Heracles+(Hercules)

= Heracles/Hercules = =__Origin__=

toc Heracles is one of the most contradictory characters in mythology and also the most popular Greek hero. His name means “The glory of Hera” which is strange because Hera hated Heracles and repeatedly tried to kill him. The Greeks called him Heracles and the Romans Hercules. He is a mythological hero and the son of Zeus.

** Heracles in Greek and Latin Literature **
// Iliad // and //Odyssey// by Homer // Theogony // and the //Shield of Heracles// by Hesiod Other Ancient Authors and Poets who refer to Heracles: Pindar, Bacchylides, Herodotus, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Apollonius Rhodius, Theocritus, Plautus, Lucretius, Virgil, Propertius, Ovid, Seneca

=__ Birth and Youth __= According to Apollodorus, Heracles is the son of Zeus and a mortal, Alcmena. Hera, who was angry and jealous that Zeus had lain with a mortal woman, sent two huge serpents into Heracles’ and Iphicles’ crib. Heracles strangled them to death while Iphicles fled. Heracles was born in Thebes but spent a considerable amount of time in Tiryns completing his labors. Heracles grew up with his surrogate father Amphitryon, his mother Alcmena and brother Iphicles. Amphitryon taught Heracles to drive the chariot. Castor taught Heracles to fight with armor and Linus to play the Lyre. One early myth was about Linus’ death. Linus, the brother of Orpheus, once struck Heracles. Heracles then killed Linus in anger, hitting him with his lyre. After that Amphitryon, afraid of Heracles’ anger, sent him away to tend cattle. (Ovid)

Another early myth of Heracles takes place when he was eighteen. Heracles kills the lion of Cithaeron which was ravaging the cattle of Amphitryon and Thespius, the king. While trying to catch the lion of Cithaeron Heracles stayed with Thespius for fifty days. Thespius had fifty daughters and eager to have them conceive children by Heracles Thespius put a different daughter in Heracles’ bed each night. Heracles however thought that it was the same daughter in his bed each night and impregnated them all. Heracles succeeded in killing the lion.

= = =__ Myths __=

** Encounter with the Heralds of Erginus **
Heracles on his way back from the hunt meets the heralds of Erginus who are going to Thebes to collect tribute for Orchomenus’ death. Heracles cut off their ears, noses and hands and hung them around the heralds’ necks. Then he told them to take them back as tribute to the Minyan king. In response the Minyans declare war. Heracles gets weapons from Athena, kills the Minyan king and demands that they now pay double the tribute that the Thebans had to pay. For this feat Heracles receives Creons’ oldest daughter Megara, who bears him three children, Therimachus, Creontiades and Deicoon. (Simpson)

** Twelve Labors of Heracles **
After Heracles battled the Minyans, Hera drove him mad in her jealousy. In his mad state he threw his sons by Megara and two of Iphicles’ children into a fire. Distraught by this terrible crime, Heracles condemns himself to exile. Heracles is purified by Thespius and then travels to Delphi to ask the gods where he should live. The Pythian Priestess then calls Heracles and tells him to live in Tiryns and serve Eurystheus. Eurystheus is the king of Mycenae and overlord of their Tiryn neighbors. The Preistess tells Heracles that for twelve years he will complete ten labors and then once completed he would be immortal.

The first labor was to bring Eurystheus the skin of the Nemean lion. The Nemean lion (an offspring of Typhon) was impossible to wound. Heracles corners the lion in a cave, grabs it by the neck and strangles it. After this feat Eurystheus is terrified and amazed by Heracles. As a result he forbids Heracles to enter the city and from then on he will announce the results of his labors at the city gates.

The second labor was to kill the Lernaean hydra. The Lernaean Hydra is a water creature with nine heads. Eight of the heads are mortal but the one in the middle is immortal. The hydra lives in the swamp of Lerna, and sometimes comes onto dry land to kill livestock and wreck fields. Heracles finds the hydra in its lair beside the springs of Amymone and shoots flaming arrows at it to get it to come out. Heracles seizes the hydra and holds it while the hydra wraps itself around one of his feet. Heracles cannot kill the hydra by smashing its heads because two heads would grow out of every head he smashes. A huge crab is also helping the hydra by biting Heracles’ foot. Heracles kills the crab and then asks for Iolaus’ help. Iolaus sets fire to the forest nearby and Heracles burns the heads of the hydra in the fire. The heads are not able to grow in the fire. Heracles hacks off the immortal head and buries it by the road. Eurystheus denies that this was one of his labors because he had the help of Iolaus.

