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Hercules is the greatest of heroes, the son of Zeus and his leading human assistant in the war against giants, the human hero son of the gods who helped their ascent to Olympus, and the transformation of his father Zeus into a central god. All this is according to the model of the son who carries out the father's power
Like every hero, Hercules has two fathers, both essential for his growth. One is a god, an archetypal spiritual father who directs from above and gives him the strength and call to embark on his journey, and the other, no less important, is the daily personal father who raises and fosters the personal human connection
It is said that even before the gods became gods, pre-human consciousness, the oracle was aware that the future gods, sons of the Titan Cronos and the Titaness Rhea, would engage in a fierce battle against the giants to claim their place as Olympian gods. The gods alone would not be able to reach their intended place without the help of a human being, a special hero with high qualities, a demigod, who would give this war a new and special chord. Both human and acknowledging the gods' power, this demigod marvels at their presence and worships them.
The myth of the hero Hercules teaches us about the symbiosis between gods and humans, the interplay between human forces in the real world, and the eternal forces that transcend the individual's greatness. It points to the greatness of the gods for man, but no less so, it points to the gods' need for the man in all his glory, for all his qualities with which he can exalt the gods and glorify them like a son in promoting his father
The myth also suggests the possibility of a special man-hero strengthening one God or another at the expense of other gods. Every outstanding achievement of man raises God's prestige and makes transcendence even more sublime. We are talking here about seemingly archetypal forces, representations of the gods. However, recall that in the mythological stories, the forces of creation are still in formation; they are the gods as archetypal representations, which create, evolve, and change with the development of humanity as the crowning glory of creation
By connecting the human hero to the forces above and utilizing all the archetypal energy in the highest, most intensifying, and ideal way for the individual, a paradoxical picture emerges in which some of the energy received from God returns to God as well, literally, because the hero with this energy is the one who also empowers the God to whom they belong. Every hero and God, his father, every hero and his mission, every hero and his tools, every hero and his weakness, his Achilles heel, and his hubris
Each hero, among all heroes, and perhaps even in different cultures, represents another aspect of humanity's battles for achievement, development, elevation, and consolidation of abilities. The hero represents three dimensions: himself, his people, man, and general development. In his story, he also expresses the development of all humanity and its various forces. Psychologically, each hero we will see later will represent for us different human acquisitions: whether the human Ego that is born or developing, or some additional mental tool built for better coping, whether a new force of self or the personality that is formed, and if it is later the consciousness and the higher self. This whole connects to its parts!
The protagonist is like a man aided by archetypal forces on his journey to development, which can be likened to a night journey. It is the journey of life or parts of a journey in different lifetimes—a journey of life and a journey of mental development—historical and personal
Hercules is the quintessential hero, the most childish, the most physically strong, and the most concrete. He is the child who needs to control his impulses and urges, the person who needs to undergo a process of maturation and civilization, to become a person and not an animal, or to establish the right balance between the opposites of animal and human
The hero is a mythical figure who serves as a milestone in human development. Throughout history, he has learned to build a strong self with limits, control his actions, distinguish between good and evil, set goals, and overcome instinctive animal forces
The hero is the person who has learned to connect, to love, to develop the capacity for restraint, the ability to organize, and the degree of patience to intelligently use all the power he received from the archetypal forces, the base of the collective psyche.
The developing hero is no longer always the beast, the animal, but also the hunter who traces nature. Later, he becomes the person who is aware of and connected to the different aspects that make him a person: his feminine and masculine sides, his boundaries, and the evil, hidden, rescued, and monstrous parts that can attack him at any moment.
And finally, after the hero, Ego I, has proven his heroism but also done his damage, he must know how to pay for his actions and understand what taking responsibility is. Hercules, beyond all his strength, is also humble, and he leads himself in the world with the help of a club made of wood only! It is said that he does not want a sword, bow, or any weapon whatsoever. Even his famous bow will be passed by to Yuristias (with a broad back), his teacher, and this will be inherited by the hero Odysseus, who is rumored to use it in the famous bow test in Homer's Odyssey! Only then does the hero obtain his full name, which is the glory of Hera.
From being the haunted baby and the mad boy by the evil stepmother Hera, he receives jobs as punishment. After completing them, he becomes stronger and reaches the glory of the mother without the hubris that characterized him at a time when he drew his strength from physical prowess.
