Gods of Ancient Greece - list and description. Dionysus, Bacchus, Bacchus. God of wine, winemaking and viticulture Hermes with a caduceus. Statue from the Vatican Museum

Kvasuraknown as the Slavic God of Fun and Temperance. His name is consonant with the names of two drinks “kvass” and “surya”. Surya or otherwise suritsa is a magical Slavic drink. It is believed that this drink was available only to the Gods, but God Kitovras, brother of Kvasura, simplified the preparation of the drink and it became available to people. Sometimes Kvasura is considered the God of intoxicating drinks, but, most likely, this idea is erroneous. Although kvass or surya can indeed make you drunk, Kvasura is precisely the God of Temperance, the ability to stop in time during fun.

The story of the birth of Kvasura is the same as that of his brother the centaur Kitovras. Both Gods appeared from the spray of the source of living water. The source was discovered when Semargl, the God of Fire, struck a stone with his fiery sword to give water to Maya the Golden Mountain, who had just given birth to Kolyada and Avsenya.

Kvasura, like Kitovras, combines physical strength and wisdom. Unlike his brother, who began studying magic, Kvasura received worldly, everyday wisdom, which he teaches people.

Legends and myths about God Kvasura

Few legends have been preserved about the God Kvasura; we know almost nothing about his participation in the exploits of other Gods. Kvasura is represented as a tall, red-haired and red-bearded man who appears at feasts where they drink surya or intoxicating mead. Kvasura laughs contagiously, loves to joke, involves other people in his fun, which makes people drink a lot at the feast and quickly get drunk. However, Kvasura himself noticed that if a person drinks a lot of suritsa, his joy is only temporary, and in his soul such a person is often sad. Therefore, Kvasura began to be revered as the God of Temperance, who teaches people to see the true joy of life, and not waste time in idleness and festivities.

Amulet - symbol of God Kvasura

The symbol of God Kvasura is called Oberezhnik. This pattern looks like four L's that intersect in the center to form a diamond shape.

This amulet protects against uncertainty, which pushes a person to rash actions and idle fun, and instead brings sincere joy. In addition, the Oberezhnik symbol helps to cope with illnesses, but not of the body, but of the spirit: from addiction to addictions, despondency, melancholy.

God Kvasura in the northern tradition of fortune telling and magic

The symbol of God Kvasura Oberezhnik is depicted on one of the Slavic Res Rod.

Reza number – 29.

Reza of God Kwasuraappears in the scenario when the questioner tries to hide from his problems, tries not to notice the lack of sincere joy in life and replaces it with idle fun. Kvasura warns that such behavior harms relationships with loved ones, business, and health. The appearance of the Reza of the God of Temperance is advice to change your lifestyle, admit that not everything is good now, believe in yourself and start looking for a way out of the situation.

Read more about the meaning of Reza God Kvasura in fortune telling in the article “

The Appearance of Dionysus

The god Dionysus was born from the union of an immortal and an earthly woman. Once Zeus the Thunderer could not resist the beauty of the daughter of the Theban king, Semele. Being in a romantic mood, he promised his passion to fulfill any of her requests. He swore by the sacred waters of the underground river Styx that he would fulfill the will of Semele, no matter what it was.

I heard about Semele Hera. The eyes of the immortal resident of Olympus flashed with rage. She appeared to Semele and ordered:

Ask Zeus to appear before you in all the majesty of the thunder god, ruler of Olympus. If he really loves you, he will not refuse this little thing.

Semele did not dare to resist Hera’s order and turned to Zeus with this request. Zeus, who swore by the waters of the River Styx, had no choice. The father of the gods appeared before Semele in all the splendor of the ruler of immortals and people, all in the splendor of his glory. And lightning flashed in his hands. The palace of the Theban king shook from thunderclaps. Everything around flashed, ignited by the lightning of the ruler of Olympus. The flames rushed through the palace, consuming everything in its path, the walls shook, the stone slabs cracked.

Semele fell to the ground screaming, engulfed in flames. She was ruined by a request inspired by the wife of Zeus. The dying Theban princess gave birth to a son, weak and incapable of life. He should have died in the flames of the fire, but divine blood saved him. As if by magic, thick ivy reached out from the ground towards him from all sides, sheltering the unfortunate boy from the fire, thereby saving his life.

The Thunderer picked up his saved son, but seeing that he was so weak and small that he was clearly doomed to death, then, according to legend, he sewed him up in his thigh. After spending some time in the body of his parent, Dionysus was born a second time, stronger and stronger.

Then Zeus the Thunderer ordered the fleet-footed Hermes to take his little son to Ino, the sister of the Theban princess Semele, and her husband, the ruler of Orkhomenes, ordering him to raise the child.

