By: Alex Quine, Briana Landino, Grant Carpenter, Bryce Maginley, Alex Vines, Katey Shehan Hercules

Heroic Qualities Compassionate Brave Great bodily strength Supreme self confidence Good natured Bold Agrees humbly to any punishment Never rebels against almost impossible demands Greatness of soul

Flaws Considered himself equal with the Gods Often conspicuously absent Weak intellect Strong emotions His thinking was limited to devising ways to kill monsters that were trying to kill him Sudden outbursts of furious anger

Tasks, Journey, and Quest Tasks: He needed to complete 12 labors to cleanse himself for killing his wife and 2 kids. So he went to Eurytheus to get his 12 tasks Journey: He had to learn how to control his emotion and prevent lashing out and killing innocent people Quest: He had to redeem himself after killing his family

Summary of Hercules Zeus and a mortal had a child together. Hercules was the son of Zeus, yet he did not live with his father, he had his earth parents. Since Hercules was the son of Zeus and not the son of Hera (Zeus’s wife) she came to resent Hercules, so it became her goal to kill Hercules. Hera’s first attempt was when she sent 2 snakes to the crib of Hercules, this attempt failed though since Hercules had great physical power (even as a baby) and crushed the snakes with his bare hands. His earth parents saw this and realized what a great power Hercules had. Hercules could not be killed because of the great strength he possessed since he is the son of Zeus. Throughout the Young life of Hercules he had many bursts of outrage, often resulting in the death of an innocent person. He regretted killing the innocent so much so that it tore him apart. Hera eventually came up with an evil plot to make him go insane (since she could not directly kill Hercules) and kill his wife and 2 kids. Hercules ended up killing his wife and kids over the sanity he lost from Hera taking it away. His killing of his wife and kids gave him great guilt, and he knew that he had to redeem himself.

Summary of Hercules He went to redeem himself by getting 12 labors from Eurytheus. Eurytheus said he would be redeemed after he completed his missions, but this was not so. Hercules still felt bad and was still not right in the head. Hercules was so upset with himself that he wanted to die, he ended up getting his wish and was torched to death.

Tasks 1-6 One: Kill the lion of Nemea Two: Kill the Hydra in Lerna Three: Bring back a stag with horns of gold, alive Four: Capture a great boar Five: Clean Augean stables in a single day Six: Drive the Stymphalian birds away from the city of Stymphalus

Tasks 7-12 Seven: Fetch a beautiful, savage bull Eight: Capture the man-eating mares of Thrace Nine: Bring back the girdle of Hippolyta Ten: Bring the cattle of Geryon Eleven: Bring back the golden apples of the Hesperides Twelve: Bring Cerberes, Hades three-headed dog, up from the underworld

Motifs Guilt and Redemption: After going into a fit of insanity and killed his two kids, and wife while she was trying to protect them. He felt guilty and went to Eurytheus to see what he could do to redeem himself. Wicked Step Mother: Hera, Zeus’ wife, was jealous that Zeus slept with a mortal and had a child. She never forgave Hercules, and tried to kill him. When those attempts failed, she made him go insane and was the reason that he killed his wife and kids.

Themes Pride Goes Before a Fall: He was very cocky all of his life and thought he was equal to the Gods. He was sent to kill many beasts by the Gods and since death never came to him, he went to death. In the end, he fell by setting himself on fire

Symbol and setting archetypes Symbol: Serpent, Night, and Day Serpents represent evil, this is especially true in this story since 2 serpents tried to kill him as a baby. Day represent hope, and renewal, while night is despair and the unknown. Settings: Heaven, and Hell Heaven represents the sky and where the gods live, while Hell represents the evil forces of the world.

Character Archetypes: Anti Hero: Hercules He was selfish and cocky. He killed people and he didn’t care, ends justified the means. Villain: Hera She tried to kill Hercules as a baby. She influenced him to kill his family. Wise Old Man: Eurytheus Gave him insight on how to redeem himself. Had wisdom and told him what to do.

Story Summation Hercules went from being self-centered to repaying any misfortune he brought upon people. He became more aware of his strength. He enjoyed executing impossible tasks. He became more mature and independent, becoming the greatest hero of Greece.

Lessons/Cultural Values Lesson: (theme) “Pride Goes Before a Fall” Lesson: “You are responsible for all of your actions” Lesson: “Think around the problem” Cultural Value: “Learn to Pay the Price” (a Greek value”)