In one person and the mortal son of the king of Troy, and the god Ganymede - what just did not happen to the celestials of Olympus and their favorites. A beautiful young man, the Trojan prince served his father and prepared to spend his life like all mortals: in labor, and even in suffering, struggle and illness. And then die. After all, such is the lot of people.
The myth of Ganymede
During the kidnapping, Ganymede was tending his father's sheep on the mountainside. Zeus sent his eagle to steal the young man, whose beauty reached even the top of Mount Olympus. When the bird placed Ganymede in front of the throne of Zeus, he ignited the article. A handsome boy began to serve ambrosia and nectar at the feasts of the Olympians. According to some sources, he was even the lover of Zeus.
Ganymede is the god of what?
Formally, Ganymede was not a god or demigod (like, for example, Hercules). So the question is: "Ganymede is the god of what?" not entirely true. Born a man, even after ascending to Olympus, he did not become the patron of a craft, natural phenomenon, city or social phenomenon, like other gods of Ancient Greece.
Ganymede is translated from ancient Greek as "bringing fun", andhe was just a butler at the feasts of Zeus and other celestials. For his beauty, as a gift from the Thunderer, Ganymede received eternal youth and immortality - the main attributes of God, and also became one of the chosen inhabitants of Olympus. At his request, Zeus helped Troy during the war by stopping the ships of the Achaeans. The god Ganymede had no other "divine" influence on the lives of mortals.
Father of Ganymede
Ganymede's father is entertaining because he received rich gifts for his son. Some researchers believe that they can be regarded as a ransom. According to Homer's Iliad, this is the Trojan king Tros. Despite the fact that the kidnapped child was not the only one, the father's grief was immeasurable. To console him, Zeus revealed to him the future of Ganymede - the eternal youth and immortality of his son, which was to reconcile Tros with the loss. Even the Thunderer became generous and presented the king of Troy with a pair of beautiful horses and a golden vine branch. It was the work of the best master - the god of blacksmithing Hephaestus himself.
So it was a good deal. After all, many mistresses of the supreme god did not receive anything as a gift and paid with suffering for his adventures. The wife of Zeus, the goddess Hera was jealous and vengeful. She did not have the strength to get even with her divinely strong husband, and she recouped on his passions. Unlike other lovers of the supreme god, Ganymede was lucky - he himself was gifted beyond measure, becoming immortal. He remained near Zeus, was loved, treated kindly, enjoyed life in a heavenly place. The father also received magnificent gifts.
Sources of the myth of Ganymede
The most famous literary source that tells about Ganymede is the Iliad. This is the work of Homer. There are other sources for the Ganymede myths, and they differ in details. For example, one claims that Zeus himself turned into an eagle and kidnapped the boy. In later versions of the myth, Zeus had a servant bird that carried the thunderbolts of the Thunderer and performed other delicate tasks: kidnapping mistresses for the owner, pecking at the liver of Prometheus.
Any myth has undergone a transformation in time. It was supplemented, expanded, the ending changed. The development of the myth of Ganymede is that Eos (goddess of the morning dawn) fell in love with him and kidnapped him. An eagle stole a lover from her for Zeus.
From the beginning, like a folk legend, a myth could not have a specific author and a rigidly fixed literary source. At various times, on the territory of Ancient Greece there were scattered city-states with different supreme gods and their own myths, and centralized power, especially after the occupation of the peninsula by the Romans, who brought their own to the legends. Thus came the idea of the permissibility of sodomy, and Ganymede from the cupbearer turned into the lover of Zeus.
By the way, the position of a beautiful boy was interpreted in different ways. Some ancient authors admitted that on Olympus Zeus used wine - the fruit of the vine. Someone considered this blasphemy, arguing that only nectar and ambrosia are food worthy of the gods. And wine is for mortals.
The story of Ganymede mentionedEuripides. The dramaturgy of the golden age of ancient Greek art absorbed, rethought, preserved and transformed many mythological subjects. And with the development of theatrical art, especially tragedy, despite the supernatural plot and the all-powerful heroes-gods or especially gifted mortals, ethical, social and moral issues were still acutely experienced. And most importantly, they did not always lead to a happy ending.
Further, these plots penetrated into poetry, epics of ancient authors. According to Virgil, the eternal life of Ganymede on Olympus was interrupted through the fault of a jealous Hera.
Ganymede in poetry
According to the poet Virgil and his late version of the myth in the epic "Aeneid", the god Ganymede deposed Gebe in the honorary post of butler at divine feasts. She was the daughter of Hera, the evil and jealous wife of Zeus. She, being a goddess, did not cease to be a woman and knew how to get her way from her husband. She began to saw the faithful. When Zeus got bored of Hera's incessant complaints, he wrapped Ganymede in the constellation Aquarius (pictured), which immortalized the beauty of his lover among the heavenly bodies.
Ganymede in art
The story of Ganymede has inspired many painters and sculptors. Ancient sculptors dedicated statues to him. For example, the ancient Greek god Ganymede (pictured below) is the work of the sculptor Leochar. The statue is known from Roman copies, is called "Vatican Ganymede", and is located there.
In the Renaissance, the abduction by an eagle (orturned into a god) Ganymede has repeatedly been a subject in painting. Many masters wanted to glorify their genius by depicting such a beautiful young man that immortality and eternal youth were granted him for beauty alone.
Rubens has two paintings about the abduction of a boy. The first is very dynamic, contrasting, dramatic: the white body of a frightened young man against the background of a black eagle, assertive and tough. In the second picture, the artist has already painted the arrival of Ganymede, as Hebe gives him a golden bowl to serve at the feast. The story is written in bright colors, but much more calm - this is Olympus, the place of the blessed life of the elect.
Another famous Dutchman Rembrandt wrote the story realistically, despite the mythological plot. The fear of a small child is masterfully conveyed. And in conjunction with the gloomy colors of the canvas - this has a psychological effect. The story seems real and tragic.
Ganymede in astronomy
The Roman god Jupiter (analogous to Zeus in Greek mythology) was a polygamist, had numerous mistresses. It is characteristic that the planet with his name has many satellites (almost 70 have been discovered at the moment). The name of the ancient Greek god Ganymede is one of the largest moons of Jupiter. He is accompanied by three more companions - other mistresses of the supreme voluptuous god - Io, Callisto and Europe.
Paintings, poetic epics, sculptures, even distant stars compete with each other, but remain only a reflection of the beauty of the mythically beautiful young man - the god Ganymede.
