Who did Hercules fight with? Hercules - the strongest man on earth

Hercules, or Hercules

Hercules, or Hercules, came from the glorious family of Perseus; he is the greatest hero of Greek myth and the beloved national hero of the entire Greek people; it represents the image of a man with great physical strength, invincible courage and enormous power will. Performing the most hard work, obeying the will of Jupiter, he, with a consciousness of his duty, dutifully endures the cruel blows of fate. He fought and defeated the dark and evil forces of nature, fought against untruth and injustice, as well as against the enemies of social and moral orders established by Jupiter. He is the son of Jupiter, but his mother is mortal, and he real son earth and mortal. Despite his strength, he, like mortals, is subject to all the passions and delusions inherent in the human heart, but in his human and therefore weak nature lies the divine source of kindness and divine generosity, making him capable of great feats. Just as he defeats giants and monsters, so he conquers all the bad instincts in himself and achieves divine immortality.

The following is said about its origin. Jupiter, the ruler of the gods, wished to give the gods and people a great hero who would protect them from various troubles. He descended from Olympus and began to look for a woman worthy of becoming the mother of such a hero. His choice fell on Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon. But since Alcmene loved only her husband, Jupiter took the form of Amphitryon and entered his house. The son born from this union was Hercules, who in mythology is called either the son of Amphitryon or the son of Jupiter. And this is why Hercules has a dual nature - man and god. This incarnation of deity in man did not in the least shock popular beliefs and feelings, which, however, did not stop people from laughing at the comical side of this incident. On one antique vase a picturesque image of an ancient caricature has been preserved (Fig. 215): Jupiter is depicted there in disguise and possessing big belly; he is carrying a ladder, which he is going to put against Alcmene’s window, and she is watching everything that is happening from the window; Mercury, disguised as a slave but recognizable by his caduceus, stands in front of Jupiter.

When the time came for the birth of the son of Alcmene, the ruler of the gods could not resist boasting in the assembly of the gods that on that day he would be born into the family of Perseus great hero, called to rule over all nations. Juno forced him to confirm these words with an oath and, as the goddess of childbirth, arranged it so that on that day it was not Hercules who was born, but Eurystheus, also a descendant of Perseus. And thus, Hercules had to obey Eurystheus, serve him and perform various difficult jobs at his command.

When the son of Alcmene was born, Mercury, wanting to save him from the persecution of Juno, took him, carried him to Olympus and laid him in the arms of the sleeping goddess. Hercules bit Juno's breast with such force that milk poured out of her and formed the Milky Way in the sky, and the awakened goddess angrily threw Hercules away, who nevertheless tasted the milk of immortality. In the museum in Madrid there is a painting by Rubens depicting Juno breastfeeding little Hercules (Fig. 216). The goddess sits on a cloud, and next to her stands a chariot drawn by peacocks. Tintoretto interprets this plot somewhat differently in his painting; In his case, Jupiter himself gives Juno a son. Together with Hercules, his brother Iphicles was born, and the vengeful Juno sends two snakes that climb into the cradle to kill the children, but little Hercules grabbed them and strangled them. Pliny mentions a painting by the ancient artist Zeuxis depicting this incident. The same plot is depicted in antique fresco, on a bas-relief and bronze statue discovered at Herculaneum. Of the newest works on the same topic, paintings by Annibale Carracci and Reynolds are known.

Alcmene. To woo Alcmene, Zeus took the form of her husband. Zeus' wife Hera made her husband promise that the one who would be born at a certain time would become a great king. Despite the fact that it was Hercules who was supposed to be at the appointed hour, Hera intervened in the process, as a result of which Hercules’ cousin named Eurystheus was born earlier. Nevertheless, Zeus agreed with Hera that Hercules would not obey his cousin forever, but would carry out only twelve of his orders. It was these acts that later became the famous 12 labors of Hercules.

Ancient Greek myths attribute many deeds to Hercules: from a campaign with the Argonauts to the construction of the city of Gytion together with the god Apollo.

Hera could not forgive Zeus for betraying him, but she took out her anger on Hercules. For example, she sent madness to him, and Hercules killed his own in a fit, born daughter King Megara of Thebes. The prophetess from the temple of Apollo in Delphi said that in order to atone for his terrible act, Hercules must carry out the instructions of Eurystheus, who was jealous of Hercules’ strength and came up with very difficult tests.

