Discover in this interesting article some of the most famous short greek myths of gods that allowed us to explain and understand the phenomena of human existence, giving rise to incredible legends that we are going to detail in this post. Don't stop reading it!
What are the short Greek myths about?
The protagonists of these short Greek myths were the Greek deities, among them the gods of Olympus, and through these incredible legends full of adventures, the actions of human beings were explained, such as lust, emotions, lust and envy as well as aspects of nature.
Like the rise of volcanoes, the beautiful constellations that can be seen in the sky at dusk, even the terrible storms.
Without neglecting the absence of people and the emergence of strange diseases. One of the researchers named Mircea Ecliade, who among his professions is a philosopher and historian, describes the short Greek myths as follows:
"...a sacred story that narrates an event that happened during a primeval time, in which the world did not yet have its current form..."
At the time these short Greek myths were created, they brought people of their time a calmness when listening to them because it allowed them to understand what was happening at this particular moment in Greek history.
So in this article we will show you the most interesting short Greek myths so that you will be surprised by this Greek culture and its great creativity when making these famous historical legends.
main greek short myths
The legend of Persephone
It is one of the most interesting short Greek myths in the culture of this mythology this beautiful young woman was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter according to the legend Hades brother of Zeus and Demeter observes the young maiden in a beautiful field where she was picking flowers in company of other deities.
Hades decides to kidnap her at that moment, taking her to the Underworld where he was owner and lord. Demeter, who was the protective goddess of nature, realizes that her daughter Persephone is not hers and decides to look for her through the ends of the earth, forgetting her obligations as guardian of nature.
Zeus knows that the beautiful young Persephone is in the Underworld and forces Hades to return the beautiful girl. He accepts as long as the girl does not eat any food while she was on her way to meet her mother.
But Hades tricks her and feeds her four pomegranate seeds because of that food that Persephone had eaten she was forced to spend four months of the year in the kingdom of Hades and these months result in the winter season.
Well, when Demeter found her daughter Persephone again, such was the emotion that the earth flourished, bringing a large number of flowers and fruits, which is known as the spring season, which is the reunion between mother and daughter.
At the time that the young woman must return to the Underworld to keep Hades company, her mother feels very desolate, causing the winter season where the earth becomes cold and sterile thanks to her great sadness.
This is how the natural theory of vegetation was made known, so it is one of the short Greek myths that was written according to the investigations by the Stoic philosophers, among them, Posidonius, Diogenes and Epithetus are mentioned.
They represented the beautiful maiden Persephone with the cereals for her absence by keeping them underground for the cycle of nature to happen.
Well, when Persephone descends to the underworld in the autumn season, it represents the absence of fruits in winter and they sprout when the young woman returns with her mother in the spring time.
It is one of the short Greek myths where marriage and the traumatic separation between mother and daughter are talked about as if it were a death when leaving the family bosom to form their new home with the husband.
The birth of Athena
The deity Athena was part of the twelve gods who lived on Olympus, she was the representative of wisdom, justice, science, skill, civilization and war.
One of the most interesting short Greek myths is due to his birth because Zeus was a god very much in love, so between his wanderings he impregnated an Oceanid named Metis.
While this beautiful lady was in an advanced state of pregnancy, Zeus was warned by a prophet that her children would be more powerful than him and they overthrew him in his reign.
In view of this, Zeus made a decision according to the short Greek myths and decided to swallow Metis in one bite while she was pregnant to prevent her from giving birth to her baby.
But the pregnancy of the young woman continued its course within the interior of the God Zeus as the short Greek myths tell us, due to this Zeus began to present intense headaches and to put an end to that discomfort, he asked Hephaestus to help him put end to that pain.
Hephaestus took an ax to split the skull in two and in that act Athena appeared in adult form in addition to carrying attributes that are typical of her, such as the helmet and the spear. After that she took away the great pain to Zeus.
Prometheus and the fire
Another of the short Greek myths most prominent by humanity is that of Prometheus, who was a gigantic titan, very friendly to men. By order of Zeus, it had been decreed that fire could only be used on Olympus and men should never use it.
