Before talking about the Heroes of Greece, it is necessary to decide who they are and how they differ from Genghis Khan, Napoleon and other heroes known in various historical eras. In addition to strength, resourcefulness, and intelligence, one of the differences is ancient greek heroes- duality from birth. One of the parents was a deity, and the other was a mortal.
Famous heroes of the myths of Ancient Greece
Description of Heroes Ancient Greece we should start with Hercules (Hercules), who was born from the love affair of the mortal Alcmene and the main god of the ancient Greek pantheon, Zeus. According to myths that have come down from the depths of centuries, for completing a dozen labors, Hercules was elevated by the goddess Athena - Pallas to Olympus, where his father, Zeus, granted his son immortality. The exploits of Hercules are widely known and many have become part of fairy tales and sayings. This hero cleared the stables of Augeas from manure, defeated the Nemean lion, and killed the hydra. In ancient times, the Strait of Gibraltar was named in honor of Zeus - the Pillars of Hercules. According to one legend, Hercules was too lazy to overcome the Atlas Mountains, and he made a passage through them that connected the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic.
Another illegitimate one is Perseus. Perseus's mother is Princess Danae, daughter of the Argive king Acrisius. The exploits of Perseus would have been impossible without the victory over the Gorgon Medusa. This mythical monster turned all living things into stone with its gaze. Having killed the Gorgon, Perseus attached her head to his shield. Wanting to win the favor of Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess, daughter of Cassiopeia and King Kepheus, this hero killed her fiancé and rescued her from the clutches of a sea monster that was going to satisfy Andromeda’s hunger.
Theseus, famous for killing the Minotaur and finding a way out of the Cretan labyrinth, was born from the god of the seas, Poseidon. In mythology he is revered as the founder of Athens.
The ancient Greek heroes Odysseus and Jason cannot boast of their divine origins. King Odysseus of Ithaca is famous for inventing the Trojan horse, thanks to which the Greeks destroyed. Returning to his homeland, he deprived the cyclops Polyphemus of his only eye, navigated his ship between the rocks where the monsters Scylla and Charybdis lived, and did not succumb to the magical charm of the sweet-voiced sirens. However, a significant share of Odysseus’s fame was given to him by his wife, Penelope, who, while waiting for her husband, remained faithful to him, refusing 108 suitors.
Most feats ancient greek heroes have reached our days as narrated by the poet-storyteller Homer, who wrote the famous epic poems"The Odyssey and the Iliad."
Olympic heroes of ancient Greece
Winner's Ribbon Olympic Games issued from 752 BC. Heroes wore purple ribbons and were revered in society. The winner of the Games three times received a statue in Altis as a gift.
From the history of Ancient Greece, the names of Korebus from Elis, who won a running competition in 776 BC, became known.
The strongest during the entire period of the festival in ancient times was Milo from Croton; he won six strength competitions. It is believed that he was a student
The heroes of Greek myths and legends were not immortal like their gods. But they were not mere mortals either. Most of them originated from the gods. Their great exploits and accomplishments, which were captured in myths and famous artistic creations, give us an idea of the views of the ancient Greeks. So what did the most famous Greek heroes become famous for? We'll tell you 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 his adventures during these wanderings. First, a strong storm washed Odysseus's ships to the shores of Thrace, where the wild Cycones 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 himself to be tied 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 her whirlpool, and went out into the open sea. But lightning struck his ship, and all his companions died. 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 dangerous wanderings, Odysseus returned to Ithaca. There, together with his son Telemachus, he killed the suitors who were besieging his faithful wife Penelope and squandering 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 (the Pillars of Hercules - ancient name Strait of Gibraltar), supported firmament, while the Titan Atlas was getting him miraculous golden apples, guarded by the Hesperides nymphs. For these and other great exploits, Athena after her death carried Hercules to Olympus, and Zeus granted him eternal life.
, the son of Zeus and the Argive princess Danae, went to the country of the gorgons - winged monsters covered with scales. Instead of hair, poisonous snakes wriggled on their heads, and a terrible gaze 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 was devouring people. He turned her former fiancé, who arranged the conspiracy, into stone, showing the severed head of Medusa.
