Task 1. Insert the missing names of the gods of the ancient Greeks into the text. Use the material in paragraph 28 and the illustration on page 135 of the "Gods and Goddesses of Greece" textbook.

Among the gods, the Greeks considered the leader of the Thunderer Zeus. His brothers, wife and children shared power over the world with him. The wife of Zeus, Hera, was considered the guardian of the family, marriage, and home. Zeus's brother, Poseidon, ruled over the seas.

Hades ruled the underworld of the dead. Zeus's sister, Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, was in charge of the harvest. Zeus had children: Apollo - god of light, patron of sciences and arts, Artemis - goddess of forests and hunting, Pallas Athena, born from the head of Zeus, - goddess of wisdom, patroness of crafts, lame Hephaestus - god of blacksmithing, Aphrodite - goddess of love and beauty , Ares is the god of war, Hermes is the patron saint of trade and navigation. Myths say that these gods lived on Mount Olympus, always closed from the eyes of the clouds.

Task 2. Find out the origin of the expression "Olympic calmness".

The expression comes from the name of Mount Olympus, on which all the gods lived. The gods were omnipotent, did not experience frustration or anger, because their power was enough to eliminate any adversity. Also, the ability to foresee the situation in advance gave rise to such confidence.

What does this expression mean in modern speech?

Olympic calm - maintaining complete equanimity and self-confidence

Task 3. Read excerpts from ancient Greek myths and establish what mythical animals and monsters, defeated by the hero Hercules, they say.

1. Nemean lion;

2. Lernean hydra;

3. Kerinean fallow deer;

4. Erymanthian boar (wild boar);

5. Stymphalisian birds;

6. Cretan bull;

7. Horses of Diomedes;

8. Cerberus (Kerberus).

Task 4. With the help of additional sources of knowledge, including the Internet, explain what the expressions "feat of Hercules", "efforts of Hercules" mean today.

"The feat of Hercules", "the efforts of Hercules" - business or work that requires enormous, extraordinary, even inhuman efforts.

Task 5. List the exploits of Hercules.

1. Strangulation of the Nemean lion

2. The murder of the Lernaean hydra.

3. Extermination of Stymphalian birds

4. Capture of the Kerinean fallow deer

5. Taming the Erymanth Boar

6. Cleaning the Augean stables.

7. Taming the Cretan bull

8. Stealing horses of Diomedes

9. The abduction of the belt of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons

10. The abduction of the cows of the three-headed giant Geryon

11. Stealing golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides

12. Taming - the dog Cerberus

Task 6. Illustrate one of the exploits of Hercules (optional). Write a short explanation next to it.

Since the weapon could not pierce the skin of the Nemean lion, Hercules had to grab him by the throat, strangle the monster

Dmitry Markin

INTERPRETATION OF THE FEATS OF HERCULES
Introduction

Myth is a special form of knowing the world. The myth certainly helps us to live. Every myth, to some extent, is true. The Russian philosopher AF Losev notes: "A myth is not a poetic fiction at all, and not even poetry in general, a myth is for a mythically thinking subject something absolutely real, and not fictional at all." At the same time, Losev repeatedly emphasizes in various works that the only reality for a man of antiquity was the “sensually material” “sculpturally designed” cosmos, that is, above all the starry sky ”.

“The myth as the initial form of the spiritual culture of mankind represents nature and the social forms themselves, which have already been processed by the unconsciously artistic images of folk fantasy,” as K. Marx and F. Engels write.

Myth researcher George Fraser viewed myth as an imprecise and naive perception of natural phenomena, or human actions, and linked mythical stories with ancient customs and rituals.

According to the theory of the philosopher and anthropologist Claude Lévi Strauss, individual details of a myth can often be replaced with other details, while keeping the overall structure unchanged. Levi Strauss' theory seems to us to be the main one, and we tend to agree with it.

The categories of myths are of different types, for example, solar myths - the main character in them is the sun, myths are also called solar myths. In which the hero or heroine has solar traits, i.e. features with signs of the sun as a mythological hero.

Hercules fits the definition of a "solar hero". The pagan Latin philosopher and philologist Macrobius, who lived in the IV-V century AD. directly connects his image with the sun. Robert Brown, in his book "Semitic Influence on the Mythology of the Hellenes," writes that Hercules is a solar god who performs a special feat in every month and sign of the zodiac. " The twelve labors of Hercules remind us of the twelve signs of the zodiac. it Solar theory about the twelve labors of Hercules in which:

Aries corresponds to the Cyrene Doe; Taurus is the Cretan bull; Geryon's cows correspond to Gemini; Lernean hydra Raku; Nemean Leo is the constellation Leo; Virgo corresponds to the belt of Hippolyta; The sky Atlanta is a sign of Libra; Kerber is Scorpio; Stymphalian birds correspond to Sagittarius; The Erymanthian boar is Capricorn; Augean stables approach the sign of Aquarius; Horses of Diomedes to Pisces.

It is worth noting that Hercules wore the skin of Leo - an animal that symbolized the summer sun, and at the end of summer, in August, the sun is in the constellation Leo.

There are other categories of myths. For example, Astral myths - myths about stars and planets. A number of myths end with the movement of the heroes to the sky, their transformation into a constellation - as it happens in the myth of Hercules - after his exploits, Hercules turns into a constellation.

Myths heroic They record the most important moments of the life cycle, are built around the biography of the hero and may include his miraculous birth, a trial by his older relatives or hostile demons, the search for a wife, marriage trials, the fight against monsters and other feats, the death of the hero. These are the heroic myths. ...

Meteorological theory myth. Ancient man, according to this theory, raised into a myth the celestial phenomena associated with the movement of the sun and moon, so that the gods turned into solar, lunar and astral symbols into a generalization of meteorological phenomena, i.e.: thunderstorm, lightning, rain, rainbow, dawn, storms and winds, etc. - these are some of the categories of myths.

In our opinion, the existing theories of myths mentioned above can be supplemented with one more. Let's call it conditionally "Ethical" ... The myth presents us with echoes of some ethical attitudes that existed in antiquity and which had a great influence on the mores, lifestyle, morality in historical epochs. And also on philosophical trends. Example - Hercules at a crossroads: Once Hercules retired to the Kythera Mountains and, in deep thought, pondered which path to choose for him in life. Walking along the road, he saw that the road forks. One road led to an easy, calm, unhindered life, where there was no need to work, the other, led to a difficult, restless and difficult, to a noble but hard life, a life where one had to work, and not be blissful. Without hesitation for a long time, the noble Hercules went the hard way towards his fate.

This work is the fruit of some preliminary considerations on this topic. The myth contains the essence of human life. Solving myths, we find out the past of a person, as he imagined the world. We will consider this using the example of myths telling about the exploits of Hercules.

