Ancient myths legends legends. The best parables, stories, legends

Disputes between supporters of the theory of creationism and evolutionary theory do not subside to this day. However, unlike the theory of evolution, creationism includes not one, but hundreds of different theories (if not more). In this article we will talk about the ten most unusual myths of antiquity.

10. The myth of Pan-gu

The Chinese have their own ideas about how the world came into being. The most popular myth can be called the myth of Pan-gu, a giant man. The plot is as follows: at the dawn of time, Heaven and Earth were so close to each other that they merged into a single black mass.

According to legend, this mass was an egg, and Pan-gu lived inside it, and he lived for a long time - many millions of years. But one day he got tired of such a life, and, waving a heavy ax, Pan-gu got out of his egg, splitting it into two parts. These parts subsequently became Heaven and Earth. He was unimaginably tall - about fifty kilometers long, which, by the standards of the ancient Chinese, was the distance between Heaven and Earth.

Unfortunately for Pan-gu, and fortunately for us, the colossus was mortal and, like all mortals, died. And then Pan-gu decomposed. But not the way we do it - Pan-gu decayed really cool: his voice turned into thunder, his skin and bones became the firmament of the earth, and his head became Cosmos. So, his death gave life to our world.

9. Chernobog and Belobog

This is one of the most significant myths of the Slavs. He tells about the confrontation between Good and Evil - the White and Black gods. It all started like this: when there was only one solid sea around, Belobog decided to create land, sending his shadow - Chernobog - to do all the dirty work. Chernobog did everything as expected, however, having a selfish and proud nature, he did not want to share power over the firmament with Belobog, deciding to drown the latter.

Belobog got out of this situation, did not allow himself to be killed, and even blessed the land erected by Chernobog. However, with the advent of land, there was one small problem: its area grew exponentially, threatening to swallow everything around.

Then Belobog sent his delegation to Earth in order to find out from Chernobog how to stop this business. Well, Chernobog sat on a goat and went to negotiate. The delegates, seeing Chernobog galloping towards them on a goat, were imbued with the comedy of this spectacle and burst into wild laughter. Chernobog did not understand humor, was very offended and flatly refused to talk to them.

Meanwhile, Belobog, still wanting to save the Earth from dehydration, decided to spy on Chernobog, making a bee for this purpose. The insect coped with the task successfully and found out the secret, which was as follows: in order to stop the growth of land, it is necessary to draw a cross on it and say the cherished word - “enough”. What Belobog did.

To say that Chernobog was not happy is to say nothing. Wanting to take revenge, he cursed Belobog, and cursed him in a very original way - for his meanness, Belobog was now supposed to eat bee feces all his life. However, Belobog did not lose his head, and made bee feces sweet like sugar - this is how honey appeared. For some reason, the Slavs did not think about how people appeared ... The main thing is that there is honey.

8. Armenian duality

Armenian myths are reminiscent of Slavic ones, and also tell us about the existence of two opposite principles - this time male and female. Unfortunately, the myth does not answer the question of how our world was created, it only explains how everything around is arranged. But that doesn't make it any less interesting.

So, here summary: Heaven and Earth are husband and wife separated by the ocean; The sky is a city, and the Earth is a piece of rock, which is held on its huge horns by an equally huge bull - when he shakes his horns, the earth bursts at the seams from earthquakes. That, in fact, is all - this is how the Armenians imagined the Earth.

There is also an alternative myth where the Earth is in the middle of the sea, and Leviathan swims around it, trying to grab onto its own tail, and constant earthquakes were also explained by its flopping. When Leviathan finally bites his own tail, life on Earth will end and the apocalypse will come. Have a nice day.

7 Norse Myth Of The Ice Giant

It would seem that there is nothing in common between the Chinese and the Scandinavians - but no, the Vikings also had their own giant - the origin of everything, only his name was Ymir, and he was icy and with a club. Before his appearance, the world was divided into Muspelheim and Niflheim - the realms of fire and ice, respectively. And between them stretched Ginnungagap, symbolizing absolute chaos, and there, from the merging of two opposite elements, Ymir was born.

And now closer to us, to the people. When Ymir began to sweat, a man and a woman emerged from his right armpit along with the sweat. It's strange, yes, we understand this - well, that's how they are, harsh Vikings, there's nothing to be done. But back to the point. The man's name was Buri, he had a son Bor, and Bor had three sons - Odin, Vili and Ve. The three brothers were gods and ruled Asgard. This seemed not enough to them, and they decided to kill Ymir's great-grandfather, making the world out of him.

Ymir was not happy, but no one asked him. In the process, he shed a lot of blood - enough to fill the seas and oceans; from the skull of the unfortunate brothers created the vault of heaven, they broke his bones, making mountains and cobblestones out of them, and they made clouds out of the torn brains of poor Ymir.

This new world One and the company immediately decided to settle: so they found two beautiful trees on the seashore - ash and alder, making a man out of ash, and a woman out of alder, thereby giving rise to the human race.

6. Greek myth about balls

Like many other peoples, the ancient Greeks believed that before our world appeared, there was only continuous Chaos around. There was no sun, no moon - everything was dumped into one big heap, where things were inseparable from each other.

But then a certain god came, looked at the chaos reigning around, thought and decided that all this was not good, and set to work: he separated the cold from the heat, the foggy morning from the clear day, and all that sort of thing.

