版权归Crash Course公开课所有，本文仅作读文学习使用，如侵权，请联系搬运工删除。
(30)
Herakles. Or Hercules.
A Problematic Hero
Description
🌳 This week, Mike Rugnetta re-introduces Herakles[ˈherəkliːz](赫拉克勒斯), the strong man of Greek and Roman myth. Strongman with a darkside, that is. You'll learn about Herakles' 10 actually 12 labors, the story of his birth, his death, some of his marriages, none of which turned out that great, and some of his character flaws that definitely wouldn't fly in the modern world.
🌳
1. This is Crash Course Mythology, and today we're talking about another hero. One who eventually becomes a god, a demi-god. Which is another way of saying semi-god. Kinda.
Anyway, it's our old friend Herakles[ˈherəkliːz](赫拉克勒斯), which some call Hercules['hə:kjuli:z]. Sometimes a man, sometimes a god, but always a guy who really knows how to rock a lion skin. Very heroic.
🌳
2. Herakles has a reputation for being.... kind of a brute. All brawn(肌肉), no brain. But remember when we talked about Herakles in an episode about tricksters? Remember how he tricks Atlas into holding up the sky forever? He may be buff(健美或健壮而肌肉发达的), but Herakles sure ain't dense(愚笨的；迟钝的).
Though, he doesn't always make the best choices. Sometimes Herakles is his own worst enemy. Even worse than the hydra[ˈhaɪdrə](水螅，九头蛇，砍去一个头即长出新头，后为赫拉克勒斯所杀), and that was a pretty bad one. But, wait, let's not get aHEAD of ourselves.
🌳
3. Like many heroes, Herakles had a miraculous birth. Zeus, god of lightning bolts, but not consent, takes a liking to Alcmene[ælkˈmini](阿尔克墨涅), the Queen of Thebes(底比斯城). Zeus transforms himself into the form of the King Amphitryon[æmˈfɪtriən](安菲特律翁), and sleeps with the Queen.
Nine months later, Alcmene gives birth to two boys, Iphicles[ˈɪfɪˌkliːz](伊菲克勒斯) and Alcides[AL-see-deez](阿尔喀德斯). One of them is Amphitryon's son, and the other is Zeus'.
But ah, divine boys - which is which?! This is how sitcoms(情景喜剧) get started.
🌳
4. When Hera(天后赫拉) finds out about this debacle - yet another Zeusian infidelity[ˌɪnfɪˈdeləti](不忠) - she sends two revenge serpents to Iphicles' and Alcides' cribs. When the King and the Queen rush in, Iphicles is crying and Alcides is holding the two serpents, strangled in each of his tiny baby hands.
Mystery solved, I guess. Alcides would later become Herakles. Alcides is raised as Prince of Thebes, but he's a bit of a problem child. His godlike strength keeps getting him into trouble.
"The Infant Hercules Strangling Serpents in His Crade"
(1786-1788)
Artist: Joshua Reynolds
🌳
5. At one point, he gets so mad at his music teacher that he smashes a lyre[laɪr](竖琴) over his head and kills him. This is the last straw for Amphitryon and the King sends the dangerous demi-god princeling away to tend sheep.
As a shepherd, Herakles gets to put his great strength to use. A monstrous beast named the Lion of Cithaeron[sɪˈθɛˈrɪən](西塞隆山) has been terrorizing the cattle of Thespius(泰斯庇斯), King of Thespiae(塞斯比亚). When Herakles catches it and slays it, Thespius is so overjoyed that he allows him to take one of his fifty daughters to bed each night. Gross.
🌳
6. Eventually Alcides moves back to Thebes and marries Princess Megara(墨伽拉). They start a family and things begin to settle down. Despite the earlier adventures though, this is where we get to the turning point in Alcides' life. Suddenly, he goes mad! He takes his three children and two of his nephews, and burns them alive.
There's some ambiguity here in the story. Whether this madness was Alcides finally giving into his wild nature or whether it was caused by a vindictive Hera, who can really hold a grudge.
🌳
7. But either way, when Alcides comes to his senses, he implores an oracle(先知，宣示神谕的人) for help. The oracle tells him, "Appease(安抚，平息) Hera. Change your name to Herakles. And to atone[əˈtoʊn](赎罪), you must travel to Tiryns[ˈtɪrɪnz](梯林斯城) and allow your rival, King Eurystheus[jʊəˈrɪsθiəs](欧律斯透斯), King of Tiryns and Mycenae[maɪˈsiːniː](迈锡尼), to set your punishment for killing your children."
This is the beginning of the Ten Labors of Herakles. Yep! Ten. Don't worry, we're gonna get there.
