When was hercules around

The name Herakles means "glorious gift of Hera" in Greek, and that got Hera angrier still. Then she tried to kill the baby by sending snakes into his crib. But little Hercules was one strong baby, and he strangled the snakes, one in each hand, before they could bite him.

Louvre G , Attic red figure stamnos, c. The baby Hercules wrestles with the snakes Hera has sent to his crib. How could she get even?

Hera knew that she would lose in a fight, and that she wasn't powerful enough to prevent Zeus from having his way. Hera decided to pay Zeus back for his infidelity by making the rest of Hercules' life as miserable as she could.

Eurystheus and the 12 Labors When Hercules grew up and had become a great warrior, he married Megara. They had two children. Hercules and Megara were very happy, but life didn't turn out for them the way it does in the movie. Hera sent a fit of madness to Hercules that put him into so great a rage, he murdered Megara and the children. When Hercules regained his senses and saw the horrible thing that he had done, he asked the god Apollo to rid him of this pollution.

Apollo commanded the hero to do certain tasks as a punishment for his wrongs, so that the evil might be cleansed from his spirit. The god Apollo. As Phoebus, he was the sun god, and every day he drove the chariot of the sun across the sky. He was the god of healing and music. Finally, Apollo was a god of prophecy: the Greeks believed that Apollo knew what would happen in the future, and that he could advise people how to act.

Hercules hurried to the temple where Apollo gave such advice. It was in the town of Delphi and was called the Delphic oracle. The ancient historians believed that Hercules was born around BC.

Remarkably, modern archaeology and science have managed to corroborate some parts of their chronology. Archaeologists have long been fascinated with the precision of Greek historians.

While many of the events of mythology can be assumed to be invented, the wars and kings of the Age of Heroes are sometimes believed to have been based in some measure of fact. Some of these theories seemed to be confirmed when the ruins of an ancient city were found in Asia Minor. The location of the city, its dating, and many of its features appear to correspond to ancient descriptions of Troy.

Even more remarkable than the discovery of Troy was the fact that the city showed evidence of major conflict that corresponded to the years the Greek historians had placed the Trojan War.

The walls of ancient Troy show significant damage, indicating a loss in war, dating to roughly and BC. Troy is not the only site at which the Greek legends appear to be supported by archaeological evidence. The timing of the Seven Against Thebes, for example, corresponds to evidence of war from that site.

Of course, evidence of battle is hardly a direct link to mythology. The Greek city-states were almost constantly at war and a city being under siege twice in a span of fifty years would hardly be unusual. Astronomy can also help date the events surrounding the life of Hercules. Most importantly, this science can pinpoint a date for his conception. According to the timeline given by ancient scholars, Hercules was born roughly eighty years before the destruction of Troy.

Alcmene was engaged, so Zeus disguised himself as her soon-to-be husband and went to her room pretending to have just returned from a military expedition. He had only one night before the real Amphitryon returned, but he was so enamored with Alcmene that he turned one night into three. But Hera kept up her dirty tricks. When her stepson was a young adult, she cast a kind of spell on him that drove him temporarily insane and caused him to murder his beloved wife and their two children.

Once Hercules completed every one of the labors, Apollo declared, he would be absolved of his guilt and achieve immortality. The Nemean Lion First, Apollo sent Hercules to the hills of Nemea to kill a lion that was terrorizing the people of the region.

Some storytellers say that Zeus had fathered this magical beast as well. Hercules trapped the lion in its cave and strangled it. The Lernaean Hydra Second, Hercules traveled to the city of Lerna to slay the nine-headed Hydra—a poisonous, snake-like creature who lived underwater, guarding the entrance to the Underworld. For this task, Hercules had the help of his nephew Iolaus. This way, the pair kept the heads from growing back.

The Golden HindNext, Hercules set off to capture the sacred pet of the goddess Diana: a red deer, or hind, with golden antlers and bronze hooves. Eurystheus had chosen this task for his rival because he believed that Diana would kill anyone she caught trying to steal her pet; however, once Hercules explained his situation to the goddess, she allowed him to go on his way without punishment. The Erymanthean Boar Fourth, Hercules used a giant net to snare the terrifying, man-eating wild boar of Mount Erymanthus.

However, Hercules completed the job easily, flooding the barn by diverting two nearby rivers. Hercules used these tools to frighten the birds away.

Hercules drove the bull back to Eurystheus, who released it into the streets of Marathon. He brought them to Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera and set them free.

At first, the queen welcomed Hercules and agreed to give him the belt without a fight. That night, she got pregnant and later gave birth to a son. Luckily for Hercules, having Zeus as a father meant he was a demigod, unusually strong and fearless. He grabbed each snake by the neck and strangled them just before they were able to strike.

Hercules, also known as Heracles, Herculies, Herculea or Hercukes, is a prime example of a mighty warrior. Without any more major interference from Hera, Hercules grew into a great warrior. He single-handedly led the attack that drove the Minyans out of Thebes. In gratitude, Creon, king of Thebes offered his eldest daughter, Megara, to the hero. He fell into madness and went insane with rage. When he came to, he was totally destroyed by his actions.

With a broken heart, he set out to seek punishment for the horrifying crimes he had committed. Hercules travelled to Delphi to ask Apollo another son of Zeus and the god of prophecy what he should do to rid his soul of this evil. Apollo sent Hercules to the city of Tiryns where he had to serve the cruel king, Eurystheus, for twelve years and complete twelve impossible tasks, known as the Twelve Labors.