Heracles possessed physical traits that make him one of most distinguished heroes of all time. His superhuman strength tops the list. Heracles is the son of Zeus, king of the gods, and Alcmena, a mortal woman. Zeus was married to Hera, queen of the gods, at the time so Hera did not like Heracles (Although his name means “glory of Hera“). Hera sent two serpents to kill him in his crib. Heracles being a demi-god grabbed the serpents and strangled them and used them as toys. This story demonstrates his strength. Infants are not capable of catching two serpents and strangling them at the same time. This story sets up the notion that no matter what stands in his way, he will overcome.

As he grew up he learned chariot driving from Amphitryon, wrestling from Autolycus, archery from Eyrytus, and music from Linus (Classical Mythology, pp.522). These lessons gave him all he needed to survi

Most, if not all of the qualities that we give our heroes in today’s world share them with Heracles. The most obvious being his physical ability. People today admire others who have special ability. Take the major sports stars for example. Ninety percent of the role models today are sports figures. Kids all over the world grow up wanting to be like Michael Jordan, John Elway, Barry Bonds, and countless other athletes who the best at what they do. Heracles was the best at what he did. Getting the task at hand done no matter what the circumstance. Braveness is another quality that Heracles showed. Throughout all of his labors, Heracles had to be brave. The labor that best describes this would be his final task. He was told to capture Cerberus from the gates of Hades and bring him back to the living world. Think about it. If you had to go into the underworld, subdue the gatekeeper of hell, and bring him back alive, most people would not be brave enough to even think about doing it. But the select few who would, we admire. You are probably thinking ‘If Heracles was such an important person why is there not an epic or tragedy written about him?’ Well Heracles was such a diverse character “it was impossible to write a unified epic about him“ (Aristotle, Poetics 8).

In conclusion, I believe that I have demonstrated that Heracles has qualities and influences that have help shape our culture. His legend has affected the way we perceive the hero archetype and also the way we judge our own heroes. Though our heroes might not be able to move mountains and cheat death. His presence is felt even when we say the word myth. Big companies use his name to sell products. If you buy a product named ‘Hercules’ you have a better feeling about the product than if was named ‘Achilles’. Achilles was the greatest hero for the Trojans. But today we think of the ‘Achilles heel’ which was

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