Herakles and the Gods
Olympian Gods
Zeus
(Jupiter)
Zeus was the god of thunder and the ruler of the other
gods, as well as Herakles’ father. Zeus
became the ruler of the gods by overthrowing his own father.
Of all of the immortals, Zeus works most behind the scenes.
Whenever he does commit an act to help out someone, namely Herakles,
which is not too often, he does not let everyone know.
The relationship between Zeus and Herakles is not like any other
father-son relationship; they both acknowledge each other with the respect due
but they do not closely communicate or function as a family.
Hera, the sister and wife of Zeus, is a reason for his lack of
participation with the mortals of Earth, not to mention he is the ruler of all
the gods and does not have the time to take care of everything.
Hera
(Juno)
Hera was the sister and
wife of Zeus and was very passionate in her hate for Herakles.
In myth, Hera was simply Zeus’ wife, and as such she was inferior to
him in position and power and had to obey his commands. (It was only later, in
cult, that she became the queen of the heavens, of gods and men as he was king.)
In myth, she was frequently humiliated and punished by her husband. He
punished her after a violent quarrel in which Hephaestus interfered on her
behalf, and Zeus threw his son out of Olympus, laming him from the fall. Hera
then focused her hatred also upon the women that Zeus loved.
Instead of attempting to punish Zeus, she would punish the women, even
when they yielded to him only because he coerced or tricked them. It made no
difference to Hera how reluctant any of them were, or how innocent, the goddess
treated them all the same. Hera and Zeus had four children together, Hephaestus,
Ares, Hebe, and Eileithyia the goddess of childbirth.
Herakles and Hera have a long past together.
Hera was the one, along with Athena, who found Herakles in a field when
he was a baby and Herakles bit the breast of Hera and made the Milky Way as the
milk shot forth from her breast (Age of Heroes, p.300.)
Hera sent the snakes into the crib of Herakles as he was sleeping as a
babe, but the ever-strong Herakles, even as a child disposed of the snakes with
ease (Apollodorus 2.4.8.) When
Herakles returns from the underworld to save his wife and children from Lycus,
Hera sends Iris and Madness to infest the body of Herakles and drive him insane,
forcing him to kill his wife Megara, and his children (Euripides, The Madness
of Herakles.) Hera also sent a
storm after Herakles when he was at sea and had taken Troy.
Thus forcing Zeus to hang her from Olympus.
This was also where Hephaestus came to her rescue and he was cast out of
the home of the immortals by Zeus (Apollodorus 1.3.5.)
Also, during his labors, Hera sends a giant crab to try to kill Herakles
while he is fighting the Hydra (Apollodorus 2.5.2.)
Needless to say, Herakles is an ever-present reminder of the
unfaithfulness of Zeus and she is compelled to destroy the hero.
Demeter
(Ceres)
Demeter was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and sister to Zeus, Hades,
Poseidon, Hera and Hestia. Demeter was the goddess of corn, fruit and
agriculture in general and a goddess of fertility. Demeter had a daughter named Persephone who was captured by
Hades and forced to live in his underground palace with him.
Demeter was heart broken and the loss of her daughter and went on a
worldwide search for her. While searching, Demeter neglected her duties to change the
seasons and to make the earth bear its fruits, so in turn the earth grew barren
and dry as she wandered along searching for Persephone.
Finally, Zeus intercedes and tells Hades that he must give up Persephone.
Hades agrees but since she had eaten part of a pomegranate she had to
return to Hades and remain as his wife for four months out of the year and she
would live with her mother the other eight months on Olympus.
Whenever Persephone returns to Hades each year, Demeter is sad and the
earth grows cold and looses its fruit, causing winter. Demeter had only a tenuous relationship to Herakles when he
was returning from Hades with Cerberus, he freed Ascalaphus whom Demeter had
imprisoned, but Demeter turned Ascalaphus into an owl, and allowing Herakles to
continue on his journey (Apollodorus 2.5.12.)
Apollo
(same)
Apollo was the god of
art, culture, and music. Apollo was
a many sided god, and was worshipped for various different qualities and
capacities. He was often a punishing god, and because of this, he is depicted
has having a bow and arrows, these having the ability to cause sudden death.
Apollo had the ability to tell prophesy which he channeled through
oracles, in particular the famous Delphic Oracle.
