The heroes of Greek myths and legends were not immortal like their gods. But they were not mere mortals either. Most of them were descended from the gods. Their great deeds and accomplishments, which were captured in myths and well-known artistic creations, give us an idea of the views of the ancient Greeks. So what did the most famous Greek heroes become famous for? Let's talk below...
The king of the island of Ithaca and the favorite of the goddess Athena, was known for his extraordinary intelligence and courage, although no less for his cunning and cunning. Homer's "Odyssey" tells about his return from Troy to his homeland and adventures during these wanderings. First, a strong storm nailed the ships of Odysseus to the shores of Thrace, where wild kikons killed 72 of his companions. In Libya, he blinded the Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon himself. After many trials, the hero ended up on the island of Eya, where he lived for a year with the sorceress Kirka. Sailing past the island of sweet-voiced sirens, Odysseus ordered to tie himself to the mast so as not to be tempted by their magical singing. He safely passed through the narrow strait between the six-headed Scylla, devouring all living things, and Charybdis, absorbing everyone in its whirlpool, and went out to the open sea. But lightning struck his ship, and all his companions perished. Only Odysseus escaped. The sea threw him onto the island of Ogygia, where the nymph Calypso kept him for seven years. Finally, after nine years of perilous wandering, Odysseus returned to Ithaca. There, together with his son Telemachus, he killed the suitors who besieged his faithful wife Penelope and squandered his fortune, and began to rule Ithaca again.
Hercules (Romans - Hercules), the most glorious and powerful of all Greek heroes, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Forced to serve the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, he performed twelve famous feats. For example, he killed the nine-headed hydra, tamed and led away the hellish dog Cerberus from the underworld, strangled the invulnerable Nemean lion and dressed in his skin, erected two stone pillars on the banks of the strait separating Europe from Africa (Pillars of Hercules - the ancient name of the Strait of Gibraltar), supported the heavenly vault, while the titan Atlas was getting him miraculous golden apples, guarded by the nymphs of the Hesperides. For these and other great feats, Athena carried Hercules to Olympus after her death, and Zeus granted him eternal life.
, the son of Zeus and the Argos princess Danae, went to the country of the Gorgons - winged monsters covered with scales. Instead of hair, poisonous snakes writhed on their heads, and a terrible look turned anyone who dared to look at them to stone. Perseus beheaded the Gorgon Medusa and married the daughter of the Ethiopian king Andromeda, whom he saved from a sea monster that devoured people. He turned her former fiancé, who had arranged a conspiracy, into stone, showing the severed head of Medusa.
, the son of the Thessalian king Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, one of the main characters of the Trojan War. As a baby, his mother dipped him into the sacred waters of the Styx, which made his body invulnerable, with the exception of the heel, by which the mother held him, lowering him into the Styx. In the battle for Troy, Achilles was killed by the son of the Trojan king Paris, whose arrow Apollo, who helped the Trojans, sent to his heel - the only vulnerable spot (hence the expression "Achilles' heel").
, the son of the Thessalian king Eson, went with his companions to distant Colchis on the Black Sea in order to get the skin of a magical ram guarded by a dragon - the Golden Fleece. Among the 50 Argonauts participating in the campaign on the Argo ship were Hercules, Pepper Orpheus and the Dioscuri twins (sons of Zeus) Castor and Polydeuces.
After numerous adventures, the Argonauts brought the fleece to Hellas. Jason married the daughter of the Colchis king, the sorceress Medea, and they had two boys. When, a few years later, Jason decided to marry the daughter of the Corinthian king Creusa, Medea killed her rival, and then her own children. Jason died under the wreckage of the dilapidated ship Argo.
Oedipus son of the Theban king Laius. Oedipus' father was predicted to die at the hands of his own son, so Laius ordered the child to be thrown to be eaten by wild animals. But the servant took pity and saved him. As a young man, Oedipus received a prediction from the Delphic oracle that he would kill his father and marry his own mother. Terrified by this, Oedipus left his foster parents and went on a wandering journey. On the way, in a casual quarrel, he killed a noble old man. But on the way to Thebes, he met the Sphinx, who guarded the road and asked travelers a riddle: “Who walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?” Those who could not answer were devoured by the monster. Oedipus solved the riddle: "Man: as a child he crawls on all fours, as an adult he walks straight, and in old age he leans on a stick." Crushed by this answer, the Sphinx threw himself into the abyss. The grateful Thebans chose Oedipus as their king and gave him the king's widow Jocasta as his wife. When it turned out that the elder killed on the road was his father, King Laius, and Jocasta was his mother, Oedipus blinded himself in despair, and Jocasta committed suicide.
