The Triumph of Herakles

Some of the most timeless stories in western literature are about the heroes of ancient Greece.

For millennia people have been inspired by Perseus, Jason and the Argonauts, Theseus, Achilles and Odysseus. Many an ancient king and warrior has tried to emulate the actions and personae of these heroes, and even claimed descent from them.

Far and away, the greatest hero of all was Herakles.

There are so many stories related to Herakles (‘Hercules’ of you were Roman) in mythology that it’s impossible to cover all of them in a simple blog post. A book would be required for that.

So, this post is going to be the first in a two-part series on the hero. There are countless triumphant deeds associated with Herakles, but for our purposes here I’m going to cover the most famous of all – The Twelve Labours.

The Twelve Labours of Herakles have been the subject of art, sculpture and song for ages. Their portrayal decorated the ancient world from the images on vases to the metopes on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. In our modern age, we’ve seen him in comics, television shows, and movies, two of which are coming out this year!

Tyrins

But who was Herakles? Where did he come from?

Herakles was born in the city of Thebes. He was the son of Zeus who begat him on Alcmene, a granddaughter of Perseus and Andromeda. Zeus came to her in the guise of her mortal husband, Amphitryon, and so Herakles was born.

From the beginning, Herakles showed that he was not a ‘normal’ person. Out of jealousy, Hera, Queen of the Gods and wife of Zeus, sent two snakes to kill the baby Herakles in his cot. Herakles strangled the snakes with his bare baby hands.

When he was 18 years of age, Herakles began to really make a name for himself by slaying a lion on the slopes of Mount Cithaeron after hunting it for fifty days. During that time, he stayed with the king of Thespiae who was so impressed with the youth that he had him beget children on all fifty of his daughters.

Herakles was a man of extreme prowess, deeds, emotion and appetites.

King Creon of Thebes rewarded Herakles for helping him against his enemy, Erginus, king of the Minyans by giving him the hand of his daughter Megara with whom the hero had several children.

This is where things sour for the young hero. After all, this is a Greek story, and tragedy is never far behind to bring even the mightiest of heroes back to Earth.

Temple of Apollo - Delphi

Hera stepped in to afflict Herakles with madness, causing him to kill his wife and children. When his sanity returned, he was overcome with grief and went to the Oracle at Delphi for advice.

The Oracle told him to go to Tyrins and serve its king, Eurystheus, for twelve years as punishment for his brutal crime. He had to complete all tasks set for him by the king, and this is the origin of The Twelve Labours.

It’s curious that the name ‘Herakles’ means ‘Glory of Hera’, since she persecuted him so much throughout his life. Then again, perhaps as Hera is the root cause of his Labours, his triumphs reflect on her?

I – The Nemean Lion

This first labour is probably his most famous, and takes us to the ancient land of the Argolid peninsula. The lion that was terrorizing the hills about Nemea had skin that was impenetrable to weapons and so Herakles, when he faced it, choked it to death with his brute strength and then used the claws to skin it. It’s this skin, which he used as a hooded pelt, that the hero became known for in art. If you see someone with a lion’s head on their own, it’s likely Herakles, or someone trying to emulate him.

Valley of Nemea

As a side note, Nemea was thereafter the site of the Nemean Games, one of the four sacred games of the ancient world, which also included the Isthmian Games, the Pythian Games, and the Olympic Games.

II – The Lernean Hydra

When he faced the Hydra in the Peloponnesian swamps of Lerna, it’s a good thing that Herakles brought along his nephew and companion, Iolaus. Facing the monster, he discovered that when he cut one head off, two more grew back in its place. And so, after each head was cut, Iolaus would cauterize the stump before it could grow again. When the Hydra was dead, Herakles dipped his arrows in the blood which was poison, even to Immortals. These arrows would come in useful in later episodes of the hero’s life.