, son of the Thessalian king Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, one of the main heroes of the Trojan War. As an infant, his mother dipped him into the sacred waters of the Styx, causing his body to become invulnerable, with the exception of his heel, by which his mother held him, lowering him into the Styx. In the Battle of Troy, Achilles was killed by the son of the Trojan king Paris, whose arrow Apollo, who was helping the Trojans, aimed at his heel - his 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 to get the skin of a magic ram, the golden fleece, protected by a dragon. Among the 50 Argonauts who took part in the expedition on the ship "Argo" were Hercules, the 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 Colchian king, the sorceress Medea, and they had two boys. When a few years later Jason decided to marry the daughter of the Corinthian king Creus, 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's father was predicted to die at the hands of his own son, so Laius ordered the child to be devoured wild animals. But the slave 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. Frightened by this, Oedipus left his adoptive parents and went wandering. On the way, in a random quarrel, he killed a noble old man. But on the way to Thebes he met the Sphinx, who guarded the road and asked the 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 upright, and in old age he leans on a stick.” Shattered by this answer, the Sphinx threw itself 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 old man killed on the road was his father King Laius, and Jocasta his mother, Oedipus blinded himself in despair, and Jocasta committed suicide.
, the son of Poseidon, also accomplished many glorious deeds. On the way to Athens he killed six monsters and robbers. In the Knossos labyrinth he destroyed the Minotaur and found a way out with the help of a ball of thread, which was given to him by the daughter of the Cretan king Ariadne. He was also revered as the creator of the Athenian state.
Heroes were born from marriages of Olympian gods with mortals. They were endowed with superhuman powers and enormous power, but did not have 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.
The concept of a heroic act did not always include military valor. Some heroes, indeed, are great warriors, others are healers, others are great travelers, others are just husbands of goddesses, others are ancestors of nations, others are prophets, etc. Greek heroes are not immortal, but they are posthumous fate 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 heroes who fell in battle or died as a result dramatic events, buried in the ground. The tombs of heroes - heroons - were places of their worship. Often, there were graves of the same hero in different places in Greece.
Read more about the characters from Mikhail Gasparov’s book “Entertaining Greece”
In Thebes they talked about the hero Cadmus, the founder of Cadmeia, the winner of the terrible cave dragon. In Argos they talked 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 - Whale. In Athens they talked about the hero Theseus, who freed central Greece from evil robbers, and then in Crete killed the bull-headed cannibal Minotaur, who was sitting in a palace with intricate passages - the Labyrinth; he did not get lost in the Labyrinth because he held on to the thread that was given to him by the Cretan princess Ariadne, 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 Polydeuces, who later became the patron gods of horsemen and fighters. The hero Jason conquered the sea: 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 came down from heaven. The hero Daedalus, the builder of the Labyrinth, conquered the sky: on wings made of bird feathers, fastened with wax, he flew from captivity in Crete to his native Athens, although his son Icarus, flying with him, could not stay in the air and died.
The main hero, the real savior of the gods, was Hercules, the son of Zeus. He was not just a mortal man - he was a forced mortal man who served a weak and cowardly king for twelve years. On his orders, Hercules performed twelve famous labors. The first were victories over monsters from the outskirts of Argos - a stone lion and a multi-headed hydra snake, in which, instead of each severed head, several new ones grew. The last were victories over the dragon of the Far West, who guarded 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 began to be called the Pillars of Hercules), and over the three-headed dog Cerberus, who guarded the terrible kingdom of the dead. And after that he was called to his main task: he became a participant in the great war of the Olympians with the rebellious younger gods, the giants - in the Gigantomachy. The giants threw mountains at the gods, the gods struck the giants, some 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. Thus, man helped the gods 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 to the ends of the earth, he saw chained Prometheus on a Caucasian rock, tormented by Zeus's eagle, took pity on him and killed the eagle with an arrow. 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 married not to a god, but to a mortal hero, and they had a son, Achilles. And with this began the decline of the heroic age.
Due to the fact that the gods constantly intervened in life ordinary people- a god could fall in love with a woman, and a goddess could give birth to a child from a simple Greek. As a result of such love unions, Greeks were born who were called heroes.
Features of Greek heroes
The heroes lived among other people, but their fate was different from the usual; dangers and difficulties constantly arose on their way. Heroes helped people by defeating monsters that could attack them, and could also teach people something new and unusual.
Some heroes subsequently their exploits were accepted on Olympus and became immortal, and some continued to do so earthly life. Many myths about such heroes were kept in the memory of the Greeks and other peoples, their fame became immortal, their exploits were sung in songs and poems. The most famous and powerful heroes are Hercules and Perseus.
Myths about Hercules
The life story of the hero Hercules begins with the fact that he was born from the god Zeus and the earthly woman Alcmene. Zeus's wife Hades hated him from birth, because she did not want to forgive his mother for her love for Zeus and for the fact that her husband fell in love with Alcmene.
When the hero was still very young, Hera sent snakes that were supposed to kill him. When the snakes attacked him, Hercules woke up and strangled them. Soon everyone learned that the tiny son of Alcmene managed to defeat two deadly snakes.
