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The Life of Hercules in Myth and Legend

Article

by Joshua J. Mark 

published on 23 July 2014

Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Herakles, the mostpopular figure from ancient Greek mythology. Hercules was the sonof Zeus, king of the gods, and the mortal woman lcmene. !eus, whowas always chasing one woman or another, took on the form oflcmene"s husband, mphitryon, and #isited lcmene one night in her

bed, and so Hercules was born a demi$god with incredible strength andstamina. He performed ama%ing feats, including wrestling death andtra#eling twice to the underworld, and his stories were toldthroughout Greece and later in Rome, yet his life was far from easyfrom the moment of his birth, and his relationships with others wereoften disastrous. &his was because Hera, the wife of !eus, knew thatHercules was her husband"s illegitimate son and sought to destroyhim. 'n fact, he was born with the name lcaeus and later took thename Herakles, meaning ()lory of Hera(, signifying that he wouldbecome famous through his difficulties with the goddess.

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)ilded *ron%e Hercules

&he demi$god, who suffered like mortals and who could make a mess

of things in life +ust as easily as any man or woman but perform deedsno mortal could, had great appeal for the people of )reece and ome.Hercules was a kind of super$powered e#eryman who suffereddisappointments, had bad days $ e#en bad years $ and e#entually dieddue to another"s trickery. &hese stories, besides simply beingentertaining, would ha#e ser#ed an ancient audience by letting themknow that, if bad things could happen to a hero like Hercules, they had

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nothing to complain about regarding the disappointments andtragedies in their own li#es. Hercules ser#ed as a symbol of the humancondition where, to use Hemingway"s phrase, (a man may bedestroyed, but not defeated.( n interesting aspect of Hercules"character is that, because of his di#ine strength and abilities, he didnot ha#e to willingly submit to any of the labors or punishmentsimposed upon him. He chose to suffer indignities such as his famous&wel#e -abors or his ser#itude to the ueen /mphale and did sowillingly. His inner strength and ability to endure hardships made himan inspirational figure to the people and a symbol of stability in themidst of chaos, e#en if it was a chaos he himself had caused. &hehistorian &homas . artin writes

The only hero to whom cults were established internationally, all over the Greek world,

 was the strongman Herakles (Hercules). His superhuman feats in overcoming monstersand generally doing the impossible gave him an appeal as a protector in manycity -

states (!").

#$%&' &#

lthough he was seen as the champion of the weak and a greatprotector, Hercules" personal problems started literally at birth. Herasent two witches to pre#ent the birth, but they were tricked by one oflcmene"s ser#ants and sent to another room. Hera then sent serpents

to kill him in his cradle, but Hercules strangled them both. 'n one#ersion of the myth, lcmene abandoned her baby in the woods inorder to protect him from Hera"s wrath, but he was found by thegoddess Athena who brought him to Hera, claiming he was an orphanchild left in the woods who needed nourishment. Hera suckled Herculesat her own breast until the infant bit her nipple, at which point shepushed him away, spilling her milk across the night sky and so formingthe ilky ay. he then ga#e the infant back to thena and told her totake care of the baby herself. 'n feeding the child from her own breast,

the goddess inad#ertently imbued him with further strength andpower.

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&he 'nfant Hercules

He was brought up at the court of his supposed$father mphitryon,where he had the best tutors in the land who taught him wrestling,horseback riding, fencing, archery, how to dri#e a chariot, playthe lyre, and sing. Hercules did not know his own strength, howe#er,

and killed his music teacher, -inus, by hitting him with a lyre one dayduring an argument. He was then sent to tend the flocks to keep himout of trouble. &his seems to ha#e been an impossibility for Hercules,howe#er, as he heard that the &heban army had been defeated by aband of inyans and, feeling this was un+ust, he led a band of &hebanwarriors to defeat the inyans and restore order to Thebes. ing5reon of &hebes ga#e Hercules his daughter, Megara, in marriage as asign of his gratitude.

TH# *$+# H#%$ / TH# T0#&1# &$2%

t this point in the story, Hercules was a young, successful hero,married and, in time, with three strong sons. Hera could not toleratethe situation and so sent upon him a madness in which he killed hischildren 6and, in some #ersions, egara as well7. He continued in hisrage until thena knocked him out with a stone and, when he came to,he was o#erwhelmed with grief at what he had done. He would ha#e

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killed himself but his cousin &heseus con#inced him that would becowardly and that he must find a way to atone for his sins. Herculesconsulted the /racle at Delphi who told him he must attach himself tohis cousin 8urystheus, ing of Tiryns and Mycenae, who wouldde#ise labors to e9piate his sins. &hese labors originally numbered onlyten but later grew to twel#e. fter :elphi he was no longer known aslcaeus and took the name Herakles.

