Zeus (Dius), the supreme god of the ancient Greeks. Metamorphoses and love affairs of Zeus

And people.

With a blow of the scepter, he caused storms and hurricanes, but he could also calm the forces of nature and clear the sky of clouds.

The attributes of Zeus were: a shield and a double-sided ax (labrys), sometimes an eagle.

Zeus is thought of as "fire", "hot substance", living in the ether, owning the sky, organizing the center of cosmic and social life.

Zeus distributes good and evil on earth, he put shame and conscience into people.

Zeus is a formidable punishing force, sometimes associated with fate.

Zeus proclaims the fate of fate through dreams, as well as thunder and lightning.

The whole social order was built by Zeus, he guards the family and the home, the defender of the offended and the patron of those who pray, the patron of city life, he gave people laws, established the power of kings, monitors the observance of traditions and customs.

Other gods obey him.

Changeable, like the sky over which he rules, he constantly shows His other face.

He wraps the earth in ermine snows, he sends rain.

In a storm and a thunderstorm, the power of the sovereign is manifested, who, like a hurricane, raises the leaden waves of the sea, piles up black swirling clouds, throws up the sand of earthly roads and, opening the outlets of heavenly waters, lights long-maned fires on the tops of the mountains.

At the bottom of smoking volcanoes, day and night, the Cyclopes forge lightning for Zeus.

This is truly a powerful god. If a golden rope were attached to the top of heaven, and all the gods and goddesses pulled on it, they could not drag Zeus to earth. But if Zeus had grabbed the rope, he would have lifted up all the gods along with the earth and the sea and tied them to the rocks of Olympus. At least that's how he boasted.

Since Kronos once overthrew his father Uranus, he was afraid that one of his children would do the same, so he swallowed all the babies born. Rhea-mother suffered greatly from this. When the sixth child was born, she instead wrapped a stone in diapers and gave it to her husband. Unsuspecting Kronos swallowed the stone, thinking it was his next child.
Rhea with the child descended to the ground. She wanted to wash her son, but she did not find a source anywhere. The Mother Goddess prayed to Gaia and hit the rock with her wand. A clear stream of water spurted from the hard stone. Rhea, having redeemed the child, named him Zeus. She went to Crete and laid her son's golden cradle in the Idai Grotto. Glittering shoots of ivy curled along its walls, and the entrance was blocked by a dense forest. Nursed by the milk of the goat Amalthea, Zeus grew up under the supervision of mountain nymphs. The boy was very fond of the goat. When she broke the horn, Zeus took the horn into his divine hands and blessed it. This is how the cornucopia appeared, which, to anyone who had it in their hands, gave everything they wanted.
All nature surrounded the golden cradle of the new god with love. From the shores of the ocean, pigeons brought him ambrosia; bees collected the sweetest honey for him, an eagle flew every evening, carrying a goblet of nectar in its claws. In order not to reach the ears of the sensitive Kronos, the cry of the baby Zeus, near his cradle, the priests of Rhea performed military dances to the sounds of tambourines and squeakers.

power struggle

Finally, Zeus grew up. To live on, he had to fight with his father. First of all, it was necessary to return the swallowed brothers and sisters. He persuaded his mother to give Kronos an emetic. In terrible agony, the titan spewed out all his swallowed children - Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia and Demeter. From the skin of the goat Amalthea, who died at that time, he made for himself an invincible defense - a shield, which was called the aegis. No weapon could pierce the aegis, and Zeus never parted with it. So a popular expression appeared from the myths of Ancient Greece: to be " under the auspices" means to be under the protection of someone or something.
Most of the titans were on the side of Kronos. Next to Zeus were his brothers and sisters. The war lasted ten years and was called "titanomachy". Zeus won it only with the help of hundred-armed giants - hecantocheirs and one-eyed cyclops.
Then Zeus had yet another war - already with the giants - the sons of Gaia - the Earth. It was also a terrible battle. And its outcome was decided by a mortal hero - the son of Zeus Hercules. It was he who defeated the last of the remaining giants - Alcyoneus.

Nothing took this giant. Being the son of Gaia, that is, a product of the earth, he instantly healed any wounds as soon as he touched the earth. Touching the ground gave him new and new strength. To defeat Alcyoneus, Hercules tore him off the ground, took him outside his country and killed him there.
To take revenge on the young gods for their children, the ruined giants, the goddess Gaia gave birth to the most terrible monster that the sun has ever seen. They called him Typhon.
When the gods saw this monster at the gates of heaven, they were seized with panic. They fled to Egypt, where they turned into so that Typhon could not recognize them. One Zeus entered the fight with Typhon and defeated him.

