Divine Nature of Herakles

Walter Burkert, when describing cults of the dead, heroes, and Cthonic Gods, also includes mention of Herakles.  The heroes who fell at Troy or Thebes are given life at the edge of the world on the Islands of the Blessed near Oceanos, where the earth bears fruit three times a year.  Herakles, is an exception to this.  In the Odyssey and the Hesiodic Catalogues, he lives as a god on Olympus and has Hebe, the flower of youth, as his spouse.  Thus, he has succeeded in achieving the highest goal imaginable.

In Homeric terms heroes and gods form two quite separate groups, even though they share the nature of stronger ones in relation to men.  The wall which separates them, is impermeable.  No god is a hero, no hero becomes a god.  Only Dionysos and Herakles were able to defy this principle.  Herakles, the mightiest son of Zeus, who can always call victory his own, is the greatest of the Greek heroes.  There is no grave of Herakles and the stories about him are known far and wide in the Greek world.  Herakles is both hero and god, as Pindar says, at the same festival, sacrifice was made to him first as a hero and then as a god.

Hunters and Shamans
Herakles is most known for his exploits with animals.  He kills or captures the most dangerous animals.  This capture of edible animals points to a time of hunter cultures.  The man-eaters belong to the shamanistic hunting magic – something which also seems to be reflected in the cave paintings of the Upper Paleolithic.  It is the shaman who is able to enter the world of the dead and the world of the gods.  Herakles ascends through the flames to the gods; vase paintings show him riding towards heaven on a chariot above the pyre.  Herakles was also able to become an influential spiritual force.  He is the prototypic ruler, who by virtue of his divine legitimation acts in an irresistible way for the good of mankind and finds his fulfillment among the gods.  He is also a model for common man, who after his life full of work can enter the realm of the gods.  Herakles appears in initiation rituals as well.  In Sparta, a ritual battle takes place on a bridge with one side marked with the image of Herakles and the other side with the image of Lycurgus.  Two opposing groups meet and fight without weapons.  The group that succeeds on pushing the other off into the water is the victor. (GD)