Lerna, Greece

III – The Ceryneian Hind

Eurystheus, this time, thought he would set Herakles against Artemis with this third labour by telling him to capture a deer with golden horns that was sacred to the goddess. But Herakles pursued the hind for a whole year until he finally captured it and brought it before Eurystheus who, by this time, was always hiding in a jar whenever his cousin would return. The hind was allowed to go once it was brought before the king and so Herakles was able to avoid Artemis’ wrath.

Giving the Boar to Eurystheus

IV – The Erymanthian Boar

Around Psophis, in the Arcadian region of the Peloponnese, a massive boar had been giving the locals trouble and so Herakles was sent to capture it. He did so by pursuing it through deep snow in the mountains until it was so exhausted that he was able to capture it. Such a massive specimen would have made quite a sacrificial feast!

V – The Stables of Augeas

Athena helping Herakles to
clean the stables

Augeas was the King of Elis, and he had a cattle stable that had never been mucked out, EVER! In this case, it was not a monster that terrorized the locals, but rather the monumental stench. In this very different  labour, Herakles was told he had to clean out the stables. So, what did he do? What all heroes would do, he diverted the rivers Alpheius and Peneius so that they flowed through the stables and washed the titanic stink away. It’s no wonder the land thereabouts is so fertile.

VI – The Stymphalian Birds

In Stymphalia, there were flocks of man-eating birds with bronze beaks that infested the woods around the Lake of Stymphalus, again in Arcadia. Herakles was told he had to get them out. So, he scared them all from their hiding places and then shot them down with his great bow. No more birds.

Lake Stymphalos, Greece

VII – The Cretan Bull

For his seventh labour, Herakles had to leave the Peloponnese for the Island of Crete to capture and bring back the Cretan Bull. This was no ordinary bull. This was the bull that Poseidon sent to Crete for King Minos to sacrifice. When Minos refused, Poseidon made his wife, Pasiphae fall in love with it and from that union was born the terror that was to become the Minotaur. The Cretan Bull rampaged all over Crete until Herakles arrived, wrestled it to the ground, and brought it back to Greece. The hero’s friend, Theseus, would come back to Crete years later to take care of the Minotaur.

VIII – The Mares of Diomedes

Once more, Herakles was forced to deal with another group of man-eating animals. But this time they were not birds, but rather horses! The mares of Diomedes were in Thrace and so Herakles travelled there. He had a run-in with Diomedes himself and so, to tame the horses, Herakles fed them their own master. After that, the mares followed him back to Eurystheus.

IX – The Girdle of Hippolyte

Near the River Thermodon, just off the Black Sea, Herakles and his followers, including Theseus, went to the Amazons and their Queen, Hippolyte. The story goes that Herakles just asked this lovely daughter of Ares for her girdle, or belt, and she said ‘Yes’. Hera decided to step in and whispered to the rest of the Amazons that their queen was being abducted.

The Amazons attacked Herakles and his men who fought back, and in the bloody engagement, Hippolyte herself was killed. Herakles managed to get the girdle, but the cost of this labour was indeed heavy.

The River Thermodon

X – The Cattle of Geryon

The tenth labour is a sort of epic cattle raid. Herakles was told he had to bring back the red cattle of the three-bodied giant, Geryon, from the Island of Erytheia which was far, far to the west. This took the hero on a long journey into the Atlantic. On his way, he set up the Pillars of Hercules to mark his way.

But Herakles began to grow weary with the heat, and so Helios, God of the Sun, lent Herakles his great golden bowl or boat so that he could sail the rest of the way to Erytheia. Herakles succeeded in raiding the cattle and sailed in Helios’ boat back to Spain. From Spain he travelled to Greece and had many adventures on this mythic cattle drive.

There is a whole list of adventures he had on his way home, but the one I would like to highlight brings him in touch with the Romans. When Herakles arrived in Rome he came into conflict with a monster named Cacus after the beast killed some of the cattle. Herakles killed Cacus in what must have been a great battle of strength.

