The most beautiful legends and parables! The most interesting myths of ancient Greece.

Instructions

In the north of Moscow in Khovrino, an unfinished building resembling a ghost ship has stood for decades. It still brings fear to the residents of this Moscow region, since it has long had a bad reputation. This building is unfinished. Its construction began in 1980, but was never completed. This unfinished building is popularly called the Khovrinsky Abandoned Hospital and is one of the ten most terrible places in the world! The Khovrinskaya unfinished building is called everything: a house of horror, a cradle of nightmares, and even a citadel of darkness.

According to urban legend, the construction of this hospital began on bones, i.e. on the site where the old abandoned building once stood. Many people are sure that this explains all the failures that accompanied the construction process. Old-timers generally say that there used to be a large swamp on the site of the Khovrinskaya abandoned hospital. This is evidenced by the fact that currently the foundation of the unfinished building is sinking lower and lower into the groundwater. The construction of this architectural structure was suspended in 1985. Since the time the last builder left the territory of this building, the Khovrinskaya hospital has been living its own life, full of secrets and tragedies.

Another Russian legend is associated with a ghost train and, like the first, is urban. According to legend, every month in the Moscow metro a strange ghost train rushes along the rails at breakneck speed. According to eyewitnesses, sometimes he makes stops and opens the doors of his carriages. People who claimed to have seen the sign are sure that in its cabin the silhouette of the driver, dressed in a pre-war construction uniform, is clearly visible, and all the other cars of this strange train are filled with the souls of builders.

To understand the meaning of this legend, it is necessary to remember exactly how the Moscow metro was built. Its construction began in the 40s of the last century. Old-timers say that it was exhausting and hard work for all those involved in the construction of the Circle Line of the metro. The fact is that most of the builders were real prisoners, convicted of certain crimes of a political or criminal nature.

Moreover, the construction of this metro was marked by bloody events: at this time many workers allegedly died on the site. The fact is that from time to time unstable structures collapsed on them, and some people were generally driven into ventilation shafts and walled up without investigation or trial. After some time, at the cost of many human casualties, the “bloody” metro was finally completed. In this regard, the legend of the Russian ghost appeared. To this day, people complain that sometimes the phantom of a rusty train allegedly scares them. Eyewitnesses say that this train always appears after midnight and only on the Circle Line.

Disputes between supporters of the theory of creationism and evolutionary theory continue to this day. However, unlike the theory of evolution, creationism includes not one, but hundreds of different theories (if not more).

The Myth of Pan-gu

The Chinese have their own ideas about how the world came into being. The most popular myth can be called the myth of Pan-gu, the giant man. The plot is as follows: at the dawn of time, Heaven and Earth were so close to each other that they merged into a single black mass.
According to legend, this mass was an egg, and Pan-gu lived inside it, and lived for a long time - many millions of years. But one fine day he got tired of such a life, and, swinging a heavy ax, Pan-gu got out of his egg, splitting it into two parts. These parts later became Heaven and Earth. He was of unimaginable height - about fifty kilometers in length, which, by the standards of the ancient Chinese, was the distance between Heaven and Earth.
Unfortunately for Pan-gu and fortunately for us, the colossus was mortal and, like all mortals, died. And then Pan-gu decomposed. But not the way we do it. Pan-gu decomposed in a really cool way: his voice turned into thunder, his skin and bones became the earth's surface, and his head became the Cosmos. Thus, his death gave life to our world.

