What makes a hero? Is it slaying a mighty monster? Saving a town? Hercules, son of zeus, may have done such things, but is he really one of the good guys? His twelve labours created by king Eurystheus may be seen as heroic acts, but in reality most were along the lines of stealing and murder. That leads to the question, is Hercules a hero or hitman? Hercules is definitely one of the most famous greek heroes in history, is supposedly “brainwashed” by a jealous Hera into murdering his family, was to make up for it by completing twelve famous labours for king Eurystheus. Not only did he murder his family, the twelve labours mostly consist of stealing goods and possessions from others and murdering people that get in his way. He has killed some grand pesky beats, but he is still being ordered to kill, and following those orders without hesitation. Hercules is not the hero that greek mythology glorifies him to be. His ruthless acts to “purify” himself from killing his family, are nothing but him following commands of robbery, whether it be of a life or possession. He is less of a hero and more of a modern day hired ‘hitman’. Hercules agreed to completing the twelve tedious labours, however bad they might be. If he was ordered to steal something, he would. If he was told to kill something, he would do it. His actions are more alike the ones of an assassin or hitman rather than a selfless hero.
Hercules’ labours mostly consisted of taking things and giving them to the king,
In Greek mythology Hercules is known for his strength and courage, considered as half man and half god. He was an adventurous superhuman born from mortal mother and the son of god Zeus. Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus decided to kill Hercules after his birth. Hercules then married the Theben princess Megara and had three children. However, Hera wasn’t happy about him. She was filled hatred of him, and as time goes, this situation made him to kill his wife and all his children. Hercules then felt guilty about the crime he had done. Hercules was charged to serve his cousin, king Eurystheus, and the ‘twelve labors’ were given to him as punishments. Those labors are a call to adventure that made Hercules to cross the threshold
“ A huge boar was ravaging cattle on mount Erymanthus, and again Hercules was required to capture it alive. This pised him no problem… he chased the boar… until it collapsed… and then bound the beast in chains.” ( Creighton 99) He got a lot of experience from this labour because he had to chase down this wild boar, and then chain it up. So if any tragedies like this occur in the city, he would be able to take care of it. “ The third labour imposed on Hercules was the capture of a deer with golden antlers… Eurystheus wanted him to bring the animal back alive, Hercules brought it down by shooting an arrow neatly through the forelegs.” ( Creighton 98) To hit a shot like that, there is lots of experience necessary, so even before the 12 labours, Hercules had these amazing skills of running, shooting, hunting and so on. The best hero, most also have the most experience and skills, that is why Hercules is the greatest hero. Without these skills, and without this type of experience, you are not fit to be called the best hero. Hercules is the only one with these skills and experience, that is why is the best
In countless stories where males give birth, gods use humans for their own pleasure, and fathers swallow their children, it’s impossible to lose oneself in the soap-opera-esque reminiscence. With a glorious name that is known to this day, Hercules is seen as a hero because of his great strength and courage. He has multiple archetypes, but the question is, which one is more predominant? Hercules is different in each story. In the myth he is considered one archetype and in the Disney animation he is considered a completely different archetype.
Hercules is thought to be one of the world’s greatest hero. There are children’s movies about him, but they all have a happy ending. Hercules, originally born “Heracles” lived a short cruel, yet heroic life. “The 12 Herculean tasks he performed over a period of 12 years have been immortalized in everything from classical poetry to Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.” (French 1). Hercules, in Greek mythology, was a hero known for his strength and courage and for his legendary adventures. Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles. He was the son of the god Zeus and a human mother Alcmene, wife of the Theban general Amphitryon. Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, was determined to kill Hercules, and after Hercules was born, she
Greek mythology has been passed on and retold over generations. Literature and movies have been created to entertain as well as provide specific themes based off of myths. There are many heroes that mythology talks about and each one has lived an epic life, but there is one famous hero that has been immortalized throughout history. Hercules is the son of Zeus and a mortal named Alcmene. Zeus impregnated her while her husband was away and this is where his story began. Zeus' wife, Hera, found out about the affair and was outrageous about his careless actions. She tried to prevent Hercules' birth; however, when that didn't work she sent snakes to kill the baby. Hercules was too mighty for the snakes and strangled them before they could even hurt him. As stated in this source, "Hera remained angry. How could she get even? Hera knew that she would lose in a fight, and that she wasn't powerful enough to prevent Zeus from having his way. Hera decided to pay Zeus back for his infidelity by making the rest of Hercules' life as miserable as she could" (Crane WEB). Hercules grew up to be a great young warrior and was all around. With this god-like strength, also came an uncontrollable temper that made him react at times without thinking, but later made him realize the wrongdoings of his violence. He later then married a woman named Megara and had two beautiful children. But one day, Hera instilled a fit of rage into Hercules and made him slaughter his family with his very own hands. He was shocked by his actions and asked Apollo for assistance since he was drowning in guilt. Apollo later then gave him specific tasks to help Hercules redeem himself for the bloodshed he caused. The hero was sent to Eurystheus, and under his strict hand, he was to accomplish twelve labors over the next twelve years.
Disney’s Hercules depicts the classic mythical tale of the infamous demi god. Evil Hades, Hercules grows up on Earth but has godly strength from which he doesn't know originates. When he discovers his immortal heritage, Zeus calls him to return to Mount Olympus to become the champion he is destined to be. Eventually, Hercules evolves to be a famous hero with the help of Pegasus and Phil the satyr. Through his journey he takes on mythical monsters, Titans, and Hades. In the end it is his sacrifice that make him a true hero.
