chapter fourteen, lecture one
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Chapter Fourteen, Lecture One. Heracles. Heracles. Strong man and primitive tough guy But still admired and venerated for “heroism” – dangerous tasks done with physical strength for a good purpose. Heracles. Panhellenic hero Adventures take him throughout the Greek world and beyond - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Chapter Fourteen, Lecture One
Heracles
Heracles
• Strong man and primitive tough guy
• But still admired and venerated for “heroism” – dangerous tasks done with physical strength for a good purpose
Heracles
• Panhellenic hero– Adventures take him throughout the Greek
world and beyond– Principal hero for colonists– “Washington slept here”
• Enormous body of myth and tales– Complete picture must be pieced together
from many sources
The Birth of Heracles
The Birth of Heracles
• Perseus– King of Tiryns and founded Mycenae
• Electryon
• Alcaeus
• Sthenelus
The Birth of Heracles
• Electryon (Mycenae)– Nine sons– Alcmena
• Alcaeus– Amphitryon
• Sthenelus– Eurystheus
The Birth of Heracles
• Pirates kill all but one of Electryon’s sons.
• Prepares a campaign against them
• Gives Amphitryon Alcmena to watch over
• But he and Amphitryon get into a fight and Amphitryon kills him.
• Amphitryon escapes to Thebes with Alcmena and marries her.
The Birth of Heracles
• Alcmena won’t have sex with him until Amphitryon avenges the death of her brothers.
• Meanwhile, Zeus sneaks in.• Amphitryon comes later.• Thus, there are divine and human seed in
her and she gives birth to twins.– Heracles (Alcides)– Iphicles
The Birth of Heracles
• Zeus’s boast about Eileithyia delivering a ruler on that day
• Hera holds up his birth and advances Eurystheus’s birth
• Ovid– Galanthis untangles Eileithyia through a trick.
Twin and Divine Births
Twin and Divine Births
• Twins viewed with superstition
• Simultaneous intercourse with divine and mortal male from Egypt and widespread– Ammun and Ahmes, wife of Tutmosis, I =>
Hatshepsut
Heracles’s Youthful Deeds
Serpents
The Milky Way
Autolycus
Eurytus
Linus
Daughters of Thespius
Erginus of the Minyans
Madness and Murder
Madness and Murder
• Married to Megara, daughter of Creon, the new king of Thebes
• Driven mad by Hera and kills Megara and their three children
• As punishment, Heracles must serve Eurystheus, his cousin.– In Euripides’s play, the murders take place
after the labors (athloi).
The Twelve Labors
The Twelve Labors
1. Nemaean Lion 7. The Cretan Bull
2. Lernaean Hydra 8. Horses of Diomedes
3. Ceryneian Deer 9. Girdle of Hippolyta
4. Erymanthian Boar 10. Cattle of Geryon
5. Augean Stables 11. Apples of the Hesperides
6. Stymphalian Birds 12. Cerberus
Other tasks interspersed with them: the Side-Deeds
Side-Deeds
Labor Side Deeds
4. Erymanthian Boar Pholus, Chiron
8. Horses of Diomedes Alcestis and Admetus
10. Cattle of Geryon ErythiaCacusHelius Cup
11. Hesperides Nereus
Antaeus
Busiris
Prometheus || Altas
Observations: The Twelve Labors
Observations
• Like Gilgamesh, struggles against beasts and journeys to the land of the dead
• When did labors become organized into twelve?– Not in Hesiod
• Perhaps in 470 BC on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia– 12 metopes available
Observations
• Labors grouped into thematic units– Early adventures around Mycenae– Six of the first seven largely against animals
• The Augean stables the exception
– Later adventure farther out, and final adventures in the underworld
• Popular with Greeks living abroad, Sicily and Italy in particular
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