Greece and myths- the concept is inseparable. It seems that everything in this country - every plant, river or mountain - has its own fairy tale story passed down from generation to generation. And this is no coincidence, since myths reflect in allegorical form the entire structure of the world and the philosophy of life of the ancient Greeks.

And the name Hellas () itself also has a mythological origin, because The mythical patriarch Hellenes is considered the ancestor of all Hellenes (Greeks). The names of the mountain ranges crossing Greece, the seas washing its shores, the islands scattered in these seas, lakes and rivers are associated with myths. As well as the names of regions, cities and villages. I’ll tell you about some stories that I really want to believe. It should be added that there are so many myths that even for the same toponym there are several versions. Because myths are oral creativity, and have come down to us already recorded by ancient writers and historians, the most famous of whom is Homer. I'll start with the name Balkan Peninsula, on which Greece is located. The current "Balkan" is of Turkish origin, meaning simply "mountain range". But earlier the peninsula was named after Amos, the son of the god Boreas and the nymph Orifinas. The sister and at the same time the wife of Emos was called Rodopi. Their love was so strong that they addressed each other by the names of the supreme gods, Zeus and Hera. For their insolence they were punished by being turned into mountains.

History of the origin of the toponym Peloponnese, peninsulas on peninsulas, no less cruel. According to legend, the ruler of this part of Greece was Pelops, the son of Tantalus, in early years offered by a bloodthirsty father as a dinner to the gods. But the gods did not eat his body, and, having resurrected the young man, left him on Olympus. And Tantalus was doomed to eternal (tantalum) torment. Further, Pelops himself either descends to live among the people, or is forced to flee, but subsequently becomes the king of Olympia, Arcadia and the entire peninsula, which was named in his honor. By the way, his descendant was the famous Homeric king Agamemnon, the leader of the troops that besieged Troy.

One of the most beautiful islands Greece Kerkyra(or Corfu) It has romantic story origin of its name: Poseidon, the god of the seas, fell in love with the young beauty Corcyra, daughter of Asopus and the nymph Metope, kidnapped her and hid her on a hitherto unknown island, which he named after her. Corkyra eventually turned into Kerkyra. Another story about lovers remains in the myths about the island Rhodes. This name was borne by the daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite (or Aphrodite), who was the beloved of the Sun god Helios. It was on this island, freshly born from the foam, that the nymph Rhodes united in marriage with her beloved.

origin of name Aegean Sea known to many thanks to the good Soviet cartoon. The story is this: Theseus, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, went to Crete to fight the monster there - the Minotaur. In case of victory, he promised his father to raise white sails on his ship, and in case of defeat, black ones. With the help of the Cretan princess, he defeated the Minotaur and went home, forgetting to change the sails. Seeing his son's mourning ship in the distance, Aegeus, out of grief, threw himself off a cliff into the sea, which was named after him.

Ionian Sea bears the name of the princess and at the same time priestess Io, who was seduced by the supreme god Zeus. However, his wife Hera decided to take revenge on the girl by turning her into a white cow and then killing her at the hands of the giant Argos. With the help of the god Hermes, Io managed to escape. She found refuge and human form in Egypt, for which she had to swim across the sea, which is called the Ionian.

Myths of Ancient Greece also tell about the origin of the universe, the relationship to the divine and human passions. They are of interest to us, primarily because they give us an understanding of how European culture was formed.

The Stymphalian birds were the last generation of monsters in the Peloponnese, and since the power of Eurystheus did not extend beyond the Peloponnese, Hercules decided that his service to the king was over.

But the mighty strength of Hercules did not allow him to live in idleness. He longed for exploits and even rejoiced when Koprey appeared to him.

“Eurystheus,” said the herald, “orders you to clear the stables of the Elisian king Augeas of manure in one day.”

King Perseus and Queen Andromeda ruled the gold-abundant Mycenae for a long time and gloriously, and the gods sent them many children. The eldest of the sons was called Electrion. Electryon was no longer young when he had to take his father’s throne. The gods did not offend Electryon with their offspring: Electryon had many sons, one better than the other, but only one daughter - the beautiful Alcmene.

It seemed that in all of Hellas there was no kingdom more prosperous than the kingdom of Mycenae. But one day the Taphians attacked the country - ferocious sea ​​robbers, who lived on the islands at the very entrance to the Gulf of Corinth, where the Ahelous River flows into the sea.

