Herakles was the product of his affair infuriating Hera even more. In a jealous attempt to kill Herakles, Hera sends two snakes to his bed (ACM 33). Herakles with his strength is able to save both himself and his mother by killing both the snakes with his bare hands. Because of this Herakles was raised by a variety of experts in various fields of fighting. Jason on the other hand was rescued by his father and was raised by only one mentor.
Hercules stunned the beast with his olive-wood club and then strangled it with his bare hands. It is said that he skinned the lion, using the lion's sharp claws, and ever after wore its hide. Two: Kill the Lernean Hydra The evil, snakelike Hydra had nine heads. If one got hurt, two would grow in its place. But Hercules quickly sliced off the heads, while his charioteer, Iolaus, sealed the
)- Polydectes convinces Perseus to kill the Medusa, a horrifying beast with snakes for hair. But this feat seems impossible because whoever looks at the snakes will turn instantly to stone. 2. Athena, Hermes and Graeae- Athena and Hermes guide Perseus to the home of the Graeae and give the guy some advice. Perseus really commits to his adventure when he blackmails the Graeae into telling him how to find the Nymphai.
Gilgamesh is described as an out of control King of Uruk in mythology. Gilgamesh was certain that he was going to somehow become immortal as a ruler who did not seem to care what the outcome of his recklessness led to. Those under the rule of Gilgamesh prayed to the gods for someone to wrangle is power and so Enkidu was created and sent to tame Gilgamesh. While Enkidu was sent by the gods, he was not the most civilized of created figures. Gilgamesh sends prostitutes to have sex with Enkidu to make him more civilized.
“I held up the guard to taunt them, then held him still higher and leered into his face… As if casually… I bit his head off, crunched through the helmet and skull with my teeth and, sucked the blood that sprayed like a hot, thick geyser from his neck,” (Gardner 79). This quote shows how after getting the charm no weapon could hurt Grendel which allowed him to become even more monstrous with his killing. This last quote is from the very end of the book when he enters the mead hall right before he dies. “For pure, mad prank, I snatch up a cloth from the nearest table and tie it around my neck to make a napkin… I seize up a sleeping man, tear at him hungrily, bite through his bone-locks and suck hot, slippery blood. He goes down in huge morsels, head, chest, hips, legs, even the hands and feet.
By wearing the cap of Hades, and looking at Medusa only at her reflection in his shield, Perseus was able to slay the snake-haired maiden. On his journey back home, Perseus used Medusa’s head to turn the Greek Titan Atlas to stone (forming the Atlas Mountains) and to kill the beasts and demanders of a maiden named Andromeda that he desired. Having killed the beast that was to kill Andromeda and the rejected suitor of Andromeda, Perseus returned home and turned Polydectes (who was still harassing Danae) into stone as well. After giving the sandals and satchel to Hermes, and Medusa’s head to Athena to protect her in battles; Perseus, Danae, and Andromeda returned to Acrisius’s
When Odysseus and his men are clearly safe away from the island Odysseus brags about his successful feat. Polythemus hears this and launches giant boulders in the direction of the ship. Some came very close to sinking the ship, yet that was not enough for Odysseus. Blinded by his pride he unwisely revealed his identity to Polythemus. With that Polythemus called upon his father, Poseidon, to seek revenge on the man who had harmed him.
If he succeeded, he would be purified of his sin and, as myth says, he would be granted immortality. Heracles accomplished these tasks, but Eurystheus did not accept the cleansing of the Augean stables because Heracles was going to accept pay for the labor. Neither did he accept the killing of the Lernaean Hydra as Heracles' cousin, Ioloas, had helped him burn the stumps of the heads. Eurysteus set two more tasks (fetching the Golden Apples of Hesperides and capturing Cerberus), which Heracles performed successfully, bringing the total number of tasks up to twelve as
Based loosely upon the history of the Great Britain and the surrounding areas circa 449 AD, the epic of Beowulf recounts the story, known through the style of oral tradition, of an Anglo-Saxon warrior king who, while confronted with the gradual switch from Paganism to Christianity, must perform heroic feats of bravery by killing the monster Grendel, his mother, and ultimately losing his life when battling a dragon in the name of glory and honor. After hearing of the slaughter of many men at the fictitious King Hrothgar’s castle by a monster, Grendel, who was “conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain” (Beowulf L. 20-21), Beowulf, along with his bravest men, sailed to the famous mead Hall Herot to proclaim that he “alone and with the help of his men, may purge all evil from this hall” (L.260-261). Beowulf successfully beats Grendel by ripping his shoulder and claw off, without the aid of weapons for Grendel had “bewitched all men’s weapons” (L.377), thus incurring the wrath of his mother. Beowulf personifies the epic hero: brave, heroic, and fearless. Under the duty of the Germanic Code of Conduct, the Comitatus, and with the aid of a mythical sword, Hrunting in later episodes, Beowulf’s feats of greatness grant him a place in epic history
In the Lion King, Scar kills his brother Mufasa by throwing him into a wild stampede. He then tells everyone that the king was killed but the stampede which is only half the truth. This false statement of the truth is found in the play Hamlet when Claudius pours poison into Old Hamlet’s ear and kills him but then tells the people that it was a serpent that bit him and poisoned him. Both of these statements are only half true. Another way death is seem to parallel in both the Lion King and in Hamlet is that when Timone and Pumbaa find Simba, Simba wishes he was dead, and half-heartedly tries to kill himself.