1.2 heracles/hercules

Heracles

Son of Zeus and Alcmene, known for his incredible strength and his twelve labours.

Zeus

Father of Heracles, disguised as Alcmene's husband to conceive Heracles.

Alcmene

Mother of Heracles, impregnated by Zeus and her husband Amphitryon on the same night.

Hera

Zeus' wife and Heracles' stepmother, who sought to harm Heracles due to Zeus' infidelity.

what did hera do after heracles was born

sent two snakes to poison and kill heracles but heracles killed the snakes

why did heracles kill his family

hera sent the goddess Maddness to infect heracles

Eurystheus

King who imposed the twelve labours on Heracles as punishment for killing his family.

Nemean Lion

- lion had impenetrable skin
- strangled it to death
- needed to bring prize - skinned lion with its own claws

Lernean Hydra

- hydra had many heads and venom for blood
- when one head was removed, 2 grew back in its place
- got help from his cousin iolaus, heracles cut the heads off, iolaus sealed neck with flaming torch
- once all heads were removed, heracles detached the immortal head and buried it under pile of rocks
- used hydra’s venom as poison for arrows
- labour didn’t count as he was helped by cousin

Golden Hind

- hind was very quick, sacred to artemis
- tracked hind for 1 year before catching it by snaring it
- met by apollo and artemis on way back, allowed him to carry on when he said he was borrowing animal and was forced to

Erymanthian Boar

- wore boar down by chasing it through thick winter snow
- when boar was tired, heracles caught it and carried it back
- king was scared when heracles arrived - hid in sunken pithos jar (large clay storage jar)

Augean Stables

- clean the stables in one day
- very large cattle with large amounts of dung
- diverted rivers alpheios and peneios through the stables
- augeas promised payment, never gave it, heracles returned with army, defeated the king
- to commemorate his victory, heracles founded the olympic games for zeus
- labour didn’t count as he was offered money

Stymphalian Birds

Birds that ravaged the farmlands of Stymphalos, which Heracles defeated with the help of a rattle made by Hephaistos given to Heracles by Athena.

Cretan Bull

A bull that Heracles captured and brought to Mycenae, later killed by Theseus.

Mares of Diomedes

Man-eating horses owned by King Diomedes that Heracles defeated and fed their owner to.

Belt of Hippolyte

A magical belt owned by Queen Hippolyte of the Amazons. Hera spread rumours that Heracles plotted to steal Hippolyte and the Amazonians attacked. Heracles killed them and took the belt.

Cattle of Geryon

Cattle that Heracles stole from the edge of the world, guarded by Geryon who had three heads and three sets of arms and legs.

Apples of the Hesperides

Golden apples guarded by the nymphs of the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas. Prometheus told him how to get apples as Heracles killed the eagle that pecked his liver out every day. Atlas got apples while Heracles help up sky. Atlas didn’t want to take sky back. H asked A to take sky while H gets pillow, H took apples and ran.

Cerberus

The three-headed dog guarding the entrance to the Underworld, Heracles was told by Hades and Persephone if he could capture Cerberus with no weapons then he could take him. Heralces strangled him.

pelops and hippodamia

- hippodamia was daughter of oinomaos, king of pisa
- oinomaos received oracle that he would die when his daughter married, set up chariot contest to avoid daughter marrying, had special chariot that always won
- any suitors had to race him, if they lost they would be killed, if they won they would wed hippodamia
- pelops challenged oinomaos to race, bribed his charioteer to replace linchpins with wax replicas
- friction heated up wheel, melted wax, wheels came off, oinomaos died
- pelops marries hippodamia and set up olympics as funerary games in honour of oinomaos

where was the story of pelops on the temple of zeus

eastern pediment

where were the labours of heracles on the temple of zeus

on 12 metopes, 6 over front entrance, 6 over back entrance

how were metopes successfully used when showing the labours

created a scene that was easily recognisable

create realism

fill in the space so no big blank spaces

Hercules and Cacus

took place during cattle of geryon labour, when Hercules had the cattle and was sleeping, Cacus stole eight of his cattle, led the cattle backwards to trick Hercules. Hercules heard a trapped cow moo, Cacus his in cave with huge boulder in front. Hercules circled aventine hill 3 times then took off the entire mountain top and killed Cacus.

Hercules and Achelous

A fight between Hercules and the river god Achelous over the hand of Princess Deianira.

what forms did Achelous take during the fight

snake and a one-horned bull

Hercules and Nessus

A centaur named Nessus attempts to abduct Deianira, Heracles shot him with hydra poison arrow. Nessus gave tunic soaked with warm (poisoned) blood to Deianira.

Death of Hercules

Hercules was given the tunic as an act of love by his wife Deianira and dies as a nearby fire caused the tunic to catch fire and stick to his skin, later was granted entrance to Olympus by Jupiter.