Heracles/Hercules Flashcards
1
Q
Conception of Heracles
A
- Parents : Alcmene + Zeus
- Amphitryon away on campaign with king of Thebes
- Zeus took form of Amphitryon and slept with Alcmene
- Amphitryon returned and also slept with Alcmene
- Alcmene now pregnant with two children
2
Q
Birth of Heracles
A
- Zeus boasted that his son would match him on earth which angered Hera
- Hera made Zeus vow that the first son of the House of Perseus born that night would rule
- Hera asked her daughter Eileithyia to prolong Alcmene’s labour hoping to kill Heracles and Alcmene but failed.
- Sthenelus son Eurystheus was therefore born first and inherited all the power
3
Q
Childhood of Heracles
A
- Hera sent two snakes to poison Heracles which failed when Heracles strangled them
- Alcmene abandoned Heracles in the woods, frightened by Hera
- Athena found and took Heracles to Mount Olympus in hope of him being accepted
- Hera rejected that and demanded he return to Alcmene
- Athena became Heracles’ protector
4
Q
Early life of Heracles
A
- Heracles married Megara
- Hera sent goddess Madness to infect Heracles
- Driven insane Heracles murdered his wife and children
- Then he exiled himself from Thebes and went to consult Oracle at Delphi in what to do
- Hera took control over the Oracle and advised Heracles that he should serve King Eurystheus for 12 years
5
Q
Order of 12 Labours
A
1 - The Nemean Lion
2 - The Lernaean Hydra
3 - The Golden Hind
4 - The Erymanthian Boar
5 - The Augean Stables
6 - The Stymphalian Birds
7 - The Cretan Bull
8 - The Mares of Diomedes
9 - The Belt of Hippolyta
10 - The Cattle of Geryon
11 - The Apples of the Hesperides
12 - Cerberus
6
Q
The Nemean Lion
A
- Skin of lion immune to weapons
- Heracles strangled it to death
- Needed to prove his victory to King Eurystheus but couldn’t skin the Lion
- Athena told Heracles to use the Lion’s own claws to skin it
- Lion skin became a common depiction of Heracles
7
Q
The Lernaean Hydra
A
- Many Headed snake with venom for blood
- Every time Heracles cut off a head, two more would grow back
- Got Help from his cousin Iolaus
- Heracles would remove the head and Iolaus would burn the neck
- Hera sent a giant crab to hinder Heracles which he easily crushed
- Once all heads had been chopped off, Heracles buried the last head under a pile of rocks
- Used the Hydra’s venom for his arrows
8
Q
The Golden Hind
A
- From Mount Ceryneia in Arcadia
- Larger than a bull and had golden horns and hooves
- Also sacred to Artemis
- Heracles tracked the hind for a year before he caught it but did not kill it
- Artemis met Heracles, angered he had taken her sacred hind but relented when Heracles explained his labours
9
Q
The Erymanthain Boar
A
- Larger than normal boars and was terrorising the Arcadian countryside
- Heracles wore the boar down by chasing it through the thick winter snow, catching it when it got tired
- When Heracles returned Eurystheus hid in a sunken pithos jar out of fright.
