Greek Mythology: An Overview

Greek mythology is conditionally divided into two large sections: the deeds of the gods and the adventures of the heroes. It should be noted that even though they intersect very often, the line has been drawn quite clearly and to notice it in the state and the child. Gods often turn to heroes for help, and heroes, having the essence of demigods or titans, in every possible way get out of these or those situations, creating positive stereotypes and doing good.

Greek mythology in the names of the gods

As always, at the top of the pantheon is the god of thunder, who, nevertheless, is not the progenitor of all things, but only an heir. This is one of the distinctive features of pagan beliefs from monotheistic, and this fact clearly permeates the whole of Greek mythology. Gods who are not creators and creators, but only representing immortal beings, nourishing their strength with the worship and faith of people. The father and mother of all things were the ancestors of the parents of Zeus, Poseidon and Aida - mother-earth Gaia and father-firmament Uranos. They spawned gods and titans, among whom was the strongest - Kronos. Greek mythology ascribes to him the supreme power and power, but nevertheless, having matured, Zeus overthrew his father and himself took his throne, dividing the Earth between brothers: Poseidon - water spaces, Aidu - the underworld, and he himself became the supreme god of thunder And took her into wives Hera.

The next and intermediate stage between gods and people are various mythical beings. Greek mythology gave birth to pegasus, sirens, minotaurs, centaurs, satyrs, nymphs and many other creatures that in some way possessed certain mystical powers. For example, Pegasus - was able to fly and was attached only to one person, and sirens possessed the art of creating illusory charms. And most of these creatures in Greek mythology were endowed with reason and consciousness, sometimes much higher than that of a common man.

And those who were human, but had in themselves at least a drop of divine blood, were called Heroes and demigods. Since they, possessing the power of the god-father, nevertheless remained mortal and very often opposed the higher forces. One of the most striking heroes was Hercules, who became famous for his exploits, such as killing hydra, Antaeus and so on. More details you can always read in any book marked "Greek Mythology." The names of such heroes as Hector, Paris, Achilles, Jason, Orpheus, Odysseus and others did not just go down in history, they remained on everyone's lips to this day, like living proverbs and examples of how to behave in that or Other situation.

Indirect characters

There were also those who did not belong to either gods or heroes. They were ordinary people who had accomplished feats of such magnitude that their deeds went down in history and are passed from mouth to mouth to this day. The wings of Daedalus and the arrogant stupidity of his son Icarus became an instructive parable. The senseless and bloody victories of King Pyrrus in wars, served as the basis for the saying "Pyrrhic victory", which takes its origins in his own words: "Another such victory and I will not have an army!".