Top 7 Greek Legends (explained)

From Greece we know its beautiful myths, starring gods and heroes. However, there are numerous Greek legends that are based on real events and characters. These stories have many decorations, obviously, but in many cases they are a distant echo of events that actually happened.

Today we tell you several Greek legends inspired by real events so that you let your imagination run wild, while you question the past. Let's go there.

7 short greek legends

The beautiful Phryné, courtesan and lover of Praxiteles and of whom many stories are told; the mythical Trojan War that we don't know if it existed; anecdotes of writers and philosophers that seem more taken from the popular imagination than from reality... join us for this interesting summary that will not leave you indifferent.

1. Phryne's trial

Her real name was Mnesaréte, but everyone knew her as Phryne, "toad".. The nickname may seem like an insult, but nothing could be further from the truth: according to some sources, the woman was called that way because of the olive tone of her soft skin.

Phryne was a hetaira, that is, a professional courtesan from ancient Greece who was dedicated not only to giving her clients sexual pleasure, but also intellectual and aesthetic pleasure. Since women were not allowed access to culture and spent their lives locked up in the home's gynoecium, women hetairas they gave Athenian men all the pleasure they needed.

Phryné was one of the most famous courtesans of the time. She was a lover of Praxiteles himself, who say that she was inspired by the beautiful shapes of her body to create her Aphrodites. However, the "confidence" and the power of Phryné (who amassed enormous wealth and thereby emulated the men of the city) was not well seen by everyone; soon she was accused of "impiety" and brought before the Areopagus, the Athenian court.

Although the trial existed, little is known about it; we only keep scattered fragments of testimonials that tell it. So what we are going to review next enters, de facto, in the field of legend.

It seems that Hyperides, the courtesan's defense attorney, was not getting much from her speech in court. The woman looked doomed. Desperate, and as a final resort, Hyperides tore off Phryné's tunic and left before the astonished eyes of the judges the marvelous vision of her naked body. Then, the defender ordered everyone present not to condemn the goddess Aphrodite herself, since only her incarnation on earth could have such perfect forms. Phryné was finally acquitted… for being beautiful. Other versions, however, maintain that it was she herself (and dressed, of course) who was in charge of her own defense, which was so brilliant that she was exonerated.

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2. The 300? spartans

The battle of Thermopylae has entered the popular imagination of the 21st century thanks to the very famous Frank Miller comic and, later, to the film based on it, which was enormously successful. It was thanks to these two sources that many people became aware of the historical fact in question and of the "resistance heroic" of the 300 Spartans, who spent days preventing an army of more than 2 million Persians from accessing the peninsula hellenic

Well, yes, there were wars between the Persians and the Greeks (known as the Medic Wars), and yes, there was a desperate defense of the pass of Thermopylae (literally, "hot waters"), the natural access to Greece. But it is not true that there were only 300 Spartans who heroically resisted the advance of the Persians. In fact, the Greek army was made up of a coalition of various Hellenic cities, so it not only They found Spartans among them, but also Thebans, Corinthians and Mycenaeans, among others, who in total numbered more than 6,000. soldiers. What is certain is that their leader was Leonidas I, king of Sparta.

And good; if the Greeks far exceeded the legendary figure of 300 men, the Persians did not even come close to the astronomical figure of two million. It is estimated that, in the armies of Xerxes, the soldiers would not exceed 300,000 men. A more than considerable number, of course, but far removed from the figures proposed by some of the Greek historians. On the other hand, the Greek resistance was by no means a guarantor of the safeguarding of the peninsula. Hellenic, since the Persians managed to penetrate it and destroy, among other symbols, the Acropolis Athenian.

Where does the myth of the 300 heroic Spartans who resisted at the Thermopylae pass come from? No, it is not the invention of Miller, the author of the comic. It was Herodotus, a Greek historian from the 5th century BC. C., the one who recorded the feat a few decades later and turned the event into a true propaganda campaign. A very successful campaign, by the way, as it continues to bear fruit more than 2,000 years later.

3. Pheidippides and the first "marathon"

Since we have raised the issue of the Medical Wars, we cannot fail to review the legend that surrounds Pheidippides, the hero of Marathon. But let's put ourselves in context: it is the year 490 a. C., and the first of the Medical Wars are taking place; on this occasion, it is Darius I, the father of Xerxes I (the Persian king of Thermopylae) who tries to gain control of Greece. That year the Battle of Marathon takes place, a city located on the Attic coasts, in which, for the first time, the Greeks defeat the Persians.

According to legend, Pheidippides was an emissary from the Greeks who managed to bring the news of the victory to Athens, after which he died of exhaustion. The distance that separates Marathon from Athens is 40 kilometers, which, much later, inspired the philologist Michel Bréal (1832-1915) to design, together with Pierre de Coubertin (the father of the modern Olympic Games) a race that covered the same distance, known since then as Marathon.

However, according to Herodotus, the distance that Pheidippides covered was not 40 kilometers, but more than 200, because, according to the Greek historian, the hero's mission was not to communicate victory, but to ask the Spartans for help to defeat the persians. Therefore, the real route would have been that of Marathon-Sparta, cities separated by exactly 213 kilometers.

