The most famous ancient hero is Hercules (Hercules), born of the mortal woman Alcmene from the supreme god Zeus. Due to his semi-divine origin, Hercules was endowed with extraordinary strength. Due to the treachery of Zeus' jealous wife Hera, Hercules was forced to serve King Eurystheus, in whose service the hero committed his famous acts. After his death, Hercules was accepted as one of the gods.
Another ancient hero with unsurpassed courage and strength is Achilles (Achilles). He was born by the sea goddess Thetis from the mortal man Peleus. To make her son invincible, Thetis immersed him in the waters of the sacred river Styx. Only the one that held little Achilles remained vulnerable to weapons. The matured Achilles took part in the Trojan War, where he defeated many enemies. The hero was killed by an arrow shot at his heel by the god Apollo, who took the side of the Trojans.
A mythological hero of a completely different kind, who asserted himself not with strength and weapons, but with intelligence and skill, is the talented inventor Daedalus, who learned from the very wisdom of Athena. To the very famous inventions Daedalus includes a labyrinth, artificial wings, Athena's folding chair and a statue of Aphrodite on Delos.
The king of Ithaca, Odysseus (Ulysses), became famous for his intelligence, cunning, resourcefulness and oratory skills. He was one of the most famous heroes of the Trojan War, which was reflected in Homer's poem "The Iliad". It was thanks to Odysseus's ingenious invention - the Trojan Horse - that the Greeks managed to gain the upper hand in a war that lasted a whole decade. The numerous adventures of Odysseus, which the hero experienced during his return to his homeland, are described in another poem by Homer, The Odyssey.
Slavic heroes
The central hero of ancient Russian myths is the hero Ilya Muromets, who embodied the ideal of a warrior. Until the age of 33, Ilya could not use his legs until the pilgrims healed him. After miraculous healing Ilya entered the service of Prince Vladimir, where he became famous for his unprecedented strength and great exploits.
The second most popular hero of the Slavic epic after Ilya Muromets is Dobrynya Nikitich, who also served in the service of Prince Vladimir. Dobrynya Nikitich is famous not only for his courage and remarkable strength, but also for his “courtesy,” that is, for his courtesy and diplomatic abilities. He often carried out sensitive personal assignments for the prince, which turned out to be beyond the capabilities of other heroes.
The third most important hero in epics is Alyosha Popovich. The hero was distinguished not by physical strength, but by resourcefulness, ingenuity and dexterity. He defeated the evil hero Tugarin Zmeevich. In general, the image of Alyosha is quite contradictory and dual, since his jokes sometimes turned out to be not only funny, but also evil. Fellow heroes often reproached Alyosha for being excessively boastful and cunning.
As mentioned earlier, myths about heroes appear during the Olympic period in the development of mythology and symbolize the victory of man over the forces of nature. Let's look at how this is reflected in myths about heroes.
You can select the following features, allowing us to classify the characters of Greek myths as heroes.
First, they are all of divine origin. Prometheus is the son of the Titan Iapetus, the cousin of Zeus, his mother is the Oceanid Clymene. Perseus is a descendant of Hercules, the son of the Argive princess Danae and Zeus. Theseus, on his mother’s side, is descended from Zeus, and his father is Poseidon himself. Orpheus is the son of the Thracian river god Eager and the muse Calliope. Hercules is the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Daedalus is the grandson of the Athenian king Erechtheus and the son of Metion.
Secondly, they are aware of their origin, in some ways they oppose themselves to the gods, while maintaining purely human traits. They perform feats inaccessible to mere mortals, or deceive the gods, which other people are not capable of. Prometheus combines the features of the archaic divine patron of the tribe, has the functions of virtue and is included in the system of kinship relations of the new gods: he does not help the Titans in the fight against Zeus, but opposes the latter with regard to the degraded position of people. That is why Prometheus steals the divine fire and gives it to people, for which the hero is severely punished by Zeus.
Perseus defeats the gorgon Medusa, saves Andromeda from the sea monster, and the people of the island of Serif free the tyrant Polydectes from the power of the tyrant, turning the latter into stone with the help of Medusa's head.
Sisyphus twice avoids death by deception: first by captivating the god of death Tanat (thanks to which people did not die for several years), and then by forbidding sacrifices on the occasion of his death and hiding, supposedly in order to remind his relatives of this duty from Hades. For committing these acts, Sisyphus was severely punished by the gods after death.
The image of Theseus is a complex mythological complex, including rudiments of the early classics (origin from Poseidon) and features of the Olympic period of mythological development (feats). Theseus defeats many monsters and robbers (Damaste, Periphetus, Crommion pig, Minotaur).
Orpheus is a singer and musician, endowed with the power of art, to whom not only people, but also gods submitted. He took part in the Argonauts' campaign, calming the waves with singing and music. He even conquered the ruler of the kingdom of the dead, Hades, his wife Persephone and the dog Kerberus with his music. For this, Hades even agreed to release Orpheus’s deceased wife Eurydice, but due to Orpheus’s violation of Hades’ ban, the singer’s wife remained in the kingdom of shadows.
Hercules defeated many monsters: the Cythaeronian and Nemean lions, the Lernaean hydra, the Stymphalian birds, obtained the belt of the Amazon queen Hippolyta and the golden apples of the Hesperides, cleared the Augean stables and even went down to Hades to bring Cerberus from there. After a painful death from poison, Hercules ascended to Olympus and was numbered among the gods.
Daedalus is the inventor of carpentry tools and craftsmanship, a most skilled architect and sculptor. He built a labyrinth for the Minotaur and suggested to Ariadne how to help Theseus get out of there with a ball of thread. Daedalus was able to rise into the sky with his son Icarus by making wings from bird feathers held together with wax. So Daedalus escaped from King Minos, although his son died in the process.
Many mythological stories express the victory of man over the chaos of nature.
Thus, Daedalus is a skilled architect and inventor, this already indicates that many things have become subject to man. He fled from Minos through the air on wings made of feathers fastened with wax, having flown with his son Icarus from Fr. Crete on the coast of Asia, then to Sicily.
Hercules fights various monsters that personified the most terrible manifestations of nature for humans. His first feat was the victory over the Nemean lion, which devastated the herds of Eurystheus and destroyed people. The second task was to kill the nine-headed hydra, which settled in a swamp near the source of Lerna and was devastating the surrounding area. The third feat was the battle with the Erymanthian boar. Eurystheus sent him to Mount Erymanthus to capture a huge boar that was devastating crops and vineyards, ordering him to deliver the animal alive. The fourth feat is the victory over the Kerynean doe. The new task was to shoot birds of prey on Lake Stymphalian. These birds were as big as a vulture, and their beaks, claws and feathers were bronze, and they knew how to shoot their feathers like arrows, killing everyone who came close to them. Hercules had to go to the island of Crete for the bull of King Minos, which was intended as a sacrifice to Poseidon. But Minos took pity on such a beautiful bull for the god and sacrificed another, worse one. Poseidon went berserk and sent the Cretan bull into a frenzy, which now rushed all over the island and destroyed everything in its path. Hercules overcame the indomitable bull and Thrace brought his horses to King Diomedu. They were distinguished by their extraordinary strength and violent disposition. They were fed human flesh and chained in stalls with iron chains. When any foreigner wandered into these regions, the king's servants grabbed him and threw him to be devoured by horses. Hercules had to go down to Hades, capture the three-headed dog Kerberus, guarding the entrance, and bring him to Mycenae
Orpheus - a Thracian singer who charmed gods and people with his wonderful singing and tamed the wild forces of nature. Orpheus took part in the campaign of the Argonauts to Colchis, and although he was not a great warrior, it happened that it was he who saved his comrades with his songs. So, when the Argo sailed past the island of the sirens, Orpheus sang even more beautifully than the sirens, and the Argonauts did not succumb to their spell.
