We offer a list of the most famous ancient Greek gods with short descriptions and links to full articles with illustrations.

• Hades - god - the lord of the kingdom of the dead, as well as the kingdom itself. One of the older Olympian gods, brother of Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon and Hestia, son of Kronos and Rhea. The husband of the fertility goddess Persephone
• - the hero of myths, a giant, the son of Poseidon and the Land of Gaia. The earth gave its son strength, thanks to which no one could cope with him. But Hercules defeated Antaeus, tearing him away from the Earth and depriving Gaia's help.
• - the god of sunlight. The Greeks portrayed him as a handsome youth. Apollo (other epithets - Phoebus, Musaget) - the son of Zeus and the goddess Leto, brother of Artemis. He had the gift of foreseeing the future and was considered the patron saint of all arts. In late antiquity, Apollo was identified with the sun god Helios.
• - the god of treacherous war, the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks portrayed him as a strong young man.
• - the twin sister of Apollo, the goddess of hunting and nature, was believed to facilitate childbirth. Sometimes she was considered the goddess of the moon and was identified with Selena. The center of the cult of Artemis was in the city of Ephesus, where a grandiose temple was erected in her honor - one of the seven wonders of the world.
• - the god of medical art, the son of Apollo and the nymph Koronis. The Greeks saw him as a bearded man with a staff in his hand. The staff was wrapped around a snake, which later became one of the symbols of the medical profession. Asclepius was killed by Zeus for trying to raise the dead with his art. In the Roman pantheon, the god Aesculapius corresponds to Asclepius.
• Atropos("Inevitable") - one of the three moira, cutting the thread of fate and ending human life.
• - the daughter of Zeus and Metis, born from his head in full military equipment. Goddess of just war and wisdom, patroness of knowledge. Athena taught people many crafts, established laws on earth, and gave musical instruments to mortals. The center of veneration for Athena was in Athens. The Romans identified Athena with the goddess Minerva.
• (Kifera, Urania) - the goddess of love and beauty. She was born from the marriage of Zeus and the goddess Dione (according to another legend, she came out of the sea foam, hence her title Anadiomene, "froth-born"). Aphrodite corresponds to the Sumerian Inanna and the Babylonian Ishtar, the Egyptian Isis and the Great Mother of the Gods, and finally, the Roman Venus.
• - the god of the north wind, the son of the Titanids Astrea (starry sky) and Eos (dawn), brother of Zephyr and Nota. He was depicted as a winged, long-haired, bearded, mighty deity.
• - in mythology, sometimes called Dionysus by the Greeks, and Lieber by the Romans, was originally a Thracian or Phrygian god, whose cult was adopted by the Greeks very early. Bacchus, according to some legends, is considered the son of the daughter of the Theban king, Semele, and Zeus. According to others - the son of Zeus and Demeter or Persephone.
• (Hebea) - the daughter of Zeus and Hera, the goddess of youth. Sister of Ares and Ilithia. She served the Olympian gods at feasts, bringing them nectar and ambrosia. In Roman mythology, Hebe corresponds to the goddess Juventa.
• - the goddess of darkness, night visions and sorcery, the patroness of sorcerers. Often, Hecate was considered the goddess of the moon and was identified with Artemis. The Greek nickname for Hecate "Triodita" and the Latin name "Trivia" originate from the tradition that this goddess dwells at the crossroads of roads.
• - one hundred-handed fifty-headed giants, the personification of the elements, the sons of Uranus (Heaven) and the goddess Gaia (Earth).
• (Helium) - the sun god, brother of Selene (Moon) and Eos (dawn). In late antiquity, he was identified with Apollo. According to Greek myths, Helios travels around the sky every day in a chariot drawn by four fiery horses. The main center of the cult was located on the island of Rhodes, where a giant statue was erected in his honor, considered one of the seven wonders of the world (the Colossus of Rhodes).
• Hemera- the goddess of daylight, the personification of the day, born of Nikta and Erebus. She was often identified with Eos.
• - the supreme Olympic goddess, sister and third wife of Zeus, daughter of Rhea and Kronos, sister of Hades, Hestia, Demeter and Poseidon. Hera was considered the patroness of marriage. From Zeus, she gave birth to Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus and Eilithia (the goddess of women in labor, with whom Hera herself was often identified.
• - the son of Zeus and Maya, one of the most significant Greek gods. Patron saint of wanderers, crafts, trade, thieves. Possessing the gift of eloquence, Hermes patronized schools and orators. He played the role of a messenger of the gods and a guide of the souls of the dead. He was usually depicted as a young man in a simple hat and winged sandals, with a magic wand in his hands. In Roman mythology, he was identified with Mercury.
• - the goddess of the hearth and fire, the eldest daughter of Kronos and Gaia, the sister of Hades, Hera, Demeter, Zeus and Poseidon. In Roman mythology, the goddess Vesta corresponded to her.
• - the son of Zeus and Hera, the god of fire and blacksmithing. He was considered the patron saint of artisans (especially blacksmiths). The Greeks portrayed Hephaestus as a broad-shouldered, short and lame man working in a forge, where he forges weapons for the Olympian gods and heroes.
• - mother earth, foremother of all gods and people. Coming out of Chaos, Gaia gave birth to Uranus-Sky, and from marriage with him gave birth to titans and monsters. Corresponding to Gaia, the Roman goddess-foremother is Tellus.
• - the god of sleep, the son of Nikta and Erebus, the younger twin brother of the god of death Thanatos, the favorite of the muses. Lives in Tartarus.
• - the goddess of fertility and agriculture. Daughter of Kronos and Rhea, belongs to the eldest Olympian gods. Mother of the goddess Cora-Persephone and the god of wealth Plutos.
• (Bacchus) - the god of viticulture and winemaking, the object of a number of cults and mysteries. He was depicted in the form of an obese elderly man, then in the form of a young man with a wreath of grape leaves on his head. In Roman mythology, Lieber (Bacchus) corresponded to him.
• - lower deities, nymphs who lived in trees. The dryad's life was closely tied to her tree. If the tree died or was cut down, the dryad also died.
• - the god of fertility, the son of Zeus and Persephone. In the Mysteries he was identified with Dionysus.
• - the supreme Olympic god. Son of Kronos and Rhea, father of many younger gods and people (Hercules, Perseus, Helen of Troy). Lord of thunder and thunder. As the ruler of the world, he had many different functions. In Roman mythology, Jupiter corresponded to Zeus.
• - the god of the west wind, brother of Boreas and Nota.
• - the god of fertility, sometimes identified with Dionysus and Zagreus.
• - the patron goddess of women in labor (Roman Lucina).
• - the god of the river of the same name in Argos and the most ancient Argos king, the son of Tefis and Ocean.
• - the deity of the great mysteries, introduced into the Eleusinian cult by the Orphic and associated with Demeter, Persephone, Dionysus.
• - the personification and goddess of the rainbow, the winged messenger of Zeus and Hera, the daughter of Tavmant and the Oceanid of Electra, sister of the Harpies and Arka.
• - demonic creatures, children of the goddess Nikta, bringing people misfortune and death.
• - the titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, was dropped by Zeus into Tartarus
• - the titan, the youngest son of Gaia and Uranus, the father of Zeus. He ruled the world of gods and people and was overthrown from the throne by Zeus. In Roman mythology, it is known as Saturn - a symbol of unforgiving time.
• - the daughter of the goddess of strife Eris, mother harit (according to Hesiod). And also the river of Oblivion in the underworld (Virgil).
• - Titanide, mother of Apollo and Artemis.
• (Metis) - the goddess of wisdom, the first of the three wives of Zeus, who conceived Athena from him.
• - mother of nine muses, goddess of memory, daughter of Uranus and Gaia.
• - daughters of Nikta-Night, the goddess of fate Lachesis, Cloto, Atropos.
• - the god of ridicule, backbiting and stupidity. Son of Nyukta and Erebus, brother of Hypnos.
• - one of the sons of Hypnos, the winged god of dreams.
• - the patron goddess of arts and sciences, nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne.
• - nymphs-guardians of waters - deities of rivers, lakes, springs, streams and springs.
• - the daughter of Nikta, a goddess who personified fate and retribution, punishing people in accordance with their sins.
• - fifty daughters of Nereus and the oceanids Doris, sea deities.
• - the son of Gaia and Pontus, a meek sea god.
• - personification of victory. She was often depicted with a wreath, a common symbol of triumph in Greece.
• - Goddess of the Night, the product of Chaos. Mother of many gods, including Hypnos, Thanatos, Nemesis, Mom, Kera, Moira, Hesperia, Eris.
• - the lowest deities in the hierarchy of the Greek gods. They personified the forces of nature and were closely associated with their habitats. River nymphs were called naiads, tree nymphs were called dryads, mountain nymphs were called orestiads, and sea nymphs were called nereids. Often, the nymphs accompanied one of the gods and goddesses as a retinue.
• Music- the god of the south wind, depicted with a beard and wings.
• Ocean is a titan, the son of Gaia and Uranus, the forefather of the gods of the sea, rivers, streams and springs.
• Orion is a deity, the son of Poseidon and the oceanid Euryale, daughter of Minos. According to another legend, it originated from a fertilized bovine hide, buried in the ground for nine months by King Girieus.
• Ora (Mountains) - the goddess of the seasons, tranquility and order, the daughter of Zeus and Themis. There were three of them: Dike (or Astrea, goddess of justice), Eunomia (goddess of order and justice), Eirena (goddess of peace).
• Pan is the god of forests and fields, the son of Hermes and Driopa, a goat-footed man with horns. He was considered the patron saint of shepherds and small livestock. According to myths, Pan invented the flute. In Roman mythology, Pan corresponds to Faun (patron saint of herds) and Sylvan (demon of the forests).
• Peyto- the goddess of persuasion, the companion of Aphrodite, often identified with her patroness.
• Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, the goddess of fertility. The wife of Hades and the queen of the underworld, who knew the secrets of life and death. The Romans venerated Persephone under the name of Proserpine.
• Python (Dolphin) is a monstrous serpent, the offspring of Gaia. He guarded the ancient prophecy of Gaia and Themis in Delphi.
• The Pleiades are the seven daughters of the titan Atlanta and the oceanides Pleion. The brightest of them are named after Atlantis, Artemis's friends: Alcyone, Keleno, Maya, Merope, Steropa, Taygeta, Electra. All the sisters were united in a love union with the gods, with the exception of Merope, who became the wife of Sisyphus.
• Pluto is the god of the underworld, until the 5th century BC. named Hades. In the future, Hades is mentioned only by Homer, in the rest of the later myths - Pluto.
• Plutos is the son of Demeter, the god who gives people wealth.
• Pont- one of the most ancient Greek gods, the son of Gaia (born without a father), the god of the Inner Sea. He is the father of Nereus, Tavmant, Forkias and his sister-wife Keto (from Gaia or Tefida); Eurybia (from Gaia; Telkhines (from Gaia or Thalassa); genera of fish (from Thalassa.
• - one of the Olympian gods, brother of Zeus and Hades, who rules over the sea element. Poseidon was also subject to the bowels of the earth, he ruled storms and earthquakes. He was depicted as a man with a trident in his hand, usually accompanied by a retinue of lower sea deities and sea animals.
• Proteus - sea deity, son of Poseidon, patron saint of seals. He possessed the gift of reincarnation and prophecy.