&he &wel#e -abors of Hercules were

1. &o kill the ;emean -ion who was imper#ious to all weapons. Hetrapped the lion in a ca#e and strangled it with his bare hands. He thenskinned it and e#er after wore the skin as his cloak.

Hercules and the ;emean -ion

 2. &o kill the monster known as the Hydra who had nine #enemousheads and, when one was cut off, two more would grow in its place.ith his nephew 'olaus, Hercules cut off the heads and 'olaus thenseared the necks with a torch to pre#ent them growing back. Hercules

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then dipped his arrows in the Hydra"s blood for future use< since it wasso #enomous, it killed uickly. *ecause he had help in this labor,8urystheus would not count it as one of the ten and assigned another.

Hercules and the Hydra

. &o capture the 5erynitian Hind who was sacred to thegoddess Artemis. Hercules spent o#er a year trying to catch the deerwith the golden antlers ali#e and finally brought it down with an arrowto the hoof. 8#en so, rtemis refused to allow him to take the deer $

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and would ha#e killed him for hunting it $ until she heard the story ofhis labors and let him go.

!. &o capture the 8rymanthian *oar. &his labor took Hercules to theland of the 5entaurs, and the wine he had been gi#en to attract the

boar drew the centaurs to him. &hey attacked him and he had to killmany of them but brought the boar back ali#e to 8urystheus. 't wasduring this labor that he took part in the ad#enture with the heroJason and his rgonauts.

". 5leaning the tables of ugeius in a day. 8urystheus felt this side$ad#enture with the rgonauts was an unnecessary lu9ury on Hercules"part and so de#ised an impossible task for his ne9t labor. &he stablesof ing ugeius were immense and his herd #ast, and there seemed tobe no way for anyone to clean them in a month, let alone a day.Hercules said he would do it but made ugeius promise him a tenth ofthe herd if he succeeded. ugeius agreed since he knew he could notlose, but Hercules di#erted two ri#ers to flow through the stables andclean them completely. ugeius then refused to honor the deal he hadmade. Hercules felt cheated and swore he would return and killugeius once he had completed his labors for 8urystheus. 8urystheus,howe#er, told him he could recei#e no payment for his labors and that,by trying to profit, he had disualified that labor and would ha#e to doanother to make up for it.

#. &o dri#e away the tymphalian *irds who were ra#aging thecountryside. He accomplished this with a rattle gi#en to him bythena. &he rattle startled the birds who flew away, and Hercules shotthem down with his arrows in flight.

$. &o bring back the 5retan *ull from %nossos. &he bull belonged toing inos of &rete and was sacred to the god of the seas, 'osei(on<accordingly, it could walk on water. inos no longer wanted the bullbecause his wife had fallen in lo#e with it and, in fact, had become

pregnant by it 6gi#ing birth to the Minotaur7, and so inos happilyga#e the bull to Hercules who rode it across the sea from 5reteto Athens and brought it to 8urystheus. &he bull was then releasedand would cause further trouble throughout ttica until it was finallykilled by &heseus.

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Hercules = &he 5retan *ull

). &o bring back the ares of :iomedes. :iomedes was a &hracianking who fed his horses on a steady diet of human flesh so that no onecould come near them. Hercules fed :iomedes to the horses and,when they were full, brought them back to 8urystheus. 't was during

this labor, either going to or coming from :iomedes" palace, thatHercules stopped to #isit his old friend dmetus whosewife Alcestis had recently died. Hercules wrestled death for the soulof lcestis and returned her to her husband.

*. &o bring back Hippolyte"s )irdle. Hippolyte was the ueen of thema%ons, and her belt 6girdle7 was a symbol of her right to rule. &hema%ons originally welcomed Hercules but Hera, disguised as one ofthem, spread a rumor that Hercules had come to kidnap the ueenand ensla#e them. &he women attacked Hercules and Hippolyte waskilled in the fight< Hercules then took her belt and left. 'n another#ersion of this labor, howe#er, no one dies< Hercules kidnapsHippolyte"s sister and ransoms her for the belt and then lea#espeacefully. /n his return #oyage he has many other side$ad#entures,which further enrage 8urystheus, but he accepts the girdle as alegitimate labor.