Suppose we look at the protagonist as symbolizing development throughout life and dividing the entire path into two. In that case, we can argue that in the first half of life, we will talk about different "I" tasks than in the second half. While in the first half, it is necessary to reach separateness, the development of independence and the possibility of sublimation of urges, self-control, and differentiation, the beginning of self-observation, it seems that later in life in the second half, after the self is already strong enough, one must overcome the inner monsters that are disturbing and lurking in every corner, in every or in every outlet, later in the tasks one must also know how to connect to tenderness, emotions, one must recognize the wound and the softer sensitive parts. Later, we will discuss the various opposites, which we will demonstrate in the last chapter with the help of Odysseus returning home.
And what is the story of Hercules?s
Choosing a human mother to be the mother of God's first heroic son, who is supposed to help God's Father take his place, Zeus embarks on a grand tour of the human world. He finds the human woman best suited for him to create his most crucial human son. And unlike his heroic son Perseus, the hero who eliminates the Medusa, where Zeus is later seen to have appeared in his coming to his motherDanai As an airy and symbolic representation, like a rain of gold—almost like the creation of Jesus, here in the story of the creation of Hercules, his essential and vital son, Zeus appears before her disguised as man, he appears disguised as the real husband of the human Alcmena, who was at the time in family trouble.
As we know, heroism often appears in times of distress
Although Zeus appears in human clothing like Alcmena's husband, he hides his superhuman qualities and powers from her. The story of Zeus creating Hercules is patently immoral because when Alcmena's husband goes to war, Zeus takes advantage of the situation and assumes his form.
Hercules' personal, biological, and non-archetypal spiritual father is Amphitrite and is of high status. However, as Alcmena's future husband, he fell out with her family over complaints that he had stolen part of her father's cattle (an act reminiscent of the story of Jacob). As is often the case in a hero's family, there were problems. Amphitheriid Sr. goes to war to atone for the conflict with Alcmena's father. Alcmena was left alone, and their marriage would only be consummated after her future husband returned from the war.
Zeus, who probably knows about the troubles of the woman Alcmena, who is waiting for her future husband to return from the war, takes advantage of the situation, restores her father's honor, and manages to make his son Hercules at the expense of his personal father, Amphitrion
On that day, the period during which Zeus slept with Alcmena was extended threefold: three days and three nights. Zeus and his glory ordered the night to be prolonged as it had been before Cronus' charges. Hermes, the God coming to his aid, ordered the moon to slow down and obscure the people so that these extraordinary and supernatural actions, such as the creation of the first heroic man, would have unbelievable mythical power.
When Amphitryon himself arrived, he denied the description of Alcmena, who had already been there a few nights before. Due to a sense of deceit, she did not welcome him well, and he, the father himself, after one night, was helpless and went to consult the prophet Theresias, the same man who symbolizes the connection between the unconscious and the wise old archetype
The seer, the prophet, apparently knew something special was happening here and advised him not to sleep with her by force until she complied. And it did, because at the end of the story, two twin babies were born, one heroic and extraordinary son of the god Zeus, and two normal babies, Iphicles, from a human-Amphitryon father
And here, as in fairy tales, even before the end of the nine months, Zeus is already boasting about his future son. He declares the son who will be born and whose name will be the glory of Hera, a son who will give Zeus himself his true power among the people of the world.
The goddess Hera, his wife, maintains the institution of marriage and the status of the gods as a mother who cares for proper continuity. She is angry, threatened, and ambushed the human baby, a descendant of her husband, to eliminate him. She begins to haunt the future baby and orders that whatever baby from the Hercules family is born, she will kill it. Hera descends to Earth and tries to prevent the birth of this special baby. Considering the mother's persecution and her war against his divine father, this hero will surely have a serious mother complex with which he will have to contend. She takes all measures to stop the hero's birth, which she considers dangerous. And perhaps it is also a mother's war against the patriarchal dynasty that is beginning to change matriarchal world orders. Hera does not want a change in the world order!
