Classical Wisdom Litterae - April 2019

Even this attempt was foiled by his arch enemy, who guided the oracle to punish Heracles further. He was ordered to serve King Eurystheus, a man he knew was lesser than him, and do whatever was asked of him for the following ten years. It was during this time that Heracles completed his famous twelve labors. He was actually only supposed to do ten, but King Eurystheus cheated him into doing two more. Apparently a few of his miraculous, monster killing acts were not up to scratch because he either received money or help. Once Heracles was purged of infanticide, he joined a superhero group called the Argonauts. They searched for the Golden Fleece, conquered Troy, fought against the Gigantes and of course, rescued heroines. During one such escapade, Heracles fell in love with Princess Iole of Oechalia, an ancient Greek city. In legend like fashion, her father, King Eurytus, promised his daughter to whomever could win an archery competition against his sons. Heracles promptly triumphed, but the King did not fulfill his promise of giving away his daughter. Instead, King Eurytus and all his sons, except one named Iphitus, spurned Heracles. The demi-god then proceeded to kill them all… except Iphitus, who became his best friend. She again drove Heracles mad and this time the hefty beast of man threw his greatest pal, Iphitus, over the city wall to his death. And just like the last time, Heracles submitted to servitude as penalty for the killing. The epitome of all things masculine, Heracles then spent the next three years doing women’s work in women’s clothes. His new master, Queen Omphale of Lydia (modern day Turkey), completed the farce by donning Heracles’ iconic club and lion skin garb. Eventually the queen freed Heracles and married him. Over the years Heracles continued to have extraordinary adventures. He rescued poor Prometheus from a vulture that ate his liver every day. He killed countless beasts, Enter heartless Hera once more.

The Origin of the Milky Way, by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1575

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