Heracles

Lore & Background

Heracles was born Alcaeus or Alcides, but was renamed Heracles, meaning 'glory/fame of Hera'. Many popular stories were told of his life, the most famous being the twelve Labours of Hercules. Alexandrian poets of the Hellenistic age drew his mythology into a high poetic and tragic atmosphere. His figure, which initially drew on Near Eastern motifs such as the lion-fight, was widely known. Heracles was both hero and god, as Pindar says heros theos; at the same festival sacrifice was made to him, first as a hero, with a chthonic libation, and then as a god, upon an altar: thus he embodies the closest Greek approach to a 'demi-god'. The core of the story of Heracles has been identified by Walter Burkert as originating in Neolithic hunter culture and traditions of shamanistic crossings into the netherworld. It is possible that the myths surrounding Heracles were based on the life of a real person or several people whose accomplishments became exaggerated with time.

In Their Own Story

A major factor in the well-known tragedies surrounding Heracles is the hatred that the goddess Hera, wife of Zeus, had for him. Heracles was the son of the affair Zeus had with the mortal woman Alcmene. When Zeus desired Alcmene, he decided to make one night last three by ordering Helios, the god of the sun, not to rise for three days, so he would have more time with Alcmene. Zeus had sex with her after disguising himself as her husband, Amphitryon, home early from war. Amphitryon did return later the same night, and Alcmene became pregnant with his son at the same time, a case of heteropaternal superfecundation, where a woman carries twins sired by different fathers. Thus, Heracles's very existence proved at least one of Zeus's many illicit affairs, and Hera often conspired against Zeus's mortal offspring as revenge for her husband's infidelities. His twin mortal brother, son of Amphitryon, was Iphicles, father of Heracles's charioteer Iolaus. On the night Heracles and Iphicles were to be born, Hera, knowing of her husband Zeus's adultery, persuaded Zeus to swear an oath that the child born that night to a member of the House of Perseus would become High King. Hera did this knowing that while Heracles was to be born a descendant of Perseus, so too was Eurystheus. Once the oath was sworn, Hera hurried to Alcmene.

Reader's Guide

Heracles used his wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice, such as when laboring for the king Augeas of Elis, wrestling the giant Antaeus, or tricking Atlas into taking the sky back onto his shoulders. Together with Hermes he was the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae. His iconographic attributes are the lion skin and the club. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have 'made the world safe for mankind' and to be its benefactor. Heracles was an extremely passionate and emotional individual, capable of doing both great deeds for his friends (such as wrestling with Thanatos on behalf of Prince Admetus, who had regaled Heracles with his hospitality, or restoring his friend Tyndareus to the throne of Sparta after he was overthrown) and being a terrible enemy who would wreak horrible vengeance on those who crossed him, as Augeas, Neleus, and Laomedon all found out to their cost. There was also a coldness to his character, which was demonstrated by Sophocles's depiction of the hero in The Trachiniae. Heracles threatened his marriage with his desire to bring two women under the same roof; one of them was his wife Deianeira. According to the Greek philosopher Dicaearchus, Heracles was square-built, muscular, dark (μέλανα), hook-nosed, with brownish-amber eyes and long hair. Pseudo-Apollodorus adds that 'his body measured four cubits, and he flashed a gleam of fire from his eyes', while the poet Pindar describes him as 'of stature short, but dauntless soul'. In art, he is usually shown with short, curly hair, a thick neck, a projecting lower forehead, broad shoulders, and strongly developed arms, chest, and legs, as in the Farnese Hercules.

Did You Know?

• Heracles was born Alcaeus or Alcides, but was renamed Heracles, meaning 'glory/fame of Hera'.
• He was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and his twin mortal brother was Iphicles, father of his charioteer Iolaus.
• The ancient Greeks celebrated the festival of the Heracleia, which commemorated the death of Heracles, on the second day of the month of Metageitnion (late July or early August).
• Heracles was both hero and god; at the same festival sacrifice was made to him first as a hero with a chthonic libation, then as a god upon an altar.
• According to Dicaearchus, Heracles was square-built, muscular, dark, hook-nosed, with brownish-amber eyes and long hair.