Heracles Being A Hero

This version of the 12 Labors of Herakles was written down around the 1st to the 2nd century CE by Pseudo-Apollodorus. The myth of Herakles is originally a Greek myth that would have been orally performed before being written down in many different languages throughout its long history. Herakles within the myth is a Demi-God that was the illegitimate child of the chief Greek god Zeus and Alkmene. This mortal half allows for the hero to me relatable to the common person, while the divine half gives the hero his mythical status.

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

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.

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.

When Hercules went to Eurystheus, the king eagerly started to think of twelve labors for Hercules. What Hercules didn’t know was that Hera was influencing the king to think of tasks that seemed to be impossible. However, no matter what task Hercules had to complete, he always came back with the task completed. After twelve years and twelve labors, he was finally released. Hercules’ went on to live a life full of adventures, and he even remarried to a woman named Deineira. Deineira became very jealous when Hercules took King Eurystheus’ daughter Lole prisoner for vengeance. She feared Hercules was being unfaithful to her, and wanted to make sure she was the only woman he loved. She took the blood of a centaur (that she was tricked into thinking would make Hercules love her forever) and smeared it on his robe, but it turned out to be poison. Hercules began to die when he put the robe on, but it ended up only killing the mortal part of him. Hera decided to end her

In spite of this traditional view, Heracles proves contradictory multiple times. Firstly, his image as protector of civilization; protector of Greece (Women of Trachis l.1012) is undermined by the destructive impulses that Heracles unleashes on the enemies of Greece, as well as upon the entire city of Oechalia. For example when he seeks vengeance against Eurytus, it results in the sacking of an entire city, and he responds to his wife’s love by bringing home with him the object of his lust, Iole. He even releases these destructive tendencies on his own family, on his wife Deianira and in particular his eldest son Hyllus. The establishment of a family as a social unit and may be seen as a combination of values which should be preserved, however Heracles destroys this in his desire for vengeance. This is because he has no care for the disastrous effects this will have on others, especially his family. Our attention is thus drawn to the animalistic tendencies of his nature, as we witness his decisions being dominated by vindictiveness, and revenge, rather than the due justice. Even towards the end of the Sophocles’ construction, Heracles has continued the failure to recognize that he it is his own destructive impulses that have eventually caused his ruin. He claims

The third Labor was the capture the hind of the Cerynitian, a female deer with golden horns. It was very important to Artemis, so Hercules had to be very careful not to wound it. He hunted for a year when he found it on the banks of the River Ladon in Arcadia. With his bow and arrow, he shot an arrow between the tendons and bones of its forelegs, which pinned it down without drawing blood. Artemis was unhappy, but Hercules managed to place the blame on Eurystheus.

In Heracles first seven labors, he wrestles with a tangible force of death. Whether it be defeating the Nemean lion and the Lernean Hydra, or capturing the very dangerous Ceryneian Deer who sends dreams of death, he faces a form of death, or its potential, and each time overcomes it. During Heracles eleventh deed, where he was to receive the apples of Hesperides, he came face to face with immortality in the form of the tree of eternal life. The apples were set to fall into his hands as a task, yet he could not receive immortality until he was completely finished with all twelve labors. In his later trials, labors seven through twelve, Heracles may not have been completing the labors for just atonement, but also for the now in sight possibility of

The 12 labors that Heracles had to face were to purify him from killing his family even though his madness that caused him. The madness was caused by Hera because of her hatred for him. The person that assigned the way to purify him was the oracle at Delphi. “To find out how to cleanse himself of his sins, Heracles consulted the oracle at Delphi. The oracle answered, “You must go too your cousin Eurystheus, king of Mycenae, and do whatever he demands of you. Only in this way shall you be cleansed” (Low 94). This was the only way for Heracles to become cleansed and to atone or his sins.

Heracles’s death was unusual. After going through numerous challenging labors and getting nearly dead, he died at his home. According to our textbook, his wife was jealous that Heracles could have been in love with another woman, gave him a tunic that contained the poisonous blood of the Hydra. At the moment Heracles put on that tunic, the poison was activated, and made the tunic to stick to his skin and burn it. It is mentioned that the pain he felt was so strong he decided the only way to relieve it was with death. He laid down on a funeral pyre and asked people to burn him, but no one was willing to do it. Until Philoctetes agreed and put him to death. Heracles gave him his great bow and arrow. Even though he was a demigod, he felt the same

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.

     The inhabitants of different cities had their fears put to rest when Heracles came to town. Many of the twelve tasks that Heracles endured involved killing things that had the people living in fear. The people of the cities as well as continued generations following considered Heracles to the greatest of heroes. The Disney version, Hercules, the Latin name for Heracles, was a completely different version. Its portrayal of the story was inaccurate in a lot of ways. It painted the picture as Hercules’ enemy being Hades. It depicted Hercules through the eyes of what society considers a hero now.

fell victim to Hera's hatred towards him. What Hera did was send a fit of

Many people consider him the father of history; others prefer to call him the father of lies. Whatever may be your perception of Herodotus’ work, the truth is that Herodotus began a new manner of writing history in which human psychology takes a fundamental place. He was the first historian who really considered the reasons why things happen and did not limit his narrative to just facts. His book The Histories evidences all the distinctive features that he employs through his description of facts as well as the intrinsic analysis that he includes to his storyline about controversial topics like the definition of what heroes really are. Indeed, The Histories’ book 7 reveals Herodotus’ astonishing and unique view of heroism. During his

The twelve labours of Hercules is a myth because it is a story passed down all the way to today’s generation, making it be a traditional tale. Hercules is originally a Roman god; however, it is similar to the Greek’s version of Heracles. This myth is originally from the Latin language--which is typically used by the Romans. The twelve labours of Hercules was originally written by Peisanders and was then lost in 600 B.C. Hercules was born a demigod with supernatural powers that established the patterns of life as we know it. According to Synnøve Des Bouvrie and Bascom’s definition, the 12 labours of Hercules is a myth because it is traditional, remote, and true.