Sister and legal wife of Zeus, patroness of marriages, conjugal love and childbirth. The pomegranate (symbol of marriage), cuckoo, peacock and raven are dedicated to Hera.
Hera, the daughter of Kronos and Rhea, was born on the island of Samos (variant - Argos, hence the nickname "Argea") and immediately after birth was swallowed by her father.
After the overthrow of Kronos, her brother Zeus began to covet her love. Hera took pity on Zeus only when he took the form of a motley cuckoo, which Hera tenderly pressed to her chest. But as soon as she did this, Zeus took on his true form and took possession of her. (From that moment on, the cuckoo became the sacred bird of the goddess, and Mount Fornax in Argolis, where this happened, began to be called Cuckoo Mountain)
Since Zeus's mother Rhea, foreseeing the troubles that could arise due to his lust, forbade her son to marry, his relationship with Hera remained a secret for three hundred years, until the Thunderer officially declared Hera his legal wife and queen of the gods. Hera bathed in the Cana stream near Argos and thus regained her virginity for the wedding.
All the gods sent their gifts to the wedding of Zeus and Hera. Mother Earth Gaia gave Hera a tree with golden apples, which was later guarded by the Hesperides in Hera's garden on Mount Atlas. Hera and Zeus gave birth to children - the gods Ares-Enialy, the cruel god of war, Hephaestus the Worker, the god of blacksmithing and the eternally young Hebe.
The goddess Hera patronizes marriage and protects the holiness and inviolability of marriage unions. If desired, the Golden-Shod One can bestow anyone with the gift of foresight. Great is the power of Hera, the queen of the gods. All living things bow before her, the great goddess.
Hera reigns on high Olympus and is an assistant and adviser to her husband. But quarrels between Zeus and Hera are not uncommon. Hera is jealous and treacherously pursues her rivals. She hates heroes - her husband's children from mortal women.
Hera knew well that if she inflicted too serious an insult on her husband, his lightning would not escape her either. Therefore, Hera preferred evil intrigues in connection, for example, with the birth of Hercules, and sometimes borrowed a belt woven from lust from Aphrodite in order to kindle passion in her husband and thereby weaken his will.
However, the day came when the arrogance and capriciousness of Zeus became so intolerable that Hera, Poseidon, Apollo and other Olympians, except Hestia, suddenly surrounded him while he was sleeping and “shackled” him with rawhide belts of a hundred knots so that he could not move. He threatened them with immediate death, but in response the gods, who had prudently hidden his lightning away, only laughed insultingly. When they were already celebrating the victory and zealously discussing who should become Zeus's successor, the nareid Tethys, foreseeing civil strife on Olympus, rushed in search of the hundred-armed Briareus, who, acting with all hands at once, quickly untied the belts and freed the Thunderer. Since Hera was at the head of the conspiracy, Zeus hung her by the wrists to the sky with the help of golden bracelets and tied anvils to her feet. Although all the gods were deeply outraged by this act of Zeus, none of them dared to come to the aid of Hera, despite her pitiful cries. Eventually Zeus promised to release her if all the gods swore an oath not to rebel against him again. With great reluctance, each of the gods swore an oath by the waters of the underground river Styx.
Zeus punished Poseidon and Apollo by sending them as slaves to King Laomedon, for whom they built the city of Troy. The remaining gods were pardoned as acting under duress.
Hera won the complete forgiveness of her husband and even received a gift as a sign of reconciliation - golden sandals of extraordinary beauty, worthy only of the queen of the gods. Since then, Hera received the nickname Golden-Shod.
Demeter, Greek, Lat. Ceres - daughter of Kronos and Rhea; goddess of fertility and agriculture.
After birth, Demeter faced the fate of all the children of Kronos: her father swallowed her. Having defeated Kronos, Zeus called Demeter to Olympus and entrusted her with the care of the fertility of the earth. So that this fertility would not go to waste, Demeter taught people to cultivate the fields. Thus, it marked the beginning not only of agriculture, but also of a new way of life for people who had previously led a nomadic lifestyle, engaged in hunting and cattle breeding. At the same time, Demeter gave people laws that they had to follow in this new life.
