Heroes were born from the marriages of the Olympian gods with mortals. They were endowed with superhuman abilities and great strength, but did not possess immortality. Heroes performed all sorts of feats with the help of their divine parents. They were supposed to fulfill the will of the gods on earth, to bring justice and order into people's lives. Heroes were highly respected in Ancient Greece legends about them were passed down from generation to generation.

Not always the concept of a heroic deed included military prowess. Some heroes, indeed, are great warriors, others are healers, others are great travelers, fourths are just husbands of goddesses, fifths are the ancestors of peoples, sixths are prophets, etc. Greek heroes are not immortal, but their posthumous fate is unusual. Some heroes of Greece live after death on the Isles of the Blessed, others on the island of Levka or even on Olympus. It was believed that most of the heroes who fell in battle or died as a result of dramatic events were buried in the ground. The tombs of the heroes - the heroons - were the places of their worship. Often, there were graves of the same hero in different places in Greece.

More about the characters based on the book by Mikhail Gasparov "Entertaining Greece"

In Thebes, they told about the hero Cadmus, the founder of Cadmea, the winner of the terrible cave dragon. In Argos, they told about the hero Perseus, who at the end of the world cut off the head of the monstrous Gorgon, from whose gaze people turned to stone, and then defeated the sea monster - the Whale. In Athens, they talked about the hero Theseus, who freed central Greece from evil robbers, and then in Crete killed the bull-headed ogre of the Minotaur, who was sitting in the palace with intricate passages - the Labyrinth; he did not get lost in the Labyrinth because he held on to the thread that the Cretan princess Ariadne gave him, who later became the wife of the god Dionysus. In the Peloponnese (named after another hero - Pelops) they talked about the twin heroes Castor and Polideuces, who later became the patron gods of cavalrymen and wrestlers. The sea was conquered by the hero Jason: on the ship "Argo" with his Argonaut friends, he brought to Greece from the eastern edge of the world the "Golden Fleece" - the skin of a golden ram that descended from heaven. The sky was conquered by the hero Daedalus, the builder of the Labyrinth: on wings of bird feathers fastened with wax, he flew from Cretan captivity to his native Athens, although his son Icarus, who flew with him, could not stay in the air and died.

The main of the heroes, the real savior of the gods, was Hercules, the son of Zeus. He was not just a mortal man - he was a bonded mortal man who served the weak and cowardly king for twelve years. On his orders, Hercules performed twelve famous labors. The first were victories over monsters from the vicinity of Argos - a stone lion and a many-headed hydra snake, in which several new ones grew instead of each severed head. The last were the victories over the dragon of the far West, guarding the golden apples of eternal youth (it was on the way to him that Hercules dug the Strait of Gibraltar, and the mountains on its sides became known as the Pillars of Heracles), and over the three-headed dog Kerberos, who guarded the terrible kingdom of the dead. And after that, he was called to his main business: he became a participant in the great war of the Olympians with the rebellious younger gods, giants, in gigantomachy. The giants threw mountains at the gods, the gods slew the giants with lightning, some with a rod, some with a trident, the giants fell, but not killed, but only stunned. Then Hercules hit them with arrows from his bow, and they did not get up again. So man helped the gods to defeat their most terrible enemies.

But gigantomachy was only the penultimate danger that threatened the omnipotence of the Olympians. Hercules also saved them from the last danger. In his wanderings along the ends of the earth, he saw Prometheus chained on a Caucasian rock, tormented by Zeus's eagle, took pity on him and killed the eagle with an arrow from a bow. In gratitude for this, Prometheus revealed to him the last secret of fate: let Zeus not seek the love of the sea goddess Thetis, because the son that Thetis will give birth to will be stronger than his father, and if it is the son of Zeus, then he will overthrow Zeus. Zeus obeyed: Thetis was given not as a god, but as a mortal hero, and their son Achilles was born. And with this began the decline of the heroic age.

Greek myths about gods, goddesses, and heroes date back to the Bronze Age, the time of oral tradition. They were first recorded at the beginning of the 6th century. BC. and have continued to live in Western literature ever since. Myths were closely connected with the beliefs of the ancient Greeks and interpreted the mysteries of nature. They told about the creation of the world, about the deeds of deities, about the golden age of ancient Greek society, about the age of demigod heroes such as Theseus and Hercules, whose exploits inspired ordinary people. The Greeks represented the gods in the form of ideal people who possessed all the feelings inherent in man. The gods lived on Mount Olympus. The supreme god Zeus was considered the father of many Olympians. Each member of the Olympic family was assigned a divine role.

