Death and the afterlife of the ancient Greeks. Death and the afterlife The afterlife in ancient mythology
third son of Kronos and Rhea, Hades(Hades, Aides), inherited the underground kingdom of the dead, into which the rays of the sun never penetrate, it seems, by lot, for who would voluntarily agree to rule it? However, his character was so gloomy that he could not get along anywhere other than the underworld.
In Homer's time, instead of saying “die,” they said “go to the house of Hades.” The imagination that painted this house of the dead was nourished by the impressions of the beautiful upper world, in which there is a lot that is unfair, frighteningly gloomy and useless. The house of Hades was imagined to be surrounded by strong gates; Hades himself was called Pilart ("locking the gates") and was depicted in drawings with a large key. Outside the gates, as in the houses of rich people who fear for their property, a three-headed, ferocious and evil guard dog Cerberus appeared, on whose neck snakes hissed and moved. Cerberus lets everyone in and doesn't let anyone out.
Each owner of such a strong house on earth had possessions. Hades also possessed them. And, of course, there was no golden wheat growing there, and the scarlet apples and bluish plums hiding in the green branches were not pleasing. There were sad-looking, useless trees growing there. One of them still retains an association with death and separation dating back to Homeric times - the weeping willow. The other tree is silver poplar. The wandering soul cannot see the ant grass that the sheep greedily nibble, nor the delicate and bright meadow flowers from which wreaths were woven for human feasts and for sacrifices to the heavenly gods. Everywhere you look - overgrown asphodels, a useless weed, sucking all the juices from the meager soil in order to raise a hard, long stem and bluish-pale flowers, reminiscent of the cheeks of someone lying on his deathbed. Through these joyless, colorless meadows of the god of death, an icy, prickly wind drives back and forth the disembodied shadows of the dead, emitting a slight rustling sound, like the groan of freezing birds. Not a single ray of light penetrates from where the upper earthly life, illuminated by the sun, the radiance of the moon and the twinkling of stars, flowed; neither joy nor sorrow reaches. Hades himself and his wife Persephone sit on the golden throne. The judges Minos and Rhadamanthus sit at the throne, here is the god of death - the black-winged Thanat with a sword in his hands, next to the gloomy kers, and the goddess of vengeance Erinyes serves Hades. At the throne of Hades is the beautiful young god Hypnos, he holds poppy heads in his hands, and pours a sleeping pill from his horn, which makes everyone fall asleep, even the great Zeus. The kingdom is full of ghosts and monsters, ruled over by the three-headed and three-body goddess Hecate, dark nights she gets out of Hades, wanders the roads, sends horrors and painful dreams to those who forget to call on her as an assistant against witchcraft. Hades and his retinue are more terrible and powerful than the gods living on Olympus.
If you believe the myths, only a few managed to briefly escape from the hands of Hades and the claws of Cerberus (Sisifus, Protesilaus). Therefore, ideas about the device underworld were unclear and sometimes contradictory. One assured that they got to the kingdom of Hades by sea and that it was located somewhere where Helios descends, having completed his daily journey. Another, on the contrary, argued that they did not swim into it, but descended into deep crevices right there, next to the cities where earthly life took place. These descents to the kingdom of Hades were shown to the curious, but few of them were in a hurry to take advantage of them.
The more people disappeared into oblivion, the more certain the information about the kingdom of Hades became. It was reported that it was encircled nine times by the river Styx, sacred to people and gods, and that the Styx was connected with Cocytus, the river of weeping, which in turn flowed into the spring of Summer emerging from the bowels of the earth, giving oblivion to everything earthly. During his lifetime, the inhabitant of the Greek mountains and valleys did not see such rivers as were revealed to his unfortunate soul in Hades. These were real mighty rivers, the kind that flow on the plains, somewhere beyond the Riphean Mountains, and not the pathetic streams of his rocky homeland that dry up in the hot summer. You can’t wade them, you can’t jump from stone to stone.
To get to the kingdom of Hades, one had to wait at the Acheron River for a boat driven by the demon Charon - an ugly old man, all gray, with a scraggly beard. Moving from one kingdom to another had to be paid for with a small coin, which was placed under the tongue of the deceased at the time of burial. Those without coins and those alive - there were some - Charon pushed them away with an oar, put the rest in the canoe, and they had to row themselves.
The inhabitants of the gloomy underworld obeyed strict rules established by Hades himself. But there are no rules without exceptions, even underground. Those who possessed the golden branch could not be pushed away by Charon and barked by Cerberus. But no one knew exactly what tree this branch grew on and how to pluck it.
Here, beyond the blind threshold,
You can't hear the surf waves.
There is no place for worries here,
Peace always reigns...
Myriad constellations
No rays are sent here,
No careless joy,
No fleeting sorrow -
Just a dream, an eternal dream
Waiting in that eternal night.
L. Sulnburn
Hades
Literally “formless”, “invisible”, “terrible” - God is the ruler of the kingdom of the dead, as well as the kingdom itself. Hades is an Olympian deity, although he is constantly in his underground domain. The son of Kronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera and Hestia, with whom he shared the legacy of his deposed father, Hades reigns with his wife Persephone (daughter of Zeus and Demeter), whom he kidnapped while she was picking flowers in the meadow. Homer calls Hades "generous" and "hospitable" because... not a single person will escape the fate of death; Hades - “rich”, is called Pluto (from the Greek “wealth”), because he is the owner of countless human souls and treasures hidden in the earth. Hades is the owner of a magic helmet that makes him invisible; This helmet was later used by the goddess Athena and the hero Perseus, obtaining the head of the Gorgon. But there were also among mortals capable of deceiving the ruler of the kingdom of the dead. Thus, he was deceived by the cunning Sisif, who once left the underground possessions of God. Orpheus charmed Hades and Persephone with his singing and playing the lyre so that they agreed to return his wife Eurydice to earth (but she was forced to immediately return back, because happy Orpheus violated the agreement with the gods and looked at his wife even before leaving the kingdom of Hades ). Hercules kidnaps from the kingdom dead dog- guard of Hades.
IN Greek mythology During the Olympian period, Hades is a minor deity. He acts as a hypostasis of Zeus; it is not for nothing that Zeus is called Chthonius - “underground” and “going down”. No sacrifices are made to Hades, he has no offspring, and he even got his wife illegally. However, Hades inspires horror with its inevitability.
Please don't laugh
Late ancient literature created a parodic and grotesque idea of Hades ("Conversations in the Kingdom of the Dead" by Lucian, which apparently has its source in "Frogs" by Aristophanes). According to Pausanias, Hades was not revered anywhere except Elis, where once a year a temple to the god was opened (just as people descend only once into the kingdom of the dead), where only priests were allowed to enter.
In Roman mythology, Hades corresponded to the god Orcus.
Hades is also the name given to the space in the bowels of the earth where the ruler lives over the shadows of the dead, who are brought by the messenger god Hermes (the souls of men) and the goddess of the rainbow Iris (the souls of women).
The idea of the topography of Hades became more complex over time. Homer knows: the entrance to the kingdom of the dead, which is guarded by Kerberus (Cerberus) in the far west ("west", "sunset" - a symbol of dying) beyond the Ocean River, which washes the earth, gloomy meadows overgrown with asphodels, wild tulips, over which light shadows float the dead, whose groans are like the quiet rustle of dry leaves, the gloomy depths of Hades - Erebus, the rivers Cocytus, Styx, Acheron, Pyriphlegethon, Tartarus.