The predecessor of Hercules is the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh, who did not achieve immortality. There are echoes of twin myths in the legends of Hercules and Gilgamesh. ...

Gilgamesh performs feats similar to those of Hercules. The myths about Gilgamesh tell of his victory over a bull, a gigantic bird, Gilgamesh kills the Lion. Like Hercules, he descends into the underworld.

So, Hercules is a hero who performs great deeds in the name of humanity. The exploits of Hercules show us the life of the ancients in problems and ways of solving these problems.
^ I Nemean Lion.

At the behest of Apollo, Hercules went to the homeland of their ancestors in the Peloponnesian city of Tiryns. He had to serve the king of Mycenae Eurystheus for 12 years and perform feats, for which he would receive immortality. On the orders of this cowardly king, Hercules goes to the city of Nemea in the northeast of the Peloponnese to kill the terrible Lion, who devastated his surroundings. He found a lion in a cave with two exits, with two gates - the gates of People and Gods. Going into the gates of the people, Hercules shot three arrows at him - they bounced off his skin. Hercules strangled the Lion and left the cave from the gates of the gods.

All problems that stand in your way are solvable. Solve the problem yourself - says the myth. (How Hercules strangled Leo with his bare hands). And you will come out victorious (Hercules entered the cave at the gates of people, and left the gates of the gods). From here you will gain knowledge, become wiser (Hercules tore off the skin of the Nemean Lion with his own fangs, put it on himself) - this was a sign of wisdom.
^ II Lernean hydra

Near the city of Lerna, in the swamps, lived a monster with the body of a snake and 9 heads. Hydra was killing everyone around. Hercules with his assistant Iolaus arrived to fight the hydra. He crushed the body of the monster with his foot and began to knock down the heads of the hydra with his club. The hydra tried to strangle Hercules with its tail. But he continued to fight. Then the hero noticed that two new ones were growing in place of the severed head. Then he called for help Iolaus, who began to set fire to the tree trunks of the hydra's necks after Hercules cut off their heads from them. The cancer of Karkinos also grabbed onto the leg of Hercules, but he crushed it. After that, the monster was defeated. Hercules smeared his arrows with the poison of the hydra, after which the wounds from them became fatal.

If something doesn't work out for you, i.e. an insoluble problem arose, call a friend for help - he will help you (this friend Iolaus). Friendship in antiquity was one of the highest virtues. An example of the highest friendship is the friendship of the heroes of the Trojan War, Achilles and Patroclus. Patroclus encouraged Achilos to fight and died in his armor. In history, the sacred Theban detachment, 12,000 soldiers of which were tied by bonds of unbreakable friendship.

So, together with a friend, you will solve this problem (the problem is the Lernaean hydra). But if another easier problem appears (Cancer Karkinos tried to drag Hercules into the swamp) - solve it yourself, without forcing your friend to do everything for you. King Eurystheus did not count this feat because of the help of Iolaus (Still, you must solve the problem without help, but, on the other hand, it could only be solved with a friend - although the feat was not counted by Eurystheus - the problem was solved).
^ III Cyrene Doe

This Lan was sent as punishment to the people by Artemis. She did not know fatigue and rushed across the fields with lightning speed, devastating them. Eurystheus told Hercules to catch the doe alive. For a whole year, Hercules ran after the animal, only after Hercules wounded the Lan with an arrow in the leg, he managed to grab her.

Do not be lazy and work on the task at hand, pursue your goal (as Hercules pursued the Cyrene Doe). Pursue the goal until it is reached. If the task is very difficult for you, then resort to the "trick" (Hercules wounded the Cyrene Doe). As a student, to solve a complex math problem, applies a formula - in this or another case, you won.
^ IV Erimathan Boar

The wild boar who lived on Mount Erimanth killed people with its huge fangs. Hercules pursued him for a long time, drove him into the snow at the top of the mountain, tied him up and took him alive to Mycenae. Eurystheus, seeing the boar, hid in a jug out of fear.

Solve the problem to the very end, so that "it is not she who confuses you, but you her." To win, you can resort to cunning (Hercules drove the boar into the snow). Before Hercules caught the boar, on the way to him, Hercules had the same battle, Hercules killed the tribe of Centaurs - Forest demons, half-humans, half-horses. In our opinion, it was more difficult to kill the Centaur tribe than to catch a boar, i.e. more difficult problems are always at the beginning, and then always better and easier. (For example, when a person learns one foreign language, the next one is easier to learn - this is usually the case).
^ V Augean Stables

The son of the sun god Helios, the king of Elis, Augeas, had a huge herd of cows. His entire stockyard had not been cleaned for many years and was littered with manure. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to cleanse this stockyard. Hercules offered to cleanse him in 1 day, if Augeas would give him a tenth of the herd. Augeas agreed. Hercules blocked the flow of two rivers and directed the water to the barnyard. During the day, all the manure was washed away, but Augeas broke his word and did not give Hercules cows. A few years later, Hercules took revenge on the deceiving king. With a large army, he invaded Elis, defeated the army of Augus and killed him with an arrow. After the victory, Hercules instituted the Olympic Games, which were held every four years from 776 BC. until 394 AD

Cleansing a barnyard may not seem difficult, but rather unpleasant, but if so, then you can find a completely normal way to solve the problem - says the myth. Whatever task is given to you, work hard and solve it - this time. Choose the right path to solving the problem (in historical time, Socrates did this) - these are two. For the work you can ask for a reward (for the cleansing of the courtyard, Augeus promised to give a tenth of the cattle). But Hercules was not rewarded, or rather, they did not give the promised. The myth says: it's better not to ask for anything. On the other hand, the meaning of the myth is different - water can wash away everything, even the dirtiest, it can also cleanse a person's soul. (In ancient times, people were purified by immersion in water. They did this in nearby rivers, lakes, seas, waterfalls - this was one of the ways to cleanse the soul from sins). Conclusion: solve any problem, no matter how difficult it is.
^ VI Stymphaliysike poultry

Birds near the city of Stymphala destroyed animals and people with their copper claws and beaks. They could shoot their bronze feathers like arrows. Hercules climbed the hill, at the foot of which there was a forest where the birds lived, and struck the tympans, presented to him by Athena, - a musical instrument in the form of a bronze drum. From the deafening ringing, the birds rose in terror over the forest. They began to shoot arrows-feathers, but Hercules began to strike the birds with his arrows, and the remains of the birds flew away to distant lands.

