Antique heroes of ancient Greece. The names of the heroes of ancient Greece
The sons of the great hero Pelops were Atreus and Thyestes. Pelops was once cursed by the charioteer of King Oenomaus Myrtilus, who was treacherously killed by Pelops, and doomed the whole family of Pelops with his curse to great atrocities and death. The curse of Myrtilus also weighed on Atreus and Fiesta. They have committed a number of evil deeds. Atreus and Thyestes killed Chrysippus, the son of the nymph Axion and their father Pelops. It was the mother of Atreus and Fiesta Hippodamia who persuaded Chrysippus to kill. Having committed this atrocity, they fled from the kingdom of their father, fearing his wrath, and took refuge with the king of Mycenae Sthenelus, the son of Perseus, who was married to their sister Nikippe. When Sthenel died and his son Eurystheus, captured by Iolaus, died at the hands of the mother of Hercules Alcmene, began to rule over the Mycenaean kingdom of Atreus, since Eurystheus left no heirs. Atreus was jealous of his brother Fiesta and decided to take away power from him by any means.
Sisyphus had a son, the hero Glaucus, who ruled in Corinth after his father's death. Glaucus also had a son, Bellerophon, one of the great heroes of Greece. Beautiful as a god was Bellerophon and courage equal to the immortal gods. Bellerophon, when he was still a youth, suffered a misfortune: he accidentally killed a citizen of Corinth and had to flee from hometown. He fled to the king of Tiryns, Proyt. With great honor, the king of Tiryns accepted the hero and cleansed him of the filth of the blood shed by him. Bellerophon did not stay long in Tiryns. Captivated by his beauty, the wife of Proyta, the goddess Anteia. But Bellerophon rejected her love. Then Queen Anteia flared up with hatred for Bellerophon and decided to destroy him. She went to her husband and said to him:
Oh king! Bellerophon heavily offends you. You must kill him. He haunts me, your wife, with his love. That's how he thanked you for your hospitality!
Grozen Borey, god of the indomitable, stormy north wind. He frantically rushes over the lands and seas, causing with his flight all-destroying storms. Once Boreas, flying over Attica, saw the daughter of Erechtheus Orithyia and fell in love with her. Boreas begged Orithyia to become his wife and allow him to take her with him to his kingdom in the far north. Orithia did not agree, she was afraid of a formidable, stern god. Denied Boreas and Orithyia's father, Erechtheus. No requests, no pleas from Boreas helped. The terrible god was angry and exclaimed:
I deserve such humiliation myself! I forgot about my formidable, violent power! Is it proper for me to humbly beg anyone? Only force should I act! I drive thunderclouds across the sky, I raise waves on the sea like mountains, I uproot, like dry blades of grass, centuries-old oaks, I scourge the earth with hail and turn water into ice, hard as a stone - and I pray, as if powerless mortal. When I fly in a furious flight above the earth, the whole earth trembles and trembles even the underworld of Hades. And I pray to Erechtheus as if I were his servant. I must not beg to give me Orithia as a wife, but take her away by force!
Perseus did not stay long after this bloody battle in the kingdom of Cepheus. Taking with him the beautiful Andromeda, he returned to Serif to King Polydectes. Perseus found his mother Danae in great grief. Fleeing from Polydectes, she had to seek protection in the temple of Zeus. She did not dare to leave the temple for a single moment. Enraged, Perseus came to the palace of Polydectes and found him with friends at a sumptuous feast. Polydectes did not expect Perseus to return, he was sure that the hero died in the fight against the Gorgons. The king of Serif was surprised when he saw Perseus in front of him, and he calmly said to the king:
Your order is fulfilled, I brought you the head of Medusa.
Beautiful, equal to the Olympian gods themselves in their beauty, the young son of the king of Sparta, Hyacinth, was a friend of the god Apollo. Apollo often appeared on the banks of the Eurotas in Sparta to his friend and spent time with him, hunting along the slopes of the mountains in densely overgrown forests or having fun with gymnastics, in which the Spartans were so skillful.
Once, when the hot afternoon was approaching, Apollo and Hyacinth competed in throwing a heavy disc. Higher and higher the bronze disk flew up to the sky. Here, straining his strength, the mighty god Apollo threw the disc. A disk flew up high to the very clouds and, sparkling like a star, fell to the ground. Hyacinth ran to the place where the disk was supposed to fall. He wanted to pick it up and throw it as soon as possible in order to show Apollo that he, a young athlete, would not yield to him, God, in the ability to throw a discus. The disc fell to the ground, bounced off the blow and terrible force hit Hyacinth in the head. Hyacinth fell to the ground with a groan. A stream of scarlet blood gushed from the wound and dyed the dark curls of the beautiful young man.
The son of Zeus and Io, Epaphus, had a son Bel, and he had two sons - Egypt and Danai. The whole country, which is irrigated by the blessed Nile, was owned by Egypt, from which this country received its name. Danai ruled in Libya. The gods gave Egypt fifty sons. I give fifty beautiful daughters. The Danaids captivated the sons of Egypt with their beauty, and they wanted to marry beautiful girls, but Danai and the Danaids refused them. The sons of Egypt gathered a large army and went to war against Danae. Danaus was defeated by his nephews, and he had to lose his kingdom and flee. With the help of the goddess Pallas Athena, Danai built the first fifty-oared ship and set off on it with his daughters into the boundless, eternally noisy sea.
Sailed for a long time sea waves ship Danae and finally sailed to the island of Rhodes. Here Danai stopped; he went ashore with his daughters, founded a sanctuary for his patron goddess Athena and made rich sacrifices to her. Danai did not stay in Rhodes. Fearing the persecution of the sons of Egypt, he sailed with his daughters further, to the shores of Greece, to Argolis, the homeland of his ancestor Io. Zeus himself guarded the ship during a dangerous voyage across the boundless sea. After long way the ship landed on the fertile shores of Argolis. Here Danai and the Danaids hoped to find protection and salvation from the hated marriage with the sons of Egypt.
Many crimes were committed by people of the copper age. Arrogant and impious, they did not obey the Olympian gods. The Thunderer Zeus was angry with them; Zeus was especially angered by the king of Lycosura in Arcadia, Lycaon. Once Zeus, under the guise of a mere mortal, came to Lycosur. So that the inhabitants knew that he was a god, Zeus gave them a sign, and all the inhabitants fell on their faces before him and honored him as a god. Only Lycaon did not want to give divine honors to Zeus and mocked everyone who honored Zeus. Lycaon decided to test whether Zeus is a god. He killed a hostage who was in his palace, boiled part of his body, fried part and offered it as a meal to the great thunderer. Zeus was terribly angry. With a lightning strike, he destroyed Lycaon's palace, and turned him into a bloodthirsty wolf himself.
the greatest artist, the sculptor and architect of Athens was Daedalus, a descendant of Erechtheus. It was said about him that he carved such marvelous statues from snow-white marble that they seemed alive; the statues of Daedalus seemed to be watching and moving. Many tools were invented by Daedalus for his work; he invented the ax and the drill. The glory of Daedalus went far.
This great artist had a nephew Tal, the son of his sister Perdika. Tal was a student of his uncle. Already in his early youth, he amazed everyone with his talent and ingenuity. It could be foreseen that Tal would far surpass his teacher. Daedalus was jealous of his nephew and decided to kill him. Once Daedalus stood with his nephew on the high Athenian Acropolis at the very edge of the cliff. No one was visible around. Seeing that they were alone, Daedalus pushed his nephew off the cliff. The artist was sure that his crime would go unpunished. Falling from a cliff, Tal crashed to death. Daedalus hastily descended from the Acropolis, raised the body of Tal and already wanted to secretly bury it in the ground, but the Athenians caught Daedalus when he was digging a grave. The crime of Daedalus was revealed. The Areopagus sentenced him to death.
