The most beautiful goddess. Ancient Greek goddesses - the beautiful half of Olympus

Greek goddess of beauty

In Greek mythology, "shining", one of the three graces (mythical)

Female name: (Greek) one of the three graces: brilliant, beautiful

The perfect name for a lovely woman who is always tipsy.

One of the Charites, constant companion of Hermes, Aphrodite and Dionysus

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Chekhov's character "Murder"

I. Bunin's story

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Charita in ancient Greek mythology

Monthly magazine published in Moscow in 1808-10, 1812 by P. I. Shalikov

Russian literary almanac, published in Moscow in 1794-95 by N. M. Karamzin

The character of the story by A.P. Chekhov "Murder"

The character of the novel by F. Dostoevsky "The Idiot"

Woman's name

The story of the Russian writer I. Bunin

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One of the charms

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Russian female name

One of the three Greek goddesses of beauty

Sister of Euphrosyne and Thalia

Chosen of Ney, Marshal Napoleon

Daughter of Zeus and Eurynome

minor planet

Mother-of-pearl... diurnal butterfly

Passion of Prince Myshkin

Female name (Greek name of one of the graces

In Greek mythology, one of the Charites, the goddess of beauty

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At all times, people have sought to explain the cause of the occurrence various phenomena nature. They were frightened by powerful peals of thunder and terrible ones were awed by a raging storm on the sea or a volcano erupting with deadly lava. The manifestations of the elements were often attributed to the activity of certain higher beings. In connection with this, mythological stories about powerful deities appeared. They described the characters and customs of the gods, their habits and the fruits of life. These stories often had a very interesting plot. The gods, like people, had a sphere of their occupations, performed actions, entered into relationships. The clearest example of such a worldview is mythology. Ancient Greece. ancient greek goddesses and the gods forever became world literary property.

divine pantheon

The mythology of the Greeks details the two groups and the Titans. Both groups included both male gods and the Titans - this is a group of gods of the second generation, including 6 brothers and 6 sisters. The titan gods bore the following names: Kronos, Crius, Kay, Oceanus, Gipperion, Iapetus. Their sisters were the ancient Greek goddesses: Themis, Thetis, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Rhea, Teia. The composition of the Olympic celestials included 12 gods of the third generation. AT different times this composition has changed. The supreme power was held in his hands by the god of the sky and weather, Zeus, who replaced his own father, the god of time, Kronos, in this post.

Ancient Greek goddesses. Names and characteristics

It is believed that in their deities, the people embody some qualities of the human character. The ancient Greek goddesses personified a number of qualities of the fundamental feminine. Each inhabitant of Olympus displayed some side female personality. These are the ancient Greek goddesses. The list includes only representatives of the highest pantheon.

Artemis

In ancient Greece, she was considered the goddess of hunting, wild animals, and also chastity.

The great warrior of ancient Greece. She personified wisdom and patronized the sciences, creativity and crafts. Despite the warlike image of Athena, she was valued for her kindness and desire to resolve issues in peaceful ways.

The wife of the supreme god Zeus, the queen of the Olympic gods. She patronized women and marriage.

Goddess, under whose patronage were fertility and agriculture. Under the protection of Demeter was all life on the planet.

This goddess patronized the sacrificial fire and hearth. I preferred to live alone, not joining in with anyone marital relations. As a result, Hestia is considered to represent independence. female nature. Her focus is inward. The most important value is own spiritual world. Such an introversion of character was opposed by Athena and Artemis. These ancient Greek goddesses personified the desire of a woman to achieve some external goals.

Aphrodite

Depicted as a naked beauty. Was beauty and pleasure.

Kronos and Rhea, the sister and wife of the Thunderer Zeus, the supreme goddess Hera was the patroness of marriage and family, the protector of women and motherhood, and also personified marital fidelity. The symbols of Hera were a diadem and a single prong.

The eldest daughter of the titans Kronos and Rhea, the goddess family hearth and sacrificial fire Hestia was the bearer and protector of chastity. She guarded peace and unanimity in the family, patronized strangers and the suffering. The attribute of Hestia was a torch.

The middle daughter of the titans Kronos and Rhea, the goddess of the earth and fertility, Demeter patronized the farmers and guarded all life on earth. The symbols of the goddess were a staff in the form of a stem and a sickle.