Although Demeter was the giver of a quiet and calm life, she herself for a long time was deprived of these joys. Having met the minor god (or demigod) Iasion, Demeter gave birth to a son, Plutos, who became the god of wealth and at the same time the cause of her grief. When Zeus, who vainly sought the favor of Demeter, learned about the birth of Plutos, he killed Iasion with lightning. Convinced of the strength and determination of the supreme god, Demeter yielded to him and gave birth to his daughter Persephone. She didn't have long to rejoice over her daughter. One day, when Persephone was frolicking with nymphs in a Nysian meadow, the earth suddenly opened up in front of her, the god of the underworld appeared and kidnapped Persephone, hiding in the depths of the earth. Demeter heard her daughter's desperate cry and hurried to her aid, but there was no trace of Persephone. For nine days Demeter wandered the earth, forgetting about food and sleep, in a vain search for her daughter. Finally the all-seeing sun god told her what had happened. Demeter immediately went to Olympus and demanded that Zeus restore justice and force Hades to return Persephone to her mother. But Zeus was powerless, since Hades, meanwhile, had already married Persephone (lat. Proserpina) and, moreover, gave her a pomegranate seed to taste, and the one who tasted something in the kingdom of the dead could no longer return to life in earth. Then Demeter left Olympus, locked herself in her temple at Eleusis and sent sterility to the earth. This led to catastrophic consequences not only for people, but also for the gods: becoming embittered, people stopped making sacrifices to the gods. In this critical situation, Zeus made a compromise decision. At his insistence, Hades undertook to let Persephone go to her mother for two-thirds of the year, while Demeter accepted the fact that her daughter would spend a third of the year with her husband in the kingdom of the dead. Thus, when the farmer throws seeds into the ground in the fall, Persephone goes to the kingdom of the dead, and the grieving Demeter deprives nature of fertility. When Persephone comes out into the light again in the spring, Demeter, along with all of nature, greets her with flowers and greenery.
The first person whom Demeter taught to grow bread was Triptolemus, whose parents gave a friendly welcome to the goddess when she wandered the earth in search of her daughter, taking the form of an old woman. Demeter gave Triptolemus grains of wheat, showed him how to plow the land, and ordered him to pass on the acquired knowledge to all people.
Demeter wanted to grant immortality to Triptolemus's young brother, Demophon. But when his mother Metanira saw that Demeter was holding the baby over the fire, tempering him, she screamed in horror; Demeter, shuddering, dropped the boy, and he burned. After the departure of Demeter, the father of Triptolemus and Demophon, King Kelei, ordered the construction of a magnificent temple in Eleusis, which over time became the center of her cult.
The Eleusinian Temple dates back to the Mycenaean era (15-14 centuries BC). In the 5th century BC e. the Athenian ruler Pisistratus rebuilt it, sparing no expense; almost a hundred years later Pericles followed his example. The main building of the sacred site (telesterion) had a square shape and could accommodate up to 4,000 people; in the center of the telesterion there was a stage on which liturgical performances were held, depicting episodes from the life of Demeter. Initially, the festivities in honor of Demeter were simple in nature, and the rituals symbolized the progress of agricultural work . Later, they were inspired by the desire to clearly show and explain the dying and resurrection of plants in nature, and then by attempts to clarify the mystery of human life and the posthumous fate of man. Only initiates had access to these rituals. The main festivals in honor of Demeter were called “great mysteries”, they began at the end of September and lasted nine days, and a month before their start, a universal sacred peace (ekehiriya), obligatory for all Greek states, was proclaimed.
