Author Description

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts of Hercules *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "Hercules, who subdued and destroyed monsters, bandits, and criminals, was justly famous and renowned for his great courage. His great and glorious reputation was worldwide, and so firmly entrenched that he'll always be remembered. In fact the ancients honored him with his own temples, altars, ceremonies, and priests. But it was his wisdom and great soul that earned those honors; noble blood, physical strength, and political power just aren't good enough." - Natale Conti There are few mythological characters that require less of an introduction than Hercules. His "labours" are known and have been reimagined by cultures far beyond their Greek beginnings, and he continues to influence modern culture in more ways than any other ancient Greek hero. What is curious about Hercules's character is that, despite his fame even in the ancient world, there was no authoritative source for his biography. The Library of Myths, commonly though falsely attributed to Apollodorus, is frequently used to illustrate the key episodes of Hercules's life. Despite being written at some time during the 2nd century CE, the Library encapsulates much of the "conglomerate of popular tales" that has become Hercules's vulgate biography. Ultimately, though these tales are well known, their true beauty lies in the social and religious influence of their telling and the historical memories that remain, to this day, as shadows in their lines. The truth is that Hercules's biography is an amalgamation of many myths from across the Mediterranean and beyond, with many mythographers seeing fit to include a symbol here and a descendent there according to the needs of the society at that time. More than any other hero, Hercules is ubiquitous in Greek myth for that reason. After his fourth labour, Hercules was said to have heard Jason's call to join the Argon