Later evidence also adds the Stygian swamps or Lake Acherusia, into which the river Cocytus flows, the fiery Pyriphlegethon (Phlegethon), surrounding Hades, the river of oblivion Lethe, the carrier of the dead Charon, the three-headed dog Cerberus.
The judgment of the dead is administered by Minos, later the righteous judges Minos, Aeacus and Radamanthos are the sons of Zeus. The Orphic-Pythagorean idea of the trial of sinners: Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus in Tartarus, as part of Hades, found a place in Homer (in the later layers of the Odyssey), in Plato, in Virgil. A detailed description of the kingdom of the dead with all the gradations of punishments in Virgil (Aeneid VI) is based on the dialogue “Phaedo” by Plato and on Homer with the idea of atonement for earthly misdeeds and crimes already formulated in them. Homer, in Book XI of the Odyssey, outlines six historical and cultural layers in ideas about the fate of the soul. Homer also calls in Hades a place for the righteous - the Elysian Fields or Elysium. Hesiod and Pindar mention the “isles of the blessed,” so Virgil’s division of Hades into Elysium and Tartarus also goes back to the Greek tradition.
The problem of Hades is also associated with ideas about the fate of the soul, the relationship between soul and body, fair retribution - the image of the goddess Dike, and the operation of the law of inevitability.
Persephone Bark
("girl", "maiden"). goddess of the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, wife of Hades, who, with the permission of Zeus, kidnapped her (Hes. Theog. 912-914).
The Homeric hymn “To Demeter” tells how Persephone and her friends played in the meadow, collecting irises, roses, violets, hyacinths and daffodils. Hades appeared from a cleft in the earth and whisked Persephone away on a golden chariot to the kingdom of the dead (Hymn. Hom. V 1-20, 414-433). The grieving Demeter sent drought and crop failure to the earth, and Zeus was forced to send Hermes with the order to Hades to bring Persephone into the light. Hades sent Persephone to her mother, but forced her to eat a pomegranate seed so that Persephone would not forget the kingdom of death and return to him again. Demeter, having learned about the treachery of Hades, realized that from now on her daughter would spend a third of the year among the dead, and two thirds with her mother, whose joy would return abundance to the earth (360-413).
Persephone wisely rules the kingdom of the dead, where heroes penetrate from time to time. The king of the Lapiths, Pirithous, tried to kidnap Persephone together with Theseus. For this, he was chained to a rock, and Persephone allowed Hercules to return Theseus to earth. At the request of Persephone, Hercules left the cow shepherd Hades alive (Apollod. II 5, 12). Persephone was moved by the music of Orpheus and returned Eurydice to him (however, due to the fault of Orpheus, she remained in the kingdom of the dead; Ovid. Met. X 46-57). At the request of Aphrodite, Persephone hid the baby Adonis with her and did not want to return him to Aphrodite; according to the decision of Zeus, Adonis had to spend a third of the year in the kingdom of the dead (Apollod. III 14, 4).
Persephone plays a special role in the Orphic cult of Dionysus-Zagreus. From Zeus, who turned into a serpent, she gives birth to Zagreus (Hymn. Orph. XXXXVI; Nonn. Dion. V 562-570; VI 155-165), who was subsequently torn to pieces by the Titans. Persephone is also associated with the Eleusinian cult of Demeter.
In Persephone, the features of the chthonic ancient deity and classical Olympianism are closely intertwined. She reigns in Hades against her will, but at the same time she feels like a completely legitimate and wise ruler there. She destroyed, literally trampling, her rivals - the beloved Hades: the nymph Kokitida and the nymph Minta. At the same time, Persephone helps the heroes and cannot forget the earth with her parents. Persephone, as the wife of the chthonic Zeus the serpent, dates back to the deep archaic, when Zeus himself was still the “Underground” king of the kingdom of the dead. The vestige of this connection between Zeus Chthonius and Persephone is the desire of Zeus that Hades kidnap Persephone against the will of Persephone herself and her mother.
In Roman mythology, she corresponds to Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres.
Hecate
Goddess of darkness, night visions and sorcery. In Hesiod's proposed genealogy, she is the daughter of the Titanides Persus and Asteria and is thus not related to the Olympian circle of gods. She received from Zeus the power over the fate of the earth and the sea, and was endowed by Uranus with great power. Hecate is an ancient chthonic deity, who, after the victory over the Titans, retained her archaic functions, and was even deeply revered by Zeus himself, becoming one of the gods who help people in their daily labors. She patronizes hunting, shepherding, horse breeding, human social activities (in court, national assembly, competitions, disputes, war), protects children and young people. She is the giver of maternal well-being, helps in the birth and upbringing of children; gives travelers an easy road; helps abandoned lovers. Her powers, thus, once extended to those areas of human activity that she later had to cede to Apollo, Artemis, and Hermes.
As the cult of these gods spreads, Hecate loses her attractive appearance and attractive features. She leaves the upper world and, drawing closer to Persephone, whom she helped her mother search for, becomes inextricably linked with the kingdom of shadows. Now she is an ominous snake-haired and three-faced goddess, appearing on the surface of the earth only in the moonlight, and not in the sun, with two flaming torches in her hands, accompanied by dogs black as night and monsters of the underworld. Hecate - nocturnal "chthonia" and heavenly "urania", "irresistible" wanders among the graves and brings out the ghosts of the dead, sends horrors and terrible dreams, but can also protect from them, from evil demons and witchcraft. Among her constant companions were the donkey-footed monster Empusa, capable of changing its appearance and frightening belated travelers, as well as the demon spirits of Kera. This is exactly how the goddess is represented on monuments of fine art starting from the 5th century. BC.
A terrible night goddess with flaming torches in her hands and snakes in her hair, Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft, sorceress and patroness of magic performed under the cover of night. They turn to her for help, resorting to special mysterious manipulations. The myth introduces her into the family of wizards, turning her into the daughter of Helios and thereby establishing a relationship with Kirk, Pasiphae, Medea, who enjoys the special protection of the goddess: Hecate helped Medea achieve Jason’s love and in preparing potions.
Thus, in the image of Hecate, the demonic features of the pre-Olympic deity are closely intertwined, connecting the two worlds - the living and the dead. She is darkness and at the same time a lunar goddess, close to Selene and Artemis, which takes Hecate’s origins to Asia Minor. Hecate can be considered a nocturnal analogy to Artemis; She is also a hunter, but her hunt is a dark night hunt among the dead, graves and ghosts of the underworld, she rushes around surrounded by a pack of hellhounds and witches. Hecate is also close to Demeter - the life force of the earth.
The goddess of sorcery and mistress of ghosts, Hecate, is three last days each month, which were considered unlucky.
The Romans identified Hecate with their goddess Trivia - "goddess of the three roads", just like her Greek counterpart, she had three heads and three bodies. The image of Hecate was placed at a crossroads or crossroads, where, having dug a hole in the dead of night, they sacrificed puppies, or in gloomy caves inaccessible to sunlight.
Thanatos Fan
God is the personification of death (Hes. Theog. 211 seq.; Homer “Iliad”, XIV 231 seq.), son of the goddess Nyx (Night), brother of Hypnos (Sleep), the goddesses of fate Moira, Nemesis.
