Herakles is Greek mythology’s most famous hero, appearing in dozens of episodes of a story told in every genre of ancient literature and in a bewildering variety of visual media. The subject of the volumes within the Metaforms series, however, is not the hero in antiquity, but rather his enduring popularity in later ages, from late antiquity via Byzantium and the Renaissance to the modern world.
1 Naming the Hero
The Greek Herakles was called ‘Hercle’ by the Etruscans, and adopted early on by the Romans as ‘Hercules’. Subsequent cultures have spelt his name in different ways: for example, in modern English the ‘k’ is often rendered as a ‘c’ – ‘Heracles’ – following a long tradition of the Latinisation of Greek names; in German both ‘Herakles’ and ‘Herkules’ are correct, in French both ‘Héraclès’ and ‘Hercule’, while in Italian ‘Ercole’ is the norm. In this series we have tried to be consistent in referring to our hero as ‘Herakles’, a straightforward transliteration of the ancient Greek Ἡρακλῆς, whenever Greek material is under discussion, ‘Hercules’ when dealing with Roman material. ‘Hercules’ is also the default spelling in the Renaissance, when Latin was much more widely understood than Greek, and subsequent centuries have tended to adopt this version of the hero’s name more often than not, though there are exceptions: we have tried always to remain faithful to the primary material under discussion in our choice of spelling. The hero is occasionally referred to as ‘Alcides’ (‘Alkeides’ in Greek), after his paternal grandfather Alcaeus (Alkaios), son of Perseus.
2 The Earliest Sources of the Hero’s Story
In order to appreciate the myriad ways in which Herakles has been put to use in post-classical media, some knowledge of the story conveyed by the ancient sources is necessary. It is important to recognise that there is no single authoritative account of Herakles’ life and deeds to which we can refer: we know of various Herakles epics dating to the seventh century bce and later, but none survives in more than a few fragments; likewise fragmentary are the works of the early mythographers, who first attempted a systematic presentation of stories about Herakles in the fifth century bce. Our earliest sources for the whole
It is possible, however, to think in terms of more-or-less traditional treatments, and some elements of Herakles’ story are more widely-attested than others. Arguably the best known episodes are the twelve labours, which include the Heraklean exploits most frequently depicted in antiquity, and are returned to again and again in the literature and art of subsequent centuries. The specific number twelve may only have been established in the first half of the fifth century bce, when the labours are depicted on the twelve metopes (six at either end) inside the porches of the temple of Zeus at Olympia. The particular set of exploits here agrees with the lists later provided by Diodorus and Apollodorus (with minor differences in their order), so can be regarded as more or less canonical, though some variation is introduced at different periods.
3 Synopsis of Herakles’ Myth
The following synopsis of Herakles’ myth is based on Apollodorus’ account (Library 2.5.7). Names are given in their Greek spelling; the Latin version is only given (in parenthesis) where it differs substantially (regular minor differences are the substitution of ‘c’ for ‘k’, ‘ae’ for ‘ai’, and an ‘-us’ ending for ‘os’).
3.1 Birth and Early Life
Herakles was born of the mortal woman Alkmene, fathered by Zeus (Jupiter), who had taken on the form of her husband Amphitryon, king of Thebes; Herakles’ twin brother Iphikles was fathered by Amphitryon himself. The one
3.2 The Twelve Labours (Greek: dōdekathlos)
A period of enslavement to Amphitryon’s cousin Eurystheus, king of Tiryns (or Argos), is often seen as expiation for these murders. In performing the tasks he set, Herakles is often helped by his nephew, Iphikles’ son Iphitos.
- 1) The Nemean lion: because of its invulnerable skin, Herakles has to use his bare hands to kill the lion, showing off his prowess in wrestling; the lion-skin thereafter becomes his trademark garment.
- 2) The Lernaian hydra: whenever one of its heads is cut off, two more grow in its place, so that Herakles can only vanquish the monster by cauterising the stumps.
- 3) The Keryneian (sometimes Kerynitian) hind: usually a gentler creature, sacred to Artemis (Diana), with golden horns, which Herakles must capture alive and present to Eurystheus.
- 4) The Erymanthian boar: again to be captured and presented to Eurystheus, who is often depicted cowering at the sight of this ferocious beast.
