Compare And Contrast Hercules And Antaeus

The Renaissance occurred in Europe between 1400 and 1600. This event began in Italy during the Medieval period and then expanded to the rest of Europe, marking the start of the Modern age. The Renaissance began in Florence Italy in the 14th century. It was a cultural movement that had an enormous impact in Europe during the early modern period. The Renaissance’s influenced politics, science, literature, art, philosophy, religion, music, and other aspects. Around the 13th century in Italy started the Renaissance’s art influence. Leonardo da Vinci, was known as the "Renaissance man," because of his art masterpieces and his studies in other fields during this time. Italy wasn’t a political concept in the

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

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.

Greek hero Heracles. Hercules's mother was Alcmena or Alcmene, the wife of King Amphitryon of Troezen. His father was none other than Zeus, the king of the gods, who disguised himself as Amphitryon and visited Alcmena on a night that lasted as long as three ordinary nights. Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, was determined

"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.

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.

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.”

Physical strength is an essential characteristic of a hero and is associated the most with Hercules. Unlike other heroes, Hercules used his strength in his first heroic deed to help others, rather than proving himself to gain the title of a hero. The gods needed the help of a mortal to conquer the Giants who were inflicting terror on Olympos, and they chose Hercules. Hercules shot one of the two Giants with his bow and arrow, wounding him fatally, then dragged him to a land where he could die. “Hercules… played an important part” when defeating these supernatural creatures (Hamilton 167). Hercules’ killing of one of the Giants that the gods couldn’t kill on their own shows that he possessed godly strength and gives him the characteristics of a hero. Furthermore, Hercules helped the Thebans fight the Minyans, and won Princess Megara’s hand in marriage. “The grateful citizens” depended on the strength of Hercules for winning the battle against the Minyans (Hamilton 169). The people of Greece valued Hercules immensely, to the point where they believed he was worthy of being married to Thebes’ Princess. Additionally, strength was extremely important in Greek culture considering the fact that this was a time of war, and strength is what Greece needed to protect themselves. Thus Hercules, the strongest man, is the most valued hero in Greece.

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.

Another one of Michelangelo’s Renaissance masterpieces known as Pieta was created between 1498 and 1499. This masterpiece was displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The Pieta depicts the Virgin Mary holding the body of her son, Jesus Christ after His crucifixion. Like Michelangelo’s famous sculpture David, his masterpiece Pieta has also been re-created many times by other painters and sculptors.

He took great care to depict the true story not only with Mary and Jesus themselves, but also with their emotion. In Pietà, Mary’s face is solemn and sad, her nose and eyes look as if she were living and breathing at this moment. Michelangelo captured every facial expression, cloth wrinkle, vein, ab, crevice, fold, and the overall realism of the sculpture is what makes it so well known. Just one look and the amount of work is seen. Humanism and realism were the true inspirations behind this sculpture.

Hercules marries Megara later, after having proved himself an excellent warrior and she birthed him two daughters. Hera caused Hercules to go crazy, and he killed his wife and daughters. When Hercules finally came to his senses he was distraught, and went to King Eurypterus and requested punishment. King Eurypterus asked the gods to help him come up with a punishment, and Hera is the one that responded to his request.

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.)

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.

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.