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Herakles
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| Antecipating dark waters, steer away from the draugs around. |
Contents
Supporting "well medleys" are presupposed
throughout:Old Greek stories of Heracles
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Afterwards, Herakles grew towards manhood. He got a good education from many
famous masters. He became renowned for his athletic body, his strength and willingness to
help those less strong and able than himself. Later on, he was taught archery by
Teutarus, a cattleman.
Before he was eighteen, he was visited by two young women who called themselves
Lusty and Of Capable Deeds. They came to offer him a way of life. Lusty, who was also
called Vice, tried to lure him with promises of idle luxury. Of Capable Deeds (Virtue)
promised that in his serving others, there would come toil, tribulation and suffering, but
also true happiness in time. He chose that path.
At the age of eighteen, at the palace of King Thespius, the king wanted to have
Hercules father his grand-children. So he put one of his fifty daughters in Hercules' bed
each night. And thus Hercules had fifty sons who eventually colonised Sicily.
Herakles became a favorite with nearly all the Greek gods. They equipped him
thoroughly. For example, the great smith of Greek gods and goddesses made a golden
breastplate for him.
So, well armed and protected, Herakles paraded through Greek mythology and did
things that we all could try to emulate, in some people’s opinion. And with all his
variety, Herakles still fuels the imagination of artists, dramatists not excluded. But
maybe we should look to the Greek myths with sensible caution, and learn to read well. In
such a way we could come up with nuggets of gold. Still, there’s often more than just one
version of a myth, and rather much is figurative reading. We have to note that very well.
By the way, did you know Herakles is also Egyptian?
Herodotus wrote especially about a Hercules worshipped in Egypt.
Herakles, an ancient Egyptian god
THE GREEK historian Herodotus tells:"Such Egyptians as possess a temple of the Theban Jove, or live in the Thebaic canton, offer no sheep in sacrifice, but only goats; for the Egyptians don’t all worship the same gods, excepting Isis and Osiris, the latter of whom they say is the Grecian Bacchus. ... The Thebans, and such as imitate them in their practice, give the following account of the origin of the custom:—
"Hercules," they say, "wished of all things to see Jove, but Jove didn't choose to be seen of him. At length, when Hercules persisted, Jove hit on a device —to flay a ram, and, cutting off his head, hold the head before him, and cover himself with the fleece. In this guise he showed himself to Hercules."
Therefore the Egyptians give their statues of Jupiter the face of a ram: and from
them the practice has passed to the Ammonians, who are a joint colony of Egyptians and
Ethiopians, speaking a language between the two; hence also, in my opinion, the latter
people took their name of Ammonians, since the Egyptian name for Jupiter is Amun.
Such, then, is the reason why the Thebans don’t sacrifice rams, but consider them sacred
animals. On one day in the year, however, at the festival of Jupiter, they slay a single
ram, and stripping off the fleece, cover with it the statue of that god, as he once
covered himself, and then bring up to the statue of Jove an image of Hercules. When this
has been done, the whole assembly beat their breasts in mourning for the ram, and
afterwards bury him in a holy sepulchre.The account I received of this Hercules makes him one of the twelve gods. Of the other Hercules, with whom the Greeks are familiar, I could hear nothing in any part of Egypt. That the Greeks, however (those I mean who gave the son of Amphitryon that name), took the name from the Egyptians, and not the Egyptians from the Greeks, is I think clearly proved, among other arguments, by the fact that both the parents of Hercules, Amphitryon as well as Alcmena, were of Egyptian origin. ... The Egyptian Hercules is one of their ancient gods. Seventeen thousand years before the reign of Amasis, the twelve gods were, they affirm, produced from the eight: and of these twelve, Hercules is one.
In the wish to get the best information that I could on these matters, I made a voyage to Tyre in Phoenicia, hearing there was a temple of Hercules at that place, very highly venerated. ... In a conversation that I held with the priests, I inquired how long their temple had been built ... They said that the temple was built at the same time that the city was founded, and that the foundation of the city took place two thousand three hundred years ago. In Tyre I remarked another temple where the same god was worshipped as the Thasian Hercules. So I went on to Thasos, where I found a temple of Hercules which had been built by the Phoenicians who colonised that island when they sailed in search of Europa ... These researches show plainly that there's an ancient god Hercules ... Hercules worshipped is known by the name of Olympian, and has sacrifice offered to him as an immortal". [...]
With the Egyptians, ... Pan is exceedingly ancient, and belongs to those whom they call "the eight gods," who existed before the rest. Hercules is one of the gods of the second order, who are known as "the twelve"; and Bacchus belongs to the gods of the third order, whom the twelve produced. [All from The History of Herodotus by Herodotus, book 2]
Herakles, the star constellation
AT THE BACK of some myths is "sky thinking". Sigmund Freud and others found very useful lessons in some Greeks myths that they saw into with their intelligence propped up by knowledge of ancient allegorical items. You may have heard of Oedipus in such a connection, for example. Such surmisioning lines are looked on as grand in psychotherapi.Be that as it may. Look at the stars at night if you can. Heracles is a hero of heroes in Western culture, not just a great hero. And what do we glimpse at the back of old stories of him? Herakles is one of the brightest constellations in the sky. "The kneeling man" is another very old name for it. The constellation lies between Lyra and Bootes. [Check here]
Herakles is known for his twelve great exploits, or labours. And "Labouring at his wheel" is another name of the constellation. The exploits ended in winning of the golden apples (11th labour) of immortality. The hard labours ended in getting immortal. Furthermore, on Olympus, Herakles married Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth. The fixed stars seen in the constellation Herakles are more than suspected to tie in with such peculiar 'star-gazer' thinking. Their names contain many hints.
The stellar figure is found to depict (by interpolating lines, somehow), a kneeling man with an apple branch in his right hand, and a club in the other one. Christian writers have associated the biblical Adam with the mythological Hercules. [A check]
The thinking around the offensive Herakles has been linked to the sun's annual passage through the zodiac and to the journey of man's soul or spirit.
The twelve labours can be seen as allegorically presented tasks of internal cleansing. Now, think what you will.
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