To win, you can “scare” and “scare”, ie think about the future, simulate all life for yourself (Hercules stunned the Stymphalian birds). You must know everything for the future. Do not be afraid if there are many problems (Stymphalian birds are problems). Resolve them so that you don't have them i.e. decide the first time (Hercules hits the birds the first time, accurately and accurately strikes them with his poisonous arrows). If some of the problems go away to others - be cool, this other must solve them (Some of the birds flew away, but then they were finished off by the Argonauts). The main thing: be brave and do not be afraid of anything.
^ VII Cretan bull

To Minos, king of Crete, Poseidon sent a huge bull to sacrifice it. But Minos took pity on the bull and decided to keep it. Then Poseidon sent rage on him, and the bull devastated the entire island. Hercules sailed to Crete, caught and tamed the bull. Then on his back he swam across the sea and returned to the Peloponnese. Eurystheus released the bull, and Theseus killed him on the Marathon Field.

Ignore what is happening with others (Poseidon and Minos Disputes) - do your job and quickly solve it. (Hercules tames the Cretan bull). You can learn to use this problem (Hercules swam across the sea on a half-dead bull). If you've done your job - walk boldly, you shouldn't care what will happen in the future - you've done your job (Eurystheus lets the bull free). If the problem is "updated" it will be solved by someone else (Theseus killed the Cretan bull on the marathon field).
^ VIII Horses of Diomedes

The king of the Beeston tribe from Thrace, Diomedes, had magical horses. They were chained in stalls with iron chains, and fed them with human meat, meat of foreigners. Hercules freed the horses and entrusted their protection to Abder, Abder was torn to pieces by the horses, Diamed fell in a battle with Hercules, Hercules buried Abder and named the city in his honor. Hercules drove the horses to Eurystheus, ordered to release them and they fled to the mountains, where they were eaten by wild animals.

If you see something beautiful, and evil reigns over this beautiful, free this beautiful from evil (Beautiful horses). Moreover, fight evil (By entrusting the protection of horses to Abder, Hercules kills Diomedes, Abder is killed by horses) - if something happened to your friend (friend is Abder) through your fault, try to redeem this guilt, in any way, whatever you like. (Hercules named the city in honor of the deceased Abder). Do the job to the end no matter what, even the worst (i.e., the death of a friend) (Hercules delivered Diamed to Eurystheus, and he set them free, where they were also torn apart by wild animals). Nevertheless, Hercules did the owl's business!
^ IX Belt of Hippolyta

On the northern coast of the Black Sea, the country of the Amazons - women warriors. The queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, had a belt - a sign of power over all the Amazons. The daughter of Eurystheus wanted to have this belt, and the king sent Hercules to the country of the Amazons. Hercules gathered the best heroes, including Theseus, and sailed to the Black Sea. Hippolyta wanted to give the belt to the heroes, but the insidious Hera, the wife of Zeus and the enemy of Hercules, quarreled the Amazons with the Greeks. The battle began, the Amazons were defeated, Hippolyta was captured by Hercules. Hercules let go of her, but took the belt.

For the sake of fulfilling your goal, you can leave your country for another country - i.e. take a trip (Hercules goes to the country of the Amazons). No matter how difficult your path is - overcome it - then you will reach your goal (Hercules sailed to the country of the Amazons. He asked Hippolyta to give his belt (that is, do not fight, but decide the weight by negotiations) - this will be more correct, but if they don’t want a word, then - by force, ie if they don’t believe you, and you speak the truth, achieve truth and peace and complete your work, whoever is against you, be it a woman or a man.
^ X Geryon's Cows

Hercules goes to the Far West. He was to drive a herd of purple bulls of the three-headed Giant Geryon to Mycenae. Sitting on the shore of the ocean, Hercules did not know how to get to the island lying in the middle of the ocean, but immediately saw that the sun god Helios was descending from heaven. It is hard for Hercules to look at the Sun, in anger he directs his bow at the radiant Helios, Helios lowered his canoe to the ground, on this boat Hercules reached Erythia and took possession of Geryon's herd, driving the bulls to Mycenae, he gives them to Eurystheus, and he sacrificed them Gere.

Yes, the truth is, the ancient Greeks knew so well human life was foreseen in their myths. In this myth, Hercules created the Strait of Gibraltar. As the myth says, he did this in memory of himself, so that his descendants and not only them, but in general all of humanity would remember him and his exploits. What can Geryon's cows tell us? Feel free to hit your path and do not be afraid, but remember the difficulties on your way. (Hercules suffered during the campaign from the scorching rays of the sun). When you cannot walk your path, you can take the most courageous step. (Hercules directed an arrow at Helios and he gave him a boat for the trip) i.e. fear no one, not even God himself. Use your courage and come to a solution to the problem. (As Hercules did it). (In Italy, a robber, How he stole some of the cows from him, which Hercules took from Geryon, Geryon was killed by Hercules' arrows. freed and killed Kaka). Here the code is this: sooner or later, everything is revealed - be cool and courageous (After that, Hercules in Scythia meets with a half-serpent half-snake, they enter into a marriage, they have children). So, all your suffering will certainly be rewarded, but do not forget about the deed (Hercules drove the horses to Mycenae and gave them to Ephrystheus, and he sacrifices them to Hera).
^ XI Sky Atlanta

This feat was the most difficult. Hercules had to find the titan Atlas, who held the firmament on his shoulders, and bring three golden apples from the garden of the Atlantean daughters of the Hesperides. Hercules wandered around the world for a long time. Finally, Hercules found Atlanta. The titan agreed to give him three apples, but while he walks after them, Hercules must hold the firmament for him. A terrible weight fell on the hero. The goddess Athena helped him to keep the sky. Atlas wanted to deceive Hercules and force him to keep the firmament forever, he did not succeed. With three golden apples, Hercules returned to Eurystheus, Eurystheus gives the apples to Hercules, but Athena gives them back to the Hesperides.

If you need to do something and you are not able to do it, ask another - someone who can do it, but not just like that - “replace him” - “change your role with him”, i.e. if they do you good, repay it with good, let it be very difficult, but you must do it. Do business and think at the same time. Do it like this. so that you are not deceived. (Atlas wanted to forever force Hercules to hold the sky until he gets the apples of the Hesperides). And if the matter is really bad and you do not know that you have been deceived - “cheat” yourself, only “cheat”, for good purposes and, most importantly, wisely. (When Atlas brought apples to Hercules, intending to leave forever, Hercules asked him to hold the sky for him until he put a pillow under his head and stood up again. Atlas believed and remained there forever). Finish your job. (Eurystheus gives apples to Hercules Athena returns them back).
^ XII Kerber

Eurystheus sent Hercules to the underworld of Hades, so that Hercules would bring him the guardian of this kingdom - the three-headed dog Cerberus. Hercules descended into the kingdom of Hades, caught Kerberus, brought him to Mycenae. Where the foam fell from the mouth of Kerber, poisonous herbs grew. Seeing the dog, Eurystheus was horrified and on his knees begged Hercules to take him back to the kingdom of the dead, he did so.

