THE HERO and his GOD In the ANCIENT WORLD As I was searching the University Museum I came upon the piece of pottery NECK AMPHORA (storage vessel). On one side of the vessel it had Hercules wrestling with Nemean Lion, flanked by Athena and Hermes. On the other side it had Dionysus (the God of wine), and he is dinning with his wife, with Ardine as satyr approaches bringing a jug of wine. A painter of London painted it, in late 6th b. c. It was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Franks Peddle Jr.
The subject on the object was named Herkles or also known as Hercules. He was the son of Zeus and Alcmene. He was a hero notorious of his strength and the 12 labors. He was given 12 labors by the king of Mycenae. Which included: the Nemean Lion, the Hydra of Lerna, the Cerynitian Hind, the Erymanthaian Boar, the Cleanign of the Stable of Augeas, the Stymphlian Birds, the Cretan bull, the Mares of Diomedes, the Amozonn's (Hippolyta's) girdle, the Cattle of Geryon, the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, and the Descent to the underworld, Herkles was the only human finally made into a God and allowed to live on Mt.
Zeus (Crop)
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Hercules fighting the Nemean Lion. Detail of The T...Olympus with the other Gods.
There are some similarities in ancient heroes and today heroes. Since we don't have anybody like Herkles who can fight off big wild animals. We have many different types of heroes. They are known as police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and even sometimes-political figures. Like Herkles police officers helps to fight crime and keep out the wild creatures from hurting the everyday citizen. Firefighters are lot of people putting out fires, rescuing cats from trees and many other tasks. Paramedics helps saves peoples life when they are hurt and sick! Finally even political figures can be known as a hero. They make up laws that keep the bad guys of the street from harming others. So the differences of ancient hero and modern day heroes is that we have several heroes doing many different thing for the common people instead of leaving it up to one single person.
Mycenae
Woodcut architectural and historiated (Heracles an...
Front panel from a sarcophagus with the Labours of...