Hera pursued Dionysus for a long time, not considering him either equal to the gods or worthy of this honor. Her anger fell on Ino and her husband Atamant for taking under their roof the child of an earthly woman she hated. For Atamant, Hera chose madness as punishment.

In a fit of madness, the ruler Orchomen kills his own son Learchus. Ino and her second child miraculously manage to escape. Her husband, who had lost his mind, pursued her and almost overtook her - at the steep, rocky seashore.

There was no escape for Ino - her mad husband was catching up behind her, and the abyss of the sea was ahead. The woman chose the elements, throwing herself and her son into the sea water with a desperate jerk. However, she did not die. The beautiful Nereids received her and her son into the sea. The teacher Dionysus and Melicertes, her son, were converted into deities of the sea and remained there ever since.

Hermes, who rushed to the rescue, saved Dionysus from the distraught Atamant. Faster than the wind, he rushed him to the Nisei Valley, entrusting him to the care of the nymphs.

The god of wine and fun grew up beautiful and powerful. He walks, sharing strength and joy with people. And the nymphs who raised Dionysus were placed in the starry sky as a reward. They appeared one beautiful dark night among other constellations in the form of the Hyades.

Greedy king

One of the most famous stories about Dionysus is the legend of Midas. The noisy Dionysus wandered with his numerous retinue into the wooded cliffs of Phrygia. Only Silenus, his wise teacher, was absent. Fairly tipsy, he wandered, stumbling through the Phrygian meadows. The peasants noticed him, easily tied him up and took him to the ruler Midas. The king recognized the teacher of the god of wine and received him with all honor, arranging luxurious feasts for nine days. On the tenth day, the king personally escorted Silenus to Dionysus. The god of wine and fun was delighted and mercifully invited Midas to choose any gift as a reward for the honor shown to the teacher.

The king asked that everything he did not touch would turn into gold. Dionysus narrowed his eyes, complained that Midas had not come up with a better reward for himself, and did as he asked.

Happy, the greedy Midas left. He walks, plucking leaves from the trees, and they turn into gold; he touches the ears of corn in the fields, and even the grains in them become golden. He touches the apple and it shines, like a fruit from the garden of the Hesperides.

Even drops of water flowing down his hands turned golden. He came to his palace, filled with joyful excitement. They served him a sumptuous dinner. And it was then that the greedy King Midas realized what a terrible gift he asked from the god of wine. Everything turned to gold from his touch - which means Midas was waiting hungry. He prayed to Dionysus, begging him to take back such a gift.

Dionysus did not refuse him, supposedly as an edification, he appeared before him and taught him how to get rid of the “golden” touch. The king, at the behest of God, went to the sources of the Paktol River. The clean waters delivered him from the gift, taking it into themselves.

Cult of Dionysus

Eternally young Dionysus, (Bacchus or Bacchus) in Greek mythology, the fruitful forces of the earth, viticulture and winemaking. Because he liked to turn into a mighty bull, he became known as the “god with bull horns.”

The god of wine and fun, wearing a wreath of grapes and a thyrsus decorated with ivy, travels around the world in the company of maenads, satyrs and selenites, revealing to people the secret of winemaking. The delighted and grateful Greeks organized magnificent “Dionysias,” or bacchanals, in his honor.

Over time, theater evolved from Dionysius, and from hymns of praise in honor of the god of wine - dithyrambs performed by singers dressed in goat skins, the word "tragedy" appeared from τράγος - "goat" and ᾠδή, ōdè - "song". The ancient philosopher Aristotle pointed out that initially the tragedy was playful, performed by a choir of satyrs, goat-footed companions of Dionysus, and acquired its gloomy shade later.

The god of wine and fun, Dionysus, was glorified as bringing liberation from worries and loosening the shackles of a measured life and everyday life, therefore the procession of this god of Ancient Greece was of an ecstatic nature. Maenads and bacchantes danced tirelessly, satyrs raged wildly and laughed. Girdled with snakes, the noisy retinue of Dionysus destroyed everything in its path, reveling in the blood of torn wild animals and dragging crowds of mortals behind them.

Some researchers are trying to prove that the cult of the god of wine was of Eastern origin, and in Ancient Greece it became popular much later than the cults of other deities, and was able to establish itself with some difficulty.

The name of Dionysus already appears on Cretan Linear tablets dating back to around the 14th century BC, but his cult flourished only in the 7th-8th centuries AD. By this time, the god of wine and fun began to displace other gods from the pedestals of popularity.

The god of wine and fun also did not immediately become one of the twelve Olympians. However, then he began to be revered on a par with Apollo at Delphi. In Attica, Dionysia began to be held with poetic competitions. During the Hellenistic period, the cult of the god Dionysus absorbed (or was absorbed) the cult of the Phrygian god Sabazius, receiving a new permanent name - Sabazius.

