Herakles tells the tale of one of the strongest heroes who takes on twelve great Labours, battling with monsters, controlling rivers, wrestling with lions, visiting the Underworld and challenging the warrior Amazons.
Of all of Euripides' plays, this is his most skeptically subversive examination of myth, morality, and power. Depicting Herakles slowly going mad by Hera, the wife of Zeus, this play continues to haunt and inspire readers.
He was held up as an ancestor and role-model for both Greek and Roman rulers, and widely worshipped as a god, his unusual status as a hero-god being reinforced by the story of his apotheosis.
Author Edouard Cour revisits one of the greatest Greek myths by painting the often-heroic Herakles as, well . . . somewhat of a jerk.
Herakles: Passage of the Hero Through 1000 Years of Classical Art
Brumble, H. D. (1988) Classical Myths and Legends in the Middle Ages and Renaissance: a dictionary of allegorical meanings, London. Brundage, BC. (1958) 'Herakles the Levantine: a comprehensive view', Journal of Near Eastern Studies 17: ...
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.