Download John Miller AP English Pd.1 14 January 2012 Greek/Roman

John Miller
AP English
Pd.1
14 January 2012
Greek/Roman Mythology Biography
Words: 4,616
Readability: 11.3
Hercules: The World Renowned Hero
All mythical royalties encompass a variety of unorthodox tales that accompany both their
struggles and their escapades. The Roman hero Heracles, more commonly known as Hercules,
emerges as one the most prominent mythological figure in contemporary society. Accordingly, a
countless number of films and literary pieces illustrate Hercules’s heroic and inspirational
conquering over impossible hardships. Most famously, Disney’s Hercules masterfully provides a
superficial perspective into the life of the Greek and Roman Hero, but it fails to depict the
severity of the complications and the psychosomatic state of Hercules. As a result, one must
resort to the ancient Greek and Roman myths to scrutinize the sincere existence of this larger
than earth hero. Because of the wide variety of films and literary pieces, a substantial amount of
people recognize the cliché summary of Hercules’s; however, only a select few comprehend the
full scoop. Furthermore, one must demonstrate the sincere misfortunes and the psychological and
physical effects they possess on Hercules. To accomplish this demonstration, one must fully
develop and elaborate on the following sections of his life: conceiving to adolescence, adulthood
and later life.
Conceiving through Adolescence:
Similar to the majority of other Greek and Roman heroes, Hercules possesses god blood
and mortal blood, which makes him a demi-god. If not for Zeus’s clever and shrewd antics,
Hercules would not own a single ounce of god blood. Correspondingly, Hercules’s mother,
Alcmene, vows that she will never fornicate with her husband unless he avenges the death of her
brother. Alcmene’s husband, Amphitryon, accomplishes this troublesome feat; however, the
quick-minded Zeus arrives to Alcmene’s bed-side incognito and commits adultery. Nonetheless,
encompassing all authority imaginable, Zeus brushes all the drama under the rug. Nine months
later Alcaeus emerges from the womb of Alcmene (“Heracles”).
“Zeus boasted that a day had come where a child would be born with his lineage that
would rule the land around him” (“Heracles”). Coincidentally, Zeus dictates this statement on
the exact day Alcmene experiences labor with Alcaeus, but Hera, Zeus’s wife, despises the fact
that the demi-god Alcaeus will inherit the throne. Because of the resentment toward not only the
demi-god but also Zeus, Hera forces Eileithyia, controller of child-birthing, to hinder the labor of
Alcmene longing enough until a more adequate candidate arrives to the earth. Hera aspirations
succeed, and Eurystheus reaps the benefits of Zeus’s proclamation. However, Hera lacks
satisfaction from her initial victory; she wants to remove Alcaeus from this earth altogether. This
void drives the wicked wife of Zeus to delivers two snakes to the cradle of Alcaeus. Despite the
intentions of Hera, the infant crushes the esophagus of the two reptiles with his diminutive vise
grips deflating the termagant’s confidence. This fail attempt at homicide strikes fear into the soul
of Alcmene forcing her to abandon her child in the woods for safety precautions. After the
abandonment, Hera obtains Alcaeus and ironically nurses the baby she loathes with such a
fervor, which allows the baby to sustain life. Soon afterwards, Hera grants the toddler back to his
mother and allows the child to live, but Hera intends to make Alcaeus experience a living hell
(“Heracles”).
As Hercules arrives at his adolescent years, his relation to the gods becomes apparent
through the expression of his magnificent talents including; his strength, archery skills and
wrestling accomplishments. During this juncture in his life, Alcaeus name changes to Hercules
or Heracles depending on the myth at hand. Regardless of his god-like attributes, Hercules
prefers people to associate him with Amphitryon, his stepfather, rather than with Zeus, his
biological father (Gayley 216). Hercules stepfather instructs him on how to drive chariots, and a
number of other prominent mythological figures aid Hercules in excelling in life. Similarly,
Castor teaches Hercules to fencing, Autolycus explains wrestling to Hercules, and Eurytus
provides Hercules with the necessary qualities to become a magnificent archer. Although
Hercules encompasses a vast number of positive characteristics, his anger frequently obtains
control of his psyche and his thought process. In correspondence, Hercules slays his music
teacher with a lyre, Linus, after Linus strikes Hercules as a punishment. Hercules always accepts
his repercussion with little to no resistance, so his stepfather banishes him to the mountains to
serve his sentence (Graves 65).
