Hera is the goddess of what in Greece. Hera - ancient Greek goddess

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Hera

Summary of the myth

Hera Ludovisi. Sculpture, 5th century. BC.

Hera(among the Romans - Juno) - in ancient Greek mythology, the queen of the gods, the patroness of marriage, conjugal love and childbirth, protects the holiness and inviolability of marital unions. The daughter of Kronos and Rhea, the wife and elder sister of Zeus, was his third and last legal wife. Kronos, fearing the birth of a son who would seize his power, swallowed his newborn children, so Hera, like her four brothers and sisters, was swallowed immediately after birth. Zeus, with the help of his wife Metis, forced his father to return them back. After being released from captivity, Hera, who had already become a young girl during this time, was given to the care of two deities of nature - Ocean and Typhis, who raised her at the end of the world, where she lived far from Olympus, in peace and quiet.

Hera's extraordinary beauty attracted Zeus, who had already become the supreme god of Olympus by that time, and he began to actively seek her favor. To achieve intimacy with the girl, Zeus turned himself into a motley cuckoo, trembling from the cold, over which Hera bent. In order to warm the frozen bird, the unsuspecting girl gently pressed it to her chest. But as soon as she did this, Zeus took on his true form and took possession of her. Due to the ban of Rhea's mother, their relationship was secret for three hundred years, until Zeus openly declared Hera as his wife and queen of the gods. The goddess bathed in the Cana stream near Argos and thus regained her virginity for the wedding.

The gods celebrated the wedding magnificently. Hera, dressed in luxurious clothes, shone with majestic beauty among the gods of Olympus, sitting on a golden throne next to her husband. All the gods sent their gifts to their wedding. Mother Earth Gaia gave Hera a tree with golden apples. Everything in nature praised Hera and Zeus.

Hera reigns on high Olympus, being an assistant and adviser to her husband. She, like her husband, commands thunder and lightning, at her word the sky is covered with dark rain clouds, and with a wave of her hand she raises menacing storms. The great Hera is beautiful, from under her crown a wave of wondrous curls fall, her eyes glow with power and calm majesty. The gods honor Hera, and her husband, Zeus, honors her and often consults with her. But quarrels between Zeus and Hera are also common. She often objects to her husband and argues with him in the councils of the gods. Then the Thunderer gets angry and threatens his wife with punishment. Then Hera falls silent and restrains her anger. She remembers how Zeus scourged her, how he bound her with golden chains and hung her between the earth and the sky, tying two heavy anvils to her feet.

Juno, who caught Jupiter with Io. Pieter Lastman, 1618

Hera is powerful, there is no goddess equal to her in power. Majestic, in long luxurious clothes woven by Athena herself, in a chariot drawn by two immortal horses, she rides down from Olympus. The chariot is all made of silver, the wheels are made of pure gold, and their spokes sparkle with copper. Fragrance spreads across the ground where Hera passes. All living things bow before her, the great queen of Olympus.

Hera often suffers insults from her husband Zeus. This is what happened when Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Io and, in order to hide her from Hera, turned her into a cow. But the Thunderer did not save her with this. Hera saw the snow-white cow Io and demanded that Zeus give it to her. Zeus could not refuse. Hera, having taken possession of Io, gave her under the protection of the stoic Argus. Zeus saw Io suffering. Calling his son Hermes, he ordered him to kidnap her. Hermes quickly rushed to the top of that mountain. He put Argus to sleep with his speeches. As soon as his hundred eyes closed, Hermes drew his curved sword and cut off Argus’s head with one blow. Io was freed. But Zeus did not save her from the wrath of Hera. The goddess sent a monstrous gadfly to the unfortunate woman. With its terrible sting, the gadfly drove the sufferer from country to country, maddened by torment. She did not find peace anywhere. She ran everywhere, in what countries she visited! Finally, after long wanderings, she reached the rock in the country of the Scythians, to which the titan Prometheus was chained. He predicted to the unfortunate woman that only in Egypt would she get rid of her torment. Io rushed on, driven by the gadfly. She endured much torment before reaching Egypt. There, on the banks of the blessed Nile, Zeus returned her to her former image, and her son Epaphus was born.

Images and symbols of myth

The emergence of the Milky Way. Tintoretto, 1570

In myths, Hera is a model of marital fidelity. As a sign of this, she was depicted in her wedding attire. Hera on Olympus is the defender of her own family hearth, which is endlessly threatened by Zeus's amorousness. It seemed that not only was he the father of the gods, he wanted to become the parent of almost all the heroes. Therefore, Hera’s life is full of anxiety; she is ready to consider every removal of her divine spouse as evidence of his betrayal. Proudly independent Geru humiliated Zeus's numerous love affairs, since she considered their marriage sacred. Zeus's favor towards his mistresses and the children born from these relationships aroused in Hera hatred and a feeling of vengeance towards them. She is jealous and insidiously pursues her rivals, harbors hatred for the heroes - her husband's children from mortal women. Hera preferred evil intrigues, for example, she borrowed a belt woven from lust from Aphrodite in order to ignite passion in her husband and thereby weaken his will.

The main symbols associated with the goddess are the pomegranate apple, as a symbol of marital love, the cuckoo, as the harbinger of spring, the pores of love. In addition, her bird is considered to be a peacock with an iridescent bushy tail, whose eyes symbolized vigilance Hera. Not only ancient authors speak about the peacock as the sacred bird of Hera, but also images on coins and reliefs. Perhaps it was this bird that contributed to the formation of “peacock” vanity and arrogance in the goddess’s character.

Also symbols of Hera were the cow, the Milky Way and the lily. The sacred cow has been an image that has long been associated with the Great Mother - the nurse who provides food for everyone. The lily is seen as a symbol of purity, going back to the idea of ​​milk flowing from the breast of the goddess Hera.

An important symbol associated with the goddess Hera is the Milky Way. According to myth, on the birthday of Hercules, Zeus, delighted that the most beautiful of mortal women, Alcmene, bore him a son, predetermined his fate - to become the most famous hero of Greece. In order for his son Hercules to receive divine power and become invincible, Zeus ordered the messenger of the gods, Hermes, to bring Hercules to Olympus so that he could be nursed by the great goddess Hera.

With the speed of thought, Hermes flew in his winged sandals. Unnoticed by anyone, he took the newly born Hercules and brought him to Olympus. The goddess Hera was sleeping under a magnolia tree strewn with flowers at that time. Hermes quietly approached the goddess and placed little Hercules on her breast, who greedily began to suck her divine milk, but suddenly the goddess woke up. In anger and rage, she threw the baby from her breast, whom she had hated long before his birth. Hera's milk spilled and flowed across the sky like a river. This is how the Milky Way was formed.

Communicative means of creating images and symbols

In Ancient Greece Geru highly respected. The main place of cult of the goddess Hera was the city of Argos in Greece in the Peloponnese, where her colossal statue, made by Polykleitos from gold and ivory, stood, and where holidays - Heraea - were held every 5 years. In addition to Argos, she was also honored in Mycenae, Corinth, Sparta, Samos, Plataea, Sikyon and other cities.