The wife of the king of Sparta Tyndareus was the beautiful Leda, the daughter of the king of Aetolia, Thestia. Throughout Greece, Leda was famous for its wondrous beauty. She became the wife of Zeus Leda, and she had two children from him: a beautiful, like a goddess, daughter Elena and a son, great hero Polydeuces. From Tyndareus, Leda also had two children: a daughter, Clytemnestra, and a son, Castor.
Polydeuces received immortality from his father, and his brother Castor was mortal. Both brothers were great heroes of Greece. No one could surpass Castor in the art of driving a chariot, he humbled the most indomitable horses. Polydeuces was the most skillful fist fighter who knew no equal. The Dioscuri brothers participated in many exploits of the heroes of Greece. They were always together, the most sincere love bound the brothers.
The king of the rich Phoenician city of Sidon, Agenor, had three sons and a daughter, beautiful as an immortal goddess. The name of this young beauty was Europe. I once had a dream of Agenor's daughter. She saw how Asia and that continent that is separated from Asia by the sea fought for her in the form of two women. Every woman wanted to own Europe. Asia was defeated, and she, who brought up and nurtured Europe, had to give way to another. In fear, Europe woke up, she could not understand the meaning of this dream. The young daughter of Agenor humbly began to pray that the gods would avert misfortune from her if sleep threatened them. Then, dressed in purple clothes woven with gold, she went with her friends to a green meadow covered with flowers, to the seashore. There, frolicking, the Sidonian virgins collected flowers in their golden baskets. They collected fragrant, snow-white daffodils, colorful crocuses, violets and lilies. The very same daughter of Agenor, shining with her beauty among her friends, like Aphrodite, surrounded by Charites, collected only scarlet roses in her golden basket. Having collected flowers, the maidens began to dance with laughter. Their young voices carried far across the flowering meadow and the azure sea, drowning out its quiet gentle splash.
Works are divided into pagesThe myths of Ancient Greece about heroes were created before the advent of writing in this country. Initially, it was purely oral art transmitted from person to person. These are legends about the archaic life of the Greek people, in which real facts are associated in legends about heroes with the fantasy of the narrator. The memory of men and women who accomplished real feats, being ordinary citizens or high-born representatives of the people, the stories of their accomplishments help the Greeks look at their ancestors as beings favored by the gods and, sing, being related to them. In fantasy ordinary people these citizens turn out to be the descendants of the gods who created a family with mere mortals. Even now in schools they are forced to read the myths of ancient Greece about such heroes as Theseus, Prometheus, Odysseus and others.
Agamemnon(Αγαμέμνονας), one of the main heroes of the ancient Greek national epic, the son of the Mycenaean king Atreus and Aeropa, the leader of the Greek army during Trojan War. After the murder of Atreus by Aegisthus, Agamemnon and Menelaus were forced to flee to Aetolia, but the king of Sparta Tyndareus, having gone on a campaign to Mycenae, forced Fiesta to cede power to the sons of Atreus. Agamemnon reigned in Mycenae (later he expanded his possessions and became the most powerful ruler in all of Greece) and married the daughter of Tyndareus Clytemestra. From this marriage, Agamemnon had three daughters and a son, Orestes. When Paris kidnapped Helen and all her former suitors united in a campaign against Troy, Agamemnon, as the elder brother of Menelaus and the most powerful of the Greek kings, was elected head of the entire army.
Amphitryon(Αμφιτρύωνας), in Greek mythology son of the king of Tiryns Alcaeus and Pelop's daughter Astidamia, grandson of Perseus. Amphitryon took part in the war against the teleboys who lived on the island of Taphos, which was waged by his uncle, the Mycenaean king Electrion. In this war the sons of Electryon perished. Going on a campaign, Electrion entrusted Amphitryon with the administration of the state and his daughter Alcmene. During the send-off, Amphitrion accidentally killed the king with a club thrown at a cow, and he had to flee from Mycenae, taking Alcmene and her younger brother (Apollodorus, II 4.6). They found shelter with the Theban king Creon, who cleansed Amphitrion from the sin of accidental murder. Alkmena agreed to become his wife only after he took revenge on the teleboys for the death of her brothers. Creon promised Amphitryon help in the war against the teleboys if he would destroy the ferocious Teummes fox that was devastating the environs of Thebes, leaving all pursuers. The famous Athenian hunter Cephalus lent Amphitrion a wonderful dog that could catch up with any beast. The contest between the beast, which no one could catch, and the dog, from which no one could escape, ended with the decision of Zeus to turn both animals into stones (Pausanias, IX 19.1).
Achilles, in Greek mythology, one of the greatest heroes, the son of King Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis. Zeus and Poseidon wanted to have a son from the beautiful Thetis, but the titan Prometheus warned them that the child would surpass his father in greatness. And the gods prudently arranged the marriage of Thetis with a mortal. Love for Achilles, as well as the desire to make him invulnerable and give immortality, forced Thetis to bathe the child in the river Styx, which flowed through Hades, the land of the dead. Since Thetis was forced to hold her son by the heel, this part of the body remained defenseless.
Achilles was mentored by the centaur Chiron, who fed him the entrails of lions, bears and wild boars, taught him to play the kithara and sing. Achilles grew up a fearless warrior, but his immortal mother, knowing that participation in the campaign against Troy would bring death to her son, dressed him up as a girl and hid him among the women in the palace of King Lycomedes.
When the leaders of the Greeks became aware of the prediction of the priest Kalhant, the grandson of Apollo, that without Achilles the campaign against Troy was doomed to failure, they sent the cunning Odysseus to him. Arriving at the king under the guise of a merchant, Odysseus laid out women's jewelry interspersed with weapons in front of the assembled. The inhabitants of the palace began to examine the jewelry, but suddenly, at the sign of Odysseus, an alarm sounded - the girls fled in fright, and the hero grabbed his sword, giving himself away.
After the exposure, Achilles willy-nilly had to sail to Troy, where he soon quarreled with the leader of the Greeks, Agamemnon. According to one version of the myth, this happened because, wanting to provide the Greek fleet with a favorable wind, Agamemnon secretly from the hero, under the pretext of marrying Achilles, summoned his daughter Iphigenia to Aulis and sacrificed her to the goddess Artemis.
Angered, Achilles retired to his tent, refusing to fight. However, the death of his faithful friend and brother Patroclus at the hands of the Trojan Hector forced Achilles to take immediate action.
Having received armor as a gift from the blacksmith god Hephaestus, Achilles struck down Hector with a blow of a spear and mocked his body for twelve days near the tomb of Patroclus. Only Thetis was able to convince her son to give the remains of Hector to the Trojans for the funeral rite - the sacred duty of the living towards the dead.
Returning to the battlefield, Achilles slew hundreds of enemies. But him own life was coming to an end. The arrow of Paris, aptly directed by Apollo, inflicted a mortal wound on the heel of Achilles, the only vulnerable spot on the hero's body. Thus perished the valiant and arrogant Achilles, the ideal of the great commander of antiquity, Alexander the Great.
ajax(Αίας), in Greek mythology, the name of two participants in the Trojan War; both fought near Troy as applicants for the hand of Helen. In the Iliad, they often act hand in hand, in the battle for the wall surrounding the Achaean camp, in the defense of ships, in the battle for the body of Patroclus and are compared with two mighty lions or bulls (Homer, Iliad, XIII 197-205; 701-708 ).
