Danaids Danaids
(Source: " Brief dictionary mythology and antiquities." M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition by A. S. Suvorin, 1894.)
DANAIDS(Δαναϊδες), in Greek mythology 50 daughters of the king Danae, who fled with their father from the persecution of their cousins Aegyptiades, who sought D.’s love, to Argos. Here the Aegyptiades overtook them, and Danaus, submitting to force, was forced to agree to the marriage, distributing the brides by lot among the grooms. He gave daggers to his daughters and demanded that D. stab their sleeping husbands on their wedding night. All D. obeyed, except Hypermnestra. After this, Danaus organized gymnastic competitions and gave his daughters as a reward to the winners (Apollod. II 1, 4-5). Later D. and their father were killed by Hypermnestra's husband Lyncaeus, avenging their brothers. In Hades, D. suffers eternal punishment by filling a leaky vessel with water (Hyg. Fab. 168).
A. t.-g.
(Source: “Myths of the Peoples of the World.”)
Danaids50 daughters of King Danae, who, at the behest of their father, killed their husbands on their wedding night (one Hypermnestra disobeyed, saving her husband Lynceus and becoming the ancestress of the Argive kings). As punishment, the Danaids had to fill a bottomless barrel with water forever in Hades. In a figurative sense - “barrel of Danaids”, “work of Danaids” - useless and endless labor. One of them is Amimona.
// Armand SULLY-PRUDHOMA: Danaids // N.A. Kuhn: DANAIDS
(Source: Myths Ancient Greece. Dictionary-reference book." EdwART, 2009.)
DANAIDSThe son of Zeus and Io, Epaphus, had a son Bel, and he had two sons - Egypt and Danaus. The entire country, which is irrigated by the fertile Nile, was owned by Egypt, from which this country received its name. Danau ruled in Libya. The gods gave Egypt fifty sons. I give fifty beautiful daughters. The Danaids captivated the sons of Egypt with their beauty, and they wanted to marry beautiful girls, but Danai and the Danaids refused them. The sons of Egypt gathered a large army and went to war against Danae. Danaus was defeated by his nephews, and he had to lose his kingdom and flee. With the help of the goddess Pallas Athena, Danai built the first fifty-oared ship and set sail on it with his daughters into the endless, ever-noisy sea.
Danae's ship sailed for a long time on the sea waves and finally sailed to the island of Rhodes. Here Danaus stopped; he went ashore with his daughters, founded a sanctuary to his patron goddess Athena and made rich sacrifices to her. Danaus did not stay in Rhodes. Fearing the persecution of the sons of Egypt, he sailed with his daughters further to the shores of Greece, to Argolis (1) - the homeland of his ancestor Io. Zeus himself guarded the ship during its dangerous voyage across the boundless sea. After a long journey, the ship landed on the fertile shores of Argolis. Here Danai and the Danaids hoped to find protection and salvation from their hated marriage with the sons of Egypt,
Under the guise of begging for protection with olive branches in their hands, the Danaids came ashore. No one was visible on the shore. Finally, a cloud of dust appeared in the distance. It was approaching quickly. Now in the cloud of dust you can see the sparkle of shields, helmets and spears. The noise of the wheels of war chariots can be heard. This is the approaching army of the king of Argolis, Pelasgus, son of Palekhton. Notified of the ship's arrival, Pelasgus came to the seashore with his army. He did not meet an enemy there, but the elder Danae and his fifty beautiful daughters. They met him with branches in their hands, praying for protection. Stretching out their hands to him, with eyes full of tears, his beautiful daughters Danae beg to help them against the proud sons of Egypt. In the name of Zeus, the mighty protector of those who pray, the Danaids of Pelasgus conjure not to hand them over. After all, they are not strangers in Argolid - this is the homeland of their ancestor Io.