Then he set about the Earth, rolling it into a ball and dividing this ball into five parts: it was very hot at the equator, extremely cold at the poles, but between the poles and the equator - just right, you can’t imagine more comfortable. Further, from the seed of an unknown god, most likely Zeus, known to the Romans as Jupiter, the first man was created - two-faced and also in the shape of a ball.

And then they tore it in two, making a man and a woman out of it - the future of us.

SourcePhoto 5The Egyptian God Who Loved His Shadow Very Much

In the beginning there was a great ocean whose name was "Nu", and this ocean was Chaos, and there was nothing else besides it. It was not until Atum, by an effort of will and thought, created himself from this Chaos. Yes, the man had balls. But further - more and more interesting. So, he created himself, now it was necessary to create the earth in the ocean. Which he did. Having wandered around the earth and realizing his total loneliness, Atum became unbearably bored, and he decided to plan more gods. How? And so, with an ardent, passionate feeling for his own shadow.

Thus fertilized, Atum gave birth to Shu and Tefnut, spitting them out of his mouth. But, apparently, he overdid it, and the newborn gods were lost in the ocean of Chaos. Atum grieved, but soon, to his relief, he nevertheless found and regained his children. He was so glad to be reunited that he cried for a long, long time, and his tears, touching the earth, fertilized it - and people grew out of the earth, many people! Then, while people were fertilizing each other, Shu and Tefnut also had coitus, and they gave birth to other gods - more gods to the god of gods! - Gebu and Nutu, who became the personification of the Earth and the sky.

There is another myth in which Atum replaces Ra, but this does not change the main essence - there, too, everyone fertilizes each other en masse.

4. The myth of the Yoruba people - about the Sands of Life and the chicken

There is such African people— Yoruba. So, they also have their own myth about the origin of all things.

In general, it was like this: there was one God, his name was Olorun, and one fine day the thought came to his mind - that the Earth should be arranged somehow (then the Earth was one continuous wasteland).

Olorun did not really want to do this himself, so he sent his son, Obotalu, to Earth. However, at that time, Obotala had more important things to do (in fact, a chic party was planned in heaven then, and Obotala simply could not miss it).

While Obotala was having fun, all the responsibility was thrown on Odudawa. With nothing at hand but chicken and sand, Odudawa nevertheless set to work. His principle was as follows: he took sand from a cup, poured it onto the Earth, and then let the chicken run along the sand and trample it well.

Having carried out several such simple manipulations, Odudava created the land of Lfe or Lle-lfe. This is where the story of Odudava ends, and Obotala reappears on the stage, this time drunk as hell - the party was a success.

And so, being in a state of divine alcoholic intoxication, the son of Olorun set about creating us humans. It went out of his hands badly, and he made invalids, dwarfs and freaks. Having sobered up, Obotala was horrified and quickly corrected everything, creating normal people.

According to another version, Obotala never recovered, and Odudava also made people, simply lowering us from the sky and at the same time assigning himself the status of the ruler of mankind.

3. Aztec "War of the Gods"

According to the Aztec myth, no original Chaos existed. But there was a primary order - an absolute vacuum, impenetrably black and endless, in which a certain in a strange way lived the Supreme God - Ometeotl. He had a dual nature, having both a feminine and a masculine beginning, was kind and at the same time evil, was both warm and cold, truth and falsehood, white and black.

He gave birth to the rest of the gods: Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Xipe-Totec, who, in turn, created giants, water, fish and other gods.

Tezcatlipoca ascended to heaven, sacrificing himself and becoming the Sun. However, there he encountered Quetzalcoatl, entered into battle with him and lost to him. Quetzalcoatl threw Tezcatlipoc from the sky and became the Sun himself. Then, Quetzalcoatl gave birth to humans and gave them nuts to eat.

Tezcatlipoka, still holding a grudge against Quetzalcoatl, decided to take revenge on his creations by turning people into monkeys. Seeing what happened to his first people, Quetzalcoatl fell into a rage and called powerful force a hurricane that scattered vile monkeys around the world.

While Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc were at enmity with each other, Tialoc and Chalchiuhtlicue also turned into suns in order to continue the cycle of day and night. However, the fierce battle of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc also affected them - then they, too, were thrown from heaven.

In the end, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc ended the enmity, forgetting past grievances and creating new people, the Aztecs, from the dead bones and blood of Quetzalcoatl.

2. Japanese "World Cauldron"

Japan. Chaos again, again in the form of an ocean, this time as dirty as a swamp. Magical reeds (or reeds) grew in this ocean swamp, and from this reeds (or reeds), like our children from cabbage, the gods were born, there are a great many of them. All together they were called Kotoamatsukami - and this is all that is known about them, for, as soon as they were born, they immediately hurried to hide in the reeds. Or in reeds.

While they were hiding, new gods appeared, including Ijinami and Ijinaga. They began to stir the ocean until it thickened and formed the land - Japan. Ijinami and Ijinaga had a son, Ebisu, who became the god of all fishermen, a daughter, Amaterasu, who became the Sun, and another daughter, Tsukiyomi, who turned into the Moon. They also had one more son, the last - Susanoo, who, for his violent temper, received the status of the god of wind and storms.

