Hercules



Hercules

The most popular of all the Greek mythological hero is Hercules who made great things, but it is mainly the victory over the beasts and monsters, and not over the people, which made him of the epic heroes. Hercules is the most human of all the characters, because he holds strong and clean human passion, as opposed to people, he manages to make a general human desire to conquer death. He even went down into the underworld, where he fought with the three-headed dog Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld. Victory over death leads to immortality, and while Hercules died, dressed in a poisoned robe, his father, Zeus placed the hero of Olympus and gave him immortal spouse - Hebe ("Youth"). Of all the heroes Heracles only revered as a God. Zeus's jealous wife, Hera, made him temporarily insane, and he killed his wife and children. As punishment Heracles performed twelve seemingly impossible labors, which have been the subject of countless works of art and drama. Heracles is often depicted wearing a lion skin and wielding a club. Hercules is considered as an epic hero as he performed all the tasks which he was assigned to do as a punishment.

The epic hero is not merely a warrior but is an effective leader as well. An epic hero is also a polished and skilled speaker who can address the masses with confidence and eloquence. He also possesses distinct powers and strengths. The epic hero usually have to go through a journey in which his courage, strength and endurance is tested. The concept of arete (Greek for "bringing virtue to perfection") is crucial to understanding the epic protagonist. Whatever virtues his race most prizes, these the epic hero as a cultural exemplar possesses in abundance. His key quality is often emphasized by his stock epithet: "Resourceful Odysseus," "swift-footed Achilles," "pious Aeneas (Stutt, pp. 5)."

In the Iliad and Odyssey are references to Hercules, suggesting that incidents of his life and some of his exploit which were already known from the 7th century BC. One of the first heroic scenes highlighted in the Iliad is the struggle of Heracles himself with Hades, which could injure him and force him to resort to Olympus to heal the Paiion. The second known story of the Iliad was the captivity of 'heinous dog "Cerberus that guards the Underworld (Papahatzis 1996:144). One of the most famous characters ...