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Mythical names. Mythical male and female names and their meanings

on the eve of the Legendary competition

The heroes of Ancient Greece were people, but the parents of many of them were gods. Myths about their exploits and accomplishments are an integral part of the culture of the ancient Greeks, and below in the article a kind of “top” of heroes of Hellas is presented.

Hercules' parents were the mortal woman Alcmene and the powerful ancient Greek god Zeus. According to ancient Greek mythology During his life, Hercules performed twelve famous feats, for which the goddess Athena elevated him to Olympus, where Zeus granted the hero immortality.

The most famous labors 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 dog Cerberus, the cleansing of decades-old previously uncleaned Augean Stables, the construction of stone pillars on the shores of the Strait of Gibraltar, separating Africa and Europe. In ancient times, the strait was called the Pillars of Hercules (Hercules is the Roman name for Hercules).

King Odysseus of Ithaca is famous for his journey from the city of Troy to his homeland, full of dangers and mortal risks. The feats that the hero accomplished during it are described 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 Kirke, did not succumb to the charms of the sweet-voiced sirens, “slipped” on a ship between the Scylla devouring all living things and the whirlpool Charybdis, consuming everything, left the beautiful nymph Calypso, survived a lightning strike and returned home , dealt with all the new “suitors” of his wife Penelope. “Odyssey” is how people have since called any risky and long journey.

Perseus is another son of Zeus, his mother was the Argive princess Danae. Perseus became famous for killing the Gorgon Medusa - a winged monster covered with scales, whose head was covered with snakes instead of hair, and whose gaze turned all living things to stone. Then Perseus freed Princess Andromeda from the clutches of the sea monster that was devouring people, and turned her former fiancé into stone, forcing him to look at the severed head of the Gorgon.

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, thanks to which Achilles’s entire body became invulnerable, except for the heel by which his mother held him.

Achilles' invulnerability 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.”

Heroes of Ancient Greece Jason is famous for the fact that on the ship "Argo" with a crew of brave Argonauts (among whom were the sweet-voiced singer Orpheus and the mighty Hercules) he 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 Creus, Medea killed both her and her own children.

The oracle predicted to Oedipus' father, the Theban king Laius, that he would die at the hands of his son. Laius ordered the death of Oedipus, but he was saved and adopted by 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, asking 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 that his wife was also a mother, he blinded himself.

Theseus was the son of the king of the seas, Poseidon, and became famous for killing the Minotaur, a monster who lived in a difficult Cretan labyrinth, and then finding a way out of this labyrinth. He got out of there thanks to a ball of thread that was given to him by the daughter of the Cretan king Ariadne.

The mythological hero Theseus is revered in Greece as the founder of Athens.

Based on materials from the encyclopedia "Who's Who"

Agamemnon(Αγαμέμνονας), one of the main heroes of the ancient Greek national epic, the son of the Mycenaean king Atreus and Aeropa, leader of the Greek army during the Trojan War. After the murder of Atreus by Aegisthus, Agamemnon and Menelaus were forced to flee to Aetolia, but the king of Sparta Tyndareus, going on a campaign against Mycenae, forced Thyestes to cede power to the sons of Atreus. Agamemnon reigned in Mycenae (he later expanded his domain and became the most powerful ruler in all of Greece) and married Tyndareus’ daughter 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, the son of the Tiryns king Alcaeus and the daughter of Pelops Astydamia, the grandson of Perseus. Amphitryon took part in the war against the TV fighters who lived on the island of Taphos, which was waged by his uncle, the Mycenaean king Electryon. The sons of Electrion died in this war. Going on a campaign, Electryon entrusted Amphitryon with the management of the state and his daughter Alcmene. During the farewell, Amphitryon 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 Amphitryon from the sin of accidental murder. Alcmene agreed to become his wife only after he took revenge on the TV fighters for the death of her brothers. Creon promised Amphitryon help in the war against the TV fighters if he destroyed the ferocious Teumes fox, which was ravaging the surroundings of Thebes, and was escaping from all its pursuers. The famous Athenian hunter Cephalus lent Amphitryon a wonderful dog that could catch any animal. The competition 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 wisely arranged the marriage of Thetis with a mortal. Love for Achilles, as well as the desire to make him invulnerable and give him 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' mentor was the centaur Chiron, who fed him the entrails of lions, bears and wild boars, and taught him to play the cithara and sing. Achilles grew up to be 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 Kalkhant, 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 disguised as a merchant, Odysseus laid out women's jewelry mixed with weapons in front of those gathered. The inhabitants of the palace began to look jewelry, but suddenly, at a sign from Odysseus, an alarm sounded - the girls ran away in fright, and the hero grabbed his sword, giving himself away completely.

After 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 a favorable wind for the Greek fleet, Agamemnon, secretly from the hero, under the pretext of marrying Achilles, summoned his daughter Iphigenia to Aulis and sacrificed her to the goddess Artemis.

The angry Achilles retired to his tent, refusing to fight. However, his death true friend and Patroclus's brother-in-arms, at the hands of the Trojan Hector, forced Achilles to immediate action.

Having received armor as a gift from the blacksmith god Hephaestus, Achilles struck Hector with a spear and mocked his body for twelve days near the grave of Patroclus. Only Thetis was able to convince her son to give Hector’s remains to the Trojans for the funeral rite - the sacred duty of the living to the dead.

Returning to the battlefield, Achilles defeated hundreds of enemies. But his own life was coming to an end. Paris's arrow, accurately directed by Apollo, inflicted a mortal wound on Achilles' heel, the only vulnerable spot on the hero's body. This is how the valiant and arrogant Achilles, the ideal of the great commander of antiquity, Alexander the Great, died.

Ajax(Αίας), in Greek mythology the name of two participants in the Trojan War; both fought at Troy as suitors for Helen's hand. In the Iliad they often appear 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 to two mighty lions or bulls (Homer, Iliad, XIII 197-205; 701-708 ).

Ajax Oilid (Αίας Oιλνιος), son of Oileus and Eriopides (Eriope), king of Locris, leader of a forty-man militia from Locris, a region of central Greece. A skilled javelin thrower and an excellent runner, second only to Achilles in speed. His warriors are famous as archers and slingers. This so-called “little Ajax” is not so powerful and not so tall in stature compared to Ajax Telamonides (Homer, Iliad, II 527-535). He is known for his violent and impudent temperament. Thus, 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 found refuge at the altar of the same Athena. However, when the fleet returned from Troy, the angry goddess destroyed the Achaean ships in a storm near the Cyclades Islands (including Ajax’s ship, throwing lightning at it). Ajax escaped and, clinging to a rock, boasted that he was alive despite the will of the gods. Then Poseidon split the rock with his trident, Ajax fell into the sea and died. His body was buried by Thetis on the island of Mykonos, near Delos (Higinus, Fab. 116). By decision of the oracle, the inhabitants of Locris atoned for the sacrilege of Ajax 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 Phocis 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), grandson of Sisyphus. Bellerophon's original name was Hipponou (Ἰππόνοος), but after he killed the Corinthian Beller, he began to be called the “killer of Beller” (according to some mythological versions, Beller was the brother of Hipponou). It is believed that the word Βελλερο is of pre-Greek origin and meant “monster”; subsequently, having become incomprehensible, it was, as is customary in etiological myths, interpreted as a proper name. Fearing blood feud, Bellerophon was forced to flee to Argolis, where he was hospitably greeted by the Tirinthian king Pretus. Pretus's wife Sthenebeia (according to some sources, Anthea) 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 break the laws of hospitality, Pret sends Bellerophon to his father-in-law, King Iobates of Lycia, handing him a letter containing an order to destroy Bellerophon. To carry out the order, Iobates gives Bellerophon one life-threatening assignment after another. First, he had to fight with a 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, with the help of Pegasus, destroyed the monster that was devastating the country. Then he repelled the attack of the warlike Solim tribe 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 Philonoe 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 Sarpedon to Zeus.