Demeter was one of the oldest Greek goddesses. Her name is found on tablets from the so-called Palace of Nestor in Pylos, written in Linear B (14th-13th centuries BC). As the importance of agriculture grew in the Greek economy, the cult of Demeter spread everywhere where the Greeks lived. Through Sicily and southern Italy, the cult of Demeter came to Rome, where it was identified with the cult of the goddess of cereals and harvest, Ceres. Later, her cult began to merge with the cult of Gaia and Rhea, and partly Cybele.
Ancient images of Demeter resemble Hera, but her maternal features are more emphasized - in contrast to the imperious grandeur of Hera. Symbols of Demeter were wreaths of ears, baskets of fruit and torches. Her most famous images: the so-called “Demeter of Knidos” (Greek original, ca. 330 BC, attributed to the sculptor Leocharos), the colossal head of “Demeter with a diadem” (4th or 3rd century BC), large relief from the workshop of Philius “Triptolemus between Demeter and Kore” (430-420 BC), found in Eleusis.
From the temples of Demeter, mostly only ruins remain, except for the temple of the 6th century. BC e. in Paestum (Posidonia), but it seems that this temple is attributed to her erroneously.
The hymn “To Demeter” by Homer and the hymn of the same name by Callimachus (3rd century BC), as well as “The Eleusinian Festival” by Schiller (1798) are dedicated to Demeter.
She pursued Hercules, Dionysus and other illegitimate children of Zeus and his lovers, appears in various stories, almost always as the jealous wife of Zeus.
Athena
Daughter of Zeus and Metis, goddess of wisdom and just war.
Hercules is a mighty hero equal to the gods, main character Greece (originally, probably a Dorian hero), son of Zeus.
Europa, the daughter of King Agenor and Telephassa of Tyra in Phenicia, was kidnapped by Zeus, who turned into a snow-white bull (constellation Taurus). He transported Europe across the sea to the island of Crete and took possession of it there. In Crete, she was guarded by a dog, who was later, possibly, raised to heaven. Europe bore him three sons: Minos, Rhadomantus and Sarpelon.
Sister of Cadmus and Phoenix, ancestor of Minoan Zeus royal dynasty
Perseus is one of the central heroes of Greece, the son of Zeus and Danae. He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa, saved Andromeda and performed many other feats, but no longer recorded in heaven.
Dionysus - god of wine and vitality nature, the last of the gods to enter the Pantheon. Associated with him are ecstatic religious Dionysian cults, and then Dionysian, theater, culture, inspiration... In general, like all gods, Dionysus grew wiser and changed over time.
Apollo
The son of Zeus and Leto, a multifunctional god whose idea of divinity can be expressed as the guardian of world harmony. In particular, he is the patron of sciences and arts. Cult name - Phoebus
Aphrodite is the wife of Hephaestus. Goddess of love and beauty. Through inspired love, he can subjugate any mortals and immortals to his power.
Artemis is a virgin goddess, a huntress goddess, the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. Cult name - Phoebe
Demeter
One of the most revered goddesses of Greece, part of the Pantheon of twelve gods and goddesses, daughter of Kronos and Rhea, goddess of fertility and agriculture, mother of Persephone. Demeter, together with her brother Poseidon, is the “second pair” of the swallowed children of Kronos.
Hestia
The eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea, the patroness of the hearth and fire. Remaining celibate and chaste, she remained inactive on Olympus, formally entering the council of the gods, but she was apparently burdened by this role, because, according to some, she happily gave up her rights to Dionysus.
There is only one constellation in the sky that is indirectly associated with this goddess. Hestia is the keeper of the hearth; the constellation Altar, if we consider it a hearth, is dedicated to her.
Ares
The pedigree is unclear, the origin is apparently non-Greek, possibly Phrygian. God of war for the sake of war, violent, frantic, rude - a drunkard.
Neither the gods (well, except Aphrodite...) nor people loved him. By the way, they didn’t even build temples for him! He had unpleasant attributes: claws, a spear and a burning torch, and the animals were a dog, a wolf, a raven, a woodpecker, a vulture and a dragon, which was originally, in fact, a hypostasis of God. Often in myths where the dragon appears, the shadow of Ares looms somewhere.
