Hercules: Man or God?
Throughout history, there are many stories about gods called myths. One of the better known myths is the story of Hercules. There are more stories about Hercules than any other hero, and his many feats were constantly retold in art and literature, TV, and movies.
Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek demigod (half god – half human) Heracles, who was the son of Zeus and the human princess Alcmene. Hercules is famous for his strength and his numerous adventures.
Was there a real man behind the stories? We will never know. Yet, his story is of a man whose life was not easy, yet he was strong and courageous, and whose deeds were so mighty, and who endured all the hardships that were given to him, that when he died, Hercules was brought up to Mount Olympus to live with the gods. All over Greece he was worshipped as either a god or a hero. He was the protector athletics and according to one myth, he was the founder of the Olympic Games.
Ready to commit suicide from his guilt over killing his own wife and children while being driven insane with madness by Hera, his father Zeus’ wife. He consulted the the oracle in Delphi and was told to purify himself by serving his cousin King Eurystheus of Mycenae and to do whatever the king told him. These tasks given to him by King Eurystheus are known as his Twelve Labors.
Each of the Twelve Labors of Hercules is an adventure all to itself. King Eurystheus did not like Hercules and wanted him to fail, so each task was more difficult than the one before it. The last task even involved traveling to the Underworld (Hades/Hell) and bringing back the fierce three-headed guardian Cerberus.
Twelve Labors of Hercules
- Slay the Lion of Nemea
- Slay the Lernean Hydra
- Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis
- Capture the Boar of Erymanthia
- Clean the entire Augean stables in one day
- Slay the Stymphalian Birds
- Capture the Bull of Crete
- Steal the Mares of Diomedes
- Get the girdle from the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta
- Take the cattle from the monster Geryon
- Steal apples from the Hesperides
- Bring back the three-headed dog Cerberus from the Underworld
Although worshipped as a god, Hercules was really a hero, frequently appealed to for protection from various evils. In art, Hercules was portrayed as a powerful, muscular man wearing a lion’s skin and armed with a huge club. Perhaps the most famous statue of Hercules is in the Farnese Hercules in the National Museum in Naples. He is the hero of many plays by Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca.
The constellation Hercules is huge – the fifth largest in the sky – but rather dim, which is an interesting parallel with Hercules himself. The constellation is found between Lyra and Bootes. It shows the hero wearing the skin of the Nemean Lion while holding his characteristic club and Cerberus the three-headed dog.
