HERCULES
Real Name:
Heracles (Alcaeus is his birth name)
Occupation:
Adventurer, God of strength and labors, Movie actor, former Circus
Strongman
Legal Status:
Citizen of Olympus with a provisional United States citizenship due to his
Avengers status
Identity: The general populace of Earth does not believe in the existence of
Hercules except as a mythological character.
Other Aliases:
Champion, The Lion of Olympus, The Son of Zeus, Harry Cleese, Hercules Reason, Kevin
Sorbo (mortal identities),
Place of Birth:
Thebes, Greece
Marital Status:
(Hebe) Separated, (Deianeira) Widowed, (Megara) Divorced,
Known Relatives:
Zeus (father), Alcmene (mother, deceased), Gaea (great-grandmother), Ouranos
(great-grandfather), Cronus (grandfather), Rhea (grandmother), Amphitryon
(step-father, deceased), Pylius
(adoptive father, deceased), Licymnius
(uncle, deceased), Poseidon, Hades (uncles), Electryon (maternal grandfather,
deceased), Hera, Demeter, Hestia (aunts), Ares,
Apollo, Dionysus,
Hermes,
Hephaestus (half-brothers),
Iphicles (half-brother, deceased), Argeius,
Melas, Oenonus (cousins, deceased), Aphrodite,
Athena, Artemis,
Eileithyia, Helen,
Discord , Persephone,
Pandia (half-sisters), Megaera (first wife, deceased), Deianeira (second
wife, deceased), Hebe
(half-sister/third wife, separated), Iolaus (nephew, deceased),
Macaria (daughter, deceased), Alexiares, Anicetus (sons by Hebe), Telephus (son
by Auge, deceased), Hyllus (son by Deianeira, deceased), Ctessipus (son by
Deidameia, deceased), Lamus (son by Omphale, deceased), Cleodaius (son by
unknown servant girl, deceased), Tlepolemus (son by Astyoche, deceased),
Scythes, Gelonus, Agathyrsus (sons by unknown priestess, deceased), Celtus (son
by Celtina, deceased), Fifty
unnamed sons by the daughters of King Thespius (all deceased), Hylas (foster
son, deceased); Argos, Arimathes (alternate future sons), Bombshell (alternate
future daughter), Perseus, Pelops, Tantalus, Lynceus, Epaphus (ancestors,
deceased);
Group Affiliations:
The Gods of
Base of Operations:
Olympus also Mobile, formerly Thebes, Tiryns, Calydon and Trachis
First Appearance:
Journey Into Mystery Annual #1
History: Hercules is the son of Zeus, the king of the gods of Olympus, and Alcmene, a mortal woman related to the Mycenaean monarchy in the 13th
Century BC. Recognizing the need for a son who would be powerful enough to
defend both humanity and the Olympian gods from future dangers he foresaw, Zeus
seduced Alcmene in the guise of her husband, General Amphitryon of Thebes, while
her husband was away at war for King Creon of Thebes. Jealous over Zeus’s
infidelity, Hera sent her daughter Eileithyia to delay the hour of Hercules
birth long enough for his cousin Eurystheus to be born and inherit the throne of
Mycenae. As Alcmene came near death, her servant, Galanthis, prematurely screamed
out the birth of her son and distracted Eileithyia. Eileithyia startled by the
announcement rushed to investigate and in her haste, broke the spells
forestalling Hercules’s birth. Hercules and his mortal twin-brother Iphicles
were born as a result and Eileithyia transformed Galanthis into a weasel for her
impertinence.
Hera
meanwhile made another attempt to kill Alcmene’s son, but Hercules’
extraordinary strength was already apparent as he demonstrated before he was
even one year old by strangling two serpents sent by Hera to slay him. Hera
would prove to be one of his fiercest opponents of the succeeding millennia.
Fearful
of Hera’s wrath given her reputation with Zeus’s other paramours, Alcmene
deserted her son by Zeus, at that time named Alcaeus, by exposing him on a
mountainside. Athena meanwhile found him and persuaded the unsuspecting Hera to
nurse him. Hera did so unsuspectingly until Hercules bit her. Realizing what had
happened, Hera tossed Hercules aside and Athena returned him to Alcmene telling
her that his name was Heracles because he had earned Hera’s hatred. In later
years, this name was altered to Hercules.
Hercules’
education was developed under the wise Centaur named Chiron. Many of Chiron’s
students became Hercules closest friends. The wily thief Autolycus taught him to
wrestle and Eurytion, heir to the throne of Oechalia, taught him the use of bows
and arrows. Castor showed him the art of fencing, but Hercules never cared for
swordplay. Hercules cared even less for music and in a fit of frustration
accidentally killed Linus, the aged son of Apollo, by cracking his lyre over the
old man’s head.
