Greek Symcules : Hercules, A Greek-Roman Hero

The concept of an epic hero ordains in most capacities to be born into their position, subsequently having to prove themselves worthy of said position, eventually excelling their birth circumstances and achieving greatness. This is true of most epic heroes, being either demigods, royalty, or both. Hercules is a demigod (explaining his astounding feats of strength and will), Aeneas is a demigod and of a royal bloodline, Odysseus is essentially blessed by the gods and king of Ithica. Those characters’ qualities of birth can be definitively classified as happenstantial luck. Yet, is it luck if one’s powers are inexplicably unique and inherent, not being bestowed? The most enigmatic, yet prominent epic hero who defies the trope of born luck seems to be the Anglo-Saxon character of Beowulf.

Who is the best example of a hero? Hercules. He is the mortal son of zeus. Hercules is the strongest hero of all time. Not only does he have incredible strength, but he is very caring of his family and mortals. Hercules is not just one of those basic, amatuer heros, he has so much experience since he had performed 12 labours. These are some of the reasons why Hercules is known as the greatest hero of all time.

Hercules, born of Alcmena and Zeus, was conceived when Zeus took the form of Alcmena’s husband and lay with her. Her true husband lay with her again later that night and she conceived twins. One would be born to her human husband, and the other fathered by Zeus himself (Hamilton). Zeus bragged about his soon to be born son alerting and infuriating Hera to Hercules existence. Hera was notorious for tormenting her husbands’ illegitimate offspring since she couldn’t harm Zeus outright for his infidelity (Hamilton). Hera persuaded Eileithyia to slow Alcmena’s labor in a fit of piqué, almost killing her (Hamilton). Alcmena in fear of Hera’s wrath gave her son to nature. Zeus (in some accounts Hermes) stole him away to Olympus, where he suckled at Hera’s breast while she lay sleeping, granting him immortality (McLeish). When Hera awoke during the suckling she pushed Hercules away and the milk that sprayed out formed the Milky Way (Leeming). Zeus took the infant and placed him back in his crib before departing to Olympus again. Enraged Hera sent two massive serpents to kill Hercules and his brother as they lay sleeping

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

Hercules is definitely one of the most famous greek heroes in history, is supposedly “brainwashed” by a jealous Hera into murdering his family, was to make up for it by completing twelve famous labours for king Eurystheus. Not only did he murder his family, the twelve labours mostly consist of stealing goods and possessions from others and murdering people that get in his way. He has killed some grand pesky beats, but he is still being ordered to kill, and following those orders without hesitation.

There has been many discussions on the differences between Hercules and Heraclês. Disney likes to change stories to make them more child friendly. This creates differences between the original stories and the Disney take on the tales. In the case of the movie of Hercules and the story of Heraclês the main differences, that I will be focusing on is family value, true love, and comic relief.

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.

Hercules the son of the Greek god Zeus and a mortal mother (Thomas Bulfinch). The gift given to Hercules by his immortal father is superhuman strength. Hercules is dealt the job of

Later on, Zeus appears to Hercules and gives him to the task to become a true hero, so he can then rejoin the Olympians on Mt. Olympus leaving behind his regular life behind. This is when Hercules accepts the call and advances to the next stage, entering the unknown. Emerging himself into a world of mythical creatures. Zeus then provides Hercules with helpers, Pegasus and Phil to assist him with his quest. Without their help it is likely that Hercules would not be able to complete the task (give examples how they did this). Zeus ends up becoming Hercules’ supernatural aid. As king of the gods and Hercule’s true father he has mastered the laws of the outside world and appears to bestow the wisdom Hercules needs to achieve his goal. As Hercules trains to reach divinity, he becomes famous among the citizens. However, when he returns to the Temple of Zeus, Zeus explain that fame is not equivalent to heroism and he must find the true meaning of the word. Afterwards, Hercules encounters his test and supreme ordeal. Along the journey his love interest, Meg, is captured by Hades and the only way to free her is to surrender his

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

He was born with the strength of ten men. while in the womb of his mom Zeus's wife, Hera promised Zeus Hercules would suffer. Hera attempted to kill Him by sending venomous snakes. She failed because baby Hercules strangled the snake before they could get to him.

Hercules, or known in Latin as Heracles, was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity. In art, Hercules was portrayed as a powerful, muscular man wearing lion's skin and armed with a huge club. He was also described as being a macho man buffoon, who was very impulsive. Hercules’ home and birthing place is in Thebes, Greece. Thebes is a city in central Greece. It plays as an important setting in many Greek myths, such as the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and many other important roles in Greek Mythology. The demigod, Hercules has an interesting origin, he is most famous for his 12 labors, and leaves a legacy in words and expressions.

Hercules was favored by the gods from few quest and even a labor. For the sixth labor the goddess Athena helped Hercules by scaring off the Stymphalian bird he had to do this because the birds were causing a plague with their numbers. Hercules shot arrows at the birds when Athena scared them. Hercules had many terrible experiences with love because of Hera. ”He was helped by Athena to drive them out of their converts. ”(Hamilton 172) Hercules was considered the greatest hero of gods because he had the most strength out of all and great emotion. When he was a baby Hera sent two snakes to kill him but Hercules held them both up and killed them. Even though he is called the greatest this didn't mean he was necessarily good most of the times when he did bad things it was hera controlling his mind. He killed his wife and three children when he was being controlled. “When Megara had borne three sons he went mad.” Later he killed his wife and children.

all the commotion was about, she was amazed at the sight of her infant son

Zeus fell in love with a Greek woman named Alcmene, and impregnated her. When the wife of Zeus, Hera, found out she tried to prevent the birth of the child. Hera could not stop the birth, and the child was named Hercules, which means “glorious gift to Hera” in Greek. Hercules was a demi-god because of one human parent and one god parent. Hera tried to kill the baby by placing snakes in his crib, butt the child strangled the snakes before they could kill him. Hera wanted to get revenge on Zeus by making Hercules life miserable.