About an Mythological Hero

Heracles -- Mythological Hero

Heracles Mythological Hero

Heracles-Mythological Hero

About a Mythological Hero

Heracles, also known as Hercules, was a great mythological hero, who was considered as the son of God. His strength, valor, courage and supernatural characteristic were seen from his very childhood. The biggest turn in his life occurred when he murdered his wife and children, and was thus compelled to fulfill twelve challenging labors in order to purify himself. This article presents one of his twelve labors, which involved slaying away the Stymphalian birds. Several art works including pottery paintings and canvas art work, depict several instants linked with the heroic acts of Heracles.

Character Analysis of Heracles

Heracles or Hercules was a strong mythological hero who was considered as a man possessing supernatural power and was thus called half-god, a son of Zeus. The supreme confidence of Heracles was depicted from the early days of his childhood when he used his brute force in wrestling a snake that had slithered into his baby cradle. Heracles considered the concept of justice to be linked with engaging in a series of feats of strength that almost no mortal could accomplish. His incredible strength and superhuman power has made him being ranked as a legend in the history. His need for purification after murdering his family depicts a core human aspect of his personality rather than a divine aspect of his being. Heracles was so strong that he could only be overcome by a supernatural force. He could not easily be defeated by any mortal or anything else of this. Apart from his magnificent strength, his real greatness and popularity lied in his constant perseverance to overcome adversity and make the wrong right.

Adventures of Heracles

Heracles had a wide variety of adventures and his twelve labors done in order to purify himself are considered one of his popular and great adventures. This paper will highlight one of the twelve labors achieved by Heracles, which was linked in driving out the Stymphalian birds from the marshes surrounding lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. Several sources have confused the reason behind which Heracles was sent. Whether he was sent by Eurystheus to kill or get rid of the birds is unclear. Some sources refer that he was sent to "destroy" Stymphalian birds while others say he was just sent for driving them out. Moreover, sources also differ with regard to the origin of Stymphalian birds. Some sources say that there was an annual migration from places unstated, and others believe that they fled from wolves. The favorable living conditions at the lake made the birds thrive and multiply into countless numbers. Some versions of the adventure suggested that the Stymphalian birds were vicious man-eaters, while other sources described the birds as equal to lions or leopards in their fierceness.

The arrival of Heracles at the swamp, made him perplexed with the idea of dealing with those fierce Stymphalian birds. Killing those birds was an impossible task for any normal or common man. During the expedition, he was visited by Athena who gave him a special gift forged by Hephaestus. The gift was a special nose maker, to scare the Stymphalian Birds in to the air and keep Heracles safe from the fierce creatures. The noise was such that the birds were forced to fly up and away, never to be seen again. Some sources say that he killed them, while others say that some of them were killed with poisoned arrows.