1. Lotus flower and "Om-m"

Like many other religions, Hinduism also features the concept of the emergence of the world from the void. Well, as from the void - there was an endless ocean in which a giant cobra swam, and there was Vishnu, who slept on the cobra's tail. And nothing more.

Time passed, days succeeded each other one after another, and it seemed that it would always be like this. But one day, a sound that had never been heard before - the sound of "Om-m" - sounded all around, and the previously empty world was overwhelmed with energy. Vishnu awakened from his sleep, and Brahma appeared from the lotus flower at his navel. Vishnu ordered Brahma to create the world, and in the meantime he disappeared, taking with him a snake.

Brahma, sitting in a lotus position on a lotus flower, set to work: he divided the flower into three parts, using one to create Heaven and Hell, another to create Earth, and a third to create heaven. Then Brahma created animals, birds, people and trees, thus creating all living things.

In the general religious understanding of the ancient Hellenes, there was a variety of cult representations. All this is confirmed by numerous archeological excavations and artifacts. It is proved in what area these or those gods were extolled. For example, Apollo - in Delphi and Delos, the capital of Greece is named after Athena, the god of healing Asclepius (son of Apollo) - in Epidaurus, Poseidon was respected by the Ionians in the Peloponnese, and so on.

Greek shrines were opened in honor of this: Delphic, Dodonian and Delian. Almost all of them are covered with some kind of mystery, it is deciphered in myths and legends. Most interesting myths Ancient Greece(short) we will describe below.

Cult of Apollo in Greece and Rome

He was called "four-armed" and "four-eared". Apollo had about a hundred sons. He himself was either five or seven. There are countless monuments in honor of the saint, huge temples of his name too - located in Greece, Italy, Turkey. And it's all about HIM: about Apollo, the mythical hero and god of Hellas.

The ancient gods did not have surnames, but Apollo had several of them: Delphic, Rhodes, Belvedere, Pythian. This happened in the territories where his cult grew the most.

Two millennia have passed since the birth of the cult, and the fairy tale about this handsome man is still believed today. How did he enter "naive mythology" and why is he invented in the souls and hearts of the Greeks and inhabitants of other countries?

The veneration of the son of Zeus originated in Asia Minor two thousand years before our era. Initially, the myths portrayed Apollo not as a man, but as a zoomorphic creature (the influence of pre-religious totemism) - a ram. A Dorian version of origin is also possible. But, as before, an important center of the cult is the Sanctuary at Delphi. In it, the soothsayer uttered all kinds of predictions, according to her instructions, twelve mythical labors of Apollo's brother Hercules took place. From the Hellenic colonies in Italy, the cult of the Greek god gained a foothold in Rome.

Myths about Apollo

God is not alone. Archaeological sources provide information about the various sources of its origin. Who were the Apollos: the son of the guardian of Athens, Corybant, Zeus the third and several other fathers. Mythology attributes to Apollo thirty heroes killed by him (Achilles), dragons (including Python), and a cyclops. They said about him that he could destroy, but he could also help and predict the future.

Mythology spread about Apollo even before his birth, when the supreme goddess Hera learned that Leto (Laton) should give birth to a boy (Apollo) from her husband Zeus. With the help of a dragon, she drove future mother to a deserted island. Both Apollo and his sister Artemis were born there. They grew up on this island (Delos), where he swore to destroy the dragon for persecuting his mother.

As described with ancient myth, Apollo, who quickly matured, picked up a bow and arrows and flew away to where Python lived. The beast crawled out of the terrible gorge and attacked the young man.

It looked like an octopus with a large scaly body. Even the rocks were moving away from him. The disturbed monster attacked the young man. But the arrows did their job.

Python died, Apollo buried it, and the real Temple of Apollo was built here. In his room was a real priestess-soothsayer from peasant women. She uttered prophecies allegedly through the mouth of Apollo. Questions were written on tablets and passed to the temple. They were not fictional, but from real ones. earthly people different centuries of the existence of this temple. They were found by archaeologists. As the priestess commented on the questions, no one knows.

Narcissus - a mythical hero and a real flower

To paraphrase an ancient sage, we can say: if you have extra money, then do not buy bread beyond what you can eat; buy a narcissus flower - bread for the body, and he - for the soul.

So the mythical short story about the narcissus youth from Ancient Hellas developed into the name of a beautiful spring flower.

The Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, took cruel revenge on those who rejected her gifts, who did not submit to her power. Mythology knows several such victims of it. Among them is the young man Narcissus. Proud, he could not love anyone, only himself.

Wrath found on the goddess. Once in the spring, while hunting, Narcissus came up to the stream - he simply fascinated him with the purity of the water, its specularity. But the stream was really special, perhaps also enchanted by Aphrodite. The goddess did not forgive anyone if they did not pay attention to her.

No one drank from the stream of water, not even a branch or flower petals could fall into it. Here Narcissus looked at himself. Leaning down to kiss his reflection. But there is only cold water.

He forgot about the hunt, and the desire to drink water. Everyone admires, forgot about food, sleep. And suddenly he woke up: “I really fell in love with myself so much, but we can’t be together?” He began to suffer so much that his strength left him. He feels that he will go into the realm of darkness. But already the young man believes that death will end his pangs of love. He is crying.

