Hercules
By: Alex Quine, Briana Landino, Grant Carpenter,
Bryce Maginley, Alex Vines, Katey Shehan
Heroic Qualities
 Compassionate
 Brave
 Great bodily strength
 Supreme self confidence
 Good natured
 Bold
 Agrees humbly to any punishment
 Never rebels against almost impossible demands
 Greatness of soul
Flaws
 Considered himself equal with the
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Gods
Often conspicuously absent
Weak intellect
Strong emotions
His thinking was limited to devising
ways to kill monsters that were trying
to kill him
Sudden outbursts of furious anger
Tasks, Journey, and Quest
 Tasks: He needed to complete 12 labors to cleanse himself
for killing his wife and 2 kids. So he went to Eurytheus to get
his 12 tasks
 Journey: He had to learn how to control his emotion and
prevent lashing out and killing innocent people
 Quest: He had to redeem himself after killing his family
Summary of Hercules
 Zeus and a mortal had a child together.
 Hercules was the son of Zeus, yet he did not live with his father, he had his earth parents.
 Since Hercules was the son of Zeus and not the son of Hera (Zeus’s wife) she came to resent
Hercules, so it became her goal to kill Hercules.
 Hera’s first attempt was when she sent 2 snakes to the crib of Hercules, this attempt failed
though since Hercules had great physical power (even as a baby) and crushed the snakes with
his bare hands. His earth parents saw this and realized what a great power Hercules had.
Hercules could not be killed because of the great strength he possessed since he is the son of
Zeus.
 Throughout the Young life of Hercules he had many bursts of outrage, often resulting in the
death of an innocent person. He regretted killing the innocent so much so that it tore him
apart.
 Hera eventually came up with an evil plot to make him go insane (since she could not directly
kill Hercules) and kill his wife and 2 kids. Hercules ended up killing his wife and kids over the
sanity he lost from Hera taking it away.
 His killing of his wife and kids gave him great guilt, and he knew that he had to redeem
himself.
Summary of Hercules
 He went to redeem himself by getting 12 labors from Eurytheus.
 Eurytheus said he would be redeemed after he completed his
missions, but this was not so. Hercules still felt bad and was still
not right in the head.
 Hercules was so upset with himself that he wanted to die, he
ended up getting his wish and was torched to death.
Tasks 1-6
 One: Kill the lion of Nemea
 Two: Kill the Hydra in Lerna
 Three: Bring back a stag with horns of gold, alive
 Four: Capture a great boar
 Five: Clean Augean stables in a single day
 Six: Drive the Stymphalian birds away from the city of
Stymphalus
Tasks 7-12
 Seven: Fetch a beautiful, savage bull
 Eight: Capture the man-eating mares of Thrace
 Nine: Bring back the girdle of Hippolyta
 Ten: Bring the cattle of Geryon
 Eleven: Bring back the golden apples of the Hesperides
 Twelve: Bring Cerberes, Hades three-headed dog, up
from the underworld
Motifs
 Guilt and Redemption:
 After going into a fit of insanity and killed his two kids, and wife
while she was trying to protect them.
 He felt guilty and went to Eurytheus to see what he could do to
redeem himself.
 Wicked Step Mother:
 Hera, Zeus’ wife, was jealous that Zeus slept with a mortal and
had a child.
 She never forgave Hercules, and tried to kill him.
 When those attempts failed, she made him go insane and was
the reason that he killed his wife and kids.
Themes
 Pride Goes Before a Fall:
 He was very cocky all of his life and thought he was equal to
the Gods.
 He was sent to kill many beasts by the Gods and since death
never came to him, he went to death.
 In the end, he fell by setting himself on fire
Symbol and setting archetypes
 Symbol: Serpent, Night, and Day
 Serpents represent evil, this is especially true in this story since 2 serpents tried
to kill him as a baby. Day represent hope, and renewal, while night is despair
and the unknown.
 Settings: Heaven, and Hell
 Heaven represents the sky and where the gods live, while Hell represents the
evil forces of the world.
Character Archetypes:
 Anti Hero:
 Hercules
 He was selfish and cocky.
 He killed people and he didn’t care, ends justified the means.
 Villain:
 Hera
 She tried to kill Hercules as a baby.
 She influenced him to kill his family.
 Wise Old Man:
 Eurytheus
 Gave him insight on how to redeem himself.
 Had wisdom and told him what to do.
Story Summation
 Hercules went from being self-centered to repaying any
misfortune he brought upon people.
 He became more aware of his strength.
 He enjoyed executing impossible tasks.
 He became more mature and independent, becoming the
greatest hero of Greece.
Lessons/Cultural Values
 Lesson: (theme) “Pride Goes Before a Fall”
 Lesson: “You are responsible for all of your actions”
 Lesson: “Think around the problem”
 Cultural Value: “Learn to Pay the Price” (a Greek value”)