World mythology is full of fantasy worlds and kingdoms that exist alongside our own world. Many of them are said to have real-world entrances, meaning many of us have probably at least stood on the threshold of some pretty amazing places. Now, if only we knew the magic words that open these doors...

10. Fairytale Kingdom

Knockma Woods is located in the wilds of western Ireland and has several major legends associated with it. According to the stories of ancient storytellers, the legendary warrior queen Maeve was buried under a pile of stones on Concma Hill, and now the hill itself is supposedly the entrance to one of the fairy-tale kingdoms of Ireland. Ruled by King Fionnbhar (also known as Finvarra), the fabled kingdom of Connacht exists only within one of the many stone circles and fairy rings that dot the mountain.

According to legend, Finvarra once kidnapped the beautiful bride of an Irish lord and took her to his kingdom. The lord pursued the king and his bride all the way to the hill and ordered his men to start digging, but every night when the warriors went to bed, all the holes they managed to dig during the day were completely restored by the fairies serving Finvarr. To prevent this from happening again, the lord ordered salt to be poured around the hill and eventually managed to dig his way into the fairy kingdom and rescued his wife.

It is also mentioned in family legends of the 18th and 19th centuries that Finvarra supposedly protected nearby Hackett Castle, ensured that its owners' wine cellars were always full, and ensured the victory of their horses in whatever competitions they entered. However, Knockma Forest is not just a local legend or anything like that, but also an archaeological site, because during excavations here it was possible to discover a number of Neolithic settlements and cairns (note: piles of stones piled above a burial place) dating back to around 6000-7000 BC AD

9. River Styx

The Greeks believe that the River Styx is the main entrance to the afterlife. They say that it circles the kingdom of Hades seven times, and its water is extremely caustic, poisonous and deadly. In addition, according to rumors, it flows between two massive silver columns, guarded by nymphs, after whom it received its name. Legends say that all this is true and that its deadly waters once killed one of the greatest leaders in world history.

According to legend, Zeus once forced the gods to drink water from the River Styx, which was used like a lie detector. If they were liars, they lost their voice and ability to move within one year. These symptoms are eerily similar to those experienced by Alexander the Great before he died prematurely due to an unspecified sudden illness in 323 BC. Before falling into a coma, the Greek leader suffered from stabbing pains in his internal organs and joints, high temperature and loss of voice.

These symptoms are also very similar to those experienced by a person when they enter their body with calicheamicin, a toxin produced by bacteria found in limestone found in high concentrations in the Mavroneri River. It is also known as the Black Water, which flows from the Peloponnesian Mountains and has long been considered the real passage to the banks of the River Styx. An ancient legend says that the water in it was so poisonous and deadly, like that of its mythical counterpart, that the only thing it could not damage were boats and rafts made from horse hooves.

If the version of the death of Alexander the Great is correct, then we can assume that he did not die of malaria or typhoid fever, as previously thought, but was in fact poisoned by a man who managed to get water from the mythical River Styx.

8. The Lost City of Z

The Lost City of "Z" is a mythological city located in the wilds South America. Supposedly, a large, advanced civilization lived here, strangely similar to the ancient Greek cities, full of all sorts of treasures and riches. According to a manuscript dating back to the 16th century (also known as Manuscript 512), the city was inhabited by white inhabitants and female warriors. But as much as mythical cities may seem like fiction, the existence of this city does not seem to be so unlikely. There were vast, unexplored lands in South America that are now buried deep underground, so that modern researchers have virtually no chance of finding out what is buried in the jungle.

One of the most famous people, who went in search of this city and disappeared without a trace, was Colonel Percy Fawcett. The colonel, who kept his intended route secret to prevent his rivals from finding the mythical city first, disappeared into the Amazon jungle in 1925. His expedition and subsequent disappearance are shrouded in mystery, and his cryptic letters and deliberately false coordinates allow several different explanations for all this. One theory that some researchers have insisted on is that the famous explorer actually went into the jungle not to search for the lost city of Z, but to found a new one based on the basic principles of the cult that his son worshiped. , accompanying him on that expedition.

Although the above assumptions are far-fetched, one very real thing in this whole story remains the city itself. Modern satellite images showed that Fawcett was looking for a city very close to where he said it would be. Fawcett believed that the entrance to the mythical city was located somewhere in the Amazon basin between its tributaries Xingu and Tapajos, and more than 200 clay structures stretching along the Brazilian border of Bolivia suggest that his theory was very close to the truth. Modern scholars have estimated that some structures date back to 200 AD, while others are relatively recent, dating back to the 13th century. The entrance to Fawcett's massive, glittering city was probably only a little further southwest from where he was last seen.

Before new information was received, it had long been assumed that the Amazon jungle did not allow large-scale agriculture to be carried out on its territory, much less build a giant city of this size. However, calculations show that City Z was once home to about 60,000 people. Not only small buildings were built on its territory - some of the monuments built here were much larger in size than the Egyptian pyramids.

7. Shambhala

The mythical land of Shambhala is perhaps best known in the Western world as the fictional paradise from which the stories of Shangri-La were created. According to Buddhist legends, Shambhala is a secret kingdom where Buddhist values ​​and traditions are observed. The utopian world is also home to the great warrior Geser, who leads hordes of righteous people who eventually travel to the human world to fight our demons.

Today many people talk about visiting Shambhala. They say that Shambhala can be entered through a long-forgotten guard post created by Alexander the Great, Russia's Mount Belukha, the settlement of the Afghan Sufi Sarmun brotherhood and the ancient city of Balkh, bordering Tibet in the Himalayas, as well as through the Sutlej Valley in India. Heinrich Himmler was convinced that Shambhala was the abode of the Aryan race, and even organized seven expeditions to search for it.

However, entering Shambhala is much more difficult than it seems. According to the Dalai Lama, you will not be able to see the entrance until you achieve a state of purity similar to that of the mystical city. Many people believe that this means that the entrance is not a physical place or point on a map, but a state of mind, which means that all of the above entrances could very well be real.

6. Yomi

The legend of Yomi (or Yomi No Kuni) is part of Japanese mythology that predates widespread Buddhism. According to the myth, all the creations of the world were created by a god named Izanagi and his goddess, his wife Izanami. After Izanami died giving birth to fire, her grief-stricken husband went to the underworld to bring her back.

This legend has striking similarities with other myths, because it also says that a determined husband discovered a dark and gloomy place underground, where souls trying to preserve their mortal bodies are doomed to rot forever. Izanagi was forbidden to look at his wife until they reached the surface, but like many of his mythological counterparts, he glanced at her rotting, completely worm-ridden body before the end of the journey. Angry that he dared to look at her in such a state, Izanami sent hideous demons after him to pursue him until he returned back to the underworld forever, but he managed to escape from there and sealed the entrance to Yomi with a giant boulder. In response, Izanami promised to take 1,000 lives into the underworld every day, and Izanagi vowed to create another 1,005 new ones every day.

Today, tourists coming to the Japanese city of Matsue can visit the boulder, which, according to legend, Izanagi used to forever close the entrance to the underworld. Yomotsu Hirasaka (the official name for the entrance to the abode of the dead) is supposedly located behind one of the boulders near the Iya Shrin Shinto shrine. It is not yet clear which boulder hides the legendary entrance, which may be for the best. As for Izanami’s grave, it is also located not far from the shrine built in her honor.

5. Xibalba

At the height of its power, the Mayan Empire stretched across Mexico and Central America, and its people's belief in the other world was stronger than ever. Their final resting place was the other world known as Xibalba, where only the dead could enter, and then only after their soul had overcome all sorts of obstacles, ranging from crossing a river of scorpions, pus, being chased by a flock of bats, and ending with escaping from a dog, able to see in the dark.

As we mentioned earlier, there are several different entrances to Xibalba, and researchers recently discovered another one in the Yucatan Peninsula. Here are the subterranean and partially underwater ruins of a large labyrinth of caves, within which are several grim indicators of what the Mayans believed would await them at its end.

Archaeologists have discovered 11 different temples in these caves, as well as signs of human sacrifice. There are a number of artifacts left as offerings to the dead, including pottery, carved stones, and pottery. Archaeological excavations in the caves also revealed huge stone columns and structures built underwater, testifying to the time, effort and dedication the Mayans took to create their shrine. Although it still remains unclear whether the myth of Xibalba was created after the discovery of these caves or, conversely, the caves are proof of the reality of this legend, one thing is certain - they were definitely connected with each other.