By
the age of seventeen, Hercules was at least six feet tall and quite adept with a
bow and arrow. He knew how to use his strength to its fullest and killed a lion
that had been roaming Mount Cithaeron and eating the flocks of King Creon and
King Thespius. Hercules even made a
pelt from the lion’s skin to wear as a tunic. Thespius meanwhile insisted that
his fifty daughters each sleep with Hercules to produce him heirs. Staying as a
guest of the king for fifty days, Hercules unwittingly slept with each daughter
unaware of the true traffic in his room and imagined he was only indebted to one
of Thespius’s daughters.
Returning
home, Hercules met heralds from Orchomenus on their way to collect an annual
tribute from Thebes and cut off their ears and noses to hang from the necks of
the heralds. The act of disrespect infuriated King Erginus of Orchomenus against
Thebes, but Hercules rallied the youth of Thebes against the armies of King
Erginus and burned his palace to the ground to sack the city. Afterward,
Orchomenus had to pay double tribute back to Thebes.
King
Creon of Thebes grateful to Hercules allowed him to marry his daughter, Megaera.
They had several sons, but upon returning from war with the Minyans, the
battle-fatigued Hercules slew his sons after mistaking them for enemy soldiers
who had entered his home. Megaera was horror struck at the act not realizing it
had been an illusion created by Hera. Hercules left Thebes to be purified of the
murders by King Nausithous of Drepane. During his stay here, Hercules slept with
a minor goddess named Melite and she bore him a son named Hyllus (not to be
confused with Hyllus, Hercules’ son by Deianeira). Hercules then went to
Delphi where the oracle revealed to him that he was the son of Zeus and revealed
as well that as punishment he had to carry out whatever ten labors his weak
cousin King Eurystheus imposed upon him. If Hercules carried out these ten
labors, he would gain immortality.
King
Eurystheus dispatched Hercules on his first labor to slay the Nemean Lion, a
spawn of Typhon and Echidna. Hercules found it to be invulnerable to weapons and
had to kill it by strangulation. On his route to kill the lion, Hercules had
stayed the night with a poor laborer named Molorchus who wanted to make a
sacrifice to him as the son of Zeus. Hercules had told him to wait until he was
successful, but after the lion’s death, Molorchus sacrificed to Hercules. As
Hercules brought the dead lion to Eurystheus in Mycenae, the cowardly king hid in
a bronze storage jar. He then arranged for Hercules to take all his orders
through a messenger named Copreus. Not wanting anything to do with the lion’s
carcass, Eurystheus allowed Hercules to skin it. Hercules turned its pelt into
another tunic to replace his previous one.
Eurystheus
then sent Hercules on his second labor to kill the nine-headed Hydra, which
dwelled in the swamp at Lerna. Driving it out of the swamp with burning arrows,
he quickly learned it grew two new heads for each one severed. With the help of
Iolaus, son of Iphicles, Hercules used heated brands to cauterize each head
and prevent new heads from forming. Burning the rest of the creature’s body,
he collected enough of its venom to dip its arrows within and render them that
much more potent.
Eurystheus
then sent Hercules on his third labor to capture alive a Cerynithian stag, a
deer sacred to Artemis, hoping he would earn dishonor from the goddess for
harming it. Hercules pursued it for a full year and finally subdued it in
Arcadia when it stopped to drink by the river Ladon by sneaking up and throwing
a net over it. Apollo and Artemis appeared to stop him as he tried to carry it
back to Mycenae. Artemis tried to take the deer from him, but Hercules appeased
her by laying the blame on Eurystheus. She permitted him to carry the unharmed
deer back to Mycenae where it was released once more unharmed.
Hercules
was then sent back to Arcadia by Eurystheus on his fourth labor to capture alive
the Erymanthian Boar ravaging the city of Psopkis near Mount Erymanthus. On his
way to Arcadia, Hercules was a guest of the centaur Pholus, but upon smelling
the wine being served, the other centaurs behaved badly and Hercules drove them
off. Pholus was accidentally grazed by one of Hercules’ arrows dipped in the
blood of the Hydra during the melee and suffered from several years afterward
from this wound because of his immortality. Hercules applied medicines to him to
waylay the pain for the time and then went on to capture the Erymanthian boar.
Trapping the boar in deep snow on the mountain, he took it to King Eurystheus
who again hid in a jar on his approach.
During
this labor, Hercules had heard that Jason had called upon every hearty young man
to become Argonauts in a quest for the golden fleece, Hercules could not bear to
be left out and joined the adventure even going as far as favoring Jason as
leader in the endeavor. Hercules took the young man Hylas as his ward and
spurred the Argonauts on into the quest when they became distracted at Lemnos.
With the Argonauts, he slew giants that attacked them at the Port of Fair. In
Mysia, however, Hylas was abducted by faerie spirits, which presided in a local
well. Hercules refused to depart without him and departed the Argonauts to find
him. Jason refused to leave without him, but Zetes and Calais spurred him on.