The head of Narcissus drooped completely to the ground. He died. The nymphs wept in the forest. They dug up a grave, went for the body, but he was gone. On the grass where the young man's head fell, a flower grew. They named him Narcissus.

And the nymph Echo remained forever to suffer in that forest. And she never spoke to anyone else.

Poseidon - lord of the seas

Zeus sits in all divine majesty on Mount Olympus, and his brother Poseidon went into the depths of the sea and from there the water boiled, inviting misfortune on sailors. If he wants to do this, he takes his main weapon in his hand - a club with a trident.

He has a better palace than his brother on land. And he reigns there with his charming wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the sea god. Together with Poseidon, she rushes through the waters on a chariot with horses harnessed to it or zoomorphic creatures - tritons.

Poseidon looked after his wife from the waters on the coast of the island of Naxos. But she ran away from him to the handsome Atlas. Poseidon could not find the fugitive himself. He was helped by dolphins, who delivered her to the palace at the bottom of the sea. For this, the sea lord gave the dolphins a constellation in the sky.

Perseus: almost like a good person

Perseus is perhaps one of the few sons of Zeus who did not have negative traits character. Like the drunken lover Hercules with his bouts of inexplicable anger or Achilles, who did not consider the interests of others and admired only his own "I".

Perseus was handsome, like a god, bold and dexterous. Always tried to be successful. The mythology of Perseus is as follows. His grandfather, one of the earthly kings, dreamed that his grandson would bring death to him. Therefore, he hid his daughter in a dungeon behind stones, bronze and castles, away from men. But all the obstacles for Zeus, who liked Danae, were nothing. He penetrated to her through the roof in the form of rain. And a son was born, named Perseus. But the malicious grandfather nailed the mother and child into a box and sent them to swim in the box on the sea.

The captives nevertheless managed to escape on one of the islands, where the waves washed the box ashore, the fishermen arrived in time to rescue the mother and son. But a man reigned on the island, nothing better than father Danai. He began to approach the woman. And so years passed, now Perseus could stand up for his mother.

The king decided to get rid of the young man, but in such a way as not to incur the wrath of the god Zeus. He cheated by accusing Perseus of a non-divine origin. To do this, it was necessary to perform a heroic deed, for example, to kill the malicious medusa Gorgon and drag her head to the king's palace.

It really was not only a sea, but also a flying monster that turned those who looked at it into stone. The gods were indispensable here. Helped the son of Zeus. He was given a magic sword and a shield-mirror. In search of the monster, Perseus went through many countries and through many obstacles set up by opponents. The nymphs also gave him useful things on the road.

Finally, he reached an abandoned country where the sisters of that same Gorgon lived. Only they could lead the young man to her. The sisters had one eye and one tooth in three. While the younger gorgon with the eye was leading, the rest could not do anything. Further across the sky, he flew to the monster. And immediately came across a sleeping jellyfish. Before she woke up, the young man cut off her head and put it in a bag. And took a course through the sky to his island. So he proved his mission to the king and, taking his mother, returned to Argos.

Hercules marries

Many accomplished feats, slave labor from Queen Omphala took away the strength of Hercules. He wanted a quiet life at home. “Building a house is not difficult, but you need loving wife. Here it is necessary to find it, ”the hero made plans.

Somehow I remembered hunting for a boar near Calydon with a local prince and meeting with his sister Dejanira. And he went to South Aetolia to get married. At this time, Dejanira was already given in marriage, and many suitors gathered.

There was also a river god - a monster that the world had not seen. Dejanira's father said that he would give his daughter to the one who defeated the god. Only Hercules remained from the suitors, since the others, having seen a rival, changed their minds about marrying.

Hercules grabbed his opponent with his hands, but he stood like a rock. And so several times. The result for Hercules was almost ready, as the god turned into a snake. The son of Zeus, still in the cradle, strangled two snakes, and managed here. But the old man became a bull. The hero broke one horn, and he surrendered. The bride became the wife of Hercules.

These are the myths of Ancient Greece.

Urban legends are often compelling stories containing many folklore elements, and they quickly spread in society. The stories are told in a dramatic way, as if they were true stories related to real people- although in fact they may be 100% fictional.

Local touches are often added to the legend, so it is rather strange to hear the same story in various versions in different countries. Urban legends often carry a warning or some sort of meaning that motivates society to keep and spread them. One thing is certain - some of these creepy urban legends have kept a lot of people awake. Below are ten of the best urban legends:

10 Choking Doberman

This urban legend comes from Sydney, Australia and tells the story of a Doberman who choked on something. One night married couple went out for a walk and to sit in a restaurant, when they returned home, they saw their dog suffocating in the living room. The man panicked and fainted, and the wife decided to call her old friend, the vet, and arranged to bring the dog to the veterinary clinic.

After she took the dog to the clinic, she decided to return home and help her husband go to bed. It takes her a while to do this, and in the meantime, the phone rang. The vet screams hysterically into the phone that they need to get out of their house quickly. Without realizing what's going on, the couple leaves the house as soon as possible.

As they descend the stairs, several policemen run towards them. When the woman asks what happened, one of the policemen replies that their dog choked on the man's finger. In their house, most likely there is still a robber. Soon, the former owner of the finger was found unconscious in the couple's bedroom.