After withstanding his punishment and thriving on the mountains, Hercules returns to
Thebes to his family. Immediately upon arriving home, Hercules prepares himself for war to
assist his stepfather in seizing control of Orchomenus. Hercules succeeds with relative ease and
earns the right to marry the gorgeous princess Megara. The two enjoy a couple years of
uninterrupted lust and passion, in which they conceive a few children. As a termagant, Hera feels
the obligation to meddle with Hercules pleasure and to decimate it by exploiting his anger. As a
result, Hera drives Hercules crazy causing him to murder his children and Megara; he also comes
close to killing his stepfather. Once again because of his anger, Hercules must experience an
embarrassing, back-breaking and nearly impossible consequence. Ergo, Hera and Eurystheus
bestow the burden of the infamous twelve labors upon Hercules (Gayley 216).
Twelve Labors:
Because of his uncontrollable infuriation and Hera’s inexplicable influence over
Hercules, he must accomplish twelve treacherous and excruciating labors. Originally, the labor
count initiates at ten but because of a few discrepancies Hercules inherits another two labors.
First Hercules must complete the daunting task of defeating the Nemean Lion, which possesses a
pelt that no weapon or serrated edge has the ability to permeate. Also, no blunt object swung
with super-human strength exerts adequate force to fracture or disfigure the lion’s superb body
structure. However, Hercules fails to immediately recognize these features when attempting to
conquer this beast. Hercules demolishes his favorite wild-olive wood club over the indestructible
cranium of the apex predator, and Hercules incidentally wastes a few arrows. After analyzing the
results of his failed attempts, Hercules decides to strangle the monster with his bare, rugged
hands. The beast amputates Hercules’s left middle finger, but Hercules maintains control of the
ravaged animal and squeezes the life right out of it. Because Hercules experiences a sense of
accomplishment, he utilizes one of the lion’s claws to sever the pelt of the beast and construct a
cloak of sort out of the impermeable fur. With his first of twelve servitudes completed, Hercules
travels directly back to his cousin Eurystheus to obtain his second task (Graves 65-6).
Feeling resentment towards Hercules for surviving, Eurystheus decides to remove the
gloves and presents a much more treacherous challenge: killing the Hydra that vacates the Lerna
marshes. The Hydra appearance, which consists of a “dog-like body and snake heads,” itself
frightens all challengers but the potent, deadly venom presents more of a scare. Before Hercules
squares off against the Hydra, Hera deploys a gigantic crab to attack Hercules, but Hercules
defeats the crab with relative ease. The Hydra approaches Hercules and once again Hercules
barrages his challenger firing arrows and attempting to conclude the battle quickly. Then,
Hercules decapitates each of the eight heads with his sword; however, two new snake heads
sprout out of the pre-existing head. As Hercules did when he encounters the lion, he scrutinizes
all of the details pertaining to the monster and has an epiphany that assists him in defeating the
beast. Hercules learns to severely burn the severed heads to prevent regrowth, and Hercules
grants this task to his nephew, Iolaus . Nonetheless, the Hydra still possesses an “immortal” head
that Hercules must demolish. Accordingly, Hercules defeats his foe and buries the “immortal”
head in the ground; Hercules soaks all of his arrow tips in the substantially venomous Hydra
blood (“Heracles”). With his second labor complete, Hercules returns to Eurystheus, but
Hercules learns that this tasks no longer counts because of the utilization of an assistant. At this
juncture, Eurystheus augments Hercules tasks another nearly impossible labor, taking the total
labors to eleven (Graves 66, “Heracles”).
After a task disqualified, Hercules perseveres on to his next feat: “capturing the
Ceryneian Hind” (Graves 66). Belonging to the Goddess Artemis, the Hind possesses a beautiful
white coat, brass hooves and golden horns. Compared to the previous two dangerous nearly
feasible tasks, one believes that this task will not provide a sufficient challenge for the Greek
hero. On the contrary, Hercules tracks the deer for a year before discovering its whereabouts.
Hercules intends not to harm the creature; thus, he grazes the deer’s front legs with a nonvenomous arrow, allowing him to seize the majestic creature in his hands. Hercules then carries
the creature off to illustrate his catch to Eurystheus. On the way, Artemis demands that the hero
relinquish control of the animal, but Hercules explains his situation and the Goddess appears
understanding and allows Hercules to export the animal from the land. Since the Goddess applies
little resistance, Hercules succeeds on his third tasks and awaits the news of Eurystheus for his
fourth challenge.
