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Mythology of ancient Rome. Briefly The mythology of ancient Rome briefly

In the middle of the III century. BC e., when the Greeks had their classical literature behind, and the Hellenistic literature had already reached its peak, in the western part of the Mediterranean, in Italy, the second literature of ancient society, Roman, began to develop. Rome, the central community of the Latin tribe, which led the unification of Italy, creates its own literature, parallel to Greek, and creates it in its own, Latin language.

The historical significance of this option, the place of Roman literature in the history of the literatures of Europe, is determined by the historical! the role of Rome in the cultural "development of the European West. Roman literature served as a transmission link between the Greek and Western European literatures. The formative role of antiquity for Western European literature was based up to the 18th century on the influence of the Roman, and not the Greek version. Both in the Renaissance and in the 17th - 18th centuries Greek literature was perceived in Europe through the prism of Rome.The ancient stream in the tragedy of European "classicism" came to a much greater extent from the Roman playwright Seneca than from Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides; European; the epic of this time was focused on Virgil's Aeneid, and not on the Homeric poems. Only the bourgeois "neo-humanism" of the eighteenth century (p. 7) brought with it a new orientation, this time turned directly to Greek literature. The change in orientation led to the underestimation of Roman literature in the nineteenth century considered as purely imitative. allegedly due only to the fact that the Latin language was more common in Western Europe than Greek. This point of view is completely wrong. Indeed, in the first half of the Middle Ages and during the early Italian Renaissance, the Greek language was almost unknown in Western Europe, while Latin was known everywhere. But the period of the greatest influence of ancient literature on European literature begins in the 15th-16th centuries, when the Greek language was already known in Europe. And if. Europe is now turning to ancient literature in its Roman version, this is not due to unfamiliarity with the Greek language, but because the Roman version was more in line with the artistic taste of this time and its literary needs. The theorists of European classicism of the 16th - 17th centuries, engaged in a comparative assessment of both ancient literatures, always come to the conclusion about the "superiority" of the Romans. Julius Caesar Scaliger's (1484-1558) Poetics (1484-1558), one of the most influential treatises on literary theory at that time, is very indicative in this respect. Scaliger, after a detailed comparison of the Homeric epic with Virgil's Aeneid, prefers the Aeneid. Judgments of this kind, for all their historical limitation to the tastes of a particular era, nevertheless testify to the fact that the "intermediary" role fell to the lot of Roman literature not by chance, as a result of the greater prevalence of the Latin language, but by virtue of its own specific qualities that distinguish it from Greek literature and making it more consonant with the aesthetic requirements of the Renaissance and classicism of the 16th-17th centuries.

On the other hand, Roman literature at its best is often a synthesis of everything that Greek literature of different periods gave. The epic of Virgil and the lyrics of Horace are oriented, for example, to the Greek literature of the classical period, but at the same time they use the achievements of Hellenistic literature, all the accumulated skill of the ages. The old Greek genres are given a renewed form by the Romans. In Rome, therefore, there is an expanded reproduction of the literary forms of Greece, freed from local features.

The historical significance of Roman literature lies, therefore, in the fact that this is such a variant of ancient literature, the flowering of which took place on a more expanded base of the Roman state and at a later stage of ancient society, a variant that, due to its specific qualities, could more easily contribute to the formation of a new Western European literature. .

^ Ancient Roman mythology, its features. The only one found. I'll find it and send it.

Religious rites related to family life or household and private affairs were performed by the father of the family himself. In the village, he could be replaced by a manor manager with special powers. Official state ceremonies were performed indirectly by some bearers of supreme power - first by the king through the so-called priestly kings, then by consuls and praetors, at critical moments - by the dictator. At the same time, the emperor, who combined the function of the Great Pontiff, usually did not express his initiatives. The institution of priests was introduced by tradition by Numa Pompilius. At the same time, the Roman priestly colleges were not a closed caste - access to them was opened through social activities. So, for example, Cicero and Pliny the Younger achieved the dignity of augur, and for example, Caesar and Nero were flamens in their early careers. An important role was played by the college of fetials, which was in charge of the sacred ritual of declaring war and partially supervised Roman diplomacy. The College of Vestals also played an important role.

The Roman pantheon has many analogues of the Greek gods and goddesses, and has its own deities and lower spirits. Particularly revered gods were called "fathers" ("patres"), the lower ones - "famuli divi" and "virgines divi". Divine law ("fas") was not mixed with human ("ius"). The lower deities ("numina") existed among the Romans apparently already in the early era. The priestly books "Indigitaments" list the deities of sowing, the growth of seeds, flowering and ripening, harvesting ears, marriage, conception, development of the embryo, the birth of a child, his first cry, going for a walk, returning home, etc., in connection with which initially, for some, the sex was not fixed (cf. Pales, Faun - Faun, Pomona - Pomon, etc.). From the mass of numins, the triad of the Roman pantheon - Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus - stood out, reflecting the trinity of civil functions - religious-priestly, military and economic, respectively. From the calendar of holidays attributed to Numa Pompilius and the list of flames appointed by him, from the mentions of ancient sanctuaries, it is known about the existence of cults of Vulcan, Palatui, Furrina, Flora, Carmenta, Ceres, Pomona, Volupia, and others. Around the same time, the colleges of Luperci and Salii were doubled. Cults of estates appeared (Neptune and Dioscuri among the patricians, Ceres and Liber among the plebeians) and separate tribal cults (among the Cornelii, Aemilia, Claudii and possibly others), grouped around Vesta, Lares and Penates. There were also cults of rural communities

In contrast to the artistically gifted and mobile Hellenes, the Romans did not have folk epic poetry; their religious ideas, wholly poured out in a cult, were expressed in a few, monotonous and meager myths. Not in mythology, but in a strictly formal cult, was the essence of R. religion - this purely Roman concept (religio - the word R. of origin and means connection), which later became the property of the whole world. In the gods, the Romans saw only the will (numen), which interfered with human life.

The Roman gods did not have their own Olympus or genealogy, and were depicted as symbols: Mana - under the guise of snakes, ^ Jupiter - under the guise of a stone, Mars - under the guise of a spear, Vesta - under the guise of fire. The original system of R. mythology - judging by the data modified under a variety of influences that ancient literature tells us - was reduced to a list of symbolic, impersonal, deified concepts, under the auspices of which a person's life consisted from his conception to death; no less abstract and impersonal were the deities of souls, whose cult formed the most ancient basis of family religion. At the second stage of mythological representations were the deities of nature, mainly rivers, springs and the earth, as the producer of all living things. Next come the deities of heavenly space, the deities of death and the underworld, the deities - the personification of the spiritual and moral aspects of man, as well as various relationships in social life, and, finally, foreign gods and heroes.

49. Philosophical epic of Lucretius "On Nature".

In his poem “On the Nature of Things”, Lucretius gracefully, in a poetic form, depicts a light and subtle, always moving picture of the impact that atoms have on our consciousness through the expiration of special “eidols”, as a result of which sensations and all states of consciousness arise. It is very curious that the atoms in Lucretius are not quite the same as in Epicurus: they are not the limit of divisibility, but a kind of creative principles from which a specific thing is created with its entire structure, i.e. atoms are the material for nature, which presupposes some kind of creative principle outside of them. There are no allusions to the self-activity of matter in the poem. Lucretius sees this creative principle either in the progenitor-Venus, or in the mistress-Earth, or in the creative nature - nature. A.F. Losev writes: “If we are talking about the natural-philosophical mythology of Lucretius and call it a kind of religion, then let the reader not get confused here in three pines: the natural-philosophical mythology of Lucretius ... has absolutely nothing in common with the traditional mythology that Lucretius refutes.”