Pelasgus still hesitates - he is afraid of the war with the mighty rulers of Egypt. What should he do? But he is even more afraid of the wrath of Zeus if, by violating his laws, he pushes away those who pray to him in the name of the Thunderer for protection. Finally, Pelasgus advises Danaus to go to Argos himself and there put olive branches on the altar of the gods as a sign of a plea for protection. He himself decides to gather the people and ask their advice. Pelasgus promises the Danaids to make every effort to convince the citizens of Argos to protect them.
Pelasgus leaves. The Danaids await the decision of the national assembly with trepidation. They know how indomitable the sons of Egypt are, how formidable they are in battle; they know what threatens them if the Egyptian ships land on the shores of Argolis. What should they, defenseless virgins, do if the inhabitants of Argos deprive them of shelter and help? Misfortune is near. The messenger of the sons of Egypt has already come. He threatens to take the Danae to the ship by force; he grabbed one of Danae’s daughters by the hand and orders his slaves to seize the others as well. But here King Pelasgus appears again. He takes the Danaids under his protection, and he is not afraid that the messenger of the sons of Egypt threatens him with war.
Death brought Pelasgus and the inhabitants of Argolis the decision to protect Danaus and his daughters. Defeated in a bloody battle, Pelasgus was forced to flee to the very north of his vast possessions. True, Danaus was elected king of Argos, but in order to buy peace from the sons of Egypt, he still had to give them his beautiful daughters as wives.
The sons of Egypt celebrated their wedding with the Danaids magnificently. They did not know what fate this marriage would bring them. The noisy wedding feast ended; the wedding hymns fell silent, the wedding torches went out; the darkness of the night enveloped Argos. Deep silence reigned in the sleepy city. Suddenly, in the silence, a heavy dying groan was heard, here is another one, another and another. The terrible atrocity was committed by the Danaids under the cover of darkness. With the daggers given to them by their father Danai, they pierced their husbands as soon as sleep closed their eyes. That's how they died terrible death sons of Egypt. Only one of them, the beautiful Lynceus, was saved. Danae's young daughter, Hypermnestra, took pity on him. She was unable to pierce her husband's chest with a dagger. She woke him up and secretly took him out of the palace.
Danaus became furious when he learned that Hypermnestra had disobeyed his command. Danaus put his daughter in heavy chains and threw him into prison. The court of elders of Argos gathered to judge Hypermnestra for disobedience to her father. Danaus wanted to put his daughter to death. But the goddess of love herself, golden Aphrodite, appeared at the trial. She protected Hypermnestra and saved her from cruel execution. Compassionate, loving daughter Danae became the wife of Lynceus. The gods blessed this marriage with numerous offspring of great heroes. Hercules himself, the immortal hero of Greece, belonged to the family of Lynceus.
Zeus did not want the other Danaids to die either. At the command of Zeus, Athena and Hermes cleansed the Danaids from the filth of the shed blood. King Danai organized great games in honor of the Olympian gods. The winners of these games received Danae's daughters as wives as a reward.
But the Danaids still did not escape punishment for the crime committed. They carry it after their death in the dark kingdom of Hades. The Danaids must fill a huge vessel with water that has no bottom. They carry water forever, scooping it up from an underground river and pouring it into a vessel. It seems that the vessel is already full, but water flows out of it, and again it is empty. The Danaids get to work again, again carry water and pour it into a vessel without a bottom. So their fruitless work continues endlessly.
(1) Region in the northwestern Peloponnese.
(Source: “Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece.” N.A. Kun.)