Hercules contracted an oath from the Mysians to always search for Hylas.
Hylas’
departure had been engineered by Zeus to remind Hercules of his labors, and
Eurystheus angry at Hercules’s temporary defection assigned him the fifth
labor of cleaning out the vile stables of King Augeas of Elis. The dung was so
thick across the land that it was almost untellable. Hercules even went as far
as bargaining with Augeas that he could clean the stables within one day if
Augeas would give him one tenth of the cattle as payment. Not trusting Augeas,
Hercules had Augeas’ son, Phyleus, witness the wager. Hercules then redirected
the Alpheus and Peneius Rivers through the land to clean it. Augeas refused to
honor the wager and exiled his son Phyleus to keep him from testifying against
him. Vowing revenge, Hercules became a guest of King Dexamenus of Olenus. He
killed the Centaur Eurytion to keep him from marrying the king’s daughter out
of request.
Eurystheus
meanwhile did not count that labor because Hercules had tried to get payment for
it. He sent Hercules to slay the Stymphalian birds raised by Ares the war-god
and taught to eat human flesh. The birds had made Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia
their home in order to avoid the wolves, but Hercules espoused them from the
area with noises from brass castanets created by Hephaestus for Athena. Athena
lent them to Hercules for the occasion and with the birds in retreat, Hercules
shot them out of the sky.
For
his seventh labor, Hercules was sent out of the Peloponessus for the first time
by Eurystheus who hoped he would meet dire ends in foreign lands. Sent to Crete,
Hercules was sent to slay the Cretan Bull, which had fathered the Minotaur and
was now terrorizing the island. The bull had become an embarrassment to King
Minos because of his dealings with it. Minos gave Hercules permission to
Hercules to slay it, but Hercules instead brought it to Mycenae and freed it
there out of spite.
Eurystheus
proved to be just as vindictive by sending Hercules to Thrace on his eighth
labor to claim the man-eating mares of King Diomedes. During his journey,
Hercules stayed for lodgings with King Admetus as his wife Alcestis was being
buried upon her death. She had given her life up for her husband, but Hercules
fought Thanatos, the grim reaper himself, in order to get the god of dead to
free her from taking his place in the afterlife. Alcestis returned to life as a
result. A young man named Abderus joined Hercules with several volunteers to
help drive the man-eating mares into the sea, and Diomedes and his soldiers then
attacked Hercules. The mares ate Abderus while Hercules was distracted, but
Hercules tamed the mares by throwing them their own master, Diomedes, to feast
upon. The act repulsed the Thracian army and Hercules brought the tamed mares to
Mycenae and abandoned them there.
Admete,
daughter of Eurystheus, meanwhile, heard of the golden belt of Queen Hippolyta
of the Amazons, and Eurystheus sent Hercules to fetch it for her. Accompanied by
Theseus and a team of companions, Hercules sailed east for the land of the
Amazons. On the way, Hercules and his hearty band stopped at Paros for supplies
and were attacked by the Parians. He took hostage Alcaeus and Sthenelus, two
grandsons of Cretan King Minos who had ruled the island in the siege in order to
quell the attack. Hercules’ voyage to the land of the Amazons remained
uneventful until he reached Mysia where Lycus, King of the Mariandyni, treated
him royally. Hercules repaid his kindness by slaying King Mygdon, King of the
Bebryces, and surrendered his land to Lycus. Lycus renamed the land Heracleia
out of his generosity.
Hercules
reached Themiscyra without incident and encountered Hippolyta, Queen of the
Amazons, and received her golden belt without incident, but Hera frustrated by
the ease of this encounter incited the Amazons against the invaders. Hippolyta
was erroneously reported as killed and battle and Theseus abducted Hippolyta’s
sister, Antiope, as a bride when she surrendered herself to prevent further
bloodshed.
On
Hercules’ homeward journey home, King Laomedon of Troy beseeched him for help
rescuing his daughter, Hesione, who had been promised as a sacrifice to a sea
serpent named Delphyne over an insult to the god Apollo. Hercules promised to
save the girl, but he wanted Hesione and Laomedon’s prize mares as a reward.
Laomedon promised, but once his daughter was safe, he reneged on the deal. The
betrayal incensed Hercules, but not having enough of a force after the Amazons
to claim his payment, he backed off.
On
the journey home, Hercules was warmly received by King Poltys of Thrace. He
abandoned his Parian refugees on the nearby island of Thasus which Alcaeus and
Sthenelus then claimed as their own. At the port of Torone, Hercules was
challenged to a wrestling match by Polygonus and Telegonus, sons of the sea-god
Nereus and killed them both. He then returned to Mycenae to present Hippolyta’s
belt to Admete where a very frustrated Eurystheus once again sought more means
to lead Hercules to his death. Always desiring the cattle of King Geryon of
Erytheia (modern Cadiz, Spain), he dispatched Hercules to retrieve them for his
tenth labor.