Hermes
The son of Zeus and Maya, the Olympian god and messenger of the gods, often a mediator between the world of the gods and the world of people. Acts as a civilizer of humanity,
the titan Prometheus, who stole fire from Olympus for people, taught man to read and write, build houses and ships, make sacrifices to the gods and tell fortunes, engage in crafts and distinguish between the seasons! Who doesn’t know how cruelly Zeus punished him, who wanted people to remain weak and helpless before his power!
Hades was the first child of Kronos (there is information - the last), he was the first to swallow and languished in his father’s womb for many years. This formed the painful character of God. A misanthrope and theophobe, after his salvation by Zeus, he chose to rule the underground kingdom of Hades, where the souls of the dead were sent, and lived there constantly, surrounding himself with monsters and monstrosities.
Amalthea
As you know, the mother of Zeus Rhea was forced to secretly give birth to a son in order to protect him from her husband and the father of the child Cronus: Cronus, the lord of the pre-Olympic gods, swallowed all the children born, because he knew from a prediction that it was his son who would take away the supreme power from him. Why he swallowed his daughters - Hestia, Demeter, Hera - is not very clear. Before Zeus there were Hades and Poseidon, and they were all devoured by their father. (After the liberation of their younger brother, the sisters joined the Olympian Pantheon, and the brothers divided the government of the world into three.)
So, Rhea gave birth to Zeus in a cave in Crete (and gave Crone a placebo to swallow - a swaddled stone), where he grew up and was fed by the divine goat Amalthea. His foster brother, or at least his friend from his most tender childhood, was, by the way, Pan.
Andromeda is the beautiful daughter of the equally beautiful Cassiopeia and Kepheus, the Ethiopian king, ruler of Ionna. Cassiopeia once boasted about her beauty and the beauty of her daughter and said that she could not compare with them. The Nereids, naturally, immediately reported to Father Poseidon, and he, without hesitation, directed a monster - either a dragon or a whale - at Ionna: to sort it out. The filthy monster devastated the coast, the people were seething and worried, Kepheus did not know what to do, and Cassiopeia was angry. Perseus flew past in his winged sandals, carrying in his bag the head of the Gorgon Medusa he had obtained (and she was so terrible that with her gaze she turned people into stone). Perseus was captivated by Andromeda and immediately defeated the monster, which was just emerging from the water to devour the victim. You wouldn't be able to win if you had a secret weapon in your hands that turns people into stone!
Ariadne is the daughter of King Minos of Crete and his wife Pasiphae. No supernatural interference in the process. The girl lived in Crete in the Knossos Palace, danced on the stage that Daedalus designed especially for her, and, in fact, was happy. But Theseus came to the island, won her heart at sports games (by the way, this could not have happened without the help of Aphrodite), and the girl lost her head, forgetting about everything, about her father and mother, and even about the interests of the state.
Ariadne promised to help her lover if he took her as his wife - and she did. The Minotaur lived in a confusing Labyrinth, and it was not enough to kill him, he also had to get out of the tangle of corridors, passages and stairs. Firstly, Ariadne gave Theseus a thread, unwinding it along the road, he could always be sure that he would find his way back. This useful idea was suggested to the girl, of course, by the inventive Daedalus. And secondly, she gave the young man a crown that glowed in the dark.
Theseus, the son of Aegeus (and co-father of Poseidon, as befits a real hero), performed many feats, cleared the earth of many monsters and villains, but before starry skies almost nothing came through. Unfortunately, these stories are very picturesque.
Only two things reflected in the sky can be mentioned, one reflection is questionable and the other is very indirect.
As a sixteen-year-old youth, Theseus moves a huge rock, under which the sword and sandals left for him by Aegeus are kept.
3. Archaic culture (VIII-VI centuries BC)
The Archaic Age is an early stage in the development of ancient Greek society. One of the most important discoveries of archaic culture was the creation of writing.