According to Losev, the independence of Lucretius as a philosopher is deeply revealed in an episode in the history of human culture, which is the main content of the 5th book of the poem. Having taken from the Epicurean tradition a negative assessment of those features of improvements in the material environment of life, which, without ultimately increasing the amount of pleasures received by people, serve as a new object of acquisitiveness. Lucretius concludes Book 5 not with an Epicurean morality of self-restraint, but with praise to the human mind, which masters the heights of knowledge and art.

In concluding this chapter, it should be said that we are accustomed to interpret Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius, and others only as materialists and atheists. Following the brilliant connoisseur of ancient philosophy A.F. Losev, many adhere to the point of view according to which ancient philosophy did not know materialism in the European sense of the word at all. It suffices to point out already that both Epicurus and Lucretius most unequivocally recognize the existence of the gods.

Lucretius, Titus Lucretius Carus (Titus Lucretius Carus) (1st century BC), Roman poet and materialist philosopher. The earliest biographical information about Lucretia dates back to the 4th century AD. e., but cannot be considered reliable, the philosophical poem of Lucretius "On the Nature of Things", written in the form of a didactic epic, expounds the teachings of the Greek philosopher Epicurus - mainly his physics, only incidentally touching on his theory of knowledge and ethics. This is the only completely preserved monument of the materialistic thought of antiquity. It was lost and found by the Italian humanist Poggio Bracciolini only in the 15th century. The poem of Lucretius consists of 6 books; in book 1 and 2, the atomistic theory of the universe is set forth and the intervention of the gods in worldly affairs is rejected; the theme of book 3 is the doctrine of the soul, its materiality and mortality, its connection with the body; book 4 - the doctrine of man and sensory perceptions as the basis of knowledge; Book 5 - Cosmogony and the history of the development of the human race, as well as the origin of language. The use of fire and the formation of a family were, according to Lucretius, the first steps on the way from a primitive, "wild" state to the formation of society and culture; this was especially facilitated by the emergence of language. The origin of religion in book 6 is explained by three natural causes: the fantastic images of beautiful and powerful beings that appeared in dreams became an object of worship; phenomena of nature, surpassing human powers, were attributed to supernatural beings; Finally, people are subject to feelings of fear. The greatest conductor of the ideas of Lucretius was the French philosopher P. Gassendi. Everything that is known about the life of Lucretius comes down to the message of St. Jerome, who, in all likelihood quoting Suetonius, says: "Intoxicated with a love potion, Lucretius lost his mind, in bright intervals he wrote several books later published by Cicero, and took his own life."

^ Titus Lucretius Car

On the nature of things (fragments)

<...>Set no limit nature

For fragmentation of things, bodies of matter now,

Fragmented by the power of past centuries, they reached that would,

That nothing really, of them conceived, at a certain time

It would be impossible to break through to the highest limit of life.

For, we see, rather anything can collapse,

Than restored to be; therefore what is hitherto

Long days and ages of endless times past

They were torn apart, crushed and broken into small parts,

Again in the rest of the centuries could never be recreated.

But, undoubtedly, a certain limit has been set for fragmentation.

Since we see that a thing is reborn each again...

<...>But I continue the thread of my reasoning again.

Everything in itself consists of two things:

These are, firstly, bodies, and secondly, empty space,

Where do they stay and where can they move differently ...

<...>There are bodies that are both durable and eternal:

These are the seeds of things and the beginning in our teaching,

That from which the whole world that exists now has turned out.

These bodies cannot decompose from external shocks,

Neither, from the inside, struck by something, disintegrate apart,

Not from the impact of another force to be destroyed at all.

Being in the void and twisting along it, inevitably

The origins of things are carried away by their own weight

Or pushed by others. And often, in motion, colliding

Together, one from the other, they fall to the side at once.

And one should not be surprised: they are extremely strong.

Dense and weighty, and nothing prevents them from bouncing back ...

<...>So that you better comprehend that the main bodies are restless

Always in perpetual motion, remember that there is no bottom

The universe has nowhere, and the original bodies remain

Nowhere in place, since there is no end, no limit to space,

If it is immeasurable and stretched out in all directions,

As I have already proved in detail on a reasonable basis.

Once established so, then the original bodies, of course,

No peace is given anywhere in the vast emptiness.

On the contrary: constantly driven by different movements,

Partly far they fly away, colliding with each other,

Partly, they diverge apart for only short distances.

Those who have closer their mutual cohesion, few

And for insignificant distances only spinning apart,

By the complexity of their figures themselves, being tenaciously confused,

Powerful roots of stones and bodies form iron

Persistent, just like everything else of this kind.

Others, in a small number in the boundless void twisted,

They spin away far and run far back

For a big gap. They make up a rare

The air and sunlight they bring to us is brilliant.

Many, moreover, hover in the vast void

Those that are thrown away from things of combinations and again

They were not yet able to combine with others in motion ...

^ Brief and fine

Roman mythology developed historically out of animism, i.e. belief in the animosity of nature. The ancient Italians worshiped the souls of the dead, the gods were perceived as powerful forces that must be propitiated by strict observance of rituals. In the gods, the Romans saw a will that intervened in human life.

The Roman pantheon has many analogues with the Greek, but also includes its own deities and lower spirits. Particularly revered gods were called "fathers" ("patres"). The lower deities (“numina”) existed among the Romans already in the early era - these were the deities of sowing, seed growth, flowering and ripening, harvesting, marriage, conception, the birth of a child, his first cry, going for a walk, returning home, etc. ., in connection with which initially some deities did not have a fixed gender (Faun - Faun, Pomona - Pomon, etc.). From the mass of numins, the triad of the Roman pantheon - Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus - stood out, reflecting the tripartite nature of social functions - religious-priestly, military and economic, respectively. The Roman gods did not have their own Olympus and genealogy, and were often depicted as symbols: mana - in the form of snakes, Jupiter - in the form of a stone, Mars - spears, Vesta - fire. The system of early Roman mythology included impersonal deified forces, under whose auspices a person's life flowed from conception to death.

At the next stage in the development of mythological ideas, the deities of nature appeared - mainly rivers, springs and the earth as the producer of all life. Next come the deities of heavenly space, death and the underworld, deities - the personification of the spiritual and moral qualities of man and various social relations, as well as foreign gods and heroes. The deities personifying the souls of the dead included mans and lemurs, as well as geniuses and junos (incarnations of the male and female principles). The Romans believed that at birth, geniuses inhabit a person, and at death, they are separated from the body and become manas (good souls). In honor of the juno and the genius, sacrifices were made on the birthday, they swore by their name. Later, their geniuses were given to each family, city and state for protection. Lares are related to geniuses - patrons of fields, vineyards, roads, groves and houses; each family had its own family chest guarding the hearth and house (later there were two of them). In addition, there were special gods of the hearth (patrons of the pantry) - the penates, which included, among others, also Janus, Jupiter and Vesta.

The deities, under whose patronage all human life was located, were called dei indigetes (inside acting, or inside living gods). There were as many of them as different types of activities: every step of a person, every movement and action at different ages were patronized by special gods, lists of which (with detailed instructions, which deity with which prayer formula and in what cases of life should be addressed) were compiled in the 4th century BC pontiffs. So, there were gods who protected a person from the time of conception to birth (Janus Consivius, Saturnus, Fluonia, etc.), helped at birth (Juno Lucina, Carmentis, Prorsa, Postversa, etc.), guarded the mother and child immediately after childbirth ( Intercidona, Deus Vagitanus, Cunina, etc.), who took care of children in the first years of childhood (Potina, Educa, Cuba, Levana, Earinus, Fabulinus), the gods of growth (Iterduca, Mens, Consus, Sentia, Voleta, Jnventas, etc. .), patron gods of marriage (Juno juga, Afferenda, Domiducus, Virginensis, etc.). In addition, there were deities of various activities (primarily agriculture and cattle breeding) - Proserpina, Flora, Pomona (Proserpina, Flora, Pomona) - and localities.