4. Gates of Gehenna

According to the basic postulates of Voodoo, passage through the Gates of Gehenna resembles something similar to the transition of the soul from life to death. Since Voodoo traditions differ from each other, so do the descriptions of this gate. According to Voodoo practiced in New Orleans, Gehenna is a spirit that exists in the afterlife, often described as an intermediate state between life and death. The Gate of Gehenna is a portal to the afterlife, consisting of seven gates. It takes seven days for a soul to pass through all the gates, and if it fails, it may return to Earth as a zombie. Some Voodoo practitioners believe that the seven gates are located in seven different cemeteries in New Orleans, although the exact location and numerical order of the gates is a closely guarded secret. Scattered throughout the city and its cemeteries, clues left here for those knowledgeable enough to decipher them often resemble the symbols of certain Voodoo deities.

Gates are supposedly easier to find and open on holidays like Mardi Gras and All Hallows' Day, but finding them is only the beginning of the problem. The gates must be similar, open in the correct order, and each has a guard who requires the appropriate sacrifice. But, according to legends, opening the gates in the wrong order or not fulfilling all the requirements of the guards can cause the appearance of evil and dangerous spirits who will leave another world in order to enter ours.

3. Garden guarded by the Hesperides

According to Greek mythology, Geia (note the goddess of the earth) presented Hera with a wedding gift in the form of trees whose fruits were golden apples. The latter were given to the Garden of the Hesperides for storage. Hercules was given the task of stealing one such apple, which became his eleventh labor. And he completed his task, taking the place of Atlas and raising the Earth, while the Titan got him one of the golden fruits.

Traditions say that the entrance to the garden was located in modern Lixus, a coastal city in Morocco. Once a bustling Roman port, it is now made entirely of crumbling walls and buildings that resemble ruins. They also include the remains of one of the city's largest commodity manufacturing industries, as well as a factory that created a paste from fermented fish intestines. The garden and its location are mentioned in the texts of sea songs dating back to Hellenistic Greece, but there are other speculations about its possible location. For example, they concern the city of Cyrene and one of the islands off the coast of Libya.

2. Newgrange

Newgrange is a massive tomb built in Ireland's Boyne Valley over 5,000 years ago. This is not only an impressive display of the incredible skill of our ancestors, but also one of the entrances to the other world, according to Celtic mythology. The latter tells that the gods once moved back and forth between the earthly and their own worlds through specially prepared and consecrated mounds like Newgrange.

It was popularly said that the supposed entrance to the magnificent banquet hall of the so-called Lords of Light, Newgrange, led to a land where no one ever died, grew old, or fell ill. There is an endless supply of food and drink, as well as magical trees that continually bear fruit. The oldest collections of myths concerning Newgrange call it the home of an otherworldly manifestation of the River Boyne, as well as a well that is the source of all wisdom in the world. The trees near the well drop their nuts into the water, which releases the knowledge they contain into the real human world.

The next otherworldly inhabitant associated with the legends of Newgrange is the Dagda - one of the oldest Irish gods, who is often associated with knowledge, the Sun and the sky. His son, Aengus, is closely associated with Newgrange, for according to legend he was born in just one day, which was stopped by the power of the barrow, which had collected the power of the last nine months. Later, Aengus tricked the Dagda into giving him a tomb that represented the entrance to the other world, which he guards to this day.

1. Schoolmanse (or Scholomance)

The Schoolmanse is a mythical school whose existence was only remembered in Romanian folklore until all the stories about it were written down by an English writer named Emily Gerard. According to Gerard, the Schoolmans accepted only 10 students at a time, and the devil himself was in charge of their training. Here they learned all about his spells and tricks, including learning how to communicate with animals and control the weather. After this unique curriculum was completed, only nine students graduated from the school. The latter remained with the devil as payment for lessons for the whole class, after which he sent him into an infinitely deep lake, where he lived until the devil called him to himself to create even more lightning.

Gerard's version of Scholomance differs slightly from the traditional Romanian legend, which has been mistranslated. In Romanian folklore, this school is called Solomanari and is located in a fictional world that exists parallel to ours. After reading Gerard's work, Bram Stoker used the idea of ​​Scholomance in Dracula to explain how Dracula's family learned of their demonic powers.

The lake where the devil's dragon sleeps and the school where he teaches is said to be high in the Carpathian Mountains, near the Romanian city of Sibiu, which, according to old legends, experiences thunderstorms every day. Those who are looking for the devil's lake know that they have found it when they see a pile of stones covering the shoreline of the reservoir. It marks the place where unfortunate travelers die and fall directly under the lightning of the devil.

+ Schlaraffenland

Schlaraffenland, otherwise known as Cockayne, was a utopian mythological city of lazy people. Those who managed to find their way there found everything they could dream of, especially when it came to food. The walls of the houses here are made of large pieces of bacon, the roofs are made of pies and pancakes, and the fences are made of sausages. Wine flows in all the fountains, milk flows in the rivers instead of water, and the trees in Slaraffenland bear mince pies and fruit buns instead of pine cones. Even the weather here is made of food: snow is made of sugar, and hail falls on its inhabitants in the form of pellets. In addition, here you can also earn money literally in your sleep.

Unlike many mythical places, Slaraffenland is not accessible only to those who were extremely good or righteous people, and those who dream of getting there must also be extremely hungry. The legends said that in order to get there, you need to go towards North Hommelen (a city located near the northern border of France) and look for the gallows. The entrance to the world of lazy people is a massive mountain of porridge, and it can be unmistakably found. Those seeking to enter this city must literally eat their way through the mountains, so a large appetite is welcome.

The material was prepared by Natalya Zakalyk - based on an article from listverse.com

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Each of the peoples of the Ancient World had their own deities, powerful and not so powerful. Many of them had unusual abilities and were owners of wonderful artifacts that gave them additional strength, knowledge and, ultimately, power.

Amaterasu ("Great Goddess Who Illuminates the Heavens")

Country: Japan
Essence: Sun Goddess, ruler of the heavenly fields

Amaterasu is the eldest of three children of the progenitor god Izanaki. She was born from drops of water with which he washed his left eye. She took possession of the upper heavenly world, while her younger brothers got the night and the watery kingdom.

Amaterasu taught people how to cultivate rice and weave. The imperial house of Japan traces its ancestry from her. She is considered the great-grandmother of the first Emperor Jimmu. The rice ear, mirror, sword and carved beads given to her became sacred symbols of imperial power. According to tradition, one of the emperor's daughters becomes the High Priestess of Amaterasu.

Yu-Di (“Jade Sovereign”)

Country: China
Essence: Supreme Overlord, Emperor of the Universe

Yu-Di was born at the moment of the creation of Earth and Heaven. The Heavenly, Terrestrial, and Underground worlds are subject to him. All other deities and spirits are subordinate to him.
Yu-Di is absolutely emotionless. He sits on a throne in a robe embroidered with dragons and holding a jade tablet in his hands. Yu Di has an exact address: the god lives in a palace on Mount Yujingshan, which resembles the court of the Chinese emperors. Under it there are celestial councils responsible for various natural phenomena. They perform all sorts of actions that the Lord of Heaven himself does not condescend to do.

Quetzalcoatlus ("Feathered Serpent")

Country: Central America
Essence: Creator of the world, lord of the elements, creator and teacher of people

Quetzalcoatl not only created the world and people, but also taught them the most important skills: from agriculture to astronomical observations. Despite his high status, Quetzalcoatl sometimes acted in a very peculiar way. For example, in order to get maize grains for people, he entered an anthill, turning into an ant himself, and stole them.

Quetzalcoatl was depicted both as a feathered serpent (the body symbolizing the Earth, and the feathers representing vegetation) and as a bearded man wearing a mask.
According to one legend, Quetzalcoatl voluntarily went into overseas exile on a raft of snakes, promising to return. Because of this, the Aztecs initially mistook the conquistador leader Cortes for the returned Quetzalcoatl.

Baal (Balu, Baal, "Lord")

Country: Middle East
Essence: Thunderer, god of rain and elements. In some myths - the creator of the world

Baal, as a rule, was depicted either as a bull or as a warrior riding on a cloud with a lightning spear. During the festivities in his honor, mass orgies took place, often accompanied by self-mutilation. It is believed that human sacrifices were also made to Baal in some areas. From his name comes the name of the biblical demon Beelzebub (Ball-Zebula, “Lord of the Flies”).