Zeus- the father of gods and people, ruled them from Mount Olympus.
Eris goddess of discord.
Klymene, mother Prometheus who gave people fire.
Hera wife of Zeus, was very jealous.
Athena came out of the head of Zeus in full battle attire, in Greek mythology was the goddess of wisdom, strategy and war.
Poseidon, god of the seas, one of the brothers of Zeus. The symbol of his power is a trident. Myths bring to us stories about the betrayals of Poseidon to his wife, the sea goddess amphitrite who was the goddess of the sea in Greek mythology. This statue is kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Paris must award the golden apple to the most beautiful of the goddesses. The dog of Paris helped him tend the flocks on Mount Ida, where the prince grew up.
Dionysus, the god of viticulture and wine, Zeus gave birth from his thigh.
Hades And Persephone ruled the realms of the dead and the souls of the dead. Hades kidnapped Persephone from her mother Demeter, goddess of fertility. Enraged, Demeter sent famine to the earth, and then Zeus decided that Persephone would live with her mother for part of the year.
Artemis, goddess of the hunt, daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo. She is armed with a bow and arrows. The eternally young goddess is surrounded by dogs and nymphs. Having taken a vow of chastity, she, however, was also the goddess of childbearing.
Hermes was the messenger of the gods.
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was born from the foam of the sea.
Apollo, the son of Zeus and the brother of Artemis, the healer and soothsayer god, the patron of the arts, was unusually handsome.

Labors of Hercules. Hercules(among the Romans - Hercules) - the greatest of the Greek heroes, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Endowed with superhuman strength, he achieved success and immortality by completing 12 tasks of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, which seemed impossible.
First, he defeated the Nemean lion, whose skin he always wore on himself from then on.
The second feat of Hercules was the victory over the Lernean Hydra. The severed heads of this poisonous monster, grown by Hera, immediately grew again. As in his other exploits, Hercules was helped by Athena.
Then there was a huge boar that was devastating Mount Erimanf. Hercules delivered him to King Eurystheus alive. The king was so frightened that he hid in a large jar.
The sixth feat was the extermination of the Stymphalian birds. Hercules saved Lake Stymphalia from man-eating birds with copper beaks: frightening the birds with bronze rattles, he killed them with stones fired from a sling.

ABDER - son of Hermes, friend of Hercules

AUGIUS - son of Helios, king of Elis

Agenor - King of Sidon

AGLAVRA - daughter of Kekrop

AGLAYA - one of the graces

ADMET - king of Fer, friend of Hercules

ADMETA - daughter of Eurystheus, priestess of the goddess Hera

Hades - the god of the underworld (among the ancient Romans PLUTO)

ACID - son of Semetis, beloved of Galatea

ACRISIA - king of Argos, father of Danae

ALKESTIS - daughter of Tsar Iolk Pelias, wife of Admet

Alkid - the name of Hercules, given to him at birth

Alcyone - one of the seven daughters of Atlas

ALCMENA - daughter of the Mycenaean king Electrion, mother of Hercules

AMALTHEA - the goat who nursed Zeus with her milk

AMPHITRION - Greek hero, husband of Alcmene

AMPHITRITE - one of the daughters of Nereus, the wife of the god of the seas Poseidon

ANGEY - Greek hero, member of the Argonauts campaign

ANDROGEUS - the son of the Cretan king Minos, killed by the Athenians

ANDROMEDA - daughter of the king of Ethiopia Cepheus and Cassiopeia, wife of Perseus

ANTEUS - the son of the goddess of the earth Gaia and the god of the seas Poseidon

ANTEA - the wife of King Tiryns Pretus

Antiope - Amazon

APOLLO (PHEB) - god of sunlight, patron of the arts, son of Zeus

APOP - in ancient Egyptian mythology, a monstrous serpent, the enemy of the sun god Ra

ARGOS - the shipbuilder who built the ship "Argo"

ARGUS - a mythological stout-eyed monster that guarded Io

ARES - in ancient Greek mythology god of war, son of Zeus and Hera (among the ancient Romans MARS)

ARIADNE - daughter of the Cretan king Minos, beloved of Theseus, later the wife of the god Dionysus