In relation to this decision made by Zeus, our giant Prometheus did not agree, therefore he entered Olympus and after arriving at the workshop of Hephaestus he was in charge of taking some embers that were in one of the ovens.
More in this part it differs in the short Greek myths because other stories comment that Prometheus stole some sparks from the mighty Apollo's chariot and because of that he set a fennel plant on fire and gave it to human beings.
Due to this action, Zeus punished Prometheus eternally to remain chained to a huge rock that he had to climb to the top of a mountain day after day and there was a huge eagle that would eat his liver.
So every night his liver regenerates for the next day to be devoured again by the eagle while carrying the rock back to the top of the mountain.
This is another of the most surprising short Greek myths and Prometheus was able to get out of that punishment thanks to Heracles who freed him with the consent of Zeus.
That he observed in that action an act that allowed his son to be exalted and Prometheus had to wear a ring with a piece of that rock to which he was tied as a reminder of his actions.
Orpheus and Eurydice
It is another of the short Greek myths that has been heard the most in Greek culture. Orpheus was very popular among the deities, he had the gift of playing the lyre in a very special way because he managed to rest the souls of the beings who gathered to listen to his beautiful musical notes.
Through the music of his lyre, Orpheus was capable of taming terrible beasts, even moving rocks, as well as growing or paralyzing the vegetation of plants and riverbeds.
In addition, among the short Greek myths of Orpheus, it is said that he was an excellent magician and astrologer, and was also a participant in the Argonauts with the intention of finding the golden fleece accompanying Jason.
The young Eurydice fell in love with Orpheus when she heard him play his beautiful melodies and they both got married but due to circumstances of fate the beautiful young woman was bitten by a snake and it was so lethal that she lost her life.
Orpheus was desperate without the company of his beloved Eurydice who decided to go down to the underworld with the intention of rescuing the woman he loved so much.
Due to his beautiful music produced by the lyre, he managed to put the fearsome keeper to sleep and get to where his beloved was. Hades and Persephone took pity on Orpheus because of his sad music on the lyre that allowed him to take Eurydice away.
According to these short Greek myths, Orpheus had to walk in front of Eurydice and had an order not to turn to see him until they were out of the Underworld and the sun bathed his beloved.
Therefore, they followed the instruction and being outside Orpheus turned to see his beloved Eurydice but he did not realize that the sun did not completely touch his wife because one of her feet was still in the shade.
For which the beloved girl immediately returned to the Underworld forever. That broke the heart of the young Orpheus and he died being torn to pieces by some immodest Thracian but his soul was able to meet his great beloved and from that moment they did not separate again.
The myth of Arachne
This is one of the short Greek myths that explains how the art of weaving began, similar to the beautiful work of spiders, and that is that Arachne was a beautiful maiden, daughter of a dyer located in the city of Colophon, who had excellent skills in embroidery. and knit.
The people who watched her praised her skills and that made Arachne become a conceited girl and according to these short Greek myths the young woman dared to say that her works were much more beautiful than those of the goddess Athena herself and this deity as well he had among his attributes the gift of craftsmanship.
The goddess Athena was upset and wanted to teach the young Arachne a lesson so that she would apologize for what, according to the short Greek myths, the deity was in charge of disguising herself as an old woman.
Arachne, instead of retracting her words in front of the old woman, mocked the gods of Olympus even more and challenged the older woman to an embroidery competition.
The deity took off her disguise and began the competition with Arachne. Athena made a tapestry where the scene of a victory against Poseidon was observed, while Arachne, with his great dexterity and ability, made a tapestry where twenty-two images were evidenced where the gods of Olympus committed infidelities.
At the end of the competition, the goddess Athena recognized Arachne's perfect work but was annoyed when she observed her disrespect for the gods of Olympus, for which she destroyed the cloth and the loom and hit the young woman on the head with her spear.
Arachne at that moment realized her lack of respect for the deities of Olympus so she decided to hang herself but Athena took pity on her and transformed the rope into a spider's web and Arachne into a spider so that from that way she could teach humanity the famous art of weaving and embroidery.