Hector, V ancient greek mythology one of the main heroes 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 he was famous for his strength and courage.

According to legend, Hector struck to death the first Greek to set foot on the soil of Troy, Protesilaus. The hero became especially famous in the ninth year of the Trojan War, challenging Ajax Telamonides to battle. Hector promised his enemy not to desecrate his body 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 fight 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 took off Achilles' armor. 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 the hero’s body was not touched by either decay or birds, since Apollo protected him in gratitude for the fact that Hector during his lifetime he helped him several times. Based on this circumstance, the ancient Greeks concluded that Hector was the son of Apollo.

According to myths, Apollo, at a council of the gods, persuaded Zeus to give Hector’s body to the Trojans so that he could 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, researchers suggested that the image of the hero is of Boeotian origin. Hector was a very revered hero in Ancient Greece, which is proven 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 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, key fortresses on the approaches to Argos, but jealous Hera thwarted his plans. She struck Hercules with madness, in a fit of which he killed his wife and three of his sons. To atone for his grave guilt, the hero had to serve Eurystheus, king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, after which he was granted immortality.

The most famous is the cycle of tales about the twelve labors of Hercules. The first feat was to obtain the skin of the Nemean lion, which Hercules had to strangle with his bare hands. Having defeated the lion, the hero tanned its 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 devoured by man-eating horses, which he then brought to King Eurystheus. According to other myth-making sources, horses fled from Mycenae to the mountains and were eaten by wild animals.

2. Son of the Aetolian king Tydeus and daughter Adrasta Deipila, husband of Aegialei. Diomedes, after the death of his father-in-law, Adrastus, became king of Argos. Together with Adrastus, he took part in the campaign and destruction of Thebes (Apollodorus, III 7.2). As one of Helen's suitors, Diomedes subsequently fought at Troy, leading a militia on 80 ships. In armor illuminated by a shining flame, he kills many Trojans and attacks Aeneas, who is saved from death by Aphrodite. Then Diomedes attacks the goddess, wounds her and forces her to leave the battlefield. Taking advantage of the patronage of Athena, Diomedes goes into battle against the god Ares himself and seriously wounds him (almost the entire V book of the Iliad is devoted to the exploits of Diomedes). Together with Odysseus, Diomedes goes on reconnaissance into 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 besieged Troy and steals the statue of Athena (Palladion), the possession of which foreshadows victory over the Trojans. With Odysseus, Diomedes also goes to the island of Lemnos for Philoctetes. Diomedes has long been known (along with Nestor) as one of the few Achaean heroes who returned home safely from Troy (Apollodorus, V 8; 13); later sources introduce a version of the betrayal of Diomedes' wife Aegialia, as a result of which Diomedes was forced to flee from Argos to Apulia, where he married the daughter of King Daunus. 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 mythology, the hero of Aetolia, the son of the Calydonian king Oeneus and Althea, the husband of Cleopatra (Apollodorus, I 8, 2). According to another version, Meleager’s father was Ares (Giginus, Fabula, 171). A participant in the campaign of the Argonauts (Apollodorus, I 9, 16), according to some versions of the myth, Meleager killed the Colchian king Aeetes (Diodorus, IV 48). Meleager was the winner in throwing the spear and javelin in the pan-Greek games. Meleager's greatest fame came from his participation in the Calydonian hunt.

When Artemis, angry because Oeneus did not sacrifice to her, sent a wild boar to the country, Meleager gathered the most famous hunters in Greece, with the help of which he managed to kill the boar. Artemis aroused a dispute between the Curetes, who were participating in the hunt, and the Aetolians over the possession of the boar's head. While Meleager was engaged in the battle, the Aetolians had the advantage; but when he left the battlefield, upset by his mother’s hostility, the Curetes defeated the Aetolians and began to besiege their city. Meleager's parents, friends, and the whole city begged Meleager for a long time to help them in danger, until finally his wife convinced him to come out to help his people. The Aetolians won, but Meleager fell. This is the Homeric version of the myth (Iliad, IX, 529-599).

There are other tales about Meleager. On the seventh day after the birth of Meleager, the Moirai predicted to Althea that her son would die when the log burning in the altar burned out. She snatched the log from the fire, extinguished it and hid it in the chest. some of them say that he was killed by the gods at the prayer request of his mother, saddened by the death of his brothers who died on the Calydonian hunt. At sight of the dead After the bodies of her brothers, Althea 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, Althea, overcome by remorse, hanged herself, Cleopatra also committed suicide, and Meleager’s sisters, who sobbed inconsolably over their brother’s grave, were turned by Artemis into guinea fowl (μελεαγρίδες) and transferred to the island of Leros. The tragic element of the legend was used by Phrynichus when creating the tragedy "Pleuronian Women"; Sophocles and Euripides also used this myth.

Menelaus(Μενέλαος), in Greek mythology, the king of Sparta, the son of Atreus and Aerope, the husband of Helen, the younger brother of Agamemnon. The brothers expelled by Thyestes fled from Mycenae to Sparta, to Tyndareus, whose daughter, Helen, Menelaus married and inherited the throne of his father-in-law (Apollodorus, II 16). The serene life of Menelaus with Helen lasted about ten years; their daughter Hermione was nine years old when the Trojan prince Paris came to Sparta. Menelaus at this time went to Crete to participate in the funeral of his maternal grandfather Catreus. 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 deployed sixty ships, recruiting warriors in Lacedaemon, Amyclae 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 with his brother Agamemnon for the Trojan War. In relation to Agamemnon, he considered himself subordinate and recognized his supreme power in everything.

Odysseus(Greek Οδυσσεύς, “angry”, “wrathful”), 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 “oathbreaker and thief,” the son of the god Hermes, who inherited their intelligence, 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 tasked with persuading 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 releasing Iphigenia to Aulis under the pretext of her marriage to Achilles. In reality, Iphigenia was intended as a sacrifice to Artemis, who otherwise did not agree to provide the Greek ships with a fair wind. It was Odysseus who came up with the idea of ​​the Trojan Horse, which brought victory to the Achaeans.

Orpheus, in ancient Greek mythology, a hero and traveler. Orpheus was the son of the Thracian river god Eagra and the muse Calliope. He was known as 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, he followed her to afterlife. The guardian of the other world, the evil dog Cerberus, Persephone and Hades were enchanted by the young man’s magical music. Hades promised to return Eurydice to earth on the condition that Orpheus would 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 kingdom of the dead.

Orpheus did not treat Dionysus with due respect, but revered Helios, whom he called Apollo. Dionysus decided to teach the young man a lesson and sent maenads to attack 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 the beautiful young man. The head of Orpheus floated down the Hebrus River and was found by nymphs, then ended up on the island of Lesbos, where Apollo accepted it. The musician's shadow fell into Hades, where the couple were reunited.