ARCADE - son of Zeus and Callisto

ARTEMIS - goddess of the hunt, daughter of Zeus and Latona, sister of Apollo

ASKLEPIUS (ESCULAP) - the son of Apollo and Coronis, a skilled healer

ASTEROPE - one of the seven daughters of Atlas

ATA - goddess of lies and deceit

ATAMANT - King Orchomenus, son of the god of the winds Eol

ATLAS (ATLANT) - a titan holding the entire celestial sphere on his shoulders

ATHENA - the goddess of war and victory, as well as wisdom, knowledge, arts and crafts (among the ancient Romans MINERVA)

APHRODITE - the goddess of love and beauty (the ancient Romans VENUS)

AHELOY - river god

Achilles - Greek hero, son of King Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis

BELLER - Corinthian killed by Hippo

BELLEROPHONT (HIPPONOES) - the son of King Glaucus of Corinth, one of the greatest heroes of Greece

Boreas - god of the winds

VENUS (see APHRODITE)

VESTA (see HESTIA)

GALATEA - one of the Nereids, beloved Akida

Ganymede - a beautiful young man, the son of the Dardanian king Troy, abducted by Zeus

HARMONY - daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, wife of the founder of Thebes Cadmus

HEBA - eternally young beautiful daughter of Zeus and Hera

HEKATE - patroness of night evil spirits, witchcraft

HELIOS - sun god

HELIADS - daughters of the god Helios

GELLA - daughter of Atamant and the goddess of clouds and clouds Nephele

HERA - wife of Zeus

GERION - a terrible giant who had three heads, three bodies, six arms and six legs

HERCULES - one of the greatest heroes of Greece, the son of Zeus and Alcmene

HERMES - in Greek micrology, the messenger of the Olympic gods, the patron of shepherds and travelers, the god of trade and profit, the son of Zeus and Maya (among the ancient Romans, MERCURY)

GERSE - daughter of Kekrop

Hesione - wife of Prometheus

HESPERIDES - daughters of Atlas

HESTIA - daughter of Kronos, goddess of the hearth (among the ancient Romans VESTA)

Hephaestus - in Greek mythology, the god of fire, the patron of blacksmithing, the son of Zeus and Hera (among the ancient Romans, VOLCANO)

GAYA - the goddess of the Earth, from which mountains and seas originated, the first generation of gods, cyclops and giants

HYADES - daughters of Atlas who raised Dionysus

GIAS - brother of Hyades, who tragically died while hunting lions

GILAS - Hercules' squire

GILL - son of Hercules

HYMENEUS - god of marriage

Himeroth - god of passionate love

HYPERION - Titan, father of Helios

HYPNOS - god of sleep

Hippocontus - brother of Tiidareus, who expelled him from Sparta

HYPPONOES (see VELLEROFONT)

Hypsipyla - queen of the island of Lemnos

GLAVK - king of Corinth, father of Bellerophon

GLAVK - soothsayer

GRANI - goddesses of old age

Danae - daughter of King Argos Acrisius, mother of Perseus

DAR DAN - son of Zeus and daughter of Atlas Electra

Daphne - nymph

Deucalion - son of Prometheus

Daedalus - unsurpassed sculptor, painter, architect

DEIMOS (Horror) - son of the god of war Ares

DEMETRA - the goddess of fertility and the patroness of agriculture

Dejanira - wife of Hercules

DIKE - goddess of justice, daughter of Zeus and Themis

DICTIS - a fisherman who found a box with Danae and Perseus in the sea

DIOMED - Thracian king

Dione - nymph, mother of Aphrodite

Dionysus - god of viticulture and winemaking, son of Zeus and Semele

Eurystheus - king of Argos, son of Stenel

HEBRITO - father of Ifit, friend of Hercules

Eurytion - the giant slain by Hercules

EUROPE - daughter of King Sidon Agenor, beloved of Zeus

EUTERPA - the muse of lyric poetry

Euphrosyne - one of the Charites (Graces)

ELENA - daughter of Zeus and Leda, wife of Menelaus, because of whose abduction by Paris, the Trojan War began

ECHIDNA - monster, half-woman half-snake

ZEUS - the ruler of Heaven and Earth, the thunderer, the supreme god of the ancient Greeks (among the ancient Romans, JUPITER)

ZET - the son of the god of the winds Boreas, a participant in the campaign of the Argonauts