Battle of Zeus with Typhon

Hundred-headed monster - Typhon,

Born of the earth For all the gods

He rose: a thorn and a whistle from the jaws

Threatened the throne of Zeus, and from the eyes

The fire of the furious Gorgon sparkled,

But Zeus's vigilant arrow -

Blazing lightning struck

Him for this boast. to the heart

He was incinerated and the thunder killed

All the power is in it. Now a powerless body

It is stretched out under the roots of Etna,

Not far from the blue strait,

And the mountains crush his chest; on them

Hephaestus sits, forging his iron,

But break out of the black depth

A devouring flame

And destroy the wide fields

Sicily beautiful...

Wives of Zeas

The first wife of Zeus was the oceanid Metis. It was she who at one time helped Zeus to return to the world the children swallowed by Kronos. The goddess Gaia predicted that Metis would give birth to his daughter Athena, and after that a son who would deprive his father of power. Therefore, Zeus, following the persuasion of Gaia and Uranus, swallowed Metis.

The result of such a transgression was the miraculous birth of the daughter of Zeus - Athena. Athena appeared directly from the "sacred" head of the "wise" Zeus.

Finally, Zeus enters into a third legal marriage with his sister Hera, the goddess who guards the foundations of a monogamous patriarchal family, vigilantly monitoring the fidelity of a man and the correctness of the relationship between parents and children.

Lovers and children of Zeus

Zeus often cheats on his wife Hera. He passionately falls in love with both goddesses and earthly beauties. A long list of Zeus' lovers is given by the poet Hesiod. Zeus has more beautiful lovers and illustrious descendants than any of the Greek gods. And this should not be surprising. Each clan, each city tried to bring its origin as close as possible to the highest God. Zeus is a great inventor and prankster in love affairs. So he seduced Leda, turning into a swan, Danae - a golden rain, Hera - a cuckoo, Europe - a snow-white bull, Persephone - a snake, Antiope - a satyr. For the beautiful Io, he turned into a misty cloud.

Let's start the story about the lovers of Zeus with this funny poem, the author of which, unfortunately, I did not find.

Zeus has perhaps a hundred wives.

Jealous Hera, like no one else.

All other hating wives,

Raging in rage. smitten

With that passion of the wild god-husband:

Zeus is omnipotent, but if suddenly

Jealous, Hera destroys everything,

And the Almighty will tremble.

But how to overcome nature.

How much power is there? What is day, what is night

And the wives of Zeus are introduced into sin.

And he has strength for everyone ...

The future father of Zeus Kronos, or otherwise - Kronos, was a difficult child as a child. He began with the fact that he castrated his own father Uranus with a sickle. True, he did this at the instigation of his mother, Gaia, exhausted by her husband's indefatigable fertility. Such a radical measure had an effect, and since then the titans, to which Kron belonged, have become absolute masters of the cosmos.

Difficult children

It should be noted that Uranus was generally unlucky with offspring. In the beginning, terrible monsters were born from his marriage to Gaia, which terrified their parents. Among them were such monsters as hundred-armed and fifty-headed hecatoncheirs and one-eyed giants - cyclops. We will talk about those and others later, they will still show what they are capable of. Uranus was so terrified of their ever-increasing strength and power that he considered it good to tie his children and throw them into Tartarus. Then things got even worse. Seven titanid sisters and six titan brothers were born, among whom the youngest was the future father of Zeus and Hades - Cronus.

The unfortunate Gaia, shedding tears for her hundred-armed children languishing underground, decided to take revenge on Uranus and for this purpose prepared an uprising of the titans and titanides. They, following the will of their mother, treacherously attacked their father. The only exception was one of them, named Ocean. A special role was assigned to Kron. Gaia handed him a sickle made of some particularly durable material (perhaps even a diamond), and with it he deprived his father of further opportunities to produce offspring. By the way, historians say that this was quite consistent with the mores of the ancient world - it was customary to cut off the genitals of enemies and save them as a trophy. Having fulfilled the instructions of his mother, Kronus reigned in the world.

Gracious times of Hellas

According to the first historically reliable poet of Ancient Greece, Hesiod, the period when the future father of Zeus ruled the world was the happiest time, the like of which all mythological history did not know. According to him, people were like gods and knew neither grief, nor sadness, nor everyday labors. Since they did not have to work, but still wanted to occupy themselves with something, the sons of Ancient Hellas were divided into poets, artists and sculptors. Thus, the fertile era gave humanity countless masterpieces of art.