10
Q
The Augean Stables
A
- HAd to clean Augeas (King of Elis) stables which had an enormous amount of dung from his cattle herd
- Heracles diverted the rivers Alpheios and Peneios through the stables, cleaning them instantly
- Augeas initially promised Heracles payment but refused when the task was complete
- Heracles returned with an army and defeated the king - commemorating his victory with the first Olympic Games
11
Q
The Stymphalian Birds
A
- Birds had been ravaging the farm lands of Stymphalos
- Heracles received help from Athena who gave him a rattle mad by Hephaistos
- After shaking it the birds flew into the sky and Heracles shot them down
12
Q
The Cretan Bull
A
- Destroying Cretan homes and farmland
- Heracles crept up behind the bull and strangled it but released his grip before the bull passed out
- When he returned Eurystheus once again hid in the pithos
13
Q
The Mares of Diomedes
A
- Diomedes 9 King of the Bistones) fed the horses limbs of defeated enemies and passing strangers
- Heracles defeated the stableman and took the horses
- Diomedes found out and set out to find Heracles
- He left the horses with his companion Abderos when he went to fight Diomedes
- Horses overpowered Abderos and ate him
- Heracles fed Diomedes to his own horse after defeating him
14
Q
The Belt of Hippolyta
A
- Hippolyta given a belt by Ares (Her father)
- Heracles took an army with him
- Hippolyta greatly admired Heracles and freely offered her belt
- Hera takes form of Amazonian and spread the rumour that Heracles was here to steal the queen
- Amazons rode out to kill them and when Heracles’ men saw them coming, a bloody battle started
- Heracles won and killed Hippolyta and took her belt
15
Q
The Cattle of Geryon
A
- To steal the cattle Heracles had to defeat the herdsman Eurytion and his dog Orthrus
- After defeating them with his club he began to leave with the cattle
- Geryon was warned of Heracles and rushed after him
- Geryon had three heads and three arms and legs
- Heracles successfully overpowered him and took the cattle back to King Eurystheus
16
Q
The Apples of the Hesperides
A
- Golden apples grew in the Garden of the Hesperides which Gaia had gave to Hera and Zeus as a wedding gift
- Guarded b the Hesperides - Nymphs, daughters of Atlas
- Heracles didn’t know where the garden was and journeyed from Northern Africa to the Near East, then to Illyria and finally Mount Caucasus
- Prometheus chained here and when Heracles arrived he killed the eagle torturing Prometheus
- Prometheus told Heracles how to acquire the apples as a reward
- Heracles travelled to Atlas who was holding up the sky
- Heracles offered to hold up the sky if Atlas got the apples
- Atlas offered to take the apples back so not to hold up the sky and Heracles accepted but asked that Atlas take the sky back for one second while he cushioned his shoulders
- Heracles then ran off the with apples leaving Atlas
17
Q
Cerberus
A
- To please Persephone, Heracles was initiated in the Eleusinian Mysteries
- Upon arriving in the underworld, Persephone and Hades said that if he could capture Cerberus with no weapons he could take him
- Heracles successfully strangled Cerberus and took him to Eurystheus
18
Q
Hercles and Cacus
A
- Took place after 10th labour (Cattle of Geryon)
- Cult of Hercles stemmed from this myth
- Cacus is a half human, massive, son of vulcan and belched fires
- Hercules arrived in Pallamtium and while he slept Cacus stole eight of his cattle
- He led the cattle backwards meanig the hoof marks led away from the cave
- A single cow mooed from the cave alerting Hercules to its presence
- Cacus had blocked the enterance with a huge boulder which Hercles was unable to move
- Hercules notices huge flint peak on the top of the mountain and lifted it off exposing Cacus
- Hercules bombards Cacus with trees, stones and boulders while Cacus conceals himself with black smoke
- Hercules overpowers Cacus by (suprise suprise) Strangling him!
19
Q
The cult of Hercules
A
- Founded by Evander and followed Greek tradition
- Only men allowed to take part on the ritual whihc involved the sacrificing of an animal and burning of incense
- ## Annual sacrafice which took place at the Great Altar of Hercules between the river Tiber and the Palatine Hill
20
Q
Hercules and Achelous
A
- Contest between Hercules and Achelous for the hand of Princess Deinira of Aitolia
- Hercules refrenced divine parentage and labours
- Achelous claimed that his status as God superior to Hercules’ and attacked his labours as it was his own fault and called his birth story fake or a scandal
- First battle - Hercules victorious
- Achelous turns into a snake which Hercules then made fun of refrencing the Lernean hydra and easily won
- Achelous then turns into a bull (cretan and erymanthian bull) and Hercules snaps his single horn which became a cornucopia
21
Q
Hercules and Nessus
A
- Deinaria and HErcules on the return home to Tiryns arrive at the river Evenus which was too deep to walk across
- Hercules could swim across but Deinaria could not
- Centaur Nessus offered to take Deinaria across but instead ran off with her
- Herculs shoots Nessus with poisoned arrrows
- Nessus gives his bloodsoaked shirt to Deinaria saying it will revive waning love
22
Q
Death of Hercules
A
- Juno asked the goddess Rumor to spread lies that Hercules was in love with Iole to Deianira
- Deianira decides to give Hercules the shirt of Nessus in the hope he would fall in love with her again
- While giving a sacrafice to the Gods the heat from the altar caused the shirt to melt and stick to his skin
- Whilst he died he built himself a funeral pure, laid on it and died
- Jupiter gave a speech to the godsasking for him to be allowed on Olympus due to his heroic deed which they all agreed to
