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Introduction to Hercules English
Heracles is a sacred hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and alcmene, the adopted son of Amphitryon, and the great-grandson of Poerxiusi (also a half-brother). He is the greatest Greek hero, a model of masculinity, and the ancestor of the royal clan who calls himself Hera Cricco. ρακλε? Δ α ι) and a champion of the Order of Olympus against the monster of hell. In Rome and the modern west, he was called Hercules, and later Roman emperors, especially Commodus and Maksimian, often associated themselves with him. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works, basically unchanged, but added their own anecdote details, some of which linked the hero to the geography of the central Mediterranean. The details of his worship were also adapted to Rome.

Extraordinary strength, courage, originality and sexual ability to men and women are all his characteristics. Although Heracles was not as clever as Odysseus or Nestor, he used his wisdom when he was exhausted, such as working for King Augeas of Elis, wrestling with giant Antaeus, or coaxing Atlas to carry the sky back to his shoulders. Together with Hermes, he is the protector and protector of stadiums and stadiums. [5] His portrait attributes are lion skin and sticks. These qualities do not prevent him from being considered a naughty person. He relaxes his work by playing games and has a good time with the children. [6] By conquering the dangerous ancient forces, he was said to have "created a safe world for mankind" and became the benefactor of this world. [7] Heracles is a passionate and emotional person, who can not only do great things for his friends (such as wrestling with Thanatos on behalf of Prince Admetus, who once warmly entertained Heracles, or restored the Spartan throne of his friend Tindarius after he was overthrown), but also be a terrible enemy, who will take terrible revenge on those who oppose him, just as Augeas, Neleus and laomedon all paid a price to find out.

There are many well-known stories about his life, the most famous of which is Heracles's twelve labors; The Alexander poet in the Greek era brought his myth into a highly poetic and tragic atmosphere. [8] His image was originally based on the theme of the Near East, such as the lion fight, and later became famous in the world: his Etruscan counterpart was Hechler, the son of Tinia and Wuni.

Heracles is the greatest Greek hero of hell, but unlike other Greek heroes, no grave is determined to be his. Heracles is both a hero and a god, just as Pindar said, a hero is a god; In the same festival, people offered sacrifices to him, first as a hero, offering a symphony, and then as a god, putting it on the altar: therefore, he embodied the "demigod" closest to Greece. [8] Walter Burke believed that the core of Heracles's story originated from the hunter culture of Neolithic Age and the tradition of Shamanism crossing into the underworld. [9]

Hero or God?

As a cultural hero, Heracles's death may be the theme of a fairy tale (see below), which was included in the gods of Olympus in the classical period. This caused embarrassment when meeting Odysseus in Odyssey XI. This episode is called Nekuya, and Odysseus met Heracles in hades:

Then I caught a glimpse of the powerful Heracles—

I mean his ghost: he likes it himself.

At the grand banquet of the immortal god in the sky ...

Around him there was the cry of the dead, just like the cry of a bird.

Flee in panic, just like the night comes ... "[10]

Ancient critics realized the problem of narration and interrupted the vivid and complete description, in which Heracles acknowledged Odysseus and cheered him. Modern critics found a good reason to deny the translation of his ghost in Fagers at the beginning of the poem. I mean ... it is part of the original poem: "Once people know that Heracles entered Olympus, they will not tolerate his appearance in the underworld", Friedrich Solmson commented, [1/.

It is also said that when Heracles died, he took off his mortal skin and went down to the underworld. Then he went to the gods, because he was the greatest hero of all time.

Christian dating

In the Christian circle, an Euhemerist interpretation of the widespread worship of Heracles is regarded as a historical figure, who was given the status of worship after his death. Therefore, Eusebius, Preparation of the Gospel (10. 12), reported that Clemente could provide the historical date for Hercules as king in Argos: "From the reign of Hercules in Argos to the deification of Hercule himself and Asclepius, it took 38 years, according to the chronicle of apollodorus: from this point to the deification of Casterbulux for 53 years; It was the capture of Troy at about this time. "

Following Clemente's reasoning, readers with a tendency of literalism assert from this sentence that since Heracles ruled Tirins, Argos, while Eurystheus ruled Mycenae, and since Linus was Heracles's teacher at about this time, people can draw a conclusion that according to Jerome's date-in his cosmic history, his chronicle-Linus was given the notoriety when he taught Heracles in BC 1264, Heracles's.

