Famous and interesting ancient Greek myths and legends. All the labors of Hercules. Stories of the gods of Ancient Greece.
Agamemnon, saddened by the victory of the Trojans, sent heralds to convene the leaders for a council. The leaders gathered, and Agamemnon began to say with sadness that he now had to flee from Troas to Greece, since this, apparently, pleased Zeus. But Diomedes angrily objected to Agamemnon that he could leave Troas alone, if he so desired, while the other leaders would remain and fight until they took Troy. Nestor also did not advise fleeing. The elder advised Agamemnon to organize a feast and discuss what to do, and to post guards to guard the camp.
The myth of Adonis and Aphrodite was borrowed by the Greeks from the Phoenicians. The name Adonis is not Greek, but Phoenician and means “lord.” The Phoenicians borrowed this myth from the Babylonians
But the goddess of love, who punished Narcissus in this way, knew the torment of love herself, and she had to mourn her beloved Adonis. She loved the son of the king of Cyprus, Adonis. None of the mortals was equal to him in beauty; he was even more beautiful than the Olympian gods. Aphrodite and Patmos, and the blooming Cythera, forgot for him.
One day Actaeon was hunting with his comrades in the forests of Cithaeron. It was a hot afternoon. The tired hunters settled down to rest in the shade of a dense forest, and young Actaeon, separating from them, went to seek coolness in the valleys of Cithaeron. He went out to the green, flowering valley of Gargafia, dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Plane trees, myrtles and firs grew luxuriantly in the valley; Slender cypress trees rose on it like dark arrows, and the green grass was full of flowers.
Returning from a campaign against Thebes, Alcmaeon fulfilled the will of his father Amphiaraus and took revenge on his mother for the death of his father. Alcmaeon killed his mother with his own hand. Dying, the mother cursed her son-killer and cursed the country that would give him shelter.
The avenging goddesses Erinyes were angry with Alcmaeon and pursued him wherever he tried to hide. The unfortunate Alcmaeon wandered for a long time, trying everywhere to find shelter and cleansing from the filth of the spilled blood. Finally, he came to the city of Psofida, in Arcadia. There King Phegei cleansed him from the taint of murder. Alcmaeon married Phegeus's daughter Arsinoe and thought of living peacefully in Psofida. But fate did not promise him this. His mother's curse haunted him. A terrible famine and pestilence spread in Psofida. Death reigned everywhere. Alcmaeon turned to the Delphic oracle, and the soothsayer Pythia answered him that he should leave Psophida and go to the river god, Achelous; only there will he be cleared of the murder of his mother and find peace in a country that did not yet exist when his mother cursed him. Leaving the house of Phegeus, his wife Arsinoe and his son Clytius, Alcmaeon went to Achelous. On the way, he visited Oeneus in Calydon, who hospitably received him.
After the victory over the Argives, the Thebans arranged a luxurious funeral for Eteocles and all the fallen soldiers, and Polyneices decided to deprive Creon and the Thebans of burial for having led a foreign army against Thebes. His corpse lay near the city walls in a field, left to be torn to pieces by predatory animals and birds. The soul of Polyneices was doomed to eternal wandering; she could not find peace in the kingdom of the souls of the dead.
The noble daughter of Oedipus, Antigone, ready for any self-sacrifice, suffered, seeing the dishonor to which her brother was doomed. Despite everything, she decided to bury Polynices’ body herself. The death that Creon threatened anyone who dared to bury Polynices, having performed all the funeral rites, did not frighten her. Antigone called her sister Ismene to go with her, but the timid sister did not dare to help her sister, fearing the wrath of Creon. She even tried to persuade Antigone not to go against the will of the king of Thebes; she reminded her of the fate that befell their mother and brothers. Does Antigone really want to destroy herself and her? Antigone did not listen to Ismene: she is ready to fulfill her duty to her brother alone, she is ready to endure everything without complaint, so long as Polyneices does not remain unburied. And Antigone fulfilled her decision.
