ZEUS. THE CROWN IS OVERTHROWED. 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.

(Source: Legends and Myths Ancient Greece" N.A. Kun.)

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- (Ζεύς, Jupiter). Lord of the sky, greatest of the Olympian gods, son of Kronos and Rhea, brother of Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter and Hera and husband of Hera. He cast down Kronos and the Titans from heaven and acquired supreme power over gods and people. He dominates... Encyclopedia of Mythology

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• Legends and myths of ancient Greece: gods, Nikolai Kun. The publication contains a story about the gods of Ancient Greece, written on the basis of the great works “Iliad”, “Odyssey”, “Aeneid”. The works of this publication are included in the programs of grades 5-11...

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 with 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.

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.

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.

THE FIGHT OF ZEUS WITH TYPHON

But the struggle did not end there. Gaia-Earth was angry with the Olympian Zeus for treating her defeated titan children so harshly. She married the gloomy Tartarus and gave birth to the terrible hundred-headed monster Typhon. Huge, with a hundred dragon heads, Typhon rose from the bowels of the earth. He shook the air with a wild howl. The barking of dogs, human voices, the roar of an angry bull, the roar of a lion were heard in this howl. Turbulent flames swirled around Typhon, and the earth shook under his heavy steps. The gods shuddered with horror, but Zeus the Thunderer boldly rushed at him, and the battle broke out. Lightning flashed again in the hands of Zeus, and thunder rumbled. The earth and the firmament were shaken to the core. The earth flared up again with a bright flame, just as during the fight with the titans. The seas were boiling at the mere approach of Typhon. Hundreds of fiery lightning arrows rained down from the thunderer Zeus; it seemed as if their fire was making the very air burn and the dark thunderclouds were burning. Zeus incinerated all of Typhon's hundred heads. Typhon collapsed to the ground; such heat emanated from his body that everything around him melted. Zeus raised Typhon's body and threw it into the gloomy Tartarus, which gave birth to him. But even in Tartarus, Typhon also threatens the gods and all living things. It causes storms and eruptions; he gave birth to the terrible two-headed dog Orff with Echidna, half-woman, half-snake, hellhound Kerbera, Lernaean Hydra and Chimera; Typhon often shakes the earth.
The Olympian gods defeated their enemies. No one could resist their power anymore. They could now calmly rule the world. The most powerful of them, the thunderer Zeus, took the sky for himself, Poseidon took the sea, and Hades took the underground kingdom of the souls of the dead. The land remained in common possession. Although the sons of Kron divided the power over the world among themselves, the lord of the sky, Zeus, still reigns over them all; he rules people and gods, he knows everything in the world.