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Mythical names

Mythical male and female names and their meaning

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Mythical names. Mythical male and female names and their meaning

Researchers of the past argue that the history of mankind does not know a single people who denied the existence of some higher forces that govern their earthly, and sometimes the afterlife. The ideas about them changed with the development of civilization, and on their basis numerous religious cults were formed, both preserved to this day and sunk into the depths of the centuries. Let us recall only some of the gods of the Ancient World, originating, according to the generally accepted definition, in the prehistoric period and limited to the 5th century, when the world entered the era of the early Middle Ages.

Ancient Sumerian deities

The conversation about the heroes and gods of the Ancient World should be started with a story about the religious beliefs of the Sumerians who lived in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and created at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC. e. the first world civilization. Their beliefs and the mythology generated by them were based on the worship of numerous demiurge gods - the creators of the world and everything in it, as well as the spirits who patronized people in various aspects of their lives.

These are, probably, the most ancient gods of the world, about which quite complete information has been preserved. The leading place among them was occupied by the god An (or Anu). According to him, he was one of the demiurges who created the world, and existed even before the earth was separated from the sky. Among other celestials, he enjoyed such indisputable authority that the Sumerians always portrayed him as presiding over the councils of the gods, which they arranged to solve the most important issues.

Among the Sumerian patron gods, the most famous is Marduk, whose name is associated with the foundation and further development of one of the largest cities of the Ancient World ─ Babylon. It was believed that the city owed its rise and prosperity to him. It is characteristic that as the ancient metropolis grew, worship of its patron took on an ever wider scale. In the pantheon of the Sumerian gods, Marduk was assigned the same place as Jupiter among the ancient Greek celestials.

Rejected passion

As an example of Sumerian mythology, it is pertinent to cite one of the stories about the Goddess Ishtar, who successfully patronized such seemingly incompatible things as love and war. The legend that has come down to us tells of how one day the heart of the goddess was kindled with love for the brave hero Gilgamesh, who returned from a military campaign, in which he won a victory thanks to her patronage.

For the service rendered, Ishtar wished the hero to become her husband, but was refused, since Gilgamesh had heard not only about her countless love affairs, but also about the manner of turning annoying men into spiders, wolves, rams and other dumb creatures. Of course, he didn't get away with it, because what could be worse than the revenge of a rejected woman?

Heavenly bull

The angry Ishtar went to heaven to her parents ─ the supreme god Anu and his wife Antu, to whom she told about her humiliation. To take revenge on the offender, she persuaded the old people to create a terrible Heavenly Bull for her, capable of destroying Gilgamesh. Otherwise, the obstinate daughter threatened to raise all the dead from the graves and give them to be devoured by the human race.

Knowing from experience that it was useless to argue with their daughter, An and Antu complied with her request. The goddess returned to earth with a bull, which, having drunk all the water in the Euphrates River for a start, began to devour the unfortunate Sumerians. And the end of the most ancient civilization would have come at this, but, fortunately, the same Gilgamesh arrived in time, who, together with his friend Enkidu, defeated the monster and sacrificed its carcass to other, more decent deities.

The legend ends with the fact that Ishtar, standing at the walls of the ancient city of Uruk, curses the obstinate Gilgamesh and, having gathered all the Sumerian harlots, bitterly mourns with them the ruined bull. Why did she need representatives of the most ancient profession for this - history is silent.

Lost civilization

It remains only to add that the pantheon of the gods of the Ancient World, worshiped by the Sumerians, is very extensive. To the names already mentioned, we add only the most famous: Anunnaki, Adad, Bel, Dumuzi, Inanna, Tiamat, Tammuz, Sumukan, Sina and Tsarpanitu.

In the middle of the II millennium BC. e. the state of Sumer gave way to the gaining power of the Babylonian Empire, and the Sumerian language as a spoken language fell out of use. Nevertheless, literary works were written on it for almost 2 thousand years, some of which were discovered during archaeological excavations.

Gods of egypt

It is inseparable from the desire of people to know the world around them, sometimes frightening and full of impenetrable secrets for them. Evidence of the attempts of the ancient Egyptians to understand its structure is the creation of a numerous pantheon of gods, who became a product of their imagination and personified natural forces for them.

A characteristic feature of the Egyptians was the belief in the divine origin of the pharaohs, on which their unlimited power was based. Both the heavenly rulers and their earthly governors were far from always friendly to people, and therefore both of them had to be propitiated not only with prayers and praises, but also with sacrifices, the nature of which changed depending on who they were intended for.

The gods of the Ancient world and the myths telling about them have always represented a bright page. The vast pantheon of gods born on the banks of the Nile is no exception. Historians count about 2 thousand of its representatives, however, no more than 100 of them enjoyed universal veneration, while the worship of the rest was of a local nature.

It is curious to note that with the change in the alignment of political forces in the country, the hierarchical position occupied by certain gods also changed. The history of the Ancient World, including Egypt, is full of turmoil and upheavals, which resulted in frequent changes of rulers, which radically changed the status of the gods they especially revered. Meanwhile, from the general pantheon, a number of characters can be distinguished, whose "rating" was invariably high throughout the history of the Ancient Egyptian civilization.

The pinnacle of the divine hierarchy

This is primarily the creator of everything earthly ─ also known under the names Amun or Atum. It was he who was considered the father of all pharaohs. Sometimes in the imagination of the Egyptians, Amon-Ra took a female form and was then called the goddess Amunet. This transvestite god was especially revered in Thebes, which for a long period was the capital of the state. Usually he was depicted as a man in royal vestments and a crown decorated with feathers, less often in the form of a goose or a ram.

Little was inferior to him in popularity, the god of fertility and the afterlife, Osiris, whose list of close relatives aroused the deepest respect for him. As the son of the earth god Hebe and the sky goddess Nut, he married his own sister Isis, the patroness of fertility, motherhood, health and sea travel (family marriages were not forbidden in that era). Having inherited over time the title of supreme ruler, he taught the Egyptians to cultivate the land, observe the laws and honor the gods.