Ajax Oilid (Αίας Oιλνιος), son of Oileus and Eriopis (Eriope), king of Locris, leader of a militia of forty people from Locris, a region of central Greece. A skilled javelin thrower and an excellent runner, second only to Achilles in speed. His warriors are renowned as archers and slingers. This so-called "small Ajax" is not so powerful and not so tall in comparison with Ajax Telamonides (Homer, Iliad, II 527-535). He is known for his violent and brash temper. So, during the capture of Troy, he committed violence against Cassandra, who sought protection at the altar of Athena (Apollodorus, V 22; Virgil, Aeneid, II 403-406). On the advice of Odysseus, the Achaeans were going to stone Ajax for this sacrilege (Pausanias, X 31, 2), but he took refuge at the altar of the same Athena. However, when the fleet returned from Troy, the angry goddess broke the Achaean ships (including the ship of Ajax by throwing lightning at it) by a storm near the Cyclades Islands. Ajax escaped and, clinging to a rock, boasted that he was alive against the will of the gods. Then Poseidon split the rock with a trident, Ajax fell into the sea and died. His body was buried by Thetis on the island of Mykonos, near Delos (Hyginus, Fab. 116). The sacrilege of Ajax, by the decision of the oracle, was expiated by the inhabitants of Locris for a thousand years, sending two virgins to Troy every year, who served in the temple of Athena, never leaving it. According to Apollodorus and Polybius, this custom ceased to exist after the Phocian War in the 4th century BC.
Bellerophon(Βελλεροφόντης), in Greek mythology, one of the main characters of the older generation, the son of the Corinthian king Glaucus (according to other sources, the god Poseidon), the grandson of Sisyphus. Bellerophon's original name was Hipponoy (Ἰππόνοος), but after he killed the Corinthian Beller, he was called "Beller's killer" (according to some mythological versions, Beller was the brother of Hipponoy). It is believed that the word Βελλερο of pre-Greek origin meant "monster", later it, having become incomprehensible, was, as is customary in etiological myths, comprehended as a proper name. Fearing blood feud, Bellerophon was forced to flee to Argolis, where he was hospitably met by the king of Tiryns Pretus. The wife of Proetus Sthenebeus (according to some sources, Antaeus) fell in love with Bellerophon, but was rejected by him, after which she accused the young man of an attempt on her honor. Believing his wife, but not wanting to violate the laws of hospitality, Pretus sends Bellerophon to his father-in-law, the king of Lycia Iobates, handing him a letter containing an order to kill Bellerophon. To fulfill the order, Iobat gives Bellerophon life-threatening assignments one after another. At first, he had to fight with the three-headed fire-breathing chimera that lived in the mountains of Lycia - a terrible monster, a combination of a lion, a goat and a snake. The gods who patronized Bellerophon gave him the winged horse Pegasus (Pindar, Olympian odes, XIII, 63; Pausanias, II 4, 1). Having attacked the chimera from the air, Bellerophon defeated and destroyed the monster devastating the country with the help of Pegasus. Then he repulsed the attack warlike tribe Solim and destroyed the invading Amazons (Homer, Iliad, VI 179). Iobates ambushed Bellerophon, who was returning from the war, but the hero killed all those who attacked him. Struck by the strength of the stranger, the Lycian king abandoned his plans, gave Bellerophon his daughter Philono as his wife and, dying, left him his kingdom (Apollodorus, II 3, 1 and 2). From this marriage were born Hippolochus, who inherited the Lycian kingdom, Isander, who died in the war with the Solims, and Laodamia, who gave birth to Zeus Sarpedon.
Hector, in ancient Greek mythology one of the main characters of the Trojan War, the son of Hecuba and Priam - the king of Troy. Hector had 49 brothers and sisters, but among the sons of Priam, it was he who was famous for his strength and courage.
According to legend, Hector struck to death the first Greek who set foot on the land of Troy - Protesilaus. The hero became especially famous in the ninth year of the Trojan War, having challenged Ajax Telamonides to battle. Hector promised his enemy not to desecrate his bodies in case of defeat and not to remove his armor and demanded the same from Ajax. After a long struggle, they decided to stop the duel and exchanged gifts as a sign of mutual respect. Hector hoped to defeat the Greeks despite Cassandra's prediction. It was under his leadership that the Trojans broke into the fortified camp of the Achaeans, approached the navy and even managed to set fire to one of the ships.
The legends also describe the battle between Hector and the Greek Patroclus. The hero defeated his opponent and removed the armor of Achilles from him. The gods took a very active part in the war. They divided into two camps and each helped their favorites. Hector was patronized by Apollo himself. When Patroclus died, Achilles, obsessed with revenge for his death, tied the defeated dead Hector to his chariot and dragged him around the walls of Troy, but neither decay nor birds touched the hero’s body, since Apollo protected him in gratitude for the fact that Hector helped him many times during his lifetime. Based on this circumstance, the ancient Greeks concluded that Hector was the son of Apollo.
According to the myths, Apollo, at the council of the gods, persuaded Zeus to hand over the body of Hector to the Trojans so that he would be buried with honor. The supreme god ordered Achilles to give the body of the deceased to his father Priam. Since, according to legend, Hector's grave was in Thebes, the researchers suggested that the image of the hero is of Boeotian origin. Hector was a very revered hero in Ancient Greece, which is proved by the presence of his image on ancient vases and in antique plastic. Usually they depicted scenes of Hector's farewell to his wife Andromache, the battle with Achilles and many other episodes.
Hercules, in Greek mythology, the greatest of the heroes, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Zeus needed a mortal hero to defeat the giants, and he decided to give birth to Hercules. The best mentors taught Hercules various arts, wrestling, archery. Zeus wanted Hercules to become the ruler of Mycenae or Tiryns, the key fortresses on the approaches to Argos, but the jealous Hera upset his plans. She struck Hercules with madness, in a fit of which he killed his wife and three of his sons. To atone for a heavy guilt, the hero had to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, after which he was granted immortality.
The most famous is the cycle of legends about the twelve labors of Hercules. The first feat was to obtain the skin of a Nemean lion, which Hercules had to strangle with his bare hands. Having defeated the lion, the hero dressed his skin and wore it as a trophy.
1. The king of Thrace, the son of Ares and Cyrene, who fed his wild, indomitable horses with the meat of captured foreigners. Hercules defeated Diomedes and threw him to be eaten by cannibal horses, whom he then brought to King Eurystheus. According to other myth-making sources, the horses fled from Mycenae to the mountains and were eaten by wild animals.
2. The son of the Aetolian king Tideus and the daughter of Adrasta Deipyla, the husband of Aegialeia. Diomedes, after the death of his father-in-law, Adrast, became king of Argos. Together with Adrast he took part in the campaign and the ruin of Thebes (Apollodorus, III 7.2). As one of Helen's suitors, Diomedes subsequently fought near Troy, leading a militia on 80 ships. In armor illuminated by a radiant flame, he kills many Trojans and attacks Aeneas, who is saved from death by Aphrodite. Then Diomedes falls on the goddess, wounds her and forces her to leave the battlefield. Using the patronage of Athena, Diomedes goes into battle against the god Ares himself and seriously injures him (almost the entire V book of the Iliad is assigned to the exploits of Diomedes). Together with Odysseus, Diomedes goes on reconnaissance to the enemy camp; on the way, they kill the Trojan scout Dolon, and then attack the Thracian king Res, who came to the aid of the Trojans, kill him and many soldiers of his retinue and take away the famous horses of Res (Homer, Iliad, X 203-514). Diomedes participates in funeral games in honor of Patroclus; together with Odysseus, he penetrates into the besieged Troy and steals the statue of Athena (Palladion) there, the possession of which portends a victory over the Trojans. With Odysseus, Diomedes also goes to the island of Lemnos for Philoctetes. Diomedes has long been known (together with Nestor) as one of the few Achaean heroes who safely returned home from under Troy (Apollodorus, V 8; 13); later sources introduce a version about the betrayal of Diomedes' wife Aegialeia, as a result of which Diomedes is forced to flee from Argos to Apulia, where he married the daughter of King Daun. According to legend, Diomedes founded Arpi (in Apulia) and other cities in Italy and then disappeared, and his companions were turned into birds.
