I’ll sing of Heracles, the strongest man on earth, In Thebes Alcmene birthed him – The city of lovely dances – when she lay With dusky-clouded Zeus. Once, many a day, He roamed through countless lands and on the sea At King Eurystheus’ bidding. Violently He acted, suffering much. In joy and fame He lives now on Olympus. To him came Neat-ankled Hebe who would be his wife. Lord, give me wealth and fortune all my life.
(Homeric Hymns, To Hercules the Lionheart)
The most recognizable and famous hero of ancient Greece is probably Hercules. He was son of Zeus and Alcmene, with the king of Mycenae Amphitryon as his foster father- whose form Zeus had taken in order to sleep with Alcmene.
The hero with the iconic lionskin head and club was born in Thebes, in an area called Boeotia. Hera, wanting to take revenge on Zeus for sleeping with Alcmene sent two giant snakes to devour little Hercules in his crib, but the infant hero strangled them.
In his childhood he was taught music, swordsmanship, science and other arts by figures such as Chiron the Centaur and Castor.
One of his most famous fables is his choice to follow Virtue when he was in front of the dilemma between her and Evil at the crossroads where he was standing. From then on, his life would be full of difficulties that he would face, alone, using his super strenght and inherent wisdom.
Hercules rose to fame when he completed the twelve labors assigned to him by Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae. The Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Golden Hind of Artemis, the Erymanthian Boar, the Augean Stables, the Stymphalian Birds, the Cretan Bull, the Mares of Diomedes, the Girdle of Hippolyta, the Cattle of Geryon, the golden Apples of the Hesperides and the capture of Cerberus in Hades were his fabled labors. Before his labors, the rest of the Gods helped him in solidarity - Athena gave him the garment of wisdom, Hephaestus a golden breastplate, [fighting], Poseidon horses [speed], Hermes a sharp sword, [to choose the right path]. Apollo gave him a luminous bow, a symbol of his lofty goals. In addition to those feats, he also took place in other legendary tasks such as the Argonautic Expedition and the founding of the Olympic Games.
Hercules' end was tragic, as he did not die a peaceful death but in horrible pain. The Centaur Nessus as he was dying by the hand of the hero for dishonoring his wife Deianira, offered her a tunic soaked in his blood as an erotic potion to keep the hero always in love with her. However, the tunic turned out to be a poisonous trap and when Hercules put it on, it stuck on his body and led him to a painful death. After he died, Hercules was deified, he became the god of Strength and the greatest among heroes. Zeus called him on Olympus and gave him a wife, the beautiful goddess of youth, Hebe.
Αncient Greeks honored Hercules in temples dedicated to him, depictions in art, poems and heroic literature. He also inspired European artists much later, such as Durer and Altdorfer, and later Greek artists alike. In this Thematic Exhibition you will find material monuments to his fame and valor: drawings of Hercules temples, artworks both ancient and modern, ceramics, sculpture, inscriptions, etchings, coins and jewelry.
The exhibition contains items from the following institutions:
