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Inferior deities in ancient Greek myth. ancient greek gods

Religion Ancient Greece refers to pagan polytheism. The gods played important roles in the structure of the world, each performing its own function. The immortal deities were like people and behaved quite humanly: they were sad and rejoiced, quarreled and reconciled, betrayed and sacrificed their interests, were cunning and were sincere, loved and hated, forgave and avenged, punished and pardoned.

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The behavior, as well as the commands of the gods and goddesses, the ancient Greeks explained natural phenomena, the origin of man, moral principles, and social relations. Mythology reflected the ideas of the Greeks about the world around them. Myths originated in different parts of Hellas and eventually merged into an ordered system of beliefs.

Ancient Greek gods and goddesses

The main gods and goddesses belonging to the younger generation were considered. The older generation, which embodied the forces of the universe and the elements of nature, lost its dominance over the world, unable to resist the onslaught of the younger ones. having won, the young gods chose Mount Olympus as their home. The ancient Greeks singled out 12 main deities from all deities. Olympic gods. So, the gods of Ancient Greece, the list and description:

Zeus - God of Ancient Greece- in mythology it is called the father of the gods, Zeus the Thunderer, the lord of lightning and clouds. It is he who has the mighty power to create life, to resist chaos, to establish order and a fair trial on earth. Legends tell about the deity as a noble and kind being. The Lord of Lightning gave birth to the goddesses Or and Muses. Or govern the time and seasons of the year. Music brings inspiration and joy to people.

Hera was the wife of the Thunderer. The Greeks considered her the absurd goddess of the atmosphere. Hera is the guardian of the house, the patroness of wives who are faithful to their husbands. With her daughter Ilithia, Hera relieved the pains of childbirth. Zeus was famous for his passion. After a three-hundred-year marriage, the lord of lightning began to visit ordinary women who gave birth to heroes from him - demigods. Zeus appeared to his chosen ones in different guises. Before the beautiful Europe, the father of the gods stood like a bull with golden horns. Zeus visited Danae as a golden shower.

Poseidon

Sea god - lord of the oceans and seas, patron saint of sailors and fishermen. The Greeks considered Poseidon a just god, all punishments of which were sent to people deservedly. Preparing for the voyage, the sailors offered prayers not to Zeus, but to the lord of the seas. Before going out to sea, incense was offered on altars to please the sea deity.

The Greeks believed that Poseidon could be seen during a strong storm on the high seas. His magnificent golden chariot emerged from the sea foam, drawn by swift horses. The lord of the ocean received dashing horses as a gift from his brother Hades. The wife of Poseidon is the goddess of the noisy sea, Amphrita. The trident - a symbol of power, gave the deity absolute power over the depths of the sea. Poseidon was distinguished by a gentle character, sought to avoid quarrels. His loyalty to Zeus was not questioned - unlike Hades, the ruler of the seas did not dispute the primacy of the thunderer.

Hades

Lord of the underworld. Hades and his wife Persephone ruled over the kingdom of the dead. The inhabitants of Hellas feared Hades more than Zeus himself. It is impossible to get into the underworld - and even more so, to return - without the will of a gloomy deity. Hades traveled the surface of the earth in a chariot drawn by horses. The eyes of the horses blazed with hellish fire. People in fear prayed that the gloomy god would not take them to their abode. A favorite of Hades, the three-headed dog Cerberus guarded the entrance to the realm of the dead.

According to the legends, when the gods shared power and Hades got dominion over the kingdom of the dead, the celestial was dissatisfied. He considered himself humiliated and held a grudge against Zeus. Hades never openly opposed the power of the Thunderer, but constantly tried to harm the father of the gods as much as possible.

Hades kidnapped the beautiful Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and the goddess of fertility Demeter, by force making her his wife and ruler of the underworld. Zeus had no power over the realm of the dead, so he refused Demeter's request to return her daughter to Olympus. The distressed goddess of fertility stopped caring about the earth, drought came, then famine came. The lord of thunder and lightning had to conclude an agreement with Hades, according to which Persephone would spend two-thirds of the year in heaven, and a third of the year in the underworld.

Pallas Athena and Ares

Athena is probably the most beloved goddess of the ancient Greeks. The daughter of Zeus, born from his head, she embodied the three virtues:

wisdom;
calm;
insight.

Goddess of victorious energy, Athena was portrayed as a powerful warrior with a spear and shield. She was also the deity of clear skies, having the power to disperse dark clouds with her weapons. The daughter of Zeus traveled with Nike, the goddess of victory. Athena was called upon as the protector of cities and fortresses. It was she who sent down just state laws to Ancient Hellas.

Ares - deity of stormy skies, the eternal rival of Athena. The son of Hera and Zeus, he was revered as the god of war. A warrior full of rage, with a sword or a spear - this is how Ares was depicted by the imagination of the ancient Greeks. The god of war enjoyed the noise of battle and bloodshed. Unlike Athena, who fought judiciously and honestly, Ares preferred fierce fights. The god of war approved the tribunal - a special trial of particularly cruel murderers. The hill where the courts took place is named after the warlike deity Areopagus.

Hephaestus

God of blacksmithing and fire. According to legend, Hephaestus was cruel to people, frightened and destroyed them with volcanic eruptions. People lived without fire on the surface of the earth, suffering and dying in the eternal cold. Hephaestus, like Zeus, did not want to help mortals and give them fire. Prometheus - a titan, the last of the older generation of gods, was the assistant of Zeus and lived on Olympus. Filled with compassion, he brought fire to the earth. For stealing fire, the Thunderer doomed the titan to eternal torment.

Prometheus managed to escape punishment. With visionary abilities, the titan knew that Zeus in the future was threatened with death at the hands of his own son. Thanks to the hint of Prometheus, the lord of lightning did not unite in a marriage alliance with the one who would give birth to a parricide son, and strengthened his dominion forever. For the secret of maintaining power, Zeus gave the titan freedom.

In Hellas there was a holiday of running. Participants competed with lit torches in their hands. Athena, Hephaestus and Prometheus were symbols of the celebration that gave rise to the Olympic Games.

Hermes

The deities of Olympus were characterized not only by noble impulses, lies and deceit often guided their actions. God Hermes is a rogue and a thief, the patron of trade and banking, magic, alchemy, astrology. Born by Zeus from the Mayan galaxy. His mission was to convey the will of the gods to people through dreams. From the name of Hermes came the name of the science of hermeneutics - the art and theory of interpretation of texts, including ancient ones.

Hermes invented writing, was young, handsome, energetic. Antique images depict him as a handsome young man in a winged hat and sandals. According to legend, Aphrodite rejected the advances of the god of commerce. Gremes is not married, although he has many children, as well as many lovers.

The first theft of Hermes - 50 cows of Apollo, he committed it at a very young age. Zeus gave the kid a good "bashing" and he returned the stolen. In the future, the Thunderer more than once turned to the resourceful offspring to solve thorny problems. For example, at the request of Zeus, Hermes stole a cow from Hera, into which the beloved of the lightning lord turned.

Apollo and Artemis

Apollo is the Greek god of the sun. As the son of Zeus, Apollo spent the winter in the lands of the Hyperboreans. In Greece, the god returned in the spring, bringing the awakening of nature, immersed in hibernation. Apollo patronized the arts, and was also the deity of music and singing. After all, together with the spring, the desire to create returned to people. Apollo was credited with the ability to heal. As the sun casts out darkness, so the celestial cast out ailments. The sun god was depicted as an extremely handsome young man with a harp in his hands.

Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and the moon, the patroness of animals. The Greeks believed that Artemis made night walks with naiads - the patroness of the waters - and shed dew on the grass. At a certain period in history, Artemis was considered a cruel goddess who destroys sailors. Human sacrifices were made to the deity to gain favor.

At one time, girls worshiped Artemis as the organizer of a strong marriage. Artemis of Ephesus was considered the goddess of fertility. Sculptures and pictures of Artemis depicted a woman with a large number of nipples on her chest to emphasize the generosity of the goddess.

Soon the god of the sun Helios and the goddess of the moon Selene appeared in the legends. Apollo remained the deity of music and art, Artemis - goddess of the hunt.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite the Beautiful was worshiped as the patroness of lovers. The Phoenician goddess Aphrodite combined two principles:

femininity when the goddess enjoyed love young man Adonis and the singing of birds, the sounds of nature;
militancy, when the goddess was portrayed as a cruel warrior who obliged her followers to take a vow of chastity, and was also a zealous guardian of fidelity in marriage.

The ancient Greeks managed to harmoniously combine femininity and militancy, creating a perfect image of female beauty. The embodiment of the ideal was Aphrodite, carrying pure, immaculate love. The goddess was depicted as a beautiful naked woman emerging from the foam of the sea. Aphrodite is the most revered muse of poets, sculptors, artists of that time.

The son of the beautiful goddess Eros (Eros) was her faithful messenger and assistant. The main task of the god of love was to connect the life lines of lovers. According to legend, Eros looked like a plump baby with wings.

Demeter

Demeter is the patron goddess of farmers and winemakers. Mother Earth, as they called her. Demeter was the embodiment of nature, which gives people fruits and cereals, absorbing sunlight and rains. They portrayed the goddess of fertility with blond, wheaten hair. Demeter gave people the science of arable farming and crops grown by hard work. The daughter of the goddess of winemaking Persephone, becoming the queen of the underworld, connected the world of the living with the kingdom of the dead.

Together with Demeter, Dionysus was revered - the deity of winemaking. Dionysus was portrayed as a cheerful young man. Usually his body was entwined with a vine, and in his hands the god held a jug filled with wine. Dionysus taught people to take care of vines, to sing exuberant songs, which later formed the basis of ancient Greek drama.

Hestia

Goddess family well-being, unity and peace. The altar of Hestia stood in every house near the family hearth. The inhabitants of Hellas perceived urban communities as large families, therefore, in the pritanei (administrative buildings in Greek cities), the sanctuaries of Hestia were always present. They were a symbol of civil unity and peace. There was a sign that if you take coals from the altar of the pritanei on a long journey, then the goddess will provide her protection on the way. The goddess also protected strangers and the afflicted.

Temples to Hestia were not built because she was worshiped in every home. Fire was considered a clean, cleansing natural phenomenon, so Hestia was perceived as the patroness of chastity. The goddess asked Zeus for permission not to marry, although Poseidon and Apollo sought her favor.
Myths and legends have evolved over decades. With each retelling of the story, new details were acquired, previously unknown characters appeared. The list of gods grew, making it possible to explain natural phenomena, the essence of which ancient people could not understand. Myths passed on the wisdom of the older generations to the young, explained state structure, asserted the moral principles of society.

The mythology of ancient Greece gave mankind many plots and images that are reflected in the masterpieces of world art. Throughout the centuries, artists, sculptors, poets and architects have drawn inspiration from the legends of Hellas.

dialectic religion philosophy socrates

How to explain why a volcano erupts, lightning rumbles, there is a drought, or the sea storms, destroying everything in its path? The ancient Greeks found the answer - the actions of the Gods. The mythology of Ancient Greece is a whole world order with a large family of Gods, an explanation of all natural phenomena and forces that control human life. What were the myths about? Did mortals become heroes of legends? Where is the fiction, and where is the truth?

Greek mythology or the mythology of ancient Greece arose much later than most ancient representations Greek people about the world. The Hellenes, like other peoples of antiquity, sought to somehow unravel the formidable and often incomprehensible natural phenomena, to know those mysterious unknown forces that govern human life.

The fantasy of the ancient Greeks and gave rise to ancient Greek mythology, inhabited the world good and evil fabulous creatures: dryads settled in groves and trees, nymphs in rivers, oreads in mountains, oceanids in oceans and seas. The image of nature, wild and rebellious, was personified by centaurs and satyrs. When studying Greek mythology, it becomes clear that the world at that time was ruled by immortal gods, kind and wise. They lived on the top of the huge Mount Olympus and were presented as beautiful and perfect creatures, similar in appearance to people. They were a single family, the head of which was Zeus the Thunderer.

The virtues of the ancient Greeks were considered moderation, justice, courage, prudence. One of the invariably punished sins was "hubris" - criminal pride, opposition to the divine will.

The humanization of divine beings is a characteristic feature of the Greek religion, which made it possible to make Greek mythology closer to ordinary people. External beauty was considered as the highest measure of perfection. So, the mighty forces of nature, previously beyond the control of either man, let alone his influence, became understandable, became more understandable and understandable to the imagination of an ordinary person.

The Greek people became the creator of myths and legends, unique in their beauty, about the life of people, gods and heroes. AT ancient Greek mythology memories of a distant, long-forgotten past and poetic fiction merged into one. Separate legends about Greek gods combined into complex cosmogonic legends (about the emergence of man and the world). Greek mythology is a primitive attempt to comprehend reality, to give the whole natural picture expediency and harmony, to expand life experience.

According to myth, a white lily - a symbol of innocence and purity - grew from the milk of the goddess Hera, who found the baby Hercules and wanted to give him milk. But the boy, sensing an enemy in her, pushed her away, and the milk spilled across the sky, forming the Milky Way. A few drops fell to the ground and turned into lilies.

The unforgettableness of the myths and legends of ancient Greece is explained extremely simply: no other human creation is distinguished by such richness and fullness of images. In the future, philosophers and historians, poets and artists, sculptors and writers turned to ancient Greek mythology, drawing ideas from their own works in the inexhaustible sea of legendary plots, introducing new ideas into myths. mythological worldview, which corresponded to that historical period.

Above all else, there was infinite Chaos in the world. It was not a void - it contained the origins of all things, gods and people. In the beginning, from Chaos arose the mother earth - the goddess Gaia and the sky - Uranus. From their union came the Cyclopes - Bront, Sterop, Arg ("thunder", "shine", "lightning"). Their only eye shone high in the middle of their foreheads, turning the underground fire into heavenly fire. The second, Uranus and Gaia, gave birth to the hundred-armed and fifty-headed hecatoncheir giants - Kotta, Briareus and Giesa (“anger”, “strength”, “arable land”). And finally, a great tribe of titans was born.

There were 12 of them - six sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia. The ocean and Tethys gave birth to all rivers. Gipperion and Theia became the ancestors of the Sun (Helios), the Moon (Selene) and the pink-fingered dawn (Eos). From Iapetus and Asia came the mighty Atlas, who now holds the firmament on his shoulders, as well as the cunning Prometheus, the narrow-minded Epimetheus and the daring Menetius. Two more pairs of titans and a titanide gave birth to gorgons and other amazing creatures. But the future belonged to the children of the sixth couple - Krona and Rhea.

Food, drinks and things were sacrificed to the gods. Animal sacrifices - hecatombs - were widespread. The libation of drinks (libation) was also popular, and during disasters, people or animals expelled from the settlement to avert the wrath of the gods (farmaki).

