Greek Hero Characteristics

All the heroes you can count, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Theseus, Hercules, Achilles, etc. all have heroic qualities that you love. Are you thinking of any fascinating Greek mythology heroes? Being a hero is someone that is being recognized and admired by a group of people. Superheroes each have their different missions and quests to complete that amazes the audience. Greek cultures include a variety of qualities of a hero that is the basic qualities of being an admirable hero. The Greek stories Theseus and Hercules reflect the most important qualities a Greek Hero should have. Through these two thrilling stories, the qualities of intelligence and courage stand out to be the most important Greek qualities.

The quality of intelligence is

a quality that a hero needs in order to succeed in a mission or a quest. Without being intelligent, a hero would not be able to think good plans to defeat their enemies when their time is limiting. The Athens hero Theseus shows the most qualities of being intelligent. When he meets the bandits on the way to his father, Aegean, he cleans all of them out, leaving no one alive, “He killed them all, however; he left no one alive to trouble future travelers”(Hamilton 210). This shows that Theseus thinks ahead of what he does, and has the perfect quality of being the Athens king, which requires the most intelligence out of all Greek city states. Through the story of Hercules, Theseus helps Hercules to get out of his misery: killing his wife and children, “His friend Theseus stood before him and stretched out his hands to clasp those bloodstained hands” (Hamilton 229). He use his convincing words to persuade Hercules to get out of his misery and go to Athens with him. A person needs a tremendous amount of knowledge to persuade a person who has done such a mistake that he wants to suicide. Not only Theseus has the quality of intelligence, Hercules has the quality as well. During the fifth labor, he shows intelligence by cleaning the Augean stables in a single day, “Hercules diverted the courses of two rivers and made them flow through the stables in a great flood that washed out of the filth in no time at all” (Hamilton 232). Not many people at that time period can think of such a great plan in a short period of time and finish the task in one day. However, the greatest hero of Greek thinks of this wonderful idea that still influences us today. On the eleventh labor, which was to bring back the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, he shows even more qualities of intelligence, and also a little quality of being cunning,“ He agreed to Atlas’ plan, but asked him to take the sky back for just moment so that Hercules could put a pad on his shoulders to ease the pressure. Atlas did so, and Hercules picked up the apples and went off ”(Hamilton 233). This is a person full of intelligence and he can think of every way possible in a short moment that takes the shortest time to complete the labor. Regular people would listen to Atlas and cooperate with him. Yet Hercules uses his intelligence and cunningness to trick Atlas into giving him the golden apples. The quality of intelligence grants the heroes success on their journey to defeat enemies.
Not only a hero needs the quality of intelligence, they also need to have courage to save the world and do their quests.

Without being courageous, a hero would be too scared to answer his or her adventure. Right after Theseus finds his father, he goes on a quest to kill the Minotaur and save the citizens that are going to be eaten. With great strength and courage, he finishes beating the terrible beast, “He came upon him asleep and fell upon him, pinning him to the ground; and with his fists - he had no other weapon - he battered the monster to death” (Hamilton 215). With his incredible strength, Theseus battles the powerful monster to its death without any kind of weapon, only bare hands. A human has to have enough courage and confidence to achieve this goal. Hercules was known as the greatest Greek hero of all time because of his courage and strength. Hercules even has the courage to go against Apollo by lot without any signs of being timid, “Apollo, of course, would not put up with this, but Hercules was perfectly willing to fight him and Zeus had to intervene” (Hamilton 225). A person, is courageous and confident enough that he thinks he is equal to god. The gods need him to fight the giants and he was not afraid to go against Apollo by having an oracle of his own. Zeus, the most powerful god and supreme god, has to interfere and stop the quarrel between them. Not only challenging one of the most powerful Gods, Hercules also has great courage to do the twelve labors. The twelve labors are impossible, and no mortals cannot achieve any of them, “There were twelve of them and each one was all but impossible”(Hamilton 231). A man that can take not only one, but twelve impossible challenges that makes himself clean from the murder of his wife and children needs a tremendous amount of courage to achieve these labors. Courage is always needed in a hero in order for that person to achieve his or her

goal.
With the most important and basic qualities of intelligence and courage, a Greek hero is born. By completing quests and missions, the audience will always notice their intelligence and courage throughout the book. Without intelligence, a hero cannot think and plan what to do next when their time is limiting. Without courage, a hero would never have the confidence to receive his or her adventures. These two most important qualities stand out being the most basic qualities that not only a Greek hero should have, but the qualities that every hero should have.