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93-422: Hercules Furens can refer to: Herakles (Euripides) , also called Hercules Furens , a Greek tragedy Hercules (Seneca) or Hercules Furens , a fabula crepidata Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Hercules Furens . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

186-464: A gadfly to bite the cattle, irritate them and scatter them. Hera then sent a flood which raised the water level of a river so much that Heracles could not ford the river with the cattle. He piled stones into the river to make the water shallower. When he finally reached the court of Eurystheus, the cattle were sacrificed to Hera. Eurystheus also wanted to sacrifice the Cretan Bull to Hera. She refused

279-712: A bride by Callimachus , as well as the matronly standing Hera. Hera was also worshipped as a virgin : there was a tradition in Stymphalia in Arcadia that there had been a triple shrine to Hera the Girl (Παις [Pais]), the Adult Woman (Τελεια [Teleia]), and the Separated (Χήρη [Chḗrē] 'Widowed' or 'Divorced'). In the region around Argos , the temple of Hera in Hermione near Argos was to Hera

372-499: A chance, and thus the two had their first sexual intercourse. According to a version attributed to Plutarch , Hera had been reared by a nymph named Macris on the island of Euboea , but Zeus stole her away, where Mt. Cithaeron "afforded them a shady recess." When Macris came to look for her ward, the mountain-god Cithaeron drove her away, saying that Zeus was taking his pleasure there with Leto. According to Callimachus , their wedding feast lasted three hundred years. The Apples of

465-451: A chariot to lead the procession like a bride, and then ritually burned. According to Diodorus Siculus , Alcmene , the mother of Heracles, was the very last mortal woman Zeus ever slept with; following the birth of Heracles, he ceased to beget humans altogether. Hera is the stepmother and enemy of Heracles . The name Heracles means "Glory of Hera". In Homer's Iliad , when Alcmene was about to give birth to Heracles, Zeus announced to all

558-449: A dignified, matronly figure, upright or enthroned, crowned with a polos or diadem , sometimes veiled as a married woman. She is the patron goddess of lawful marriage. She presides over weddings, blesses and legalises marital unions, and protects women from harm during childbirth. Her sacred animals include the cow , cuckoo , and peacock . She is sometimes shown holding a pomegranate as an emblem of immortality. Her Roman counterpart

651-482: A form of the "Mycenean goddess of the palace" and became the spouse of Zeus. Modern scholars suggest that Hera is not only the Olympian sky-goddess, but in some cults she may be identified with the earth-goddess. Her ancient connection with her sacred animal, the cow, still existed in historical times. She is probably related to Near-Eastern forms of cow-goddesses such as Hathor or Bat . The Greek earth-goddess Gaia

744-616: A monstrous version of Hephaestus , and whelped in a cave in Cilicia . She gave the creature to Python to raise. In the Temple of Hera, Olympia , Hera's seated cult figure was older than the warrior figure of Zeus that accompanied it. Homer expressed her relationship with Zeus delicately in the Iliad , in which she declares to Zeus, "I am Cronus ' eldest daughter, and am honourable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are king of

837-659: A pillar in Argos and as a plank in Samos." At Argos in a Greek myth the priestess of Hera Phoronis ties her mistress to an aniconic pillar. At Samos Hera's plank was tied on a willow tree to ensure fertility. Hera is the daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea , and the sibling of Hestia , Demeter , Hades , Poseidon , and Zeus . Cronus was fated to be overthrown by one of his children; to prevent this, he swallowed all of his newborn children whole until Rhea tricked him into swallowing

930-596: A processional ceremony from ancient times. The myth of the premarital approach of Hera by Zeus is early mentioned by Homer . It is possible that the myth has its origins to an old custom of the European country population, the premarital intercourse of the engaged couple. According to Walter Burkert the "Mediterranean goddess of nature" becomes the bride of the Greek sky-god. He notices that "the disappearance and retrieval of Hera has parallels with other fertility cults" . Hera

1023-436: A reasonable explanation of the ritual and replicate its structural form. This is accurate for "aitia" related to initiation rituals from youth to maturity. Ancient accounts refer to the retirement of Hera after a quarell with Zeus. Hera's wrath may indicate the wrath and jealousy of the Greek wife. Other accounts refer to cultic trees or pillars. and rituals of the goddess of vegetation. Some accounts are related to rituals of

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1116-474: A stone instead of her youngest child, Zeus. Zeus grew up in secret and when he grew up he tricked his father into regurgitating his siblings, including Hera. Zeus then led the revolt against the Titans, banished them, and divided the dominion over the world with his brothers, Poseidon and Hades. Other traditions, however, appear to give Hera different upbringings. Pausanias states that she was nursed as an infant by