Uranus did not like his offspring and he threw the Cyclopes and the hundred-armed giants into Tartarus, a terrible abyss (which was both a living being and had a neck). Then Gaia, indignant at her husband, persuaded the titans to rise up against Heaven. All of them attacked Uranus and deprived him of power. From now on, Kron, the most cunning of the titans, has become the ruler of the world. But he did not release the former captives from Tartarus, fearing their strength.

We know little about what life on earth was like at that time. The Greeks called the reign of Cronus the Golden Age. However, it was foretold to this new ruler of the world that he would in turn be overthrown by his son. Therefore, Kron decided on a terrible measure - he began to swallow his sons and daughters. He swallowed Hestia first, then Demeter and Hera, then Hades and Poseidon. The very name Cron means “time” and it is not for nothing that people say that time swallows up its sons. The last child - Zeus, was replaced by his unfortunate mother Rhea with a stone wrapped in a diaper. Kronos swallowed the stone, and the young Zeus was hidden on the island of Crete, where he was fed with her milk by the magical goat Amalthea.

When Zeus became an adult, he managed to free his brothers and sisters by cunning, and they began to fight against Kron and the titans. For ten years they fought, but victory was not given to either side. Then Zeus, on the advice of Gaia, freed the hundred-handed and cyclops languishing in Tartarus. From now on, the Cyclopes began to forge his famous lightning bolts to Zeus. The Hundred-Hands rained down on the titans a hail of stones and rocks. Zeus and his brothers and sisters, who became known as gods, were victorious. They, in turn, threw the titans into Tartarus (“where the roots of the sea and the earth are hidden”) and assigned hundred-armed giants to guard them. The gods themselves began to rule the world.

The planet Mars bears the name of the god of war Ares-Mars, because it has a red, "bloody" color. And its satellites, discovered in 1877, are named after the sons of Ares - Phobos (the god of fear) and Deimos (the god of horror).

Three brothers - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades divided the universe among themselves. The middle brother Poseidon inherited the sea. He took the beautiful Amphitrite as his wife and lives with her in a wonderful underwater palace. Their son Triton, who was represented as combining the features of a man, a horse and a fish, blowing into a sea shell, causes terrible storms. Poseidon himself loves to race across the stormy sea in a chariot drawn by sea horses and shaking his formidable trident. The blue curls of the great god are fluttering in the wind. Poseidon is surrounded by Nereids - the beautiful daughters of the sea elder Nereus and Proteus - who changes his appearance like the sea and has the gift of prediction (on the facades of some St. Petersburg houses and lattices we can see some of these amazing creatures).

The younger brother, dark-haired Hades, the owner of the invisibility cap, received the underworld in control. He married Persephone, the daughter of Zeus himself. Sad life in the kingdom of Hades (which is also called Hades). It is surrounded by the river Styx, through which the souls of the dead are transported by the stern old man Charon. The entrance is guarded by the formidable three-headed dog Cerberus, who does not let anyone back. Those who fall into Hades have, however, a different fate. The souls of people whose good and bad deeds equalize each other, “ dressed in clothes wings” wander among meadows overgrown with pale tulips and groves of black poplars. The souls of villains and perjurers suffer severe punishments (for example, the deceiver Sisyphus must always lift a heavy stone up the mountain, which, as soon as it reaches the top, immediately rolls down). The souls of the righteous dwell in Elysium, the land of the never-setting sun and the Isles of the Blessed. They say that Cron rules there, who was pardoned by his son Zeus.

The ancient Greeks had not only powerful gods, but also smaller, "everyday" deities. For example, Aloe, the son of Poseidon, was revered as a deity of threshed grain.

Zeus, revered as the elder and "king of the gods", received heaven and earth during the division. He married Hera (“lady”), who became the patroness of family and marriage. They had beautiful daughters Ilithyia and Hebe and sons - the master Hephaestus and the warlike Ares. The magnificent home of the gods is located on Mount Olympus, where summer reigns forever. Young Hebe brings ambrosia and nectar to the gods at feasts - the food of the gods. Zeus, in the form of a mature, black-haired man, proudly sits on a golden throne. Next to him is his sacred eagle. Near the throne stands Irida with rainbow wings - the messenger of the gods.

Along with the gods, heroes, or titans, were "involved" in the myths. Heroes were considered semi-divine personalities, standing between gods and people. Heroes were people who really existed, historical figures- Athenian commander (Miltiades), statesmen (Solon), founders philosophical schools, the largest poets, whose work played a big role in the life of the Greeks. Their tombs were often located in the center of cities as a reminder of past exploits. There were heroes and legendary figures created by folk fantasy.

One of the most famous and noble martyr heroes in mythology was Prometheus, who rendered an invaluable service to the human race. Among the favorite folk heroes was Hercules, endowed with huge force. Literally, his name means "performing feats because of the persecution of Hera." When Hera planned to kill the infant Hercules by setting two snakes on him, Hercules strangled them. Surpassing everyone in strength, not knowing rivals in military exercises, Hercules performed 12 labors. Among them is the killing of a monstrous lion; the destruction of the hydra - a monster with a snake body and nine dragon heads; the extermination of the Stymphalian birds that devastated the area, chasing animals and people, tearing them apart with their copper beaks, and many others. These and other episodes form a whole cycle of exciting short stories.

Introduction

The importance of ancient Greek mythology for the development of culture can hardly be overestimated. Ancient Greece is called the cradle of all European culture. And therefore, the study of ancient Greek mythology is of particular importance - this is the study of the origins, primarily the origins of European culture, but it is also obvious that it had a huge impact on the entire world culture. Ancient Greek myths were not only widely spread, but were subjected to deep reflection and study. It is impossible to overestimate their aesthetic significance: there is not a single art form left that does not have plots based on ancient mythology in its arsenal - they are in sculpture, painting, music, poetry, prose, etc.

For the most complete understanding of the significance of ancient Greek mythology in world culture, it is necessary to trace the significance of myth in culture in general.

Myth is not a fairy tale, it is a way of explaining the world. Mythology is the main form of the worldview of peoples at the most ancient stage of their development. Mythology is based on the personification of the forces of nature (nature dominated, was stronger than man). Mythology as the dominant mode of thought and behavior disappears when man creates real means of dominating the forces of nature. The destruction of mythology speaks of a fundamental change in the position of man in the world.

But it is from mythology that grows scientific knowledge, religion and culture in general. The mythology of ancient Greece became the basis for the entire ancient culture, from which later, as we have already said, all European culture grew.

Ancient Greek is the mythology of a civilization that developed from the 6th century BC. BC e. in what is now Greece. At the heart of ancient Greek mythology is polytheism, that is, polytheism. In addition, the gods of ancient Greece are endowed with anthropomorphic (i.e. human) features. Concrete representations generally prevail over abstract ones, just as in quantitative terms, human-like gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, prevail over deities of abstract significance (who, in turn, receive anthropomorphic features).

Legends, traditions and tales were passed down from generation to generation by Aed singers and were not recorded in writing. The first recorded works that conveyed to us unique images and events were the brilliant poems of Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey". Their record dates back to the 6th century BC. e. According to the historian Herodotus, Homer could have lived three centuries earlier, that is, around the 9th-8th centuries BC. But, being an aed, he used the work of his predecessors, even more ancient singers, the earliest of which, Orpheus, according to a number of testimonies, lived approximately in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Thus, the mythology that has come down to us is in many respects an experience already processed and rethought by subsequent generations. One way or another, the main sources for studying Greek mythology are the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer.