Eater of own children

Having taken a place on the throne, the future father of the god Zeus Kronos thought about the heirs of his power and got married. As his wife, he took his own sister, the titanide Rhea, but this marriage can hardly be called happy, and not at all because he was consanguineous - in mythology this is a common thing. His mother Gaia, a wise and perspicacious woman, warned that one of his future sons would do with him the same way he did with his father Uranus: if he didn’t castrate, then he would certainly deprive him of power. Nothing could be worse for Kron, and he thought hard about how to help grief.

Perhaps a modern ruler would have chosen a different path, but the ancient gods had their own ideas about what was right and what was wrong. Kron did not think for a long time, but simply devoured all the babies that Rhea produced in abundance. "O times, o manners!" - this is how the Roman philosopher Cicero will exclaim after many centuries. But what is Cronus to some kind of Romans, the main thing is the strength of state power, and to achieve it, all paths are good.

Zeus' father is deceived by his own wife

But only a man, moreover, blinded by the brilliance of glory, could argue like that. His wife did not approve of such views at all, and one day, having once again been relieved of the burden, she decided to save her child. Instead of another victim, she slipped Krona a stone wrapped in diapers. Either the fear generated by the mother’s prediction turned out to be so great, or the ruler of the world was already very undiscriminating in food, but he only swallowed this cobblestone like a sweet bun and calmed down.

Meanwhile, Rhea, inwardly triumphant, hid her baby in a cave on the island of Crete, where she raised him, despite all the deceit of her husband. She named her son Zeus and entrusted his protection to the Kurets - terrible, demonic, but completely domesticated creatures. Hesiod, already mentioned in the story, tells that they drowned out the cries and cries of the baby with their roar, which helped to keep the place where he was hidden secret. Under their vigilant care, young Zeus grew up powerful, beautiful and extremely smart. Affected, apparently, heredity and upbringing.

The trick of the wife of young Zeus

Having reached the proper age, the young man married the beautiful Metis. I must say that his chosen one was from birth prone to all kinds of intrigues and really wanted to help her husband achieve supreme power. At this time, Kronos - the father of Zeus - ruled without suspecting anything, and was absolutely sure of his complete safety. It was this delusion of his that Metis took advantage of.

She got a miraculous drink, which Zeus secretly gave his daddy to drink. It was not a banal poison, it was something exceptional. Having tasted it, the bloodthirsty father of Zeus suddenly felt nauseous and, to the great joy of those around him, vomited out of himself all his former children, swallowed by him during the entire time of his marriage. Needless to say, they were alive, healthy and full of strength... History has preserved their names: Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia.

Ten Years' War

The brothers and sisters liberated in such a miraculous way, led by Zeus, declared war on the titans - their relatives, born of Gaia and Uranus before the latter was castrated. Since Zeus's father, Cronus, was their younger brother, it follows that they themselves were the uncles and aunts of the rescued rebels. There were six titans and six titanides. The war with them lasted ten years and went on with varying success.

Zeus had a secret weapon - the Cyclopes, whom he brought out of the gloomy depths of Tartarus on the occasion of the war. These ferocious one-eyed creatures fought with fury and desperation, but could not overcome those whom Zeus's father set against them. Witnesses of this battle speak of terrible lightning that fell from the sky on the titans, and of thunder that shook the earth, but everything was in vain. And here came the long-awaited turning point in the course of the battle.

When the titans were ready to celebrate the victory, the hundred-armed creatures of the hecatoncheira suddenly appeared from the bowels of the earth, which Zeus saved there in the most extreme case. In addition to a hundred arms, each of them had another fifty heads. These monsters lifted entire rocks into the air and threw them at their opponents when they got close enough. Ancient authors do not skimp on the description of the horror that their appearance produced among the army of the unlucky father Kron. The intervention of these creatures decided the outcome of the case - the enemy was defeated, and justice prevailed.

Poetry of Ancient Greece

Nowadays, some skeptics, who are not inclined to trust the testimonies of Hesiod, Homer and other poets who described the events of that era in their works, see in this ten-year war only a reflection of the natural disasters that once raged on the planet. Let's not dissuade them - they are deprived of the ability to enjoy the play of poetic fantasy. It seems that the ancient authors themselves did not claim to be documentary of what they stated, but with their poems they made the hearts of many generations of people freeze sweetly.

Celebration of the winners

But let us return to the foot of Mount Olympus, where until recently everything was burning and shuddering, engulfed in a crazy battle. A long-awaited peace reigned there. The titans, horrified at the sight of the hundred-armed creatures, trembled and fled, but soon they were thrown into the depths of the earth's bowels, bound in chains. The god-titan, the father of Zeus, shared the common fate and became a prisoner of Tartarus. The dominance of wild and impersonal cosmic forces has come to an end. They were replaced by humanoid deities - the Olympians.

