Herakles rescues Theseus from the Underworld

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Herakles rescues Theseus from the Underworld
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Achilles Herakles

• father is mortal Peleus father is immortal
  Zeus
• mother is immortal Thetis mother is mortal
  Alcmena
• (foster father is mortal Amphitryon
• cf. Aegeus, mortal father of Theseus,
  while Poseidon is his biological
  father)

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The paradoxical Herakles

• Hounded by Hera, his name, Herakles,
  nevertheless means glory of Hera

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Herakles nurses at the breast of Hera and from
the spilled milk originated the milky way
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Heras opposition to Herakles starts early on
she sends deadly snakes, which baby Herakles
chokes with his own hands
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The incident also serves to highlight Herakles
physical superiority over his twin and half
brother Iphikles
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Herakles as a Symbol of Excess in all its Forms
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Herakles is sold as slave to Omphale, Queen of
Lydia (to atone for the murder of his guest,
Iphitus)
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Herakles as a Symbol of the Human Condition
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Plan of Temple Zeus at OlympiaThe Labors of
Herakles are depicted on the metopes, six on the
east end, six on the west
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• A triglyph
• B metope

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The 12 labors on the 12 metopes
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Apollo and the Centauromachy on the West Pediment
of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia
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Zeus and the Fatal Chariot Race (between Pelops
and Oinomaos) on the East pediment of the temple
of Zeus at Olympia
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The 12 Labors of Heraklesthe successful/victoriou
s athlete IS a CIVILIZING FORCE
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The (invulnerable) Nemean Lion whom Herakles
kills by choking him
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Herakles fights the Lernaean Hydra, whose hundred
serpent heads he cuts with a sickle and
cauterizes with fire
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The Keryneian Hind, whose horns were made of gold
and who was sacred to Artemis. Entrusted not to
kill the hind, Herakles tried to outrun it but
failed, and ended up wounding the animal with his
arrow
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The Erymanthian boar Classic Heraklean tale
about killing baneful animals who plague the land
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Athena instructs Herakles how to clean the
stables of Augeas by diverting a river
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The Stymphalian birds, whom Herakles defeats with
castanets (made by Hephaistos) given to him by
Athena
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Herakles and the Cretan Bull
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The defeat of the Cretan Bull is a bit like
defeating the Minotaur (in some versions, this is
the very bull, whom Minos refused to sacrifice to
Poseidon and who mated with his wife Pasiphae
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The Mares of Diomedes devour human flesh
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Herakles claims the war belt of Hippolyte, Queen
of the Amazonsthe male culture hero
symbolically defeats/subdues female anti-order
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Herakles against the triple-bodied Geryon, whose
cattle he has stolen (note the fallen dog, the
2-headed Orthos, offspring of Typhon and Echidna)
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The Golden Apples of the Hesperides (located in
Hyperborea) guarded by a serpent the impossible
object of desire, the eternally young, virgin
woman
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Herakles last labor bringing Hades hound from
the underworld