brother, Hades. His kingdom is full of darkness and horrors. The joyful rays of the bright sun never penetrate there. Bottomless abysses lead from the surface of the earth to the sad kingdom of Hades. Dark rivers flow in it. There flows the ever-chilling sacred river Styx, by whose waters the gods themselves swear.
Cocytus and Acheron roll their waves there; the souls of the dead resound with their groaning, full of sorrow, their gloomy shores. In the underworld, the source of Lethe also flows, giving oblivion to all earthly water. Through the gloomy fields of the kingdom of Hades, overgrown with pale flowers of asphodel, ethereal light shadows of the dead are worn. They complain about their joyless life without light and without desires. Their moans are quietly heard, barely perceptible, like the rustle of withered leaves driven by the autumn wind. There is no return to anyone from this realm of sorrow. The three-headed hellish dog Kerberos, on whose neck snakes move with a formidable hiss, guards the exit. The stern, old Charon, the carrier of the souls of the dead, will not be lucky through the gloomy waters of Acheron not a single soul back to where the sun of life shines brightly. The souls of the dead in the gloomy kingdom of Hades are doomed to an eternal joyless existence.
In this kingdom, to which neither light, nor joy, nor sorrows of earthly life reach, the brother of Zeus, Hades, rules. He sits on a golden throne with his wife Persephone. He is served by the implacable goddesses of vengeance Erinyes. Terrible, with scourges and snakes, they pursue the criminal; do not give him a moment's rest and torment him with remorse; nowhere can you hide from them, everywhere they find their prey. At the throne of Hades sit the judges of the kingdom of the dead - Minos and Rhadamanthus. Here, at the throne, the god of death Tanat with a sword in his hands, in a black cloak, with huge black wings. These wings blow with grave cold when Tanat flies to the bed of a dying man in order to cut a strand of hair from his head with his sword and tear out his soul. Next to Tanat and gloomy Kera. On their wings they rush, furious, across the battlefield. The Keres rejoice as they see the slain heroes fall one by one; with their blood-red lips they fall to the wounds, greedily drink the hot blood of the slain and tear out their souls from the body.
Here, at the throne of Hades, is the beautiful, young god of sleep, Hypnos. He silently rushes on his wings above the ground with poppy heads in his hands and pours sleeping pills from his horn. He gently touches the eyes of people with his wonderful wand, quietly closes his eyelids and plunges mortals into a sweet dream. The god Hypnos is mighty, neither mortals, nor gods, nor even the Thunderer Zeus himself can resist him: and Hypnos closes his menacing eyes and plunges him into a deep sleep.
Worn in the gloomy kingdom of Hades and the gods of dreams. Among them there are gods who give prophetic and joyful dreams, but there are also gods of terrible, oppressive dreams that frighten and torment people. There are gods and false dreams, they mislead a person and often lead him to death.
The kingdom of the inexorable Hades is full of darkness and horrors. There roams in the darkness the terrible ghost of Empusa with donkey's feet; it, having lured people into a secluded place in the darkness of the night, drinks all the blood and devours their still trembling bodies. The monstrous Lamia also roams there; she sneaks into the bedroom of happy mothers at night and steals their children to drink their blood. The great goddess Hecate rules over all ghosts and monsters. She has three bodies and three heads. On a moonless night, she wanders in deep darkness along the roads and at the graves with all her terrible retinue, surrounded by Stygian dogs.