Hercules : The Greatest Greek 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.

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

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 have you met him? This movie was produced by Ron Clements and John Musker. The movie is about Hercules who is the son of Zeus who becomes a hero. After training with Phil he goes off with Pegasus his flying companion to become a hero. During Hercules journey he goes through 3 parts of a hero's journey.

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

Myths and religious doctrine are generally recognized as two entirely different things. Myths are usually referred to as a fictitious story or a half-truth; often they are stories shared between groups of people that are part of a cultural society. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, and purpose of the universe, and often containing an ethical code dictating appropriate human conduct. Although they differ in certain aspects, they still hold similarities. Comparable to parables within the Bible, myths have different versions which are both motivating, as well as entertaining. There are not only parallels to the idea of the stories but specific tales hold similar morals and equivalent characters.

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.

For my research paper I chose to explore and analyze instances of the great Greek/Roman hero, Heracles (Hercules), appearing in popular culture and the effect his myths had on early civilizations. Considered by most to be the greatest of the Greek folk heroes, Hercules was the embodiment of masculinity and physical power. The word “herculean” literally translates into “having enormous strength, courage, or size” (dictionary.com.) Since their inception, the myths and legends of Hercules have been immensely popular and have had vast influences on people and cultures throughout the world. Over the next few pages I will attempt to compare and contrast several examples of Hercules’ representation in pop culture with the underlying

Hercules found the boar on Mount Erymanthus and cornered it into a snow bank, immobilizing it. He tossed the boar over his shoulder and carried it back to Eurystheus, who cowered as usual in his storage jar.

Hercules, or better known as Heracles, was a Greek demigod that is the Son of Zeus and a mortal woman that was named Alcmene. When he was an infant, Zeus's wife Hera was really jealous of Heracles, so she sent two snakes to kill him. She was unsuccessful however, as he enjoyed strangling the snakes to death with one in each arm. He grew to become proficient in the bow and arrow, became a great wrestler, and possess superhuman strength. He later married and had five children. But, Hera tried to strike Heracles with madness and was successful. While Heracles was full with madness, he killed his five children all at once, in one day. When he recovered from his madness, he ventured to Delphi to consult the Oracle. He ordered Heracles to serve

Hercules' particular descent is the very first aspect that makes him noble and human at the same time. Son of the most symbolic figure in Mythology (Zeus) and a mortal woman (Alcmene), he became immortal after having been fed with Hera's milk as a newborn. Hera also turned into Hercules' greatest enemy as he grew older: hating him for being the proof of Zeus' affairs and involvement with a mortal, she tried everything she could to

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.

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

In the painting of “The Choice of Hercules”, the artist used several peripheral images, which can be understood as the allegories of ancient Greek culture. The mask represents as the performing arts and theatre, as most of the actors and actresses in ancient times used masks as a part of the performance. Under the mask is an opened book, which can be assumed as the scripts of a play, or the sheets of music. An ancient form of string instrument, which looks mostly like a violin, also lies on the ground. The artist used the tools, which are associated to the performing arts, as an allegory to illustrate that every sensual pleasure is fake, and the delight that one sees or hear, without any hardship of the body or soul, is temporary.