Art represents Hera as a tall, slender woman, with majestic posture, mature beauty, a rounded face with an important expression, a beautiful forehead, thick hair, large, widely open “ox-like” eyes. The most remarkable image of her was the above-mentioned statue of Polykleitos in Argos: here Hera sat on a throne, with a crown on her head, with a pomegranate apple in one hand, with a scepter in the other; at the top of the scepter is a cuckoo. On top of the long chiton, which left only the neck and arms uncovered, there is a himation thrown around the waist.

In literature, the XII hymn of Homer and the XVI Orphic hymn are dedicated to Hera. The protagonist of Aeschylus's tragedy "Semele, or the Water-Bearer", where she took the guise of a priestess from Argos collecting alms, as well as Seneca's tragedy "Hercules in Madness". In Phlius (a city in the northeastern part of the ancient Peloponnese) there was a sacred legend explaining the absence of a statue of Hera.

In architecture, the wonderful temples of Hera are known, most of them were built in Ancient Greece. Herodotus considered the temple on the island of Samos to be the most outstanding. The historian included it in the list of wonders of the world.

Social significance of the myth

Although Greek mythology emphasized Hera's humiliations and vindictiveness, as a cult goddess - by contrast - Hera was highly revered.

In rituals, Hera had three epithets and three corresponding sanctuaries where she was worshiped throughout the year. In the spring she was Hera-Virgo. In summer and autumn she was glorified as Hera Teleia, or Hera Perfect, and became the Widow Hero in winter. These three aspects of Hera represented the three states of a woman's life, played out again and again in various rites. In the spring, Hera was depicted taking a dip in a pond, symbolically restoring her virginity. In the summer she achieved perfection in marriage rituals. The winter ritual symbolized her disagreement with Zeus and her separation from him, which heralded the period of Hera the Widow during which she remained in hiding.

The cult of Hera was widespread especially in Mycenae, Argos - the temple of Heraion, Olympia, Tiryns, Corinth, Sparta and the islands (on Samos, where there was a temple of Hera of Samos and her ancient fetish in the form of a board). And on the largest island in Greece on the island of Crete, where the “sacred marriage” of Hera and Zeus was celebrated in Knossos.

Also in Crete, in Knossos, every spring the “sacred marriage” of Hera and Zeus was solemnly celebrated, which was seen as a connection between heaven and earth, fertilized by the fertile spring rain, recalling the greatness of the matriarchal female deity.

The messenger of this rain was the cuckoo, reputed to be the sacred bird of Hera. On Hera's holidays, suitors approached the altar of the goddess wearing cuckoo masks. The peacock, shining with the beauty of its plumage, was also considered the sacred bird of Hera.

The mythology of Greece “paints” Ancient Hellas as a land of legends, powerful gods sitting on Olympus, and goddesses - both beautiful and formidable. One of the most famous representatives of the Pantheon is the Greek goddess Hera, who was considered the supreme deity along with her husband, the thunderer Zeus.

Hera - goddess of Ancient Greece

In mythology, Hera, the wife and at the same time sister of Zeus, was assigned several functions. She is the patroness of marriage, sends long-awaited offspring and protects women during childbirth. In myths, Hera is described as jealous, cruel and domineering. The goddess was the daughter of Rhea and Kronos, the sister of Poseidon and Demeter. The connection between Hera and Zeus began even before the wedding, and for more than 300 years their union remained secret.

From the union of Hera and Zeus, Ares, Ivy (Hebe) and Ilithyia appeared. Her child was also Hephaestus, whom she gave birth to heavily, in agony and prematurely, which was a reaction to the appearance of Athena, whom Zeus gave birth to from his own head. Hephaestus was born weak and lame, and his dissatisfied mother simply threw him into the sea. Fortunately, the baby did not disappear, but was saved by the goddess Thetis and Eurynome, who raised and educated him. The adult Hephaestus, who had become an unsurpassed master of blacksmithing, was waiting in the wings to take revenge on his mother. And when he was called to Olympus to make golden thrones for the Olympian gods, that hour came. He created a magnificent throne for Hera, but when she sat down in it, she was entwined with invisible bonds that none of the gods could break. After much persuasion, Hephaestus was softened only with a promise to give him the most beautiful of the goddesses as his wife. He freed his mother and received the beautiful Aphrodite as his wife.

Hera helped Jason and his Argonauts get through the Simpligades without losses, since Jason once helped her without knowing it. At that time, Hera was angry with Zeus and, turning into an old woman, wandered around the world. Jason met her while hunting, and helped her cross the flooded Anavros River, carrying her on himself. And Hera did not forget this.

In turn, Hera hated the Trojans and Troy, and in the Trojan War she helped the army of the Argives Agamemnon and Menelaus for two reasons. Firstly, Argos was her favorite city, along with Sparta and Mycenae. Secondly, Menelaus’ rival Paris did not choose her as the most beautiful goddess, but gave the apple of discord to Aphrodite, and Hera could not stand this.

Deceit and love

Roman copy of the Greek statue of Hera, Louvre. Photo wikipedia.org

Despite her power, which was equal to the power of Zeus, Hera was very suspicious and jealous, which more than once incurred the wrath of her husband. Zeus did not hesitate to monogamy, and Hera always learned about his numerous infidelities. Since the vindictive goddess could not take revenge on her husband, Hera sent misfortunes and curses to all her husband’s girlfriends and their children. She deprived Queen Lamia of her mind, and deprived the nymph Echo of her own voice - she could only repeat the words of those who spoke.

Hera pursued the Titanide Leto (Leto) when she was pregnant with Apollo and Artemis, and did not allow her to give birth anywhere. Salvation came when the island of Delos rose from the sea, which has since become the holy island of Apollo.

Once Zeus turned the priestess of Hera Io into a cow. Hera instructed the hundred-eyed Argos to pursue Io throughout the Earth and not leave her alone. Io managed to hide in Egypt, where she gave birth to Epaphus, conceived by a simple touch of the hand of Zeus.

The nymph Callisto was turned into a bear by jealous Hera, who was then killed by Artemis during a hunt.

And Hera gave Semele, the daughter of Cadmus and Harmony, insidious advice: to ask Zeus to appear before her in all his divine radiance. Zeus did not refuse the request, and Semele, who carried Dionysus in her womb, burned. Zeus sewed the embryo of Dionysus into his thigh and thus carried it out.

However, Hera was not such an innocent victim of the betrayals of her unfaithful husband Zeus - such a conclusion would be a mistake.

Having used all possible charms and made him fall in love with her, she refused to become his mistress, demanding that Zeus make her his wife. In the heat of love, Zeus agreed - so Hera became the supreme goddess. But soon the madness faded into the background, the Lord of Olympus became fed up and only then began to look “to the side.” However, some researchers see a positive side to Hera's jealous nature: she was a true guardian of monogamous marriage.

The motif of Hera’s hatred of Hercules, the illegitimate son of her husband, runs through all the myths as a storyline. When Hercules was still a baby, Zeus placed him on the sleeping Hera so that the child could be fed with the milk of the goddess. The baby sucked so hard that Hera could not stand the pain, woke up and threw him off of her. Spilled milk formed the Milky Way in the sky.