Some say there were rituals at the time to stop labor, disrupt childbirth, and create defects in the child. And that's what Hera aspires to! She recruits Histories, the daughter of Theresias, Alcmena's midwife, Galanthus, and even turns her into a weasel animal whose females repeatedly run around with their infants between their teeth. However, nothing helps; Hercules' birthday is remembered as the early spring day of March 21, and on this day, twins were born: the hero and the anti-hero, the human and the human plus. Characters that also appear in legends. Like the heroes Tamino and Papageno, the heroes of Magic Flute are the prince who goes through a process and the commoner who wants only an ordinary life. The twins' names were received: Hercules and Iphiclus
Upon hearing the news, Heragoes went wild with rage when the human hero son of her husband was born. Athena, fooling Hera, brought about the baby lying in a field, crying, and Hera, in her mercy, took him for breastfeeding without knowing that it was Hercules. By breastfeeding him, the goddess unwittingly added Hera from the spark of divinity, but at the same time, she got such a serious bite on her breast that the milk sprayed into the sky, creating the Milky Way
According to the story, Hera eventually reconciled herself to the birth of her son, but on the condition that he would later undertake the twelve famous works to improve himself and learn his limits. After all, the gods are ambivalent about human development and push for growth and consciousness. All the so-called consent happens, although Hera continues to drive Hercules crazy more and more. Even when he was still a baby in the coop, it is said that she sent a giant snake to the twin twins, and baby Hercules grabbed the snake and strangled it!
Also, later, Hera challenges and weighs him down. She does this while causing him tantrums, outbursts, a lack of control, and madness. A series of behaviors and emotions that can be called psychologically complex, so that he does not break free from the matriarchate and does not promote culture!
After all, as in psychology, on whom do we project all the baby's problems and craziness if not on the bad big mother
After various madness in which Hercules beats, kills, and erupts unrestrained, he must endure the punishment of twelve different jobs he receives from a guide character named Yurystheus (who gives a strong and broad back). In this case, Herculis's subordination to someone other than his status is also part of the punishment trend. He must obey and worship his various works, each of which will have special significance for developing the self and his transformation into a true hero, as a kind of work that strengthens the self
Some of the works will deal with overcoming and taming formidable animals while keeping them alive, a piece that symbolizes a kind of refinement of passions, such as the war against the bull belonging to Poseidon, the fight against the dangerous wild boar, and the hunt for the Karinian Doe, a hunting mission that will take a year to carry out
In contrast to overcoming animals, some tasks involve overcoming monsters that must be killed and eliminated. Their venom and poison or fur must be taken: the Hydra, the lion Nimian, and the Stefania birds with metal wings that attack and kill with their wings. Some of these are more integrative tasks, like obtaining the apple from the Esperidian apples and getting Aphrodite's belt found in the Queen of the Amazons, collecting and transporting Gerion's herd of horses intact, and cleaning the famous stables. And there is also the task of coping and overcoming the fear of death, taking control of the dog Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld, who must be caught, held, raised from the underworld, and returned to his place!
Like many sun heroes, the first work is overcoming the lion, the animal that symbolizes the king of animals. In taking control of the lion and subduing it, the hero assumes control over the central creative side of the self: the desire for dominance, self-centeredness, and tyranny over others – the narcissistic position of the self. This is a natural and vital position at the outset, but it is also a danger that can be present at every step of the way. As a wild lion unrestrained, this trait or even complex can attack the self anew and cause it to remain stuck, dominated by its instincts or hubris of greatness. The domination and subjugation of the lion thus symbolize the increase in passion and the integration of the lion's power into the possession of the self. We know that the self tends to swell with omnipotent tendencies; overcoming is essential for the strength of the self
Hercules overcomes the lion and obtains its skin, and the splendor of the monstrous lion's mane becomes a mask, a persona, showing the world the degree of his overcoming. He leads the whole world to believe that the lion has overcome this and thus appears himself as a lion: strong, impressive, and has done something great… There is a particular danger during a person's mental development that if the self does not receive enough admiration or glorification or does not achieve enough of it at a critical stage in the child's life, this need will not be met and may occupy the person for the rest of their life. The image-persona can then be the most important thing to him, and the essence becomes a minor thing. The persona complex will make a person dependent on the admiration and gaze of others and can be detached from any true inner power
Of the tasks that Hercules must perform, I will focus on only a few and choose one from each task group to represent certain functions for us
Among the tasks of overcoming the monsters, it is worth noting the removal of the head of the Hydra. This water monster lives in a foul-smelling quicksand swamp, with nine heads spraying pungent and stinky poison, of which eight are invulnerable. Any attempt to harm one of the eight will double the damage, and two new ones will grow immediately. The hero must identify the vulnerable head, the real head, which, if struck, will eliminate the monster
This story is about the real head, a mortal head, perhaps human, who can die, is exciting because the hero must learn to discern what is worth fighting for and what is not! A similar story is seen in the hero Perseus, who must know how to distinguish the head of a dead jellyfish from among the heads of her sisters, the Gorgons, the immortal eternal daughters, before lowering her head. Hercules recognizes the correct head only after bending, waiting, noticing, and then hitting; he proves patience, diagnosis, and ability to tilt and withstand difficult and threatening conditions!
