Tabla de Contenidos
Ancient Greece was noted for a myriad of legendary gods and heroes whose stories and exploits became essential elements of Greek mythology and literature. Some of them are: Achilles, Heracles, Odysseus, Theseus and Perseus , among others.
About Greek mythology
Greek mythology includes all the myths and legends of Ancient Greece. As in the mythology of other ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians or the Romans, in Greek mythology there are gods and heroes who participate in the creation of the world and help men.
Many of the Greek myths and legends are related to religion, in which the Titans were worshiped first and then the gods of Olympus . The most revered god was Zeus , and the gods of the Greek pantheon were also worshiped: Aphrodite , Athena, Hades, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Ares, Hestia, Hephaestus, Hermes , Hera, and other gods .
Greek mythology served as the inspiration for numerous ancient literary works, including Homer’s epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey , as well as Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days .
Greek mythology had a great influence on the culture, art, science and literature of Western civilizations and continues to be a recurring theme in books, TV series, plays and even in movies.
The 10 greatest heroes of Greek mythology
Although the Greek gods are usually given greater importance, there were also heroes who played important roles in Ancient Greece and who are part of numerous legends. The 10 most prominent Greek heroes are:
- heracles
- theseus
- Achilles
- Odysseus
- perseus
- Jason
- Atalanta
- bellerophon
- Orpheus
- cadmus
heracles
He was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, a mortal queen and granddaughter of Perseus. His name derives from the ancient Greek words: Hera , referring to the name of Zeus’ sister goddess and wife, Hera; and kleos , which means “glory.” Therefore, Heracles means “glory of Hera”. He is often also referred to by his Roman name, Hercules .
When Hera discovered Zeus’ infidelity and Heracles’ conception, she tried to prevent his birth and later sent snakes to kill him. However, Heracles, who had only a few months to live, strangled them. From there, he became famous for his great strength and bravery and he carried out different heroic deeds. One of them was to kill the lion of Cithaeron. Later he was represented wearing his skin.
Heracles married Megara, the daughter of King Creon, and had several children with her. But years later, in a fit of rage provoked by Hera, Heracles murdered his family. As punishment, the oracle at Delphi told him that he had to perform twelve jobs that were considered impossible. However, Heracles carried them out and became the strongest hero in the Greek pantheon.
The twelve feats of Heracles were: killing the Nemean lion, the nine-headed Hydra of Lerna, and the birds of the Stymphalus; capture the Cerinean doe, the Erymanthian boar, and the Cretan bull; clean the Augean stables in a single day; stealing Diomedes’s mares, Hippolyta’s girdle, Geryon’s cattle, apples from the garden of the Hesperides; and bring Cerberus out of Hades.
After these feats, Heracles met Iole, with whom he fell in love, but could not marry her. Later, he married Deianira and kidnapped Iole. Deyanira, willing to recover her husband, smeared Heracles’ tunic with the blood of the centaur Neso, which he had given her, telling her it was a love potion. But in reality, the blood turned out to be a poison that forced Heracles to commit suicide. After dying as a mortal, he was resurrected as a god and was taken to Olympus by Zeus.
theseus
Theseus was the king of Athens and one of Heracles’ friends. He was the son of Aegeus and Etra. Some versions suggest that his real father was actually the god Poseidon, king of the seas and oceans.
Like Heracles, Theseus was characterized by his great strength and courage, as well as his cunning. Throughout his life he performed different feats. The most famous of these was the defeat of King Minos of Crete.
Theseus grew up far from his father, who feared that his nephews, the Palantides, would harm him in the fight for the throne of Athens. To do this, he had his sword and sandals hidden under a huge stone, which Theseus had to move when he came of age.
Once Theseus found out that he was the heir to the king of Athens, he recovered his sword and sandals and set out on a journey to that city. During his journey he defeated several giants, such as Periphetes, Sinis and Procrustes, as well as other bandits and beasts that terrorized the region, including Scirus, Certion, Cromion’s sow and the Cretan bull.