Birth and childhood

Herakles strangled a snake when he was a child. (Marble, Roman art, 2nd century A.D.) A major factor in the well-known tragedy surrounding Heracles is the hatred of Zeus' wife, the goddess Hera. A comprehensive description of Heracles must clearly show why Heracles was tortured by Hera when Zeus had many illegitimate children. Heracles is the son of Zeus who committed adultery with alcmene, a mortal woman. Zeus had sex with her after pretending to be her husband Amphitryon. He ended the war early and returned home (Amphitryon did come back later that night, and alcmene was pregnant with his son at the same time. This is an example of half-fertilization. A woman was pregnant with twins born by different fathers). [12] Therefore, the existence of Heracles proves at least one of Zeus' many improper behaviors. Hera often conspires against Zeus' mortal descendants as revenge for her husband's improper behaviors. His twin brother, Amphitryon's son Ipikles, was the father of Olaus, the imperial protector of Heracles.

On the night when the twins Heracles and Ipcles were born, Hera learned about her husband Zeus' adultery and persuaded Zeus to swear that the child born to a member of the Poerxiusi family would become the supreme king that night. Hera did this because she knew that Heracles would be a descendant of Poerxiusi, and so would Eurystheus. Once the oath was sworn, Hera rushed to alcmene's residence, forced the goddess of childbirth, Ilithyia, to sit cross-legged and tie her clothes, thus trapping Heracles in the womb, thus delaying the birth of Heracles. At the same time, Hera gave birth to Eurystheus prematurely, making him the supreme king instead of Heracles. If alcmene's servant, Galanti, hadn't cheated her, she might have postponed Heracles's birth forever. Galanti lied to Ilithyia that alcmene had given birth to a baby. Hearing this, she jumped up in surprise, untied the knot, and inadvertently let alcmene give birth to her twins Heracles and Ipikles.

The child was originally named Alcides by his parents; It was only later that he was called Heracles. [4] He changed his name to Heracles and tried to appease Hera, but failed. A few months after he was born, Sheila sent two snakes to kill him while he was lying in his crib. Heracles put his hands around a snake's neck, and his nurse found him playing with their soft bodies as if they were children's toys.

youth

After killing his music tutor Linus with a harp, he was sent to the mountains by his adoptive father Amphitryon to herd cattle. Here, according to a fable, "Heracles's Choice" was written by the sophist Prodikus (ca. According to Xenophon's memorabilia 2. 1.2 1-34, two fairies-happiness and virtue-visited him and asked him to choose between a happy and relaxed life and a severe and glorious life: he chose the latter.

Later in Thebes, Heracles married Megara, the daughter of King Creon. Under the guidance of Hera, Heracles killed her children crazily. After his madness was cured by Antikyrus, the founder of Antikyra, with hellebore, [13] he realized what he had done and fled to the Oracle of Delphi. He didn't know that the Oracle was guided by Hera. He was ordered to serve the King of Eurystheus for ten years and complete any task he asked. Eurystheus decided to give Heracles ten jobs, but when he finished, he said he cheated and added two more jobs, which turned out to be Heracles's twelve jobs.

Labor in Heracles

Heracles's battle with the Nimia lion is one of his most famous feats. (B-side ear bottle from a black digital attic, California. 540 BC)

His first 1 1 feat was to capture apples from Hesperides (gilded bronze, Roman art, 2nd century AD).

Driven crazy by Hera, Heracles killed his own child. In order to make amends, Heracles was asked to complete ten tasks set by his great enemy Eurystheus. He has replaced Heracles as king. If he succeeds, his sins will be purified, and as the myth says, he will have eternal life. Heracles completed these tasks, but Eurystheus didn't accept the cleanup, because Heracles would accept labor remuneration. He didn't agree to kill Lerenard Hydra, because Heracles's cousin Iolos helped him burn their heads. Eurystheus set two more tasks (taking Hesperides's golden apples and catching hellhounds), and Heracles successfully completed them, bringing the total number of tasks to twelve.