As follows from a number of sources, the father of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades - the old man Kron - was forgiven, reconciled with his children and went to reign over the Ocean - that was the name of the greatest of the rivers of the ancient world, separating the kingdom of the living from the world of shadows. He showed himself there as a wise and generous ruler, which is why the time of his reign is considered to be happy and blessed. Leaving for the kingdom of the dead, the frivolous father of Poseidon and Zeus left behind, in addition to legitimate children, also those that were the fruit of his momentary hobbies. The most famous of them is Chiron, a wise centaur born of the young nymph Filira.

immortal time

It should be noted that according to the consonance of names in the generally accepted etymology, the name Kronos is often identified with the name of the god of time - Chronos. Many researchers see the symbolism of the change of generations in the children who were born and devoured by Kron. This was the reason that in the mythology of the ancient Romans, the father of Zeus Kron received a new incarnation in the image of Saturn, symbolizing the inexorability and transience of time.

Celebrations were dedicated to him, at which servants and gentlemen changed roles, as if illustrating the inconstancy and variability of the age. In general, such holidays were in the nature of fun carnival activities. What the ancient Greeks called Zeus's father - Kronos or Kronos, is now difficult to say, but in the modern language there are words in the roots of which his name has been preserved, for example: chronometer, chronology, timing, and so on. All of them are connected in one way or another with the concept of "time". It was in them that the titan, the father of Zeus, found his true immortality.

The ancient Greeks loved to fight and considered the battle to be difficult, in connection with this they had different gods in charge of it. True, they invented a special god for each type of war (offensive, defensive, fair, unfair). But Athena ruled over the fighting, conducted wisely and ending in victory, and Ares, the son of Zeus, led the blind, furious battle with an incomprehensible outcome.

Introduction

This god ruled over a bloodthirsty war, engulfed in fury, where people killed each other on the battlefield with particular cruelty. The son of Zeus and Hera adored the process itself and the action itself, he was not interested in the causes and ending of the battle. Ares was brought joy by the cries of warriors, the sounds of weapons, and he received true pleasure both from the courage of the fighters and from their death. All these characteristics of his did not cause positive emotions either in people or in other gods. He is the unloved son of Zeus, whom he wanted to throw into Tartarus, but could not because of family ties.

Alas, the facts about Ares are fragmentary and inconsistent. For most historians and other scientists, the son of Zeus was not of particular interest, since the ancient Greeks were not inclined to revere this god, they were simply afraid of him. But the poets of Ancient Greece sang of Ares in their poems and odes. In the presented article, we will try to collect a holistic image of a strong and aggressive god of war.

Who is this Ares?

The son of Zeus personifies fierce militancy, original savagery and ferocious cruelty. A fiery torch belongs to the attributes of Ares, and such weapons as a spear or animals (a dog or a kite). On the Mount of Olympia, from time to time there was a council of the twelve gods, and the son of Zeus, Ares, was the third in it.

God's childhood years

Ares had little resemblance to other inhabitants of Olympus, distinguished by wisdom and prudence. The origin of the god was shrouded in mystery and controversy. It was believed that the son of Zeus and Hera was born in Thrace, where a harsh climate prevailed and harsh people lived. He spent his childhood in this country. Young Ares was not as handsome and charming as Apollo. The son of Zeus had his own special beauty. Dark hair, light skin, a burning look, the correct oval of the face - all this created an image of severity and equanimity.

Ares character

The son of the god (Zeus) looked after his appearance, elegantly dressed in elegant outfits. Hera's capricious pet did not know refusal, he was allowed everything or almost everything. Such improper maternal upbringing influenced the fact that they manifested themselves in full.

Bragging, aggressiveness, authoritarianism, rudeness, intemperance, cruelty to human weaknesses and defenselessness, fear of pain - all these qualities were possessed by the unloved son of Zeus. You can draw an analogy of this god with a furious dog, whose hair stands on end, has a terrible grin, loud barking and who is ready to instantly bite the victim, but as soon as he feels a rebuff, he immediately tucks his tail and runs away.

The story of the shameful flight of Ares

As victims, the most unloved son of Zeus preferred birds. When he was a child, he lay in wait for his father's eagle or mother's peacock, Apollo's raven, Athena's owl or Aphrodite's dove and wanted to shoot a bird with a slingshot. And the other sons of Zeus came up with a punishment for Ares. The names of Apollo, Dionysus and Hephaestus made the supreme god proud.

