Classics 10: Chapter 15 Heracles: Part 2 Labors, Deeds, and DeathThe Twelve Labors = 6 + 6The Twelve LaborsSeventh Labor: Cretan BullEighth Labor: Horses of DiomedesSide-Deed: AlcestisEuripides’ Alcestis (438 BCE)Slide 8Ninth Labor: Girdle of HippolytaSlide 10Heracles Fights an AmazonTenth Labor: Cattle of GeryonSlide 13Side-Deed: The Pillars Of HeraclesSide-Deed: CacusSlide 16Eleventh Labor: Apples of HesperidesSlide 18Side-Deed: AntaeusSide-Deed: BusirisSlide 21Twelfth Labor: CerberusSlide 23Slide 24Slide 25II. Other DeedsHeracles at Delphi, Part IIHercules’ New Service“Insert Other Deeds Here”III. The Death of HeraclesThe Death of HeraclesSlide 32The Divinity of HeraclesThe HeraclidsClassics 10: Chapter 15Heracles: Part 2 Labors, Deeds, and DeathI. The Twelve Labors (cont.)II. Other DeedsIII. Death and DivinityAt left, Gov. Schwarzenegger as Hercules (1970)The Twelve Labors = 6 + 6•First 6 labors all set in the Peloponnesus, relatively close to Mycenae–Shows development of the story: a few labors became 6, then all way up to 12?•Second 6 labors involve greater and greater distances from Mycenae, eventually all the way to Hades–Shows development of Heracles from mortal hero to immortal who can overcome deathThe Twelve Labors1. Nemaean Lion 7. The Cretan Bull2. Lernaean Hydra 8. Horses of Diomedes3. Ceryneian Deer 9. Girdle of Hippolyta4. Erymanthian Boar 10. Cattle of Geryon5. Augean Stables 11. Apples of the Hesperides6. Stymphalian Birds 12. CerberusSeventh Labor: Cretan Bull•Capture (but not kill?) the Cretan Bull•Heracles has to sail to Crete (i.e., leave Greece), the beginning of his worldwide reputation–The travel the greatest significance of this labor?•Grabs bull by the horns, throws it in the sea, rides it back to Mycenae to show to Copreus•Bull later escapes, ends up being killed by Theseus (hero of Chapter 16)–Wild bulls a theme that unites Heracles with Theseus and Crete (more in Chapters 16 and 17)Eighth Labor: Horses of Diomedes•Diomedes, a son of Ares, is a king in Thrace (north of Greece)•Had 4 wild horses which he tethered with iron chains and fed with human flesh•Heracles ends up clubbing Diomedes, feeds him to the horses•Once fed, horses calmly captured•Heracles drives them back to CopreusSide-Deed: Alcestis•Admetus is king of Pherae, in Thrace•Apollo has granted Admetus power of escaping death if he can find another to die for him–Zeus upset when Apollo’s healer Asclepius raised a soul from the dead, kills Asclepius–Apollo kills Zeus’ armorers, the Cyclopes–Zeus compelled Apollo to serve Admetus for one year–Apollo grateful that Admetus treated him well•Admetus’ wife Alcestis agrees to die for him, she has just died when Heracles comes to visit on his way to capture the Horses of DiomedesEuripides’ A lcestis (438 BCE)•Admetus a whiner, upset that his parents (since they are older) won’t die for him•Alcestis a dutiful wife? Or a self-centered martyr?•Euripides gradually has Admetus come to see that he shouldn’t ask others to do something he himself should do•He comes to regret that he asked Alcestis to die for him, but it is too lateEuripides’ A lcestis (438 BCE)•When Heracles arrives, Admetus does not tell him of Alcestis’ death–Thinks it inappropriate to burden his guest (xenia)•Heracles drinks and carouses, only when drunk does he learn what has befallen Alcestis•As an apology, he attends the funeral and waits for Death to show up•He wrestles Death, pins him, gets Death to give Alcestis back: tragic play has happy ending•Alcestis saved because Admetus a good host!–An odd play: tragic hero gets more than he deservesNinth Labor: Girdle of Hippolyta•Heracles to bring back the girdle of Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, for Eurystheus’ daughter•Amazons = tribe of warrior women who lived on the Black Sea (North of Turkey)•Girdle = practical and symbolic–Girdle = a belt that held tunic in place during training–Loosening the girdle = submitting to sex–Forcibly removing the girdle = rape•How was Heracles to win the girdle?–This labor a battle of male vs. female honorNinth Labor: Girdle of Hippolyta•Heracles tries seduction: it works!–Hippolyta offers him the girdle as love gift•Hera so angry she intervenes, rousing the Amazons to attack Heracles•He strangles Hippolyta, fights off the Amazons, and escapes with the girdle–Hence he prevails in love and war, and the victim of Hera’s anger is Hippolyta–Amazons sexy and scary to Greeks, their conquest in love and war a likely Greek fantasyHeracles Fights an Amazon•Note the girdle on the Amazon•Note also her musclesTenth Labor: Cattle of Geryon•Geryon a monster with three bodies joined at the waist, had distinctive red cattle•Lived on an island in the Far West near the Ocean (i.e., the edge of the world)•Trudging in the hot North African desert trying to find passage to the island, Heracles fires an arrow at the sun•Helius is impressed with this spiritedness, lends Heracles the cup in which he sails the ring of Ocean from West to East every nightTenth Labor: Cattle of Geryon•In this cup, Heracles sails into the Ocean (and so out of the Mediterranean)•Heracles finds and kills Geryon, rustles the cattle into the cup of Helios, sails back•Lands in Spain, returns the cup to Helios•Drives the cattle overland all the way to Greece, stops in Italy along the way–Furthers Heracles’ worldwide reputation–Eurystheus sacrifices the cattle to HeraSide-Deed: The Pillars Of Heracles•Rock formations at the mouth of Mediterranean•Erected by Heracles to define his passage into the Ocean•Phrase comes to mean (for the ancients) the edge of the known worldSide-Deed: Cacus•Cacus, a son of Hephaestus, a monster with three heads, breathes fire•Lives in Italy, at the future site of Rome•Heracles rests there on his journey back to Greece with Geryon’s cattle•Cacus attempts to steal some of the cattle, leading them backward into his cave•On the verge of departing, Heracles hears them mooing in the cave •Heracles confronts Cacus, who flees to his cave, rolls big boulder in front that Heracles can’t moveSide-Deed: Cacus•Heracles then rips the top off the rocky hill, jumps down into the cave•Strangles the fire-belching Cacus•This site later becomes the Palace of the Roman Emperors, the Palatine Hill in Rome•Political significance: Roman power, even when brutal, civilizes