Meleager(Μελέαγρος), in Greek myth-making, the hero of Aetolia, the son of the Calydonian king Oineus and Alfea, the husband of Cleopatra (Apollodorus, I 8, 2). According to another version, Meleager's father was Ares (Gigin, Fabouli, 171). Member of the campaign of the Argonauts (Apollodorus, I 9, 16), according to some versions of the myth, Meleager killed the Colchis king Eeta (Diodorus, IV 48). Meleager was the winner in throwing a spear and a dart in the pan-Greek games. greatest glory Meleager took part in the Calydonian hunt.
When Artemis, angry because Oineus did not sacrifice to her, sent a wild boar to the country, Meleager gathered the most famous hunters of Greece, with the help of which he managed to kill the boar. Artemis stirred up a dispute between the Kuretes, who participated in the hunt, and the Aetolians, because of the possession of the head of a boar. While Meleager was in the battle, the Aetolians had the upper hand; but when he retired from the battlefield, distressed by the hostility of his mother, the Curetes defeated the Aetolians and began to besiege their city. For a long time Meleager begged his parents, friends, the whole city to help them in danger, until, finally, his wife persuaded him to come to the aid of his own. The Aetolians were victorious, but Meleager fell. This is the Homeric version of the myth (Iliad, IX, 529-599).
There are other legends about Meleager. On the seventh day after the birth of Meleager, the Moirai predicted to Alfea that her son would die when the log burning on the altar burned out. She snatched the log from the fire, put it out and put it in the chest. some of them tell that he was killed by the gods at the prayerful request of his mother, saddened by the death of his brothers who died on the Calydonian hunt. At the sight of the dead bodies of her brothers, Alfea cursed her son. She returned to the house, pulled out the fateful log from the casket and threw it into the fire. As soon as the log burned down, Meleager felt an incredible burning sensation inside and died. After the death of her son, Alfea, seized with remorse, strangled herself, Cleopatra also committed suicide, and Meleager's sisters, weeping inconsolably over her brother's grave, were turned by Artemis into guinea fowls (μελεαγρίδες) and transferred to the island of Leros. The tragic element of the story was used by Phrynichus when creating the tragedy "Plevronian"; Sophocles and Euripides also used this myth.
Menelaus(Μενέλαος), in Greek myth-making, the king of Sparta, son of Atreus and Aeropa, husband of Helen, younger brother of Agamemnon. The brothers expelled by Thyestes fled from Mycenae to Sparta, to Tyndareus, whose daughter, Elena, Menelaus married and succeeded to the throne of his father-in-law (Apollodorus, II 16). serene life Menelaus with Helen lasted about ten years; their daughter Hermione was nine years old when the Trojan prince Paris appeared in Sparta. Menelaus at this time went to Crete to participate in the funeral of his maternal grandfather Katreya. Having learned about the kidnapping of his wife and treasures by Paris, Menelaus and Odysseus went to Troy (Ilion) and demanded the extradition of the kidnapped wife, but to no avail. Returning home, Menelaus, with the help of Agamemnon, gathered friendly kings for the Ilion campaign, and he himself put up sixty ships, recruiting soldiers in Lacedaemon, Amykla and other lands of Hellas. In addition, after the abduction of his wife by Paris, Menelaus gathered all her former suitors, bound by a vow of mutual assistance, and began preparations for the Trojan War with his brother Agamemnon. In relation to Agamemnon, he considered himself subordinate and recognized his supreme authority in everything.
Odysseus(Greek Οδυσσεύς, "angry", "angry"), Ulysses (Latin Ulixes), in Greek mythology, the king of the island of Ithaca, one of the leaders of the Achaeans in the Trojan War. He is famous for his cunning, dexterity and amazing adventures. The brave Odysseus was sometimes considered the son of Sisyphus, who seduced Anticlea even before his marriage to Laertes, and according to some versions, Odysseus is the grandson of Autolycus, "the perjurer and thief", the son of the god Hermes, who inherited their mind, practicality and enterprise.
Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks, had high hopes for the ingenuity and intelligence of Odysseus. Together with the wise Nestor, Odysseus was instructed to persuade the great warrior Achilles to take part in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks, and when their fleet was stuck in Aulis, it was Odysseus who tricked Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra into letting Iphigenia go to Aulis under the pretext of her marriage to Achilles. In reality, Iphigenia was intended as a sacrifice to Artemis, who otherwise would not agree to provide the Greek ships with a fair wind. It was Odysseus who came up with the idea with the Trojan horse, which brought victory to the Achaeans.
Orpheus, in ancient Greek mythology, the hero and traveler. Orpheus was the son of the Thracian river god Eagra and the muse Calliope. He was known as a talented singer and musician. Orpheus took part in the campaign of the Argonauts, with his playing on the forming and prayers, he calmed the waves and helped the rowers of the Argo ship.
The hero married the beautiful Eurydice and, when she suddenly died from a snake bite, followed her into the afterlife. The guardian of the other world, the evil dog Cerberus, Persephone and Hades were enchanted by the magical music of the young man. Hades promised to return Eurydice to earth on the condition that Orpheus did not look at his wife until he entered his house. Orpheus could not restrain himself and looked at Eurydice, as a result of which she remained forever in the realm of the dead.
Orpheus did not treat Dionysus with due respect, but honored Helios, whom he called Apollo. Dionysus decided to teach the young man a lesson and sent a maenad at him, who tore the musician to pieces and threw him into the river. Parts of his body were collected by the Muses, who mourned the death of a beautiful youth. The head of Orpheus floated down the river Gebr and was found by the nymphs, then ended up on the island of Lesbos, where Apollo took it. The musician's shadow fell into Hades, where the couple were reunited.
Patroclus(Πάτροκλος), in Greek myth-making, the son of one of the Argonauts Menetius, a relative and ally of Achilles in the Trojan War. As a boy, he killed his friend during a dice game, for which his father sent him to Peleus in Phthia, where he was brought up with Achilles. Since then, their friendship began, which did not stop until the death of Patroclus and continued in the kingdom of Hades (Homer, Iliad, XI 764-790; XXIV 24, 84-90). The illustrious skill of Patroclus in driving chariots and his care for the team of Achilles (Homer, Iliad, XXIII 280-284) give reason to see in him the original charioteer Peleus.
In view of the fact that the genealogy of Patroclus' grandfather Actor was not very stable in the mythological tradition, linking Actor now with Phthia (Thessaly), now with Opuntus (Locrid), there was a desire to link these two geographical points in the legendary biography of Patroclus. So there was a version according to which Menetius first moved from Thessaly to Locris, but eventually had to save his son from here (during the games, Patroclus accidentally killed one of his peers, and he was threatened with the revenge of the relatives of the murdered). Then the father took Patroclus to Phthia and gave it to Peleus; here Patroclus grew up with Achilles. To bring the two famous heroes even closer, a variant of the myth was used, according to which the nymph Aegina, having given birth to Aeacus, the father of Peleus, from Zeus, then became the wife of Actor (Pindar, Olympic Odes, IX 68-70). In this case, Aegina, like Alcmene, gives rise to one kind of divine origin (Achilles belongs to him) and another mortal (Patroclus belongs to him), and both heroes turn out to be close relatives.
Peleus(Πηλεύς), in Greek myth-making, the son of the Aeginian king Aeacus and Endeida, husband of Antigone, father of Achilles and Menestius, brother of Telamon. For the murder of his half-brother Phocus, who defeated Peleus in athletic exercises, he was expelled by his father and retired to Phthia to his uncle Eurytion, who performed a purification ceremony on him and gave his daughter Antigone to Peleus. During the Calydonian hunt, Peleus unintentionally speared his father-in-law to death and again had to seek purification. This time he found him in Iolka with King Akast. Astidamia, the wife of Acastus, was inflamed with passion for Peleus, but was rejected by him, and then she slandered Peleus in front of his wife and her husband. Astidamia informed Antigone that Peleus had seduced her and was going to marry her. Believing the slander, Antigone committed suicide. Akast, not daring to raise his hand against the guest, invited him to take part in the hunt on Mount Pelion; here he stole from the sleeping Peleus hunting knife, and Peleus would have been killed by the centaurs inhabiting the mountain if the wise centaur Chiron had not saved him (Apollodorus, III 12, 6; 13, 1-3; Pindar, Nemean Odes, IV 57-61).