Ishtar (Astarte, Inanna, "Lady of Heaven")

Country: Middle East
Essence: Goddess of fertility, sex and war

Ishtar, sister of the Sun and daughter of the Moon, was associated with the planet Venus. Associated with the legend of her journey to the underworld was the myth of nature dying and reborn every year. She often acted as an intercessor for people before the gods. At the same time, Ishtar was responsible for various feuds. The Sumerians even called wars “the dances of Inanna.” As a goddess of war, she was often depicted riding a lion, and was probably a prototype of the Whore of Babylon riding on a beast.
The passion of the loving Ishtar was destructive for both gods and mortals. For her many lovers, everything usually ended in big trouble or even death. The worship of Ishtar included temple prostitution and was accompanied by mass orgies.

Ashur ("Father of the Gods")

Country: Assyria
Essence: God of War
Ashur is the main god of the Assyrians, the god of war and hunting. His weapon was a bow and arrow. As a rule, Ashur was depicted together with bulls. Another symbol of it is the solar disk above the tree of life. Over time, as the Assyrians expanded their possessions, he began to be considered the consort of Ishtar. The High Priest of Ashur was the Assyrian king himself, and his name often became part of the royal name, as, for example, the famous Ashurbanipal, and the capital of Assyria was called Ashur.

Marduk ("Son of Clear Sky")

Country: Mesopotamia
Essence: Patron of Babylon, god of wisdom, ruler and judge of the gods
Marduk defeated the embodiment of chaos Tiamat, driving the “evil wind” into her mouth, and took possession of the book of destinies that belonged to her. After that, he cut Tiamat's body and created Heaven and Earth from them, and then created the entire modern, ordered world. The other gods, seeing the power of Marduk, recognized his supremacy.
Marduk's symbol is the dragon Mushkhush, a mixture of scorpion, snake, eagle and lion. Various plants and animals were identified with the body parts and entrails of Marduk. The main temple of Marduk - a huge ziggurat (step pyramid) - probably became the basis of the legend of the Tower of Babel.

Yahweh (Jehovah, "He Who Is")

Country: Middle East
Essence: Single tribal god of the Jews

Yahweh's main function was to help his chosen people. He gave the Jews laws and strictly monitored their implementation. In clashes with enemies, Yahweh provided the chosen people with assistance, sometimes the most direct. In one of the battles, for example, he threw huge stones at his enemies, in another case he abolished the law of nature, stopping the sun.
Unlike most other gods of the ancient world, Yahweh is extremely jealous, and forbids the worship of any deities except himself. Severe punishments await those who disobey. The word “Yahweh” is a replacement for the secret name of God, which is forbidden to be spoken out loud. It was impossible to create his images either. In Christianity, Yahweh is sometimes identified with God the Father.

Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd, “God the Wise”)

Country: Persia
Essence: Creator of the World and all that is good in it

Ahura Mazda created the laws by which the world exists. He endowed people with free will, and they can choose the path of good (then Ahura Mazda will favor them in every possible way) or the path of evil (serving Ahura Mazda's eternal enemy Angra Mainyu). Ahura Mazda's assistants are the good beings of Ahura created by him. He is surrounded by them in the fabulous Garodman, the house of chants.
The image of Ahura Mazda is the Sun. He is older than the whole world, but at the same time, eternally young. He knows both the past and the future. In the end, he will achieve the final victory over evil, and the world will become perfect.

Angra Mainyu (Ahriman, "Evil Spirit")

Country: Persia
Essence: The embodiment of evil among the ancient Persians
Angra Mainyu is the source of everything bad that happens in the world. He spoiled the perfect world created by Ahura Mazda, introducing lies and destruction into it. He sends diseases, crop failures, natural disasters, gives birth to predatory animals, poisonous plants and animals. Under the command of Angra Mainyu are the devas, evil spirits, who carry out his evil will. After Angra Mainyu and his minions are defeated, an era of eternal bliss should begin.

Brahma ("Priest")

Country: India
Essence: God is the creator of the world
Brahma was born from a lotus flower and then created this world. After 100 years of Brahma, 311,040,000,000,000 earthly years, he will die, and after the same period of time a new Brahma will self-generate and create a new world.
Brahma has four faces and four arms, which symbolizes the cardinal directions. Its indispensable attributes are a book, rosary, a vessel with water from the sacred Ganges, a crown and a lotus flower, symbols of knowledge and power. Brahma lives on the top of the sacred Mount Meru and rides on a white swan. The descriptions of the action of Brahma's weapon Brahmastra are reminiscent of the description of nuclear weapons.

Vishnu ("All-encompassing")

Country: India
Essence: God is the keeper of the world

The main functions of Vishnu are maintenance existing world and opposition to evil. Vishnu appears in the world and acts through his incarnations, avatars, the most famous of which are Krishna and Rama. Vishnu has blue skin and wears yellow clothes. He has four hands in which he holds a lotus flower, a mace, a conch shell and Sudarshana (a rotating disk of fire, his weapon). Vishnu reclines on the giant multi-headed snake Shesha, which swims in the world's Causal Ocean.

Shiva ("Merciful")

Country: India
Essence: God is the destroyer
Shiva's main task is to destroy the world at the end of each world cycle in order to make room for a new creation. This happens during the dance of Shiva - Tandava (which is why Shiva is sometimes called the dancing god). However, he also has more peaceful functions - a healer and a deliverer from death.
Shiva sits in lotus position on a tiger skin. There are snake bracelets on his neck and wrists. On Shiva's forehead there is a third eye (it appeared when Shiva's wife, Parvati, jokingly covered his eyes with her palms). Sometimes Shiva is depicted as a lingam (an erect penis). But sometimes he is also depicted as a hermaphrodite, symbolizing the unity of the male and female principles. According to popular beliefs, Shiva smokes marijuana, so some believers consider this activity a way to understand him.

Ra (Amon, "Sun")

Country: Egypt
Essence: Sun God
Ra, the main god of Ancient Egypt, was born from the primordial ocean of his own free will, and then created the world, including the gods. He is the personification of the Sun, and every day with a large retinue he travels across the sky in a magic boat, thanks to which life in Egypt becomes possible. At night, Ra's boat sails along the underground Nile through the afterlife. The Eye of Ra (sometimes considered an independent deity) had the ability to pacify and subjugate enemies. The Egyptian pharaohs traced their origins to Ra, and called themselves his sons.

Osiris (Usir, "The Mighty One")

Country: Egypt
Essence: God of rebirth, ruler and judge of the underworld.

Osiris taught people agriculture. His attributes are associated with plants: the crown and boat are made of papyrus, he holds bundles of reeds in his hands, and the throne is covered with greenery. Osiris was killed and cut into pieces by his brother, the evil god Set, but was resurrected with the help of his wife and sister Isis. However, having conceived the son Horus, Osiris did not remain in the world of the living, but became the ruler and judge of the kingdom of the dead. Because of this, he was often depicted as a swaddled mummy with free hands, in which he holds a scepter and flail. In Ancient Egypt, the tomb of Osiris was highly revered.

Isis ("The Throne")

Country: Egypt
Essence: Intercessor Goddess.
Isis is the embodiment of femininity and motherhood. All segments of the population turned to her with pleas for help, but, first of all, the oppressed. She especially patronized children. And sometimes she acted as a defender of the dead before the afterlife court.
Isis was able to magically resurrect her husband and brother Osiris and give birth to his son Horus. In popular mythology, the floods of the Nile were considered the tears of Isis, which she shed for Osiris, who remained in the world of the dead. The Egyptian pharaohs were called the children of Isis; sometimes she was even depicted as a mother feeding the pharaoh with milk from her breast.
The image of the “veil of Isis” is known, meaning the concealment of the secrets of nature. This image has long attracted mystics. No wonder Blavatsky’s famous book is called “Isis Unveiled.”

Odin (Wotan, "The Seer")

Country: Northern Europe
Essence: God of war and victory
Odin is the main god of the ancient Germans and Scandinavians. He travels on the eight-legged horse Sleipnir or on the ship Skidbladnir, the size of which can be changed at will. Odin's spear, Gugnir, always flies to the target and hits on the spot. He is accompanied by wise crows and predatory wolves. Odin lives in Valhalla with a squad of the best fallen warriors and warlike Valkyrie maidens.
In order to gain wisdom, Odin sacrificed one eye, and in order to understand the meaning of the runes, he hung on the sacred tree Yggdrasil for nine days, nailed to it with his own spear. Odin's future is predetermined: despite his power, on the day of Ragnarok (the battle preceding the end of the world) he will be killed by the giant wolf Fefnir.