ID - Castor and Pollux's cousin, Castor's killer

IKAR - the son of Daedalus, who died because he got too close to the Sun

Icarius - a resident of Attica, the first to grow grapes and make wine

IMHOTEP - ancient Egyptian physician and architect

INO - daughter of the founder of Thebes Cadmus and Harmony, wife of King Orchomenus Adamant, stepmother of Frix and Gella

IO - daughter of the river god Inach, the first king of Argolis, beloved of Zeus

IOBAT - Lycian king, father of Anthea

IOLA - daughter of Bvrit

IOLAI - nephew of Hercules, son of Iphicles

IPPOLITUS - the son of the Athenian king Theseus and Hippolyta, slandered by his stepmother Fed-roy

Hippolyta - Queen of the Amazons

IRIDA - messenger of the gods

Isis - ancient Egyptian goddess, great-granddaughter of the sun god Ra

Iphicles - brother of Hercules, son of Amphitryon and Alcmene

IFIT - friend of Hercules, killed by him in a fit of madness

KADM - the son of the Sidonian king Agekor, the founder of Thebes

KALAID - the son of the god of the winds Boreas, a participant in the campaign of the Argonauts

Calliope - the muse of epic poetry

CALLISTO - daughter of the Arcadian king Lycaon, beloved of Zeus

Kalhant - soothsayer

CASSIOPEIA - Queen of Ethiopia, wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda

CASTOR - son of Leda and the Spartan king Tin-dareus, brother of Pollux

Karpo - ora of summer, one of the goddesses who were in charge of the change of seasons

KEKROP - half man, half snake, founder of Athens

KELENO - one of the daughters of Atlas

KERVER (CERBER) - a three-headed dog with a snake tail, guarding in underworld Hades souls of the dead

KEFEI (see CEFEI)

KICN - Phaeton's friend who turned into a snow-white swan

KILIK - son of the Sidonian king Agenor

KLYMENE - daughter of the sea goddess Thetis, wife of Helios, mother of Phaethon

CLIO - the muse of history

KLYTEMNESTRA - daughter of Leda and the Spartan king Tyndareus, wife of Agamemnon

CAPRICORN - son of Epian, childhood friend of Zeus

KOPREI - the messenger of Bvristhey, who transmitted orders to Hercules

KORONIDA - beloved of Apollo, mother of Asclepius (Aesculapius)

Creon - Theban king, father of Megara, the first wife of Hercules

KRONOS - Titan, son of Uranus and Gaia. Having overthrown his father, he became the supreme god. In turn, he was overthrown by his son Zeus

Laomedont - King of Troy

LATONA (SUMMER) - Titanide, beloved of Zeus, mother of Apollo and Artemis

LEARCH - the son of Atamant and Ino, killed by his father in a fit of madness

LEDA - wife of the Spartan king Tyndareus, mother of Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux

LYCAON - king of Arcadia, father of Callisto

Lycurgus - Thracian king who insulted Dionysus and was blinded by Zeus as punishment

LIN - music teacher of Hercules, brother of Orpheus

LINKEY - cousin of Castor and Pollux, distinguished by extraordinary vigilance

LICHAS - messenger of Hercules

MAYA - daughter of Atlas, beloved of Zeus, mother of Hermes

MARDUK - the patron god of the city of Babylon, the supreme deity of the Babylonian pantheon

MARS (see ARES)

MEG ARA - daughter of the Theban king Creon, the first wife of Hercules

MEDEIA - sorceress, daughter of the king of Colchis Eeta, wife of Jason, later the wife of the Athenian king Aegeus

MEDUSA GORGON - the only mortal of the three Gorgon sisters - winged female monsters with snakes instead of hair; the look of the Gorgon turned all living things into stone

MELANIPPE - Amazon, assistant to Hippolyta

MELIKERT - the son of King Atamant and the sorceress Ino

MELPOMENE - muse of tragedy

MERCURY (see HERMES)

MEROPE - daughter of Atlas

METIS - the goddess of wisdom, the mother of Pallas Athena (among the ancient Romans METIS)

MIMAS - a giant struck by the arrow of Hercules during the battle of the gods with the giants

MINOS - king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europe

MINOTAUR - a monster with a human body and a bull's head, who lived in the Labyrinth, was killed by Theseus

Mnemosyne - goddess of memory and remembrance

Pug - a Greek hero who understood the language of birds and guessed the future, a participant in the campaign of the Argonauts

NEPTUNE (see POSEIDON)