Over time, some of these deities became individualized, others joined their main attributes, and the mythological image became more prominent, and some deities were combined into marriage pairs. At this stage in the development of religious ideas, the deities of nature appear - the water element, fields, forests, springs. Of the river gods in Rome, pater Tiberinus was worshiped, who was propitiated with a sacrifice (27 dolls were made from reeds that were thrown into the water), Numicius (in Lavinia), Clitumnus (in Umbria), Volturnus (in Campania). The representative of the water element was Neptune, later, through identification with Poseidon, became the god of the sea (from 399 BC).

The gods, whose activity was manifested both in nature and in life, include Janus, Vesta, Vulcan, Mars, Saturn and other gods of fertility and activity in the plant and animal kingdoms, who had a bright personality. Janus from the patron of the door (janua) became the representative of any entrance in general, and then the god of the beginning, as a result of which the beginning of the day and month and all kalends were dedicated to him, as well as the month of January named after him, marking the beginning of the addition of daylight hours. He was called upon at the beginning of every business, especially at sacrifices, and was even considered the father of the gods. The main sanctuary of the god Janus was at the northern end of the forum, opposite the temple of Vesta - it was an old arch with the image of a two-faced god, which served as the entrance to the Roman forum; its gates were opened for the period of hostilities. Another place of worship of Janus was the Janiculum hill, on which, according to legend, Ankh Marcius erected a fortification to protect the trade route to Etruria and the harbours; in connection with which Janus was also considered the patron saint of trade and navigation. Mother Matuta, the goddess of dawn, the giver of light, an assistant in childbirth, is related to Janus Matutin, along with Portumn, the guardian of harbors. Vesta personified the fire in the public and domestic hearth. The cult of the goddess was in charge of six virgins, named after her by the Vestals.

Unlike Vesta, who personified the beneficent power of fire, Vulcan was a representative of the destructive fire element. His temple was on the Field of Mars. Vulcana was invoked in prayers and, along with the goddess of fertility, Maya, he was also considered the deity of the sun and lightning. Later, he was identified with Hephaestus and began to be revered as the god of blacksmithing and volcanoes. The main deities who patronized agriculture were Saturn (the god of sowing), Kons (the god of harvest) and Ops, the wife of Kons. Later, Saturn was identified with the Greek Cronus, Ops with Rhea, and many features of the Greek cult were transferred to the Roman cult.

Agriculture and cattle breeding were also patronized by other gods of forests and fields, who symbolized the forces of nature and were revered in groves and at springs. Their attributes and divine attributes were as simple as the very life and environment of their worshipers. For everything that was dear and pleasant to the farmer and cattle breeder, they considered themselves indebted to the deities who sent their blessing. These included Faun with his wife Faun (Bona Dea), Silvan (forest god, goblin), who became the patron of borders and property; Liber and Libera - a couple who personified the fertility of fields and vineyards (later identified with the Greek couple of Dionysus and Persephone); Vertumnus and Pomona, guarding orchards and fruit trees, etc. Flora was considered the goddess of prosperity and fertility; Pales guarded pastures and livestock. Diana patronized fertility and guarded slaves, especially those who sought refuge in her grove (near Tuskul, near Aricia), helped women in childbirth, sent fertility to families; later she became identified with Artemis, becoming the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The deities who sent fertility also included Mars, one of the most ancient and revered gods of Rome. Prayers were addressed to him for sending fertility to the fields and vineyards; the so-called "sacred spring" was established in his honor. He was also the god of war (Mars Gradivus), and the totem of Mars, the woodpecker, eventually became the deity of forests and meadows, the patron of agriculture. Close to Mars is the Sabine god Quirinus; in later traditions, Mars was made the father of Romulus, and Quirinus was identified with Romulus.

More powerful than all the mentioned deities were the gods of heaven and air space, Jupiter and Juno: Jupiter as the god of daylight, Juno as the goddess of the moon. The thunderstorm was attributed to Jupiter, as among the Greeks - to Zeus; therefore Jupiter was considered the most powerful. He also sent fertilizing rains and was revered as the god-giver of fertility and abundance (Liber). In honor of him, holidays associated with the harvest of grapes were established; he was also the patron of the younger generation. On the contrary, atmospheric phenomena that bring danger and death to people were attributed to Veyovis - the evil Jupiter; related to Jupiter Summanus (sub mane - in the morning) was the god of night storms. As an assistant in battles, Jupiter was called Stator, as a giver of victory - Victor; in his honor, a special collegium was established, which demanded satisfaction from the enemies, declared war and concluded treaties in compliance with certain rites. Therefore, Jupiter was called to confirm the fidelity of the word as the god of oaths. Jupiter's chief priest was the flamen, and the flamen's wife was a priestess of Juno. The cult of Juno was widespread throughout Italy; the month of Junius or Junonius was named after her. As a moon goddess, all kalends were dedicated to her. She consecrated marriages and guarded the inhabitants. The deities of the underworld did not have such a bright personality as the characters Greek mythology. Orc (Orcus) was considered the god of death; along with him, the goddess is mentioned - the patroness of the dead - Tellus, Terra mater - who took the shadows into her bosom. She personified the horror of death.

The Romans also had a number of deities who personified moral and spiritual concepts, human relations: Fortuna (Fate), Fides (Loyalty), Concordia (Consent), Honos and Virtus (Honor and Courage), Spes (Hope), Pudicitia (Shame), Salus (Salvation), Pietas (Kindred Love), Libertas (Freedom), Clementia (Meekness), Pax (Peace) and others. In the imperial era, almost every abstract concept was personified in the image of a woman, with the corresponding attribute. There were also gods borrowed from other peoples (mainly from the Etruscans and Greeks). Greek religious ideas and features of the Greek cult took hold in Rome - either merging with related Roman ones, or supplanting early Roman beliefs. Among the foreign deities is the Etruscan Minerva, the goddess of thought and reason, the patroness of crafts and arts. Through comparison with Pallas, Minerva entered the Capitoline triad. Venus was probably the ancient Italic goddess of charm and prosperity, but in cult she merged with the Greek Aphrodite. Mercury - the patron of trade - was identified with Hermes and took on the attributes of the Greek god.

Literature and theatre.

Judging by the surviving titles of Andronicus' works, he translated mainly Sophocles and Euripides. He knew little of contemporary Hellenistic poetry, and its influence did not affect his work in any way. And it is unlikely that the individualistic literature of the Hellenistic era would then have found a response from the harsh and close-knit Romans, who for the first time challenged the all-powerful Carthage at that time. Having founded a school in Rome for the children of Roman nobles, Andronicus taught Greek and Latin in it, using the texts of classical Greek authors. From these quite practical needs, the first translated work in the history of European literature was born - the Latin Odyssey. The Greek of Tarentum had to work hard before he found a verse form for the translation of the Homeric epic. Here, as already mentioned, he was helped by the ancient heroic songs of the Romans, written in "Saturnian verse." In 204 BC. e. on behalf of the pontiffs, Andronicus created a choral song designed to propitiate the gods. Her choir, composed of 27 girls, sang. Thus, the Greek teacher from Tarentum developed for the Romans a poetic language in the field of epic, lyricism and drama.

