Greece and myths- the concept is inseparable. It seems that everything in this country - every plant, river or mountain - has its own fairy tale story, passed down from generation to generation. And this is no coincidence, since the myths in allegorical form reflect the whole structure of the world and the philosophy of life of the ancient Greeks.
And the name Hellas () itself also has a mythological origin, because. the progenitor of all Hellenes (Greeks) is considered the mythical patriarch Hellenes. The names of the mountain ranges that cross Greece, the seas washing its shores, the islands scattered in these seas, lakes and rivers are associated with myths. As well as the names of regions, cities and villages. About some stories that I really want to believe, I will tell you. It should be added that there are so many myths that even for the same toponym there are several versions. Since myths are oral art, they have come down to us already recorded by ancient writers and historians, the most famous of which is Homer. I'll start with the name Balkan Peninsula on which Greece is located. The current "Balkans" is of Turkish origin, meaning simply "mountain range". But earlier the peninsula was named after Aemos, the son of the god Boreas and the nymph Orithinas. The sister and at the same time the wife of Amos was called Rhodope. Their love was so strong that they addressed each other by the names of the supreme gods, Zeus and Hera. For their insolence, they were punished by turning into mountains.
The history of the origin of the toponym Peloponnese, a peninsula on a peninsula, no less brutal. According to legend, the ruler of this part of Greece was Pelops, the son of Tantalus, who in his youth was offered by his bloodthirsty father as a supper to the gods. But the gods did not begin to eat his body, and, having resurrected the young man, they left him on Olympus. And Tantalus was doomed to eternal (tantalic) torment. Further, Pelops himself descends to live with people, or is forced to flee, but later becomes the king of Olympia, Arcadia and the entire peninsula, which was named after him. By the way, his descendant was the famous Homeric king Agamemnon, the leader of the troops that besieged Troy.
One of the most beautiful islands in Greece Kerkyra(or Corfu) has a romantic story of the origin of its name: Poseidon, the god of the seas, fell in love with the young beauty Korkyra, the daughter of Asop and the nymph Metope, kidnapped her and hid her on a hitherto unknown island, which he named after her. Korkyra eventually turned into Kerkyra. Another story about lovers remained in the myths of the island Rhodes. This name was borne by the daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite (or Aphrodite), who was the beloved of the sun god Helios. It was on this newly born island of foam that the nymph Rhodes was married to her beloved.
origin of name the Aegean sea many people know thanks to a good Soviet cartoon. The story is this: Theseus, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, went to Crete to fight the monster there - the Minotaur. In case of victory, he promised his father to raise white sails on his ship, and in case of defeat, black ones. With the help of the Cretan princess, he slew the Minotaur, and went home, forgetting to change the sails. Seeing his son's mourning ship in the distance, Aegeus, out of grief, threw himself off a cliff into the sea, which was named after him.
ionian sea bears the name of the princess and at the same time the priestess Io, who was seduced by the supreme god Zeus. However, his wife Hera decided to take revenge on the girl by turning her into a white cow and then killing her with the hands of the giant Argos. With the help of the god Hermes, Io managed to escape. She found refuge and human form in Egypt, for which she had to cross the sea, which is called the Ionian.
Myths of Ancient Greece they also tell about the origin of the universe, the attitude to the divine and human passions. For us, they are of interest, primarily because they give us an understanding of how European culture was formed.
The achievements of the ancient Greeks in art, science and politics had a significant impact on the development of European states. Mythology, one of the most well-studied in the world, also played an important role in this process. For many hundreds of years, it has been for many creators. The history and myths of ancient Greece have always been closely intertwined. The realities of the archaic era are known to us precisely thanks to the legends of that period.
Greek mythology took shape at the turn of the II-I millennium BC. e. Tales of gods and heroes spread throughout Hellas thanks to the Aeds - wandering reciters, the most famous of which was Homer. Later, during the period of the Greek classics, mythological subjects were reflected in the works of art of the great playwrights - Euripides and Aeschylus. Even later, at the beginning of our era, Greek scientists began to classify myths, to compile the genealogical trees of heroes, in other words, to study the heritage of their ancestors.
Origin of the gods
Ancient myths and legends of Greece are dedicated to gods and heroes. According to the ideas of the Hellenes, there were several generations of gods. The first couple to have anthropomorphic features were Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky). They gave birth to 12 titans, as well as one-eyed cyclops and many-headed and many-armed hecatoncheir giants. The birth of monster children did not please Uranus, and he threw them into the great abyss - Tartarus. This, in turn, did not please Gaia, and she persuaded her children-titans to overthrow their father (myths about the ancient gods of Greece abound with similar motives). This was managed by the youngest of her sons - Kronos (Time). With the beginning of his reign, history repeated itself.
He, like his father, was afraid of his powerful children, and therefore, as soon as his wife (and sister) Rhea gave birth to another child, he swallowed it. This fate befell Hestia, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera and Hades. But Rhea could not part with her last son: when Zeus was born, she hid him in a cave on the island of Crete and instructed the nymphs and Kurets to raise the child, and brought her husband a stone wrapped in diapers, which he swallowed.
War with the titans
The ancient myths and legends of Greece were filled with bloody wars for power. The first of these began after the grown-up Zeus forced Kronos to regurgitate the swallowed children. Enlisting the support of his brothers and sisters and calling for help from the giants imprisoned in Tartarus, Zeus began to fight his father and other titans (some later went over to his side). The main weapons of Zeus were lightning and thunder, which were forged for him by the Cyclopes. The war lasted for a whole decade; Zeus and his allies defeated and imprisoned the enemies in Tartarus. I must say that Zeus was also destined for the fate of his father (to fall at the hands of his son), but he managed to avoid it thanks to the help of the titan Prometheus.
Myths about the ancient gods of Greece - the Olympians. Descendants of Zeus
Power over the world was shared by three titans, representing the third generation of gods. These were Zeus the Thunderer (he became the supreme god of the ancient Greeks), Poseidon (the lord of the seas) and Hades (the owner of the underworld of the dead).