Patroclus(Πάτροκλος), in Greek mythology, the son of one of the Argonauts Menoetius, a relative and ally of Achilles in the Trojan War. As a boy, he killed his friend while playing dice, for which his father sent him to Peleus in Phthia, where he was raised with Achilles. From then on, 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 famous art of Patroclus in driving chariots and his concern for the team of Achilles (Homer, Iliad, XXIII 280-284) give reason to see in him the original charioteer Peleus.

Due to the fact that the genealogy of Patroclus Actor’s grandfather was not very stable in the mythological tradition, connecting Actor either with Phthia (Thessaly) or with Opunt (Locris), a desire arose to link these two geographical points with each other in legendary biography Patroclus. This is how a version developed according to which Menoetius first moved from Thessaly to Locris, but over time had to save his son from here (during the games, Patroclus accidentally killed one of his peers, and he was threatened with revenge from the relatives of the murdered man). 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 together, a version 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, Olympian Odes, IX 68-70). In this case, Aegina, like Alcmene, gives rise to one clan of divine origin (Achilles belongs to it) and another of mortal origin (Patroclus belongs to him), and both heroes turn out to be close relatives.

Peleus(Πηλεύς), in Greek mythology, the son of the Aeginean king Aeacus and Endeida, the husband of Antigone, the father of Achilles and Menestius, the 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 rite of purification on him and married his daughter Antigone to Peleus. During the Calydonian hunt, Peleus unintentionally killed his father-in-law with a spear and again had to seek purification. This time he found it in Iolka with King Akasta. Astydamia, 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. Astydamia informed Antigone that Peleus had seduced her and was going to marry her. Believing the slander, Antigone committed suicide. Acast, not daring to raise his hand against the guest, invited him to take part in a hunt on Mount Pelion; here he stole a hunting knife from the sleeping Peleus, 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 ).

Pelop(Πέλοψ), in Greek myth-making, the king and national hero of Phrygia, and then the Peloponnese. Son of Tantalus and the nymph Euryanassa, brother of Niobe, husband of Hippodamia, father of Alkathos, Atreus, Pittheus, Troezen, Thyestes, Chrysippus. As the favorite of the gods, King Sipila in Phrygia Tantalus had access to divine councils and feasts. Such an unusually high position plunged the demigod Tantalus into pride and permissiveness. Having killed 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 realized the deception; the angry gods, rejecting this unholy meal, ordered Hermes to bring Pelops back to life. Hermes carried out the will of the gods by immersing the scattered members of Pelops in a cauldron of boiling water; the young man emerged from it 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 her daughter Persephone) had to be made of ivory; Since then, the descendants of Pelops have had a white spot on their left shoulder. After this, 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 carried him to Olympus. There he appointed Pelops as his bed servant and began to feed him ambrosia, but soon 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, daughter of the Argive 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 entered there, turning into golden rain, and conceived Perseus. Frightened, Acrisius put the mother and child in a wooden box and threw it into the sea. However, Zeus helped his lover and son reach the island of Serif safely.

The matured Perseus was sent by the local ruler Polydectes, who fell in love with Danae, to search for the gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turns all living things into stone. Fortunately for the hero, Athena hated Medusa and, according to one of the myths, out of jealousy, she awarded the once beautiful gorgon with deadly beauty. Athena taught Perseus what to do. First, the young man, following the advice of the goddess, went to the old gray women, who had one eye and one tooth between the three of them.

Having captured 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 Medusa’s head. Perseus flew to the western edge of the world, to the gorgon's cave, and, looking at the reflection of the mortal Medusa in his copper shield, cut off her head. Putting it in his bag, he sped off wearing an invisibility hat, unnoticed by the monster’s snake-haired sisters.

On the way home, Perseus saved the beautiful Andromeda from a sea monster and married her. Then the hero headed to Argos, but Acrisius, having learned about the arrival of his grandson, fled to Larissa. And yet he did not escape his fate - during the festivities in Larisa, while participating in competitions, Perseus threw a heavy bronze disk, hit Acrisius in the head and killed him. Stricken with grief, the 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.

Talfibiy, in Greek mythology, the messenger, a Spartan, together with Eurybates, was Agamemnon’s herald, 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, Talthybius abducted Briseis from the tent of Achilles, and in the tragedy of Euripides it is described that the herald of Agamemnon forcibly took the son of Astyanax from Andromache 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 returned safely 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 Talthybius, 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 Ideas, the most ancient king of Troas, eponym of the Phrygian tribe of the Teucrians. According to another legend, Scamander and Teucer, 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 part of the region, named after the newcomer Dardania; after the death of Teucer, royal power passed into the hands of Dardan (Apollodorus, III 12, 1; Diodorus, IV 75). According to the second version, Teucer already found Dardanus in Troas. According to Strabo's account, Teucer was a native of Crete. Together with his father, he moved to Troas during the famine in Crete. Apollo advised them to settle where, under cover of darkness, the creatures of the earth would attack them. On the banks of the Xanth River at night, a countless number of mice gnawed all the skin on the weapons of the settlers.

Theseus(“strong”), in Greek mythology, a hero, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus and Efra. Childless Aegeus received advice from the Delphic oracle - when leaving as a guest, not to untie his wineskin until returning home. Aegeus did not guess the prediction, but the Troezen king Pittheus, with whom he was visiting, realized that Aegeus was destined to conceive a hero. He gave the guest some drink and put him to bed with his daughter Efra. That same night Poseidon also became close to her. This is how Theseus was born, the great hero, the son of two fathers.

Before leaving Efra, Aegeus led her to a boulder, under which he hid his sword and sandals. If a son is born, he said, let him grow up and mature, and when he can move a stone, then send him to me. Theseus grew up, and Ephra discovered the secret of his birth. The young man easily took out his 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 man-bull, 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 Underground (Ζεύς χθόνιος). According to popular belief, Trophonius was the son of Apollo or Zeus, or the Orkhomen king Ergin, the brother of Agamedes, the pet of the earth goddess Demeter. In the cult, Trophonius became close to Demeter Persephone, Asclepius and other deities, who in Boeotia were known under the collective name of the Trophoniades. The Temple of Trophonius was located near the Boeotian city of Lebadia; Here there also existed a cave oracle known in ancient times, since Trophonius, along with other chthonic deities (Amphiaraus, Asclepius), had the power to reveal the future to people. Predictions were given to people in their dreams, and those who turned to the oracle had to perform a number of mandatory rituals, a description of which we find in Pausanias (IX, 39, 5). Anyone who wanted to go to the oracle had to first spend a certain number of days in the temple of the “Good Demon and Good Silence”; During this time, it was necessary to perform established purifications, wash in the river Gerkina and make sacrifices to Trophonius, his sons, Apollo, Kronos, King Zeus, Hera and Demeter - Europe. At each sacrifice there had to be a priest present, who predicted from the entrails of the animals whether Trophonius would be favorable and merciful to the questioner; the decisive sacrifice was the last one, which took place before descending into the cave above the pit where the ram was slaughtered.

Phoroney(Φορωνεός), in Greek mythology, 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 Cara. He was the first person to live in the Peloponnese and founded the city of Phoronium, 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 primitive culture, civil order and religious rites, and in particular the cult of the Argive Hera, into the Peloponnese.

