Greek Mythology : Heracles/Hercules

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by MasterMochiKun

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One day, Zeus, the king of the gods, fell for a mortal woman named Alcmene, and made love to her in disguise as her husband Amphitryon. Thus a demigod was born, named Alcaeus/Alcides. Hera, Zeus's sister-wife, was furious that Zeus once again cheated on her, determined to kill the young child. However, in order to survive Hera's wrath, Athena tricked Hera into nursing the baby, granting him immeasurable strength and power, renaming him as Heracles/Hercules, meaning "Glory to Hera". Realizing she's been tricked as soon as the baby was returned to his family, Hera sent two deadly snakes to kill him. However, the demigod simply grabbed the snakes and killed them by snapping their necks with his strength, playing with them like toys.

When he reached adulthood, he was trained by the finest instructors in all of Greece, including Chiron, the trainer of heroes. However, Heracles/Hercules struggled in the arts, and accidentally killed his music teacher in self-defense from being physically punished. This was a sign of things to come. After saving the city of Thebes, he was rewarded with his marriage to Megara, where they had children. However, on that fateful night, Hera magically drove Heracles/Hercules insane, and in his madness, killed his wife and their sons.

Although he wasn't aware of his actions, his guilt was palpable. He met the Oracle of Delphi in search of redemption. The Oracle proclaimed that he submit himself to his cousin, King Eurystius, in order to perform 10 Labors. The first was to slay a lion who's hide was impenetrable to all weapons. The second was to slay a multi-headed serpent called the Hydra, from the swamps of Lerna, a monster who grows two heads in the place of a decapitated one, cauterizing the stumps so it would not grow back. He used the blood of the Hydra to dip his arrows in it, as the blood of the Hydra was so toxic, Olympus feared it.

After completing many more, King Eurystius axed two of the Labors for "cheating", as Heracles/Hercules was more clever than he thought. He was given two more Labors, one is to retrieve 3 golden apples of the Hesperides. In order to do so, he was to take on the role of the Titan Atlas, as bearer of the heavens.

There was no way to defeat this mighty hero in a contest of strength, so instead, he was tricked into wearing a shirt dipped in Hydra blood. Suffering unimaginable pain and burning at his own pyre, he called out to the gods watching the hero's story unfold. So as Heracles/Hercules's mortal form reduced to ash, his spirit ascended to Mount Olympus, taking his rightful place as the god of strength and heroes. This is the legend of the mighty hero, Heracles/Hercules.

Whew! Sorry about that, I wanted to add in his story as it's one of my favorites. I also wanted to draw something based on Greek mythology, so I feel that this was right up my alley. Dw I'll get back to doing Sonic art soon.

Hope u liek!~

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