See what “Danaids” are in other dictionaries:
50 daughters of Danaus, ruler of Libya. Danae was prophesied that he would die by the hand of one of his sons-in-law; so he persuaded his daughters to kill the suitors. For this crime they were condemned in the next world to constantly fill the bottomless water... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Danaids- naid, pl. danaides pl. 1. From the derivative name of the daughters of the Argive king Danaus, who were doomed to fill a bottomless barrel with water in Hades as punishment for the murder of their husbands. Finally I noticed that I had taken up Danaid's work; fell silent and... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
Modern encyclopedia
In Greek mythology, 50 daughters of King Danaus, at the behest of their father, killed their husbands on their wedding night (one Hypermnestra disobeyed, who became the ancestor of the Argive kings). As punishment, the Danaids had to fill a bottomless barrel with water forever in Hades... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Danaids- DANAIDS, in Greek mythology, 50 daughters of King Danaus, who, at the behest of their father, killed their husbands on their wedding night (Hypermnestra, who became the ancestress of the Argive kings, disobeyed). As punishment, the Danaids in Hades forever fill a bottomless barrel with water. In a figurative way... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
This term has other meanings, see Danaids (meanings) ... Wikipedia
Eid; pl. [Greek Danaides] ◊ Barrel Danaides. About useless, never-ending work (from the myth about the daughters of the Argive king Danaus, doomed to fill a bottomless barrel in Hades as punishment for the murder of their husbands). * * * Danaids in Greek mythology... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Danaids- in Greek mythology there are 50 daughters of Danaus from Egypt. They had to marry their uncle's sons against their will and their father's will. D. fled with his father to Argos. Danaus and the king of Argos Pelasgus resisted the young men who pursued them.... ... Ancient world. Dictionary-reference book.
And the great-grandson of Zeus - Bel, had two sons - Egypt And Danai. The entire country, which is irrigated by the fertile Nile, was owned by Egypt, and from him this country received its name. Danau ruled in Libya. They adopted customs alien to the Hellenes. Danae had a harem of ten wives, and each gave birth to five daughters. Not wanting to yield to his brother in anything, Egypt also took ten wives, and together they bore him fifty sons.
As they grew up, their hearts burned with love for their beautiful cousins.
And then it became clear that Danaus, unlike Egypt, was not fully Egyptian. He opposed this marriage and firmly decided: it was better to go into exile, to return to an unknown homeland, than to allow his daughters to enter into a criminal incestuous marriage. The sons of Egypt gathered a large army and went to war against Danae. Danaus was defeated by his nephews, and he had to lose his kingdom and flee.
Danai prayed to Lady Athena, and she, skilled in all crafts, helped him build a fifty-oared ship, on which he and his family set off.
Danae's ship sailed for a long time on the sea waves and finally sailed to the island of Rhodes, beloved by Helios. Here the father and daughters, with the help of servants, erected a temple to Athena and made the first sacrifices. Fearing the persecution of the sons of Egypt, he sailed with his daughters further to the shores of Greece, to Argolis - the homeland of his ancestor Io. Zeus himself guarded the ship during its dangerous voyage across the boundless sea. After a long journey, the ship landed on the fertile shores of Argolis. Here Danaus and the Danaids hoped to find protection and salvation from their hated marriage with the sons of Egypt.
In Argolis, where Danaus and her daughters arrived safely, the Pelasgians then lived, and King Gelanor ruled over them. The people, having learned that the stranger was a descendant of the ancient rulers of the country, began to think who was more worthy of power - Gelanor or Danai.
It so happened that on one of these days, Apollo attacked the herd of royal cows in the guise of a wolf and defeated the bull, the leader of the herd. The Argives saw this as an indication from the gods who should rule their city. Since the bull was local and the wolf came from the forest, they decided that the king should be a stranger. And power was transferred to Danai. He did not turn out to be ungrateful and erected a temple to Apollo the Wolf. After this, the Argives began to be called Danaans.
Danaus, who grew up on the banks of the Nile, could not come to terms with the lack fresh water. He sent his daughters around the country, ordering them to find underground water. Animone was luckier than others. While wandering, she saw a handsome deer. Throwing a dart at him, she hit the sleeping satyr. He woke up and rushed to the girl. Poseidon came running to her cry. Animone gave herself to him, and in gratitude, Poseidon opened an outlet to an underground spring, to which he gave the girl’s name. From the god Animone gave birth to a son, Nauplius, the ancestor of the famous hero with the same name.
