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Mythology of Greece's Famous Heroes

The Mythology of Hercules

From Jupiter and his beautiful wife Alcmena, was born in Thebes a boy named Hercules. Jupiter really loved him and have decided to make him a perfect human. But one goddess, named Juno, was very jealous to him, so when he was still a baby, she sent two snakes to coil around him until he die. Who knows, when Hercules saw the snakes, instead of cried or ran away he choked them so they died.

Hercules was a very strong man and very arrogant too. Unfortunately, he always got mad easily. One day Hercules lost his temper and threw his harp to his teacher and the teacher died. Alcmena, very sadly must punished him by putting him out of the kingdom. So Hercules began his journey.

One day Hercules arrived to an intersection, and he met two girls there. One of them, young and pretty, smiled and told him she is the Joy. She invited Hercules to walk on her path, which is full of flowers and he could find wealth and happiness in the end of it. The other one, not young and pretty anymore, without a smile told him she is the Excellence. She also invited Hercules to walk on her path, which is full of sharp stones and pebbles, but in the end he could find a never-ending Glory. Hercules decided to follow the Excellence.

His path was really hard to been through, once he even killed his wife and children when he got mad again. To asked for forgiveness from the Gods, he went to a city named Delphi. In there he met a priest, named Pitia [it means The Faith] who could see the future because of Apollo's gift. She told Hercules to go to Tiryn and serve his uncle Eurystheus who would give him twelve suffering and trouble. Once he went through all of it, he will got forgiveness from the Gods. So Hercules went to Tiryn, and Eurystheus gave him his first task.

• Task 1: Went to a forest in Nemea, found a lion who always killed the sheeps and the sheperds, killed the lion and bring back its skin.
• Task 2: Went to Lerna, faced the Hydra, a giant animal with 7 heads and could kill a human by its poisonous breath, and killed it too.
• Task 3: Caught the wild pig Erymanthus.
• Task 4: Caught a female deer Ceryneia which was sacred for Diana. After 1 year, Hercules finally could catch this animal.
• Task 5: Faught the giant birds which were surrounding the Tymphalus lake.
• Task 6: Stole Hyppolita's belt, who was the queen of the Amazones, the women soldiers.
• Task 7: Cleaned King Augea's stall in a day. This king had thousands of cows and their stall hasn't been cleaned yet for 30 years.
• Task 8: Caught King Diomedes's female horses which were so wild and could spurt thunders and fires from their noses.
• Task 9: Caught a buffalo from Creta.
• Task 10: Caught Geryon's red buffaloes.
• Task 11: Stole the gold apples which were sacred for Jupiter in the Hesperides island.
• Task 12: Caught Cerberus, the three-headed dog, which was the gatekeeper of the Kingdom of Death.

After he did all the twelve tasks, Hercules got his forgiveness. He continued his journey and went to Aetolia castle, fell in love with the princess, named Deianira. She was engaged with Anchelous, a great wizard. But Hercules could beat him, so he and Deianira got married. After all, he could live in peace and happiness, but unfortunately that didn't last long.

One day Hercules and Deianira wanted to go across the Eurenas river, which was flooded. Hercules asked a Centaur, Nessus, to help. Nessus brought Deianira across the river, but then he ran off with the girl still on his back. Listened to his wife's scream, Hercules threw his poisonous arrow to the Centaur. The arrow got its target. Nessus was dying when he said to Deianira he regreted all he did, and he wanted to offer his help. He said if one day Hercules doesn't love her anymore, she could dip his robe to Nessus's blood. After Hercules use the robe, no doubt he will love her with all his heart again.

Deianira believed him. One day she really scared that she would lost Hercules's love. So she dipped his robe to Nessus's blood, as what she was told. But when Hercules used his robe, he felt his whole body was very deep in pain. He couldn't even breathe. Nessus lied to Deianira. He knew a poisonous arrow killed him, and he wanted revenge. His blood was full of poison too. Couldn't help it, Hercules burnt himself and died. Then Jupiter, who still loved him very much, brought him to the top of Olympus mountain, and even made him an immortal person.. a God.