Hercules
set sails for Erytheia, but became shipwrecked by storm in Libya.
Killing more wild beasts along his way, he set up a set of pillars to
mark how far he had come. Wearied by heat on his way, he drew his bow and arrow
on Helios the sun god out of annoyance, but the sun god amused by his nature
surrendered to him a great cup to sail through the Straits of Gibraltar to land on
the east coast of Britain ruled by Albion, son of Poseidon. Albion expected
Hercules to be an advanced scout for an invasion and attacked him, but Hercules
slew the paranoid king and left the Ancient Britons under the rile of Brittanus,
a Celtic chieftain. (They
would be conquered by Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas and ancestor of King
Arthur, over a century later). Since Brittanus had no sons to serve as his heir,
Hercules sired Celtus with his daughter, Celtina, and eventually departed; he soon arrived on west coast of Erytheia near Mount Abas where he slew
Orthrus, the two-headed hellhound and spawn of Typhon and Echidna, which guarded
the cattle. Hercules also dispatched Eurytion who guarded the cattle and met
King Geryon, brother of Echidna, on the river Anthemus. Slaying the three-headed
ruler, Hercules began driving the prized cattle overland for Mycenae.
Near
Ligura (modern Marseilles), Hercules slew Ialebion and Dercynus, sons of the
Ligurian King Pos for trying to steal some of the cattle.
He then rained stones down upon attacking Ligurians to make his escape.
Near the future site of Rome, he slew the giant Cacus who also tried to steal
some of the cattle. The natives honored Hercules for disposing of the ruthless
thief. As Hercules rested, though,
some of the cattle wandered off. Hercules found them in the company of Sylea, a
priestess who lived in an area known only as Forest. She shared her bed with him
and had three sons by him named Scythes, Agathyrsus and Gelonus. As adults, the
three sons would conquer an area off the Black Sea called Scythia. (It is
rumored that Sylea was actually the goddess Circe, but this is unconfirmed.)
In
Rhegium, Hercules left the cattle in the custody of Hephaestus, the smith-god,
who owned forges on nearby Sicily. The prize bull of the herd had been lured
away by King Eryx and the crafty ruler would not return it unless Hercules boxed
with him through three bouts as he did with all invaders.
Hercules lasted all three bouts and then killed the evil king before
returning to Mycenae with the full head of cattle.
Because
Eurystheus wasn’t counting the Augean Stables, which Hercules had tried to get
payment for, or the Hydra, which his nephew Iolaus had helped him to overtake,
Eurystheus challenged Hercules with two more labors. For the eleventh labor,
Hercules was sent to retrieve apples from the Garden of the Hesperides, the
Garden of Hera, whose location had been forgotten and confused. As Eurystheus
figured Hera would kill the hero herself for violating her garden, Hercules
traveled through Ormenium on his way to Eridanus in Italy searching for Nereus,
the sea-god, for the secret of the garden’s location, but King Amyntor,
believing Hercules was coming to overthrow him, refused him acts of hospitality.
Hercules slew the ornery king, but Amyntor’s daughter, Deidameia, granted
Hercules great hospitality and shared her bed with him. She sired him a son,
Ctessipus.
Upset
over the death of his sons killed at the Port of Torone, Nereus fled far to the
east than to relinquish the secret of the Hesperides. The Horae, daughters of
Zeus and Themis, guided Hercules to search him out near the Black Sea. Hercules
finally seized the wily sea-god as Nereus tried to sleep and held on to him as
he shape-shifted through several horrible incarnations.
Finally, the sea-god relented and told Hercules to search for the
Hesperides in the shadow on the Atlas Mountains in Western Libya.
While Hercules was in the shadow of the Caucasus Mountains, he sought out
Prometheus for advice on how to handle Atlas who was the Titan’s brother. He
slew the eagle that terrorized the long-suffering Titan and then freed the
grateful Prometheus. In Greece, Prometheus encountered the suffering Centaur
Pholus stricken by Hercules’ arrows and removed his immortality so that Pholus
could die in peace and pass on to the afterlife.
Passing
through Arabia, Hercules killed the evil King Emathion of Arabia as well as King
Busirus of Egypt who sacrificed all strangers to his land in the name of Zeus.
In Libya, Hercules killed King Antaeus of Libya, a son of Poseidon and Gaea.
Hercules could not understand why he could not defeat Antaeus until he realized
Antaeus drew power while in touch with the earth. Finally, he lifted him off the
ground and squeezed the life out of him.
