Greek Mythology

Heracles/Hercules

Heracles was the most popular Greek hero ever. He was known for his exceptional strength, even surpassing many gods. Heracles was also known for his courage, his appetite for wine, food and sexuality with both women and men. It was also believed that despite his ingenuity in several of his quests, he lacked a fair amount of intelligence. He was very passionate, short-tempered and emotional individual, although many comic playwrights described him as primitive, brutal and violent in their games. Heracles was the kind of person who often got into trouble, but was also determined to resolve them and make things right. Many of his good deeds came from solving his trouble. The most famous of these are twelve labours. After completing many more deeds than anyone else and gained favours by the gods, Heracles eventually ascended to Mount Olympus upon his death in the mortal world.

Appearance in the works of art
Usually, Heracles is depicted as muscular grown man with a beard, holding a massive club. On some occasions, he is also wearing a lion skin garment with lion's head still attached, serving him as some sort of hood.

Early life

Heracles was the son of Zeus and mortal woman Alcmene. Zeus tricked Alcmene by turning himself into Amphitryon, who was with her at the time, and slept with her. She became pregnant with twins from both, the god and her man. Heracles and his mortal twin brother Iphicles were born at the palace of his stepfather in Thebes. Upon Heracles' birth, Alcmene feared that he would be persecuted by jealous Hera and therefore abandoned him in the fields. Soon Athena found the child crying in the fields and took him to Hera who wanted to nurse him with her breast.baby hercules But the child caused her pain and she threw him on the ground. Athena then took Heracles to Alcmene on Zeus' advice. Alcmene recognised her child and was joyful to accept him. However, finding the truth behind all of this, Hera became filled with rage and sent two serpents to cradle into the chambers where baby Heracles was sleeping. He woke up crying and grasping a snake in each hand. In the moment of heat, he strangled both of them with his bare hands. It was then, when Amphitryon realised that he had been blessed by the gods for giving him the son with greater destiny. Instead of ordinary lessons, he rather taught him how to ride a chariot, while Alcmene arranged study lessons with Rhadamanthys to improve his knowledge. The brothers were also learning music from Linus, the son of Apollo and Urania, who was also the inventor of rhythm and melody. However, this didn't end well, as Heracles eventually killed Linus with his own lyre in one of the lessons, after being repeatedly reprimanded for making errors. Heracles, not the brightest one, rather wielded physical power instead of knowledge and therefore his path led him to Autolycus who taught him the art of wrestling. And Castor who taught him how to use armor and weapons.

Revenge of Hera

He was still young and learning, but his first public recognition came soon enough. He drove off and defeated the Minyans who sieged Thebes and were demanding tribute. As a reward, the king of Thebes granted him one of his daughters. They got married and had up to eight children, variously according to different sources. Hera saw the opportunity to finally get her revenge, to hurt his family, if she couldn't hurt him. She casted a spell of madness on him, forcing him to kill his wife and children. When Heracles came to his senses and realised what he had done, he wanted to take his life. However, he was saved and persuaded by Theseus and joined him to live in Athens. When the worst was over, he travelled to the Oracle of Delphi for guidance. The oracle told him that there is still salvation for his soul and he can purify it by serving his cousin Eurystheus, king of Mycenae. The king who was under the influence of Hera, gave him twelve "impossible" quests to complete.

Twelve labours of Heracles

According to general belief, the labours were set in the next order. However, this order and the content itself may vary due to different sources. It is also said that he was originally given ten tasks, but was additionally added two more, because in one task he accepted payment for completing it, while in the other he was getting help from his nephew Iolaus.