Apollo offered the young Ares a bet that he would not be able to climb the western slope of Mount Olympus and break at least one egg of the gulls nesting there. The martial god accepted the bet, because the slope, in his opinion, was not very steep and difficult to climb, and the gulls seemed cute and not at all aggressive. Ares quickly climbed to the top, but the cute and calm seagulls were not so defenseless. Hearing the cry of one bird whose egg was stolen by Ares, the whole flock flocked around the young god. Seagulls screamed piercingly and threw white sparse droppings at the kidnapper. Ares was choking on the foul smell, blinded by the beating of thousands of bird wings. There was nothing he could do, and so running away was shameful, but the only option. Apollo accompanied the escape with sharp ridicule.

Zeus could not think of anything to do with such a bully son who did not have any talents and did not want to study at all. The boy's mother stood up for her beloved son and asked the ruler of Olympus for the position of Minister of Military Affairs, because her son was an ideal candidate. So Ares (the son of Zeus) became the god of war, cutting through space on a shiny chariot with a couple of magnificent horses that breathed fire.

Maturity of the Warrior God

The ferocious Ares only rejoices when cruelty flourishes on the battlefield. Rumor has it that he, in sparkling clothes and with a huge shield, rushes with great fury in the thick of the battle, where the air is filled with screams, groans, and the roar of weapons.

On the battlefield, the god of war is accompanied by Deimos and Phobos. These are the two sons of Ares. Deimos personifies horror, and Phobos - fear. Also in the retinue of this god you can see Eris (the goddess of discord) and Enyo (the goddess who sows murder). Here such brethren fly among the warriors, they fall, perish, and the god of war rejoices and rejoices. Ares receives ecstasy when a warrior hit by his weapon dies, and blood flows from the wound to the ground. Fear, horror, disgust - all these emotions were evoked by God among the ancient Greeks.

Terrible was the hatred of Ares for the goddess of the world - Eirene. But friendship with Eris was also not smooth, because he rejected that part of the goddess, which was revered by people as a force that makes them compete in peaceful labor. Even the son of Zeus and Leda, Polydeuces, succumbed to the influence of Ares on the battlefield. The gods loved to watch the lives of mortals, the battles, and when they were bored, they themselves could organize the reasons for the wars. Some of them even descended from Mount Olympus to help their pets. But for Ares, war was the main meaning of life, he did not think about its causes, about whether it was fair or not. The sight of blood made the god insane, and he began to kill fighters on both sides, not understanding who was right and who was wrong.

It happened that Ares, hiding in a crowd of warriors, let out a terrible scream, as if several thousand people were shouting. This cry made an indelible impression on the fighters, and with great fury they began to kill everyone in a row, regardless of gender and age. Warriors did not even take into account the value of the lives of people from the enemy side who could become slaves. Even the animals were not spared. Warriors simply turned into killers.

Is it any wonder that the ancient Greeks considered the god Ares to blame for all their troubles and misfortunes? Then they came up with a solution. They wanted to get rid of the bloodthirsty god so that happiness and peace would finally come to the mortal world. But ordinary people were not able to cope with the deity. The giants Ephialtes and Otos agreed to help. They captured Ares and put him in a copper prison. For thirteen months, the bloodthirsty god was imprisoned in terrible chains and probably could have died there, but the stepmother of the giants, Eribeya, gave the news to Hermes, and he released the half-dead Ares. All this time there was peace and tranquility on earth. Thirteen months were the happiest and most fruitful for mortals.

No less than the devastated people, Pallas Athena hated Ares. The goddess helped the Greek heroes, for example, Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danae, received her attention. She personified an honest and just war, was a craftswoman and skillfully mastered military affairs, because she defeated Ares twice in battle.
The ancient Greek hero Hercules - the son of Zeus - also fought with the god of war, and he fled in fear to the celestials.

War and Love - Ares and Aphrodite

The beautiful Aphrodite was the wife of the lame blacksmith god Hephaestus. But she gave birth to four children (Phobos, Deimos, Harmony, Eros) from Ares, a passionate, pugnacious and violent god. An explosive mixture that is unlikely to bring anything good - crazy love and crazy war.

The secretive and hardworking Hephaestus did not suspect Aphrodite's betrayal. But one day the couple in love lingered in bed and met together the appearance of the sun (Helios), who told the blacksmith about the betrayal. Offended and angry, Hephaestus forged a strange little thing in his forge - the thinnest and at the same time very strong web, which he attached to the family bed. When the satisfied Aphrodite returned home, her husband informed her of his journey to the island of Lemnos. The wife did not want to go with him, and as soon as Hephaestus left the threshold, she called Ares to her, who appeared very quickly in the halls of Aphrodite.

