Mythological hero and the concept of true heroism among the Greeks

What is the culture of mankind? Do not think only about a particular country with its own customs, because culture is what was passed down from generation to generation, supplemented and polished by time. Mythology is part of the world heritage. Every nation has, to one degree or another, made efforts to write at least a line of its own history in one of these narratives. Therefore, in abundance in them, we meet the names of mythological heroes, kings, gods and various creatures. The more a person developed, the more story stories went, the heroes became more valiant, and the evil forces fiercer.

Myth: fairy tale, philosophy and religion

Culturologists still argue: some believe that myth is the embodiment of religion, others believe that this is nothing more than a fairy tale, because in life simply can not be what is described in the works of ancient Greek unknown authors.

However, it turns out, and science fiction, and religion, and even philosophy - everything is present in it, so we can say that this is a collective creation of the people, and not the thoughts of a particular person. The authors only recorded such a chronicle, in order to convey the centuries-old experience to their followers.

Mythology is not a fairy tale, it's a fictional fantasy, believable, a man inventing heroes, worked out every image specially. And, even in spite of the existence of fantastic moments, such a work is read as quite self-sufficient, serious. But this is not entirely a religion, because the myth appeared long before the appearance of the gods as an unattainable and incomprehensible phenomenon - in works we see humanized and not at all ideal deities. There is also a difference from philosophy, because the latter seeks to explain the world, and the ancient Greeks took everything for granted: if the mythological hero ascended to Heaven, then so it is necessary, and no questions.

Consequently, the narrative data is the product of the formation of human consciousness as a whole, consisting of several factors.

The idea of heroism in Ancient Greece

In ancient people, the idea of heroism was, to put it mildly, a bit strange, because heroes were not considered to be those who saved the child from the clutches of an angry siren, or pulled a kitten out of a flaming hut.

Mythological heroes of Greece are the sons of gods and mortals, and only because of this relationship they should be brave, honest and noble. In another way they are called demigods, who have the opportunity to climb Olympus.

Ancient Greek mythological hero appears in the second period of the development of ancient culture, this is the so-called mythology of the patriarchate. Just then a new worldview of man began to form, values and faith changed. People believed that the gods exist only to protect people from evil beings, but not always all-knowing and all-powerful deities were brave defenders of the human race. Therefore, the role of saviors was "assigned" to the heroes, their task was to help the gods. The heavenly powers were immortal and they had nothing to fear, while at the same time as the heroes could die, and only glory could give them eternal life in the memory of the people. In other words, the sons of people and gods performed feats for their own selfish ends. So to speak, to yourself and to people.

Legend of Daedalus and Icarus - heroes of myths, who wanted to rise to the very sun

Where does a person have a craving for flying? It turns out that the desire to flutter like a bird arose among the ancient people, and it embodied in narrations, where the main characters were mythological heroes who first climbed into the sky. Pioneers in the field of flight are Daedalus and his son Icarus.

Once lived in Athens, a talented artist named Daedalus. He gave mankind beautiful buildings and skilful stone sculptures, before man-made beauty humanity did not know. In his workshop also worked nephew, who also was able to invent and implement many things. One day a man and a young man went to look at the city from the top of the Acropolis, but in trouble the guy broke and fell down and crashed.

People staged lynching, branded the artist, and he decided to leave the city, because he could not tolerate reproaches from people. On his ship the master swam to Crete and with a request to allow him to stay went to King Minos. He was just glad to such a guest, but, despite all the kindness, Daedalus felt like a slave on the island, because the king did not let the man go home.

Often the inventor sat on the seashore and thought about ways to leave this damned place. And after thinking, he decided that a bird could fly away from here in the sky. The artist collected many feathers and created two pairs of wings: for himself and for his son Icarus. Early in the morning the young man and his father left Crete, Daedalus ordered his son to hold on to him and not to fly close to the sun, because at noon the daylight rose high and burned too hot. However, Icarus did not heed the advice of his father and decided to fly higher than the heavens. The wax, with which the feathers were fastened, melted under the hot rays of the sun, and the wings went out of order. No matter how the guy tried to grab for the air - nothing happened, he fell into the sea and drowned. His father saw only white feathers from his son's wings, like snow falling on the smooth surface of a calm sea.

Daedalus and Icarus are mythological heroes who first climbed into the sky, but this adventure turned out to be a tragedy not only for the young man, but also for the inventor himself, because after the tragic death of his son, Daedalus cursed his creations.

Hercules

Hercules - this is perhaps the most revered mythological hero of all. Sometimes it is extolled even more than the gods themselves, because in his account more feats than the ordinary Greek deity.

His mother was a mortal woman Alkmena, and father himself Zeus, so from childhood their son had a truly incredible power. Thanks to this, he was able to perform the famous 12 exploits.

Achilles

This is another mythological hero, whom Homer described in his "Illyada." In it, he gave this brave warrior a huge and important role. Myths about Achilles show the reader how strong was his love for his homeland, friends and family. But still its positive features and feelings sometimes coexist with negative ones. For example, unimaginable cruelty, as in the case of Hector.

Odysseus

This character homer "Odyssey" can not be ignored, because when reading the work before your eyes the image of a brave warrior, ready to go to anything, just to return to his homeland. He was described as an intellectual hero, a wise man and a great orator.

The mythological hero is not just a character of fictional stories, it is an ideal to which the ancient people sought. It's strange that ordinary people or demigods were better for the ancient Greeks than the gods themselves.