The Temple of Hercules in
the Forum Boarium in Rome

It’s interesting that in Rome, there are some steps leading off of the Palatine Hill called the Steps of Cacus which is where the monster is said to have lain in wait for passers-by. In the Forum Boarium, or cattle market, near the banks of the Tiber, there is a round Tholos temple dedicated to Hercules, commemorating the hero’s time in Rome.

XI – The Golden Apples of Hesperides

Hesperia was the garden of the gods and Herakles must have been exhausted when he discovered that he had to go back to the Atlantic. Some believe Hesperia was located on the Atlantic side of the North African coast. The garden was said to be beyond the sunset, where Atlas, the Titan, was holding up the sky.

Holding the Heavens for Atlas

The labour was to pick the golden apples that were guarded by a giant snake. In some stories, Herakles asks Atlas to pick the apples for him while he holds the heavens in his stead. In others, Herakles picks the apples himself and kills the serpent.

XII – Cerberus

There is one archetype that is common to most hero stories, and that is the journey to the Underworld.  And this is where Herakles must go in his final labour to bring the three-headed hound of Hades back to Eurystheus.

To get to the Underworld, Herakles gets help from the god Hermes, who travelled there regularly. Supposedly, they entered through the gate at Taenarum, in the southern Peloponnese.

There is a fascinating episode when they arrive in Hades’ realm. The shades of the dead flee from Herakles who wounds Hades himself with one of his poison arrows. The only shades who do not flee are Meleager, famed for bringing down the great Calydonian Boar, and Medusa, the Gorgon slain by Perseus.

The Gate to Hades
at Taenarum

Herakles drew his sword against Medusa but Hermes told him to leave her be. But Meleager told the hero his sad tale. Herakles, inspired by Meleager, said that he would marry the sister of such a noble man. And so, the shade of Meleager named his sister, Deianaira, to be Herakles’ wife. This at the end of his long penance for killing his family. Was it a new beginning?

Hades told Herakles that he could take Cerberus if he could bring him to heel without using his weapons. In true Heraclean fashion, he wrestled the hell hound and then brought it to Eurystheus. Afterward, Hades got his dog back.

The Labours of Herakles are not just adventure stories. They are stories of atonement, of courage, of strength of mind and body. Over and over, the hero is taken to extremes until he attains his final triumph, and his debt is paid.

But this is a Greek story. There is no celebration. For laurels dry out on the brow of even the greatest of heroes.

Herakles - older and tired
after his Labours

There is much more to Herakles’ story, and I for one have a lot more reading to do. In fact, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of these tales.

In the coming months, I’ll post the second part of this series – The Tragedy of Herakles.

Until then, I’m looking forward to the two movies that are coming out this year.

Sure, they’ll be the usual Hollywood interpretations of the legends. And that’s ok!

The legends of Herakles’ triumphs should live on in any form, so long as they are remembered…



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If you are interested in the upcoming movies, here are the trailers for both. I especially like the first one which seems to focus on the actual Labours. Looking forward to these!

Hercules (with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson looking the part!)

Hercules: The Legend Begins (with Kellan Lutz)

Popular Historical Shite? – Bring it on!

I loved the movie, Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves.

I still do.

There. I’ve said it. You may laugh now. It’s ok. I’ve got a good set of armour on.

For me that movie, Kevin Costner's accent and all, was a game changer. It gave my life some much needed direction in the confusing dark times of my early teenage years.

I’ve heard Robin Hood, Excalibur, Braveheart, Gladiator, the shows Hercules and Xena, and others, all called ‘popular crap’, ‘ridiculous’, ‘inaccurate drivel’, and loads of other names mostly by academics from the dusty upper floors of their ivory towers.

The critics pan these movies and shows, citing the poor acting, sad story lines and over-stretched budgets that somehow mark them as unworthy of viewing. Gladiator was the only one to garner any respect (less so for Braveheart) and that was probably due to the Oscars it rounded up (that was fantastic BTW!).