NEREIDS - fifty daughters of Nereus

NEREI - sea god, soothsayer

NESS - a centaur who tried to kidnap Dejanira, the wife of Hercules, and was killed by him

NEPHELA - goddess of clouds and clouds, mother of Frix and Gella

NIKTA - goddess of the night

NOT - the god of the southern moist wind

NUT - the ancient Egyptian goddess of Heaven

OVERON - in Scandinavian mythology king of the elves, character in W. Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

OYNEUS - king of Calydon, father of Meleager - friend of Hercules and Dejanira - his wife

OCEANIDS - daughters of the Ocean

OMFALA - Lydian queen who enslaved Hercules

ORION - brave hunter

ORPHEUS - the son of the river god Eagra and the muse Calliope, a famous musician and singer

ORFO - a two-headed dog, a product of Typhon and Echidna

Ores - goddesses who were in charge of the change of seasons

OSIRIS - in ancient Egyptian mythology, the god of dying and resurrecting nature, brother and husband of Isis, father of Horus, patron and judge of the dead

PALLANT - a giant defeated by Athena, from whom she took off her skin and covered her shield with this skin

PANDORA - a woman made by Hephaestus on the orders of Zeus from clay in order to punish people, the wife of Epimetheus - the brother of Prometheus

PANDROSA - daughter of Kekrops, the first Athenian king

Pegasus - winged horse

Peleus - Greek hero, father of Achilles

PELIUS - king of Iolk, father of Alcestis

PENEUS - river god, father of Daphne

PERIFET - a terrible giant, son of Hephaestus, killed by Theseus

PERSEUS - Greek hero, son of Zeus and Danae

PERSEPHONE - the daughter of the goddess of fertility Demeter and Zeus, the wife of the ruler of the underworld Hades (among the ancient Romans PROSERPINA)

Pyrrha - Deucalion's wife

Pittheus - king of Argolis

Pythia - the prophetess of the god Apollo in Delphi

PYTHON - the monstrous serpent that pursued Latona is killed by Apollo

PLEIADS - seven daughters of Atlas, sister of Hyades

PLUTO (see HADES)

POLYHYMNIA - the muse of sacred hymns

POLIDEUCUS (POLLUX) - son of Zeus and Leda, brother of Castor

POLYDECT - the king of the island of Serif, who sheltered Danae and Perseus

POLYID - soothsayer

Polyphemus - Cyclops, son of Poseidon, in love with Galatea

POLYPHEM - Lapith, husband of the sister of Hercules, participant in the campaign of the Argonauts

POSEIDON - the god of the seas, the brother of Zeus (among the ancient Romans, NEPTUNE)

PRET - king of Tiryns

PRIAM - Trojan king

PROMETHEUS - the titan who gave people fire

RA - the sun god of the ancient Egyptians

RADAMANT - son of Zeus and Europa

REZIA - daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad, faithful wife of Huon

Rhea - wife of Kronos

Sarpedon - son of Zeus and Europa

SATURN (see KRONOS)

SELENA - Goddess of the Moon

SEMELE - daughter of the Theban king Cadmus, beloved of Zeus, mother of Dionysus

SEMETIS - mother of Acida, lover of Galatea

STRONG - wise teacher Dionysus, depicted as a drunken old man

SINNID - a terrible robber defeated by Theseus

SKIRON - a cruel robber defeated by Theseus

SOHMET - daughter of Ra, had the head of a Lioness, the personification of the fire element

STENEL - father of Eurystheus

STENO - one of the Gorgons

Scylla - one of two terrible monsters that lived on both sides of a narrow strait and killed sailors passing between them

TAIGET - son of Zeus and Maya, brother of Hermes

TAL - nephew of Daedalus, killed by him out of envy

THALIA - the muse of comedy

TALLO - ora of spring

TALOS - a copper giant, presented by Zeus to Minos

THANATOS - god of death

TEIA - the eldest daughter of Uranus, the mother of Helios, Selene and Eos

TELAMON- true friend Hercules, a member of the campaign of the Argonauts

TERPSIKHORA - the muse of dances

TESEN - a Greek hero, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus and the Trizen princess Etra, killed the Minotaur

TESTIUS - king of Estonia, father of Leda

TEPHIA - Titanide, wife of the Ocean

TYNDAREUS - Spartan hero, husband of Leda

Tiresias - soothsayer

TITANIA - in Scandinavian mythology, the wife of Oberon, a character in W. Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