They had numerous descendants. All the supreme gods, except for Hades and his family, lived on Mount Olympus (which exists in reality). In ancient Greek mythology, there were 12 main celestials. The wife of Zeus, Hera, was considered the patroness of marriage, and the goddess Hestia was considered the patroness of the hearth. Demeter was in charge of agriculture, Apollo was in charge of light and the arts, and his sister Artemis was revered as the goddess of the moon and the hunt. The daughter of Zeus, Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, was one of the most respected celestials. Sensitive to beauty, the Greeks also revered the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, and her husband Ares, the warlike god. Hephaestus, the god of fire, was praised by craftsmen (in particular, blacksmiths). The cunning Hermes also demanded respect - an intermediary between gods and people and the patron of trade and livestock.
Divine geography
The ancient myths and legends of Greece create a very contradictory image of God in the mind of the modern reader. On the one hand, the Olympians were considered powerful, wise and beautiful, and on the other hand, they were characterized by all the weaknesses and vices of mortal people: envy, jealousy, greed and anger.
As already mentioned, Zeus dominated the gods and people. He gave people laws and controlled their destiny. But not in all areas of Greece, the supreme Olympian was the most revered god. The Greeks lived in city-states and believed that each such city (polis) had its own divine patron. So, Athena favored Attica and its main city - Athens.
Aphrodite was praised in Cyprus, off the coast of which she was born. Poseidon kept Troy, Artemis and Apollo - Delphi. Mycenae, Argos and Samos offered sacrifices to Hera.
Other divine entities
The ancient myths and legends of Greece would not be so intense if only people and gods acted in them. But the Greeks, like other peoples at that time, were inclined to deify the forces of nature, and therefore other powerful creatures are often mentioned in myths. These are, for example, naiads (patrons of rivers and streams), dryads (patrons of groves), oreads (mountain nymphs), nereids (daughters of the sea sage Nereus), as well as various magical creatures and monsters.
In addition, the goat-footed satyrs who accompanied the god Dionysus lived in the forests. Many legends featured wise and warlike centaurs. The goddesses of vengeance Erinnia stood at the throne of Hades, and on Olympus the gods were entertained by muses and charites, patrons of the arts. All these entities often argued with the gods or married with them or with people. Many great heroes and gods were born as a result of such marriages.
Myths of Ancient Greece: Hercules and his exploits
As for the heroes, in every region of Greece it was also customary to honor their own. But invented in the north of Hellas, in Epirus, Hercules became one of the most beloved characters of ancient myths. Hercules is known for the fact that, while in the service of his relative, King Eurystheus, he performed 12 labors (killing the Lernean Hydra, capturing the Kerinean fallow deer and the Erymanthian boar, bringing Hippolyta's belt, delivering the people from the Stymphalian birds, taming the mares of Diomedes, going to the Kingdom of Hades and other).
Not everyone knows that these deeds were carried out by Hercules as an atonement for guilt (in a fit of madness, he destroyed his family). After the death of Hercules, the gods accepted him into their ranks: even Hera, who throughout the life of the hero plotted against him, was forced to recognize him.
Conclusion
Ancient myths were created many centuries ago. But they are by no means primitive. The myths of Ancient Greece are the key to understanding modern European culture.
Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are set out mainly in Hesiod's poem "Theogony" (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from the poems of Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey" and the poem of the Roman poet Ovid "Metamorphoses" (Transformations).
In the beginning, there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. In it was the source of the life of the world. Everything arose from the boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. From Chaos came the goddess Earth - Gaia. It spread wide, mighty, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is from us, in the immeasurable depth, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss, full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, a mighty force was born, all animating Love - Eros. The world began to form. Boundless Chaos gave birth to the Eternal Darkness - Erebus and the dark Night - Nyukta. And from Night and Darkness came the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful bright Day - Hemera. Light spread over the world, and night and day began to replace each other.
The mighty, fertile Earth gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, and the Sky spread over the Earth. The high Mountains, born of the Earth, proudly rose to him, and the eternally noisy Sea spread wide.
Mother Earth gave birth to Heaven, Mountains and the Sea, and they have no father.
Uranus - Sky - reigned in the world. He took the blessed Earth as his wife. Six sons and six daughters - mighty, formidable titans - were Uranus and Gaia. Their son, the titan Ocean, flowing around like a boundless river, the whole earth, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and sea goddesses - oceanides. Titan Gipperion and Theia gave children to the world: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selena and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astrea and Eos came all the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and all the winds: the stormy north wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Noth and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds abundant with rain.
In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - Cyclopes with one eye in their foreheads - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hekatoncheirs), so named because each of them had one hundred hands. Nothing can stand against their terrible strength, their elemental strength knows no limit.
Uranus hated his giant children, he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the goddess Earth and did not allow them to come out into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was crushed by this terrible burden, enclosed in her depths. She called her children, the titans, and urged them to rebel against their father Uranus, but they were afraid to raise their hands against their father. Only the youngest of them, the treacherous Kronos, overthrew his father by cunning and took power away from him.
The Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible substances as punishment for Kron: Tanata - death, Eridu - discord, Apatu - deceit, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of gloomy, heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deceit, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world, where Kron reigned on the throne of his father.
The picture of the life of the gods on Olympus is given according to the works of Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, glorifying the tribal aristocracy and the basileus leading it as the best people, standing much higher than the rest of the population. The gods of Olympus differ from aristocrats and basileus only in that they are immortal, powerful and can work miracles.
Birth of Zeus
Kron was not sure that power would forever remain in his hands. He was afraid that the children would rise up against him and find him to the same fate that he condemned his father Uranus to. He was afraid of his children. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him newborn children and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cron has already swallowed five: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades (Hades) and Poseidon.
Rhea did not want to lose her last child. On the advice of her parents, Uranus-Heaven and Gaia-Earth, she retired to the island of Crete, and there, in a deep cave, her youngest son Zeus was born. In this cave, Rhea hid her son from a cruel father, and gave him a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow instead of his son. Kron did not suspect that he was deceived by his wife.
Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished the little Zeus, they fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. Bees carried honey to little Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikty. At the entrance to the cave, young Kuretes struck shields with swords whenever little Zeus cried, so that Kron would not hear his cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.
Zeus overthrows Kron. The struggle of the Olympian gods with the titans
The beautiful and mighty god Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back the children he had devoured into the world. One by one, the monster from the mouth of Kron spewed his children-gods, beautiful and bright. They began to fight with Kron and the titans for power over the world.
This struggle was terrible and stubborn. The children of Kron established themselves on the high Olympus. Some of the titans also took their side, and the first were the titan Ocean and his daughter Styx and their children Zeal, Power and Victory. This struggle was dangerous for the Olympian gods. Mighty and formidable were their opponents the titans. But Zeus came to the aid of the Cyclopes. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them into the titans. The struggle had been going on for ten years, but the victory did not lean to one side or the other. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed hecatoncheir giants from the bowels of the earth; he called them for help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they came out of the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore off entire rocks from the mountains and threw them at the titans. Hundreds of rocks flew towards the titans when they approached Olympus. The earth groaned, a roar filled the air, everything shook around. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle.
Zeus threw one fiery lightning after another and deafening roaring thunders. Fire engulfed the whole earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench shrouded everything in a thick veil.
Finally, the mighty titans faltered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians bound them and cast them into the gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the indestructible copper gates of Tartarus, hundred-armed hecatoncheirs stood guard, and they guard so that the mighty titans do not break free again from Tartarus. The power of the titans in the world has passed.
Zeus fighting Typhon
But the fight didn't end there. Gaia-Earth was angry with the Olympian Zeus because he acted so harshly with her defeated children-titans. She married the gloomy Tartarus and gave birth to the terrible hundred-headed monster Typhon. Huge, with a hundred dragon heads, Typhon rose from the bowels of the earth. With a wild howl he shook the air. The barking of dogs, human voices, the roar of an angry bull, the roar of a lion were heard in this howl. Stormy flames swirled around Typhon, and the earth shook under his heavy steps. The gods shuddered in horror, but Zeus the Thunderer boldly rushed at him, and the battle caught fire. Again, lightning flashed in the hands of Zeus, thunder rumbled. The earth and the vault of heaven shook to their foundations. The earth flared up again with a bright flame, as it had during the struggle with the titans. The seas boiled at the mere approach of Typhon. Hundreds of fiery arrows-lightnings of the Thunderer Zeus rained down; it seemed that from their fire the very air was burning and dark thunderclouds were burning. Zeus burned all of Typhon's hundred heads to ashes. Typhon collapsed to the ground; such heat emanated from his body that everything around him melted. Zeus raised the body of Typhon and cast it into the gloomy Tartarus, which gave birth to him. But even in Tartarus, Typhon threatens the gods and all living things. He causes storms and eruptions; he gave birth with Echidna, a half-woman half-snake, the terrible two-headed dog Orff, the hellish dog Cerberus, the Lernean hydra and the Chimera; Typhon often shakes the earth.
Nikolai Kun
Legends and myths of Ancient Greece
© Izdatelstvo LLC, 2018
Part one
gods and heroes
Origin of the world and gods
Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are set out mainly in Hesiod's poem "Theogony" ("The Origin of the Gods"). Some legends are also borrowed from the poems of Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey" and the poem of the Roman poet Ovid "Metamorphoses" ("Transformations").
In the beginning, there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. It contained the source of life. Everything arose from the boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. From Chaos came the goddess Earth - Gaia. It spread wide, mighty, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast bright sky is from us, in the immeasurable depth, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, a mighty force was born, all revitalizing Love - Eros. Boundless Chaos gave rise to eternal Darkness - Erebus and dark Night - Nyukta. And from Night and Darkness came the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful bright Day - Hemera. The light spread over the world, and night and day began to replace each other.
The mighty, fertile Earth gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, and the Sky spread over the Earth. The high Mountains, born of the Earth, proudly rose to him, and the eternally noisy Sea spread wide.
Uranus - Sky - reigned in the world. He took the blessed Earth as his wife. Six sons and six daughters - mighty, formidable titans - were Uranus and Gaia. Their son, the titan Ocean, flowing around the whole earth, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and the sea goddesses - oceanides. Titan Gipperion and Theia gave children to the world: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selena and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astrea and Eos came the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and the winds: the stormy north wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Noth and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds abundant with rain.
In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - Cyclopes with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hecatoncheirs), so named because each of them had one hundred hands. Nothing can stand against their terrible strength, their elemental strength knows no limit.
Uranus hated his giant children, he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the goddess Earth and did not allow them to come out into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was crushed by a terrible burden, enclosed in her depths. She called her children, the titans, and urged them to rebel against their father Uranus, but they were afraid to raise a hand against their father. Only the youngest of them, the insidious Kron, overthrew his father by cunning and took power from him.
The Goddess Night gave birth to a host of terrible deities as punishment for Kron: Tanata - death, Eridu - discord, Apatu - deceit, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of gloomy heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deceit, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world, where Kron reigned on the throne of his father.
Birth of Zeus
Kron was not sure that power would forever remain in his hands. He was afraid that the children would rise up against him and condemn him to the same fate that he condemned his father Uranus to. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him newborn children and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Kronos has already swallowed five: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades (Hades) and Poseidon.
Rhea did not want to lose the last child. On the advice of her parents, Uranus-Heaven and Gaia-Earth, she retired to the island of Crete, and there, in a deep cave, her son Zeus was born. In this cave, Rhea hid him from his cruel father, and gave Kronus to swallow a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of his son. Kron did not suspect that he had been deceived.
Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished little Zeus. They fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. Bees carried honey to Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikty. Whenever little Zeus cried, the young Kuretes guarding the cave hit their shields with swords so that Cronus would not hear his cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.