Hercules and Hera. Photo commons.wikimedia.org

Hera sent snakes to the baby, but he strangled them. After his death, Hercules ascended to heaven, becoming one of the gods. And only then did Hera make peace with him, marrying Hebe, her daughter, to him.

Cult of Hera

In Ancient Greece, Hera was extremely revered, considered the protector of women (especially abandoned ones). Her cult was widespread in Crete, Samos, Olympia and Mycenae - this is evidenced by numerous archaeological finds. A valuable monument has been preserved on Samos - Heraion (or Ireon), which Herodotus called the Wonder of the World. According to myths, Hera was born and raised here. And in the ancient world, the temple built in her honor was considered the largest. In the vast excavation area you can see a temple with a preserved column and a sacrificial altar. And since the future goddess was born under the sacred vitex tree, on Samos the cult of Hera was associated with its branches. Every year a festival was held here, the main attribute of which was the branches of vitex.

Ireons in Ancient Greece existed in several places. Temples of Hera were built in the Corinth region, in Olympia, near Nafplio and cities that are now located in Italy. Another important sanctuary was located in Argos, one of the oldest inhabited cities in Europe.

Appearance of the goddess Hera

Hera was invariably portrayed as stately, with noble features and a gaze filled with calm grandeur and power. She often wore a crown or diadem as a sign of supremacy - curls of wondrous beauty fell from under it. Sometimes Hera wore the Belt of Venus, which immediately made her attractive. One controversial point still remains unclear - whether the goddess had a zoomorphic past. According to some sources, cows were sacrificed to her. However, not a single image of Hera with a cow's head or in the guise of a cow has survived. There are also no idol figures in this form. In some ancient sources there are images of the goddess with a pomegranate in her hand - a symbol of fertility.

Hera is often associated with peacocks, who supposedly drove her silver chariot with golden wheels. Wherever her chariot appeared, everything around was illuminated with light and became beautiful. By the way, it was the image of peacocks that could have caused the formation of the arrogant and vain character of the goddess.

Of the surviving statues of Hera, three statues of the goddess are considered the most famous. The Louvre houses a Roman copy of the ancient Greek statue. The figure is dressed in a robe of flowing fabric. In the National Museum of Rome you can see the marble head of Hera Ludovisi, which delights with its gaze, imperious and sublime beauty. And the Clementino Museum in the Vatican houses Hera Barberini. This is an antique Roman copy made from a Greek original. The statue was perfectly preserved and practically did not require restoration. Hera appears in a thin chiton, through which the lines of her body are visible. She holds a staff in her hand, and her head is decorated with a diadem.

Thunderer, the main god of Olympus. She is usually depicted with a scepter, diadem, cow or peacock. She brought Zeus many children, including, although Zeus also loved to take a walk on the side. She punished her rivals and their children, and even Zeus was sometimes afraid of her anger. She represents the ideal of motherhood, being beautiful, statuesque and very smart.

Majestic, regal, beautiful Hera was the goddess of marriage. Her name is believed to mean "Great Lady", the feminine form of the Greek word hero. Greek poets, when addressing her, called her “hair-eyed” - a compliment to her huge and beautiful eyes. Her symbols were the cow, the Milky Way, the lily and the peacock with its iridescent, bushy tail, whose eyes symbolized Hera's vigilance. The sacred cow has been an image that has long been associated with the Great Mother - the nurse who provides food for everyone. And the Milky Way - our galaxy (from the Greek word gala, "mother's milk") - reflects the belief, more ancient than the cult of the Olympians, that the Milky Way came from the breasts of the Great Goddess - the Queen of Heaven. This then became part of Hera's mythology: when milk spurted from her breasts, the Milky Way was formed. Drops of it that fell to the ground became lilies - flowers that symbolized another pre-Hellenic belief in the self-fertilizing power of the female genital organs. The symbols of Hera (and her conflicts with Zeus) reflect the power she once held as the Great Goddess, whose cult predated Zeus. In Greek mythology, Hera had two opposing aspects: she was solemnly worshiped in ritual as a powerful goddess of marriage, and at the same time she was denigrated by Homer as a vindictive, contentious, jealous and quarrelsome woman.

In general, among those who read Homer (regardless of which side they were on - the Aecheans or the Trojans), Hera, of all the goddesses, evokes the most unpleasant feelings. It can safely be called one of the main reasons for the war - a means of revenge for an insulted and angry woman. During it, Hera incited Zeus and other gods in every possible way, making the war more and more unfair (on the side of the Greeks, as we remember, there was an advantage both in terms of heroes and gods who sympathized and directly helped the Danaans).

Among the Romans, Hera was known as Juno, and it is interesting that she retained all the same qualities (remember how Juno hated Aeneas, the hero who fled from Troy after her death; however, there was also an elemental jealousy of Venus, whose son Aeneas was mixed in) ).

Genealogy of the goddess Hera

Hera Volookaya is the child of Rhea and Kronos. She was swallowed by her father shortly after birth, as were her four siblings. When she was freed from her captivity, she was already a young girl who was given to the care of her mother's parents, two nature deities, Ocean and Typheis, who raised her at the end of the world, becoming her wonderful and loving parents.

Hera grew up to be a charming goddess. She attracted the attention of Zeus, who by that time had defeated Kronos and the Titans and became the supreme god of Olympus. (It doesn’t matter that he was her brother—the Olympians have their own rules, or lack thereof, when it comes to intimate relationships.) To achieve intimacy with an innocent girl, Zeus turned himself into a small bird, trembling from the cold, over which Hera bent. To warm the frozen creature, Hera placed it on her chest. Then Zeus threw off the guise of a bird, returned to his male form and tried to take possession of her by force. His efforts were unsuccessful. She resisted his amorous advances until he promised to marry her. The honeymoon, as the myth goes, lasted three hundred years.

When the honeymoon is over, it is truly over. Zeus returned to his promiscuous premarital lifestyle (he had six wives* and many offspring before he married Hera). Zeus cheated on her again and again, causing vengeful jealousy in the deceived Hera. Hera's rage was directed not at her unfaithful husband, but at the "other woman" (who was most often seduced, raped or deceived by Zeus), at children conceived by Zeus, or at innocent bystanders.

Hera's angry temper was known, especially against the various extramarital lovers of Zeus and their children. She threw snakes into the cradle of Hercules, sent a hundred-eyed giant to watch over Io and tried to prevent the birth of Athena and Artemis. As punishment for the madness she caused Hercules to kill his parents, Zeus chained Hera to Olympus with anvils tied to her knees.

According to the myths about the gods of Ancient Greece, the basis of the universe was Chaos - the original emptiness, world disorder, from which, thanks to Eros - the first active force - the first ancient Greek gods were born: Uranus (sky) and Gaia (earth), who became spouses. The first children of Uranus and Gaia were hundred-armed giants, surpassing everyone in strength, and one-eyed Cyclopes (Cyclopes). Uranus tied them all up and threw them into Tartarus - the dark abyss of the underworld. Then the Titans were born, the youngest of whom Kronos castrated his father with a sickle given to him by his mother: she could not forgive Uranus for the death of her firstborns. From the blood of Uranus, Erinyes were born - a terrible-looking woman, the goddess of blood feud. From the contact of a part of the body of Uranus, thrown into the sea by Kronos, with sea foam, the goddess Aphrodite was born, who, according to other sources, is the daughter of Zeus and the Titanide Dione.