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1+. &o bring back the cattle of )eryon, king of &a(i,. Hercules hadmany side$ad#entures on this labor, including inad#ertently buildingthe >illars of Hercules at )ibraltar and threatening to shoot the sunwith his arrows for making him too hot. hen he finally reached 5adi%6pain7, he had many problems rounding up the cattle, includingha#ing to chase down a bull 6the herd had to be complete in order tobe accepted for the labor7. *ringing the cattle back to )reece, Herasent gadflies to sting the beasts and scattered them, so Hercules hadto round them up again. &hen the princess 5eltine saw Hercules andfell in lo#e with him. he hid the cattle and would not di#ulge theirwhereabouts unless he had se9 with her. &his he did and so becamethe father of 5eltus, progenitor of the 5elts. He finally brought thecattle back to 8urystheus who accepted the labor as legitimate.

11. &o bring back the )olden pples of Hesperides. 8n route to thesacred gro#e where the apples grew, Herculesfound 'rometheus bound to his rock and set him free. >rometheuswas grateful and told him that the apples were guarded by a dragonnamed -adon who could not be conuered, and so Hercules should tryto get the titanAtlas, who held up the earth and hea#ens on hisshoulders, to get the apples for him. hen Hercules reached thegro#e, tlas agreed to help, but Hercules would ha#e to shoulder theweight of the world while tlas went to get the apples. Herculesaccepted the load and tlas got the apples. hen he returned,

howe#er, tlas did not want to take the weight back and was going tolea#e Hercules in his place. Hercules cheerfully agreed to stay and holdup the uni#erse but asked tlas if he could take the weight again for

 +ust one moment so that he could ad+ust his cloak to cushion hisshoulders. tlas took back the uni#erse and Hercules picked up theapples and left.

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Hercules

12. &o bring back 5erberus, the guard dog of the underworld. ?or the

last labor, 8urystheus decided on something he knew would beimpossible to bring back, ali#e, the three$headed dog who guardedthe entrance toHa(es. *efore he could enter the underworld, Herculeshad to become initiated in the 8leusinian ysteries at the sacred cityof -leusis. He then +ourneyed to Hades, where he had furtherad#entures in the underworld such as freeing his cousin &heseus fromthe 5hair of ?orgetfulness where he had been bound. He also spoke

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with the hero eleager, with whom he had +ourneyed with thergonauts, who told him that, when he returned to earth, he shouldmarry eleager"s sister Deianira. Hercules was allowed by Hades totake 5erberus pro#ided he did not hurt the dog. He wrestled 5erberusinto submission and brought him back to 8urystheus who was soterrified of the animal that he told Hercules all the labors were doneand to bring the dog back to where he"d found it.

3%TH#% $+1#T3%# / &$1#%' 

Hercules was now free to do as he pleased with his life and, after all hehad accomplished, it might be thought that he would now be able toen+oy his days in peace< this would not be so. hether through thetrickeries of Hera or his own temper and lack of restraint, Hercules

would endure further troubles. truck again by Hera with madness,Hercules killed the prince 'phitus of /echalia and was told by theoracle that he must sell himself as a sla#e to atone for his sin. Hebecame the property of @ueen /mphale of y(ia who made the herodress in women"s clothing and do needlework with the other ladies ofthe court. /mphale e#entually took him as her lo#er and then set himfree.

He then went on an e9pedition to Troy which, with the help of otherheroes, he conuered 6long before theTro/an 0ar7 and then became

in#ol#ed in a ar with the &itans of icily. &he &itans had beendefeated centuries before by !eus but had risen again and, accordingto prophecy, the gods could only win this time with the help of amortal hero. Hercules helped to defeat the &itans and rescued theworld from chaos and the gods from imprisonment. He then sailedback to )reece to get re#enge on ugeius for refusing to honor hisagreement when he cleaned out the stables. Hercules was defeated inthis battle because he was still weakened from the war with the&itans. He left ugeius" land and, after further ad#entures, landed in5alydon where he met and fell in lo#e with the princess :eianira, the

sister of eleager. He had to wrestle the ri#er$god chelous for herhand and won, and so was married.