Chernobog and Belobog

This is one of the most significant myths of the Slavs. It tells the story of the confrontation between Good and Evil – the White and Black gods. It all started like this: when there was only one continuous sea around, Belobog decided to create dry land, sending his shadow - Chernobog - to do all the dirty work. Chernobog did everything as expected, however, having a selfish and proud nature, he did not want to share power over the firmament with Belobog, deciding to drown the latter.
Belobog got out of this situation, did not allow himself to be killed, and even blessed the land erected by Chernobog. However, with the advent of land, one small problem arose: its area grew exponentially, threatening to swallow everything around.
Then Belobog sent his delegation to Earth with the goal of finding out from Chernobog how to stop this matter. Well, Chernobog sat on a goat and went to negotiate. The delegates, seeing Chernobog galloping towards them on a goat, were imbued with the comedy of this spectacle and burst into wild laughter. Chernobog did not understand the humor, was very offended and flatly refused to talk to them.
Meanwhile, Belobog, still wanting to save the Earth from dehydration, decided to spy on Chernobog, making a bee for this purpose. The insect coped with the task successfully and learned the secret, which was as follows: in order to stop the growth of land, you need to draw a cross on it and say cherished word- "enough". Which is what Belobog did.
To say that Chernobog was not happy is to say nothing. Wanting to take revenge, he cursed Belobog, and he cursed him in a very original way: for his meanness, Belobog was now supposed to eat bee feces for the rest of his life. However, Belobog was not at a loss and made bee excrement as sweet as sugar - this is how honey appeared. For some reason, the Slavs did not think about how people appeared... The main thing is that there is honey.

Armenian duality

Armenian myths resemble Slavic ones and also tell us about the existence of two opposite principles - this time male and female. Unfortunately, the myth does not answer the question of how our world was created; it only explains how everything around us works. But that doesn't make it any less interesting.
So here you go short summary: Heaven and Earth are a husband and wife separated by an ocean; The sky is a city, and the Earth is a piece of rock, which is held on its huge horns by an equally huge bull - when it shakes its horns, the earth bursts at the seams from earthquakes. That, in fact, is all - this is how the Armenians imagined the Earth.
There is an alternative myth where the Earth is in the middle of the sea, and Leviathan floats around it, trying to grab onto its own tail, and constant earthquakes were also explained by its flopping. When Leviathan finally bites its tail, life on Earth will cease and the apocalypse will begin. Have a nice day.

Scandinavian myth of the ice giant

It would seem that there is nothing in common between the Chinese and the Scandinavians - but no, the Vikings also had their own giant - the origin of everything, only his name was Ymir, and he was icy and with a club. Before his appearance, the world was divided into Muspelheim and Niflheim - the kingdoms of fire and ice, respectively. And between them stretched Ginnungagap, symbolizing absolute chaos, and there Ymir was born from the fusion of two opposing elements.
And now closer to us, to the people. When Ymir began to sweat, a man and a woman emerged from his right armpit along with the sweat. It’s strange, yes, we understand this - well, that’s how they are, harsh Vikings, nothing can be done. But let's get back to the point. The man's name was Buri, he had a son Ber, and Ber had three sons - Odin, Vili and Ve. Three brothers were gods and ruled Asgard. This seemed to them not enough, and they decided to kill Ymir’s great-grandfather, making a world out of him.
Ymir was not happy, but no one asked him. In the process, he shed a lot of blood - enough to fill the seas and oceans; From the skull of the unfortunate man, the brothers created the vault of heaven, broke his bones, making mountains and cobblestones out of them, and made clouds from the torn brains of poor Ymir.
This new world Odin and the company immediately decided to settle: so they found two beautiful trees on the seashore - ash and alder, making a man from the ash, and a woman from the alder, thereby giving rise to the human race.

Greek myth about marbles

Like many other peoples, the ancient Greeks believed that before our world appeared, there was only complete Chaos around. There was neither the sun nor the moon - everything was dumped into one big pile, where things were inseparable from each other.
But then a certain god came, looked at the chaos reigning around, thought and decided that all this was not good, and got down to business: he separated the cold from the heat, the foggy morning from have a clear day and stuff like that.
Then he set to work on the Earth, rolling it into a ball and dividing this ball into five parts: at the equator it was very hot, at the poles it was extremely cold, but between the poles and the equator it was just right, you couldn’t imagine anything more comfortable. Then, from the seed of an unknown god, most likely Zeus, known to the Romans as Jupiter, the first man was created - two-faced and also in the shape of a ball.
And then they tore him in two, making him a man and a woman - the future of you and me.