OLYMPUS

Zeus reigns high on bright Olympus, surrounded by a host of gods. Here are his wife Hera, and golden-haired Apollo with his sister Artemis, and golden Aphrodite, and the mighty daughter of Zeus Athena *1, and many other gods. Three beautiful Oras guard the entrance to high Olympus and raise a thick cloud covering the gates when the gods descend to earth or ascend to the bright halls of Zeus. High above Olympus, the blue, bottomless sky stretches wide, and golden light pours from it. There is no rain or snow in the kingdom of Zeus; There is always a bright, joyful summer there. And the clouds swirl below, sometimes covering the distant land. There, on earth, spring and summer are replaced by autumn and winter, joy and fun are replaced by misfortune and grief. True, even the gods know sorrows, but they soon pass, and joy reigns again on Olympus.
The gods feast in their golden palaces, built by the son of Zeus Hephaestus *2. King Zeus sits on a high golden throne. The courageous, divinely beautiful face of Zeus breathes with greatness and a proudly calm consciousness of power and might. At his throne are the goddess of peace Eirene and the constant companion of Zeus, the winged goddess of victory Nike. Here comes the beautiful, majestic goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus. Zeus honors his wife: all the gods of Olympus surround Hera, the patroness of marriage, with honor. When, shining with her beauty, in a magnificent outfit, the great Hera enters the banquet hall, all the gods stand up and bow before the wife of the thunderer Zeus. And she, proud of her power, goes to the golden throne and sits next to the king of gods and people - Zeus. Near the throne of Hera stands her messenger, the goddess of the rainbow, the light-winged Iris, always ready to quickly fly on rainbow wings to carry out the commands of Hera to the farthest ends of the earth.
The gods are feasting. The daughter of Zeus, young Hebe, and the son of the king of Troy, Ganymede, the favorite of Zeus, who received immortality from him, offer them ambrosia and nectar - the food and drink of the gods. Beautiful harites *3 and muses delight them with singing and dancing. Holding hands, they dance in circles, and the gods admire their light movements and wondrous, eternally youthful beauty. The feast of the Olympians becomes more fun. At these feasts the gods decide all matters; at them they determine the fate of the world and people.
From Olympus, Zeus sends his gifts to people and establishes order and laws on earth. The fate of people is in the hands of Zeus; happiness and unhappiness, good and evil, life and death - everything is in his hands. Two large vessels stand at the gates of Zeus's palace. In one vessel there are gifts of good, in the other - evil. Zeus draws good and evil from them and sends them to people. Woe to the man to whom the Thunderer draws gifts only from a vessel of evil. Woe to those who violate the order established by Zeus on earth and do not comply with his laws. The son of Kron will move his thick eyebrows menacingly, then black clouds will cloud the sky. The great Zeus will be angry, and the hair on his head will rise terribly, his eyes will light up with an unbearable brilliance; he will wave his right hand - thunderclaps will roll across the entire sky, fiery lightning will flash, and high Olympus will shake.
Zeus is not the only one who keeps the laws. At his throne stands the goddess Themis, who preserves the laws. She convenes, at the behest of the Thunderer, meetings of the gods on bright Olympus and people's meetings on earth, ensuring that order and law are not violated. On Olympus is also the daughter of Zeus, the goddess Dike, who oversees justice. Zeus severely punishes unrighteous judges when Dike informs him that they do not comply with the laws given by Zeus. Goddess Dike is the defender of truth and the enemy of deception.
Zeus maintains order and truth in the world and sends happiness and sorrow to people. But although Zeus sends happiness and misfortune to people, the fate of people is still determined by the inexorable goddesses of fate - the Moirai *4, living on bright Olympus. The fate of Zeus himself is in their hands. Fate rules over mortals and gods. No one can escape the dictates of inexorable fate. There is no such force, such power that could change at least something in what is intended for gods and mortals. You can only humbly bow before fate and submit to it. Some Moirai know the dictates of fate. Moira Clotho spins the life thread of a person, determining his lifespan. The thread will break and life will end. Moira Lachesis takes out, without looking, the lot that falls to a person in life. No one is able to change the fate determined by the moiras, since the third moira, Atropos, puts everything that her sisters have assigned in a person’s life in a long scroll, and what is included in the scroll of fate is inevitable. The great, harsh moiras are inexorable.
There is also a goddess of fate on Olympus - this is the goddess Tyukhe *5, the goddess of happiness and prosperity. From the cornucopia, the horn of the divine goat Amalthea, whose milk Zeus himself was fed, she will send gifts to people, and happy is the person who meets life path goddess of happiness Tyukhe; but how rarely does this happen, and how unhappy is the person from whom the goddess Tyukhe, who has just given him her gifts, turns away! So reigns surrounded by a host of bright gods on Olympus great king people and gods Zeus, protecting order and truth throughout the world.

