Analysis Of The 12 Labours Of Hercules

In Greek mythology Hercules is known for his strength and courage, considered as half man and half god. He was an adventurous superhuman born from mortal mother and the son of god Zeus. Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus decided to kill Hercules after his birth. Hercules then married the Theben princess Megara and had three children. However, Hera wasn’t happy about him. She was filled hatred of him, and as time goes, this situation made him to kill his wife and all his children. Hercules then felt guilty about the crime he had done. Hercules was charged to serve his cousin, king Eurystheus, and the ‘twelve labors’ were given to him as punishments. Those labors are a call to adventure that made Hercules to cross the threshold

“ A huge boar was ravaging cattle on mount Erymanthus, and again Hercules was required to capture it alive. This pised him no problem… he chased the boar… until it collapsed… and then bound the beast in chains.” ( Creighton 99) He got a lot of experience from this labour because he had to chase down this wild boar, and then chain it up. So if any tragedies like this occur in the city, he would be able to take care of it. “ The third labour imposed on Hercules was the capture of a deer with golden antlers… Eurystheus wanted him to bring the animal back alive, Hercules brought it down by shooting an arrow neatly through the forelegs.” ( Creighton 98) To hit a shot like that, there is lots of experience necessary, so even before the 12 labours, Hercules had these amazing skills of running, shooting, hunting and so on. The best hero, most also have the most experience and skills, that is why Hercules is the greatest hero. Without these skills, and without this type of experience, you are not fit to be called the best hero. Hercules is the only one with these skills and experience, that is why is the best

More clearly than the Bible, Greek/Roman mythology helps outline the life cycle that almost always applies to the traditional archetypal hero. With basic knowledge of the Bible we can determine right from wrong and its influence in real life when reading mythology. As the reader we experience this when seeing the actions the hero takes, as explained by Frye when he states, "... the central myth of the hero whose mysterious birth, triumph and marriage, death and betrayal and eventual rebirth..." (Frye, 67), explaining the archetypical story outline of the tragic hero. As an example of the archetype, the story of Hercules starts with the mysterious birth of a being that is half god and half man, with his father famously being Zeus. Following Hercules' diverse birth we also know he triumphed over the leader of the underworld named Hades, while also

In countless stories where males give birth, gods use humans for their own pleasure, and fathers swallow their children, it’s impossible to lose oneself in the soap-opera-esque reminiscence. With a glorious name that is known to this day, Hercules is seen as a hero because of his great strength and courage. He has multiple archetypes, but the question is, which one is more predominant? Hercules is different in each story. In the myth he is considered one archetype and in the Disney animation he is considered a completely different archetype.

Hercules is thought to be one of the world’s greatest hero. There are children’s movies about him, but they all have a happy ending. Hercules, originally born “Heracles” lived a short cruel, yet heroic life. “The 12 Herculean tasks he performed over a period of 12 years have been immortalized in everything from classical poetry to Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.” (French 1). Hercules, in Greek mythology, was a hero known for his strength and courage and for his legendary adventures. Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles. He was the son of the god Zeus and a human mother Alcmene, wife of the Theban general Amphitryon. Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, was determined to kill Hercules, and after Hercules was born, she

Hercules is not the hero that greek mythology glorifies him to be. His ruthless acts to “purify” himself from killing his family, are nothing but him following commands of robbery, whether it be of a life or possession. He is less of a hero and more of a modern day hired ‘hitman’. Hercules agreed to completing the twelve tedious labours, however bad they might be. If he was ordered to steal something, he would. If he was told to kill something, he would do it. His actions are more alike the ones of an assassin or hitman rather than a selfless hero.

“Hercules demonstrated his strength right from birth. He choked the serpents that had been sent to him by the jealous Hera.” (classicsunveiled.com)

Greek mythology has been passed on and retold over generations. Literature and movies have been created to entertain as well as provide specific themes based off of myths. There are many heroes that mythology talks about and each one has lived an epic life, but there is one famous hero that has been immortalized throughout history. Hercules is the son of Zeus and a mortal named Alcmene. Zeus impregnated her while her husband was away and this is where his story began. Zeus' wife, Hera, found out about the affair and was outrageous about his careless actions. She tried to prevent Hercules' birth; however, when that didn't work she sent snakes to kill the baby. Hercules was too mighty for the snakes and strangled them before they could even hurt him. As stated in this source, "Hera remained angry. How could she get even? Hera knew that she would lose in a fight, and that she wasn't powerful enough to prevent Zeus from having his way. Hera decided to pay Zeus back for his infidelity by making the rest of Hercules' life as miserable as she could" (Crane WEB). Hercules grew up to be a great young warrior and was all around. With this god-like strength, also came an uncontrollable temper that made him react at times without thinking, but later made him realize the wrongdoings of his violence. He later then married a woman named Megara and had two beautiful children. But one day, Hera instilled a fit of rage into Hercules and made him slaughter his family with his very own hands. He was shocked by his actions and asked Apollo for assistance since he was drowning in guilt. Apollo later then gave him specific tasks to help Hercules redeem himself for the bloodshed he caused. The hero was sent to Eurystheus, and under his strict hand, he was to accomplish twelve labors over the next twelve years.