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God of wine and fun Dionysus

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The cheerful and cheerful god Dionysus was especially popular among the ancient Greeks. Holidays dedicated to him were celebrated from late autumn until spring. Often these had the character of mysteries, and even more often they smoothly flowed into banal orgies. The appearance of Dionysus God Dionysus was born from the union of an immortal and an earthly woman. Once Zeus the Thunderer could not resist the beauty of his daughter...

The Scandinavian god Loki is very popular; he is a bright, pathetic character who usually evokes a smile and the most positive emotions, despite the fact that the aces and people have suffered a lot because of his antics. Loki is a unique god in many ways. He lives with the Aesir in Asgard, but he himself comes from the family of Jotuns, his father is Farbauti ("cruelly striking"), and his mother is Lauveya ("island of larches"). The Ases knew Lauveya under the name Nal, which means “needle”. Nal brought little Loki to Asgard after the death of Farbauti and soon died herself, presumably from grief.

Loki is a god, but you need to understand that he is fundamentally different from those with whom he lives, from the Aesir and Vanir of Asgard. In general, this is a classic trickster, that is, a “deceiver”, “cunning”. Actually, the aces accepted him for his incredibly resourceful mind and ability to find a way out of any situation. Thus, Loki is the god of deception, witchcraft, variability, cunning, deceit, intrigue, backstage. Loki is also the god of humanity, in the sense that among all the inhabitants of Asgard, he most closely resembles a mere mortal. He is in constant search, he is interested in the secrets of the Universe, he asks questions that others simply do not think about. But his thoughts are not always sublime. Loki is a vengeful, envious, dishonest god. However, he is not so bad, because he knows compassion and sacrifice (even if forced). Suffice it to recall the corresponding episode of the Prose Edda, which tells how Loki, in the form of a mare, distracts the magical stallion Svadilfari, thanks to which the master Jotun was unable to build an impregnable wall around Midgard in one winter. So Loki saved Freya from a terrible marriage and helped the Aesir maintain their dignity.

Another Eddic song tells how Loki (the god of mischief, among other things) once again saves the honor of Asgard, becoming the only one who managed to make Skadi, the daughter of the giant Tjazzi, laugh, who stole Idunn and her golden apples, which granted immortality to the gods. In addition, it is Loki in “The Song of Sigurd” who goes to the Brisings for gold, which should be a ransom for the killed otter, thus saving Odin and Hoenir. Of course, Loki is an ambiguous god, in the sense that, unlike other heroes of Scandinavian legends, his actions are ambivalent, sometimes he helps the Aesir and people, and sometimes his actions harm them. In addition, we must not forget that during Ragnarok, Loki will fight on the side of Hel against the Aesir and will come into mortal combat with Heimdal.

Scandinavian god Loki: etymology, origin, family

The god Loki plays one of the key roles in Scandinavian mythology, but the question of the origin of his name still remains open. One of the main versions (which supports the idea that Loki is the god of fire, an element with a changeable disposition) is based on the assumption that the word “Loki” comes from the more ancient “log”, which means “fire” in Old Norse " It is also suggested that Loki is a derivative of the Old Icelandic "lúka", which means "to lock, complete". There are other versions according to which the Scandinavian god Loki is close to the cult of the bear (from the Lithuanian “lokys” - “bear”) or the cult of the wolf (from the Greek “Λύκος” - “wolf”).

Above was a myth that says that Loki is a god from the family of Jotuns, and not the Aesir. But there are other legends that contradict this version. Some researchers believe that the Scandinavian god Loki was the son of the primordial frost giant Ymir, probably his firstborn, who appeared long before Odin. According to this version, his brothers and sisters are Hler (water), Ran (sea), Kari (air), and then the idea that Loki himself is the god of fire seems quite logical.

The Scandinavian god Loki is not alone, in the sense that he has a family, and what a family! His first wife is a powerful giantess warrior, and his children are known to all of us - the goddess Helheim named Hel, the chthonic serpent Jormungandr, the hellish wolf Fenrir. From his second wife, Sigyn (her origins are unclear), the Scandinavian god Loki has two children - Vali and Narvi. The fate of this couple is very sad. After the god Loki (in Scandinavian mythology, this plot is an exception in many ways) finally “got” the Aesir with his antics, his eldest son (apparently Vali) was turned into a wolf and set against the younger one (Narvi). With the intestines of the murdered Narvi, Loki was tied to a rock, above which a huge poisonous snake was placed. Poison drips onto Loki’s face and he writhes in unbearable pain (the Scandinavians believed that this was the cause of earthquakes). However, this does not happen often, as Sigyn (an allegory of a faithful wife and inconsolable mother) holds a cup over Loki's face, thus protecting him from the poison. But when the cup overflows, Sigyn moves away to pour out the poison, and then the poison dripping from the snake’s mouth lands on Loki’s face.