Once Hercules gifts Eurystheus with the Hind, he releases the animal into the wild and
Eurystheus instructs Hercules on his fourth task. During his fourth labor, the son of Zeus and
Alcmene must obtain control over the Erymanthian Boar. The boar resembles a modern day
elephant; it possesses unbelievable girth and size as well as humongous tusks. Similar to the first
two enemy creatures, arrows will not penetrate the skin of this mammoth creature. Furthermore,
Hercules chases this deceptive animal all over the mountain side until one day the beast collapses
in a massive snow accumulation and cannot escape. Hercules hogties the boar’s hindquarters to
his forelegs rendering him motionless. Then, Hercules loads the massive trophy catch onto his
shoulders and carries the animal to Eurystheus. Thus, Hercules completes his fourth labor; so far
Hercules experiences few complications or physical limitations other than an amputated finger
(Graves 67).
Starting to encounter substantial frustration, Eurystheus decides to turn up the heat on the
challenges and make the nearly impossible more impossible. Similar Eurystheus demands that
Hercules cleans and sanitizes the Augeian stables in a twenty-four hour period. Augeisas’s
stables envelopes over a thousand cattle, all of which excrete piles of dung from their rectum
daily. Consequently, Augeias never removes a single piece of fecal matter from his cattle yard,
so he guarantees that Hercules cannot accomplish this feat in one day, “I bet you twenty cows to
one, that you cannot clean this stable in a day” (Graves 67). With this task, Eurystheus and
Augeias intend to laugh hysterically at the embarrassment and humiliation Hercules will endure.
As usual, the witty and wily Hercules utilizes his logic to lessen the severity and the difficulty of
his task. Accordingly, decimates the gate with his wild-olive wood club, constructs two
irrigations ditches from to rivers in the proximity and cleanses the stables in brief period of time.
Although Hercules completes the task, Eurystheus and Augeias refuse to count labor, claiming
that Hercules cheated; thus, Eurystheus tacks on another task that increases the total to twelve
labors. Hercules finally expresses some of his common anger and vows to return to wage war
against Augeias after he concludes his labors. After adding yet another task for a ridiculous,
inexplicable reason, Eurystheus feels a sense of accomplishment (Graves 67).
Regardless of his current fury and lust for vengeance, Hercules comprehends that he
needs to complete his now twelve labors to earn his freedom. The sixth labor consists of
Hercules eradicating the infinite Stymphalian Birds from the Stymphalus Lake. Hercules lacks
the required amount of arrows and javelins needed to kill of all these hideous flying creatures.
This apparently impossible task creates such joy and pleasure for Hera and Eurystheus, for they
believe they will stump Hercules with this task. To the displeasure of the wicked stepmother and
cousin, Athena lends a boisterous rattle to contribute to Hercules’s diligent efforts. The retched
noise the rattle exerts causes the birds to migrate to less nosier area. Once again against the odds,
Hercules surmounts all expectations and rises to the moment, leaving his termagant stepmother
and unscrupulous cousin thunderstruck. Reaching the halfway point, Hercules begins to feel
confident that he can accomplish the remaining challenges (“Heracles”).
Hoping to appease Hercules’s complacency, Eurystheus commands Hercules to capture
the incredible Cretan Bull. This monstrous creature wreaks havoc on all of its surroundings by
collapsing buildings, scaring all humans and killing local animals and habitat. Originally, this
bull with a white coat and golden horns possesses no mean-streak; however, the greediness of the
king Minos in keeping the bull rather than sacrificing it causes the chaos. Similarly, Poseidon
grants the bull to the kind hoping that he will sacrifice the majestic beast. Since the kings fails to
uphold his portion of the bargain, Zeus unleashes the beast both literally and metaphorically,
which initiates all of the catastrophes in Crete. Eurystheus believes that the shear strength and
power of the bull will outmatch the great Hercules. As usually, Hercules accomplishes his task
without breaking a sweat. Furthermore, Hercules discovers bull tracks and follows the evidence
into the woods of Crete then he climbs a tree waiting to surprise the bull. The bull crosses
perpendicular under Hercules path evoking Hercules to pounce on the bull. After a momentary
power struggle, Hercules clips a noise-clam of sort the bull and drags him off to his pestering
cousin, Eurystheus. With ease, Hercules completes his seventh tasks and awaits the verdict for
the eighth labor (Graves 68).