The daughter of the all-powerful Zeus, the warrior maiden Athena was the goddess of just war, wisdom, knowledge, sciences, arts, and crafts. The ancient Greeks believed that Athena's presence on the battlefield would discipline and inspire soldiers. sacred symbol Athena's wisdom was served by an owl and an aegis with the head of the Gorgon Medusa.

The goddess of the Moon, the daughter of Zeus from the Titanides Leto, the virgin and eternally young Artemis patronized hunting and all life on Earth. The girls worshiped the goddess as the protector of female chastity, and married women asked her to grant happiness in marriage and help to successfully resolve during childbirth. The attributes of Artemis were a doe and a bow with arrows.

The daughter of the sky god Uranus, the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite personified eternal spring and life. The ancient Greeks also worshiped Aphrodite as the goddess of fertility, marriage and childbirth. The symbols of the goddess of love were an apple, a dove and a rose.

Minor Greek Goddesses

Queen dead goddess Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, as well as the wife of Hades, the ruler of the underworld. Persephone patronized the forces of spring: the awakening of vegetation and the germination of the sown grain. The symbol of Persephone was the narcissus flower.

The daughter of Hera and Zeus, the goddess of youth Hebe served as butler on Olympus. Later, Hebe was married to Hercules, who received immortality as a reward for his exploits. The sacred attribute of Hebe was the cypress.

The daughter of the titans Perse and Asteria, the goddess of moonlight, darkness and night visions, Hecate patronized magic, sorcery, shepherding, horse breeding and social activities people (in courts, in disputes, in people's assemblies, etc.). In addition, Hekate granted easy way travelers and helped abandoned loved ones. The symbols of Hekate were a crossroads and a snake.

The daughter of the underwater giant Tavtamanta and the oceanic Electra, the goddess of the rainbow Irida served as the messenger of the gods. Her attributes are a rainbow and an iris flower.

The goddess of furious war Enyo was part of the retinue of Ares. She awakened rage in the soldiers and sowed confusion on the battlefield.

The winged goddess of victory Nike was the companion of Athena. Nika personified the successful result of not only military enterprises, but also sports and musical competitions.

The goddess Ilithyia patronized childbirth. At the same time, it could serve as both a saving and a hostile force.

In ancient times, according to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, 12 Olympian gods, 6 men and 6 women, lived on Olympus. From them, the genealogies of all the Olympic gods, demigods and heroes of Greek myths began.
These Olympian gods made a strange journey from even more ancient times into the future. Greek gods switched to Roman gods to remain gods... but with different names. The gods of ancient Greece and Rome, having different names, perform the same functions and come from the same more ancient gods.

Greece, the sea, the foot of Mount Olympus. Olympus, a beautiful mountain visible from afar. This is the home of the Olympian gods shrouded in clouds. If you climb the mountain, to its very peak, you will find there a place sufficient for only a few people.

The Greek goddesses are the bearers of the eternal feminine qualities and today these goddesses live among us in the form normal women. The question of our choice is what we want to choose for ourselves. What kind of goddess or god do we want to look like and how we will accept this image of our destiny.

The idea of ​​representing the ancient Greek and Roman goddesses passed through love and stretches like a laurel branch from the valley of the river Pene where the legend of Daphne was born.

Nymph Daphne was the most beautiful daughter of Peneus - the god of the Rivers and the goddess of the Earth - Gaia. The god of love Eros with one shot of his arrow struck the heart of the sun god Apollo and he fell madly in love with Daphne.

Eros either forgot to shoot his second arrow in Daphne's heart, or regretted it, and as a result, Daphne rejected the courtship of Apollo, who was in love with her, and ran away as far as possible from the persistent suitor, who did not want to know anything about Daphne's feelings for him, but only and thought how to master the object of his love.

But it was impossible for Daphne to escape from the all-seeing sun god, and desperate to hide from Apollo, she asked her mother to turn her into a laurel bush growing on the banks of the Pene River and thus forever get away from the annoying love of the sun god Apollo. Finding her in the form of a bush, the enamored Apollo wove a laurel wreath, put it on his head as a sign eternal love and vowed to make the laurel an evergreen tree. The ancient Greeks used the laurel wreath as a prize given to the winners of the Olympic Games.

The legend is very beautiful and tragic... Is this a punishment for unrequited love?

