Heracles
Publié le 17/01/2022
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(Herakles; Glory of Hera) Greek The
greatest hero of Greek mythology, he was called
Hercules by the Romans. Heracles was the son of
the god Zeus and of a mortal, Alcmene, who was the
wife of Amphitryon of Thebes. Both Alcmene and
Amphitryon were descendants of the hero Perseus.
Heracles was a superman and demigod and a supreme
athlete but at the same time a man of many human
weaknesses. He performed seemingly impossible tasks, fought in battle, loved many women including
Deianira who would eventually cause his death, and
was afflicted by murderous madness and sudden rages.
Zeus snatched Heracles from his funeral pyre and
took him to Olympus, where Heracles was worshiped
like a god, became immortal, and married Hebe.
Heracles' name, Glory of Hera, suggests an origin
among ancient people who worshiped the goddess
Hera, wife of Zeus. The myth of Heracles is based
perhaps on a historical figure, possibly a lord of tiryns
(in Argos) whose military prowess led to the Homeric
legend of his having met and conquered death. Later,
invaders of the Peloponnesus, the southern peninsula
of what is now called Greece, adapted the cycle of the
Heracles hero myths to fit their own ancestry.
The Childhood of Heracles Heracles' mother,
Alcmene, was married to Amphitryon, also a descendant
of Perseus. While Amphitryon was at war, Zeus
visited Alcmene disguised as her husband. He wished to
father a son that would be a champion of both humans
and gods. This son was Heracles. When Amphitryon
came back the next evening, he, too, fathered a son
with Alcmene. His name was iphicles.
Hera, the wife of Zeus, was, as usual, jealous and
angry at the dalliance of her husband. Using her
magic arts, she contrived the premature birth of
Eurystheus, another descendant of Perseus. Eurystheus
was born a few minutes before Heracles and
therefore became ruler of Argos. Heracles was obliged
to serve him, and this he did most heroically.
One legend has it that Hera sent two serpents
to the cradle of the infant Heracles to kill him, but
the baby managed to strangle both serpents with
his supernormal strength. Another legend holds that
Amphitryon sent the serpents, knowing that one of
the twins belonged to Zeus. Thus, while his own son,
Iphicles, cried pitifully, the son of the god was able to
vanquish the serpents.
Amphitryon made sure that his godlike stepson
was trained in all the arts of fighting, wrestling, and
boxing. Heracles became a supreme athlete.
Heracles, The Young Hero Heracles was the
greatest of the Greek heroes. When Heracles was
a boy, his stepfather sent him to tend his cattle in
the mountains and to develop athletic skills. A ferocious
lion came from Mount Kithaeron to devour
Amphitryon's cattle. Heracles killed the lion and ever
after wore its pelt (though some say that the pelt
worn by Heracles was that of the Nemean lion; see
The Twelve Labors of Heracles, right).
Heracles then did battle with Erginus, King
of Orchomenos, who attacked Thebes. Amphitryon
died in this struggle. The victorious Heracles
became the idol of Thebes. Creon, the new king of
Thebes, gave his daughter Megara (2) to Heracles
in marriage. The marriage was not a happy one, and
in later years, in a fit of madness sent upon him by
the goddess Hera, Heracles killed his children and
possibly his wife as well. He went to the oracle at
Delphi for advice. As atonement for the dreadful
killings, the oracle put Heracles into the servitude
of his cousin, King Eurystheus, who would impose
upon the young hero the Twelve Labors, seemingly
impossible tasks.
The Twelve Labors of Heracles Like many a
hero in mythologies from all over the world, Heracles,
the greatest Greek hero, fought and won battles with
extraordinary creatures that represented man's ancient
strife with evil and the forces of darkness. Because of
a fit of madness, in which he killed his children and
his brother's children, Heracles, son of the god Zeus
and the mortal Alcmene, was put into the service of
King Eurystheus, a descendant of Perseus and ruler of
Argos. To atone for his sins, Heracles had to perform
12 almost impossible tasks over the course of 12 years.
In all of them, he emerged as a victorious hero against
unbelievable odds. The order of the Twelve Labors
varies in some sources but they are thought to begin
with the killing of the ferocious Nemean lion and end
with either the stealing of the apples of the Hesperides
or the vanquishing of the dog Cerberus.
1. The Nemean Lion The lion was gigantic,
an offspring of Selene. It lived in a cave
with two entrances. After many futile battles,
Heracles sealed off one mouth of the cave and
strangled the trapped lion with his bare hands.
Ever afterward, he wore the pelt and head of
the lion. The two mouths of the lion's cave
perhaps symbolize the entry of Heracles into
the battles (the Twelve Labors) from which
he would eventually escape, after death, into
rebirth and immortality.