In
the Hesperides, Hercules killed Ladon, the dragon that protected the apples, but
he needed Atlas to pick them for him. Offering to hold back the heavens while
Atlas picked the apples, Hercules was trapped under the burden of the heavens as
Atlas decided to leave him and take the apples to Mycenae himself. Using his
wits, Hercules asked Atlas to hold back the heavens long enough to get a better
grip on them, but as Atlas took back his place, Hercules snatched up the apples
and departed in haste. Before departing entirely, he created a freshwater spring
to refresh himself which in his absence also saved the Argonauts from thirst as
they fought to return to Greece.
Eurystheus
turned over the apples to the goddess Athena who returned them to the
Hesperides. He then sent Hercules on his twelfth and last labor to fetch up from
the underworld Cerberus himself. Before he could ascend into Tartarus, Hercules
had to be indoctrinated into the Eleusinian mysteries. Before being initiated,
he had to be purified for his previous murders by Eumolpus, but since foreigners
could not be initiated, he had to be adopted by King Pylius of Eleusis.
Descending
into Tartarus though the caves at Taenarum, Hercules was guided by Hermes
himself and encountered the shades of the Argonaut Meleager, the dead Gorgon
Medusa and the captive Argonauts Theseus and Peirithous who had previously
arrived to abduct Persephone. Hercules rescued Theseus, but was forbidden by
Hades from rescuing Peirithous who had wanted Persephone for himself. Hades
allowed Hercules to try his luck with Cerberus if he used no weapons. Using his
great strength, Hercules dragged the three-headed hellhound to Mycenae by force,
but the sight and ferociousness of the beast so terrified Eurystheus that he
rendered an end to the labors. Cerberus, however, let loose hurriedly raced back
to the underworld on his own.
With
his labors completed, Hercules gained immortality, but while he remained on
earth, he was still subject to mortal pain and hardship. He returned to Thebes
as Lycus of Euboea overthrew King Creon and threatened his wife. He slew Lycus
and since he felt he had dishonored Megaera, he surrendered her as a wife to
Iolaus to find himself a new wife. Hercules knew King Eurytion of Oechalia was
looking for a husband for his daughter Iole. Eurytion had taught Hercules how to
use a bow and arrow years before, but Hercules defeated him in a test of archery
while trying to win the hand of Iole. Hercules’ mentor, the Centaur, Chiron,
was in attendance and accidentally scratched himself with one of Hercules’
arrows dipped in the blood of the Hydra while studying it.
Prometheus likewise freed him of his torment.
Recalling
how Hercules had killed his own children, Eurytion refused to give his daughter
to Hercules and even accused him of taking his missing cattle actually taken by
Autolycus, the son of Hermes. Hercules left for Pherae, home of his friend,
Admetus, where Iphitus, Eurytion’s son, found him and sided with him against
his father. Hercules was once again set upon by madness by Hera, and flung
Iphitus without malice from the kingdom to his death.
Hercules
tried to be purified of this murder by King Neleus of Pylos, but Neleus refused
to do so since he wanted to remain allies rather than enemies with Eurytion.
King Hippocoon of Sparta also refused to do so, but his son, Deiphobus, King of
Amyclae, did purify Hercules of the sin, but Xenocleia, the priestess of Delphi,
refused to absolve him of the murder. Hercules stole her tripod and threatened
to destroy Delphi and erect his own temple. Hercules clashed with Apollo who
arrived to defend his temple and Zeus had to intervene to separate the two.
Hercules
was instructed to sell himself into slavery and to spend ten years in servitude
to Queen Omphale of Lydia, widow of King Tmolus. In his presence, Omphale wore
his tunic made from the Nemean lion and clad Hercules in her dresses, but he
still performed acts of boldness and strength. He captured the wily Cercopes at
Ephesus and slew the thief Syleus. He razed the city of Itoni who overran the
region and killed Ophiuchus, a great serpent. In gratitude, Omphale shared her
bed with Hercules and she gave birth to his son, Lamus, to be her heir. Hercules
also sired a son named Cleodaeus by her servant girl. Grateful to Hercules for
all he had done, Omphale released him early from his servitude. On his return to
Greece, Hercules came across the body of Icarus, the lost son of Daedalus, and
buried him on the island he christened Icaria for him. As he neared Greece, he
encountered the twins and former Argonauts Calais and Zetes on the island of
Tenos, but after discovering that it was their choice to abandon him from the
Argosy on Lemnos, he killed them for their part in his abandonment and erected
stones on their graves.
Hercules
now wanted to right all the wrongs done him. He began with amassing an army to
overtake Troy and seize Hesione from King Laomedon. Slaying the king and his
sons, he left young Priam as the sole heir to Troy since the young man was not
involved in his father’s sins. Hercules surrendered Hesione to his friend, the
Argonaut Telamon, for joining him in the invasion. Hera intervened once more and
drove Hercules’ fleets into the island of Cos ruled by King Eurypylus, a
brother of Ialebion and Dercynus murdered by Hercules. He managed to wound
Hercules, but Zeus stepped in and spirited Hercules away. Tired of Hera’s
incessant persecution of his son, Zeus hung her from the heights of Olympus with
weights on her feet.