This new sea, unknown to the Greeks, blew into their faces with a wide-ranging roar. It stretched out before them like a blue desert, mysterious and menacing, deserted and harsh.

They knew: somewhere out there, on the other side of its seething abyss, lie mysterious lands, populated wild peoples; their customs are cruel, their appearance is terrible. There somewhere they bark along the banks of the deep-flowing Istra scary people with dog faces - cynocephalous, canine-headed. There, beautiful and fierce Amazon warriors rush around the free steppes. There, further on, the eternal darkness thickens, and in it wander, looking like wild animals, the inhabitants of the night and the cold - the Hyperboreans. But where is all this?

Many misadventures awaited the brave travelers on the road, but they were destined to emerge from all of them with glory.

In Bithynia, the country of the Bebriks, they were detained by an invincible fist fighter, King Amik, a terrible killer; without pity or shame, he threw every foreigner to the ground with a blow of his fist. He challenged these new newcomers to battle, but young Polydeuces, brother of Castor, son of Leda, defeated the mighty one, breaking his temple in a fair fight.

Moving away from familiar shores, the Argo ship spent many days cutting through the waves of the calm Propontis, the sea that people now call Marmara.

The new moon had already arrived, and the nights became black, like the pitch with which they tar the sides of ships, when the sharp-sighted Lynceus was the first to point out to his comrades the mountain towering ahead. Soon the low shore began to appear in the fog, fishing nets appeared on the shore, and a town at the entrance to the bay appeared. Deciding to rest on the way, Tiphius directed the ship towards the city, and a little later the Argonauts stood on solid ground.

A well-deserved rest awaited the Argonauts on this island. "Argo" entered the Phaeacian harbor. Tall ships stood in countless rows everywhere. Having dropped anchor at the pier, the heroes went to the palace to Alcinous.

Looking at the Argonauts, at their heavy helmets, at the strong muscles of their legs in shiny greaves and at the tan of their brown faces, the peace-loving Phaeacians whispered to each other:

It must be Ares with his warlike retinue marching to the house of Alcinous.

The sons of the great hero Pelops were Atreus and Thyestes. Pelops was once cursed by the charioteer of King Oenomaus, Myrtilus, who was treacherously killed by Pelops, and with his curse doomed the entire family of Pelops to great atrocities and death. The curse of Myrtil weighed heavily on both Atreus and Thyestes. They committed a number of atrocities. Atreus and Thyestes killed Chrysippus, the son of the nymph Axione and their father Pelops. It was the mother of Atreus and Thyestes Hippodamia who persuaded them to kill Chrysippus. Having committed this atrocity, they fled from their father’s kingdom, fearing his wrath, and took refuge with the king of Mycenae Sthenel, son of Perseus, who was married to their sister Nikippa. When Sthenel died and his son Eurystheus, captured by Iolaus, died at the hands of Hercules’ mother Alcmene, Atreus began to rule over the Mycenaean kingdom, since Eurystheus did not leave behind heirs. His brother Thyestes was jealous of Atreus and decided to take away power from him in any way.

Sisyphus had a son, the hero Glaucus, who ruled in Corinth after the death of his father. Glaucus had a son, Bellerophon, one of the great heroes of Greece. Bellerophon was as beautiful as a god and equal in courage to the immortal gods. Bellerophon, when he was still a youth, suffered a misfortune: he accidentally killed one citizen of Corinth and had to flee from hometown. He fled to the king of Tiryns, Proetus. The king of Tiryns received the hero with great honor and cleansed him of the filth of the blood he had shed. Bellerophon did not have to stay long in Tiryns. His wife Proyta, the godlike Antheia, was captivated by his beauty. But Bellerophon rejected her love. Then Queen Antheia was inflamed with hatred of Bellerophon and decided to destroy him. She went to her husband and told him:

O king! Bellerophon is seriously insulting you. You must kill him. He pursues me, your wife, with his love. This is how he thanked you for your hospitality!