, the son of Poseidon, also did many glorious deeds. On the way to Athens, he killed six monsters and robbers. In the labyrinth of Knossos, he destroyed the Minotaur and found a way out of there with the help of a ball of threads, which was given to him by the daughter of the Cretan king Ariadne. He was also revered as the creator of the Athenian state.
In ancient Greek mythology, there was a class of characters called "heroes". 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.
Achilles (Achilles)
The son of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and the sea goddess Thetis. During the long siege of Ilion, Achilles repeatedly launched raids on various neighboring cities. Achilles is the main character in Homer's Iliad. 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. 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. Achilles was buried in a golden amphora, which Dionysus presented to Thetis.
Son of the god Zeus and Alcmene, 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.
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.
Odysseus
The son of Laertes and Anticlea, the husband of Penelope, the grandson of Autolycus and the father of Telemachus, who became famous as a participant in the Trojan War, was an intelligent and quirky orator. One of the key characters in the Iliad, the protagonist of the Odyssey.
Perseus
Son of Zeus and Danae, 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.
Theseus
son of the Athenian king Aegeus and Ephra, daughter of the king of Troezen Pettheus. The central figure of Attic mythology and one of the most famous characters in all of Greek mythology. Mentioned already in the Iliad and the Odyssey.
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. His wife was Andromache. He killed Patroclus, a friend of Achilles, and was himself killed by Achilles, who several times dragged his body around the walls of Troy with his chariot and then gave it to Priam for a ransom.
Bellerophon
Nickname of Hippo. Son of Glaucus and Eurymede (or Poseidon and Eurynome). After he killed the Corinthian Bellaire, he became known as the "killer of Bellaire". In the myths about this, the heroes described quite a few exploits.
Orpheus
The legendary singer and musician - lyre performer, whose name personified the power of art. Son of the Thracian river god Eagra and the muse Calliope. Participated in the campaign of the Argonauts for the Golden Fleece. He did not revere Dionysus, but worshiped the Sun-Apollo, ascending Mount Pangea towards sunrise.
Pelops
Son of Tantalus and Euryanassa (or Dione), brother of Niobe, king and national hero of Phrygia and then Peloponnese. The oldest mention of PELOP is contained in Homer's Iliad.
Phoroneus
Son of Inach and Melia. King of all the Peloponnese, or the second king of Argos. Phoroneus was the first to unite people in society, and the place where they gathered was called the city of Phoronikon, after Hermes translated the languages of people, and discord began between people.
Aeneas
Hero of the Trojan War from the royal family of Dardani. In the Iliad he killed 6 Greeks. According to Gigin's calculations, he killed 28 soldiers in total. Companions of Aeneas in his wanderings, described in Latin by the ancient Roman poet Virgil in the Aeneid.
Jason
Son of King Iolk Aeson and Polymede (Alkimede). A hero, a participant in the Calydonian hunt, the leader of the Argonauts who set off on the Argo ship to Colchis for the Golden Fleece. Mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey. According to one version, Jason committed suicide by hanging himself, or he died with Glaucus, or was killed in the sanctuary of Hera in Argos, according to another version, he lived to old age and died under the wreckage of the dilapidated Argo, falling asleep in its shadow.
We can distinguish the following features that allow us to attribute the characters of Greek myths to 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 Eagra 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.