Short Greek Myths Continue
Hephaestus and the reason for his limp
One of the most curious short Greek myths that cannot be missing from this interesting article is the one related to the limp of Hephaestus who was the son of Hera and Zeus. So this deity demonstrated her ability to forge objects through the use of her hands.
Well, he was a great inventor and surprised the other deities with his amazing works, he grew up and was allowed to live on Olympus so that he could carry out his most incredible projects.
Among them, there was evidence of footwear that allowed walking through the air and the sea as if the person wearing it were walking on earth.
He even made an invisible cloak as well as gold and silver tableware that had the power to remove themselves from the table and left the guests at the feast surprised.
In Olympus this deity had his own workshop where he was in charge of carrying out his forging work in addition to the various volcanoes that were on earth where this deity had a workshop to make his inventions with metal.
Among the short Greek myths it is said that one day Hera made Zeus so angry that he hung his wife hand and foot in the middle of heaven and earth.
Hephaestus decided to help his mother but his intention made his father annoy more than out of anger he threw a lightning bolt at Hephaestus that made him leave Olympus and with the fall he was badly injured and lame.
He fell on an island and recovered but the limp was now part of his qualities his father prevented him from returning to Olympus and Hephaestus did not have a volcano on that island to create his forge but a new island was created next to which he lived and this had a volcano so he was in charge of creating a new workshop.
There he made lightning bolts for his father, which he gave him as a gift, so he was allowed to return to Olympus, demonstrating his kindness in trying to save his mother and his courage in facing his father, the limp being a memory of what happened according to the myths. short greeks.
The birth of the goddess Aphrodite
It is another of the short Greek myths that draws the attention of humanity because Aphrodite was born from the foam of the sea after the confrontation of the Titans. Where the Titan Cronos cut off the genitals of his father Uranus and threw them into the ocean.
When the genitals of Uranus fell into the waters, an enormous amount of sea foam arose and from there emerged the beautiful Aphrodite who, driven by the wind and mounted on an oyster, reached the shore of the coast, hence her importance for men as a marine deity was the goddess of love and fertility.
Spring was responsible for covering her nudity is one of the short Greek myths that has managed to inspire a large number of artists in works of great majesty and beauty as seen in paintings, sculptures and literature.
The history of Atalanta
One of the short Greek myths that has attracted the most attention to humanity due to the presence of this beautiful and successful woman. She was a young hunter of unparalleled beauty, besides being a great runner, she decided to consecrate her virginity, but men just like her wanted her.
With the intention of keeping men away, Atalanta decided that she would only marry that man who could beat her in a race, so that anyone who tried and lost would be executed. Although she was a great threat the men kept trying to defeat her.
In one of those racing activities, Hippomenes was asked to be the judge of this activity and again Atalanta showed why she was the fastest woman and the men who had competed had to pay with their lives for having lost.
Hippomenes, who until then had been a judge of the race, had also fallen in love with the beauty of the young woman, as we are told in these short Greek myths, so he asked to win the hand of the young maiden through a sports competition.
Atalanta listened to Hippomenes' request and felt great sadness in her heart because Hippomenes was young, attractive and very kind. If she could have let him win to save him from death she would have done so but she had already made an Atalanta promise.
But the young Hippomenes entrusted himself to the goddess Aphrodite, asking her to give him speed to beat the maiden Atalanta, and Aphrodite agreed to favor him, so she gave him three golden apples with the help of these apples that the deity of love gave him.
He used Hippomenes to be able to win the young woman through the favors of Aphrodite and when he crossed the finish line he was very happy because he could be Atalanta's husband, in addition the young maiden had also fallen in love with this young man and was happy since the young man had saved his life and he could share his life with such a brave young man.
Hylas the young squire of Heracles
Among the short Greek myths are the feats that were performed in search of the golden fleece by Jason and other heroes, where the brave Heracles and his squire Hylas could not miss.
Well, Heracles or Hercules as this demi-god is also known in the company of his squire Hilas embarked on this feat together with the Argonauts and after three days of travel the wind blew and took them to a small sea that is known as the name of Propontis and when the wind stopped they decided to reach the mainland.
