Herakles: the Greatest Greek Hero

She gave birth to twin boys:

Herakles (Hercules is Roman) and Iphicles• Herakles is super strong• Iphicles is not

Zeus appeared in the form of the General Amphitryon and “dated” his wife Alcmena

Characteristics of Herakles

• Strong, courageous

• Irrational

• Remorseful

• NOT intelligent

• Believes strength

Can solve all problems

Hera, Zeus’s wife, seeks revenge

– Delays Herakles’ birth so that he is not the firstborn; therefore, his cousin Eurystheus is to be king of Tiryns and Mycenae

– Places two serpents in his crib;

Herakles strangles them before

they can strike

– Later turns Herakles into a murderer by inflicting him with a fit of madness

Madness and Atonement

• While mad Herakles lets loose his arrows and kills his wife, Megara and their three children

• Oracle of Delphi sends Herakles to his cousin, Eurytheus for 12 years

• Performs 12 labors– Originally 10

• 2 more added

The 12 Labors

• The Nemean Lion– Lion kills flocks near Mycenae– Arrows bounce off lion– Herakles chases it and kills it with his bare

hands– Keeps the lion’s skin as trophy/armor

The Lernean Hydra

• Many headed dragon• Breath can kill• Cut off heads they

grow back• Kills livestock

The Lernean Hydra

• Herakles gets help from his nephew Iolaus – Herakles chops off a head– Iolaus seals each neck with fire

• Herakles dips arrows into poisonous blood

The Ceryneian Hind

• Ordered to capture alive a deer famed for golden antlers and metal hoofs

• Tracks a year and captures

• Apollo tells Herakles the deer is sacred to Artemis

• Herakles releases the deer and blames Eurystheus

The Erymanthian Boar

• While looking for the boar, stops to eat, drink, visit some centaurs

• A brawl breaks out and Herakles kills all but one centaur, Nessus

• Nessus later will reappear in Herakles’s life

The Erymanthian Boar

• A giant boar that roamed near Mt. Erymanthus– Chased it up the mountain and drove it into a

snow bank– Carried it back to

Eurystheus, who was so

Afraid he hid in a large

jar

The Augean Stables

• Huge, nasty stables that must be cleaned in one day

• Eurystheus envisioned his noble cousin with a bucket and shovel, humiliated

The Augean Stables

• Clever Herakles punches holes into sides of stables

• Diverts a river to flow through the stable

• Cleans them in one day

The Stymphalian Birds

• Near Arcadian lake, birds who shoot arrows from wings, pierce armor and whose droppings destroy crops

• Herakles bangs metal castanets, startles birds into flight then kills them with poison arrows

The Cretan Bull

• Ordered to capture King Minos’ sacred bull in Crete

• Herc grabs the bull by its horns and tosses it to the sea

• Then rides it back to Mycenae where he releases it

• The bull is later killed by Theseus

The Horse of Diomedes

• Herakles was to capture the wicked king Diomedes, who has four savage flesh-eating horses

• Travelers who mistakenly accept the hospitality of Diomedes are fed to the horses

The Horse of Diomedes

• Herakles feeds Diomedes to the horses

• Fed, they went with Herakles to the boat

• Shows them to Eurystheus and releases them

• Eventually eaten by wild animals on Mount Olympus

The Girdle of Hippolyta

• Asked to obtain the belt of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons

• Hippolyta is smitten by the handsome hero and simply hands the belt over

The Cattle of Geryon

• It seems that Geryon had three heads and three sets of legs all joined at the waist

• He had flock of magical cattle• Herc travels across North

Africa and then builds two great columns– Pillars of Herakles

• Kills Geryon and his 2 headed dog

• Drives cattle across Europe to Mycenae

• Sacrifices cattle to Hera

The Apples of the Hesperides

• Herakles finds the magical tree of life and sees the apples

• He also finds Prometheus; he kills the eagle and frees Prometheus – who tells him how to get the apples

The Hesperides are the daughters of Atlas, the Titan who holds the world on his shoulders.

Prometheus is the Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man; his punishment is to be chained to a rock where an eagle pecks out his liver daily.

The Apples of the Hesperides

• Herakles offers to hold the world for Atlas in exchange for the apples, but Atlas decides not to take the world back

• H tricks him by asking him to hold the world for just a moment

• Herakles takes the apples and leaves Atlas holding the world

Cerberus, the Hound of Hades

• Most daunting labor, Herakles must go to Hades and steal Cerberus, who guards the gates of Hell.

• Herakles can take the dog if he can subdue it

• Herakles wrestles the dog and drags it to the upper world

Herakles’ Fate

• Marries Deianira While traveling, they meet up Nessus (the centaur) who ferries people across a river

• While transporting Deianira, he attempts to rape her and is shot by Herakles’ poisonous arrows

• Nessus convinces Deianira to take some blood and other fluids, smear it on Herakles’ cloak to keep him faithful

A Woman Scorned

• Herakles falls in love with another Princess• Deianira put the “potion” on his cloak• The potion burns Herakles so badly he begs for

a funeral pyre into which he jumps• Deianira is so grief stricken she follows him• The mortal part of Herakles descends to Hades

to reside in the Elysian Fields• Part of Herakles ascends to Olympus, resolves

conflict with Hera, marries Hebe (youth) and lives in immortality

Constellation Herakles