Do you know why the Chow Chow dog has a blue tongue? If such a question were asked to a resident Ancient China, he would not have difficulty answering. There is an interesting Chinese legend, which reads: “In very ancient times, when God had already created the Earth and populated it with animals, birds, insects, fish, he was engaged in the distribution of stars in the sky. During this work, quite by accident, a piece of his sky fell off and fell to Earth. All the animals and birds, in horror, ran away and hid in secluded places. And only the bravest Chow Chow dog was not afraid to approach the fragment of sky, sniff it and lightly lick it with his tongue. Since then, the Chow Chow dog, and all its descendants, have had a blue tongue.” Thanks to this beautiful legend, the Chow Chow is still called “the dog that licked the sky.”

The Austrian city of Salzburg is known not only for its picturesque surroundings and famous resorts, but also for its many historical attractions. And, perhaps, the main one is the Mirabell Palace with a complex of fabulous gardens. The pink stone from which the palace is built gives it lightness and airiness. Of course, this is a beautiful creation of architecture, but it is not considered the main highlight, namely the Mirabell Gardens. Fountains, a garden of dwarfs, stone lions, trees and flower beds - very fancy shapes, graceful balustrades, a theater with hedges - it’s impossible to describe everything. This is a must see. The real pride of Austria.

Venice, a city shrouded in a light haze, seems almost ephemeral and exists only in our imagination. But you can still see it not only in pictures and in movies, it actually exists with all its squares, canals, bridges, cathedrals. I think that everyone who has not been there dreams of doing romantic trip to Venice to capture the mysterious and mysterious essence of this unusual and magnificent city. The gondola is rightfully considered one of the main symbols of the city. Perhaps someone noticed that they are all the same color and, like black swans, cut through the waters of the canals of Venice. There is a legend that answers the question: Why are all the Venetian gondolas in the “city of love” black?

Salzburg is one of the most beautiful and unusual cities in Austria. Located at the very foot of the Alpine mountains, literally 5 kilometers from the border with Germany. The name of the city itself is associated with a nearby deposit of table salt. They have been mining it since time immemorial. According to legend, a fortress was built here to control the export of salt. This is how the name Salzburg appeared, which means Salt Fortress.

If anyone has ever visited Krakow, they will never forget the enchanting atmosphere of this city. Complicated story, unique culture, unique architecture make Krakow a real paradise for poets, musicians, artists and just any person. The city, covered in legends, gladly reveals its secrets to everyone who visits it. If you are not lucky enough to visit there, I highly recommend reading the book by N.G. Frolova "Old Krakow". One of the parts of this book is called “Characters of a City Play.” Who does not participate in this eternal Krakow performance: musicians, poets, warriors, kings, artists, adventurers...

This monument first appeared in St. Petersburg in 1999 on Malaya Sadovaya Street 3. The work of sculptor V.A. Sivakova. The exact name is “Monument to the Stray Dog Gavryusha.” But as soon as he was not called a monument to a good dog, and Gavryusha, and even just Nyusha. After sitting there for 8 years, the dog gave birth to either a rumor or a legend. The teenagers really loved the dog. And so they came up with the idea that if you write a wish to a dog, it will definitely come true. Since then, the courtyard on Malaya Sadovaya, where the dog stood, has become a place of pilgrimage for tourists and city residents.

Saint John of Nepomuk is one of the most revered Czech saints by the residents of Prague. He is considered the patron saint of Prague and the entire Czech Republic. He lived in the 14th century, during the reign of King Wenceslas IV, and was a priest. It is not known exactly what John of Nepomuk committed against the king, but one of the most plausible assumptions is the following. As the queen's confessor, he refused to reveal the secret of his wife's confession to Wenceslas IV. For what, after much torture and torment. the king ordered his execution. The priest was put in a sack and thrown from the Charles Bridge into the Vltava.

Charles Bridge is one of the main attractions of Prague. It was built by order of King Charles IV in 1357. For five centuries it was the only bridge across the Vltava. Later in the 17th century it began to be decorated with sculptures, the number of which reached 30. So the bridge turned into a real one art gallery under open air. Nowadays, the bridge is a pedestrian bridge and has been chosen by artists, souvenir sellers, Street musicians and of course tourists. Many legends of Old Prague are associated with the Charles Bridge. Here is one of them.

English lore warns travelers against traveling alone in mountainous terrain at dusk. If you believe, the surroundings of Cornwall, which is considered the birthplace of King Arthur, Celtic traditions and... giants, are especially dangerous!