In ancient times, there was an opinion that the death of a person depended only on it.
This point of view is expressed by Euripides in the tragedy "Alcestis", which tells how Hercules recaptured Alcestis from Thanatos, and Sisifus managed to chain the ominous god for several years, as a result of which people became immortal. This was the case until Thanatos was freed by Ares on the orders of Zeus, since people stopped making sacrifices to the underground gods.
Thanatos has a home in Tartarus, but usually he is located at the throne of Hades; there is also a version according to which he constantly flies from one dying person’s bed to another, while cutting off a strand of hair from the dying person’s head with a sword and taking his soul. The god of sleep Hypnos always accompanies Thanatos: very often on antique vases you can see paintings depicting the two of them.
Malice, Troubles, and
terrible death between them:
She either holds the pierced one or catches the unpierced one,
Or the body of the murdered man is dragged by the leg along the slash;
The robe on her chest is stained with human blood.
In battle, like living people, they attack and fight,
And one before the other they are carried away by bloody corpses.
Homer "Iliad"
Kera
. demonic creatures, spirits of death, children of the goddess Nikta. They bring troubles, suffering and death to people (from the Greek “death”, “damage”).
The ancient Greeks imagined kers as winged female creatures that flew up to a dying person and stole his soul. The Kers are also in the midst of the battle, grabbing the wounded, dragging corpses, stained with blood. Kera live in Hades, where they are constantly at the throne of Hades and Persephone and serve the gods underground kingdom dead.
Sometimes Ker was related to the Erinyes. In the literature on the history of mythology, Greek kers and Slavic “punishments” are sometimes associated.
Like the murmur of the sea in an anxious hour,
Like the cry of a stream that is constrained,
It sounds lingering, hopeless,
A painful groan.
The faces are distorted with agony,
There are no eyes in their sockets. gaping mouth
Spews out abuse, pleas, threats.
They look in horror through their tears
Into the black Styx, into the abyss of terrible waters.
F. Schiller
Erinyes Erinnyes
Goddesses of revenge, born of Gaia, who absorbed the blood of castrated Uranus. The ancient pre-Olympic origin of these terrifying deities is also indicated by another myth about their birth from Nyx and Erebus.
Their number was initially uncertain, but later it was believed that there were three Erinyes, and they were given names: Alecto, Tisiphone and Megaera.
The ancient Greeks imagined the Erinyes as disgusting old women with hair entwined with poisonous snakes. In their hands they hold lighted torches and whips or instruments of torture. A long tongue protrudes from the monster’s terrible mouth and blood drips. Their voices were reminiscent of both the roar of cattle and the barking of dogs. Having discovered the criminal, they pursue him relentlessly, like a pack of hounds, and punish him for immoderation, arrogance, personified in the abstract concept of “pride,” when a person takes on too much - he is too rich, too happy, knows too much. Born from the primitive consciousness of tribal society, the Erinyes in their actions express the egalitarian tendencies inherent in it.
The habitat of insane demons is the underground kingdom of Hades and Persephone, where they serve the gods of the underworld of the dead and from where they appear on earth among people to arouse revenge, madness, and anger in them.
So, Alecto, drunk with the poison of the gorgon, penetrated in the form of a snake into the chest of the queen of the Latins, Amata, and filled her heart with malice, making her mad. The same Alecto, in the form of a terrible old woman, prompted the leader of the Rutuli, Turnus, to fight, thereby causing bloodshed.
The terrible Tisiphone in Tartarus beats criminals with a whip and frightens them with snakes, full of vengeful anger. There is a legend about Tisiphone's love for King Kiferon. When Cithaeron rejected her love, Erinyes killed him with her snake hair.
Their sister, Megaera, is the personification of anger and vindictiveness; to this day, Megaera remains a common noun for an angry, grumpy woman.
The turning point in understanding the role of the Erinyes comes in the myth of Orestes, described by Aeschylus in the Eumenides. Being the most ancient chthonic deities and guardians of maternal right, they persecute Orestes for the murder of his mother. After the trial in the Areopagus, where the Erinyes argue with Athena and Apollo, who are defending Orestes, they are reconciled with the new gods, after which they receive the name Eumenides, ("good-thinking") , thereby changing their evil essence (Greek , “to be mad”) to the function of patroness of the rule of law. Hence the idea in Greek natural philosophy, in Heraclitus, of the Erinyes as “guardians of truth,” for without their will even “the sun will not exceed its measure”; when the Sun goes beyond its track and threatens the world with destruction, it is they who force it to return to its place. The image of the Erinyes has evolved from chthonic deities protecting the rights of the dead to organizers of cosmic order. Later they were also called semni ("venerable") and pontii ("mighty").
The Erinyes appear to be venerable and supportive in relation to the hero of the early generation, Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his own father and married his mother. They give him peace in their sacred grove. Thus, the goddesses carry out justice: the cup of Oedipus’s torment overflowed. He had already blinded himself for an involuntary crime, and once in exile, he suffered from the selfishness of his sons. Just like the defenders of law and order, the Erinyes angrily interrupt the prophecies of Achilles’ horses, broadcasting about his imminent death, because it is not a horse’s business to broadcast.
The goddess of fair retribution, Nemesis, was sometimes identified with the Erinyes.
In Rome they corresponded to the furies (“mad,” “furious”), Furiae (from furire, “to rage”), goddesses of revenge and remorse, punishing a person for sins committed.
Greek mythology describes the kingdom of the dead as a very dark place. How did the god of the underworld Hades become the supreme ruler of the kingdom of the dead and was able to turn it into a dark kingdom.
Last time we left off with the fact that Hades and the other sons of Kronos, as children, were swallowed by their own father. Of course, being gods, they did not die, but simply ended up in his womb. Hades and his brothers and sisters grew up in their father's womb, all except Zeus - he managed to escape the wrath of Kronos. Afterwards, when Zeus grows up, he will return to his father and free his brothers and sisters.
Having been released, the children of Kronos united with each other and became Olympian gods. They seized power by force, overthrowing their fathers in a grandiose battle - the Titanomachy.
Having won this battle, the proclaimed Olympian gods had to somehow share power. Three brothers Zeus Poseidon Hades- three Olympian men agreed to delimit their possessions. For Hades, this was a decisive moment that forever determined the balance of power among the gods. According to the law of those times, Hades had priority as the eldest son. He had the right to inherit most of it. But his younger brother Zeus did not want to give in to Hades, he suggested drawing lots. Whoever gets heaven will become the supreme ruler of the world.
The gods drew lots. Poseidon got the sea, Zeus got the sky, thereby becoming the supreme ruler in ancient greek mythology. Hades got the worst option - the land of the dead.
In ancient Greece, the attitude towards the dead was not much different from today. Therefore, Hades was revered completely differently from the other gods. Other gods also did not come to him, because they hated death. His kingdom of the dead is always dark and oppressive, a place full of suffering for many souls. Kingdom of the Dead Greek mythology imagined it as a vast land of dark caves and rivers. It is a gray and gloomy place where the smell of decay hangs over the water.
Caves in ancient Greece were something like transition points from above-ground to underground life. The ancient Greeks feared Hades and his kingdom. But they were even more afraid of dead souls who could not enter the kingdom of the dead. According to myth, these souls returned and haunted the living.