Twelve Labors of Hercules
Hercules is famous for his twelve labors, all of which were very difficult and dangerous for his life. Thus, Hercules had to free the cowardly king Eurystheus, his relative.
First, he had to fight a lion, a huge monster that was devastating the surroundings of the city of Nemea. Hercules struck him with his club, and when the lion fell to the ground, he strangled him.
Then Hercules had to defeat the Lernaean hydra, which had nine heads and the body of a snake. The next feat of Hercules was helping the son of the sun god - Augeas. The hero managed to clear the king's barnyard, where there were a hundred bulls, he broke the walls of the yard and let the water of two rivers flow into the gap.
He also managed to subdue the guard underground kingdom- the dog Cerberus, he brought him to his king Eurystheus. But the twelve labors of Hercules are considered the most famous and difficult. His task was to get three golden apples from the gardens of Atlas, who held the vault of heaven on his shoulders.
He fought with Antaeus, the son of the goddess Gaia and the god of the seas Poseidon. During the battle, Hercules' powers were constantly drained when Antaeus constantly renewed his strength from his mother - the earth. But Hercules still managed to defeat his opponent, lifting him above the Earth.
His participation in the battle of the gods with the giants, in which the hero managed to save the gods from death, is also considered a great feat. So he became an immortal god and settled on Olympus.
Hero Perseus
Perseus was also the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Danae. The adventures of Perseus began when he was still small, as his grandfather was predicted that he would die at the hands of his grandson.
Danae's father threw Perseus and his mother into the sea, locking them in a wooden box. Thanks to the strength of Persian, he and Danae managed to escape.
The hero grew into a powerful and strong warrior. Polydectes wanted to destroy him, and therefore sent him to the ends of the earth, where the gorgons lived.
Greek myths, which tell of gods, goddesses and heroes, date back to the Bronze Age, a time of oral tradition. They were first recorded at the beginning of the 6th century. BC and have continued to live in Western literature ever since. Myths were closely related to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks and interpreted the secrets of nature. They told about the creation of the world about the deeds of the deities, about the golden age of ancient Greek society, about the age of heroic demigods such as Theseus and Hercules, whose exploits inspired ordinary people. The Greeks represented the gods as ideal people who had all the senses, characteristic of man. The gods lived on Mount Olympus. The supreme god Zeus was considered the father of many Olympians. Each member of the Olympic family was assigned a divine role.
Zeus- the father of gods and people, ruled them from Mount Olympus.
Eris goddess of discord.
Klymene, mother Promethea who gave fire to people.
Hera Zeus's wife was very jealous.
Athena emerged from the head of Zeus in full battle garb, in Greek mythology she was the goddess of wisdom, strategy and war.
Poseidon, god of the seas, one of the brothers of Zeus. The symbol of his power is the trident. Myths bring to us stories about Poseidon's infidelity to his wife, the sea goddess Amphitrite, who was the goddess of the sea in Greek mythology. This statue is kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Paris must award the golden apple to the most beautiful of goddesses. Paris's dog helped him graze his flocks on Mount Ida, where the prince grew up.
Dionysus, the god of viticulture and wine, Zeus gave birth from his thigh.
Hades And Persephone ruled the kingdoms of the dead and the souls of the dead. Hades kidnapped Persephone from her mother Demeter, the goddess of fertility. Angry, Demeter sent a famine to the earth, and then Zeus decided that Persephone would live with her mother for part of the year.
Artemis, maiden goddess of the hunt, daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo. She is armed with a bow and arrows. The eternally young goddess is surrounded by dogs and nymphs. Having taken a vow of chastity, she was nevertheless also the goddess of childbirth.
Hermes was a messenger of the gods.
Aphrodite, goddess of love, was born from the foam of the sea.
Apollo, son of Zeus and brother of Artemis, god-healer and soothsayer, patron of the arts, was unusually handsome.
Labors of Hercules. Hercules(among the Romans - Hercules) - the greatest of the Greek heroes, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Endowed with superhuman strength, he achieved success and immortality by completing 12 tasks of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, which seemed impossible.
First he defeated the Nemean Lion, whose skin he always wore on himself from then on.
The second labor of Hercules was the victory over the Lernaean Hydra. The severed heads of this poisonous monster, raised by Hera, immediately grew back. As in his other exploits, Hercules was helped by Athena.
Then the huge boar that was ravaging Mount Erymanth was caught. Hercules delivered him to King Eurystheus alive. The king was so frightened that he hid in a large jug.
The sixth feat was the extermination of the Stymphalian birds. Hercules saved Lake Stymphalia from man-eating birds with copper beaks: having scared the birds with bronze rattles, he killed them with stones fired from a sling.