Cunning and love in Egyptian mythology

However, like many ancient gods of the peoples of the world, Osiris on the way to his greatness underwent many different adversities and ordeals. It all started with the fact that the god of the desert Set, who personified the evil inclination, planned to kill him and take the place of the supreme ruler himself. He carried out his insidious plan in a rather original way.

Having made a golden chest of a suitable size and inviting guests, among whom was Osiris, the villain announced that he would give this jewel to someone who could comfortably fit in it. Everyone began to try, and when the turn came to Osiris, Seth slammed the lid of the chest, tied it with ropes and threw it into the Nile, along the waves of which he swam to who knows where.

Upon learning of the disappearance of her husband, Isis went in search of him and found a chest with her faithful near the Phoenician coast. But her joy turned out to be premature. Following on the heels of Set, ahead of Isis, and in front of her, he hacked the body of her husband to pieces, scattering them throughout Egypt.

But the villain had a poor idea of ​​who he was dealing with ─ the goddess collected most of the remains of Osiris, made a mummy out of them, and so successfully that she soon conceived a son of Horus from her, who later became the god of the hunt and was depicted as a man with a falcon's head. Having matured, Horus defeated Seth and helped his mother resurrect his father's mummy.

Other inhabitants of the ancient Egyptian pantheon

Let us recall some more names of the gods of the Ancient World who lived on the banks of the Nile. This is primarily the god Shu. He and his wife Tefnut were the first celestials created by the supreme god Atum and initiated the separation of the sexes. Shu was considered the god of sunlight and air. He was portrayed as a man in a headdress with a train, while his wife had the appearance of a lioness.

Another god of the Ancient World, considered the embodiment of the sun, was the supreme ruler Ra. His images in the form of a man with a falcon's head, crowned with a solar disk, are often found on the walls of Egyptian temples of that ancient era. A feature of Ra was his ability to be born every day from the sacred cow Nut and, having made his way through the firmament, plunge into the kingdom of the dead, in order to repeat everything all over again the next morning.

It is worth noting that Osiris, which was discussed above, besides his wife Isis, had another sister named Nephthys. In Egyptian mythology, she played a rather gloomy role as the goddess of death and mistress of the kingdom of the dead. From her underground possessions, she appeared only at sunset and spent the whole night making her way across the sky in her black boat. Her image can often be seen on the lids of sarcophagi, where she appears in the form of a winged woman.

The far from complete list of Egyptian gods can be continued with such names as Sekhmet, Bastet, Nepid, Thoth, Menhit, Ptah, Hator, Shesemu, Khons, Heket and many others. Each of them has its own history and appearance, captured on the walls of temples and the interior of the pyramids.

The world of the gods of ancient Greece

Ancient myth-making, which had a tremendous influence on the formation of the entire European culture, reached its highest point in Ancient Hellas. The origin of the world and the gods in Ancient Greece, as well as in Egypt, did not seem to be accidental. The creation of all things was attributed to the supreme creator, whose role in this case was played by Zeus. He was the king of all other gods, the lord of lightning and the personification of the boundless sky. In Roman mythology, which became a continuation of Greek, this image corresponds to Jupiter, endowed with the same properties and inheriting the external features of its ancestor. The wife of Zeus was the goddess Hera, the patroness of motherhood, who protected women during childbirth.

A characteristic feature of the Greek pantheon of gods is its elitism. Unlike the characters in Ancient Hellas, there were only 12 celestials who lived on the top of Mount Olympus and descended to earth only in case of emergency. At the same time, the status of the rest of the deities was much lower, and they played a secondary role.

It is worth noting another characteristic feature of the Greek and Roman gods ─ it was customary to depict them exclusively in human form, giving perfection to the features of each. In the modern world, the gods of Ancient Greece are well known, since their marble statues are an unattainable example of ancient art.

Elite of the ancient Greek pantheon

Everything that was in one way or another connected with the war and was accompanied by bloodshed, commanded, in the minds of the ancient Greeks, two deities. One of them was Ares, who possessed an unbridled disposition and delighted himself in the spectacle of heated battles. Zeus did not love him for his excessive bloodthirstiness and endured on Olympus only because he was his son. The Thunderer's sympathies were on the side of his own daughter Athena, the goddess of just war, wisdom and knowledge. Appearing on the battlefield, she pacified her brother, who had gone too far. In Roman mythology, Minerva corresponds to it.

It is difficult to imagine the world of heroes and gods of Ancient Greece without Apollo, the god of sunlight, a skilled healer and patron of the muses. His name has become a household name thanks to sculptural images that embody the standard of male beauty. Several centuries later, among the Romans, Apollo was embodied in the image of Phoebus.

The standard of female beauty, in its perception by the ancient Greeks, is the goddess of love, Aphrodite, who was the prototype of the Roman Venus. Born from sea foam, the beauty took love, marriage, fertility and spring under her protection. It is very curious that, despite the abundance of the most enviable suitors, she gave her heart to the lame Hephaestus (the Romans called him Vulcan) ─ the god of blacksmithing, preferring a hard-working and homely husband to handsome men from the top of Olympus.

In order not to offend any of the gods of the Ancient World, who were once revered on the shores of Hellas, remember the patroness of the moon, fertility, hunting and female chastity Artemis (for the Romans Diana), the ruler of the kingdom of the dead Hades, the god of the seas Poseidon (aka Neptune) and a reckless drunkard god wine and fun ─ Dionysus, better known by his Roman name Bacchus.

Since over the past centuries the number of admirers of this god has not only not decreased, but is growing every year, we will devote a few lines to him. It is known that Dionysus was born as a result of the secret love of Zeus and the Theban princess Semele. The jealous wife of the Thunderer, the goddess Hera, resorting to cunning, destroyed the passion of her lascivious husband, but could not destroy the child she hated.

Having resorted to the help of Hermes, the god of travelers and a connoisseur of human souls, Zeus secretly from his wife gave his son to be raised by the nymphs ─ the patrons of the life-giving forces of nature. When Dionysus grew up and turned from a rosy-cheeked child into a beautiful young man, they presented him with a vine and taught him how to prepare a life-giving drink from its fruits. Since then, the bastard has become the god of wine and fun. The people of Greece worshiped him, decorating themselves with garlands of grape leaves and singing hymns in his honor.

The beginning of a new era

These 12 celestials are not limited to the entire list of gods of the Ancient World, once sung by Greek poets who brought to us the unique spirit of ancient myths. But only they became the inhabitants of Olympus, their images inspired outstanding sculptors and painters of subsequent eras, which brought world fame to these gods hidden from us for centuries.

The history of the Ancient World is believed to have ended with the fall of Rome in 476 and the abdication of its last emperor, Romulus Augustus. From that moment on, the world entered a new stage in its development - the early Middle Ages. Gradually, not only the way of the former life disappeared into oblivion, but also the gods who gave birth to and protected it.

Their numerous pantheon was replaced by a single God - the Creator and Creator of all things. The cult of the former celestials was declared dark paganism, and its followers were subjected to no less severe persecution than those that they had recently arranged against Christians.

There are great gods, such as Vishnu and Shiva, Zeus and Kronos, Allah and Christ, and minor gods, so to speak, gods. In India, in the Vedic pantheon, these are, for example, the gods Aditi, who embody freedom, liberation from evil. Gods are also interstate (Mithra, Christ, Allah), state (Japanese goddess Amaterasu), national (god of the Jews - Yahweh), city, local, street (among the ancient Romans), clan, tribal, family (among the ancient Romans they were called lara and Penates) and personal (the “personal” god of the ruler of Lagash was the god Ningishzida, and the personal god of the hero of the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh was Lugalbanda).

Each inhabited center of Mesopotamia had its own god. The so-called "Great Tablet", which consisted of 12 columns, had, apparently, more than 2,500 names of the gods. They had wives and children, countless retinues of servants. In many documents that have come down to us, along with the main gods, all their ministers, children and even slaves are listed. These gods lived very well, one might even say gorgeous. They lived in magnificent temples, in which they received vassals, like autocrats.

According to the Indian Vedas (the oldest monument of Indian religious literature dating from the end of the 2nd - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), there are 33 main and millions of minor
demigods, who are responsible for managing the world's processes. There are much fewer gods in Japan: in the VIII-X centuries in the Shinto pantheon of Japan, there were only 3,132 gods. About the same number of gods were
in ancient India - 3.339 gods are mentioned in the Vedic hymns. A large number of gods - several thousand were among the Aztecs.