ABDER - son of Hermes, friend of Hercules
AUGIUS - son of Helios, king of Elis
Agenor - King of Sidon
AGLAVRA - daughter of Kekrop
AGLAYA - one of the graces
ADMET - king of Fer, friend of Hercules
ADMETA - daughter of Eurystheus, priestess of the goddess Hera
Hades - the god of the underworld (among the ancient Romans PLUTO)
ACID - son of Semetis, beloved of Galatea
ACRISIA - king of Argos, father of Danae
ALKESTIS - daughter of Tsar Iolk Pelias, wife of Admet
Alkid - the name of Hercules, given to him at birth
Alcyone - one of the seven daughters of Atlas
ALCMENA - daughter of the Mycenaean king Electrion, mother of Hercules
AMALTHEA - the goat who nursed Zeus with her milk
AMPHITRION - Greek hero, husband of Alcmene
AMPHITRITE - one of the daughters of Nereus, the wife of the god of the seas Poseidon
ANGEY - Greek hero, member of the Argonauts campaign
ANDROGEUS - the son of the Cretan king Minos, killed by the Athenians
ANDROMEDA - daughter of the king of Ethiopia Cepheus and Cassiopeia, wife of Perseus
ANTEUS - the son of the goddess of the earth Gaia and the god of the seas Poseidon
ANTEA - the wife of King Tiryns Pretus
Antiope - Amazon
APOLLO (PHEB) - god of sunlight, patron of the arts, son of Zeus
APOP - in ancient Egyptian mythology, a monstrous serpent, the enemy of the sun god Ra
ARGOS - the shipbuilder who built the ship "Argo"
ARGUS - a mythological stout-eyed monster that guarded Io
ARES - in ancient Greek mythology, the god of war, the son of Zeus and Hera (among the ancient Romans, MARS)
ARIADNE - daughter of the Cretan king Minos, beloved of Theseus, later the wife of the god Dionysus
ARCADE - son of Zeus and Callisto
ARTEMIS - goddess of the hunt, daughter of Zeus and Latona, sister of Apollo
ASKLEPIUS (ESCULAP) - the son of Apollo and Coronis, a skilled healer
ASTEROPE - one of the seven daughters of Atlas
ATA - goddess of lies and deceit
ATAMANT - King Orchomenus, son of the god of the winds Eol
ATLAS (ATLANT) - a titan holding the entire celestial sphere on his shoulders
ATHENA - the goddess of war and victory, as well as wisdom, knowledge, arts and crafts (among the ancient Romans MINERVA)
APHRODITE - the goddess of love and beauty (the ancient Romans VENUS)
AHELOY - river god
Achilles - Greek hero, son of King Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis
BELLER - Corinthian killed by Hippo
BELLEROPHONT (HIPPONOES) - the son of King Glaucus of Corinth, one of the greatest heroes of Greece
Boreas - god of the winds
VENUS (see APHRODITE)
VESTA (see HESTIA)
GALATEA - one of the Nereids, beloved Akida
Ganymede - a beautiful young man, the son of the Dardanian king Troy, abducted by Zeus
HARMONY - daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, wife of the founder of Thebes Cadmus
HEBA - eternally young beautiful daughter of Zeus and Hera
HEKATE - patroness of night evil spirits, witchcraft
HELIOS - sun god
HELIADS - daughters of the god Helios
GELLA - daughter of Atamant and the goddess of clouds and clouds Nephele
HERA - wife of Zeus
GERION - a terrible giant who had three heads, three bodies, six arms and six legs
HERCULES - one of the greatest heroes of Greece, the son of Zeus and Alcmene
HERMES - in Greek micrology, the messenger of the Olympic gods, the patron of shepherds and travelers, the god of trade and profit, the son of Zeus and Maya (among the ancient Romans, MERCURY)
GERSE - daughter of Kekrop
Hesione - wife of Prometheus
HESPERIDES - daughters of Atlas
HESTIA - daughter of Kronos, goddess of the hearth (among the ancient Romans VESTA)
Hephaestus - in Greek mythology, the god of fire, the patron of blacksmithing, the son of Zeus and Hera (among the ancient Romans, VOLCANO)
GAYA - the goddess of the Earth, from which mountains and seas originated, the first generation of gods, cyclops and giants
HYADES - daughters of Atlas who raised Dionysus
GIAS - brother of Hyades, who tragically died while hunting lions
GILAS - Hercules' squire
GILL - son of Hercules
HYMENEUS - god of marriage
Himeroth - god of passionate love
HYPERION - Titan, father of Helios
HYPNOS - god of sleep
Hippocontus - brother of Tiidareus, who expelled him from Sparta
HYPPONOES (see VELLEROFONT)
Hypsipyla - queen of the island of Lemnos
GLAVK - king of Corinth, father of Bellerophon
GLAVK - soothsayer
GRANI - goddesses of old age
Danae - daughter of King Argos Acrisius, mother of Perseus
DAR DAN - son of Zeus and daughter of Atlas Electra
