Amazing people - the Hellenes (as they called themselves), came to the Peloponnese and settled it. In ancient times, all people tried to live near the nurse-river. But in Greece there were no large rivers. So the Greeks became a coastal people - they were fed by the sea. Brave, curious, they built ships and sailed the stormy Mediterranean Sea, trading and creating settlements on its shores and islands. They were also pirates, and they received profit not only from trade, but also from robbery. These people traveled a lot, saw the life of other nations, and they created myths and legends about gods and heroes. A short ancient Greek myth became a national tradition of folklore. He usually narrated about some events that happened to those who behaved incorrectly, deviating from generally accepted norms. And usually this story was very instructive.
Are Greek gods and heroes alive?
Yes and no. Nobody worships them, they don’t bring sacrifices, they don’t come to their sanctuaries asking for advice. But each short ancient Greek myth saved the life of both gods and heroes. In these stories, time is frozen and does not move, but the heroes fight, actively act, hunt, fight, try to deceive the gods and talk among themselves. They live. The Greeks immediately began to imagine gods in the form of people, only more beautiful, more skilled and endowed with incredible qualities.
For example, a short ancient Greek myth about Zeus, the most important deity, can tell us how high on the bright Olympus, surrounded by his wayward, naughty family, Zeus sits on a high golden throne and confirms the order and his harsh laws on earth. While everything is calm, the gods feast. Zeus's daughter, young Hebe, brings them ragweed and nectar. Laughing, joking, bringing food to the eagle, it can shed nectar on the ground, and then it will pour out in the summer short warm rain.
But suddenly Zeus was angry, frowning his thick eyebrows, and now the gray thunderclouds covered the clear sky. Thunder roared, lightning flashed. Not only the earth is shaking, but also Olympus.
Happiness and misfortune are sent to people by Zeus, scooping them from two different jugs. Helps him daughter Dike. She oversees justice, defends the truth and does not tolerate deception. Zeus is the guarantor of a fair trial. He is the last to whom the gods and people go for justice. But Zeus never intervenes in the affairs of war - there is no and cannot be justice in battles and bloodshed. But there is a goddess of happy fate on Olympus - Tyuhe. From the cornucopia, the horns of the goat Amalfei, which Zeus was fed, she streams the gifts of happiness to people. But how infrequently this happens!
So, keeping order in the entire Greek world, dominating evil and good, Zeus reigns forever. Is he alive? A short ancient Greek myth claims to be alive.
What love leads only to oneself
Never bored modern man to study ancient Greek myths. Reading short stories, wondering at how deep the meaning lies in them, is simply interesting and fascinating. Let's move on to the next myth.
The handsome Narcissus considered himself only worthy of love. He paid no attention to anyone, only admired and admired himself. But is this the valor and virtue of man? His life should bring joy, not grief to many. But Narcissus cannot help but look into his reflection: a destructive passion for himself eats him.
He does not notice the beauty of the world: dew on flowers, hot rays of the sun, beautiful nymphs yearning for friendship with him. Narcissus stops eating and drinking, and feels the approach of death. But he, so young and beautiful, is not afraid, but is waiting for her. And, leaning on an emerald carpet of grass, he dies quietly. So the goddess Aphrodite punished Narcissus . According to the Greeks, the gods most willingly help a person when he goes towards his death. Why live Narcissus? He is not happy with anyone, did nothing good to anyone. But on the banks of the stream, where a selfish handsome man was admiring himself, a beautiful spring flower grew, which gives happiness to all people.
About love conquering stone
Our life consists of love and mercy. Another short Greek myth tells the story of the ingenious sculptor Pygmalion, who carved a beautiful girl from white ivory. She was so good, so superior to the beauty of human daughters, that the creator admired her every minute and dreamed that she would become warm, alive from a cold stone.
Pygmalion wanted the girl to be able to talk to him. Oh, how much they would sit, bowing their heads to each other and believing secrets. But the girl was cold. Then at the feast of Aphrodite Pygmalion decided to pray to the goddess of love for mercy. And when he returned home, he saw that a dead statue had blood flowing through his veins and life and kindness lit up in his eyes. So happiness entered the house of the creator. This short story says that true love overcomes all obstacles.
The dream of immortality, or how deception ends
Myths and Greek legends begin to be studied already in elementary school. Interesting and exciting ancient Greek myths. Read grade 3 short and entertaining, tragic and instructive stories should be on the school curriculum. These are myths about the proud Niobe, about the naughty Icarus, about the unfortunate Adonis and the deceiver Sisyphus.
All heroes crave immortality. But it can only be granted by the gods if they themselves so choose. The gods are capricious and malevolent - this is known by every Hellenic. And Sisyphus, king of Corinth, was very rich and cunning. He guessed that the deity of death would soon come for him, and ordered him to be seized and chained. The gods freed their messenger, and Sisyphus had to die. But he cheated: he did not order to bury himself and make funeral sacrifices to the gods. His cunning soul asked for a white light, in order to persuade the living to make rich sacrifices. Sisyphus was again believed and released, but of his own free will, he did not return to the underworld.
In the end, the gods became very angry and assigned him a special punishment: in order to show the futility of all human efforts, he had to roll a huge stone onto the mountain, and then this boulder rolled down from the other side. This has been repeated day after day, for thousands of years, and to this day: no one can cope with divine ordinances. And to deceive is simply not good.
About excessive curiosity
Ancient Greek myths about children and adults are composed of disobedience and curiosity.
Zeus was angry with people and decided to "bestow" their evil. To do this, he ordered the craftsman Hephaestus to create the most beautiful girl in the world. Aphrodite gave her an inexpressible charm, Hermes a subtle quirky mind. The gods revived her and called her Pandora, which translates as "endowed with all the gifts." They married her to a calm, decent man. In his house stood a tightly closed vessel. Everyone knew that it was filled with sorrows and troubles. But Pandora was not embarrassed.
Slowly, when no one saw, he removed the lid from it! And all the misfortunes of the world instantly flew out of it: illness, poverty, stupidity, contention, unrest, war. When Pandora saw what she had done, she was terribly frightened and waited in a daze, until all the troubles were released. And then, as if in a fever, she slammed the lid. And what remains at the bottom? The last is hope. It was precisely her Pandora who deprived people. Therefore, the human race has nothing to hope for. It is only necessary to act and fight for good.
Myths and Modernity
If anyone is well known to modern man, then these are the gods and heroes of Greece. The legacy of this people is multifaceted. One of the masterpieces - ancient Greek myths, short. The author Kun Nikolay Albertovich - historian, professor, teacher, but as far as he knew and loved Hellas! How many myths with all the details conveyed to our times! Therefore, we read a lot of Kuhn today. Greek myths are a source of inspiration for all generations of artists and creators.