Uranus and Gaia. Ancient Roman mosaic 200-250 AD.

After the god Uranus separated from Gaia, the titans Kronos, Rhea, Oceanus, Mnemosyne (goddess of memory), Themis (goddess of justice) and others came to the surface of the earth. Thus, the titans turned out to be the first creatures to live on earth. The god Kronos, thanks to whom his brothers and sisters were freed from imprisonment in Tartarus, began to rule the world. He married his sister Rhea. Since Uranus and Gaia predicted to him that his own son would deprive him of power, he swallowed his children as soon as they were born.

Gods of Ancient Greece – Zeus

See also separate article.

According to ancient Greek myths, the goddess Rhea felt sorry for her children, and when her youngest son Zeus was born, she decided to deceive her husband and gave Kronos a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he swallowed. And she hid Zeus on the island of Crete, on Mount Ida, where he was raised by nymphs (deities personifying the forces and phenomena of nature - deities of springs, rivers, trees, etc.). The goat Amalthea fed the god Zeus with her milk, for which Zeus subsequently placed her in the host of stars. This is the current star of Capella. Having become an adult, Zeus decided to take power into his own hands and forced his father to vomit out all the child gods he had swallowed. There were five of them: Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia.

After this, the “Titanomachy” began - a war for power between the ancient Greek gods and the Titans. Zeus was helped in this war by the hundred-armed giants and the Cyclopes, whom he brought out of Tartarus for this purpose. The Cyclopes forged thunder and lightning for the god Zeus, an invisibility helmet for the god Hades, and a trident for the god Poseidon.

Gods of Ancient Greece. Video

Having defeated the titans, Zeus cast them into Tartarus. Gaia, angry with Zeus for killing the Titans, married the gloomy Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon, a terrible monster. The ancient Greek gods shuddered with horror when a huge hundred-headed Typhon emerged from the bowels of the earth, filling the world with a terrible howl, in which the barking of dogs, the roar of an angry bull, the roar of a lion, and human voices were heard. Zeus incinerated all one hundred heads of Typhon with lightning, and when he fell to the ground, everything around began to melt from the heat emanating from the monster’s body. Typhon, overthrown by Zeus into Tartarus, continues to cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Thus, Typhon is the personification of underground forces and volcanic phenomena.

Zeus throws lightning at Typhon

The supreme god of Ancient Greece, Zeus, by lot cast between the brothers, received the sky and supreme power over all things. The only thing he has no power over is fate, personified by his three daughters, the Moiras, who spin the thread of human life.

Although the gods of Ancient Greece lived in the air space between heaven and earth, their meeting place was the top of Mount Olympus, about 3 kilometers high, located in northern Greece.

After Olympus, the twelve main ancient Greek gods are called Olympian (Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Ares, Athena, Aphrodite and Hermes). From Olympus the gods often descended to earth, to people.

The visual arts of Ancient Greece represented the god Zeus in the form of a mature husband with a thick curly beard and shoulder-length wavy hair. His attributes are thunder and lightning (hence his epithets “thunderer”, “lightning striker”, “cloud-catcher”, “cloud-collector”, etc.), as well as an aegis - a shield made by Hephaestus, by shaking which Zeus caused storms and rains (hence the epithet of Zeus “ egiokh” – aegis-power). Sometimes Zeus is depicted with Nike - the goddess of victory in one hand, with a scepter in the other and with an eagle sitting at his throne. In ancient Greek literature, the god Zeus is often called Kronid, meaning "son of Kronos."

"Zeus from Otricoli". Bust of the 4th century BC

The first time of the reign of Zeus, according to the concepts of the ancient Greeks, corresponded to the “silver age” (in contrast to the “golden age” - the time of the reign of Kronos). In the “Silver Age” people were rich, enjoyed all the blessings of life, but lost their imperturbable happiness, because they lost their former innocence and forgot to pay due gratitude to the gods. By this they incurred the wrath of Zeus, who exiled them to the underworld.

After the “silver age”, according to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, came the “copper age” - the age of wars and devastation, then the “iron age” (Hesiod introduces the age of heroes between the copper and iron ages), when the morals of people were so corrupted that the goddess of justice Dick , and with it, Loyalty, Shyness and Truthfulness left the earth, and people began to earn their livelihood by the sweat of their brow, through hard work.

Zeus decided to destroy the human race and create a new one. He sent a flood to the earth, from which only the spouses Deucalion and Pyrrha were saved, who became the founders of a new generation of people: at the behest of the gods, they threw stones behind their backs, which turned into people. Men arose from stones thrown by Deucalion, and women from stones thrown by Pyrrha.

In the myths of Ancient Greece, the god Zeus distributes good and evil on earth, he established social order, and established royal power:

“Rolling thunder, sovereign lord, rewarding judge,
Do you like to have conversations with Themis, sitting bent over?”
(from Homer’s hymn to Zeus, vv. 2–3; trans. V.V. Veresaev).

Although Zeus was married to his sister, the goddess Hera, other goddesses, nymphs, and even mortal women became the mothers of his many children in ancient Greek legends. Thus, the Theban princess Antiope gave birth to twins Zetas and Amphion, the Argive princess Danae gave birth to a son Perseus, the Spartan queen Leda gave birth to Helen and Polydeuces, and the Phoenician princess Europe gave birth to Minos. Many such examples could be given. This is explained by the fact that, as mentioned above, Zeus supplanted many local gods, whose wives began to be perceived over time as the beloved of Zeus, for whose sake he cheated on his wife Hera.

On especially solemn occasions or on very significant occasions, they brought a “hecatomb” to Zeus - a great sacrifice of one hundred bulls.

Gods of Ancient Greece - Hera

See separate article.

The goddess Hera, considered in Ancient Greece to be the sister and wife of Zeus, was glorified as the patroness of marriage, the personification of marital fidelity. In ancient Greek literature, she is portrayed as a guardian of morality, brutally persecuting its violators, especially her rivals and even their children. So, Io, the beloved of Zeus, was turned by Hera into a cow (according to other Greek myths, the god Zeus himself turned Io into a cow to hide her from Hera), Callisto - into a bear, and the son of Zeus and Alcmene, the mighty hero Hercules, was pursued by Zeus' wife his entire life, starting from infancy. Being the protector of marital fidelity, the goddess Hera punishes not only the lovers of Zeus, but also those who try to persuade her to be unfaithful to her husband. Thus, Ixion, taken by Zeus to Olympus, tried to win the love of Hera, and for this, at her request, he was not only thrown into Tartarus, but also chained to an ever-rotating fiery wheel.

Hera is an ancient deity, worshiped on the Balkan Peninsula even before the Greeks arrived there. The birthplace of her cult was the Peloponnese. Gradually, other female deities were united in the image of Hera, and she began to be thought of as the daughter of Kronos and Rhea. According to Hesiod, she is the seventh wife of Zeus.

