Heracles
The greatest hero of Greek mythology — son of Zeus, performer of the Twelve Labours, and the only mortal to achieve full apotheosis.
Heracles (Roman: Hercules) was the quintessential Greek hero — a figure of superhuman strength, extreme suffering, and ultimate divine reward. His cult was pan-Hellenic and crossed into Roman, Etruscan, and Near Eastern traditions. He was worshipped both as a hero (with chthonic rites) and as a god (with Olympian offerings).[2]
Birth and Divine Parentage
Heracles was the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene of Thebes. Hera, jealous of Zeus’s infidelity, became his lifelong enemy. She sent serpents to kill him in his cradle (he strangled them) and later drove him mad, causing him to kill his own wife Megara and their children — the crime that led to his servitude and the Twelve Labours.[4]
The Twelve Labours
Assigned by King Eurystheus of Mycenae (at Hera’s instigation) as penance:[4]
- Nemean Lion — Strangled the invulnerable beast; wore its skin as armor
- Lernaean Hydra — Slew the multi-headed serpent (with Iolaus’s help)
- Ceryneian Hind — Captured the sacred deer of Artemis alive
- Erymanthian Boar — Captured the great boar alive
- Augean Stables — Cleaned thirty years of filth by diverting two rivers
- Stymphalian Birds — Drove off the man-eating bronze-beaked birds
- Cretan Bull — Captured the bull of Minos (father of the Minotaur)
- Mares of Diomedes — Tamed the man-eating horses of the Thracian king
- Belt of Hippolyta — Obtained the war belt of the Amazon queen
- Cattle of Geryon — Stole the cattle of the three-bodied giant in the far west
- Apples of the Hesperides — Retrieved the golden apples from the edge of the world
- Cerberus — Captured the three-headed guardian of the Underworld — and returned him
Later Adventures and Death
After the Labours, Heracles participated in numerous adventures: the Argonautic expedition, the sack of Troy (under Laomedon), war against the centaurs, and the freeing of Prometheus. His death came from the poisoned robe of Nessus — a trap set by the dying centaur. In agony, Heracles mounted his own funeral pyre on Mount Oeta. His mortal part burned away, and he ascended to Olympus as a god, marrying Hebe (goddess of youth).
Cult and Worship
Heracles was exceptional in receiving worship both as a hero (with offerings at tombs and chthonic altars) and as a god (with standard Olympian sacrifice). Major cult sites included:
- Thebes (birthplace)
- Marathon (Attic hero cult)
- Thasos (major sanctuary)
- Rome (Ara Maxima in the Forum Boarium)
Primary Sources
- Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.4–2.7 (fullest account of the Labours)
- Euripides, Heracles (the madness)
- Sophocles, Trachiniae (death)
- Pindar, Olympian 3, Nemean 1 (praise poetry)
- Diodorus Siculus, Library 4.9–4.39
Further Reading
- Stafford, Emma. Herakles. Routledge, 2012.
- Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Ch. 13–15.
- Padilla, Mark W., ed. Rites of Passage in Ancient Greece. Bucknell University Press, 1999.
See also: Greek Pantheon · Trojan War Cycle
References
- ↑ Stafford, Emma. Herakles. Routledge, 2012.
- ↑ Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Ch. 13–15.
- ↑ Padilla, Mark W., ed. Rites of Passage in Ancient Greece. Bucknell University Press, 1999.
- ↑ Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.4–2.7 (fullest account of the Labours)
- ↑ Euripides, Heracles (the madness)
- ↑ Sophocles, Trachiniae (death)
- ↑ Pindar, Olympian 3, Nemean 1 (praise poetry)
- ↑ Diodorus Siculus, Library 4.9–4.39