The lovers enjoyed each other the whole night, and in the morning they saw that the bed and they themselves were under the thinnest web. Naked and helpless, they were caught by Hephaestus, who set it all up. He called all the gods to show the betrayal of Aphrodite and Ares. The goddesses remained at home, and the gods decided to look at such an action. The blacksmith god gave an ultimatum to Zeus (her father) to return all the wedding gifts, and only then will he let his wife go. Many gods - both Apollo and Hermes - would like to be in the place of Ares even in such a web, but next to Aphrodite. This is the conversation conducted by the sons of Zeus, whose names were mentioned. But the supreme god was angered by such conversations, he refused to return the wedding gifts of Hephaestus and said that it was not good to interfere in a family conflict. Still present at this demonstration, Poseidon, seeing the naked body of Aphrodite, immediately fell in love with the charming goddess and burned with sharp envy for Ares. The sea god pretended to sympathize with Hephaestus and offered to help. He claimed that he would do everything to ensure that Ares paid for his freedom a price no less than the wedding gifts of Hephaestus. If the god of war does not do this, then Poseidon himself will give the required amount and marry the beautiful goddess.

After the release of the captives, Ares did not even think about repaying the debt, because if the supreme god does not pay, then why should he do it. No one paid the ransom to Hephaestus, but he was not very upset, because he loved his wife and did not want to let her go anywhere, let alone get divorced.

After this adventure, Ares returned to his homeland, and Aphrodite settled in Cyprus, where she became virgin again after swimming in the sea. The situation described did not affect the goddess in any way, because she continued to feel a strong passionate attraction to the warlike god and always defended him, because of which Athena constantly joked and mocked Aphrodite. Ares also experienced insane jealousy and love.

Jealousy of Ares

In the myths of the ancient Greeks, one story is described when the windy Aphrodite fell in love with the wonderful young man Adonis. He also liked Persephone, the wife of the underground patron - Hades. The dispute between the two goddesses was supposed to be decided by Zeus, but he refused to administer such an obscene trial and entrusted the matter to the muses. They decided that two seasons of the year Adonis would live with Aphrodite, one season - with Persephone, and one - as he himself wanted. But the intelligent one, by hook or by crook, convinced Adonis to spend the season intended for the young man himself with her. Thus, the young lover spent more time with Aphrodite. It turns out that the muses did not adhere to the decision of the court. Persephone, having learned about this, became indignant and went to talk to Ares. She told the god of war about Aphrodite's love affairs. Blinded by jealousy, Ares turned into a wild boar and killed Adonis while hunting right in front of the goddess of love. That's what Ares was all about! The son of Zeus and Callisto also felt the wrath of the god of war.

Children of the warlike god

Ares became the father of four offspring, whose mother was Aphrodite. they were constantly with their father on the battlefield, in the thick of the battle. Daughter Harmony was somewhat similar to her mother and brought happiness to people even more than the goddess of love. Son Eros had a father's character and was engaged in his mother's specialization in kindling love. This boy with shiny wings, a golden bow and arrows was distinguished by playfulness, deceit and sometimes even cruelty. It was light as a summer breeze. No one could hide from his arrows of love. Eros is very dexterous and is not inferior in the art of shooting to the god Apollo himself. The arrows of a cute boy bring people not only love and joy, but often suffering, perhaps even death. After the birth, Zeus wanted to kill the baby, knowing about the troubles and sorrows that Eros would bring to the gods and people.

Mother Aphrodite did not give offense to her son and hid him in a dense forest, where he was raised by lionesses. And Eros remained unharmed. Now he flies around the world and brings peace and love, and sorrow, and good, and evil, conquering with his arrows both very young and even old people. The son of Aphrodite and Ares activates the force that attracts people, gods or gods to people to each other. It's not so important anymore.

Historians attribute the goddess of bloody revenge Erinia and the terrible dragon to the offspring of Ares. Cadmus met with him in a duel, whose sister was kidnapped. He and several other young men gathered to search. On the way, they lost each other, and Cadmus ended up in Delphi, where the oracle advised him to follow the cow and build a city where she stops. With only a few servants, he was unable to fulfill this prediction. But then it got even worse, because a dragon crawled out of the cave and ate all the servants.

Seeing all this, the young man began an unbearable battle with the dragon and, thanks to incredible efforts, defeated him. Lying on the grass, without any strength, Cadmus heard the authoritative voice of a woman. He helped the young man to get up and pull out the teeth of the dragon, with which Cadmus then littered the field. From the teeth grew warriors who fought with each other, some of them died, and with those that remained, the young man laid the city. It was named after the hero - Cadmeus.

After Cadmus killed the dragon, he was to become the servant of the bloodthirsty god Ares for many years. At the end of the service, the young man married the daughter of Ares and the goddess of love Aphrodite - Harmony.