Thor (Thunder)

Country: Northern Europe
Essence: Thunderer

Thor is the god of the elements and fertility among the ancient Germans and Scandinavians. This is a hero god who protects not only people, but also other gods from monsters. Thor was depicted as a giant with a red beard. His weapon is the magic hammer Mjolnir (“lightning”), which can only be held with iron gloves. Thor is girded with a magic belt that doubles his strength. He rides across the sky in a chariot drawn by goats. Sometimes he eats goats, but then resurrects them with his magic hammer. On the day of Ragnarok, the last battle, Thor will deal with the world serpent Jormungandr, but he himself will die from his poison.

The story of Zeus, the supreme god of Greek mythology.
Many believed in Zeus as the only and main god even before the advent of Christianity, and the most terrible natural disasters were explained by his anger.
Heaven in Greek mythology personified a very important part of the world, and the one who controls the sky is the master of everything. Zeus was revered in every possible way as a fair ruler of both people and gods.

Among the gods, Zeus occupied the highest level of the hierarchy, that is, in fact, he was a king among the gods.

As the lord of the heavens, Zeus could control lightning and thunder. It was lightning that became a symbol of the power and might of Zeus. This explains another name of Zeus - the Thunderer, as the Greeks tried to explain such a natural phenomenon as lightning.

The myth of the birth of Zeus

The first mentions of Zeus were found in the records of the ancient Greek author Hesiod (Hesiod lived in the 7th century BC) he wrote the book of theogony (for the Greeks this book was something like the book of Genesis.)
According to legend, Zeus was not a god from the very beginning, but myth of the birth of Zeus, begin with Zeus challenging his father, Kronos. Kronos was very powerful, he commanded the most powerful of the deities - the Titans. (The Titans were considered the very first deities who populated the earth, but they were not particularly smart, aggressive, they only wanted to take and consume.) When Kronos decides to extend his family, he is forced to enter into a relationship with his sister from the Titan family, Reya.

Initially, all gods are relatives, and therefore incest in myths is quite common.

Kronos and his wife Rhea have the next generation of gods. In the future, this generation will be called Olympians. These include Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.

Kronos initially did not want to have children, as he did not want to give up the status of supreme ruler. He was afraid that his son would be stronger and better, that in the end he would overthrow him. For fear of losing everything, Kronos decided to take drastic action. Immediately after birth, he swallowed his children alive. Of course, the children could not die (since they were immortal gods), but they no longer posed a threat to Kronos.

At that time cannibalism in ancient Greece was something out of the ordinary, this act was considered the lot of savages.

Rhea was horrified, Kronos had already devoured five of her children, and now she was pregnant again. To keep her children free, Rhea comes up with a plan. She runs away to a secret hideout and gives birth to a son there. It is this son who will become the king of the gods - Zeus. But Kronos was already waiting for his wife at home to devour the newly born child. Therefore, Rhea wraps a stone in a swaddling cloth and carries it to Kronos. Kronos immediately swallows the package without realizing anything.

Rhea decides to hide his son on the island of Crete in a secret cave. (Afterwards, this cave will become a sanctuary for the worship of Zeus.) But it is difficult to hide someone from Kronos himself; every time little Zeus cried, the people who guarded him beat the special shields that hung along the walls of the cave. The ringing of these shields prevented Kronos from hearing his son's cry.

The myth of the birth of Zeus says that the little god lived in a cave until maturity. Growing up, Zeus undergoes training, gains wisdom and strength - he becomes a real man. All this is done to achieve his goal, which Zeus set for himself - to overthrow his cruel father and seize power over the world.

A brief myth about Zeus - the overthrow of Kronos

Zeus knows that the stakes are very high; if he wins, he will become the supreme ruler of the world, and if he loses, he will go to Tartarus forever.

(Tartarus is the lower level of the kingdom of Hades, it is here that the damned, that is, those who somehow offended the gods, were thrown down.)

Kronos sat on Mount Olympus.

Mount Olympus in ancient Greek mythology was the home of the gods. However, it actually exists. This is the highest point in Greece, the mountain rises almost 3 kilometers above sea level. The Greeks themselves truly believed that gods lived on this mountain.

It is on the top of Olympus that Zeus develops a plan to recapture the throne from his father Kronos and his mighty Titans. Zeus decides to free his brothers, swallowed by Kronos, and enlist their help. During this time, the brothers of Zeus, being in the stomach of Kronos, also matured and gained the power of the gods. To free his brothers, Zeus brewed a poisonous potion. Having entered Kronos's chambers, Zeus pours poison into his cup. After drinking it, Kronos begins to feel unwell, and soon he vomits the stone that Rhea gave him instead of Zeus.

According to legend, this stone formed the basis of the most revered place in ancient Greece - the Delphic temple, the haven of the oracle. Delphi is a sanctuary where people from all over Greece came to worship and ask for help from the gods. This stone, which Kronos cast down from himself, remains to this day in the very center of the Delphic temple.

According to legend, after the stone, Kronos vomited out five previously eaten children. Zeus, as a good ruler, had an excellent mind and skills to inspire and convince others. Thanks to these skills, he was able to unite his relatives and create a coalition. But even together they were not strong enough to fight the Titans.

Then Zeus remembered the Cyclopes and the hundred-armed Hecatoncheires, forgotten by Kronos. Kronos was afraid of their power, and therefore hid them in Tartarus.
Zeus understood that by enlisting their help, victory would be his. Descending into Tartarus, he finds the Hecatoncheires and speaks with them as equals and with respect, he asks them for help in overthrowing his father. Touched by such respect, the Hecatoncheires agreed to help young Zeus.

Afterwards, Zeus also freed the Cyclopes. In return, they gave Zeus the power to command lightning and thunder.

The forces have been determined, the battle itself will take place in Thessaly, a plain lying between the mountains Othrys and Olympus.
Begins grand battle, Zeus with lightning in his hands, his brothers, Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires fight with the most powerful deities - the Titans.

(Traces of grandiose battles are still found in the Thessalian Valley.)

Soon the decisive moment arrives, a battle between father and son. From the top of Mount Olympus, Zeus strikes his father's army with powerful lightning strikes. The hundred-armed Hecatoncheires chopped off huge pieces of mountains and threw them at the titans. The ground cracked under their feet, and the sounds of battle were heard throughout the world.

Scientists have found that the ancient world at that time experienced a real catastrophe. On the island of Santorini there are about 3 t.l. ago there was a strong volcanic eruption. Its power can be compared to five tens of thousands of Hiroshima bombs. An eruption of such magnitude destroyed much of the Greek world, and survivors could explain the disaster as the wrath of the gods.

The battle of the gods continues, and Zeus begins to win. But the Titans had something to do. From the depths of Tartarus they summon Typhon.

Typhon is a terrifying monster of incredible size.

The battle between Zeus and Typhon was not long; the monster cannot withstand such powerful lightning strikes and is thrown back into Tartarus along with the remaining titans. They will spend eternity there.

The victory of Zeus made him the ruler of the world and king among the other gods. However, the calm and peace did not last long; soon Zeus had a new enemy in the person of a loved one.

Zeus and his wife Metis

The myths of ancient Greece say that the Greek gods are not at all sinless, everyone has both strengths and weaknesses, and the gods are no exception.

One of the weakest sides of Zeus was his love of love and passion for women. According to legends, Zeus turned into various animals, people, and husbands of women. All this was done in order to seduce young beauties and enter into relationships with them.

The first to attract the attention of Zeus was the young goddess Metis. Soon Zeus took her as his wife.

Metis is the wife of Zeus; according to legend, she is incredibly beautiful, and her name itself means “wise”

But his feelings are overshadowed by a terrible prophecy that should deprive him of power. Zeus was predicted that his wife would give birth to a child who would take the throne from him. Like his father, Zeus was afraid of his future heir. But Zeus didn't want to be like his father, he swore that this time everything would be different. To keep his vow, he swallows his wife. And again love lost to the thirst for power.

While Metis was in captivity, Zev could use all her intellectual abilities. Zeus became smarter, wiser and more cunning than he was before.

Zeus and Hera - Zeus's new wife

Since Metis was gone, Zeus needed a new wife. Like his father, Zeus decides to take a wife from his own family. She became his sister, the goddess Hera.
Hera was not like the others, she was very powerful. It can be said that Zeus and Hera were more equal.
But Hera was also quite jealous. Zeus continued to increase the number of his lovers.
The myth of Zeus says that his lovers included both mortals and goddesses. Every relationship between Zeus and his lovers ended in pregnancy. They gave birth to more than a hundred children from Zeus.