Daphne - nymph
Deucalion - son of Prometheus
Daedalus - unsurpassed sculptor, painter, architect
DEIMOS (Horror) - son of the god of war Ares
DEMETRA - the goddess of fertility and the patroness of agriculture
Dejanira - wife of Hercules
DIKE - goddess of justice, daughter of Zeus and Themis
DICTIS - a fisherman who found a box with Danae and Perseus in the sea
DIOMED - Thracian king
Dione - nymph, mother of Aphrodite
Dionysus - god of viticulture and winemaking, son of Zeus and Semele
Eurystheus - king of Argos, son of Stenel
HEBRITO - father of Ifit, friend of Hercules
Eurytion - the giant slain by Hercules
EUROPE - daughter of King Sidon Agenor, beloved of Zeus
EUTERPA - the muse of lyric poetry
Euphrosyne - one of the Charites (Graces)
ELENA - daughter of Zeus and Leda, wife of Menelaus, because of whose abduction by Paris, the Trojan War began
ECHIDNA - monster, half-woman half-snake
ZEUS - the ruler of Heaven and Earth, the thunderer, the supreme god of the ancient Greeks (among the ancient Romans, JUPITER)
ZET - the son of the god of the winds Boreas, a participant in the campaign of the Argonauts
ID - Castor and Pollux's cousin, Castor's killer
IKAR - the son of Daedalus, who died because he got too close to the Sun
Icarius - a resident of Attica, the first to grow grapes and make wine
IMHOTEP - ancient Egyptian physician and architect
INO - daughter of the founder of Thebes Cadmus and Harmony, wife of King Orchomenus Adamant, stepmother of Frix and Gella
IO - daughter of the river god Inach, the first king of Argolis, beloved of Zeus
IOBAT - Lycian king, father of Anthea
IOLA - daughter of Bvrit
IOLAI - nephew of Hercules, son of Iphicles
IPPOLITUS - the son of the Athenian king Theseus and Hippolyta, slandered by his stepmother Fed-roy
Hippolyta - Queen of the Amazons
IRIDA - messenger of the gods
Isis - ancient Egyptian goddess, great-granddaughter of the sun god Ra
Iphicles - brother of Hercules, son of Amphitryon and Alcmene
IFIT - friend of Hercules, killed by him in a fit of madness
KADM - the son of the Sidonian king Agekor, the founder of Thebes
KALAID - the son of the god of the winds Boreas, a participant in the campaign of the Argonauts
Calliope - the muse of epic poetry
CALLISTO - daughter of the Arcadian king Lycaon, beloved of Zeus
Kalhant - soothsayer
CASSIOPEIA - Queen of Ethiopia, wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda
CASTOR - son of Leda and the Spartan king Tin-dareus, brother of Pollux
Karpo - ora of summer, one of the goddesses who were in charge of the change of seasons
KEKROP - half man, half snake, founder of Athens
KELENO - one of the daughters of Atlas
KERVER (CERBER) - a three-headed dog with a snake tail, guarding the souls of the dead in the underworld of Hades
KEFEI (see CEFEI)
KICN - Phaeton's friend who turned into a snow-white swan
KILIK - son of the Sidonian king Agenor
KLYMENE - daughter of the sea goddess Thetis, wife of Helios, mother of Phaethon
CLIO - the muse of history
KLYTEMNESTRA - daughter of Leda and the Spartan king Tyndareus, wife of Agamemnon
CAPRICORN - son of Epian, childhood friend of Zeus
KOPREI - the messenger of Bvristhey, who transmitted orders to Hercules
KORONIDA - beloved of Apollo, mother of Asclepius (Aesculapius)
Creon - Theban king, father of Megara, the first wife of Hercules
KRONOS - Titan, son of Uranus and Gaia. Having overthrown his father, he became the supreme god. In turn, he was overthrown by his son Zeus
Laomedont - King of Troy
LATONA (SUMMER) - Titanide, beloved of Zeus, mother of Apollo and Artemis
LEARCH - the son of Atamant and Ino, killed by his father in a fit of madness
LEDA - wife of the Spartan king Tyndareus, mother of Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux
LYCAON - king of Arcadia, father of Callisto
Lycurgus - Thracian king who insulted Dionysus and was blinded by Zeus as punishment
LIN - music teacher of Hercules, brother of Orpheus
LINKEY - cousin of Castor and Pollux, distinguished by extraordinary vigilance
LICHAS - messenger of Hercules
MAYA - daughter of Atlas, beloved of Zeus, mother of Hermes
MARDUK - the patron god of the city of Babylon, the supreme deity of the Babylonian pantheon
MARS (see ARES)
MEG ARA - daughter of the Theban king Creon, the first wife of Hercules
MEDEIA - sorceress, daughter of the king of Colchis Eeta, wife of Jason, later the wife of the Athenian king Aegeus
