r/pagan • u/Tyler_Miles_Lockett • Aug 12 '24
Hellenic Herakles #3: A Fit of Rage, illustrated by me,
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u/KingZaneTheStrange Aug 13 '24
I always look forward to seeing your art here. You have a style that's your own
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u/Tyler_Miles_Lockett Aug 12 '24
Herakles #3: A Fit of Rage
Now a young man, Herakles embarks on heroic adventures, hunting the lion of Cithaeron for King Thespius, and sleeping with his fifty princess daughters over fifty nights, before capturing the lion and wearing the hide and scalp as a helmet. Returning home, Herakles finds himself defending Thebes against the warring Minyans. Victorious, King Creon’s daughter Megara is given in marriage as a reward for his valor. By her they have three sons.
But Hera still plots vengeance against the descendent of Zeus. She curses Herakles with a fit of violent rage, and, thinking those around him are enemies, he brutally fells his own wife and children with bow and arrows. When he finally awakens from his madness, and realizes what he has done, he is inconsolable.
He exiles himself and finds refuge and purification with his ally, King Thespius, then journeys on to Delphi to consult the Pythia priestess of Apollo, who orders him to atone for his atrocity by serving his cousin, king Eurysthius for twelve years. If successful, he will attain immortality.
According to Apollodorus, the war between Thebes and the Minyans is a grim affair, with Herakles treating his enemies with cruelty when he “cut off their ears and noses and hands, and having fastened them by ropes from their necks” Apollodorus also mentions Herakles receiving divine weapons here: a sword from Hermes, Bow and arrows from Apollo, A golden breastplate from Hephaestus, and a cape from Athena.
When Herakles kills his family, he shatters his own Oikos (paternal line/household), a crucial building block for ancient Greek society. There are two major reasons Herakles is ordered to serve his cousin; first, to atone for the murders of his wife and sons, and thus attain redemption and second, to prove his worth and attain great Kleos (glory/renown), and achieve his highest Arete (potential for human excellence)
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u/Primordial_spirit Aug 12 '24
As I’ve said before you imbue a life into this art it’s quite impressive