9 Suicidal Guy


This story, also known as "The Death of a Boyfriend", is told in many ways and is considered a generalized warning not to stray too far from the safety of your home. Our version will focus on Paris in the 1960s. A girl and her boyfriend (both college students) kiss in his car. They parked near the forest of Rambouillet so that no one could see them. When they finished, the guy got out of the car to take a breath. fresh air and smoke a cigarette while the girl waits for him in the safety of the car.

After she waited five minutes, the girl got out of the car to find her boyfriend. Suddenly she sees a man hiding in the shade of a tree. Frightened, she gets back into the car to leave as soon as possible - but as she got in, she heard a very quiet creak, followed by several more creaks.

This goes on for a few seconds, but the girl eventually decides that she has no other choice and decides to leave. She presses the gas pedal, but cannot go anywhere - someone has tied a cable from the bumper of the car to a tree growing nearby.

As a result, the girl presses the gas pedal again and hears a loud scream. She gets out of the car and finds her boyfriend hanging from a tree. As it turned out, the creaking sounds were made by his shoes dragging along the roof of the car.

8. Woman with a torn mouth


In Japan and China, there is a legend about the girl Kuchisake-Onna, also known as the woman with the torn mouth. Some say she was the wife of a samurai. One day, she cheated on her husband with a young and handsome man. When her husband returned, he discovered her betrayal, and in a rage, he took his sword and cut her mouth from ear to ear.

Some say that the woman was cursed - she will never die, and still walks the world so that people can see the terrible scar on her face and pity her. Some claim that they saw a beautiful young girl who asked them: "Am I beautiful?" And when they answered positively, she tore off her mask and showed a terrible wound. Then she repeated her question - and anyone who stopped considering her beautiful was waiting for a tragic death.

There are two morals in this story: it costs nothing to give a compliment, and honesty is not the best approach in all situations.

7. Bridge of the crying child


According to this legend, a couple was driving home from church with their child and arguing about something. walked heavy rain, and soon they had to cross a flooded bridge. As soon as they entered the bridge, it turned out that there was much more water than they thought, and the car got stuck - they decided that they needed to go for help. The woman waited, but got out of the car for a reason that can only be guessed at.

As she turned away from the car, she suddenly heard her baby crying loudly. She returned to the car to find that her child had been swept away by the water. According to the same legend, if you are on the same bridge, you can still hear the cry of a child there (the location of the bridge, of course, is unknown).

6Zanfretta Alien Abduction


The story of the kidnapping of Fortunato Zanfretta has become one of Italy's most famous urban legends over the past few decades.

According to his own stories (originally made under hypnosis), Zanfretta was abducted by aliens Dragos (Dragos) from the planet Teetonia (Teetonia), and for several years (1978-1981) he was repeatedly abducted several times by the same group from another planet. No matter how terrifying and creepy this story may sound, given the words of Zanfretta, uttered by him during a hypnosis session, one can regard the intentions of the aliens from an optimistic point of view:

“I know that you want to fly more often… no, you can't fly to Earth, people will be scared of how you look. You cannot become our friends. Please fly away."

Zanfretta has perhaps provided more details about his alien abduction than any other person in history - his detailed stories can make even the most ardent skeptic wonder if there is some truth in it. To this day, the Zanfretta case remains one of the most interesting and mysterious X-Files.

5. White Death


This story is about a little girl from Scotland who hated life so much that she wanted to destroy everything connected with it. Finally, she decided to commit suicide, and her family soon discovered what she had done.

By a terrible coincidence, all members of her family died a few days later, and their limbs were torn off. Legend says that when you learn about the White Death, the ghost of a little girl may find you and knock on your door many times. Each knock gets louder until the man opens the door, at which point she kills him so that he won't tell anyone else about her existence. Her main task is to make sure that no one knows about her.

Like most urban legends, this story is most likely the product of the wild imagination of modern Aesop.

4. Black Volga


According to rumors, on the streets of Warsaw in the 1960s, a black Volga was often noticed - in which people who abducted children sat. According to the legend (which was no doubt aided by Western propaganda) Soviet officers rode the black Volga around Moscow in the mid-1930s, kidnapping young, pretty girls to satisfy the sexual needs of high-ranking Soviet comrades. According to other versions of this legend, vampires, mystical priests, satanists, human traffickers, and even Satan himself sat in the Volga.

By different versions legend, children were kidnapped to use their blood as a treatment for rich people from all over the world suffering from leukemia. Naturally, none of these versions has not been confirmed.

3. Greek soldier


This less famous legend tells about a soldier from Greece who, after the Second World War, returned home to marry his fiancee. Unfortunately for him, he was captured by his compatriots with enemy political opinions, he was tortured for five weeks, after which he was killed. In the early 1950s, mostly in northern and central Greece, stories were circulating about an attractive uniformed Greek soldier who would appear and disappear quickly, seducing beautiful widows and virgins with the sole purpose of giving them a child.

Five weeks after the child was born, the man disappeared forever - leaving a note on the table in which he explained that he was returning from the world of the dead so that he would have sons who could avenge his murder.