Myth in Homer is presented as an objective phenomenon, the author has no doubts about the reality of which. Hesiod, who lived during the formation of the Greek polis system and ideology, had a different attitude to mythology. He collects and brings together the myths and genealogies of the gods, sets out the cosmogonic system in connection with the history of the origin of the gods ("Theogony"). Material for the study of Greek mythology is also contained in Greek lyrics, comedies and tragedies. And also in the works of Roman authors (Ovid, Virgil, Horace, Lucretius Car, Tibull, Propertius, Apuleius, Statius, Lucian, Silius Italic). Ovid's Metamorphoses is essentially a mythological encyclopedia. Of course, many original sources have been lost, distorted and come down to us in later lists, and yet they provide an opportunity to get an idea of ancient Greek mythology. In our work, we will use more encyclopedia and textbooks on the history of ancient culture, of which ancient Greek mythology is a part.

The purpose of our work is to present a general picture of ancient Greek mythology and understand its influence on the development of European and world culture.

In ancient Greek mythology, the pre-Olympic period and the Olympic period are distinguished, which in turn is divided into classical and heroic periods. In the heroic period, mythological images are centralized around the mythology associated with Mount Olympus, and the transition to artistically developed and strict heroism begins. As the communal-tribal system decomposes, refined forms of the heroic Homeric mythology take shape. In the future, naive mythology - a kind of the only form of primitive thinking - perishes as independent creativity and acquires a service character, becoming one of the forms of artistic expression of various kinds of religious, socio-political, moral and philosophical ideas slave-owning polis ideology, turns into a philosophical allegory, is widely used in literature and art. In accordance with these periods, we will build our work, that is, the first part will be devoted to the pre-Olympic period, the second to the Olympic period, that is, we will trace the development of ancient Greek mythology. And in the third part of our work, we will list the main gods and heroes as they entered the culture. Our task is not only to present the material, but also to analyze the significance of the period under consideration for the further development of culture. At the end of the work, we will draw conclusions about the place of ancient Greek mythology in world culture.

1. Pre-Olympic period

Mythology is the main form of the worldview of peoples at the most ancient stage of their development. It is based on the personification of the forces of nature (nature dominated, was stronger than man). mythological consciousness characterized by syncretism, everything in it is in unity and indivisibility: truth and fiction, subject and object, man and nature. However, at a later stage it is anthropomorphic in nature. One way or another, a person does not distinguish himself from the world, humanizes the world and nature. The main task of the myth is to set patterns, models for every important action performed by a person, the myth serves to ritualize everyday life, enabling a person to find meaning in life, which is perceived by the primitive consciousness in a randomly piled up form.

The earth with its constituent objects appears alive to the primitive consciousness. Animated, producing everything from itself and nourishing everything by itself, including the sky, which it also gives birth to from itself. As a woman is the head of the clan, mother, nurse and educator in the period of matriarchy, so the earth is understood as the source and womb of the whole world, gods, demons, people. That's why ancient mythology can be called chthonic (chthonic (Greek chton, "earth"), associated with the earth, the underworld.).

Fetishism

In the development of chthonic mythology, separate stages can also be distinguished. The first stage is fetishism. At an early stage, consciousness is limited to directly sensory perception, only to those things that are directly visible and tangible. These things are animating. Such a thing, on the one hand, through and through material, on the other hand, animated by primitive consciousness, is a fetish. The fetish was understood as the focus of magical, demonic, living power. But since the entire objective world seemed to be animate, then magic power the whole world was endowed, and the demonic being was in no way separated from the object in which it lived. Thus, various deities were worshiped in the form of stone pyramids or raw boards (in the form of a column, log, etc.). That is, the deity and the subject are inseparable. The worship of animated, deified objects is fetishism. Even during the heyday of Greek civilization, many deities continued to be worshiped in the form of stones and pieces of wood.

A striking example of a fetish is the Delphic omphalos. According to legend, this is the stone that the goddess Rhea gave to Kronos instead of the newborn Zeus. Kronos, fearing that his children might overthrow him, as he had overthrown his father Uranus, decided to get rid of them - to eat them. But instead of Zeus, he ate a stone, and then regurgitated it. The stone was placed in Delphi as the center of the earth and began to be revered as a shrine, it was dressed in various clothes and smeared with incense.

Another example of fetishism is the identification of the god Dionysus with a vine. This is evidenced by the many epithets of Dionysus associated either with this plant itself or with wine as a product of the vine. “Grape”, “many-growing”, “wine-bearer”, “wine pourer”, etc. are the main epithets of Dionysus.

Serpent and snake are the most typical chthonic animals and not only in ancient mythology. Even such bright and beautiful goddesses as Pallas Athena had their snake past.

Animals generally played an important role in mythology. Many animals were identified with certain gods, they were their incarnation. In the chapter on the gods, we will return to this issue.

Man himself was conceived fetishistically. His organism was identified with the spiritual life. Separate parts of the body could be endowed with a certain magical power, not thanks to the spirit, but by themselves. The eyes of the Medusa Gorgon are turned into stone, the ancestors of the Theban kings appear from the teeth of the dragon, the blood is the carrier of the soul.

Fetishistic ideas were transferred not only to an individual, but to the entire tribal community. People thought that the whole given genus was represented by some animal, some plant, or even an inanimate thing (for example, the origin of the Myrmidons was thought from ants). The fetishistic understanding embraced all nature, the whole world, which was presented as a single living body, at first necessarily feminine. Heaven and earth, earth and sea, sea and underworld differed very little from each other in the primitive consciousness - this is called syncretism, which we talked about at the beginning of this chapter.

The next stage in the development of ancient Greek mythology is characterized by the separation of the “idea” of a thing from the thing itself, roughly speaking, the separation of the soul. Soul in Greek anima. Thus, the transition to animism took place. At first, people believed that the soul of a thing (or its demon) is so inseparable from the thing itself that with its destruction, it also ceases to exist. In the future, the idea of the independence of these demons grew, which not only differ from things, but are also able to separate from them and persist for a more or less long period after the destruction of these things.

Initially, animism is associated with some impersonal force. These are abstract demons, acting here and now, having no appearance, and therefore it is not clear how to talk to them. We noted that initially man was subject to the forces of nature. But gradually he comes out of this submission. And the demons take on some form, it is already possible to somehow agree with them, that is, to come into contact with nature, not only as a victim, when he does not understand what force he is dealing with, but can influence these forces. From the moment when the previously impersonal demon receives this or that individualization, there is a final transition to animism. We will talk about ancient animistic demons in more detail in the third chapter of our work. In the classical era of Greece, these images were pushed into the background.

In developed animism, as we have already said, the transformation of a demon or god leads to an anthropomorphic, that is, humanized, understanding of them. However, no matter how perfect the anthropomorphic image of a god, demon or hero in Greek mythology, it always contained features of an earlier, purely fetishistic development (for example, a vine or ivy is constantly associated with Dionysus).