Such promiscuity of Zeus could be explained by the secret desire of the Greeks themselves. Dreaming of many girls, they thought that almighty God would certainly not miss such an opportunity.

Soon, more and more cities of ancient Greece wanted to become related to God himself. They announced that in their city there was a girl pregnant from Zeus himself. As a result of this, the founders of local ruling dynasties were born. The cities themselves began to be named in honor of the born children of Zeus: Athens, Thebes, Magnesia, Macedonia.

However , I’m not happy about my husband’s love affairs. Hera did not like the fact that she was humiliated in front of the other gods; one day she could not stand it and swore that she would take revenge on Zeus for his numerous betrayals.

Gathering the rest of the Olympians, Hera persuades them to rebel against Zeus. She said that it was unfair that Zeus was in charge and if all the Olympians united, they could overthrow him.
The Olympians gather and chain Zeus while he sleeps. Waking up, Zeus discovers that he is chained. He did not expect such meanness from the relatives whom he had previously saved.

Zeus was always afraid of such an uprising, because not one mortal could challenge him. But having united, the Olympian gods could well have overthrown him.

Soon help came to the chained Zeus in the form of old allies - Hecatoncheires. Hearing that Zeus is in trouble, they come to Zeus to help. They break the chains that bind them, and the Olympians run away in fear.

Having survived this conspiracy, Zeus begins to take revenge. He hung his wife Hera on golden chains, between heaven and earth. Son Apollo and brother Poseidon were sentenced to hard labor (they had to build the impregnable walls of Troy.)

The ancient Greeks could not explain the emergence of Troy (it was impossible to build a building of this level at that time), but myth explained its emergence.

The Wrath of Zeus and the Flood

According to legend, everyone who rebelled against Zeus received a well-deserved punishment, but God’s wrath also fell on people. The Flood is attributed to the wrath of Zeus.

In ancient Greece, people were very afraid of the wrath of Zeus. After all, when doing a bad deed, Zeus could strike them with his lightning.
Hesiod wrote that if it were not for the fear of Zeus, people would turn into animals, and the weak would submit to the strong. Thus, Zeus brought order and justice to the world.

When natural disasters occurred in the world, the Greeks believed that Zeus sent them to punish the villains. Often, stories were invented about what angered God so much.

According to legend, Zeus went berserk if people ate their own kind. Once he saw how people were eating their own kind, Zeus flew into a rage and vowed to destroy all of humanity with a global flood.

For nine days and nights, heavy rain pours, flooding the entire earth. The water reaches the top of Mount Parnassus, which rose two and a half kilometers. People are dying all over the earth. When the rain finally stopped, only two mortals remained. They survived because they built the ark.

These stories are intertwined in an amazing way; the parallel with the Old Testament is more than obvious. Thus we can say that different peoples the world explained such a terrible natural phenomenon in different ways.

The Overthrow of Zeus – the Coming of Christianity

The myth of Zeus says that he was able to cope with the revolt of the Olympians, but could not cope with another rival, Jesus Christ.
In the 1st century AD, the teachings of Jesus Christ would spread throughout the world, overthrowing the power of the supreme Greek deity.
Christianity gave people hope. Hope for salvation after death. People began to believe that after death they would have eternal life. That's why Christianity had so many followers.
The power of Zeus over people with the spread of the new religion throughout the Mediterranean countries gradually faded away. The people who revered him, in the end, rejected him themselves.

In ancient Greece, only the force of fate was more powerful than Zeus. Even the supreme god himself could not resist fate. No matter how much he wants to change her or avoid her, he still submits to her will.

Before the advent of Christianity myth of Zeus ruled the entire Greek world for thousands of years. Zeus was the most formidable and revered among all the Olympian gods. He is one of the few deities who left a big mark on the history of mankind: Hercules, Hades, Medusa - stories about them open a window into a long-forgotten world.

He was the most terrible of the Greek gods. Not a single mortal dared to pronounce his name. He personified death itself and ruled the kingdom of the dead. Everyone knew that sooner or later they would meet him.

Hades is the mythological guardian of death, the king of the underworld, where all the ancient Greeks were so afraid to go. In those days it was not customary to depict Hades in any way. Temples were almost never built in his honor and they did not honor him in any way. The myth of the king of the underworld explained to the ancient Greeks what happens to them after death. All these legends show how strongly people strived to survive, and what fears and thoughts death awakened in them. Many religions and beliefs have a separate way of existing after the death of the physical body.

The myth says that after death, the spirit of the deceased descends into Hades - the underworld. The ancient Greek afterlife, Hades, combines both heaven and hell. In the Christian religion, everything is different - a person’s soul will be punished or it will be granted eternal bliss in the kingdom of God, depending on its Earthly deeds. The ancient Greeks did not have a division between heaven and hell; they believed that all the afterlife kingdoms were in one place - underground.

Hades consisted of three levels. Almost all the souls of the dead end up on asphodel meadow. There, faceless masses arrive in oblivion. The soul of a deceased person is doomed to long wanderings in the gloomy underworld. Asphodel meadow can be compared to purgatory. This is a quiet, calm place where there are fallen mournful trees, between which the souls of people wander aimlessly.

For those who have angered the gods, a special place is provided in the kingdom of Hades - an abyss of 65 thousand kilometers. A soul that finds itself in this place is doomed to eternal torment and torment. This place is surrounded by a river of fire Pyriphlegethon, the ancient Greeks called it Tartarus.

Christian Hell is a kind of version of the Greek Tartarus. Only the souls of evil people fell into it. The first Christians so associated Hell with Tartarus that they wrote about it in the New Testament. Information about Tartarus can be found in the second letter of Peter in the New Testament. Historians believe that the Christian concept of Hell originated from the ancient Greek Tartarus.

The most righteous people ended up on the third level of Hades, where the real Paradise awaited them - Elysium. It is also known as the Island of the Blessed.

Elysium is the ancient Greek equivalent of Paradise. According to legend, this place is abundant in food, there is no suffering or hardship. The souls who found themselves in Elysium were surrounded by the same righteous people as they themselves were during life. All Greek heroes definitely ended up in Elysium.

All ancient Greeks obeyed the will of Hades. However, some met him at the very dawn of his strength.

Hades chose a beautiful queen for his queen Persephone. He kidnapped her while walking. That day, Persephone was picking flowers in the meadow, when suddenly the earth opened up, and the invisible hand of Hades dragged her into his afterlife. He made her a captive of his kingdom in order to make her his wife forever.

Meanwhile, in the world of the living, her mother is desperately looking for her - Diameter, goddess of fertility. This myth tells about the most important aspect of the life of the ancient Greeks. Dimetra is capable of destroying all people. The Greeks believed that Dimeter had power over the seasons. It was believed that from the moment Hades abducted Persephone, the annual cycle began on Earth.

Dimetra had no idea what trouble had befallen her daughter. She wandered around the world in search of Persephone and in her grief forgot to reward the Earth with fertility. All the plants slowly withered and soon died. After the death of plants, infertility of women followed, and no more children were born on Earth. The harshest winter in history has arrived. When the gods of Olympus saw the looming threat of eternal winter, they ordered Hades to immediately bring Persephone back to life. However, Hades was not going to carry out the will of the Olympians.

Hades believed that if he succeeded in forcing the beautiful Persephone to eat underground food, she would become one with the world of the dead. The king of the underworld offered Persephone pomegranate seeds, she accepted the delicacy, and her fate was sealed. Later, the whole world will pay a high price for this mistake. After Persephone ate the food of the underworld, she was obliged to spend three months a year in the kingdom of the dead. One month for each pomegranate seed she ate. The rest of the time she was allowed to be with her mother.

At the time when Persephone was in Hades, Dimeter could not give fertility to the Earth - thus, the ancient Greeks explained winter to themselves. Upon Persephone's return, her mother rejoiced, and was sad when her daughter was taken away by Hades again. This is how spring, summer and autumn appeared. People in those days believed that when the seasons changed, Persephone moved from the earthly kingdom to the underground. However, how did she get to Hades? The ancient Greeks believed that the cave Eleusis was the entrance to Hades, the gates of death. When Persephone left the kingdom of the dead for the first time, her mother Demeter met her at this cave. Eleusis is considered the border between two worlds - the world of the living and the kingdom of the dead. However, this cave was not the only entrance to the underground kingdom. The Greeks believed that Hades could be reached by different roads. During excavations near the entrance to the Eleusis cave, archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple. Among other finds, scientists found a stone bas-relief, the inscription on which read “To God and Goddess.” The bas-relief was dedicated to a god whose name was forbidden to be pronounced. This temple belonged to the angel of death - Hades.