🌳
8. When Herakles arrives and tells Eurystheus what he's done, the King of Tiryns gives him a set of impossible tasks. These ten labors will take Herakles far and away, confronting all manner of monster. And if he succeeds, he won't just atone for his family-murdering, he'll also be granted immortality. These are the heroic tasks that made Herakles famous. Let's count them off.
🌳
9. One: the Nemean Lion.
Harkening back(回想)[1] to his days as a lion-slaying shepherd, Herakles' first labor is to go to Nemea[ˈniːmiə](涅墨亚) and kill a monstrous lion. This lion's skin can't be pierced by arrows or spears, but Herakles doesn't let this stop him. He puts the beast into a chokehold(锁喉) and strangles him. Check!
[1] harken back or hearken back 回想
to go back to or recall to mind something in the past
e.g. The latest version of the FOX Box has been used since Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles and still hearkens back to Hill’s clever idea.
—Jeff Fedotin, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024
"Hercules fight with the Nemea Lion"
Artist: Yaroslav Radetskyi
🌳
10. Herakles must then defeat the Lernean(勒纳湖) Hydra(海德拉), a swamp dragon with nine heads. Every time he slices off one of the heads, two grow back in its place and before long, Herakles is practically drowning in craniums(头颅).
Luckily, his nephew Iolus(伊奥拉斯) - who somehow managed to avoid the nephew killing by fire from earlier - brings Herakles flaming torches. The torches cauterize(灼烧) the dragon-neck-wounds, preventing Hydra from multiplying. Herakles kills the Hydra, dips some arrows into its bile - you know, just in case - and returns triumphant.
But Eurystheus tells him, "This isn't Herakles and Iolus's ten labors! You can't get outside help! So that one doesn't count." Second labor: disqualified.
🌳
11. For his third labor, Herakles must capture the Golden Horned Hind of Ceryneia(刻律涅牝鹿，狩猎女神阿耳忒弥斯的座驾). Alone. It's tough, but after some chasing or trapping (depending on which version you prefer) Herakles snags the hind. Check!
Next, Herakles must go to Psophis(普索费斯) and kill the giant Erymanthian(厄律曼托斯山) Boar. On the way, he stopped at the cave of the centaur[ˈsenˌtɔr](半人马) Pholus(福洛斯) and accidentally kills him with one of those hydra-bile soaked "just in case" arrows. After burying the centaur, Herakles traps the boar and takes it to Mycenae. Check! But also, rest in power Pholus.
🌳
12. So far, all of Herakles labors have been giant scary beasts related. For his fifth labor, Eurystheus tells him he must clean out the stables(马厩) of Augeas(奥吉亚斯), King of Elis[elˈlis](伊利斯). Augeas owned 3,000 immortal cattle and hadn't cleaned his stables in 30 years. That's about 650,000 pounds of immortal dung(尤指大型动物的粪). Yes, we did the math.
Herakles agrees and says to Augeas, "If I manage to clean all of this out in a single day, will you agree to give to me a tenth of your immortal cattle?" Oh, tricky Herakles is back!
🌳
13. Augeas agrees and, instead of grabbing a dung shovel, Herakles goes upstream and diverts two nearby rivers through the stables. The water washes out years of dung in minutes. Augeas, who thought this labor was impossible, bails on(背弃) the deal. Herakles takes him before a judge and wins the case. But Augeas flies into a rage and banishes him before Herakles can claim the cattle.
Herakles returns to Eurystheus empty-handed only to have Eurystheus announce that this labor didn't count, because Herakles tried to get paid for it. Fifth labor, disqualified!
🌳
14. After the immortal dung debacle, Herakles is back to wrangling monstrous animals. This time in Arcadia[ɑrˈkeɪdiə](阿卡迪亚), where he must drive away the Stymphaliana[stɪmˈfeɪliən](斯廷法利斯湖) birds[1]. Herakles scares them off with just a pair of bronze castanets(响板). Sixth labor, check! Easy-peasy. Birds hate castanets.
Herakles seventh labor is to capture the rampaging(横冲直撞的，暴跳如雷的) Cretan Bull(克里特公牛), which he could do in his sleep at this point. Seventh labor, no sweat, a-check!
[1] Stymphaliana birds 斯廷法利斯湖怪鸟
希腊神话中栖居在斯廷法利斯湖畔(阿耳卡狄亚地区)的一群怪鸟。斯廷法利斯湖怪鸟以人为食。它们长着铜质的翅膀、爪子和喙，羽毛锐利无比。当这些鸟把羽毛像箭一样射出时，威力可以将人杀死。它们的粪便有剧毒。是一群十分厉害的怪物。
🌳
15. Next, Herakles has to go to Thrace(色雷斯) to capture the man-eating Mares(母马) of Diomedes[ˌdaɪəˈmidiz](狄俄墨得斯，阿尔戈斯的国王). There's a lot of different versions of this one, but they all end the same way. Eight labor, a-check.