Grozen Boreas, god of the indomitable, stormy north wind. He rushes frantically over the lands and seas, causing all-crushing storms with his flight. One day Boreas, flying over Attica, saw the daughter of Erechtheus Orithia and fell in love with her. Boreas begged Orithia to become his wife and allow him to take her with him to his kingdom in the far north. Orithia did not agree; she was afraid of the formidable, stern god. Boreas was also refused by Orithia's father, Erechtheus. No requests, no pleas from Boreas helped. The terrible god became angry and exclaimed:

I deserve this humiliation myself! I forgot about my formidable, frantic strength! Is it right for me to humbly beg someone? I must act only by force! I drive thunderclouds across the sky, I raise waves on the sea like mountains, I uproot ancient oak trees like dry blades of grass, I scourge the earth with hail and turn the water into ice as hard as stone - and I pray, as if powerless mortal. When I rush in furious flight over the earth, the whole earth shakes and trembles even underground kingdom Aida. And I pray to Erechtheus as if I were his servant. I must not beg to give Orithia to me as a wife, but take her away by force!

Freed from serving King Eurystheus, Hercules returned to Thebes. Here he gave his wife Megara to his faithful friend Iolaus, explaining his act by the fact that his marriage with Megara was accompanied by unfavorable omens. In fact, the reason that prompted Hercules to part with Megara was different: between the spouses stood the shadows of their common children, whom Hercules killed many years ago in a fit of insanity.

Hoping to find family happiness, Hercules began to look for himself new wife. He heard that Eurytus, the same one who taught young Hercules the art of using a bow, was offering his daughter Iola as a wife to the one who surpassed him in accuracy.

Hercules went to Eurytus and easily defeated him in the competition. This outcome greatly annoyed Eurytus. Having drunk a fair amount of wine to be more confident, he said to Hercules: “I don’t trust my daughter to such a villain like you. Or didn’t you kill your children from Megara? Besides, you are a slave of Eurystheus and deserve only beatings from free man".

Ancient myths and legends of Ancient Greece

They were created more than two thousand centuries ago and the famous scientist Nikolai Kun adapted them at the beginning of the 20th century, but the attention of young readers from all over the world does not fade even now. And it doesn’t matter if they study the myths of ancient Greece in the 4th, 5th or 6th grade - these works ancient folklore are considered cultural heritage all over the world. Moral and bright stories about the ancient Greek gods have been studied far and wide. And now we read online to our children about who the heroes of the legends and myths of Ancient Greece were and try to express it in summary the meaning of their actions.

This fantasy world, is surprising in that, despite the horror of an ordinary mortal before the gods of Mount Olympus, sometimes ordinary residents of Greece could get into an argument or even fight with them. Sometimes short and simple myths express themselves very deep meaning and can clearly explain to the child the rules of life.

The Stymphalian birds were the last generation of monsters in the Peloponnese, and since the power of Eurystheus did not extend beyond the Peloponnese, Hercules decided that his service to the king was over.

But the mighty strength of Hercules did not allow him to live in idleness. He longed for exploits and even rejoiced when Koprey appeared to him.

“Eurystheus,” said the herald, “orders you to clear the stables of the Elisian king Augeas of manure in one day.”

King Perseus and Queen Andromeda ruled the gold-abundant Mycenae for a long time and gloriously, and the gods sent them many children. The eldest of the sons was called Electrion. Electryon was no longer young when he had to take his father’s throne. The gods did not offend Electryon with their offspring: Electryon had many sons, one better than the other, but only one daughter - the beautiful Alcmene.

It seemed that in all of Hellas there was no kingdom more prosperous than the kingdom of Mycenae. But one day the country was attacked by the Taphians - fierce sea robbers who lived on the islands at the very entrance to the Gulf of Corinth, where the Aheloy River flows into the sea.

This new sea, unknown to the Greeks, blew into their faces with a wide-ranging roar. It stretched out before them like a blue desert, mysterious and menacing, deserted and harsh.

They knew: somewhere there, on the other side of its seething abyss, lie mysterious lands inhabited by wild peoples; their customs are cruel, their appearance is terrible. There, somewhere along the banks of the deep-flowing Istra, terrible people with dog faces are barking - cynocephalus, dog-headed. There, beautiful and fierce Amazon warriors rush around the free steppes. There, further on, the eternal darkness thickens, and in it wander, looking like wild animals, the inhabitants of the night and the cold - the Hyperboreans. But where is all this?

Many misadventures awaited the brave travelers on the road, but they were destined to emerge from all of them with glory.

In Bithynia, the country of the Bebriks, they were detained by an invincible fist fighter, King Amik, a terrible killer; without pity or shame, he threw every foreigner to the ground with a blow of his fist. He challenged these new newcomers to battle, but young Polydeuces, brother of Castor, son of Leda, defeated the mighty one, breaking his temple in a fair fight.