Meanwhile, the Aegyptiades, burning with love for their cousins, managed to get on the trail of Danaus and his daughters. Arriving in Argos, they came to the royal palace and demanded Danaids as their wives. Danaus realized that he could not cope with fifty strong young men, and celebrated the wedding. But before releasing his daughters to their husbands, he gave each of them a dagger, ordering them to kill their husbands to prevent incest.
Obedient daughters obeyed their father, filling their marriage beds with the blood of their husbands-brothers. Only one of them, the beautiful Lynceus, was saved. Danae's young daughter, Hypermnestra, took pity on him. She was unable to pierce her husband's chest with a dagger. She woke him up and secretly took him out of the palace.
Danaus became furious when he learned that Hypermnestra had disobeyed his command. Danaus put his daughter in heavy chains and threw him into prison. The court of elders of Argos gathered to judge Hypermnestra for disobedience to her father. Danaus wanted to put his daughter to death. But the goddess of love herself, golden Aphrodite, appeared at the trial. She protected Hypermnestra and saved her from cruel execution. The compassionate, loving daughter of Danae became the wife of Lynceus. The gods blessed this marriage with numerous offspring of great heroes. Hercules himself, the immortal hero of Greece, belonged to the family of Lynceus.
Zeus did not want the other Danaids to die either. At the command of Zeus, Athena and Hermes cleansed the Danaids from the filth of the shed blood. King Danai organized great games in honor of the Olympian gods. The winners of these games received Danae's daughters as wives as a reward.
But the Danaids still did not escape punishment for the crime committed. They carry it after their death in the dark kingdom of Hades. The Danaids must fill a huge vessel with water that has no bottom. They carry water forever, scooping it up from an underground river and pouring it into a vessel. It seems that the vessel is already full, but water flows out of it, and again it is empty. The Danaids get to work again, again carry water and pour it into a vessel without a bottom. So their fruitless work continues endlessly.
To many in ancient times this seemed like a severe punishment. But those who found the act of the chaste sisters pious argued that the Danaids, the great-granddaughters of the deep Nile, were given the opportunity to lead their usual way of life in Hades.
Genealogy:
Children of Zeus: Part of this branch is devoted to the origins of Danaus and Aegyptus, as well as their descendants.
Danae, Greek - daughter of the Argive king and his wife Eurydice, mother of Perseus.
She was so beautiful, and most importantly, she had such beautiful legs that Zeus himself fell in love with her and wished to have a son from her. On the other hand, Danae's father was predicted that he would die at the hands of his grandson, and therefore Acrisius imprisoned Danae in a dungeon, away from men. To get to her, Zeus showed all his ingenuity and omnipotence: he turned into golden rain, poured through the cracks in the ceiling into Danae’s underground prison and after the allotted time became the father of Perseus, the future hero.
Having learned that his grandson had been born after all, Acrisius ordered Danae and his son to be hammered into a large box and thrown into the sea. But the son of Zeus and his mother were not destined to drown. Sea waves nailed the box to the island of Serif (Cyclades archipelago), where it was caught by the fisherman Dictys, brother of the Serif king Polydectes. Polydectes began to show the beautiful Danae all kinds of attentions, especially when he learned that she was the beloved of Zeus himself. Although Danae made it clear to him that she was, to put it mildly, indifferent to him, Polydectes persistently continued his advances, confident in his irresistibility. For many years he promised her all sorts of benefits, including his hand, but was invariably refused. Finally, losing patience, Polydectes was ready to resort to violence, but by this time Perseus could already stand up for his mother.
Here even Polydectes realized that he needed to get rid of Perseus. Having apparently doubted the divine origin of Perseus, Polydectes provoked the young man to declare that he was capable of performing a feat that was beyond the capabilities of an ordinary mortal. Then Polydectes sent him for the head of the Gorgon Medusa, confident that an attempt to fulfill this order would cost the head of Perseus himself.
