HERCULES BIOGRAPHY                                return to New Works II

The Greek Hercules was thought of as the personification of physical strength. In his aspect of athlete-hero, he founded the Olympic Games, where he played the role of the protector. When men were in danger, Hercules was their chief resort. He presided over all aspects of Hellenic education and after being the god of physical prowess,
he was the god who sang of victory and accompanied himself on the lyre. More than any other he was the friend and counselor of men.

The glorious hero and invincible athlete is depicted as a man of mature strength, endowed with muscular power, whose head is rather small in relation to his body. Generally Hercules stands, leaning on his heavy club with a sad or severe expression. His appearance suggests the he is waiting for yet another superhuman task to fulfill. Hercules was born under the sign of strength and light, and into the bargain his paternity was divine. Zeus, wishing to have a son who should be a powerful protector of both mortals and immortals, descended one night to the city of Thebes where he assumed the appearance of Amphitryon and lay with Amphitryon's wife, Alcmene. Shortly afterwards Amphitryon himself returned from a victorious expedition and took his wife in his arms. From the two successive unions Alcmene conceived twins: Hercules and Iphicles.

On the day Hercules was to be born, Zeus swore a solemn and irrevocable oath before the Olympians that the descendant of Perseus who was about to be born should one day rule Greece. At these words Hera, wife of Zeus, hurried to Argos where she caused the wife of Sthenelus, himself a son of Perseus, to prematurely give birth to  Eurystheus. Thus Eurytheus came into the title of ruler of Greece. Zeus, bound by his solemn oath, was obliged to recognize him. This is why Hercules, all of his life, found the hardest tasks imposed on him by the rival whom Hera had set up against him.

Hera's vengeance continued. One night while all in the palace were asleep, two serpents attacked the infant Hercules. Hercules firmly grasped the two monsters, one in each hand, and wrung their necks. Hercules was then handed over to tutors who taught him wisdom, virtue and music. Later he lived among shepherds in the mountains and gave himself over to physical exercise and developed strength. At the age of eighteen, he killed a ferocious lion which came to devour Amphitryon's herds. The hero, while waiting for the beast, hid in the house of King Thespius and, legend recounts, he made use of the occasion to lie in a single night with his host's fifty daughters.

Shortly thereafter he defended his native city against Orchomenus, thus allowing Creon to be king. In exchange Creon gave his daughter Megara to Hercules as a wife. Unfortunately, their marriage was unhappy. Continuing her vengeance, Hera sent Lyssa, the Fury of madness, to Hercules. The hero was seized with the deadly malady and
mistook his children for those of Eurystheus and massacred them and their mother. After this horrible crime he was forced to flee the country and for the next twelve years lived in Argolis under the orders of Eurystheus, who imposed upon him the most arduous labors.

Finally Hercules consulted the oracle of Delphia to learn how to remove the stain of his crime. He learned he would need to complete the Twelve Labours (12 additional stories). Hercules was finally freed from his servitude and set forth on new adventures.