+#$%$ / *$%%$G#

:eianira and Hercules li#ed happily for a time in 5alydon until heaccidentally killed his father$in$law"s cupbearer. lthough it was an

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accident, and he was forgi#en by the king, Hercules could not forgi#ehimself and so decided to lea#e the city with :eianira. &hey reachedthe ri#er 8#enus, and there met the centaur ;essus who offered tocarry :eianira across on his back. Apon reaching the other side,howe#er, he tried to rape her and Hercules shot him with one of hisarrows. &hese were the same arrows Hercules had dipped in the bloodof the Hydra, and the centaur was dying uickly when he told :eianirathat his blood possessed a special uality as a lo#e potion and that sheshould take some of it in a #ial. 'f e#er she felt that Hercules waslosing interest in her, he said, she should sprinkle the blood on his shirtand he would be in lo#e with her fore#er. ;essus understood, ofcourse, that the blood would be deadly to any mortal and this was hisre#enge for Hercules" arrow.

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Hercules ?ighting the 5entaur ;essos

Hercules and :eianira settled in the city of &rachis, started a family,

and, again, were happy for a time until Hercules went to war against8urytus who, like ugeius, had insulted him earlier in life. He killed8urytus and took his daughter 'ole 6whom he had won before in anarchery contest but been refused7 as his concubine. nother #ersion of the myth relates how he helped rtemis kill a boar which was ra#agingthe kingdom and was gi#en 'ole as a gift. Hercules then prepared a#ictory feast and sent word to :eianira to send him his best shirt to

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wear at the festi#al. :eianira, fearing that Hercules was fonder of 'olenow than of her, soaked the shirt in the blood of ;essus and thenwashed away the stains, lea#ing only the poison. s soon as Herculesput the shirt on, he was sei%ed with agony and began to burn. He torethe shirt from his body but the poison was already grafted to his skin.ince he was a demi$god, he could not die uickly and so suffered asthe poison penetrated his body and he became weaker and weaker.:eianira, reali%ing she had been tricked by ;essus and had killed herhusband, hanged herself.

TH# +#$TH H#%43&#

Hercules climbed ount 8tna where he built his own funeral pyre in aclearing, ga#e away his possessions, and then lay down with his head

resting on his club and the ;emean lion"s skin co#ering him< then thetorches were lit and the pyre took flames. &homas *ullfinch, thefamous mythologist, writes

The gods themselves felt troubled at seeing the champion of the earth so brought to his

end. 2ut 5eus, with cheerful countenance, thus addressed them6 7 am pleased to see

 your concern, my princes, and am gratified to perceive that am the ruler of a loyal

people, and that my son en8oys your favour. or although your interest in him arises

from his noble deeds, yet it is not the less gratifying to me. 2ut now say to you, ear

not. He who con9uered all else is not to be con9uered by those flames which you see bla:ing on *ount #tna. nly his mother;s share in him can perish< what he derived from

me is immortal. shall take him, dead to earth, to the heavenly shores, and re9uire of

 you all to receive him kindly. f any of you feel grieved at his attaining this honour, yet

no one can deny that he has deserved it.7 The gods all gave their assent< Hera only heard

the closing words with some displeasure that she should be so particularly pointed at,

 yet not enough to make her regret the determination of her husband. o when the

flames had consumed the mother;s share of Hercules, the diviner part, instead of being

in8ured thereby, seemed to start forth with new vigour, to assume a more lofty port and

a more awful dignity. 5eus enveloped him in a cloud, and took him up in a four-horse

chariot to dwell among the stars (=>).

&#G$4' 

nd so Hercules left the earth to li#e eternally among the gods and,through the stories of his ad#entures, to en+oy immortality down

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through the ages. His life was not always a happy one, e#en though hehad a god for a father, and his daily struggles and relationships werenot made any easier by his strength. 8#en though he was able toaccomplish great deeds, this did not make him immune to thosedisappointments and dark times that are a part of the humane9perience. &he historian ir .. -i#ingstone writes, (&he )reekswere fascinated by the spectacle of man and the world, and theirfascination is seen not only in their formal philosophy. /f their poetstoo it may be said that they were born to see the world and human life$ not to morali%e or indulge in sentiment or rhetoric or mysticism aboutit, but to see it( 62B07.

&he myths of Hercules show the world as it is e#eryone has monstersthey need to con3uer and seemingly impossible tasks they are faced

with and tragedies that seem too hard to bear. s it was in ancient)reece when people would sit and listen to the tales of the hero, so ithas been e#er since and, e#en in the modern day, comic books,graphic no#els, books, tele#ision shows, and Hollywood films featuringHercules continue to be popular. He remains a hero anyone can relateto, precisely because his life was so far from perfect and his characterwas less than ideal. hen faced with some difficult situation in life,one can take comfort in the thought that, if Hercules could endure hissufferings, one can sur#i#e one"s own.