Moving away from familiar shores, the Argo ship spent many days cutting through the waves of the calm Propontis, the sea that people now call Marmara.

The new moon had already arrived, and the nights became black, like the pitch with which they tar the sides of ships, when the sharp-sighted Lynceus was the first to point out to his comrades the mountain towering ahead. Soon the low shore began to appear in the fog, fishing nets appeared on the shore, and a town at the entrance to the bay appeared. Deciding to rest on the way, Tiphius directed the ship towards the city, and a little later the Argonauts stood on solid ground.

A well-deserved rest awaited the Argonauts on this island. "Argo" entered the Phaeacian harbor. Tall ships stood in countless rows everywhere. Having dropped anchor at the pier, the heroes went to the palace to Alcinous.

Looking at the Argonauts, at their heavy helmets, at the strong muscles of their legs in shiny greaves and at the tan of their brown faces, the peace-loving Phaeacians whispered to each other:

It must be Ares with his warlike retinue marching to the house of Alcinous.

The sons of the great hero Pelops were Atreus and Thyestes. Pelops was once cursed by the charioteer of King Oenomaus, Myrtilus, who was treacherously killed by Pelops, and with his curse doomed the entire family of Pelops to great atrocities and death. The curse of Myrtil weighed heavily on both Atreus and Thyestes. They committed a number of atrocities. Atreus and Thyestes killed Chrysippus, the son of the nymph Axione and their father Pelops. It was the mother of Atreus and Thyestes Hippodamia who persuaded them to kill Chrysippus. Having committed this atrocity, they fled from their father’s kingdom, fearing his wrath, and took refuge with the king of Mycenae Sthenel, son of Perseus, who was married to their sister Nikippa. When Sthenel died and his son Eurystheus, captured by Iolaus, died at the hands of Hercules’ mother Alcmene, Atreus began to rule over the Mycenaean kingdom, since Eurystheus did not leave behind heirs. His brother Thyestes was jealous of Atreus and decided to take away power from him in any way.

Sisyphus had a son, the hero Glaucus, who ruled in Corinth after the death of his father. Glaucus had a son, Bellerophon, one of the great heroes of Greece. Bellerophon was as beautiful as a god and equal in courage to the immortal gods. Bellerophon, when he was still a youth, suffered a misfortune: he accidentally killed one citizen of Corinth and had to flee from his hometown. He fled to the king of Tiryns, Proetus. The king of Tiryns received the hero with great honor and cleansed him of the filth of the blood he had shed. Bellerophon did not have to stay long in Tiryns. His wife Proyta, the godlike Antheia, was captivated by his beauty. But Bellerophon rejected her love. Then Queen Antheia was inflamed with hatred of Bellerophon and decided to destroy him. She went to her husband and told him:

O king! Bellerophon is seriously insulting you. You must kill him. He pursues me, your wife, with his love. This is how he thanked you for your hospitality!

Grozen Boreas, god of the indomitable, stormy north wind. He rushes frantically over the lands and seas, causing all-crushing storms with his flight. One day Boreas, flying over Attica, saw the daughter of Erechtheus Orithia and fell in love with her. Boreas begged Orithia to become his wife and allow him to take her with him to his kingdom in the far north. Orithia did not agree; she was afraid of the formidable, stern god. Boreas was also refused by Orithia's father, Erechtheus. No requests, no pleas from Boreas helped. The terrible god became angry and exclaimed:

I deserve this humiliation myself! I forgot about my formidable, frantic strength! Is it right for me to humbly beg someone? I must act only by force! I drive thunderclouds across the sky, I raise waves on the sea like mountains, I uproot ancient oak trees like dry blades of grass, I scourge the earth with hail and turn the water into ice as hard as stone - and I pray, as if powerless mortal. When I rush in a frantic flight over the earth, the whole earth shakes and even the underground kingdom of Hades trembles. And I pray to Erechtheus as if I were his servant. I must not beg to give Orithia to me as a wife, but take her away by force!

Freed from serving King Eurystheus, Hercules returned to Thebes. Here he gave his wife Megara to his faithful friend Iolaus, explaining his act by the fact that his marriage with Megara was accompanied by unfavorable omens. In fact, the reason that prompted Hercules to part with Megara was different: between the spouses stood the shadows of their common children, whom Hercules killed many years ago in a fit of insanity.

