Hercules

1. Hercules Group Members: Olivia, Zach, Anna, Sloan, Soha

2. Heroic Qualities • Strong • Supreme self-confidence • Good-natured • Never backed down • Willing to do anything to repay for his wrongdoings

3. Flaws • Not intelligent • Furious anger • Emotionally unstable • Killed innocent people • Never forgives himself

4. Circumstances of Birth Hercules is the son of Zeus and Alcmena not Hera. While Alcmena’s husband, Amphitryon, was out fighting the war, Zeus visited Alcmena in the shape of her husband and they ended up having Hercules. Hera was furious and was determined to kill Hercules

5. Infancy • After Alcmena put Hercules in his crib, Hera sent two snakes to try and kill Hercules in his sleep. When the snakes came up to Hercules, he sat up and grabbed the snakes by their necks. When Alcmena came in the room, Hercules was sitting there laughing with the snakes in his hand. This was Hera’s first attempt at trying to kill Hercules

6. Examples of Stupidity • Hercules refused to take music lessons, which was very important in a Greek boy’s training, and ended up killing his music teacher • He willingly did whatever anyone asked him as an attempt to repay his debts, no matter thecircumstance and no matter how dangerous it was

7. Megara, Madness, Guilt When Hercules was 18, he helped the Thebans by conquering the Minyans who had ruled them. When this happened, the grateful citizens gave Hercules Megara as a reward. Although Hercules loved her and was very devoted to their marriage, it still brought great sorrows. Hera still didn’t like Hercules so when his wife gave birth to 3 sons, Hera sent madness to Hercules and he killed all of them and Megara. After Hercules had realized what he had done, great guilt came over him. He had gone mad and almost killed himself before Theseus had stopped him. He took Hercules to Athens to work for him and pay off his guilt.

8. 12 Labors • First Labor:Kill The Lion of Nemea • The Nemean Lion could not be killed with weapons. So, Hercules used his bare hands to choke the lion. From there on, Eurystheus realized the true strength of Hercules and proceeded by giving him his orders from afar. • Second Labor: Kill Hydra In Lerna • Hercules’s second task was to kill a creature with nine heads, called the Hydra. One of the heads was immortal, meaning that if one were chopped off, two would grow in its place. Hercules received help from his cousin Iolaus, who brought him a burning brand. This enabled Hercules to sear the neck of each head so that it would not sprout again. After completing this, he placed the immortal head under a rock.

9. 12 Labors • Third Labor: Bring Back the CerynitianStag • The stag, or deer, had horns of gold and was sacred to Artemis. The deer resided in the forests of Cerynitia. Hercules could have easily killed the deer, however his task was to capture it alive. He succeeded after hunting it for a whole year. • Fourth Labor: Capture the Erymanthian Boar • Hercules’s task was to capture the great boar that resided on Mount Erymanthus. He chased the boar until it became exhausted. Hercules then drove it into the snow and trapped it.

10. 12 Labors • Fifth Labor: Clean the Augean Stables • The Augean Stables contained thousands of cattle and had not been cleaned out for years. Hercules was tasked to clean the stables in a single day. He accomplished this by diverting the courses of two rivers through the stables, which caused a great flood that washed out the filth. • Sixth Labor: Remove the Stymphalian Birds • Hercules was ordered to drive away the large number of Stymphalian birds, which were a nuisance to the people of Stymphalus. Athena helped Hercules to drive them out of their coverts, shooting them as they flew up.

11. 12 Labors • Seventh Labor: Capture the Bull From Crete • Hercules was to go to Crete and fetch the beautiful savage bull that Poseidon gave Minos. Hercules overcame the bull and placed him in a boat to bring back to Eurystheus. • Eighth Labor: Get the Mares of King Diomedes of Thrace • Hercules was tasked to capture the man-eating mares, or horses, of King Diomedes of Thrace. Hercules killed King Diomedes and then drove off the mares.

12. 12 Labors • Ninth Labor: Take the Girdle of Hippolyta • Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons, was kind to Hercules and agreed to give him the girdle. However, Hera stirred up trouble and made the Amazons believe Hercules came as an enemy. Hercules was forced to kill Hippolyta and fight off the others in order to get away with the girdle. • Tenth Labor: Bring the Cattle of Geryon • Geryon, a monster with three bodies, lived on a western island called Erythia. On his way there, Hercules set up a memorial of his journey with two great rocks called the Pillars of Hercules. Hercules succeeded by capturing the oxen and taking them to Mycenae.

13. 12 Labors • Eleventh Labor: Take the Golden Apples of the Hesperides • Hercules did not know the location of the golden apples, so he went to Atlas, the father of the Hesperides. Atlas agreed to go fetch the apples in exchange that Hercules carry the burden of the sky. Atlas came back and told Hercules to keep holding the sky while he took the apples to Eurystheus. Hercules asked Atlas to take the sky back while he put on shoulder pads for the pressure. As Atlas did so, Hercules picked up the golden apples and took off. • Twelfth Labor: Bring Cerberus Up From Hades • Hercules went down to the underworld and freed Theseus from the Chair of Forgetfulness. Pluto gave Hercules permission to capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog, granted that he would not use weapons. Hercules lifted the monster and carried him up to Mycenae.Eurystheusdecidednot to keep him and made Hercules carry him back, completing his labors.