Perhaps it stores information about what will happen to a person after his death.

Don't be afraid to go down to Hades. You will have to overcome many things in order to return to your world. You have to overcome everything. Lord Hades, perhaps, will give you a task, after which you can leave calmly. You must overcome something terrible (ie Kerber), and then return to your world. (option I)

Be brave and do not be afraid, endure everything for the sake of fulfilling your goal, you can take the most dangerous step (Hercules descends into the kingdom of the dead) fight your passion (it is possible that passion is represented in the form of Kerber) and emerge as a hero and a winner - this was the last from the great deeds of Hercules (var. II).
Conclusion

The exploits of Hercules had a very important pedagogical significance in ancient times, since his life seemed to be full of great works for the benefit of mankind. This is evidenced by the fact that in Ancient Greece there were so-called school communities that bore the name of a hero. Famous communities of Hercules, Theseus, etc. This suggests that not only Hercules, but also other representatives of heroic mythology were role models for the younger generation. Especially great importance was given to the exploits of Hercules in the Middle Ages, for example, the image of Hercules was considered an allegory of the astronomer's student, and Atlas - the astronomer teacher, which was later reflected in the engraving on the title page of the famous star atlas by Johann Bayer (1603).

In our opinion, the ethical interpretation of the exploits of Hercules and other characters of heroic mythology can be very useful in modern society.

LITERATURE

1. Vetash V., Vetash S., Astrology and Mythology. M., 1998

2. Krapp E. Astronomy: Legends and Traditions. M., 1999

3. Losev AF, Mythology of the Greeks and Romans - M., 1996.

4.Losev A.F. Ancient philosophy and social - historical formations // Antiquity as a type of culture - M., 1988.

5. Marx K., Engels F., Works. 2nd ed., Vol. 12. M., 1969.

6. BES "Mythology". M., 1998.

7. Taho-Godi A. A., Losev A. F. Greek culture in myths, symbols and terms. SPb., 1999.

»Mythology and Symbolism

© Justina Golubets

The exploits of Hercules - a myth or psycho-training?

Introduction

Perhaps the myth is not fabulous and fictional, but symbolic, and in fact is the key to our subconscious mind and to the solution of quite pressing problems.

Already throughout the history of his existence, man has been trying to solve the riddle of immortality, passionately desiring to prolong his life, to rid his body, mind and soul from the destructive influences of time and environment. And with an inexpressible charm, legends of antiquity beckon him, which still continue to live in the creations of musicians, poets, painters, beckon with their secrets, constantly tempting the inquisitive human mind.

Controlling your destiny, managing the events of your life is a tempting desire. But it is not so easy to see clear lines in the intricacies of life situations. Who knows if the secrets of success are not kept in deep antiquity, does it not conceal the gifts of the treasury of the spirit, which modern man so passionately dreams of, and just as passionately denies them through unwillingness or inability to open a mysterious passage into his own subconscious?

A myth, an ancient story, familiar from childhood, a fascinating world of miracles, gradually forgotten and becoming synonymous with fiction, invention, or even delusion and untruth. But is the myth as unrealistic as it seems to us? Perhaps it would be more expedient to change the angle of view and call it symbolic? Maybe a myth is a map, a panoramic image of all kinds of life paths, where any image and plot are a symbol-sign on the way to the treasures of the spirit. And what if the miracle is real, and the myth is the key to it, the key for the one who knows, who feels and perceives. After all, we look, but only a few are able to see.

The myth is a fairy tale for those who live in a two-dimensional space of categorical duality: "light-darkness", "good-evil", "day-night". The myth exists in the twilight, which allows us to discern new facets of the familiar. It is the myth that acquires a completely new meaning if you look at it from the other side, if you forget about the stereotyped routine look "at", changing it to "in". And the ancient story will open its facets to those who are inflamed with the desire to enter its bizarre, outlandish and yet so simple world.

Everyone has their own favorite heroes of antiquity. Perhaps this is a manifestation of an unconscious craving for those stories that can give us answers to questions that disturb us regarding current emotional, mental and psychological states. The legends about Hercules are perhaps the most popular. Who hasn’t admired the mighty hero, his titanic deeds, who hasn’t dreamed at least for a moment to get Herculean strength and miraculous possibilities?

Unfortunately, the obstinate mind quickly returned our consciousness and imagination to everyday life, forcing us to emit a quiet sigh through the glorious times, when miracles, gods and heroes were common everyday life.

Before proceeding directly to the 12 exploits, consider the initial information about the hero himself.

a) Origins

Hercules was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, that is, a god and an earthly woman. As the offspring of the most supreme Olympian, a beloved son, he nevertheless had to make titanic efforts in order to reach the home of his heavenly father - Olympus. It is impossible not to see in this a hint of the divine nature of man. Even possessing originality and advantages over other living creatures, even carrying this divine greatness in himself, a person has to remain in the earthly vale and go through his own path of lessons and trials.

And the fact that in infancy, Hercules strangled two snakes in his cradle, directly indicates the extraordinary power of a pure consciousness, unclouded by fears. This was the first case that determined the fate of the hero, since after this incident, Hercules' stepfather provides his son with diversified development, rightly believing that such abilities should not disappear. So, each of our victories, made unconsciously, without fears and doubts, often determines our future destiny. And the more difficult the test, the more powerful our potential, because the lesson is always proportionate to the possibilities. Thus, we ourselves are able to shape our environment. Having shown our abilities, we declare to the world about ourselves, that we deserve more than grazing goats and sheep.

b) Two beginnings

The fate of Hercules is constantly influenced by two opposite forces - the will of Zeus and the will of Hera. The hero's life passed under the sign of the struggle of these opposing principles - male and female. In every feat, except for the actions of Hercules himself, there is a line of invisible actions of God and the Goddess. The life of a person is as if enclosed in a millstone between them. The masculine principle, personified by Zeus, has a patronizing effect, harmonizes, gives the desire to learn, develop, learn. The feminine, Hera, is a hostile element, a destructive aspect of the feminine principle, in every possible way opposes control and orderliness, awakens irritation, anger, provokes crazy, eccentric actions for which you have to pay dearly.

Creation and destruction, chaos and order - isn't it in this that the one who begins to observe himself reveals himself? The desire to create and the desire to destroy lead their eternal struggle for dominance in the human heart.

As readers, we enjoy watching the hero's adventures from afar. For us, Zeus and Hera are fairy-tale characters who help or intrigue. We are accustomed to considering the gods as chimeras, some kind of entities with superpowers, invented by a primitive undeveloped consciousness. And, in a strange way, we rarely think about our rational explanation, namely that “the gods are just the personification of natural forces.