After some time God of the underworld Hades began to transform his world of the dead to the real kingdom. As befits a king, he rewarded the good and punished the bad. Thus, Hades assembled a group of guards to watch over the souls of the dead. Cerberus - a cruel three-headed dog. Hecatoncheires or hundred-armed guards of Tartarus. And his most faithful follower - Charon. It was Charon who transported the souls of dead people on the River Styx. Only with the help of Charon could one get to Hades. Moreover, no one could cross the Styx for free. For transportation, each soul was obliged to give the carrier a coin. If a soul does not have money to pay Charon, it will forever wander without rest near the shore of the Styx. Hence the Greeks always placed a coin on the deceased’s eyelids or under the tongue. This was a mandatory ritual, and failure to perform it was severely punished. After all, otherwise the deceased could return to this world, and this could affect everyone.
In the mythology of ancient Greece, people who left this world young, who died a violent death, and those who were not buried according to all the rules became restless spirits. These spirits cannot enter the kingdom of the dead, so they are restless, unhappy and evil. The same souls that ended up in Hades remained there forever.
The punishment for those who tried to escape from the kingdom of the dead was very cruel. But some still attempted to escape.
The myth of Sisyphean labor talks about the man who first dared to go against the will of Hades. His name is Sisyphus. Toward the very end of his earthly life, Sisyphus decided to cheat death. He asked his wife not to bury him. He knew that if he was not buried, his soul would remain between the world of the living and the dead.
It is quite difficult to deceive Hades himself, so Sisyphus turned to Persephone. He told her how outraged he was because his wife didn’t even bury him! Persephone took a liking to him and became angry with his wife. She allowed Sisyphus to go back upstairs and give his wife a beating. Of course, Sisyphus did not even think about returning to the kingdom of the dead.
As it says legend of sisyphus, Hades, having learned that he had been deceived, was very angry. He immediately returned Sisyphus back to the underworld. His punishment was painful and eternal. He was sent to Tartarus, where he had to roll a huge round stone up a huge mountain. And in the evening, reaching almost to the top, he, exhausted, had to watch as the stone fell off again and rolled down. He had to endure these torments every day forever and ever, hence the expression - Sisyphean labor.
After death, the soul leaves the body and goes to the Underworld under the guidance of the god Hermes. First she ends up on the banks of the River Styx (which means “hated”). During burial, a coin was usually placed in the deceased’s mouth so that he could pay the ferryman Charon, who ferried the soul across the river. If the soul cannot pay him, it will have to wander as a restless ghost for a hundred years.
Having crossed the Styx, the soul goes to the three judges of the dead - Rhadamanthus, Minos and Aeacus. They say that Rhadamanthus judges Europeans, Aeacus judges Asians, and Minos, who was the king of Crete during his lifetime, considers only the most difficult cases. Based on the decision of the relevant judge, the sinful soul is sent to Hades for punishment, where it is rewarded a hundredfold for the crimes that it committed during its lifetime. The righteous man ends up on the Champs Elysees - in an area of eternal bliss, flooded with sacred purple light (purple was considered the color of the nobility). Plato reports that in this area every good deed is rewarded a hundredfold. Each soul that ends up on the Champs Elysees can incarnate three more times and return to earth. But before leaving the kingdom of the dead, the soul must drink water from Lethe - the river of oblivion.
Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus was the greatest musician in the world. He was the son of a mortal and the muse Calliope, patroness of music. His penchant for music manifested itself in early childhood, and Apollo himself gave the boy a wonderful lyre. Having reached maturity, Orpheus fell in love with Eurydice and married her.
One day after the wedding, Eurydice was walking on the river bank. One man noticed her and tried to take her by force; Eurydice started to run and accidentally stepped on a poisonous snake, which bit her. Completely heartbroken, Orpheus prayed to the gods to allow him to go down to the Underworld for Eury the Wild and bring her back to life. Hearing his mournful songs, the Gods were moved and fulfilled his request; Apollo helped him along the way.
When Orpheus reached the bank of the River Styx, the border between the world of the living and the Underworld, the sunlight faded and the sky was covered with thick shadow. Orpheus began to play the lyre; Charon was so enchanted by his music that he transported him to the other side without taking payment. The evil guardian of the gates of the Underworld, the three-headed dog Cerberus, stopped barking and began to listen to the music. The three judges of the dead were also bewitched by the music, interrupting their work, and the torment of sinners, including Sisyphus, was suspended.
Finally, Orpheus met with Hades, the ruler of the Underworld, and his music softened the heart of the king of the dead. And Hades agreed to fulfill Orpheus’ request, but on one condition: Orpheus should not turn around and look at Eurydice until they leave the Underworld and find themselves again in the world of the living. If Orpheus looks at Eurydice even once, she will have to stay in the Underworld forever.
Not forgetting this, Orpheus went back to the world of the living, and Eurydice followed him. He walked straight and didn't look back. However, thoughts of his beloved filled his heart, and Orpheus could not resist; he turned around and lost his wife forever.
Aeneas in the Underworld
Arriving in Italy, Aeneas, the ancestor of the Caesars, turned to the Italian prophetess Sibyl for advice. She knew very well that Aeneas was yearning for his late father Anchises and that it was Anchises who could give Aeneas the best advice. So, the Sibyl agreed to take Aeneas to the Underworld so that he could meet his father.
The road to the Underworld was gloomy and shrouded in darkness. Aeneas and the Sibyl passed the fetid Lake Avernus and entered a grove of black poplars that marked the border between the world of the living and the Underworld. The Sibyl advised Aeneas to sacrifice four black bulls to Hecate, the goddess of the night. As the smoke from the sacrifice rose high into the heavens, thunder roared and the earth shook. The Sibyl then pointed out to Aeneas a tree with a golden branch, telling him that he should break off the branch and take it with him.
Then the Sibyl looked sternly at Aeneas and said: “Now you will need all your courage.” They entered the threshold of the Underworld, passing by the terrible spirits of Strife, Malady, Famine and War, and came to a field full of unfortunate souls who had not been properly buried and were doomed to wander homeless for a century before they could enter the Underworld . The Sibyl and Aeneas then reached the banks of the River Styx, where the ferryman Charon angrily told them that he only transported the dead, not the living. But Aeneas showed Charon the golden branch, and the carrier agreed to take them to the other side.
Charon's boat sailed past the fields of sorrow, where the unhappy young lovers who committed suicide wandered. Then the travelers passed the thrones of the three judges of the dead.
Further on the river branched into two branches. To their left, the travelers heard the cries of tormented sinners. To the right they saw purple rays illuminating the Champs Elysees, where the righteous and great people enjoyed eternal bliss. The Sibyl told Aeneas to place the golden branch on the rock opposite the place where the river divided into two streams. Then Charon leaned on the oars and turned to the right, towards the Champs Elysees. There Aeneas saw great heroes, poets, sages and other righteous people, including his father Anchises.
At the sight of his father, Aeneas was overcome with wild joy. When the carrier landed on shore, father and son embraced. Anchises said that Aeneas was destined to become the founder of the greatest empire. When they parted, Anchises led Aeneas to the well of Lethe so that he could drink the waters of oblivion.
The Sibyl then escorted Aeneas back to the world of the living, where he fulfilled his destiny.