Zeus
had good reason to interact this time to save Hercules because the Olympians
were about to be engaged in battle by Giants. A prophecy had decreed that the
Giants could only be routed with the help of a mortal. It was also said they
could not be killed by mortal or immortal means. Because Hercules was neither
just mortal nor immortal, Zeus called him into the battle. As all the gods were
routed from all directions, Hercules shot the Giant Ephialtes with Apollo at his
side and single-handedly slew Alcyoneus and dragged him to the Pallene peninsula
where he died.
After
that interruption, Hercules continued his campaign of vengeance against King
Augeas, but was repulsed by Augeas and his allies, General Amarynceus and the
Moliones. He retired to Tiryns, but Eurystheus exiled him rather than become
involved in his bloody schemes. Remounting in Pheneus in northern Arcadia,
Hercules hid out on the road through Cleonae and killed the Moliones on the way
to the Olympics. He then laid siege on King Augeas and deposed him. He called
Phyleus out of exile and placed him on the throne.
Hercules
now set upon making war on King Neleus of Pylos for not purifying him on the
murder of Iphitus. He conquered the region and placed Neleus’s exiled son
Nestor on the throne. He then laid siege on King Hippocoon of Sparta of the same
insult, but also because Hippocoon’s sons had murdered Oeonus, Hercules’
mortal cousin. Hercules was aided by the Argonaut Cepheus, who was now King of
Tegea, and presented his daughter, Sterope, a lock of hair from Medusa to defend
the kingdom in her father’s absence.
Cepheus,
all of his sons and Hercules’ half-brother, Iphicles, lost their lives at
Sparta, but Hercules avenged them all by slaying Hippocoon and restoring the
throne to King Tyndareus, Hippocoon’s half-brother, from whom he had usurped
it. Wounded in the engagement, Hercules was healed by Asclepius.
By
now, Hercules was content to retire in Calydon. He fell in love with Deianeira,
daughter of King Oeneus, and defeated the river-god Achelous for her hand in
marriage. The river-god had taken the form of a bull to challenge Hercules, but
Hercules defeated him by ripping off one of his horns. Bidding its return,
Achelous then left them in peace.
Hercules
married Deianeira and defended the area from the Thresprotians for the
Calydonians although he seduced Astyoche, daughter of their ruler, King Phylas.
Astyoche bore him a son Tlepolemus. He also called the sons he had had by the
daughters of King Thespius to stay with him in Calydon. During a banquet,
Hercules accidentally misjudged his strength and accidentally killed a cupbearer
named Cyathus. Oeneus forgave him, but the guilty Hercules decided to exile
himself and Deianeira to Trachis. Along the way, the Centaur Nessus recognized
Hercules as an enemy of the Centaurs and tried to abduct Deianeira for himself
near the river Evenus. Hercules killed Nessus with his arrows tipped with the
blood of the Hydra, but the dying Nessus gave the naïve Deianeira some of his
blood tainted by the blood of the Hydra claiming it was a love charm if Hercules
ever proved to be unfaithful.
In
Trachis, Hercules made his allegiance to King Ceyx by driving out the Dryopes
and slaying Dyopian King Laogoras and then driving the Lapiths out of
Hestiaeotis for King Aegiminus although he refused to claim the land Aegiminus
had promised him. Hercules was challenged to single combat by Cycnus, a son of
the war-god, Ares, but defeated him along with help from Athena. Ares also
entered the engagement seeking revenge on the death of the Stymphalian Birds,
but the two of them were separated by a thunderbolt from Zeus.
Hercules
and Deianeira meanwhile had had a son, Hyllus, but Hercules could not forget
that Eurytion had robbed him of Iole. Raising an army, he invaded Oechalia and
took Iole for himself and erected an altar to Zeus at Cape Cenarum. In order to
properly observe the rites with all propriety, he sent his herald Lichas to
Trachis to fetch him a fresh tunic from Deianeira. Iole accompanied Lichas back
to Trachis, but once Deianeira realized who Iole was and her importance to
Hercules, she rubbed Nessus’ love charm into the tunic and had it delivered to
Hercules.
The
blood of the Hydra on the tunic erupted into flame on Hercules and ripped off
his skin as he pulled it off. Lichas was accidentally tossed to his death after
standing too close to Hercules’ flailing arms. In incredible pain, Hercules
returned to Trachis, but Deianeira realizing Nessus’s treachery committed
suicide. Climbing to the top of Mount Oeta, Hercules called upon his older son
Hyllus by Melite to build a pyre and to light it, but he was unwilling to do so.
The Argonaut Poeas consented to light the pyre and Hercules passed upon him his
bow and arrow. The flames then burned off what was left mortal in Hercules.