Artemis(in Ancient Rome- the goddess Diana) the daughter of Zeus and the goddess Leto (Latona according to another version - Demeter), the sister of Apollo. When Leto became pregnant, she hid on the island of Delos. The wife of Zeus, Hera, who was also the goddess of marriage, having learned about this blasphemy, sent the Delphic Python after her in pursuit. Zeus saved his daughter and under a palm tree on the island of Delos, Leto gave birth to Artemis and Apollo.

Artemis loved her brother Apollo very much and often came to the top of Parnassus, where he lived, to rest and listen to his playing on the golden cithara and the songs of the muses. At dawn, having slept, she again rushed into the forests to hunt.

ancient roman goddess Diana was the goddess of hunting, the patroness of wild animals and the moon. Diana is depicted as a huntress with a bow whose arrows never miss their targets, surrounded by deer and dogs. The realm of Artemis is wild nature.

Diana of the ancient Romans is also the chaste goddess of femininity, fertility, hunting, the moon and the night. She is depicted accompanied by wild animals with a bow and a quiver of arrows, wandering with mountain nymphs through forests and mountains. Diana guards young single women and is the Virgin of Purity. Diana in the period of late Roman antiquity was considered the personification of the night and the moon, just as her brother Apollo was identified with the day and the sun.

Diana among the Romans had a triple power - on earth, under earth and in heaven, and therefore the epithet "goddess of three roads" belonged to her. Her images were often placed at crossroads big roads. Diana was also known as the patroness of prisoners, plebeians and slaves. Later, she began to be considered the patroness of the Latin Union.

Athena(in Ancient Rome - Minerva) was the goddess of wisdom, just war and crafts. Athena is the protector of cities, the patroness of the art of science, creativity, crafts and agriculture. She is the bulwark of prosperity. Athena is the patroness of the Greek city of Athens, named after her. Athena is the patroness of many heroes. Very often she was depicted in armor, as she was also known as an excellent strategist.

Being the goddess of war, Athena did not receive joy from battles, she preferred to approve the law and resolve disputes peacefully. She was renowned for her kindness. The only exception occurred in the Trojan War, when, enraged that the apple of discord did not rightfully go to her, Athena, along with Hera, poured out all her fury in battle.

Athena was the daughter of Zeus and the Titanides Metis. Zeus was predicted a terrible future - his future son from Metis was supposed to overthrow him from the throne and then Zeus swallowed his pregnant wife. With the help of the god Hephaestus, he brought out of his head the already adult Athena, who was in full combat attire. Since then, Athena has been, as it were, part of Zeus himself, she fulfills his will and carries out the plans of Zeus.

Athena is the desire of Zeus, realized by her in reality. The attributes of Athena are the owl, the snake and the aegis. One touch of Athena to a person is enough to give him wisdom and knowledge and make him a wonderful and successful hero. According to mythology, the goddess Athena patronized only ambitious people making their endeavors successful. Reading the Iliad, we see that Athena patronizes her heroes.

Minerva is the ancient Roman goddess of wisdom, arts and crafts. She is Jupiter's favorite daughter. According to Roman legend, Minerva was also born without a mother, emerging fully armed from Jupiter, sparkling with her beauty after Vulcan split his head and took out Minerva from there.

Hestia(in Ancient Rome - Vesta) is the goddess of the hearth and sacrificial fire in Ancient Greece, which burns in her temples and houses. She is eldest daughter Kronos and Rhea. Her sisters are Hera, Demeter and Hades, and her brothers are Poseidon and Zeus. Hestia founded the city of Knossos.

Poseidon and Apollo intended to take her as their wife, but she decided to live with her brother Zeus as a virgin. The image of Hestia “owning the Pythian laurel” was in the Athenian Prytane, and the altar of Hestia was in the grove of Zeus Gomoria.

A sacrifice was made to her before the beginning of any sacred ceremony, no matter whether it was of a private or public nature. Thanks to this, the saying “start with Hestia” was preserved in Greece, which served as a synonym for a successful and correct undertaking. As a reward for this, she was given high honors. In cities, an altar was dedicated to her, on which fire was always maintained, and new colonists took fire from this altar with them to their new homeland.