This place where they settled the boat according to these short Greek myths was an island that was full of flower fields and swamps as well as reeds, so it had a fairly varied vegetation. In that place they rested waiting for the night to come.
Hylas was loved by Hercules and at dinner time the young squire went out to look for water for this demigod to drink and found the precious nectar in a lake that was very beautiful.
It is important to note, according to these short Greek myths, that Hylas was a very attractive young man, so the local nymphs approached and while he was getting the water, the young squire heard voices saying:
“…Come down with us… Come down with us…”
So the young Hilas crouched down to better hear those voices and while kneeling near the beautiful spring, long white hands came out of the lake and made him fall into the water being kidnapped by the nymphs.
As it was getting dark, Hercules decided to go in search of his beloved squire, fearing that something horrible had happened to him, he went in the direction of the spring and shouted with all his might the name of Hylas and the answer to his shouts was his own echo.
But when he reached the Hercules spring, he seemed to hear the voice of Hylas without knowing where it came from and although he continued looking for the boy, his search was useless. He couldn't find his bloody squire and Hercules was desperate and crying for the boy's absence.
Because Hercules could not get the young squire, he believed that the voice he heard from Hylas was the product of his imagination or of some magician, so he decided to continue with the trip to where the Argonauts were going.
The young squire Hilas did not know that Hercules had left and although he was kidnapped by the nymphs, he kept calling him for many nights, the following was heard:
“…Hercules, Hercules, here I am!…”
According to these short Greek myths that other travelers passed through those lands and were surprised to see in the spring a small creature wearing green clothes and a gold cord around his waist, it is said that the clothes worn by this creature were similar to those young Hilas was wearing when he disappeared.
Although this little creature emitted much more serious sounds that made it considered that its size was much larger, the travelers continued on their way and observed how the creature seemed to be calling someone or something as it is said in the short Greek myths.
The story of the maiden Calisto
This beautiful maiden according to the short Greek myths was part of the young women who accompanied the goddess Artemis and Zeus was attracted to this maiden so he disguised himself taking the figure of Artemis and thus had relations with this beautiful maiden.
So Artemis noticed that Callisto's belly was growing and asked her about it. The young woman told her that she was to blame for her so Artemis expelled her from her clan and the news reached Hera's ears according to short Greek myths.
So Hera, furious upon learning that the child Callisto carried in her womb belonged to her husband, Zeus transformed her into a bear according to short Greek myths. Years passed and a young hunter was in the forest to catch prey.
Calisto realized that it was his son and wanted to get closer to hug him more, the young hunter thought that he wanted to attack him and prepared the weapon to kill the beast.
Zeus was a witness to this alarming situation and to avoid a tragedy between mother and son, he decided to take Callisto to the top of the sky where he transformed her into stars and is what is known as the Big Dipper thanks to short Greek myths.
Cronus father of Zeus
It is another of the short Greek myths that is most striking in this Greek mythology because Cronos is the son of Uranus who was the sky and Gea who was the earth goddess was a titan and father of the great gods. Cronos was in charge of dethroning his father and married his sister Rea for which he was in charge of ruling the world of the gods.
Although Cronos was the greatest of the titans, he knew that one of his children was going to displace him in the kingdom, so he decided to resort to cannibalism and is in charge of eating his own children, but his wife was in charge of hiding son number six.
Zeus grew up, he was formed as a god and his own mother took him to open his father's womb helping to save his other brothers after that a fierce battle began where they managed to defeat Cronos and sent him to Tartarus according to the short greek myths
The legend of King Oedipus
It is one of the tragedies discussed in the short Greek myths which was written by Sophocles in the Hellenic age. It was said that Oedipus was the son of King Laius and Jocasta his wife, but they prophesied to the king that his eldest son would kill him and then marry his own mother.
Because Laius himself had raped a young man and he hanged himself, the young man's family asked the gods for a punishment for Laius for what he had done. Drunk has relations with his wife and the pregnant woman at the birth of his first-born decided to abandon Oedipus in a river but before he pierced his feet with a brooch.