Goddess Hera. Hellenistic period statue

One of the myths of Ancient Greece about the gods tells how Zeus, irritated by Hera’s attempt on the life of his son Hercules, hung her in chains from the sky, tying heavy anvils to her feet, and subjected her to scourging. But this was done in a fit of strong anger. Usually Zeus treated Hera with such respect that other gods, visiting Zeus at councils and at feasts, showed high respect to his wife.

The goddess Hera in Ancient Greece was assigned such qualities as lust for power and vanity, which pushed her to deal with those who put their own or others’ beauty above hers. So, throughout the entire Trojan War, she assists the Greeks in order to punish the Trojans for the preference given to Aphrodite by the son of their king Paris over Hera and Athena.

In her marriage to Zeus, Hera gave birth to Hebe, the personification of youth, Ares and Hephaestus. However, according to some legends, she gave birth to Hephaestus alone, without the participation of Zeus, from the scent of flowers, in revenge for the birth of Athena from his own head.

In Ancient Greece, the goddess Hera was depicted as a tall, stately woman, dressed in a long dress and crowned with a diadem. In her hand she holds a scepter - a symbol of her supreme power.

Here are the expressions in which the Homeric hymn glorifies the goddess Hera:

“I glorify the golden-throned Hera, born of Rhea,
An ever-living queen with a face of extraordinary beauty,
Loudly thundering Zeus's own sister and wife
Glorious. All on the great Olympus are blessed gods
She is reverently revered on a par with Kronidou
(v. 1–5; trans. V.V. Veresaev)

God Poseidon

The god Poseidon, recognized in Ancient Greece as the ruler of the water element (he received this destiny by lot, like Zeus - the sky), is depicted very similar to his brother: he has the same curly, thick beard as Zeus, and the same wavy shoulder-length hair , but he has his own attribute by which he can be easily distinguished from Zeus - a trident; with it he sets in motion and calms the waves of the sea. He rules over the winds; Obviously, the idea of ​​earthquakes was associated with the sea in Ancient Greece; This explains the epithet “earth shaker” used by Homer in relation to the god Poseidon:

“He causes the land and the barren sea to sway,
It reigns on Helikon and on the wide Eglas. Double
Honor, O Earth Shaker, has been granted to you by the gods:
To tame wild horses and save ships from wrecking"
(from Homer’s hymn to Poseidon, vv. 2–5; trans. V.V. Veresaev).

The trident, therefore, is needed by Poseidon in order to cause a shaking of the earth, and in order to, by moving apart the mountains, create valleys abundant with water; The god Poseidon can hit a rock with a trident, and a bright spring of clean water will immediately flow out of it.

Poseidon (Neptune). Antique statue of the 2nd century. according to R.H.

According to the myths of Ancient Greece, Poseidon had disputes with other gods over the possession of this or that land. Thus, Argolis was poor in water because during the dispute between Poseidon and Hera, the Argive hero Inachus, appointed as a judge, transferred this land to her, and not to him. Attica was flooded due to the fact that the gods decided the dispute between Poseidon and Athena (who should own this country) in favor of Athena.

She was considered the wife of the god Poseidon Amphitrite, daughter of Ocean. But Poseidon, like Zeus, also had tender feelings for other women. Thus, the mother of his son, the cyclops Polyphemus, was the nymph Foos, the mother of the winged horse Pegasus - the gorgon Medusa, etc.

The magnificent palace of Poseidon was located, according to ancient Greek legends, in the depths of the sea, where, in addition to Poseidon, there lived numerous other creatures that occupied secondary places in the world of the gods: the old man Nereus- ancient sea deity; Nereids (daughters of Nereus) - sea nymphs, among whom the most famous are Amphitrite, who became the wife of Poseidon, and Thetis- mother of Achilles. To inspect his possessions - not only the depths of the sea, but also islands, coastal lands and sometimes even lands lying in the depths of the mainland - the god Poseidon set out in a chariot drawn by horses that had fish tails instead of hind legs.

In Ancient Greece, the Isthmian Games on the Isthmus, the Isthmus of Corinth, by the sea, were dedicated to Poseidon, as the sovereign ruler of the seas and the patron of horse breeding. There, in the sanctuary of Poseidon, there was an iron statue of this god, erected by the Greeks in honor of their victory at sea when the Persian fleet was defeated.

Gods of Ancient Greece – Hades

Hades (Hades), called in Rome Pluto, received the underworld by lot and became its ruler. The ancients’ idea of ​​this world is reflected in the ancient Greek names of the underground god: Hades - invisible, Pluto - rich, since all wealth, both mineral and plant, is generated by the earth. Hades is the lord of the shadows of the dead, and he is sometimes called Zeus Katakhton - the underground Zeus. Considered in Ancient Greece to be the personification of the rich bowels of the earth, it was no coincidence that Hades turned out to be the husband Persephone, daughter of the fertility goddess Demeter. This married couple, who had no children, in the minds of the Greeks, was hostile to all life and sent a continuous series of deaths to all living things. Demeter did not want her daughter to remain in the kingdom of Hades, but when she asked Persephone to return to earth, she replied that she had already tasted the “apple of love,” that is, she had eaten part of the pomegranate she received from her husband, and could not return. True, she still spent two-thirds of the year with her mother at the behest of Zeus, because, yearning for her daughter, Demeter stopped sending the harvest and taking care of the ripening of the fruits. Thus, Persephone in the myths of Ancient Greece personifies the interaction between the goddess of fertility, who gives life, forcing the earth to bear fruit, and the god of death, who takes away life, dragging all the creatures of the earth back into her bosom.

The kingdom of Hades had different names in Ancient Greece: Hades, Erebus, Orcus, Tartarus. The entrance to this kingdom, according to the Greeks, was either in southern Italy, or in Colon, near Athens, or in other places where there were failures and chasms. After death, all people go to the kingdom of the god Hades and, as Homer says, they drag out a miserable, joyless existence there, deprived of the memory of their earthly life. The gods of the underworld preserved full consciousness only for a select few. Of the living, only Orpheus, Hercules, Theseus, Odysseus and Aeneas managed to penetrate Hades and return to earth. According to the myths of Ancient Greece, an ominous three-headed dog Cerberus sits at the entrance to Hades, snakes move on his neck with a menacing hiss, and he does not allow anyone to leave the kingdom of the dead. Several rivers flow through Hades. The souls of the dead were transported across the Styx by the old boatman Charon, who charged a fee for his work (therefore, a coin was placed in the mouth of the deceased so that his soul could pay Charon). If a person remained unburied, Charon did not allow his shadow into his boat, and it was destined to wander the earth forever, which was considered the greatest misfortune in Ancient Greece. A person deprived of burial will forever be hungry and thirsty, since he will not have a grave at which relatives would make libations and leave food for him. Other rivers of the underworld are Acheron, Pyriflegethon, Cocytus and Lethe, the river of oblivion (having swallowed water from Lethe, the deceased forgot everything. Only after drinking sacrificial blood, the soul of the deceased temporarily regained its former consciousness and the ability to speak with the living). The souls of a very few chosen ones live separately from other shadows in Elysia (or on the Champs Elysees), mentioned in the Odyssey and in the Theogony: there they remain in eternal bliss under the protection of Kronos, as if in the Golden Age; later it was believed that everyone initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries went to Elysia.