Based on Ovid's poem "Metamorphoses".
But whoever does not honor the golden Aphrodite, who rejects her gifts, who opposes her power, is mercilessly punished by the goddess of love. So she punished the son of the river god Cephisus and the nymph Lavrion, the beautiful, but cold, proud Narcissus. He loved no one except himself, he only considered himself worthy of love.
One day, when he got lost in a dense forest while hunting, the nymph Echo saw him. The nymph could not speak to Narcissus herself. The punishment of the goddess Hera weighed heavily on her: the nymph Echo had to remain silent, and she could answer questions only by repeating their last words. Echo looked with delight at the slender, handsome young man, hidden from him by the thicket of the forest. Narcissus looked around, not knowing where to go, and shouted loudly:
- Hey, who's here?
- Here! - Echo answered loudly.
- Come here! - Narcissus shouted.
- Here! - Echo answered.
The beautiful Narcissus looks around in amazement. There is no one. Surprised by this, he exclaimed loudly:
- Here, come to me quickly!
And Echo responded joyfully.
- To me!
Stretching out her hands, a nymph from the forest hurries towards Narcissus, but the beautiful young man angrily pushes her away. He hastily left the nymph and disappeared into the dark forest.
The rejected nymph also hid in the impenetrable thicket of the forest. She suffers from love for Narcissus, does not show herself to anyone and only sadly responds to every cry from the unfortunate Echo.
But Narcissus remained proud and narcissistic. He rejected everyone's love. His pride made many nymphs unhappy. And once one of the nymphs rejected by him exclaimed:
- Love you too, Narcissus! And let the person you love not reciprocate your feelings!
The nymph's wish came true. The goddess of love Aphrodite was angry that Narcissus was rejecting her gifts and punished him. One spring, while hunting, Narcissus came to a stream and wanted to drink the cold water. Neither a shepherd nor mountain goats had ever touched the waters of this stream, not once had a broken branch fallen into the stream, not even the wind had carried lush flower petals into the stream. Its water was clean and transparent. As if in a mirror, everything around was reflected in it: the bushes growing along the shore, and the slender cypress trees, and the blue sky. Narcissus bent down to the stream, resting his hands on a stone protruding from the water, and was reflected in the stream in all its glory. It was then that Aphrodite’s punishment befell him. He looks in amazement at his reflection in the water, and strong love takes possession of it. With eyes full of love, he looks at his image in the water, it beckons him, calls him, stretches out its arms to him. Narcissus leans towards the mirror of the waters to kiss his reflection, but kisses only the cold, clear water of the stream. Narcissus has forgotten everything: he does not leave the stream; without stopping to admire himself. He doesn't eat, doesn't drink, doesn't sleep. Finally, full of despair, Narcissus exclaims, stretching out his hands to his reflection:
- 0, who suffered so cruelly! We are separated not by mountains, not by seas, but only by a strip of water, and yet we cannot be with you. Get out of the stream!
Narcissus thought, looking at his reflection in the water. Suddenly a terrible thought came to mind, and he quietly whispered to his reflection, leaning towards the water itself:
- Oh, grief! I'm afraid I've fallen in love with myself! After all, you are me! I love myself. I feel like I don't have much time left to live. Having barely blossomed, I will wither and descend into the dark kingdom of shadows. Death does not frighten me; death will bring an end to the torment of love.
Narcissus’s strength leaves, he turns pale and already feels the approach of death, but still cannot tear himself away from his reflection. Narcissus is crying. His tears fall into the clear waters of the stream. Circles appeared on the mirror surface of the water and the beautiful image disappeared. Narcissus exclaimed with fear:
- Oh, where are you! Come back! Stay! Don't leave me. After all, this is cruel. Oh, let me at least look at you!
But then the water is calm again, a reflection has appeared again, and Narcissus is again looking at it without stopping. It melts like dew on flowers in the rays of the hot sun. The unfortunate nymph Echo also sees how Narcissus suffers. She still loves him; Narcissus's suffering squeezes her heart with pain.
- Oh, grief! - exclaims Narcissus.
- Oh, grief! - Echo answers.
Finally, exhausted, Narcissus exclaimed in a weakening voice, looking at his reflection:
- Goodbye!
And even more quietly, barely audible, the response of the nymph Echo sounded:
- Goodbye!
Narcissus's head bowed on the green coastal grass, and the darkness of death covered his eyes. Narcissus died. The young nymphs cried in the forest, and Echo cried. The nymphs prepared a grave for young Narcissus, but when they came for his body, they did not find it. In the place where Narcissus's head bowed on the grass, a white fragrant flower grew - the flower of death; His name is Narcissus.

