Odysseus, Perseus, Bellerophon, Achilles and Theseus are among a list of the greatest characters of classical mythology. However, there's a single name that outperforms every single living creature of ancient times:
Herakles. Since the beginning of times, he's been worshiped interchangeably as both hero and god, in a chicken-and-egg problem. Was he a god who descended to mortal status or a mortal who proceeded up the ontological ladder from hero to god (apotheosis)?
Heroes are human beings blessed by the gods with great and supernatural skills such as strength, speed or shooting accuracy, abilities used in the execution of extraordinary deeds.
A
demigod is the offspring of a human and a god, usually the result of an infidelity between a mortal female and a male deity.
Gods look very much like people, and act like them too, only that they are taller, handsomer and can do no wrong. While gods occupy the sky, heroes and demigods have place on the ground. Heroes die, and they do not occupy Mount Olympus after death.
Hercules (Herakle's Roman translation) seem to contradict all of these notions and terms: no single author agrees about the character's life and achievements. Some authors find Herakles at Zeus' pantheon, while others such as Homer describes his soul wandering through Hades (Hell) after her wife´s (Deianeira) poisoning. Writings tell us stories of Herakle´s strategic thinking - such as the tricking of Atlas into taking the sky back onto his shoulders - while others locate his brains in his giant strengthened muscles. We can read of Hercules being a savage hunter or a well educated Chiron´s (centaur) apprentice.
But ... why does this happen? Why can we find so many different versions of a single Herakles ?
Since the invention of tales, mythology has been put at the service of the time of telling and of the teller himself. A tale is ineradicably anthropomorphic, fitting the needs and expectations of both the audience and the teller. Classical myths have a historical dimension with successive layers of development, during which the original tale has been modified to fit the cultural or other circumstances of the time of its retelling. Many of the important myths exist in multiple versions of varying quality, but usually one ancient treatment has been most influential in establishing the prototype or archetype for all subsequent art and thought.
Whatever other versions of the Oedipus story exist, the dramatic treatment by Sophocles has established and imposed the mythical pattern for all time.In the case of Herakles, many different oral tales scattered along the pan-Hellenic world were gathered in the figure of the hero. Famous authors were "protected" by powerful rulers who influentially turned the art of writing words into nothing more than a projection of their beliefs and moving desire, later translated in Herakle´s acting and thinking: each Herakles had something of the writer, and a little even more of his master.
The character that outlived the mythical figue and arrived to the common reader tell us of a Theban hero, illegitimate son of Zeus with the mortal Alcmene, who was prodigiously strong and brave. He became a god upon his death and married Hera’s daughter Hebe, goddess of youth. His 12 Labours, which form a cycle of stories within the overall set of his adventures, are among his most well known deeds:
Kill the Nemean Lion
Destroy the Lernaean Hydra
Capture the Ceryneian Hind
Capture the Erymanthian Boar
Clean the Augean Stables
Kill the Stymphalian Birds
Capture the Cretan Bull
Round up the Mares of Diomedes
Steal the Girdle of Hippolyte
Herd the Cattle of Geryon
Fetch the Apples of Hesperides
Capture Cerberus
Do you know why he was ordered to do this labors? Driven mad by Hera (as a revenge for her husband's infidelities), Heracles slew his own children. To expiate the crime, Herakles was required to carry out the famous twelve labors set by his archenemy, Eurystheus. If he succeeded, he would be purified of his sin and would be granted immortality.
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