Thebes is a city in central Greece, the largest city in the Boeotia region. Today’s travelers can visit its Archaeological Museum and various ancient ruins there. It is a very busy commercial city, not far from Athens.
Thebes was also an important location for many Greek myths involving various gods and goddesses, including Oedipus and Dionysus.
It is also the birthplace of the hero of Greece, Hercules.
Looking for a hero? Even Hercules’ name begins as “hero.” Let’s take a closer look at the strongest semi-divine man in ancient Greece and get to know the archetype of the modern superhero.
Who was he?
- Appearance: Good looking, well built, a vigorous man, young but not youthful, often bearded.
- Symbol or attributes: wooden mallet, his well-developed muscles, a lion skin that he wears over one shoulder after completing job number 1, as indicated below
- Strengths: Brave, strong, determined.
- Weaknesses: Can be lustful and gluttonous and sometimes prone to intoxication.
- Place of birth: Son of Zeus by Alcmena or Alcmene, born in the Greek city of Thebes. His first “stepfather” was Amphitryon. His second stepfather and mentor was Rhadamanthus, the righteous brother and lawgiver of King Minos of Crete, who was also the son of Zeus.
- Spouse: Megara; after her deification after death, Hebe, Olympian goddess of health.
- Children: many; he supposedly had a son with each of Tespi’s fifty daughters. Some accounts claim it was only worth one night. His three sons from Megara are Therimachus, Creontiades, and Deicoon.
- Frequent misspellings: Hercales, Heracules, Herkules, Herkalies, Hurcales
- Interesting fact: Hercules name means “Glory of Hera”, although Hera is his implacable enemy. This can be traced back to an earlier story where Hercules may have been Hera’s son or lover. The goddess Athena, on the other hand, looks at him kindly, as does her father, Zeus.
Main temple sites
There is a small ruined temple for Hercules at the Oracle site of Dodona in northwestern Greece, where his father, Zeus, is popular. Some say that the city of Heraklion, Crete, is named after Hercules, who did have some ties to Crete, but may instead be named after Hera. He is also associated with the ancient Cretan city of Phaistos, ruled or founded by his stepfather Radamanthes, and appeared on the first coins issued by the city.
The works
The mythological stories associated with Hercules are numerous. Hercules’ jobs vary in number, but are often 10 or 12, and depending on the source, his job lists include different tasks. Hercules was put on these duties by the Oracle of Delphi, possibly to atone for his guilt for killing his wife and children in a fit of madness sent by the goddess Hera, and the duties were part of his service to King Eurytheseus. He was not put off by any of them and triumphed in each case.
The labors of Hercules are:
- Conquer and free the Nemean Lion, a monstrous feline that ravages the countryside.
- Kill the multi-headed Hydra.
- Bring back, dead or alive, the Cerynitian Hind, a devastating deer.
- Catch the hermit boar.
- He cleans the massive stables of Augeas, perhaps the most famous of the jobs.
- Scare and kill Stymphalian birds with metal feathers.
- Capture the Cretan bull, another ravager of the local countryside.
- Do something about those pesky Diomedes man-eating mares (He moved them and released them).
- Obtain the Girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons (gave it to her peacefully, which angered Hera, who arranged for the rest of the Amazons to attack Hercules; in the disaster that followed, Hercules killed Hippolyta).
- Steal Geryon’s cattle.
- Bring back the Golden Apples of the Hesperides.
- Go down to the Underworld and bring back the multi-headed Cerberus, the main hound of Hades.
Hercules enjoyed dozens of other adventures and was loved by the Greeks. His cult later spread to Rome and the rest of Italy. A popular TV series took him on many more increasingly unlikely adventures, but even in ancient times, Hercules was a powerhouse of entertaining stories, so they’re not that far off.