In ancient Rome Vesta She was the daughter of Saturn and the goddess Rhea. Vesta was also the goddess of the hearth and purity. family life. In her temple, the Romans maintained a sacred fire. This fire was a symbol of the prosperity of the Roman state. Vestal priestesses looked after him, for his disappearance was the worst omen. From this sacred fire, fire was lit in the new Roman settlements and colonies.

The Temple of Vesta was located in Rome on the slope of the Palatine Hill, in a grove opposite the forum. Burning in her temple Eternal flame, supported by the priestesses of the goddess - the vestals. They could be ten-year-old girls who devoted their entire lives to serving Vesta. They were forbidden to marry, and if the Vestal Virgin became pregnant, she was buried alive in the ground.

In June, the Vestals were celebrated in Rome - a holiday in honor of Vesta. During this festival, barefoot Roman women made sacrifices to Vesta in her temple. On this day, it was forbidden to use donkeys for any work, since it was the roar of the donkey that once saved Vesta from the dishonor of Priapus, waking her from her sleep. Her sculptures are very rare and depict Vesta as a girl with a veil thrown over her head.

These goddesses - virgins are a symbol of female independence. Unlike other inhabitants of Mount Olympus, they are usually not meant for permanent family life and love. Emotional attachment cannot distract them from what they consider to be more important to them. They don't grieve unrequited love. These goddesses are an expression of the female need for emancipation - to be independent and go to achieve their goals.

Artemis and Athena personify purposefulness, logical thinking and moving towards the goal. Hestia is the prototype of introversion, her attention is directed to inner world, she is the spiritual center of the female personality. These three goddesses expand our understanding of such qualities of women as competence and independence. These qualities are characteristic of women who actively strive to achieve their own goals.

The second group of goddesses is the group of vulnerable goddesses - Hera, Demeter and Persephone.
Hera(in ancient Rome - Juno) was the goddess of marriage. She was the wife of Zeus, who was the supreme god of Olympus.

Hera this is originally an Etruscan deity, later becoming a Roman goddess, identified with Greek goddess Hero. Juno was the daughter of Saturn and Rhea, the sister of Ceres, Pluto, Vesta, Neptune and Jupiter, who was also her husband. Juno was the goddess of Roman marriage, conjugal love, patroness married women helping pregnant wives, patroness of Rome and the Roman state. The Romans were the first (as far as is known from history) to officially introduce monogamy (monogamy). Juno became the patroness of monogamy and was among the Romans the goddess of protest against polygamy.

Juno is traditionally depicted wearing a helmet and armor. Together with Jupiter and Minerva, she is part of the Capitoline triad, in honor of which a temple was erected on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. In Rome, the sacred geese warned the townspeople with their cries about the attack of the Gauls and thus saved the city.

On March 1, in ancient Rome, the matronalia was celebrated in her honor. The month of June is named after her. Juno consulted the goddess of wisdom, Minerva, and the goddess dark forces Ceres.

Demeter(in Ancient Rome - Ceres) is the goddess of fertility and agriculture. In myths Special attention given to mother Demeter.

The cult of the goddess protecting all life on earth and patronizing farmers has its roots in the pre-Indo-European era. In ancient times, she bore the name Mother Earth. " great mother”, and later Demeter, gave birth to all living things on Earth and accepted the dead into herself. Demeter was therefore considered the patroness of sorcerers. It was she who taught mankind agriculture and gave people the seeds of wheat.

Demeter is the second daughter of Kronos and Rhea and the mother of Persephone, wife of Hades. She is the sister of Zeus, Hera, Hestia, Hades and Poseidon. According to legend, Demeter was devoured by her father Kronos and then removed from his womb. In honor of Hercules, Demeter instituted the Lesser Mysteries to purify him after he killed the centaurs.

According to one legend, Demeter was married to the Cretan god of agriculture, Iasion. From their union, concluded on a thrice-plowed field, Plutos and Philomelus were born. According to Diodorus, Demeter was the mother of Eubouleus.

The ancient Roman goddess Ceres was the daughter of Saturn and Rhea, the sister of Jupiter, the mother of Proserpina, the goddess of fruits and agricultural land, the legislator and patroness of peace and marriage. Her sacred flower was the poppy - a symbol of sleep and death, mourning for her daughter Persephone, who was kidnapped by Pluto and taken to the world of the dead. In Roman mythology, Ceres is also the goddess of fertility. Demeter later became associated with Cybella.