Lightning then struck the flames and when the smoke cleared, there was no trace
or remains of the dead hero to be found.
Hercules
found himself ascended to Olympus where Hera reconciled with him and even
offered her daughter, Hebe, goddess of youth, as a potential bride to him as an
act of faith. On Earth, Eurystheus became fearful that the hero’s children
might rise up against him for his persecution of their father. Because he was
the most powerful of the Greek rulers, no one offered refuge to Hercules’
children except for King Ceyx and Theseus of Athens. Hercules had Hebe restore
Iolaus’ youth so that he might defend his children on Earth. Hercules’ bow
and arrow were passed on to Poeas’ son, Philoctetes, and Hercules appeared to
him years afterward to forget his hatred of the Greeks and to fight in the
Trojan War. Philoctetes used his arrows to slay Paris, the abductor of Helen.
Not
interested in remaining isolated to Olympus, Hercules continued to have many
more adventures on Earth and anonymously looked upon his children’s
descendants as time passed so that they never fell upon hard times. He
particularly befriended a descendant of his nephew Iolaus also named Iolaus
during the days of the Roman Empire. Iolaus followed Hercules around in many
adventures and the two of them even encountered the Warrior Goddess Xena. They
had an affect in breaking her warrior lust and she too became a loyal ally in a
few adventures particularly against the dark god Dahak and the affairs of
Hercules’ half-brother, Ares, who frustrated by his mother’s pact of
non-interference carried on persecution of Hercules.
It
was during these years while following the Romans invasions of lands to the
north that Hercules met and encountered the Asgardian god Thor. While their
initial meeting was not without strife, they became strong friends and allies
lasting up to the present. Thor came to Hercules aid on more than a few times
such as when Hercules was duped into signing a contract making him Hades’s
slave. The son of Odin stormed the netherworld and rescued Hercules out of their
long friendship. Still, a friendly rivalry remains between the two, as they
argue which of the pair is the stronger. To Hercules, the answer is clear.
As
an immortal, Hercules used his godhood to benefit all mortals and often
identified himself proudly as one of the Olympian gods. Zeus, however, had
announced an end to worship of the Olympian Gods after realizing that the Romans
were killing Christians in the name of the Olympians. His edict was strengthened
by the threats of the Celestials and over the years, more enlightened mortal man
coming into an understanding of the earth around them forgot that the Olympian
gods, as well as the other pantheons of Earth, existed except in mythology.
Hercules’ claims of being the one true Hercules were believed to a lesser
extent. Over the years, Hercules took on other roles to carry his interests and
pursuits and toward the Fifteenth Century, he added the surname Reason to his
name to honor Rhea, wife of Cronus. He even used the name Kevin Sorbo as an
actor when fictionalized exploits of his life were turned into a TV series.
In
modern years, Thor became a founder of the superhero group called the Avengers,
a group which even Hercules joined. The general public never believed them to be
the gods they claimed to be but rather super-powered individuals paying homage
to the myths. After being seduced and enthralled by Amora the Enchantress,
Hercules fought even against the Avengers. Though regaining his senses via a
sulphurous arrow from Hawkeye, Hercules still earned the wrath of Zeus for his
unexplained journey to Earth and was banished from
Hercules
next encountered the Avengers while fleeing the Huntsman, who had the power to
terrify and destroy the Olympians. Hercules eventually overcame the Huntsman
with the aid of Namor the Submariner. Later, when Ares and the Enchantress
conquered
Later,
a plot involving Ares, Pluto, and Hippolyta united Hercules with a group of
mortal heroes to form the short-lived Champions of Los Angeles. He rejoined the
Avengers after helping fight the forces of Surtur and the Fire Demons of
Muspelheim and stayed on with them for a lengthy period. However, this tenure
ended with perhaps Hercules greatest defeat. When Baron Helmut Zemo’s Masters
of Evil took over
Blaming
the Avengers for the injuries to his son, Zeus directed the Olympians to capture
them. Prometheus managed to heal Hercules after the injuries incurred by the
Wrecking Crew and confirmed the innocence of the Avengers and saved them from
Zeus’ wrath. Sometime later, Hercules helped the Avengers against the High
Evolutionary, playing a key role in the defeat of his Evolutionary War plot, but
was evolved “beyond godhood” in the process and vanished.
Discovered back in his godly form by Thor in the mysterious Black Galaxy, Hercules returned to Earth and stayed with Thor for a while using the alias of Harry Cleese. However, the Celestials had been in the middle of preparing Hercules to serve in the creation of a new Celestial. As the process was incomplete when Thor rescued him, Hercules lost part of his mental resolve or determination in the strange experiment. As a result, Hercules froze up in a series of fights and had to be bailed out by Thor. When Thor and Hercules returned to the Black Galaxy, the Celestials’ process was completed, and Hercules regained his vigor, becoming the Lion of Olympus once again.