Persecuted by the vengeful Erinyes, exhausted by wanderings and grief, Orestes finally came to sacred Delphi and sat down there in the temple of Apollo near the omphalos. Even the terrible goddesses followed him to the temple of Apollo, but there the arrow god put them to sleep, and their terrible eyes closed in sleep.
Apollo, secretly from the Erinyes, appeared to Orestes and ordered him to go to Athens and there to pray for protection from the ancient image of the goddess Pallas Athena. God promised his help to the unfortunate Orestes, and gave him his brother, the god Hermes, as a guide. Orestes got up, quietly left the temple and went with Hermes to Athens.
He had just left when the shadow of Clytemnestra rose from the earth in the temple of Apollo. Seeing the Erinyes sleeping, she began to wake them up and reproach them for stopping pursuing the murderer who had shed their mother’s blood. She hurried them to quickly chase after the hidden Orestes and not give him a moment's rest. But the Erinyes slept in a deep, heavy sleep; in their sleep they moaned, at times screaming, as if chasing a murderer fleeing from them. Finally, with great difficulty, one of the Erinyes woke up and woke the others. The Erinyes became furious when they saw that Orestes had disappeared. They began to reproach Apollo for snatching the murderer from their hands, but Apollo, shaking his bow, drove them out of his temple. Full of furious anger, the goddesses rushed in a discordant crowd in the footsteps of Orestes.
In spring and summer, on the slopes of the wooded Helikon, where the sacred waters of the Hippocrene spring mysteriously murmur, and on high Parnassus, near the clear waters of the Castalian spring, Apollo dances with nine muses. Young, beautiful muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are Apollo's constant companions. He leads the choir of muses and accompanies their singing by playing his golden lyre.
Apollo had to be cleansed from the sin of the shed blood of Python. After all, he himself cleanses the people who committed murder. By decision of Zeus, he retired to Thessaly to the beautiful and noble king Admetus. There he tended the king's flocks and with this service he atoned for his sin. When Apollo played a reed flute or a golden harp in the pasture, wild animals came out of the forest, enchanted by his playing. Panthers and fierce lions walked peacefully among the herds. Deer and chamois came running to the sound of the flute.
Arachne was famous throughout Lydia for her art. Nymphs often gathered from the slopes of Tmol and from the banks of the gold-bearing Pactolus to admire her work. Arachne spun threads like fog into fabrics as transparent as air. She was proud that she had no equal in the world in the art of weaving. One day she exclaimed:
- Let Pallas Athena herself come to compete with me! She can't defeat me; I'm not afraid of it.
The next day, in the morning, the Argonauts landed on the shores of Bithynia. They were not greeted there as hospitably as in Cyzicus. In Bithynia, on the seashore, lived the Bebriks, ruled by King Amik. He was proud of his gigantic strength and fame as an invincible fist fighter. The cruel king forced all the strangers to fight with himself and mercilessly killed them with a mighty blow of his fist. Amik greeted the Argonauts with ridicule; he called the great heroes vagabonds and challenged the strongest of them to battle, if only one of them dared to measure their strength with him. The heroes were angry. From their midst came the young son of Zeus and Leda, Polydeuces.
There are many scientific and pseudo-scientific disputes around mythology in general, and myths in particular. Moreover, the mythology is not only ancient Greek, but also classical European. So what are these myths? Some attribute them to culture, others to religion, others to both the first and the second, as if in a mix, in modern terms. Still others consider myths almost historical knowledge.
Why are myths needed?
One thing is undeniable and proven by facts and artifacts: mythology is the oldest human essence. The time of appearance of mythological images is difficult to identify, but it is associated with the origin of language and human consciousness. Mythology arose not with gods and other mythical creatures, but to substantiate and reflect them from the point of view and thinking that were inherent in humanity at a specific stage of its development. Myths are rituals of life, a reason for searching for the meaning of life.
But let's return to our topic - the myths of Ancient Greece and the list of names. In Hellas, mythology gave a strong impetus to the development of culture and art (sculpture), even the religion of polytheism and a single god. Even then, the genres of modern theatrical and cinematic art arose - tragedy and comedy.