Pelops(Πέλοψ), in Greek myth-making, the king and national hero Phrygia, and then the Peloponnese. Son of Tantalus and the nymph Euryanassa, brother of Niobe, husband of Hippodamia, father of Alkafoy, Atreus, Pittheus, Troezen, Fiesta, Chrysippus. As a favorite of the gods, Tantalus, the king of Sipylus in Phrygia, had access to divine councils and feasts. Such an unusually high position plunged the demigod Tantalus into pride and permissiveness. After killing Pelops, Tantalus invited the gods to a feast and, deciding to laugh at them, served them a treat prepared from the body of his own son. But the Olympians understood the deception; the angry gods, rejecting this unholy meal, ordered Hermes to bring Pelops back to life. Hermes fulfilled the will of the gods by plunging the disparate members of Pelops into a cauldron of boiling water; the young man came out of him endowed with extraordinary beauty (Pindar, Olympian Odes, I 37-50). Only one of his shoulders (which Demeter ate in thought, saddened by the disappearance of Persephone's daughter) had to be made of ivory; since then, the descendants of Pelops had a white spot on their left shoulder. After that, the young Pelops grew up on Olympus in the company of the gods and was the favorite of Poseidon. According to Pindar's poetics, Poseidon fell in love with him and took him to Olympus. There he appointed Pelops as his bed-keeper, began to feed him with ambrosia, but soon the god returned him to earth, giving him a chariot with a team of winged horses.
Perseus, in Greek mythology, the ancestor of Hercules, the son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of the Argos king Acrisius. In the hope of preventing the fulfillment of the prophecy about the death of Acrisius at the hands of his grandson, Danae was imprisoned in a copper tower, but the almighty Zeus penetrated there, turning into a golden rain, and conceived Perseus. Terrified, Acrisius put the mother and child in a wooden box and threw it into the sea. However, Zeus helped his beloved and his son to safely reach the island of Serif.
The matured Perseus was sent by the local ruler Polydectes, who fell in love with Danae, to search for the Gorgon Medusa, who turns all living things into stone with her gaze. Fortunately for the hero, Athena hated Medusa and, according to one of the myths, she rewarded the once beautiful gorgon with deadly beauty out of jealousy. Athena taught Perseus what to do. First, the young man, following the advice of the goddess, went to the old grays, who had one eye and one tooth for three.
Having seized the eye and tooth by cunning, Perseus returned them to the grays in exchange for showing the way to the nymphs, who gave him an invisibility cap, winged sandals and a bag for the head of Medusa. Perseus flew to the western edge of the world, to the cave of the Gorgon, and, looking at the reflection of the mortal Medusa in his copper shield, cut off her head. Putting it in his bag, he rushed off in the cap of invisibility, unnoticed by the snake-haired sisters of the monster.
On the way home, Perseus saved the beautiful Andromeda from the sea monster and married her. Then the hero went to Argos, but Acrisius, having learned about the arrival of his grandson, fled to Larissa. And yet he did not escape fate - during the festivities in Larissa, participating in competitions, Perseus threw a heavy bronze disk, hit Acrisius in the head and struck him to death. The grief-stricken inconsolable hero did not want to rule in Argos and moved to Tiryns. After the death of Perseus and Andromeda, the goddess Athena raised the spouses to heaven, turning them into constellations.
Talphibius, in Greek myth-making, the messenger, the Spartan, together with Eurybatus was the herald of Agamemnon, carrying out his instructions. Talthybius, together with Odysseus and Menelaus, gathered an army for the Trojan War. Homer tells that, on the orders of Agamemnon, Talphibius kidnapped Briseis from Achilles' tent, and in the tragedy of Euripides it is described that the herald of Agamemnon took the son of Astyanax from Andromache by force and informed the Trojan queen Hecuba that her daughter Polyxena would be sacrificed.
According to Apollodorus, stated in his work "The Library", Talthybius and Odysseus brought Iphigenia to Aulis. After the war, Talthybius safely returned to Greece and died in his native Sparta (Apollodorus, III 22; Homer, Iliad, I 320; Euripides, Troy, 235-277). In Sparta there was a sanctuary of Talphibius, the patron saint of heralds, who were considered his descendants and acted as ambassadors on behalf of the state (Pausanias, III 12, 7, Herodotus, VII 134).
The son of the river god Scamander and the nymph Eden, the most ancient king of the Troad, the eponym of the Phrygian tribe of the Teucres. According to another legend, Scamander and Tevkr, driven by hunger, moved to the Trojan region from Crete, from where they brought the cult of Apollo with them. According to the first version of the legend, Teucer took in Dardanus, who had fled from the island of Samothrace, to whom he gave his daughter Batea in marriage and separated a part of the region named after the stranger Dardania; after the death of Teucer, royal power passed into the hands of Dardanus (Apollodorus, III 12, 1; Diodorus, IV 75). According to the second version, Teucer had already found Dardanus in Troas. According to Strabo, Teucer was a native of Crete. Together with his father, he moved to Troad during the famine in Crete. Apollo advised them to settle where, under the cover of darkness, they would be attacked by the creatures of the earth. On the banks of the Xanth River, at night, a myriad of mice gnawed through all the skin on the weapons of the settlers.
Theseus("strong"), in Greek mythology, a hero, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus and Ephra. The childless Aegeus received advice from the Delphic oracle - when coming from among the guests, do not untie your fur with wine until you return home. Aegeus did not guess the prediction, but the Trezen king Pittheus, with whom he was visiting, realized that Aegeus was destined to conceive a hero. He got the guest drunk and put him to bed with his daughter Ephra. On the same night, Poseidon also approached her. Thus was born Theseus, the great hero, the son of two fathers.
Before leaving Ephra, Aegeus led her to a boulder, under which he hid his sword and sandals. If a son is born, he said, let him grow, mature, and when he can move the stone, then send him to me. Theseus grew up, and Ephra discovered the secret of his birth. The young man easily took out a sword and sandals, and on the way to Athens he dealt with the robber Sinis and the Crommion pig. Theseus was able to defeat the monstrous Minotaur, the bull-man, only with the help of the princess Ariadne, who fell in love with him, who gave him a guiding thread.
Trophonius or Zeus Trophonius (Τροφώνιος), in Greek myth-making, originally a chthonic deity, identical with Zeus the Underground (Ζεύς χθόνιος). According to popular belief, Trophonius was the son of Apollo or Zeus, or the Orchomenian king Ergin, the brother of Agamed, the pet of the goddess of the earth - Demeter. In the cult, Trophonius approached Demeter Persephone, Asclepius and other deities who were known in Boeotia under the collective name Trofoniades. The temple of Trophonius was located near the Boeotian city of Lebadia; there also existed a cave oracle known in antiquity, since Trophonius, along with other chthonic deities (Amphiaraeus, Asclepius), had the power to reveal the future to people. Predictions were given to people in a dream, and those who turned to the oracle had to perform a series of obligatory rites, a description of which we find in Pausanias (IX, 39, 5). Whoever wanted to descend into the soothsayer had to first spend a certain number of days in the temple of the "Good Demon and Good Silence"; during this time, it was supposed to perform the established cleansing, bathe in the Herkin River and make sacrifices to Trophonius, his sons, Apollo, Kronos, King Zeus, Hera and Demeter - Europe. At each sacrifice, a priest had to be present, predicting from the entrails of animals whether Trophonius would be favorable and merciful to the questioner; the decisive sacrifice was the last, which took place before descending into the cave above the pit where the ram was slaughtered.