Criminals who have offended the ancient Greek gods in any way suffer eternal torment in the underworld. Thus, the Phrygian king Tantalus, who offered the meat of his son as food to the gods, eternally suffers from hunger and thirst, standing up to his neck in water and seeing ripe fruits next to him, and also remains in eternal fear, because a rock is hanging over his head, ready to collapse . The Corinthian king Sisyphus is forever dragging a heavy stone up the mountain, which, barely reaching the top of the mountain, rolls down. Sisyphus is punished by the gods for self-interest and deceit. The Danaids, daughters of the Argive king Danaus, forever fill a bottomless barrel with water for the murder of their husbands. The Euboean giant Titius lies prostrate in Tartarus for insulting the goddess Latona, and two kites eternally torment his liver. The god Hades administers his judgment over the dead with the help of three heroes famous for their wisdom - Aeacus, Minos and Rhadamanthus. Aeacus was also considered the gatekeeper of the underworld.

According to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, the kingdom of the god Hades is immersed in darkness and inhabited by all sorts of terrible creatures and monsters. Among them are the terrible Empusa - a vampire and a werewolf with donkey legs, Erinyes, Harpies - the goddess of the whirlwind, the half-woman, half-snake Echidna; here is the daughter of Echidna, the Chimera, with the head and neck of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a snake, and here are the gods of various dreams. The three-headed and three-body daughter of Tartarus and Night, the ancient Greek goddess Hecate, rules over all these demons and monsters. Her triple appearance is explained by the fact that she appears on Olympus, on earth, and in Tartarus. But, primarily, she belongs to the underworld, is the personification of the darkness of the night; she sends people painful dreams; she is invoked when performing all kinds of witchcraft and spells. Therefore, the service to this goddess was performed at night.

The Cyclopes, according to the myths of Ancient Greece, forged an invisibility helmet for the god Hades; Obviously, this thought is associated with the idea of ​​​​the invisible approach of death to its victim.

The god Hades is depicted as a mature husband, sitting on a throne with a rod or bident in his hand, with Cerberus at his feet. Sometimes the goddess Persephone with a pomegranate is next to him.

Hades almost never appears on Olympus, so he is not included in the Olympian pantheon.

Goddess Demeter

The ancient Greek goddess Pallas Athena is the beloved daughter of Zeus, born from his head. When Zeus's beloved oceanide Metis (the goddess of reason) was expecting a child who, according to prophecy, was supposed to surpass his father in strength, Zeus with cunning speeches made her shrink in size and swallowed her. But the fetus with which Metis was pregnant did not die, but continued to develop in his head. At the request of Zeus, Hephaestus (according to another myth, Prometheus) cut his head with an ax, and the goddess Athena jumped out of it in full military armor.

The birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. Drawing on an amphora from the second half of the 6th century. BC

"Before the aegis-powerful Zeus
She quickly jumped to the ground from his eternal head,
Shaking with a sharp spear. Under the heavy jump of the bright-eyed one
The great Olympus hesitated, they groaned terribly
Around the lying lands, the wide sea trembled
And it boiled in crimson waves..."
(from the Homeric hymn to Athena, vv. 7–8; trans. V.V. Veresaev).

As the daughter of Metis, the goddess Athena herself became "Polymetis" (many-minded), the goddess of reason and intelligent war. If the god Ares revels in all bloodshed, being the personification of a destructive war, then the goddess Athena introduces an element of humanity into the war. In Homer, Athena says that the gods do not leave unpunished the use of poisoned arrows. If the appearance of Ares is terrifying, then the presence of Athena in battle disciplines, inspires and brings reconciliation. Thus, in her person the ancient Greeks contrasted reason with brute force.

Being an ancient Mycenaean deity, Athena concentrated in her hands the control of many natural phenomena and aspects of life: at one time she was the mistress of the heavenly elements, and the goddess of fertility, and a healer, and the patroness of peaceful labor; she taught people how to build houses, bridle horses, etc.

Gradually, ancient Greek myths began to limit the activities of the goddess Athena to war, introducing rationality into the actions of people and women's craft (spinning, weaving, embroidery, etc.). In this respect, she is related to Hephaestus, but Hephaestus is the elemental side of the craft, associated with fire; For Athena, reason prevails even in her craft: if to give nobility to the art of Hephaestus, his union with Aphrodite or Charita was needed, then the goddess Athena herself is perfection, the personification of cultural progress in everything. Athena was revered everywhere in Greece, but especially in Attica, which she won in a dispute with Poseidon. In Attica, she was a favorite deity; the main city of Attica was named Athens in her honor.

The name "Pallada" apparently appeared after the fusion of the cult of Athena with the cult of the ancient deity Pallant, who in the minds of the Greeks was a giant defeated by Athena during the war of the gods with the giants.

As a warrior she is Pallas, as a patroness in peaceful life - Athena. Her epithets are “blue-eyed”, “owl-eyed” (the owl, as a symbol of wisdom, was the sacred bird of Athena), Ergana (worker), Tritogenea (an epithet of unclear meaning). In Ancient Greece, the goddess Athena was depicted in different ways, but most often in a long sleeveless robe, with a spear and shield, wearing a helmet and with an aegis on her chest, on which is mounted the head of Medusa, given to her by Perseus; sometimes with a snake (a symbol of healing), sometimes with a flute, since the ancient Greeks believed that Athena invented this instrument.

The goddess Athena was not married, she was not subject to the spell of Aphrodite, therefore her main temple, located in the acropolis, was called “Parthenon” (parthenos - maiden). A huge “chryselephantine” (i.e., made of gold and ivory) statue of Athena with Nike in her right hand (the work of Phidias) was installed in the Parthenon. Not far from the Parthenon, inside the walls of the acropolis stood another statue of Athena, a bronze one; the shine of her spear was visible to the sailors approaching the city.

In the Homeric hymn, Athena is called the defender of the city. Indeed, in the period of ancient Greek history we are studying, Athena was a purely urban deity, unlike, for example, Demeter, Dionysus, Pan, etc.

God Apollo (Phoebus)

According to the myths of Ancient Greece, when the mother of the gods Apollo and Artemis, the beloved of Zeus, Latona (Leto) was supposed to become a mother, she was cruelly persecuted by Hera, the jealous and merciless wife of Zeus. Everyone was afraid of Hera's wrath, so Latona was driven away from everywhere she stopped. And only the island of Delos, wandering like Latona (according to legend, it was once floating), understood the suffering of the goddess and accepted her to his land. He was, moreover, seduced by her promise to give birth to a great god on his land, for whom a sacred grove would be laid out and a beautiful temple erected there, on Delos.

On the land of Delos the goddess Latona gave birth to twins - the gods Apollo and Artemis, who received the epithets in his honor - Delius and Delia.

