Heroes of Ancient Greece: names and exploits

Heroes of Ancient Greece, whose names are not forgotten to this day, occupied a special place in mythology, the fine arts and life of the ancient Greek people. They were a role model and an ideal of physical beauty. About these brave men composed legends and poems, in honor of the heroes created statues and called them the names of the constellation.

Legends and myths of Ancient Greece: the heroes of Hellas, gods and monsters

The mythology of ancient Greek society is divided into three parts:

1. Pre-Olympic period - stories about titans and giants. At that time, the man felt defenseless against the menacing forces of nature, of which he knew very little. Therefore, the surrounding world seemed to him a chaos in which there are terrifying uncontrollable forces and essences - titans, giants and monsters. They were generated by the earth as the main acting force of nature.

At this time, there are Cerberus, a chimera, a Lernean hydra, a serpent Tiphon, a hundred hands of gecatonhair giants, goddesses of vengeance of Erinia, appearing in the guise of terrible old women, and many others.

2. Gradually the pantheon of deities of a different nature began to develop. The anthropoid higher powers-the Olympic gods-began to resist the abstract monsters. This new, third generation of deities, entered into a battle against the titans and giants and won them a victory. Not all the opponents were imprisoned in a terrible dungeon - Tartarus. Many are among the new gods of Olympus: Ocean, Mnemosyne, Themis, Atlas, Helios, Prometheus, Selena, Eos. Traditionally, the main deities were 12, but over the centuries their composition was constantly replenished.

3. With the development of ancient Greek society and the rise of economic forces, the faith of man in his own strength was increasingly strengthened. This bold view of the world gave rise to a new representative of mythology - the hero. He is a winner of monsters and at the same time a founder of states. At this time great feats are performed and victories over ancient essences are won. Typhon kills Apollo, the hero of ancient Hellas Cadmus founded the famous Thebes in the habitat of the dragon he killed, Bellerophon destroys the chimera.

Historical sources of Greek myths

On the exploits of heroes and gods, we can judge by the few written testimonies. The largest of them are the poems Iliad and Odyssey of the great Homer, Ovid's Metamorphoses (they formed the basis of the famous book by N. Kuhn "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece"), as well as the works of Hesiod.

Around the 5th century BC. BC. There are collectors of legends about the gods and great defenders of Greece. Heroes of Ancient Hellas, whose names we now know, were not forgotten due to their painstaking work. These are historians and philosophers Apollodorus of Athens, Heraclides of Pontus, Palefat and many others.

The Origin of Heroes

First, find out who it is - the hero of Ancient Hellas. The Greeks themselves have several interpretations. It is usually a descendant of some deity and mortal woman. Hesiod, for example, called the demigods heroes, whose ancestor was Zeus.

To create a truly invincible warrior and defender, it takes more than one generation. Hercules - the thirtieth in the genus of the descendants of the main Greek god, and in it concentrated all the power of the previous heroes of his kind.

Homer is a strong and brave warrior or a man of noble birth, who has famous ancestors.

Modern etymologists also interpret the meaning of the word in different ways, singling out the general - the function of the defender.

Heroes of Ancient Hellas often have a similar biography. Many of them did not know their father's name, were brought up by either one mother or adopted children. All of them, in the end, went to perform deeds.

Heroes are called to fulfill the will of the Olympic gods and grant protection to people. They bring order and justice to the earth. There is also a contradiction in them. On the one hand, they are endowed with superhuman strength, but on the other - devoid of immortality. The gods themselves sometimes try to correct this injustice. Thetis stabs the son of Achilles, seeking to make him immortal. The goddess Demeter, in gratitude to the Athenian king, puts his son Demofonte in the fire, in order to burn out all the mortal in him. Usually, these attempts result in failure due to the interference of parents who fear for the lives of children.

The fate of the hero is usually tragic. Unable to live forever, he tries to immortalize himself in the memory of people. He is often subjected to persecution by malevolent gods. Hercules tries to destroy Hera, Odysseus pursues the wrath of Poseidon.

