Hercules Carson Sisk, Andrew Allen, Jacob Democko, Abraham Abdurakhmon, Zach Boyd

Flaws Heroic Qualities Impulsive Strong Uncontrollable Brave Dangerous Murderer Dumb Easy to trick Can’t think for himself Thinks he is better than everyone else Strong Brave Proud Confident Determined Hardworking Loyal Loving

Infancy He was known to do great things when he killed the two serpents by the throat in his early childhood. He did not like to learn and especially hated music, but people still knew that when he grew up he would achieve many great things.

Journey of Hercules Born in Thebes; son of Zeus and Alcmena Hera was jealous of Zeus’s affairs so she put 2 snakes in Hercules’s and his brother’s crib; Hercules choked them both to death

Journey of Hercules He didn’t like learning, especially music, and accidentally killed his music teacher; he felt crippling guilt When he was older, Hera drove him mad and made him kill his wife, Megara, and their children; he again felt terrible guilt and never forgave himself Hercules went to the oracle of Delphi who told him he needed to be cleansed by doing whatever Eurystheus told him to do

Tasks 1ST TASK: Kill the lion of Nemea by choking the life out of him. 2nd TASK: Kill the Hydra by burning them off. 3rd TASK: Bring back alive a stag with horns of gold. 4th TASK: Capture a great boar on Mt. Erymanthus

Tasks 5th TASK: Hercules must clean out the Augean stables, he does this by redirecting the flow of two rivers to wash through the stable. 6th TASK: Hercules must drive away the birds at Stymphalus that were a nuisance to the people. 7th TASK: Hercules goes to the island of Crete to bring back a bull that Poseidon gifted to Minos. 8th TASK: Hercules is assigned to get the man-eating mares of Diomedes, the king of Thrace. Hercules kills the king and drives off the mares.

Tasks 9th TASK: brings back the girdle of Hippolyta after he kills the queen of the amazons. 10th TASK: Bring back the cattle of Greyon (oxen) and brings them back to Mycenae. 11th TASK: Tricks Atlas to bring back the Golden Apples of the Hesperides by holding the sky up. 12th TASK: Bring back Cerberus, a three headed dog from Hades.

Examples of Stupidity It was too hot and he threatened to shoot the sun with an arrow He told the waters that he would punish them if they did not grow calm because they shook his boat. He gets drunk at the house and figures out that the queen was dead.

Achelous and Deianira Achelous was a river-god; he was in love with the girl Hercules wanted to marry Achelous didn’t want a fight but Hercules started one Achelous took the form of a bull and attacked Hercules; Hercules beat him and took one of his horns which became the horn of plenty The girl (Deianira) became his wife

Admetus and Alcestis Admetus is a king in Thessaly, and while Apollo is serving him, the Fates decide that Admetus is to die. Apollo convinced them to allow someone to die in Admetus' place. Once Admetus learns of the news, he searches for someone to take his place. Neither of his parents would take his place, nor any of his friends, but eventually his wife Alcestis decides she will take his place. When Hercules hears of this, he feels bad for getting drunk and rowdy in a time of mourning so he goes and fights Death to get back Alcestis

Deianira and Nessus and Iole When Hercules took Deianira on a boat ride with Nessus (the transporter), he was attacked by Hercules after he insulted Deianira. Nessus gave part of his blood to Deianira and told her when Hercules fell in love with another woman (Iole), she could use the blood to get Hercules back to her.

Physical vs. Mental Strength Hercules was very strong and courageous but he was not emotionally stable. He did not know how to control his anger and besides that, he was pretty stupid.

Death of Hercules When Hercules rescues a princess, Deianira fears he is in love with the other girl. She gives Hercules a robe dipped in the blood of Nessus, to make him fall back in love with her, Deianira. Turns out, Nessus was a liar. The blood works as a burning poison. Hercules is in agony but unable to remove the robe. Hercules longs for death but no matter what he does, he can’t seem to die. Thus, he asked his followers to create a pyre on Mt. Oeta. He then laid on it and was set on fire. He went up to heaven, found peace with Hera, and married her daughter Hebe. Finally, Hercules became a god himself.

Motifs and Themes Guilt and Redemption: In the beginning, Hercules kills his family under the influence of a madness from Hera. He seeks redemption by consulting an oracle, who tells Hercules to submit to his cousin Eurystheus and he would be purified. After he's assigned twelve tasks to complete, he can be redeemed. After he completed the tasks, he did not feel redemption, and continued to kill and fight other monsters. One day, he kills an innocent boy, and to atone is sent to serve the queen Omphale.

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Hercules- hero (killed many innocent people) Wife- sacrificial victim Death- was an anti hero because he was holding the queen Serpent- evil (Hercules overcomes fear when he was at a young age)

Other Archetypes Mountain: Hercules' fourth task takes him to a mountain where he must kill a great boar. Hercules is also burned by his follower Philoctetes on a mountain, where he dies. This is significant because it helps Hercules understand death more, when death won't come to take him. Water: In Hercules' fifth task, he cleans out the Augean stables by running two rivers through them, this represents a renewal. Island: The tenth labor assigned to Hercules took him to the island of Erythia to return some cattle. On this island, he reaches the end of the Mediterranean and erects two pillars as a memorial of his journey. Twelve: Hercules is assigned twelve tasks, twelve represents the complete heavenly cycle, which is what will give Hercules his penance for killing his family.

Story Summation Hercules learned how to care about others and not only himself and how to better control himself

Lessons and Cultural Values Values show that the Greeks liked a strong man who could defend himself, his wife, and his city Lessons can be to think before you act and to be prepared for the consequences