Robin Hood tends to lay gutted on the bottom of the pile of popular historical 'shite', bleeding into memory – that movie that was so ‘bad’, the one that Kevin Costner ‘butchered’.

You know what? I don’t care. I thought that film was brilliant and magical. Here’s why:

When the movie came out in 1991 I was fifteen going on sixteen and trying to navigate that utterly depressing world known as High School – which, for the record, I loathed.

I was hanging out with some questionable characters, not doing very well in class and had no real idea or vision for the future, my future.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t beaten or fed plates of gruel. I’m one of the fortunate ones who had a caring home life, parents who listened and a brother with whom it did not often come to outright fisticuffs. Swords yes, but rarely fists.

However, I did lack an interest to give me direction.

Then one Friday night, my dad comes home and hands me a video tape of Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves.

“Look what I’ve got,” he says. “Let’s watch it tonight. I think you’ll like it.”

Being a black-clad teenager, I grunted in response and hunkered down in silence on the sectional for a couple of hours.

If I remember correctly, I was hooked right from the beginning as the opening credits rolled images of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Norman Conquest. 

Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry

Of course, I didn’t know what the Norman Conquest was at the time, or that the year 1066 was any more significant than a thousand other dates.

It was the power of those images, the heroic music by Michael Kamen, and of course the fantastic story of Robin Hood that pulled me in and didn’t let go.

I can still remember sitting there that first time. Oh yes, I think I was a ‘popular historical’ virgin up to that point. I was so hooked that I watched that movie every day for six days straight, enjoying it every single time.

I watched Robin’s skill with blade and bow with awe, thrilled to his duel with the Sherriff of Nottingham, expertly played by Alan Rickman. The romantic in me was even awakened by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio with whom I had fallen desperately in love.

History, and an ancient story, had spoken to me and I was having an epiphany – I loved it and that was what I wanted to do. I then decided that history was what I wanted to study.

As it turned out, that summer I had the opportunity to go to England with my mom to visit family. That first journey across the pond only served to fuel the fires of my enthusiasm.

I wanted to walk through every castle and manor house I saw, touch every suit of armour and look closely at every nicked sword blade on display in every museum. I was insatiable.

Carcasonne - France
Where part of Robin Hood was filmed

When I returned home, my parents bought me all the books (new and used) that I wanted on the Middle Ages, ancient world, swords, armour, the Crusades, you name it. I got a used book on the Bayeux Tapestry that I still have to this day. Biographies of kings and queens, chivalric ideals and stories of King Arthur, Robin Hood and others abounded. I also took up archery and fencing.

What is the point of all this?

My point is that without having seen that supposedly ‘crappy’ movie, I might not have become interested in all of this. I might not have improved my grades in high school, or gone on to undergrad studies in medieval history, a Master’s in Dark Age studies, or to work in museums or archaeology.

Without Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves, I might not be writing!

Throughout my years in university and academic circles, I’ve always heard the same old argument that popular history is rubbish and a complete waste of time. “Stay away from that stuff!” one of my professor’s said one day after Braveheart had hit the big screens.

But you know what? That so-called ‘popular shite’ sparks more interest in young people’s minds than any lame, snoot-nosed history teacher who lectures their students without caring whether or not they are capturing their listeners’ imaginations.

It’s no wonder that movies like Robin Hood or Gladiator have left increased enrollment in medieval and ancient history courses in their wakes. They got people excited. What a concept!

I’ve been fortunate enough to have a couple of good history teachers who did capture my imagination, who loved anything having to do with history. Sadly, most were not so good, but I’m glad that didn’t deter me.

I’ve been told by several of my readers that my writing makes history interesting to them, and THAT pleases me to no end.

This applies not only to movies but to all forms of popular historical fiction.