Perseus defeated the gorgon Medusa.
Prometheus stole fire from Olympus, brought it to people in reeds and taught people how to use fire. True, he did not give his gift of foresight, so people, having received fire, began to strive for everyday work, forget sorrows and constantly hope for the best.
Not recognizing Theseus, Aegeus sent his son to certain death - to hunt the Marathon bull, which had terrified the world for many years. local residents. Theseus, however, did not die, but killed the bull.
As for Sisyphus, he completely tried to defeat death by imprisoning the god of death Tanat.
Many heroes of myths instill elements of culture among people.
For example, Prometheus gives people fire as a symbol of technological progress. And since Prometheus is also mentioned as one of the creators of people, who distributed abilities, it is he who endows mortals with reason, teaches them to build houses, ships, engage in crafts, wear clothes, count, write and read, distinguish between seasons, make sacrifices to the gods and tell fortunes. Zeus punishes Prometheus for his active participation in the cultural life of mankind, so that the hero also takes upon himself the torment of people.
Hercules brings people such a useful invention as the use of water on an almost industrial scale to clean up contaminated areas. He can rightfully be called the inventor of the first toilet.
Daedalus gives the world many useful inventions. He is the author of the world's first flying machine, the inventor of the labyrinth.
Orpheus can also be called a cultural hero. He may not distribute useful mechanical inventions, but he does help introduce people to the masterpieces of musical culture, since his music is heard not only by mortals, but also by gods.
Probably, almost every hero can be considered “cultural”, since, by performing their feats, they all helped people cope with difficulties and find a way out of any difficult situation, not be afraid of difficulties and successfully resist enemies, that is, their most important cultural purpose is to instill hope in those who later glorified them.
In myths about heroes, the latter often fight evil not with brutal force. physical strength, but with the help of the mind.
For example, Prometheus steals fire from the gods by deception in order to give it to people.
Hercules, knowing that the Nemean lion is invulnerable to arrows, strangles him. To kill the Lernaean hydra, in which new heads grew in place of the severed heads, he came up with the idea of cauterizing the wounds with fire. Hercules caught the Erymanthian boar and drove it into the snow. Hercules first frightened the Stymphalian birds with rattles made by Hephaestus, after which he easily killed them. Hercules learned the way to the Hesperides by capturing the omniscient sea god Nereus during his sleep. Finally, he figured out how to clean the Augean stables using a powerful stream of water.
Perseus learned how to get to the nymphs, who had winged sandals and an invisible cap, from Gray. The hero stole the only eye and tooth from them, and in exchange the Grays were forced to show him the way. He defeated the Gorgon, which he could not look at without being turned into stone, by looking at her reflection in a shiny shield, and the sea monster and the tyrant Polydectes - by turning them into stones using the head of Medusa.
Sisyphus escaped death twice, first by deception by imprisoning the god of death Tanat in a dungeon, and then by ordering his loved ones not to make sacrifices to the gods regarding his death. Hades was forced to release Sisyphus from the kingdom of the dead, where he never returned voluntarily.
Daedalus was able to hide from Minos by making wings from bird feathers held together with wax.
Theseus deceived Procrustes, forcing the latter to lie down on the bed that the cruel robber had prepared for the murder of his victims. The hero got out of the labyrinth after defeating the Minotaur thanks to cunning - he used the thread of the ball that Ariadne gave him.
Orpheus conquered Cerberus and Hades with the help of his wonderful musical gift and even received permission from the ruler of the kingdom of the dead to take his dead wife Eurydice - the hero almost succeeded.
Conventionally, the types of heroes found in myths can be divided into two categories: those who, thanks to their supernatural abilities, benefit people, sometimes sacrificing themselves, and those who care exclusively about personal interests. The latter, as a rule, are severely punished by the gods; the former, even those who go against the will of higher powers, are eventually forgiven.
The first include the following heroes.
Prometheus steals fire for people, teaches them crafts and a civilized way of life. For this he is chained to a rock and subjected to terrible torture: his liver is pecked by an eagle. But in the end, Zeus forgives the rebellious one.
Perseus saves the world from the Gorgon Medusa, saves Andromeda from the monster, for which the gods assist him and ultimately reward him.
Hercules performs feats, most often killing monsters that harm people (the Nemean lion, hydra, birds and others), for which, after a painful death from poison, he is elevated to the ranks of the gods.
Theseus, on the way to his father, saves his fellow citizens from a number of cruel robbers, then kills the monster Minotaur in the labyrinth (created by Daedalus).
Orpheus gives people aesthetic pleasure with his singing and playing musical instruments, for which he is even awarded the opportunity to save his wife Eurydice. The attempt fails, but after death the husband and wife are reunited.
The second category of heroes includes Sisyphus and Daedalus. The first deceives the gods twice to avoid death and even captures the death god Thanat. For this, after death, he is forced to endlessly roll a boulder up the mountain, which each time rolls down from the top. Daedalus uses his talent for personal enrichment and to escape with his son from the tyrant, but the gods punish him with the death of his only son, Icarus. However, even this grief does not force Daedalus to serve people. Even after this tragedy, he uses his abilities only in his own interests (in particular, he builds a labyrinth for the Minotaur).
In addition to heroes, there are other characters in Greek myths. As we have just shown with examples, first of all these are gods - either sympathizing with the heroes and helping them (Hephaestus begs Zeus to forgive Prometheus, Perseus and Theseus are helped by Aphrodite, Hercules is under the protection of his father Zeus, Orpheus is assisted by Hades), then hindering them and punishing (Prometheus is personally punished by Zeus, Hercules is hindered by Hera out of jealousy for his mother, Sisyphus is punished by all the gods offended by him). In addition to the gods, other people interact with the heroes, sometimes also possessing special qualities (for example, the sorceress Medea, one of the wives of Hercules, who took severe revenge on him for his betrayal). And of course, we're talking about about the characters with whom the heroes fight and whom they defeat - the monsters discussed above.
A typical portrait of a Greek hero appears to us as follows. This is, as a rule, a young person (with the exception of Prometheus and Daedalus, all the listed heroes performed their exploits from their youth), physically developed (this quality is indispensable for fighting monsters). The latter is evidenced by the following moments: Prometheus managed to steal fire from the gods themselves. Perseus was able to cope with Medusa the Gorgon. After his death, Sisyphus is forced to constantly push a huge stone up the mountain - weak person They would have come up with a different punishment. Hercules defeats entire hordes of dangerous monsters like the Lernaean Hydra or the Nemean Lion.