Like Prometheus, Phoroneus was considered the first person to transfer fire from heaven to earth. The inhabitants of Argos denied that Prometheus gave people fire, and the invention of fire was attributed to Phoroneus. (Pausanias, II 19, 5). He was revered as a national hero; Sacrifices were performed at his grave. His daughter Niobe, according to legend, was the first of the mortal women to awaken the love of Zeus. His daughter Foronida, also known as Io, was called Phoronea. According to one version, Phoroneus’s wife was Cerdo, who bore him Agenor, Ias and Pelasgus.

Thrasymedes, in Greek myth-making, the son of the Pylos king Nestor, who arrived with his father and brother Antilochus near Ilion. Together with his brother, Thrasymedes accompanied his elderly father in the Trojan War. He commanded fifteen ships (Gigin, Fabula, 97, 5) and took part in many battles (Homer, Iliad, XIV 10-11; XVI 317-325). In the post-Homeric epic, Thrasymedes appears among the heroes who fought for the body of the murdered Antilochus, and is among the warriors who entered Troy in the belly of a wooden horse. After the defeat of Troy, Thrasimedes returned safely 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 a beautiful harbor, which is now called the Bay of Navarino; the harbor is covered by the island of Sphacteria lying opposite it. In Homer's poems, Pylos is mentioned as the residence of King Nestor. During the Peloponnesian War, in 425 BC, the Athenians, under the leadership of Demosthenes, captured Pylos, fortified it and held it for almost two decades. Two other ancient cities are mentioned with the name of Pylos, both located in Elis.

Oedipus, (Οίδιπους) - a descendant of Cadmus, from the Labdacid family, the son of the Theban king Laius and Jocasta, or Epicasta, a favorite hero of Greek folk tales and tragedies, due to the multitude of which it is very difficult to imagine the myth of Oedipus in its original form. According to the most common legend, the oracle predicted to Laius the birth of a son who would kill himself, marry his own mother and cover the entire Labdacid house with shame. Therefore, when Laius had a son, his parents, piercing his legs and tying them together (which made them swollen: Οίδιπους = with swollen legs), sent him to Kiferon, where Oedipus was found by a shepherd, who sheltered the boy and then brought him to Sicyon, or Corinth , to King Polybus, who raised his adopted son as his own son. Having once received a reproach at a feast for his dubious origins, Oedipus turned to the oracle for clarification and received advice from him - to beware of parricide 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 a passion, killed him and his retinue. At this time, the Sphinx monster was wreaking havoc in Thebes, asking everyone a riddle for several years in a row and devouring everyone who did not answer 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 itself from a cliff and died. In gratitude for delivering the country from a prolonged disaster, the Theban citizens made Oedipus their king and gave him Laius's widow, Jocasta, his own mother, as his wife. Soon the double crime committed by Oedipus out of ignorance was revealed, and Oedipus, in despair, gouged out his eyes, and Jocasta took her own life. By ancient legend(Homer, Odyssey, XI, 271 et seq.) 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, led by the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, 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 the Erinyes, who finally, thanks to the intervention of Apollo, humbled their anger, ended their 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), participant in the defense of Troy during the Trojan War, a most glorious hero. A brave warrior, Aeneas took part 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), capturing images of the Trojan gods, accompanied by companions on twenty ships, set off in search of a new homeland. After surviving 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 (who was widowed along the way) and provide him with land to found a city.

Having defeated Turnus, the leader of the warlike tribe of Rutuli and a contender for the hand of Lavinia, in a duel, Aeneas settled in Italy, which became the successor to the glory of Troy. His son Ascanius (Yul) was considered the progenitor of the Julian family, including the famous emperors Julius Caesar and Augustus.

Jason("healer"), in Greek mythology, the great-grandson of the wind god Aeolus, the son of King Iolcus Aeson and Polymede, hero, leader of the Argonauts. When Pelias overthrew his brother Aeson from the throne, he, fearing for his son’s life, placed him under the tutelage of the wise centaur Chiron, who lived in the Thessalian forests.

The Delphic oracle predicted to Pelias that he would be killed by a man wearing only one sandal. This explains the king’s fear when the matured Jason returned to the city, having lost a sandal on the way. Pelias decided to get rid of the impending threat and promised to recognize Jason as heir if he, risking his life, obtained the Golden Fleece in Colchis. Jason and his crew on the ship "Argo", having experienced many adventures, returned to their homeland with a wonderful fleece. They owed much of their success - victory over the dragon and the formidable warriors growing from its teeth - to the Colchian princess Medea, since Eros, at the request of Athena and Hera, who patronized Jason, instilled love for the hero in the girl’s heart.

Upon returning to Iolcus, 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 Glavka; in revenge, Medea killed her and killed her sons by Jason. Years passed. The elderly hero dragged 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 to time, broke and collapsed on Jason, who immediately fell dead.

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Heroes of Hellas

• The immortal gods living on bright Olympus created the first human race happy; it was a golden age. God Kron ruled then in heaven. Like blessed gods, people lived in those days, knowing neither care, nor labor, nor sadness...

The people of the Copper Age committed many crimes. Arrogant and wicked, they did not obey the Olympian gods. Thunderer Zeus angry at them...

Prometheus is the son of the Titan Iapetus, cousin Zeus. Prometheus's mother is the oceanid Clymene (according to other options: the goddess of justice Themis or the oceanid Assia). Titan's brothers - Menoetius (thrown into Tartarus by Zeus after the Titanomachy), Atlas (supports firmament), Epimetheus (husband of Pandora)...

The Ori laid a wreath of fragrant spring flowers on her lush curls. Hermes put false and flattering speeches into her mouth. The gods called her Pandora, since she received gifts from all of them. Pandora was supposed to bring misfortune to people...

Zeus the Thunderer, having kidnapped beautiful daughter the river god Asopus, took her to the island of Oinopia, which has since been called by the name of Asopus’ daughter, Aegina. The son of Aegina and Zeus, Aeacus, was born on this island. When Aeacus grew up, matured and became king of the island of Aegina...

The son of Zeus and Io, Epaphus, had a son Bel, and he had two sons - Egypt and Danaus. The entire country, which is irrigated by the fertile Nile, was owned by Egypt, from which this country received its name...

Perseus is the hero of Argive legends. According to the oracle's prediction, the daughter of the Argive king Acrisius Danae should give birth to a boy who will overthrow and kill his grandfather...

Sisyphus, the son of the god Aeolus, the ruler of all winds, was the founder of the city of Corinth, which in ancient times was called Ephyra. No one in all of Greece could equal Sisyphus in cunning, cunning and resourcefulness of mind...

Sisyphus had a son, the hero Glaucus, who ruled in Corinth after the death of his father. Glaucus had a son, Bellerophon, one of the great heroes of Greece. Bellerophon was as beautiful as a god and equal in courage to the immortal gods...

In Lydia, near Mount Sipila, there was a rich city called after Mount Sipila. This city was ruled by the favorite of the gods, the son of Zeus Tantalus. The gods rewarded him with everything in abundance...

After the death of Tantalus, his son Pelops, so miraculously saved by the gods, began to rule in the city of Sipylus. He did not rule for long in his native Sipylus. King Il of Troy went to war against Pelops...

The king of the rich Phoenician city of Sidon, Agenor, had three sons and a daughter, beautiful as an immortal goddess. This young beauty's name was Europe. Agenor's daughter once had a dream.

Cadmus in Greek mythology is the son of the Phoenician king Agenor, the founder of Thebes (in Boeotia). Sent by his father along with his other brothers to search for Europe, Cadmus, after long failures in Thrace, turned to the Delphic oracle of Apollo...