Important point. Gods are not ideal beings. Among them, like among people, there were vices. This is envy, meanness and murder were committed, including children, and also with the aim of eliminating competitors for advancement in the hierarchy of the gods. Just one example. Gaia, the goddess of the earth, rebelled against her husband, and after the victory of the Olympians over the Titans, she and her sons launched an attack on the pantheon of Olympus. She gave birth to a hundred-headed monster - Typhon, on whom she pinned hopes of destroying humanity.
Gods of Ancient Greece
Classified by three generations. Let's make a list of gods of the third stage. Especially the lineup known as the Olympians. Their family descended from Kronos (Chronos - time) - the first divine leader of Greece. According to some sources, he is the last son of Gaia. And the long era of the Olympian rulers of the sky and all living things on earth began.
Zeus the Thunderer (Roman Jupiter) is the son of the father of the gods and the father of the gods himself. Kronos learned the prediction of his mother, who became a Delphic soothsayer, that his children would overthrow him. To prevent this from happening, he swallowed them.
Rhea's wife saved only her last son, Zeus. When he was little, she handed him over to be raised by nymphs on the still undeveloped island of Crete. When he grew up, he immediately overthrew his father from his controlled heavenly fiefdom.
The secret that helped the Thunderer avoid death was revealed by Prometheus. He predicted who he should not marry. So Zeus became immortal, and his power on Olympus became eternal.
All ancient Greek gods and their areas of responsibility.
Poseidon (Neptune), brother of the leader of the pantheon on Mount Olympus, personified physical strength and character - courage and unbridled temper. He created elements on the water, sank ships, and caused famine on earth. He was personified with earthquakes that were then incomprehensible. Poseidon compensated for his sabotage with generous gifts, but then he became a miser again.
Hera (Juno)
The sister and wife of the Thunderer, therefore she was the main one among the female group of deities. She oversaw the strength of marriage and marital fidelity. She was very jealous and did not forgive betrayals even to Zeus. She tried in every possible way to harm his illegitimate son, Hercules (Hercules).
Apollo (Phoebus)
God of the brightest light. Later the cult expanded to ideas of creative grace and healing (father of the god of doctors Asclepius). Aristocratic features are borrowed from the images of Asia Minor. The cult spread widely in Italy after the Roman conquest of Greece.
Artemis (Diana)
Apollo's sister. Like the cult of the brother, respect for her was brought to Greece from the outside. Artemis is associated with forests; in general, she is the patron of everything that grows and bears fruit. Welcomed births and sexual relations.
Athena (Minerva)
A goddess with whom it is unclear how spiritual comfort and wisdom, belligerence and amazing femininity coexisted. According to mythology, she was born to Zeus (from his curly head) already armed with a spear. And only she, as a goddess, was allowed to wage so-called just wars. Apparently, the Olympians believed that such military seizures of something could be justified.
It is difficult to list everything that Athena patronized: from agriculture to science and art, and her influence spread even further. Cities were created in her name. It is not for nothing that the capital of Greece is named after this goddess. The ancient Greek sculptor Phidias depicted it in all its glory.
Hermes (Mercury).
If you collect in one list everything that fell under the protection of the gods, it will become clear what the ancient Greeks were concerned about. After all, the gods were created, to put it bluntly, by them. So in connection with Hermes, it is clear that the Greeks were concerned about the construction of roads, merchant trade within the country and with their neighbors, since they endowed Hermes with these powers of patronage.
He was known as a resourceful god, capable of being cunning when necessary, but also possessed knowledge of foreign languages. Obviously, there must have been such specialists in earthly life, since God was placed above them.
Aphrodite (Venus or Cypris)
Guardian of love and feminine beauty. There is a well-known epic about her and Adonis, adopted from the myths of the Ancient East. Her son Eros (Cupid) was depicted in paintings where he ignites the flame of love in people with arrows.
Hephaestus (Vulcan).
Already from the Roman name it is clear what God was doing: creating fire and roar. This is how it is shown in myths. But as is well known, the activity of a volcano is beyond the control of either people or gods. Later, Hephaestus “retrained” and became the patron of artisans in blacksmithing. After all, there, too, there is always a fire for melting metal. Although he was lame, he became the husband of Aphrodite.