A hero is a man or a demigod (usually the son of a god, sometimes he receives immortality as a reward for his exploits or, like Hercules, is even counted among the host of gods).
All heroes have extraordinary mental abilities or some exceptional talent in a certain area. For example, Perseus uses a shield as a mirror so that when he looks at the Gorgon Medusa he does not turn into stone. Sisyphus deceives the god of death, Tanat, and even deprives him of his freedom. Daedalus is an outstanding inventor, and Orpheus is a wonderful musician.
Heroes often oppose themselves to the gods, enter into opposition with the latter, and often win. Theseus, in particular, descended even to kingdom of the dead to marry his friend Persephone, the wife of Hades. Orpheus also visited Hades to save his beloved Eurydice, but did not challenge the gods so openly, but conquered Hades and other inhabitants of the kingdom of the dead with his singing. Particularly noteworthy is the feat of Prometheus, who decided to sacrifice himself for the sake of people and stole the sacred fire from the gods. The act of Sisyphus, who managed to escape from Hades, is also a manifestation of the heroes’ opposition to the gods.
However, Fate plays an important role in Greek myths.
Thus, the fate of Prometheus, after he stole fire from the gods for people, was changed by Zeus. From now on, the hero is chained to a rock for many centuries, his liver is pecked by an iron eagle, and even the supreme god himself cannot change this situation until the moment indicated by the gods, when Prometheus’ deliverance from torment should come.
Perseus, regardless of his own will, accidentally kills his grandfather Acrisius with a disk during a competition. Acrisius knew that he would die at the hands of his grandson, and tried to prevent this. First, he locked his daughter Danae in a copper tower so that she could not meet a man and give birth to the future murderer of her father, and then, when Zeus entered the tower in the form of a golden shower and still took possession of the girl, he threw his newborn grandson and daughter in a box into the sea, hoping to avoid an evil fate. This did not help Acrisius.
The myth of Sisyphus shows that trying to escape fate can be severely punished. The cunning man unsuccessfully tried to cheat death by imprisoning the god of death Tanat himself. This did not help Sisyphus. Death still overtook him, and in the kingdom of Hades he is forced to endlessly roll a heavy stone up the mountain, which at the top of the mountain constantly rolls down. The punishment will end only when the stone remains at the peak of the mountain.
Hercules, by the will of fate predicted by Zeus, and by the will of Hera, who hated the son of her powerful husband, was born later than his father expected, and became not a king, but a servant of the cowardly king of Mycenae Eurystheus. However, having completed the famous twelve labors, he received deliverance from humiliating service and the opportunity after death to enter the host of the Olympian gods.
Daedalus also did not escape punishment for murder. The master was jealous of his student and nephew Talos for surpassing his teacher in the art of creating architectural masterpieces. Daedalus lured Talos to the top of the mountain and threw him down. After this Daedalus was forced long years to hide with King Minos, but retribution overtook him. Daedalus' son Icarus, when he and his father decided to flee from Minos, made wings from feathers fastened with wax, flew too high towards the sun, the wax melted, and the young man fell into the sea and drowned.
Theseus was born after the Delphic oracle gave his earthly father Aegeus a prediction that his descendants would rule Athens. In reality, Theseus' father was Poseidon. Fate manifests itself not only throughout the hero’s life, but also at the moment of his death. One of Theseus's exploits was the victory over the evil son of Poseidon, Sciron, whom the hero threw from a cliff. But in the same way, the hero himself dies at the hands of King Skyros Lycomedes.
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is also a manifestation of the ancient Greeks’ confidence in the inevitability of fate. Despite the fact that Orpheus managed to persuade Hades himself to release his wife from the kingdom of the dead, he failed in this task. He could not overcome the desire to look back and see if Eurydice was following him. After this, the hero lost his wife forever and soon died himself in order to finally be reunited with her.
It is interesting that many heroes try to defeat death.
Greek mythology understands human existence after death as follows. The god of death Tanat flies after the man and accompanies his soul to Hades - the kingdom of the dead. At the entrance to Hades flows the sacred river Styx. The soul of the newcomer is transported on a boat to Hades by Charon. Those who find themselves in the kingdom of the dead will not be able to get back: Hades is surrounded by the river of oblivion Lethe, and the way back is blocked by the three-headed dog Kerberos. They are afraid of death because it is inevitable, but they try in every possible way to defeat it.
It is with the latter situation that stories about heroes who have visited the kingdom of the dead are connected.
The most indicative is the myth of Sisyphus, who subjugated Thanat by deception, thanks to which people stopped dying altogether. Then Sisyphus ordered his loved ones not to make the necessary sacrifices to the underground gods, and when the gods released him from Hades so that Sisyphus would resolve this issue, the hero once again deceived them. True, Sisyphus paid for his insolence with eternal punishment.
No less famous is the myth of Orpheus, whose miraculous singing forced Hades and other inhabitants of the kingdom of the dead to release Eurydice to earth. True, Hades set a condition that the hero did not fulfill, and therefore could not save his beloved, but the plot of the myth shows: you can come to an agreement with the gods!
Hercules, who tried to kidnap Persephone for his friend, also returns unharmed from Hades, but the demigod also suffers punishment for his insolence.
So, according to the ancient Greeks, “fair” methods of dealing with underground gods could bring some fruit, but obviously “illegal” methods would only incur the wrath of Providence.
Elements of fetishism, totemism, animism and magic are often found in myths about heroes.
Fetishism is the cult of inanimate objects. For example, Hercules, performing his exploits, usually takes something belonging to his enemies (the skin of the Nemean lion, the poisonous bile of the Lernaean hydra) to confirm these facts. Having killed the Gorgon Medusa, Perseus also takes her deadly head. These are manifestations of fetishism.
Totemism is a complex of beliefs and rituals associated with the idea of kinship between groups of people and totems - species of animals and plants. In the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, totemism, in our opinion, is in the use of bird feathers in the manufacture of an aircraft. In the myth of Theseus, his first teacher and adoptive father is the centaur Chiron. The Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man, whom Theseus defeated, is also a manifestation of totemism, because The father of the Minotaur was a man. Hercules also meets with centaurs. Medusa the Gorgon, defeated by Perseus, and her sisters carry features of totemism in their appearance and lifestyle.
Animism is the belief in the existence of souls and spirits. It is present in all myths about heroes, but is most pronounced in the myths of Orpheus and Sisyphus. The first descends to Hades for the soul of Eurydice, the second manages to escape from the kingdom of the dead by deceiving its inhabitants.
Magic - rituals associated with a person’s ability to influence others through witchcraft. It also appears in almost all myths. For example, it is actively used by one of the wives of Hercules, the sorceress Medea. Theseus uses winged sandals.
