The Constellation
Hercules |
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Mythology and History |
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Greatest and strongest of the Greek demigods, Hercules was
the son of Zeus by a mortal woman (Alcmene) and was hated by Zeus's wife,
Hera. He began his life of heroic violence by strangling two serpents
while still in his crib. The two snakes were sent by Hera to kill
Hercules. |
In manhood, Hera made Hercules insane
by burning down his house and killing his wife and children. When
Hercules recovered his sanity, he sought the help from the oracle of Delphi.
The oracle told him he must serve his cousin Eurystheus, King of Argos,
for 12 years. Hoping to destroy Hercules, Eurystheus set him 12 supposedly
impossible tasks, but the hero completed them all.
The 12 labors of Hercules were (1)
strangling the Nemean Lion that terrorized the valley of Nemea. Hercules
killed the lion by thrusting his fist down its throat; (2) striking off
the many heads of the poisonous water snake Hydra of Lerna, Cancer joined
in on the battle against Hercules; (3 and 4) delivering alive to Eurystheus
the terrifying Erymanthian boar and the Arcadian stag, sacred pet of Artemis;
(5) killing the man-eating birds of Lake Stymphalis; (6) cleaning in one
day the stables of Augeas, King of Elis, which contained 3,000 oxen and
had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules cleaned the stables by
turning two rivers to flood the stables; (7) capturing and bearing on his
shoulders to Mycenae the white Cretan bull, sire of the Minotaur; (8) capturing
the man-eating mares of Diomedes (a Thracian king and son of the war god
Ares) and feeding them the flesh of Diomedes; (9) fetching for Eurystheus'
daughter the girdle of the Amazon queen, Hippolyte; (10) killing the three-headed
monster Geryon, along with his giant herdsman Eurytion and the two-headed
dog Orthrus all in order to capture Geryon's oxen; (11) freeing Prometheus
and temporarily bearing the weight of the world for Atlas, who went to
fetch for him the golden apples of the Hesperides; (12) descending to the
underworld to bring the three-headed dog Cerberus to its master, Hades.
After Hercules completed his service
to Eurystheus, he took part in the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to
find the Golden Fleece.
Hercules died when his second wife
accidentally put poison on his robe. She thought that Hercules was
being unfaithful and poured a magic potion on his robe that was suppose
to restore his love for her. The poison burned his skin, causing
him great pain. He tore at his flesh but the potion could not be
removed.
Zeus honored his son by making
him a god and placed him in the sky forever.
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Hercules may have been Gilgamesh, the strong-man hero of
ancient Babylon. Like Hercules, Gilgamesh killed an invincible lion
and accomplished other great tasks. Gilgamesh also explored the seas
of the underworld. Here he meets Utnapishtim, a strange sailor who
lives on an island in the center of the underworld sea. Utnapishtim
is the survivor of a flood created by the gods. |
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