Zeus overthrows Kron. The struggle of the Olympian gods with the titans
Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back the children he had swallowed. One by one he spewed from the mouth of Kron his children-gods. They began to fight with Kron and the titans for power over the world.
This struggle was terrible and stubborn. The children of Kron established themselves on the high Olympus. Some titans also took their side, and the first were the titan Ocean and his daughter Styx with their children Zeal, Power and Victory.
This struggle was dangerous for the Olympian gods. Mighty and formidable were their opponents. But Zeus came to the aid of the Cyclopes. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them into the titans. The struggle lasted ten years, but the victory did not lean on either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed hecatoncheir giants from the bowels of the earth and call them for help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they came out of the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore off entire rocks from the mountains and threw them at the titans. Hundreds of rocks flew towards the titans when they approached Olympus. The earth groaned, a roar filled the air, everything shook around. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle. Zeus threw one fiery lightning after another and deafening roaring thunders. Fire engulfed the whole earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench shrouded everything in a thick veil.
Finally, the titans wavered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians bound them and cast them into the gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the indestructible copper gates of Tartarus, hundred-armed giants - hekatoncheirs, stood guard, so that mighty titans would not break free from Tartarus. The power of the titans in the world has passed.
Zeus fighting Typhon
But the fight didn't end there. Gaia-Earth was angry with the Olympian Zeus because he acted so harshly with her defeated children-titans. She married the gloomy Tartarus and gave birth to the terrible hundred-headed monster Typhon. Huge, with a hundred dragon heads, Typhon rose from the bowels of the earth. With a wild howl he shook the air. The barking of dogs, human voices, the roar of an angry bull, the roar of a lion were heard in this howl. Stormy flames swirled around Typhon, and the earth shook under his heavy steps. The gods shuddered in horror. But Zeus the Thunderer boldly rushed at Typhon, and the battle began. Again, lightning flashed in the hands of Zeus, thunder rumbled. The earth and the vault of heaven shook to the ground. The earth flared up with a bright flame, just like during the fight against the titans. The seas boiled at the mere approach of Typhon. Hundreds of fiery arrows-lightnings of the Thunderer Zeus rained down; it seemed that even the air and dark thunderclouds were burning from their fire. Zeus burned all of Typhon's hundred heads to ashes. Typhon collapsed to the ground, such heat emanated from his body that everything around him melted. Zeus raised the body of Typhon and cast it into the gloomy Tartarus, which gave birth to him. But even in Tartarus, Typhon threatens the gods and all living things. He causes storms and eruptions; he gave birth with Echidna, a half-woman half-snake, the terrible two-headed dog Orfo, the hellish dog Cerberus (Cerberus), the Lernean hydra and the Chimera; Typhon often shakes the earth.
The Olympian gods defeated their enemies. No one else could resist their power. They could now safely rule the world. The most powerful of them, the Thunderer Zeus, took the sky, Poseidon - the sea, and Hades - the underworld of the souls of the dead. The land remained in common ownership. Although the sons of Kron divided power over the world among themselves, Zeus, the ruler of the sky, reigns over all; he rules over people and gods, he knows everything in the world.
Zeus reigns high on the bright Olympus, surrounded by a host of gods. Here is his wife Hera, and the golden-haired Apollo with his sister Artemis, and the golden Aphrodite, and the mighty daughter of Zeus Athena, and many other gods. Three beautiful oros guard the entrance to high Olympus and raise a thick cloud that closes the gate when the gods descend to earth or ascend to the bright halls of Zeus. High above Mount Olympus, a blue bottomless sky stretches, and golden light pours from it. Neither rain nor snow occurs in the kingdom of Zeus; always there is a bright, joyful summer. And clouds swirl below, sometimes they close the distant land. There, on earth, spring and summer are replaced by autumn and winter, joy and fun are replaced by misfortune and grief. True, the gods also know sorrows, but they soon pass, and joy is again established on Olympus.
The gods feast in their golden palaces built by the son of Zeus Hephaestus. King Zeus sits on a high golden throne. The courageous, beautiful face of Zeus breathes with greatness and proudly calm consciousness of power and might. At the throne is his goddess of peace, Eirene, and the constant companion of Zeus, the winged goddess of victory, Nike. Here enters the majestic goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus. Zeus honors his wife; honor surrounds Hera, the patroness of marriage, all the gods of Olympus. When, shining with her beauty, in a magnificent outfit, Hera enters the banquet hall, all the gods stand up and bow before the wife of the thunderer. And she goes to the golden throne and sits next to Zeus. Near the throne of Hera stands her messenger, the goddess of the rainbow, the light-winged Irida, always ready to quickly rush on rainbow wings to the farthest corners of the earth and fulfill the orders of Hera.
The gods feast. The daughter of Zeus, the young Hebe, and the son of the king of Troy, Ganymede, the favorite of Zeus, who received immortality from him, offer them ambrosia and nectar - the food and drink of the gods. Beautiful charites and muses delight them with singing and dancing. Holding hands, they dance, and the gods admire their light movements and marvelous, eternally young beauty. The feast of the Olympians becomes more fun. At these feasts, the gods decide all matters, at them they determine the fate of the world and people.
From Olympus, Zeus sends his gifts to people and establishes order and laws on earth. In the hands of Zeus, the fate of people: happiness and misfortune, good and evil, life and death. Two large vessels stand at the gates of the palace of Zeus. In one vessel are gifts of good, in the other - of evil. Zeus draws good and evil from the vessels and sends them to people. Woe to that person to whom the thunderer draws gifts only from a vessel with evil. Woe to the one who violates the order established by Zeus on earth and does not comply with his laws. The son of Kron will menacingly move his thick eyebrows, black clouds will cover the sky. The great Zeus will be angry, and the hair on his head will rise terribly, his eyes will light up with an unbearable brilliance; he will wave his right hand - thunder will roll across the sky, fiery lightning will flash and the high Olympus will shake.