How quickly the Romans learned Greek literary forms, testifies to the work of Nevius from Campania. Five years after Andronicus, he came out with comedies and tragedies written after the Greek model. Along with the "palliata", i.e., dramas, where the actors performed in spacious Greek cloaks - palliums, Neviy also created "togata" - comedies, where the Romans themselves appeared on the stage in togas or visitors from Prenesta or Lanuvium, as in a comedy "Predictor". He also became the author of the original Roman tragedy, boldly turning not to mythological plots, but to contemporary history. In the tragedy "Clastidius" he described the victory of the consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus over the Gauls in 222 BC. e. The form of the work is borrowed from the Greeks, but the content is purely Roman. The courage of this "proud Campanian", as he called himself, was also manifested in the fact that in his comedies he often inserted allusions to the political events of his time, mocking the riotous youth of Scipio, the future conqueror of Hannibal, or attacking the noble Metellus family, hated by him. . In the aristocratic Roman Republic, such political attacks on the part of a comedian could not end well: Nevius was thrown into prison and then expelled from Rome; died in a foreign land. Roman literature owes him not only tragedies and comedies, but especially the original epic poem "The Punic War", written in "Saturnian verse". In this epic there are many traces of imitation of Homer, but it tells about the eternal struggle of Rome with Carthage, which ended for Nevius with the victorious First Punic War, in which he himself took part as a soldier. With the departure of Andronicus and Nevius from the stage, Roman literature lost powerful talents capable of equally successfully creating both in the genre of tragedy and in the genre of comedy. The authors who came to replace them were committed to only one particular genre.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Second Punic War, Titus Maccius Plautus became famous in Rome for his comedies. Having moved from Umbria to Rome at an early age, he was close to the theater from the very beginning: perhaps he was a stage worker or even an actor in atellanes. Well acquainted with the performing arts and with the tastes of the Roman public, he began to rework the Neo-Attic comedies of Menander, Diphilus and Philemon. He understood that serious, moralizing, often sugary Greek comedies would not appeal to the Roman plebs, and therefore he rarely undertook to rework sentimental works like the Greek original, unknown to us, on which his “Prisoners” or “Three Coins” are based. Most often, Plautus chose subjects where leading role they play either a cunning slave-schemer, gaining the upper hand over the master, or a getter, who turns out to be a free-born citizen in the end. He rejected Greek plays that were psychologically refined, too deep and elegant for the Roman public, or, finding this or that comedy too boring, devoid of cheerful enthusiasm, optimism, did not hesitate to introduce a new character into it that could amuse the audience. At the same time, he boldly borrowed such characters from other comedies, such as, for example, the "parasite" - a hanger-on, Ergasila took root in "Prisoners".

In the later period of his work, having decided that the long dialogues of the Greek drama were not suitable for the stage, Plautus began to introduce song parts instead of them - both monodies and duets, and tercetes, turning comedy into vaudeville or operetta. Its predecessor here was Nevius, but only Plautus used this device very widely, so that the ancients spoke of "polymetry", of the metrical richness of Plautus' comedies. At the same time, he willingly resorted to the light Hellenistic songs of that time, to their language, melodies, and humor. To enliven the action, he also introduced ballet parts, as, for example, in the comedy "Verse": from the serious and touching comedy of Menander, he made a violent, noisy, cheerful spectacle, although his composition is very disorderly, chaotic. However, the Roman playwright cared little about composition. He wrote the so-called "fabule motorie" - works in which there was speed, a lot of movement, tunes and noise. Some of his comedies ("Kazina", "The Merchant") are close in character to the current farce.

There are several opinions about the stages of development of Roman mythology. Some historians take as a basis the books of the priests "Indigitaments", which say that in the world there are only impersonal harmful or beneficent forces - numina (numina), characteristic of individual objects, living beings, actions. Initially, the gods were presented in the form of symbols: Jupiter - a stone, Mars - a spear, Vesta - fire. A characteristic feature of the early stage of the development of mythology was the indeterminacy of the sex of the deities (Pales), reflected in the presence of male and female incarnations in some of them (Faun - Faun, Pomon - Pomona), in the appeal to the gods "god or goddess". According to some historians, myths in ancient Rome appeared only under the influence of Etruscan and Greek mythology. The Greeks brought their anthropomorphic gods and related myths to Rome and taught the Romans how to build temples. Some modern scholars have questioned the numinus theory, arguing that the Indigitaments were created by the priests and not the people. Many of the pontiffs were lawyers, who were characterized by extreme detailing of phenomena. Later, Etruscan and Greek influences began to be given less importance, emphasizing the originality of the Roman religion.

The ancient Roman religion was formed in parallel with the process of synoikism of the communities that underlay the emergence of Rome, and the gods of individual communities merged with each other. As family ties were replaced by neighbors, and families by surnames, the cults of surnames grouped around Vesta, Lares and Penates began to play the main role. Along with them, there were cults of neighboring communities - curia, cults of the entire Roman civil community, which, however, were not fenced off from each other. All of them were under the control of the college of pontiffs, who pushed aside the flamen priests. It was believed that what was done for the good of the community also served the good of individual citizens, and vice versa. The gods were divided into heavenly, earthly and underground, but they could act in all three worlds. The worlds of gods, people and the dead were demarcated (the right of the gods, fas, did not mix with the right of man, ius) and at the same time interconnected (people did not start any important business without knowing how the gods would react to it). Augurs and haruspices played an important role in this, explaining the will of the gods by the flight and behavior of birds, the entrails (especially the liver) of sacrificial animals, and lightning strikes. The same purpose was served by the books of the Sibyl, connected with the cult of Apollo and kept secret by a special college of priests. In the case of threatening signs, the priests, by a special decree of the Senate, looked for instructions in books on what to do. It was believed that the gods of the enemy could be lured to the side of Rome with the help of a certain formula evocatio. With the transition of the gods of the Italian cities to Rome, the images of the Roman gods became more complicated. When Rome became the head of the Latin Union, it adopted the cults of its gods Diana of Aricia and Jupiter Latiaris. The center of the cult in Rome, which finally took shape as a single city, was the Capitoline Temple, and the god of Roman power and glory was Capitoline Jupiter.

Three factors influenced the further development of Roman mythology: the democratization of society, due to the victory of the plebs, the victorious Roman aggression and acquaintance with more developed cultures and religions. The democratization, which made available to the plebeians the priestly positions previously held only by the patricians, prevented the development of a priestly caste. The civil community itself became the highest authority, which led to the absence of religious dogma. Citizens were obliged to honor the gods, who were a peculiar part of their community (hence the subsequently widespread idea of the world as a great city of people and gods), but they had the right to think, say and write anything about them, up to their complete denial. Ethics was determined not by religion, but by the good of the civil community, which rewarded some with honor and punished others with contempt. The revulsion revered by the Romans for strong personal power, for people who placed themselves above the people, excluded the cult of kings and heroes, and, if such existed in ancient times (lares), then it died out. A kind of justification for the wars of Rome, which cost many victims, was the prevailing myth about Rome as a city founded according to the plan of the gods, destined him to rule over the world, about the Roman people as chosen by the gods (one of the components of the myth of Rome is the myth of Aeneas).

