Compare And Contrast Hercules And Antaeus

The Renaissance period began in Italy around 1300 and spread throughout Europe during the 1400 and 1500’s. This period signified the beginning path to incredible change in customs, ways of life and institutions that had existed in Europe for almost a thousand years. Many of the new ideas of this period still influence our lives today.

"The 12 Labors of Hercules" demonstrates a Hero's Journey by assigning Hercules many excruciating tasks designed to kill him. Hera and King Eurystheus are in cahoots and continually try to brutally and indirectly end the hero's life. Hercules was sent to do his twelve labors for his cousin, King Eurystheus, after murdering his wife, Hera, and their children. Hera was being manipulative and messing with Hercules’ head, so he had a fit and a bit of insanity and ended up killing Hera and their offspring. Hercules did not seem to know or understand what was going on when he killed his family and felt dreadful when he realized what he had done, so he prayed to Apollo seeking assistance.

The Renaissance was the period following the Middle Ages in Europe that emerged in Italy in the late 14th century lasting until the late 16th century. Renaissance, meaning rebirth, had and continues to have an origin that is unknown to most. This

One of the most famous painter and sculptors of the Italian Renaissance, the age of renewal and cultural achievement circa 1500, was the artistic genius Michelangelo Buonarroti. The man that desired nothing but perfection often reached it in his work. He captured the motion of the human figure and the anatomy of muscles in a way that was increasingly beautiful and startlingly realistic. Whether because of one of the most famous sculptures in history, “the David” or the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, that became the textbook examples for the art period of High Renaissance, Michelango’s art changed the world and he will continue to be studied with awe throughout history.

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

Hercules origin story displays the beginnings of his strength and how this would both help and hurt him in the future. With great strength comes great power, and this mixed with a short temperament was not a successful recipe for the Demigod. After attempting to murder Hercules, Hera remained angry. In order to get revenge on her husband, Hera vowed to make the rest of Hercules’ like as miserable and painful as possible. As Hercules grew older, the interference of Hera in his life further proved his strength to mankind.

A winter known as Giorgio Vasari, stated that Michelangelo’s e works excelled “all ancient and modern statues, whether Greek or Latin, that have ever existed.” Michelangelo’s work, David, was very atypical in that the statue was unusually large and slender. By the 20th century, Michelangelo’s David had become iconic shorthand for culture with endless reproductions.

The Italian Renaissance was a period of great cultural changes and achievement throughout Europe. It spanned from the end of the 13th century up to about the 1600’s. It marked the transition of Europe from the medieval period to the Early Modern Europe. The term renaissance is a modern term that was coined by historians many years after the Renaissance had already ended.

After Michelangelo moved to Rome, one of the cardinals within the catholic church commissioned him to create a sculpture called ‘‘La Pieta.’’ ‘‘La Pieta’’ was sculpted from a single piece of marble stone and it was a representation of Christ and his mother Mary. This 6 foot by 6 foot sculpture only took 1 year for Michelangelo to complete it. The sculpture quickly became known for all the details that included the folding of the cloths, the ribs, and the bones which are incredibly difficult to sculpt.

Many of us today have things in our culture that we appreciate without thinking about where they have come from. The things we enjoy so much could be from another culture, and even another place in time. This document will explore the influence of Italian Renaissance art on today's civilization, which has greatly changed the art of today.

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.

He went to Apollo for advice in desperate measures. He was told to serve to his cousin "Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Argos." (Hercules -- Ancient History Encyclopedia.) Hera bossed Eurystheus to set the hero to perform killer tasks know as the "The Famous Twelve Labours of Hercules." (Hercules -- Ancient History Encyclopedia.)

One of the pieces defining characteristics, what makes it such a marvel, is how the physique is anatomically perfect. This speaks of a highly developed culture, with an intricate understanding of anatomy and physiology. But, also of a culture that privileges physical strength and beauty. The Greeks of the time were either artists or warriors, or often both, so strength and beauty were central in their world. Laocoon and His Sons is a much more naturalistic piece than earlier Greek works; in which the figures were often idolized; lacking luster, life, emotion, humanity. Cleobis and Biton, a set of sculptures from the Archaic Period, exemplify this quite well; posing, rigid, golem like figures; lacking the humanity they are supposed to represent. The Hellenistic baroque style of Laocoon and His Sons gives us a much more true-to-life representation in comparison to earlier works. This work has inspired artists and regular humans alike down through the centuries, one of whom it is particularly well known to have influenced greatly was Michelangelo; as can be seen in some of his pieces; e.g: The rebellious Slave.

The Classical period of Ancient Greece produced some of the most beautiful and intensely felt sculptures ever. The sculptures of this time period are characterized by a freedom of movement and a freedom of expression. Of the many notable works there is one that every college student should understand, the Discobolus by Myron, or the Discus Thrower. This sculpture celebrates the style of the time period like no other. “The best example showing freedom of movement is the Discobolos (The Discus Thrower) by Myron in the Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.”

The Italian Renaissance took place from the 1400s to the 1700s, just after the plague spread through. One of the major reasons why the Renaissance started in Italy was because of how fast the plague got through and spread throughout the rest of Europe. The Northern Renaissance took place from the 1400s to the 1600s, because the ideas from Italy spread to and then throughout Europe.