· Hercules, aka “Heracles” or “Hercle”
o Birth
§ Product of Zeus and Alcemene
§ Zeus visits her as her husband, Amphitryon
§ Amphitryon is the disgraced general of the city of Thebes and a grandson of Perseus
· Accidently killed another man in Mycenae and flees to Thebes—Given absolution by king Creon
§ Born as a fraternal twin (brother totally mortal and full son of Amphitryon)
o Hera knows Zeus ran around and knows that a king is destined to be born in this generation from the line of Perseus
§ Holds back Hercules in the womb and causes his cousin Eurystheus to be born first, making him the king
o Named Hercules as an offering to Hera… Means “Hera’s Glory”
o Snakes
o Mother gets scared Hera will kill
o Marries Megara, the daughter of king Creon, as a reward for saving Thebes singlehandedly
§ Hera induces a madness in him and he kills his wife and two kids
§ After he comes out of it, he goes to the Oracle of Delphi and asks what he must do
· Hera pushes Apollo out and through the Oracle tells him he must perform twelve labors for his cousin Eurystheus
o All are supposed to be impossible and all are Hera’s idea…
· First six labors of Hercules—Only assigned 10 labors originally…
o Nemean Lion
§ Offspring of Typhon and Echidna—The prime monsters
· The last children of Gaia and so monstrous even the Titans and Giants rejected them
· Imprisoned under Mt. Etna in Sicily
§ Impervious to all weapons
§ Hercules has 30 days to find, slay and sacrifice the lion to Zeus
§ Chases the lion back to its cave and chases it inside
· Stuns it with a blow to the head with his club
§ Strangles the lion and then uses the lion’s own claws to skin it
§ He presents Eurystheus with the skin as proof and Eurystheus lets him keep it
o The Hydra
§ Another child of Typhon
§ Nine heads, one of which is immortal but all of which grow back two when one is severed
§ Goes to the Hydra’s lair with his nephew Iolaus
· Iolaus is a select of Athena and she gives him the idea to burn the stumps of the heads before the grow back
o Either the Hydra’s own venomous blood or torches
§ Hercules dips his arrows into the blood making poison arrows
§ Eurystheus says that because Iolaus had the idea, the Hydra doesn’t count
o The golden hind of Artimis
§ A magical doe with antlers
· So fast, it could outrun arrows
§ CAPTURE, not kill
· Hera figures that this will anger Artimis
§ Hercules traps the doe and encounters Artimis and Apollo on the way back
· To pay Hera back for her fake prophecy at Delphi, Apollo convinces Artimis to let Hercules go IF he releases the deer
§ Eurystheus wants the doe for his private zoo
· Hercules tells him he can have the hind if he comes out and takes it
o Deer runs and Hercules is off the hook
o The Eyrmanthian Boar
§ A boar created by Apollo to kill Aphrodite’s mortal lover Adonis
§ Hercules goes to Mt. Eyrmanthia and finds an old friend there, stays the night
· Friend has a jar of wine given by Dionysius
§ The smell of the wine draws all the centaurs in the area… And they go a little crazy, tearing up the villiage
§ Hercules chases them away and back up the mountain
§ Centaurs run to the only safe place they know, Chiron’s cave
· Hercules accidentally shoots Chiron
§ Chiron has a solution, goes with Hercules to the mountain where Prometheus is chained—Trades places
· Chiron tells Hercules how to catch the boar
Prometheus tells Hercules which woman Zeus shouldn’t mess around with
No comments:
Post a Comment