The borrowing of Greek gods began no later than the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th centuries. BC. with the introduction of the cult of Apollo, then the Romans began to get acquainted with Greek myths and mysteries dedicated to Dionysus, with Greek religious and philosophical currents. Interpreting myths, statesmen began to claim a divine origin (the first was Scipio Africanus), for the special patronage of a deity (Sulla and Caesar for the patronage of Venus, Antony for the patronage of Hercules and Dionysus), for immortality prepared for their souls and a special place in star spheres or fields blessed. The cult of generals spread in the provinces. Thus was prepared the imperial cult, which began with the deification of Caesar and Augustus, and then his successors. Emperors identified themselves with gods, their wives with goddesses. With the establishment of the empire, the "Roman myth", in connection with the removal of the people from participation in public affairs, the loss of Rome's character of a civil community, began to lose its popularity.

The undoubted merit of Ancient Rome, which had its own mythology, was in the perception, popularization and preservation of Greek mythology, in its transformation into Greco-Roman: most of the brilliant works of Greek sculptors can be seen by mankind only thanks to their Roman copies; the poetic creations of the Greek people were preserved for us by Roman poets, many mythological subjects became known thanks to Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Myths, gods, heroes, demons of Hellas and Rome. The word "antique" in translation from Latin (antigues) means "ancient". Ancient mythology, along with biblical mythology, is rightfully considered the most significant in terms of the degree of its influence on the further development of the culture of many peoples, especially European ones. Ancient mythology is understood as the commonality of Greek and Roman myths, therefore, sometimes you can find the term "Greco-Roman mythology", although the Greek mythological system was still the basis for the Roman mythological system. The Romans largely borrowed the legends of Hellas, sometimes interpreting the images in their own way and modifying the plots. Thanks to Latin common in Europe and - in lesser degree- the ancient Greek language, ancient myths, were not only widely disseminated, but were subjected to deep reflection and study. It is impossible to overestimate their aesthetic value: there is not a single art form left that would not have plots based on ancient mythology- they are in sculpture, in painting, music, poetry, prose, etc. As for literature, A.S. , every educated person should have a sufficient understanding of the creatures of majestic antiquity.

Greek mythology

Already in the most ancient monuments of Greek creativity, the anthropomorphic character of Greek polytheism is clearly reflected, which is explained by the national characteristics of the entire cultural development in this area; concrete representations prevail over abstract ones, just as in quantitative terms, human-like gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines prevail over deities of abstract meaning (who, in turn, receive anthropomorphic features). In this or that cult, this or that deity is connected with these or those general or mythological representations. Various combinations are known, hierarchies of the genealogy of ancient divine beings - "Olympus", various systems of "twelve gods" (for example, in Athens - Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hestia). Such combinations are explained not only from the creative moment, but also from the conditions of the historical life of the Hellenes.

In the general religious consciousness of the Hellenes, apparently, there was no definite generally recognized dogmatics. The diversity of religious ideas found expression in the diversity of cults, the external situation of which is now more and more clear thanks to excavations and finds. We will find out which gods or heroes were revered where and which where or where which was revered predominantly (for example, Zeus - in Dodona and Olympia, Apollo - in Delphi and Delos, Athena - in Athens, Hera in Samos, Asclepius - in Epidaurus); we know shrines revered by all (or many) Hellenes, such as the Delphic or Dodonian oracle or the Delian shrine; we know large and small amfiktyony (cult communities). One can distinguish further between public and private cults. The all-absorbing significance of the state also affected the religious sphere. The ancient world, generally speaking, did not know either the internal church as a kingdom not of this world, nor the church as a state within a state: “church” and “state” were concepts in it that absorb or condition each other, and, for example, the priest was the same state magistrate. This rule is not everywhere, however, could be carried out with an unconditional sequence; practice caused particular deviations, created certain combinations. Further, if a certain deity was considered the main deity of a certain state, then the state sometimes recognized (as in Athens) at the same time some other cults; Along with these nationwide cults, there were separate cults of state divisions (for example, the Athenian demes), and cults of household or family, as well as cults of private societies or individuals.

It is difficult to establish exactly when the first Greek myths and legends appeared, in which humanoid gods were revealed to the world, and whether they are the legacy of ancient Cretan culture (3000-1200 BC or Mycenaean (until 1550 BC), when the names of Zeus and Hera, Athena and Artemis are already found on the tablets.Legends, traditions and tales were passed down from generation to generation by Aed singers and were not recorded in writing.The first recorded works that conveyed to us unique images and events were Homer's brilliant poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey". Their record dates back to the 6th century BC. According to the historian Herodotus, Homer could have lived three centuries before that, that is, around the 9th-8th centuries BC. But, being an aed, he used the work of his predecessors, even more ancient singers, the earliest of which, Orpheus, according to a number of testimonies, lived approximately in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC.

By this time, myths about the journey of the Argonauts for the Golden Fleece, among which was Orpheus, belong. Modern science believes that a great epic cannot appear unexpectedly and accidentally. Therefore, the Homeric poems are regarded as the completion of a long development of pre-Homeric, long-vanished heroic songs, traces of which, however, can be found in the texts of the Iliad and the Odyssey themselves.

The inaccessible example, which until now is the Homeric epic, not only conveyed to the descendants extensive knowledge about Hellenic life, but also made it possible to form an idea of the views of the Greeks on the universe. Everything that exists was formed from Chaos, which was the struggle of the elements. The first to appear were Gaia - earth, Tartarus - hell and Eros - love. Uranus was born from Gaia, and then from Uranus and Gaia - Kronos, the Cyclopes and the Titans. Having defeated the titans, Zeus reigns on Olympus and becomes the ruler of the world and the guarantor of the universal order, which finally comes to the world after long upheavals. The ancient Greeks were the greatest myth-makers of Europe. It was they who came up with the word "myth" (translated from the Greek "tradition", "tale"), which we today call amazing stories about gods, people and fantastic creatures. Myths were the basis of all the literary monuments of ancient Greece, including the poems of Homer, so loved by the people. For example, the Athenians from childhood were familiar with the main characters of "Oresteia", a trilogy of the poet Aeschylus. None of the events in his plays were unexpected for the audience: neither the murder of Agamemnon, nor the revenge of his son Orestes, nor the persecution of Orestes by furies for the death of his mother. They were most interested in the playwright's approach to the confusing situation, his interpretation of the motives of guilt and atonement for sin. It is difficult to appreciate the significance of those theatrical productions, but, fortunately, people still have the sources of many of the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides - the myths themselves, which retain great attraction even in a short summary. And in our century, people are worried about the world-old story of Oedipus, the murderer of his father; the adventures of Jason, who crossed the Black Sea in search of the magic golden fleece; the fate of Helen, the most beautiful of women, who caused the Trojan War; the wanderings of the cunning Odysseus, one of the bravest Greek warriors; the amazing exploits of the mighty Hercules, the only hero who deserved immortality, as well as the stories of a great many other characters. The Romans, the heirs of the cultural traditions of the Aegean world, equated many Italic deities with the gods of the Greek pantheon. In this regard, the story of the god of fertility, wine and orgies, Dionysus-Bacchus, is interesting. In 186 BC. e. the Roman Senate passed harsh laws against the worshipers of this god. Several thousand people were executed before the cult of Bacchus could be brought into line with moral standards.

Pantheism

The Hellenes deified Pan, the goat-footed, lustful god of nature, who was depicted with a huge erect phallus. It was the phallus that became the symbol of this deity. He was worshiped by the Hellenes in sacred groves and gardens, fountains were arranged in his honor in the form of all the same phalluses; phallic statues, symbols, amulets were widespread; puppets with rising phalluses were obligatory participants in theatrical spectacles, official festivities and traditional processions of farmers around the fields, aimed at increasing the fertility of the land with the help of Pan. A whole host of spirits circled around this god: these are centaurs - the spirits of mountain streams, nymphs - the spirits of meadows, dryads - the spirits of trees, silenes - the spirits of forests, satyrs - the spirits of vineyards, etc.