However, thanks to his courage and the help of the gods, Perseus fulfilled this assignment (more on this in the corresponding article) and returned to Serif at the right time. His mother had to hide from the persistent Polydectes in the temple of Zeus, surrounded by royal soldiers, ready to grab Danae at the first opportunity and take her to the king. While waiting for Danae to be brought, Polydectes meanwhile feasted in the palace with his friends. However, instead of Danae, he suddenly saw Perseus, who declared that he had completed his assignment. The appearance of Perseus frightened the king: he thought that Perseus had died long ago. However, he quickly came to his senses and with a mocking laugh invited Perseus to present evidence. These were his last words. Perseus turned away, took Medusa's head out of his bag - and at that same moment Polydectes and all the feasting people turned into stone.
Having given the rule of Serif to Polydectes' brother Dictys, Perseus returned with his mother to his native Argos. Acrisius hastened to escape from there as soon as he heard about their return, and Danae lived calmly and happily until her death in the castle, in the underground prison of which she spent her youth.
This is the most famous version of the myth, processed by Ovid in Metamorphoses. According to Virgil (in the Aeneid), the box with Danae and Perseus sailed not to Serif at all, but to the Italian shores, where it was caught by the Latin king Pilumnus, who later married Danae. Together they founded the city of Ardea, where their son Dawn was born, the future father of the Rutulian king Turnus.
Unfortunately, ancient images of Danae do not help us appreciate her beauty, which captivated Zeus himself. And on vases (three of them are in St. Petersburg), and on a Roman copy of a Hellenistic statue of the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC e., which has long been considered the image of Alcmene, - everywhere Danae looks no better and no worse than any other woman.
The first European artist to depict Danae was Mabus (early 16th century), but in his work she was confined to a tower with rather large windows. Correggio and Tintoretto portrayed her as a seductive beauty, most other European masters followed their example; only Burne-Jones depicted a sad captive of a metal tower in 1872. Titian wrote three “Danaes” at once, one of them (c. 1554) is located in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage, where Rembrandt’s “Danaes” is also kept - this allows you to compare the ideas of the two great artists about Danaë.
Prague once housed two famous paintings of “Danae” by Correggio and Tintoretto. However, Correggio’s “Danae” traveled a complex route (via Stockholm, London and Paris) from the Prague Castle gallery to the Borghese Gallery in Rome, and Titian’s “Danae” was transported along the shortest route to Vienna, to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it inspired R. Strauss’s opera “The Love of Danae” (1940).
(Based mainly on the tragedy of Aeschylus “Pleading for Protection”)
The son of Zeus and Io, Epaphus, had a son Bel, and he had two sons - Egypt and Danaus. The entire country, which is irrigated by the fertile Nile, was owned by Egypt, from which the country received its name. Danau ruled in Libya. The gods gave Egypt fifty sons, and Danai fifty beautiful daughters. The Danaids captivated the sons of Egypt with their beauty, and they wanted to marry beautiful girls, but Danai and the Danaids refused them. The sons of Egypt gathered a large army and went to war against Danae. Danaus was defeated by his nephews and fled. With the help of the goddess Pallas Athena, Danai built the first fifty-oared ship and set sail on it with his daughters into the boundless, ever-noisy sea.
Danae's ship sailed for a long time on the sea waves and finally sailed to the island of Rhodes. Here Danaus stopped; He went ashore with his daughters, founded a sanctuary for his patron goddess Athena and made rich sacrifices to her. Danaus did not stay in Rhodes. Fearing persecution of the sons of Egypt, he sailed with his daughters further to the shores of Greece, to Argolis ( Region in the center of the Peloponnese) - the homeland of Io. Zeus himself guarded the ship during its dangerous voyage across the boundless sea. After a long journey, the ship landed on the fertile shores of Argolis. Here Danai and the Danaids hoped to find protection and salvation from their hated marriage with the sons of Egypt.