Phoebus Apollo is the oldest deity of Asia Minor origin. Once upon a time he was revered as the guardian of herds, roads, travelers, sailors, as the god of medical art. Gradually he took one of the leading places in the pantheon of Ancient Greece. His two names reflect his dual essence: clear, bright (Phoebus) and destructive (Apollo). Gradually, the cult of Apollo replaced the cult of Helios in Ancient Greece, originally revered as the deity of the sun, and became the personification of sunlight. The rays of the sun, life-giving, but sometimes deadly (causing drought), were perceived by the ancient Greeks as the arrows of a “silver-bowed”, “far-striking” god, therefore the bow is one of Phoebus’s constant attributes. His other attribute of Apollo - the lyre or cithara - is shaped like a bow. God Apollo is a most skilled musician and patron of music. When he appears with the lyre at the feasts of the gods, he is accompanied by the muses - the goddesses of poetry, arts and sciences. The Muses are the daughters of Zeus and the goddess of memory Mnemosyne. There were nine muses: Calliope - the muse of epic, Euterpe - the muse of lyricism, Erato - the muse of love poetry, Polyhymnia - the muse of hymns, Melpomene - the muse of tragedy, Thalia - the muse of comedy, Terpsichore - the muse of dance, Clio - the muse of history and Urania - the muse of astronomy. Mounts Helikon and Parnassus were considered the muses' favorite places to stay. This is how the author of the Homeric hymn to Apollo of Pythia describes Apollo-Musagetes (leader of the muses):

“The clothes of the immortals are fragrant on God. Strings
Passionately under the plectrum they sound golden on the divine lyre.
Thoughts quickly transferred from earth to Olympus, from there
He enters the chambers of Zeus, the assembly of other immortals.
Immediately everyone has a desire for songs and lyres.
The beautiful Muses begin the song in alternating choirs..."
(vv. 6–11; trans. V.V. Veresaev).

The laurel wreath on the head of the god Apollo is a memory of his beloved, the nymph Daphne, who turned into a laurel tree, preferring death to the love of Phoebus.

Apollo's medical functions gradually passed to his son Asclepius and granddaughter Hygieia, the goddess of health.

In the archaic era, Apollo the Archer became the most popular god among the ancient Greek aristocracy. In the city of Delphi there was the main sanctuary of Apollo - the Delphic oracle, where both private individuals and government officials came for predictions and advice.

Apollo is one of the most formidable gods of Ancient Greece. The other gods are even a little afraid of Apollo. This is how it is described in the hymn to Apollo of Delos:

“He will pass through the house of Zeus - all the gods, and they will tremble.
They jumped up from their chairs and stood in fear when he
He will come closer and begin to draw his shining bow.
Only Leto remains near the lightning-loving Zeus;
The goddess opens the bow and covers the quiver with a lid,
From Phoebus's powerful shoulders he removes weapons with his hands
And a golden peg on a pillar near the seat of Zeus
Hangs up the bow and quiver; Apollo sits in a chair.
In his golden cup, welcoming his dear son,
Father serves nectar. And then the rest of the deities
They also sit in chairs. And Summer's heart rejoices,
Rejoicing that she gave birth to a bow-bearing, powerful son"
(Art. 2–13; trans. V.V. Veresaev).

In Ancient Greece, the god Apollo was depicted as a slender young man with shoulder-length wavy curls. He is either naked (the so-called Apollo of Belvedere has only a light covering falling from his shoulders) and holds a shepherd’s crook or bow in his hands (Apollo of Belvedere has a quiver of arrows behind his shoulders), or in long clothes, in a laurel wreath and with a lyre in his hands - this is Apollo Musagetes or Cyfared.

Apollo Belvedere. Statue by Leochares. OK. 330-320 BC.

It is noteworthy that although Apollo was the patron of music and singing in Ancient Greece, he himself plays only stringed instruments - the lyre and the cithara, which the Greeks considered noble, contrasting them with the “barbaric” (foreign) instruments - the flute and pipe. It was not for nothing that the goddess Athena refused the flute, giving it to a lower deity - the satyr Marsyas, since when playing this instrument her cheeks puffed out unsightly.

Gods of Ancient Greece – Artemis

God Dionysus

Dionysus (Bacchus), in Ancient Greece - the god of the plant forces of nature, the patron of viticulture and winemaking, in the 7th–5th centuries. BC e. gained enormous popularity among the common people as opposed to Apollo, whose cult was popular among the aristocracy.

However, this rapid growth in the popularity of Dionysus was, as it were, the second birth of the god: his cult existed back in the 2nd millennium BC. e., but then was almost forgotten. Homer does not mention Dionysus, and this indicates the unpopularity of his cult in the era of the dominance of the aristocracy, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e.

The archaic image of Dionysus, the way God was thought to be, apparently, before the change in the cult, is a mature man with a long beard; in the V–IV centuries. BC e. The ancient Greeks depicted Bacchus as a pampered, even somewhat effeminate young man with grapes or an ivy wreath on his head, and this change in the appearance of the god indicates a change in his cult. It is no coincidence that in Ancient Greece there were several myths that told about the struggle with which the cult of Dionysus was introduced, and about the resistance that met its appearance in Greece. One of these myths forms the basis of Euripides' tragedy The Bacchae. Through the mouth of Dionysus himself, Euripides very plausibly tells the story of this god: Dionysus was born in Greece, but was forgotten in his homeland and returned to his country only after he had gained popularity and established his cult in Asia. He had to overcome resistance in Greece, not because he was a stranger there, but because he brought with him an orgasm alien to Ancient Greece.

Indeed, Bacchic festivities (orgies) in the classical era of Ancient Greece were ecstatic, and the moment of ecstasy was obviously the new element that was introduced during the revival of the cult of Dionysus and was the result of the fusion of the cult of Dionysus with the eastern deities of fertility (for example, the cult coming from the Balkans Sabasia).

In Ancient Greece, the god Dionysus was considered the son of Zeus and Semele, daughter of the Theban king Cadmus. The goddess Hera hated Semele and wanted to destroy her. She convinced Semele to ask Zeus to appear to his mortal lover in the guise of a god with thunder and lightning, which he never did (when appearing to mortals, he changed his appearance). As Zeus approached Semele's house, lightning slipped from his hand and struck the house; Semele died in the flames of a fire, giving birth to a weak child who was unable to live. But Zeus did not let his son die. Green ivy grew from the ground and protected the child from the fire. Zeus then took the rescued son and sewed him into his thigh. In the body of Zeus, Dionysus grew stronger and was born a second time from the thigh of the thunderer. According to the myths of Ancient Greece, Dionysus was raised by mountain nymphs and the demon Silenus, whom the ancients imagined as an eternally drunk, cheerful old man, devoted to his pupil-god.

The secondary introduction of the cult of the god Dionysus was reflected in a number of stories not only about the god’s arrival in Greece from Asia, but also about his travels on the ship in general. Already in the Homeric hymn we find a story about the move of Dionysus from the island of Ikaria to the island of Naxos. Not knowing that God was in front of them, the handsome young man was seized by robbers, tied with rods and loaded onto a ship to sell him into slavery or receive a ransom for him. But on the way, the fetters of Dionysus’s hands and feet fell off of their own accord, and miracles began to happen before the robbers:

“Sweet, first of all, is everywhere on a fast ship
Suddenly fragrant wine began to gurgle, and ambrosia
The smell rose all around. The sailors looked in amazement.
Instantly they reached out, clinging to the highest sail,
The vines hither and thither, and the clusters hung in abundance...”
(Art. 35–39; trans. V.V. Veresaev).

