Hercules Strengths And Weaknesses

In the novel Mythology by Edith Hamilton, Hercules is the greatest hero of Greece. He was the hero that most Athenian people admired due to his actions. He was also the strongest man on earth and had the biggest pride. He would consider himself equal to a god due to his strength and other traits he possessed. Hercules strength was a beneficial trait throughout the novel, but at a point it became a horrendous trait he possessed. At the beginning, Hamilton introduced Hercules strength as a very powerful weapon he possessed. She stated “ Hera used hers against him with terrible effect and in the end he was killed by magic, but nothing that lived in the air, sea, or on land ever defeated him” (226). Hercules was undefeated by any natural thing, but his step-mom’s power brought Hercules down. Another way Hamilton explains how powerful his physical strength was by saying “[during the darkest midnight when all was silent in the bourse two great snake came crawling into the nursery...the children woke up and Iphicles screamed and got out of bed, but Hercules sat up and grasped the deadly creatures by the throat...They were dead.” (227-228). Hercules strength was involved even when he was an infant. He managed to kill two poisonous snakes that were sent by Hera to kill Hercules. Hercules strength was also a beneficial trait when he had to perform the twelve tasks that were given by Eurystheus. According to Hamilton, Hercules had to “...kill the lion of Nemea, a beast no weapons could wound” (231). The other tasks that were

He used his strength for self defense against Hera and later on he used his physical strength to seek purification after he murder his family. Hercules strength did become a weakness when he was using it to murder innocent people. However, most of his strength became more powerful throughout the