- 5) The stables of Augeias, king of Elis: Herakles sometimes avoids the demeaning task of shovelling cow-dung by the ingenious device of diverting a local river or two to wash the stables clean.
- 6) The Stymphalian birds: man-eating or simply numerous, these are shot down by Herakles’ arrows.
- 7) The Cretan bull: presented to Eurystheus, then released for later capture by Theseus.
- 8) The mares of Diomedes, king of Thrace: these man-eating horses are usually fed on passers-by, until Herakles feeds their master to them.
- 9) The Amazons: vanquished by Herakles in battle, who sometimes takes their queen Hippolyta’s belt as a trophy.
- 10) The cattle of Geryon: brought back by Herakles from the far west, after defeating the triple-bodied monster, Geryon.
- 11) The apples of the Hesperides: fetched by Atlas from the Hesperides’ garden in the far west while Herakles holds up the heavens, or retrieved by Herakles himself after slaying the serpent Ladon.
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12) Kerberos: the three-headed hound of Hades, brought up from the Underworld for presentation to Eurystheus, then returned to the land of the dead.
3.3 Other Exploits
As if twelve labours were insufficient proof of his heroism, Herakles is credited with a host of other successful encounters, sometimes known as the parerga, ‘additional deeds’. Some are associated with one or other of the labours, but many are not securely placed on any mythological timeline.
- – Pholos and the centaurs of Mount Pholoe: a friendly encounter en route for the Erymanthian boar becomes a brawl when a jar of wine is opened.
- – Alkestis: en route to tackle the mares of Diomedes, Herakles brings the recently-deceased wife of Admetos back from Hades.
- – Encounters en route to/from Geryon and the Hesperides’ garden: with the shape-shifting sea-god Nereus or Triton, who is reluctant to provide directions; with the giant Antaios, who can only be conquered if his contact with his mother (Earth) is broken; with the Egyptian king Bousiris, given to sacrificing foreign visitors; with the Roman brigand Cacus, who attempts to steal the cattle Herakles is driving home.
- – Unplaced encounters: with the giant Alkyoneus, sometimes approached while asleep; with Kyknos, who used the skulls of his victims to build a temple of Apollo; with the Moliones, conjoined twins; with wizened Geras and Thanatos (Old Age and Death personified, respectively).
- – Participation in the great battle of the gods against the giants, the Gigantomachy, which established Zeus’ supremacy: according to some, the gods could only win with Herakles’ help.
- – Following the murder of Iphitos, son of Eurytos, king of Oichalia, Herakles seeks purification at Delphi, where he impatiently steals the tripod on which the Pythia sat to deliver her oracles, until Apollo intervenes. The oracle orders a period of enslavement to the Lydian Queen Omphale, with whom Herakles swaps clothes; while in Lydia, he deals with local nuisances Syleus and the Kerkopes.
- – Herakles rescues Hesione, princess of Troy, from a sea-monster; in return, her father king Laomedon promises Herakles divine horses, but deceitfully sends him away with ordinary ones; Herakles returns with companions to carry out the first sack of Troy.
- – In the Peloponnese, Herakles founds the Olympic Games, but also sacks both Elis and Pylos in response to various slights. At Tegea he rapes princess Auge, begetting a son Telephos, who goes on to become king of Mysia in Asia Minor.
Herakles wins the hand of his second wife, Deianeira, daughter of Oineus, king of Kalydon, by defeating the river-god Acheloos in a wrestling match; they have a son, Hyllos. At some point the couple encounter the centaur Nessos, who offers to carry Deianeira across a river but tries to rape her halfway across. Herakles shoots him with an arrow, but as he lies dying Nessos persuades Deianeira to take a vial of his blood, to be employed should she ever need a love potion. Some time later, Herakles returns from sacking the city of Oichalia, bringing back king Eurytos’ daughter Iole as a concubine. Deaineira sends Herakles a tunic impregnated with Nessos’ blood, thinking to win him back, only to find that she has unwittingly poisoned him. In agony, Herakles orders a pyre to be built on Mount Oita, near their home in Thebes; as a reward for lighting the pyre, he hands his bow to Philoktetes, which will subsequently be essential to the fall of Troy. Herakles dies on the pyre, but is immediately taken up to the heavens, where he marries the goddess Hebe (Youth personified), and lives amongst the gods on Olympos for all eternity.
