Hercules

Zeus, the mightiest of the Gods, was a remarkably unfaithful husband to Hera, his wife. At one time, he fell in love with a beautiful woman named Alcmene. While her husband was away, he came to earth and seduced her. She fell pregnant, much to Hera’s fury, and in due time gave birth to a son. Alcmene named him Herakles — the Romans pronounced the name ‘Hercules’, which is how we know him today. In Greek, the name meant “Glorious Gift of Hera”, infuriating the goddess even more. She sent snakes to kill the baby in its crib, but, being the son of a god, the new-born Hercules had amazing strength and strangled them, one in each hand. Yet more furious still, Hera resolved to make Hercules’ life as unhappy as she could, to get revenge on her wayward husband.

Hercules grew up, and became a mighty warrior. He married a beautiful maiden named Megara, and they had two children. Seeing the time had come for her revenge, Hera sent a fit of madness upon Hercules, and he slaughtered his family. When he came to his senses, he was distraught and horrified. He went to the oracle at Delphi, where the god Apollo dispensed prophecy and wisdom, and asked the god to help him atone for his sins and purify himself. Hercules was told he would have to perform 10 heroic tasks for Eurystheus, the cruel king of Mycenae and Tiryns, serving him faithfully for 12 years. It wasn’t all bad news though. If Hercules successfully finished the tasks, he would be made immortal.

Mature Hercules, 1st Century AD

Although the tasks seemed impossible, Hercules was not without friends. He was often accompanied by his faithful nephew, Eolus, and the some of gods gave him help from time to time, particularly Hermes and Athena. Twice, Eurystheus ruled that Hercules had failed to complete a task to his satisfaction, so the mighty hero had eventually perform 12 labours to satisfy his hard taskmaster.

The 12 tasks of Hercules:
1: Kill and skin the invulnerable Nemean Lion
2: Kill the Lernean Hydra, whose heads regrew twofold when severed
3: Fetch the Hind of Ceryneia without harming it
4: Fetch the Erymanthean Boar alive
5: Clean the Augean Stables in a single day
6: Drive away the flesh-eating Stymphalian Birds
7: Capture the fierce Cretan Bull
8: Fetch the Man-Eating Horses of Diomedes
9: Get the Girdle of Hippolyte, the Amazon Queen
10: Steal Geryon’s Cattle from the ends of the Earth
11: Bring the sacred Apples of the Hesperides
12: Kidnap Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the underworld

After he had completed his tasks, Hercules continued to have adventures around Greece. He rescued princesses, battled monsters, and, on one occasion, helped Zeus and the gods to fight off a mighty army of titans attempting to seize control of Olympus.

Gilded Hercules, 2nd Century AD

Finally, Hercules remarried, to a lovely woman named Deianira. When he returned home from his last adventure, she had prepared a special present for him, a cloak she herself had woven. However, a centaur had given her a magic balm, telling her that anyone who wore the balm would love her faithfully for ever. He had lied, though; the balm was actually a caustic poison. She rubbed the balm into the cloak, thinking only to make secure the love of her husband.

When Deianira gave Hercules the cloak, he tried it on, and his body immediately began to burn with agonising pain. He tried to rip the cloak off, but the pain just got worse, burning deeper. In utter agony, Hercules made his friends build him a huge pile of wood on top of Mount Oeta. When it was ready, he lay on it, and forced his friends to light it, to end his suffering. Unknown to him though, the gods were watching. Zeus suggested to Hera that surely Hercules had suffered enough, and she finally agreed, forgiving the hero. Zeus despatched Athena in her chariot to get Hercules from his funeral pyre, and the hero finally joined the immortals in Olympus as had been foretold so long ago.

Although purists regarded the Kevin Sorbo TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys — in which the plots of each weekly episode are entirely modern inventions — the Greek legends themselves grew in exactly the same way. Bards and entertainers span stories for their audiences about the ancient heroes, keeping in character with the hero, but often inventing new situations and adventures. The good stories got retold, and became part of the ‘official’ legends; the boring stories did not. Modern tales can be seen an extension of this tradition. Perhaps, in two thousand years time, storytellers will be rebuked for inventing new myths of Hercules, pointing back to the ‘genuine’ ancient tales of The Legendary Journeys. In such ways are legends born…

Kev Sorbo, bless him.