Unlike Aphrodite, who personified the unbridled power of nature, the goddess directed nature to serve farmers. Under the leadership of Demeter was human life until death.
Ares (Mars).
Unlike Athena, this god acted through deception, treason and cunning. He loved bloody war and for the sake of war. Homer wrote about a warrior with a very dangerous weapon, but did not classify the weapon. Ares, like all members of the pantheon, was loved by ancient sculptors. The warrior was depicted naked, but with a helmet on his head and a sword.
Hestia.
Her cult is the fire of the hearth. The altar of the goddess was supposed to be in every house where the hearth was burning.
Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are presented mainly based on Hesiod’s poem “Theogony” (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from Homer’s poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” and the poem “Metamorphoses” (Transformations) by the Roman poet Ovid.
In the beginning there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. It contained the source of life in the world. Everything arose from boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. The goddess Earth, Gaia, also came from Chaos. It spreads wide, powerful, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is far from us, in immeasurable depths, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, was born the mighty force that animates everything, Love - Eros. The world began to be created. Boundless Chaos gave birth to the Eternal Darkness - Erebus and the dark Night - Nyukta. And from Night and Darkness came the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful bright Day - Hemera. The light spread throughout the world, and night and day began to replace each other.
The mighty, fertile Earth gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, and the Sky spread over the Earth. The high Mountains born of the Earth rose proudly towards him, and the ever-noisy Sea spread widely.
Mother Earth gave birth to the Sky, Mountains and Sea, and they have no father.
Uranus - Heaven - reigned in the world. He took the fertile Earth as his wife. Uranus and Gaia had six sons and six daughters - powerful, formidable titans. Their son, the Titan Ocean, flowing around the entire earth like a boundless river, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and the sea goddesses - the Oceanids. Titan Hipperion and Theia gave the world children: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selene and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astraeus and Eos came all the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and all the winds: the stormy northern wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Notus and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds heavy with rain.
In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - cyclops with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hecatoncheires), so named because each of them had a hundred hands. Nothing can resist their terrible power; their elemental power knows no bounds.
Uranus hated his giant children; he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the Earth goddess and did not allow them to come into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was oppressed by this terrible burden contained in her depths. She summoned her children, the Titans, and convinced them to rebel against their father Uranus, but they were afraid to raise their hands against their father. Only the youngest of them, the treacherous Kron, overthrew his father by cunning and took away his power.
As punishment for Kron, the Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible substances: Tanata - death, Eris - discord, Apata - deception, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of dark, heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deception, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world where Cronus reigned on the throne of his father.
The picture of the life of the gods on Olympus is given from the works of Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, which glorify the tribal aristocracy and the basileus leading it as the best people, standing much higher than the rest of the population. The gods of Olympus differ from aristocrats and basileus only in that they are immortal, powerful and can work miracles.
Birth of Zeus
Kron was not sure that power would remain in his hands forever. He was afraid that his children would rebel against him and would subject him to the same fate to which he doomed his father Uranus. He was afraid of his children. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him the children that were born and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cronus has already swallowed five: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades (Hades) and Poseidon.
Rhea did not want to lose her last child. On the advice of her parents, Uranus-Heaven and Gaia-Earth, she retired to the island of Crete, and there, in a deep cave, her youngest son Zeus was born. In this cave, Rhea hid her son from her cruel father, and instead of her son she gave him a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow. Krohn had no idea that he had been deceived by his wife.
Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished little Zeus; they fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. The bees brought honey to little Zeus from the slopes of the high mountain Dikta. At the entrance to the cave, the young Kuretes struck their shields with their swords every time little Zeus cried, so that Kronus would not hear him cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.
Zeus overthrows Cronus. The fight of the Olympian gods with the titans
The beautiful and powerful god Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back into the world the children he had absorbed. One after another, Kron spewed out his children-gods, beautiful and bright, from the mouth. They began to fight with Kron and the Titans for power over the world.