1209-742: A tree. Robert Graves interprets this as a representation of the new moon ( Hebe ), full moon (Hera), and old moon ( Hecate ), respectively personifying the Virgin (Spring), the Mother (Summer), and the destroying Crone (Autumn). The marriage of Zeus with Hera is the main theme in most Greek festivals celebrated in honour of the goddess. In the cults of Hera the dances and rites are performed by young married women. These choral dances reenacted early myth and ritual. Burkert notices that "the disappearing and retrieval of Hera in some cults has parallels with other fertility cults". The Greek aetiological myths ( aitia ) give

1302-407: Is Juno . The name Hera (Hēra or Hērē) has several possible and mutually exclusive etymologies. One possibility is to connect it with Greek ὥρα hōra , season, and to interpret it as ripe for marriage and according to Plato ἐρατή eratē , "beloved" as Zeus is said to have married her for love. According to Plutarch , Hera was an allegorical name and an anagram of aēr (ἀήρ, "air"). So begins

1395-585: Is always translated "cow-eyed". In this respect, Hera bears some resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian deity Hathor , a maternal goddess associated with cattle. Hera absorbed the cult of her heifer-priestess Io and may be related to the Vedic earth-goddess Prithvi . Scholar of Greek mythology Walter Burkert writes in Greek Religion , "Nevertheless, there are memories of an earlier aniconic representation, as

1488-459: Is asking for more from the morality of its religion. Dichotomy: Euripides' Heracles is a tragedy full of instances of dichotomies , as seen in its characters, events, and themes. Characters in the play stand on opposite ends of one another in terms of ideology and characteristics, creating a dichotomy between them. One example is found in Megara and Amphitryon. When confronted with their deaths and

1581-478: Is attached/coupled' or (b) 'the female who attaches herself'... both socially and physically or emotionally." Many theophoric names such as Heracles , Heraclitus , Herodotus , Herodicus , derive from Hera. Hera bore several epithets in the mythological tradition and in literature. In the historical times the majority of the Greeks recognized Hera as the consort of Zeus. Hera is the protector of marriage and of

1674-557: Is attested by the large building projects undertaken in her honor. The temples of Hera in the two main centers of her cult , the Heraion of Samos and the Heraion of Argos in the Argolis , were the very earliest monumental Greek temples constructed, in the 8th century BCE. At Argos the Dorian "Heraion" was built on the hill of Prosymna near Mycenean hero-tombs. At Samos the cult activity near

1767-421: Is behind the plan: she has hated Heracles since birth because Zeus was his father. She also resents his god-like strength and wants to humble him. A Messenger reports that when the fit of madness fell on Heracles, he believed he had to kill Eurystheus , the king who assigned his labours. Moving from room to room, he fancied that he was going from country to country. When Amphitryon tried to stop him, he thought it

1860-613: Is consonant with Hera's common epithet βοῶπις ( boōpis , "cow-eyed"). R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin. Her name is attested in Mycenaean Greek written in the Linear B syllabic script as 𐀁𐀨 e-ra , appearing on tablets found in Pylos and Thebes , as well as in the Cypriotic dialect in the dative e-ra-i . The PIE ... could be originally either (a) 'the female who

1953-534: Is greater than any fear he has of pollution from someone guilty of kindred bloodshed. Heracles, not easily comforted, says he can be welcome to no man; it would be better for him to die by suicide. Theseus offers him hospitality in Athens and half his wealth. He argues that even the gods commit evil acts, such as forbidden marriages, yet continue to live on Olympus and face out their crimes. Why shouldn't Heracles? Heracles vehemently denies this line of argument: such stories of

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2046-449: Is his father. It also renders inexplicable his supernatural strength to complete tasks that mere mortals cannot, such as the 12 labors for Eurystheus. This paradox creates both a problem in the plot of the story, as well as a problem with the identity and existence of Euripides' main character. By having Heracles boldly deny the existence of the gods as the Greeks know them, Euripides may be offering his own atheistic beliefs. During his time,

2139-451: Is mainly the "Argeiē" (Ἀργείη), a name given by Homer which describes her not as Greek, but as an Argive goddess. She is the protectress of the citadel. In literature Argos is called "dōma Hēras" (the house of Hera) and the Argives are called her people by Pindar . Homer in Iliad uses the formula "boōpis potnia Hērē)" (cow-eyed, mistress Hera), which probably relates her to a form of

