Among the twelve gods of Olympus, each of whom patronized a certain area of the life of the ancient Greeks, care for marriage and motherhood fell to Hera - the wife, and according to a number of sources, the sister of Zeus himself. It cannot be said that this person was distinguished by a quiet and complacent disposition. On the contrary, myths depict her as a jealous, domineering, and sometimes cruel lady. The Temple of Hera at Olympia, whose ruins have now become a kind of tourist Mecca, serves as a monument to her.
Where did the Olympics come from in our world?
The Temple of Hera at Olympia, which was reconstructed with the participation of UNESCO specialists, is located in the legendary place from where the Olympic Games began their journey around the globe. This is easy to guess from the very name of the city. Also evidence of this is the legend that the guides will certainly tell inquisitive tourists.
Once the god of time Kronos - a quarrelsome and malevolent old man - was angry for something with his young son Zeus. Three brothers who came from Crete volunteered to save the future Thunderer from their father's wrath. The eldest of them, as it turned out later, was called Hercules. The brothers hid the naughty youth in the sacred grove of Altis, and themselves, in order to kill time, began to compete in running.
The victory went to Hercules, and he was awarded a wild olive wreath. Subsequently, the area in which the sacred grove was located was named Olympia, and the innocent fun of the brothers gave rise to the international Olympic movement. In this regard, the Temple of Hera at Olympia has become one of the most famous ancient sanctuaries.
A temple worthy of a goddess
The Temple of Hera at Olympia, which has a history of almost three millennia, is today one of the earliest monumental buildings of ancient Greece. It is located on the southern slope of a hill called Kronius, and is separated from it by a powerful terrace wall. The place for the construction of the sanctuary was chosen in the northwestern part of the same sacred grove of Altis, where Hercules won the first Olympic victory.
The ancient Greek writer and geographer Pausanias refers the construction of this sanctuary to 1096 BC, however, as follows from his work, it refers to a different building that stood on the site of the current ruins. It was also the temple of Hera at Olympia, the description of which draws us a building, distinguished by the severity and completeness of the lines. It consisted of an inner part called a cella, as well as a pronaos - a small extension in front of the building - a kind of vestibule.
Sanctuary turned into a museum
Columns, without which ancient Greek architects could not imagine their work, were originally made of valuable rockswood, mainly Lebanese cedar, but then replaced by stone. In general, over the long centuries of its existence, the temple of Hera at Olympia was rebuilt many times, and today guidebooks report at least six known constructions of it.
This continued until the Romans turned it into an ordinary museum, where all sorts of historical curiosities were brought. It cannot be said that they were indifferent to marriage and motherhood, but they had another goddess in charge of this sphere of life - Juno, who pushed the temple of Hera in Olympia into the background. The order in which it was built, and it was a vivid example of the classical Corinthian style, only gave solidity to the Roman museum.
Goddess Competition
The Temple of Hera at Olympia witnessed very peculiar rituals performed in honor of the goddess revered by all. Pausanias, for example, tells how, just every four years, sixteen of the most skillful weavers of Greece gathered in the temple and wove robes for Hera. There was a competition between them - something like modern competitions "The best in the profession." But the program of the ritual was not limited to this.
The next stage was the running competitions held at the Olympic stadium, called "gerei". Only women participated. The participants, broken down by age categories, started in groups - starting with very young girls and ending with ladies of a very respectable age. The historian writes that both grandmothers and granddaughters ran, though different distances, but in the same short tunics, not reachingto the knees, with loose hair and bare left breasts.
Obviously, the goddess really liked this sight, because marriages were made regularly, and the fertility of Greek women could only be envied. The winner of the race was waiting for the coveted prize - she was awarded half of the sacrificial cow, and was also given the right to decorate the temple of Hera in Olympia with her own statuette with the appropriate inscription. Today, among the ruins of the temple, theatrical performances are held for tourists in memory of those ancient competitions.
Sculptural decoration of the temple
According to archaeologists, in the center of the temple there was a sculpture of Hera herself, sitting on the throne. In its original form, it has not survived to this day, but according to the surviving fragments, it can be assumed that its height reached three meters. A full-length carved male figure was placed next to the throne. Its identity is controversial among researchers. According to a number of signs, she could be an image of Zeus - Hera's husband, but some scientists believe that this is her son Ares.
If it is difficult to judge the artistic merits of this composition due to the fact that only minor fragments of it have survived, then another statue, which for centuries has been kept within the walls of the temple of Hera in Olympia, is a recognized masterpiece. We are talking about the sculpture of Hermes with the infant Dionysus in his arms by Praxiteles, an outstanding ancient Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. It is important to note that this work was made in a single copy and has nono copies, no analogues, as a rule, made by ancient masters.
Collection of works by the masters of ancient Sparta
The Temple of Hera at Olympia, the architect of which, to our great regret, remained unknown, during the heyday of Ancient Greece was the richest collection of sculptures made of ivory and gold. We also learn about this from the writings of Pausanias. It was filled with images of the celestials who inhabited Olympus and were indispensable heroes of mythology.
Among them one could see the militant Athena in a helmet and with a spear in her hand, Horus - the divine ruler of the Sun, the sky and the seasons, depicted as a man with a hawk's head, as well as beautiful nymphs - Gasperides, guardians of golden apples, and many others whose names were familiar to every inhabitant of that era. Most of the works belonged to the masters of warlike Sparta, which refutes the prevailing opinion about the underdevelopment of art among its people.
The Temple of Hera at Olympia was the place where a unique casket was kept, which is not only an outstanding work of arts and crafts, but also a historical relic. A legend is connected with him, which is mentioned in his writings by another ancient Greek historian Herodotus.
The Legend of the Lame Bride
It says that among the inhabitants of Corinth - a very ancient Greek city - there was a certain girl named Labda, who was the daughter of the local king Amphion. Despite such a high origin, she could not find a decent groom, because she was notonly angry and grumpy, but also lame, for which everyone made fun of her.
Of course she was distressed, spending her days and nights crying. As a result, in order not to torment the girl, she was married to a commoner. And on the eve of the wedding, the court oracle publicly predicted that from this marriage a son would be born who would take revenge on the inhabitants of the city for his mother's tears.
Vengeful youth
The oracle knew what he was talking about, and in due time a boy was born, named Kipsel. The townspeople, who generally blindly believed all sorts of predictions, came to the palace in a crowd to kill the newborn. And that's when this same chest appears on the scene, made of cedar, decorated with ivory and gold embossing.
It was in him that the desperate mother hid her first child, which saved his life. Needless to say, having reached a mature age, having ascended the throne and becoming the first Corinthian tyrant, Kypsel lived up to everyone's expectations, flooding the city with streams of blood. The casket that served the people of Corinth so badly was then placed in the temple of Hera as a reminder of what political folly can lead to.
Ruins - a monument of former glory
Time, the earthquake that happened in the IV century, and most importantly, the historical cataclysms witnessed by ancient Hellas, have done their job. Today, the Temple of Hera at Olympia, the photo of which is presented in the article, is a venerable ruin surrounded by bright southern vegetation. The eyes of tourists openonly a foundation with the remains of a once powerful orthostat - a row of vertically placed slabs that surrounded the basement of the building, and several columns.
Some of them managed to resist and, towering among the ruins, serves as a reminder of the former greatness. The rest cover the ground with their debris. The Temple of Hera in Olympia (Greece) was the victim of the most ruthless of the celestials - the god of time Kronos.
