Hercules managed to capture Cerberus by using his superhuman strength to wrestle the monster to the ground. Afterward, the dog returned unharmed to his post at the entrance to the Underworld. Later in his life, Hercules had a number of other adventures—rescuing the princess of Troy, battling for control of Mount Olympus—but none were as taxing, or as significant, as the labors had been.
When he died, Athena carried him to Olympus on her chariot. According to legend, he spent the rest of eternity with the gods. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The warrior Achilles is one of the great heroes of Greek mythology. Viewed by many as the founding figure of Western philosophy, Socrates B. The Greek philosopher Aristotle B. Though overshadowed in classical times by the work of his teacher Plato, from late antiquity The Athenian philosopher Plato c.
In his written dialogues he conveyed and expanded on the ideas and techniques of his teacher Socrates. The Academy he The so-called golden age of Athenian culture flourished under the leadership of Pericles B. Pericles transformed his Herodotus was a Greek writer and geographer credited with being the first historian. The next day, however, Amphitryon walked into her room again and was confused when she acted as though they had seen each other the previous evening.
He claimed that he was only just returning from Taphos. The early return of Amphitryon had, in fact, been a trick. Alcmene had not spent the night with her husband, but with Zeus in disguise. Zeus often sought the affections of beautiful young women in Greece. Knowing that Alcmene was loyal and devoted to Amphitryon, the god had resorted to deception in order to spend the night with her.
Realizing what had happened, Amphitryon placed no blame on Alcmene. The rest of their marriage was, by all accounts, happy. She and her husband knew that one of the boys was the son of Zeus, but had no way of telling which one until Hera interfered again. This made it clear which child was the son of the god, and he was renamed Heracles, Hercules in Latin, in a futile attempt to appease his stepmother. Amphitryon was killed in battle, accompanied by his stepson who was a young man at the time.
Alcmene went on to marry Rhadamanthus, a son of Zeus and brother of King Minos who was living in exile in Boeotia. It was said that Alcmene lived to old age, and was still alive when her son was taken to Olympus as a god.
Upon her death, varying traditions claimed she was either buried at Megara or was turned into a stone near Thebes. The story of Alcmene and the birth of Hercules was not the only one in which a god used deception to seduce a human woman. It was not the first time Zeus had been involved in the family line, however. In fact, Alcmene was his own great-granddaughter. She was the daughter of Electryon, who had inherited the throne of Mycenae from his own father. Because of both their political power and their connections to the gods the family tree of the ruling family of Tiryns and Mycenae, called the Argive genealogy, was often referenced in Greek legend.
Hera appears on Olympus with Zeus as they celebrate the birth of their newborn son, Hercules. She appears to be somewhat overprotective of him, as evidenced when she objects to her husband Zeus letting the newborn Hercules play with his thunderbolts.
She also suggests that Zeus provide a gift from themselves to Hercules, resulting in Zeus creating Pegasus. Later, when Hera and Zeus are awoken to the noise coming from the nursery where Hercules is, they arrive too late to find the nursery ransacked and Hercules gone.
Hera breaks down in tears over her son's disappearance, while Zeus erupts in a fury. Together, they dispatch the other Olympian Gods to find Hercules, but they find him too late to return him to Olympus as he had been turned mortal and thus was barred from returning to Olympus as he was no longer immortal like them.
Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Ancient History and Latin Expert. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. Updated November 27, Key Takeaways: Hercules' Parents Hercules or more properly Heracles was the son of Alcmene, a beautiful and virtuous Theban woman, her husband Amphitryon, and the god Zeus.
Zeus seduced Alcmene by taking the form of her absent husband. Alcmene had twin sons, one credited to Amphitryon Iphicles and one credited to Zeus Hercules.
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