The third labor was to bring the Cerynitian deer alive to Mycenae. The deer had golden horns and was sacred to Artemis. Heracles does not want to wound it so he has to hunt it for an entire year. Once the deer is exhausted from running it flees to Mount Artemisius and then to the Ladon River. Heracles is able to catch the deer as it is about to cross the stream. He picks it up and starts his return journey when he meets an angry Artemis and Apollo. They want their sacred deer back but Heracles claims that he has been forced to capture the deer and that King Eurystheus is responsible. Artemis becomes less angry and Heracles is able to return to Mycenae unscathed.

The fourth labor was to bring the Erymanthian boar back to Mycenae alive. Heracles shouts to drive the boar out from the underbrush. Then he chases the boar into snow. Finally he caught the exhausted boar and carried it back to Mycenae.

The fifth labor was to remove the cattle manure from Augeas’ barnyard in one day’s time. This was challenging because Augeas, King of Elis and the son of either the Sun/Posidon/ or Phorbas, owned multiple herds of cattle. Heracles goes to Augeas and tells him that he will remove the manure in one day if Augeas will give him a tenth of his cattle. Heracles does not reveal that this is one of his labors. He diverts rivers to flow through a channel over the manure filled land and completes the task. After he completes the task Augeas denies ever having promising Heracles anything. Augeas’ son testifies against him and both Heracles and Phyleus(his son) are banished. Heracles returns back to Mycenae and Eurystheus refuses to consider the removal of the manure as one of the ten labors because Heracles had done it for a profit.

The sixth labor was to drive away the Stymphalian birds. In Stympahlus, a city of Arcadia, there was a lake called Stymphalis surrounded by thick forests. Countless birds would flock to the lake, fearful of being caught by wolves. Athena gave Heracles a brass noise-maker made by Hephaestus. By making noise he frightened the birds out of the dense forest and shot them all down.

The seventh labor was to bring Eurystheus the Cretan bull. According to Acusilaus this was the same Cretan bull that carried Europa over the water for Zeus. Heracles went to Crete and asked King Minos for help but Minos told him to fight it and capture it himself. Heracles caught it and took it back to Eurystheus. Then he let it go free to wander Arcadia and it traveled to Marathon where it attacked the inhabitants.

The eighth labor was to bring the mares of Diomedes the Thracian back to Mycenae. Diomedes was the son of Ares. His mares were man eating. Heracles sailed to Thrace and overpowered the men in the stable. Then he took the mares to his boat and had Abderus guard them. The mares however killed him by tearing him apart. Heracles fought and killed Diomedes.

The ninth labor was to bring the belt of Hippolyte to Eurystheus. Hippolyte was the queen of the Amazons who lived around the Thermodon River. They engaged only in male activities and gave if they gave birth after intercourse it was only to females. They pinched off their right breasts in order to not be hindered in throwing a javelin. Eurystheus wanted the belt for his daughter Admete. Heracles sailed to the Thmiscyra and Hippolyte met him in the harbor. She promised to give him the belt when she learned why he had come. Hera, who hated Heracles, assumed the appearance of one of the Amazons and told the others that foreigners were carrying off the queen. Heracles saw them coming and killed Hippolyte took her belt and sailed away. Heracles stopped in a few places on the way back to Mycenae but eventually got there and gave the belt to Eurystheus.

The tenth labor was to bring the cattle of Geryon from Erythia. Geryon had three human bodies from the waist down. His cattle was guarded by a two headed dog. Heracles struck the two headed dog with his club and started to lead the cattle away. Geryon then attacked Heracles but Heracles shot him with an arrow and killed him. Heracles brought the cattle to Eurystheus who sacrificed them to Hera.

Heracles completed his labors in eight years and one month but Eurystheus refused two acknowledge two of them. So Heracles set out on an eleventh labor to get the golden apples form the Hesperides. These apples were on Mount Atlas. Prometheus advised Heracles to not go after the apples himself but to hold up the world of Atlas and send him instead. This is what Heracles did. Then he took the apples to Eurystheus but afterwards gave them to Athena who took the apples back to the Hesperides.