It is already clear from what has been said that there are a huge number of gods in the world. The question naturally arises, do they know about each other? Apparently, they often do not even know about the presence of other gods or pretend that other gods do not exist. They learn about the existence of other gods only when, as a result of the war, they are victorious or defeated. In one case, they become the main gods, and the gods of the defeated people become secondary. In other cases, the gods of the defeated people and their priests (priests) are simply destroyed.

When our prince Vladimir in 988, for political and economic reasons, decided to accept a religion alien to our people - Christianity, his squad began to destroy - smash, chop and drown the image of the gods, whom the Eastern Slavs had prayed for over a thousand years, as well as places of worship. - temples. This was the beginning of the violent Christianization of Rus. The pagan gods themselves - Veles, Dazhdbog, Khors, Perun and even the ancient god Rod could not (or did not want) to defend themselves! Christ did not enter into communion with them, but with the help of his new adherents - newly converted Christians, he simply destroyed them. And at the same time, the entire Old Russian culture was destroyed.

And when the Spanish conquistadors conquered the Maya and Aztec states, the latter learned that besides their gods, there is the mighty god Jesus Christ. Apparently, it was during this period that the gods of the Indians learned about the existence of a powerful Christian god. The Christian god, following the example of his father, Yahweh-Sabaoth, did not want to be friends with the Indian gods and, with the help of his followers and faithful servants, began to destroy not only these gods, but also the people who believed in them.

It is interesting to note that the gods Yahweh, Christ and Allah, claiming to be the same, do not want to recognize the presence of not only pagan gods, but also gods, like them, who consider themselves the only ones. For example, Allah, who demands from his adherents a five-fold daily recognition that he is the only God: "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet." He does not want to recognize other gods and the Jewish god Yahweh (Sabaoth), who requires that those who worship him, i.e. his slaves did not worship, and therefore did not create images of other gods: "Do not make yourself an idol!" The same was demanded by the Christian god Christ (although earlier, today he no longer requires it). However, Christ's position is extremely difficult. Of course, he wants to be considered the only God. But at the same time, he is part of the trinity of gods, in which there is another only God - Yahweh (Hosts), who is also God the Father. This is stated in the Niceo-Constantinople creed, adopted in 325. It should be noted that a paradoxical conclusion follows from this stubborn and extremely impolite statement towards other gods. Denying the existence of other gods, as well as demanding that people not worship them, they act as the most real atheists and even atheists.

At the same time, it turns out that the very first atheist in the world is the Jewish god Yahweh. True, he is an inconsistent atheist - he and his adherents deny the existence of other gods, claiming that they are not real, because the real God is only he! It is no secret that sexless gods, as a rule, do not exist - they are all divided into male and female gods. At the same time in Ancient Greece there was a god who had signs of both sexes - male and female - Hermaphrodite. And among the African tribe Bombara, many of the gods could even freely change their gender, appearing either in the male or in
female hypostasis. For example, the god Odudva in some myths was a male deity, and in others - a female (the goddess of the Earth).

Most of the gods were and continue to be male gods. But there are also plenty of female gods. Supporters of gender equality may be satisfied with the fact that the goddesses
occupied very important positions in the society of the gods. Although most of the Sun gods are male, there are also female Sun gods. So, among the Hittites in the 17th-12th centuries BC, the Sun was a goddess called Metzulla. Moreover, she was not only the sun goddess, but also the main deity of this people. The deity of the Sun among the Japanese today is the goddess Amaterasu. The ancient Egyptians had the fertility gods Baal (Baal), Min, Ptah, Sepa, Serapis, Khnum and Banebjent and the goddesses of fertility - Anuke, Renenuth, Taurt and Heket. The Egyptians were in charge of water, the god of water, Sebek, and the goddess of water, Sebekted, who appeared later. The only exception was the primordial gods (supreme gods), who were male.

It is interesting to note that feminism occurs not only among humans, but also among gods. Among many peoples, the goddesses were in no way inferior to the gods and held such purely male positions as those responsible for war and hunting. So, among the ancient Egyptians, the goddess Astarte (aka Anat) ruled the war. Concurrently, she was also responsible for the war chariots. And in another hypostasis, Anat performed the duties of the deity of the hunt. The Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena, was also responsible for justice in the conduct of hostilities. One of her names - Promachos - "vanguard" - would do honor to any male deity of war.

In general, like people, the gods reigned patriarchy. The wives of even the supreme gods could not equal in their role and importance those of their husbands. In Ugaritic myths, the highest god was the father of the gods El. He had a wife, El, who was called the mother of the gods. The ancient Maya creators of the world were three gods - the gods Kukumats and Huracan and the goddess Tepev. The ancient Greek goddess Hera - the wife of Zeus - often objected to him and even argued with him at the advice of the gods. It ended with the fact that the angry thunderer threatened her with punishment and then she fell silent. She well remembered how he once flogged her, bound her with golden chains and hung her between heaven and earth, tying two heavy anvils to her feet. To think carefully about who is in charge of the house and how to behave as an exemplary wife.

As a rule, the gods are very rich, which is not surprising, since they have a lot of power. Already in ancient Sumer (Mesopotamia, III millennium BC), all arable land belonged to God, while the priest-king was only a manager, a "farmer-tenant," as he called himself. But this land had to be cultivated, so thousands of people worked for God. For a very meager fee. The priests of this god inspired the believers that working in the fields belonging to God is the fulfillment of religious duties predetermined by God himself. Therefore, they should not grumble. True, they, for some reason, did not understand that this work was a great joy for them. Apparently, they were not very conscious then. God himself has no time
was to clarify this to people.

Not much poorer than this god of Sumer was the god of another Sumerian city-state - Ur, the god of the moon Nanna. He received not only a tenth of the entire harvest (this is where the church tithe comes from for Christians), but also a rent. Today, the richest god is the Muslim god Allah - the whole world belongs to him. And so that all the faithful do not forget about this, the Arabs of the Middle East usually engrave the inscription in Arabic on a stone slab above the front door of their house: "Property of God." Interestingly, the other one-ruling Gods do not dispute this. According to the concepts of good and evil, there are good and bad gods. The kind, for example, include the Indian Ashvins - the Ushas brothers. They dispose of honey, the nectar of life, and also soma (an intoxicating drink). It is they who give honey to bees, treat gods and people to them. They love to help: they save the shipwrecked, return to women the lost ability to bear children, look for husbands for old maidens. They also help the newlywed to enter her husband's house. The Japanese Ainu also has a division into good and evil gods.

The ancient Egyptians had the deity Hu personifying the will of God, his creative word. And the African Yoruba tribe recently had the god Elegba, representing ... the anger of their other god Fa. The gods of ancient Iran possessed "hvarna", which can be understood as "charisma," a kind of sacred essence, the possession of which gives luck, power, the ability to master the minds of huge masses of people and
manage them. Hvarna was possessed, in particular, by the god Ahuramazda and the savior of the world, Saoshyant. All the strength and power of the Indian god Shiva lies not so much in himself as in his “shakti” - spiritual energy that appears and manifests itself only under certain circumstances. First, this energy accumulates in him during periods of ascetic vigils and contemplations. Secondly, the energy of Shakti is closely intertwined with his masculine life-giving power. It is believed that the moment of Shiva's connection with his female half, Parvati, is the moment of the multiple amplification of his energy.

Of particular interest are the so-called living gods. Jesus Christ was the living god who took on a human form (God-man). But Christ is not the only living god. The living goddess Kumari still lives in Nepal (a state between India and China). This goddess of flesh and blood is presented in the form of a little girl and is also, in fact, a god-man. She represents the hypostasis of the goddess Shakti, but only innocent, young, who has absorbed the hypostases of female deities. The girl, destined for the role of the goddess, is selected by the priests extremely strictly and meticulously. A three-year-old baby should have the build of a goddess and not have the slightest flaw. If at least one of the eighty external signs does not meet a firmly established standard, the candidate is not suitable. A girl claiming the title of a living goddess, in the shortest possible time, must learn to control herself and under no circumstances lose her presence of mind. Otherwise, great misfortune can be expected. She must watch without trembling the cutting of goat's heads, spend the night in a dark basement filled with skeletons and dismembered corpses. If the girl gets scared or violates etiquette in any way, this may be considered an ominous sign.

The point here is that Kumari, who is considered the patroness of Nepal, has a nominal, but very noticeable role in the life of the country. It is to her that the king of Nepal goes to his annual worship in order to ask her blessing to govern the country for the next year. The duties of a goddess are not too onerous. At half past six in the morning, she awakens from sleep and immediately falls into the caring hands of the priests. After the prescribed, always the same breathing exercises and ritual ablution, they begin the daily procedure of “opening the divine eye”. To do this, a wide sign in the form of a ritual cleaver is applied to the forehead of the goddess with carmine, with the handle facing the bridge of the nose. Then they outline it along the contour with yellow paint and carefully draw a very realistic wide-open eye in the middle and lengthen the corners of the eyes given by nature with black ink. Further, in accordance with the instructions of the astrologers, the priests decide what color of attire Kumari will choose today. It is adorned with a precious crown reminiscent of an ancient Russian kokoshnik, silver monistas, a heavy forged mane, rings and bracelets. Most often, Kumari “prefers” to wear a scarlet dress, which symbolizes the irresistible power of femininity, the feminine energy that governs the entire universe.