God Loki in Scandinavian mythology: (un)justly condemned?

The god Loki plays an important plot-forming role in Scandinavian mythology. As we have already found out, he often interfered with the aces, but also helped them to the same extent. Such things as Gungnir (Odin's spear), Mjolnir (Thor's hammer), Skidbladnir (Frey's ship), Draupnir (Balder's ring), Gullinbursti (Frey's boar) appeared among the rulers of Asgard precisely thanks to the cunning and wisdom of the god Loki. In Scandinavian mythology, it is difficult to find a more successful “getter” of magical artifacts! However, the god Loki (pictures of him can be found in ancient Icelandic lists) was condemned to eternal torment. Strictly speaking, in the context of this story, it is not surprising that in the last battle he fights the Aesir on the side of his daughter.

What does the god Loki look like? The image of this cunning man is given in the Prose Edda by Snorius Sturlusson, where Loki is short and handsome, probably with long hair and a beard. This description corresponds to the famous image of the god Loki in the pages of the Edda Oblongata, a seventeenth-century Icelandic manuscript. In general, images of the god Loki are widely represented by European painters of the 18th-19th centuries, but it is difficult to say how objective they are. The English paintings of the 11th century are much more interesting, but there the emphasis is more on his wife Sigiyun, and not on the god Loki himself. Pictures of modern origin often have no relation to the historical originals, especially when we are talking about Hiddleston in the image of a charismatic Marvel villain.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that the god Loki (images from the original Icelandic sources are presented above; they are easy to distinguish from later ones by their characteristic technique) is indeed the most controversial character in Scandinavian mythology. In this sense, one cannot help but recall the famous “Squabble of Loki” from the Elder Edda. In that episode, the trickster accuses the gods and goddesses of Asgard of cowardice, lies, dishonor and unchastity, and all his accusations are fair. In addition, Loki admits his guilt for the death of Balder. We often forget this episode, although, in all likelihood, it is in it that the true image of the hero is revealed.

Kokopelli is one of the fertility deities, usually depicted as a hunched gambler on a flute, symbolizing the dance of insane currents of sexual energy (often with tentacle-like appendages on the head).

He is revered by many Native American tribes in the Southeastern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli is the patron of both childbirth and agriculture.

On top of everything else, he is a Trickster (that is, he violates established laws in every possible way and is quite happy with it).

In the field of agriculture, Kokopelli, with his flute playing, drives away Winter and calls for Spring. Many tribes, such as the Zuni, also associate Kokopelli with rain. He often appears with Payatamu, another flute player, in depictions of maize grinding ceremonies.

Kokopelli has been revered since the times of the Ancient Pueblo peoples. Its first images are known on Hohokam pottery, dating between 750 and 850 BC. e.

Kokopelli is one of the most easily recognizable figures found in petroglyphs and pitrographs of the southwest. The earliest petroglyphs date back to about 1000 years ago. e. Kokopelli was one of several Kahina dolls sold to tourists.

Like many Kahina dolls, Kokopelli Hopi was often represented as a dancing man. Such dancers apparently amused missionaries and tourists with their obscene antics, which foreigners did not understand.

In recent years, Kokopelli has been recognized as a general symbol of the southwestern United States in general. His image adorns countless tourist toys.

The most famous god of wine and fun is Dionysus. Its ancient Roman version is Bacchus. Legends say that he is the son of Zeus, and his mother is a mortal woman - Semele. Dionysus was considered a creator; he also had the ability to save people from worries and various problems. He traveled around the world with satyrs, silenae and priestesses called maenads.

What is known about the ancient Greek god of wine and fun?

The myth about the birth of this god is interesting. When Zeus' wife Hera learned that a mortal was pregnant by her husband, she decided to destroy the child. She did everything possible to ensure that Zeus appeared to Semele in all his strength. When the powerful god came to her in lightning, the house caught fire and the woman's body burned, but she managed to give birth to a premature baby. Zeus, to protect him, wove a wall of ivy, and then sewed the baby into his thigh. Three months later, Dionysus was born and was given to Hermes to raise.

Dionysus was depicted as a naked youth, on whose head there is a wreath of ivy or grape leaves and grapes. In his hands is a staff called a thyrsus. Its tip is made of a pine cone, an ancient symbol of fertility, and the stem is entwined with ivy. In many paintings, Dionysus was depicted with sacrificial animals: goats and bulls. He rode on a chariot drawn by panthers and leopards.

The Greeks revered this god and often held various events that ended in drunkenness and fun. To honor Dionysus, the god of wine and fun, the Greeks held theatrical performances and sang praises. They thanked him that they could get rid of worries and become happy. Dionysus had the power to refresh the human spirit, inflame passions and give inspiration. People also considered him the patron saint of fruit plants.