Arriving incognito in Athens, Theseus suffered some attacks by his stepmother, Medea, taking advantage of the fact that Aegeus had not recognized his son. Theseus survived all the attacks and Aegeus finally recognized him by the sword he carried with him.
Before becoming king, Theseus decided to destroy the Cretan minotaur, a fearsome creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull. Every year, King Minos demanded from Athens a sacrifice of seven men and seven women to appease the minotaur’s hunger. To defeat it, Theseus was part of the group that was about to be devoured by the monster. With the help of Ariadne, the Minotaur’s sister, Theseus managed to kill him and escape from the intricate labyrinth in which he lived.
His father, Egeo, believed him dead and committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea that currently bears his name. After the death of his father, a power struggle began between Theseus and his cousins, whom he defeated, and he was eventually crowned king of Athens.
Later, Theseus and his friend Pirítoo decided to marry daughters of Zeus. They kidnapped Helen, who was a girl and would later be known as Helen of Troy, and immediately went looking for Persephone in the underworld. There, the god Hades caught them; Although Heracles managed to save Theseus, he was replaced on the throne of Athens by Menestheus. Later, Theseus took refuge in Scirus, but King Lycomedes caused him to fall off a cliff, thus causing his death.
Achilles
Achilles, also known as Achilles, was the best Greek warrior in the Trojan War, which lasted ten years. He was the son of Peleus, a mortal king, and Thetis, a sea nymph.
Legend has it that Thetis submerged her son in the river Styx, which had the property of making people who submerged in it immortal. In this way, Achilles became invincible, and his only weak point was his heel, the part by which his mother held him when bathing him in the waters of the river.
At the beginning of The Iliad , in the ninth year of the Trojan War, Agamemnon had to give up his slave Chryseis and demanded that Achilles give him his own slave Briseis as a replacement. Due to this, Achilles became enraged and announced his withdrawal from the conflict.
The Greeks knew that without Achilles they could not beat the Trojans, so they sent their friend Patroclus to convince him to fight in the war again.
Achilles refused again, leading Patroclus to fight on the battlefield in Achilles’ armor; the Trojan prince Hector mistook Patroclus for Achilles and murdered him. This angered Achilles and he returned to the war, where he killed many Trojan warriors, including Hector himself. After killing him with a spear, he dragged him with his chariot, until his anger dissipated.
Finally, Achilles died when, with the help of the god Apollo, Paris, Hector’s brother, shot an arrow into his heel, the only vulnerable part of his body.
Odysseus
Odysseus, known as Odysseus in Roman mythology, was a hero famous for his intelligence and cunning. He was the king of Ithaca, and son of Laertes and Anticlea. His exploits appear in Homer’s epic poems, first in the Iliad and then in the Odyssey , which describe his participation in the Trojan War, his bumpy ten-year journey back to Ithaca, and his waiting for his wife Penelope. and his son Telemachus.
Odysseus played a fundamental role before, during and after the Trojan War. Before this war took place, Odysseus tried to help Agamemnon and Menelaus to diplomatically recover Helen of Troy, who had been kidnapped by Paris.
He also got Achilles to join the side of the Greeks to fight against Troy and developed different strategies to win the war. On one occasion, he disguised himself as a beggar, entered the city and stole the palladium , the statuette of the goddess Athena. Legend said that Troy would never fall while that statuette was inside the city.
Odysseus is also credited with the idea of the Trojan horse, a strategy by which the Greeks were eventually able to defeat the Trojans. The Trojan horse was a wooden structure that the Greeks left outside the city of Troy when they began their retreat. The Trojans, convinced of their victory, took it as a war trophy, not knowing that inside it were thirty Greek warriors. During the night these warriors went out and opened the gates of the city of Troy for the entrance of the Greek army, which had feigned retreat and was waiting to attack and take the city. In this way, the Greeks won the Trojan War.
Upon his return to Ithaca, Odysseus had to face a host of inconveniences throughout his journey. From there comes the word odyssey , which refers to various obstacles or negative situations that a person must go through. He was on the island of the Cyclops, giants with one eye; also on the island of Circe, a Greek sorceress. With her he had her son Telegono. Later he was imprisoned on the island of the nymph Calipso, daughter of the Titan Atlas.