MEDUSA GORGON - the only mortal of the three Gorgon sisters - winged female monsters with snakes instead of hair; the look of the Gorgon turned all living things into stone
MELANIPPE - Amazon, assistant to Hippolyta
MELIKERT - the son of King Atamant and the sorceress Ino
MELPOMENE - muse of tragedy
MERCURY (see HERMES)
MEROPE - daughter of Atlas
METIS - the goddess of wisdom, the mother of Pallas Athena (among the ancient Romans METIS)
MIMAS - a giant struck by the arrow of Hercules during the battle of the gods with the giants
MINOS - king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europe
MINOTAUR - a monster with a human body and a bull's head, who lived in the Labyrinth, was killed by Theseus
Mnemosyne - goddess of memory and remembrance
Pug - a Greek hero who understood the language of birds and guessed the future, a participant in the campaign of the Argonauts
NEPTUNE (see POSEIDON)
NEREIDS - fifty daughters of Nereus
NEREI - sea god, soothsayer
NESS - a centaur who tried to kidnap Dejanira, the wife of Hercules, and was killed by him
NEPHELA - goddess of clouds and clouds, mother of Frix and Gella
NIKTA - goddess of the night
NOT - the god of the southern wet wind
NUT - the ancient Egyptian goddess of Heaven
OVERON - in Scandinavian mythology, the king of elves, a character in W. Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
OYNEUS - king of Calydon, father of Meleager - friend of Hercules and Dejanira - his wife
OCEANIDS - daughters of the Ocean
OMFALA - Lydian queen who enslaved Hercules
ORION - brave hunter
ORPHEUS - the son of the river god Eagra and the muse Calliope, a famous musician and singer
ORFO - a two-headed dog, a product of Typhon and Echidna
Ores - goddesses who were in charge of the change of seasons
OSIRIS - in ancient Egyptian mythology, the god of dying and resurrecting nature, brother and husband of Isis, father of Horus, patron and judge of the dead
PALLANT - a giant defeated by Athena, from whom she took off her skin and covered her shield with this skin
PANDORA - a woman made by Hephaestus on the orders of Zeus from clay in order to punish people, the wife of Epimetheus - the brother of Prometheus
PANDROSA - daughter of Kekrops, the first Athenian king
Pegasus - winged horse
Peleus - Greek hero, father of Achilles
PELIUS - king of Iolk, father of Alcestis
PENEUS - river god, father of Daphne
PERIFET - a terrible giant, son of Hephaestus, killed by Theseus
PERSEUS - Greek hero, son of Zeus and Danae
PERSEPHONE - the daughter of the goddess of fertility Demeter and Zeus, the wife of the ruler of the underworld Hades (among the ancient Romans PROSERPINA)
Pyrrha - Deucalion's wife
Pittheus - king of Argolis
Pythia - the prophetess of the god Apollo in Delphi
PYTHON - the monstrous serpent that pursued Latona is killed by Apollo
PLEIADS - seven daughters of Atlas, sister of Hyades
PLUTO (see HADES)
POLYHYMNIA - the muse of sacred hymns
POLIDEUCUS (POLLUX) - son of Zeus and Leda, brother of Castor
POLYDECT - the king of the island of Serif, who sheltered Danae and Perseus
POLYID - soothsayer
Polyphemus - Cyclops, son of Poseidon, in love with Galatea
POLYPHEM - Lapith, husband of the sister of Hercules, participant in the campaign of the Argonauts
POSEIDON - the god of the seas, the brother of Zeus (among the ancient Romans, NEPTUNE)
PRET - king of Tiryns
PRIAM - Trojan king
PROMETHEUS - the titan who gave people fire
RA - the sun god of the ancient Egyptians
RADAMANT - son of Zeus and Europa
REZIA - daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad, faithful wife of Huon
Rhea - wife of Kronos
Sarpedon - son of Zeus and Europa
SATURN (see KRONOS)
SELENA - Goddess of the Moon
SEMELE - daughter of the Theban king Cadmus, beloved of Zeus, mother of Dionysus
SEMETIS - mother of Acida, lover of Galatea
Silenus - the wise teacher of Dionysus, was depicted as a drunken old man
SINNID - a terrible robber defeated by Theseus
SKIRON - a cruel robber defeated by Theseus
SOHMET - daughter of Ra, had the head of a Lioness, the personification of the fire element
STENEL - father of Eurystheus
STENO - one of the Gorgons
Scylla - one of two terrible monsters that lived on both sides of a narrow strait and killed sailors passing between them
TAIGET - son of Zeus and Maya, brother of Hermes
TAL - nephew of Daedalus, killed by him out of envy
THALIA - the muse of comedy
TALLO - ora of spring
TALOS - a copper giant, presented by Zeus to Minos