2 Elisa Day


AT medieval Europe there lived a young girl named Eliza Day, whose beauty was like wild roses growing by the river - bloody and red. One day a young man came to town and instantly fell in love with Eliza. They met for three days. On the first day he came to her house. On the second day, he brought her one red rose and asked her to meet where wild roses grow. On the third day, he took her to the river, where he killed her. The terrible man waited until she turned away from him, then took a stone and, whispering "All beauty must die", killed her with one blow to the head. He put a rose in her teeth and pushed the body into the river. Some people claim to have seen her ghost wandering along the riverbank, with a single rose in her hand, and blood streaming from her head.

Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave have a very beautiful song on the theme of this legend - "Where The Wild Roses Grow":

1. Well to hell


In 1989, Russian scientists drilled a well in Siberia about 14.5 kilometers deep. The drill fell into the cavity in earth's crust, and scientists lowered several devices there to figure out what was the matter. The temperature there exceeded 1000 degrees Celsius, but the real shock was what they heard on the tape.

Before the microphone melted, only 17 terrifying seconds of sound were recorded. Many of the scientists, convinced that they had heard the cries of the damned from hell, quit their jobs - or at least that's what the story says. Those who remained were shocked even more that same night. A jet of luminescent gas shot out from the well, turning into the form of a giant winged demon, and then the words "I won" could be read in the lights. Although on this moment this story is considered fiction, and there are many people who believe that this actually happened - the urban legend "The Well to Hell" is told to this day.

Instruction

In the north of Moscow in Khovrino, an unfinished building has been standing for decades, resembling a ghost ship. It still inspires fear in the inhabitants of this Moscow region, since it has long had a bad reputation. This building is unfinished. Its construction began in 1980, but was never completed. In the people, this unfinished building was called the Khovrinsky abandoned hospital and is one of the ten most terrible places in the world! As soon as they do not call the Khovrinsky unfinished building: the house of horror, and the cradle of nightmares, and even the citadel of darkness.

According to urban legend, the construction of this hospital began on the bones, i.e. on the site where the old abandoned one once stood. Many people believe that this explains all the failures that accompanied the construction process. Old-timers generally say that earlier on the site of the Khovrinsky abandoned hospital there was a large bog. This is also evidenced by the fact that at present the foundation of the unfinished building is sinking lower and lower into the groundwater. The construction of this architectural structure was suspended in 1985. Since the last builder left the territory of this building, the Khovrinsky hospital has been living some kind of life of its own, full of secrets and tragedies.

Another Russian legend is associated with a ghost train and, like the first, is urban. According to legend, every month in the Moscow metro some strange ghost train rushes along the rails at breakneck speed. According to eyewitnesses, sometimes he makes stops and opens the doors of his cars. People who claimed to have seen a sign are sure that the silhouette of a driver dressed in a pre-war construction uniform is clearly visible in his cab, and all the other cars of this strange train are filled with the souls of builders.

To understand the meaning of this legend, it is necessary to remember exactly how the Moscow metro was built. Its construction began in the 40s of the last century. Old-timers say that it was exhausting and hard work for all those involved in the construction of the Metro Circle Line. The fact is that most of the builders were real prisoners convicted of certain crimes of a political or criminal nature.

Moreover, the construction of this subway was marked by bloody events: at that time, many workers allegedly died on the site. The fact is that from time to time unstable structures collapsed on them, and some people were generally driven into ventilation shafts and walled up without investigation or trial. After some time, at the cost of many human casualties, the “bloody” subway was nevertheless completed. As a result, the legend of Russian ghost. Until now, people complain that sometimes the phantom of a rusty train supposedly scares them. Eyewitnesses say that this train always appears after midnight and only on the Circle Line.