In Greek mythology, Hercules is the greatest hero, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon. In the absence of her husband, who at that time was fighting against the tribes of TV fighters, Zeus, attracted by the beauty of Alcmene, appeared to her, taking on the image of Amphitryon. Their wedding night lasted three nights in a row...

The founder of great Athens and its Acropolis was the earth-born Cecrops. The earth gave birth to him as a half-man, half-snake. His body ended in a huge snake tail. Kekrop founded Athens in Attica at a time when the shaker of the earth, the god of the sea Poseidon, and the warrior goddess Athena, the beloved daughter of Zeus, argued for power over the entire country...

Cephalus was the son of the god Hermes and the daughter of Cecrops, Chersa. Far throughout Greece, Cephalus was famous for his wondrous beauty, and he was also famous as a tireless hunter. Early, even before sunrise, he left his palace and his young wife Procris and went hunting in the mountains of Hymet. One day the rose-fingered goddess of the dawn Eos saw the beautiful Cephalus...

The king of Athens, Pandion, a descendant of Erichthonius, waged war against the barbarians who besieged his city. It would have been difficult for him to defend Athens from a large barbarian army if the king of Thrace, Tereus, had not come to his aid. He defeated the barbarians and drove them out of Attica. As a reward for this, Pandion gave Tereus his daughter Procne as his wife...

Grozen Boreas, god of the indomitable, stormy north wind. He rushes furiously over the lands and seas, causing all-crushing storms with his flight. One day Boreas, flying over Attica, saw the daughter of Erechtheus Orithia and fell in love with her. Boreas begged Orithia to become his wife and allow him to take her with him to his kingdom in the far north. Orithia did not agree...

The greatest artist, 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 looking and moving. Daedalus invented many tools for his work; he invented the ax and the drill. The fame of Daedalus spread far...

National hero Athens; son of Ephra, princess of Troezen, and Aegeus or (and) Poseidon. It was believed that Theseus was a contemporary of Hercules and some of their exploits were similar. Theseus was raised in Troezen; when he grew up, Efra ordered him to move the rock, under which he found a sword and sandals...

Meleager is the son of the Calydonian king Oeneus and Althea, a participant in the Argonauts' campaign and the Calydonian hunt. When Meleager was seven days old, a prophetess appeared to Althea, threw a log into the fire and predicted to her that her son would die as soon as the log burned out. Althea snatched the log from the flame, extinguished it and hid it...

The deer took refuge in the shade from the midday heat and lay down in the bushes. By chance, Cypress was hunting where the deer lay. He did not recognize his favorite deer, since it was covered by foliage, so he threw a sharp spear at it and struck it to death. Cypress was horrified when he saw that he had killed his pet...

The great singer Orpheus, the son of the river god Eager and the muse Calliope, lived in distant Thrace. Orpheus' wife was the beautiful nymph Eurydice. The singer Orpheus loved her dearly. But Orpheus did not enjoy a happy life with his wife for long...

Beautiful, equal to the Olympian gods themselves in his beauty, the young son of the king of Sparta, Hyacinth, was a friend of the arrow god Apollo. Apollo often appeared on the banks of the Eurotas in Sparta to visit his friend and spent time there with him, hunting along the mountain slopes in densely overgrown forests or having fun with gymnastics, in which the Spartans were so skilled...

The beautiful Nereid Galatea loved the son of Simefida, young Akidas, and Akidas loved the Nereid. Akid was not the only one captivated by Galatea. The huge cyclops Polyphemus once saw the beautiful Galatea, when she was swimming out of the waves of the azure sea, shining with her beauty, and he was inflamed with frantic love for her...

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 marvelous beauty. Leda became the wife of Zeus, and she had two children from him: the daughter Helen, beautiful as a goddess, and the son, the great hero Polydeuces. Leda also had two children from Tyndareus: daughter Clytemnestra and son Castor...

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 with his curse doomed the entire family of Pelops to great atrocities and death. The curse of Myrtil weighed heavily on both Atreus and Thyestes. They committed a number of atrocities...

Esak was the son of the king of Troy, Priam, brother of the great hero Hector. He was born on the slopes of wooded Ida, by the beautiful nymph Alexiroe, daughter of the river god Granik. Having grown up in the mountains, Esak did not like cities and avoided living in the luxurious palace of his father Priam. He loved the solitude of mountains and shady forests, loved the open space of fields...

This amazing story happened to the Phrygian king Midas. Midas was very rich. Wonderful gardens surrounded his luxurious palace, and in the gardens grew thousands of the most beautiful roses - white, red, pink, purple. Midas once loved his gardens very much and even grew roses in them himself. This was his favorite pastime. But people change over the years - King Midas also changed...

Pyramus, the most beautiful of youths, and Thisbe, the most beautiful of maidens of the eastern countries, lived in the Babylonian city of Semiramis, in two neighboring houses. From early youth they knew and loved each other, and their love grew year by year. They already wanted to get married, but their fathers forbade them - they could not, however, forbid them to love each other...

In one deep valley of Lycia there is a light-water lake. In the middle of the lake there is an island, and on the island there is an altar, all covered with the ashes of the victims burned on it and overgrown with reeds. The altar is dedicated not to the naiads of the lake waters and not to the nymphs of the neighboring fields, but to Latona. The goddess, the favorite of Zeus, has just given birth to her twins, Apollo and Artemis...

Once upon a time, the father of the gods Zeus and his son Hermes arrived at this place. They both accepted human image- with the intention of experiencing the hospitality of the residents. They went around a thousand houses, knocking on doors and asking for shelter, but were rejected everywhere. In only one house did they not close the doors to the aliens...

The Argonauts - “sailing on the Argo” - participants in the journey to Colchis for the skin of the golden fleece ram, on which Phrixus and his sister fled from their evil stepmother. King Eet of Colchis sacrificed a ram to Zeus, and hung the skin in the sacred grove of Ares, where it was guarded by a vigilant fire-breathing dragon...

Nikolai Kun. The myths of the Trojan cycle are presented based on Homer’s poem “The Iliad”, Sophocles’ tragedies “Ajax the Scourge”, “Philoctetes”, Euripides’ “Iphigenia in Aulis”, “Andromache”, “Hecuba”, Virgil’s poems “Aeneid”, Ovid’s “Heroines” and excerpts a number of other works.

Polycrates is the ruler of the island of Samos. Having established his power over the entire island, he entered into a friendly alliance with the Egyptian king Amasis. Polycrates was very proud of his successes and loved to brag about them. Therefore, rumors of his power spread throughout the world. Whatever Polycrates planned, he succeeded...

Damocles sat on a golden seat, smiled in all directions and was at the height of bliss. After all, any of his wishes was immediately fulfilled. However, Dionysius ordered a sharp sword suspended from the ceiling to be quietly lowered from the ceiling. horsehair. It hung right above the neck of the imaginary lucky man. Noticing him, Damocles immediately lost interest in the luxury surrounding him...

The Cretan king Minos gathered an army and went to war against the state of Magera. He surrounded his capital Megara with a tight ring. Maghera was then ruled by King Nis. He had a beautiful daughter named Skilla, who had a very bad character...

A long time ago, the famous poet and musician Arion lived at the royal court in Corinth. He composed poetry, sang beautifully and played the lyre. No one could compare with him in this art. His fame resounded throughout the world. Everyone was fascinated by Arion’s songs: men and women, animals and birds. Even plants and waters did not remain indifferent to them...

