Posts Tagged ‘HERACLES (HERCULES IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY)’
Heracles (Hercules in Greek Mythology)
He was the son of Zeus and Alcmena whom the god seduced disguised as her husband Amphitryon the king of Thebes.
The goddess Hera was furious when she found out about the infidelity of her husband one more time(!) and tried to kill the infant Hercules by having two snakes placed in his crib.At the and they found the baby prattling with the dead snakes.
Hercules was set on twelve labors by the Oracle of Delphi, possibly to expiate his guilt over killing his wife and children in a fit of madness sent by the goddess Hera, and the labors were part of his service to King Eurytheseus;
1. Kill and deliver the Nemean Lion.
2. Kill the multiheaded Hydra.
3. Bring back, dead or alive, the Cerynitian Hind, a ravaging deer sacred to the goddess Artemis.
4. Catch the Erymanthian Boar.
5. Clean out the massive stables of Augeas.
6. Kill the metal-feathered Stymphalian birds.
7. Capture the Cretan Bull.
8. Deal with pesky man-eating Mares of Diomedes (he moved and released them.)
9. Get the Girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons (she gave it to him peacefully, which enraged Hera, who arranged for the rest of the Amazons to attack Hercules; in the mess that followed, Hippolyta was killed by Hercules.)
10. Steal the cattle of Geryon.
11. Bring back the Golden Apples of the Hesperides.
12. Go down to the Underworld and bring back multi-headed Cerberus, chief Hound of Hades.
He got to be the hero of many other adventures after these labours. Hercules married a princess whose hand he had won by fighting the river god Achelous,Deianeira.
Hercules also fought Nessus the centaur in order to save his wife. As the centaur lay dying from Hercules’ arrows, he urged Deianeira to take some of his blood, telling her it would act as a magic potion that could secure her husband’s love. Deianeira smeared the potion on a robe for her husband’s. when Hercules put on the poisoned garment, it burned his skin, causing an agonizing pain that could not be stopped.
According to legend, Hercules, had been taken to the Mount Olympus to be with his father, Zeus, and the other gods. Even Hera welcomed him and allowed him to marry her daughter Hebe.