Such temples are quite rare in Greek culture. Hades himself, like his cult, does not encourage temples to be built in their honor. When the Greeks needed Hades' attention, they stomped their feet on the ground, shouting his name. Therefore, temples dedicated to Hades are very rare.

A sect gathered in Eleusis to honor a secret cult. It included a group of people obsessed with the idea of ​​death. In this secret sect, such famous people underwent initiation rites historical figures like Plato, Socrates, Cicero, this indicates the special significance of the cult. The writings found by archaeologists indicate that different members of society came there with one goal - to find the shortest road to Paradise, the road to endless happiness and bliss in the kingdom of Hades. In those days, sects provided all the necessary knowledge about reaching the “island of the blessed.” The Eleusinian sect had a direct impact on Christianity. Since this cult contributed to getting rid of the fear of death, its popularity grew and prepared the basis for Christian faith. As a result, the main idea of ​​Christianity became victory over death.

The ancient Greeks considered Hades a cruel ruler of souls. However, the god of death was not always like this; he had to go through many trials. He went from a forgotten child to the most terrible god, striking fear into every mortal. Hades was cursed from the very moment he was born, the moment he was swallowed alive by his own father.

Birth of Hades

Kronos was predicted that one of his children would take his place. Kronos was the king of all gods - titans, and most of all he was afraid of losing his power over the world. He solves this problem by swallowing his children alive. Hades also suffered the fate of being eaten by his own father. When he was first born, Kronos swallowed him.

In ancient Greece, killing children was a fairly rare occurrence, so such cruelty caused real horror in them. All the children swallowed by Kronos did not die, since they were immortal gods. They grew, developed and matured right in the womb of Kronos. Only one child managed to escape the fate of his brothers and sisters - his name was Zeus. He returned to his brothers and sisters as an adult god and freed them from their captivity within Kronos. Zeus united the saved gods, made them the gods of Olympus, and overthrew his father Kronos, seizing power over the world. After the victory, the Olympian gods had to decide how to share their power. Three gods, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon agree to demarcate their domains. This was the decisive moment that forever distributed the forces between the gods. Since Hades was the eldest of the sons of Kronos, according to ancient Greek laws he had a number of advantages. The Greeks in those days accepted the right of primogeniture. According to this right, Hades had every right to inherit most of the divided property. However, Zeus, the younger brother of Hades, planned to rule the world on his own. In the dispute that arises, they come to a drawing of lots.

Among the ancient Greeks, if the inheritance could not be divided in any other way, lot was the usual procedure for dividing property. As a result of the draw, Poseidon got the sea, Zeus the sky, and Hades the kingdom of the dead.

Hades had the opportunity to rule the world, but fate decreed otherwise. He was extremely offended and saddened by his lot, but such was his fate. Since the ancient Greeks were afraid of death and treated it as something very terrible, they did not pay practically any honor to Hades. The other gods of Olympus also could not stand his company, because they hated death. The kingdom of Hades was described in ancient writings as wet caves and rivers. In this place there is fog floating over the rivers, everything there reeks of the smell of decomposition. There is no turning back from there.

There is a whole network of huge caves near Greece. This network is a labyrinth of caves filled with water, a place that exactly resembles the underground kingdom of Hades. For the Greeks, these caves were something like intermediate links; they were interpreted as transition points between two worlds - earthly life and the kingdom of the dead. The Greeks found caves to be very important in their history as they were the homes of the first people. After the ancient Greeks left the caves and began building individual houses, the dungeons began to be considered sacred. Hades and his dead kingdom brought genuine horror to all people. More than Hades itself, they were afraid of the damned souls that wandered around the world and could not get to Hades. According to legend, dead souls, not allowed in by Hades, haunted the living.

Since Hades was the king of the underworld of the dead, he tried to create a real kingdom out of it. Like any other just ruler, he punished the evil and rewarded the good. To maintain order, Hades assembled a certain group that monitors justice and order among dead souls. This group included Hecatoncheires- hundred-handed giants, Cerberus(Kerberus) - a three-headed dog, distinguished by extreme cruelty, and a student of Hades - Charon.

Charon was the ferryman on the icy river of human tears - the Styx. He transported dead souls from one shore to the other, to the kingdom of the dead. Charon was a demonic, dried-out creature on the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead. All souls in Hades got there with the help of Charon. However, he charged a small fee for his services - all souls had to pay in coin for their crossing. Souls who could not pay Charon were doomed to wander forever along the banks of the River Styx. Among the ancient Greeks, placing coins was a mandatory funeral ritual; without this ritual, the soul of the deceased would never have known peace. In many ancient states, laws were introduced to punish people for non-compliance with the burial ritual. This shows how strongly people believed in the truth of their myths. Ancient sources say that sometimes the souls of the deceased returned to the living. This happened in those families who, for some reason, did not observe the funeral rites. Dead souls knew no peace, they cried, asked for something, destroyed and harmed, and could not get to Hades.

The ancient Greeks left plenty of evidence of their belief in ghosts and spirits. In Greek graves, archaeologists have discovered lead figurines with bound limbs. They were placed in miniature coffins with curses carved on the lids. All spells were aimed at the dead and their gods, so that they would torture people who had not yet died. Thus, ancient Greek wrestlers asked the dead to tie the hands of their opponents. This “magic” was used everywhere for various kinds of needs, mainly to harm an opponent or competitor in something. Figurines with curses were mainly placed in the graves of those who were unlikely to end up in Hades. These were the restless dead. They are those who died at too early an age, those who died a violent death, those who were buried without observing the rules and rituals of burial.

Such spirits are deprived of the opportunity to enter the afterlife, the kingdom of Hades. That is why they were considered evil and unhappy. It is easiest for restless souls to be pushed into committing a bad act. The souls that managed to get to Hades never returned. Those who tried to leave the kingdom of the dead faced severe punishment. But some still took risks.

Sisyphus

Legends tell of a sick and exhausted man who stood at the foot of the mountain. Blood mixed with sweat appeared through his skin. His name was Sisyphus. He was the first person to challenge Hades himself, planning to cheat death. Just before his death, he asked his wife not to bury him. He understood that if his wife did not bury his body, his soul would hang between two worlds - the world of the living and the kingdom of Hades. Sisyphus was an educated man. He intended to convince Hades to release his soul. Since Sisyphus understood that it was impossible to deceive Hades, he decided to act through his queen. Sisyphus complained to Persephone about his wife - how could she do this to his body? He managed to convince Queen Hades, she felt sympathy for the unfortunate Sisyphus and was angry with his wife. Persephone allowed Sisyphus to return to the world of the living to punish his wife. He achieved what he needed. The spirit of Sisyphus, released into freedom, did not even think of returning back to the kingdom of the dead. Thus, the cunning Sisyphus managed to deceive death. But Hades never lets anyone out of his kingdom. As soon as Hades learned about Sisyphus's escape, he immediately returned his soul back.

Thus, the cunning Sisyphus managed to deceive death. But Hades never lets anyone out of his kingdom. As soon as Hades learned about Sisyphus's escape, he immediately returned his soul back.

Sisyphus was mistaken about being smart enough to outsmart the great gods. In ancient Greece, such actions were considered extremely dangerous. Anyone who tried to deceive Hades was considered an enemy of Greece. The Greeks firmly believed that the souls of the dead should be in Hades, and nowhere else. It was believed that the dead could drag the souls of the living into another world; they stole other people's lives.

Hades' punishment for Sisyphus's disobedience was extremely severe. Those who tried to cheat death faced eternal torment in the underworld. For his insolence, Sisyphus was imprisoned in Tartarus - the hell of ancient myths. Surrounded by a river of fire, he had to push a huge stone to the top of an underground mountain. Every day of Sisyphus ended the same way - he rolled a heavy stone to the top, and then was forced to helplessly watch as the stone broke off and rolled down. He has to endure this suffering day after day. Sisyphus is doomed to suffer forever. The myth of Sisyphus was a stern reminder to people that no mortal could outwit Hades and death.

Sisyphus was not the only one who tried to cheat death. Of all the gods, mortals most often tried to deceive Hades. Another cunning way to cheat death was invented by Orpheus.