Finally, through the goddess Athena and the messenger god Hermes, Zeus freed him and Odysseus returned to Ithaca. There he found several suitors of her wife Penelope who, believing him dead, wanted to marry her to obtain the throne of Ithaca. Penelope, with great cunning, had managed to avoid the suitors with different tricks.
Regarding the death of Odysseus, there are different versions. One suggests that he was killed by mistake by his son Telegonus. Another version suggests that he passed away at an advanced age.
perseus
Perseus is another of the smartest and most cunning heroes in Greek mythology. He was a demigod, son of the god Zeus and the mortal Danae, and founder of the city of Mycenae. Legend has it that after receiving a prophecy that he would die at the hands of her grandson, Danae’s father and king of Argos, Acrisius, he locked her in a tower so that she would never have a child. However, the god Zeus transformed into a shower of gold and impregnated Danae, who later gave birth to Perseus. When he found out, Acrisius threw Danae and her son into the sea in a chest, but both survived with the help of the god Poseidon, who calmed the sea; They managed to reach the island of Serifos, where Polydectes reigned. His sister Dictis rescued them and raised Perseus as his son.
After a while, Polydectes fell in love with Danae and tried to get rid of Perseus. To do this, he sent him on an impossible mission: to kill Medusa, a monster that, along with Esteno and Euríale, was one of the three gorgons and had the particularity of turning anyone who looked into its eyes into stone. In order to perform this feat, Perseus had the help of the gods and some magical elements.
First, the gods Athena and Hermes guided him to find the grays, who were the daughters of Phorcys and sisters of the gorgons. They were three old women who had only one eye and one tooth that all three used. Perseus took their eyes and forced them to confess the place where the nymphs lived. From these, Perseus obtained a magic bag. Afterward, Hermes gave him his winged sandals, the helmet of Hades, and a steel sickle; Athena gave him a shield polished like a mirror.
When the gorgons were sleeping, Perseus used Athena’s shield to avoid looking directly at Medusa and beheaded her. He put his head in the magic bag and escaped with the winged sandals and the helmet of Hermes, which rendered the wearer invisible.
Later, Perseus carried out other heroic acts. He rescued Andromeda, whom his parents had sacrificed to the sea monster Ceto. Later, he married her and had her children Perses, Alceo, Heleo, Méstor, Stenelo and Electryon. When he returned to Serifos, Perseus showed Medusa’s head to Polydectes and his court and they all turned to stone. Subsequently, he appointed Dictys as king of Serifos. Perseus returned to Hermes and Athena the items they had lent him. He also gave Athena the head of Medusa, which she placed on her shield.
When he returned to Argos with his new family, Perseus accidentally killed his grandfather during a discus throw, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Faced with this fatal event, Perseus refused to rule Argos and exchanged this throne for that of Tiryns, where his uncle Megapentes reigned. Perseus therefore ended his days as king of Tiryns.
Jason
Jason is a hero known for participating in the expedition of the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Alcymede and Aeson, king of Iolcos who was dethroned by his brother Pelias. An oracle warned Pelias that a man with only one sandal would endanger his rule.
Jason grew up far from his uncle and received his education from Chiron, a wise centaur who tutored several Greek heroes. When he grew older, he decided to return and claim his place as king, since he was the rightful heir to the throne of Yolcos.
Once there, he presented himself to his uncle dressed in a panther skin, two spears and a sandal. Pelias, to get rid of him, entrusted him with the mission of bringing the Golden Fleece, a golden ram’s skin that King Aeetes of Colchis had consecrated to the god Ares. The fleece was in a tree and was guarded by a snake.
To carry out this company, Jason asked Argos for help, who built the famous ship Argo, with which he traveled to Colchis, accompanied by other soldiers that history would know as the Argonauts. In the middle of the journey, Jason reached the island of Lemnos, where he met Queen Hipsipila; with her he had her children Euneo and Nebrophone.
