Heracles and His Labors The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents us a bronze statue of Heracles. It is dated last quarter of the 6th century B.C. The statue is made of bronze; it is 5 1/16 in. (12.80 cm) in height. Artists and sculptors traditionally present Heracles as a child killing a snake, a young man who takes rest after a heroic deed, a young man who makes a heroic deed, or a strong man with a beard, with a stick in his hands. The statue of Heracles from The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents Heracles as a strong man with a stick in his hands.
The sculptor presented the hero as a person of extraordinary strength. Who is Heracles? He is the most popular hero of myths of Ancient Greece. Some people say that his prototype was one of the kings from the city of Tyrinth. His original name is Alkyd. English translation is strong person. His name Heracles was given by pythoness, who called him the man who performs heroic deeds because of Heras will.
Heracles father is Zeus. His mother is Alcmene. When Alcmene had to give birth to a child, Zeus said that the person, who will be born in this day, will become High King. Hera, Zeus wife, was jealous of her husband who made love with an ordinary woman and made her pregnant. Hera caused another boy to be born before Heracles and delayed Heracles birth. Alcmene gave birth to twins, Heracles and Iphicles.
The goddess Hera wanted to kill Heracles and send two serpents to his cradle. The boy was very strong and killed two serpents. Heracles is known for his courage, masculinity, enormous strength, good character and his twelve labors. Heracles served to old king Eurystheus for twelve years and made for him twelve tasks knows as the Twelve Labors of Heracles. What are these labors? The Nemean Lion. The first heroic deed made by Heracles is known as the Nemean Lion. According to the Greek myth, there was a huge and very cruel lion that lived not far from Nemea. The lion killed people and caused damage to their houses and yards. No hunter was able to strike his skin with arrows and spears.
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The king asked Heracles to kill the lion and Heracles throttled the lion with bare hands. After that Heracles flayed the lions skin and wore it as a coat. The Lernaean Hydra. Heracles second deed is known as The Lernaean Hydra. There was a monster with the body of snake and nine dragon-like heads that lived in the bog not far from Lern. The breathing of Hydra killed everybody.
One of her heads was immortal and if somebody cut one of her heads, two new heads replaced the lost one. Heracles got victory over the Lernaean Hydra. The Ceryneian Hind. The third heroic deed is known as the Ceryneian Hind. The Ceryneian Hind has golden antlers and copper hoofs. She belonged to the goddess of hunting Artemida.
Artemida sent the Ceryneian Hind to the Earth because she wanted to punish people. Heracles was ordered to catch the Ceryneian Hind alive. He tried to catch it more than a year and finally fulfilled the order of the king after he wounded the hind at her leg. The Erymanthian Boar. The Erymanthian Boar had enormous strength and lived at the mountain Erymanth. He devastated the lands and the suburbs of the city Psophys.
Heracles ran after the boar to the ices, there he tied the monster and brought it to the city The Augean Stables. The king ordered Heracles to clean the Augean Stables. These stables were very dirty because nobody cleaned it for more than thirty years. Heracles rerouted the rivers and water went to stables. In such a way Heracles cleaned the stables for a single day. The Stymphalian Birds. The Stymphalian Birds devastated the city Stymphal.
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They killed people and animals with their copper beaks, feathers and pounces. Heracles killed the birds with the help of huge clappers and arrows. The Cretan Bull. Poseidon sent the Cretan Bull to the king of Crete, Minos, who had to sacrifice the bull to the god of the seas. Minos liked the bull and didnt want to make a sacrifice. Instead he left the ull in his herd and sacrificed another bull.
Poseidon was very furious and made the bull mad. Heracles had to capture the Cretan Bull and to bring it to Micene The Mares of Diomedes. The beautiful horses belonged to the king Diomedes who fed them with people. Heracles had to steal the horses and to bring them to Eurystheus. The Girdle of Hippolyte. The Girdle of Hippolyte was given as a present to the Amazonian queen Hippolyte by the god of the war Ares.
This girdle was a symbol of power and Heracles was asked to bring the girdle to Eurystheus. The Cattle of Geryon. Geryon had three bodies, three heads, six hands and six legs. Heracles had to bring the cattle of Geryon to Micene. Although Heracles was ordered to perform only ten deeds, the king considered that Heracles had helpers and didnt make the labors only by himself. Therefore the king asked Heracles to perform another two labors. Those were the Apples of the Hesperides and the Capture of Cerberus.
The Apples of the Hesperides. This labor was considered the most difficult. Hesperides, the daughters of titan Atlant, watched the golden apples in the garden of hteir father. These apples made young the person who ate them. They grew at the golden tree planted by the goddess of Earth Eos. The king ordered Heracles to bring three apples.
The Capture of Cerberus, the guardian dog of Hades is the last Heracles heroic deed. Cerberus was the hound of Hades, the monster that had three heads with a snake for a tail. He guarded the gate to the Greek underworld. Heracles final task was to capture Cerberus. Heracles was very popular hero in Greek mythology. He was considered the symbol of strength, luck and the mythical hero who struggled with injustice. He was known for his strong desire to serve and help people and was the symbol of fortitude.
References The Metropolitan Museum of Art Website. Bronze Heracles. Retrieved December 27, 2006. http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/viewOne.asp? dep=13&viewmode=0&item=28.77 Wikipedia Website. Twelve Labours of Heracles. Retrieved December 27, 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Labours.
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