An amazing people - the Hellenes (as they called themselves), came to the Peloponnese peninsula and settled it. In ancient times, all people tried to live near the feeding river. There were no large rivers in Greece. So the Greeks became a seaside people - they were fed by the sea. Courageous, inquisitive, they built ships and sailed the stormy Mediterranean Sea, trading and creating settlements on its shores and islands. They were also pirates, and they profited 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 has become a national tradition of folklore. He usually told about some events that happened to those who behaved incorrectly, deviating from generally accepted norms. And usually such a story was very instructive.
Are the Greek gods and heroes alive?
Yes and no. No one worships them, no one makes sacrifices, no one comes to their sanctuaries, asking for advice. But each short ancient Greek myth saved the life of both the gods and the heroes. In these stories, time is frozen and does not move, butheroes fight, actively act, hunt, fight, try to deceive the gods and talk among themselves. They live. The Greeks immediately began to represent the 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, disobedient family, Zeus sits on a high golden throne and establishes order and his harsh laws on earth. While everything is calm, the gods feast. The daughter of Zeus, young Hebe, brings them ambrosia and nectar. Laughing, joking, offering food to the eagle, she can spill nectar on the ground, and then it will pour out in a short warm summer rain.
But suddenly Zeus got angry, frowned his thick eyebrows, and now gray thunderclouds covered the clear sky. Thunder rumbled, fiery lightning flashed. Not only the earth is shaking, but also Olympus.
Happiness and unhappiness are sent to people by Zeus, scooping them from two different jugs. His daughter Dike helps him. She watches over justice, defends the truth and does not tolerate deceit. Zeus is the guarantor of a fair trial. He is the last one to whom both gods and people go for justice. And Zeus never interferes in the affairs of war - there is no and cannot be justice in battles and bloodshed. But there is a goddess of a happy fate on Olympus - Tyukhe. From the cornucopia, the horn of the goat Am althea, which Zeus was fed, she pours gifts of happiness to people. But how rare it is!
That's it, keeping order throughout the Greek world, dominatingover evil and good, Zeus reigns forever. Is he alive? A short ancient Greek myth claims to be alive.
What does loving only yourself lead to
Modern man will never get bored of studying ancient Greek myths. Reading short stories, wondering what a deep meaning lies in them, is simply interesting and exciting. Let's move on to the next myth.
Handsome Narcissus considered only himself 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. And Narcissus cannot help but look at his reflection: a destructive passion for himself consumes him.
He does not notice the beauty of the world: the dew on the flowers, the hot rays of the sun, the beautiful nymphs yearning for friendship with him. The narcissist 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 the emerald carpet of grass, quietly dies. This is how the goddess Aphrodite punished Narcissus. According to the Greeks, the gods are most willing to help a person when he goes towards his death. Why should Narcissus live? He is not happy with anyone, he has done nothing good to anyone. But on the bank of the stream, where the selfish handsome man admired himself, a beautiful spring flower has grown, 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 brilliant sculptor Pygmalion, who carved from a white elephantbones of a beautiful girl. She was so good, so surpassed 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 long they would sit, bowing their heads to each other and confiding secrets. But the girl was cold. Then, at the festival of Aphrodite, Pygmalion decided to pray to the goddess of love for mercy. And when he returned home, he saw that the blood flowed through the veins of the dead statue and life and kindness lit up in the 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 the deceit ends
Myths and Greek legends begin to be studied already in elementary school. Interesting and exciting ancient Greek myths. Grade 3 should read short and entertaining, tragic and instructive stories according to the school curriculum. These are myths about the proud Niobe, the disobedient Icarus, the unfortunate Adonis and the deceiver Sisyphus.
All heroes yearn for immortality. But only the gods can give it, if they themselves want it. The gods are capricious and malevolent - every Greek knows this. And Sisyphus, the king of Corinth, was very rich and cunning. He guessed that the deity of death would soon come for him, and ordered to seize him and put him in chains. The gods freed their messenger, and Sisyphus had to die. But he cheated: he did not order himself to be buried and to bring funeral sacrifices to the gods. His cunning soul asked for a white light so that everyoneto persuade the living to make rich sacrifices. Sisyphus was believed again and released, but of his own free will he did not return to the underworld.
In the end, the gods got very angry and appointed him a special punishment: to show the futility of all human efforts, he had to roll a huge stone up the mountain, and then this boulder rolled down the other side. This is repeated from day to day, for millennia and still today: no one can cope with the divine institutions. And cheating is just not good.
On excessive curiosity
Ancient Greek myths short for children and adults about disobedience and curiosity.
Zeus got angry with people and decided to "bestow" them with 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 dodgy mind. The gods revived her and called her Pandora, which translates as "endowed with all gifts." They gave her in marriage to a calm, worthy man. He had a tightly closed vessel in his house. Everyone knew that it was filled with sorrows and troubles. But Pandora was not embarrassed.
Slowly, when no one was looking, she took off the lid! And all the misfortunes of the world instantly flew out of it: diseases, poverty, stupidity, discord, unrest, wars. 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 shut. And what's leftat the bottom? The last one is hope. This is exactly what Pandora deprived people of. Therefore, the human race has nothing to hope for. We just need to act and fight for good.
Myths and modernity
If anyone is well known to modern man, it is the gods and heroes of Greece. The heritage of this people is multifaceted. One of the masterpieces is ancient Greek myths, short ones. The author Nikolai Albertovich Kun is a historian, professor, teacher, but how much he knew and loved Hellas! How many myths with all the details conveyed to our times! That's why we read a lot of Kuhn today. Greek myths are a source of inspiration for all generations of artists and creators.