In other words, the gods are these natural processes of being, which operate at all levels of life, both in the animal, vegetable world, and in man himself. In other words, Zeus is an all-pervading essence, a world generating force, the origin of the identity of things. A strange brilliance about the look, unique abilities and indestructible energy, which, according to the myth, Hercules was distinguished, are a manifestation of this power, or, "gifts of Zeus" to his chosen ones.

Hera, on the other hand, should be perceived as a source of duality and a cause of contradictions and differentiation, as well as a cause of change. Change is precisely that critical point, after which the process acquires a new trajectory of its development, which can be both positive and negative. Life cannot be delayed, and the situation of change is the law of human existence. At the same time, it is change that makes you mobilize and use your full potential. Thus, "negative" Hera serves as a stimulus for development.

The situation of duality and unpredictability accompanied Hercules almost throughout his life. If at least for a moment we shift from the position of an observer who knows the reasons for the events in the life of Hercules, who is aware of the presence of Zeus and Hera, to the position of a participant, and imagine himself as Hercules, who does not even know about the confrontation of higher entities, then the attitude that dominates among us, namely, that man is just a toy of blind fate. After all, no matter how we call them, we feel the struggle of opposing principles, and, in addition, we realize that our soul has been chosen as its arena. Hercules, like an ordinary person, remains to be able to see the help of Zeus in what is happening, without focusing on the intrigues of Hera, and, of course, to rely on his choice. Thus, the myth unfolds before us a panorama of the existence of various levels of consciousness: human and higher, shows the offscreen background of human fate, describing not just events, but their causes, contained in the motives of the gods, which are the forces of nature, the laws of life.

So, in this attitude of Hercules, the first lesson is hidden - not to look for someone to blame for your troubles and not to blame yourself, but simply to follow your fate, trusting something higher and wise in yourself.

c) Conditions

Hercules performed many other feats, for example, military, much more honorable than cleaning the stables and catching all sorts of monsters. Paradoxically, it was precisely 12 feats performed at the command of the envious, cowardly, puny ruler Eurystheus that glorified Hercules and perpetuated his glory. It is unlikely that he did not realize the worthlessness of his boss, but, nevertheless, stubbornly strived for the goal, perceiving delusional tasks as another step towards the longed-for reunion with the divine Olympians. Hidden in this fact is precisely the thought that is often denied to be present in Greek myths, namely, the idea of ​​humility, the rejection of pride. A person will not diminish his greatness, even serving in an unassuming and modest position. Even by submitting to someone or something that is unworthy of him, he accumulates inner strength, atones for past mistakes, and exalts himself. Seemingly insignificant events can become true feats.

d) Talents

Even in his youth, Hercules, in addition to brilliant training, receives all kinds of gifts from the gods. From Hermes - a sharp sword; weapons (bow and arrows) are presented to him by the sunny Apollo, the shell is given by Hephaestus, and Athena herself weaves the clothes. If we translate from the symbolic language of myth, we get a completely banal, and yet sensible conclusion. A hero, or one who diligently and persistently masters knowledge, eventually discovers that in his arsenal of abilities:

The gift of a sharp, well-aimed word, along with sociability and a thirst for change and development (traditional attributes of Hermes);

An exquisite sense of taste, aestheticism, perhaps artistic or musical talents, the gift of a poet or healer, or simply a positive solar attitude, beneficial to others (the character of the solar deity Apollo)

Physical strength and skill, allowing you to easily solve everyday conditions of life (the shell of Hephaestus - an underground gloomy deity, "laborer" Olympian).

And finally

Wisdom, spirituality, decisiveness, fearlessness and sanity, without which all other gifts will be useless (the tunic of Athena - the goddess of defense and heavenly strength, courage, and also thinking).

e) Use of force

The picture of the life of Hercules seems to illustrate the spiritual and psychological growth of the personality. In the heyday of youth, a respite comes in the hero's life: having protected his city from enemies, he begins a peaceful family life, enjoys the comfort. But was it only for this that the gods bestowed such valuable gifts on their favorite? After all, it is known that the sword is dull in the scabbard. Is it only for the philistine, monotonous life that man works and develops himself? After all, it is impossible to make talents and abilities disappear, so that they do not interfere in such a boring, albeit comfortable life. The energy of Zeus, the active energy of action, already requires an exit. The force, which is no longer directed either at oneself (self-improvement) or at others (social activity), accumulates to a dangerous level, and is already ready to explode.

In addition, the destructive principle, Hera, automatically comes into play. In the myth, she sends a fit of madness to the hero, in which he kills the wife of the children. Isn't it often a modern person, unable to withstand the crazy monotony and boredom of everyday life, literally goes crazy, and with his outbursts kills those around him, first of all, relatives?

The gods (different in different myths) show Hercules the way of redemption for his fatal mistake, and he unquestioningly enters his path, 12 stages of which also tell modern man what to fight, how and in what ways to fight, and how to unleash his potential as fully as possible and connect with your higher self.

In order to understand and correctly formulate the essence of trials on the path to gaining divine power, it is advisable to consider the symbolism of the feat itself, that is, with whom to fight, what to acquire, what to obtain, and what to destroy. And to determine the way it is useful to pay attention to the hero's baggage, his weapon or experience. We will analyze each feat according to the "goal - path - result" scheme.

The first feat. Nemean Lion

Target

Wrestling with a lion is a popular theme of ancient cultures: the Sumerian Gilgamesh and the biblical Samson also fought with the lion. Leo is a universal symbol. The most common meaning of a lion is fire, sun, royal power. He denoted nobility and divine protection. Christ, Buddha, Saints Saul and Daniel, the Evangelist Mark, the Hindu deity Vishnu, the Egyptian Sekhmet, Tefnut, Hator were associated with the lion.

As a sign of the sun, its cyclical nature, the lion also corresponds to the idea of ​​an all-consuming time. The idea of ​​absorbing time was embodied in the images of a lion on Roman sarcophagi, in medieval funeral processions, in the image of the Egyptian monster Aamu, casting the soul into the eternal swing of time.

Leo symbolizes the masculine, solar active principle of action and hidden knowledge. The wild lion, as the recognized expert in symbolism C.G. Jung believed, are passions hidden in the depths of the unconscious that threaten to swallow a person. In the Tarot cards, the senior lasso called "Strength" depicts a lion defeated by an innocent girl, as if translating strength into a moral dimension.

Hercules will have to fight a feral lion. And this is no ordinary predator. This is a special lion, he is the offspring of Echidna, a bloodthirsty monster that gave birth to many other monsters. Before formulating the essence of this feat-lesson, one should consider the symbolism of the origins, in this case, of Echidna. Possessing the body of a woman and a snake, the monster personifies just that feminine dual principle in its chaotic dangerous aspect, since the snake is an ancient chthonic deity that embodied unconscious instincts. This means that Hercules must fight the creation of deep hidden forces.