Let's summarize what has been said in this chapter. So, first of all, we determined that at an early stage in the formation of mythology, human consciousness was not isolated from nature, a person realizes himself as a part of nature, and that nature is stronger than him, it frightens a person. And a person understands it as a living thing. Man worships the living forces of nature, but not abstract ones, he still has no abstract ideas, he understands only what he sees, feels. And these visible, felt objects are animated, he worships them - this is the first stage of the pre-Olympic period - fetishism. Gradually, the “idea” of a thing separates from the thing itself, and animism arises. Gradually, impersonal demons acquire anthropomorphic features, and here we are already moving on to the Olympic period of ancient Greek mythology - a period that is more understandable to us, since here a person clearly distinguishes himself from nature, the soul from the body, God from man, despite the anthropomorphic appearance of the gods and forces nature.

. Olympic period

classical period

In the previous period we have considered, the main gods and demons of ancient Greek mythology were formed. We have also said that man is beginning to get out of the grip of natural forces. And heroes appear in mythology who deal with monsters and monsters that once frightened the imagination of a person crushed by an incomprehensible and omnipotent nature. Apollo kills the Pythian dragon, Ota and Ephialtes, Perseus kills Medusa, Bellerophon kills the Chimera, Meleager kills the Calydonian boar. Hercules performs his twelve labors.

During this period, instead of small gods and demons, one main one appears, supreme god Zeus, to whom all other gods and demons obey. All of them live on Olympus (hence the concept of "Olympic gods", "Olympic mythology"). Zeus himself fights with all sorts of monsters, defeats the titans, cyclops, Typhon and giants and imprisons them underground, in tartar. A new kind of gods appear. Female deities formed from a multifaceted ancient image mother goddesses, received new functions in the era of heroism. We will talk about the gods and their functions during this period in the third part of the work.

Not only the gods and heroes, but the whole of life began to be seen differently. This is due, first of all, to the fact that man has ceased to be afraid of nature. And those demons and spirits that previously seemed hostile to humans now look completely different. Now a person is not afraid of nature, but uses it for his own needs, admires it. If earlier the nymphs of rivers and lakes - naiads or nymphs of the seas - nereids, as well as nymphs of mountains, forests, fields, etc. - are the embodiments of wildness and chaos, now nature appears peaceful and poetic. Nymphs scattered in nature become the subject of poetic admiration. This is how they entered world culture. Beautiful nymphs were sung not only by ancient poets, but also by the sweats of the Renaissance (this era is called the Renaissance precisely because it sought to revive ancient beauty, ancient ideals). And today the nymph is certainly associated with someone beautiful, although danger can lurk in this beautiful, as danger always lurks even in the most beautiful nature. Man has not been able to completely get rid of this fear. And because the nymphs could joke and sometimes quite evil.

Zeus ruled everything, and all the elemental forces were in his hands. And man, of course, felt his dependence on the gods. But at the same time, he already felt his strength to enter into a dialogue with the gods. As for the lower demonic beings, myths appear that tell about the victory of mortal man over nature, such as, for example, the 12 labors of Hercules. The theme of the victory of mortal man over nature is also heard in other Greek myths Olympic period. When Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx, she threw herself off a cliff. When Odysseus (or Orpheus) did not succumb to the bewitching singing of the sirens and sailed unscathed past them, the sirens died at the same moment. When the Argonauts sailed safely among the rocks of the Symplegades, which until then had incessantly converged and diverged, the Symplegades stopped forever.

Heroic period

This period is characterized by a transition from the old harsh heroism to a new, refined one. Character traits We meet this period in Homer. The heroes in this mythology become noticeably bolder, their free treatment of the gods grows, they even dare to enter into competition with the gods. Most often, they are punished for their audacity, but the fact itself is important. It is important that now people have a completely different look at the gods.

Two myths are indicative here: the myth of Dionysus and the myth of Prometheus. Dionysus is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. At an earlier stage, Dionysus was the patron of nature in general, and, as we said, was associated with ivy and the vine, as a result of which he began to be perceived as the god of winemaking. But in mythology, his image is firmly entrenched as the image of a god who arranges orgies, the god of the Bacchantes, the god of the holiday. This cult of Dionysus spread throughout Greece and united all classes. The ecstasy and exaltation of the worshipers of Dionysus created the illusion of inner unity with the deity and thus, as it were, destroyed the impenetrable abyss between gods and people. Therefore, the cult of Dionysus, strengthening human independence, deprived him of a mythological orientation.

Another type of mythological self-denial arose in connection with the image of Prometheus. Prometheus, like Dionysus, is a deity. Prometheus gave fire to people and was punished by Zeus for his help to people. Zeus chained him to a rock. The punishment of Prometheus is understandable, since he is an opponent of Olympian heroism, that is, the mythology associated with Zeus. Therefore, during the entire heroic age, Prometheus was chained to a rock. But now the heroic age is coming to an end, shortly before the Trojan War - the last great deed of the heroic age - Hercules frees Prometheus. Between Zeus and Prometheus there is a great reconciliation, which means the triumph of Prometheus, who gave people fire and the beginnings of civilization, made mankind independent of God. Thus, Prometheus, being himself a god, destroyed faith in a deity in general and in the mythological perception of the world.

The Olympic period in general and the heroic stage in particular are characterized by artistic processing of images. We have spoken little here about emerging comedies, tragedies, and other literary and artistic works. But it is necessary to talk about them, since the appearance of such literature indicates that mythology is perceived differently. In this literature, mythology is no longer an end in itself, as in ancient legends, parables and tales, here literature is already only a means. This is especially evident in the late heroic period, and it is in this way that the myth enters world culture.

The genre of transformations became especially popular, which was embodied in the work of Ovid's "Metamorphoses". Usually, this refers to a myth that, as a result of various twists and turns, ends with the transformation of heroes into some objects of the inanimate world, into plants or animals. For example, Narcissus, withered out of love for his own image in water, turns into a flower, and so on. All natural phenomena were animated, considered living beings in the distant past - mythical time, but now in this late heroic age they have lost their mythicity, and only the human memory of late antiquity retained the memory of the mythical past, finding in this already one artistic beauty.

Let's sum up what has been said in this chapter. A person begins to get out of the power of natural forces, what he used to be afraid of, gradually becomes equal to him, although it is still too early to talk about complete equality, but in any case, a person separates himself from nature and begins to communicate with her, putting forward his demands, and not only being included in spontaneous natural chaos. Such a change in consciousness gave rise to mythological heroes who defeated demons, personifying the souls of nature, and in the later period, the gods (Dionysus, Prometheus) themselves go over to the side of people, becoming their accomplices, and not those whom people are afraid of. Thus, the gods and people become closer, although the distance is still preserved - the gods remain gods.