The agricultural population especially revered Demeter - the "mother of bread", and in imitation of her, who became pregnant from a peasant in the field, a ritual of intercourse was performed right on the freshly plowed land, which had a magical meaning - the impact on the forces of the fertility of the earth. The Greeks revered and feared Artemis, the goddess of wild animals. The urban population honored Hephaestus - the god of crafts, the patron of blacksmiths, as well as Athena, who was not only the goddess of wisdom, but also the patroness of inventors, artisans, especially potters; it was believed that it was she who created the first potter's wheel. The townspeople also singled out Hermes - the god of travel, trade, who protected from thieves; he was considered to have made the first scales, weights, and set the measuring standards.

Cultural figures worshiped Apollo - the god of the arts, and the muses. Sailors made sacrifices to Poseidon, the god of the sea. All Hellenes united in the worship of Zeus - the supreme god, and Moira - the goddess of fate. Temples were built for the gods, majestic statues were erected. It was believed that in sacred times the spirit of the gods entered the statues; therefore, the priests performed the rituals of washing, dressing, eating and sleeping statues; in the days of summer and winter solstice sacred marriage rituals were performed, when the statue of the god was carried to the house of the first archon, put to bed with the wife of the archon, and the latter, it was believed, could become pregnant from god. In Hellas, throughout its history, animal and human sacrifices were made. Themistocles, contemporary of the 5th century. BC, the most enlightened age of Hellas, personally strangled three of the most beautiful young men as a sacrifice on the eve of the Battle of Salamis, and he believed that he had won a victory over the Persians only thanks to this sacrifice. In Athens, the most cultured and democratic polis, the crippled, sick, criminals were always kept in special houses. "scapegoats" in the days of disaster and were subject to ritual stoning or burning. On the stage of the Hellenic theaters, the real blood of those tragic heroes who, according to the script, were supposed to die, was shed - at the last moment, instead of the main actor, an understudy was removed from among all the same outcasts, and he died, becoming a victim to the gods. In the Hellenistic period, the cult of sacrifices intensified even more. The phallic cult acquired an unrestrained orgiastic character.

Roman mythology

Roman mythology in its initial development was reduced to animism, that is, the belief in the animation of nature. The ancient Italians worshiped the souls of the dead, and the main motive for worship was the fear of their supernatural power. For the Romans, as for the Semites, the gods seemed to be terrible forces that had to be reckoned with, propitiating them with strict observance of all rituals. Every moment of his life, the Roman was afraid of the displeasure of the gods and, in order to enlist their favor, did not undertake and did not do a single thing without prayer and established formalities. In contrast to the artistically gifted and mobile Hellenes, the Romans did not have folk epic poetry; their religious ideas were expressed in a few, monotonous and meager in content myths. In the gods, the Romans saw only the will (numen), which interfered with human life.

The Roman gods did not have their own Olympus or genealogy, and were depicted as symbols: Mana - under the guise of snakes, Jupiter - under the guise of a stone, Mars - under the guise of a spear, Vesta - under the guise of fire. The original system of Roman mythology - judging by the data modified under the most diverse influences that ancient literature tells us - was reduced to a list of symbolic, impersonal, deified concepts, under the auspices of which a person's life consisted from his conception to death; no less abstract and impersonal were the deities of souls, whose cult formed the most ancient basis of family religion. At the second stage of mythological representations were the deities of nature, mainly rivers, springs and the earth, as the producer of all living things. Next come the deities of heavenly space, the deities of death and the underworld, the deities - the personification of the spiritual and moral aspects of man, as well as various relationships in social life, and, finally, foreign gods and heroes. The deities personifying the souls of the dead included Manes, Lemures, Larvae, as well as Genii and Junones (representatives of the productive and vital principle in a man and a woman). At birth, geniuses inhabit a person, at death they are separated from the body and become manes (good souls). In honor of Juno and Genius, sacrifices were made on their birthdays, they swore in their name. Later, each family, city, state, for protection, had its own Geniuses. Related to Geniuses are Laras, patrons of fields, vineyards, roads, groves and houses; each family had its own lar familiaris, which guarded the hearth and house (later there were two of them). In addition, there were special gods of the hearth (actually the patrons of the pantry) - Penates, which included, among other things, Janus, Jupiter, Vesta. The deities, under whose patronage all human life was in all its manifestations, were called dei indigetes (inside acting or inside living gods). There were as many as various activities, i.e., an infinite set; every step of a person, every movement and action at different ages were guarded by special gods, lists (indigitamenta) of which were compiled in the 4th century BC. e. pontiffs, with detailed instructions to which deity with which prayer formula and in what cases of life one should address. So, there were gods who protected a person from the time of conception to birth (Janus Consivius, Saturnus, Fluonia, etc.), helped at birth (Juno Lucina, Carmentis, Prorsa, Postversa, etc.), guarded the mother and child immediately after childbirth ( Intercidona, Deus Vagitanus, Cunina, etc.), who took care of children in the first years of childhood (Potina, Educa, Cuba, Levana, Earinus, Fabulinus), the gods of growth (Iterduca, Mens, Consus, Sentia, Voleta, Jnventas, etc. .), patron gods of marriage (Juno juga, Afferenda, Domiducus, Virginensis, etc.). In addition, there were deities of activities (especially agriculture and cattle breeding) - for example Proserpina, Flora, Pomona (Proserpina, Flora, Pomona), and places - for example Nemestrinus, Cardea, Limentinus, Rusina. With the further evolution of mythological ideas, some of these deities became more individualized, others joined their main attributes, and the mythological image became more prominent, approaching the human, and some deities were combined into marriage pairs. At this stage in the development of religious ideas, the deities of nature act - the gods and goddesses of the water element, fields, forests, as well as some phenomena of human life. The deities of the springs (usually goddesses) were revered in the groves and also possessed the gift of foreshadowing and song, and were also helpers in childbirth. These deities included, for example, Camenae and Egeria - the prophetic wife of Numa. Of the river gods in Rome, pater Tiberinus was worshiped, who was propitiated by the sacrifice of the Argei (they made 27 dolls from reeds that were thrown into the water), Numicius (in Lavinia), Clitumnus (in Umbria), Volturnus (in Campania). The representative of the water element was Neptune, later, through identification with Poseidon, became the god of the sea (from 399 BC).