FATE AND THE AFTERWORLD IN THE ANCIENT GREEKS
From the book “Magism and Monotheism”
<…>The greatest world-historical significance of the Zeus religion lay primarily in the proclamation of the primacy of Light, Reason and Harmony over Darkness, Irrationality and Chaos. In this respect, it is the direct predecessor of the doctrine of the Logos as a rational creative principle in the Universe. But the emergence of this teaching was still far away.<…>
<…>The spirit of magic permeated ancient religion and outlived the Olympians themselves. Even a cursory acquaintance with the peculiarities of the Greek cult is enough to be convinced of this.
<…>Primitive taboos - prohibitions - were very common in Greece. The dead and coffins were considered unclean; touching the killer was desecrated, as was any shed blood, whether it was shed unintentionally or in defense, whether it was the blood of a person or an animal.<…>
This web of taboos gave rise to a conglomeration of all kinds of ritual “purifications”. Sea water itself was purifying; before the ritual they wiped themselves with it. If the altar was desecrated, the sacred fire was extinguished and a bloody sacrifice was made, probably sometimes even a human one. And after this, a new fire was kindled, taken from the undefiled sanctuary. Archeology has confirmed that this custom dates back to Mycenaean times.
<…>The methods of controlling the weather were very diverse. In essence they did not differ from the usual primitive magic <…>. So, in one area in Arcadia they threw an oak branch into the water; it was believed that after this steam would rise and rain clouds would form.
This list can be continued endlessly, but I think that what has been said is enough to convince us how much of the religion that Hegel called the “religion of beauty” was wild and primitive. Let us remember that all these magical elements survived until the end of the history of Greek religion and even survived it.<…>
The most ambitious military adventure of the Achaeans known in history was the famous campaign against Troy.
Troy was an ancient coastal fortress. Located at the entrance to the Dardanelles, she controlled the merchant caravans heading east, and thanks to this she became extremely rich. It was very advantageous for the Achaeans to capture this key position. In addition, they were well aware of the countless treasures collected behind the thick walls of Ilion. And the Achaean kings were obsessed with a real mania for gold. Around 1190, under the leadership of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, an alliance of Achaean kings was formed, who, having crossed the sea, attacked Troy with superior forces.<…>
Homer does not idealize the Trojan War. Trying to be an impartial storyteller, he perfectly shows the uselessness and cruel senselessness of the defeat of Troy. The death of brave and noble knights - Achilles, Patroclus, Ajax, Antilochus, the impoverishment of the country, which was abandoned by so many people, a ten-year siege that completely exhausted both the besieged and the besiegers, bloody skirmishes, cries of agony, funeral lamentation and, finally, fire and destruction, crowds prisoners, humiliated and full of despair - these are the results of the campaign.<…>
In the poem, the Olympian gods enthusiastically follow the progress of the campaign: they argue among themselves, interfere in battles, mislead, and pit warriors against each other. Disputes between the “sick parties” on Olympus turn into fierce warfare. Only Zeus tries to stay “above the fray.” When decisive moments come, the “provider” suddenly turns to the Power that is higher than him. Behind the noisy little world of the Olympic family one can see the gigantic face of Moira - Fate. Weighing the fate of the heroes on her scales, Zeus finds the right solution.
So it turns out that the gods, like people, depend on the mysterious Beginning, which resides in eternity.
Who is she, the inexorable Moira? Deep underground parks weave threads human life. Nothing can change the plans of Fate. Not only Zeus, but also his father Kronus were subject to her. Moira is the image of the Great Mother, depersonalized and pushed into the transcendental spheres.
In the era of wars and aggressive campaigns, belief in Fate should have especially spread<…>, fatalism is usually associated with danger. When arrows whiz around and the person who was talking to you a minute ago falls in blood, the feeling of predestination of all events becomes unusually aggravated. This is clearly seen in the example of followers of Islam or even participants in the last war.<…>
Homer does not have a clear understanding of how the will of the gods is combined with Fate. But sometimes it begins to seem that everything he paints: struggle, hesitation, temptation, victory - all this, including Olympus, is just a puppet theater. Everything is predetermined in the depths of the Mother.<…>
Melancholy and fear are, as it were, driven into the sphere of the subconscious, but because of this they do not cease to torment and torment a person.<…>
How could a person escape from this faceless and unyielding Force? He could only strive to penetrate the dark veils of eternal decisions. Guessing the dictates of Fate, he calmed down, although not for long.
Therefore, nowhere was the art of prediction so developed as in ancient world. Oracles and fortune tellers were constant companions in the lives of kings, peasants, warriors, and traders. The key to interpreting the mysterious will of the gods was seen in dreams, in the flight of birds, and in the arrangement of the entrails of sacrificial animals. We have already talked about the famous Greek oracles of Dodon and Delphi. People were convinced that Fate is revealed not in the clear “daytime” reasoning of the mind, but in immersion in the somnambulistic world of dark instincts and unconscious feelings. The Delphic soothsayer Pythia climbed onto a tripod, on which, shrouded in clouds of vapors coming from the chasm, she entered a state of frenzy. The foggy soul became familiar with the mysterious existence of the Night and prophesied the decrees of Heaven. In Dodona, fortune tellers drank water from an intoxicating spring. Others summoned the souls of the dead, who knew transcendental secrets.
People went to the oracles, asking about everything: both about their fate and about little things. Everyday life. On the tablets that were found in Dodona, we see the most prosaic questions: is it profitable for me to raise sheep? who stole my pillow? Is the child born by my wife really mine? etc. The popularity of oracles especially increased when the era of the Achaean conquests began. How many families have lost their fathers, sons, and brothers for many years! They went to sea to meet dangerous adventures, unknown lands and fierce battles. And how many of them came back? How many warriors there were who, like Odysseus, asked the spirits about their future!
Uncertainty always gives rise to an irresistible desire to lift the veil of the future. In this respect, our time is no different from the Mycenaean and Homeric eras. It is no coincidence that astrology flourished in Nazi Germany, and in modern France there are (as they say) more than half a million soothsayers.
The death of loved ones became commonplace.<…>Death is inevitable, its blow is final, and it is impossible to recover from it. Man is capable of achieving everything on earth, but he is powerless to restore the broken union of soul and body.<…>
<…>The Achaeans' initial idea of the posthumous kingdom is replaced by a more gloomy and hopeless one. The paths of this evolution remain a mystery. Perhaps acquaintance with the East, which professed a dull belief in the Underworld (Kur, Sheol), influenced the change in the Greeks’ ideas about afterlife. Let's not forget one more fact. What could the mysterious phenomena, the apparitions of the dead, indicate? known to people at all times? Of course, not about the merry feasts and hunts that people loved to paint on the walls of tombs. A collision with the terrible world, called the astral sphere in the language of occultism, could often lead to the saddest thoughts. And first of all, as we have already said, there is a desire to “calm down” the deceased. To do this, sacrifices are made to him, a magnificent funeral is arranged, and the body is either buried or burned. The latter custom arose around the era Trojan War and soon disappeared. But it is important that his main motive was to “calm” the deceased with fire. Here we recall the Indian teaching that cremation facilitates the separation of the “inner man” from the not yet completely extinguished vital force.