2. The Hydra of Lernaea The Hydra was a
many-headed monster who grew a new head
each time Heracles lopped off the previous
one. With the help of his companion iolaus,
who burned the stumps of the heads and
prevented them from growing again, Heracles
vanquished the monster. He dipped his arrows
in the blood of the Hydra, which contained
a deadly poison. Most mythographers are still puzzled as to the exact meaning of the
Lernaean Hydra.
3. The Wild Boar of Erymanthus The boar
was a huge beast that Heracles hunted through
deep fields of snow. He captured the boar and
delivered it to Eurystheus. The king was so
terrified at the sight of the beast that he hid
himself in his bronze jar.
4. The Hind of Ceryneia This beautiful
Arcadian deer had feet of bronze and antlers
(surprising for a hind) that shone like gold,
and ran so swiftly that it took Heracles a year
to capture it. He carried it unharmed to King
Eurystheus.
5. The Stymphalian Birds These monstrous
birds had wings, beaks, and claws of bronze.
They fed on human flesh and were so numerous
that when they took flight their hordes blotted
out the Sun. Heracles terrified them with the
shattering noise from a bronze rattle that the
goddess Athene helped him make. The birds
flew away and were never seen again.
This legend may refer to Heracles' reputation
as a healer, expert at getting rid of fever
demons. In ancient times, fevers were little
understood and often proved fatal. Since they
occurred frequently in marshy places, they
were identified with marsh birds such as
cranes and ibises, large birds on which the
Stymphalian birds may have been modeled.
6. The Augean Stables The Sixth Labor of
Heracles was to clean, in one day, the pestilent,
dung-filled stables of the cattle of King Elis
of Augeus. Heracles did this by diverting the
courses of two nearby rivers and sending their
cleansing waters rushing through the stables.
"Cleaning the Augean stables" has come to
mean getting rid of noxious rubbish in any area,
whether physical, moral, religious, or legal.
7. The Cretan Bull Heracles captured the
Bull that had been terrorizing the island
of Crete and returned with it to Greece.
Theseus later killed the bull. The combat of
a man with a bull was one of the ritual tasks
imposed on heroes (see the stories of Theseus
and Jason).
8. The Horses of Diomedes Heracles captured
the horses (some say they were wild
mares) of Diomedes (2) of Thrace. It was said
that Diomedes fed the horses on human flesh
Heracles killed Diomedes and gave his flesh
to the horses, after which, it is said, the beasts
became quite tame. The taming of wild horses
was an important rite in many ancient cultures.
9. The Girdle of the Amazon Eurystheus
asked Heracles to obtain the girdle of Queen
Hippolyta of the Amazons, for his daughter.
Some versions of the legend say that Hippolyta
fell in love with Heracles and gave him
her girdle. Other versions say that Hippolyta
was later abducted by Theseus.
10. The Cattle of Geryon Geryon was a threeheaded
monster whose fine red cattle were the
envy of everyone, including Eurystheus, who
ordered Heracles to capture them. Heracles
did this on the way erecting the Pillars of Hercules
(now known as the Straits of Gibraltar),
where Africa and Europe face each other at the
western end of the Mediterranean Sea. Stealing
another man's cattle was an ancient custom; a
prospective husband bought his bride from the
proceeds of a successful cattle raid.
11. The Stealing of Cerberus Cerberus, the
fearsome three-headed dog, guarded the gates
of the Underworld. Eurystheus ordered Heracles
to bring him the monster, never expecting
the hero to return to the land of the living.
However, with the help of the gods Hermes
and Athene, Heracles overcame both Hades,
god of the underworld, and the monstrous
dog. When Eurystheus saw the huge creature,
he jumped into his bronze jar in terror.
The three heads of Cerberus may have
represented the three seasons vanquished by
the demigod who became immortal.
12. The Apples of the Hesperides Heracles'
final task was to bring some of the golden
apples of the Hesperides (daughters of Atlas)
to Eurystheus. The apples belonged to Hera
who set the dragon Ladon to guard them.
Only the Titan Atlas, who carried the sky on
his shoulders, knew where the apple orchard
was. Heracles took the sky from Atlas and
persuaded him to fetch some apples. He then
tricked the Titan into taking back the weight
of the sky.
The explanation for this labor may lie in
the primitive ritual in which the candidate for
a kingship or immortality (Heracles) had to
overcome a monster (Ladon) and rob it of its
treasure (the golden apples).