The gods whose activity manifested itself in nature and life and who had a brighter individuality include Janus, Vesta, Vulcan, Mars, Saturn and other gods of fertility and activity in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Janus from the patron of the door (janua) became the representative of any entrance in general, and then the god of the beginning, as a result of which the beginning of the day and month was dedicated to him (morning - hence Janus Matutinus) and all kalends, as well as the month of January named after him, as coinciding with the beginning of the arrival of days. He was called upon at the beginning of every work, especially at sacrifices, and was even considered the principium of everything and the father of the gods. The main sanctuary of the god Janus (Janus Geminus or Quirinus) was at the northern end of the forum, opposite the Temple of Vesta. It was an ancient arch that served as an entrance to the forum (atrium of Rome). Its gates were opened in time of war; under the arch was an image of a two-faced god. Another place of his cult was the Janiculum hill, named after him, on which, according to legend, Ankh Marcius erected a fortification to protect the trade route leading to Etruria and the harbours; in this regard, Janus was the patron god of trade and navigation. With Janus, Matutinus is related to Mater Matuta, the goddess of dawn, the giver of light, an assistant in childbirth, along with Portumnus, the guardian of harbors. Vesta personified the fire that burned in the hearth, both public and private. The cult of the goddess was in charge of six virgins, named after her by the Vestals. In contrast to Vesta, who personified the beneficent power of fire, Vulcan or Volcanus was a representative of the destructive fire element. As the god of the elements, dangerous for city buildings, he had a temple on the Field of Mars. He was called in prayers and together with the goddess of fertility, Maya, and was considered the deity of the sun and lightning. Later, he was identified with Hephaestus and began to be revered as the god of blacksmithing and volcanoes. The main deities who patronized agriculture were Saturn (the god of sowing), Kons (the god of harvest) and Ops, the wife of Kons. Later, Saturn was identified with the Greek Cronus, Ops - with Rhea, and many features of the Greek cult were introduced into the Roman cult of these deities. Agriculture and cattle breeding were also patronized by other gods of forests and fields, who symbolized the forces of nature and were revered in groves and at springs. Their attributes and divine attributes were as simple as the very life and environment of their worshipers. For everything that was dear and pleasant to the farmer and cattle breeder, they considered themselves indebted to the deities who sent their blessing. These included Faun, with his wife Faun (Bona Dea), a beneficent god, identified later with King Evander; the run of the priests of the Faun, the Luperks, was intended to bring down the blessing of God on people, animals and fields. Silvan (forest god, goblin), who frightened lonely travelers with prophetic voices, was the patron of borders and property; Liber and Libera - a couple who personified the fertility of fields and vineyards - were later identified with the Greek couple of Dionysus and Persephone; Vertumnus and Pomona guarded orchards and fruit trees; Feronia was considered the giver of a plentiful harvest; Flora was the goddess of prosperity and fertility; Pales guarded pastures and livestock. Diana patronized fertility, which may be indicated by the compatibility of her holiday (August 13) with a sacrifice in honor of Vertumnus. In addition, Diana guarded slaves, especially those who sought refuge in her grove (near Tusculum, near Aricia), helped women in childbirth, sent fertility to families; later she became identified with Artemis, becoming the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The deities who sent fertility also included Mars - one of the most revered national gods of the Italians, perhaps the ancient deity of the sun. Prayers were addressed to him for sending fertility to the fields and vineyards; the so-called sacred spring (ver sacrum) was established in his honor. He was also the god of war (Mars Gradivus); its military attributes (sacred spears and shield) indicate the antiquity of the cult. The totem of Mars, picus (woodpecker), over time became the god of forests and meadows, the patron of agriculture, and was revered, under the name Picumnus, together with Pilumn, the god of threshing. Close to Mars is the Sabine god Quirinus; in later traditions, Mars was made the father of Romulus, and Quirinus was identified with Romulus. More powerful than all the mentioned deities were the gods of heaven and air space, Jupiter and Juno: Jupiter - as the god of daylight, Juno - as the goddess of the moon. The thunderstorm was attributed to Jupiter, as among the Greeks - to Zeus; therefore Jupiter was considered the most powerful of the gods. His weapon is lightning; in ancient times, in special cults, it was even called lightning. He also sent fertilizing rains (Elicius) and was revered as the god-giver of fertility and abundance (Liber). In honor of him, holidays associated with the harvest of grapes were established; he was the patron of agriculture, cattle breeding and the younger generation.

On the contrary, atmospheric phenomena that bring danger and death to people were attributed to Veiovis (Veiovis, Vediovis) - the evil Jupiter; related to Jupiter Summanus (sub mane - in the morning) was the god of night storms. As an assistant in battles, Jupiter was called Stator, as a giver of victory - Victor; in honor of him, a college of fetials was established, who demanded satisfaction from the enemies, declared war and concluded agreements with the observance of certain rites. As a result, Jupiter was invoked to confirm the correctness of the word, as Deus Fidius - the god of oaths. In this regard, Jupiter was also the patron of borders and property (Juppiter Terminus or simply Terminus). Jupiter's chief priest was the flamen Dialis; Flamin's wife - flaminica - was a priestess of Juno. The cult of Juno was widespread throughout Italy, especially among the Latins, Oscans, Umbrians; the month of Junius or Junonius was named after her. As a moon goddess, all kalends were dedicated to her; hence she was called Lucina or Lucetia. Like Juno Juga or Jugalis or Pronuba, she consecrated marriages, like Sospita she guarded the inhabitants. The deities of the underworld did not have that bright individuality that strikes us in the corresponding department of Greek mythology; the Romans did not even have a king of this underworld. The god of death was Orcus; along with him, the goddess is mentioned - the patroness of the dead - Tellus, Terra mater - who took the shadows into her bosom. As the mother of lars and mans, she was called Lara, Larunda and Mania; as avia Larvarum - she personified the horror of death. The same religious ideas that created a series of dei indigetes - deities representing individual human actions and activities - called forth a series of deities who personified moral and spiritual abstract concepts and human relations. These include Fortuna (Fate), Fides (Loyalty), Concordia (Consent), Honos and Virtus (Honor and Courage), Spes (Hope), Pudicitia (Shame), Salus (Salvation), Pietas (Kindred Love), Libertas (Freedom ), Clementia (Meekness), Pax (Peace), etc. In the imperial era, almost every abstract concept was personified in the image of a woman, with the corresponding attribute. Finally, there were gods adopted by the Romans from other peoples, mainly from the Etruscans and Greeks. Greek influence was expressed especially strongly after the books were brought to Rome from Cum Sibylline - a collection of Greek sayings of the oracle, which became a book of revelation of the Roman religion. Greek religious concepts and features of the Greek cult firmly established themselves in Rome, either merging with related Roman ones, or crowding out the pale Roman ideas. The struggle of the relief images of the Greek religion with the vague outlines of the Roman ended in the fact that the Roman mythological ideas almost completely lost their national character, and only thanks to the conservative cult did the Roman religion retain its individuality and influence. Among the foreign deities are the Etruscan Minerva (Menrva, Minerva), the goddess of thinking and reason, the patroness of crafts and arts. Through comparison with Pallas, Minerva entered the Capitoline triad and had her cella in the Capitoline temple. The difference between Minerva and Pallas was only that the first had nothing to do with the war. Venus was probably the ancient Italic goddess of charm and prosperity, but in cult she merged with the Greek Aphrodite. Mercury was originally known as deus indiges - the patron of trade (merx, mercatura), but later, through comparison with Hermes, took on the attributes of a Greek god. Hercules (Latin adaptation of Greek Ήρακλής) became known in Rome with the establishment of lectisternia; stories about him are entirely borrowed from Greek mythology. Under the name of Ceres (Ceres) from 496 BC. e. the Greek Demeter was known, whose cult in Rome remained completely Greek, so that even the priestesses at her temple were Greek women. Apollo and Dis pater are also purely Greek deities, of which the latter corresponded to Pluto, as indicated by the comparison of the Latin name with the Greek (Dis = dives - rich = Πλούτων). In 204, the sacred stone of the Great Mother of Ideas from Pessinunt was brought to Rome; in 186 there was already a Greek holiday in honor of Dionysus-Liber - Bacchanalia; then from Alexandria the cults of Isis and Serapis passed to Rome, and from Persia - the mysteries of the solar god Mithra. The Romans did not have heroes, in the Greek sense, because there was no epic; only some individual gods of nature, in different localities, were revered as the founders of the most ancient institutions, unions and cities. This includes the most ancient kings (Faun, Peak, Latin, Aeneas, Iul, Romulus, Numa, etc.), portrayed not so much as heroes of wars and battles, but as organizers of states and legislators. And in this respect, the Latin legends did not take shape without the influence of the Greek epic form, in which a significant part of the Roman religious material was clothed in general.

