Who hasn’t heard of the great ancient hero Hercules – or Heracles, as he’s also called. In 2014, no less than two movies were released about Hercules and this is how heroically he’s described:
Hercules (2014) Dwayne Johnson, MGM
Having endured his legendary twelve labors, Hercules, the Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.
The legend of Hercules (2014) Kellan Lutz, Millennium Films, Nu Boyana Film Studios
The origin story of the mythical Greek hero. Betrayed by his stepfather, the King, and exiled and sold into slavery because of a forbidden love, Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom.
However, if you read the ancient sources, there are a lot of things that don’t match these tributes. Indeed, the sources tell about various stellar myths. But if you take away the stellar myths, you’ll realize that most stories are about murder and rape. Hercules kills and rapes women and boys. How did this happen? Why do we glorify this horrible man? You can’t blame the movie companies. They only build on a long tradition of glorifying a very criminal person (in ancient and prehistoric times you weren’t allowed to murder and rape either, just as it is today). And the ancient sources don’t really glorify him. So why did Hercules get – and maintain – his status as a hero?
Article 2: Reputation parasitism – how the rapist Heracles / Hercules got his heroic status
Read also: The 12 Labors of Hercules – the Dawn of Civilization
Ilion & HERACLES: the books 
I love how you go on about “ancient sources”, yet don’t provide any to back up your claim.
The Olympian gods and many of their champions were indeed, incredibly cruel, and more often than not, their more wretched actions are glossed over by our society. This is mostly due to our predominantly Christianized, western culture appropriating the imagery and themes of Hellenic myth, and conflating them with the Biblical figures.
The reason people still regard Heracles rather highly, even today, is that he WASN’T an insane rapist and wanton murderer, especially the way you’re attempting to depict him. The worst deeds of Heracles were the result of stupors brought about by Hera, and his entire myth, his struggle, is about his attempts to achieve penance for these crimes; crimes that were out of his control.
There are only two incidents were you can have some shaky ground that Heracles was a “rapist” on par with Zeus or Poseidon, and they’re flimsy at best;
1) For his ninth labour, Heracles was commanded to fight the Amazons. He slew their queen and wrested her girdle as proof of this action. While it can be argued that it is a symbolic rape, it is not in a literal sense. He faces Hippolyta as he would any other warrior, and then claims proof of his victory. This isn’t even getting into the fact that the conflict between the two was borne from a misunderstanding in the first place.
http://people.uncw.edu/deagona/herakles/amazons.htm
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/amazon.html
https://www.shmoop.com/hippolyta-hippolyte/amazon-nation-heracles-report.html
2) The case of Deianira. I have seen ONE source claim that their first encounter was the result of a rape, and it was from a Wikipedia article; whose citation for this fact didn’t even link to a relevant article or source. Every other account states that their attraction was very much mutual.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deianira#cite_note-10
https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Deianira/deianira.html
https://www.ancient.eu/Deianira/
https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/deianira.html
I am all for frank and earnest conversations about myths from the classic age, but I find none of that in this article, or any of the others on this site. It’s all “HERACLES WAS A PSYCHOPATH. OH EM GEE. WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE HIM?” and then no citations, sources, or evidence of these claims. If you want anyone to take your work seriously, do what every basic college student has to do and cite your sources.
LikeLike
Thank you for your comment,
This article is based on the book Heracles – A Psychopath’s Tale. All sources are listed in the book. We have strictly kept to original Greek sources (translated into English and Swedish), namely the following:
The Iliad
The Odyssey
Argonautica, by Appollonius Rhodios
Bibliotheca, by Apollodorus
Bibliotheca historica, by Diodorus Siculus
Pindar
Pausanias guide to Greece, by Pausanias
Herakles, by Euripides
The Histories of Herodotus, by Herodotus
The only source we have used from Roman times is the Argonautica of Gaius Valerius Flaccus. The Roman sources are younger and often based on the Greek sources so we concluded that the Greek sources are more reliable.
What we have also done, which differs from many other writers, is that we have exclusively used primary sources. When you use secondary sources, it easily happens that you stop thinking for yourself and are instead imbued with ”ready-made-opinions”. We wanted to look at the events with fresh eyes and see where we arrived. We have also meticulously sorted out everything that can be referred to as “stellar myths” and have used those events that are fairly probable that a man living during the Bronze Age in the North actually could have experienced.
Kind regards,
Annika
LikeLike
Hercules army sacked troy , after its king refused to reward him for killing a sea monster. Herc killed the king , and the mans family too. He took the kings daughter as a concubine. This was likely a rape. Hercules was hardly a nice guy.
LikeLike
My first though was : why you care for if someone that never existed gets any glory
My second though was :you dont get that if the fictionals character myths change, the char itself changes ? (sorry for my english)
LikeLike
Hi Kourem,
Thank you for your comment!
We actually think Herakles might have been a real man who lived sometime during the European Bronze Age.
In any case though, it is odd that someone who was once known as a man who committed rape and murders could later be described as a hero.
LikeLike
Herakles and heroic disaster . By Katherine Lu. It explores Hercules dark side in great detail.
LikeLike