Chapter 15 Lecture One of Two Heracles 2012

Heracles • Strong man and primitive tough guy • But still admired and venerated

Heracles • Panhellenic hero – Adventures take him throughout the Greek world and beyond

THE BIRTH OF HERACLES © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Birth of Heracles • Perseus – King of Tiryns and founded Mycenae •

The Birth of Heracles • Electryon (Mycenae) – Nine sons – Alcmena • Alcaeus

The Birth of Heracles Pirates kill all but one of Electryon’s sons. Prepares a

The Birth of Heracles • Alcmena won’t have sex with him until Amphitryon avenges

The Birth of Heracles • Zeus’s boast about Eileithyia delivering a ruler on that

Twin and Divine Births OBSERVATIONS © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Twin and Divine Births • Twins viewed with superstition • Simultaneous intercourse with divine

HERACLES' YOUTHFUL DEEDS © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Heracles’s Youthful Deeds Serpents The Milky Way Autolycus Eurytus Linus Daughters of Thespius Erginus

Fig. 15. 1 Heracles strangles the serpents sent by Hera. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples;

MARRIAGE, MADNESS, AND MURDER © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Madness and Murder • Married to Megara, daughter of Creon, the new king of

THE TWELVE LABORS © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Erich Lessing / Art Resource, New York The Twelve Labors 1. Nemean Lion (Fig.

The Twelve Labors • 2. Lernean Hydra • 3. Ceryneian Stag © 2012 Pearson

Fig. 15. 3 4. The Eurymanthian Boar Musée du Louvre, Paris; Reunion des Musées

The Death of the Friendly Centaur Pholus SIDE DEED © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Perspective 15. 1 5. The Augean Stables Drawing from Histoire Ancienne; University of Wisconsin–Madison

The Twelve Labors 6. Stymphalian Birds British Museum, London; © Trustees of the British

Twelve Labors • 8. The Horses of Diomedes © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Alcestis and Admetus SIDE DEED © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Twelve Labors • 9. Girdle of Hippolyta • 10. Cattle of Geryon © 2012

Erythia Cacus Helius Cup SIDE DEEDS © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 15. 5 Heracles in the cup of Helius Photo Vatican Museums © 2012

Twelve Labors • 11. The Apples of the Hesperides © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Side Deed Nereus Antaeus Busiris (Picture to the right) Prometheus Altas Deutsches Archaologisches Institut,

Prometheus SIDE DEED © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Twelve Labors • 12. Cerberus © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Review TWELVE LABORS © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Twelve Labors 1. Nemaean Lion 7. The Cretan Bull 2. Lernaean Hydra 8.

Review SIDE DEEDS © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Side-Deeds Associated Labor 4. Erymanthian Boar 8. Horses of Diomedes 10. Cattle of Geryon

Heracles' Labors OBSERVATIONS © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 15. 7 The emperor Commodus in Heracles' garb. Museo Capitolino, Rome; Scala/Art Resource,

Heracles' Labor OBSERVATIONS © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Heracles' Labors • Like Gilgamesh, struggles against beasts and journeys to the land of

Heracles' Labors • Labors grouped into thematic units – Early adventures around Mycenae –

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Heracles • Panhellenic hero – Adventures take him throughout the Greek world and beyond – Principal hero for colonists – “Washington slept here” • Enormous body of myth and tales – Complete picture must be pieced together from many sources © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Birth of Heracles Pirates kill all but one of Electryon’s sons. Prepares a campaign against them Gives Amphitryon Alcmena to watch over But he and Amphitryon get into a fight and Amphitryon kills him. • Amphitryon escapes to Thebes with Alcmena and marries her. • • © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Birth of Heracles • Alcmena won’t have sex with him until Amphitryon avenges the death of her brothers. • Meanwhile, Zeus sneaks in. • Amphitryon comes later. • Thus, there are divine and human seed in her and she gives birth to twins. – Heracles (Alcides) – Iphicles © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Birth of Heracles • Zeus’s boast about Eileithyia delivering a ruler on that day • Hera holds up his birth and advances Eurystheus’s birth • Ovid – Galanthis untangles Eileithyia through a trick. © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Twin and Divine Births • Twins viewed with superstition • Simultaneous intercourse with divine and mortal male from Egypt and widespread – Ammun and Ahmes, wife of Tutmosis, I => Hatshepsut © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Madness and Murder • Married to Megara, daughter of Creon, the new king of Thebes • Driven mad by Hera and kills Megara and their three children • As punishment, Heracles must serve Eurystheus, his cousin. – In Euripides’s play, the murders take place after the labors (athloi). © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Twelve Labors 1. Nemaean Lion 7. The Cretan Bull 2. Lernaean Hydra 8. Horses of Diomedes 3. Ceryneian Deer 9. Girdle of Hippolyta 4. Erymanthian Boar 10. Cattle of Geryon 5. Augean Stables 11. Apples of the Hesperides 6. Stymphalian Birds 12. Cerberus © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Side-Deeds Associated Labor 4. Erymanthian Boar 8. Horses of Diomedes 10. Cattle of Geryon 11. Hesperides Side Deeds Pholus, Chiron Alcestis and Admetus Erythia Cacus Helius Cup Nereus Antaeus Busiris Prometheus || Altas © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Heracles' Labors • Like Gilgamesh, struggles against beasts and journeys to the land of the dead • When did labors become organized into twelve? – Not in Hesiod • Perhaps in 470 BC on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia – 12 metopes available © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Heracles' Labors • Labors grouped into thematic units – Early adventures around Mycenae – Six of the first seven largely against animals • The Augean stables the exception – Later adventures farther out, and final adventures in the underworld • Popular with Greeks living abroad, Sicily and Italy in particular © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.