2232-449: Is occasionally identified with Hera. Gaia may be related to the Vedic earth-goddess Prithvi , who was also associated with the cow. An inscription in Linear B on a tablet found at Pylos mentions offerings "to Zeus-Hera-Drimios".(Drimios is the son of Zeus) . Hera was the tutelary goddess of Argos and it is possible that she had Mycenean origin. Martin P. Nilsson suggested that Hera

2325-551: Is the Olympia , Queen , Anassa , the Queen of heaven. The royal quality of her was preserved by the monuments of Greek art. Hera may have been the first deity to whom the Greeks dedicated an enclosed roofed temple sanctuary, at Samos about 800 BCE. It was replaced later by the Heraion of Samos , one of the largest of all Greek temples (altars were in front of the temples under the open sky). There were many temples built on this site, so

2418-451: Is the consort of the sky-god Horus . In the Vedic tradition the earth-goddess Prithvi is the consort of the sky-god Dyaus and she is associated with the cow. Prithvi may be identified with the Greek goddess Gaia . Pherecydes of Syros in his cosmogony describes the mating of two divine principles: The marriage of Zas with Chthonie . Geoffrey Kirk notices that after the marriage "Cthonie" becomes Ge who probably takes charge of

2511-483: Is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology , she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Olympus , sister and wife of Zeus , and daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea . One of her defining characteristics in myth is her jealous and vengeful nature in dealing with any who offended her, especially Zeus's numerous adulterous lovers and illegitimate offspring. Her iconography usually presents her as

2604-406: Is this more apparent than in the topic of faith. During Euripides' time, though most Greeks, like Euripides' Theseus, would have been believers, there is a strain of thinkers who questioned traditional religion and the existence of the gods, much as Heracles does in the play. The play shows the story of how Heracles suffers the ignominy of killing his family. As is typical of an ancient Greek tragedy,

2697-467: Is threatening and violent to her. In the Iliad , Zeus implies their marriage was some sort of elopement, as they lay secretly from their parents. Pausanias records a tale of how they came to be married in which Zeus transformed into a cuckoo to woo Hera. She caught the bird and kept it as her pet; this is why the cuckoo is seated on her sceptre. According to a scholion on Theocritus ' Idylls , when Hera

2790-518: Is to blame (lines 1312–1313). Theseus even says "how dare you then, mortal that you are, to protest your fate, when the gods do not?" (lines 1320–1321). Theseus attempts to absolve Heracles of any responsibility and to place all fault on the divine. Heracles refuses to agree and holds himself accountable. Heracles goes so far as to say, "ah, all this has no bearing on my grief; but I do not believe that gods commit adultery, or bind each other in chains. I never did believe it; I never shall; nor that one god

2883-610: Is tyrant of the rest. If god is truly god, he is perfect, lacking nothing. These are poets' wretched lies" (lines 1340–1346). He believes that the gods are perfect and can do no wrong, so this horrible act that they cause him to fulfill is his own fault not theirs. He is the one that is to blame, almost like a caregiver taking responsibility for the actions of their charge. Opposites: In myth opposites are often at work. Apollo brings plague, but he also heals; Artemis hunts but also protects animals. Hermes causes chaos by his trickery and also brings about refinement through his invention of

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2976-424: Is what causes him to murder his wife and children. This dark and dangerous side of him contrasts with his positive and constructive side that makes the world better by ridding it of monsters. That he does such awful things and is still forgiven reflects a balance that is achieved between his opposing sides. Heracles murders his family and he saves lives. The play in its dichotomous halves shows the inexorable reality of

3069-532: The Heraion of Samos , in the Greek mainland Hera was especially worshipped as "Argive Hera" ( Hera Argeia ) at her sanctuary that stood between the former Mycenaean city-states of Argos and Mycenae , where the festivals in her honor called Heraia were celebrated. "The three cities I love best," she declares in the Iliad , book iv, "are Argos, Sparta and Mycenae of the broad streets." There were also temples to Hera in Olympia , Corinth , Tiryns , Perachora and

3162-487: The Hesperides that Heracles was tasked by Eurystheus to take were a wedding gift by Gaia to the couple. After a quarrel with Zeus, Hera left him and retreated to Euboea, and no word from Zeus managed to sway her mind. Cithaeron, the local king, then advised Zeus to take a wooden statue of a woman, wrap it up, and pretend to marry it. Zeus did as told, claiming "she" was Plataea, Asopus 's daughter. Hera, once she heard