Akhtamar (Armenian legend).
Long ago, in ancient times, King Artashez had a beautiful daughter named Tamar. Tamar's eyes shone like stars in the night, and her skin turned white like snow on the mountains. Her laughter gurgled and rang like water from a spring. The fame of her beauty went everywhere. And the king of Media sent matchmakers to the king Artashez, and the king of Syria, and many kings and princes. And King Artashez began to fear that someone would come for the beauty with the war or the evil vishap would kidnap the girl before he decided who to give his daughter as a wife.
And then the king ordered to build a golden palace for his daughter on an island in the middle of Lake Van, which has long been called the "Nairi Sea", so great it is. And he gave her only women and girls as servants, so that no one would disturb the peace of the beauty. But the king did not know, just as other fathers before him did not know, and other fathers after him would not know, that Tamar's heart was no longer free. And she gave it not to the king and not to the prince, but to the poor Azat, who had nothing in the world except beauty, strength and courage. Who remembers now what his name was? And Tamar managed to exchange with the young man a look and a word, an oath and a kiss.
But now the waters of Van lie between the lovers.
Tamar knew that, by order of her father, guards were watching day and night to see if a boat was sailing from the shore to the forbidden island. Her lover knew this too. And one evening, wandering in anguish along the coast of Van, he saw a distant fire on the island. Small as a spark, he trembled in the darkness, as if trying to say something. And looking into the distance, the young man whispered:
Distant bonfire, do you send me your light?
Aren't you the beauties dear hello?
And the light, as if answering him, flared brighter.
Then the young man realized that his beloved was calling him. If you swim across the lake at nightfall, not a single guard will notice the swimmer. The fire on the shore will serve as a beacon so as not to stray in the dark.
And the lover threw himself into the water and swam into the distant light, to where the beautiful Tamar was waiting for him.
For a long time he swam in the cold dark waters, but the scarlet flower of fire inspired courage in his heart.
And only the bashful sister of the sun Lusin, looking out from behind the clouds from the dark sky, was a witness to the meeting of lovers.
They spent the night together, and in the morning the young man again set off on his return journey.
So they began to meet every night. In the evening, Tamar made a fire on the shore so that her lover could see where to swim. And the light of the flame served the young man as a talisman against the dark waters that open the gates to underworlds inhabited by hostile water spirits.
Who remembers now how long or short the lovers managed to keep their secret?
But one day the royal servant saw the young man in the morning returning from the lake. His wet hair was matted and water dripped from it, and his happy face looked tired. And the servant suspected the truth.
And that same evening, shortly before dusk, the servant hid behind a rock on the shore and waited. And he saw how a distant fire was lit on the island, and he heard a slight splash with which a swimmer entered the water.
The servant looked out for everything and hurried to the king in the morning.
King Artashez was furiously angry. The king was angry that his daughter dared to fall in love, and even more angry that she fell in love not with one of the powerful kings who asked for her hand, but with a poor Azat!
And the king ordered his servants to be ready at the shore with a fast boat. And when the darkness began to fall, the king's people swam to the island. When they sailed more than half the way, a red fire flower bloomed on the island. And the servants of the king leaned on the oars, in a hurry.
Coming ashore, they saw the beautiful Tamar, dressed in clothes embroidered with gold, smeared with fragrant oils. From under her multi-colored cap-cap, curls as black as agate fell to her shoulders. The girl sat on a carpet spread on the shore, and fed the fire from her hands with sprigs of magic juniper. And in her smiling eyes, as in the dark waters of Van, small fires burned.
Seeing the uninvited guests, the girl jumped to her feet in fright and exclaimed:
You servants of the father! Kill me!
I pray for one thing - do not put out the fire!
And they were glad royal servants pity the beauty, but feared the wrath of Artashez. Roughly they seized the girl and dragged her away from the fire, into the golden palace. But first they let her see how the fire, trampled and scattered by coarse boots, perished.
Tamar wept bitterly, escaping from the hands of the guards, and the death of fire seemed to her the death of her beloved.
So it was. There was a young man in the middle of the path when the light that had beckoned him went out. And the dark waters pulled him into the depths, filling his soul with cold and fear. Before him lay darkness and he did not know where to swim in the darkness.
For a long time he struggled with the black will of the water spirits. Every time the head of an exhausted swimmer emerged from the water, his gaze pleadingly searched for a red firefly in the darkness. But he did not find it, and again he swam at random, and the water spirits circled him, leading him astray. And finally the young man was exhausted.
"Ah, Tamar!" he whispered, last time emerging from the water. Why didn't you save the fire of our love? Did it really happen to me to sink into the dark water, and not fall on the battlefield, as it should be for a warrior!? Ah, Tamar, what an unkind death! He wanted to say that, but he couldn't. Only one thing he had the strength to exclaim: "Ah, Tamar!"
"Ah, Tamar!" - echoed - the voice of the kaji, the spirits of the wind, and carried over the waters of Van. "Ah, Tamar!"
And the king ordered the beautiful Tamar to be imprisoned forever in her palace.
In grief and sorrow, until the end of her days, she mourned her beloved, without removing the black scarf from her loose hair.
Many years have passed since then - everyone remembers their bitter love.
And the island on Lake Van has been called Akhtamar ever since.

Oh, interesting legends and parables!

One day, little Rybka heard from someone a story that there is an Ocean - a beautiful, majestic, powerful, fantastic place, and so burned with a desire to go there, to see everything with her own eyes, that this actually became the goal, the meaning of her life. And only The fish grew up, immediately started to swim, to look for the same Ocean. For a long, long time, the Fish swam, until finally, to the question: “How far is it to the Ocean?” They answered her: “Darling, you are in it. Here it is around you! “
“Fu, nonsense,” Rybka grimaced, “there’s only water around me, and I’m looking for the Ocean ...
Moral: sometimes in pursuit of some "ideals" we do not notice the obvious things!!!

And do you believe?







Believer Baby: No, no! I don’t know exactly what our life will look like after giving birth, but in any case, we will see mom and she will take care of us.
Unbelieving baby: Mom? Do you believe in mom? And where is she?
Believing baby: She is everywhere around us, we abide in her and thanks to her we move and live, without her we simply cannot exist.
Unbelieving baby: Complete nonsense! I didn't see any mother, and therefore it is obvious that she simply does not exist.
Believer Child: I can't agree with you. After all, sometimes, when everything around is quiet, you can hear how she sings, and feel how she strokes our world. I firmly believe that our real life will only start after childbirth. And do you believe?

And do you believe?
Two babies are talking in the belly of a pregnant woman. One of them is a believer, the other is a non-believer Unbelieving baby: Do you believe in life after childbirth?
Believer Baby: Yes, of course. Everyone understands that life after childbirth exists. We are here to become strong enough and ready for what comes next.
Unbelieving Baby: That's stupid! There can be no life after childbirth! Can you imagine what such a life could look like?
Believer Baby: I don't know all the details, but I believe that there will be more light and that we may be able to walk and eat with our own mouths.
Unbelieving baby: What nonsense! It is impossible to walk and eat with your mouth! It's totally funny! We have an umbilical cord that feeds us. You know, I want to tell you: it is impossible for there to be life after childbirth, because our life - the umbilical cord - is already too short.
Believing baby: I'm sure it's possible. Everything will just be a little different. It can be imagined.
Unbelieving baby: But no one has ever returned from there! Life just ends with childbirth. And in general, life is one big suffering in the dark.

