Discover 15 Greek myths with their explanation

Mythology has the power to persist in our collective memory. That was the case of the short Greek myths that survived to this day despite all the time that has passed. Its origin dates back to ancient Greece, where various poets told wonderful stories that represented the culture of their time.

These legends allow us to get closer to the way the Greeks thought before the development of rationality. In this sense, they used these stories to explain the behaviors and the reality that surrounded them. In addition, they realized their polytheistic religiosity. You want to know more? We invite you to continue reading.

Greek myths and their relevance

Greek myths were very important for Hellenistic culture, since These narratives represent their beliefs. This is known as “Greek religiosity.” Their strength was such that they were impregnated in popular memory, transmitted from one generation to the other. Even to this day.

Such traditional stories have extraordinary gods and heroes as protagonists. His actions were so fabulous in the past that they still resonate in the present. They are characterized by the divine and heroic nature of their characters. They are gods who formed polytheistic religiosity.

So, The myths in Greece represented the religious culture of the time, filled with a multitude of divinities consistent with their polytheism. Likewise, in these narratives conflicts of values ​​are raised that left people thinking and reflecting. In the sections that follow we will explore 15 short Greek myths that will take us to the essence of their culture.

1. The myth of Pandora

Zeus ordered Hephaestus to make a woman out of clay as a sign of revenge, since he was furious about Prometheus’s theft of fire. This woman was named Pandora and the gods and goddesses gave her a series of qualities. One of them was lies and deception.

Pandora was sent as a gift to Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus, thief of fire. Since he did not want to suffer the fate of this one, who was punished by Zeus until eternity, he decided to marry Pandora.

Among the attributes of this woman were malevolence, laziness and foolishness, as well as beauty. Pandora was sent to earth with a box that contained all evils inside. Among them were old age, fatigue, illness, madness, vice and passion.

Piqued by curiosity, she opened the box that should have remained closed. Thus, she spread all evils for humanity. However, hope was trapped in the chest, as Pandora closed it before she could flee. With this myth, the reason why so many misfortunes exist in our land is explained.

2. The flight of Icarus

Icarus was the son of Daedalus and a slave of Minos named Naucrate. This myth tells that his father and his son were locked by King Minos in a labyrinth, because Daedalus helped Minos’ wife unite with a white bull.

Icarus’s father knew that it was not easy to get out of the labyrinth and the island where they found themselves. That’s why, He made a pair of wings for himself and others for his son. The material he used was feathers and wax.

At the moment of fleeing, Daedalus warned his son not to fly too high because the sun would melt the wax on the wings. It should not be too low either, as the water would wet the feathers.

Icarus disobeyed his father’s orders. He flew so high that the wax on his wings melted. This caused him to plummet towards the sea, where his wing feathers became wet. The myth concludes with the death of Icarus.

With this story we can reflect on the importance of listening when wiser or more experienced people advise us. Likewise, it is an invitation to leave pride aside and be more aware of the consequences of our actions.

3. The legend of the minotaur

This is one of those Greek myths that is related in some way to the previous one. The minotaur is a creature with the body of a bull and a human head, which is called Asterion. His conception was the result of infidelity on the part of Minos’s wife, Pasiphae, with a bull.

Minos, embarrassed by the situation, He ordered Daedalus to build a labyrinth to enclose the minotaur. So, year after year, seven young men and women were sent into the labyrinth to feed the creature.

The end was always the same: these people could not leave the labyrinth or were devoured by Asterion. However, that luck changed thanks to Theseus and Ariadne, who ended the life of the minotaur and managed to emerge victorious from the labyrinth.

4. The birth of Aphrodite

Aphrodite is known as the goddess of love, beauty and desire. It is the Greek poet Hesiod who in his work Theogony He tells us the myth of his birth.

It is counted among the Greek myths that Aphrodite was born from the foam that formed around the genitals of Uranus, representative of the heavens. He was castrated by his son Cronus, who threw his father’s sexual organs into the sea. Thus, from the mixture of blood and semen Aphrodite was born.

Such was the impact of this myth that the artist Sandro Botticelli painted a painting depicting the birth of Aphrodite. The same is called The birth of Venus.

5. The myth of Narcissus

This short Greek myth teaches us about the dangers of our own vanity. Ovid, in his work Metamorphosis, narrates that Narcissus was the son of the god Cephisus and the nymph Liríope. At birth, The soothsayer Tiresias warned his parents that the child would live as long as he did not contemplate himself.

