Herculean
Myths
Name: Hercules (Roman), Herakles
(Greek)
Parents: Zeus and Alcmene, a mortal
Gifts: Brave, strong, and clever
Faults: A divided nature due to his being
half-god, half-mortal. He is capable of animal-like behavior and extreme
violence. Herakles embodies the quintessential heroic predicament: how to
fulfill the demands of the godlike desires for knowledge and achievement that
drive him while bound to a mortal body that can neither fly nor turn invisible
and which will surely die.
Birth: When Herakles was about to be born, Zeus declared
that a descendant of Perseus, then about to be born, would be king of Mycenae.
But Hera, out of jealousy, persuaded Ilithyia to retard Alcmena's delivery, and
contrived that Eurystheus, also a descendant of Perseus, should be born a
seven-month child. In that way Herakles, the favourite of Zeus, lost the throne
of Mycenae. Jealous as ever, Hera sent serpents to slay Herakles in his crib,
but the half-god killed them with his own bare hands.
Adolesence: Herakles is sent to Chiron,
a centaur, to be trained. Later, Herakles accidently killes the
centaur.
Marriage: Herakles is married twice in
his lifetime. The first time is to Megara, whom he kills in a fit of
uncontrollable rage (perhaps sent by an angry Hera). For her murder, he
performs the Twelve Labors. His second marriage is to Deianeira, and she
eventually leads him to his death.
The Twelve Labors: The Ten Labors in
the beginning, two extra labors were added on becuase Iolaus helped him.
- Killing the Nemean Lion : whose hide was impervious to weapons.
Herakles squeezes the lion to death with his bare hands and uses its own
claws to skin it. Thenceforth, he wears its pelt as a cloak. He
also fashions his famous club at this time to substitue for his trademark
bow.
- Killing the Hydra: a many-headed
snake whose heads would immediately grow back when severed. To prevent
the heads from regenerating, Herakles arranges for a friend to sear the
necks with a torch as each head is severed. Herakles then applies its
poisonous gall to his arrows. (Eurystheus refused to count this labor
because Herakles had had help.)
- Capturing the Cerynitian hind: a
golden-horned deer sacred to Artemis. To capture the deer, Herakles
has to pursue it for a year. In some versions, he has to travel to the
mythical North, the land of the Hyperboreans, to find it.
- Capturing the Erymanthian boar:
which he has to pursue into territory occupied by the centaurs. While
he is there, his host, the centaur Pholus, opens a barrel of wine, thereby
attracting the other centaurs, who attack Herakles. Herakles drives
them off, but in the process he accidently wounds his host and the centaur
Chiron with poisoned arrows.
- Cleaning the Augean stables: for
which Herakles demands a promise of payment from King Augeas. He
accomplishes this unpleasant task by diverting the course of a river (or
two) to wash through the barn. Because Augeas refuses to pay him,
Herakles later returns with an army. (Eurustheus refused to count this
labor, too, since Herakles had demanded payment.)
- Removing the Stymphalian birds:
whose droppings were creating a public nuisance in an Arcadian town.
(According to some versious, they also ate human flesh.) Herakles drives
away these birds by using brass rattles to frighten them off and by shooting
many of them as they fly away.
- Capturing the Cretan bull: the
bovine parent of the Minotaur. Bringing it back, Herakles releases it
near Marathon.
- Capturing the Thracian horses:
property of King Diomedes. To tame the horses, which ate human flesh,
Herakles feeds their owner to them. While the guest of King Admetus,
Herakles rescues Admetus's wife, Alcestia, from death -- actually wrestling
with Death (Thanatos) in the process.
- Bringing back the girdle of
Hippolyte: the Amazon queen. Hippolyte gives the girdle to Herakles
willingly, which angers Hera, who persuades the other Amazons that Herakles
was actually kidnapping Hippolyte. When they attack Herakles's ship,
he kills the queen, believing that she has lied to him, and keeps the belt.
- Bringing back the vattle of
Geryon: the three-headed giant sometimes identified as
the herdsman of the dead. On this trip, the hero sets up the Pillars
of Herakles at the western entrance to the Mediterranean.
- Bringing back the Golden Apples of the
Hesperides: apples of immortality that grow on
the Tree of Life in the garden in the mythical West, where the sun
sets. According to some versions, the Titan Atlas gets the apples
while Herakles holds up the sky in his place.
- Capturing Cerebus: the three-headed hound
of Hades: In order to accomplish this task, Herakles is first
initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries to learn how to safely traverse the
kingdom of Hades. In some versions, he shoots Hades himself, wounding him in the process.
Death: Even after marrying Deianeira, adventures still
drew Herakles away from the hearth. Deianeira, tired of it all, sets out
in pursuit of her husband, determined to bring him home. Unable to cross a
river in her path, she accepts a ride from a centaur, Nessus, who ferries her
across and then tries to rape her. Fortunately, Herakles comes along just
in time, shoots the centaur, and rescues his wife. The dying Nessus offers
Deianeira a way to ensure Herakles's commitment to her: he tells her to collect
Herakles's blood and semen in a vial and smear it on his shirt.; When
Herakles dons the shirt, the mixture eats through his flesh and he dies.
Ascension into
Olympus: Herakles is raised up by the gods from his funeral pyre
and is reconciled to Hera. He marries her daughter, Hebe, fulfilling at
last the quest for immortality.
Do you know more about Herakles? Email me:
kdemoen@yahoo.com
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