In the mid-18th century, residents of the Cornwall peninsula were seriously afraid of meeting their giant neighbors. Many ancient myths and legends tell of the sad fate of those who encountered giants.

There is a legend about a simple woman named Emma May, the wife of farmer Richard May. One day, not waiting for her husband to arrive for dinner at the usual time, she decided to go in search of him, left the house and found herself in a thick fog. Since then, she has not been seen again, and although the residents of the village have repeatedly gone in search, Emma May seemed to have disappeared into the ground. The peasants believed that she was kidnapped by giants, who, according to rumors, lived in the surrounding caves and killed late travelers or took them into slavery.

What secrets do the seas and oceans keep?

Many ancient myths and legends are composed about the sad fate of sailors who were swallowed up by the depths of the sea. Almost everyone has heard chilling stories about sirens calling ships to the reefs. The wild imagination of sailors gave rise to many superstitions, which over time transformed into inviolable customs. In the countries of Southeast Asia, sailors still bring gifts to the gods in order to return safely from their journey. However, there was one captain (his name, alas, history has not preserved) who neglected the sacred traditions...

...The elements were raging, the ship’s crew was tired of fighting the elements, and nothing foreshadowed a successful outcome. Standing near the helm, through the curtain of rain, the captain saw a black figure emerging from him across right hand. The stranger asked what the captain was willing to give him in exchange for his salvation? The captain replied that he was ready to give all his gold just to be in port again. The black man laughed and said: “You did not want to bring gifts to the gods, but you are ready to give everything to the demon. You will be saved, but terrible curse You will carry it as long as you live.”

The legend tells that the captain returned safely from the voyage. But he had barely crossed the threshold of his house when his wife, who had been lying in bed with a serious illness for two months, died. The captain went to his friends, and a day later their house burned to the ground. Wherever the captain appeared, death followed him everywhere. Tired of such a life, a year later he put a bullet in his forehead.

The dark underground kingdom of Hades

Since we are talking about otherworldly demons, dooming a stumbled person to eternal torment, we cannot help but recall Hades - the ruler of the underground kingdom of darkness and horror. The River Styx flows through a bottomless abyss, carrying the souls of the dead deeper and deeper underground, and Hades looks at all this from his golden throne.

Hades is not alone in his underground kingdom, the gods of dreams also live there, sending people both terrible nightmares and joyful dreams. Ancient myths and legends say that the monstrous Lamia, a ghost with donkey legs, wanders in the kingdom of Hades. Lamia kidnaps newborns so that if the house in which the mother and baby live is cursed by a wicked person.

At the throne of Hades stands the young and beautiful god of sleep, Hypnos, whose power no one can resist. On his wings, he silently flies over the earth and pours his sleeping pills from the golden horn. Hypnos can send sweet visions, but it can also send you into eternal sleep.

Pharaoh who violated the will of the gods

As ancient myths and legends tell, Egypt suffered disasters during the reign of the pharaohs Khafre and Khufu - slaves worked day and night, all temples were closed, free citizens were also persecuted. But then Pharaoh Menkaure came to replace them and he decided to free the tormented people. The people of Egypt began to work in their fields, the temples began to function again, and the living conditions of the people improved. Everyone glorified the good and just pharaoh.

Time passed, and Menkaura was struck by terrible blows of fate - his beloved daughter died and the ruler was predicted that he had only seven years to live. Pharaoh was perplexed - why did his grandfather and father, who oppressed the people and did not honor the gods, live to a ripe old age, and he had to die? Finally, the pharaoh decided to send a messenger to the famous oracle. An ancient myth - the legend of Pharaoh Menkaure - tells about the answer given to the ruler.

“The life of Pharaoh Menkaura was shortened only because he did not understand his purpose. Egypt was destined to suffer disasters for one hundred and fifty years, Khafre and Khufu understood this, but Menkaure did not.” And the gods kept their word; on the appointed day, the pharaoh left the sublunary world.

Almost all ancient myths and legends (however, like many legends new formation) contain a rational grain. An inquisitive mind will always be able to penetrate the veil of allegories and discern the meaning hidden in stories that seem fantastic at first glance. How to use the acquired knowledge is a personal matter for everyone.