The goddess prepared in this way is seated in a special chair with a round foot and taken to the waiting room. Here, sitting at the northern wall, like a bronze statue, she accepts sacrificial flowers and sweets, impassively listens to the sounds of her entertaining music, without looking at the whimsical figures of the dance performed especially for her by the dancers. So day after day passes imperceptibly. When the sun goes down, the priests begin to prepare the goddess for sleep. They fumigate it with incense, remove the silver virigi, wash off the makeup.

Only once a year does the little goddess have a holiday - the eight-day Indrajatra celebrations, in which Buddhists take an active part along with the Hindus. On this day, she is taken out to the noisy streets of the city filled with enthusiastic crowds. During this holiday, the goddess reveals herself to the people. For three days, she, together with the god Ganesha, makes a detour of the city they patronize. And all these days, the dancing, driving the electrified crowd into a frenzy, continues. The king himself goes out into the square to bow before the eyes of the people before the mysterious power of a little girl, whose eye drawn by the priests frightens like a curse. At this moment, the celebration reaches its climax.

The whole year will be remembered by a lonely girl who has forgotten how to laugh and cry about the sweet moments of her celebration. Deprived of peer society, not knowing games, she will patiently wait
next holiday. But one day it will all suddenly end. Upon reaching the age of twelve, when, according to the priests, femininity awakens in her, she, having fallen asleep as a goddess, will wake up as an ordinary girl. Quietly and unnoticed, she will leave the temple to return to her family to try to learn how to live in human form. It can be very difficult to enter a new role for her. Despite the significant dowry that she receives at parting, such girls are extremely reluctant to marry. And who wants to marry a goddess, accustomed only to command. Therefore, a frequent lot is a lonely vegetation, filled with dreams and memories of the former greatness ...

In addition to the living goddess in the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, there are at least two living goddesses. One lives in Patala and the other in Bhaktapur. In addition to them, there are still living goddesses of local importance in the Kathmandu valley. It is not for nothing that this valley is often called the “Valley of the Gods”.

Where do the gods live?

According to some ideas, the first gods lived on Earth. So, the Sumerian gods, when they realized that the Earth is good, wanted to stay on it. They turned to the god Enlil with a request that he arrange a place where they could live together. And in the center of the earth's disk (according to the Sumerians, the Earth was flat), Enlil built the city of Nippur, settling his brothers and sisters there. But he did not forget himself, his beloved, having erected a high platform in the center of the city and erected a beautiful palace of lapis lazuli on it. The place where they settled, the Sumerian gods called "the blessed land" - "En-Eden". The ancient Jews, borrowing from the Sumerians (and not referring to them) the myth of the creation of the world, only slightly altered the name of this place, turning it into the familiar to all Eden, i.e. Paradise. The ancient Egyptian god Ra, having completed the initial arrangement of the world of gods and people, settled on the sacred hill Ben-Ben in Heliopolis (located in Egypt). At the same time, he spent the nights in the lotus flower, which he left at dawn and then soared throughout the day above the earth.

The Chinese god Huang-di also lived on Earth. Having strengthened and established his power in the struggle with other gods, he erected for himself a majestic and beautiful palace on Mount Kunlun. In this palace he spent his free time and entertained himself. The palace was surrounded by a jasper fence. On each side of it there were nine columns and nine gates, and inside the palace was surrounded by five walls and twelve towers. At the palace, a spike of rice grew in five circles. To the west of it grew two trees - pearl and jade. To the east of the ear grew the shatan tree and the langan tree. On the fuchang tree, next to the langan tree, sat the three-headed spirit Lizhu, whose three heads in turn fell asleep and woke up. Huang Di had another palace on the Tsynyashoan Mountain. To the northeast of this palace were the famous Hanging Gardens, set so high that they seemed to hang in the clouds. African gods also live on earth. So, the main god of the Kikuyu peoples
and Kamba Ngai lives on the mountains that he himself built: Mount Kenya, “Mountain of Great Rain” (in the east), “Mountain of clear sky” (in the south), “Mountain of sleep or secret refuge” (in the west).

The god Shiva lives on the top of the crystal mountain. But the dwelling of the ancient Germanic gods Asgard was at the top of a tree. It is interesting that this dwelling was erected by a certain giant, who was helped ... by a horse. World trees were chosen by the god of rain among the Maya Indians as their abode. Some gods choose to live underground. There was a great mountain underground, and in it was the underworld, which was ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and her husband Nergal.

Although it is good on earth, it is still better to live in heaven more interesting. Therefore, most of the gods lived and live there. Even at the dawn of human civilization, in Mesopotamia, the gods of the city-state of Ur settled in heaven (approximately 2.330 BC). The Greek gods - Zeus and the deities subordinate to him also lived not on Earth, but high above it - on the bright Olympus. Three beautiful Ora guarded the entrance to high Olympus and raised a thick cloud that closes the gates when the gods descended to earth or ascended to the light halls of Zeus. High above Olympus, the blue sky spread wide, from which golden light poured. There was neither rain nor snow in the kingdom of Zeus; there has always been a bright, joyful summer. The gods feasted in the golden palaces built by the son of Zeus, Hephaestus. Zeus himself sat on a high golden throne.

At his throne were the goddess of peace Eirena and the constant companion of Zeus, the winged goddess of victory Nika. In addition to the palaces located above the ground, the Greek and Roman gods at times lived in special houses specially built for them by believers - temples. Believers came there to turn to them with prayers and to thank them for the services rendered to them. But the palace of the great brother Zeus, the earth-shaking god Poseidon, was deep in the depths of the sea. His beautiful wife Amphitrite lived with him. The gods of India also live in the heavenly kingdom. Indra has his own thousand-fold city of Amaravati, full of gold and precious stones. Gardens bloom there forever, and neither cold nor thirst oppresses the inhabitants of the heavenly city. They know neither old age, nor ailments, nor fear. Beautiful dancers - the Ansaras - delight their eyes with their dances. In addition, they have a dwelling at the top of the Himavat (Himalayas). The gods of the Aztecs Ometecuatl and Omecihuatl also lived in the highest heavens - a divine couple who gave birth to gods and people.

Some gods choose not just heaven, but clouds as their abode. In the clouds, in a huge shining copper palace, lives the god of the African Yoruba tribe Shango. The gods of ancient Sumer, who lived constantly in heaven, sometimes showed mercy to people and descended from heaven to their earthly temples.

They especially loved "high" temples on platforms called ziggurats. At the same time, they also lived in the "lower" temples in the form of their statues. The Indian god Krishna, on the one hand, always resides in his abode, on the other, he is omnipresent (Bhagavad-gita 8:22). And since he is omnipresent, he also resides in the heart of every believer (Bhagavad-gita 18:61). Like people, the ancient gods also lived in houses (palaces). Having defeated his father, the Indian god Indra rebuilt the whole world. He arranged this world like a house: it stands on four pillars, and is covered with a roof-sky from above. The house has two doors. In the morning the sun enters through the wide-open east door. In the evening, the caring Indra opens the western door for a moment to let out the sun that is leaving for the night. During the day it does a lot of work and gets very tired, and therefore wants to sleep.

Judging by the Old Testament, the god Yahweh-Sabaoth initially did not have a specific domicile at all until he came up with a wonderful idea to create our material world. Why he needed it - no one knows. Maybe he himself does not know this. Anyway, the Bible doesn't say anything about it. Judging by the description of this creation, the wise and all-knowing Yahweh did not even suspect that this world would turn out to be so good (“And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:10). And when he created the light, he was even more surprised and even delighted. It turned out that it is better to live with light (“And God saw the light that it was good” Genesis 1: 4). The thought creeps in that for billions of years poor Yahweh lived ... without light, in complete, even total darkness. And he had neither a torch, nor a flashlight. He had no idea that life with light would be better. One can only wonder how the Jews call such a god all-knowing and all-wise? ...

