Essay about The 12 Labours of Hercules

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

“ A huge boar was ravaging cattle on mount Erymanthus, and again Hercules was required to capture it alive. This pised him no problem… he chased the boar… until it collapsed… and then bound the beast in chains.” ( Creighton 99) He got a lot of experience from this labour because he had to chase down this wild boar, and then chain it up. So if any tragedies like this occur in the city, he would be able to take care of it. “ The third labour imposed on Hercules was the capture of a deer with golden antlers… Eurystheus wanted him to bring the animal back alive, Hercules brought it down by shooting an arrow neatly through the forelegs.” ( Creighton 98) To hit a shot like that, there is lots of experience necessary, so even before the 12 labours, Hercules had these amazing skills of running, shooting, hunting and so on. The best hero, most also have the most experience and skills, that is why Hercules is the greatest hero. Without these skills, and without this type of experience, you are not fit to be called the best hero. Hercules is the only one with these skills and experience, that is why is the best

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

The 1st stage is Departure. In the departure of a hero’s journey, as outlined by Joseph Campbell, a hero will question the world he or she lives in because he or she is different. Also in most journey of a hero there will be some sort of call to adventure, or a reason for leaving, which a hero will sometimes deny, and sometimes accept. The ordinary world, (there is something different about our hero in his/her world), he has massive strength. Accepting the call, (challenge accepted) Zeus sends Hercules on a mission to fulfil his god powers so he can join his

Hercules is not the hero that greek mythology glorifies him to be. His ruthless acts to “purify” himself from killing his family, are nothing but him following commands of robbery, whether it be of a life or possession. He is less of a hero and more of a modern day hired ‘hitman’. Hercules agreed to completing the twelve tedious labours, however bad they might be. If he was ordered to steal something, he would. If he was told to kill something, he would do it. His actions are more alike the ones of an assassin or hitman rather than a selfless hero.

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

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.

One day Hera, still wanting to wreak havoc upon Hercules’ life, influenced Hercules to kill his own wife and children. When Hercules came to his senses and realized what he had done, he was overcome with grief. He immediately went to the oracle at Delphi and asked how he could cleanse himself of his sins. The Oracle replied, “You must go to Mycenae and serve King Eurystheus for twelve years. Only by doing this will you ever be free of your pain and guilt” (Richardson and Baxter 10).

Secondly, without his courageous personality Hercules could not have overcome many obstacles. Hercules gained experienced of a quality hero and achieved appreciation “the hero is now ready to move into the special world where he will change from the ordinary into the extraordinary” (Seger 3) because he transformed into a new individual. Seger states that “this happens at the first turning point of the story” which is called the initiation (road of trials) therefore the hero is ready to begin with his task. For example, in the movie, Hercules encounters with many challenging task which were a battle of series monsters that were sent by Hades. His most important challenge was to rescue the tough-talking beautiful girl Megara who is secretly involved with hades to posses Hercules in falling in love with her and take over his power. But they both fall in love and it becomes

This paper is to show that Heracles is the prime example of a hero’s journey through his actions and the struggles that he faced during his life until he was about to die but instead of death, his father, Zeus, saved him and he conquered the mortal realm, to become a god.

All throughout history, heroes from all types of stories have gone through the same journey. Joseph Campbell researched several stories as well as Greek mythology and created a template that every main character or hero follows in each story. Campbell stated that each hero begins his journey in his normal world until he experiences a call to action, which causes the hero to find a mentor and go through several tests and other setbacks until he faces his biggest fear and eventually finishes his quest and returns home. In the Disney movie Hercules, the main character, for which the film is named, follows the journey laid out by Campbell. Hercules follows this journey from his normal life, which he lives until he is called to action and meets

The gravity of the situation seems too heavy to handle. He is extremely overwhelmed; he has just been called upon to complete a daring adventure. His indifference is justified, since he has no idea what to expect on this journey. However, some sort of event takes place that makes the hero reconsider the possibility of going on the journey (Vogler). In Hercules, Hercules doesn’t know what he’s about to get himself into. He is quite surprised after he meets Zeus in his statue form. However, once Zeus tells him that he can be a god, Hercules becomes eager to set out on his journey

Hercules learns his lesson of not being selfish and to have an open heart when he finishes his labors and becomes a god Zeus says this ““A true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength, but by the size of his

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 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.