At the throne of Zeus stands the goddess Themis, who keeps the laws. She convenes, at the command of the Thunderer, meetings of the gods on Olympus and people's meetings on earth, she watches so that order and law are not violated. On Olympus and the daughter of Zeus, the goddess Dike, who watches over justice. Zeus severely punishes unrighteous judges when Dike informs him that they do not comply with the laws given by Zeus. Goddess Dike is the protector of truth and the enemy of deceit.
But although Zeus sends happiness and misfortune to people, the fate of people is still determined by the inexorable goddesses of fate - Moira, living on Olympus. The fate of Zeus himself is in their hands. Doom rules over mortals and over the gods. No one can escape the dictates of inexorable fate. There is no such force, no such power that could change at least something in what is destined for the gods and mortals. Some moira know the dictates of fate. Moira Klotho spins the life thread of a person, determining the duration of his life. The thread breaks and life ends. Moira Lehesis draws, without looking, the lot that falls to a person in life. No one is able to change the fate determined by moira, since the third moira, Atropos, puts everything that her sister’s life meant to a person in a long scroll, and what is listed in the scroll of fate is inevitable. Great, severe moira are inexorable.
There is also a goddess of fate on Olympus - Tyukhe, the goddess of happiness and prosperity. From the horn of plenty, the horn of the divine goat Amalthea, whose milk Zeus was fed, she pours gifts to people, and the person who meets the goddess of happiness Tyukhe on his life path is happy. But how rarely does this happen, and how unfortunate is the person from whom the goddess Tyukhe, who has just given him her gifts, will turn away!
So Zeus, surrounded by a host of gods on Olympus, reigns, guarding order throughout the world.
Poseidon and the gods of the sea
Deep in the abyss of the sea stands the wonderful palace of the brother of the Thunderer Zeus, the shaker of the earth Poseidon. Poseidon rules over the seas, and the waves of the sea are obedient to the slightest movement of his hand, armed with a formidable trident. There, in the depths of the sea, lives with Poseidon and his beautiful wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the sea prophetic elder Nereus, who Poseidon stole from her father. He saw one day how she led a round dance with her Nereid sisters on the coast of the island of Naxos. The god of the sea was captivated by the beautiful Amphitrite and wanted to take her away in his chariot. But Amphitrite took refuge with the titan Atlas, who holds the vault of heaven on his mighty shoulders. For a long time Poseidon could not find the beautiful daughter of Nereus. At last the dolphin opened her hiding place to him; for this service, Poseidon placed the dolphin among the celestial constellations. Poseidon stole the beautiful daughter of Nereus from Atlas and married her.
Since then, Amphitrite lives with her husband Poseidon in an underwater palace. High above the palace, the waves of the sea roar. A host of sea deities surrounds Poseidon, obedient to his will. Among them is the son of Poseidon, Triton, who causes terrible storms with the thunderous sound of his pipe from the shell. Among the deities are the beautiful sisters of Amphitrite, the Nereids. Poseidon rules over the sea. When he rushes across the sea in his chariot drawn by marvelous horses, the ever-noisy waves part. Equal to the beauty of Zeus himself, Poseidon quickly rushes across the boundless sea, and dolphins play around him, fish swim out of the depths of the sea and crowd around his chariot. When Poseidon waves his formidable trident, then, like mountains, the sea waves rise, covered with white ridges of foam, and a fierce storm rages on the sea. The sea waves crash against the coastal rocks with noise and shake the earth. But Poseidon stretches his trident over the waves - and they calm down. The storm subsides, the sea is calm again, exactly like a mirror, and splashes a little audibly near the shore - blue, boundless.
Among the deities surrounding Poseidon is the prophetic sea elder Nereus, who knows all the innermost secrets of the future. Nereus is alien to lies and deceit; only the truth he reveals to the gods and mortals. Wise advice given by the prophetic elder. Nereus has fifty beautiful daughters. Young Nereids splash merrily in the waves of the sea, sparkling with beauty. Holding hands, they swim out of the depths of the sea in a string and dance on the shore to the gentle splash of the waves of a calm sea quietly running ashore. The echo of coastal rocks repeats the sounds of their gentle singing, like the quiet roar of the sea. Nereids patronize the sailor and give him a happy voyage.
Among the deities of the sea is the elder Proteus, who, like the sea, changes his image and turns, at will, into various animals and monsters. He is also a prophetic god, you just need to be able to catch him unexpectedly, take possession of him and force him to reveal the secret of the future. Among the satellites of the oscillator of the earth Poseidon is the god Glaucus, the patron saint of sailors and fishermen, and he has the gift of divination. Often, emerging from the depths of the sea, he opened the future and gave wise advice to people. The gods of the sea are mighty, their power is great, but the great brother of Zeus Poseidon rules over all of them.
All the seas and all the lands flow around the gray Ocean - the titan god, equal to Zeus himself in honor and glory. He lives far on the borders of the world, and the affairs of the earth do not disturb his heart. Three thousand sons - river gods and three thousand daughters - oceanids, goddesses of streams and sources, near the Ocean. The sons and daughters of the Ocean give prosperity and joy to mortals with their ever-rolling life-giving water, they water the whole earth and all living things with it.
Realm of Dark Hades
Deep underground reigns Zeus' unforgiving, gloomy brother Hades. The rays of the bright sun never penetrate there. Bottomless abysses lead from the surface of the earth to the sad kingdom of Hades. Dark rivers flow in it. There flows the ever-chilling sacred river Styx, by whose waters the gods themselves swear.
Cocytus and Acheron roll their waves there; the souls of the dead resound with lamentations full of sorrow, their gloomy shores. In the underworld, the rivers of Lethe also flow, giving oblivion to all earthly water. Through the gloomy fields of the kingdom of Hades, overgrown with pale flowers of asphodel, the incorporeal light shadows of the dead rush. They complain about their joyless life without light and without desires. Their moans are quietly heard, barely perceptible, like the rustle of withered leaves driven by the autumn wind. There is no return to anyone from this realm of sorrow. The three-headed dog Kerber, on whose neck snakes move with a menacing hiss, guards the exit. The stern old Charon, the carrier of the souls of the dead, will not be lucky through the gloomy waters of Acheront a single soul back to where the sun of life shines brightly.
