Heroes, Perseus, Heracles, and Other Mythological Figures

What is a Hero?

  • A hero was a semi-god human in myths.
  • After death, heroes were worshipped like powerful spirits.
  • Hero stories come from the Iliad and Odyssey (epic poems).

Hero Cults

  • Olympian gods = sky gods (Zeus, Athena).
  • Chthonic rites = underworld/earth rituals.
  • Hero cults sometimes replaced ancestor worship.

Hesiod’s 5 Human Races:

  1. Gold: Perfect, godlike, peaceful.
  2. Silver: Disrespectful to gods → destroyed.
  3. Bronze: Violent warriors → self-destroyed.
  4. Heroic: Demi-gods like those in Troy.
  5. Iron: Current age, full of pain and work.

Perseus

  • Mom: Danae, visited by Zeus as golden rain.
  • Quest: Kill Medusa with Athena + Hermes’ help.
  • Tools: Winged sandals, invisibility cap, magic pouch.
  • After Medusa dies: Pegasus is born from her neck.
  • Rescues Andromeda from a sea monster.
  • Accidentally kills his grandpa and becomes king.

Heracles (Hercules)

  • Son of Zeus. Hera hates him.
  • Killed his family → must do 12 Labors.
  • Famous ones:
    • Nemean lion
    • Hydra
    • Amazons
    • Cerberus
  • Kills centaur Nessus → poisoned shirt → becomes a god.

Athens & Theseus

  • Athenians believed they were born from the land (autochthonous).
  • Theseus = son of Aegeus (or Poseidon), raised in secret.
  • Proves himself by defeating monsters:
    • Procrustes: makes people fit bed by stretching/cutting.
    • Minotaur: Half-bull in a labyrinth. Kills it with Ariadne’s help.

Thebes & Oedipus

  • Cadmus: founder, fought a dragon, sowed its teeth to grow warriors.
  • Oedipus: Solved Sphinx riddle, unknowingly killed dad and married mom.
  • His children: Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices → all tragic.

Jason & the Argonauts

  • Task: Get the Golden Fleece.
  • Crew = Argonauts on the Argo.
  • Medea helps him, kills her brother.
  • Jason dumps Medea later → she kills his new wife + their kids.

Calydonian Boar Hunt

  • Involves Atalanta (fast huntress) and Meleager (kills his uncles).
  • Drama over who gets the boar’s skin.

Bellerophon

  • Rides Pegasus, kills fire-breathing Chimera.
  • Tries to fly to Mount Olympus → fails → falls.

Achilles (Iliad)

  • Son of Thetis and Peleus.
  • Dipped in river Styx (except heel?).
  • Quits war when Agamemnon takes Briseis.
  • Returns after friend Patroclus dies → kills Hector.
  • Drags Hector’s body but later returns it to Priam.

Helen & Troy

  • Helen = daughter of Leda (swan story).
  • Paris steals her → starts war.
  • Trojan Horse = trick used to enter Troy.

Odysseus (Odyssey)

  • Long trip home after war.
  • Cyclops Polyphemus → blinded him.
  • Circe = turned men into pigs.
  • Sirens, Scylla & Charybdis = sea dangers.
  • Returns in disguise, kills suitors, reunites with Penelope.

Aeneas (Aeneid by Vergil)

  • Trojan prince, son of Aphrodite.
  • Escapes Troy, founds Rome’s ancestors.
  • Love story with Dido (Queen of Carthage) → ends tragically.
  • Shield of Aeneas shows future glory of Rome.