Despite this, the boy survived and was raised by the king of Corinth and his wife. The name of Oedipus means swollen feet. Several years passed and this young man went to visit the oracle of Delphi believing that the kings of Corinth were not his parents.
There they predict that he will kill his father and marry his mother and believing that his parents were the kings of Corinth, he decides to get away from them so as not to fulfill the prophecy, for which he moved to Thebes.
Place where the young man was born and on the way according to the short Greek myths he ran into a man who claimed to be a king they had a conflict and he murdered him without knowing that it was his own father Layo.
Later in Thebes, Oedipus solved the enigmas that the sphinx that devastated the city requested of him, it was a monster that Hera had sent, due to this he became the hero and savior of the city, he was named king as a prize, and he also married the widow who was Jocasta without knowing that it was her own mother, thus the prophecy was fulfilled.
For which Oedipus married Jocasta and from this relationship four children were born Eteocles, Polynices, Ismene and Antigone but the kingdom of Thebes was devastated by a plague that resulted in famine since the murderer of Laius had not been convicted.
So Oedipus is in charge of making inquiries and finds out that he was the murderer of Laius who was his father. When Jocasta found out that she was the mother of Oedipus, she hanged herself and Oedipus himself gouged out his eyes with the brooches on his mother's dress and was exiled from Thebes.
This story demonstrates in the short Greek myths that no one is except to escape from their destiny even though they try and it is shown in other legends such as that of Cronos and Zeus that both, like Oedipus, were in charge of murdering their father.
Even worse when it comes to these short Greek myths because he fathered children with his own mother is one of the cruelest and saddest legends of this mythology.
Antigone daughter of Oedipus
Next, with these short Greek myths, follows the legend of Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, because when her parents died, her brothers Eteocles and Polyneices clashed for the throne where both died in combat.
Therefore, Jocasta's brother named Creon took charge of taking the throne. He delivered one of the bodies to give it a sacred burial while Antigone's other brother did not because he had revealed himself in violation of the laws.
Therefore, the young Antigone, according to the short Greek myths, rebelled against her uncle by asking for the body of her dead brother to bury him properly and they told her no. So she decides to break the law and bury the body of her brother Polinices.
This is one of the short Greek myths that culminates in tragedy as Antigone is sentenced to be a prisoner in a cave until she dies there.
The girl was the fiancee of Hemon son of Creon, this sad story tells us that the young Antigone hangs herself in the cave and the fiancé, seeing her lifeless, commits suicide with the dagger he carried with him.
When the news arrives at the palace Creonte brings his lifeless son in his arms and Eurydice his wife curses him since he is the cause of the boy's death for which he retires and also the mother hangs herself in her room. So the moral dilemma that is the central theme of this story that still affects today is observed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1fl-1J5mEo
Heracles and his adventure stories
Heracles the demi-god who has carried out so many missions and is popularly known as Hercules, we present in this article the short Greek myths related to this mythological being who was the son of Zeus with a mortal named Alcmene who was the daughter of Perseus.
Hera the wife of Zeus was so upset with this deception of Zeus that she will do her best to delay the birth of Heracles so that he will not be the king of Argolis.
The father, wanting his son to be immortal, tried to give him Hera's breast while she slept, but the wife was startled and expelled the baby from her breast, causing the milky way according to short Greek myths.
This being was very temperamental and showed according to the short Greek myths that Heracles presented an unparalleled strength that surpasses many gods of Olympus.
But despite his colossal strength Heracles did not possess wisdom. He was very spiteful and also likes to drink plenty of wine and enjoy women as a worthy son of his father Zeus.
So many of Heracles' exploits were performed in circumstances of anger and giddy over alcoholic beverages. Because he was the son of a mortal, he could not live on Olympus and this made him feel powerless, and his stepmother Hera attacked him multiple times for being the son of Zeus with a mortal.
Heracles was raised by Chiron and married Megara, the daughter of King Creon, but Hera's discomfort with Heracles was so great that once he blinded him with his powers and, believing this demi-god who fought against titans, he killed his wife with his own hands and sons.