THANATOS - god of death
TEIA - the eldest daughter of Uranus, the mother of Helios, Selene and Eos
TELAMON - a true friend of Hercules, a member of the Argonauts' campaign
TERPSIKHORA - the muse of dances
TESEN - a Greek hero, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus and the Trizen princess Etra, killed the Minotaur
TESTIUS - king of Estonia, father of Leda
TEPHIA - Titanide, wife of the Ocean
TYNDAREUS - Spartan hero, husband of Leda
Tiresias - soothsayer
TITANIA - in Scandinavian mythology, the wife of Oberon, a character in W. Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
TITON - brother of the Trojan king Priam
Typhon - a hundred-headed monster, the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus
THOT - the ancient Egyptian god of the moon
TRIPTOLEM - the first farmer who initiated people into the secrets of agriculture
TRITON - the son of the ruler of the seas Poseidon
Troy - king of Dardan, father of Ganymede
URANUS - the god of Heaven, the husband of Gaia, the father of the titans, cyclops and hundred-armed giants; was overthrown by his son Kronos
URANIA - the muse of astronomy
PHAETON - the son of Helios and Clymene, the hero of a tragic myth
FEBA - titanide
PHEDRA - the wife of the Athenian king Theseus, who fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus and slandered him
Themis - goddess of justice, mother of Prometheus
PHOENIX - son of the Sidonian king Agenor
Thetis - sea goddess, mother of Achilles
FIAMAT - the ancient Babylonians have a monster from which all troubles stemmed
PHILOCTETES - friend of Hercules who received his bow and arrows as a reward for setting fire to the funeral pyre
PHINEUS - the king of Thrace, a soothsayer blinded by Apollo for revealing to people the secrets of Zeus
PHOBOS (Fear) - the son of the god of war Ares
FRIX - the son of Atamant and Nephele, the goddess of clouds and clouds
CHALKIOPE - daughter of the king of Colchis Eeta, wife of Frix
CHARIBDA - one of the monsters that lived on both sides of the narrow strait and killed sailors passing by
CHARON - the carrier of dead souls across the river Styx in the underworld of Hades
Chimera - a three-headed monster, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna
CHIRON is a wise centaur, a teacher of the famous Greek heroes Theseus, Achilles, Jason and others.
HYUON - a knight of Charlemagne, an example of a faithful spouse
CEPHEI - king of Ethiopia, father of Ariadne
SHU - son of the sun god Ra
EAGR - river god, father of Orpheus
Euryale - one of the Gorgons
Eurydice - nymph, wife of Orpheus
EGEI - king of Athens, father of Theseus
ELEKTRA - daughter of Atlas, beloved of Zeus, mother of Dardanus and Jason
ELECTRION - Mycenaean king, father of Alcmene, grandfather of Hercules
ENDYMION - a beautiful young man, beloved of Selena, immersed in eternal sleep
ENCELADUS - the giant whom Athena filled up with the island of Sicily
ENIO - the goddess who sows murder in the world, the companion of the god of war Ares
EOL - god of the winds
EOS - goddess of the dawn
EPAF - Phaethon's cousin, son of Zeus
Epian - father of Capricorn
Epimetheus - brother of Prometheus
ERATO - the muse of love songs
Erigone - daughter of Ikaria
ERIDA - goddess of discord, companion of the god of war Ares
Erichthonius - son of Hephaestus and Gaia, second king of Athens
EROS (EROT) - god of love, son of Aphrodite
Aesculapius (see ASCLEPIUS)
ESON - king of Iolk, father of Jason
EET - king of Colchis, son of Helios
JUNO (see HERA)
JUPITER (see ZEUS)
Janus - god of time
IAPET - titan, father of Atlas
YASION - son of Zeus and Electra
Jason - Greek hero, leader of the Argonauts campaign
The dead heroes of primitive times, the founders of tribes, the founders of cities and colonies, enjoyed divine honors among the Greeks. They constitute a separate world of Greek mythology, however, closely connected with the world of the gods, from whom they originate. Each tribe, each region, each city, even each 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, which tirelessly overcomes the obstacles that are everywhere opposed to it by testing fate, fights against the impure forces and horrors of nature, and, having freed itself from human weaknesses, becomes like the gods. In Greek mythology, Hercules is a representative of humanity, which, with the help of its semi-divine origin, can ascend to Olympus, despite the hostility of hostile forces towards it.