The Danaids came ashore. There was no one visible around. Finally, a cloud of dust appeared in the distance. It was approaching quickly. Now in the cloud of dust you can see the sparkle of shields, helmets and spears. The noise of the wheels of war chariots can be heard. This is the approaching army of the king of Argolis, Pelasgus, son of Palekhton. Notified of the ship's arrival, Pelasgus came to the seashore with his army. He did not meet an enemy there, but the elder Danae and his fifty beautiful daughters. They met him with olive branches in their hands, praying for protection. Stretching out their hands to him, with eyes full of tears, his beautiful daughters Danae beg to help them against the proud sons of Egypt. In the name of Zeus, the mighty protector of those who pray, the Danaids conjure Pelasgus not to hand them over. After all, they are not strangers in Argolid - this is the homeland of their ancestor Io.
Pelasgus still hesitates: he is afraid of war with the mighty rulers of Egypt. What should he do? But he is even more afraid of the wrath of Zeus if, by violating his laws, he pushes away those who pray to him for protection. Finally, Pelasgus advises Danaus to go to Argos himself and there put olive branches on the altars of the gods as a sign of prayer for protection. He himself decides to gather the people and ask their advice. Pelasgus promises the Danaids to make every effort to convince the citizens of Argos to protect them.
Pelasgus leaves. The Danaids await the decision of the people's assembly with trepidation. They know how indomitable the sons of Egypt are, how formidable they are in battle; they know what threatens them if the Egyptian ships land on the shores of Argolis. What should they, defenseless virgins, do if the inhabitants of Argos deprive them of shelter and help? But disaster is already near. The messenger of the sons of Egypt has already come. He threatens to take Danaid to the ship by force. He grabbed one of Danae’s daughters by the hand and ordered his slaves to grab the others as well. But here King Pelasgus appears again. He takes the Danaids under his protection, and he is not afraid that the messenger of the sons of Egypt threatens him with war.
Death brought Pelasgus and the inhabitants of Argolis the decision to protect Danaus and his daughters. Defeated in a bloody battle, Pelasgus fled to the very north of his vast possessions. True, Danaus was elected king of Argos, but in order to make peace with the sons of Egypt, he had to give them his beautiful daughters as wives.
The sons of Egypt celebrated their wedding with the Danaids magnificently. They did not know what fate this marriage would bring them. The noisy wedding feast ended; the wedding hymns fell silent; the wedding torches went out; the darkness of the night enveloped Argos. Deep silence reigned in the sleepy city. Suddenly, in the silence, a heavy dying groan was heard, here is another one, another and another. The terrible atrocity was committed under the cover of darkness by the Danaids. With the daggers given to them by Danai, they pierced their husbands as soon as sleep closed their eyes. Thus perished the sons of Egypt. Only one of them, the beautiful Lynceus, was saved. Danae's young daughter, Hypermnestra, took pity on him. She was unable to pierce her husband's chest with a dagger. She woke him up and secretly took him out of the palace.
Danaus became furious when he learned that Hypermnestra had disobeyed his command. Danaus put his daughter in heavy chains and threw him into prison. The court of elders of Argos gathered to judge Hypermnestra for disobedience to her father. Danaus wanted to put his daughter to death. But the goddess of love herself, golden Aphrodite, appeared at the trial. She protected Hypermnestra and saved her from cruel execution. The compassionate, loving daughter of Danae became the wife of Lynceus. The gods blessed this marriage with numerous offspring of great heroes. Hercules himself, the immortal hero of Greece, belonged to the family of Lynceus.
Zeus did not want the other Danaids to die. At the command of Zeus, Athena and Hermes cleansed the Danaids from the filth of shed blood. King Danai organized great games in honor of the Olympian gods. The winners of these games received Danae's daughters as wives as a reward.