Persephone, daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, wife of Pluto. (In ancient Rome - Proserpine). The ancient Greeks called her "Kora" - a girl. Proserpine was the goddess of nature, fertility, but after she was abducted by Pluto, she became the queen of the underworld.

The cult of the goddess of the underworld can be traced back to the Mycenaean era. Persephone may have been taken from one of the ancient goddesses worshiped by the local tribes before the invasion of the Balkan Peninsula by the Greeks. Among the Greeks who conquered these peoples, the cult of Persephone was identified with the cult of the goddess of fertility - Kore. Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, or the daughter of Zeus and Styx. She was nursed in a cave by Demeter and the nymphs. Ares and Apollo unsuccessfully wooed her. The flower of the bark is the narcissus.

She is the wife of the lord of the underworld Hades (Pluto), who kidnapped her and took her underground. Demeter looked for her daughter all over the world, being in inconsolable grief. The land has been barren all this time. To return her daughter, Demeter turned to Zeus for help. Hades had to let go of Persephone. But he gave her the seeds of a pomegranate that arose from the drops of the blood of Dionysus. Persephone swallowed pomegranate seeds and was doomed to return to the realm of the dead.

To calm the inconsolable Demeter, Zeus decided that Persephone would spend only part of the year in the kingdom of Hades, and the rest of the time she would live on Olympus.

During her stay on Olympus, Persephone rose to the sky in the early morning and became the constellation Virgo there, so that her awakened mother Demeter could immediately see her. The myth of Persephone has been associated with the change of seasons since ancient times.

These Greek-Roman goddesses personify the traditional role of a woman - wife, mother and daughter. They express the needs of women in family life and attachment to the home. These goddesses do not live only for themselves and are therefore vulnerable. They suffer, are abused, kidnapped, oppressed and humiliated by the male gods.
Their stories serve to help women understand their own emotional reactions, in order to cope with their own suffering and move on with their lives.

Aphrodite(in Ancient Rome - Venus) the goddess of love and beauty. She is the most beautiful and sexy goddess. Aphrodite belongs to the third category of goddesses - the alchemical goddess. Aphrodite enters into many relationships with men and she has many heirs. She is the embodiment of primal voluptuousness and erotic attraction. Her love affairs happen only by her choice and Aphrodite is never a victim. She allows fleeting sensual relationships, she has no constancy, and she is open to new life.

Among the ancient Romans, the role of Aphrodite passed to Venus. She is considered the progenitor of the Romans thanks to her son Aeneas. He was the ancestor of the Julius family, to which Julius Caesar also belonged.

Venus among the ancient Romans is the goddess of spring, and later - beauty, love and life. Born from sea foam, Venus became the wife of the god Vulcan and the mother of Cupid (Cupid).

According to one version, the goddess was conceived with the blood (in Greek - afros) of Uranus castrated by the titan Kronos. The blood of Uranus that got into the sea formed a foam from which the patroness of love and the goddess of fertility, eternal spring and life Aphrodite appeared. Aphrodite is surrounded by nymphs, op and charites. Aphrodite is the goddess of marriage and childbirth. Its roots lie in the sexual and promiscuous Phoenician fertility goddess Astarte, the Assyrian Ishtar and the Egyptian Isis. Over time, the beautiful Aphrodite was reborn from them, taking her place of honor on the Olympus.

Seeing Aphrodite on Olympus, the gods fell in love with her, but Aphrodite chose Hephaestus for herself - the ugliest of all the gods, but also the most skillful. This did not prevent her from having children from other gods (Dionysus, Ares). She gave birth to Eros (or Eros), Anteros - the god of hatred), Harmony, Phobos - the god of fear, Deimos - the god of horror.

Aphrodite was in love with the beautiful Adonis, who died hunting from a wild boar. From his drops of blood emerged Red roses, and beautiful anemones grew from Aphrodite's tears. Another legend attributes the death of Adonis to the anger of Ares, who was jealous of him for Aphrodite.

Aphrodite was one of the three goddesses who won the argument about which of them is the most beautiful. She promised the son of the Trojan king Paris the most beautiful of earthly women - the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus. Elena. With the abduction of Helen, the Trojan War began. In the belt of Aphrodite were the desire to possess, love and words of seduction.