3255-514: The Lernaean Hydra , she sent a crab to bite at his feet in the hopes of distracting him. Later Hera stirred up the Amazons against him when he was on one of his quests. When Heracles took the cattle of Geryon , he shot Hera in the right breast with a triple-barbed arrow: the wound was incurable and left her in constant pain, as Dione tells Aphrodite in the Iliad , Book V. Afterwards, Hera sent

3348-511: The Aegean goddesses were associated with "their" bird, was the cuckoo , which appears in mythic fragments concerning the first wooing of a virginal Hera by Zeus. Her archaic association was primarily with cattle, as a Cow Goddess, who was especially venerated in "cattle-rich" Euboea . On Cyprus , very early archaeological sites contain bull skulls that have been adapted for use as masks (see Bull (mythology) ). Her familiar Homeric epithet Boôpis ,

3441-614: The Bronze Age before the splitting of the "Mistress of the animals" into separate goddesses. In Hellenistic imagery, Hera's chariot was pulled by peacocks, birds not known to Greeks before the conquests of Alexander . Alexander's tutor, Aristotle , refers to it as "the Persian bird." The peacock motif was revived in the Renaissance iconography that unified Hera and Juno. A bird that had been associated with Hera on an archaic level, when most of

3534-489: The Mediterranean goddess of nature is the bride of the Greek sky-god . In her fest Daedala Hera is related to the nymph Plataia (consort of Zeus ), an old forgotten form of the Greek earth-goddess. Plataia may be related to Gaia who is occasionally identified with Hera. According to Homeric Hymn II to Delian Apollo , Hera detained Eileithyia to prevent Leto from going into labor with Artemis and Apollo , since

3627-409: The Mediterranean goddess of nature. The epithet Qo-wi-ja ( boōpis) appears in a Linear B inscription. Walter Burkert notices that it is difficult to confirm that the epithet "bowpis" corresponds to a Greek belief. However it is possible that Hera was conceived as a cow in her archaic cults. Hera exists as a spouse of Zeus and their "sacred marriage" was celebrated in many Greek festivals in

3720-404: The Virgin. At the spring of Kanathos , close to Nauplia , Hera renewed her virginity annually, in rites that were not to be spoken of ( arrheton ). In her fire-festival Daedala at Plataia the puppet of the goddess was bathed in the river Asopos before the wedding ceremony. In the festival "Toneia" at Samos the image of the goddess was purified, bounted in willows and then probably hanged on

3813-457: The ability to push forward no matter the dreadful circumstances. Identity: In the play Heracles, Euripides plays with the characterization of his main character, Heracles, and his identity. In lines 1263-1265 and lines 1341-1345 Heracles talks about how Zeus cannot be his father and about how the gods cannot exist because, if they do exist, they must be perfect. If this in fact is true, it means that Heracles himself does not exist because Zeus

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3906-453: The altar begun in late Mycenean period and a big altar was built in the 9th century BC. According to Walter Burkert , both Hera and Demeter have many characteristic attributes of Pre-Greek Great Goddesses . In the same vein, British scholar Charles Francis Keary suggests that Hera had some sort of " Earth Goddess " worship in ancient times, connected to her possible origin as a Pelasgian goddess (as mentioned by Herodotus). In Greece

3999-590: The altar of Zeus ; they are forbidden to enter their palace and are watched too closely to escape. The Chorus sympathize with them and encourage them, but, being old men , are unable to help. Lycus comes to ask how long they are going to try to prolong their lives by clinging to the altar. He claims that Heracles has been killed in Hades and will never help them. He justifies the proposed slaughter, claiming that Heracles' children will attempt to avenge their grandfather, Creon, by killing Lycus when they grow up. He depreciates

4092-474: The ancestral history of Heracles ' and Lycus ' families. Lycus is ruling Thebes unlawfully and is about to kill Amphitryon, and—because Megara is the daughter of the lawful king Creon —Herakles' wife Megara and their children. Heracles cannot help his family, for he is in Hades engaged in the last of his twelve labours: bringing back the monster Cerberus who guards the gates there. The family has taken refuge at

4185-520: The ancient Kourotrophos figure is almost absent in Crete , and the nomination Mother Goddess was not the underlying principle in the Minoan religion. Hera was most known as the matron goddess, Hera Teleia , but she presided over weddings as well. In myth and cult, fragmentary references and archaic practices remain of the sacred marriage of Hera and Zeus. At Plataea , there was a sculpture of Hera seated as