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I’ll start, perhaps, by answering the question who are they? heroes of ancient myths. If you don’t pick up dictionaries and encyclopedias and try to answer this question without using special terminology, it will sound like this: Heroes of ancient myths- These are supermen, a kind of superman. Such people are also called demigods. This is exactly what Hesiod first called them. The fact is that heroes of ancient myths were born in marriages between mere mortals and. For example, the famous Hercules was the son of the God Zeus and a simple woman Alcmene. Heroes were not born by chance. Each of them had its own purpose. The gods planned the birth heroes in order to cleanse the Earth of monsters generated by Gaia. Each of heroes of antiquity had his own special gift, character, certain advantages over others and the support of a congenial person. For example, Thetis tempered the hero Ashilles with fire.
Lernaean Hydra
What's the difference heroes from mere mortals and from the Gods? Heroes of ancient myths possessed super strength that cannot be ordinary person. However, they cannot be called gods, since the latter were immortal. Heroes of ancient myths became immortal posthumously in the form of fame among people, the memory of their once accomplished exploits, in the form of monuments and legends. In other words, the heroes were mortals. And this is their main difference from the gods.
It should be noted that some gods tried to bestow immortality on heroes, but these attempts were doomed to failure. Perhaps only with Hercules there was an exception. After his death, he was allowed to ascend to Olympus.
Heroes of ancient myths were much more mobile. Often the heroes simply traveled around the world. Encountering unrest along the way, the heroes punished the guilty, helped people cope with tasks that were beyond their strength (for example, they moved a heavy stone that had fallen and changed the course of the river), and generally protected people in every possible way from all sorts of troubles. The gods, apparently, were too lazy to descend from Olympus for such trifles.
Hercules and the Nemean Lion
Sometimes heroes turned to the gods with requests from people. Thereby heroes of antiquity looked like some kind of intermediaries between the higher and lower beings of the Earth.
I will talk briefly only about the most famous heroes. So that if interest arises, you can easily navigate and imagine what exactly to look for.
Let me remind you that the tasks heroes of ancient myths included the cleansing of the world from monsters born by the Earth goddess Gaia. So, the hero Perseus killed Medusa. Bellerophon - fire-breathing Chimera. Theseus dealt with the Minotaur. Hercules, also known as Hercules, became famous for his exploits in battles not with one monster, but with many. Thus, he defeated the Eurymanthian boar, the Stymphalian birds, the dangerous Hydra, the Nemean lion, etc. King Oedipus, famous for his intelligence, was able to defeat the Sphinx by solving difficult riddle the last one. And the hero Jason, whose name he later used in his fantastic works Harry Harrison set off on a fearless voyage on the ship Argo to Colchis for the Golden Fleece. Having overcome a lot of obstacles and dangers, Jason returned the lost treasure to Greece.
The exploits of everyone hero of antiquity described in myths. Some of them represent entire cycles. It's always interesting to read them. From myths were born many sayings and phrases that we still use in our speech. For example, the phrase "Achilles' heel" means the only vulnerable spot. The fact is that the invulnerable hero Achilles had only one vulnerable spot - his heel. There are many versions about this. But one way or another, we use this phrase without even thinking about where it came from. The same phrases include “The Look of Medusa”, “Embrace of Morpheus”, “Augean Stables”, “Prophetic Cassandra”, “Pillars of Hercules”, etc. 
Talking about heroes of antiquity, it is worth saying a few words about late mythology. The fact is that here you can observe the rivalry of some heroes with the gods, which, of course, is insolence. For example, King Tantalus steals food and drink, or more precisely, ambrosia and nectar, intended for the gods. And the cunning Sisyphus manages to fool the god Hades himself. Such insolence caused righteous anger among the Olympians. The gods decided to punish the impudent heroes in the form of a curse on their family. This is how myths and legends about cursed births were born. An example is the cycle about King Oedipus and his sons. Or myths telling the story of the cursed Atrid family.
The article could be continued by listing the heroes of ancient myths and who is whose son. But the Internet is full of such lists. Therefore, I decided to make just a short excursion. Since this problem has been solved, then, as they say, let me take my leave!
I wish you a fascinating reading of the myths and legends of antiquity!
The deceased heroes of primitive times, the ancestors of tribes, the founders of cities and colonies enjoyed divine honors among the Greeks. They make up a separate world Greek mythology, however, is closely connected with the world of the gods from whom they originate. Every tribe, every region, every city, even every clan has its own hero, in whose honor holidays and sacrifices are established. The most widespread and rich in legends heroic cult among the Greeks was the cult of Alcides Hercules (Hercules). He is a symbol of the highest human heroism, who tirelessly defeats obstacles everywhere opposed to him by testing fate, fights against the unclean forces and horrors of nature and, freed from human weaknesses, becomes like the gods. In Greek mythology, Hercules is the representative of humanity, which, with the help of its semi-divine origin, can ascend to Olympus, despite all the unfavorability of hostile forces towards it.
Hercules kills the Nemean lion. Copy from the statue of Lysippos
Originally appearing in Boeotia and Argos, the myth of Hercules was subsequently mixed with many foreign legends, because the Greeks merged with their Hercules all similar deities with which they became acquainted in their relations with the Phoenicians (Melkart), Egyptians and Celto-Germanic tribes. He is the son of Zeus and the Theban woman Alcmene and the ancestor of the royal families of Dorian, Thessalian and Macedonian. Condemned by the envy of the goddess Hera to serve the king of Argos Eurystheus, Hercules in myths performs twelve labors on his behalf: frees the Peloponnese and other regions from monsters and predatory animals, cleanses the stables of King Augeas in Elis, extracts golden apples from the gardens of the Hesperides (in northern Africa) with the help of The titan Atlas, for whom he holds the firmament for some time, crosses the so-called Pillars of Hercules to Spain, there he takes away the bulls from King Geryon, and then returns through Gaul, Italy and Sicily. From Asia he brings the belt of the Amazonian queen Hippolyta, in Egypt he kills the cruel king Busiris and brings the chained Cerberus out of the underworld. But he, too, falls into weakness for a time and performs female service for the Lydian queen Omphale; soon, however, he returns to his former courage, undertakes some more feats and finally takes his own life in the flames on Mount Ete, when the poisoned clothes sent to him by his wife Dejanira, who did not suspect the trouble, led the hero to inevitable death. Upon death, he was ascended to Olympus and married Hebe, the goddess of youth.
In all the countries and on all the shores where the active maritime trade brought the Greeks, they found traces of their national hero, who preceded them, paving the way, whose labors and dangers, defeated by his heroism and perseverance, were a reflection of their own folk life. Greek mythology took its beloved hero from the extreme west, where the Atlas Range, the Gardens of the Hesperides and the Pillars of Hercules testified to his existence to Egypt and the shores of the Black Sea. The soldiers of Alexander the Great found it even in India.
In the Peloponnese a myth arose about the cursed family of the Lydians or Phrygians Tantalus, whose son is a hero Pelops through deception and cunning, he took possession of the daughter and the region of the Elidian king Oenomaus. His sons Atreus and Thyestes(Tiestes) allow themselves incest, infanticide and pass on to their descendants more greater degree curses. The mythological hero Orestes, son of Agamemnon, friend of Pylades, murderer of his mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, by the return of his sister Iphigenia from Tauris, where she was a priestess of the barbarian worship of Artemis, is freed from the Erinnyes and atones for the sins of the entire Tantalus family.