In addition to
having the ability to exercise this power, he also had the ability to transfer it to other men and gods as well. Apollo was a god who would help the mortals one-minute but would punish them for something the next. The relationship between Apollo and Herakles was complex. When Herakles visits the Delphic Oracle during his travels he becomes enraged at what the oracle tells him and knocks over a tripod. Apollo arrives and the two begin to battle. The fighting only stops once Zeus intervenes (Apollodorus 2.6.2). However there is an instance when they are side-by-side in battle when the gods fight the giants. Apollo is seen shooting and arrow into the left eye of the giant Ephialtes, and Herakles is seen shooting the right eye (Apollodorus 1.6.2.)
Artemis
(Diana)
Artemis was the virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon. Artemis was the twin
sister of Apollo. Because she is
Apollo’s twin it would be expected of her to share the same characteristics of
her brother, and indeed she does. Artemis
too carried a bow and arrows, and wielded sudden death upon whomever
the deadly arrows struck. Like the other divinities, some of her
qualities were ambivalent; hence she brought evil and suffering upon mortals,
yet she also cured their ailments and helped them to solve their problems.
Artemis is not known for many famous deeds but whenever she is mentioned,
she is usually along side her brother Apollo.
She does have relationship to Herakles however.
When Herakles had to return to Eurystheus with the golden hind, which was
sacred to Artemis since she was the goddess of the hunt, she and Apollo
confronted Herakles when he had captured the animal.
They agreed to let him borrow it as long as he returned it to the forest
once he was done (Apollodorus 2.5.3.)
Dionysus
(Bacchus)
Dionysus was born in Thebes, the son of Zeus and Semele, the daughter of Cadmus,
and is generally known as the god of wine and merrymaking. Dionysus was the only
god whose parents were not both divine. When Dionysus had grown older, Hera
drove him mad, in which condition he traveled through many parts of the earth:
Egypt, Syria, Asia and India. Where he was received with hospitality he
responded in kind and taught people the elements of civilization and how to
cultivate the vine; where he was not accorded the respect due to him and not
recognized as a god entitled to worship, he visited horrible punishments upon
the inhabitants, usually madness. Those
who incurred Dionysus’ wrath, were not only sent into a frenzy, but in that
state harmed or killed themselves and those they loved, or were attacked by
their loved ones. Once Dionysus had secured his authority as a god across the
world he left his home high on Mount Olympus, and visited Semele in Hades,
secured her release and took her back to Olympus, where she was worshipped as
Thyone. In myth Dionysus and
Herackles do not come together, but both were driven mad by Hera.
In comedy, Dionysus and Herakles share two very similar attributes; they
both love to party and to drink wine.
Hermes
(Mercury)
Hermes was the son of Zeus and
of Maia, a Naiad who was the oldest and loveliest daughter of Atlas, and was
born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. As the messenger and herald of the gods,
Hermes was frequently requested to speak in public, and to do a great deal of
traveling; he therefore became the god of eloquence and speech, and the
god of roads who would protect travelers like himself.
In many places, Hermes was worshipped as the god of crops, and of mining.
In Arcadia, he was honored as the god who bestows the blessing of fertility on
animals and soil. He was (as well as Morpheus, who played a minor role), the god
of sleep. Hermes was one of the
most active and energetic gods, and held many positions of trust, bestowed on
him by Zeus. One of Hermes' most
important duties was to ferry the shades or the ghosts of the dead from the
upper world to the lower world (This is how Herakles was able to travel back and
forth without injury.) This duty was so important, that Hades, himself used to
do it. Hermes, along with Athena, also helped Herakles when he could. He also counseled Herakles when he descended to Hades and
warned him of the Gorgon’s inability to harm him anymore and gave him a sword
to use on his journeys (Apollodorus 2.5.12.)
Aphrodite
(Venus)
Aphrodite was the goddess of love. The unfaithful wife of the lame Hephaestus,
she was in love with at least four other gods; Ares, Hermes, Poseidon and
Dionysus, and at least two mortals, Anchises and Adonis, both noted for their
beauty. By Anchises, she was the mother of the Roman hero, Aeneus.
Aphrodite, although the most beautiful of the goddesses, rarely played a
major role in myth. There was no
relationship between Herakles and Aphrodite in myth. It is interesting that they are both considered great lovers
and they do not have any other connection at all.