4278-475: The belief systems in play during our playwright's time. Hope (Ἐλπίς) : Euripides' Heracles is a play which is open to many different interpretations. Perhaps the greatest theme within the play is that of hope. Hope plays a central role from the play's start until its end. At the start the family of Heracles is in danger of being killed by Lykos and is without the protection of Heracles who is engaged in serving Eurystheus and completing his labors. The salvation of

4371-506: The bull was associated with religious practices. In the legend of the Minotaur the Queen of Knossos is hidden inside an artificial hollow cow and she is mating with a bull-form god in a sacred ceremony. The hieros gamos indicates a ritual of fertility magic, which was probably introduced from Near East in the Aegean region. The "hieros gamos" of Zeus with the earth goddess (finally named Hera)

4464-467: The children clinging to his robes, he goes into the palace with Megara. Lycus returns and, impatient at finding only Amphitryon ready, storms into the palace to get the others. He is met inside by Heracles, and killed. The Chorus sing a joyful song of celebration, but it is interrupted by the appearance of Iris and Madness, hovering over the house. Iris announces that she has come to make Heracles kill his own children by driving him mad. Hera , Zeus' wife,

4557-485: The children in robes of death to face their executioners. The old men of the Chorus have stoutly defended Heracles' family, but, because of their age, can do little more than disagree with Lycus and sing in praise of Heracles' famous labours . Megara returns with the children, dressed for death. She tells of the kingdoms Heracles had planned to give each of them and of the brides she intended them to marry. As Amphitryon laments

4650-408: The conquests of Zeus is rendered as Hera's "jealousy", the main theme of literary anecdotes that undercut her ancient cult . However, it remains a controversial claim that an ancient matriarchy or a cultural focus on a monotheistic Great Goddess existed among the ancient Greeks or elsewhere. The claim is generally rejected by modern scholars as insufficiently evidenced. Walter Burkert notices that

4743-406: The deaths of Heracles's sons, the two have very different reactions. Megara accepts the fact that she and her children are going to die. Amphitryon, however, continues to hope that his son Heracles will return to save them. Together Megara and Amphitryon form a dichotomy of hope and defeat. Another example of a dichotomy between two characters is between Heracles himself and Lykos. Heracles is known as

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4836-461: The deeds of Heracles, calling him a coward for using a bow instead of a spear. Amphitryon, point by point, argues the other side and asks permission for them to go into exile. Lycus declares that he is through with words and orders his men to bring logs, stack them around the altar, and burn the suppliants alive. Megara refuses to be burned alive: that is a coward's death. She has given up hope for Heracles' return and gets permission from Lycus to dress

4929-421: The dichotomy by bringing about death. Finally, there is the theme of the gods' existence and the dichotomy of belief in the characters in the play. After killing his family, Heracles exclaims that the gods do not exist, while others, especially Theseus, argue the opposite. All of these dichotomies come together to create a play that is used more to ask and generate questions and all reflect the current concerns about

5022-504: The evidence is somewhat confusing, and archaeological dates are uncertain. The temple created by the Rhoecus sculptors and architects was destroyed between 570 and 560 BCE. This was replaced by the Polycratean temple of 540–530 BCE. In one of these temples, we see a forest of 155 columns. There is also no evidence of tiles on this temple suggesting either the temple was never finished or that

5115-475: The existence of destructive and constructive forces in its principal hero, Heracles. Theology : Euripides' Heracles is a tragedy that, while having many attributes of a classic mythological tale, proposes a sequence of events that goes against the chronology of the traditional story's design. In the typical chronology it is only after Heracles saves his family from the death threat against them that they are later murdered by Heracles himself after being cursed by

5208-430: The faith that the mainstream culture has. Heracles does not believe but has been to Hades and has seen the dog Cerberus and the dead souls of others. Despite evidence of the divine, he chooses to believe, much as Socrates does also, that the gods, as they are commonly believed to be, do not exist. This point of view may reflect the playwright's own. Even if it does not, it does reflect a viewpoint of Euripides' own time that

5301-484: The family rests upon Heracles coming to rescue them. Megara refuses to accept this threat and although she has the children dressed in robes of death, she still holds out hope for Herakles' arrival. Hope is also what gets Heracles through his 12 acts; furthermore hope is offered to him by Theseus so as to help Heracles get through the pain and suffering he experiences from having mistakenly killed his wife and children. Hope drives this piece of work; giving all those within it

5394-474: The father was Zeus . The other goddesses present at the birthing on Delos sent Iris to bring her. As she stepped upon the island, the divine birth began. In the myth of the birth of Heracles , it is Hera herself who sits at the door, delaying the birth of Heracles until her protégé, Eurystheus , had been born first. The Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo makes the monster Typhaon the offspring of archaic Hera in her ancient form, produced out of herself, like