Peter Paul Rubens. The abduction of Ganymede. 1611–1612
The ruler of this kingdom, Hades, sits on a golden throne with his wife Persephone. He is served by the implacable goddesses of vengeance Erinyes. Terrible, with whips and snakes, they pursue the criminal; do not give him a moment's rest and torment him with remorse; nowhere can you hide from them, everywhere they find their prey. At the throne of Hades sit the judges of the kingdom of the dead - Minos and Rhadamanthus.
Here, at the throne, the god of death Tanat with a sword in his hands, in a black cloak, with huge black wings. These wings blow with grave cold when Tanat flies to the bed of a dying man in order to cut a strand of hair from his head with his sword and tear out his soul. Next to Tanat and gloomy Kera. On wings they rush, frantic, across the battlefield. The Keres rejoice, seeing how the slain warriors fall one by one; with their blood-red lips they fall to the wounds, greedily drink the hot blood of the slain and tear out their souls from the body. Here, at the throne of Hades, is the beautiful young god of sleep, Hypnos. He silently rushes on his wings above the ground with poppy heads in his hands and pours sleeping pills from his horn. Hypnos gently touches the eyes of people with his wonderful wand, quietly closes his eyelids and plunges mortals into a sweet dream. The god Hypnos is mighty, neither mortals, nor gods, nor even the Thunderer Zeus himself can resist him: and Hypnos closes his menacing eyes and plunges him into a deep sleep.
Worn in the gloomy kingdom of Hades and the gods of dreams. Among them there are gods who give prophetic and joyful dreams, but there are also gods of terrible, oppressive dreams that frighten and torment people. There are gods of false dreams: they mislead a person and often lead him to death.
The kingdom of Hades is full of darkness and horrors. There roams in the darkness the terrible ghost of Empusa with donkey's feet; luring people into a secluded place in the darkness of the night, it drinks all the blood and devours their still trembling body. The monstrous Lamia also roams there; she sneaks into the bedroom of happy mothers at night and steals their children to drink their blood. The great goddess Hecate rules over all ghosts and monsters. She has three bodies and three heads. On a moonless night, she wanders in deep darkness along the roads and at the graves with all her terrible retinue, surrounded by Stygian dogs. She sends horrors and heavy dreams to the earth and destroys people. Hekate is invoked as an assistant in witchcraft, but she is also the only helper against witchcraft for those who honor her and bring her at the crossroads, where three roads diverge, as a sacrifice of dogs. Terrible is the kingdom of Hades, and it is hateful to people.
The goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus, patronizes marriage and protects the sanctity and inviolability of marriage unions. She sends numerous offspring to the spouses and blesses the mother at the time of the birth of the child.
After Hera, her brothers and sisters were vomited out of their mouths by Cron defeated by Zeus, Hera's mother Rhea carried her to the ends of the earth to the gray Ocean; There she raised Hera Thetis. Hera lived for a long time away from Olympus, in peace and quiet. The Thunderer Zeus saw her, fell in love with her and stole her from Thetis. The gods magnificently celebrated the wedding of Zeus and Hera. Iris and the Charites dressed Hera in luxurious clothes, and she shone with her majestic beauty among the gods of Olympus, sitting on a golden throne next to Zeus. All the gods brought gifts to the sovereign Hera, and the goddess Earth-Gaia grew from her depths a marvelous apple tree with golden fruits as a gift to Hera. Everything in nature glorified Hera and Zeus.
Hera reigns on high Olympus. She commands, like her husband Zeus, thunder and lightning, at the word of her dark rain clouds cover the sky, with a wave of her hand she raises terrible storms.
Hera is beautiful, hairy, lily-armed, from under her crown marvelous curls fall in a wave, her eyes burn with power and calm majesty. The gods honor Hera, and her husband, the cloud-breaker Zeus, also honors her, and consults with her. But quarrels between Zeus and Hera are not uncommon. Hera often objects to Zeus and argues with him on the advice of the gods. Then the Thunderer gets angry and threatens his wife with punishments. Hera falls silent and restrains her anger. She remembers how Zeus bound her with golden chains, hung her between earth and sky, tied two heavy anvils to her feet, and subjected her to scourging.
Mighty is Hera, there is no goddess equal to her in power. Majestic, in long luxurious clothes woven by Athena herself, in a chariot harnessed by two immortal horses, she leaves Olympus. The chariot is all of silver, the wheels are of pure gold, and their spokes sparkle with brass. The fragrance spreads on the ground where Hera passes. All living things bow before her, the great queen of Olympus.
Hera often suffers insults from her husband Zeus. So it was when Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Io and, in order to hide her from Hera, turned Io into a cow. But this thunderer did not save Io. Hera saw the snow-white cow Io and demanded from Zeus that he give it to her. Zeus could not refuse Hera. Hera, having taken possession of Io, gave her under guard to the stout-eyed Argus. The unfortunate Io could not tell anyone about her suffering: turned into a cow, she was speechless. Sleepless Argus guarded Io. Zeus saw her suffering. Calling his son Hermes, he ordered him to kidnap Io.
Hermes quickly rushed to the top of that mountain, where Io was guarded by a hundred-eyed guard. He put Argus to sleep with his speeches. As soon as his hundred eyes closed, Hermes drew his curved sword and cut off Argus's head with one blow. Io was released. But even with this, Zeus did not save Io from the wrath of Hera. She sent a monstrous gadfly. With his terrible sting, the gadfly drove from country to country distraught from torment, the unfortunate sufferer Io. She found no peace anywhere. In a frantic run, Io rushed farther and farther, and the gadfly flew after her, constantly piercing her body with a sting; the sting of the gadfly burned Io like red-hot iron. Where only Io did not run, in what countries she did not visit! Finally, after long wanderings, she reached in the country of the Scythians, in the far north, the rock to which the titan Prometheus was chained. He predicted the unfortunate that only in Egypt would she get rid of her torment. Io rushed on, driven by the gadfly. She endured many torments, saw many dangers, before she reached Egypt. There, on the banks of the fertile Nile, Zeus returned her former image to her, and her son Epaphus was born. He was the first king of Egypt and the ancestor of a generation of heroes, to which the greatest hero of Greece, Hercules, also belonged.