TITON - brother of the Trojan king Priam

Typhon - a hundred-headed monster, the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus

THOT - the ancient Egyptian god of the moon

TRIPTOLEM - the first farmer who initiated people into the secrets of agriculture

TRITON - the son of the ruler of the seas Poseidon

Troy - king of Dardan, father of Ganymede

URANUS - the god of Heaven, the husband of Gaia, the father of the titans, cyclops and hundred-armed giants; was overthrown by his son Kronos

URANIA - the muse of astronomy

PHAETON - the son of Helios and Clymene, the hero of a tragic myth

FEBA - titanide

PHEDRA - the wife of the Athenian king Theseus, who fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus and slandered him

Themis - goddess of justice, mother of Prometheus

PHOENIX - son of the Sidonian king Agenor

Thetis - sea goddess, mother of Achilles

FIAMAT - the ancient Babylonians have a monster from which all troubles stemmed

PHILOCTETES - friend of Hercules who received his bow and arrows as a reward for setting fire to the funeral pyre

PHINEUS - the king of Thrace, a soothsayer blinded by Apollo for revealing to people the secrets of Zeus

PHOBOS (Fear) - the son of the god of war Ares

FRIX - the son of Atamant and Nephele, the goddess of clouds and clouds

CHALKIOPE - daughter of the king of Colchis Eeta, wife of Frix

CHARIBDA - one of the monsters that lived on both sides of the narrow strait and killed sailors passing by

HARON - carrier dead souls across the river Styx in the underworld of Hades

Chimera - a three-headed monster, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna

CHIRON is a wise centaur, a teacher of the famous Greek heroes Theseus, Achilles, Jason and others.

HYUON - a knight of Charlemagne, an example of a faithful spouse

CEPHEI - king of Ethiopia, father of Ariadne

SHU - son of the sun god Ra

EAGR - river god, father of Orpheus

Euryale - one of the Gorgons

Eurydice - nymph, wife of Orpheus

EGEI - king of Athens, father of Theseus

ELEKTRA - daughter of Atlas, beloved of Zeus, mother of Dardanus and Jason

ELECTRION - Mycenaean king, father of Alcmene, grandfather of Hercules

ENDYMION - a beautiful young man, beloved of Selena, immersed in eternal sleep

ENCELADUS - the giant whom Athena filled up with the island of Sicily

ENIO - the goddess who sows murder in the world, the companion of the god of war Ares

EOL - god of the winds

EOS - goddess of the dawn

EPAF - Phaethon's cousin, son of Zeus

Epian - father of Capricorn

Epimetheus - brother of Prometheus

ERATO - the muse of love songs

Erigone - daughter of Ikaria

ERIDA - goddess of discord, companion of the god of war Ares

Erichthonius - son of Hephaestus and Gaia, second king of Athens

EROS (EROT) - god of love, son of Aphrodite

Aesculapius (see ASCLEPIUS)

ESON - king of Iolk, father of Jason

EET - king of Colchis, son of Helios

JUNO (see HERA)

JUPITER (see ZEUS)

Janus - god of time

IAPET - titan, father of Atlas

YASION - son of Zeus and Electra

Jason - Greek hero, leader of the Argonauts campaign

The mythology of Ancient Greece is built on myths about the pantheon of gods, about the life of titans and giants, as well as about the exploits of heroes. In the myths of ancient Greece, the main active force was the Earth, giving rise to everything and giving everything a start.

What was first

So she gave birth to monsters personifying dark power, titans, cyclops, hecatoncheirs - hundred-armed monsters, the many-headed serpent Typhon, the terrible goddesses Erinnia, the bloodthirsty dog ​​Cerberus and the Lernean hydra and three-headed chimeras.

Society developed and these monsters were replaced by the heroes of ancient Greece. Most of the heroes parents were gods, they were also people. Part of the culture of Greece is the myths about the exploits of these heroes, and some of the names of the heroes of Ancient Greece are well known.

Hercules

Hercules - popular, strong, courageous was the son of the god Zeus and Alcmene, a simple, earthly woman. He became famous for his twelve feats accomplished in his entire life. Zeus gave him immortality for this.

Odysseus

Odysseus is the king of Ithaca, he became famous for his deadly risky journeys from Troy to his homeland. Homer described these exploits in his poem The Odyssey. Odysseus was smart, cunning and strong. He managed to escape not only from the nymph Calypso, but also from the sorceress Kirk.