Heroes of Ancient Greece: a list of names and exploits

The first protector of people was the titanium Prometheus. He is conventionally called a hero, because he is not a man or a demigod, but a real deity. According to Hesiod, he created the first people, molded them out of clay or earth, and patronized them, protecting from the arbitrariness of other gods.

Bellerophon is one of the first heroes of the older generation. As a gift from the Olympian gods, he received a wonderful winged horse Pegasus, with which he overcame a terrible fire-breathing chimera.

Theseus is a hero who lived before the great Trojan War. Its origin is unusual. He is a descendant of many gods, and his ancestors were even wise half-men-half-people. At the hero at once two fathers - king Agej and Poseidon. Before his greatest achievement - the victory over the monstrous Minotaur - he managed to accomplish many good deeds: he destroyed the robbers who were on the lookout for travelers on the Athenian road, killed a monster - the Crommian pig. Also Theseus, along with Hercules, participated in the campaign against the Amazons.

Achilles is the greatest hero of Hellas, the son of King Peleus and the goddess of the sea of Thetis. Wanting to make her son invulnerable, she put him in the furnace of Hephaestus (according to other versions, in the river Styx or boiling water). He was destined to perish on the Trojan War, but before that commit many exploits on the battlefield. Mother tried to hide it from the ruler Likomed, dressing him in women's clothes and giving out for one of the royal daughters. But the clever Odysseus, sent to seek Achilles, was able to expose him. The hero was forced to accept his fate and went to the Trojan War. On it, he performed many feats. The mere appearance of him on the battlefield turned the enemies into flight. Achilles was killed by Paris with an archery arrow that was sent by the god Apollo. She fell into the only vulnerable spot on the hero's body - the heel. The ancient Greeks revered Achilles. In honor of him, temples were built in Sparta and Elis.

The histories of life of some of the heroes are so interesting and tragic that they should be told about them separately.

Perseus

Heroes of Ancient Greece, their exploits and life stories are known to many. One of the most popular representatives of the great defenders of antiquity is Perseus. He performed several feats that forever glorified his name: he cut off Medusa's head Gorgon and rescued from the sea monster the beautiful Andromeda.

To do this, he had to get a helmet Ares, making anyone invisible, and Hermes sandals, giving the opportunity to fly. Athena, the patroness of the hero, gave him a sword and a magic bag in which it was possible to hide the severed head, because even looking at the dead Gorgon turned any living thing into stone. After the death of Perseus and his wife Andromeda, they were both placed by the gods in the sky and turned into constellations.

Odysseus

The heroes of ancient Greece were not only unusually strong and courageous. Many of them were wise. The smartest of them was Odysseus. More than once his sharp mind helped the hero and his companions. Homer devoted many years to his famous "Odyssey".

The greatest of the Greeks

The hero of Hellas (Ancient Greece), the myths about which have received the greatest fame, is Hercules. The son of Zeus and the descendant of Perseus, he accomplished many exploits and became famous for centuries. His whole life was haunted by Hera's hatred. Under the influence of her madness, he killed his children and the two sons of his brother Iphicles.

The death of the hero came prematurely. Wearing a poisoned cloak, sent by wife Deyanira, who thought that he was imbued with a love potion, Hercules realized that he was dying. He ordered to prepare a funeral pyre and climbed it. At the time of death, the son of Zeus, the protagonist of Greek myths, was ascended to Olympus, where he became one of the gods.

Ancient Greek demigods and myths in modern art

Heroes of Ancient Hellas, pictures depicting which can be seen in the article, have always been considered examples of physical strength and health. There is not a single art form in which the subjects of Greek mythology were not used. And these days they do not lose popularity. Great interest was attracted to the audience by such films as "The Battle of the Titans" and "The Wrath of the Titans", the main character of which is Perseus. A magnificent film with the same name is dedicated to the Odyssey (the director is Andrei Konchalovsky). "Troy" told about the exploits and death of Achilles.

A great number of films, serials and cartoons were shot about the great Hercules.

Conclusion

The heroes of Ancient Greece are still a wonderful example of masculinity, self-sacrifice and devotion. Not all of them are ideal, and many of them are characterized by negative features - vanity, pride, lust for power. But they always stood up for Greece, if the country or its people were in danger.