In the general religious understanding of the ancient Hellenes, there was a variety of cult concepts. All this is confirmed by numerous archaeological excavations and artifacts. It has been proven in which area certain gods were extolled. For example, Apollo - in Delphi and Delos, the capital of Greece was named after Athena, the god of healing Asclepius (son of Apollo) - in Epidaurus, Poseidon was respected by the Ionians in the Peloponnese, and so on.

The shrines of the Greeks were opened in honor of this: Delphi, Dodon and Delos. Almost all of them are shrouded in some kind of mystery, which is deciphered in myths and legends. The most interesting myths We will describe Ancient Greece (short) below.

Cult of Apollo in Greece and Rome

He was called "four-armed" and "four-eared." Apollo had about a hundred sons. He himself was either five or seven. There are countless monuments in honor of the saint, as well as huge temples named after him, located in Greece, Italy, and Turkey. And this is all about HIM: about Apollo - the mythical hero and god of Hellas.

The ancient gods did not have surnames, but Apollo had several: Delphic, Rhodes, Belvedere, Pythian. This happened in the territories where his cult grew most.

Two millennia have passed since the birth of the cult, but the fairy tale about this handsome man is still believed today. How did he enter into “naive mythology” and why was he invented in the souls and hearts of the Greeks and residents of other countries?

The veneration of the son of Zeus originated in Asia Minor two thousand years BC. Initially, myths depicted Apollo not as a man, but as a zoomorphic creature (the influence of pre-religious totemism) - a ram. A Dorian version of the origin is also possible. But, as before, the important center of the cult is the Sanctuary at Delphi. In it, the soothsayer made all kinds of predictions; according to her instructions, twelve mythical exploits of Apollo’s brother Hercules took place. From the Hellenic colonies in Italy, the cult of the Greek god took hold in Rome.

Myths about Apollo

God is not alone. Archaeological sources provide information about various sources of its origin. Who were Apollos: the son of the guardian of Athens, Corybantus, Zeus the third and several other fathers. Mythology attributes to Apollo the thirty heroes he killed (Achilles), dragons (including Python), and Cyclops. They said about him that he could destroy, but he could also help and predict the future.

Mythology spread about Apollo even before his birth, when the supreme goddess Hera learned that Leto (Laton) was to give birth to a boy (Apollo) from her husband Zeus. With the help of a dragon, she drove the expectant mother onto a deserted island. Both Apollo and his sister Artemis were born there. They grew up on this island (Delos), where he vowed to destroy the dragon for persecuting his mother.

As described with ancient myth, the quickly matured Apollo took his bow and arrows into his hands and flew away to where Python lived. The beast crawled out of the terrible gorge and attacked the young man.

It looked like an octopus with a large scaly body. Even the rocks moved away from him. The alarmed monster attacked the young man. But the arrows did their job.

Python died, Apollo buried him, and the real Temple of Apollo was built here. In his premises there was a real priestess-soothsayer from peasant women. She uttered prophecies allegedly through the lips of Apollo. Questions were written on tablets and handed over to the temple. They were not fictional, but from real earthly people from different centuries of the existence of this temple. Archaeologists found them. No one knows how the priestess commented on the questions.

Narcissus - a mythical hero and a real flower

To paraphrase the ancient sage, we can say: if you have extra money, then do not buy more bread than you can eat; buy a narcissus flower - bread for the body, and it is for the soul.

So the mythical short story about the narcissistic young man Narcissus from Ancient Hellas has grown into the name of a beautiful spring flower.

The Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, took cruel revenge on those who rejected her gifts and who did not submit to her authority. Mythology knows several such victims of it. Among these is the young man Narcissus. Proud, he could not love anyone, only himself.

I found anger at the goddess. One spring, while hunting, Narcissus approached a stream; he was simply captivated by the purity of the water, its mirroriness. But the stream was truly special, perhaps also enchanted by Aphrodite. The goddess did not forgive anyone if they did not pay attention to her.

No one drank water from the stream; not even a branch or flower petals could fall into it. So Narcissus looked at himself. He leaned down to kiss his reflection. But there is only cold water there.