Once upon a time there lived a kind, peace-loving king named Kake, the son of the Light-Bearer. And he had a brother, Daedalion. In contrast to Cake, he loved wars and bloody battles, attacking neighboring states for no reason, robbing and enslaving entire nations...

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Myths of Ancient Greece - their essence becomes clear only when taking into account the peculiarities of the primitive communal system of the Greeks, who perceived the world as the life of one huge tribal community and in myth they generalized all the diversity of human relationships and natural phenomena...

Heroes of ancient Greek myths and legends

A hero is the son or descendant of a deity and a mortal man. In Homer, a hero is usually called a brave warrior (in the Iliad) or noble man having glorious ancestors (in the Odyssey). For the first time, Hesiod calls the “kind of heroes” created by Zeus “demigods” (h m i q e o i, Orr. 158-160). In the dictionary of Hesychius of Alexandria (VI century) the concept hero explained as “powerful, strong, noble, significant” (Hesych. v. h r o z). Modern etymologists give different interpretations of this word, highlighting, however, the function of protection, patronage (root ser-, variant swer-, wer-, cf. Lat. servare, “protect”, “save”), and also bringing it closer to the name of the goddess Hera - H r a).

The history of the heroes belongs to the so-called classical or Olympian period of Greek mythology (2nd millennium BC, flourishing in the 2nd millennium BC), associated with the strengthening of patriarchy and the rise of Mycenaean Greece. The Olympian gods, who overthrew the Titans, in the fight against the pre-Olympic world of monstrous creatures of mother earth - Gaia, create generations of heroes by marrying into the mortal race. There are so-called catalogs of heroes indicating their parents and place of birth (Hes. Theog. 240-1022; frg. 1-153; Apoll. Rhod. I 23-233). Sometimes the hero does not know his father, is raised by his mother and goes on a quest, performing feats along the way.

The hero is called upon to carry out the will of the Olympians on earth among people, ordering life and introducing justice, measure, and laws into it, despite the ancient spontaneity and disharmony. Usually the hero is endowed with exorbitant strength and superhuman capabilities, but he is deprived of immortality, which remains the privilege of a deity. Hence the inconsistency and contradiction between the limited capabilities of a mortal being and the desire of the heroes to establish themselves in immortality. There are known myths about the attempts of the gods to make heroes immortal; Thus, Thetis tempers Achilles in fire, burning out everything mortal in him and anointing him with ambrosia (Apollod. III 13, 6), or Demeter, patronizing the Athenian kings, tempers their son Demophon (Hymn. Hom. V 239-262). In both cases, the goddesses are hindered by unreasonable mortal parents (Peleus is the father of Achilles, Metanira is the mother of Demophon).

The desire to disrupt the original balance of the forces of death and the immortal world is fundamentally unsuccessful and is punished by Zeus. Thus, Asclepius, the son of Apollo and the mortal nymph Coronis, who tried to resurrect people, that is, to grant them immortality, was struck by the lightning of Zeus (Apollod. III 10, 3-4). stole the apples of the Hesperides, which bestow eternal youth, but then Athena returned them to their place (Apollod. II 5, 11). Orpheus's attempt to bring Eurydice back to life is unsuccessful (Apollod. I 3, 2).

The impossibility of personal immortality is compensated in the heroic world by exploits and glory (immortality) among descendants. Personality of the heroes mostly has a dramatic character, since the life of one hero is not enough to realize the plans of the gods. Therefore, the idea of ​​suffering is strengthened in myths heroic personality and endless overcoming trials and difficulties. Heroes are often persecuted by a hostile deity (for example, Hercules is pursued by Hera, Apollod II 4, 8) and depends on a weak, insignificant person through whom the hostile deity acts (for example, Hercules is subordinate to Eurystheus).

It takes more than one generation to create a great hero. Zeus marries three times with mortal women (Io, Danae and Alcmene), so that after thirty generations (Aeschylus “Chained Prometheus”, 770 next) he was born, among whose ancestors were Danaus, and other sons and descendants of Zeus. Thus, there is an increase in heroic power, reaching its apotheosis in the myths about pan-Greek heroes, such as Hercules.

Early heroism - the exploits of heroes destroying monsters: the fight of Perseus with the gorgon, with the chimera, a series of labors of Hercules, the pinnacle of which is the fight with Hades (Apollod. II 7, 3). Late heroism is associated with the intellectualization of heroes, their cultural functions ( skilled craftsman Daedalus or the builders of the Theban walls Zet and Amphion). Among the heroes are singers and musicians who have mastered the magic of words and rhythm, tamers of the elements (Orpheus), soothsayers (Tiresias, Kalkhant, Trophonius), riddle solvers (Oedipus), cunning and inquisitive (Odysseus), legislators (). Regardless of the nature of heroism, the exploits of heroes are always accompanied by the help of a divine parent (Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon) or a god whose functions are close to the character of a particular hero (wise Athena helps smart Odysseus). Often, the rivalry of the gods and their fundamental difference from each other affects the fate of the hero (the death of Hippolytus as a result of a dispute between Aphrodite and Artemis; violent Poseidon pursues Odysseus in defiance of the wise Athena; Hera, the patroness of monogamy, hates Hercules, the son of Zeus and Alcmene).

Often, heroes experience a painful death (self-immolation of Hercules), die at the hands of a treacherous villain (Theseus), or at the will of a hostile deity (Hyakinthos, Orpheus, Hippolytus). At the same time, the exploits and sufferings of the heroes are considered as a kind of test, the reward for which comes after death. Hercules gains immortality on Olympus, having received the goddess Hebe as his wife (Hes. Theog. 950-955). However, according to another version, Hercules himself is on Olympus, and his shadow wanders in Hades (Hom. Od. XI 601-604), which indicates the duality and instability of the deification of heroes. Achilles, killed near Troy, then ends up on the island of Levka (analogous to the islands of the blessed), where he marries Helen (Paus. III 19, 11-13) or with Medea in the Champs Elysees (Apoll. Rhod. IV 811-814), Menelaus ( son-in-law of Zeus), without experiencing death, is transferred to the Elysian Fields (Hom. Od. IV 561 -568). Hesiod considers it obligatory for most heroes to move to the islands of the blessed (Orr. 167-173). The son of Apollo, Asclepius, killed by the lightning of Zeus, is thought of as a hypostasis of Apollo, acquires the divine functions of a healer, and his cult even supplants the cult of his father Apollo in Epidaurus. The only hero is the demigod Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Semele, who becomes a deity during his lifetime; but this transformation of him into a god is prepared by the birth, death and resurrection of Zagreus - the archaic hypostasis of Dionysus, the son of Zeus of Crete and the goddess Persephone (Nonn. Dion. VI 155-388). In the song of the Elean women, the god Dionysus is addressed as Dionysus the Hero. (Anthologia lyrica graeca, ed. Diehl, Lips., 1925, II p. 206, frg. 46). Thus, Hercules was the model for the concept of the hero-god (Pind. Nem. III 22), and Dionysus was considered a hero among the gods.