Turning into a lion, Dionysus tore the pirate leader to pieces. The rest of the pirates, with the exception of the wise helmsman, whom Dionysus spared, rushed into the sea and turned into dolphins.

The miracles described in this ancient Greek hymn - the spontaneous falling off of shackles, the appearance of fountains of wine, the transformation of Dionysus into a lion, etc., are characteristic of ideas about Dionysus. In the myths and visual arts of Ancient Greece, the god Dionysus is often represented as a goat, bull, panther, lion, or with attributes of these animals.

Dionysus and the satyrs. Painter Brigos, Attica. OK. 480 BC

The retinue of Dionysus (thyas) consists of satyrs and bacchantes (maenads). The attribute of the Bacchantes and the god Dionysus himself is the thyrsus (a stick entwined with ivy). This god has many names and epithets: Iacchus (screaming), Bromius (wildly noisy), Bassareus (the etymology of the word is unclear). One of the names (Liey) is obviously associated with the feeling of liberation from worries experienced when drinking wine, and with the orgiastic character of the cult, freeing a person from ordinary prohibitions.

Pan and the forest deities

Pan was in Ancient Greece the god of forests, the patron of pastures, herds and shepherds. The son of Hermes and the nymph Dryope (according to another myth - the son of Zeus), he was born with goat horns and goat legs, because the god Hermes, caring for his mother, took the form of a goat:

“With the light nymphs he is goat-legged, two-horned, noisy
Wanders through the mountain oak groves, under the dark canopy of trees,
Nymphs from the tops of rocky cliffs call him,
They call upon the lord with curly, dirty fur,
God of merry pastures. The rocks were given to him as his inheritance,
Snowy mountain heads, paths of flinty cliffs"
(from the Homeric hymn to Pan, vv. 2–7; trans. V.V. Veresaev).

Unlike satyrs, who had the same appearance, Pan was depicted by the ancient Greeks with a pipe in his hands, while satyrs were depicted with grapes or ivy.

Following the example of the ancient Greek shepherds, the god Pan led a nomadic life, wandering through the forests, resting in remote caves and instilling “panic fear” in lost travelers.

There were many forest gods in Ancient Greece, and in contrast to the main deity, they were called paniskas.

Hera, known to the Romans as Juno, was the goddess of marriage. She was one of the consorts of Zeus. In Greek mythology, Hera had two opposing aspects: she was solemnly revered in rituals as powerful goddess of marriage, and at the same time she was discredited by Homer as vindictive, jealous and grumpy wife.

Hera is the daughter of Rhea and Kronos. She was swallowed by her father shortly after birth, as were her four siblings. When she was freed from her captivity, she was already a young girl. Hera grew up to be a charming goddess. She caught Zeus's attention.

To achieve intimacy with an innocent girl, Zeus turned himself into a small bird trembling from the cold, over which Hera bent. To keep her warm, Hera placed her on her chest. Then Zeus threw off the guise of a bird, returned to his male form and tried to take possession of her by force. This attempt failed. She resisted and he promised to marry her.

When the honeymoon ended, Zeus returned to his promiscuous premarital lifestyle. He cheated on her again and again, causing vengeful jealousy in the deceived Hera. Hera's rage was directed not at her husband, but at the “other woman” and the children conceived by Zeus.

The Hera woman usually transfers the blame from her husband to others. She reacts to loss and pain with rage and energy, and not depression, which is typical of Demeter and Persephone. Vengefulness makes her feel powerful rather than rejected.

Hera had several children. In retaliation for the birth of Athena, Hera also decided to become the only parent of a son. She conceived Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmithing. When he was born with a mutilated foot - a frail and deformed child in contrast to the perfect Athena - Hera rejected him and threw him from Olympus.

Hera as an archetype is a woman's strong instinctive desire to be a wife. A woman with a strong Hera archetype feels empty in her life without a partner. Her suffering while living without a spouse can be very deep and painful. Such a woman needs the prestige, respect, and good reputation that marriage brings her. She doesn't want to just live together. She insists on a formal marriage.

The Hera archetype provides the ability to create a connection, to be devoted and faithful, to endure, to support a partner in a difficult period for him. Once married, such a woman intends to remain in that position “in health and sickness, in wealth and poverty.”

When women marry without the dominant Hera archetype, something in family life misfires. A conscious decision to be a Hero wife can strengthen a woman's connection to this archetype.

If close relationships with unmarried men prevent you from becoming a wife, a woman needs to change the type of men she was usually attracted to. When the image of the man she desires changes, then Hera’s need to be a wife can be fulfilled.

Hera may have 2 marriage models. The first is when young Hera retains an idealized image of marriage and seeks it for herself as a way to get out of a bad family situation. The second - with a happier family - Hera sees in the stable marriage of her parents what she wants for herself.

For Hera, work is also an auxiliary aspect in order to find a husband. A Hera woman can be very good at what she does and achieve recognition and success. However, if she is single, none of this matters much to her. At first glance, it may seem that Hera combines marriage and career: in fact, her marriage is her career.

Hera is attracted to a competent, successful man. Hungry artists, sensitive poets and talented scientists are not for her.Often a Hera woman marries a combination of an immature, small boy who can touch her, and a strong businessman. The emotional immaturity of such a man is the reason for the search for variety and the tendency to cheat.

Many Hera women do not know how to determine the essence of character or understand the behavior patterns of other people. When forming an opinion about people, they are guided by the external side.

For Hera, sexuality and marriage are inseparable. Therefore, she can remain a virgin until engagement or marriage. The awakening of her sexuality depends on her husband, since she has had no premarital experience. If he does not do this, then sexual intimacy will be perceived as a duty to the husband.

Hera often suggests that she and her husband will change through marriage. But then she may be deeply disappointed, it will seem to her that he deceived her, as if he had tacitly promised her something that he did not provide. However, in reality it was not he who was to blame, but her expectation.

Such a woman can eventually become " grumpy", forcing him to change. Married Hera unable to break up a bad marriage. She can turn into a nagging, grumpy, dissatisfied woman who is filled with bitterness and bitterness.

The goddess Hera suffered more than any other goddess except Demeter (whose suffering was of a different kind). But she also persecuted others vindictively and was therefore the most destructive among all goddesses.

Female Hera judge other women and punish them, usually by exile from society(and their children too) for not meeting Hera’s standards. Such women are social arbiters.

Since Hera can marry any suitable man she meets, it would be better to get to know her fiancé well first. Once married, she will depend on her husband's character and his ability to love her.

Hera may become aware of her pattern and realize that she is neglecting other aspects of herself that could enrich both her own life and her marriage.

Hera's marriage can be destroyed even by Hera's unfounded jealousy. Therefore, the husband, knowing this quality of his wife, must learn not to give her a reason.

The Hera woman must decide who she trusts - the suspicious Hera within herself or her husband. To develop, she must learn to trust in the support and fidelity of her husband.