It was the classical period of ancient Greek mythology that had the greatest influence on the development of European culture. During this period, an idea is formed about Olympus and the Olympic gods. And this is how they will go down in the history of culture. We have already said that the perception of nymphs as beautiful and lovely maidens, and not as evil demons of nature, has been preserved in culture. But here it is important to note that European and world culture has drawn from Greek mythology not only the images of gods and demons, but in many ways thinking itself. European philosophy and culture were formed in the depths of Greek mythology. If we turn to the history of philosophy, we will see that in its formation one can trace the same process of separating a person from the natural world, the continuation of the transition from the emotional and sensory perception of the world to its rational understanding. Ancient Greek mythology, and we could see it, is the first stages in the formation of ancient (of which ancient Greek culture is a part) philosophy based on a rational understanding of nature. It was thanks to this process, its consistent development that the priority of reason was established in Europe. Of course, not immediately. Of course, European culture first went through the dark ages of scholasticism, but with the Renaissance, the ideals of antiquity again become significant, proclaiming reason, the value of man, the desire for beauty and enjoyment of life. But we are already getting ahead of ourselves. First, let's consider the main gods of Greek mythology, whose images are still relevant in all types of art.

ancient greek mythology self-negation zeus

3. Gods and demons of Greek mythology

In this part of the work, I would like to pay special attention to the gods of the Olympic period, since they are of greater cultural significance, the gods that arose in an earlier period and personify the forces of nature, at that time were still terrible. All Greek mythology begins with the words “in the beginning there was chaos”, and from this chaos the Cosmos, the Ocean, etc. stand out, which are perceived as living beings that suppress a person. We talked a lot about this in the first part of the work, we will not repeat it here. Let's just name them briefly, as they appear before us in the presentation of N. Kuhn:

“From Chaos came the goddess Earth - Gaia.<…>Far below the earth<…>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 Gloom - 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.<…>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 - oceanids. Titan Gipperion and Theia gave the world children: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selena and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos. From Astrea and Eos all the stars originated<…>and all the winds: the stormy north wind Boreas, the east Eurus, the humid south Notes and the gentle west 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 (hecatoncheirs)<…>. 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 insidious Kron, overthrew his father by cunning and took power from him. The Goddess Night gave birth to a host of terrible substances as punishment to 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. In this short passage, we see how the universe and the main phenomena of nature are explained: where did the sky and the sea come from, why does day and night change. Similar myths exist in all cultures in the early stages. In addition, the story we have given illustrates in the best possible way everything that we talked about in the first part of our work: this is the gloom of the characters - only Hemera (Day) and Eos (Dawn) are called joyful and bright, the rest of the deities are frightening, even Hypnos, who now does not carry the meaning that it was filled in those days. Further in mythology, the following happens - Zeus, saved by his mother (we cited this myth already in our work), overthrows Kron (Kronos, Kronos, the god of time) and reigns on Olympus.

Gods of the Olympic period

We will not be able to consider all the Olympian gods here. There were a great many of them, but let's focus on the most significant images. But first, about Mount Olympus itself. Olympus is a mountain in Thessaly where the gods live. On Olympus are the palaces of Zeus and other gods, built and decorated by Hephaestus. The gates of Olympus open and close the Oras as they ride out in golden chariots. Olympus is thought of as a symbol of the supreme power of a new generation of Olympian gods who defeated the titans.

Subsequently, under Olympus, people began to understand not one mountain, but the whole sky. It was believed that Olympus covers the earth like a vault and the Sun, Moon and Stars wander through it. When the Sun was at its zenith, they said that it was at the top of Mount Olympus. They thought that in the evening, when it passes through the western gates of Olympus, that is, the sky, it closes, and in the morning it is opened by the goddess of dawn, Eos.

Zeus is the supreme deity, the father of gods and people, the head of the Olympic family of gods, the son of Kronos and Rhea. Three brothers - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades - divided power among themselves. Zeus got dominance in the sky, Poseidon - the sea, Hades - the kingdom of the dead. AT ancient times Zeus combined the functions of life and death. However, later Zeus began to personify only the bright side of being.

Zeus can perform all the functions of any other gods, so we meet him both as the progenitor of all life, and as a militant Zeus and Zeus, asserting justice. Later, many of his functions were transferred to other deities. These deities become, as it were, intermediaries between man and the supreme and unattainable god Zeus.

The life of Zeus and other gods on Olympus is very similar to a human life: Zeus is constantly fighting for power (in the early stages, anyway). Olympian Zeus is considered the father of gods and people, but his power over the Olympic family is not very strong, and the dictates of fate are often unknown to him, and he recognizes them, weighing the fate of the heroes on golden scales. Zeus has several wives and many children. We will talk about some of them in our work.

Zeus gives laws to people and later this function of his becomes the most significant. Olympian Zeus is the father of many heroes who carry out his divine will and good intentions. Being the "father of men and gods", Zeus is at the same time a formidable punishing force. At the behest of Zeus, Prometheus is chained to a rock, having stolen a spark of Hephaestus fire in order to help people doomed by Zeus to a miserable fate. Several times Zeus destroyed the human race, trying to create a perfect man. He sent a flood to the earth, from which only Deucalion, the son of Prometheus, and his wife Pyrrha escaped. The Trojan War is also a consequence of Zeus's decision to punish people for their wickedness. Zeus destroys the genus of Atlanteans, who have forgotten about the worship of the gods. Zeus sends curses to the guilty. So Zeus takes on more and more obvious moral traits. The beginnings of statehood, order and morality among people are connected, according to the legends of the Greeks, just not with the gifts of Prometheus, because of which people became proud, but with the activities of Zeus, who put shame and conscience into people, the qualities necessary in social communication.

Zeus corresponds to the Roman Jupiter.

Hera is the wife and sister of Zeus. The marriage of Hera determined her supreme power over other Olympic goddesses, she is the first on Olympus and the greatest goddess, Zeus himself listens to her advice. In this image, the features of a female local deity of the pre-Olympic period are seen: independence and independence in marriage, constant quarrels with Zeus, jealousy, terrifying anger.

In the myths first transmitted by Homer and Hesiod, Hera is the model of marital fidelity. As a sign of this, she was depicted in a wedding dress. Hera on Olympus is the protector of her own family hearth, which is endlessly threatened by the amorousness of Zeus.

In Roman mythology, Hera is identified with Juno.

Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite was glorified as giving abundance to the earth, the summit "goddess of the mountains", a companion and kind assistant in swimming, the "goddess of the sea", i.e. land, sea and mountains are embraced by the power of Aphrodite. She is the goddess of marriages and even childbirth, as well as the "baby feeder". Gods and people are subject to the love power of Aphrodite. Only Athena, Artemis and Hestia are beyond her control. Aphrodite patronizes all who love. Her image is beautiful and flirtatious. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, who entered the world culture under the Roman name of Venus.

Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, the brother of Artemis. He was endowed with a wide variety of functions - both destructive and beneficent. We meet Apollo the soothsayer, Apollo the healer, musician, Apollo the shepherd and guardian of the flocks. Sometimes these functions of Apollo are also connected with myths about the service of Apollo to people, to which Zeus sends him, enraged by the independent disposition of his son. Apollo is a musician. He is the patron saint of singers and musicians. Apollo enters into relations with goddesses and mortal women, but is often rejected. His favorites were the young men Hyacinthus (Hyacinthus) and Cypress, who are also considered as hypostases of Apollo.

From the Greek colonies in Italy, the cult of Apollo penetrated into Rome, where this god occupied one of the first places in religion and mythology; Emperor Augustus declared Apollo his patron and instituted age-old games in honor of him, the temple of Apollo near the Palatine was one of the richest in Rome.

Dionysus. We have already spoken a little about the cult of Dionysus and how important it was. Dionysus is one of the closest gods to people. They also pointed out that Dionysus is the god of the fruitful forces of the earth, vegetation, viticulture, and winemaking. Dionysus, as a deity of the agricultural circle, associated with the elemental forces of the earth, was constantly opposed to Apollo - as, above all, the deity of the tribal aristocracy. The folk basis of the cult of Dionysus was reflected in the myths about the illegitimate birth of the god, his struggle for the right to enter the ranks of the Olympian gods and for the widespread establishment of his cult.

Dionysus found a vine. Jealous Hera instilled madness in him, and he, wandering through Egypt and Syria, came to Phrygia, where the goddess Cybele-Rhea healed him and introduced him to her orgiastic mysteries.