Starting to expire all difficult options, Eurystheus aspires that the eighth task, capturing
Diomedes’s four vicious mares. Diomedes feeds humans to his horses to replenish their energy
and to keep them alive. Hercules arrives in Thrace and immediately journeys toward the stables
of Diomedes. Once at the stables, Hercules notices the mares and forces them back toward his
ship; however, Diomedes emerges from his home to halt Hercules. Hercules defeats his opponent
and ironically allows Diomedes’s mare to feast on his living, suffering body and to devour his
entire corpse. When Hercules turns to confront Diomedes, he left Abderus in charge of the
mares, which easily munch on him until he perishes. After defeating the unruly Diomedes,
Hercules attempts to board the mare on the ship, but the mare encompass to much surface area
and will not squeeze onto the boat. Thus, Hercules attaches the mares to a chariot and takes the
scenic route to Eurystheus, which signals the end of his eighth labor (Graves 69).
Because his angers builds and festers with every completed labor, Eurystheus decides to
extract the hardest possible tasks before he becomes obligated to free Hercules. During his next
task, Hercules must obtain the renowned golden girdle of Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazon.
Hercules journeys to the Amazon and encounters the Queen there, who receives him warmly
with graciousness and hospitality. Because Hera resents Hercules and yearns to create vast
number of misfortunes for Hercules, she spreads rumors that Hercules will abduct the Amazon
Queen and escort her from the land. This rumor aggravates the Amazon warriors, causing them
to bombard Hercules’s ships. As a result, Hercules experiences a sense of betrayal, and he
murders the Hippolyte and snatches her belt to surprise the wicked King Eurystheus ( Some
Writing believes that in the middle of the scuffle, an arrow or piercing object struck the Queen,
and Hercules did not kill her because he loved her, (Graves 69)). After gifting the girdle to
Eurystheus’s daughter, who craves the girdle with an unimaginable fervor, Hercules awaits his
tenth task (“Heracles”).
If not for fallacious accusations and meticulous rules, Hercules would only have one
labor remaining but now has three remaining labors. Nonetheless, Hercules understands karma
and its justifiable effects; thus, he ignores his anger for the time being and continues on with his
labours. The first bonus task Eurystheus creates forces Hercules to gather up the cattle of
Geryon, which a herdsmen and a two-headed guard dog protect. The journey presents a number
of complications for the hero including, creating a pathway to Spain. After working for a few
hours, he threatens to shoot an arrow into the son. This threat impresses the son god, Helius, and
he presents the diligent, ambitious Hercules with the Gold-cup, which he utilizes as a boat to
travel to Spain. Once Hercules arrives in Erytheia, he defeats the herdsmen and the two-headed
guard then he gathers up the cattle and starts the long journey to Eurystheus. Soon after his
success, Geryon seeks retribution for the theft of his cattle, but Hercules slays the inadequate
opponent and continues his journey home. Regardless of Hercules back-breaking work, everyone
desires to steal the cattle. First up to foil Hercules plans, the two sons of Poseidon attack
Hercules; nonetheless, Hercules perseveres through the harsh battle without losing any cattle
then returns to his voyage home. Ensuing the first protective battle, Cacus, a giant, steals a few
cattle, forcing Hercules to murder the monster. Hercules then resumes his tedious journey.
Throughout the duration of the trip, a number of cattle stray away from the pack; therefore,
Hercules abandons the pack to chase the strays. Despite all of the odds, Hercules delivers the
cattle to his Cousin Eurystheus and prepares himself for his eleventh labor (“Heracles”).
Nearing the end of his servitude, Hercules becomes eager to regain his freedom.
Furthermore, Eurystheus demands that he obtains the golden apples of Hesperides. Hercules
must steal these apples form the superb titans. Hercules travelers to the mandated location of the
golden apples and encounters the titan Atlas, who carries the weight of heaven on his shoulders.
Unaware of the sinister thoughts of Atlas, Hercules questions Atlas as to where the golden apples
exist. Instead of relaying the message of the location, Atlas suggests that he collects the apples
and returns them to the hero, but he asks Hercules to hold the heavens while he finds them.
(Some versions dictate that Hercules slays the dragon, Landon that coils around the tree (Graves
72)). Atlas reemerges and decides he will take the apples to Eurystheus, leaving Hercules to
struggle with the wait of heaven bestowed upon his body. The quick, level-headed Hercules
decisively agrees with Atlas; however, he wonders if Atlas will carry the heaven for a minute
while he readjusts himself. Atlas ponders over the idea and relieves Hercules momentary, well at
least what he thought would last a moment. Instead of reassuming his duty, Hercules leaves the
tricked Atlas with the burden of heaven and completes his eleventh labor (“Heracles”).
