![]() To atone for his crime, Heracles was commanded to perform a series of tasks or “labors” for his cousin Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae.Įurystheus hated and feared Heracles, so he assigned him the most challenging and dangerous tasks he could think of (in some accounts, Hera helped with this). This madness had been inflicted by Hera, who wanted to make Heracles suffer. Heracles completed his famous “Twelve Labors” after killing his family in a fit of madness. National Archaeological Museum, Naples / Marie-Lan Nguyen CC BY 2.5 The Twelve Labors of Heracles The "Farnese Hercules" by Glycon of Athens (early 3rd century CE) He was especially important in the Boeotian city of Thebes, where he was born, and in Dorian cities such as Sparta, which claimed him as an ancestor. The cult of Heracles was widespread in ancient Greece. Thus, he was one of the few Greek heroes to be worshipped as a full-fledged god. However, it was said that after his death, Heracles was granted immortality and a seat beside the gods on Mount Olympus. Heracles was technically a demigod, the son of a god and a mortal. Nessus and Deianeira by Arnold Böcklin (1898) Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern Public Domain Was Heracles a god? As the pyre burned, Heracles’ soul ascended to the heavens to join the gods. Realizing that he was dying, he had a great pyre built. When Heracles put the shirt on, he immediately began to burn up. But Nessus had deceived Deianira: the “love potion” was actually laced with the toxic blood of the Hydra. In the most familiar version of the myth, Deianira feared that Heracles loved another woman, so she sprinkled his shirt with a love potion that had been given to her by the Centaur Nessus. Heracles was accidentally killed by his final mortal wife, Deianira. Felicísimo CC BY 2.0 How did Heracles die? National Archaeology Museum, Lisbon / Ángel M. From the Villa Torre de Palma near Monforte. Mosaic panel showing the mad Heracles (center) killing his child (bottom right) as his wife Megara (left) stands by (third or fourth century CE). This marriage represented Heracles’ reconciliation with the stepmother who had made him suffer throughout his life. But he had many lovers in between, including the Eastern queen Omphale, who would wear Heracles’ lion skin while forcing the hero to work the loom.Īfter he died and became a god, Heracles married Hebe, the goddess of youth and a daughter of Hera. Heracles’ final wife, Deianira, inadvertently caused the hero’s death. But their marriage was cut short when Heracles was driven mad by Hera and killed his own children (in some versions, he killed Megara, too). Heracles’ first wife was a woman named Megara. Despite his failings, Heracles was promoted to the ranks of the gods after his death. He was hot-tempered, violent, and lustful, and these characteristics contributed to his struggles as much as Hera’s hatred did. Heracles, like the other heroes of ancient Greece, was not without his flaws. Through these labors as well as his many other exploits, Heracles became known as a champion of civilization and a slayer of monsters. Of all Heracles’ heroic deeds, the most important were the Twelve Labors, which the hero was forced to perform for his cousin Eurystheus, the High King of Mycenae. Hera ensured that Heracles’ life was filled with hardship and tragedy. Because he was the product of one of Zeus’ many affairs, Heracles was hated and hounded by Zeus’ jealous wife Hera. Heracles, the son of Zeus and Alcmene (a mortal woman), was a Greek hero and demigod.
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