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Heracles
by Gauvin (Nov 5, 2004)
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Heracles is a hero from the Greek mythology. He is the son of Alcmene and Zeus, who cheated her by taking the appearance of Amphitryon, Alcmene’s husband. Since his birth, Heracles had shown an incredible strength by killing the snakes sent by Hera to kill him. In his childhood, he learnt all about the art of war but also about music: this is when he killed his teacher because he was angry.
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Then he had a wife, Megara, and three children but he killed them in a madness crisis due to the hatred of Hera. To pay for this crime, he went to Delphos to see the oracle, who told him to become the slave of Eurysthes, protected by Hera, and do what is now known as "the 12 works of Heracles". For example, he had to take Cerberus, the three-headed dog, from hell out of his place or to kill the hydra, a monster with 9 heads. It took him 12 years to finish his works.
After that, he married another woman, Dejanire, but when he began to cheat on her, she poisoned him, thinking it was a love philtre. When she realised her mistake, she hanged herself. But Heracles couldn’t die of that. He lost his strength and he was suffering horribly, so he decided to burn himself. When he died finally, he became a god, and he stood with his father Zeus at the Olympus.
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