Although Yahweh created the world, he was in no hurry to determine his location in it (and, therefore, to arrange his life). How long it would have lasted is unknown, but here the shrewd and clever Jews worshiping him intervened in his life, who provided him with permanent housing in the "ark of the covenant", kept during their nomadic life in a special tent, which was placed in various safe places (so that what - never wild animals disturbed the peace of the almighty and almighty God - the creator of the whole world). Later, the Jewish king Solomon in 953 BC. built a magnificent temple to his god. However, due to the fact that Jehovah was accustomed to a nomadic life, he was not flattered by this temple and did not choose it as his place of permanent residence. At the same time, so that the Jews would not be offended by him, Jehovah announced that ... his name was in this temple (1 Kings 8:16).

In 586 BC. due to an oversight of the Jewish God, this wonderful temple was destroyed by foreigners (apparently, Jehovah at that time was engaged in some very important affairs or was in other worlds),
but the Jews restored it. When, in 70 A.D. the temple was destroyed again (this time by the Romans), the Jews did not begin to rebuild it. And although almost 2 thousand years have passed since this destruction, and Jews have been living in their state for almost 60 years, it has not yet been restored. As a result, the Jews have to pray to their God in buildings that to some extent replace the Temple - synagogues (synagogue - Greek - “meeting house”). And the patient Yahweh is still waiting for the Jews to come to their senses and finally restore the Temple for him. The case in religions, of course, is unique and paradoxical: the god of the Jewish people, who, according to the teachings of Judaism, created the whole world and chose this nation as the object of his love from all the peoples of the world, has not had his home (temple) for two thousand years. How he should love his people that he has not yet taken offense and has not punished him for such inattention and disrespect for himself! Another god would have severe revenge on his people for such self-neglect!

Instead of restoring the Temple to their god, the Jews are waiting for the messenger of their God - the messiah (not the one who, according to the teachings of Christians, will come to earth a second time and whom they call Jesus Christ, but the real messiah!), Which, as they believe, will restore them to them. Temple. They say, Yahweh allowed the destruction of the Temple, even if he himself or with the help of his messenger and restore it.

However, judging by the fact that none of the great and small gods have ever built or rebuilt their own temples (!), The Jews are wasting time and are not restoring the Temple, which was destroyed through their own fault (the Temple was destroyed by the Romans, since the Jews turned it into a fortress and the center of the uprising). Today, the Jews have everything to restore the Temple - the money of the richest people on the planet, the most modern construction equipment, architects, engineers and labor. And there is no need to restore the Temple on the Temple Mount, where it used to be and where today there are two Muslim mosques - "Qubbat al-Sakhra" ("Rock Dome") and "Masjid al-Aqsa" ("Distant Mosque"). There is enough space in Jerusalem itself for the construction of the Temple. For Yahweh, the main thing is that he again have his own Temple, and where in Jerusalem he will stand is not so important. Indeed, according to the teachings of the Jews, their God is not only the creator, but also the owner of the whole earth!

Believers can communicate with their gods (god) in the fresh air - in the forest, on a mountain, in a field. The ancient Aryans chose an elevated place to meet with the gods, on which they spread sacrificial straw. The gods were invited to sit on it. Among the ancient Slavs, most of the sacred places of worship were temporary - for one holiday, for one season, for one year. This was due not so much to a nomadic or semi-nomadic way of life, but to the belief in a one-time visit by God to a given place. Then they began to build temples (from the Old Church Slavonic "kap" - an idol; "to accumulate" - to gather) and treasures ("treba" - sacrifice and sacrifice). Originally, the ancient gods met their believers in the open air. But later they realized that they were worthy of more comfortable conditions and ordered to build buildings for themselves - first towers, and then special houses-temples, which became their dwellings. But the relatively new gods (Christ and Allah) do not constantly live in their houses-temples, but settle temporarily or visit them only occasionally. The gods love very much when they have their own house in every city, village and village, where they can look in and even stop for a while - have a little rest and stay.

If the old gods had only a few of their houses, or even just one, then modern gods, for example, Jesus Christ, have hundreds of thousands of such house-temples, scattered over many countries and continents and having a wide variety of forms. Which one does he live in?

The question is very difficult: if he settles in one of them, then the priests and believers of other churches will be offended. And if he will move from temple to temple, then a schedule should be drawn up for his stay in different churches. But there is no such schedule! The way out of this difficult situation is for God to be present in all of them at once. At the time of John Chrysostom, it was believed that "God himself is invisibly present in the temple." The preacher John of Kronstadt, highly respected in the Russian Orthodox Church, agreed with this: "When you are in church, remember that you are in the living presence of the Lord God, stand before His face, in His eyes, in the living presence of the Mother of God." From these words, which every Orthodox Christian must believe, it follows that Christ is present simultaneously in all churches. Nobody knows how he manages to do this. it is a great mystery. Naturally God.

It is on the authority of these people that the conviction rests that in every church they can talk with their God. After all, the very word “church” (in Greek “curioque”) means “the house of the Lord”, that is, the house in which God lives. But even if he is not there now (for example, he has gone away somewhere for his divine affairs), he will still hear all the prayers addressed to him. This is what the clergy say. And although they cannot know for sure (after all, God himself does not communicate with them), at the same time they cannot say that there is no God in this temple. Otherwise, people will not come there and buy candles and services, which means that the priest will not have the money to maintain this church, and he will have nothing to live on!

Of course, it is possible, as Protestants, to say that Christ is present in all churches at the same time, because He is everywhere in space and in time. But if we take the point of view of the main part of Christians - Catholics and Orthodox, then such a view is heretical. At the same time, they do not have their own explanation of how, after all, God manages to simultaneously be in all churches. If we accept the point of view of Protestants that God is everywhere simultaneously in time and space, then it means that you can communicate with him anywhere.

Hence follows a very unpleasant conclusion for Catholics and Orthodox that there is no need to build special houses-temples for God. And if Protestants are consistent, then it turns out that the buildings where they gather, they should not call temples and churches, not houses of prayer, but only meeting rooms or, as Jehovah's Witnesses call them, "Kingdom Halls." It turns out that the construction of temples and churches is necessary only for clergy and clergy ...

The Islamic god Allah also does not live in the mosque. A mosque (in Arabic “masjid”) is “a place where earthly obeisances are given,” that is, this is the place where God is prayed for. And although Allah is not in the mosque, all prayers addressed to him mysteriously reach him.

Of course, the gods accept prayers to them, read in other places (at home, in the field, on the road, etc.), but they prefer that they be recited in these prayer houses - churches, churches, mosques, synagogues. The gods, especially the creator gods, themselves could create temples for themselves, but it seems that they have no time to do this, or they are simply lazy. Therefore, they are waiting for the believers to build these temples. And believers, especially those in power, who can spend on the construction of churches not only (and not so much) their personal, but also state money, build a large number of churches in order to earn the grace of God - to go to heaven, even if they themselves understand that they do not deserve heaven and hell. So, the Jewish king Solomon, popular among Jews and Christians, for the construction of the temple of Yahweh for many years, in agreement with the Phoenician king Hiram, transported gold to Israel - about 20 tons per year, which was intended for the construction of this temple. For this he gave Hiram, as the Old Testament says, “20 cities in the land of Galilee” (1 Kings 9:11).

Large churches (temples) among Christians (Catholics and Orthodox) are called cathedrals. Believers of each religion themselves determine the architecture and decoration of their church - from very simple, nondescript buildings, almost sheds, to luxurious palaces that can accommodate thousands of parishioners. Examples of the latter are temples dedicated to the Indian god Vishnu and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The huge still unfinished temple of the Holy Family (Sagrada familia) in Barcelona (Spain) is very interesting. Until 1990, the largest Christian cathedral in the world was St. Peter's in Rome. And in 1990 it was surpassed by the cathedral in the city of Yamoussoukro - the capital of the African state of Cote d'Ivoire. It covers an area of ​​22.067 sq. meters, its height is 189 m, length without portico - 186.4 m, and with portico - 211.5 m.

Why are such large temples being built? It turns out, not at all because of gathering as many believers as possible! For example, cathedrals built at the beginning of the 4th century in Trier (Germany) and Geneva (Switzerland) occupied vast tracts of land, although they were attended by relatively few parishioners. In the XI, even all the inhabitants of this city would not have filled the huge cathedral in the city of Speyer. The enormous size of the cathedrals and the splendor of their decoration only testify to the fact that those who ordered their construction are not driven by religious feelings. The pride and vanity of a bishop or abbot who encouraged the construction of a cathedral is often the motivating force. “We will build a cathedral so huge that people will think we are insane at the sight of it,” said a Spanish priest in Seville in 1402. Even today, the cathedral in Seville is considered the second largest in the world. “Perhaps,” writes Jehovah's Witnesses magazine Awake! (June 8, 2001) - Cathedrals and glorify the people who built them, but not God. "

The decoration of houses of prayer can be as very modest and simple, as, for example, in Islamic mosques, Jewish synagogues, Protestant prayer halls, and very rich, even luxurious, as in Catholic and Orthodox churches: the walls are decorated with icons and paintings on biblical themes , and the ceiling is covered with paintings. In Orthodox churches, the altar is separated from the main part of the room by a special wall consisting of icons - the iconostasis. In Catholic and Protestant churches, believers can communicate with God while sitting, but in Orthodox churches, as a rule, only standing, sometimes kneeling or prostrating on the floor. On their knees they turn to Allah and the Mohammedans.

