The Hero's Journey By: Hannah Ranieri Olympus The story starts in Olympus before Hercules was born. Hades was plotting to take over Olympus by using the immortal titans as his army. When Hercules was born, the Fates predicted he would difficult Hades plan. Hades sent his minions.
- Hercules Heracles 'Farnese Hercules', Greco-Roman marble statue from Rome C3rd A.D., Naples National Archaeological Museum HERAKLES was an Olympian demigod worshipped as the divine protector of mankind. He had a large number of shrines throughout the ancient world and his festivals were widely celebrated.
- Hercules is skilled with club, bow, sword, and unarmed combat. Cultural Legend: Before an Epic Hero can be universally known, he must first be a legend in his culture. Hercules is easy to recognize with his armor made from the Nemean Lion's invulnerable pelt. Humility: The hero performs great deeds for their own sake rather than glory.
Hercules (HR-ku-leez) was a great Greek hero who was half human and half God. His father was the famous Greek God Zues. Hercules was not considered to be God initially, but because of his bravery and heroic deeds, he was finally given a place amongst gods.
How Is Hercules A Hero
Hercules had immense strength when he was little. Once he saved his twin brother from two snakes. The snakes were put in the crib by Hercules’s stepmother, Hera. As he grew older, he became an exceptionally strong young man. He learned his lessons from best Greek teachers. He mastered the art of wrestling, riding the chariot, the art of war and shoot a bow and arrow. The only lessons that he found difficult were music lessons.
By the time Hercules turned eighteen, he stood out amongst his peers. He had many superior weapons and war materials that had been awarded to him by some of the most powerful Gods. They gifted him a mighty bow and arrows, an indestructible sword, a powerful club, strong horses with great stamina, a truly special breastplate that was golden and a perfect robe to cloak his body beneath. With the help of all these wonderful weapons, Hercules was well prepared to face his enemy.
He went on to become a powerful warrior and a hero saving people from trouble.
But wicked stepmother Hera, kept on plotting against Hercules. One day she cast an evil spell on him, that sent him in a fit of rage. In that rage, he killed all his family. When Hercules regained consciousness, he wept bitterly for what he had done. He prayed to the Gods for forgiveness. The Gods ordered him to complete “12 extremely difficult tasks” to wash away his sins.
Hercules completed all the tasks honestly. Then, he was forgiven for his sins and made a God.
Take a peek at the animated clip of Hercules –
HerculesIs Hercules A Hero
, Heracles, or Heraklesboth: hĕr´əklēz˝ [key]What Is Hercules Known For
, most popular of all Greek heroes, famous for extraordinary strength and courage. Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, made love to both Zeus and her husband on the same night and bore two sons, Hercules (son of Zeus) and Iphicles (son of Amphitryon). Hercules incurred the everlasting wrath of Hera because he was the child of her unfaithful husband. A few months after his birth Hera set two serpents in his cradle, but the prodigious infant promptly strangled them.When he was a young man, Hercules defended Thebes from the armies of a neighboring city, Orchomenus, and was rewarded with Megara, daughter of King Creon. But Hera later drove Hercules insane, and in his madness he killed his wife and children. After he had recovered his sanity, he sought purification at the court of King Eurystheus of Tiryns for 12 years. During those years Hercules performed 12 arduous labors: he killed the Nemean lion and the Hydra; caught the Erymanthian boar and the Cerynean hind; drove off the Stymphalian birds; cleaned the stables of Augeas; captured the Cretan bull and the horses of Diomed; made off with the girdle of the Amazon queen Hippolyte; killed Geryon; captured Cerberus; and finally took the golden apples of Hesperides.
Is Hercules A Hero Video
After his labors were completed, Hercules was involved in many other adventures and combats, including the Calydonian hunt and the Argonaut expedition. He killed Iphitus, son of the king of Oichalia, because the king would not give him his daughter Iole. When Neleus, king of Pylos, refused him absolution for that crime, Hercules sacked his kingdom and killed all his sons except Nestor. For that outrage the Delphic oracle bade him serve Omphale, queen of Lydia, who, in some legends, dressed him in women's clothes and had him work with her maids spinning wool. He later was her lover, but after he finished his servitude he returned to Oichalia and carried off Iole.
When his second wife, Deianira, daughter of King Oeneus, was seized by the centaur Nessus, Hercules killed Nessus with arrows dipped in the poisonous blood of the Hydra. As he died, Nessus told Deianira that blood from his wound would restore Hercules' love for her if ever it were to wane. Later, when Deianira sought to win back her husband's love, she contrived to have him don a robe smeared with the blood. The robe stuck fast to Hercules' skin, burning him unbearably. In agony, he built a huge pyre atop Mt. Oite and had it set afire. His mortal parts burned away, but the rest rose to heaven, where he was finally reconciled with Hera and married Hebe.
Although worshiped as a god, Hercules was properly 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 him is the Farnese Hercules in the National Museum in Naples. He is the hero of plays by Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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