In his youth, Narcissus was the object of love of many girls, but he did not reciprocate any of them. One of those women was the nymph Echo, who became so frustrated with Narcissus’ rejection that she asked heaven for revenge for the contempt she suffered at the hands of the young man.

One hot afternoon, after a hunt, Narcissus would bow before a fountain of water to quench his thirst. At that moment, he saw himself reflected in the water. He fell so much in love with it that he let himself die contemplating his reflection in the waters.

With this story it is possible to reflect on the consequences of overestimating ourselves based on our own body image. After all, we have much more to offer.

6. The myth of Prometheus

Prometheus belonged to the race of Titans and He is known for defending the human race from the hatred of the gods. Myth says that there was a confrontation between gods and titans, from which the latter emerged victorious. However, Prometheus did not lose the battle, as he cunningly fought alongside the gods.

In gratitude, Zeus entrusted him with the task of creating living beings. Thus, Prometheus was in charge of forming humans in the image and likeness of the gods. But the great god of Olympus ordered him that these beings must be mortal and subordinate to the divine will.

However, Prometheus defended human beings and He gave them a valuable instrument that is a symbol of progress: fire. It was stolen by the Titan from the hands of Hephaestus and Athena. At this misdeed, Zeus became so angry that he punished Prometheus by chaining him to the top of a mountain.

Every day a vulture ate Prometheus’s liver, which was regenerated at night. The next morning the bird returned to repeat the process during eternity. This myth is another of those that invites us to reflect on the consequences of our actions.

7. The story of Sisyphus

Sisyphus was the son of Aeolus and husband of Merope. He resided in Corinth where he had a large herd of cows. He was considered the most dishonorable and greedy person that could exist.

This myth tells that when Zeus kidnapped the nymph Aegina, her father went to Corinth to look for her. He met Sisyphus and asked him if he knew anything. He, who did have information, told him that he would reveal the truth in exchange for a perennial spring.

The fact is that he received it, thus revealing the secret of the gods. Because of this, Zeus ordered his brother Hades to condemn Sisyphus to hell. But he managed to deceive not only Hades, but also Persephone, goddess of hell.

His trick was to ask his wife not to bury him. Then, when he confronted Persephone, Sisyphus told her that hell was not his place, since he had not been buried. In exchange, he asked her to return to earth to settle the matter, promising to return in three days. As expected, Sisyphus defaulted.

Because of that, He received the eternal punishment of carrying a giant stone on his back that would later fall again. Thus, Sisyphus had to take it back and resume the task. In such a way that Sisyphus was condemned for eternity to carry out this task.

This is one of the Greek myths with a lot of impact. For example, Albert Camus reinterpreted it from an existentialist point of view, as stated in an article published by the magazine Economics Notebooks.

8. The myth of Oedipus

The myth of Oedipus combines patricide with inescapable destiny from which there is no escape. According to the Greek poet Sophocles, King Laius and his wife Jocasta were warned by the soothsayer Tiresias that their son would kill his father.

Given this, Laius decides to order the child to be killed, to avoid fate. However, the pastor who had the mission to do it could not carry out such an act. Instead, he gave the child to King Polybus of Corinth. Oedipus grew up in a peaceful environment until he is informed that he is a bastard.

At that moment, Oedipus consults the oracle of Delphi if what they told him was true. The answer he receives is that his destiny is to kill his father and marry his mother. To circumvent this fate, he escapes from the place where he grew up and heads to Thebes, his hometown. On the way he meets Laius. Oedipus kills him in their fight, thus fulfilling part of Tiresias’ prophecy.

Oedipus and the sphinx

Once in Thebes, Oedipus encounters a sphinx who murdered those who did not correctly answer the following riddle: «What is the being that walks with two, then three and finally four legs and that, contrary to the general law, is weaker the more legs it has? Oedipus got his answer right, saying that he was the man.

In this way, the city of Thebes is freed from the clutches of that being, since it had committed suicide. Oedipus, for his part, becomes king of the city, marrying Jocasta, his biological mother.

9. The origin of Medusa

Medusa is one of the most iconic characters of ancient Greece. She is the daughter of Phorcis and Ceto, two marine deities. This Greek myth tells that Medusa was a beautiful woman who worked as a priestess in the temple of Athena.

It is said that This goddess was jealous of that woman for attracting the attention of the gods, especially Poseidon. He forced Medusa and, consequently, Athena awarded him a punishment.

It consisted of transforming the beautiful woman into a monster. In this way, everyone who…