He forgot about hunting and the desire to drink water. I admire everything, I forgot about food and sleep. And suddenly he woke up: “Did I really love myself so much, but we can’t be together?” He began to suffer so much that his strength left him. Feels like he will go into the kingdom of darkness. But the young man already believes that death will end his torments of love. He is crying.

Narcissus's head dropped completely to the ground. He died. The nymphs cried in the forest. They dug a grave, went for the body, but he wasn’t there. A flower grew on the grass where the young man's head fell. They named him Narcissus.

And the nymph Echo remained forever to suffer in that forest. And she didn’t respond to anyone else.

Poseidon - Lord of the Seas

Zeus sits in all his divine majesty on Mount Olympus, and his brother Poseidon went into the depths of the sea and from there the water boiled, bringing trouble to the sailors. If he wants to do this, he takes his main weapon in his hand - a club with a trident.

He also has a better palace than his brother on land. And he reigns there with his charming wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the sea god. Together with Poseidon, she rushes across the waters in a chariot harnessed to horses or zoomorphic creatures - tritons.

Poseidon looked for a wife from the waters on the shores of the island of Naxos. But she ran away from him to the handsome Atlas. Poseidon himself could not find the fugitive. He was helped by dolphins, who took her to the palace at the bottom of the sea. For this, the lord of the sea gave the dolphins a constellation in the sky.

Perseus: almost like a good person

Perseus is perhaps one of the few sons of Zeus who did not have negative traits character. Like the drunken Hercules with his attacks of inexplicable anger, or Achilles, who did not take into account the interests of others and admired only his own “I”.

Perseus was handsome, like a god, brave and dexterous. I always tried to achieve success. The mythology of Perseus is like this. His grandfather, one of the kings of the earth, dreamed in a dream that his grandson would bring him death. Therefore, he hid his daughter in a dungeon behind stones, bronze and locks, away from men. But all the obstacles were nothing to Zeus, who liked Danae. He came to her through the roof in the form of rain. And a son was born, named Perseus. But the evil grandfather hammered the mother and child into a box and sent them floating in the box on the sea.

The prisoners still managed to escape on one of the islands, where the waves washed the box to the shore; fishermen arrived in time and rescued the mother and son. But there reigned on the island a man who did nothing better than father Danai. He began to pester the woman. And so the years passed, and now Perseus could stand up for his mother.

The king decided to get rid of the young man, but so as not to incur the wrath of the god Zeus. He cheated by accusing Perseus of non-divine origin. To do this it was necessary to do heroic deed, for example, kill the evil Gorgon jellyfish and drag her head to the king’s palace.

It really was not only a sea monster, but also a flying monster that turned those who looked at it into stone. It was impossible to do without the gods here. The son of Zeus was helped. He was given a magic sword and a mirror shield. In search of the monster, Perseus traveled through many countries and through many obstacles set up by his opponents. The nymphs also gave him things useful for the journey.

Finally, he reached the abandoned country where the sisters of that same Gorgon lived. Only they could lead the young man to her. The sisters had one eye and one tooth out of three. While the younger gorgon with the eye led, the others could not do anything. Further across the sky he flew to the monster. And right away I came across a sleeping jellyfish. Before she woke up, the young man cut off her head and put it in his bag. And set course across the sky to his island. So he proved his destiny to the king and, taking his mother, returned to Argos.

Hercules gets married

Many accomplished feats and slave labor of Queen Omphale took away the strength of Hercules. He wanted a quiet life at home. “It’s not difficult to build a house, but you need loving wife. So we need to find her,” the hero made plans.

I once remembered a boar hunt near Calydon with a local prince and a meeting with his sister Deianira. And he went to South Aetolia to get married. At this time, Deianira was already being married off, and many suitors arrived.

There was also a river god - a monster whom the world has never seen. Deianira's father said that he would give his daughter to the one who defeats God. Only Hercules remained among the suitors, since the others, seeing their rival, changed their minds about getting married.

Hercules grabbed his opponent with his hands, but he stood like a rock. And so on several times. The result for Hercules was almost ready when the god turned into a snake. The son of Zeus strangled two snakes in the cradle, and did it here too. But the old man became a bull. The hero broke one horn, and it gave up. The bride became the wife of Hercules.

These are the myths of Ancient Greece.

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