A special characteristic feature of these heroes was that, although they were presented as prehistoric figures, they ended their lives not with death, but with the disappearance of no one knows where (this included the term non comparuit). Such was, according to legend, the fate of Aeneas, Latinus, Romulus, Saturn, and others. The heroes of Italy do not leave offspring, as we see in Greek legends; although some Roman surnames were descended from heroes (Fabia - from Hercules, Julia - from Ascanius), no genealogical legends were created from these traditions; with their echo, only a few liturgical hymns and drinking songs have survived. Only with the penetration of Greek forms and ideas into the Roman spiritual life did Roman genealogical legends develop, compiled and distributed, for the sake of the Roman aristocracy, by Greek rhetoricians and grammarians who found shelter in Rome as guests, friends and slaves: teachers and educators. The Roman gods were more moral than the Greek ones. The Romans were able to discipline all the forces of man and turn them to one goal - the exaltation of the state; in accordance with this, the Roman gods, guarding human life, were the defenders of justice, property rights, and other human rights. That is why the moral influence of Roman religion was great, especially during the heyday of Roman citizenship. We find praise of the piety of the ancient Romans in most Roman and Greek writers, especially in Livy and Cicero; the Greeks themselves found that the Romans were the most pious people in the whole world. Although their piety was external, however, it proved respect for customs, and on this respect rested the main virtue of the Romans - patriotism.

Literature

Mythology ancient world, -M.: Belfax, 2002

Legends and tales of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, - M .: Pravda, 1988

It is somehow customary for everyone to combine the mythology of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. It seems, well, what else can be found among the Romans, who only knew what to give foreign gods new names? Zeus - Jupiter, Hera - Juno, Ares - Mars, Aphrodite - Venus, just remember, and that's it!

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, and you can try to dive even deeper.

Who told?

It is extremely difficult to judge the most ancient period of Roman mythology, because scientists have to rely on much later sources.

However, the priestly books "Indigita-cops" are quite famous. Official records of the life of ancient Roman communities have been preserved, records of ancient Greek authors in response to events in Hesperia (as they called ancient Italy), hymns of the colleges of the Arval brothers, etc.

The main sources are considered to be the first treaties of Rome with other cities and states, records of the college of pontiffs (priests), as well as records of the main events of each year, which later became known as annals (lat. annus - year).

However, Virgil's Aeneid, Livy's history books, Ovid's Fasts and the fourth book of Propertius are considered to be the main sources.

Cosmogony and gods

For a long time it was believed that Roman mythology at the initial stage of development was reduced to animism. The worship of the souls of the dead was due to the fear of their supernatural power, as well as the worship of animated natural phenomena. The Romans never started or finished business without securing the favor of the gods, without performing all the prescribed rites, without offering up prayers and without making the necessary sacrifices.

It was believed that the Romans distinguished only benevolent or unfavorable non-personalized forces - numina (numina), and there were a great many of them: the deity of sowing and growth, flowering and marriage, harvest and conception, walk and return, etc., and their names were formed from the name of the action being performed.

Moreover, it was also believed that even the few personal gods that arose later did not have an anthropomorphic incarnation, but only symbols: for example, Jupiter is a stone, Mars is a spear, Vesta is fire.

In the primitive communal period, the cult of ancestors, revered in each clan, played a great role: penates, patrons of the hearth and clan, and lares, patrons of the home, family and the entire community as a whole.

However, although the ancient cosmogony of the Romans still remains a mystery, gradually researchers began to find evidence that Roman mythology itself went through approximately all the same stages of development as that of other peoples in the primitive communal period.

The most ancient triad of deities was determined: Jupiter (who supplanted the original creator of the world, Janus) - the embodiment of religiosity and priesthood, Mars - a military hypostasis, Quirinus - an economic hypostasis.

Janus and Vesta guarded the doors and the family hearth, the lares guarded the field and the house, Pale the pastures, Saturn the crops, Ceres the growth of cereals, Pomona the tree fruits, and Kone and Opa the harvest.

In addition, according to the conclusions of scientists, the Romans believed that people, as a clan, descended from sacred trees, oaks, and therefore groves were dedicated to each numina deity, where rituals were performed and sacrifices were made, and the trees themselves played a very important role in life. states. For example, sacrifices were made to the oak on the Capitoline Hill, and the withering of any fig tree, the tree under which, according to legend, the she-wolf fed the future founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, was perceived as an extremely formidable and unfavorable sign.

Since the cult of animals was highly developed, the interpretation of their behavior and the study of the sacrifices, or, more simply, fortune-telling, so common in ancient Rome, acquired great importance.

Justified ... by the state

What is the originality of Roman mythology in comparison with other mythological traditions?

If you think about it, it becomes obvious that most of the oldest myths about gods have not survived, they were gradually but steadily replaced by myths about heroes.

The very structure of Roman society, in which individual communities sought to unite into large urban conglomerates, in which politics played an increasingly important role every century, and the state became an intermediary between the citizen and the gods - this is the originality of Ancient Rome.

The myths that tell about heroes are a reflection of the deep mutual penetration of history and myth in the minds of the Romans. Human life is filled with divine presence, every moment of it a person is responsible for his actions.

And if they are done for the benefit of the community, then the gods are pleased with you.

Such are the myths of the Sabine women, Numa Pompilius, Lucretia, Scaevola, Coriolanus, and many others.

Of course, it cannot be denied that Roman culture constantly absorbed the culture of the peoples surrounding it. Yes, the Romans renamed and adopted almost the entire Greek pantheon, made many borrowings from the Etruscans and other peoples, but there was a very simple reason for this. Rome was a military state, constantly expanding its territories through conquests and assimilating the culture of the conquered peoples.

Roman heroic myth explained the past, justified the present, and directed the future. Despite some initial primitiveness, he made a person's life filled with meaning: serving the fatherland.

And what is the end?

The Roman religion, open and constantly changing under the influence from outside, simply could not develop a single concept of the end of the world.

Like any military state, Rome was doomed to a gradual decline and destruction, or to an indispensable transformation. Roman mythology, having gone through various stages of development - from the adoption of the Greek pantheon to the formation of the cult of the emperor, eventually became ... a certain basis for the victory of Christianity as a religion.

The myth of the Roman left-hander

In 509 BC. e. The Etruscan king Lare Porsenna declared war on Rome. A huge army invaded the territory of the country and approached the capital closer and closer. A little more - and Rome would have been taken by storm.

Then one of the young Roman patricians, Gaius Mucius Kord, decided to infiltrate the Etruscan camp and kill their king. Guy knew the Etruscan language and, dressed in the clothes of enemies, easily entered the camp, but could not understand which of those sitting at the main tent was King Porsenna. He could not ask, for fear of betraying himself.

Then the young man decided that the most elegantly dressed person was the enemy ruler. He attacked him and stabbed him with a dagger. But alas! It turned out to be just one of the king's courtiers, the biggest lover of outfits and jewelry.

Gaius Mucius was immediately arrested, but refused to answer questions. Then he was threatened with torture. Seeing a tripod with a blazing fire, the young man himself went up to it, put his right hand into the flame and silently, without making a sound, looked at Porsenna until his hand was charred.

Amazed by the courage and incredible stamina of the patrician, Porsenna exclaimed: "If all the Romans are so steadfast, then it is impossible to defeat them." He released Mucius, who from then on began to bear the nickname Scaevola (Lefty), and decided to start negotiations for a truce.