The development of heroism and independence of heroes leads to their opposition to the gods, to their insolence and even crimes, which accumulate over generations of heroic dynasties, leading to the death of heroes. There are known myths about the ancestral curse experienced by the heroes of the end of the classical Olympian period, corresponding to the time of the decline of Mycenaean rule. These are the myths about the curses weighing down on the family of Atrides (or Tantalids) (Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Orestes), Cadmides (children and grandchildren of Cadmus - Ino, Agave, Pentheus, Actaeon), Labdacids (Oedipus and his sons), Alkmaeonidov. Myths are also created about the death of the entire family of heroes (myths about the war of seven against Thebes and the Trojan War). Hesiod views them as wars in which the heroes destroyed each other (Orr. 156-165).

At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The cult of deceased heroes, completely unfamiliar to Homeric poems, but known from the Mycenaean royal burials, became widespread. The cult of heroes reflected the idea of ​​divine reward after death, the belief in the continuation of the intercession of heroes and the patronage of their people. Sacrifices were made at the graves of heroes (cf. sacrifices to Agamemnon in Aeschylus’s “Choephori”), sacred sites were assigned to them (for example, Oedipus in Colonus), singing competitions were held near their burials (in honor of Amphidamantus in Chalkis with the participation of Hesiod, Orr. 654-657 ). Laments (or phren) for heroes, glorifying their exploits, served as one of the sources of epic songs (cf. “glorious deeds of men” sung by Achilles, Homer “Iliad”, IX 189). The pan-Greek hero Hercules was considered the founder of the Nemean Games (Pind. Nem. I). Sacrifices were made to him in different temples: in some as an immortal Olympian, in others as a hero (Herodot. II 44). Some heroes were perceived as hypostases of god, for example Zeus (cf. Zeus - Agamemnon, Zeus - Amphiaraus, Zeus - Trophonius), Poseidon (cf. Poseidon - Erechtheus).

Where the activities of the heroes were glorified, temples were built (the temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus), and an oracle was consulted at the site of his disappearance (the cave and oracle of Trophonius, Paus. IX 39, 5). In the VII-VI centuries. BC with the development of the cult of Dionysus, the cult of some ancient heroes - eponyms of cities - lost its significance (for example, in Sikyon, under the tyrant Cleisthenes, the veneration of Adrastus was replaced by the veneration of Dionysus, Herodot. V 67). Religious and cult heroism, sanctified by the polis system, played an important political role in Greece. Heroes were thought of as defenders of the polis, a mediator between gods and people, and a representative for people before God. After the end of the Greco-Persian War (as Plutarch reports), at the behest of the Pythia, the remains of Theseus were transferred from the island of Skyros to Athens. At the same time, sacrifices were made to heroes who died in battles, for example at Plataea (Plut. Arist. 21). Hence the deification after death and the inclusion of famous historical figures among the heroes (Sophocles after his death became a hero named Dexion). Outstanding commanders received the honorary title of hero after their death (for example, Brasidas after the Battle of Amphipolis, Thuc. V 11, 1). The cult of these heroes was influenced by the ancient veneration of mythological characters, who began to be perceived as ancestors - patrons of the family, clan and polis.

The hero, as a universal category of characters that is found in any mythology, can rarely be defined terminologically as clearly as in Greek mythology. In archaic mythologies, heroes are very often classified together with great ancestors, and in more developed ones they turn out to be legendary ancient kings or military leaders, including those bearing historical names. Some researchers (S. Autran, F. Raglan, etc.) directly trace the genesis of mythological heroes to the phenomenon of the sorcerer king (priest), described by J. Fraser in The Golden Bough, and even see in the heroes a ritual hypostasis of a deity (Raglan). However, such a view is not applicable to the most archaic systems, which are characterized by the idea of ​​the hero as an ancestor participating in creation, inventing the “kitchen” fire, cultivated plants, introducing social and religious institutions, and so on, that is, acting as a cultural hero and demiurge.

Unlike gods (spirits), who are able to create cosmic and cultural objects purely magically, by naming them verbally, and “extract” them one way or another from themselves, heroes for the most part find and obtain these objects ready-made, but in remote places, other worlds , while overcoming various difficulties, taking or kidnapping them (as cultural heroes) from the original keepers, or the heroes make these objects like potters, blacksmiths (like demiurges). Typically, the creation myth schema includes, as a minimum set of “roles,” the subject, the object, and the source (the material from which the object is extracted/made). If the role of the subject of creation instead of the deity is played by a hero-provider, this usually leads to the appearance of an additional role of an antagonist.

Spatial mobility and numerous contacts of heroes, especially hostile ones, contribute to the narrative development of the myth (up to its transformation into a fairy tale or heroic epic). In more developed mythologies, heroes explicitly represent the forces of the cosmos in the struggle against the forces of chaos - chthonic monsters or other demonic creatures that interfere with the peaceful life of gods and people. Only in the process of the beginning “historicization” of myth in epic texts do heroes acquire the appearance of quasi-historical characters, and their demonic opponents can appear as heterodox foreign “invaders”. Accordingly, in fairy-tale texts, mythical heroes are replaced by conventional figures of knights, princes and even peasant sons (including younger sons and other heroes, “not promising”), defeating fairy-tale monsters by force, or cunning, or magic.

Mythical heroes appear on behalf of the human (ethnic) community before gods and spirits, and often act as intermediaries (mediators) between different mythical worlds. In many cases, their role is vaguely comparable to that of shamans.

Heroes sometimes act on the initiative of the gods or with their help, but they, as a rule, are much more active than the gods, and this activity constitutes, in a certain sense, their specificity.

The activity of heroes in developed examples of myth and epic contributes to the formation of a special heroic character - brave, frantic, prone to overestimating their own strengths (cf. Gilgamesh, Achilles, heroes of the German epic, etc.). But even within the class of gods, active characters can sometimes be identified who perform the function of mediation between parts of the cosmos, defeating demonic opponents in the struggle. Such hero gods are, for example, Thor in Scandinavian mythology, Marduk in Babylonian mythology. On the other hand, heroes even of divine origin and endowed with “divine” power can sometimes quite clearly and even sharply confront the gods. Gilgamesh, characterized in the Akkadian poem "Enuma Elish" as a being two-thirds divine and superior to the gods in many qualities, still cannot be compared with the gods, and his attempt to achieve immortality ends in failure.

In some cases, the frantic nature of the heroes or the consciousness of internal superiority over the gods leads to fighting against God (cf. the Greek Prometheus and similar heroes of the mythology of the Caucasian-Iberian peoples of Amirani, Abrskil, Artavazd, and also Batradz). To perform feats, heroes need supernatural strength, which is only partly inherent in them from birth, usually due to divine origin. They need the help of gods or spirits (later this need of the heroes decreases in the heroic epic and increases even more in the fairy tale, where miraculous helpers often act for them), and this help is mostly acquired through a certain skill and tests such as initiation tests, that is initiation practiced in archaic societies. Apparently, the reflection of initiation rites is obligatory in the heroic myth: the departure or expulsion of the hero from his society, temporary isolation and wanderings in other countries, in heaven or in the lower world, where contacts with spirits take place, the acquisition of helping spirits, the fight against some demonic opponents. A specific symbolic motif associated with initiation is the swallowing of the young hero by a monster and subsequent release from his womb. In many cases (and this precisely indicates a connection with initiation), the initiator of the tests is the divine father (or uncle) of the hero or the leader of the tribe, who gives the young man “difficult tasks” or expels him from the tribe.