5487-452: The formula "boōpis potnia Hērē)" (cow-eyed, mistress Hera), suggesting that they may have been syncretized. The worship of Hera was sparse in Thessaly , Attica , Phocis and Achaea . In Boeotia she is related to the fest Daedala . The main center of her cult was North-Eastern Peloponnese , especially Argolis . ( Argos , Tiryns , Corinth , Sicyon , Epidaurus and Hermione ). She

5580-466: The futility of the life he has lived, Megara catches sight of Heracles approaching. When Heracles hears the story of Creon's overthrow and Lycus' plan to kill Megara and the children, he resolves upon revenge. He tells them the reason for his long absence is that in addition to bringing Cerberus back from Hades and imprisoning him, he also brought back Theseus , who is now on his way to his home in Athens . With

5673-470: The gods have a large hand in it. Hera hates Heracles because he is a living reminder of her husband's infidelity. Because of this she is cruel to him. She could bring about Herakles' death but instead she wants him to suffer. She sends Madness to drive Heracles to murder his wife and progeny. Madness herself sees the irrationality and senselessness in Hera's vengeance. The story, it seems, does an odd job of explaining

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5766-421: The gods that on that day a child by Zeus himself, would be born and rule all those around him. Hera, after requesting Zeus to swear an oath to that effect, descended from Olympus to Argos and made the wife of Sthenelus (son of Perseus) give birth to Eurystheus after only seven months, while at the same time preventing Alcmene from delivering Heracles. This resulted in the fulfillment of Zeus's oath in that it

5859-504: The gods, he says, are merely the inventions of poets. A deity, if really such, can have no desires. Finally convinced that it would be cowardly to die by suicide, he resolves to go to Athens with Theseus. The law forbids him to remain in Thebes or even attend the funeral of his wife and children. He asks his father to bury his dead, and, leaning on Theseus, leaves. Ambiguity : Euripides' play Heracles asks more questions than it answers. Nowhere

5952-422: The gods. This is shown when Heracles believes that the gods, if they exist, do no wrong. Though driven mad by them, he accepts all blame for the awful act of killing his family. Madness agrees that what the gods have done is wrong, but Heracles does not hold the gods to blame for what happens. Theseus then attempts to reason with Heracles stating that no mortal man can stain what is divine (line 1231) and that Hera

6045-507: The gods." There has been considerable scholarship, reaching back to Johann Jakob Bachofen in the mid-nineteenth century, about the possibility that Hera, whose early importance in Greek religion is firmly established, was originally the goddess of a matriarchal people, presumably inhabiting Greece before the Hellenes . In this view, her activity as goddess of marriage established the patriarchal bond of her own subordination: her resistance to

6138-449: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hercules_Furens&oldid=932873505 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Herakles (Euripides) In a prologue filled with genealogical detail, Amphitryon outlines

6231-431: The living embodiment of Madness, sent by Hera. Euripides foregrounds this event, placing it chronologically during the time of Heracles' labors for Eurystheus and makes it the focus of his play. Euripides plays with the traditional chronology because, in its essence, the play challenges the theology of his day. In fifth century Athens there was a theological revolution with intellectuals questioning, challenging, and rewriting

6324-474: The lyre. So is the same the case for Heracles in Euripides' play of the same name. In it Heracles realizes that he is not completely sure that he himself believes his father, Zeus, is real. This doubt causes a lack of identity for him and may be a root cause of his angry and dangerous side. Even though it is Hera that sends Madness to inflict Heracles, it may also be that he is not emotionally sound or stable and this

6417-699: The most courageous man in Greece; and Lykos accuses him of cowardice. Yet Lykos is attempting to execute Megara and her children out of fear of something they might do. The actions of Heracles and Lykos show that they stand on opposite sides of the spectrum, with Heracles standing with courage and Lykos with cowardice. Furthermore, a dichotomy resides within Heracles. In his returning from the Underworld with Theseus Heracles saves his friend and creates life. In his murdering of his own family after being driven insane, Heracles completes

6510-426: The news, disrupted the wedding ceremony and tore away the dress from the figure only to discover it was but a lifeless statue, and not a rival in love. The queen and her king were reconciled, and to commemorate this the people there celebrated a festival called Daedala . During the festival, a re-enactment of the myth was celebrated, where a wooden statue of Hera was chosen, bathed in the river Asopus and then raised on

