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Hercules Tragic Hero

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Hercules is a well-known Greek/Roman hero. He is a great hero and the son of the great god Zeus. Like all prominent heroes, he had enemies. His most hated enemy is no other than Zeus’ wife, Hera. Because of the goddess Hera, he is known for one of his greatest qualities, bravery. Even though Hercules’ life was dark, he was the most powerful and famous hero in all of the Greek mythology.
Hercules’ origin began when Zeus lay with Alkmene. Before that Zeus had a desire for Alcmene. When Amphitryon, her spouse, left for battle, he then proceeded to visit her while impersonating Amphitryon. Right after Hercules' birth, Alcmene, his mother, took him to a forest outside of Thebes and deserted him, because she was fearful of Hera and what she …show more content…

When Hercules and his family were happy, Hera drove Hercules into insanity. He killed Megara and his three sons. When Hercules realized what he did, he wanted to kill himself. Yet his cousin persuaded him to atone for his sins. He visited the Oracle at Delphi. He was told to serve his cousin, King Eurystheus.
Hera, his most hated enemy, caused most of the things that have gone wrong in Hercules life. When Hera found out that Zeus had broken his vow by laying with another woman she tried to stop Hercules from being born. She sent the goddess of birth, Ilithyia to sit cross-legged to stop Hercules’ birth. The article Heracles says that Ilithyia would have killed Heracles if Alcmene’s servant had not fooled Ilithyia, who mislead Ilithyia by saying that Alcmene had given birth to Hercules. The article also says that “Upon hearing this, she jumped in surprise, untying the knots and inadvertently allowing Alcmene to give birth to her twins, Heracles and Iphicles”. Then Hera sped up the birth of Eurystheus to allow him to become the sole ruler of the vast empire Hercules was meant to rule. She then sent two great snakes to kill Hercules, but having Zeus’ great strength he killed the two snakes. Hercules went on to marry Megara and had three sons. Cartwright says that Hera once again disrupted Hercules life and drove him insane so he killed Megara and his three sons. Hera then guided the oracle to

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