Orpheus

Orpheus was known for playing the most beautiful music in the world. Orpheus' skill will become a real weapon against death. Before Orpheus in ancient Greece, no one knew what music was. He was considered the founder of a musical tradition. It was Orpheus who invented poetry and melody. Orpheus's most skillful playing could be heard when he picked up the lyre, an ancient stringed instrument.

In Ancient Greece, the word music meant not only the performance of a song, but also a certain magical formula. While he was playing or singing, Orpheus performed a kind of magic.

Music was the meaning of Orpheus’ life, however, Orpheus felt true love, greater than everything he knew, not for music, but for Eurydice- to his beautiful wife. The saddest thing about the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice was how much they loved each other. Orpheus and Eurydice were truly happy together, but among the ancient Greeks, happy people certainly found themselves in some terrible situation, because mortals cannot be so happy.

One day Eurydice was picking fruit in a beautiful garden. The girl did not suspect that she was being followed by a satyr - half man, half goat, an ugly and lustful creature. Among the ancient Greeks, the image of satyrs personified unbridled male power. The satyrs had only one thing on their minds - an irresistible desire to mate.

When the satyr tried to attack Eurydice, the girl noticed him and began to run away. But the satyr was stronger and faster, he blocked the path of the beautiful Eurydice. The girl backed away until she stepped on a snake's nest. When Orpheus discovered his beloved, she was already dead. Hades took Eurydice's soul.

Orpheus loved his wife so much that he did not want to accept her death and decided to challenge Hades himself. Taking with him only one lyre, he went to the underworld. In Greek myths, a hero became a hero only when he went down to Hades and returned unharmed. With his beautiful music, Orpheus bewitched Charon and crossed the Styx. However, on the other side of Orpheus, an even more terrible obstacle awaited him - Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades with three heads. Cerberus's job is to keep an eye on everyone who enters and leaves the dark kingdom of Hades. Just the sight of him would send anyone into indescribable horror. Orpheus again begins to play sweet tunes, enchanting Cerberus. When the guardian of the world of the dead freezes, Orpheus manages to enter. Orpheus appeared before Hades in the hope that the magic of music would help him convince the great god of death to release Eurydice. Orpheus is trying to do what no one has dared to do - to charm death itself.

Orpheus' music was so touching that tears rolled down the cheeks of everyone in the underworld, including Hades himself. The king of the dead was so moved by Orpheus's song that he decides to give him a chance to return his beloved. For the first time, Hades acknowledged the power of love and the loss of a loved one.

The Lord of the Underworld agrees to release Eurydice from the world of the dead, but with one condition - throughout Orpheus’s entire journey to the exit from Hades, he must believe that Eurydice is following him. It was enough for Orpheus to turn around just once to lose his love forever.

Step by step on the way to leaving Hades, Orpheus is increasingly overcome by doubts - whether Eurydice is following him, or Hades staged a cruel game for fun. Having reached the very exit from the kingdom of the dead, Orpheus cannot stand it, turns around and sees his beloved. The moment their eyes touch, Eurydice is carried back into the arms of Hades. The Lord of the Dead has once again proven his invincible power over the living. However, he will soon face a force many times greater than himself.

Having risen to the surface, Orpheus spends the rest of his life wandering through the wasteland. He sings a song about the terrible loss of his loved one to everyone he meets.

Over the past two hundred years, mysterious tablets with inscriptions made of pure gold have been found in ancient Greek burial places. An unexpected archaeological find has helped us understand how the ancient Greeks perceived the king of the dead and his kingdom. These tablets were placed on the mouth of the deceased at the time of burial. All tablets are made in the shape of lips, as if the text on the tablet was spoken by the deceased himself. The text constantly features Hades as the god of the dead and as his kingdom. These texts are explanations of those who visited Hades on how to find the kingdom of the dead. “On the left side of the house of Hades you will see a spring. The moment the soul leaves the sunlight, fly to the right, but be careful,” reads one of the inscriptions on the golden tablet. Presumably these texts were a pass to the kingdom of the dead. They describe what happens in the underworld and what stages the soul goes through. The texts tell what guards the soul will meet in the underworld and what it must tell them in order to pass on and get to the kingdom of Hades.

When Orpheus returned from the kingdom of the dead, he described in his songs the structure of Hades with all its inhabitants. He talked about what is in the world of the dead, where to go, what to do and say. Some lines of his songs appear on golden tablets. In ancient times, the songs of Orpheus were used as a guide to the afterlife. This is how the Greeks saw the kingdom of the dead for many thousands of years. However, in the first century AD, the vision of the afterlife changed. New religious ideas changed the idea of ​​the world of the dead in the minds of people. Hades met his strongest rival - Jesus Christ.

The Crushing of Hades by Jesus Christ

The Christian religion talks about greatest battle gods of the old and new world order. Jesus came to take away the souls that belonged to Hades. The apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus tells of the descent of Jesus Christ into the underworld. After his death, he descended into hell and fought with Hades. Jesus managed to defeat the gates of Hades and lead all people to heaven.

Having descended into Hades, Christ preached a sermon to all dead souls. Its meaning is quite simple - give up Hades and accept a new savior. John the Theologian wrote about the last seconds of Hades in his prediction of the end of the world.

To show people his power and greatness, Jesus destroys Hades and defeats death itself. As a result, the god of the dead dies in the lake of fire, where Jesus throws him. He reveals that he has such power that he can defeat death itself.

All these stories are much more than ordinary myth or legend. They help to understand the essence of human essence to its very depths.

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• Tom Stone "Zeus: A Journey Through Greece in the Footsteps of a God"
• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.

Any mythology is based on myths about the creation of the world and people. It is difficult to identify any specific trend in all this. The creators of the world are sometimes gods, sometimes animals, and even plants. How a primordial creature arose from primeval Chaos and how it created the world - every myth has its own story about this. This article presents several myths about the creation of the world of the Slavs, Greeks, Sumerians, Egyptians, Indians, Chinese, Scandinavians, Zoroastrians, Arikara, Huron, Mayan Indians.

Slavs.

The Slavs had several legends about where the world and its inhabitants came from. Many peoples (ancient Greeks, Iranians, Chinese) had myths that the world arose from an egg. Similar legends and tales can be found among the Slavs. In the Tale of the Three Kingdoms, the hero goes in search of three princesses in the underworld. First he finds himself in the copper kingdom, then in the silver and gold. Each princess gives the hero an egg, which he rolls into in turn and encloses each kingdom. Having emerged into the white light, he throws the eggs onto the ground and unfolds all three kingdoms.

One of the ancient legends says: “In the beginning, when there was nothing in the world but the boundless sea, a duck, flying over it, dropped an egg into the watery abyss. The egg split, and from its lower part the mother earth came out, and from the upper part arose the high vault of heaven.”

Another legend connects the appearance of the world with the hero’s duel with the serpent who guarded the golden egg. The hero killed the serpent, split the egg - three kingdoms emerged from it: heavenly, earthly and underground.

And here is how the Carpathian Slavs talked about the birth of the world:
When was the beginning of the world,
Then there was neither sky nor earth, only the blue sea,
And in the middle of the sea there is a tall oak tree,
Two marvelous doves sat down on an oak tree,
Have you started thinking about how to establish a light?
We will go down to the bottom of the sea,
Let's take out the fine sand,
Fine sand, golden stone.
We will sow fine sand,
We will blow the golden stone.
From the fine sand - black earth,
The water is cold, the grass is green.
From the golden stone - blue sky, blue sky, bright sun,
The month and all the stars are clear.

Here's another myth. At the beginning of time the world was in darkness. But the Almighty showed Golden Egg, in which the Rod - the Parent of all things was concluded.
The clan gave birth to Love - Mother Lada and, by the power of Love, destroying its prison, gave birth to the Universe - countless star worlds, as well as our earthly world.
The sun then came out from His face.
The bright moon is from His chest.
The frequent stars are from His eyes.
The clear dawns are from His eyebrows.
Dark nights - yes from His thoughts.
Violent winds - from the breath)..
"Book of Kolyada", 1 a
So Rod gave birth to everything that we see around - everything that comes with Rod - everything that we call Nature. The genus separated the visible, revealed world, that is, Reality, from the invisible, spiritual world - from Novi. Rod separated Truth from Falsehood.
In the chariot of fire, Rod affirmed thunder. The Sun God Ra, who emerged from the person of the Family, was established in a golden boat, and the Month - in a silver one. Rod released from his lips the Spirit of God - the bird Mother Sva. By the Spirit of God, the Rod gave birth to Svarog - the Heavenly Father.
Svarog finished making peace. He became the master of the earthly World, the ruler of the Kingdom of God. Svarog established twelve pillars supporting the firmament.
From the Word of the Most High, Rod created the god Barma, who began to mutter prayers, glorifications, and recite the Vedas. He also gave birth to the Spirit of Barma, his wife Tarusa.
The clan became the Heavenly Spring and gave birth to the waters of the Great Ocean. From the foam of the Ocean waters the World Duck appeared, giving birth to many gods - Yasuns and Dasun demons. The clan gave birth to the Cow Zemun and the Goat Sedun, milk spilled from their breasts and became the Milky Way. Then he created the Alatyr stone, with which he began to churn this Milk. From the butter obtained after churning, Mother Earth of Cheese was created.