Later, Jason freed the soothsayer Phineus from the harpies, winged beings with the appearance of women. Phineus revealed to them a secret to successfully cross the Blue Rocks, some dangerous rocks that were on the coast of Colchis.
When Jason appeared before Aeetes, the king of Colchis told him that he could take the fleece as long as he did some tasks. First, he had to defeat and unite the bulls that were guarding him and plow a field with them. Next, he had to sow the teeth that the goddess Athena had given Aeetes and finally defeat the serpent that never slept.
To achieve this feat, Jason enlisted the help of Medea, the king’s daughter, who was a sorceress. With a magic potion, she managed to prevent the bulls from harming her, unite them and plow the land. Then he sowed the teeth, from which espartos sprouted, some warriors to whom he threw a stone and they ended up facing each other. Finally, Medea put the snake to sleep and Jason managed to get hold of the fleece.
Subsequently, they returned to Yolcos and participated in a plot where King Aeetes was killed. His son, Acastus, expelled them and Jason and Medea went into exile in Corinth. There they had two children, Feres and Mermero. But when Jason wanted to marry the daughter of the king of Corinth, Creusa, Medea killed her and also murdered her own children. Later, Jason returned to Iolcos with the help of Peleus, the father of Achilles, to regain the throne. According to the myth, some time later he committed suicide.
Atalanta
Although most of the Greek heroes were men, there were women who made a difference and became great heroines. One of them was Atalanta. She was the daughter of Skeneus, king of Boeotia. Since her father only wanted sons, he abandoned her on Mount Parthenius. Legend has it that Atalanta survived thanks to the favor of the goddess Artemis, who sent her a bear to take care of her, treating her like one of her cubs. She was later raised by a family of hunters and later she was noted for her hunting skills.
Atalanta lived in the forest and was very skilled with a javelin and bow. She was also famous for her agility, her speed, and her physical strength. When she came of age, Atalanta decided to devote herself to the goddess Artemis, whom she admired. She also swore that she would never get married.
One of Atalanta’s great feats was killing the centaurs Hileo and Reco when they tried to rape her. She later also defeated Peleus, father of Achilles, at Pelias’ funeral games. Atalanta also excelled in hunting the Calydonian boar, she was supposedly the first to shoot and wound it. Finally, Meleager killed the boar and gave him her skin.
Apparently, before her consecration, an oracle had predicted that if she ever married, she would turn into an animal. Due to this, Atalanta announced that she would only marry the man who managed to defeat her in a race. If the contestant lost, she Atalanta had the right to kill him.
In this way, Atalanta avoided all her suitors until one day Hippomenes appeared, a young man who managed to win the race. To do this, Hippomenes used the trick of the golden apples that the goddess of love, Aphrodite, had given him. During the race, Hippomenes was throwing the magic apples and managed to distract Atalanta. Thus, he reached the finish line before her.
Hippomenes and Atalanta fell in love, got married, and had a son named Parthenopeus. The lovers lived happily until one day they had one of their love encounters in a temple of the goddess Cibeles. This sacrilege angered the goddess and she transformed them into lions, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Also, the ancient Greeks believed that lions did not breed with each other; therefore, by transforming them into two lions, she separated them for all eternity.
bellerophon
Bellerophon is a Greek hero known for killing the Chimera and taming the winged horse Pegasus, which was born from the blood of Medusa. He was the son of Eurynome and King Glaucus of Corinth.
Bellerophon performed several feats. One of them was to kill a tyrant from Corinth, named Belero. In fact, his name means “murderer of Belero”. His real name is unknown.
After accidentally killing one of his brothers, Bellerophon went into exile in Tiryns, where King Preto ruled. His wife, Estenebea, tried to seduce him; when Bellerophon rejected her, she accused him of trying to rape her. King Preto, who could not kill him due to the rules of hospitality, then sent him to bring a letter to his father-in-law Iobates, the king of Lycia, where he asked him to kill him.