In Lacedaemon, myths were told about the Tyndarid heroes - twins Kastore and Polidevka(Pollux), brothers of Helen, who merged with the Dioscuri, shining stars, patrons of sailors and sailors: they thought that their ascension would calm the storm.
The tribal hero of Thebes was the Phoenician Cadmus, who was looking for his sister Europe, kidnapped by Zeus, and taken by a cow to Boeotia. From him came King Laius, who, frightened by one saying of the oracle, ordered his son from Jocasta, Oedipus, to be thrown into a mountain gorge. But the son, according to Greek mythology, was saved, raised in Corinth, and subsequently killed his father, out of ignorance; He, having solved one riddle, freed the Theban region from the harmful monster of the Sphinx, and as a reward for this he received the widowed queen, his own mother, in marriage. Then, when grave disasters befell the country, and one elderly priest discovered terrible secret, Jocasta took her own life, and Oedipus left his fatherland as a blind old man and ended his life in the town of Colone, in Attica; his sons Eteocles and Polynices, cursed by their father, killed each other during the Campaign of the Seven against Thebes. His daughter Antigone was doomed to death by the Theban king Creon because, contrary to his command, she buried the corpse of her brother.
Antigone leads blind Oedipus out of Thebes. Painting by Jalabert, 1842
Hero Brothers – singer Amphion, husband of Niobe, and brave, armed with a club Zet, also belong to Thebes. To avenge their mother, insulted by the nymph Dirka, they claimed the latter to the tail of the bull and tortured her to death (Farnese bull). In Boeotia and Attica, the legend of Tereus, the primitive king of the Thracians rich in myths who lived around Lake Copaides, and his sister and sister-in-law, was established. Procne and Philomele, which, after the murder of Tereus’s son, were turned - one into a swallow, the other into a nightingale.
Greek myths about heroes inhabited Thessaly, rich in horses. Centaurs(bull fighters) with a horse's body and legs, who fought with the Lapiths, more than once depicted in Hellenic sculpture. The fairest of the wild centaurs was the herbalist Chiron, the mentor of Asclepius and Achilles.
In Athens, the folk mythological hero was Theseus. He was considered the founder of the city, for he united the scattered inhabitants into one community. He was the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, born and raised in Troezen by Pittheus. Having taken out his father's sword and sandals from under a huge block of stone and thereby proving his extraordinary strength, this hero, on his way back to his homeland, clears the isthmus from wild robbers (Procrustes and others) and frees the Athenians from the heavy tribute of seven boys and seven girls, which they were to send every nine years to the Cretan Minotaur. Theseus kills this monster, which had a bull's head on a human body, and with the help of a thread given to him by the king's daughter Ariadna, finds a way out of the Labyrinth. (The latest research rightly recognizes in the Greek myth of the Minotaur an allusion to the worship of Moloch, native to the island of Crete and associated with human sacrifices). Aegeus, believing that his son had died, because when returning he forgot to replace the black sail of the ship with a white one, in despair he threw himself into the sea, which received from him the name Aegean.
Theseus kills the Minotaur. Drawing on an ancient Greek vase
Theseus's name is closely associated with the worship of the god Poseidon, in whose honor he established the Isthmian games. Poseidon gives a tragic ending love story Theseus's second wife ( Phaedra) with his son Hippolytus. The legend of Theseus has many similarities with the legend of Hercules. Like Hercules, the hero Theseus too
The myths of ancient Greece about heroes took shape long before the advent of written history. These are the legends about ancient life Greeks, and reliable information is intertwined in tales about heroes with fiction. Memories of people who accomplished civil feats, being commanders or rulers of the people, stories about their exploits force the ancient Greek people to look at these ancestors as people chosen by the gods and even related to the gods. In the imagination of the people, such people turn out to be the children of gods who married mortals.
Many noble greek families traced their family back to divine ancestors, who were called heroes by the ancients. Ancient Greek heroes and their descendants were considered intermediaries between the people and their gods (originally “hero” was a deceased person who could help or harm the living).
In the pre-literary period of Ancient Greece, stories about the exploits, suffering, and wanderings of heroes constituted the oral tradition of the history of the people.
In accordance with their divine origin, the heroes of the myths of Ancient Greece had strength, courage, beauty, and wisdom. But unlike the gods, the heroes were mortal, with the exception of a few who rose to the level of deities (Hercules, Castor, Polydeuces, etc.).
In ancient Greek times, it was believed that the afterlife of heroes was no different from afterlife mere mortals. Only a few favorites of the gods move to the islands of the blessed. Later, Greek myths began to say that all the heroes enjoy the benefits of the “golden age” under the auspices of Kronos and that their spirit is invisibly present on earth, protecting people and averting disasters from them. These ideas gave rise to the cult of heroes. Altars and even temples of heroes appeared; Their tombs became the object of cult.
Among the heroes of the myths of Ancient Greece there are the names of the gods of the Cretan-Mycenaean era, supplanted by the Olympic religion (Agamemnon, Helen, etc.).
Legends and myths of Ancient Greece. Cartoon
The history of heroes, that is, the mythical history of Ancient Greece, can begin with the creation of people. Their ancestor was the son of Iapetus, the titan Prometheus, who made people from clay. These first people were rude and wild, they did not have fire, without which crafts are impossible and food cannot be cooked. God Zeus did not want to give people fire, because he foresaw what arrogance and wickedness their enlightenment and dominion over nature would lead to. Prometheus, loving his creatures, did not want to leave them completely dependent on the gods. Having stolen a spark from the lightning of Zeus, Prometheus, according to the myths of Ancient Greece, transferred fire to people and for this he was chained by order of Zeus to the Caucasian rock, where he stayed for several centuries, and every day an eagle pecked out his liver, which grew anew at night. The hero Hercules, with the consent of Zeus, killed the eagle and freed Prometheus. Although the Greeks revered Prometheus as the creator of people and their helper, Hesiod, who first brought to us the myth of Prometheus, justifies Zeus's actions because he is confident of the gradual moral degradation of people.
Prometheus. Painting by G. Moreau, 1868
Outlining the mythical tradition of Ancient Greece, Hesiod says that over time people became more and more arrogant, they revered the gods less and less. Then Zeus decided to send them tests that would force them to remember the gods. By order of Zeus, the god Hephaestus created a female statue of extraordinary beauty from clay and brought it to life. Each of the gods gave this woman some gift that increased her attractiveness. Aphrodite endowed her with charm, Athena with handicraft skills, Hermes with cunning and insinuating speech. Pandora(“gifted by all”) the gods called the woman and sent her to earth to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. No matter how Prometheus warned his brother, Epimetheus, seduced by the beauty of Pandora, married her. Pandora brought a large closed vessel, given to her by the gods, to Epimetheus's house as a dowry, but she was forbidden to look into it. One day, tormented by curiosity, Pandora opened the vessel, and from there flew out all the diseases and disasters that humanity suffers. Frightened Pandora slammed the lid of the vessel: only hope remained in it, which could serve as a consolation for people in disasters.
Deucalion and Pyrrha
As time passed, humanity learned to overcome the hostile forces of nature, but at the same time, according to Greek myths, it increasingly turned away from the gods, becoming more and more arrogant and wicked. Then Zeus sent a flood to the earth, after which only the son of Prometheus Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus, survived.
The mythical ancestor of the Greek tribes was the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, the hero Hellene, who is sometimes called the son of Zeus (after his name the ancient Greeks called themselves Hellenes and their country Hellas). His sons Aeolus and Dor became the progenitors of the Greek tribes - the Aeolians (who inhabited the island of Lesbos and the adjacent coast of Asia Minor) and the Dorians (the islands of Crete, Rhodes and the southeastern part of the Peloponnese). The grandchildren of Hellenus (from his third son, Xuthus) Ion and Achaeus became the ancestors of the Ionians and Achaeans, who inhabited the eastern part of mainland Greece, Attica, the central part of the Peloponnese, the southwestern part of the coast of Asia Minor and part of the islands of the Aegean Sea.
In addition to the pan-Greek myths about heroes, there were local ones that developed in such regions and cities of Greece as Argolis, Corinth, Boeotia, Crete, Elis, Attica, etc.
Myths about the heroes of the Argolid - Io and Danaids
Forefather mythical heroes Argolids (a country located on the Peloponnese peninsula) was the river god Inachus, the father of Io, the beloved of Zeus, who was mentioned above in the story of Hermes. After Hermes freed her from Argus, Io wandered throughout Greece, fleeing from the gadfly sent by the goddess Hero, and only in Egypt (in the Hellenistic era, Io was identified with the Egyptian goddess Isis) again acquired human form and gave birth to a son, Epaphus, to whose descendants they belong brothers Egypt and Danai, who owned the African lands of Egypt and Libya, located to the west of Egypt.
But Danaus left his possessions and returned to Argolis with his 50 daughters, whom he wanted to save from the marriage claims of the 50 sons of his brother Egypt. Danaus became king of Argolis. When the sons of Egypt, having arrived in his country, forced him to give them Danaid as a wife, Danai handed his daughters a knife each, ordering them to kill their husbands on their wedding night, which they did. Only one of the Danaids, Hypermnestra, who fell in love with her husband Lynceus, disobeyed her father. All Danaids They married a second time, and from these marriages came generations of many heroic families.
Heroes of Ancient Greece - Perseus
As for Lynceus and Hypermnestra, the offspring of heroes descended from them were especially famous in the myths of Ancient Greece. Their grandson, Acrisius, was predicted that his daughter Danae would give birth to a son who would destroy his grandfather, Acrisius. Therefore, the father locked Danae in an underground grotto, but Zeus, who fell in love with her, entered the dungeon in the form of golden rain, and Danae gave birth to a son, the hero Perseus.
Having learned about the birth of his grandson, Acrisius, according to myth, ordered Danae and Perseus to be placed in a wooden box and thrown into the sea. However, Danae and her son managed to escape. The waves drove the box to the island of Serifu. At that time, the fisherman Dictys was fishing on the shore. The box got tangled in his nets. Dictys pulled him ashore, opened it and took the woman and boy to his brother, the king of Serif, Polydectes. Perseus grew up at the king's court and became a strong and slender young man. This hero ancient greek myths became famous for his many exploits: he beheaded Medusa, one of the Gorgons, who turned everyone who looked at them into stone. Perseus freed Andromeda, daughter of Kepheus and Cassiopeia, chained to a cliff to be torn to pieces by a sea monster, and made her his wife.
Perseus saves Andromeda from a sea monster. Ancient Greek amphora
Broken by the disasters that befell his family, the hero Cadmus, together with Harmony, left Thebes and moved to Illyria. In old age, both of them were turned into dragons, but after death Zeus settled them in Champs Elysees.
Zetus and Amphion
Gemini Heroes Zetus and Amphion were, according to the myths of Ancient Greece, born Antiope, daughter of one of the subsequent Theban kings, beloved of Zeus. They were raised as shepherds and knew nothing about their origins. Antiope, fleeing from her father’s wrath, fled to Sicyon. Only after the death of her father did Antiope finally return to her homeland to her brother Lycus, who became the Theban king. But jealous wife Lika Dirk turned her into her slave and treated her so cruelly that Antiope again fled from home to Mount Cithaeron, where her sons lived. Zetus and Amphion took her in, not knowing that Antiope was their mother. She also did not recognize her sons.
At the festival of Dionysus, Antiope and Dirka met again, and Dirka decided to put Antiope to a terrible execution as her runaway slave. She ordered Zetus and Amphion to tie Antiope to the horns of a wild bull so that he would tear her to pieces. But, having learned from the old shepherd that Aitiope was their mother, and having heard about the bullying she suffered from the queen, the hero twins did to Dirka what she wanted to do to Antiope. After Dirk's death, she turned into a source named after her.
Laius, the son of Labdacus (grandson of Cadmus), having married Jocasta, received, according to ancient Greek myths, a terrible prophecy: his son was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. In an effort to save himself from such a terrible fate, Lai ordered a slave to take the born boy to the wooded slope of Kietharon and leave him there to be devoured by wild animals. But the slave took pity on the baby and gave him to a Corinthian shepherd, who took him to the childless king of Corinth, Polybus, where the boy, named Oedipus, grew up believing himself to be the son of Polybus and Merope. Having become a young man, he learned from the oracle about the terrible fate destined for him and, not wanting to commit a double crime, he left Corinth and went to Thebes. On the way, the hero Oedipus met Laius, but did not recognize his father in him. Having quarreled with his entourage, he killed everyone. Lai was among those killed. Thus, the first part of the prophecy came true.
Approaching Thebes, the myth of Oedipus continues, the hero met the monster Sphinx (half woman and half lion), who asked a riddle to everyone passing by. A person who failed to solve the riddle of the Sphinx died immediately. Oedipus solved the riddle, and the Sphinx himself threw himself into the abyss. The Theban citizens, grateful to Oedipus for getting rid of the Sphinx, married him to the widow Queen Jocasta, and thus the second part of the oracle was fulfilled: Oedipus became the king of Thebes and the husband of his mother.
How Oedipus found out about what happened and what followed is described in Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King.”
Myths about the heroes of Crete
In Crete, from the union of Zeus with Europe, the hero Minos was born, famous for his wise legislation and justice, for which after his death he became, along with Aeacus and Rhadamanthus (his brother), one of the judges in the kingdom of Hades.
The hero-king Minos was, according to the myths of Ancient Greece, married to Pasiphae, who, along with other children (including Phaedra and Ariadne), gave birth, having fallen in love with a bull, to the terrible monster Minotaur (Minos's bull), who devoured people. To separate the Minotaur from the people, Minos ordered the Athenian architect Daedalus to build a Labyrinth - a building in which there would be such intricate passages that neither the Minotaur nor anyone else who got into it could get out. The labyrinth was built, and the Minotaur was placed in this building along with the architect - the hero Daedalus and his son Icarus. Daedalus was punished for helping the Minotaur slayer, Theseus, escape from Crete. But Daedalus made wings for himself and his son from feathers fastened with wax, and both flew away from the Labyrinth. On the way to Sicily, Icarus died: despite his father’s warnings, he flew too close to the sun. The wax that held Icarus's wings together melted and the boy fell into the sea.
