Hercules

• Born in Thebes, son of Zeus by Alcmene (last mortal woman Zeus seduced).
• Zeus concocted a war and used the king’s absence to turn into him.
• To prolong their pleasure, Hermes arranged the sun god to delay his rising, to be 36 hours instead of 12, by the time it ended, Alcmene was pregnant with Heracles
• The next night, Amphitryon returned and made love with Alcmene and she told him she wasnt as good as last night. He thought she cheated on her, wanted to burn her, Zeus sent rain to put out the flames, told Amphitryon it was Zeus who Alcmene had been with, ordered raise the children as his own.
• Amphitryon was too frightened to touch her again
• Hera sent 2 snakes to kill Heracles but he strangled them and killed them.
• Hera was also tricked into breastfeeding Heracles to kill him but he was so strong she pushed him away and her milk formed the Milky Way. Drinking the milk ensured that Heracles would one day be divine.
• Linus was the first human victim of Heracles’ bad temper and colossal strength, he killed him by hitting him over the head with his lyre after a minor disagreement.
• He had sex with 50 women in 1 night and left them all pregnant.
• King Creon of Thebes gave Heracles his eldest daughter, Megara for his wife and bore him several children.
• Hera wasn’t happy that Heracles was happy and inflicted madness on him and he killed his wife and children. When he regained sanity, he asked the priestess of apollo at Delphy how he might atone for his crime and was told to serve Eurystheus for 12 years.
• Heracles was greatly humiliated by being the servant of a man with no heroic abilities at all, but Zeus soothed by promising that after completing all the tasks he would become immortal
• Performed 12 labours some alone and some with the help of Iolaus son of his mortal brother Iphicles.
• First six labours took place in Peloponnese, where Tiryns is situated and the last six journeyed all over the world known to the Greeks.

1. Nemean lion - Eurys demanded the skin of a lion, neither iron bronze or stone could wound it. Heracles strangled it and skinned it using its own claws. Kept the skin and wore it as a cloak and the head as a cap.
2. Larnaean Hydra - When its head is destroyed 2 more grew. Asked Iolaus for help, each time a head was cut, the youth burned the neck to prevent regrowth. Final head was immortal, Heracles urried it under a huge pile of rocks, dipped his arrows in its blood which made it poisonous. Hera sent a giant crab to help the hydra, Heracles crushed it and Hera placed it in the sky as the constellation Cancer, Hydra was also placed in the sky.
3. Cerynean Hind - Eurys demanded Herc to bring Cerynean hind (beautiful harmless deer with golden horns which was sacred to Artemis) Herc pursued the animal for a year and captured it exhausted and unhurt. Artemis was angry but accepted that Herc just followed orders.
4. Erymanthian boar - required to bring back a stronger beast, a wild boar. He drove it into a snowdrift, captured it in a hunting net, when he returned with it, Eurys was terrified and concealed himself in a huge wine jar which showed how inferior he was to Herc. While pursuing the boar

• Was one of the crew of Argo who went to fetch the Golden Fleece but left the expedition when his lover Hylas disappeared.
• Heracles was captivated by the youthful beauty of Hylas, but some water nymphs was also attracted by his looks, when Hylas approached a spring to get fresh water, the nymphs dragged him down into the water and the hero searched for him in vain.
• One tale was Heracles taking the part in the war of the gods against the giants and says that without his help Zeus wouldve lost the war, but Zeus was warned he would need Hercs.
• Heracles was asked by a friend Iphitus for help to find some missing horses, he mistakenly believed he was accused of stealing them and killed him.
• Heracles went to the Delphic oracle and demanded to be purged of his guilt, which gave him bad dreams. The priestess refused so Heracles smashed up the shrine and carrying off the sacred tripod on which the priestess sat on when giving oracles.
• Apollo arrived to defend his property, things would been very nasty if Zeus didnt separate his sons with a thunderbolt
• Heracles' punishment was to be sold into slavery for a year, his slave price was given to the family of Iphitus as compensation for his loss.
• Heracles was taken to Asia where he was bought by the Queen Omphale, He performed many brave deeds to rid her of enemies and also fathering three of her sons.
• One story tells that the Queen and the Hero swapped clothes and the god Pan decided to seduce the Queen and crept into her bed, but began to fondle the Hero instead and was evicted by a mighty kick which landed him bruised and groaning in one corner of the room.
• When the year of service was over, they parted best of friends.
• Eventually Heracles married the beautiful Deianira after rescuing her from the amorous embrace of the centaur Nessus.
• Deianira was scared that Heracles' was going to replace her with the princess Iole, so she sent him a robe dipped in Nessus' blood which still held the Hydra's poison from the arrow which had killed the centaur. It began to eat into his flesh and nothing could stop it. Deianira killed herself after realising she had killed him.
• With Zeus' promise, the hero's spirit ascended to Olympus, Hera reconciled to him and agreed that he should be given her beautiful daughter Hebe as his final Wife.
• Herales' left atleast 80 sons on earth.
• Heracles originally was only slightly less savage than the monsters he killed. Exemplar of brute strength, courage and endurance but with little intelligence or morality and a complete disaster in his relationships with other humans.
• Writers gradually made him a model of unselfish courage, working hard endlessly for the common good of humanity and enduring undeserved suffering both of which won him the immortality he deserved.
• On one level he represented what every man dreamed of being: strong, brave, persevering and ultimately succesful.
• On another level, he represented the spirit of humanity striving against misfortunes, danger and death itself to reach heaven.
• He was such a diverse character, writers could make him whatever they liked.