Initially appearing in Boeotia and Argos, the myth of Hercules was subsequently mixed with many foreign legends, because the Greeks merged with their Hercules all such deities that they met in their relations with the Phoenicians (Melkart), Egyptians and Celto-Germanic tribes. He is the son of Zeus and the Thebes 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: he frees the Peloponnese and other regions from monsters and predatory animals, cleans the stables of King Avgius in Elis, extracts golden apples from the gardens of the Hesperides (in North Africa) with the help of the titan Atlas, for which he holds the heavenly vault for some time, passes through the so-called Pillars of Hercules to Spain, there he leads the bulls from King Gerion, 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 leads the chained Cerberus out of the underworld. But he also falls into weakness for a while and performs the female service of the Lydian queen Omphala; soon, however, he returns to his former courage, undertakes some more feats, and finally takes his own life in a flame on Mount Ete, when the poisoned clothes that his wife Dejanira, who did not suspect trouble, sent him, led the hero to inevitable death. Upon death, he was taken to Olympus and married Hebe, the goddess of youth.
In all countries and on all coasts, where the active sea 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 national life. in Greek mythology carried 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 as far as Egypt and the shores of the Black Sea. The soldiers of Alexander the Great acquired it even in India.
In the Peloponnese, a myth arose about the cursed family of the Lydian or Phrygian Tantalus, whose son, the hero Pelops, through deceit and cunning, took possession of the daughter and region of the Elidian king Enomai. His sons Atreus and Thyestes (Tyestes) allow themselves incest, infanticide and pass on to their descendants an even greater degree of damnation. The mythological hero Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, friend of Pylades, the 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 barbaric worship of Artemis, is freed from Erinnia and atones for the sins of the entire Tantalus family.
In Lacedaemon, myths were told about the Tyndarides - the twins Castor and Pollux (Pollux), Helen's brothers, who merged with the Dioscuri, shining stars, patrons of sailors and sailors: they thought that their ascent calmed the storm.
The tribal hero of Thebes was the Phoenician Cadmus, who was looking for his sister Europa, kidnapped by Zeus, and brought by a cow to Boeotia. King Laius descended from him, who, frightened by one saying of the oracle, ordered that his son from Jocasta, Oedipus, be thrown into a mountain gorge. But the son, according to Greek mythology, was saved, brought up 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 a widowed queen, his own mother, in marriage. Then, when grave disasters befell the country, and one elderly priest discovered a terrible secret, Jocasta herself took her own life, and Oedipus left his fatherland as a blind old man and ended his life in the town of Colon, 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.
The brothers-heroes - the singer Amphion, the husband of Niobe, and the brave Zeth, armed with a club, also belong to Thebes. In order to avenge their mother, insulted by the nymph Dirka, they claimed the latter to the tail of a bull and tortured her to death (Farnese bull). In Boeotia and Attica, a legend was established about Thereus, the primitive king of the Thracians rich in myths who lived around the Copaid Lake, and his sister and sister-in-law, Prokne and Philomela, who, after the murder of their son Tereus, were turned - one into a swallow, the other into a nightingale.
The Greek myths about heroes, rich in horses, inhabited Thessaly with Centaurs (bull-killers) 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.
Theseus was a popular mythological hero in Athens. 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, was born and raised in Troezen by Pittheus. Having taken out his father's sword and sandals from under a huge stone block and thus 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 royal daughter Ariadne, 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 sacrifice). Aegeus, believing that his son was dead, because on his return he forgot to replace the black sail of the ship with white, in despair he threw himself into the sea, which received from him the name of the Aegean.
The name of Theseus is closely connected with the worship of the god Poseidon, in whose honor he established the Isthmian games. Poseidon also gives a tragic denouement of the love story of the second wife of Theseus (Phaedra) with his son Hippolytus. The legend of Theseus has a lot of affinity with the legend of Hercules. Like Hercules, the hero Theseus also descended into the underworld.