In terms of the functioning of the self, this can be translated into how to avoid falling into the trap of evil when fighting it. It involves knowing how to look patiently and thoughtfully without ranting, rage, and hatred. There is no point in striking casually and forcefully without thought and distinction. In a psychological sense, sometimes people fight evil, even for justice. Still, they sometimes only exacerbate it, and they are in danger of falling deeper and deeper into evil. Feelings of revenge, rage, hatred, and the use of indiscriminate violence can cause such a situation.
In therapeutic work, knowing which dark, hidden side of a patient should be touched and when is essential. The enormous and archetypal evil that has no human distress or suffering behind it is dangerous, even for the therapist; it is also difficult to heal. Healing and change will occur behind human evil, which is often accompanied by suffering, protest, and other forms of distress
Among the tasks of acquiring qualities for oneself and uniting opposites, we will use the example of the deer hunter Karenina doe. In this mission, Hercules must follow the movements and behavior of this special gazelle for about a year, as he must hunt it unharmed and shoot an arrow in a particular and targeted area of its hoof that will not harm it. The hunter must monitor the deer for a year and understand its movements. This requires patience, Diagnosis, restraint, connection to the body, an understanding of nature, and the ability to maintain composure despite the aggressiveness of hunting! After the hunt, the gazelle will be given to the goddess Artemis, the goddess of the right hunt, who will harness her to her forest chariot
Most interesting is the task in which Hercules must enter the apple garden of his haunting stepmother, the apple garden of the Hesperides, the wedding garden she received for her wedding. It requires him to retrieve a shield of the union of opposites, a special apple. The garden is guarded by a hundred-eyed dragon named Don, which is hard to bypass!
In this mission, the Titan Atlas helps him, who knows the way to the secret of the disappearing garden, while at the same time, Hercules learns to use the trick with which Atlas fools him. "Please hold the world for me," Atlas tells him, trying to get rid of his position, "and I'll bring you the apple." Hercules holds the world for a moment and then, like a trickster, asks for a moment to wipe his sweat, and then he escapes with the apple in his hand. The hero also acquires something of the trickster-trickster that the Greeks, and probably all Middle Easterners, saw as a great virtue!
He entered the garden and brought the apple, symbolizing the union of Zeus and Hera, the pairing of father and mother, masculine and feminine, the wedding of opposites —an honorable achievement by the hero who had begun his journey with power alone.
Hercules' most interesting mission is the descent to Hades and the takeover of the boundary dog between the world and the spirit world, the terrifying Cerberus. In this complex task, the hero demonstrates development and growth, learning to distinguish between life and death, sanity and madness, and imagination and reality. To perform it, he must undergo various rituals, including the Eleusinian Mysteries, which are only accessible to women. He must purge himself of all his killings to descend into a dark and hidden world—a world of spirits in which his ordinary power and physical force are ineffective. He must be brave and curious, facing terrifying ghosts, such as the ghost of the jellyfish in the underworld. He must learn about another world from the physical world.
As we will see in the descent of other heroes into the world of Hades, he must contend with and overcome another world, a world of spirit, no matter, soul
without fear of it. In overcoming the world of death and the soul, his life will take on a new dimension. You have overcome both worlds, Hercules was told by Youristeas at the end of his mission
To live without constant fear of death, one must know the boundary between life and death. To face death and acknowledge its existence. The Ego emerges from the omnipotence of omnipotence, of eternity, and recognizes the end and end of those dear to it. This task of Hercules, which also symbolizes the developing Ego, the young Ego, fits best with the interpretation in our reference to the Ego of the young adolescent—the adolescent who seeks the limits of ability, the limitations of his omnipotence. The border crossing is used for him to know the border, typical dangers, and tragedies, which were tragic and caused the young man's death. There is no doubt that the young self who knows no boundaries does not understand its limitations, does not separate death from life, and does not understand how fragile life is! On the other hand, the adolescent who is afraid of death, the one who is overwhelmed with anxiety, will cling to the safe and can suffer from the opposite problem of fear of life and seclusion from it.
The Cerberus Dog Takeover Mission signals that maintaining boundaries is an animal instinct in the human psyche that must be listened to and yet trained, mastered, and attained awareness, transmitted in broad daylight
It is also said that when Hercules carries the raging three-headed dog, he drools, and his enormous saliva falls to the ground, growing poisonous herbs, such as Hypericum. Those Plants can be toxic or curing according to the appropriate dosage.