Exile (difficult tasks) is sometimes motivated by the hero's misdeed (breaking a taboo) or the danger he poses to the father (chief). The young hero often violates various prohibitions and even often commits incest, which at the same time signals his heroic exclusivity and achieved maturity (and perhaps also the decrepitness of his father-leader). Trials in myth can take the form of persecution, attempts at extermination by god (father, king) or demonic creatures (evil spirits), the hero can turn into a mystery victim passing through temporary death (departure/return - death/resurrection). In one form or another, trials are an essential element of heroic mythology.

The story about the miraculous (at least unusual) birth of the hero, his amazing abilities and early attainment of maturity, his training and especially preliminary tests, the various vicissitudes of heroic childhood form an important part of the heroic myth and precede the description of the most important feats of general significance for society.

The biographical “beginning” in the heroic myth is, in principle, similar to the cosmic “beginning” in the cosmogonic or etiological myth. Only here the ordering of chaos is related not to the world as a whole, but to the formation of an individual who turns into a hero who serves his society and is able to further support cosmic order. In practice, however, the preliminary trials of the hero in the process of his social education and the main actions are often so intertwined in the plot that it is difficult to clearly separate them. A heroic biography sometimes also includes the story of the hero’s marriage (with corresponding competitions and trials on the part of the wonderful bride or her father; these motifs receive especially rich development in the fairy tale), and sometimes the story of his death, interpreted in many cases as a temporary departure to another life. peace while maintaining the prospect of return/resurrection.

Heroic biography correlates quite clearly with the cycle of “transitional” rites that accompany birth, initiation, marriage and death. But at the same time, the heroic myth itself, due to the paradigmatic function of myth, should serve as a model for the performance of transitional rites (especially initiation) during the social education of full members of a tribe, religious or social group, as well as during the entire life cycle and normal generational change Heroic myth - most important source formations as heroic epic, and fairy tales.

(or their descendants) and mortal people. Heroes differed from gods in that they were mortal. More often these were the descendants of a god and a mortal woman, less often - of a goddess and a mortal man. Heroes typically had exceptional or supernatural physical abilities, creative talents etc., but did not have immortality. Heroes were supposed to carry out the will of the gods on earth and bring order and justice into people's lives. With the help of their divine parents, they performed all kinds of feats. Heroes were highly revered, legends about them were passed down from generation to generation.
The heroes of ancient Greek myths were Achilles, Hercules, 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 took part 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 as follows: Thetis, wanting to make her son immortal, immersed him in the waters of the Styx (according to another version - in the fire), so that only one heel by which she held him remained vulnerable; hence the saying “Achilles’ heel” that exists to this day. This saying refers to someone's weak side.
As a child, Achilles was called Pirrisius ("Ice"), but when fire burned his lips, he was called Achilles ("lipless").
Achilles was raised by the centaur Chiron.

Chiron teaches Achilles how to play the lyre
Another teacher of Achilles was Phoenix, a friend of his father Peleus. The centaur Chiron restored Phoenix's sight, which was taken from him by his father, who was falsely accused by his 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 bandages the hand of Patroclus (image on the bowl)
The first shield of Achilles was made by Hephaestus; this scene is also depicted on vases.
During the long siege of Ilium, 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 of Homer's Iliad.
Having defeated many enemies, Achilles in the last battle reached the Scaean Gate of Ilion, but here an arrow shot from the bow of Paris by the hand of Apollo himself struck 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 Thimbra, near Troy, to marry Polyxena, the youngest daughter of Priam, where he was killed by Paris and Deiphobus.
Greek writer of the first half of the 2nd century AD. e. Ptolemy Hephaestion narrates 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. According to Homer's story, Ajax Telamonides and Odysseus Laertides argued for the armor of Achilles. Agamemnon awarded them to the latter. In the Odyssey, Achilles is in the underworld, where Odysseus meets him.
Achilles was buried in a golden amphora, which Dionysus gave to Thetis.

Hercules

A. Canova “Hercules”
Author: LuciusCommons – foto scattata da me., from Wikipedia
Hercules is the son of the god Zeus and Alcmene, the daughter of the Mycenaean king.
Numerous myths have been created about Hercules; the most famous is the cycle of tales about the 12 labors 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 it 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 (Alcmene's husband), stopped the sun, and their night lasted three days. On the night he was due 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 born first (premature). Zeus made an agreement with Hera that Hercules would not be under the power of Eurystheus all his life: after ten labors performed on behalf of Eurystheus, Hercules would not only be freed from his power, but would even receive immortality.
Athena tricks Hera into breastfeeding Hercules: after tasting this milk, Hercules becomes immortal. The baby hurts the goddess, and she tears him from her breast; the splashing stream of milk turns into the Milky Way. Hera turned out to be the adoptive mother of Hercules.
In his youth, Hercules accidentally killed Linus, the brother of Orpheus, with a lyre, so he was forced to retire to the wooded Kytheron, 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 follow his own path.

Annibale Carracci "The Choice of Hercules"

12 labors of Hercules

1. Strangulation of the Nemean Lion
2. Killing the Lernaean Hydra
3. Extermination of Stymphalian birds
4. Capture of the Kerynean fallow deer
5. Taming the Erymanthian boar and the battle with the centaurs
6. Cleaning the Augean stables.
7. Taming the Cretan bull
8. Theft of Diomedes' horses, victory over King Diomedes (who threw strangers to be devoured by his horses)
9. The theft of the belt of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons
10. The abduction of the cows of the three-headed giant Geryon
11. The theft of golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides
12. Taming the guard of Hades - the dog Cerberus

Antoine Bourdelle "Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds"
Stymphalian birds are birds of prey that lived near the Arcadian city of Stymphalus. They had copper beaks, wings and claws. They attacked people and animals. Their most formidable weapons were feathers, which the birds scattered 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 freedom from torment.

G. Füger “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 North African Mountains (background)
Author: Hansvandervliet – own work, from Wikipedia
Participated in the campaign of the Argonauts. He defeated the king of Elis, Augeas, and established the Olympic Games. On Olympic Games won in pankration. Some authors describe the struggle of Hercules with Zeus himself - their competition ended in a draw. Established an Olympic stadium length of 600 of his feet. While running, he covered stages without taking a breath. He 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, who had 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, daughter of the Argive king Acrisius. He defeated the monster Gorgon Medusa and was the savior of 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 is the most famous of the three Gorgon sisters, a monster with a woman's face and snakes instead of hair. Her gaze turned a person to stone.
Andromeda is the daughter of the Ethiopian king Kepheus and Cassiopeia (had divine ancestors). Cassiopeia once boasted that she was superior in beauty to the Nereids (sea deities, daughters of Nereus and the oceanids Doris, according to appearance reminiscent of Slavic mermaids), the angry goddesses turned to Poseidon with a request for revenge, and he sent a sea monster that threatened the death of Kepheus’ 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 make this sacrifice. Chained to the cliff, Andromeda was left to the mercy of the monster.

Gustave Dore "Andromeda Chained to the Rock"
Perseus saw her in this position. He was struck by her beauty and promised to kill the monster if she agreed to marry him (Perseus). Andromeda's father Cepheus happily 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 relative 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 (mykes) of his sword in the surrounding area. It is believed that the underground spring of Perseus has been preserved among the ruins of Mycenae.
Andromeda gave birth to Perseus a daughter, Gorgophon, and six sons: Persus, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Eleus, Mestor and Electryon. The eldest of them, Persian, was considered the ancestor of the Persian people.