Birth of Apollo
The god of light, the golden-haired Apollo, was born on the island of Delos. His mother Latona, persecuted by the goddess Hera, could not find shelter anywhere. Pursued by the dragon Python sent by the Hero, she wandered all over the world and finally took refuge on Delos, which in those days was rushing along the waves of a stormy sea. As soon as Latona entered Delos, huge pillars rose from the depths of the sea and stopped this deserted island. He stood firm in the place where he still stands today. The sea roared around Delos. The cliffs of Delos rose despondently, naked, without the slightest vegetation. Only sea gulls found shelter on these rocks and announced them with their sad cry. But then the god Apollo was born, and streams of bright light spilled everywhere. Like gold, they poured the rocks of Delos. Everything around bloomed, sparkled: the coastal cliffs, and Mount Kint, and the valley, and the sea. The goddesses gathered on Delos loudly praised the born god, offering him ambrosia and nectar. All nature rejoiced along with the goddesses.
The struggle of Apollo with Python and the foundation of the Delphic oracle
Young, radiant Apollo rushed across the azure sky with a cithara in his hands, with a silver bow over his shoulders; golden arrows jingled loudly in his quiver. Proud, jubilant, Apollo rushed high above the earth, threatening all evil, all generated by darkness. He aspired to where Pithon lived, pursuing his mother Latona; he wanted to take revenge on him for all the evil that he had done to her.
Apollo quickly reached the gloomy gorge, the dwelling of Python. Rocks rose all around, reaching high into the sky. Darkness reigned in the gorge. A mountain stream, gray with foam, was swiftly rushing along its bottom, and fog swirled above the stream. The terrible Python crawled out of its lair. Its huge body, covered with scales, twisted between the rocks in countless rings. Rocks and mountains trembled from the weight of his body and moved. Furious Python betrayed everything, he spread death all around. Nymphs and all living things fled in horror. Python rose up, mighty, furious, opened his terrible mouth and was ready to swallow Apollo. Then there was a ringing of the bowstring of a silver bow, as a spark flashed in the air, a golden arrow that did not know a miss, followed by another, a third; arrows rained down on Python, and he fell lifeless to the ground. The triumphant victorious song (pean) of the golden-haired Apollo, the winner of Python, sounded loudly, and the golden strings of the cithara of the god echoed it. Apollo buried the body of Python in the ground where sacred Delphi stands, and founded a sanctuary and an oracle in Delphi in order to prophesy to people the will of his father Zeus.
From a high shore, far out to sea, Apollo saw the ship of the Cretan sailors. Turning into a dolphin, he rushed into the blue sea, overtook the ship and, like a radiant star, took off from the sea waves to its stern. Apollo brought the ship to the pier of the city of Chrisa and through the fertile valley led the Cretan sailors to Delphi. He made them the first priests of his sanctuary.
Based on the poem "Metamorphoses" by Ovid.
The bright, joyful god Apollo knows sadness, and grief befell him. He knew grief shortly after defeating Python. When Apollo, proud of his victory, stood over the monster slain by his arrows, he saw near him the young god of love Eros, pulling his golden bow. Laughing, Apollo said to him:
- What do you need, child, such a formidable weapon? Leave it to me to send out the smashing golden arrows with which I just killed Python. Are you equal in glory with me, the archer? Do you want to achieve more fame than me?
The offended Eros answered Apollo:
- Your arrows, Phoebus-Apollo, do not know a miss, they smash everyone, but my arrow will hit you.
Eros waved his golden wings and in the blink of an eye flew up to the high Parnassus. There he took out two arrows from his quiver. One, wounding the heart and causing love, he pierced the heart of Apollo, the other - killing love - Eros let into the heart of the nymph Daphne, daughter of the river god Peneus.
Once I met the beautiful Daphne Apollo and fell in love with her. But as soon as Daphne saw the golden-haired Apollo, she began to run with the speed of the wind: after all, the arrow of Eros, which kills love, pierced her heart. The silver-eyed god hurried after her.
“Stop, beautiful nymph,” Apollo called out, “why are you running from me like a lamb pursued by a wolf?” Like a dove fleeing from an eagle, you fly! After all, I'm not your enemy! Look, you hurt your legs on the sharp thorns of the thorn. Oh wait, stop! After all, I am Apollo, the son of the Thunderer Zeus, and not a simple mortal shepherd.
Famous and interesting ancient Greek myths and legends. All the labors of Hercules. History of the Gods of Ancient Greece.
Agamemnon, saddened by the victory of the Trojans, sent heralds to convene a council of leaders. The leaders gathered, and Agamemnon began to say sadly that he now had to flee from Troad to Greece, since this, apparently, pleased Zeus. But Diomedes angrily objected to Agamemnon that he could alone, if he so desired, leave the Troad, while the other leaders would remain and fight until Troy was taken. Nestor did not advise to run either. The elder advised Agamemnon to arrange a feast and discuss what to do at it, and to set up guards to protect the camp.
The myth of Adonis and Aphrodite was borrowed by the Greeks from the Phoenicians. The name Adonis is not Greek, but Phoenician and means "lord." The Phoenicians borrowed this myth from the Babylonians.
But the goddess of love, who so punished Narcissus, knew the torments of love herself, and she had to mourn her beloved Adonis. She loved the son of the king of Cyprus, Adonis. None of the mortals was equal to him in beauty, he was even more beautiful than the Olympian gods. Forgotten for him Aphrodite and Patmos, and blooming Cythera.
