Hercules

Hercules

• Known as the greatest hero in Greece.• Most admired by all of the Greeks except

Athens • Strongest man on Earth and has a supreme

self-confidence due to his strength

The greatest hero in Athens…

• …is Theseus due to his intellect, cunning, and ability. He displayed all the qualities the Athenians valued in a hero.

• The rest of Greece valued strength and getting the job done!

Hercules• Considered himself to be equal to the gods

(being able to help them against the Giants) Hubris???

• Strong up to the point that know one could beat him unless a supernatural force is applied

• His intellect is not strong though his feelings/emotions are.

Hercules• Born in Thebes and was held to be the son of

Amphitryon, a distinguished general• Son of Zeus who had visited Amphitryon’s wife,

Alcmena in the shape of her husband• Alcmena bore two children, one of Zeus’

(Hercules) and the other of Amphitryon (Iphicles)

He shows his strength

• As a baby, as he and his brother were sleeping, two huge snakes came into their room. His brother cried, but Hercules grabbed the snakes and strangled them. When his parents came in, they saw Hercules laughing and swinging them around!

Hercules• Hera, Zeus’s wife, as always was so furious

about Zeus having a child with another woman so she was determined to kill Hercules.

• Teiresias, the blind prophet, told Alcmena that Hercules would be famous and“shall be the hero of mankind”.

Hercules

• Great care was taken with his education as he grew up

• He was taught music (which he personally didn’t like- he accidentally killed his music teacher) ,and fencing, wrestling and driving.

Hercules

• By the time he was eighteen, he was able to kill a full grown Thespian lion, Cithaereon, all by himself.

• He constantly wears the pelt of the lion- thus how to recognize him in art!

Adventures of Hercules

Adventures of Hercules• Conquering of Minyans– Reward when accomplished: Princess Megara– Hercules was very much devoted to her but their

marriage brought sorrow to their family.

Adventures of Hercules• Conquering of Minyans– When Megara bore three sons, Hercules went

mad due to Hera’s wrath. Hercules killed his children and wife as she tried to protect the youngest.

– After this incident, he regained his sanity and found himself covered with the blood of his beloved family.

Adventures of Hercules• Conquering of Minyans– After having regained his consciousness, the

terrified people saw that his madness was over and Amphitryon dared to approach him.

– Amphitryon told Hercules what happened and made Hercules want to kill himself to avenge his family members’ death

Adventures of Hercules• Conquering of Minyans– Hercules was stopped by Theseus from killing

himself through his words of wisdom. Theseus, therefore, saved him.

– His guilt kept on attacking him until he reached Athens with Theseus. He went to a priestess and told her that he needs to be purified.

– The priestess told him to go to her cousin, Eurystheus.

Adventures of Hercules

• Conquering of Minyans– Eurystheus was intelligent indeed. He made

Hercules his slave the moment the hero arrived at his place. He devised a series of penances of unimaginable difficultly.

– Eurystheus was being helped and urged by Hera.

Adventures of Hercules

• Conquering of Minyans– Eurystheus gave him tasks known as the

Labors of Hercules

Labors of Hercules

Labor of Hercules

• Labors of Hercules– Given by Eurystheus– Twelve different labors– Each one was all but impossible

Labor of Hercules• 1st Labor– Kill the lion of Nemea, a beast no weapons could

wound– Hercules killed it by strangling it to death– Eurystheus, being cautious, didn’t allow him to get

in the city. He gave Hercules his orders from afar.

Labor of Hercules

• 2nd Labor– To go to Lerna and to kill a creature with nine

heads called the Hydra• Hydra: a beast with nine heads; one of these heads is

immortal and when you cut one head, two heads grow in its place

• 2nd Labor– Accomplished the labor with the help of his

nephew who gave him a burning brand with which he seared the neck as he cut each head off so that it could not sprout again.

– He cut all the heads leaving the immortal one buried securely under a huge rock.

Labors of Hercules

• 3rd Labor– To bring back alive a stag with horns of gold which

lives in the forests of Cerynitia– He succeeded after one year of hunting it

Labors of Hercules

• 4th Labor– Capture a great boar which had its lair on Mount

Erymanthus– Hercules chased the beast until it was exhausted

then cornered it into the deep snow.

Labors of Hercules

• 5th Labor– Clean the Augean stables in a single day. • Augean Stables: owned by Augeas. Augeas has

thousands of cattles and the stables weren’t cleaned for years.

• 5th Labor– Hercules diverted the courses of two rivers and

made them flow through the stables. This washed away all the dirt in just a short span of time.

Labors of Hercules• 6th Labor– To drive away the Stymphalian birds, which were

a plague to the people of Stymphalus because of their enormous numbers

– He was helped by Athena to drive these birds out of their places and as they flew up, he shot them one by one.

Labors of Hercules

• 7th Labor– To go to Crete and fetch from there a beautiful

savage bull given by Poseidon to Minos.– Hercules mastered the bull, transported it through

a boat and brought it to Eurystheus

Labors of Hercules

• 8th Labor– To get the man-eating mares of King Diomedes of

Thrace.– Hercules slew Diomedes first and then drove off

the mares unopposed

Labors of Hercules• 9th Labor– To bring back the girdle of Hippolyta, the Queen

of the Amazon– When Hercules arrived she met him kindly and

Hippolyta told Hercules that she would give him the girdle.

– Hera started a new trouble. omg

• 9th Labor– Hera made the Amazons think that Hercules will

carry Hippolyta off and they attacked him down on his ship.

– Hercules, without a single thought on how kind Hippolyta is, killed her in an instant and then held back the other, allowing him to escape with the girdle.

Labors of Hercules• 10th Labor– To bring back the cattle of Geryon, who was a

monster with three bodies living on Ertyhia, a island located in the west

– On his way, he arrived at an island at the end of Mediterranean and he set up pillars as a memorial of his journey. He then got the oxen and brought it to Mycenae

Labors of Hercules• 11th Labor– Most difficult labor so far– To bring back the Golden Apples of the Hesperides,

without Hercules knowing where to find these apples– He asked Atlas, who bore the vault of heaven upon

his shoulders and the father of Hesperides to get the apples for him.

• 11th Labor– Hercules offered Atlas to take upon himself the

burden of carrying the heavy load while Atlas was away.

– Atlas, seeing the chance of being relieved forever, went to gather the apples but he didn’t give them to Hercules when he came back. He told Hercules to keep holding up the sky for Atlas himself would bring the apples to Eurystseus. Hercules used his strength to support the sky.

• 11th Labor– Now Hercules only has his wits to depend on.

Because of his cleverness when he asked Atlas to carry the sky for a moment because he needed to put a pad on his shoulders, he was able to get away with the apples at hand.

Labors of Hercules• 12th Labor– Worst Labor of all– Took him down to the Underworld– Task: to bring Cerberus, the three headed-dog, up

from Hades– Hades gave him the permission provided that

Hercules shan’t use any weapons

• 12th Labor– He used his hands and he lifted the dog all the

way up to Mycenae. Eurystheus obviously didn’t want to keep it so he told Hercules to bring it back to the Underworld.

– This is Hercules’ last labor

Labors of Hercules

• When all the labors were completed and had fully repented for his “sins”, he would seem to have earned ease

• But it was not so• He lived a life full of endeavors and obstacles

• BibliographyHamilton, Edith; The Classic Best Seller

Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes; Grand Central Publishing 1942,1969; Date Accessed: November 7, 2012