So, to defeat the Nemean lion in the deciphered interpretation means:

• demonstrate strength;
• master the solar divine energy;
• subdue your wild, sometimes unreasonable passions and impulses;
• master the time.

In practice, the task of Hercules is very relevant for a modern person. After all, today composure, equanimity and the notorious time management (time management) acquire special value. And the myth of the Nemean lion tells how to keep yourself in control and not spin like a squirrel in a wheel, to plan competently and manage everything without fuss, to feel your confident lion's power.

Way

It would be superficial to think that purely physical strength is decisive in the struggle. In addition to physical power, the myth emphasizes the importance of spiritual and moral forces in overcoming their "ego" and the wild instincts of their animal nature. Hercules first teases the predator with the arrows of Apollo, which takes him 30 days. Then, when he, furious, pounces on him, stuns him with a thunderous blow, and then strangles him with mighty hands.

All this clearly warns: it is unreasonable and absurd to go out to battle with your passions with blind bravado. Even to find out by sight, to evoke, to see your shortcomings, passions, it takes time. And the 30-day period hints at the full lunar cycle, in which every day is associated with the elaboration of certain emotions and qualities, and during which it is possible to trace and observe oneself. After such work on oneself, the time comes to hit oneself with the “arrows of Apollo”, or, with the arrows of consciousness, clear thought, that is, to realize, to define oneself, to irritate one's shortcomings, “to wake up the sleeping beast”. Of course, such an experiment is unsafe, because it causes contradictions, divisions, the rage of base instincts. A lion can tear to pieces in the blink of an eye. And you just need to know the moment when you should act with lightning speed. The period of waiting and observation has passed, now you need to stun the roar of passions with a well-aimed blow of willful effort, but not stop there, not wait until they wake up, but simply destroy them with patience and confidence to the bitter end.

Result

Having defeated the lion, the hero sacrifices it to Zeus and establishes the Nemean Games as a prototype of the Olympic competition. The skin of the defeated enemy serves as a shell and helmet for him, and protects him from arrows.

So, having passed the difficult path of fighting some shortcomings, having managed to master himself, a person becomes invulnerable to external hostile influences. What threatened to tear him to pieces turns into a wonderful reliable shield, a shield of firmness, will, self-organization and strength, strength, not as an advantage over others, but as an internal advantage. It is noteworthy that Hercules does not kill the enemy in any barbaric way. That is, the point is not feverishly, with enthusiasm, to get rid of shortcomings and give up your ego, but to subdue it, turning it from a formidable master into a harmless servant.

The second feat. Lernean Hydra

Target

The hero's next feat is much more intense and complex than the first. He goes to slay the hydra - a monster that terrified and devastated the entire district. So, in order to determine the nature and essence of the second step on the path of self-development, one should study what the hydra personified.

It is ambiguous. As a symbol, it is a complex archetype that combines many images. This is both a snake and a water snake, and many-headedness brings it closer to a dragon, or a serpent; that is, her nature, and even her appearance is difficult to imagine. It is as difficult to define as the vices that he embodies. The only way out is to consider the known facts, trying to interpret them as accurately as possible and according to the symbolism of each of them.

a) Hydra was the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. We examined the symbol of Echidna as the embodiment of the dark forces of the universal human unconscious in the first feat. That is, the nature of this feat has its source in the fact that the first one is a primordial vicious beginning. However, unlike the Nemean lion, which originated from Echidna's incestuous relationship with her offspring Ortr (two-headed dog), Hydra was born from Typhon. Typhon in mythology was understood as a deity of the underworld, bowels, caves, abysses, and especially volcanoes. Terrifying even the gods, the mighty Typhon was the destructive, dangerous, devastating aspect of the earth.

The suddenness, surprise, rage and thirst for destruction of Typhon, combined with the cunning and resourcefulness of Echidna, endows Echidna with a truly devilish character.

This means that the obstacle that we will have to face now has the explosive power of the earthly element as the original element of human origin.

b) The habitat of the hydra is a swamp. The element of water as a source of everything intangible, primordial, subconscious, was cultivated in the beliefs and mythologies of almost every nation in the world. It ranges from the state of icy expanses, salt masses of oceans and seas to freshwater streams of rivers and crystal lakes. The swamp acts as the antipode of the purity and clarity of water, it is a polluted, cloudy, distorted source, it is rot, poisonous fumes, which, instead of life, bring death.

In general, when interpreting the images of mythology, it will not be superfluous to turn to folk wisdom, since it is in some proverbs and sayings, stories and typical ideas about certain phenomena that their primary essence has been preserved. So, the swamp was traditionally considered a disgusting mysterious place, overflowing with all kinds of evil spirits, which not only kills travelers, but knocks them off the trail, and then drags them into the bog.

The swamp suggests another characteristic of this feat: an illusion, a distortion of reality. In a swamp as a negative space of the unconscious, one can easily get lost, get bogged down and never get out.

c) Hydra is mentioned as a symbol of the 29th day of the lunar cycle, the last and most powerful satanic day, where all the devilry gathers in order to be destroyed, burned at the moment of the new moon. On these moonless days, instead of the blessed goddess of the moon, Selena, the ball is ruled by the dark gloomy Hecate, who is associated with chaotic destructive mental complexes. So, the hydra can be considered associated with the Moon, the influence of which on a person is indisputable and tangible.

In this feat, not only Hydra appears. A cancer comes to her aid, creeping out of the swamp. And through cancer, the hydra correlates with the 18th arcanum of the Tarot called "Moon", the thought form of which is "Illusion" and which describes dependencies, phobias, fears, depths of the unconscious. Perhaps the cancer on the map, emerging from a dark river in the reflections of an ominous moon, is the same one that materializes from the bog. The fact that the cancer (according to other versions, the crab) is sent by the Hero, possibly means a heavenly influence. In the astrological tradition, the sphere of cancer is the sphere of the house in the broadest sense of the word, that is, the sphere of connection with ancestors, with the genetic memory of the family. And, apparently, the myth hints at this informational-genetic channel, the problems of which can manifest themselves at the most unexpected moment and sting painfully in order to knock the ground out from under our feet and endanger the successful outcome of the internal struggle, as cancer did. hitting the mighty hero in the heel.

d) different versions of the myth attribute to the hydra a different number of heads, 50, 7, but most often converge on 9. The number 9 in numerology is the most unknown and mysterious, and in magic it is the most powerful. In the nine again there is a hint of the 18th lasso, the numerological meaning of which is 9. The number was considered the number of initiation, that is, initiation, embodied the highest humanism, genius, supersensibility and sacrifice; in a negative aspect - mental deviations, vicious addictions. Moreover, 9 is a self-producing number. It was the ninth head of the hydra that was immortal, that is, the one that reproduces itself.

