Hercules Characteristics

Another hero that the Greeks had valued is Hercules, for his strength and self confidence. Hercules was the greatest hero of Greece, for he was the strongest man alive, and his self confidence that came with his strength, was unshakable. These two traits are closely connected because with his strength he was able to endure the physical and mental preparation for battle, which was valued by the Greeks because of all the battles. If you were weak, you would be expected to give up, whereas if you had strength, you would be more powerful. The Greeks also valued self confidence because with confidence you are able to overcome fear, which was needed if you ever wanted to win a battle. Hercules had these two traits from a very young age. An example
Hercules could only be affected by a supernatural force. This contributed to Hercules’ self confidence because nothing but magic could kill him. After he fought and conquered the Minyans, he married Princess Megara. Hercules had three sons, but Hera had sent madness upon him. As a result, he killed his family and was going to kill himself for what he had done, if it wasn’t for Theseus. Hercules then went to Eurystheus, King of Mycenae, to do whatever he asked of him as a way to be purified from what he had done to his family. Eurystheus “...devised a series of penances which from the point of view of difficulty and danger could not have been improved upon...There were twelve of them and each one was all but impossible” (Hamilton 232). Hercules rose to the challenge of the Twelve Labors of Hercules in an attempt to cleanse himself from the murders he committed. Some of the labors included killing the beast of Nemea, which no weapon could wound; kill a creature named the Hydra, where if one head was chopped off then two would grow in the place of the one; and bring back the Golden Apples of Hesperides, which it was not known where they could be