Hoping to find family happiness, Hercules began to look for a new wife. He heard that Eurytus, the same one who taught young Hercules the art of using a bow, was offering his daughter Iola as a wife to the one who surpassed him in accuracy.

Hercules went to Eurytus and easily defeated him in the competition. This outcome greatly annoyed Eurytus. Having drunk a fair amount of wine to be more confident, he said to Hercules: “I will not trust my daughter to such a villain as you. Or weren’t you the one who killed your children from Megara? Besides, you are a slave of Eurystheus and deserve only a beating from a free man.”

Ancient myths and legends of Ancient Greece

They were created more than two thousand centuries ago and the famous scientist Nikolai Kun adapted them at the beginning of the 20th century, but the attention of young readers from all over the world does not fade even now. And it doesn’t matter if they study the myths of ancient Greece in the 4th, 5th or 6th grade - these works of ancient folklore are considered the cultural heritage of the whole world. Moral and vivid stories about the ancient Greek gods have been studied far and wide. And now we read online to our children about who the heroes of the legends and myths of Ancient Greece were and we try to briefly express the meaning of their actions.

This fantasy world is surprising in that, despite the horror of an ordinary mortal before the gods of Mount Olympus, sometimes ordinary residents of Greece could get into an argument or even fight with them. Sometimes short and simple myths express a very deep meaning and can clearly explain to a child the rules of life.

Nikolay Kun

Legends and myths of Ancient Greece

Part one. Gods and heroes

Myths about the gods and their struggle with giants and titans are presented mainly based on Hesiod’s poem “Theogony” (The Origin of the Gods). Some legends are also borrowed from Homer’s poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” and the poem “Metamorphoses” (Transformations) by the Roman poet Ovid.

In the beginning there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. It contained the source of life of the world. Everything arose from boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. The goddess Earth, Gaia, also came from Chaos. It spreads wide, powerful, giving life to everything that lives and grows on it. Far under the Earth, as far as the vast, bright sky is far from us, in immeasurable depths, the gloomy Tartarus was born - a terrible abyss full of eternal darkness. From Chaos, the source of life, was born a powerful force that animates everything, Love - Eros. The world began to be created. Boundless Chaos gave birth to the Eternal Darkness - Erebus and the dark Night - Nyukta. And from Night and Darkness came eternal Light– Ether and joyful bright Day – Hemera. The light spread throughout the world, and night and day began to replace each other.

The mighty, fertile Earth gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, and the Sky spread over the Earth. The high Mountains born of the Earth rose proudly towards him, and the ever-noisy Sea spread widely.

Mother Earth gave birth to the Sky, Mountains and Sea, and they have no father.

Uranus - Heaven - reigned in the world. He took the fertile Earth as his wife. Uranus and Gaia had six sons and six daughters - powerful, formidable titans. Their son, the Titan Ocean, flowing around the entire earth like a boundless river, and the goddess Thetis gave birth to all the rivers that roll their waves to the sea, and the sea goddesses - the Oceanids. Titan Hipperion and Theia gave the world children: the Sun - Helios, the Moon - Selene and the ruddy Dawn - pink-fingered Eos (Aurora). From Astraeus and Eos came all the stars that burn in the dark night sky, and all the winds: the stormy northern wind Boreas, the eastern Eurus, the humid southern Notus and the gentle western wind Zephyr, carrying clouds heavy with rain.

In addition to the titans, the mighty Earth gave birth to three giants - cyclops with one eye in the forehead - and three huge, like mountains, fifty-headed giants - hundred-armed (hecatoncheires), so named because each of them had a hundred hands. Nothing can resist their terrible power; their elemental power knows no bounds.

Uranus hated his giant children; he imprisoned them in deep darkness in the bowels of the Earth goddess and did not allow them to come into the light. Their mother Earth suffered. She was oppressed by this terrible burden contained in her depths. She summoned her children, the Titans, and convinced them to rebel against their father Uranus, but they were afraid to raise their hands against their father. Only the youngest of them, the treacherous Kron, overthrew his father by cunning and took away his power.

As punishment for Kron, the Goddess Night gave birth to a whole host of terrible substances: Tanata - death, Eris - discord, Apata - deception, Ker - destruction, Hypnos - a dream with a swarm of dark, heavy visions, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes - and many others. Horror, strife, deception, struggle and misfortune brought these gods into the world where Cronus reigned on the throne of his father.