14. Achelous, Deianira • Hercules wanted to marry Deianira, the girl whom Achelous was in love with. Achelous tried to reason with Hercules; however , this only made him angrier. Hercules conquered Achelous, who took the form of a bull. Subsequently, Deianira became Hercules’s wife.

15. Other Adventures and Mishaps • Fought the river-god Achelous because he wanted to marry a girl he was in love with. The girl they were fighting over ended up being Hercule’swife • In Troy, Hercules agreed to rescue a girl if her father would give him the horses Zeus gave to his grandfather. Then Hercules killed a monster and the king refuse to pay. Out of anger, Hercules took over the city, killed the King, and gave the girl to one of his friends • He killed his good friend all because of an insult said by King Eurytus

16. Admetus and Alcestis, Underworld • Admetus was a friend of Hercules and when he was at Admetus’s house he didn’t know it was his wife that died. So he drank a lot, the servants were shocked, and that’s when they told Hercules that it was the Queen, Alcestis, that died. After feeling so bad that he was having fun while his friend was mourning over death, he thought it would be a good idea to fight death and bring her back to Admetus. When Hercules brought back her soul, Admetus was furious he said, “Look at her, is she like anyone you know? A ghost! Is it a trick or some mockery of the gods?” Hercules didn’t think through his plan and ended up causing more distress.

17. Deianira and Nessus and Iole • Deianira was told that Hercules was madly in love with a Princess named Iole. Then when a centaur named Nessus insulted Deianira, Hercules killed him but before Nessus’s death he told Deianira to take some of his blood and use it when Hercules loved another woman. Since Deianira was told about this other woman she put the blood on one of Hercules’ robes. Hercules then put it on and was in great pain. He was still able to kill other people but he could not die. Before Deianira hear about what happened, she killed herself. Then Hercules decided he was going to kill himself too.

18. Death of Hercules • After his experience with the robe, Deianira, Nessus, and Iole, he could not die. After a long time of torture and pain, Hercules decided if death wouldn’t come to him, he would go to death. He forced people to build a pile of wood and bring him to it. He the told Philoctetes to set the wood on fire and Hercules was finally dead.

19. Motifs and Themes • Guilt and Redemption Hercules often feels sorrow for wrongdoing, including actions he does not commit. For example, Hera, angry that he was Zeus’s son, controls him and forces him to kill his wife and children. Hercules, with no recollection of what happened, still feels guilt and believes he should be killed. Theseus does not believe he should be guilty of murder, and declares he should perform acts to ease his guilt. This prompts the beginning of his twelve labors given by Eurystheus.

20. Motifs and Themes • Wicked Stepmother Another motif present in the story of Hercules is the wickedstepmother. Hercules was the son of Alcmena and Zeus, which made Hera furiously jealous and determined to kill Hercules. She often used her supernatural force against Hercules, even controlling him while he killed his wife, Megara, and his children.

21. Major Archetypes • Hercules is the hero archetypal character as he exhibits outstanding strength and endures hardships. Hercules was born with great strength and emotion. Hercules completes the twelve labors in order to accomplish his goal of being free from guilt. • Theseusis portrayed as the wise old man archetypal character. Theseus, described as the thinker, rejects the idea that Hercules should be guilty of murder when he had not known of his actions.

22. Major Archetypes • Hera is the villain archetype because throughout the story she tried many times to kill Hercules. It was all because Zeus went and got Alcmena pregnant with Hercules. Hera took her anger at Zeus and put it on Hercules. • The two serpents Hera sent are archetypes because the serpents represent evil, pure force, and destruction from Hera.

23. Story Summation • Hercules was a strong, passionate, but sometimes stupid character. Hera led him to kill his wife and kids so Hercules could not forgive himself. Then Theseus told Hercules to go to a man named Eurystheus to be purified of his sins. There Eurystheus told him to do 12 tasks and then he would be purified. Hercules willingly did all of the tasks and was forgiven for what he did. Throughout the rest of his life he married another woman, fought more battles, killed innocent people, then did whatever it took to redeem himself. Then his wife got jealous of this Princess, Iole, Hercules seemed to love. She came across this centaur who Hercules killed and the centaur told her to take some of his blood and use it if Hercules loved anyone other than her. She ended up putting the blood on a robe, Hercules wore it, and it made Hercules unable to die, and later Deianara, his wife, killed herself. Then Hercules decided he was going to go to death if death could not come to him. He forced people to build a pile of wood and bring him to it. There, Philoctetes lit the pile of wood and Hercules died.

24. Lessons or Cultural Values in Story Cultural Values • Hercules’ great strength, courage, and emotion are cultural values because they represent what Greeks respected and saw as characteristics of a hero. Lessons • Strength isn’t the only defining trait of a hero; you have to be able to sacrifice and be courageous.