Phoroneus(Φορωνεός), in Greek myth-making, the founder of the Argive state, the son of the river god Inach and the hamadryad Melia, the husband of Laodice, from whom he had children Apis, Niobe and Kara. He was the first person to live in the Peloponnese and founded the city of Phoronios, which his grandson renamed Argos (Apollodorus, II 1, 1). King of the Peloponnese, who taught people to live in communities and use crafts (Pausanias, II 15, 5). He was credited with introducing the Peloponnese original culture, civil organization and religious rites, and in particular the cult of the Argive Hera.
Like Prometheus, Phoroneus was considered the first person to bring fire from heaven to earth. The inhabitants of Argos denied that Prometheus gave fire to people, and the invention of fire was attributed to Phoroneus. (Pausanias, II 19, 5). He was honored as a national hero; sacrifices were made at his grave. His daughter Niobe is said to have been the first mortal woman to awaken the love of Zeus. By name Phoroneya was called his daughter Phoronis, she is Io. According to one version, Phoroneus' wife was Kerdo, who bore him Agenor, Ias and Pelasg.
Frasimede, in Greek myth-making, the son of the Pylos king Nestor, who arrived with his father and brother Antiloch near Ilion. Together with his brother, Thrasymedes accompanied his aged father in the Trojan War. He commanded fifteen ships (Higin, Faboules, 97, 5) and took part in many battles (Homer, Iliad, XIV 10-11; XVI 317-325). In the post-Homer epic, Thrasymedes appears among the heroes who fought for the body of the murdered Antilochus, and is among the soldiers who entered Troy in the belly of a wooden horse. After the defeat of Troy, Thrasymedes safely returned to Pylos (Homer, Odyssey, III 442-450), near which his grave was shown (Pausanias, IV 36, 2).
Historical information.
Pylos (Πυλος), ancient city in Greece, on the western coast of Messenia, on Cape Coryphasia. Pylos dominated the beautiful harbor, which now bears the name of Navarino Bay; the harbor is covered by the island of Sphacteria lying opposite it. Pylos is mentioned in Homer's poems as the residence of King Nestor. During Peloponnesian War, in 425 BC, the Athenians, under the leadership of Demosthenes, captured Pylos, fortified it and held it for almost two decades. Two more ancient cities are mentioned with the name of Pylos, both located in Elis.
Oedipus, (Οίδιπους) - a descendant of Cadmus, from the Labdakid clan, the son of the Theban king Lai and Jocasta, or Epicaste, the favorite hero of the Greek folk tales and tragedies, in view of the multitude of which it is very difficult to present the myth of Oedipus in its original form. According to the most common legend, the oracle predicted to Lai the birth of a son who would kill him, marry his own mother and cover the entire Labdakid house with disgrace. Therefore, when a son was born to Laius, the parents, having pierced his legs and tied them together (why they were swollen: Οίδιπους = with swollen legs), sent him to Cithaeron, where Oedipus was found by a shepherd who sheltered the boy and then brought him to Sicyon, or Corinth , to Tsar Polybus, who raised the adopted child as his own son. Having once received a reproach at a feast for doubtful origin, Oedipus turned to the oracle for clarification and received advice from him - to beware of patricide and incest.
As a result, Oedipus, who considered Polybus his father, left Sicyon. On the road, he met Laius, started a quarrel with him, and in his temper killed him and his retinue. At that time, in Thebes, the monster Sphinx was devastating, asking each riddle for several years in a row and devouring everyone who did not guess it. Oedipus managed to solve this riddle (what creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two at noon, and on three in the evening? The answer is a man), as a result of which the Sphinx threw herself off a cliff and died. In gratitude for delivering the country from a long disaster, the Theban citizens made Oedipus their king and gave him the widow of Laius, Jocasta, his own mother, as his wife. Soon, the double crime committed by Oedipus out of ignorance was revealed, and Oedipus, in desperation, gouged out his own eyes, and Jocasta took her own life. According to an ancient legend (Homer, Odyssey, XI, 271 and following), Oedipus remained to reign in Thebes and died, pursued by the Erinyes. Sophocles tells about the end of Oedipus' life differently: when the crimes of Oedipus were revealed, the Thebans, with the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices, at the head expelled the elderly and blind king from Thebes, and he, accompanied by his faithful daughter Antigone, went to the town of Colon (in Attica), where in the sanctuary of Erinyes, who finally, thanks to the intervention of Apollo, subdued their anger, ended his life full of suffering. His memory was considered sacred, and his grave was one of the palladiums of Attica.
Aeneas, in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of the handsome shepherd Anchises and Aphrodite (Venus), a participant in the defense of Troy during the Trojan War, a glorious hero. A brave warrior, Aeneas participated in decisive battles with Achilles and escaped death only thanks to the intercession of his divine mother.
After the fall of devastated Troy, at the behest of the gods, he left the burning city and, together with his old father, his wife Creusa and his young son Ascanius (Yul), having captured images of the Trojan gods, accompanied by satellites on twenty ships, set off in search of a new homeland. Having survived a series of adventures and a terrible storm, he reached the Italian city of Cuma, and then ended up in Latium, a region in Central Italy. The local king was ready to give his daughter Lavinia for Aeneas (widowed along the way) and provide him with land for the founding of the city.
Having defeated Turnn in a duel, the leader of the warlike tribe of the Rutuls and the contender for the hand of Lavinia, Aeneas settled in Italy, which became the successor to the glory of Troy. His son Ascanius (Yul) was considered the progenitor of the Julius family, including the famous emperors Julius Caesar and Augustus.
Jason("healer"), in Greek mythology, the great-grandson of the god of the winds Eol, the son of King Iolk Aeson and Polymede, a hero, leader of the Argonauts. When Pelias overthrew his brother Aeson from the throne, he, fearing for the life of his son, gave him under the care of the wise centaur Chiron, who lived in the Thessalian forests.
The Delphic oracle predicted to Pelias that a man in one sandal would destroy him. This explains the fear of the king when the matured Jason returned to the city, having lost his sandal along the way. Pelias decided to get rid of the impending threat and promised to recognize Jason as the heir if he, risking his life, gets the golden fleece in Colchis. Jason and his team on the Argo ship, having experienced many adventures, returned to their homeland with a wonderful rune. With their success - the victory over the dragon and the formidable warriors growing out of his teeth - they owed much to the Colchis princess Medea, since Eros, at the request of Athena and Hera, who patronized Jason, instilled in the girl's heart love for the hero.
Upon their return to Iolk, the Argonauts learned that Pelias had killed Jason's father and all his relatives. According to one version, Pelias dies from the spell of Medea, whose name means "insidious." According to another, Jason resigned himself to exile, lived happily with Medea for ten years, and they had three children. Then the hero, leaving Medea, married Princess Glauca; in revenge, Medea killed her and killed her sons by Jason. Years passed. The aged hero eked out his days, until one day he wandered onto the pier where the famous "Argo" stood. Suddenly, the mast of the ship, rotten from time, gave way and collapsed on Jason, who immediately fell dead.
(or their descendants) and mortal people. Heroes differed from the gods in that they were mortal. More often they were the descendants of a god and a mortal woman, less often - a goddess and a mortal man. Heroes, as a rule, possessed exceptional or supernatural physical abilities, creative talents, etc., but did not possess immortality. The heroes were supposed to fulfill the will of the gods on earth, to bring order and justice into people's lives. With the help of their divine parents, they performed all sorts of feats. Heroes were highly revered, legends about them were passed down from generation to generation.
Heroes ancient Greek myths were Achilles, Heracles, Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus, Jason, Hector, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Pelops, Phoroneus, Aeneas.