The painful death of a hero

In twelve years, Hercules completed all of his cousin’s tasks, gaining freedom. Future life The hero also had feats, the content and number of which depended on the authors of specific myths, since there are quite a lot of ancient Greek monuments.

Most authors agree that, having defeated the river god Achelous, Hercules won the hand of Deianira, the daughter of Dionysus. One day, Dejanira was kidnapped by the centaur Nessus, who admired her beauty. Nessus transported travelers across wild river on his back, and when Hercules and Deianira approached the river, he put his wife on the centaur, and he himself went swimming.

Nessus tried to escape with Dejanira on his back, but Hercules wounded him with an arrow poisoned with the most powerful poison in the world - Lernaean bile, which he killed while carrying out the second order of Eurystheus. Nessus, dying, advised Dejanira to collect his blood, lying that it could be used as a love potion.

Earlier, Hercules mortally wounded his teacher and friend the centaur Chiron with an arrow poisoned by hydra bile.

Some time later, Dejanira tells that Hercules wants to marry one of his captives. Having soaked the cloak in Nessus's blood, she sent it as a gift to her husband to return his love. As soon as Hercules put on his cloak, the poison entered his body, causing terrible torment.

To get rid of suffering, Hercules uproots trees, builds a huge fire out of them, and lies down on. According to legend, the hero’s friend Philoctetes agreed to set the funeral pyre on fire, for which Hercules promised him his bow and poisoned arrows.

It is believed that Hercules died at the age of fifty, after his death he was accepted among the immortals and ascended to Olympus, where he finally reconciled with Hera and even married her daughter.

Probably, today only the most incurious children and teenagers do not know who Hercules is. After all, in Soviet time, and later many books on ancient Greek mythology were published, telling in detail about him and his exploits. Let's plunge into the distant past, during the times of Hellas.

Who is he?

Let's start with who Hercules is. This is an ancient Greek hero, on whom all mythology largely rests. The exploits he accomplished formed the basis of many songs that brought bread to traveling singers. And in general, his life was full of travel and adventure.

His courage and heroism made him the most famous character in ancient Greek mythology. And not only. After all, in his homeland he was called Hercules, and many great rulers liked to boast that they descended from him. So Hercules and Hercules are the same character, you can call him by both names, as you are more accustomed to. After the expansion of the Roman Empire to the east and the capture of Ancient Greece, storytellers really liked the legends about him. This is how Hercules appeared in Roman mythology.

His parents

Let's start by destroying the misconception that Hercules is a god. Actually this is not true. More precisely, half wrong. His father was indeed the most powerful god of the ancient Greek pantheon - Zeus himself. But the mother was a mere mortal - Alkmena. This can be stated with confidence - the parents of Hercules are accurately traced according to mythology.

Zeus, captivated by the beauty of Queen Alcmene, took the form of her husband Amphitryon and entered the beauty’s bedroom. Nine months later, a hero was born who was destined to accomplish many feats and experience ups and downs.

Hated stepson

As already mentioned, the hero’s father was Zeus, the most powerful god of Olympus. But the goddess Hera didn’t like it at all that she legal spouse so eager for beautiful mortals. And all her life she played tricks and harmed Hercules.

It started in infancy. The future hero was lying in his crib when two huge Poisonous snakes, to finish him off by punishing Zeus. Of course, Hera sent them. But the cunning goddess did not take into account that the blood of a demigod already flows in the hero. He jokingly strangled both snakes.

Yes, Hercules received undoubted advantages from his kinship - the god Zeus endowed him with remarkable strength, which allowed him to accomplish many feats. Although cunning and wisdom were also not alien to the young hero.

But throughout his life, Hera harmed him as best she could - she sent him madness, deprived him of the right to ascend the throne, arranged circumstances against Hercules, and tried in every possible way to poison his life. But more on that later.

Short family life

For the first time, Hercules married very young, choosing the beautiful Megara as his wife. Although he was 16 years old and she was 33, they were happy and had several children. Everything was going great, and the hero didn’t even think about leaving native home and set off to perform feats about which wandering singers would create many legends.

Unfortunately, the happiness did not last long. The treacherous goddess Hera never forgave her husband’s son, whom a mere mortal gave birth to. She cast a curse of madness on Hercules.

Possessed, he broke into the house and killed Megara, as well as the children they shared. At the same time he killed the children of his friend Iphicles.

But the madness did not last long. When Hercules regained his sanity, he grieved for a long time, not knowing what to do next, how to atone for the terrible sin that he had committed, even though it was not his fault. Having gone for advice to the Delphic oracle, he received a clear answer. The hero had to go to his cousin King Eurystheus and become his servant to complete 12 labors. It is worth saying that he became king only thanks to the machinations of Hera. However, the high title did not provide him with either strength, intelligence, or the love of the people. Therefore, Eurystheus had no choice but to envy Hercules and give only those tasks that he considered obviously impossible.

Twelve Labors

It is worth noting that Hercules in Roman and Greek mythology committed different quantities feats. Some storytellers spoke specifically about twelve. Others argued that the hero had to perform only ten feats, but Eurystheus did not count two of them and gave others that Hercules had to perform. In any case, there were twelve in total. According to various sources, their implementation took from 8 to 12 years. Eurstheus was in no hurry to give tasks to his cousin, bound by an oath, keeping him to himself and not providing the desired freedom.

The feats were different. First of all, he had to fight various monsters:

• Nemean lion.
• Lernaean Hydra.
• Stymphalian birds.

Of course, it helped him here main characteristic Hercules is an unprecedented force. For example, he simply strangled a lion, since the sharpest arrows could not pierce its skin. But later it became a reliable cloak that accompanied the hero until his death.

He pacified several more, not allowing them to poison life anymore ordinary people:

• Keryneian fallow deer.
• Erymanthian boar.
• Cretan bull.
• Three-headed dog Cerberus.
• Horses of Diomedes.

Several times the hero had to stoop to banal theft. To fulfill the orders of a cowardly and greedy relative, Hercules stole the golden apples of the Hesperides, cows from the giant Geryon, and the belt of the Amazon queen Hippolyta.

Once he even cleaned the huge stables of King Augeas.

Of course, this is far from full list the feats he accomplished. Hercules also participated in the expedition on the ship "Argo", won the Olympic Games, more than once challenged the most powerful gods, including his father Zeus, and never retreated without achieving victory or at least a “draw.”

It is no coincidence that in Greece every child knows exactly who Hercules is and can accurately name all twelve labors he performed.

Tragic death

The glorious hero died at the age of approximately 50 years. By this time, he had accomplished his exploits and, having received freedom from his oath to Eurystheus, married a second time - to Deianira, who bore him four children - the Heraclides.

The couple traveled a lot throughout the country, often taking part in battles. One day, the insidious centaur Nessus, seeing the beautiful Deianira, decided to kidnap her. However, Hercules did not allow this - as if a fired arrow, soaked in bile, finished off the kidnapper. Dying, Nessus decided to take terrible revenge on his killer. He whispered to Deianira that his blood had magical property- if you rub a person’s clothes with it, you can win his love forever. The trusting girl believed him and collected some blood, saving it just in case.

Many years later, Deianira suspected Hercules of having stopped loving her - completely groundless, it must be said. Having sewn a new shirt for her husband, she rubbed it with blood and presented it to the hero returning from another war.

Alas, as soon as Hercules put it on, the hydra poison, dissolved in the blood of Nessus, began to act. The shirt stuck to the body and there was no way to tear it off. The hero suffered from wild pain and was choking on his own scream. Seeing what she had done, Deianira could not stand it and committed suicide by throwing herself on the sword.

Hercules, seeing that none of his friends wanted to ease his torment, built a funeral pyre, covered it with a skin, lay down on it and set fire to the wood. But instead of final death, he went to Olympus for the many feats he accomplished.

Distant Descendants

The mythology of Hellas and Rome tells in detail about what kind of hero Hercules was. Of course, many people, especially rulers, attributed kinship to him. It was not difficult to do this - during his travels, he left many children all over the country, both legitimate and not so legitimate.

For example, influential families of the Roman Empire - Antonia and Fabia - allegedly descended from Hercules. The Epitid dynasties of the Messenians also could not resist the temptation to include a brave hero among their ancestors. And the Spartan Eurypontids gladly told everyone around them (especially their subordinates) that it was Hercules who was the founder of their family.

Conclusion

This concludes our article. Now you know that Hercules and Hercules are one hero. We learned about the main exploits that brought him such popularity. We read about the heroic, although not easy, fate of the brave demigod of Hellas. This means that you can easily answer the question of who Hercules is and what he is known for.

Origin of Hercules: son of Alcmene. - Jealousy of the goddess Hera: descendants of Perseus. - Milk of Hera: the myth of the Milky Way. - Baby Hercules and snakes. - Hercules at the crossroads. - Rabies of Hercules.

Origin of Hercules: son of Alcmene

Hero Hercules(in Roman mythology - Hercules) came from a glorious family of heroes. Hercules is the greatest hero of Greek myth and the beloved national hero of the entire Greek people. According to myths ancient Greece, Hercules represents the image of a man with great physical strength, invincible courage and enormous willpower.

Performing the most difficult work, obeying the will of Zeus (Jupiter), Hercules, with the consciousness of his duty, humbly endures the cruel blows of fate.

Hercules fought and defeated the dark and evil forces of nature, fought against untruth and injustice, as well as against the enemies of social and moral orders established by Zeus.

Hercules is the son of Zeus, but Hercules' mother is mortal, and he is a true son of the earth and a mortal.

Despite his strength, Hercules, like mortals, is subject to all the passions and delusions inherent in the human heart, but in the human and therefore weak nature of Hercules lies the divine source of kindness and divine generosity, making him capable of great feats.

Just as he defeats giants and monsters, so Hercules conquers all the bad instincts in himself and achieves divine immortality.

They tell the following myth of the origin of Hercules. Zeus (Jupiter), the ruler of the gods, wanted to give the gods and people a great hero who would protect them from various troubles. Zeus descended from Olympus and began to look for a woman worthy of becoming the mother of such a hero. Zeus chose Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon.

But since Alcmene loved only her husband, Zeus took the form of Amphitryon and entered his house. The son born from this union was Hercules, who in mythology is called either the son of Amphitryon or the son of Zeus.

And this is why Hercules has a dual nature - man and god.

This incarnation of deity in man did not at all shock popular beliefs and feelings, which, however, did not prevent the ancient Greeks and Romans from noticing and laughing at the comic side of this incident.

One antique vase preserves a picturesque image of an ancient caricature. Zeus is depicted there in disguise and with a large belly. He is carrying a ladder, which he is going to put against Alcmene’s window, and she is watching everything that is happening from the window. The god Hermes (Mercury), disguised as a slave but recognizable by his caduceus, stands before Zeus.

Jealousy of the Goddess Hera: Descendants of Perseus

When it's time to be born son of Alcmene, the ruler of the gods could not resist boasting in the assembly of the gods that on this day a great hero would be born into the family, destined to rule over all nations.

The goddess Hera (Juno) forced Zeus to confirm these words with an oath and, as the goddess of childbirth, arranged it so that on this day not Hercules was born, but the future king Eurystheus, also a descendant of Perseus.

And thus, in the future, Hercules had to obey King Eurystheus, serve him and perform various difficult works at the command of Eurystheus.

Hera's Milk: The Myth of the Milky Way

When the son of Alcmene was born, god (Mercury), wanting to save Hercules from the persecution of Hera, took him, carried him to Olympus and laid him in the arms of the sleeping goddess.

Hercules bit Hera's breast with such force that milk poured out of her and formed the Milky Way in the sky, and the awakened goddess angrily threw Hercules away, who nevertheless tasted the milk of immortality.

In a museum in Madrid there is a painting by Rubens depicting the goddess Juno breastfeeding the infant Hercules. The goddess sits on a cloud, and next to her stands a chariot drawn by peacocks.

Tintoretto interprets this mythological plot somewhat differently in his painting. Jupiter himself gives Juno a son, Hercules.

Baby Hercules and snakes

His brother Iphicles was born with Hercules. The vengeful goddess Hera sent two snakes that climbed into the cradle to kill the children. The baby Hercules grabbed the snakes of Hera and strangled him right in his cradle.

The Roman writer Pliny the Elder mentions a painting by the ancient Greek artist Zeuxis, depicting the myth of the infant Hercules strangling snakes.

The same mythological plot is depicted on an ancient fresco, on a bas-relief and a bronze statue discovered in Herculaneum.

Of the newest works on the same topic, paintings by Annibale Carracci and Reynolds are known.

Hercules at the crossroads

The young hero Hercules received the most careful education.

IN academic subjects Hercules was instructed by the following teachers:

• Amphitryon taught Hercules how to drive a chariot,
• - shoot a bow and carry weapons,
• - wrestling and various sciences,
• musician Lin - playing the lyre.

But Hercules turned out to be little capable of the arts. Hercules, like all people who have physical development prevailed over the mental, it was difficult to assimilate music and more willingly and easily pulled the string of a bow than plucked the delicate strings of the lyre.

Angry with his teacher Lin, who decided to reprimand him about his game, Hercules killed him with a blow of the lyre.

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