Ares (Mars)
Ares was one of the sons of Zeus and Hera, and was the god of war.
Ares was very belligerent and violent with his temper, which he inherited
from his mother. His own parents detested him, and his fellow gods disliked
him as well, especially Zeus and Athena, who hated him for his blood lust. For a
war god, Ares made a surprisingly poor showing in the contests in which he
participated. When Diomedes, the
son of Tydeus wounded him before Troy, his cry of pain, as loud as ten thousand
warriors, made both the Trojans and the Greeks tremble. In the battle of the
gods, Athena, who had helped Diomedes, caught him in the neck with a huge rock,
his stunned body, falling over seven hundred feet (Homer, Iliad V).
Herakles, who had killed his son, Cycnus, conquered Ares in single combat
(Hesiod, Shield of Herakles).
Hephaestus
(Vulcan)
Hephaestus was born the son of Zeus and Hera, and was the god of fire and the
chief workman of the gods. Hephaestus was lame and ugly, and was twice thrown
from heaven on Olympus, once by his mother in shame and anger at his deformity,
and once by his father because of a quarrel in which he sided with his mother.
Perhaps the most important far-reaching contribution made by Hephaestus was his
invention of Pandora, the first woman on earth, whom he made out of clay, at the
command of Zeus, in order to plague mankind.
Among the specimens of his skill as a craftsman, may be mentioned all of
the palaces of the Olympian gods, the thunder-causing and fear-inspiring shield
of Zeus, the armor of Achilles and Aeneas, the scepter of Agamemnon, the
fire-breathing bulls of Aetes, king of Colchis, the crown or Ariadne, and the
beautiful but fatal necklace of Harmonia, the wife of Cadmus. Hephaestus’ only relationship with Herakles was that he
gave the hero a golden breastplate and shield to wear when in battle
(Apollodorus 2.4.11, Hesiod, Shield of Herakles).
The following were gods and goddesses but they were not considered to be Olympian gods.
Hades
(Pluto)
Hades was the third brother of the Olympians who drew for his share of the
universe; the underworld and to rule over the dead was what he ended up with;
God of the underworld (with his queen Persephone).
Hades was also known as the god of wealth and precious metal that lay
hidden deep within the earth, and was a son of Cronus and Rhea.
His helmet, given to him by the Cyclops was famous, for whoever wore it,
became invisible. Hades lent his helmet, on occasions, to other gods, and
sometimes mortals, just as Zeus lent his shield to Athena and Apollo. It was
rare that he left his dark realm to
visit Olympus or the earth, nor was he urged to do so, he was not a welcome
visitor. Hades was unpitying and inexorable, but just; a terrible, not an evil
god. Hades was king of the dead, not death itself, whom the Greeks called
Thanatos. Hades’ symbol is the two pronged staff, which he used to drive the
unwilling shades of spirits into his dark regions. The land of Hades is well
mapped in mythology, being split into two parts: Erebus to which the dead come
immediately after dying, and Tartarus, the deeper part.
Although not incapable of feeling love, Hades was a grim, fierce, and
inexorable god, but not unjust, not a hater of foe of man, although of all of
the deities he was the most hated by both men and gods.
Hades did contribute help to Herakles with completing his labors when he
had to bring the tri-headed guard dog of Hades, Cereberus, to Eurystheus.
Hades agreed to let Herakles borrow the hound under one condition, that
he defeats the animal without any weapons.
Herakles did just that and returned to the world of the living with his
new trophy (Apollodorus 2.5.12.)
Hestia
(Vesta)
Hestia
was the first born of Cronus and Rhea and the sister of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon,
Hades and Demeter. Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, and a virgin by choice
as Apollo and Poseidon wooed her, but she swore to Zeus that she would live
forever in the unmarried state. With
Athena and Artemis, she was one of the trinity of virgin goddesses.
As a symbol of domesticity, she was honored, at the command of Zeus, by a
hearth consecrated to her not only in every private home, but also in the public
building of every capital city in Greece - as well as in the temples of the
gods. All sacrifices began, and
ended with tribute being paid to Hestia, and she always had first mention in
prayers. Hestia is quite simply the female counterpart of Hephaestus, the god of
fire; hence her presence was not as strong as other divinities.
Herakles and Hestia did not have a relationship together at all, most
likely because Herakles never had anything to do with hearth and home.
(AH)