Let's talk about some of them.
Achilles
Achilles was the bravest of heroes. He participated in the campaign against Troy led by the Mycenaean king Agamemnon.
Achilles. Greek antique bas-relief
Author: Jastrow (2007), from Wikipedia
Achilles was the son of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and the sea goddess Thetis.
There are several legends about the childhood of Achilles. One of them is the following: Thetis, wanting to make her son immortal, immersed him in the waters of Styx (according to another version, in fire), so that only the heel by which she held him remained vulnerable; hence the proverb "Achilles' heel" that exists to this day. This saying denotes someone's weak side.
As a child, Achilles was called Pyrrisius ("Ice"), but when the fire burned his lips, he was called Achilles ("lipless").
Achilles was raised by the centaur Chiron.
Chiron teaching Achilles to play the lyre
Another teacher of Achilles was Phoenix, a friend of his father Peleus. The centaur Chiron returned Phoenix's sight, which was taken from him by his father, who was falsely accused by a concubine.
Achilles joined the campaign against Troy at the head of 50 or even 60 ships, taking with him his tutor Phoenix and childhood friend Patroclus.
Achilles bandaging the hand of Patroclus (picture on the bowl)
The first shield of Achilles was made by Hephaestus, this scene is also depicted on vases.
During the long siege of Ilion, Achilles repeatedly launched raids on various neighboring cities. By existing version he wandered the Scythian land for five years in search of Iphigenia.
Achilles is the main character in Homer's Iliad.
Having slain many enemies, Achilles in the last battle reached the Skean gates of Ilion, but here an arrow shot from the bow of Paris by the hand of Apollo himself hit him in the heel, and the hero died.
Death of Achilles
But there are also later legends about the death of Achilles: he appeared in the temple of Apollo in Fimbre, near Troy, to marry Polyxena, youngest daughter Priam, where he was killed by Paris and Deiphobes.
Greek writer of the first half of the 2nd century AD. e. Ptolemy Hephaestion tells that Achilles was killed by Helen or Penthesilea, after which Thetis resurrected him, he killed Penthesilea and returned to Hades (the god of the underworld of the dead).
The Greeks erected a mausoleum for Achilles on the banks of the Hellespont, and here, in order to pacify the shadow of the hero, they sacrificed Polyxena to him. For the armor of Achilles, according to the story of Homer, Ajax Telamonides and Odysseus Laertides argued. Agamemnon awarded them to the latter. In the Odyssey, Achilles is in underworld where Odysseus meets him.
Achilles was buried in a golden amphora, which Dionysus presented to Thetis.
Hercules
A. Canova "Hercules"
Author: Lucius Commons - foto scattata da me., from Wikipedia
Hercules is the son of the god Zeus and Alkmena, the daughter of the Mycenaean king.
Numerous myths have been created about Hercules, the most famous is the cycle of legends about 12 exploits performed by Hercules when he was in the service of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus.
The cult of Hercules was very popular in Greece, from where it spread to Italy, where he is known by the name of Hercules.
The constellation Hercules is located in the northern hemisphere of the sky.
Zeus took the form of Amphitryon (husband of Alcmene), stopped the sun, and their night lasted three days. On the night when he was to be born, Hera made Zeus swear that today's newborn would be the supreme king. Hercules was from the Perseid family, but Hera delayed the birth of his mother, and his cousin Eurystheus was the first to be born (premature). Zeus concluded an agreement with Hera that Hercules would not be under the rule of Eurystheus all his life: after ten labors performed on behalf of Eurystheus, Hercules would not only be freed from his power, but even receive immortality.
Athena tricks Hera into breastfeeding Hercules: having tasted this milk, Hercules becomes immortal. The baby hurts the goddess, and she tears him from her breast; the splashed stream of milk turns into the Milky Way. Hera was the adoptive mother of Hercules.
In his youth, Hercules accidentally killed Lin, brother of Orpheus, with a lyre, so he was forced to retire to the wooded Kiteron, into exile. There, two nymphs appear to him (Depravity and Virtue), who offer him a choice between the easy road of pleasures and the thorny path of labors and exploits. Virtue convinced Hercules to go his own way.
Annibale Carracci "The Choice of Hercules"
12 Labors of Hercules
1 Strangling the Nemean Lion
2. Killing the Lernaean Hydra
3. Extermination of Stymphalian birds
4. Capture of the Kerinean fallow deer
5. Taming the Erymanthian boar and the battle with the centaurs
6. Cleaning the Augean stables.
7. Taming the Cretan Bull
8. The abduction of the horses of Diomedes, the victory over King Diomedes (who threw strangers to be eaten by his horses)
9 The Abduction Of The Girdle Of Hippolyta, Queen Of The Amazons
10. The abduction of the cows of the three-headed giant Gerion
11. Theft of golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides
12. Taming the guardian of Hades - the dog Cerberus
Antoine Bourdelle "Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds"
Stymphalian birds - predator birds who lived near the Arcadian city of Stimfal. They had copper beaks, wings and claws. They attacked people and animals. Their most formidable weapons were feathers, which the birds poured on the ground like arrows. They devoured crops in the area or ate people.
Hercules performed many other feats: with the consent of Zeus, he freed one of the titans - Prometheus, to whom the centaur Chiron gave his gift of immortality for the sake of liberation from torment.
G. Fuger "Prometheus brings fire to people"
During his tenth labor, he places the Pillars of Hercules on the sides of Gibraltar.
Pillars of Hercules - Rock of Gibraltar foreground) and the mountains of North Africa (on the back)
Author: Hansvandervliet - Own work, from Wikipedia
Participated in the campaign of the Argonauts. Defeated the king of Elis Avgii and established the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games, he won the pankration. Some authors describe the struggle of Hercules with Zeus himself - their contest ended in a draw. He established the Olympic stages 600 feet long. In running, he overcame stages without taking a breath. Accomplished many other feats.
There are also many legends about the death of Hercules. According to Ptolemy Hephaestion, having reached the age of 50 and finding that he could no longer draw his bow, he threw himself into the fire. Hercules ascended to heaven, was accepted among the gods, and Hera, reconciled with him, marries her daughter Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, to him. Happily lives on Olympus, and his ghost is in Hades.
Hector
The bravest leader of the Trojan army, the main Trojan hero in the Iliad. He was the son of the last Trojan king Priam and Hecuba (the second wife of King Priam). According to other sources, he was the son of Apollo.
Return of Hector's body to Troy
Perseus
Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos. He defeated the monster Gorgon Medusa, was the savior of the princess Andromeda. Perseus is mentioned in Homer's Iliad.
A. Canova "Perseus with the head of the Gorgon Medusa." Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
Author: Yucatan - Own work, from Wikipedia
Gorgon Medusa - the most famous of the three Gorgon sisters, a monster with woman's face and snakes instead of hair. Her gaze turned a man to stone.
Andromeda is the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and Cassiopeia (had divine progenitors). Cassiopeia once boasted that she surpassed the beauty of the Nereids (sea deities, daughters of Nereus and the oceanids of Dorida, resembling Slavic mermaids in appearance), the angry goddesses turned to Poseidon with a request for revenge, and he sent sea monster, which threatened the death of Kefey's subjects. The oracle of Ammon announced that the wrath of the deity would be tamed only when Cepheus sacrificed Andromeda to the monster, and the inhabitants of the country forced the king to decide on this sacrifice. Chained to a cliff, Andromeda was left to the mercy of the monster.
Gustave Doré "Andromeda Chained to a Rock"
In this position, Perseus saw her. He was struck by her beauty and promised to kill the monster if she agreed to marry him (Perseus). Andromeda's father Kefey gladly agreed to this, and Perseus accomplished his feat by showing the face of the Gorgon Medusa to the monster, thereby turning him into stone.