Herakles ninth labor is to fetch the belt of Hippolyte[hɪˈpɒlɪtə](希波吕忒), Queen of the Amazons. At first, Hippolyte agrees to just give Herakles the belt. But then, Hera, of course, starts a rumor that Herakles has come to kidnap Hippolyte, and the Amazons jump them. In the ensuing struggle, Herakles kills Hippolyte and takes her belt. Ninth labor, check. Hippolyte, you barely knew thee.
Just one labor left, but there were two disqualifications. For Herakles' final three labors, let's take a look at the story.
🌳
16. The tenth labor takes Herakles far to the west, to Erytheia[Ai-REE-thee-aa](厄律忒亚岛), where he must seize the red cattle of Geryon(革律翁，巨人). On the way, Herakles is so angry about how hot the sun is that he aims his bow and arrow at it. The sun is so impressed with Herakles bravery that he gives the hero a golden cup. And it's not just any cup, it's a magic cup. That's also a ship.
🌳
17. After Herakles kills Geryon and his herdsmen and his two-headed guard dog, he uses the cup to transport the cattle back across the sea. But then they escape and he has to chase them all over Europe. When Herakles finally gets them to Eurystheus, the King sacrifices them to Hera. That's labor ten check! And tells Herakles, "Okay, you screwed up twice though, so here are your two make up labors."
Labor eleven is collecting golden apples from the nymphs, the Hesperides[hɛˈspɛrɪˌdiz](赫斯帕里得斯). This is the one where he tricks Atlas into helping him. He also helps Prometheus, you know how this turns out, ch-ch-ch-check!
🌳
18. And then the twelfth and final labor is to travel to the Underworld and bring back that damned doggo, Cerberos[ˈsɜːrbərəs](刻耳柏洛斯), Hades' three-headed guard-pup. Herakles travels to the land of the dead where Hades happens upon Herakles and tells him, "You can have Cerberos, but only if you can defeat him without any of the weapons you've brought."
Herakles agrees, snags Cerberos around the neck and chokes him into submission. He drags the dog to Eurystheus, gets him to sign off on the final labor - that's the check to end all checks - and then returns Cerberos to Hades.
🌳
19. After all that adventuring, Herakles manages to complete his ten-turned-twelve labors.
While this is Herakles most famous story, it's far from his last adventure. He gets married again! That's right, no happily ever after with Megara. Disney lied to you. Eventually, he even manages to achieve that elusive immortality, though, it's at great cost.
🌳
20. Well after his twelve labors, Herakles is crossing the river Evenos[ɛˈviːnəs](欧厄诺斯河) with his new wife, Deianira[diːəˈnaɪrə](得伊阿尼拉). The ferryman, a centaur named Nessus[ˈnɛsəs](涅索斯), tries to rape Deianira midstream and Herakles kills him. But with his dying breath, Nessus tricks Deianira into preparing what he tells her is a love potion which she can use if Herakles ever loses interest in her.
Herakles later falls in love with Iole[ˈiːˈoʊli](伊俄勒) and, in order to win him back, Deianira soaks his shirt in Nessus's "love potion", a.k.a. and of course a horrible poison, because what else would it be? Nessus was clearly a bad guy! Herakles puts on the shirt and dies an extremely painful death, burning on his own funeral pyre.
🌳
21. Finally, Zeus tells Hera, "Hey, enough is enough," and sends Athena down to make Herakles immortal and bring him to Mount Olympus. So Herakles becomes a god and gets to live on Olympus. Right near Hera.
So, what makes Herakles, a screw-up and a child murderer, such an enduring hero? I mean, as demi-gods go, the guy isn't exactly a role model. He sleeps around, he loses his temper, he kills people.
The ancient world seemed to love him for the variety and the excitement of his adventures. But what do we do about Herakles today?
🌳
22. Herakles presents kind of a problem. He's been given power and strength and brains, all courtesy of a creepy, absent, irresponsible father, but he still has to struggle to live an ethical life. Maybe we don't have to fight hydras. I mean, I hope we don't. I definitely hope I don't. Yet, we do have to all work to try and live with each other. Respectfully and responsibly.
We can't rock a lion skin, but maybe we can rock that. See you next time in the last in our hero series - about Ma'ui. You're welcome.
To be continued…
未完待续…