Conclusion

In the presented article, an attempt was made to collect a holistic image of the warlike. Born in harsh Thrace, he was ferocious and cruel. This is the favorite son of Hera's mother, but hated by his own father. Ares inspired fear in mortal people and disgusted the immortal gods. The meaning of the life of this god was war, its very process, battles and battles, the cries of warriors, the clang of weapons, the cries of victims. But in front of a greater force, Ares gave in and walked away, although, of course, he did not like this at all.

Another element in which Ares completely immersed himself was love for the incredibly beautiful and feminine goddess Aphrodite. Jealousy for her incinerated God, and he, captivated by this violent feeling, swept away everything in his path. Rage, deceit, cruelty are the qualities of the bloodthirsty Ares, who will stop at nothing. The god of war is most attracted to blood and death.

It is simply impossible to list all the sons of Zeus, even historians cannot do it. Let's name the most famous of them. These are Ammon, Hercules, Dardanus, Dodon, Carius, Locrius, Meliteus, Perseus, Tantalus, Epaphus, etc.

Name: Zeus

The country: Greece

Creator: ancient Greek mythology

Activity: god of the sky, thunder and lightning, in charge of the whole world

Family status: married

Zeus: Character Story

The mythology of Ancient Greece, which is closely intertwined with the religion of this people, originated on the path of the formation of mankind, but is still popular, which was facilitated by cultural monuments.

Eminent directors and talented writers are inspired by titans, Olympians, muses, cyclops and other fictional characters, and legends involving gods and incredibly strong heroes captivate the spirit. Zeus, the head of the ancient Greek Pantheon, who is in charge of the whole world, is quite often found in ancient texts. The name of this thunderer, perhaps, is familiar to everyone and everyone.

Mythology

A person looks very weak against the background of the surrounding world, a representative of the Homosapiens species does not have the same physical strength as, for example, a bear; humans cannot run fast like lions or cheetahs, nor do they have sharp teeth and strong claws.

But on the other hand, by nature, a person tries to explain what he feels and observes. No wonder he discovered physical laws, came up with a chemical table, and asked himself the question of philosophy. But earlier, when scientific knowledge was not so strong, people explained this or that natural phenomenon through myths and believed that the gods were able to bring prosperity to the house, help win the war and protect the crop from drought.

According to history, from the first half of the second millennium BC, the third generation of gods led by Zeus began to reign in the world, who overthrew the titans. The chief of the Olympian gods became the third son of the titan Kronos and his wife Rhea. The fact is that the seer predicted to Kronos that his own son would take the crown of his father. The Lord of Time did not want to put up with such a fate, therefore, without a twinge of conscience, he ate newborn children, just in case, swallowing even daughters.

Rhea did not intend to put up with the arbitrariness of her husband, therefore, as a wise woman, she decided to act by cunning. The pregnant titanita went to a deep cave in Crete, where she gave birth to the future usurper of power.

So that Kronos would not notice the trick, his beloved put a Baytil stone wrapped in diapers instead of the baby, which the giant immediately swallowed. And when the enraged titan found out about the tricks of his wife, he went to look for little Zeus. The Kurets saved the boy: they banged with spears and swords when the baby cried so that Kronos would not guess where his son was.

The fatal prediction that Kronos learned came true: when Zeus matured, he started a war against his father, winning a crushing victory and sending his parent into the abyss under the kingdom of Hades - Tartarus. According to another legend, the Thunderer gave Kronos a honey drink to drink, and when he fell asleep, he castrated it. Further, Zeus forced his ancestor to spit out brothers and sisters with the help of a potion, whom he made gods and settled on Olympus. According to other sources, the Olympian ripped open the belly of a titan.

The war between the gods and the titans lasted ten years, and the Cyclopes were called to help. But, since the forces were equal, the opponents could not determine the winner for a long time. Then Zeus freed the hundred-armed giants from the abyss, who swore allegiance to him, and they helped send the former rulers to Tartarus. Desperate, the earth goddess Gaia gave birth to a terrible monster with a hundred dragon heads - Typhon, but he was defeated by Zeus.

When peace reigned, Zeus, along with his brothers, divided power with the help of lots. Poseidon became the lord of the sea, Hades began to manage the gloomy and frightening kingdom of the dead, and Zeus got dominance in the sky.

Scientists even made an assumption: it is likely that the Greeks presented human sacrifices to the owner of Olympus, but others refute these conjectures. Perhaps, only separate and few tribes were engaged in killings for the sake of the owner of the sky, in order to ask for an end to volcanic eruptions. Basically, in ancient Greece, animals and food were given to the gods, arranging holidays.