The fact that already in ancient times people built a large number of temples to the gods is evidenced by excavations in Babylon. One of the inscriptions on a clay tablet says that it had 53 temples of the great gods, 55 sanctuaries of the god Marduk, 300 sanctuaries of earthly and 600 heavenly deities, 180 altars of the glorious goddess Ishtar, 180 altars of the goddesses Nergal and Adadi and 12 other altars! These excavations confirmed that the inhabitants of Babylon loved (or rather feared) their gods so much that they devoted most of their life and creative powers to the construction of these religious buildings. Churches (temples) are small and large. An example of a small church is an architectural miracle - the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. The largest Christian church is St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, which can accommodate several tens of thousands of worshipers. Muslims also keep up with Christians - for example, the mosque of Sultan Suleiman in Istanbul can accommodate up to 10 thousand people.

Usually a separate temple is dedicated to each god. For example, the temple of Vesta or Saturn in Rome. However, there are also temples dedicated to all the gods at once. For example, built in 27 BC. Marcus Agrippa Pantheon, which contained statues of many gods. The Pantheon is the greatest ancient domed structure that has survived almost unchanged to this day. And now there are temples in which believers can pray to several gods at once - Christ, Allah and Yahweh. The number of temples for the gods is different - from one, as, for example, in the past with the god Jehovah-Yahweh, to tens and even hundreds of thousands - in Christ and Allah. In Russia alone, by the beginning of 1917, there were about 78 thousand Orthodox churches, houses of worship and chapels alone.

In recent decades, given that believers are not very willing to attend temples, in Western countries, especially in the United States, the so-called "electronic churches" are becoming more widespread. They are radio and television programs, as well as computer programs that believers can use wherever they are - at home, at work, on vacation, while traveling. “Electronic churches” offer believers Christian news, all kinds of Christian dialogue plays, religious cartoons, games and puzzles of religious content. It is interesting that God himself, as before, does not seek to take advantage of new opportunities for communication with his believers. Apparently he is not up to this, he is very busy ... That's just what?

The life of the gods, their behavior and occupations

Nothing human is alien to the gods - like people, they work, rest, walk, eat, drink, sleep and even dream. They have many human traits: they fall into anger, are not free from envy, they can be sad and happy. The gods are very proud of their position and therefore very vain. So, the Sumerian god Enki - the god of water and wisdom -
he loved to praise himself, his high position in the hierarchy of the gods, his Abzu temple and, of course, his many blessings. First of all, the laws that govern the world created by him. He boasted that he had introduced arable farming and that he had appointed the god Enkidu to oversee the plowing implements. He prided himself on having built grain storage bins, entrusting supervision to the goddess Ashnan, and in inventing a hoe and a mold for making bricks. Consistent in everything, he entrusted the brick god Kull to oversee the making of bricks. Allah is very proud of himself and his deeds, therefore in the Quran he calls himself “We”.

The habits and customs of people are also not alien to the gods. So, after the victory and accession to the palace, the victorious god rebuilt his palace in accordance with his tastes. For example, the Ugaritic god Baal, after defeating the god of the seas and rivers Yam-Nahar, despite a quite decent palace (made of brick and cedar), considered that his house was worse than that of the other gods and decided to replace it with a luxurious palace, which he built of gold. silver and lapis lazuli. In honor of any success - the victory over the enemy, the completion of the construction of the palace, the birth of a child - the gods organized feasts. They always loved to eat, they ate with taste and a lot. Given the colossal size of their stomachs, it was very difficult to feed them. So, the Indian god Indra had two stomachs, huge like lakes. . One can imagine how much he had to eat to get enough ... After the death of the god Baal, a funeral feast was arranged, for which 60 bulls, 60 goats and 60 roe deer were killed. Like humans, the gods are very fond of celebrating birthdays. Judging by the myths, the gods lived especially well in antiquity.

The ancient Greek gods spent most of their time at feasts. The daughter of Zeus, the young Hebe and the son of the king of Troy, Ganymede, brought them ambrosia and nectar - the food and drink of the Greek gods. Beautiful charites (graces) and muses delighted them with singing and dancing. Holding hands, they danced in circles, and the gods admired their light movements and wondrous, forever youthful beauty. These gods, like people, loved to eat well, drink, including good wine, dance, listen to music. People in those days had not yet invented the radio, television, and the recording of music on videotapes and compact discs. And since the gods were in no hurry to endow people with the fruits of civilization, various convenient inventions, they themselves (apparently out of modesty) did not use them either. Therefore, they had to listen only to “live” music, that is, concerts of musicians who performed in front of them. But this also had its positive side: the musicians never performed in front of them to the “veneer”. But at their feasts the gods not only had fun - at them they decided at the same time all important matters, determined the fate of the world and people.

In the past, the gods loved to show their strength, fight, take part in battles. During hostilities, the gods, like ordinary people, could be captured. So, the Babylonian god Marduk stayed in the Assyrian captivity for 21 years - from 689 to 668 BC. Although the gods loved to have fun, they did not shy away from work and crafts. Thus, the Ugaritic god of crafts, Kotar-i-Khasis, produced magnificent works of applied art.

The lives of some gods are scheduled literally by the minute. So, in one of the Krishna sects in India, in the state of Rajasthan, not long ago eight ceremonies were held during the day, during which God Krishna was awakened, dressed, sang about how he leads a herd of cows to the pasture, then "fed", provided him day rest, woke up again, "fed" again, sang about how he drives the cows home, and then put him to bed at night. Elsewhere in India - in the town of Pazhani (southern India), the popular and highly respected Tamil god Muragan is still taken every day (!) For an evening walk. He rides in a chariot - a tower, about five meters high, placed on a four-wheeled platform. God himself is represented by a statue of a young man with a spear in his hand, sitting on a peacock. About three dozen people are pulling the chariot, grasping the ropes. Behind the chariot, several young men are dragging a large generator that supplies power to the illumination in honor of the god.

And here is the daily routine of another Indian god - Vithoba. Every day the Badwe (the priestly clan that sends all the services to Vithobe) performs five obligatory ritual ceremonies - at dawn, morning, noon, evening and night. The stone statue of Vithoba, which for most believers is only a symbol for prayer concentration, is gently awakened, washed, anointed, clothed and adorned (at the same time, special dingre priests present a mirror to Vithoba so that he can appreciate the efforts of the priests), are fed and laid to rest. Many times on the day of Vitkhoba he participates in prayers - pujas. The purpose of puja can be to fulfill a vow, to propitiate a deity, to acquire virtues, or prasadam - food overshadowed by divine touch. During the puja, chants are continuously sung, and the object of worship is repeatedly washed in five “sweet nectars” - milk, honey, sugar syrup, yogurt and ghee.

Some of the gods of antiquity were also kings on earth. So, the god Set was the king of Upper Egypt, and Horus was the king of Lower Egypt. Then Horus was given control over both Egyptian kingdoms. The god Enki was a very good ruler of the city-state of Ur. He constantly cared about his prosperity and superiority over other cities. To begin with, he filled the Tigris River with fresh, sparkling and life-giving water.

To ensure the proper order of operation of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, he appointed the god Enbilulu, the "overseer of the canals", to supervise them. He also created a life-giving rain, made it fall to the ground (that's how caring!) And appointed the storm god Ishkur to supervise him. To cultivate the land, he invented the plow, yoke and harrow and ordered the god Enkidu to look after them. He did not forget about the houses and, in particular, about the bricks from which they are built. And he appointed God Mushdammu as the chief architect (“great builder”).

And yet the life of most gods is not nearly as easy and pleasant as it might seem. They have not only friends, but also enemies. So, for the Egyptian god Ra, the serpent Apop was such an enemy - also, of course, a god. It was a very malignant giant snake that not only bothered Ra during his stay on earth, but even wanted to overthrow and destroy the solar deity. The fight with him lasted all day from sunrise to sunset, and Apop, although he was defeated, managed to survive and hide in the underworld, where since then the boat Ra has been attacking every night.