Once in Lycia, King Iobates commissioned Bellerophon to kill the Chimera, a monster with the head of a goat, the body of a lion and the tail of a serpent that devastated Lycia; he expected the beast to kill him.
To carry out this task, Bellerophon obtained the advice of the soothsayer Poliidos, who recommended that he capture the winged horse Pegasus. The goddess Athena gave him a golden bridle and with it Bellerophon managed to tame him. In this way, he mounted Pegasus and managed to kill the Chimera by shooting arrows at it from the air.
After completing this mission, he was tasked by Iobates to defeat the Solim Warriors and Amazons and even attempted to ambush him. As he still could not get Bellerophon to die, he ended up reconciling with him and gave him his daughter Philonoe, with whom he had his children Hippolocus, Laodamía and Isandro.
Bellerophon’s victories filled him with pride. Because of this, one day he tried to reach the abode of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus was enraged and made him fall from the winged horse to the precipice.
Orpheus
Orpheus is a different kind of Greek hero, as he was known more for his music than his fighting skills. He was the son of the god Apollo and the muse Calliope.
Orpheus played a lyre with magical properties: he could calm or sleep wild beasts and comfort men. He is credited with the invention of the zither and the addition of two strings to the lyre, which until then had seven; supposedly, the final number was a reference to the nine muses.
One of his greatest adventures was participating in the journey of the Argonauts, in search of the Golden Fleece. It is said that Orpheus prevented the sirens from hypnotizing the crew of the ship, covering their singing with the sound of his lyre.
In addition to being a musician, Orpheus was also a poet and a preacher, mainly of the cult of Apollo and Dionysus.
Orpheus married the nymph Eurydice and lived a tragic love story, since she died shortly after, bitten by a snake. Before the death of his beloved, Orpheus went to the underworld, where he managed to move the god Hades who allowed him to take Eurydice. She would come back to life as long as Orpheus didn’t turn to look at her until they were on the surface and the sun would fully illuminate her. According to legend, Orpheus, anxious to see her wife, turned to see her and Eurydice’s soul vanished into thin air forever.
After unsuccessfully trying to enter the underworld, Orpheus became a hermit and rejected all the women who wanted to be with him. The bacchantes, women who worshiped the god Bacchus, were offended and murdered him. Then they threw his head and his lyre into the river Hebro. Finally, the souls of Orpheus and Eurydice met in the underworld.
cadmus
Cadmus was the Phoenician founder of the Greek Thebes. He was the son of Telephasa and Agénor, and grew up in Phoenicia along with his brothers Fénix, Cíliz and Europa.
When Zeus kidnapped Europa, turned into a bull, Cadmus and his family traveled the world looking for her. After a long journey, Cadmus reached the oracle at Delphi, who advised him to stop looking for his sister and instead follow a cow and found a city where the animal stopped. Thus he arrived in Boeotia, a region of Ancient Greece, and founded the city of Cadmea, which would later be known as Thebes.
But, before founding the city, Cadmus faced and killed a dragon that guarded a fountain and that had killed some of his men when they went to drink. This angered the god Ares, who was the father of the dragon.
To resolve the conflict, the goddess Athena suggested that Cadmus sow the dragon’s teeth. From them emerged Spartan warriors who killed each other. The five that survived became friends of Cadmus. However, this was not enough to appease the god Ares, for which Cadmus had to serve him for a time as punishment.
Later, Zeus gave him Ares’s daughter Harmonia as his wife. He and her had six children. After spending some years in Thebes they traveled to Illyria, where Cadmus became king after defeating the Enkeleians, a local tribe.
Finally, Ares turned Cadmus and his wife into snakes and they went to the Elysian Fields, the paradise destined for the heroes of Ancient Greece.
Bibliography
- Schoua, AM Gods and Heroes of Greek Mythology. (2016). Argentina. Santillana.
- Graves, R.; Graves, L. Gods and heroes of Ancient Greece. (2015). Spain. Southern.
- Homer. Homer’s epic books: The Odyssey and The Iliad. (2021). Spain. B08T6JY3FX.