Perhaps, unlike the lion as a symbol of the ego and strong passions, which, in the end, can really be subdued and even directed into a creative channel, the hydra embodies vices that can in no way be used, since they are invisible, unconscious, and destructive in nature. as well as indestructible. “Their name is legion,” says the holy book of Christians, describing the devil. Indeed, there seems to be a myriad of nouns for vices. And each time they are played over and over again. The head of pride grows into a “head” of arrogance or is modified into conceit, or into empty boast. The other heads of the hydra, no doubt, are easy to determine for everyone for themselves, but it is unlikely to do without laziness, anger, gluttony and immoderation, laziness, avarice, anger and other vices.

And yet, in my subjective opinion, an immortal "head" that is not only reborn, but generally indestructible. This is envy, which can overtake completely unexpectedly, even when you think that you have already got rid of it, and its disgusting mouth hisses and sprinkles its poison on you again.

Way

How can you defeat such a horror of vices as the hydra? The path of Hercules is quite difficult here. The myth tells that he did not manage to emerge victorious from this feat as easily as in the first one. He had to retreat and suffer then an unexpected cancer attack, in addition, he almost died in a quagmire, and also, had to use help more than once. And, as it seems, this path fully illustrates the complex way of dealing with the shadow side of the soul. So,

Hercules takes his nephew Iolaus as his assistant. And with regard to this assignment, this is the second allusion to the importance of family ties, along with the above sign of cancer. The status of a nephew, usually associated with an inexperienced young family member, should be considered a clue to whom to seek support and whose advice to heed. This fact seems to remind that one should not be lenient towards the younger generation, since decisive help very often comes from those family members who do not have authority and influence.

Having confidently moved to the hydra, Hercules is very stupidly trapped, not taking into account how easy it is to stumble in a swamp and not get out anymore. Not taking into account the peculiarities of the environment in which he has to act, the hero almost paid for it, even before he even faced the enemy. Having straightforwardly and openly penetrated the territory of the hydra, he began to get bogged down in a quagmire, and was forced to resort to the help of Iolaus, who pulled him out. Obviously, primitive, simplified, familiar measures are not suitable here. If he lured the lion with arrows and he rushed at him, showing open resistance, then the hydra acts in a completely opposite way: it hides, hides. This is the nature of our fears and phobias, illusions and nightmares - they slip away, luring us into their dangerous quagmire.

The cancer incident clearly demonstrates how, having entered the shaky ground of knowledge of our psychic nature, we inevitably unwind the genetic spiral. After all, it is impossible to consider it from factors of influence, the first place among which is heredity. Hercules is not particularly worried about this, and simply flattens the cancer. It is advisable to take this fact as a recommendation: even the most difficult, inevitable problems of the kind are not able to distract from active self-knowledge and self-improvement.

Forced to retreat, Hercules devises a plan in which fire plays a key role. With fire, he lures out the hydra in order to finally fight with her, and with fire he burns the places of the severed heads. The symbolism of fire is extremely rich and diverse, however, in the context of myth, its function of the destroyer and destroyer of evil comes to the fore. Arche is the central fire of the heart of the earth, which is the beginning of all things. Fire in Greek mythology was in charge of Hephaestus (Vulcan). Considering the origin of Hydra from Typhon as the destructive aspect of fire, its creative aspect should have become fatal for her, since Hephaestus is a god-artisan, creator, producer. Irritated by the fire of consciousness, the hydra of vices can be finally destroyed only by its antipode, or virtue. This vision of fire echoes the New Age interpretation that fire is striving, that is, active intention. After all, fire is action, activity, combustion, inspiration.

So, it is possible to conquer one's negative mental manifestations that provoke one to sins not simply by endless cutting off of constantly reviving vices, but by direct fiery action, which practically cauterizes the very temptation to succumb to one's weaknesses; that is, the key to success is shifting the position from “do not do bad” to the position of “do good”.

What about that immortal head, on which even fire does not act? Whatever that undying vice is, probably individual for everyone, the myth suggests a way out. Hercules presses it down not just with a stone, but with a piece of rock.

The rock is an eternal symbol of firmness, fidelity, constancy, stability, and later - the knightly code of honor. In fact, it is only by continuous momentary vigilance, by an unbreakable promise to oneself that it is possible to keep under control the last ineradicable head of an undying vice. Only steadfastness can prevent it from being reborn again.

Result

Having won such a difficult exhausting duel, Hercules dismembers the body of Hydra, and uses her black blood, dipping arrowheads into it, thus acquiring a reliable weapon. What does the completion of the myth mean?

The deadly poison of vices no longer absorbs the personality, does not poison the soul, but is on the edge of the arrows of consciousness. Now he is dangerous not for a person, but for his enemies, who are the essence of those psychic addictions that so meanly, surreptitiously control us. Realizing them, there is a chance to fight and win.

The third feat. Kerinean fallow deer

Target

This feat of Hercules is no longer associated with either murder or destruction, nevertheless, it is hardly less complicated. He is ordered to catch the Kerinean doe. This is not an ordinary cloven-hoofed animal, but the favorite of the goddess Artemis herself. The golden-horned doe had amazing grace and beauty, as well as indefatigability and endurance, since her hooves were copper.

So, the next step on the path to immortality lies in the gambling hunt for what the doe embodies.

Firstly, hunting here has as its goal not murder, but capture, that is, you need to master something, to acquire something.

The fallow deer is a sacred animal of Artemis. The goddess is traditionally associated with the Moon, but not with the dark unknown gloom of the new moon, but with a rich, frank, stormy full moon, that period of the lunar cycle, during which all the hidden reserves of the soul are activated, the sensory and emotional perception of the world is sharpened.

Restless, frantic, impetuous, hot-tempered, energetic, overflowing with tremendous vitality - this is exactly the goddess-hunter. This is precisely the nature of our animal instincts, emotions, feelings, experiences. Among the many sacred animals of Artemis that embodied various aspects of her, the doe was a favorite.

The deer in many cultures is a sacred totem animal, but in common there is its association with the sublime spiritual spheres of being. The female deer, the fallow deer, an attractive graceful animal, represents a high and pure feminine energy, a feminine part in initiation rites and a feminine animal nature.

The fallow deer, according to myth, devastates the fields, which clearly demonstrates that not only vices can have a destructive effect on a person. Our emotions can be just as dangerous, subtle and difficult to control.

On the other hand, the nature of this feat can be interpreted from a slightly different point of view. In view of the fact that the leitmotif of adventure itself is most likely a competition, not a struggle, it is advisable to correlate it with the motive of life's struggle for survival, in a modern formulation, with work and career. The image of a horned animal rather transparently hints at a capricorn, whose astrological sphere of influence is professional achievements, material success, and golden horns symbolize a thirst for wealth.

