|
Hercules is the offspring of Zeus, the king of gods and a woman
of earth. It is said that Hera, Zeus' green-eyed wife tried to
do way with him when he was only an infant. Hera sent a couple
of serpents to slay him. Nevertheless, the serpents landed in
the little but powerful hands of Hercules only to meet their
fate.
When Hercules was born to Alcmene, she named him Herakles. But
in Roman, Herakles is pronounced Hercules, which is the name we
use for Hercules to this day. Hercules in Greek mythology is a
great figure of valor and muscle strength. Hercules bravery
earned him a place among the gods. After he left the mortal
world, he found a position on Mount Olympus, the gods' dwelling
place.
Zeus, the King of the gods was an unfaithful husband. He had a
weakness for worldly pleasures. He fell in love with Alcmene,
the wife of Amphitryon. In a short time, Alcmene conceived
Hercules. This angered Hera and she tried to kill Hercules.
Hercules survived his first fatal assault with a miracle.
When Hercules reached adulthood he became a famous warrior. He
also fell in love with a beautiful woman called Megara. Megara
became the mother of Hercules' children and together they made a
happy family. However, things were to be different. Hera took a
vow to irritate Hercules during his lifetime. She tricked
Hercules into a wild rage. In his rage, the mortal god Hercules
killed his family. This was exactly what Hera wanted!
When Hercules returned to his normal state of mind, he saw
things were beyond remedy. He prayed to Apollo to get rid of his
crime. Apollo was the sun god who could read into the future. We
find in Greek Mythology that Hercules requested his advice.
Apollo assigned him ten important tasks (later it was turned to
twelve) as the way of purifying his soul.
The Delphic oracle sent him to Tiryns where the king Eurystheus
ruled. Hercules was expected to serve him as laborer for twelve
years of his life. However, the difficult service was not
fruitless. Apollo promised him immortality. He was to become a
god. However, the great Hercules of greek mythology had one
problem, Hera. She actually kept her promise to make Hercules'
life as wretched as she could. Nevertheless, with the assistance
of Hermes and Athena, Hercules pulled off his term of twelve
years with excellence. In addition, he became the greatest
mortal on the earth to become a god.
Hercules In Greek Mythology – What Made Him So
Special?
The honorable penance of Hercules and his
eventual success is what makes him so special. His success
brought him immortality, which would have been unthinkable for
ordinary mortals. Hercules' first task was to peel off the skin
of the horrifying Nemean Lion after capturing one. His next task
was to kill The Lernean Hydra. The Lernean Hydra was a serpent
with nine heads, which never gave peace to the lives of those
around it. The third task for him was to bring a Hind (a sacred
red deer) from Ceryneia to the king. The deer was the pet of
Diana, the Moon goddess.
The fourth task for Hercules was to bring a live Erymanthian
Boar. It was very dangerous to men and animals living around the
mountain Erymanthus. Then Hercules was asked to clean up King
Augeas' stables in one day. Are you thinking what is so great
about it? King Augeas had an awesome amount of cattle of cows,
bulls, goats, sheep and horses. Hercules proposed to King Augeas
that he would clean the stable only if he rewarded Hercules with
a tenth of his cattle.
After this success, Eurystheus was planning to make something
tougher for Hercules. He commanded the hero, Hercules, to force
out an enormous flock of birds, which assembled at a lake near
the town of Stymphalos. Goddess Athena helped him with a pair of
bronze krotala, an item similiar to castanets. The Cretan Bull
was an easy task for Hercules. Hercules wrestled the bull, and
then delivered it back to King Eurystheus. The eighth task was
to bring the Man-Eating Horses of Diomedes. It was followed by
the battle against the Amazonian female army to get the belt of
Hippolyte, the queen. The tenth labor was an awesome one.
Hercules had to go around the world, to bring the cattle of the
Monster Geryon. It had three heads and three sets of legs all
attached at the waist.
The tricky assignment was the eleventh one. Eurystheus asked
Hercules to get the Apples of the Hesperides. These were the
golden apples gifted by Hera to Zeus. These apples were strictly
guarded by a hundred-headed dragon, named Ladon, and also by
Hesperides, daughters of Atlas. The other obstacle was that
Hercules had no idea where these apples of Hesperides were
located. Eventually, Hercules found the location from Nereus
whom he seized until Nereus gave him the location of the apples
of Hesperides.
Then Hercules found out thru Prometheus, whom Hercules had
helped, that he would have to have Atlas retrieve the apples.
Hercules agreed to hold the sky and the earth while Atlas
retrieved the apples. When Atlas returned with the apples, he
told Hercules that if he would hold the sky and earth for the
rest of time, that he would take them to Eurystheus himself. But
Hercules fooled Atlas by asking him to hold the earth until he
padded his shoulders. Atlas took Hercules place holding the
earth, and Hercules picked up the apples and ran.
After making the great Hercules do all sorts of unbelievable
errands, Eurystheus made sure that he did not succeed the last
time. So, he ordered Hercules to abduct Cerberus, the underworld
beast. Did you ever hear a living man visiting the Hades?
However, Greek mythology tells us Hercules was no ordinary man.
He was a hero.
He eventually did complete all the tasks, purified his soul and
rescued the princess of Troy from a ravenous sea-monster. He
also facilitated Zeus to beat the Giants in a great battle for
the control of Olympus. He married again, to the charming
Deianira. She presented him a cloak, which was coated with what
she mistakenly thought to be a magic love potion. She was told
that the balm would make the person love her forever.
Ironically, it was poison, which burned Hercules skin. Hercules,
not being able to endure the pain, asked his friends to kindle a
fire. Then Hercules placed himself on the fire to be burned up
alive. But the gods looked down, and Zeus thought that Hercules
had suffered enough. So he asked Hera to end her anger toward
Hercules, which she did. Then Hercules was brought to Olympus in
Athena's chariot by Zeus' request.
This Greek mortal Hercules is undoubtedly the greatest hero of
Greek Mythology. Hercules is still considered to be the perfect
mythical character.
© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.
About the author:
Randy is owner of http://www.pr
ofitable-home-businesses.com where you will find further
tips on starting dozens of profitable home based businesses.
Randy also owns http://www.planning-a-baby-shower.com.
|