The picture of the life of the gods on Olympus is given from the works of Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey, which glorify the tribal aristocracy and the basileus leading it as the best people standing much higher than the rest of the population. The gods of Olympus differ from aristocrats and basileus only in that they are immortal, powerful and can work miracles.

Birth of Zeus

Kron was not sure that power would remain in his hands forever. He was afraid that his children would rebel against him and would subject him to the same fate to which he doomed his father Uranus. He was afraid of his children. And Kron ordered his wife Rhea to bring him the children that were born and mercilessly swallowed them. Rhea was horrified when she saw the fate of her children. Cronus has already swallowed five: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades (Hades) and Poseidon.

Rhea did not want to lose her last child. On the advice of her parents, Uranus-Heaven and Gaia-Earth, she retired to the island of Crete, and there, in deep cave, was born to her younger son Zeus. In this cave, Rhea hid her son from her cruel father, and instead of her son she gave him a long stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow. Krohn had no idea that he had been deceived by his wife.

Meanwhile, Zeus grew up in Crete. The nymphs Adrastea and Idea cherished little Zeus; they fed him with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. The bees brought honey to little Zeus from the slopes high mountain Dictations. At the entrance to the cave, the young Kuretes struck their shields with their swords every time little Zeus cried, so that Kronus would not hear him cry and Zeus would not suffer the fate of his brothers and sisters.

Zeus overthrows Cronus. The fight of the Olympian gods with the titans

The beautiful and powerful god Zeus grew up and matured. He rebelled against his father and forced him to bring back into the world the children he had absorbed. One after another, Kron spewed out his children-gods, beautiful and bright, from the mouth. They began to fight with Kron and the Titans for power over the world.

This struggle was terrible and stubborn. The children of Kron established themselves on high Olympus. Some of the titans also took their side, and the first were the titan Ocean and his daughter Styx and their children Zeal, Power and Victory. This struggle was dangerous for the Olympian gods. Their opponents, the Titans, were powerful and formidable. But the Cyclopes came to the aid of Zeus. They forged thunder and lightning for him, Zeus threw them at the titans. The struggle had already lasted ten years, but victory did not lean on either side. Finally, Zeus decided to free the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires from the bowels of the earth; he called them to help. Terrible, huge as mountains, they emerged from the bowels of the earth and rushed into battle. They tore entire rocks from the mountains and threw them at the titans. Hundreds of rocks flew towards the titans when they approached Olympus. The earth groaned, a roar filled the air, everything around was shaking. Even Tartarus shuddered from this struggle.

Zeus threw fiery lightning and deafeningly roaring thunder one after another. Fire engulfed the entire earth, the seas boiled, smoke and stench covered everything with a thick veil.

Finally, the mighty titans wavered. Their strength was broken, they were defeated. The Olympians chained them and cast them into gloomy Tartarus, into eternal darkness. At the copper indestructible gates of Tartarus, the hundred-armed hecatoncheires stood guard, and they guard so that the mighty titans do not break free from Tartarus again. The power of the titans in the world has passed.

Bellerophon, the son of the Corinthian king Glaucus, having killed one Corinthian, was forced to flee from his hometown to the king of Tiryns Proetus. But, unfortunately, Proetus's wife, Anthea, fell in love with Bellerofoit. When he rejected her, she became furious and told her husband that Bellerophon had allegedly sexually harassed her. In anger, Proetus wanted to kill Bellerophon, but did not dare to raise his hand against the guest. Proytes sent him with a letter to the king of Lycia, Iobates, in which he asked to take revenge on the young man for the insult. Iobates, having read the letter, sent Bellerophon to certain death, ordering him to kill the Chimera - a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and a snake instead of a tail.

Once every 9 years, the Athenians paid Minos a heavy tribute - 14 boys and girls went to Crete, where they were devoured by the Minotaur, a monster imprisoned in the Labyrinth built by Daedalus. Theseus, son of the Athenian king Aegeus. decided to sail to Crete along with the doomed Athenians to kill the Minotaur. He told his father that if they were successful, their ship would have white sails on the way home. Ordinary black sails will become a signal that Theseus is dead. On Crete, the daughter of King Minos, Ariadne, fell in love with Theseus. She gave him a sword to kill the Minotaur and a ball of thread to find his way out of