This struggle was terrible and stubborn. The children of Kron established themselves on high Olympus. Some of the titans also took their side, and the first were the titan Ocean and his daughter Styx and their children Zeal, Power and Victory. This struggle was dangerous for the Olympian gods. Their opponents, the Titans, were powerful and formidable. But the Cyclopes came to the aid of Zeus. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them at the titans. The struggle had already lasted ten years, but victory did not lean on either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires from the bowels of the earth; he called them to help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they emerged from the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore entire rocks from the mountains and threw them at the titans. Hundreds of rocks flew towards the titans when they approached Olympus. The earth groaned, a roar filled the air, everything around was shaking. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle.
Zeus threw fiery lightning and deafeningly roaring thunder one after another. Fire engulfed the entire earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench covered everything with a thick veil.
Finally, the mighty titans wavered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians chained them and cast them into gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the copper indestructible gates of Tartarus, the hundred-armed hecatoncheires stood guard, and they guard so that the mighty titans do not break free from Tartarus again. The power of the titans in the world has passed.
The fight between Zeus and Typhon
But the struggle did not end there. Gaia-Earth was angry with the Olympian Zeus for treating her defeated titan children so harshly. She married the gloomy Tartarus and gave birth to the terrible hundred-headed monster Typhon. Huge, with a hundred dragon heads, Typhon rose from the bowels of the earth. He shook the air with a wild howl. The barking of dogs, human voices, the roar of an angry bull, the roar of a lion were heard in this howl. Turbulent flames swirled around Typhon, and the earth shook under his heavy steps. The gods shuddered with horror, but Zeus the Thunderer boldly rushed at him, and the battle broke out. Lightning flashed again in the hands of Zeus, and thunder rumbled. The earth and the firmament were shaken to the core. The earth flared up again with a bright flame, just as during the fight with the titans. The seas were boiling at the mere approach of Typhon. Hundreds of fiery lightning arrows rained down from the thunderer Zeus; it seemed as if their fire was making the very air burn and the dark thunderclouds were burning. Zeus incinerated all of Typhon's hundred heads. Typhon collapsed to the ground; such heat emanated from his body that everything around him melted. Zeus raised Typhon's body and threw it into the gloomy Tartarus, which gave birth to him. But even in Tartarus, Typhon also threatens the gods and all living things. It causes storms and eruptions; he gave birth to Echidna, half-woman, half-snake, the terrible two-headed dog Orph, the hellish dog Kerberus, the Lernaean Hydra and the Chimera; Typhon often shakes the earth.
The Greeks believed that the gods ruled the entire world and the lives of people. They were called Olympians because they were thought to live on Mount Olympus. There were many gods. The Greeks imagined their life to be similar to human life; they believed that the gods lived as one big family. The king of gods and people was the god Zeus. When thunder roared and lightning flashed, the Greeks thought that Zeus was angry. Zeus had two brothers - the god of the seas and oceans, Poseidon, and the god of the underworld of the dead, Lida. The Russian word “hell” comes from this name. Deep in the underworld flow the river of oblivion Lethe and the river Styx. The souls of the dead are transported across the Styx by the old ferryman Charon. And the exit from the kingdom of the dead is guarded by the three-headed dog Kerberus (Cerberus). The sun rises over the earth when the sun god Helios rides into the sky on his golden chariot drawn by snow-white horses. The goddess of the dawn Eos (Aurora) pours morning and evening dew onto the ground from two jugs. The Greeks especially revered Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus. She was the goddess of wisdom and patroness of cities. The city of Athens is named in her honor. Athena was depicted in the guise of a majestic, beautiful woman with a helmet on her head, with a spear and shield in her hands. The symbol of the wisdom of the goddess was the owl. The goddess of agriculture and fertility was Demeter, the goddess of beauty and love was the eternally young Aphrodite (Venus), born from the foam of the sea. The Greeks deeply revered Apollo, the divine god, patron of music and poetry. He was depicted with a lyre in his hands and surrounded by nine muses, personifying different types of art. When the Greeks learned to process metals, the myth of the blacksmith god