The Mythology of Achilles

The bravest from the Greece soldiers that fought under the Trojan fortress was Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, the daughter of the God of the Sea. As the King of Myrmidon, one day Achilles had a chance to choose between a long life but with no glory, or a short life but with the everlasting glory in his whole life. Without any doubt, Achilles chose the second choice: a short life but with glory and fame. So when he headed to the war in Trojan, he knew that he wouldn’t come back. Yet, he still couldn’t be hurt.

The truth was, when Achilles was born, Thetis dipped him a few times into the Magic River, and that had protected him from every wound that caused by any weapon. The Trojan people were very afraid of him, especially when he could kill the head of their army, Hector, the son of Priamus. (This happened on the tenth year of the horrible war) Without Hector, the Trojan people were not brave enough to fight, and stayed and locked themselves inside the city. Everyday Achilles came under the wall of the city, to challenge them and provoke them. Then there was a rain of rocks, arrows, and weapons that the Trojan people threw on him, but the hero was still there, was not scared, like a bronze statue.

But the prediction must be fulfilled, and Achilles had been destined to have a short life. One day, Apollo, the God of Arts and Literature, said to Paris, “Paris, you are so good on archery, and if you want to hurt someone you will never miss the target.” Paris said, “Yes, I am. But I have never succeeded hurting Achilles.” “That is because you do not know where to hurt him. Only on one place he could be hurt. When Achilles was dipped into the magic water, his mother held him on his heel. That is the place that has not been touched by the magic water. Only with shooting his heel with your arrow you could hurt Achilles!” Then Paris chose the sharpest arrow and put it on his bow.

A few moments later, Achilles came to challenge for war, and Paris began to aim his arrow…his arrow did not miss! It stuck deeply on the heel of the hero. Achilles was shocked! He tried not to scream in pain and bent down on the ground. His friends came for help fast, but the arrow had hurt him very badly, and very painful too until his heart could not hold it…and it broke! “I have killed Achilles!” Paris shouted in victory. But his happiness did not last long. An arrow, which flew from the Greece people, shot him on his chest and made him fall down to the ground…dead! Each group lost their hero. The Trojan and the Greece people then had a big fought for the body of Achilles.

At last the Greece succeeded got the dead body of the hero, because of the braveness of other Greece prince, Aeacus. They prepared for the last appreciation and a big and great funeral. When the Trojan people had a party for the death of the hero, although they were sad too because they lost Paris, all the Greece people lamented and cried. From her home under the sea, Thetis heard all of it, and realized that her son was dead. Her biggest hope and effort to made her son cannot be hurt by any weapon were useless. With all the Goddess of the Sea she appeared from the waves, and cried for nights in front of the body of Achilles.

Their mourning lasted time lasted for seventeen days. And the Greece people saw that with the death of their hero, they lost their hope to win the war and rule Trojan. On the eighteenth day, the body of Achilles had been embalmed, full of perfumery, and then put on the woods stack and finally burned. The fire flew very high, and when the only thing that was left from the body was the dust, it was taken with respect and put inside a golden trophy, buried with the dust of the body of Patroclus, the best friend of Achilles which also died in the Trojan war.

Therefore, stood there a cemetery, which was respected by the Greek as the bravery monument. Centuries had past since the Trojan War began, and one day another small group of Greece soldiers arrived in the Small Asia beach. The head of the army was a real hero, not just a fairy tale, which had bones and flesh like us. His name was Alexander, the King of Macedonia, which then known as Alexander The Great. He was about to go to a place which a story said was where the Trojan Kingdom stood and then visited the cemetery of Achilles that the people said was not very far from the beach. He sat on that place for long, thought and moaned, and just like Achilles, he will also had a short life, but with the glory and fame which never dies!

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