He felt so sorry that he consulted the oracle with the intention of being able to purify his soul for what he had done to his family, so he was recommended to respond to the orders of the king of Argolys named Eurystheus, who agreed to perform twelve penances for practice self-control first and foremost as he was extremely temperamental.
Due to this, he defeats the Nemean lion and keeps this skin that makes him immune, then he is in charge of killing the Ivy of Lerna with the help of Lolaos. He is tasked with returning the boar to Erymanthe as well as capturing what is known as the Cerynia doe.
Another of his duties is to clean the stables of Augias, he is even in charge of killing the birds of Lake Stymphalus, he must also tame the Cretan bull that is the father of the Minotaur and then he is in charge of trapping the carnivorous mares of Diomedes.
He continues with the tasks to be carried out, including recovering the belt of Hippolyta, who was the Queen of the Amazons, she must even take the golden apples found in the garden of Herperides and was also in charge of capturing the pet of Hades the Cerberus and taking it out of the Underworld.
He also had to take the Geryon cattle that had six legs and six arms in addition to three heads and by means of a spear impregnated with the blood of the hydra he ended the life of this giant to take the cattle. He even helped Prometheus out of his punishment as he shot an arrow at the ferocious eagle that continually ate at his liver.
Another of the feats to be performed was to bring the dog with the three heads of the underworld to the presence of Eurystheus, he requested permission from Hades who accepted it as long as he caught it with his own hands and returned it to the underworld after presenting it in the kingdom.
After completing the twelve feats, Heracles went to Troy to take revenge on the king named Laomedon. He will then have relations with Angea and she will become pregnant, having a son by Heracles named Telefo.
Heracles had many relations among them the fifty daughters of Thespios all of them gave birth to boys and are known in the short Greek myths as the army of the Heclarites. Dejanire was the third wife and she is jealous of Heracles so she pours blood of the centaur on the tunic of her beloved without knowing that it would catch fire and for which the demi-god dies burned in the forest.
Due to these countless tests Heracles becomes immortal and finally climbs to Olympus where he marries the goddess Hebe who symbolizes youth.
Many of these short Greek myths that Heracles carried out were with the help of some gods of Olympus who had great esteem for him, for which he became the protagonist of innumerable feats.
The goddess Hebe will give birth to two twin sons of Heracles who were called Alexiares and Aniceto, who were together with Heracles the physical protectors of Mount Olympus according to short Greek myths.
The myth about Pandora's box
As the last of these short Greek myths, we want to close this article with the legend of Pandora, the first woman created by Hephaestus on the orders of Zeus and who would be the equivalent of Eve in Christian culture.
It is commented in the story that Zeus was very upset because Prometheus had given fire to humans, so he asked Hephaestus to create the first woman who should be as beautiful as the immortal goddesses but was endowed with vices such as lying. She was also very seductive due to her beauty.
It was the way that Zeus found to take revenge on mortals because of Prometheus because before the creation of the beautiful Pandora, men lived happily in harmony and his plan was perfect because he presented her to Epimetheus brother of Prometheus.
Who fell in love with this beautiful woman and then carried out the paperwork for the wedding as a gift for her marriage to Epimetheus Pandora received a mysterious box which should not be opened under any circumstances but the young woman was very curious and could not bear to follow the instruction .
That was Zeus' plan, so the young woman lifted the lid to find out what this jar contained and when she opened the box, as mentioned in the short Greek myths, all the evils of the world came out of this container, making it impossible for the young woman to close it.
When he finally observed that inside it only Elpis remained, which is the spirit of Hope, which was the only good that the gods of Olympus had placed in that box. Hence the frequently heard phrase:
"…Hope is the last thing you lose…"
Currently, the expression of Pandora's box is used with the intention of demonstrating that something harmless can bring irreparable evil to the world, so one must be cautious before opening any container or box.
With this we culminate the most important short Greek myths of Greek mythology that demonstrate the importance of this culture in the Western world and the origin of many situations that we currently know come from these interesting legends.
If you found this article interesting, I invite you to visit the following links: