Heracles – or Hercules shops Heykeli

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Heracles – or Hercules as he has been more popularly known ever since the Roman times – was the greatest of all Greek heroes, “one who surpassed all men of whom memory from the beginning of time has brought down an account.” A half-god of superhuman strength and violent passions, Heracles was the epitome of bravery and masculinity in the ancient world and the most notable champion of the Olympian order, which he staunchly protected from various chthonic monsters and earthly villains. Even though his short temper and lack of composure did cause both him and quite a few innocent mortals undeserved trouble, the magnitude of his labors was of such an order that it earned him the prize of immortality. The protagonist of hundreds of myths – the chronology of which is impossible to figure out – Heracles is undoubtedly one of the most iconic figures in all of Greek mythology.

A demigod sired by Zeus, Heracles showed immense promise ever since birth: he strangled two snakes sent by Hera in his cradle. He had the very best teachers in his childhood, and by the time he reached his teenage years, he had already outdone all of them in both stature and strength.

As is almost typical in the case of heroes, Heracles was the product of a union of a mortal woman (Alcmene) and a god (Zeus). In Heracles' case, even his mother was of a noteworthy parentage: Alcmene was the granddaughter of Perseus, possibly Greece's greatest hero before Heracles.

Disguised as her husband Amphitryon, Zeus slept with Alcmene on the same night that Amphitryon himself did. Nine months later, Alcmene gave birth to twin sons: Iphicles to her husband and Heracles to Zeus. Angry at Zeus' infidelity – and not knowing which of Alcmene's boys was Zeus' – Hera secretly put two snakes in the twins' cradle; Iphicles started crying at the very sight, but Heracles strangled them in an instant. Now, it was suddenly obvious who was the god and who the mortal of the two.

Interestingly enough, the sending of the snakes was not the first misdeed of Hera against Heracles – and it would certainly not be the last. Namely, just before Heracles' birth, Hera had persuaded Zeus to promise that the next child to be born in the House of Perseus would become a High King – and the following one his servant. Truth be told, it wasn't that difficult for Hera to convince the Supreme God to make such an oath since that next-to-be-born child should have been Heracles. However, once Zeus gave his word, Hera ordered Eileithyia to delay Heracles' coming to the world until Eurystheus' premature birth – an event which would eventually lead to Heracles' celebrated labors.

Heracles had a number of mentors. His father Amphitryon taught him to drive a chariot; Autolycus, Odysseus' grandfather, tutored him in wrestling; Eurytus, the king of Oechalia, instructed Heracles in archery; Castor, the mortal Dioscuri twin, trained Heracles in fencing and Harpalycus of Phanotè, a fearsome son of Hermes, in boxing. He acquired the art of writing and learned the secrets of literature from Linus, a Muse's son, who may have as well taught Heracles the lyre; others say that Heracles' music-teacher had been, in fact, Eumolpus, the son of Philammon. Either way, Heracles' education was entrusted to the best of the best; even as a child, Heracles outdid them all.

Heracles' adventures started in the eighteenth year of his life when he killed the Lion of Cithaeron; an exceptional specimen of manhood and virility, by the time he was nineteen, he had already fathered more than fifty children and bested a whole army!

The Lion of Mount Cithaeron preyed on the flocks of both Amphitryon and Thespius, the king of Thespiae; while staying with the latter, Heracles killed the beast after hunting it ferociously for fifty days straight. Having vanquished the lion, Heracles dressed himself in his skin and ever since then wore the lion's scalp as his helmet. Amazed at the boy's power and determination – and wishing that all of his daughters should have a child by him – night by night, Thespius managed to send each of his fifty daughters to Heracles' bed. Thinking that his bedfellow was always one and the same, Heracles had intercourse with all of them and fathered at least a child to each.

Coming back triumphantly from the hunt, Heracles encountered the heralds of Erginus, sent by the Minyan king to collect the annual Theban tribute of one hundred cows. After learning of their intentions, Heracles – as one of our sources tells us – “cut off their ears and noses and hands, and having fastened them by ropes from their necks, he told them to carry that tribute to Erginus and the Minyans.” Furious, Erginus gathered the Minyan army shops and marched against Thebes – but instead found his death at the hands of Heracles, who afterward compelled the Minyans to pay double the original tribute to the Thebans.

Out of a profound sense of gratitude, Creon, the Theban king, gave Heracles his eldest daughter Megara, with whom Heracles had at least two and as many as eight children. Either way, after being struck with madness by the jealous Hera, Heracles killed them all. To purify himself from this horrible sin, he was instructed by the Delphic oracle to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns, for the next twelve years of his life and carry out all of the tasks he would be imposed with. Initially ten, these would eventually become the famous Twelve Labors of Heracles.