6603-478: The protection of marriage. Hera is occasionally identified with "Ge". In a fragment of Euripides the Aether of Zeus is the sky-god who is the father of men and gods, and the earth-goddess Ge is the mother of all life. It seems that Io the priestess of Hera at Argos and consort of Zeus, was another form of Hera. In a Greek myth "Io" is transformed into a cow . This seems to be correlated to how Homer in Iliad uses

6696-414: The religion of polytheism is still widely accepted though there is an intellectual strain questioning the validity and reliability of everything. By penning this play, Euripides joins this intellectual debate and casts doubt on the divine. Moral responsibility : In Heracles, Euripides' focus is on Heracles and his moral character. In the play Heracles holds himself to a higher ethical standard than he does

6789-402: The reputation which this sanctuary of Hera enjoyed, and the large influx of pilgrims. Compared to this mighty goddess, who also possessed the earliest temple at Olympia and two of the great fifth and sixth-century temples of Paestum , the termagant of Homer and the myths is an "almost... comic figure," according to Burkert . Though the greatest and earliest free-standing temple to Hera was

6882-402: The rights of the married women. In some cults she has some functions of the earth goddess. She is occasionally related to warfare as tutelary goddess. In historical times, the majority of the Greeks recognized Hera as the consort of Zeus . Zeus was the protector of rights and mores, and his partner Hera became the protector of legal marriage and the rights of married women . Hera emerged from

6975-423: The sacred island of Delos . In Magna Graecia , two Doric temples to Hera were constructed at Paestum , about 550 BCE and about 450 BCE. One of them, long called the Temple of Poseidon was identified in the 1950s as a temple of Hera. The Daedala fire festival on Cithaeron near Plataea , included an account of Hera's quarrel with Zeus and their reconciliation. Hera's importance in the early archaic period

7068-564: The sacrifice because it reflected glory on Heracles. The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull . Some myths state that in the end, Heracles befriended Hera by saving her from Porphyrion , a giant who tried to rape her during the Gigantomachy , and that she even gave her daughter Hebe as his bride. Whatever myth-making served to account for an archaic representation of Heracles as "Hera's man", it

7161-474: The section on Hera in Walter Burkert 's Greek Religion . In a note, he records other scholars' arguments "for the meaning Mistress as a feminine to Heros , Master", with uncertain origin. John Chadwick , a decipherer of Linear B , remarks "her name may be connected with hērōs , ἥρως, 'hero', but that is no help since it too is etymologically obscure." A. J. van Windekens, offers "young cow, heifer", which

7254-682: The smear across the sky that can be seen to this day. Her milk also created a white flower, the lily. Unlike any Greeks, the Etruscans instead pictured a full-grown bearded Heracles at Hera's breast, a reference to his adoption by her when he became an Immortal: he had previously wounded her severely in the breast. When Heracles reached adulthood, Hera drove him mad , which led him to murder his family and this later led to him undertaking his famous labours. Hera assigned Heracles to labour for King Eurystheus at Mycenae. She attempted to make almost all of Heracles's twelve labours more difficult. When he fought

7347-539: The temple was open to the sky. Earlier sanctuaries, whose dedication to Hera is less certain, were of the Mycenaean type called "house sanctuaries". Samos excavations have revealed votive offerings, many of them late 8th and 7th centuries BCE, which show that Hera at Samos was not merely a local Greek goddess of the Aegean . The museum there contains figures of gods and suppliants and other votive offerings from Armenia , Babylon , Iran , Assyria , and Egypt , testimony to

7440-504: The three daughters of the river Asterion : Euboia , Prosymna , and Akraia . Furthermore, in the Iliad , Hera states she was given by her mother to Tethys to be raised: "I go now to the ends of the generous earth on a visit to the Ocean , whence the gods have risen, and Tethys our mother who brought me up kindly in their own house, and cared for me and took me from Rheia, at that time when Zeus of

7533-546: The traditional plot-line of Herakles' life, Euripides also questions traditional theological beliefs. For the context of Euripides and Greek intellectual thought of his day, see E.R. Dodds, Euripides The Irrationalist ( The Classical Review , July 1929). Hera This is an accepted version of this page In ancient Greek religion , Hera ( / ˈ h ɛr ə , ˈ h ɪər ə / ; Ancient Greek : Ἥρα , romanized :  Hḗrā ; Ἥρη , Hḗrē in Ionic and Homeric Greek )

7626-399: The traditional view of the gods. With his play Euripides adds to this debate, mainly through the voice of his main character. After Herakles murders his family, he questions, in a conversation with Theseus, the true nature of the gods and their existence, while at the same time contemplating suicide. This scene not only sheds light on Heracles' angst but also reflects Euripides'. By toying with