The integration of this function into the human psyche occurs after the person has undergone difficult and frightening experiences in life, and perhaps it serves as a compensatory reward for the burdens they face
In different parts of Hercules' story, we also see the protagonist's need to get dirty and out of a clean and arrogant position. The task of cleaning the stables demonstrates this beautifully. Hercules is forced to clean the stables of a particularly successful, wealthy man with herds, cattle, and horses. A person who, despite and perhaps because of his successes and wealth, neglects to clean the waste and remove the garbage does not take care of the dirt! Hercules is supposed to clean the stables, withstand humiliation, and give up his dignity, but also knows how to touch the dirt of life. In this task, Hercules becomes clever, using his power to steer toward two large rivers that wash through the stables. It is said that, therefore, this mission is not considered a success. The hero got smart and tried to succeed the easy way! Of course, we know the sophisticated Ego, the trickster, which has its limits
Upon completing Hercules' missions, the hero becomes a special hero who, after his death, will ascend to Olympus like several human beings, characters who have received such a reward. The idea of climbing to Olympus expresses the eternity of man's achievement and his transformation into an archetypal image. Psyche, the soul at the end of her quest to find love, also became an Olympic figure, and even Media, the eternal witch, became part of the Olympic pantheon at the end of her life
There is no doubt that Hercules, the hero, has undergone a long and arduous journey, and his life and missions symbolize the iron sheep of man's achievements alongside suffering, madness, brutality, human bestiality, and the wound that must be carried. The only aspect in which Hercules fails throughout his life is his relationship with women —a significant problem for most Greek Heroes—an area where the male Ego has been weak since the dawn of history. And we will see this in the story of the hero, Theseus, below.
The hero, the Hebrew judge closest to Hercules, is Samson, the hero with the special power who overcomes the lion and performs other miraculous deeds. He is also close to him because he fails in his relationships with women who overcome him. However, since the Torah is not focused on physical strength and power in general, but on the hero's contribution to the connection with God and the liberation and salvation of the people, Samson, the hero who is subject to the power of a woman, is unable to help in his mission except through self-sacrifice
Samson illustrates that physical strength and superhuman abilities are insufficient for the Jewish self and consciousness
It is said that Samson was the twelfth Judge and the last one described in the Book of Judges, a member of the tribe of Dan. At the time of his actions, the south of the country was under the control of the Philistines. Samson grew up as a man of God, and if his devotion was genuine, God endowed him with supernatural power, which he used to strike at the Philistines
Samson is a model of heroism and strength, popularly known as "Samson the Hero."
Unlike other judges described in the Book of Judges, the Bible devotes four entire chapters to Samson, more than any other judge. His life is described in detail—from the description of his parents and pre-birth to a detailed description of his death and burial place—a complete life story.
Samson seems to have been an exceptional judge compared to other judges. He acted alone, often as a "lone wolf," against the Philistines in personal acts of revenge, usually involving his wives. The description of Samson's life does not contain elements of leadership of the people. He did not organize an army, which does not describe how he led the people, and no elements in his life story are required of a judge-leader. Yet it is said twice that he "judged Israel for twenty years," and there is not a single word of condemnation of his actions
In terms of the symbol of a hero, he resembles the Greek heroes already at birth. You see the divine spark involved
An angel of God appeared to Samson's barren father and mother, telling them that they were about to have a son who would grow up as a monk of God, forbidden to shave his hair and drink wine and liquor, and would save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. The angel commanded his parents to practice monasticism even before his birth
"And the angel of Jehovah feared the woman and said to her, Behold, you are barren, and you have not given birth and conceived and given birth to a son. Now take care and do not drink wine and wages or eat unclean food. For you are pregnant and give birth to a son and a teacher, it will not occur to him that the monk of God will be the boy from the stomach, and he will begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines" Samson was born and raised, and when he reached his chapter it is written:
"And the Spirit of Jehovah began to beat in the camp of Dan, between Tzora and Israel."
In addition, we see that Samson's life is one of martyrdom; the Philistines and his brothers despise him, but he continues his path for years and years. In his outward behavior, he appears to be a rude and lowly man busy with adventures, but he has a devotion to the people of Israel. His monasticism keeps him safe from being harmed by the Philistines until Delilah defeats him. His strength lies in his hair, and like hair that is mainly outside and only at the end is attached to the body, so Samson is on the outside, but he acts from within
It seems that personal development and overcoming miraculous forces indicate that this is a hero who also symbolizes the development of the self, of course, in the service of the people, and connected with God in his way