Once Actaeon was hunting with his comrades in the forests of Cithaeron. It's a hot afternoon. The tired hunters settled down to rest in the shade of a dense forest, and the young Actaeon, having separated from them, went to look for coolness in the valleys of Cithaeron. He went out to the green, flowering valley of Gargafia, dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Sycamores, myrtle and firs grew luxuriantly in the valley; like dark arrows, slender cypresses rose on it, and the green grass was full of flowers.
Returning from a campaign against Thebes, Alcmaeon fulfilled the will of his father Amphiaraus and avenged his mother for the death of his father. Alcmeon killed his mother with his own hand. Dying, she cursed the mother of her murderer son and cursed the country that would give him shelter.
The avenging goddess Erinia was angry with Alcmaeon and pursued him wherever he tried to hide. The unfortunate Alcmaeon wandered for a long time, trying everywhere to find shelter and purification from the filth of spilled blood. Finally, he came to the city of Psophida, in Arcadia. There, King Fegey cleansed him of the filth of murder. Alcmaeon married Arsinoe, the daughter of Thegeus, and thought to live in peace in Psophida. But fate did not promise him this. The curse of his mother haunted him. Terrible famine and pestilence spread in Psophis. Death reigned everywhere. Alcmeon turned to the Delphic oracle, and the soothsayer Pythia answered him that he should leave Psophida and go to the god of the river, Aheloy; there only he will be cleansed from the murder of his mother and find peace in a country that did not yet exist when his mother cursed him. Leaving the house of Fegeus, his wife Arsinoe and son Clytius, Alcmaeon went to Achelous. On the way, he visited Oinea in Calydon, who hospitably received him.
After the victory over the Argos, the Thebans arranged a luxurious funeral for Eteocles and all the fallen soldiers, and Polynices decided to deprive Creon and the Thebans of the burial as having led a foreign army against Thebes. His corpse lay near the city walls in a field, left to be torn to pieces by predatory animals and birds. The soul of Polynices was doomed to eternal wandering, she could not find peace in the kingdom of the souls of the dead.
The noble daughter of Oedipus, Antigone, who was ready for any self-sacrifice, suffered, seeing the dishonor to which her brother was doomed. In spite of everything, she herself decided to bury the body of Polynices. The death that Creon threatened to anyone who dares to bury Polynices, having performed all the funeral rites, did not frighten her. Antigone called her sister Ismene to go with her, but the timid sister did not dare to help her sister, fearing the wrath of Creon. She even tried to persuade Antigone not to go against the will of the king of Thebes, she reminded her of the fate that befell their mother and brothers. Does Antigone want to destroy herself and her? Ismena Antigone did not obey: she is ready to fulfill her duty to her brother alone, ready to meekly endure everything, so long as Polynices does not remain unburied. And Antigone fulfilled her decision.
Persecuted by the vengeful Erinyes, exhausted by wanderings and grief, Orestes finally came to sacred Delphi and sat there in the temple of Apollo near the omphalos. Terrible goddesses followed him even to the temple of Apollo, but there the arrow god put them to sleep, and their terrible eyes closed in sleep.
Apollo, secretly from Erinyes, appeared to Orestes and ordered him to go to Athens and there pray for protection from the ancient image of the goddess Pallas Athena. God promised his help to the unfortunate Orestes, and gave him his brother, the god Hermes, as guides. Orestes got up, quietly left the temple and went with Hermes to Athens.
He had just left when the shadow of Clytemnestra rose from the earth in the temple of Apollo. Seeing the sleeping Erinyes, she began to wake them up and reproach them for the fact that they had ceased to pursue the murderer who shed the blood of their mother. She hurried them to chase the hidden Orestes as soon as possible and not give him a moment's rest. But the Erinyes slept in a sound, heavy sleep, in their sleep they moaned, at times screaming, as if pursuing a murderer fleeing from them. Finally, with great difficulty, one of the Erinyes woke up and woke the others. The Erinyes were furious when they saw that Orestes had disappeared. They began to reproach Apollo for wresting the murderer from their hands, but Apollo, threatening with his bow, drove them out of his temple. Full of furious anger, the goddesses rushed in a discordant crowd in the footsteps of Orestes.
In spring and summer, on the slopes of the wooded Helikon, where the sacred waters of the Hippocrene spring mysteriously murmur, and on high Parnassus, near the clear waters of the Kastalsky spring, Apollo leads a round dance with nine muses. The young, beautiful Muses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are the constant companions of Apollo. He leads the choir of muses and accompanies their singing by playing on his golden cithara.
Apollo had to be cleansed from the sin of the spilled blood of Python. After all, he himself cleanses the people who committed the murder. By the decision of Zeus, he retired to Thessaly to the beautiful and noble king Admet. There he pastured the flocks of the king, and by this service atoned for his sin. When Apollo played in the middle of the pasture on a reed flute or on a golden cithara, wild animals came out of the forest thicket, enchanted by his game. Panthers and ferocious lions walked peacefully among the herds. Deer and chamois ran to the sound of the flute.
Arachne was famous throughout Lydia for her art. Nymphs often gathered from the slopes of Tmol and from the banks of the gold-bearing Paktol to admire her work. Arachne spun from threads like fog, fabrics as transparent as air. She was proud that she had no equal in the world in the art of weaving. One day she exclaimed:
“Let Pallas Athena herself come to compete with me!” Do not defeat me; I'm not afraid of this.
The next morning, the Argonauts landed on the coast of Bithynia. They were not met there as hospitably as in Cyzicus. In Bithynia, the Bebriki lived on the seashore, ruled by King Amik. He was proud of his gigantic strength and fame as an invincible fist fighter. The cruel king forced all strangers to fight with himself and mercilessly killed them with a mighty blow of his fist. Amik met the Argonauts with ridicule, he called the great heroes vagabonds and challenged the strongest of them to battle, if only one of them dared to measure his strength with him. The heroes are angry. From their midst came the young son of Zeus and Leda, Polydeuces.