In the infancy of the god Krishna, the goddess of smallpox Putan'a tried to destroy (not to be confused with the putbna - a walking woman), who offered the baby god a breast full of poison. But Krishna, despite his young age, as befits great gods, did not give himself offense: he sucked out all the contents of the killer goddess's breast and the drained Putan died. This was not the end of Krishna's troubles. Seeing Krishna in the cradle, the demon Shaktasura descended from heaven to kill the child. But the young god dealt with him too, turning him to dust with a kick. But this did not end the intrigues of forces hostile to Krishna - many times he had to fight with the asuras, who took the form of angry animals - elephants, bulls, horses, donkeys and snakes. The Mahabhbrata 10 contains a long list of duels and all kinds of fights in which Krishna invariably won. Once he had to fight with a very unusual enemy - his own double, who appropriated his name.

As for the occupations of such great gods as Sabaoth-Yahweh, Allah and Jesus Christ, then practically nothing is known about them. According to the Qur'an, Allah is awake all the time (“... neither slumber nor sleep takes possession of him.” Sura 2, ayah 256). But what he fills his precious time with is unknown. In any case, he does not tell his followers, and the believers themselves do not dare to ask - it’s scary, but what if he doesn’t like it and he will get angry. The great, one-ruling gods communicated with people only in the distant past. They have not communicated with people for a long time and do not make themselves felt.

As is clear from the Bible, Sabaoth-Yahweh worked very hard on the creation of the world - as many as 6 days and therefore was very tired. After all, he created the world (i.e. the Earth) and everything that inhabits it with the help of the word. How many words he had to utter to create all the flora and fauna! Then he began to rest and, apparently, is still engaged in this pleasant occupation. In any case, he does not interfere in human affairs. Saving their God from criticism, Christian theologians and clergymen came up with a special explanation for his behavior: God, they say, gave people freedom. God himself gained the most from this freedom - from now on he does not need to care about anyone, and people are to blame for all their troubles - they abused their freedom: behaved badly or unreasonably and sinned a lot! And the earthly, as well as the cosmic problems of the Christian God are hardly of interest.

Jesus Christ in his human form, judging by the Gospels, worked hard to spread his teachings. But after the crucifixion, followed by ascension to heaven and return to his “uncreated” state, he also does not really bother himself with the problems of people. What qualities and talents do the gods of different nations possess, but only Indian ones can reach the state of nirvana.

The main gods in Ancient Hellas were recognized as those who belonged to the younger generation of celestials. Once it took away the power over the world from the older generation, who personified the main universal forces and elements (see about this in the article The Origin of the Gods of Ancient Greece). The gods of the older generation are usually called titans... Having defeated the titans, the younger gods, led by Zeus, settled on Mount Olympus. Ancient Greeks honored 12 Olympian gods. Their list usually included Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hephaestus, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hermes, Hestia. Hades is also close to the Olympian gods, but he does not live on Olympus, but in his underground kingdom.

Legends and myths of Ancient Greece. Cartoon

God Poseidon (Neptune). Antique statue of the 2nd century. according to R. Kh.

Goddess Artemis. Statue in the Louvre

The Virgin Athena statue in the Parthenon. Ancient Greek sculptor Phidias

Venus (Aphrodite) of Milo. Statue approx. 130-100 BC

Eros Earthly and Heavenly. Artist J. Ballone, 1602

Hymen- the companion of Aphrodite, the god of marriage. In ancient Greece, wedding hymns were also called hymen by his name.

- the daughter of Demeter, kidnapped by the god Hades. The inconsolable mother, after a long search, found Persephone in the underworld. Hades, who made her his wife, agreed that she would spend part of the year on the earth with her mother, and the other with him in the bowels of the earth. Persephone was the personification of the grain, which, being “dead”, was sown in the ground, then “comes to life” and comes out of it into the light.

Abduction of Persephone. Antique jug, approx. 330-320 BC

Amphitrite- Poseidon's wife, one of the Nereids

Proteus- one of the sea deities of the Greeks. The son of Poseidon, who had the gift of predicting the future and changing his appearance

Triton- the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, the messenger of the depths of the sea, blowing into the shell. In appearance - a mixture of man, horse and fish. Close to the eastern god Dagon.

Eirena- the goddess of peace, standing at the throne of Zeus on Olympus. In ancient Rome - the goddess Pax.

Nika- the goddess of victory. Zeus's constant companion. In Roman mythology - Victoria

Dicke- in Ancient Greece - the personification of divine truth, a goddess hostile to deception

Tyukhe- the goddess of luck and good luck. Romans have Fortune

Morpheus- the ancient Greek god of dreams, the son of the god of sleep Hypnos

Plutos- god of wealth

Phobos("Fear") - Ares' son and companion

Deimos("Horror") - Ares' son and companion

Enio- among the ancient Greeks - the goddess of fierce war, which causes rage in the soldiers and brings confusion to the battle. In ancient Rome - Bellona

Titans

Titans are the second generation of the gods of Ancient Greece, born of natural elements. The first titans were six sons and six daughters, descended from the connection of Gaia-Earth with Uranus-Heaven. Six sons: Cronus (Time. Among the Romans - Saturn), Ocean (father of all rivers), Hyperion, Kay, Crius, Iapetus... Six daughters: Tefida(Water), Theia(Shine), Rhea(Mother Mountain?), Themis (Justice), Mnemosyne(Memory), Phoebe.

Uranus and Gaia. Ancient Roman mosaic A.D. 200-250

In addition to the titans, Gaia gave birth to cyclops and hecatoncheires from a marriage with Uranus.

Cyclops- three giants with a large, round, fiery eye in the middle of their forehead. In ancient times - the personification of clouds, from which lightning flashes

Hecatoncheira- "hundred-handed" giants, against the terrible power of which nothing can resist. Embodiments of terrible earthquakes and floods.

The Cyclops and Hecatoncheires were so powerful that Uranus himself was horrified by their power. He tied them up and threw them deep into the earth, where they still rage, causing volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The presence of these giants in the womb of the earth began to cause her terrible suffering. Gaia persuaded her youngest son, Crohn, to take revenge on his father, Uranus, by emasculating him.

Cronus did it with a sickle. From the drops of Uranus' blood shed by this, Gaia conceived and gave birth to three Erinias - the goddesses of vengeance with snakes on their heads instead of hair. Erinnius' names are Tisiphona (the killing avenger), Alecto (the tireless pursuer) and Vixen (the terrible one). The goddess of love Aphrodite was born from that part of the seed and blood of emasculated Uranus that fell not to the ground, but to the sea.

Night-Nyukta, in anger at the lawlessness of Krona, gave birth to terrible creatures and deities Thanat (Death), Eridu(Discord) Apatu(Deception), goddesses of violent death Ker, Hypnosis(Dream-Nightmare), Nemesis(Revenge), Gerasa(Old age), Charon(the carrier of the dead to the underworld).

Power over the world has now passed from Uranus to the Titans. They divided the universe among themselves. Cronus became the supreme god instead of his father. The ocean gained power over a huge river, which, according to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, flows around the entire earth. Four other brothers of Cronus reigned in four cardinal points: Hyperion - in the East, Krius - in the south, Iapetus - in the West, Kei - in the North.

Four of the six older titans married their sisters. From them came the younger generation of titans and elemental deities. From the marriage of Ocean with his sister Tephida (Water), all earthly rivers and water nymphs-Oceanids were born. Titan Hyperion - ("high walking") married his sister Theia (Shine). From them Helios (Sun) was born, Selena(Moon) and Eos(Dawn). From Eos were born the stars and the four wind gods: Borey(North wind), Music(South wind), Marshmallow(west wind) and Eurus(Eastern wind). Titans Kei (Heavenly Axis?) And Phoebe gave birth to Leto (Silence of the Night, mother of Apollo and Artemis) and Asteria (Starlight). Cronus himself married Rhea (Mother Mountain, the personification of the productive force of mountains and forests). Their children are the Olympic gods Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus.

The titan Crius married the daughter of Pontus Eurybia, and the titan Iapetus married the oceanid Klymene, who gave birth to the titans Atlanta (he holds the sky on his shoulders), the arrogant Menetius, the cunning Prometheus (“thinking before, foreseeing”) and the feeble-minded Epimetheus (“thinking after").

Others descended from these titans:

Hesper- the god of the evening and the evening star. His daughters from the night-Nyukta are the nymphs of the Hesperides, who guard the garden with golden apples on the western edge of the earth, once presented by Gaia-Earth to the goddess Hera during her marriage to Zeus

Ora- goddesses of parts of the day, seasons and periods of human life.

Charites- the goddess of grace, fun and joy of life. There are three of them - Aglaya ("Glee"), Euphrosina ("Joy") and Thalia ("Abundance"). A number of Greek writers have different names for the charites. In ancient Rome, they corresponded graces