In the way the Odyssey describes astral ghosts, anyone familiar with the literature of occult science and parapsychology will recognize experiential knowledge. Pale spirits, immersed in a semi-conscious state, like bats, hover over a pit of blood, instinctively reaching for it. Only blood can bring them back to consciousness. They are ethereal. Odysseus tries in vain to hug his beloved mother: she eludes him like fog. The shadows make pitiful moans. With features from a nightmare dream, Homer draws the sleepy kingdom of Hades - the abode of shadows, its black underground abysses, the exit of which is in the gloomy land of the Cimmerians, shrouded in eternal night, where the waters of the world Ocean rustle. In this sorrowful world, hellish rivers roar, bare dead trees and pale flowers are reflected in them. This is where monsters live and where criminal titans are executed. Even the gods fear an oath in the name of underground streams. The lamentation of the spirit of Achilles is imbued with hopeless despair:
I would rather be alive, like a day laborer working in the field,
To earn my daily bread by serving a poor plowman,
Rather than reign over the soulless dead here...
<…>When you read the description of the dull and meaningless existence of the dead in Gilgamesh or in the Odyssey, you are once again convinced of the groundlessness of naive statements that the idea of the afterlife was born as a person’s self-consolation. There is anything but consolation here! It is not this, but actual, real insight into the essence of things that is the source of the doctrine of the immortality of the spirit. But immortality was not immediately revealed to people in its entirety. Thus, contact with the world of “astral corpses” gave rise to a picture of a deathly sleepy underworld.
However, this sad performance could not be universal and long-lasting. It was too obvious that people are not the same and they cannot have the same lot. True, the Achaeans did not rise to the thought of moral retribution. After all, as we have seen, they did not have firm concepts of good and evil. The Olympian religion had a fatal deficiency in this regard. Therefore, naturally, among the merits that put a person in first place was valor. Already Odysseus, seeing the shadow of Hercules in Erebus, knows that he himself “tastes bliss” among the gods. Thus, the ancient cult of heroes turns out to be a bridge to the understanding of posthumous retribution. The doctrine of a bright Elysium arises on the blissful islands, where the heroes are carried away.<…>On the other hand, the first timid concepts about the afterlife retribution for evil gradually appear. Underground spirits punish for a false oath; the dog Cerberus, the torment of Tantalus and Sisyphus, described by Odysseus - all these are the first symbols of posthumous nemesis in the ancient world.
Thus, we see that early Greek society was dominated by a vague and contradictory view of posthumous existence.<…>
From the book Disease and Death author Feofan the RecluseCross from beyond the grave Last time, being forced to write to you and not having any private subjects to write about, I thought of giving you an idea of what you will meet as soon as you are separated from the body. But, thank God! “There is more pain in us than in the world.” Why, since this Boliy is in us,
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Berdina V.A.
Candidate of Cultural Studies, Ukhta State Technical University
THANATOLOGICAL VIEWS OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS ABOUT THE SOUL
annotation
The article is devotedstudying pre-philosophical ideas about the afterlife of the inhabitants ancient Hellas. The author identifies the main types of traditional beliefs in the posthumous existence of the soul. Analyzes the main places of residence of the soul after death. Tries to trace the evolution of the religious ideas of the ancient Greeks, who dominated before the cult of the heavenly deity, based on the texts of Homer, Plato, Hesiod, Pausanias.
Keywords: soul; religious ideas; Ancient Greece; afterworld.
Berdina V.A.
Candidate of Culturology, Ukhta State Technical University
THANATOLOGICAL PRESENTATION OF ANCIENT GREEKS ABOUT THE SOUL
Abstract
The paper studies ideas about the afterlife inhabitants of ancient Hellas. The author reveals the main types of traditional beliefs in the existence of the soul after death. It analyzes the main seat of the soul after death. Attempts to trace the evolution of religious ideas of the ancient Greeks, to the prevailing cult of the heavenly deity, based on the texts of Homer, Plato, Hesiod, Pausanias.
Keywords: soul; religious representations; Ancient Greece; afterworld.
In ancient art, the soul was depicted in the form of butterflies, birds, etc., but often acquired a personified image (an example is the image of Psyche). Ideas about the mystical ascent of the soul were formed in the bosom of mythology and were later expressed in ideas and works ancient philosophers and poets. This shows the sequence of development of ideas about the soul, but in general it is too early to talk about the formation of a single concept of the soul, since long before this it was preceded by the thanatological views of the ancients.
In antiquity, there were three types of traditional beliefs that prevailed before the cult of the heavenly deity. Let's look at them briefly. First of all, let us highlight three main beliefs about the place of a person’s stay after death, which were widespread in ancient times: the grave, the underworld and heaven.
All these ideas about the afterlife were based on the belief in life after death. Like most other peoples, this “primitive” faith, in all likelihood, grew into the construction of an afterlife, underground world. Let's highlight the most important points here.
Firstly, another world, supposedly existing in the depths of the earth, becomes a kind of reflection of the overworld: it is inhabited by various mythical creatures; it has its own hierarchy, headed by its own ruler, as well as its own underground geography.
Secondly, there is a more than close connection between the external and underground worlds. The souls of the dead not only go to Hades after death, they go there along a certain route, along a path connecting two worlds. The deepest caves and volcanic vents are entrances to the underground kingdom, and theoretically anyone can enter there. The fundamental idea is the presence of a direct connection between the upper and lower worlds and, as a consequence, the possibility of traveling to the lower world with a return return. Even in mature mythologies, not only the descent of a deceased (or living hero) into the underworld is allowed, but also his return to earth.
Thirdly, not all the dead could cross the waters of the Styx. The deceased, over whom the necessary rituals were not performed or who were not buried properly, were not allowed into the kingdom of the dead until the moment of burial.
Fourthly, the presence of an extensive hierarchy of inhabitants of the underworld is usually associated with the idea of \u200b\u200bretribution after death. After death, a person is put on trial for his earthly accomplishments and, depending on the results of the trial, ends up in a good or bad place. For example, to the Champs Elysees or to Tartarus.
It is known, however, that by the beginning of our era, beliefs maintained according to the canons of classical Greek mythology, established by Homer, Hesiod, Aeschylus, no longer stand the test of time, nor the criticism of philosophers and scientists. Religion turns into customs and superstitions. At the end of the last era, ancient beliefs experienced amazing transformations: the underworld extended to heaven. This transition is described by Plato at the conclusion of the treatise “The Republic”, where Er, killed on the battlefield, tells people after his resurrection about the structure of the afterlife and how the souls of the dead are distributed by the court for their further residence either in the underworld or in heaven, describes punishments , which await sinners and tyrants, speaks of metempsychosis and the reincarnation of souls.
From the 1st century BC. In the Mediterranean, the belief in the posthumous heavenly ascension of the dead became widespread. This was obviously facilitated by philosophers, mystics and aesthetes. Subterranean regions and topographical features are transferred to the celestial spheres, and subterranean geography becomes cosmography. Now the Champs Elysees (Isles of the Blessed) are located in the sky, usually in the area of seven planets (for the Pythagoreans - on the Moon, for the Stoics - just above it). The road leading to this monastery is the Milky Way. The Milky Way itself was often considered paradise. The celestial river Styx is, of course, the border sphere of the Moon. The latter often plays the role of Charon. The role of a translator, or “pusher of the soul,” Psychopomp is often assigned to the Sun. It is curious that even hell (in Latin usually read as infernus and inferi, i.e. "under the earth", a place where people cannot see, and this means both the tomb and a deeper place) has moved to heaven: it became the zone of winds, water and fire, i.e. the lowest celestial sphere.