From the religious rituals dedicated to Dionysus (Greek tragodia literally “song of the goat” or “song of the goats”, that is, goat-footed satyrs - companions of Dionysus), an ancient Greek tragedy arose. In Rome, Dionysus was revered under the name of Bacchus (hence Bacchantes, Bacchanalia) or Bacchus.

Unfortunately, the volume of work does not allow us to consider in more detail even the most significant deities.

Of course, it would be worth paying attention to Demeter, the goddess of fertility, and Ares, the god of war, Hermes, the patron of travelers and trade, and many others, whose images still appear in one form or another throughout world culture.

But still, we see our task in affirming the emphasis on how ancient Greek mythology was formed and developed, what processes took place and how these processes influenced the further development of world culture. In order to consider the dynamics of individual images, a separate study is necessary, since the deities of ancient Greek mythology were not static, their images developed, were endowed with new functions, sometimes very different from the initial ones (and we could see this on the example of the same Zeus or Apollo).

But it was more important for us to note the general processes, why these changes took place at all. And we gave an answer to this question in the first two parts of our work, when we traced how the consciousness of a person changed with the development of nature, with a change in tribal relations, with the emergence of the state.

Based on the results of a brief review of some of the deities of ancient Greek mythology, we can draw one very important conclusion - these images have been preserved for centuries and continue to inspire many people of art.

Conclusion

We have considered in our work in general terms the process of development of ancient Greek mythology and some of the central images of this mythology. Sometimes we talked about ancient mythology, instead of ancient Greek, strictly speaking, ancient mythology is a broader concept, since it includes Roman mythology, but if we turn to the material of the third chapter, we will see that many Roman gods were borrowed precisely from Greek mythology. And it is not by chance that we are talking about this here. This fact is indicative. Since Roman culture, based on ancient Greek, gave rise to all European culture (and we talk about this constantly in our work - since this is the key point of the topic we are considering). But here it is not only the borrowing of images and some cults that is important, the very structure of thinking is important. And we examined how gradually a person moves from the sensory perception of the world to a rational understanding of nature, affirms the triumph of reason. And all this was a consequence of the peculiarities of the development of ancient Greek mythology. We noted in the course of the work that the primitive ideas of the ancient Greeks are very similar to the ideas of other primitive civilizations. However, further development is very different. In Eastern mythologies, and later in Eastern philosophy, a person remained included in nature much longer, he was a practical person, closely connected with matter, but precisely ancient philosophy affirmed the triumph of reason. And this statement remains unshakable until now. Of course, there are many theories that formulate a different point of view, but it is rational comprehension that is the central line in the development of all European culture from the Renaissance to the present day.

In addition to the priority of reason, ancient mythology (we will speak more broadly here) gave European culture a love of life, and the cult of Dionysus played an important role here.

And, finally, the last thing I want to note is that we talked a lot about the heroes and their exploits. Ancient Greek heroes inspired the exploits of many heroes of later times. And the myth of the beautiful Helen of Troy finds its echoes in the battles in the name of the beautiful lady. And many, many more such parallels can be found in the life of society, which once again confirms that ancient Greek mythology gave the world not only a bunch of images, but largely determined both the rules of behavior and the way of thinking - that is, culture in all its manifestations. First of all, all this concerns, of course, European culture, but European culture had a huge impact on the development of Russian culture, not to mention American culture, which largely grew out of European culture, which was brought to America by the first settlers. There are, of course, connections with Eastern culture, and these connections are very ancient, but all the same, Eastern cultures stand somewhat apart.

Bibliography

1.Bonnard A. Greek civilization - M: Art, 1992.

2.Kun N. Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 1998.

.Myths of the peoples of the world - mythological encyclopedia in two volumes, ed. Tokareva S.V., vol. 1 - M: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1980.

.Philosophy - tutorial for universities, ed. Lavreneva - M: Unity, 2002.

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The main gods in Ancient Hellas were those that belonged to the younger generation of celestials. Once it took power over the world from the older generation, personifying the main universal forces and elements (see about this in the article The Origin of the Gods of Ancient Greece). The gods of the older generation are usually called titans. Having defeated the titans, the younger gods, led by Zeus, settled on Mount Olympus. The ancient Greeks honored 12 Olympian gods. Their list usually included Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hephaestus, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hermes, Hestia. Hades is also close to the Olympian gods, but he does not live on Olympus, but in his underworld.

- the main deity of ancient Greek mythology, the king of all other gods, the personification of the boundless sky, the lord of lightning. In Roman religions Jupiter corresponded to him.

Poseidon - the god of the seas, among the ancient Greeks - the second deity in importance after Zeus. like olithe creation of a changeable and stormy water element Poseidon was closely associated with earthquakes and volcanic activity. In Roman mythology, he was identified with Neptune.

Hades - the lord of the gloomy underground kingdom of the dead, inhabited by the incorporeal shadows of the dead and terrible demonic creatures. Hades (Hades), Zeus and Poseidon made up the triad of the most powerful gods of Ancient Hellas. As ruler of the depths of the earth, Hades was also associated with agricultural cults, with whom his wife, Persephone, was closely associated. The Romans called it Pluto.

Hera - the sister and wife of Zeus, the main female goddess of the Greeks. The patroness of marriage and conjugal love. Jealous Hera severely punishes the violation of marriage bonds. The Romans corresponded to Juno.

Apollo - originally the god of sunlight, whose cult then received a wider meaning and connection with the ideas of spiritual purity, artistic beauty, medical healing, retribution for sins. As a patron of creative activity, he is considered the head of the nine muses, as a healer - the father of the god of doctors Asclepius. The image of Apollo among the ancient Greeks was formed under the strong influence of Eastern cults (the Asia Minor god Apelun) and carried refined, aristocratic features. Apollo was also called Phoebus. Under the same names, he was revered in ancient Rome.

Artemis - sister of Apollo, virgin goddess of forests and hunting. Like the cult of Apollo, the veneration of Artemis was brought to Greece from the East (the Asia Minor goddess Rtemis). Artemis' close association with forests comes from her ancient function patroness of vegetation and fertility in general. The virginity of Artemis also contains a dull echo of the ideas of birth and sexual relations. In ancient Rome, she was revered in the person of the goddess Diana.

Athena is the goddess of spiritual harmony and wisdom. She was considered the inventor and patroness of most of the sciences, arts, spiritual pursuits, agriculture, and crafts. With the blessing of Pallas Athena, cities are being built and public life is going on. The image of Athena as a defender of the fortress walls, a warrior, a goddess who, at her very birth, came out of the head of her father, Zeus, armed, is closely connected with the patronage functions of cities and the state. Among the Romans, Athena corresponded to the goddess Minerva.

Hermes is the most ancient pre-Greek god of roads and field boundaries, all borders separating one from the other. Due to his primordial connection with the roads, Hermes was later revered as a messenger of the gods with wings on his heels, the patron of travel, merchants and trade. His cult was also associated with ideas about resourcefulness, cunning, subtle mental activity (skillful differentiation of concepts), knowledge of foreign languages. The Romans have Mercury.

Ares is the wild god of war and battle. In ancient Rome, Mars.

Aphrodite is the ancient Greek goddess of sensual love and beauty. Her type is very close to the Semitic-Egyptian veneration of the productive forces of nature in the form of Astarte (Ishtar) and Isis. The famous legend about Aphrodite and Adonis was inspired by the most ancient oriental myths about Ishtar and Tammuz, Isis and Osiris. The ancient Romans identified with Venus.

Eros - the son of Aphrodite, a divine boy with a quiver and a bow. At the request of his mother, he shoots well-aimed arrows that kindle incurable love in the hearts of people and gods. In Rome - Cupid.

Hymen Companion of Aphrodite, god of marriage. According to his name, wedding hymns were also called hymens in ancient Greece.

Hephaestus - a god whose cult in the era of hoary antiquity was associated with volcanic activity - fire and roar. Later, thanks to the same properties, Hephaestus became the patron of all crafts associated with fire: blacksmithing, pottery, etc. In Rome, the god Vulcan corresponded to him.

Demeter - in Ancient Greece personified the productive force of nature, but not wild, as Artemis once did, but “ordered”, “civilized”, the one that manifests itself in regular rhythms. Demeter was considered the goddess of agriculture, who rules the annual natural cycle of renewal and decay. She also led the circle human life- from birth to death. This last aspect of the cult of Demeter was the content of the Eleusinian mysteries.

Persephone Daughter of Demeter, kidnapped by the god Hades. The inconsolable mother, after a long search, found Persephone in the underworld. Hades, who made her his wife, agreed that she would spend part of the year on earth with her mother, and the other with him in the bowels of the earth. Persephone was the personification of the grain, which, being "dead" sown in the ground, then "comes to life" and comes out of it into the light.

Hestia - patron goddess of the hearth, family and community ties. Altars to Hestia stood in every ancient Greek house and in the main public building of the city, all citizens of which were considered one big family.

Dionysus - the god of winemaking and those violent natural forces that bring a person to insane delight. Dionysus was not one of the 12 "Olympic" gods of Ancient Greece. His orgiastic cult was borrowed comparatively late from Asia Minor. The popular veneration of Dionysus was opposed to the aristocratic service of Apollo. From frenzied dances and songs at the feasts of Dionysus later came the ancient Greek tragedy and comedy.

There are many scientific and pseudo-scientific disputes around mythology in general, and myths in particular. Moreover, the mythology is not only ancient Greek, but also classical European. So what are these myths? Some attribute them to culture, others to religion, others to both the first and the second, as if in a mix, in modern terms. Still others consider myths to be almost historical knowledge.

Why are myths needed?

One thing is undeniable and proven by facts and artifacts: mythology is the oldest human essence. The time of appearance of mythological images is difficult to identify, but it is associated with the origin of language and human consciousness. Mythology did not originate with gods and others mythical creatures, but to substantiate and display them from the point of view and thinking that were inherent in mankind at a particular stage of its development. Myths are the rituals of life, the reason for the search for the meaning of life.

But back to our topic - the myths of ancient Greece and the list of names. In Hellas, mythology gave a strong impetus to the development of culture and art (sculpture), even the religion of polytheism and a single god. Even then, the genres of modern theatrical and cinematographic art - tragedy and comedy - arose.

An important point. The gods are not ideal beings. Among them, like people, there were vices. This is envy, meanness and murders were committed, including children, and also in order to eliminate competitors in order to advance in the hierarchy of the gods. Just one example. Gaia, the goddess of the earth, revolted against her husband, and after the victory of the Olympians over the titans with her sons, she launched an attack on the pantheon of Olympus. She gave birth to a hundred-headed monster - Typhon, on whom she pinned hopes to destroy humanity.

Gods of Ancient Greece

Classified by three generations. Let's make a list of the gods of the third stage. Especially the composition that is known as the Olympians. Their family descended from Kronos (Chronos - time) - the first divine leader of Greece. According to some reports, he is the last son of Gaia. And the long era of the Olympic rulers of the sky and all life on earth began.

Zeus the Thunderer (Rom. Jupiter) is the son of the father of the gods and the father of the gods himself. Kronos learned the prediction of his mother, who became a Delphic soothsayer, that his children would overthrow him. To prevent this from happening, he swallowed them.

The wife of Rhea saved only the last son, Zeus. As a child, she gave him to be raised by nymphs on the still undeveloped island of Crete. When he grew up, he immediately overthrew his father from his ruled heavenly fiefdom.

The secret that helped the Thunderer to avoid death was revealed by Prometheus. He predicted who he shouldn't marry. So Zeus became immortal, and his power on Olympus became eternal.

All ancient Greek gods and their areas of responsibility.

Poseidon (Neptune), brother of the head of the pantheon on Mount Olympus, personified physical strength and character - courage and unbridled temper. He created elements on the water, sank ships, caused hunger on earth. He was personified with incomprehensible then earthquakes. Poseidon compensated for his sabotage with generous gifts, but then again he messed up.

Hera (Juno)

The sister and wife of the Thunderer, and therefore was the main among the female group of deities. Supervised the fortress of marriage and marital fidelity. She was very jealous, did not forgive betrayals even to Zeus. She tried in every possible way to harm his illegitimate son - Hercules (Hercules).

Apollo (Phoebus)

God of the brightest light. Later, the cult expanded into ideas of creative grace and healing (father of the god of doctors Asclepius). Aristocratic features are borrowed from the images of Asia Minor. The cult spread widely in Italy after the Roman conquests of Greece.

Artemis (Diana)

Sister of Apollo. Like the cult of the brother, respect for her is brought to Greece from outside. Artemis is associated with forests, in general, she patronizes everything that grows and bears fruit. Welcomed birth and sexual relations.

Athena (Minerva)

The goddess, in which it is not clear how spiritual comfort and wisdom, militancy and amazing femininity coexisted. According to mythology, Zeus (from his curly head) she was born already armed with a spear. And only she, as a goddess, was allowed to wage so-called just wars. Apparently, the Olympians believed that such military seizures of something could be justified.

It is difficult to list everything that Athena patronized: from agriculture to the sciences and art, and her influence spread even further. Cities were created in her name. No wonder the capital of Greece is named after this goddess. In all its glory, the ancient Greek sculptor Phidias depicted.

Hermes (Mercury).

If we collect in one list everything that fell under the protection of the gods, it will become clear what the ancient Greeks were worried about. After all, the gods were created, to put it bluntly, by them. Here, in connection with Hermes, it is clear that the Greeks were concerned about the construction of roads, merchant trade within the country and with neighbors, since they endowed Hermes with these patronage powers.

He was known as a dodgy god, capable of cunning when necessary, but he also had knowledge of foreign languages. Obviously, in earthly life there should have been such specialists, since God was placed above them.

Aphrodite (Venus or Cyprida)

Keeper of love and feminine beauty. There is an epic about her and Adonis, adopted from the myths of the Ancient East. Her son Eros (Cupid) was depicted in the paintings, where he ignites the flame of love in people with arrows.

Hephaestus (Volcano).

Already from the Roman name it is clear what the god was doing: he created fire and roar. This is how it is shown in the myths. But as is well known, the activity of the volcano is not subject to either people or gods. Later, Hephaestus "retrained" and became the patron of artisans, in blacksmithing. After all, there, too, a fire always blazes for melting metal. Although he was lame, he became the husband of Aphrodite.

Unlike Aphrodite, who personified the unbridled power of nature, the goddess directed nature to serve the farmers. Under the leadership of Demeter was the life of man until death.

Ares (Mars).

Unlike Athena, this god acted through deceit, treason and cunning. He loved the bloody war and for the sake of war. Homer wrote about a warrior with a very dangerous weapon, but did not classify the weapon. Ares, like all members of the pantheon, was loved by ancient sculptors. The warrior was depicted naked, but with a helmet on his head and with a sword.