Hercules

Geraldine McCaughrean has written four retellings of Greek myths, fleshing out the personalities of various heroes and the circumstances that made them legendary. Told in her beautiful, fluid prose, McCaughrean hits the perfect balance in presenting the darker aspects of the myths without being either too gratuitous or too prissy. In this case, McCaughrean takes the figure of Hercules (who in a Greek setting, should technically be called "Heracles"). In his youth Hercules meets the personifications of Virtue and Vice, who offer him the choice of his destiny. Hercules chooses hardship and suffering over happiness - albeit somewhat accidentally - and so his fate is sealed. The son of Zeus and a mortal woman, Hercules is imbued with supernatural strength even in his infancy. Saddled with the burden of his phenomenal physical strength and his inability to control it, his early life is marked by his jealous stepmother's vendetta against him. After the combined efforts of Hera's vindictiveness and his own drunken rampage result in the deaths of his wife and children, Hercules willingly makes himself a slave to King Eurystheus of Argos in penance. King Eurystheus orders him on one dangerous mission after another, in what makes up the bulk of the book and later becomes known as the Twelve Labours of Hercules. Most casual readers of Greek mythology will recognizes some of the trials that Hercules goes through: the Nemean Lion, the Erymanthean Boar, the Stamphylian Birds, and of course the many-headed Hydra and the filthy Augean stables, but McCaughrean explores these feats in more detail and explains just how Hercules managed to overpower so many monstrous creatures. The author also finds room to include side-stories such as Hercules's relationships with his second wife Deianeira, his mentor Chiron the centaur, and his famous meeting with the titan Atlas, who holds the sky up over the earth. Although the story ends with Hercules's long-awaited ascension into the heavens, it concludes on a bittersweet tone in which the author describes the constellation of Hercules and its placement in the sky: "One day, a million years from now, the Sun's small family of planets will loose itself among the seven stars, and we shall be cradled in Hercules's arms. All of Earth's little gods, people, beasts and children will fill that icy emptiness that presently lingers over his heart." Most young people are familiar with Hercules through either the Kevin Sorbo Hercules The Legendary Journeys - Seasons 1-6 Bundle, or Disney's Hercules (Disney Gold Classic Collection), in which the famous hero appears as a good-hearted, sensitive man who devotes his life to good deeds simply for the sake of it. The reality (or rather, the original versions) portrayed him quite differently. The legendary Hercules was loud, boorish, brutish and rather dense; all the clever ideas that helped him defeat his foes were invariably whispered in Hercules' ears by helpful gods. McCaughrean walks

I was a bit hesitant to read greek mythology after struggling through the Odessey but this version of Hercules is a page turner. Yes the complex language is indeed crippled to ease reading of the story, but by doing that the story comes alive filled with wit and energy and drama. Hercules reads like a spoken tale (as it was) and you can almost hear the storyteller share this tale with you. Having never read the gods I was surprised that Pluto, Atlas, Hera were all gods themselves before them becames names of a planet, the book of maps and a guide to Wonder Woman. Yes even Wonder Woman came from Greek Mythology! The story of Hercules is simply a series of trials he must endure to make restitution for his crimes against humanity and they are rather evil. Behind it all is Hera, Zeus's wife scheming to make Hercules life as miserable as possible. The tale is an excellent play on morality with deceit, morality and complex ideas making me realize that much of western literature came from these tales. What I found most ironic was that while the Bible contains many many stories of morality, Hercules also also teaches us about honestly, integrity and the examinations of power. Impressive.