Ways in which souls of the dead They ascended to heaven quite a lot: on foot, on stairs, in a cart, on a boat, on a horse or on another animal, they could fly there on birds or on their own. All this indicates not just the proximity of earth and sky, thanks to which such a journey is possible, but also the incredible proximity of saving immortality.
But how exactly did the ancient Greeks imagine the kingdom of the dead - Hades? If we analyze the myths and poetic descriptions of the habitat of souls after death, a rather gloomy picture emerges. Hades seemed to the Greeks full of horror; the rivers Cocytus and Acheron flowed along its bottom, as well as sacred river Styx, whose icy black waters even the gods swore by. According to the thanatological ideas of the inhabitants of ancient Hellas, the unfortunate souls of the dead wandered along the banks of these rivers, filling the underground kingdom with lamentations full of sadness and melancholy. Having moved to the kingdom of Hades, the dead were forever deprived of the opportunity to see the sun and communicate with the human world. Like the ancient Babylonians, the Greeks believed that the underworld was a place of eternal sorrow. IN Old Testament the dead are called rephaim, i.e. “weak”, “powerless”, and Jesus, the son of Sirach, says the following: “For no joy can be found in hell” (Sir.14:17). And when Homer’s Odysseus consoles Achilles - as if he continues to reign in the underworld - he responds with bitterness: “O Odysseus, do not hope to give me consolation in death; I would rather be alive, like a day laborer, working in the field, To earn my daily bread by serving a poor plowman, Than to reign dead here over the soulless dead.”
According to numerous descriptions, in the underworld there are neither green valleys nor beautiful meadows, only dried up rocky land on which not a blade of grass grows, and the river banks are covered with thickets of asphodel, whose pale petals fall into Lethe - the river of oblivion. Once someone who tasted the waters from Lethe forgot about his life on Earth with its joys and sorrows, eternal darkness settled in his soul, so the souls of the dead wander among the flowers of asphodel, moaning and complaining about the evil fate that interrupted their lives. No mortal can return from the underworld. Charon will not take the soul back to the world of the living. The dead man had to pay something to the carrier (2 obols). Initially, this money had a different meaning. This is shown by an epigram from the Palatine anthology, where the soul is addressed with the following words: “When you die, then take with you only an obol from your goods.” This means that the payment to Charon initially played the role of “compensation”, which the living paid to the dead so that he would no longer lay claim to his property and would not try to return for it.
There is no return from the dark kingdom, since the gates of Hades are guarded by the giant dog Cerberus, he has three heads, and snakes wriggle around his neck with a menacing hiss. And the Greeks, at least initially, imagined not one, but several such monsters, as follows from the famous myth of Hercules. After all, the Lernaean Hydra, which Hesiod calls the sister of Cerberus, and the Nemean lion - according to Hesiod, her half-brother, and the two-headed dog of the three-headed Geryon - all of them were originally guards of Hades.
Hesiod describes the genealogy mythical creatures, living in Hades: “...So, not knowing either death or old age, the nymph Echidna, the bringer of death, spent her life underground in Arimah. As they say, the proud and terrible lawless Typhon was united with that quick-eyed maiden in a hot embrace. And she conceived from him, and gave birth to strong-hearted children. For Geryon, first, she gave birth to Orph the dog; Following her - the indescribable Cerberus, terrible in appearance, the Copper-voiced dog of hell, the bloodthirsty beast, brazenly shameless, evil, with fifty heads. She then gave birth to the third, the evil Lernaean Hydra. Also Nemean Lion, united in love with Orff."
Near the gates of the underworld wander the restless souls of warriors who were not buried and over whom the burial rite was not performed. This is how the soul of Patroclus groans in the Iliad: “Oh! bury me, so that I may enter the abode of Hades! Souls, shadows of the dead, are driving me away from the gates. And the shadows are not allowed to join themselves across the river; I wander in vain before wide-gate Hades."
Caring for a decent burial for the deceased and respect for his grave were considered one of the most sacred duties. They believed that the deceased would not find peace if his body was not buried properly, and that the gods would punish those who did not observe funeral rites. Thus, before the duel with Achilles, Hector sets a condition according to which his body, in case of death, was to be given to relatives for a decent burial. Dying, he asks Achilles not to give his body to be torn to pieces by dogs, but to return it to relatives who would mourn him and bury him. Therefore, duty obliged us to take the bodies of the dead at all costs, so that they would not be captured and disgraced by the enemy. The Iliad describes the events associated with the battle for the corpse of Patroclus as a terrible battle in which Menelaus, Ajax and Hector, leading their squads, fight with varying success - some to protect Patroclus’ body, others to drag it away to desecration.
It was the greatest grief for the relatives of the deceased if the corpse remained unburied. In battles between Greek tribes, with rare exceptions, there was always a mutual exchange of killed, sometimes even by agreement. The commanders were obliged to take care of the burial of the corpses of dead soldiers. Neglect of this duty entailed severe punishment, as, for example, in the case that occurred during the Battle of Arginus in 406 BC. e., described by Xenophon. Even if a Greek accidentally came across the corpse of an unknown person, for example, killed or drowned, in order not to commit a sin, he was obliged to bury it properly. If for some reason the body could not be buried, it was necessary to sprinkle it with several handfuls of earth and thus perform a symbolic burial. Only traitors or criminals were deprived of an honorable burial and their bodies were thrown away. The suicide was buried quietly, without any solemn funeral rites.
But let's return to the description of the underworld. The stern and unforgiving ruler of the underworld, who sits on a golden throne, and sad Persephone sits next to him. The terrible goddess of vengeance Erinyes surrounds the throne of Hades. The soul of the one who committed the crime will not find peace until he enters the underground kingdom of Hades - the Erinyes pounce on him, beat him with their whips, sting with their snakes, do not allow the unfortunate soul to forget for a minute, pursue him everywhere, subjecting him to torture and it is impossible to hide from them.
At the foot of the throne of Lord Hades sit the judges Minos and Rhadamanthus, they judge all those who appear before Hades. Here, at the throne of the ruler, is Tanat, the god of death, with a bright sword and in a black cloak, he stretches out his black wings, from which the cold of the grave emanates. It is he who appears near the dying man’s bed to tear out his soul by cutting off a strand of hair with his sharp sword, and the freed soul goes to the kingdom of Hades.
The ancients experienced sacred horror before the kingdom of Hades also because, according to their ideas, it was there that supreme court over the souls of the dead. Confirmation of this can be found in Plato, as already mentioned in the previous paragraph, who in his treatise “On the State” cites the myth of Er. Er had a chance to visit the afterlife - and this is what he, upon waking up, said: “... The soul, as soon as it left the body, went along with many others, and they all came to some wonderful place where there were two clefts in the ground, one against the other, but on the contrary, above, in the sky, there are also two. In the middle between them sat the judges. After passing the sentence, they ordered the just people to go to the right, up to heaven, and hung a sign of the sentence in front of them, and to the unjust people to go to the left, down, and these too had - behind - the designation of all their misdeeds.