The Myth of Pelops
In the myths of the ancient Greek region Elis(on the Peloponnese peninsula) the hero, the son of Tantalus, was revered. Tantalum brought upon himself the punishment of the gods with a terrible crime. He decided to test the omniscience of the gods and prepared a terrible meal for them. According to myths, Tantalus killed his son Pelops and his meat under the guise of gourmet dish served to the gods during the feast. The gods immediately comprehended Tantalus's evil intent, and no one touched the terrible dish. The gods revived the boy. He appeared before the gods even more beautiful than before. And the gods cast Tantalus into the kingdom of Hades, where he suffers terrible torment. When the hero Pelops became king of Elis, southern Greece was named Peloponnese in his honor. According to the myths of Ancient Greece, Pelops married Hippodamia, the daughter of a local king Oenomaia, defeating her father in a chariot race with the help of Myrtilus, the charioteer of Oenomaus, who had not secured the pin on his master's chariot. During the competition, the chariot broke down and Oenomaus died. In order not to give Myrtila the promised half of the kingdom, Pelops threw him off a cliff into the sea.
Pelops takes Hippodamia away
Atreus and Atrides
Before his death, Myrtil cursed the house of Pelops. This curse brought many troubles to the family of Tantalus, and especially to the sons of Pelops, Atreyu And Fiesta. Atreus became the founder of a new dynasty of kings in Argos and Mycenae. His sons Agamemnon And Menelaus(“Atrides”, i.e. children of Atreus) became heroes of the Trojan War. Thyestes was expelled from Mycenae by his brother because he seduced his wife. To take revenge on Atreus, Thyestes tricked him into killing his own son, Pleisthenes. But Atreus surpassed Thyestes in villainy. Pretending that he did not remember the evil, Atreus invited his brother along with his three sons, killed the boys and treated Thyestes to their meat. After Thyestes had had his fill, Atreus showed him the heads of the children. Thyestes fled in horror from his brother's house; later son Thyestes Aegisthus during the sacrifice, avenging his brothers, he killed his uncle.
After the death of Atreus, his son Agamemnon became king of Argive. Menelaus, having married Helen, took possession of Sparta.
Myths about the labors of Hercules
Hercules (in Rome - Hercules) is one of the most beloved heroes in the myths of Ancient Greece.
The parents of the hero Hercules were Zeus and Alcmene, the wife of King Amphitryon. Amphitryon is the grandson of Perseus and the son of Alcaeus, which is why Hercules is called Alcides.
According to ancient Greek myths, Zeus, foreseeing the birth of Hercules, swore that whoever was born on the day appointed by him would rule the surrounding nations. Having learned about this and about the connection between Zeus and Alcmene, Zeus's wife Hera delayed the birth of Alcmene and accelerated the birth of Eurystheus, the son of Sthenel. Then Zeus decided to give his son immortality. At his command, Hermes brought the baby Hercules to Hera without telling her who it was. Admired by the beauty of the child, Hera brought him to her breast, but, having learned who she was feeding, the goddess tore him from her breast and threw him aside. The milk that splashed from her breast formed a Milky Way, and the future hero gained immortality: a few drops of the divine drink were enough for this.
The myths of ancient Greece about heroes tell that Hera pursued Hercules all his life, starting from infancy. When he and his brother Iphicles, the son of Amphitryon, lay in the cradle, Hera sent two snakes at him: Iphicles began to cry, and Hercules, smiling, grabbed them by the necks and squeezed them with such force that he strangled them.
Amphitryon, knowing that he was raising the son of Zeus, invited mentors to Hercules so that they could teach him military affairs and noble arts. The ardor with which the hero Hercules devoted himself to his studies led to the fact that he killed his teacher with a blow from the cithara. Out of fear that Hercules would do something similar again, Amphitryon sent him to Kiferon to graze the flock. There Hercules killed the lion of Cithaeron, which was destroying the herds of King Thespius. Lion skin main character from ancient Greek myths was worn since then as clothing, and his head was used as a helmet.
Having learned from the oracle of Apollo that he was destined to serve Eurystheus for twelve years, Hercules came to Tiryns, which Eurystheus ruled, and, following his orders, performed 12 labors.
After death, when Hera reconciled with him, Hercules in ancient Greek myths joined the host of gods, becoming the husband of the eternally young Hebe.
The main character of myths, Hercules was revered everywhere in Ancient Greece, but most of all in Argos and Thebes.
Theseus and Athens
According to ancient Greek myth, Jason and Medea were expelled from Iolcus for this crime and lived in Corinth for ten years. But when the king of Corinth agreed to marry his daughter Glaucus to Jason (according to another version of the myth, Creus), Jason left Medea and entered into a new marriage.
After the events described in the tragedies of Euripides and Seneca, Medea lived for some time in Athens, then she returned to her homeland, where she returned power to her father, killing his brother, the usurper Persian. Jason once passed through the Isthmus past the place where the ship Argo, dedicated to the god of the sea Poseidon, stood. Tired, he lay down in the shade of the Argo under its stern to rest and fell asleep. While Jason was sleeping, the stern of the Argo, which had fallen into disrepair, collapsed and buried the hero Jason under its rubble.
March of the Seven against Thebes
Towards the end of the heroic period, the myths of Ancient Greece coincided with two greatest cycles of myths: Theban and Trojan. Both legends are based on historical facts, colored with mythical fiction.
The first amazing events in the house of the Theban kings have already been described - this is the mythical story of Cadmus and his daughters and tragic story King Oedipus. After Oedipus's voluntary exile, his sons Eteocles and Polyneices remained in Thebes, where Creon, Jocasta's brother, ruled until they came of age. Having become adults, the brothers decided to reign alternately, one year at a time. Eteocles was the first to ascend the throne, but at the end of his term he did not transfer power to Polyneices.
According to myths, the offended hero Polyneices, who by that time had become the son-in-law of the Sicyon king Adrastus, gathered a large army in order to go to war against his brother. Adrastus himself agreed to take part in the campaign. Together with Tydeus, heir to the Argive throne, Polyneices traveled throughout Greece, inviting heroes into his army who wanted to participate in the campaign against Thebes. In addition to Adrastus and Tydeus, Capaneus, Hippomedont, Parthenopeus and Amphiaraus responded to his call. In total, including Polyneices, the army was led by seven generals (according to another myth about the Campaign of the Seven against Thebes, this number included Eteocles, the son of Iphis from Argos, instead of Adrastus). While the army was preparing for the campaign, blind Oedipus, accompanied by his daughter Antigone, wandered around Greece. While he was in Attica, an oracle told him that the end of his suffering was near. Polyneices also turned to the oracle with a question about the outcome of the fight with his brother; the oracle replied that the one on whose side Oedipus will be victorious and to whom he appears in Thebes. Then Polynices himself found his father and asked him to go to Thebes with his troops. But Oedipus cursed the fratricidal war planned by Polyneices and refused to go to Thebes. Eteocles, having learned about the oracle's prediction, sent his uncle Creon to Oedipus with instructions to bring his father to Thebes at any cost. But the Athenian king Theseus stood up for Oedipus, driving the embassy out of his city. Oedipus cursed both sons and predicted their death in an internecine war. He himself retired to the Eumenides grove near Colonus, not far from Athens, and died there. Antigone returned to Thebes.