Hephaestus appeared. The Greeks thought that the volcanoes that erupted with fire and smoke were the exits from his underground forge. The god Hermes, the most cunning of the gods, was considered the patron of trade, merchants and travelers. Hermes often carried out various assignments for Zeus and was the messenger of the Olympian gods, so he was depicted wearing winged sandals. From myths we learn about other deities who lived not on Olympus, but among earthly nature. These are satyrs - forest deities in the form of goat-footed people covered with wool. These are nymphs - goddesses of streams, mountains, forests. They were imagined as beautiful girls. There were also goddesses of fate - the three Moira sisters. They spin the thread of life. When Moira cuts the thread, the person dies.Myths and legends about the deities of ancient Greece
The Greeks imagined the gods as strong and beautiful. Temples were built for the gods and statues were erected. On holidays, statues of gods were dressed in beautiful clothes and decorated with wreaths of flowers. During religious holidays, people from all over Greece gathered in temples. The temple territory was considered sacred and inviolable. Therefore, fugitives or criminals sometimes took refuge in the temple: they could not be killed there. Rich people kept their treasures in the temple. The most famous were the temple of Zeus in the city of Olympia and the temple of Apollo in the city of Delphi, which stood in the place where gases came out of the ground. Above the cleft of the rock sat the soothsayer Pythia (Sibyl), the priestess of Apollo, on a golden tripod. On behalf of God, she answered questions and predicted the future. Every Greek who turned to Pythia was interested in the question of his fate or the success of his planned business. Often the Pythia's answers were unclear. One day the Lydian king Croesus asked if he would defeat the Persian king Cyrus. Pythia replied: if he starts a war, he will destroy a large kingdom. The king started the war and was defeated. He came to the temple and began to reproach Pythia for her false prophecy. But Pythia objected that the king did not ask whose kingdom he would destroy - his own or someone else’s! TITAN PROMETHEUS. Prometheus was a deity of the older generation - a titan. In the internecine struggle of the gods, he took the side of Zeus and helped him take the throne of the supreme god. While distributing gifts, Zeus forgot about people. Prometheus was the only one who remembered them. He stole fire from Olympus, hid it in a reed stalk, and gave it to people. For this, Zeus ordered Prometheus to be chained to a Caucasian rock. Every day an eagle flew in and pecked the liver of the immortal titan with its sharp beak. Prometheus' torment lasted for thousands of years, but he was given strength by the thought that he had done good for people. He did not want to renounce them and repent before Zeus! Since then, Prometheus has become a symbol of spiritual and physical resilience. Many writers and poets mentioned it.Sacrifices to the gods
The Greeks made sacrifices to the gods. Most often they poured wine, olive oil, honey or milk into the fire that burned on the altar. If the fire flared brightly at that moment, it was believed that the gods accepted the sacrifice and promised people help. On special occasions, a hundred bulls were killed at once as a sacrifice to the gods. In the Iliad such a sacrifice is called a “hecatomb” (one hundred bulls). It is said that when the Greek mathematician Pythagoras discovered his famous theorem, he brought a hecatomb to the gods as a sign of gratitude. White animals were sacrificed to the Olympian gods, and black ones to the underground gods. The meat of the sacrificial animals was partially burned on fire, and the rest was eaten. The Greeks understood sacrifice as a common, friendly meal between people and gods.China, Rus', India, Scandinavia, Ancient Rome, Greece have their own gods and heroes who left their mark on culture and religion. But for a child they are just fairy-tale characters. Children first become acquainted with many of them through the TV screen.
Anyone interested in the legend can read the texts online. Unlike expensive colorful books, we offer a free excursion into history. Here you will find:
- a summary of the Old and New Testaments;
- Indian myths and legends;
- mythology of ancient states: Rus', China, Greece, Rome;
- Scandinavian stories about nine worlds.
How to introduce children to the heritage of their ancestors
Myths and legends are short stories about pagan deities, their deeds, love and hate, the struggle between good and evil. Not all children will be able to comprehend events on their own; sometimes it will be difficult for them to read the names of representatives of other nations. It is better to read such stories together and then discuss the information received.
Cinematography and animation brought the mythology to life. Getting to know world culture will be more meaningful if you combine reading with viewing.
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