In the current issue of the Historic Novels Review, Richard Lee, the founder of the Historic Novel Society, notes that he has “heard EVERY type of historical fiction ridiculed for being untrue to the history. Sometimes the spite that is unleashed is phenomenal… My own view is that all kinds of historical fiction have value.”

I couldn’t agree more. Whether it is the period of history, or the format (book, TV or film), the sad truth is that popular history has often been frowned upon, locked out of the academic castle.

However, the numbers are far greater outside the walls of that castle and it is my hope that the gates will eventually be battered down so that the people can flood in, not to massacre, but to live together with the few in their towers.

Academia has its purpose, which is of utmost importance to our knowledge of the past. But there is also a place for popular historical fiction, a purpose in gathering people around, firing their interests and setting them on the path to learning more. It’s all good!

To quote Morgan Freeman’s character, Azeem, in Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves:

“Allah loves wondrous variety.”

What's your favourite popular historical?

Keeping History and Legend Alive

BBC's Merlin series

Happy New Year to everyone. Hope your various celebrations were enjoyable, sweet and wine-filled. My holidays were also filled with history and magic.

The past week, I have been watching the recent BBC series, Merlin, for which I obtained a copy of season one at the local library. After the first episode of this show, my first reaction was – “What a complete load of rubbish. I can’t believe how they have butchered my beloved Arthurian tales.”

John Boorman's
Excalibur

Ok, I didn’t say ‘beloved’, though, for me the Arthurian cycle is indeed sacred ground. It should not be meddled with lightly. However, like many a good book, sometimes the initial chapters can be slow or misleading, disappointing even. So, I pressed on and watched another couple episodes. I realized that, despite the completely inaccurate setting (Camelot as a late medieval castle), the unfortunate character of Uther Pendragon (I much prefer Marion Zimmer Bradley or Jack Whyte’s versions of the man), and the anachronistic dialogue among other things (Guinevere is a servant!), the show actually focuses on some important themes. Richer is the Arthurian cycle for the entwined destinies of Merlin and Arthur, the opposing forces of paganism and Christianity, ideals of kingship and knighthood and even elements of the magical that add to the legend. Merlin has all of these, the show’s faults notwithstanding.

If you can look past the show’s appearance, it can be quite gripping. Though I much preferred the setting of the late 90’s version of Merlin, with Sam Neill,  I now look forward to the next episode of this new Merlin and find it hard to watch only one. Now that I am over my Arthurian purist’s prejudice, I am reminded of other television series that also meddled with favourite bits of history and legend. Certainly, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and Xena: Warrior Princess are at the top of the list. Those two shows were chock full of anachronism and cheese but they also tapped the deep-rooted archtypes of ancient tradition and storytelling which appeal to us on quite another level of consciousness. Ancient tradition is often a part of the very fibre of our being.

Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo as
Xena and Hercules

I think that it has become absolutely necessary for tales from Greek mythology, Arthurian tradition or others to be retold and given fresh new garb every so often, for successive generations. That is how the tales endure, how they remain relevant as the years go by. The clothing may be different than the original period in question but the essential messages, the human strife, remain the same. Indeed, new life is given to them, new interest created. I’ve said it before that there is nothing wrong with a Hollywood version of history, even if some things are inaccurate – if interest is sparked, then people will read up on something more and as a result find out what is fact and what is fiction, and where the two live amiably side by side.

Manuscript page of Chrétien de Troyes'
Yvain or Le Chevalier au Lion

As for the Arthurian tradition, let us not forget that even Chrétien de Troyes and Sir Thomas Malory reinvented the Arthurian cycle, setting it not in the immediate post-Roman world of Dark Age Britain, written about by Nennius or Aneirin, but rather in the courtly world of 12^th century Aquitaine and the shiny armour world of 15^th century England. Every generation has its perspective and a language that appeals to that perspective. If adapting the telling of these tales in media to speak to the current generation is what keeps history and legend alive, then that is a good and honourable thing.