The Origins of Hercules

         For my Final Project, I'll be looking at the Disney film of Hercules and the original Greek Mythology of Hercules. The origin of Hercules has been identified by Walter Burkert as originating in Neolithic hunter culture and traditions of shamanistic crossings into the netherworld. There are authors who believe that Hercules was based on a real person whose accomplishments exaggerated with time. Nevertheless, his story has transcended time and is still a very popular story to this day. One of the big reasons why he remains so popular to this day is how relatable it is. Although we don't have actual physical monsters we need to conquer, we still are faced with monstrous tasks that seem impossible to complete and tragedies that seem to hard to bear. Yet Hercules bears through all of the hardships and shows that if he could endure his sufferings, one can survive one's own too. 

    After doing some research online, there seems to be only one prominent version of the story of the Life of Hercules, although his life can be broken many stories. Hercules is actually the Roman name for the Greek hero Herakles, which is the original figure from ancient Greek Mythology. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. He performed amazing feats such as wrestling death and traveling twice to the underworld which usually people don't come back alive from, and his stories were told throughout Greece and later in Rome. However, he was faced with challenges from birth and never seemed to be able to establish a stable relationship with others. This was because Hera, the wife of Zeus, knew that Hercules was her husband's illegitimate son so she wanted to get rid of him. His original name was actually Alcaeus but later took the name Herakles, meaning "Glory of Hera," signifying that he would become famous through his difficulties with the goddess.

  Hercules and the Hydra

One of Hercules's biggest hardships was when he had to complete his 12 labors. Hercules has to complete these tasks because he was sent to a madness by Hera, his evil step-mom goddess, in which he killed his children and his wife. As a way to atone for his sins, He completes these 12 impossible tasks such as killing the Hydra who had 9 venomous heads and when one was cut off, two more would grow in place or killing the Nemean Lion who was indestructible to all weapons. Hercules had to trap the lion in a cave and strangle it with his own bare hands, he then skinned it and wore the skin of the lion as his cloak. His life is very exciting and you never know what challenges he has next, and unlike the Disney version, there is no happily ever after, yet you feel joy and excitement every time he completes an impossible task.