Hercules joined the Avengers once again,
participating in the Infinity Wars and Infinity Crusade, as well as Operation:
Galactic Storm among several other struggles. Hercules then met and fell in love
with the mortal woman Taylor Madison, and he was devastated to learn that she
was nothing more than an artificial creation of Hera, made cause pain to the
step-son she so despised. After chastising Hera, Zeus encouraged Hercules to
return to
Hercules remained with the Avengers for some time
after that but left them shortly after the conflict known as the Crossing in
which Immortus had posed as Kang. Hercules was one of the few Avengers not
present and thus not seemingly slain in the struggle against the evil entity
Onslaught. Shortly thereafter, Zeus offered to restore his godly powers, but he
declined, preferring to continue his mortal existence to better understand and
appreciate life.
Since the heroes return from the pocket dimension to
which they had been sent, Hercules has worked alongside the Avengers and Thor on
several occasions, as well as with several other heroes. His life and beliefs
were briefly tested after the Scarlet Witch sent events into motion that
resulted in the deaths of Ant-Man, Hawkeye and the Vision as well as that of
Thor, who was killed in a revised Ragnarok engineered by Loki. Turning to his
fondness for drink, Hercules was dismayed to learn that Eurystheus was still
alive after several hundred years since being restored to life by Hera. To
regain his glory, he was encouraged through twelve more labors modeled after his
previous twelve. Regaining his glory and former humanity, he resolved the
memories of his past, but his next recourse is as yet unknown, but it is quite
obvious that
Hercules will always be ready to bestow the “gift” of combat unto anyone
able to withstand it.
Height:
6’5”
Weight:
325 lbs.
Eyes:
Blue
Hair:
Dark Brown
Strength Level:
Hercules possesses Class 100 level strength enabling him to lift (press) well
over a hundred tons. (The average Olympian can lift about 25 tons).
Known
Superhuman Powers: Hercules possesses exceptional
superhuman strength, stamina and reflexes than any of the Olympian Gods. Like
all Olympian Gods, he is immortal. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and
cannot die by any known conventional means. He is immune to all known
terrestrial diseases and is invulnerable to conventional injury. If wounded, his
godly life force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would
take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily
molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for
Zeus or a number of gods of equal power working together to revive him. Hercules
does have some superhuman strength and his own Olympian metabolism gives him far
greater than human endurance in all physical activities.
(Olympian flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human
tissue, contributing to the Olympian's superhuman strength and weight).
Hercules has highly developed leg
muscles, although they do not match those of the Hulk. Hercules can make a
standing high jump of at least a hundred feet in the Earth’s gravity.
Hercules is virtually tireless.
His supernaturally enhanced musculature produces no fatigue poisons.
Abilities:
As Olympus’s greatest warrior, Hercules is highly expert in traditional means
of hand-to-hand combat, as well as, in wrestling. Hercules is also very highly
skilled in ancient Greek athletic feats such as the discus and hammer throws.
Weapons:
Hercules was famed in ancient Greece for his mastery of the bow and arrow, but
today, because of bitter memories of Nessus’s treachery and Deianeira’s
suicide, he prefers not to use them.
Before he came to Olympus,
Hercules’ favorite weapon was his large wooden club. The club was supplanted
by his current weapon, his Golden Mace, which is not actually made of gold but
was forged by the god Hephaestus from enchanted adamantine, the legendary
substance which Dr. Myron MacLain named his artificially created adamantium. The
mace is therefore virtually indestructible and has survived direct blows from
Thor’s hammer.
In ancient times, Hercules
wore the pelt of the Nemean Lion, which was impervious to weapons, and added him
an extra amount of protection to his impervious skin.
Transportation/Pets:
Since becoming a god, Hercules has occasionally borrowed Apollo’s chariot
which is pulled by enchanted carnivorous horses which can gallop through the air
to take on an aspect of flying and also pass between worlds such as from Earth
to Olympus.
NOTE: In one alternate timeline (Earth-MC2 native to Spidergirl and
the Avengers: Next Generation heroes), Hercules fathered the
young hero Argo.
In
one alternate reality, Hercules was imprisoned for years on an island in the
Aegean by Ares after an unknown quarrel and set free after the onset of World
War III. This war had been masterminded by Ares and lead to a nuclear holocaust.
Involving the Atomic Knights. Hercules teamed up with Gardner Grayle, one of the
Atomic Knights, in leading freedom fighters against Ares.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Hercules is not to be confused with:
Joe Hercules, costumed crime fighter, Hit Comics #1 (1940), @ Quality Comics (now possibly owned by DC Comics along with the full roster of Quality Comics characters)
Hercules,
Raymond Hernandez, WWF wrestler, @ (1959-2004)