The Exploits of Heracles There is no clear
chronology for the exploits of Heracles, but rather a patchwork of events, with some confusion about
the order in which they took place. For example,
it is not clear at what point the goddess Hera, wife
of Zeus, angry at the dalliance of her husband with
Alcmene, took revenge upon Heracles by sending
him fits of murderous madness. Among his crimes
were the killing of his own children and, some say, his
wife Megara, and the killing of Iphitus, a guest in his
house. Such deeds were unforgivable. Even the oracle
at Delphi refused to help Heracles after the killing of
Iphitus. In another fit of madness, Heracles ravaged
the oracle's shrine and attacked his halfbrother, the
god Apollo. As a result of this outrage, Heracles
became a slave to Omphale, queen of Lydia.
Among his exploits for Omphale was the capture
of the clever thieves called the Cercopes. Heracles
also killed Syleus, the king of Aulis, who had forced
strangers to work in his vineyards and then, instead
of paying them, cut their throats. Heracles rid the
banks of the Sagaris from a gigantic serpent and then
killed Lityerses, another evil man who forced people
to work for him and then killed them. Omphale so
admired Heracles that she set him free.
After his servitude to Omphale, Heracles offered
his services to Laomedon, king of Troy. Laomedon
had incurred the wrath of the sea god, Poseidon, who
sent a monster to ravage Troy. The oracle told Laomedon
that only the sacrifice of his beautiful daughter,
Hesione, would appease the monster and save Troy.
Laomedon chained the girl to a rock to await her fate.
Heracles agreed to rescue the maiden in return for two
magical horses that had been a gift from Zeus to Laomedon.
But Laomedon, his daughter now safe, reneged
on his agreement and Heracles killed him. Heracles
then gave Hesione to his friend Telamon in marriage.
Priam, now king of Troy, demanded the return of his
sister, Hesione. The Greeks refused to return her. The
subsequent ill-feeling between the nations of Troy and
Greece was one cause of the Trojan War.
Heracles, Deianira, and the Centaur Heracles,
the mortal hero, spent his life engaging in one heroic
exploit after another. Sometimes Heracles sought
adventure, sometimes he sought revenge for injustice,
and sometimes he had to flee from the punishment
due him for acts committed in madness.
After many bold deeds, Heracles came to Calydon,
in Aetolia, whose king, Oeneus, had a beautiful
daughter, Deianira. Deianira was constantly plagued
by the attentions of Achelous, who appeared to her
in the form of a river, a dragon, and a bull. After a
furious contest, Heracles vanquished Achelous and
won the hand of the beautiful Deianira, with whom
he bore a son, Hyllus.
Heracles, Deianira, and Hyllus fled from Calydon
after Heracles, again afflicted by rage, killed an
innocent cupbearer, Eunomus.
When they came to the river Evenus, a Centaur,
Nessus, offered to carry Deianira on his back, while
Heracles swam across. When they reached the other
side, the centaur tried to carry Deianira off. Heracles
shot him with his arrow. As he lay dying, Nessus told
Deianira to collect some of his blood and use it as a
love potion if she ever thought that her husband was
straying. Deianira respected the wishes of the dying
beast and took his blood in a vial that she carried. This
potion would eventually cause the death of Heracles.
The Death of Heracles The last expedition
of Heracles was against his old enemy Eurytus.
Heracles slew Eurytus and carried off his daughter,
iole, with whom he had been in love before he had
met his present wife, Deianira. When Deianira heard
about the beautiful maiden, she remembered the vial
of blood that she had taken from Nessus. Innocently
thinking that the potion would bring Heracles back
to her, she soaked a shirt in a liquid made from the
blood in the vial and sent it to her husband with his
messenger, Lichas.
As soon as Heracles put on the fateful shirt, he
began to writhe with pain, for the potion was a deadly
one, and proved fatal to Heracles. He commanded a
funeral pyre to be built and laid himself upon it. His
son, Hyllus, told him that Deianira had not intended
his death and had killed herself in despair. Heracles,
in his last throes of agony, gave Iole to his son in
marriage. No one wanted to light the funeral pyre,
but at last, Philoctetes (or his father, Poeas) set the
wood on fire. Immediately, a cloud descended from
the sky, and in a display of thunder and lightning,
Zeus snatched his son from death and bore him to
Olympus, where he would become immortal.
Liens utiles
- Iolaus Greek The son of Iphicles (halfbrother of Heracles).
- Iphicles Greek Halfbrother of the hero Heracles; son of Amphitryon, a prince of Tiryns, and his wife, Alcmene, who was a daughter of the king of Mycenae; husband to Automedusa, and later, to the youngest daughter of King Creon of Thebes.
- Nessus Greek The Centaur who caused the death of the hero Heracles.
- Oeneus (Oeneous; Vintner) Greek King of Calydon; husband of Althea, father of Meleager, Tydeus, Gorge, and the beautiful Deianira, who eventually married Heracles.
- Omphale Greek The queen of Lydia who took the hero Heracles as her slave after he had desecrated the temple of Apollo.