If we talk about the judgment of the dead, then among the Greeks this idea existed only in certain circles. Homer, in any case, did not yet know it. Thus, Odysseus, having descended into the underworld, sees Minos judging the dead, but this judgment concerns the long-time inhabitants of the underworld. Minos seeks to put an end to the discord between them, as he had to do before on earth. Aeschylus and Pindar, however, speak of a certain judgment immediately after death. Plato first mentions the three judges about whom we later hear so often: Aeacus, Minos and Rhadamanthus; in the “Apology of Socrates” he names Triptolemus (the hero to whom Demeter gave a golden chariot and grains of wheat; traveling all over the world, Triptolemus sowed the earth and taught people to do so. For his righteousness he became one of the judges in Hades) and other righteous people.
In ancient times there was no clear idea of heaven and hell. As for the descriptions of the Champs Elysees or the Isle of the Blessed by Homer or Hesiod, they do not go beyond what can be found among other peoples. If the Iliad talks about the punishment of individual people, namely oathbreakers who “promised themselves to the underworld,” then this is due to this specific situation. The very descriptions of hellish punishments, which are deployed in the Odyssey, but only in relation to Tityus, Tantalus and Sisyphus, are of late, namely Orphic origin: “... I also saw Tityus, the son of the famous Gaia... There he lay; two kites sat on his sides, tore his liver and tormented his womb with their claws...”
But how was it possible to overcome this reverent fear of the afterlife that settled in the souls of mortals? Some Greeks sought to overcome this fear in the Eleusinian mysteries and sacraments, which were associated with the cult of Dionysus.
In the 7th century BC. e. Various ancient authors are already beginning to appear texts in which praises of the benefits bestowed by the mysteries of the Eleusinian goddesses prevail. After all, those people who were initiated into the mysteries of the goddesses received a fate in the afterlife that was different from the fate of the uninitiated: only the initiated found bliss in communication with the celestials. For the rest, only suffering awaited them after death. The high priests of Eleusis were not afraid of suffering beyond the grave and considered death a blessing bestowed from above. In this regard, we can cite an inscription composed by a certain Hierophant (the high priest who initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries), which said the following: “Truly, a wondrous secret was revealed by the blessed gods: Death for mortal people is not a curse, but grace.”
The golden tablet of the “initiates”, found in Lower Italy, says: “From a man you became a god - the soul that came from a god returns to him.” It is not possible to describe the fate of the “initiates” in more detail; according to Plato, the Orphics promised their adherents eternal intoxication and numerous descendants. In his “Republic,” the philosopher describes this as follows: “And Musaeus and his son give to the righteous from the gods blessings more excellent (than those of Homer). In their stories, when the righteous descend into Hades, they are laid out on beds, a feast is arranged for these pious people and they make sure that they spend the rest of the time intoxicated, with wreaths on their heads... And according to other teachings, the rewards bestowed by the gods are spread even further: after a pious man there remain the children of his children and all his offspring.”
However, all these expectations for wide circles of the “uninitiated” had no meaning. In this regard, it is very significant that in the image of the underworld that Polygnotus painted for the Cnidian building at Delphi (“Above [source] Cassotis there is a building in which there are paintings of Polygnotus. This is a donation of the inhabitants of Cnidus. This building is called by the Delphians a lesch, a place for talking , because in ancient times they gathered here for serious conversations and for all kinds of jokes and fairy tales...") and which we know from detailed description Pausanias, first of all Titius, Tantalus and Sisyphus, famous from Homer, appear, then also Ocnus, whose donkey again and again gnaws the rope he wove, and, finally, the robber of the temple, together with the disrespectful son and detractors of the Eleusinian Mysteries - however, there are no other sinners here. And most importantly, the reward received by the righteous for their good deeds is also not depicted; however, those initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries generally tried not to disclose their aspirations too much. The fact that Aristophanes parodied these beliefs in his Frogs does not at all indicate their widespread use. Countless texts have survived where they could have been mentioned if they had become available. mass consciousness However, they were of a sacred nature and no direct narratives about them have been preserved.
Thus, we can draw a general conclusion that it is religious ideas that can lift the veil, show and explain many philosophical and everyday ideas about the soul in Ancient Greece, explain its depictions in works of art and literature. Religious views initially contain everything, not only providing an explanation, but also giving reason for the analysis of philosophical sources in their processing by the wisest ancient authors, who are also supporters of any religious ideas.
Literature
- Bible: Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. – M.: United Bible Societies, 1991. –1371 p.
- Hesiod. On the origin of the gods (Theogony) // On the origin of the gods / Comp. entry Art. I. V. Stahl. M., 1990. S. 200-201.
- Homer. Odyssey/Homer. Per. from ancient Greek V. Zhukovsky; Afterword by A. Tahoe-Godi; Notes by S. Osherov. – M.: Moscow. worker, 1982. – 350 p.
- Homer. Iliad/Homer. Per. from ancient Greek N. Gnedich; Note M. Tomashevskaya. – M.: Artist. lit., 1987. – 379 p.
- Plato. State // Philebus, State, Timaeus, Critias / Trans. from ancient Greek General ed. A. F. Loseva, V. F. Asmusa, A. A. Takho-Godi; Auto. Will join. Art. and Art. in note A. F. Losev; Note A.A. Tahoe-Godi. – M.: Publishing house “Mysl”, 1999. – 656 p.
- Plato. Apology of Socrates // Apology of Socrates, Crito, Ion, Protagoras / Trans. from ancient Greek General ed. A. F. Loseva and others; Auto. will enter. Art. A. F. Losev; Note A. A. Tahoe-Godi; Per. from ancient Greek – M.: Publishing house “Mysl”, 1999. – 864 p.
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas. Books V-X / Trans. from ancient Greek S. P. Kondratieva. Under. ed. E. V. Nikityuk. – St. Petersburg: Publishing house “ALETEYA”, 1996. – 538 p.
References
- Biblija: Books Svjashhennogo Pisanija Vethogo i Novogo Zaveta. – M.: United Bible Societies, 1991. –1371 s.
- Gesiod. O proishozhdenii bogov (Teogonija) // O proishozhdenii bogov / Sost. vstup. St. I. V. Shtal'. M., 1990. S. 200-201.
- Gomer. Odisseja/Gomer. Per. s ancient Greek. V. Zhukovsky; Posleslovie A. Taho-Godi; Primechanija S. Osherova. – M.: Mosk. rabochij, 1982. – 350 s.
- Gomer. Iliad/Gomer. Per. s ancient Greek. N. Gnedicha; Primech. M. Tomashevskoj. – M.: Hudozh. lit, 1987. – 379 s.
- Plato. Gosudarstvo // Fileb, Gosudarstvo, Timej, Kritij / Per. s ancient Greek. Obshh. red. A. F. Loseva, V. F. Asmusa, A. A. Taho-Godi; Avt. Vstupit. st. i st. v primech. A. F. Losev; Primech. A.A. Taho-Godi. – M.: Izd-vo “Mysl’”, 1999. – 656 s.
- Plato. Apologija Sokrata // Apologija Sokrata, Kriton, Ion, Protagor / Per. s ancient Greek. Obshh. red. A. F. Loseva i dr.; Avt. vstupit. St. A. F. Losev; Primech. A. A. Taho-Godi; Per. s ancient Greek. – M.: Izd-vo “Mysl’”, 1999. – 864 s.
- Pavsanij. Description Jellady. Book V-X / Per. s ancient Greek. S. P. Kondrat’eva. Pod. red. E. V. Nikitjuk. – SPb.: Izd-vo “ALETEJJa”, 1996. – 538 s