Image

The Thunderer, who frightens the inhabitants of the Earth with lightning and dark clouds, appears in mythology as the father of gods and people. Zeus tried to make this world the most harmonious, distributing good and evil, and also put shame and conscience into a person. A powerful god sits on his throne and watches over the city order, protecting the weak and offended and granting patronage to those who pray.

Zeus, who followed the laws all over the world, could not only send rain and punish guilty people with lightning, but also foresaw the future, predicting the future with the help of dreams. But sometimes Zeus himself depends on the goddesses Moir - women weaving the threads of fate.

Often, the Thunderer is depicted in paintings and sculptures as a middle-aged man with kind features, which were framed by thick curls and a lush beard. In the hands of Zeus is a lightning bolt, which is a three-pronged fork with notches. From legends it is known that lightning for the god was made by one-eyed cyclops. The deity also has a scepter, and sometimes he is depicted with a labrys or hammer, similar to a tool.

God cuts in a chariot drawn by eagles: as you know, this noble bird is associated with greatness and power. It was the eagle that pecked the liver of the unfortunate Prometheus - thus Zeus punished his cousin for stealing the fire from Hephaestus, passing it on to people.

Among other things, Zeus knows how to transform into any earthly creature: once an Olympian turned into a bull in order to kidnap a princess. However, the master of the sky was not distinguished by constancy. Hundreds of beauties visited his bed, whom he seduced in different guises: either he would appear to the girl in the form of a cloud, or he would appear as a white swan. And in order to take possession of Danae, Zeus turned into a golden shower.

Family

As you know, in ancient Greek mythology, all the gods are in some sense relatives to each other, who descended from the titans. In addition, judging by the legends, some married their sisters. The Thunderer was not an exemplary family man and seduced far more than one beauty; wide-eyed Europe, Leda, Antelope, Io and other charmers became victims of the spell of Zeus.

But three women were considered "official" wives. The first is the wise Metis, who predicted to her husband that the son of Zeus born from her would surpass his father. The upset guardian of lightning followed the example of Kronos, only he swallowed not a newborn baby, but his wife. After that, the patroness of organized war, Athena, was born from the head of the god, and Metis, sitting in the womb of her husband, became his adviser.

The second wife of Zeus, the goddess of justice Themis, gave her husband three daughters: Eunomia, Dike and Eirene (according to other sources, Themis is the mother of Moira or Prometheus). The last beloved of the Olympian was the patroness of marriage, Hera, who is distinguished by cruelty and jealous disposition.

Films

Zeus can be seen on TV screens, the Thunderer appeared before the audience in several cinematic works:

• 1969 - "Hercules in New York"
• 1981 - "Clash of the Titans"
• 2010 - Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
• 2010 - "Clash of the Titans"
• 2011 - "War of the Gods: Immortals"
• 2012 - Wrath of the Titans

actors

In the adventure film Hercules in New York, where he starred, the little-known actor Ernest Graves appeared in the image of the Thunderer. Further, in 1981, the adventure film by Desmond Davis, Clash of the Titans, was released.

This time, the image of the Lord of Olympus was tried on by a Briton, familiar to the audience from the films "" (1986), "King Lear" (1983), "" (1979) and other noteworthy film works.

In 2010, the family film Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief was released. They played in this picture. In 2011, the film "War of the Gods: Immortals" was released, reincarnated as the main of the gods, sharing the set with, and.

• Zeus kidnapped not only the fairer sex. Reincarnated in the guise of a giant eagle, the arbiter of destinies stole a beautiful young man, the son of the Trojan Tros - Ganymede. The Thunderer gave the father of this young man a golden vine, and Ganymede received eternal youth, becoming a "cupbearer" who gave nectar and ambrosia to the gods.
• Zeus owns a magical cape made of goatskin - Aegis, which, like a shield, has protective properties. Legends say that the daughter of the owner of the lightning - Athena - wore this skin as a robe, attaching a brooch depicting the Gorgon Medusa to it.

• In the 5th century BC, Olympia was home to the third of the seven wonders of the world - a marble statue of Zeus, which surpassed even temples in size. The monument was built by the sculptor Phidias, who was picky about materials, especially ivory. According to rumors, 200 kg of pure gold and precious stones were brought to the feet of Zeus. Unfortunately, the giant statue of the Thunderer died after wars and robberies.
• Zeus appears both in cinematic works and on computer screens, for example, in the game Dota2 there is such a hero who bears the name of the son of Kronos and kills opponents with lightning.
• Zeus was raised by the nymph Kinosura. After the Thunderer became the ruler of the sky, he placed her among the stars as a token of gratitude. According to other legends, Melissa raised the offspring of the titan, feeding the boy with honey and goat's milk, as well as the shepherd's family, while setting an ultimatum that all sheep would be saved from wolves.