He managed to defeat the Cyclops by blinding him, he survived a lightning strike, and when he returned to his homeland, he punished all the "suitors" of his wife Penelope.

Perseus

It is impossible not to remember Perseus, if we talk about the names of the heroes of Ancient Greece. The son of Queen Danae and Zeus is Perseus. He accomplished a feat by killing Medusa Gorgon - a winged monster, from the look of which everything turned to stone. He accomplished the next feat when he freed Princess Andromeda from the clutches of the monster.

Achilles

Achilles became famous in the Trojan War. He was the son of the nymph Thetis and King Peleus. When he was a baby, his mother bought him in the waters of the river of the dead. Since then, he has been invulnerable to enemies, with the exception of his heel. Paris, the son of the Trojan king, hit him in this heel with an arrow.

Jason

The ancient Greek hero Jason became famous in Colchis. Jason went for the Golden Fleece to distant Colchis on the Argo ship with a team of brave Argonauts, married Medea, the daughter of the king of this country. They had two sons. Medea killed him and her two sons when Jason was about to marry a second time.

Theseus

The ancient Greek hero Theseus was the son of the sea king Poseidon. He became famous for killing the monster that lived in the Cretan labyrinth - the Minotaur. He got out of the labyrinth thanks to Ariadne, who gave him a ball of thread. In Greece, this hero is considered the founder of Athens.

The names of the heroes of Ancient Greece are also not forgotten thanks to the filmed animated and feature films.

More articles in this category:

Before talking about the Heroes of Greece, it is necessary to decide who they are and how they differ from Genghis Khan, Napoleon and other heroes known in various historical eras. In addition to strength, resourcefulness, and intelligence, one of the differences between ancient Greek heroes is duality from birth. One of the parents was a deity, and the other was a mortal.

The famous heroes of the myths of ancient Greece

The description of the Heroes of Ancient Greece should begin with Hercules (Hercules), who was born from the love affair of the mortal Alcmene and the main god of the ancient Greek pantheon Zeus. According to myths that have come down from the depths of centuries, for a perfect dozen feats, Hercules was raised by the goddess Athena - Pallas to Olympus, where his father, Zeus, granted immortality to his son. The exploits of Hercules are widely known and many have entered into proverbs and sayings. This hero cleared the stables of Augius from manure, defeated the Nemean lion, and killed the hydra. In honor of Zeus, the Strait of Gibraltar was named in ancient times - the Pillars of Hercules. According to one of the legends, Hercules was too lazy to overcome the Atlas Mountains, and he punched a passage through them that connected the waters mediterranean sea and the Atlantic.
Another illegitimate - Perseus. Perseus' mother is Princess Danae, the daughter of the king of Argos Acrisius. The exploits of Perseus would have been impossible without the victory over the Medusa Gorgon. This mythical monster turned everything living into stone with its gaze. After killing the Gorgon, Perseus attached her head to his shield. Wanting to win the favor of Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess, the daughter of Cassiopeia and the king of Cepheus, this hero killed her fiancé and snatched from the clutches of the sea monster, who was going to satisfy Andromeda's hunger.
Famous for killing the Minotaur and finding a way out of the Cretan labyrinth, Theseus was born from the god of the seas, Poseidon. In mythology, he is revered as the founder of Athens.
ancient greek heroes Odysseus and Jason cannot boast of their divine origin. The king of Ithaca, Odysseus, is famous for the invention of the Trojan horse, thanks to which the Greeks destroyed. Returning to his homeland, he deprived the only eye of the Cyclops Polyphemus, sailed his ship between the rocks on which the monsters Scylla and Charybdis lived, and did not succumb to the magical charm of the sweet-voiced sirens. However, a significant share of the fame of Odysseus was given by his wife, Penelope, who, in anticipation of her husband, remained faithful to him, refusing 108 suitors.
Most of the exploits of the ancient Greek Heroes have survived to this day in the presentation of the poet-storyteller Homer, who wrote the famous epic poems The Odyssey and The Iliad.

Olympic Heroes of Ancient Greece

The ribbon of the winner in the Olympic Games has been issued since 752 BC. Heroes wore purple ribbons and were revered in society. The winner of the Games three times received a statue in Altis as a gift.
From the history of ancient Greece, the names of Koreb from Elis, who won the running competition in 776 BC, became known.
The strongest during the entire period of the festival in antiquity was Milo from Croton, he won six competitions in strength. He is believed to have been a student