Meanwhile, the ancient Greek myth continues, the army of seven heroes approached Thebes. Tydeus was sent to Eteocles, who made an attempt to peacefully resolve the conflict between the brothers. Not heeding the voice of reason, Eteocles imprisoned Tydeus. However, the hero killed his guard of 50 people (only one of them escaped) and returned to his army. Seven heroes positioned themselves, each with their warriors, at the seven Theban gates. The battles began. The attackers were initially lucky; The valiant Argive Capaneus had already climbed the city wall, but at that moment he was struck by the lightning of Zeus.
Episode of the storming of Thebes by the Seven: Capaneus climbs the ladder onto the city walls. Antique amphora, ca. 340 BC
The besieging heroes were overcome by confusion. The Thebans, encouraged by the sign, rushed to the attack. According to the myths of Ancient Greece, Eteocles entered into a duel with Polyneices, but although both of them were mortally wounded and died, the Thebans did not lose their presence of mind and continued to advance until they scattered the troops of seven generals, of whom only Adrastus remained alive. Power in Thebes passed to Creon, who considered Polyneices a traitor and forbade his body to be buried.
The myth, which tells about the struggle for power of Eteocles and Polyneices, about the campaign of seven generals against Thebes and about the fate of the brothers, is the basis for the tragedies of Aeschylus “Seven against Thebes”, Sophocles “Antigone”, Euripides and Seneca “The Phoenician Women”.
Ten years after the unsuccessful campaign of seven generals against Thebes, the sons of the defeated heroes undertook a new campaign against Thebes to avenge their fathers. This campaign is known as the campaign of the epigones (descendants). This time the favor of the gods accompanied the attackers, and Thebes was destroyed to the ground.
The Trojan War - a brief retelling
Soon after this, Paris came to Troy for lambs taken from his flock by Priam's eldest sons Hector and Helenus. Paris was recognized by his sister, the prophetess Cassandra. Priam and Hecuba were glad to meet their son, forgot the fateful prediction, and Paris began to live in the royal house.
Aphrodite, fulfilling her promise, ordered Paris to equip a ship and go to Greece to the king of Greek Sparta, the hero Menelaus.
Leda. Work tentatively attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, 1508-1515
According to myths, Menelaus was married to Helen, daughter of Zeus and Ice, wife of the Spartan king Tyndareus. Zeus appeared to Leda in the guise of a swan, and she gave birth to Helen and Polydeuces, at the same time with whom she had children from Tyndareus Clytemnestra and Castor (according to later myths, Helen and Dioscuri - Castor and Polydeuces hatched from eggs laid by Leda). Helen was distinguished by such extraordinary beauty that the most glorious heroes of Ancient Greece wooed her. Tyndareus gave preference to Menelaus, having previously taken an oath from the others not only not to take revenge on his chosen one, but also to provide assistance if any misfortune befell the future spouses.
Menelaus greeted the Trojan Paris cordially, but Paris, seized by passion for his wife Helen, used the trust of his hospitable host for evil: having seduced Helen and stolen part of Menelaus's treasures, he secretly boarded a ship at night and sailed to Troy along with the kidnapped Helen, taking away the wealth king
Elena's kidnapping. Red-figured Attic amphora from the late 6th century. BC
All of Ancient Greece was offended by the act of the Trojan prince. Fulfilling the oath given to Tyndareus, all heroes - ex-fiancés Helena - gathered with their troops in the harbor of Aulis, a port city, from where, under the command of the Argive king Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus, they set off on a campaign against Troy - the Trojan War.
According to the story of ancient Greek myths, the Greeks (in the Iliad they are called Achaeans, Danaans or Argives) besieged Troy for nine years, and only in the tenth year they managed to take possession of the city, thanks to the cunning of one of the most valiant Greek heroes Odysseus, king of Ithaca. On the advice of Odysseus, the Greeks built a huge wooden horse, hid their soldiers in it and, leaving it at the walls of Troy, pretended to lift the siege and sail to their homeland. A relative of Odysseus, Sinon, disguised as a defector, came to the city and told the Trojans that the Greeks had lost hope of victory in the Trojan War and were stopping the fight, and the wooden horse was a gift to the goddess Athena, who was angry with Odysseus and Diomedes for the theft from Troy of the “Palladium” - the statue of Pallas Athena, a shrine that protected the city, that once fell from the sky. Sinon advised introducing the horse into Troy as the most reliable guard of the gods.
In the Greek myth narrative, Laocoon, a priest of Apollo, warned the Trojans against accepting a dubious gift. Athena, who stood on the side of the Greeks, sent two huge snakes to attack Laocoon. The snakes rushed at Laocoon and his two sons and strangled all three.
The Trojans saw in the death of Laocoon and his sons a manifestation of the gods' dissatisfaction with Laocoon's words and brought the horse into the city, which required dismantling part of the Trojan wall. For the rest of the day, the Trojans feasted and had fun, celebrating the end of the ten-year siege of the city. When the city fell into sleep, the Greek heroes emerged from the wooden horse; By this time, the Greek army, following the signal fire of Sinon, disembarked from the ships and burst into the city. Unprecedented bloodshed began. The Greeks set fire to Troy, attacked the sleeping people, killed the men, and enslaved the women.
On this night, according to the myths of Ancient Greece, the elder Priam died, killed by the hand of Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. Little Astyanax, the son of Hector, the leader of the Trojan army, was thrown by the Greeks from the Trojan wall: the Greeks were afraid that he would take revenge on them for his relatives when he became an adult. Paris was wounded by Philoctetes' poisoned arrow and died from this wound. The bravest of the Greek warriors, Achilles, died before the capture of Troy at the hands of Paris. Only Aeneas, the son of Aphrodite and Anchises, escaped on Mount Ida, carrying his elderly father on his shoulders. With Aeneas his son Ascanius also left the city. After the end of the campaign, Menelaus returned with Helen to Sparta, Agamemnon - to Argos, where he died at the hands of his wife, who cheated on him with his cousin Aegisthus. Neoptolemus returned to Phthia, taking Hector's widow Andromache as a prisoner.
Thus ended the Trojan War. After it, the heroes of Greece experienced unprecedented labors on the way to Hellas. Odysseus took the longest time to return to his homeland. He had to endure many adventures, and his return was delayed for ten years, as he was haunted by the wrath of Poseidon, the father of the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was blinded by Odysseus. The story of the wanderings of this long-suffering hero forms the content of Homer's Odyssey.
Aeneas, who escaped from Troy, also endured many disasters and adventures in his sea travels until he reached the shores of Italy. His descendants later became the founders of Rome. The story of Aeneas formed the basis of the plot of Virgil's heroic poem "Aeneid"
We have briefly described here only the main figures of the heroic myths of Ancient Greece and briefly outlined the most popular legends.