But the Danaids still did not escape punishment for the crime committed. They carry it after their death in the dark kingdom of Hades. The Danaids must fill a huge vessel that has no bottom with water. They carry water forever, scooping it up from an underground river and pouring it into a vessel. It seems that the vessel is already full, but water flows out of it, and again it is empty. Again the Danaids get to work, again carry water and pour it into a vessel without a bottom. So their fruitless work continues endlessly.
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Meleager is the son of the Calydonian king Oeneus and Althea, a participant in the Argonauts' campaign and the Calydonian hunt. When Meleager was seven days old, a prophetess appeared to Althea, threw a log into the fire and predicted to her that her son would die as soon as the log burned out. Althea snatched the log from the flame, extinguished it and hid it...
The deer took refuge in the shade from the midday heat and lay down in the bushes. By chance, Cypress was hunting where the deer lay. He did not recognize his favorite deer, since it was covered by foliage, so he threw a sharp spear at it and struck it to death. Cypress was horrified when he saw that he had killed his pet...
The great singer Orpheus, the son of the river god Eager and the muse Calliope, lived in distant Thrace. Orpheus' wife was the beautiful nymph Eurydice. The singer Orpheus loved her dearly. But Orpheus did not enjoy himself for long happy life with his wife...
Beautiful, equal to the Olympian gods themselves in his beauty, the young son of the king of Sparta, Hyacinth, was a friend of the arrow god Apollo. Apollo often appeared on the banks of the Eurotas in Sparta to visit his friend and spent time there with him, hunting along the mountain slopes in densely overgrown forests or having fun with gymnastics, in which the Spartans were so skilled...
The beautiful Nereid Galatea loved the son of Simefida, young Akidas, and Akidas loved the Nereid. Akid was not the only one captivated by Galatea. The huge cyclops Polyphemus once saw the beautiful Galatea, when she was swimming out of the waves of the azure sea, shining with her beauty, and he was inflamed with frantic love for her...
The wife of the king of Sparta Tyndareus was the beautiful Leda, the daughter of the king of Aetolia, Thestia. Throughout Greece, Leda was famous for its marvelous beauty. She became the wife of Zeus Leda, and she had two children from him: a daughter, Helen, as beautiful as a goddess, and a son, great hero Polidevk. Leda also had two children from Tyndareus: daughter Clytemnestra and son Castor...
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...
Esak was the son of the king of Troy, Priam, brother of the great hero Hector. He was born on the slopes of wooded Ida, by the beautiful nymph Alexiroe, daughter of the river god Granik. Having grown up in the mountains, Esak did not like cities and avoided living in the luxurious palace of his father Priam. He loved the solitude of mountains and shady forests, loved the open space of fields...
This amazing story happened with the Phrygian king Midas. Midas was very rich. Wonderful gardens surrounded his luxurious palace, and in the gardens grew thousands of the most beautiful roses - white, red, pink, purple. Midas once loved his gardens very much and even grew roses in them himself. This was his favorite pastime. But people change over the years - King Midas also changed...
Pyramus, the most beautiful of youths, and Thisbe, the most beautiful of maidens of the eastern countries, lived in the Babylonian city of Semiramis, in two neighboring houses. From early youth they knew and loved each other, and their love grew year by year. They already wanted to get married, but their fathers forbade them - they could not, however, forbid them to love each other...
In one deep valley of Lycia there is a light-water lake. In the middle of the lake there is an island, and on the island there is an altar, all covered with the ashes of the victims burned on it and overgrown with reeds. The altar is dedicated not to the naiads of the lake waters and not to the nymphs of the neighboring fields, but to Latona. The goddess, the favorite of Zeus, has just given birth to her twins, Apollo and Artemis...
Once upon a time, the father of the gods Zeus and his son Hermes arrived at this place. Both of them took on human form with the intention of experiencing the hospitality of the inhabitants. They went around a thousand houses, knocking on doors and asking for shelter, but were rejected everywhere. In only one house did they not close the doors to the aliens...