With his last opportunity to defeat Hercules, Eurystheus attempts to create a methodical,
yet impossible plan that will cause the demise of the hero. Eurystheus devises the best plan;
Hercules must retrieve Cerberus, the guard-dog of the underworld and present him to
Eurystheus. Before even descending into the underworld, Hercules seeks “purification” from
Eleusis (Graves 74). Hercules then heads towards the Tartarus ferry, which the guardian attempts
to forbade Hercules from riding. Hercules threatens the weakling; “I will wreck your boat, and
fill you as full of arrows as a hedgehog is full of prickles” (Graves 74). After riding the ferry
across, Hercules encounters Theseus and Peirithous, who currently feel the wrath of the Furies.
Hercules frees Theseus but leaves Peirithous to withstand the terrors of hell. Furthermore,
Persephone, Hades’ wife confronts Hercules and asks him if he desires any favors, so Hercules
requests to borrow her guard dog. After some debate with Hades, Hercules gains permission to
escort the dog to Eurystheus, pending he does not beat the dog with a club or insert any arrows
into the beloved creature. Hercules drags the dog an unthinkable distance, presents the dog to
Eurystheus and completes his final labor. Because of the terror the dog causes, Eurystheus frees
Hercules immediately and pleads that he returns the guard dog to the underworld (Graves 74-5).
Adulthood to Death:
With his labors behind him, Hercules returns to his home a free man ready to enjoy the
perks of life. Similarly, Hercules returns to Thebes to reconcile with his mother and discover
what her life consists after his departure for the twelve labors. Recognizing Hercules’s joyful
experience, Hera requires a methodical, impure trickery to evoke anger in Hercules and reinstate
torture into his life. Thus, Hera requests that Autolycus, a prominent thief, unlawfully snatches a
group of Iphitus’s, one of Eurystheus’s sons, horses, rearrange their colors and sell them to
Hercules. The first phase of the trick: Hercules purchases the horses completely unaware of the
status of the horses and their seller, follows through as planned. Iphitus pursues his horse tracks
to Hercules home; Iphitus calmly questions Hercules about the creatures. Hercules replies that he
never stole any horses and does not currently comprehend the whereabouts of Iphitus’s horses.
Then, Iphitus questions Hercules integrity, evoking a great rage and infuriation into the hero and
he tosses his persistent second cousin from the peak of his tower. Consequently, the gods force
Hercules to return to slavery, but a pleasant owner, Queen Omphale of Lydia, pays for the
services of Hercules (Graves 75).
As a slave, the Queen embarrasses the Greek hero by clothing him in dresses and teaches
him how to spin wool. Accordingly, the Queen does not know Hercules or comprehend the
accomplishments of this renowned warrior and cunning man. Nonetheless, a dragon starts to
terrorizes the Queen and all of her inferiors; the naïve Queen pleads with Hercules to destroy the
unruly creature. Without hesitation, Hercules displays his masterfully archery skills by
accurately striking the dragon in the mandible with a poison arrow, ending the brute’s life.
Because of his valiant and noble deed, the Queen immediately relieves the phenomenal physical
and intellectual specimen of his duties (Graves 75).
After this juncture in Hercules life, a great deal of argument emerges about what he
participates in next and several different stories exist. A few sources believe that Hercules fights
in the Troy War and a number of other wars, but the most legitimate source describes him falling
in love. Furthermore, Hercules becomes affectionate with Deianeira, daughter of Dionysus, and
takes her hand in marriage. Next, Hercules allegedly creates the Olympic Games, which will
occur every four years. Instead of medals and other pricy prizes, winners will obtain wreaths all
because Hercules earns nothing from his twelve labors. As expected, all mortals refuse to wrestle
the Greek champion wrestle with superior strength and wit; as a result, the mighty Zeus descends
from the heavens for a duel against his son. The two top-notch opponents struggle back and forth
to gain an upper hand but, no one emerges victorious. This altercation provides substantial
enjoyment for the spectators.
After enjoying his life and his wife for a while, Hercules decides to avenge all of the
kings that wronged him throughout his labors and to cause pain to his over-zealous cousin.
Hercules murders Augieas and three of Eurystheus’s sons and also attempts to slay Eurystheus
himself until Zeus halts him. Zeus refuses to let Hercules slay Eurystheus because it will present
unfairness to all other slaves, and Zeus does not want this encounter to appear like a favor. In
retrospect, Hercules fails to obtain full retribution; Hercules causes substantial pain and torture
for the cousin he despises (Graves 76).