THE PRICE OF TIME
The story is actually with subtext: instead of dad, there can be mom, and instead of work, the Internet, and the phone, and .... everyone has their own!
Let's not repeat the mistakes of others
Once a man came home late from work, tired and shaky as always, and saw that his five-year-old son was waiting for him at the door.
- Dad, can I ask you something?
- Of course, what happened?
- Dad, how much do you get?
- That is none of your business! - the father was indignant. - And then, why do you need it?
- I just want to know. Please, tell me, how much do you get per hour?
- Well, actually, 500. And what?
- Dad, - the son looked at him from the bottom up with very serious eyes. - Dad, can you borrow 300 for me?
"You only asked so I could give you money for some stupid toy?" he shouted. - Immediately march to your room and go to bed! .. You can’t be such an egoist! I work all day, I'm terribly tired, and you're acting so stupid.
The kid quietly went to his room and closed the door behind him. And his father continued to stand at the door and get angry at the requests of his son. How dare he ask me about my salary, then to ask for money?
But after some time, he calmed down and began to reason sensibly: Maybe he really needs to buy something very important. To hell with them, with three hundred, after all, he has never asked me for money at all. When he entered the nursery, his son was already in bed.
Are you awake, son? - he asked.
- No, dad. I'm just lying down, - the boy answered.
- I think I answered you too rudely, - said the father. - I had a hard day, and I just broke. I'm sorry. Here, keep the money you asked for.
The boy sat up in bed and smiled.
- Oh, daddy, thanks! he exclaimed happily.
Then he reached under the pillow and pulled out a few more crumpled banknotes. His father, seeing that the child already had money, got angry again. And the kid put all the money together and carefully counted the bills, and then looked at his father again.
Why did you ask for money if you already have it? he muttered.
Because I didn't have enough. But now I just have enough, - answered the child.
- Dad, there are exactly five hundred. Can I buy one hour of your time? Please come home from work early tomorrow, I want you to have dinner with us.

BE A MOM
We were having lunch when my daughter casually mentioned that she and her husband were thinking about "starting a full-fledged family."
"We're doing an opinion poll here," she said jokingly. - Do you think I should have a baby?
"This will change your life," I said, trying not to let my emotions show.
“I know,” she replied. - And you won’t sleep on weekends, and you won’t really go on vacation.
But that was not at all what I had in mind. I looked at my daughter, trying to formulate my words more clearly. I wanted her to understand something that no prenatal class would teach her.
I wanted to tell her that the physical wounds of childbirth would heal very quickly, but motherhood would give her such a bleeding emotional wound that would never heal. I wanted to warn her that from now on she would never be able to read a newspaper again without asking herself: “What if this happened to my child?” That every plane crash, every fire will haunt her. That when she looks at photographs of children dying of hunger, she will think that there is nothing in the world worse than death your child.
I looked at her manicured nails and stylish suit and thought that no matter how exquisite she was, motherhood would lower her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That the alarmed cry of "Mom!" will make her give up everything without regret - from a soufflé to the best crystal glass.
I felt like I should warn her that no matter how many years she spent on her job, her career would suffer significantly after the birth of a child. She can hire a nanny, but one day she will go to a business important meeting, but she will think about the sweet smell of a child's head. And it will take all her willpower not to run home just to find out that her baby is all right.
I wanted my daughter to know that the trivial everyday problems would never be trivial to her again. That a five-year-old boy's desire to go to the men's room at McDonald's would be a huge dilemma. That there, among rattling trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender will stand on one side of the scale, and the fear that there, in the toilet, there may be a rapist of minors, on the other.
Looking at my attractive daughter, I wanted to tell her that she can lose the weight she gained during pregnancy, but she will never be able to shed motherhood and become the same. That her life, so important to her now, will no longer be so important after the birth of a child. That she will forget about herself at the moment when her offspring must be saved, and that she will learn to hope for fulfillment - oh no! not your dream! - the dreams of their children.
I wanted her to know that a c-section scar or stretch marks would be her badge of honor. That her relationship with her husband would change and not at all in the way she thinks. I would like her to understand how much you can love a man who carefully sprinkles powder on your child and who never refuses to play with him. I think she will learn what it is like to fall in love again for a reason that now seems to her completely unromantic.
I wanted my daughter to be able to feel the connection between all the women on earth who have tried to stop wars, crime and drunk driving.
I wanted to describe to my daughter the excitement a mother gets when she sees her child learning to ride a bike. I wanted to capture for her the laughter of a baby touching the soft fur of a puppy or kitten for the first time. I wanted her to feel a joy so intense that it could hurt.
My daughter's surprised look let me know that tears welled up in my eyes.
"You will never regret this," I said at last. Then I reached across the table to her, squeezed her hand, and mentally prayed for her, for myself, and for all mortal women who dedicate themselves to this most wonderful of callings.