Which of the two versions is true? Were there, then, two races, one to ask for help from Sparta, and another to warn Athens of victory? Be that as it may, if Pheidippides really existed, he was a true hero.

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4. King Midas and gold

Another of the most famous Greek legends arises from the life of King Midas. Although the existence of King Mittaa (his name of him in Phrygian) is more or less documented in oriental sources, which place him in the 8th century BC. C., the legend that originated around him is obviously a myth. We refer to the famous story of the gold of King Midas.

The legend may have been inspired by the fabulous wealth possessed by the Phrygian monarchs. The Phrygians were a people from Macedonia who settled later in what is now Turkey, the so-called Phrygia, a region rich, apparently, in gold deposits.

It recounts the myth (in the version that Ovid collects in his Metamorphosis) that Silenus, a satyr from Dionysus's retinue, had gotten lost and could not find the procession.. The king immediately recognized the divine being, and asked him to instruct him. Known by all was the wisdom of Silenus, who had taught Dionysus himself.

Thus, the satyr remained for a time in the court of Midas, who filled him with luxuries and pleasures. When they returned him to the procession of Dionysus, this, grateful for how they had treated Silenus, granted the king a wish. This one, neither short nor lazy, asked that everything that touched his body turn into gold.

At first everything went well; the branches of the trees, the cups, the statuettes; everything turned to gold before the astonished gaze of Midas. The problem came when he tried to eat, and the food also turned into gold. Then, thirsty, he wanted to drink, and the same. But the worst was yet to come; When Midas embraced his daughter, she instantly turned into a beautiful golden statue...

The end of the greedy monarch has several versions. While one account died, hungry, thirsty and alone (because no one wanted to go near him), the other tells us of the mercy of Dionysus who, Faced with the suffering of man, he allowed him to remove the curse by bathing in the waters of the Pactolo River, which immediately turned golden.

5. The most famous war... what never existed?

When the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered, at the end of the 19th century, the supposed ruins of the city of Troy, many skeptics had to keep quiet. Would it be true, then, that the mythical Ilion existed and, with it, the most famous war of all time?

Despite the archaeological evidence (later a layer was discovered in the place that had signs of fire, which would fit with the legend), many scientists still question the veracity of the story Homeric. Did Troy really exist, the scene of one of the main Greek legends? Is the epic of the Hellenic bard true?

Well, as often happens, in the Iliad there may be bits of reality, seasoned with a lot, a lot of poetic imagination. It is quite possible that neither Helen, nor Paris, nor Hector, nor Priam, nor Agamemnon, nor, of course, Achilles or Odysseus, existed. Or maybe his characters are distantly inspired by dark historical reminiscences, who knows.

Historically it is known that towards the middle of the second millennium BC. C., the lands of the Mediterranean suffered a series of catastrophes and destruction of cities, which experts attribute to the invasion of some unknown people (two possibilities have been considered: the Dorians and the "peoples of the sea"). That's when the call begins Dark Age from Greece, where writing disappeared completely and culture and the arts suffered a significant setback.

Perhaps Homer's epic refers to this Mediterranean "great war" and, with it, to the splendor of the time immediately before the disaster.

6. And Homer?

And speaking of the iliad, we can ask ourselves another question: did Homer exist? Yes, as you read it. Although Herodotus, the quintessential historian of ancient Greece, claims that he was a real character and that he lived in the 9th century BC. C., that is, contemporary to the Trojan War, there are currently serious doubts about it.

Given the null source of information beyond the supposed authorship of the iliad and the Odyssey, it is legitimate to ask if Homer is not, in reality, a kind of nickname, a fictitious name to which a series of poems transmitted by oral tradition can be attributed. In other words, according to some experts, the two great Hellenic epics would have been composed of many bards, and would have finally been written down under the name of Homer. Or maybe this one did exist, and simply compiled all the oral tradition of his ancestors and put it in writing. The mystery remains open.

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7. Anecdotes of cultured men

There are other Greek characters that undoubtedly existed, but about which thousands of anecdotes are told that are not always true. This is the case of Sophocles, one of the greatest Greek playwrights, author of such well-known works as Antigone either King Oedipus.

Well, it is said of the great author that he died of joy. At least, that's what Diodoro maintains in his biography; according to him, Sophocles was so overjoyed when he found out how successful he was having his Oedipus Rex, that he died from the intensity of his jubilation. He was 90 years old.

Several anecdotes are also told about philosophers, which did not always happen. It is the case of Diogenes of Sinope (413-323 BC). C.), who, according to legend, met Alexander the Great when the Spartans had just set fire to the Macedonian's palace. Apparently, Diogenes was staring at a handful of charred bones, and the Great One, puzzled, asked him what he was looking at so attentively. Without hesitating, the philosopher replied that he tried to distinguish the bones of the slaves from those of the nobles, and could not discern them.

There is another famous anecdote concerning Diogenes and Alexander. One day, in Corinth, the king found him sunbathing. Eager to please such a wise character, the Macedonian asked him what he wanted him to give him. Neither short nor lazy, Diogenes replied: "That you take off and do not block the sunlight." Diogenes was of the Cynic school, of course.