Once Hercules relieves and relinquishes all of his festering frustration, he returns to his
adoring wife to spend time in her loving embrace. One day when just strolling around, Hercules
and Deianeira arrive at a flooded river. A Centaur, Nessus, emerges from what seems thin-air
and offers to ferry Deianeira across the river for a diminutive charge. Hercules provides the
Centaur with his installment. Once the Centaur crosses the river with Hercules’s charming wife
in his hands, he sprints off and attempts to steal the beauty. However, from a distance of half a
mile, Hercules fires an arrow that connects with the desire effect, mortally wounding the
kleptomaniac. Before the Centaur perishes he entices the gorgeous bride to collect some of his
blood, “my blood…is a sure charm to use… He will never be unfaithful again” (Graves 76). The
reluctant wife allows the propaganda to influence her decision and follows the directions of the
Centaur. However, if the beauty could foresee the future and recognize this omen and the
repercussions of her current action ahead of time, then she would avoid the blood.
Years before the current day, Hercules competes in and defeats all other competitors in
an archery contest, in which the King Eurytus offers his daughter, Iole, as the prize. Of course,
questionable the best archer ever to exist, Hercules emerges victorious, but does not earn his
reward. At the time, Hercules remained under the rein of Eurystheus, so Hercules remembers this
King and vows to seek vengeance. The austere hand of retribution comes down swiftly upon this
unjust King; Hercules murders the King and enslaves his three daughters. Deianeira starts to
experience jealousy because of the pure beauty of Iole and believes that Hercules will attempt to
marry her. Consequently, one night, Hercules requests for the best shirt in possession. Deianeira
assumes that Hercules desires the shirt for a weeding, so she lashes the shirt with the blood of
Nessus. In actuality, Hercules requires the shirt for a thanksgiving sacrifice to his father. After
sporting the shirt for a few minutes Hercules starts to encounter excruciating and agonizing
pains, “he suddenly felt as though he were bitten by scorpions” (Graves 77). Aware that his
demise will approach him sooner than desired, Hercules requests that his friends properly burn
him to death. Because of his valiancy, Zeus solely admits him into Mount Olympus and allows
him to marry Hebe, the Goddess of Youth and Hercules step-sister. Hercules spends the duration
of his god existence in Olympus. In addition, learning about the death of her husband, Deianeira
commits suicide. Hence, Hercules completes his mortal life as the most revered hero in history
(Graves 76-8).
After perishing and becoming a god, Hercules single-handedly fends the Giants away
from Mount Olympia, saving his fellow Gods. Similarly, out of all of Hercules’s
accomplishments, this feat ranks as the most prominent. Furthermore, the death of Antaeus, a
titan, severely infuriates Mother Earth to the point of requesting her sons’ freedom. Zeus brushes
off the eccentric woman and continues life. In consequence, Mother Earth constructs a number of
Giants to attack Mount Olympus. As accustomed, Hercules arrives to the aid of father and rotten
stepmother. Hercules shots the leader of the Giants, Alcyoneus, believing that he kills him, but
he hits his home soils and resuscitates. As a result, Hercules comprehends that he must slay these
Giants away from their home land. He drags Alcyoneus off his home soils and belligerently
hammers the Giant with his club until the Giant possesses no life. Similarly, Hercules repeats
this process eradicating Giants until the retreat home in defeat. Hercules earns the gratitude of all
the gods including Hera, who apologizes to the stepson she constantly belittles, I am ashamed to
think how badly I treated you on Earth” (Graves 80). With these heroic efforts, Hercules proves
his justification as a god (Graves 78-80).
After analyzing, each juncture in Hercules’s existence, people will comprehend the
reasons for people revering him in contemporary society. Similarly, in today’s society, people
incorporate the term Hercules to portray people that not only possess super human characteristics
and physical features but also those that persevere through all the misfortunes in their life and
land on their feet. The portrayal of Hercules in Roman and Greek myths creates his popularity,
which most people recognize after watching the Disney film, Hercules. As long as Greek and
Roman Mythology remains an intricate portion of society, the prominence of Hercules will stay
alive and well.
Works Cited
Graves, Robert. Greek Gods And Heroes. New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1960. Print.
Gayley, Charles Mills. The classic myths in English literature. Waltham, Massachusetts: GinnBlaisdell, 1939. Print.
“Heracles.”www.timelessmyths.com. 16 November 2008. Timeless Myths. N.pag. Web. 21
January 2012.