lecture 16 & ch. 15

Question 1

What are three big themes relating to Heracles?

Answer 1

1. Hera’s wrath. - she hates him.
2. He is a comic figure. - he is a man of appetites
3. He is a hero. - A civilizing force who is uncivilized.

Question 2

Who are the parents of Heracles?

Answer 2

Alcmena and Amphitryon

Question 3

Why is the mythology of Heracles complicated?

Answer 3

Every polis has a type of story describing deeds performed by Heracles; every polis has a claim to Heracles.

Question 4

Who does Heracles have a continuous rivalry with? What stems from this rivalry?

Answer 4

• Eurythesus
• Hercules lives a life of servitude.

Question 5

What are two examples of Heracles’s “youthful vigor”?

Answer 5

1. Hera sent snakes after Heracles, but Heracles killed the snakes even just as a baby.
2. Thespius is hosting Heracles and gets him drunk, Thespius had realized the greatness of Heracles. He sends in all 50 of his daughters, one after another, in the same evening so they get pregnant which would result in
   Thespius having some of Heracles’s bloodline within his own lineage.

Question 6

What do the Heracles myths center around?

Answer 6

• marriage
• murder
  MEGARA is the epidemy of the themes of Heracles.

Question 7

In some versions of the myth, why does Heracles have to complete his 12 labours?

Answer 7

Hera sent down a curse causing Heracles to hallucinate.
- While hallucinating, Heracles murders his 1st wife, Megara, and his three children. To atone for these murders, Heracles is placed into servitude for Eurystheus, who then makes Heracles complete the 12 labors.

Question 8

In myth, where is Heracles typically born?

Answer 8

Thebes

Question 9

In myth, where does Eurystheus rule?

Answer 9

Mycenae

Question 10

In terms of landscape, what is Heracles etiological for?

Answer 10

The geography is etiological for:
- how the world became safe and civilized,
- as well as how the Greeks imposed their own culture on the landscape and the environment.

Question 11

In what ways are Heracles able to be deemed savage?

Answer 11

1. He kills family, friends, and even fights the gods sometimes.
2. He violates boundaries in natural order (i.e. the multiple times he entered and left the underworld)
3. He has immense appetites.
4. A brute (i.e. his weapon of choice is a club)
5. He is never in charge / he is always in servitude of
   others. (either by serving humanity in taming the wilderness or by literally serving his cousin)

Question 12

Who is Eurytus? What is his relevance to Heracles’ demise?

Answer 12

1. He is the father of Iphitus and Iole.
2. He holds a competition for the hand of Iole, but when Heracles joins and wins, her father does not allow him to take her hand.
   - Heracles leaves And around the same time, some cattle are stolen. Eurytus believes it to have been Heracles.
   - Iphitus confronts Heracles about stealing the cattle, in rage Heracles kills Iphitus.

Question 13

What does Heracles have to do to atone for the murder of Iphitus?

Answer 13

SERVITUDE TO OMPHALE FOR 3 YEARS

Question 14

Who caused the death of Heracles? How did it happen?

Answer 14

1. DEIANEIRA - Heracles’ 2nd wife.
2. After leaving Omphale, Heracles must defeat Achelous, a River God, to win the hand of Deianeira.
   - Heracles wins, but they come across a river that Heracles can swim across but Deianeira cannot.
   - A centaur, Nessus, offers to swim across with Deianeira on his back but when he actually does it, he tries to grope her.
   - Hercules sees this, shoots him with his poison tipped
   arrow.
   - In his final moments, Nessus tells Deianeira to take his blood (sometimes his semen) to create a love potion for if she ever needed to regain the affection of Heracles.
   - At some point Heracles still wants Iole and goes to her town, destroying it and bringing her home.
   - Deianeira uses the “love potion” on his garment, when Heracles wears the garment, it clings to his skin, poisoning and killing him.

Question 15

What is most important to know regarding Heracles?

Answer 15

The dying of Heracles is most important (more important than his apotheosis)

Question 16

How did Zeus seduce Alcmena?

Answer 16

Zeus had admired Alcmena’s beauty and while her
husband was away on campaign, Zeus took on the appearance of Amphitryon (GROSS)
- Zeus literally displayed loot, proving his victory over the Pirates that her husband had gone campaigning against and then proceeded to demand sexual favors that he had “earned.”
- After engaging in sexual acts and “Amphitryon’s”
departure, to Alcmena’s confusion the real
Amphitryon appears. He displayed his loot, proving his victory over the Pirates and demanded sexual favors from her.
- From this night, Alcmena bore two boys: Heracles
(Zeus) and Iphicles (Amphitryon)

Question 17

What caused Heracles to live a life of servitude?

Answer 17

HERA
- When Alcmena was about to give birth, the Zeus swore that on that day a descendant of his own would be born who would rule over all the surrounding land.
- Jealous because of Zeus’ infidelity, Hera delayed the birth of Heracles and
hastened the birth of Eurystheus (cousin to Heracles, Zeus’ grandson)

Question 18

Heracles committed a
horrible crime and to atone for this crime, the oracle of Delphi required Heracles to do something. What was the crime and what was his atonement?

Answer 18

HIS CRIME: After going mad, Heracles murdered his wife (Megara) and three children.
HIS ATONEMENT: Servitude to Eurystheus, who requires Heracles to complete the famed 12 labours.

Question 19

Where can the earliest evidence for the canonical cycle of 12 laborers be
found?

Answer 19

It can be found on the metopes, on 12 stone panels, mounted above the front and rear columns of Zeus’ temple at Olympia.

Question 20

Priam was king of Troy during the Trojan War, how is he relevant to Heracles?

Answer 20

After Heracles’ years of servitude were complete, Heracles gathered an army and invaded Troy (they had treated him poorly on a previous adventure)
- Hercules killed King Laomedon along with his sons except for one, Podarces.
- Podarces was thereafter called Priam (the ransomed one)

Question 20

When the Pythia refused to speak with Heracles after he killed Iphitus, who agreed to purify Heracles? What were the conditions?

Answer 20

1. Apollo
   After being refused from the Pythia, Heracles stole the Holy Tripod but Apollo came down and they fought over it.
   - Eventually Zeus broke up their fight and Apollo agreed to purify Heracles of his blood pollution.
2. THE CONDITIONS:
   - He must serve a woman for 3 years as her slave.
   and
   - He must give everything he earned to Eurytus (father to Iphitus)