Sumerians.

The Sumerians explained the origin of the universe as follows.
In Sumerian mythology, heaven and earth were originally thought of as a mountain, the base of which was the earth, personified in the goddess Ki, and the top was the sky, the god An. From their union, the god of air and wind Enlil was born, who himself was called the “Great Mountain”, and his temple in the city of Nippur was called the “house of the Mountain”: he separated the sky from the earth and organized the cosmos - the Universe. Thanks to Enlil, the luminaries also appear. Enlil falls in love with the goddess Ninlil and takes possession of her by force as she sails down the river in her barge. For this, the elder gods banish him to the underworld, but Ninlil, who has already conceived a son, the moon god Nanna, follows him, and Nanna is born in the underworld. In the underworld, Enlil three times takes the form of guards of the underworld and gives birth to three underground gods from Ninlil. They return to the heavenly world. From now on, Nanna travels in a barge, accompanied by stars and planets, across the sky at night, and through the underworld during the day. He gives birth to a son, the solar god Utu, who wanders through the sky during the day, and at night he travels through the underworld, bringing light, drink and food to the dead. Then Enlil develops the earth: he raised the “seed of the fields” from the earth, brought into being “everything useful,” and invented the hoe.
There is another version of the creation myth.
The beginning of this story is quite beautiful. A long time ago, when there was neither heaven nor earth, there lived Tiamat, the goddess of sweet waters, Apsu, the god of salty waters, and their son, the fog rising above the water.
Then Tiamat and Apsu gave birth to two pairs of twins: Lahma and Lahama (demons), and then Anshar and Kishar, who were smarter and stronger than the elders. Anshar and Kishar had a child named Annu. Annu became the god of the sky. Ea was born to Annu. This is the god of underground waters and magic.
The younger gods - Lahma, Lahama, Anshar, Kishar, Annu and Ea - gathered every evening for a noisy feast. They prevented Apsu and Tiamat from getting enough sleep. Only Mummu, the eldest son of Apsu and Tiamat, did not take part in these amusements. Apsu and Mummu appealed to the younger gods with a request to stop the celebrations, but they were not listened to. The elders decided to kill everyone who interfered with sleep.
Ea decided to kill Apsu, who had started a conspiracy against the younger ones.
Tiamat decided to take revenge for the death of her husband. Her new husband, the god Kingu, strongly supported this idea.
So Tiamat and Kingu hatched a plan for revenge. Having learned about Tiamat's plan, Ea turned to his grandfather Anshar for advice. Anshar suggested striking Tiamat with the help of magic, because her husband was dealt with in this way. But Ea's magical powers do not affect Tiamat.
Anu, Ea's father, tried to reason with the angry goddess, but nothing worked. Since magic and negotiations came to nothing, all that remained was to turn to physical force.
Who should we send to battle? Everyone decided that only Marduk could do this. Anshar, Anu and Ea initiated the secrets of divine magic into young Marduk. Marduk is ready to fight Tiamat, demanding the undivided power of the supreme god as a reward for victory.
Young Marduk gathered all the Anunnaki (as the gods called themselves) so that they would approve the war with the supreme goddess and recognize him as their king. Anshar sent his secretary Kaku to call Lakhma, Lahama, Kishara and Damkina. Upon learning of the impending war, the gods were horrified, but a good dinner with plenty of wine calmed them down.
In addition, Marduk demonstrated his magical powers, and the gods recognized him as king.
The merciless battle lasted for a long time. Tiamat fought desperately. But Marduk defeated the goddess.
Marduk took the “tables of destinies” from Kingu (they determined the movement of the world and the course of all events) and put them around his neck. He cut the body of the slain Tiamat into two parts: from one he made the sky, from the other - the earth. People were created from the blood of the murdered Kingu.

Egyptians.

In the Egyptian city of Heliopolis, “the pride of the Sun,” as the Greeks called it, Atum was considered the creator and primal being. He arose from Nun, the primary ocean, which Atum called his father, when there was nothing yet - neither sky, nor earth, nor soil.
Atum rose like a hill among the waters of the world's oceans.
The prototypes of such hills were real hills that stood out on the water surface of the flooded Nile. Suitably fortified, they became a platform for the first temples, the construction of which seemed to perpetuate the act of creating the world. The shape of the pyramid is apparently associated with the idea of ​​a primary hill.
- I exist! I will create the world! I have no father and no mother; I am the first god in the Universe, and I will create other gods! With incredible effort, Atum broke away from the water, soared over the abyss and, raising his hands, cast a magic spell. At the same moment, a deafening roar was heard, and Ben-Ben Hill rose from the abyss amid the foamy spray. Atum sank down onto the hill and began to ponder what he should do next.
But the lonely creator had nothing to create from, and he copulated with with my own hand and swallowed his own seed, and then vomited from the mouth of the god of air Shu and the goddess of moisture Tefnut, the first divine couple. Ocean Nun blessed the creation, commanding it to grow. As soon as they were born, the children disappeared somewhere. Atum could not find them and sent his daughter, the Divine Eye of Atum, to search. The goddess returned the fugitives, and the overjoyed father shed tears. His tears turned into the first people.
From the first couple born of Atum came the god Geb and Nut, the goddess and embodiment of Heaven. The air god Shu and his wife separated the earth and the sky: Nut rose in the form of a firmament above Geb, leaning on it with her hands and feet, Shu began to support the firmament in this position with his own hands.
It was necessary to separate heaven and earth, because as long as they remain united, in embrace, there is no place on earth for other creatures.
But Geb and Nut managed to give birth to twins Osiris and Isis, as well as Set and Nephthys. Osiris was destined to be the first to be killed and resurrected to an eternal afterlife.
The earth and sky are surrounded on all sides by waters. Every night Nut swallows the sun, and in the morning again
gives birth to him.

Memphis had its own version of the creation myth. The creator god Ptah creates all things with the power of thought and word: “Ptah pacified himself, creating all things and divine words. He gave birth to the gods, created cities, placed the gods in their sanctuaries. All kinds of works, arts, movements of arms and legs arose, according to the order, conceived by the heart and expressed by the tongue, which created the essence of all things."
Main gods ancient egypt, created by Ptah, were his own incarnations. In Egyptian mythology, there is another version of the creation of the world, which arose in the city of Shmunu - the “City of Eight”. According to her, the progenitors of all things were eight gods and goddesses - Nun and Nuanet, Huh and Huakhet, Kuk and Kuaket, Amon and Amaunet. Male deities had the heads of frogs, female deities - snakes. They lived in the waters of primeval chaos and created the primordial egg there. From this egg came the solar deity in the form of a bird, and the world was filled with light. "I am a soul emerging from chaos, my nest is invisible, my egg is not broken."
During the New Kingdom (XVI-XI centuries BC), the city of Thebes became the political capital of Egypt. The main Theban deity is the sun god Amon. The Great Hymn to Amun says:
Father of fathers and all gods,
Who raised the sky and established the earth,
People came from his eyes, gods became from his mouth
The king, long live he, long live,
May he be prosperous, the head of all gods
The myth of Amun combined previously existing versions of the creation myth. It tells that in the beginning the god Amon existed in the form of a serpent. He created eight great gods, who gave birth to Ra and Atum in Iunu, and Ptah in Memphis. They then returned to Thebes and died there.
There is almost no mention of the creation of man by the gods in Egyptian mythology. According to one version, people arose from the tears of the god Ra (this is explained by the similar sound of the Egyptian words “tears” and “people”); according to another, people were molded from clay by the god Khnum.
However, the Egyptians believed that people were “the flock of God” and that God created the world for people. "He created for them the sky and the earth. He destroyed the pitchless darkness of water and created air so that they could breathe. He created for them plants, livestock, birds and fish in order to nourish them." It should be noted that in almost all traditions, legends and myths - this is common