Perseus and Andromeda
Not wanting to reign in Argos after the accidental murder of his grandfather, Perseus left the throne to his kinsman Megapenthus, and he himself went to Tiryns (an ancient city on the Peloponnese peninsula). Founded Mycenae. The city got its name due to the fact that Perseus lost the tip (mike) of the sword in the vicinity. It is believed that among the ruins of Mycenae, the underground spring of Perseus has been preserved.
Andromeda bore Perseus a daughter, Gorgofon, and six sons: Perseus, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Eleus, Mestor, and Electryon. The eldest of them, Persian, was considered the ancestor of the Persian people.
Let me start by answering the question, who are they? heroes ancient myths . If you do not pick up dictionaries and encyclopedias, trying to answer this question without using special terminology, then it will sound like this: Heroes of ancient myths These are superhumans, a kind of supermen. These people are also called demigods. That is what Hesiod once called them for the first time. The fact is that heroes of ancient myths were born in marriages between mere mortals and. So, for example, the famous Hercules was the son of 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 from the monsters generated by Gaia. Each of heroes of antiquity had some of his special gift, character, certain advantages over others and the support of a congenial person. For example, Thetis tempered the hero Aschillas with fire.
Lernaean Hydra
What's the difference heroes from mere mortals and from the Gods? Heroes of ancient myths possessed super strength, which an ordinary person cannot have. However, they cannot be called gods either, since the latter were immortal. Heroes of ancient myths became immortal posthumously in the form of glory among people, the memory of their once accomplished exploits, in the form of monuments and folded legends. In other words, the heroes were mortal. And this is their main difference from the gods.
It should be noted that some gods tried to bestow immortality on the heroes, but these attempts were doomed to failure. Is that only with Hercules was an exception. After his death, he was allowed to ascend to Olympus.
Heroes of ancient myths were much more mobile. Often the heroes just traveled around the world. Encountering unrest on their way, the heroes punished the guilty, helped people cope with an impossible task for the latter (for example, they moved a heavy stone that fell and changed the course of the river), and generally protected people from all sorts of troubles in every possible way. The gods, apparently, were too lazy to descend from Olympus for the sake of such trifles.
Hercules and the Nemean Lion
Sometimes the heroes turned to the gods with requests from people. Thereby heroes of antiquity looked like some mediators between the higher and lower beings of the Earth.
I will briefly talk about only the most famous heroes. So that in case of interest, you can easily navigate and imagine what exactly to look for.
Let me remind you that in tasks heroes of ancient myths included the cleansing of the world from monsters born by the goddess of the Earth Gaia. So, the hero Perseus killed Medusa. Bellerophon is a fire-breathing Chimera. Theseus dealt with the Minotaur. Hercules, aka Hercules, became famous for his exploits in battles not with one monster, but with many. So, he defeated the Eurymanthian boar, the Stymphalian birds, the dangerous Hydra, the Nemean lion, etc. King Oedipus, famous for his mind, was able to defeat the Sphinx, solving the complex riddle of the latter. And the hero Jason, whose name was later used in his fantastic works by Harry Harrison, set off on a fearless voyage on the Argo ship 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 whole cycles. Reading them is always interesting. Many sayings and phrases were born from myths, which we still use in our speech. For example, the phrase "Achilles heel" means the only weak spot. The fact is that the invulnerable hero Achilles had only one weak spot - the 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 View of Medusa”, “Embraces of Morpheus”, “Augean Stables”, “Prophetic Cassandra”, “Pillars of Hercules”, etc. 
Speaking of 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 audacity. For example, King Tantalus steals food and drink, more precisely, ambrosia and nectar intended for the gods. And the cunning Sisyphus manages to circle around the finger of the god Hades himself. Such audacity aroused righteous anger among the Olympians. The gods decided to punish the impudent heroes in the form of a curse on their kind. This is how myths and legends about cursed births were born. An example is the cycle of King Oedipus and his sons. Or myths that tell 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, there are a lot of such lists on the Internet. So I decided to do just a little digression. 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!
Heroes were born from the marriages of the Olympian gods with mortals. They were endowed with superhuman abilities and great strength, but did not possess immortality. Heroes performed all sorts of feats with the help of their divine parents. They were supposed to fulfill the will of the gods on earth, to bring justice and order into people's lives. Heroes were highly revered in ancient Greece, legends about them were passed down from generation to generation.
Not always a concept heroic deed included military prowess. Some heroes, indeed, are great warriors, others are healers, others are great travelers, fourths are just husbands of goddesses, fifths are the ancestors of peoples, sixths are prophets, etc. Greek heroes are not immortal, but their posthumous fate is unusual. Some heroes of Greece live after death on the Isles of the Blessed, others on the island of Levka or even on Olympus. It was believed that most of the heroes who fell in battle or died as a result of dramatic events were buried in the ground. The tombs of the heroes - the heroons - were the places of their worship. Often, there were graves of the same hero in different places in Greece.
More about the characters based on the book by Mikhail Gasparov "Entertaining Greece"
In Thebes, they told about the hero Cadmus, the founder of Cadmea, the winner of the terrible cave dragon. In Argos, they told about the hero Perseus, who at the end of the world cut off the head of the monstrous Gorgon, from whose gaze people turned to stone, and then defeated the sea monster - the Whale. In Athens, they talked about the hero Theseus, who freed central Greece from evil robbers, and then in Crete killed the bull-headed ogre of the Minotaur, who was sitting in the palace with intricate passages - the Labyrinth; he did not get lost in the Labyrinth because he held on to the thread that the Cretan princess Ariadne gave him, who later became the wife of the god Dionysus. In the Peloponnese (named after another hero - Pelops) they talked about the twin heroes Castor and Polideuces, who later became the patron gods of horsemen and wrestlers. The sea was conquered by the hero Jason: on the ship "Argo" with his Argonaut friends, he brought to Greece from the eastern edge of the world the "Golden Fleece" - the skin of a golden ram that descended from heaven. The sky was conquered by the hero Daedalus, the builder of the Labyrinth: on the wings of bird feathers, sealed with wax, he flew from Cretan captivity to his native Athens, although his son Icarus, who flew with him, could not stay in the air and died.
The main of the heroes, the real savior of the gods, was Hercules, the son of Zeus. He was not just a mortal man - he was a bonded mortal man who served the weak and cowardly king for twelve years. On his orders, Hercules performed twelve famous labors. The first were victories over monsters from the vicinity of Argos - a stone lion and a many-headed hydra snake, in which several new ones grew instead of each severed head. The last were the victories over the dragon of the far West, guarding the golden apples of eternal youth (it was on the way to him that Hercules dug the Strait of Gibraltar, and the mountains on its sides became known as the Pillars of Hercules), and over the three-headed dog Kerberos, who guarded the terrible kingdom of the dead. And after that, he was called to his main business: he became a participant in the great war of the Olympians with the rebellious younger gods, giants, in gigantomachy. The giants threw mountains at the gods, the gods slew the giants with lightning, some with a rod, some with a trident, the giants fell, but not killed, but only stunned. Then Hercules hit them with arrows from his bow, and they did not get up again. So man helped the gods to defeat their most terrible enemies.
But gigantomachy was only the penultimate danger that threatened the omnipotence of the Olympians. Hercules also saved them from the last danger. In his wanderings along the ends of the earth, he saw Prometheus chained on a Caucasian rock, tormented by Zeus's eagle, took pity on him and killed the eagle with an arrow from a bow. In gratitude for this, Prometheus revealed to him the last secret of fate: let Zeus not seek the love of the sea goddess Thetis, because the son that Thetis gives birth to will be stronger than his father, and if it is the son of Zeus, he will overthrow Zeus. Zeus obeyed: Thetis was given not as a god, but as a mortal hero, and their son Achilles was born. And with this began the decline of the heroic age.