Zeus is considered a truly Greek supreme deity. He is the father of men and the head of the Olympian family of gods. His name means "bright sky". But his path to Olympus, to the highest level of the supreme deity, was not easy. He, a native of the third generation of gods, took part in a fierce struggle against the second generation of gods - the titan gods. Titans were cruel and largely mindless creatures. For example, Zeus's father Kronus feared that his own children might overthrow him, and devoured their newly born ones. Zeus was saved by Rhea's mother. She gave Kron a stone wrapped in white cloth to swallow, and sent the child to the island of Crete.

Zeus grew up and matured in Crete. The nymphs fed little Zeus with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. The bees brought him honey from the slopes of the high mountain Dikta. At the entrance to the cave, young demigods struck their shields with their swords when little Zeus cried, so that his father would not hear him cry and the fate of his brothers and sisters would not befall him.

Zeus quickly realized his strength and realized that in order to gain god's power over the world, he would have to fight with his parent. But in this fight he will need allies. Who could be better than siblings? This means that the first thing he had to do was free the swallowed sisters and brothers.

In the stomach of his father Kron there were already five children, future gods. Hestia is the goddess of sacrificial fire and hearth fire, called Vesta by the Romans; Demeter - the great goddess of the fertility of the earth (among the Romans Ceres); Hera - the supreme Olympian goddess (among the Romans Juno); Hades is the god of the underground (among the Romans Pluto) and Poseidon is the ruler of the seas and oceans (among the Romans Neptune).

Zeus decided to go against his father. He agreed with the goddess Metis, daughter of Ocean and Tethys, that she would make special drink, which will cause Kron to regurgitate the children he swallowed. The potion was prepared and delivered to Kron. The Titan God drank it with pleasure. And he was turned inside out. He burped up a stone wrapped in white cloth first, followed by all the children in turn. They were born again safe and sound. And united with Zeus, they began a war against their father Cronus and other titans for the right to rule the world.

First of all, they established themselves on high Olympus. Some of the titans went over to their side: Ocean with her daughter Styx and her daughters Zeal, Power and Victory. They wanted to overthrow the hated and evil titans. The struggle was long and brutal. The one-eyed giants, the Cyclopes, sons of Uranus and Gaia, representatives of the elemental forces of nature, decided to help young Zeus.

The Cyclopes forged thunder and lightning for Zeus. There were huge amount. And Zeus began to throw them at the titans. But he was unable to immediately defeat the harsh and powerful gods. This stubborn struggle continued for ten years, with the advantage now in one direction or the other. It was necessary to look for new assistants. And Zeus freed the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires from the bowels of the earth. They were terrible to look at: huge as mountains, powerful and black as the very bowels of the earth. They grabbed huge rocks and threw them at the titans. From such a massacre the earth groaned, the air shook, the water boiled in the seas, and fires broke out all around. But the titans did not retreat; they held on to the base of Olympus with a death grip.

And then Zeus began to throw fiery lightning and roaring thunder at them with redoubled force. All nature around was on fire, and a heavy stench covered the entire space with a thick veil. It became impossible to breathe. The Titans could not withstand such pressure, they were tired, their strength was exhausted. And they retreated from Olympus and stopped fighting.

This was a victory for Zeus and his allies. The Olympian gods grabbed the exhausted titans, bound them in chains and threw them into the very depths of gloomy Tartarus - into eternal darkness. There they were locked behind copper gates, which were guarded by the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires. The Titans were completely eliminated, and a new galaxy of gods appeared on Olympus, led by supreme god Zeus.