Should Hercules Be Considered A Hero Essay

“A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.” This is a quote from the movie Hercules, said by the person who voiced Hercules in the movie. This completely explains Hercule’s situation. Hera despised Hercules, made him go crazy and slaughter all of the people he loved. He then completed 12 seemingly impossible tasks. His second wife thought he was betraying her, and she killed him, but the gods took pity on him, and made him a god. Hercules should be considered a Greek Hero for three reasons. He went through a lot of suffering, he fought for his own honor, and he accomplished many magnificent, treacherous feats.

First, Hercules should be considered a Greek Hero because he went through a lot of suffering,

physical and emotional. Hera, his stepmother, hated him for one simple reason, he was the son of Zeus and another woman.

Since Hera was vengeful, she was always trying to destroy everything that had meaning to Hercules, or attempting to kill him. Although he ended up in a good place at the end of his life, on Mt. Olympus with the gods, a wife, and immortality, he went through many hardships to deserve his immortality. To begin with, when Hercules was a young adult, Hera whispered in his ear, causing him to go insane, and while he was insane, he bashed his wife’s and children’s heads in. When he was once again sane, he was heartbroken by what he had done, and wanted to make up for what he had done, which is when the twelve labors came into the picture. After that, he was tasked with the 12 labors. Each of these took a year to complete, and all of the tasks were seemingly impossible. The twelve labors, as listed at theoi.com, were: Kill the indestructible Nemean Lion, kill the Lernaean Hydra, bring back the Cerynitian Hind, a stag with golden horns

sacred to Artemis, Catch the Erymanthian Boar, clean the Augean stables, find a way to get rid of the Stymphalian birds, birds with wings made of metal and feathers, fetch the Cretan Bull, kill the man-eating horses of King Diomedes, steal the belt of Hippolyte, an Amazon tribe leader, steal the Cattle of Geryon, get the Apples of Hesperides, and capture Cerberus. All of these labors were given to him by his uncle, King Eurystheus, who wanted Hercules dead as much as Hera did, partly because Hera made him think that. He thought that at least one of these would kill him, but none of them did, but Hercules did go through a lot of pain to accomplish these tasks. After these labors, he was accidentally burnt to death by his second wife, Deianeira. She thought she was giving him a love potion that was given to her by the centaur Nessus when she spread it on his shirt, but it was actually poison, it was Nessus’s revenge, because Hercules killed Nessus. When Hercules put the shirt on, it started burning his skin, killing him painfully and slowly. Which is why Hercules should be considered a Greek God, because of all the physical and emotional pain he endured. He not only endured a lot of pain, but he fought for his own honor, through the 12 labors and other feats he accomplished.
Next, Hercules should be considered a Greek Hero because he fought for his own honor. Hercules was a son of Zeus, and he already had some honor to his name. But, he gained more honor by himself than he ever did for having his dad be Zeus. First of all, Hercules defeated the river god Achelous in a battle for Deianeira’s (An Aitolian princess), hand in marriage. Achelous turned into a bull to show his masculinity, and then Hercules challenged him to a duel, which Hercules won. Also, Hercules wanted to make up for killing his first wife and children, even though it was not necessarily his fault. He was willing to endure pain to make up for what he did, and by doing this, he gained honor that many people only wish they could have. Lastly, according to classroom.synonym.com, he worked so hard, that when he died, he was taken to Mt. Olympus and was made immortal by the gods. This proves that he gained his own honor, even the gods were impressed. Because he worked hard for his own honor, Hercules should be considered a Greek Hero. He was willing to die to make up for what he had done to his first wife and children.
Finally, Hercules should be considered a Greek Hero because he completed many incredible feats, including the 12 labors and many other feats that just make his label even finer.

Even though Hercules had some help accomplishing these tasks from the gods, he did most everything himself. He used his intelligence and strength to his advantage while completing these tasks. Hercules defeated the Nemean Lion with his intelligence and strength. He cornered the lion, and wrestled it to death, basically using it’s own claws to strangle itself. The Nemean Lion was indestructible, no weapon could penetrate its hide, so Hercules had to think of another way to kill the lion. After Hercules killed the lion, he skinned it, making a lion-skin cape that couldn’t be penetrated, a talisman to prove that he killed the lion. Next, he used his intelligence when he tricked Atlas back into taking his appointed spot as sky bearer. To get the Apples of Hesperides, which belonged to Hera of all people, he had to be a major part in the family tree, and he wasn’t, so he found Atlas, and took the burden of the sky for him while he went to get the apples for Hercules. Mythologian.net said that Atlas did not want the burden back, so he told Hercules, and Hercules tricked him into thinking that he was okay with it. Hercules told Atlas that he wanted to put shoulder pads on, because he was going to bear the weight of the sky, and asked Atlas to hold the sky while he put the pads on, but he ran as soon as

Atlas got a hold of the sky. This was very cunning and dangerous, but he did it anyway, and it worked. Lastly, he defeated the Trojan Sea-Monster, a monster sent by Poseidon to wreak havoc on the kingdom of Troy. King Laomedon offered his daughter as a sacrifice, instead of someone of lesser importance or someone willing to do it. Hercules rescued her and kill the monster. Hercules showed not only strength, but bravery as well in this situation, and this wasn’t even one of the labors. All of this evidence proves that Hercules should be considered a Greek Hero because of the many feats he accomplished in his life.
In conclusion, this essay told you about Hercules, and why he should be considered a Greek hero. Hercules should be considered a Greek hero because of the feats he accomplished, he fought for his own honor, and he went through physical and emotional suffering. As Hercules once said, “A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.”