The twelfth and last labor was to bring back Cerberus from Hades. Heracles subdued Cerberus and brought him to Eurystheus. Afterward he took Cerberus back to the underworld. Heracles also brought back Theseus from the underworld.(Simpson)

** Heracles at Calydon and Heracles’ death and apotheosis on Mount Oeta **
Heracles goes to Calydon seeking to marry Deianira, daughter of Oeneus. In order to win her he had two wrestle Achelous. Achelous changed himself into a bull and Heracles broke off one of his horns. Heracles won and married Deianira and Acheolus was given his horn back. Heracles then made an expedition with the Calydonians against the Thesprotians. After capturing the city he copulates with the kings daughter Astyoche and she gives birth to Tlepolemus. Later Heracles struck Architeles, a boy who was pouring water over his hands, and killed him. His father pardoned Heracles but he wanted to undergo exile regardless. He decided to go to Ceyx in Trachis for his exile. He went with Deianira and came to the river Evenus. Nessus, a centaur, ferried travelers across this river for money. Heracles swam across but Deianira had to be ferried. While she was with Nessus he tried to rape her and Heracles hearing her screams shot him in the heart. As Nessus was dying he told Deianira that if she mixed the sperm that he emitted with the blood from the wound made by the arrow head she could make a strong love potion to make sure Heracles remained faithful. Later on Deianira hears that Heracles has taken Iole as a prisoner and is afraid of his infidelity. Heracles calls for a clean tunic before he is to make a sacrifice. Deinara put the love potion on the tunic and gave it to Heracles. As soon as Heracles put on the tunic the poison of the hydra(on his arrowheads) began to eat away at his skin. Heracles tried to tear off the tunic but with it he tore off his skin. Deinara hung herself when she heard what happened. Heracles commanded his eldest son to marry Iole and then constructed a pyre on Mount Oeta and climbed upon it. He ordered his men to ignite it but no one would until a shepherd boy, Poeas, was passing by and set fire to it. Heracles in exchange gave Poeas his bow. While the pyre was burning a cloud is said to have enveloped Heracles and to have raised him up to heaven with a crash of thunder. Thenceforth he was immortal and reconciled with Hera marrying her daughter Hebe.

** Other Wars and Battles **
Heracles gathers a volunteer army and attacks King Laomedon in Ilium. Heracles collects an Arcadian army of volunteers and makes an expedition against Augeas. Heracles marches against Pylus and then later Lacedaemon. In the battle at Lacedaemon Iphicles, the brother of Heracles, dies.

** Heracles by Euripides **
Heracles, written by Euripides is undated but it is most probable that it was written around 424-423 B.C. While Heracles is completing his last labor in Hades, Lycus, the usurping ruler of Thebes, is about to kill Amphitryon and Heracles’ family (Megara and their three children). The family go and wait at the altar of Zeus having given up hope of ever seeing Heracles again. Heracles returns right in time after rescuing Theseus and bring Cerberus up from the underworld. The celebration of Heracles’ return is interrupted by the appearance of Iris and Lyssa. Iris explains that she will make Heracles mad and kill his own children. This is driven by Hera’s jealousy. A fit of rage and madness then fell on Heracles and he thought that he needed to kill Eurystheus. Because he was insane he thought that every room he went through was a country and he ens up killing his children and his wife. Luckily before he kills his Amphitryon Athena puts him in a deep sleep. Heracles wakes up chained to a pillar and surrounded by the dead bodies of his family. Amphitryon tells him of his misdeeds and he vows to commit suicide. Theseus, King of Athens, hears what Heracles has done and is shocked but understanding. He convinces Heracles not to commit suicide and to come live in Athens with Theseus. (Euripides, Holmes)

= Bibliography =

Euripides. //The Complete Greek Tragedies: Volume III.// Ed. David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1955. Print.

Holmes, Brooke. “Euripides’ Heracles in the Flesh” Classical Antiquity; Oct2008, Vol. 27 Issue 2, p231-281. Academic Search Elite. Web. 20 June 2011.

Ovid. //Metamorphoses.// Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2010. Print.

Shapiro, H.A. //“Heracles and Kyknos.”//American Journal of Archaeology, Vol.88, No. 4 (Oct.,1984), pp. 523-529. Archeological Institute of America. JSTOR. 20 June 2011.

Simpson, Michael. //Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The Library of Apollodorus.// Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1976. Print.

Unknown. "Lansdowne Heracles." 25 A.D. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, CA.

Unknown “Storage Jar with Heracles Attacking a Centaur” 530-520 B.C. The J Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa Malibu, CA