All About Hercules
Ciara Stella
Mrs. Brennan
English H
14 March 2013
Hercules:
Half Human, Half God
I. Biography When most people think of Hercules, they think of the Disney character, however, he is much more than that. Son of a god, Zeus, and a mortal, Alcmena, Hercules was half god and half human. He also had a twin, Iphicles (“Hercules”). He was born and raised with a mortal family in Thebes, an ancient Greek city. He had a wife, Megara, and some myths say up to 50 children (“Hercules”). His character traits consist of extraordinary strength, courage and ingenuity. Hercules is very well-known mythical character. Wikipedia says, “Hercules was notorious for his strength and twelve labors.” With strength comes weakness, even for mythological gods, goddesses and demigods. Hercules’ temper was a big problem; his sudden outbursts of rage often harmed innocent bystanders, such as when he went on a rage and killed his wife and 6 of his 8 children. When the fury passed, though, Hercules was full of sorrow and guilt for what he had done and ready to accept any punishment for his faults, as he did accept his punishment for killing his family, the twelve labors. Another enemy he had was Zeus’ wife, Hera, who had a strong hatred for Hercules. She sent down the goddess of childbirth to prevent his birth but she failed (Nardo 217)
II. Power and Domain Hercules was a very powerful mythological character. In one myth, “He was the King of Tiryns [, a small city in southern Greece]” (Schwab 156). Also in many myths, it was predicted by Zeus that Hercules would one day rule over Greece (“Hercules”). However, none of these were true, though he did have a power: Hercules had duper-human strength. With his super-human strength, he did many things: as a child he strangled two serpents sent by Hera to kill him, he held up the heavens while Atlas went on errands and he over-powered Cerberus without weapons (“Hercules”).
III. Symbols Symbols represent or remind us of a character.
Mrs. Brennan
English H
14 March 2013
Hercules:
Half Human, Half God
I. Biography When most people think of Hercules, they think of the Disney character, however, he is much more than that. Son of a god, Zeus, and a mortal, Alcmena, Hercules was half god and half human. He also had a twin, Iphicles (“Hercules”). He was born and raised with a mortal family in Thebes, an ancient Greek city. He had a wife, Megara, and some myths say up to 50 children (“Hercules”). His character traits consist of extraordinary strength, courage and ingenuity. Hercules is very well-known mythical character. Wikipedia says, “Hercules was notorious for his strength and twelve labors.” With strength comes weakness, even for mythological gods, goddesses and demigods. Hercules’ temper was a big problem; his sudden outbursts of rage often harmed innocent bystanders, such as when he went on a rage and killed his wife and 6 of his 8 children. When the fury passed, though, Hercules was full of sorrow and guilt for what he had done and ready to accept any punishment for his faults, as he did accept his punishment for killing his family, the twelve labors. Another enemy he had was Zeus’ wife, Hera, who had a strong hatred for Hercules. She sent down the goddess of childbirth to prevent his birth but she failed (Nardo 217)
II. Power and Domain Hercules was a very powerful mythological character. In one myth, “He was the King of Tiryns [, a small city in southern Greece]” (Schwab 156). Also in many myths, it was predicted by Zeus that Hercules would one day rule over Greece (“Hercules”). However, none of these were true, though he did have a power: Hercules had duper-human strength. With his super-human strength, he did many things: as a child he strangled two serpents sent by Hera to kill him, he held up the heavens while Atlas went on errands and he over-powered Cerberus without weapons (“Hercules”).
III. Symbols Symbols represent or remind us of a character.
Cited: “Herculean”. Free Dictionary. Web. 13 Mar. 2013 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Herculean “Hercules”. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 Mar 2013. Nardo, Dan. The GreenHaven Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc., 2002 Schwab, Gustov. Gods and Heros Myths and Epics of Ancient Greece. New York: Parthenon Books, 1981