There are many cultures around the world that value different character qualities. Some of these are expressed through the stories that are passed down from generation to generation. A very popular story many cultures have their own spin on is Hercules. This story originated from Ancient Greece, but many people in American society are more familiar with the Disney version than the original. The basic storylines of these versions are the same, but some of the intricate details that help define the cultures these stories come from, vary. These changes help highlight the differences between American society today and Ancient Greek society in the time this story was written. The most significant changes in these two stories is the childhood of

In the book of Mythology, by Edith Hamilton, the author introduces the Greek hero, Hercules, who is the son of Zeus. The author explains Hercules’ atonement towards a fatal accident that Hercules caused. The accident was so great that he feels a desperate need for purification, so he accomplishes labors that are believed to be incredibly impossible to complete so he can be granted the desire for atonement after the horrific murder of his family.

Hercules faced these Labor with training, as a young boy. Heracles was trained by the famous hero mentor, Cheiron. Hercules went into these labors ready to face the world and to try

In 1949, Joseph Campbell, a writer and mythologist, published a book titled The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In it, Campbell proposed his theory that hundreds of hero stories can be summed up in a twelve-step pattern. Half of the cycle takes place in the hero’s regular world. The other half takes place in a special, unknown world. The cycle doesn’t only apply to ancient heroes; many modern heroes, such as Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games series, and Harry Potter of the Harry Potter series, fit in this sequence. Evidently, modern hero characters can be traced back to this simple pattern. One such hero that has been introduced in recent decades is Hercules, from the 1997 Disney movie Hercules. Hercules, like countless other heroes, fits

Take a minute to look at the world around you. Notice how different people are. Notice how lucky some people are. Notice how unlucky some people are. Notice the amount of people who are so famous or popular. Then notice those who are nobodies. Disney’s Hercules is a film about a young hero, Hercules, who was born a God, but was forcefully taken of everything but his strength. He was taken of this by Hades, the God of the underworld, who is out to destroy the other Gods of the world and destroy Olympus forever. Throughout the movie Hades is faced with the fact that Hercules may return to stop him from pursuing his evil plan. Hades goal is then to defeat Hercules and finish his scheme . In the film Hercules, the writers use the evil genius to reveal, that humanity will use many resources in order to make themselves seem better than others because they fear that since they may be less fortunate than them, they may be overlooked by the society around them.

These labors were designated to him through King Eurystheus because of the unspeakable acts he committed. Hercules sought out many prophets, only in the end to return to King Eurystheus to complete his 12 suicidal labors. One of the last 6 labors completed was to capture the Cretan Bull. Minos promised Poseidon that he would sacrifice whatever the god sent to him. Poseidon sent a great bull, but Minos thought it was too beautiful to kill. So he killed another bull, and Poseidon grew angry so he made it rampage through the city of Crete. Hercules wrestled the bull to the ground. He carried the bull back to Eurystheus, but it could not be tamed so Eurystheus set it free. The 8th labor Hercules had to complete was stealing the Mares of Diomedes. Diomedes’ Mares are 4 men eating horses with terrible tempers. Diomedes kept the horses chained to a golden post to keep them from escaping. Hercules snuck behind the golden post taming the horses, and right before he could release them Diomedes soldiers began attacking Hercules. From hearing all the commotion Diomedes awakens. He is informed that Hercules is trying to steal the mares from a random foot soldier. Diomedes is irate and attacks Hercules.

King Eurypterus told Hercules that the only way to cleanse himself is to complete 12 heroic labors. He added that performing these labors would cause Hercules to become an immortal god with honor restored. Hercules first labor was to kill the Nemean lion. The second labor was to kill the multi-headed hydra. The third labor was to capture Cerynitian without wounding it. The fourth labor was to capture an enormous boar. The fifth labor was to clean the stables of King Augeas in a single day. The sixth labor was to kill the stymphalian birds without entering the swamp. The seventh labor tasked Hercules was disposal of the Minotaur. The eighth labor was to bring the mares of Diomedes to King Eurypterus. The ninth labor was to retrieve the belt of the queen Hippolyta. The tenth labor was to capture cattle that belonged to Geryon, a monster. The eleventh