4 Classical Sources of Herakles’ Stories and Their Genres/Media
With such a vast range of stories, it is unsurprising that Herakles should be so ubiquitous in ancient literature and art. He is mentioned in our earliest surviving Greek epic poetry c.750–700 bce, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Hesiod’s Theogony and, later in the archaic period, in the shorter genre of lyric; in the fifth century bce he is the subject of both tragedy and comedy on the Athenian stage, as well as in the prose genres of history and mythography. At the same time, he is everywhere in the visual arts, especially of the archaic period, adorning temples and other public buildings in sculptural form, and decorating thousands of vases made at Athens and elsewhere; most frequently represented are Herakles’ monster-slaying exploits, though other themes can be found too. Later Greek and Latin literature follows this lead, with Herakles continuing to appear in epic, and being referenced in the less obvious genres of pastoral and elegiac poetry; he likewise has a place in new visual media developed by the Romans, in wall-painting, mosaic and in relief sculpture decorating sarcophagi.
From the fourth century bce onwards Herakles becomes an unlikely hero of philosophy, starting with Prodikos’ tale (reported by Xenophon) of the ‘Choice of Herakles’, which casts him as champion of the life of virtue (Greek aretē, Latin virtus). Both Stoics and Cynics looked to Herakles as an example of endurance, self-control and the rejection of luxury, motivated by the pursuit of
5 The Post-classical Herakles
All of these aspects of Herakles resurface at various points in the hero’s post-classical career. In the volumes in this series we see the treatment of different episodes of his story in a wide variety of media, be they literary, visual or performative (drama, music, film), from Renaissance poetry to the modern novel, from late Roman Egyptian textiles to twenty-first-century New Zealand prints. We see these stories allegorised in philosophical, theological and political discourse. We see examples of Herakles’ image adopted to bolster the legitimacy of political leaders from late Roman and Byzantine emperors via French kings to Vladimir Putin. The one element of the ancient Herakles which does not readily translate into the post-classical world is his active worship by individuals and city-states with prayers, sacrifices and all the trappings of ancient Greek and Roman religion. The advent of Christianity rendered such ritual practices obsolete for Herakles, as for all other ‘pagan’ gods and heroes: even in the sphere of religious significance, however, Herakles maintains some purchase, for example as a prototype of Christ and role-model for Christian fortitude.
Covering such an enormous range of material with authority would be impossible for any single scholar: too many different periods, cultures and media are involved, demanding different areas of expertise and a variety of methodological approaches. The work of the Leeds Hercules Project (www.herculesproject.leeds.ac.uk) has therefore been to bring together scholars from different backgrounds, bringing different disciplinary perspectives to bear on the central question of Herakles’ versatility and significance to so many contexts. The result is a wide-ranging survey of a theme of tremendous ongoing relevance to the modern world, which we hope will inspire further study both of Herakles himself and of the reception of classical myth more broadly. 1
Emma Stafford
Leeds, May 2020
Bibliography
Allan, A. , Anagnostou-Laoutides, E. and Stafford, E.J. (eds) (2020) Herakles Inside and Outside the Church: from the first Christian Apologists to the end of the Quattrocento (Metaforms: Studies in the Reception of Classical Antiquity 18), Leiden: Brill.
Blanshard, A.J.L. (2005) Hercules: a heroic life, London: Granta Books.
Galinsky, K. (1972) The Herakles Theme: the adaptations of the hero in literature from Homer to the twentieth century, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Mainz, V. and Stafford, E.J. (eds) (2020) The Exemplary Hercules From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment and Beyond (Metaforms: Studies in the Reception of Classical Antiquity 20), Leiden: Brill.
Stafford, E.J. (2012) Herakles, Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge.
For more detailed discussion of the ancient material, and all the issues raised here, see Stafford 2012. Galinsky 1972 covers the full spectrum of Herakles’ incarnations in classical and post-classical literature; Blanshard 2005 provides a ‘biography’ of the hero, discussing a selection of ancient and post-classical representations of each episode of the myth.