Hercules was a character portrayed in classic Roman Mythology. He was known to be the son of Zeus, and went on many great adventures throughout the lands; saving lives, defeating villains, and slaying treacherous monsters. Throughout his many trials, he gained fame, fortune, and a place amongst the Gods of Olympia. By looking at the mythological stories of Hercules, we can see that many of Joseph Campbell’s “Stages of the Hero’s Journey” can be applied to the stories about him.
Later in the movie we are introduced with Philoctetetes (a goat) the trainer who trains Hercules in gaining valuable exercises and activities that he may later has to challenge. Hercules then encounter with 12 tasks and he overcome them all with his bare hands Phil Comes to realize that Meg Hercules love is betraying him, Hercules ignores him treating him unfair and leaves him. Unfortunately, Hercules found out that it was true ad felt awful forgave Phil he needed him at the end Hercules being a kind individual listened to all the good advice that Philoctetes had to offer.
Hercules felt that he needed atonement for the sinful action. He innocently murders his family with his enormous amount of strength because he became a psychopath after Hera, Zeus’ wife, cursed him to go mad because she had a great amount of dislike towards Hercules. According to the following quote,
Hercules is an incredibly famous Greek demigod. He is the son of the god of the sky, whom is also the ruler of the Olympian gods, Zeus. He was a “divine hero, one of the greatest in mythology.” Hercules has had fascinating stories told about his youth, which included the great story of how he took on two venomous snakes. His heroic training and actions were incredible, for he was taught by many great tutors and was given important gifts from the Olympian gods, including his father. Hercules started the Olympic Games, which started when he went to war against Elis and Augeias. Hercules’ love life included Hera, who drove him to insanity, and Deianeira, who died trying to get Hercules to prove his love to her. Lastly, Hercules was involved in
These include killing mythical creatures deemed to be legendary creatures that were impossible to slay. While we find out later in the movie Iolaus has created these stories to put fear in all of Hercules enemies. With this legend that surrounds Hercules, he goes about the land as a mercenary killing any enemy that someone will pay him to remove. He does not go alone though as the myth that surrounds him may present. He has four skilled warriors who help him on his quests and his nephew Iolaus whom builds the legend of Hercules around the group. The group then is called on by Lord Cotys of Thrace to defeat warlord Rheseus. Lord Cotys tells Hercules that Rheseus is invading his lands and will surely destroy everything. Hercules leads Lord Cotys army into Rheseus’s lands and destroy his army and slay Rheseus. Hercules realizes that Lord Cotys has tricked him into defeating Rheseus so that he could conquer all of Greece. Hercules and his band of warriors defeat Lord Cotys and restores freedom for Greek
Hercules, or known in Latin as Heracles, was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity. In art, Hercules was portrayed as a powerful, muscular man wearing lion's skin and armed with a huge club. He was also described as being a macho man buffoon, who was very impulsive. Hercules’ home and birthing place is in Thebes, Greece. Thebes is a city in central Greece. It plays as an important setting in many Greek myths, such as the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and many other important roles in Greek Mythology. The demigod, Hercules has an interesting origin, he is most famous for his 12 labors, and leaves a legacy in words and expressions.
Hercules was favored by the gods from few quest and even a labor. For the sixth labor the goddess Athena helped Hercules by scaring off the Stymphalian bird he had to do this because the birds were causing a plague with their numbers. Hercules shot arrows at the birds when Athena scared them. Hercules had many terrible experiences with love because of Hera. ”He was helped by Athena to drive them out of their converts. ”(Hamilton 172) Hercules was considered the greatest hero of gods because he had the most strength out of all and great emotion. When he was a baby Hera sent two snakes to kill him but Hercules held them both up and killed them. Even though he is called the greatest this didn't mean he was necessarily good most of the times when he did bad things it was hera controlling his mind. He killed his wife and three children when he was being controlled. “When Megara had borne three sons he went mad.” Later he killed his wife and children.
Another thing that makes the twelve labours of Hercules a myth is because it’s traditional. The explanation of why it is believed to be traditional because Hercules was a demigod and was, therefore, tide in their beliefs in the past which is a key component of myth(2002: 22). It was considered to be a normal human experience, where gods, goddesses, and demigods were seen as normal and passed down through their faith. These historical events are so people could maintain contact with their ancestors. The 12 labors that Hercules was given was because he wanted the gods to forgive him of his horrendous crimes, and it was known in their faith/religion to ask the gods for amnesty(54C.E.:36-37). The traditional tell the myth is retold many years later and has become well-known. That also makes his story a tradition, as a tradition is described as something that has been done consistently for the past hundred years or more. Hercules has been told and retold for far
Heracles had always been a normal child, or so he thought. Heracles, also known as Hercules is the son of Alkmene, who is mortal, and Zeus, who is a God, the God of Mount Olympus to be exact. Since he was the son of Zeus, Hera, Zeus’ wife/sister got jealous and wanted to kill Heracles every chance she got. She would do anything to have him dead. When he was a baby, Hera sent two snakes to his crib to try and kill him, but he just grabbed them and strangled them. She then realized that nothing could kill him because of how strong he was, so she decided to kill him through guilt and she knew exactly how to do that. Hercules grew up, got married, and had children. She saw that he was happy and she despised that, so she sent a madness upon him and he killed his family, knowing that if you killed your family the furies would drive you mad. When he awoke from the madness he felt horrible from what he had done and prayed to the God Apollo for forgiveness. The god's oracle told him to get rid of the blood guilt that he would have to Eurystheus. Eurystheus was a fellow friend of Hera so they gave him these twelve tasks because Hera thought that would defeat him. His first labor was to kill the Nemean Lion, who could not be pierced in the skin with anything, so Hercules snapped his neck and used his skin as armor. His second labor was to kill the Lernean Hydra, who if you cut off one of there many heads two will grow in its place. He decided then when he cut his head off that he was