Heracles The Immortal Man Essay Research Paper

Heracles The Immortal Man Essay, Research Paper

Heroes are not uncommon in society. People, especially those facing hardships, created heroes for hope, something to push them through their daily toils. The Greeks of antiquity faced many daily difficulties, war, disease, famine, an unforgiving climate, etc. and also created heroes. Among them are Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, Odysseus, the greatest speaker of the Greeks, Bellerophon, Perseus, and Jason. The greatest hero, though, was Heracles. He sets the standard to compare all heroes. He has the strength and wisdom of a God, but in him resides the imperfections of man.

Heracles, or Hercules to the Romans, is the son of Zeus and Alkema. One night Zeus appeared to Alkema as her husband, Amphitryon, who was at battle defending his native Thebes. Heracles, whose name means “Glory of Hera,” is constantly the recipient of Hera s wrath. In an attempt to bequeath her hostility towards the child of Zeus’ infidelity, Zeus has the baby suckle Hera’s breast while she is sleeping. Hera awakes to knock the baby away, only to have her milk spread across the galaxy, creating the Milky Way. Hera thoroughly attempts to destroy Hercules, only to be defeated herself, intensifying his heroic status among the Greeks. (Burns 16; Murray 247)

Heracles life and trials have been chronicled extensively. As a boy he was taught wisdom and virtue, by Rhadamanthys, the judge of the underworld, boxing by Poldeuces, and music by Linus, until he killed him after being reprimanded. Heracles was sent to live in the country where he tried to learn how to control his anger and put his strength to work. He began wrestling wild animals and upon his return to Thebes kills the man killing Thespian lion. Upon waiting for the lion it is said that he slept with all fifty daughters of King Thespius. Grateful for the ridding of the lion, the king offers his daughter Meagra’s hand in marriage. It is in the next few years of his life where Hera’s antagonism is exposed. (Kirkwood 49)

Heracles

The time sequence is sketchy at best, but Euripides play, Heracles, exposes the hero as a man of rage and courage, remorse and irrational. Upon returning from the underworld Heracles is informed of the death of Meagra’s brother and father by the hand of a tyrant, Lycus. He enters a dialogue with his father in which he says, “if I make no effort to save my own children from death… No longer than, shall I be called Heracles the victor.” (Euripides 581) The Choragos, immediately follows with, “It is only right that parents should help their children, their aged fathers, and the partners of their marriage.” (Euripides 583) Classic foreshadowing of something to come, the conversation is quickly redirected towards Heracles trip to Hades.

Upon returning home Heracles becomes a tool of reckless abandonment and once again the recipient of Hera’s hostility. In a frenzy, he kills his children and Meagra, mistaking them for wild animals. His father, Amphhitron, is only saved by Athena’s intervention. It is in this sequence that, Euripides exposes Heracles’ human nature. Stephen Harris offers some insight on the “quintessential heroic predicament. (278) Being a son of a God, he is subject to enormous strength, wit and veneer. However, being half-human he is subject to imperfections and is exposed as having poor judgment and devoid of intellect. Harris suggests that Heracles, like all heroes, are engaged in a constant struggle with:

How to fulfill the demands of the godlike desire for knowledge and achievement that drive him while bound to a mortal body…the strength, drive, and energy that define his heroic identity could not brook a life of mere domestic contentment. A savor in times of threat or war the hero becomes a menace in time of peace. (Harris 278)

Similar to Oedipus, the great hero, who was also irrational and fulfilled his destiny described by the oracle and both Bellepheron and Iccarus who perished at their own hands after not heeding others advise about flying. The inability for a hero to deal with his rage or pride, when not in battle, is a common theme throughout all myth.

Heracles does, however, lament over his actions when he comes too. Only after being persuaded by another hero, Theseus, he decides against taking his own life. Theseus urges him to rise and stop engulfing in his sorrow. He speaks down to his fallen hero and distinguishes their abilities, “Such language is fit for the common fellow,” and then asks him, “is this the benefactor and great friend to mortals.” (Euripides 1248-1250)

After forcing himself into exile Heracles praises Theseus for his companionship and ends with a humbling line, “Whoever prefers wealth or might to the possession of good friends, thinks wrongly.” (Euripidus 1426) Euripides brings the play full circle. In the beginning Heracles was a Marlboro man, returning from Hades, and defying the God’s limitations on the mortal man. The completion of his tasks served him as the greatest hero. Yet, the great hero succumbed to the will of Hera in killing his family. His uncontrollable wrath had soon withered to feelings of remorse and sorrow, more common to an infant losing his pacifier. He felt guilty for himself and was willing to give Hera her desire to see him dead. He now understands that he is a man and not immortal, for it is the first time that he has experienced d