All achievements of Greek architecture, constructive and decorative, are associated with the construction of temples. The Greeks created their own image of a free-standing support - a column. But unlike the Egyptian columns, the Greek column was proportionate to a person and was likened to his figure. The dimensions of capitals (the upper parts of columns) and bases (bases) were also based on the proportions of the human body.
In the 7th century. BC. An order system arose in Greece. The order is the order of connection between the load-bearing (columns) and supporting (entablature, which included an architrave, frieze and cornice) parts of the building in a post-and-beam structure. According to the order system, each part of the Greek temple building performed a strictly defined function. This was also facilitated by the custom of painting individual parts of the structure. There were two main orders used in Greek architecture: Doric and Ionic.
Entablature - a floor supported by a column
Architrave - the lower part of the entablature, lying on the capitals of the columns, looks like a wide beam
Frieze - part of the entablature between the architrave and the cornice, sometimes filled with sculptural relief.
Hello, our dear readers, connoisseurs of forgotten magical rituals and modern esoteric practices. Our conversation today will be about the most mysterious of the Olympian goddesses and at the same time the most powerful of them. Big sister Zeus himself and the guardian of his sacred fire. That is, about Hestia. We read and discover new knowledge.
Hestia is the first child of Kronos and Rhea. The eldest among the modern gods and the most modest of them. There are practically no myths or legends about Hestia, she did not take part in any wars, conspiracies, or even love affairs, and yet no other force received as many prayers and sacrifices as this modest and seemingly deprived of attention “poor thing” .
Let's start with the fact that in terms of its antiquity, the cult of Hestia, Gesta, or as the Romans called Vesta, is older than even the cult of the golden-throned, and in comparison with it seems like a baby.
The eldest daughter of Kronos is the goddess of sacred fire. Not the one that rages in forest fires and burns entire settlements, but the flame that lives in people's homes, which warms, protects, cooks food and accepts ritual sacrifices.
So, Hestia was the spirit of this element and its guardian. It was with prayers to her that absolutely any ancient ritual began and it ended with them. Then even a saying was formed: “Start with Hestia,” that is, do everything in order and in a timely manner.
But let's dig even deeper and take a quick look at the barbarian tribes that inhabited Europe. Listen.
- Massagetae
- Kyrgyzstan
- Samogets
- Fracogetae
- Mirogetae
- Tissageti
Did you notice the common root? And this could be called a coincidence if, by some strange coincidence, one of their main deities, as well as the goddess of the neighboring Scythian peoples, was the mistress of the underground fire, Tabiti, who exactly fits the description of the Greek Hesta. So modest, huh? But it was precisely the oath to the “royal hearths” that not one of the representatives of these peoples dared to break. But let's return to the Greeks again.
Hestia is a virgin
To this day, only one single myth has survived where the eldest of the daughters of Kronos appeared. According to him, the intriguing Aphrodite, who had no power over her high-born niece, decided to play a cruel joke on her and made two powerful gods fall in love with Hestia at once, who, in fact, did not have the habit of asking women what they think about reciprocity.
These turned out to be: the ruler of the seas, Poseidon, and the conqueror of Python himself, the archer Apollo. But what do we see?
Instead of just coming up and taking what they want, both gods go to Zeus and ask to give Hestia in marriage to one of them. Please note that the Thunderer, who at one time did not even stand up for his long-time mistress Demeter and the mother of his son Persephone, nevertheless leaves his sister the right to decide for herself which of the suitors she is ready to throw in her lot with. And after she refused both of them, he accepted her choice.
Moreover, he settled her in the center of his house and instructed her to look after the sacred fire, and, despite all his loving character, he never encroached on her honor. Cool, yeah? But let's move on.
Besides Hestia, only the warlike Athena Palada and the unsurpassed huntress Artemis did not recognize the power of Aphrodite. But it should be understood that these were warrior goddesses who lost their femininity by taking up arms. But Vesta, let us recall, according to official version never took a life. Well then, what makes her similar to Athena and Artemis?
