Greek Mythology

The Young Hercules

Zeus, the supreme god of the Olympus, felt marveled by a beautiful young woman,

her name was Alcmena,

she was married to Amphitryon, the king of Tiryns.

Amphitryon had departed to fight the city of Thebes and so Zeus decided to visit her.

The God descended to earth, assuming the shape of the king who was fighting in the war,

and, pretending to be her husband, she got pregnant.

When Amphitryon returned, he suspected that his wife had cheated on him,

and gave the order to burn her in a bonfire.

Zeus appeared and halted the burning of Alcmena, revealing that he was the father of the baby.

Amphitryon felt honored for having the opportunity to raise the son of the god of gods,

and pardoned her wife.

The god had great plans for the child.

A prophecy claimed that the first great-grandson of the hero Perseus would be the king of the glorious city of Mycenae.

Alcmena was the hero's granddaughter, so her son would have the rightful claim to the throne.

However, her cousin was also pregnant.

Furious with her husband's infidelity, the Goddess Hera decided to force Eileithyia,

the goddess of childbirth, to anticipate the birth of Eurystheus.

Due to the premature birth of his cousin, Hercules lost the right to the crown.

The moment of birth arrived, and there were two children, Hercules, son of Zeus, and Iphicles, the son of Amphitryon.

Hera's jealousy was out of control.

The goddess decided to send two poisonous snakes to kill the baby.

The snakes meandered until they reached the cradle where Hercules and his brother were asleep.

Alcmena woke up startled by the cries of Iphicles,

and encountered the baby Hercules with two dead snakes, one in each hand.

Fearing further reprisals from the goddess,

the princess took her son to the forest and, there, she abandoned him.

However, fate joined the goddesses Hera and Athena and the abandoned baby on the same path.

Without realizing that he was Hercules, Hera was impressed with the baby's strength and decided to breastfeed him.

But he sucked the milk with so much force that the goddess felt a stabbing pain.

She shoved him away, but the milk gushing out from her breast pierced the clouds,

carving the sky and thus giving origin to the Milky Way.

Due to Hera's sacred milk, the little Hercules had now divine powers.

Athena grabbed the baby and returned him to his mother.

Hera, realizing the mistake she had done by breastfeeding her rival's son,

became possessed and invaded with an immense desire for revenge.

Seeing Hercules back home, a prophet named Tiresias said:

- Let's celebrate the return of the child, who, one day, will deliver the world from everykind of monster and,

and, due to his great deeds, will guarantee a place in the Olympus, beside his father.

Amphitryon, Hercules' foster parent, knew that his son was destined to accomplish great deeds,

so he spared no effort to give him the best education.

With his father, Hercules learned to drive carriages.

With King Eurytus, he learned how to become an expert archer.

With the hero Castor, he learned how to fight with several sorts of weapons.

However, despite having an incommensurable talent, Hercules was undisciplined and did not tolerate being corrected.

One day, Linus, his music teacher, whipped him a stick due to his lack of discipline.

Hercules, angered with such act of aggression, struck his teacher in the head with the zither he played.

Lino died immediately.

Hercules was judged and found not guilty.

The judge ruled the episode as an act of legitimate defense.

Everyone began to fear the unbridled force of Hercules,

so he was sent by his father to the field, where he would take care of Amphitryon's cattle.

The young boy became a beautiful man and was, without any doubt, the strongest man in the world.

One day, he crossed paths with two beautiful women.

One had a noble and secluded posture, and a semblance of purity,

the other was sensual and seductive,

she approached Hercules and said:

- You are now a man, and you must choose which path you want to follow.

Come with me and your life will be comfortable and plentiful, you will never be in need.

You won't have to work anymore and, nonetheless, you will live with many luxuries.

- Who are you, beautiful girl?

- I'm the goddess of bliss.

- Also known as sloth – intervened the other girl.

- Know your talents and, if you follow me, you'll dominate the virtues,

you may have pleasures and luxuries, but you will have to work hard for them.

You will be loved by the people, but will have to make great sacrifices.

- I will give you the victory, as long as you are willing to pay the price with your own blood.

- Look at what this crazy woman is offering you, just a lot of pain and suffering.

Come with me, because you will have an easy path ahead.

- Be quiet, despicable woman. Among the deities, you are one of the most despised.

No one who chooses to follow your path is remembered with reverence.

- Come with me and will be appraised by friends,

loved by the gods and honored by the homeland and you will never be forgotten.

Hercules decided to follow the one who would lead him through the path of virtue.

Hercules had chosen to carve the path of virtue and justice.

Still in his youth, he decided to release the cattle of his father from a terrible predator.

In Mount Helicon, there was a lion that kept terrorizing the region.

The king of the city of Thespiae asked Hercules to hunt the lion and,

as a gesture of hospitality, he would allow the hero to sleep with his daughters in the evenings

Several days went by and the hero could not find the creature.

The king had 50 daughters and sent each one of them to sleep with the hero, after his return from the hunt.

After 50 days of searching, Hercules finally managed to trap the lion.

After exterminating the creature, the hero skinned it and worn his fur as a garment.

The King of Thespiae was satisfied with the lion's demise

and even more pleased to have his 50 daughters pregnant of the mighty Hercules,

hence ensuring a powerful offspring.

Victorious, the young man hit the road again towards Thebes.

On the way, he met a tax collector who charged outrageous taxes from the population of Thebes.

The Theban had been defeated in battle and therefore had to pay a humiliating tribute to the King Erginus.

Hercules decided to stand for them and expelled the collectors.

Erginus was furious and ordered the Theban people to deliver Hercules,

so he could get his much-deserved punishment.

Creon, the King of Thebes, feared the rival's threat,

since the Thebans had their weapons taken by the enemy after the end of the conflict.

Hercules said:

- Fear not, Athena is on my side and under my leadership I will lead the Thebans to victory.

The goddess asked Hercules to take his warriors to the Temple of Athena.

When they got there, the temple was packed with weapons for his army.

Under the leadership of Hercules, the Theban army headed to the battlefield.

The troops of King Erginus had no chance against the hero and his troops,

who were under the shield of Athena.

The enemy king was killed, Thebes was free.

However, Amphitryon, Hercules' foster parent, did not survive the battle.

Creon, the King of Thebes, decided to give, as a reward,

the hand of his beautiful daughter Megara to the city's savior.

The name of Hercules was now acknowledged throughout Greece and,

with his new wife, the demigod was happy and had 3 children, whom he loved very much.

But the Goddess Hera watched everything and was concatenating a terrible revenge against the hero.