7719-427: The wide brows drove Kronos underneath the earth and the barren water." Hera is the goddess of marriage and childbirth rather than motherhood, and much of her mythology revolves around her marriage with her brother Zeus. She is charmed by him and she seduces him; he cheats on her and has many children with other goddesses and mortal women; she is intensely jealous and vindictive towards his children and their mothers; he

7812-561: Was Eurystheus rather than Heracles. In Pausanias' recounting, Hera sent witches (as they were called by the Thebans) to hinder Alcmene's delivery of Heracles. The witches were successful in preventing the birth until Historis , daughter of Tiresias, thought of a trick to deceive the witches. Like Galanthis, Historis announced that Alcmene had delivered her child; having been deceived, the witches went away, allowing Alcmene to give birth. Hera's wrath against Zeus's son continued and while Heracles

7905-663: Was Eurystheus, and his own children those of Eurystheus. In his madness he killed his three sons and his wife. When he threatened Amphitryon, Athena struck him and he fell asleep. The palace doors are opened to reveal Heracles, now asleep and tied to a pillar, surrounded by the bodies of his wife and children. When he wakes up, Amphitryon tells him what he has done; in his shame he wants to die by suicide. Theseus, king of Athens, whom Heracles had freed from Hades, arrives; he has heard that Lycus had overthrown Creon and desires to help overthrow Lycus. When he hears what Heracles has done, he asks him to uncover his head. Friendship, Theseus says,

7998-441: Was born first and then assisted with the birth of Apollo. Some versions say Artemis helped her mother give birth to Apollo for nine days. Another variation states that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island of Ortygia and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. Later, Tityos attempted to rape Leto at the behest of Hera. He was slain by Artemis and Apollo. This account of

8091-484: Was celebrated at Knossos in Crete . In Near East the solar-deity and the moon-goddess are often represented as a bull and a cow and Roscher proposed that Hera was a moon-goddess. The combination feminine divinity-cow-moon is not unusual in Crete and Near East . The relationship of Hera with the cow still existed in the historical times and this probably relates her to Near-Eastern forms of cow-goddesses like Hathor (or Bat ). The Egyptian sky-goddess Hathor

8184-450: Was heading toward Mount Thornax alone, Zeus created a terrible storm and transformed himself into a cuckoo who flew down and sat on her lap. Hera covered him with her cloak. Zeus then transformed back and took hold of her; because she was refusing to sleep with him due to their mother , he promised to marry her. In one account Hera refused to marry Zeus and hid in a cave to avoid him; an earthborn man named Achilles convinced her to give him

8277-423: Was neither mainland nor a real island where Leto was able to give birth to her children. Afterwards, Zeus secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean. The island later became sacred to Apollo. Alternatively, Hera kidnapped Eileithyia , the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. The other gods bribed Hera with a beautiful necklace nobody could resist and she finally gave in. Either way, Artemis

8370-427: Was originally a goddess of fertility in her fest "Toneia" at Samos and at Knossos in Crete . At Samos the image of Hera was hidden bounted in willows and the participants tried to discover it. At Knossos Zeus is mating with the earth goddess (finally named Hera) in a very ancient ritual. In her festival Daedala at Plataia there is an account of Hera's quarrel with Zeus and their reconciliation. In Crete

8463-470: Was still an infant, Hera sent two serpents to kill him as he lay in his cot. Heracles throttled the snakes with his bare hands and was found by his nurse playing with their limp bodies as if they were a child's toys. One account of the origin of the Milky Way is that Zeus had tricked Hera into nursing the infant Heracles: discovering who he was, she pulled him from her breast and a spurt of her milk formed

8556-478: Was thought suitable for the builders of the Heraion at Paestum to depict the exploits of Heracles in bas-relief . When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Zeus was the father, she convinced the nature spirits to prevent Leto from giving birth on terra-firma , the mainland, any island at sea, or any place under the sun. Poseidon gave pity to Leto and guided her to the floating island of Delos , which

8649-486: Was worshipped at the Arcadian cities Mantineia , Megalopolis , Stymphalus and at Sparta . The oldest temple at Olympia belonged to Hera. In the islands she was worshipped at Samos , Paros , Delos , Amorgos , Thera , Kos , Rhodes and Crete . The island Euboea was considered her holy place. A month was named after Hera at Delphi ( Heraios ), Olous , Laconia , Tinos ( Heraiōn ), Pergamos ( Heraos ). Hera

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