The mythological heroes of ancient Greece were people, but the gods were the parents of many of them. Myths about their exploits and accomplishments are an integral part of the culture of the ancient Greeks, and the article below presents a kind of “top” of the heroes of Hellas.
The most powerful hero of ancient Greece - Hercules
The parents of Hercules were the mortal woman Alcmene and the powerful ancient Greek god Zeus. According to ancient Greek mythology, Hercules performed twelve famous feats during his life, for which the goddess Athena lifted him to Olympus, where Zeus granted immortality to the hero.
The most famous exploits of Hercules are the killing of the nine-headed hydra, the victory over the previously invulnerable Nemean lion, the taming of the guardian of the kingdom of the dead, the dog Cerberus, the cleaning of the Augean stables that had been uncleaned for decades, the construction of stone pillars on the banks of the Strait of Gibraltar, dividing Africa and Europe. In ancient times, the strait was called the Pillars of Hercules (Hercules is the Roman name of Hercules).
Ancient Greek hero Odysseus
The king of Ithaca, Odysseus, is famous for his journey from the city of Troy to his homeland, full of dangers and mortal risk. The exploits that the hero accomplished during it are described by the ancient Greek poet Homer in the poem "Odyssey".
Odysseus was distinguished not only by strength, but also by cunning. During the journey, he blinded the giant Cyclops Polyphemus, escaped from the sorceress Kirka, did not succumb to the charms of the sweet-voiced sirens, "slipped" on the ship between the devouring Scylla and the whirlpool of Charybdis, which absorbs everything, left the beautiful nymph Calypso, survived after being struck by lightning and, returning home , dealt with all the newly-minted "suitors" of his wife Penelope. "Odyssey" - since then people have called any risky and long journey.
Greek hero Perseus
Perseus is another son of Zeus, his mother was the Argive princess Danae. Perseus became famous for killing the medusa Gorgon - a winged monster covered with scales, whose head was covered with snakes instead of hair, and from whose gaze all living things turned to stone. Then Perseus freed Princess Andromeda from the clutches of a sea monster devouring people, and turned her former fiancé into stone, forcing him to look at the severed head of the Gorgon.
Ancient Greek hero of the Trojan War - Achilles
Achilles was the son of King Peleus and the nymph Thetis. In infancy, his mother dipped him into the waters of the river of the dead Styx, due to which the whole body of Achilles became invulnerable, except for the heel by which his mother held him.
The invulnerability of Achilles made him an invincible warrior, until, during the siege of Troy, the son of the Trojan king Paris hit him with an arrow in this very heel. Since then, any weak point of any impregnable defense has been called its "Achilles' heel".
Greek hero Jason
Jason is famous for the fact that on the Argo ship with a team of brave Argonauts (among whom were the sweet-voiced singer Orpheus and the mighty Hercules) went to distant Colchis (modern Georgia) and obtained the skin of a magical ram guarded by a dragon - the Golden Fleece.
In Colchis, Jason married the daughter of the king of this country, the jealous Medea, who bore him two boys. When Jason later decided to remarry the Corinthian princess Creusa, Medea killed both her and her own children.
The unfortunate hero of ancient Greece Oedipus
The oracle predicted to Oedipus' father, the Theban king Laius, that he would die at the hands of his son. Laius ordered Oedipus to be killed, but he was saved and adopted as a slave, and the young man also received a prediction from the Delphic oracle that he would kill his father and marry his own mother.
Frightened, Oedipus set off to travel, but on the way to Thebes, in a quarrel, he killed some noble old Theban. The road to Thebes was guarded by the Sphinx, making riddles to travelers and devouring everyone who could not guess them. Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx, after which he committed suicide.
The Thebans chose Oedipus as their king, and the widow of the former ruler of Thebes became his wife. But when Oedipus learned that the former king was an old man he had once killed on the road, and his wife was also a mother, he blinded himself.
Another famous hero of ancient Greece - Theseus
Theseus was the son of the king of the seas, Poseidon, and became famous for having killed the Minotaur, a monster that lived in the difficult Cretan labyrinth, and then found a way out of this labyrinth. He got out of there thanks to a ball of thread, which was presented to him by the daughter of the Cretan king Ariadne.
The mythological hero Theseus is revered in Greece as the founder of Athens.
According to the materials of the encyclopedia "Who is who".