To answer this question, you need to flip through more than one century and turn all the way to Christianity. Remember what is written in the Book of Genesis (3:24)?
“And he cast out Adam, and placed in the east by the garden of Eden Cherubim and a flaming sword that turned to guard the way to the tree of life.”
So, the image of the six-winged guard of the Garden of Eden is still very similar to the images of the Scythian Tabiti, that is, Hestia.
Only the Greek goddess had a torch in her hands, and the cherubs had a fiery sword. But is it really that important? Perhaps much knowledge about the life of the ancient gods was simply lost. And the secret of respect for the virgin goddess was precisely her strength? And didn’t Zeus keep her as a powerful guard who would protect not only the fire, but also his house from the conspirators, because there were contenders before this.
By the way, after the matchmaking, Hestia completely moved away from the Olympic elite and her place among the twelve ruling gods was taken by the son of Semele, the thrice-born Dionysus.
But how exactly was it customary to communicate with the great goddess and how should she be revered?
Rituals
To this day, descriptions of only some rituals have survived in which Hestia and the main one are family rituals.
So, giving her daughter in marriage, a devout Roman or Greek woman brought a piece of the fire she kept to the new home of the newlyweds and, with the help of it, kindled another hearth. It was this that the young wife was to keep in the future.
But that's not all. When the child born to the couple turned five years old, he received the right to become a full member of the family and in order to testify to this fact in front of Hestia, the baby was carried around the fire, after which sacrifices were made to the goddess and a feast began.
That is, fire in ancient times had a unifying character. At first it gathered hunters around it, then it served as a meeting place for the family, and later it united the mighty Roman Empire.
During her time, the temples of Vesta were especially powerful, and the Vestal priestesses who kept the fire in them were obliged to protect chastity, like their goddess. For the record, let us add that the priestess of Hestia who lost her virginity was not killed. She was walled up alive underground, leaving only a small candle in her hands, with which life was supposed to die out.
Do you think such customs are too cruel? But such were the times. That was the order. It was thanks to their iron discipline, which was given by the sacred fire, that the Romans conquered all of Europe.
This concludes our review. Goodbye and see you soon on the pages of the Women's Magic website.
Demeter (Greek) - “earth mother” - goddess of fertility and agriculture, daughter of Kronos and Rhea, sister of Zeus, from whom she gave birth to Persephone. It is believed that D. taught people plowing and sowing, combining with the Cretan god of agriculture Ision on a thrice-plowed field on the island of Crete. The fruit of this ritual marriage was Plutos, the god of wealth and abundance. The myth of the abduction of Persephone by the god of the underworld Hades is widely known. For nine days D. unsuccessfully searched for her daughter, and on the tenth she learned from Helios that Persephone, with the consent of Zeus, had been kidnapped by Hades. The angry D. left Olympus and began to wander around the world in the form of an old woman. The earth stopped producing crops, famine set in, and Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone to her mother, but before parting, Hades gave Persephone a few pomegranate seeds to eat so that she would not forget the kingdom of the dead. Since then, Persephone spent two thirds of the year on earth with D., and a third with Hades in the underworld. According to another version of the myth, D., having left Olympus, came to Eleusis in the form of an old woman. The wife of the Eleusinian king Kelei Metanira greeted D. warmly and took her as a nanny to her son Triptolemus (option: Demophon). To thank royal family, D. decided to make the child immortal. She rubbed him with ambrosia and kept him over the fire at night, but one day the mother saw her son in the flames, and D. was forced to abandon her intention. Before leaving Eleusis, the goddess gave Triptolemus an ear of wheat, taught him to cultivate the land and ordered him to teach people agriculture. There is a well-known myth about how D. turned into a mare to avoid the advances of Poseidon, but he turned into a stallion and gave birth to the wonderful talking horse Areyon. D. was depicted as a woman full of strength, similar to Hera, but with softer facial features, wearing a wreath of ears of corn, with a torch and a basket of fruits. She was often depicted together with Persephone, sometimes with Triptolemus.
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