Way

The fact that it took the hero so long to just prepare for his third feat reminds once again how long it takes to develop sensitivity, gain mastery over his emotions, or accumulate material wealth.

Hunting for a deer demanded from Hercules completely different qualities than those that he has used until now. Aggressiveness, pressure, strength - all this is completely meaningless and useless in an emotional matter, although the process itself is exciting and reckless.

The hero chases for a long time through forest thickets and mountains, showing perseverance and dexterity. And it seemed that when the doe was already giving in, it turns out that this is just a game, and the capricious animal disappears again, beckoning Hercules further and further, until the end of the world. According to myth, he reached Hyperborea itself, the extreme northern land. The shine of golden horns and the clatter of copper hooves teases and excites and calls for them, giving a ghostly hope.

How far can the pursuit of the pleasures of life, both emotional and material, so alluring and tempting, take us? Although such a race is exhausting, at the same time it teaches and develops the qualities of resourcefulness, intelligence, ingenuity, along with many other talents.

To gain sensitivity, sensitivity, as in purely material tasks, patience, diligence, endurance and willpower are required to start everything from the beginning with the next failure.

For various versions, Hercules manages to capture the doe in various ways: by wounding the leg, taking it by surprise during sleep, throwing a sedge net, which only demonstrates the variety of means by which one can achieve the set goals.

Result

As a result of long and hard work, Hercules returns victorious again. Unlike the first two feats, in this his reward is completely immaterial: he does not leave himself either golden horns or hooves. He lets the doe free, back to the forest, to her element. Having caught a doe, we seem to know our emotional world, its beauty, grace, fragility, swiftness, and, having known it, we gain invulnerability, which is symbolized by reliable copper hooves.

And not so much in the myth itself as in its ending — the essence of the lesson. Do not regret and voluntarily sacrifice what you have achieved through such efforts. Acquiring the coveted treasures of feelings or material wealth, we will completely master them only by letting go. This conclusion, which is contradictory from the standpoint of a rational-rational worldview, is the secret of the true art of possession according to myth.

The fourth feat. Erymanthian Boar

Target

In the fourth feat of Hercules, his goal is far from being as attractive as the previous one: instead of a graceful doe, the hero needs to take possession of an ugly, ferocious boar. However, there is a special detail here, a kind of key to the interpretation of the whole incident. The path to Mount Erimanth, where the monster lived, ran through an oak grove inhabited by centaurs, which was impossible to pass. The adventure of Hercules with the centaurs serves as an interlude that distinguishes this feat from the rest and gives it a specific mood.

So, what do you have to face this time? The ego and passions are destroyed, the shadows of the unconscious are also, the emotional and material spheres are ordered, where can we expect a dirty trick? As you progress on the path of self-improvement, sooner or later unpleasant surprises will overtake, which, in fact, is not surprising. Composure and modesty are gradually replaced by a certain frivolity and arrogance, which have a very fair justification, because, be that as it may, - behind - successfully passed tests and a clear result of strength and confidence. Oddly enough, not as much attention is paid to the wild monster in the myth as the lion or the hydra, and in the foreground is the incident with the centaurs, and it makes sense to analyze it in detail in order to fully understand the essence of this myth.

Hercules will not just pass the grove. He visits, or, according to another version, agrees to the invitation of Fall, the most gentle, good-natured of the centaurs. In any case, the hero absolutely voluntarily, independently makes a decision, in this case to stay, rest, relax. The innocent gatherings, unfortunately, end in a bloody fight, as the other centaurs, attracted by the smell of wine and the noise of the party, offended that they were ignored, provoked the hot-tempered hero and provoked his anger. To the greatest grief of the hero himself, one of the poisoned arrows accidentally strikes both the hospitable Fola and the close friend of Hercules, Chiron, the wisest of the centaurs, the teacher and friend of many heroes and even gods.

The centaur symbol is controversial. These creatures with the body of a horse and a person embody not only our animal nature, wild, uncontrollable, spontaneous instincts, but also the thin line between human and animal in our minds. Being the companions of Dionysus, who is often depicted riding a centaur, they symbolize the primitive orgiastic "Dionysian" principle, in addition, hinting at a specific vice - drunkenness as one of the aspects of the "god of wine". In contrast to the ominous ugly hydra, the centaur looks more noble, and rather, testifies not so much to the vices that cause harm to others, as to his own innocent weaknesses, self-indulgence, destroying a person from the inside.

A grove, a forest, especially an oak forest, in almost all cultures was a sacred space, a symbol of the human soul. Restless centaurs living in the grove remain invisible and inaudible until Hercules himself comes into contact with one of them. The first thing you have to deal with almost instantly is the problem of choice: to do or not to do, to go or not to go, and so on. The hero could calmly pass the grove, without stopping, defending himself if necessary, but the temptation to rest outweighed. Very often, the longer the fluctuations, the more the scales are inclined towards the wrong decision and the more correct it seems to us.

As mentioned above, Foul was distinguished by the mildest disposition, because, according to mythology, there were envious and cunning among them. In addition, Fola can be considered the embodiment of laziness itself, since he always basked in the shade. Just like our temptations. After all, probably, Hercules probably did not expect such tragic consequences from a cheerful friendly feast. Perhaps the story with the boar is the only one where we see the hero eating and drinking. However, he not only satisfies hunger and thirst, but feasts and drinks with his inherent irrepressibility. As a result, he turns out to be the cause of the death of his friend, the healer Chiron. This clearly demonstrates the danger of making concessions to one's slightest, even the most innocent natural weaknesses. A rest that turns into a dull boredom, or a glass that is designed to refresh, but cloudes the mind, will inevitably irritate our dormant Dionysian instincts, and, in the end, lead to the fact that with your own hands you can destroy what heals you.

Freedom of choice, a sense of proportion, restraint - that which is not always possible to master, as the experience of Hercules showed, even possessing considerable advantages.

The boar symbol is also a bit ambiguous. On the one hand, he embodies the strength, might, and pressure of military valor. Both in Hellas and among the northern peoples it was valued as a fighting totem, bestowing ferocity and fearlessness. On the other hand, it symbolizes an immoral and harmful beginning, in many religions it is despised as an unclean animal associated with abuse and immoderation. A very visual symbol of involution, degradation, the process of descent, the joy of the flesh to the detriment of the spirit.

Way

Hercules managed to defeat the boar in a rather unconventional way. Since the blows of the sword did not cause him any trouble, only annoying, the hero used a primitive but effective technique. He directed the ray of the sun reflected in his shield into the eyes of the monster, and then frightened him with deafening noise and screams; Then he drove him to the top of the mountain, where he got stuck in the snowdrifts.

The sword of wisdom and reason does not always work in the fight against weakness. Reproaches, arguments, logical reasoning and decisions are often fruitless and the rage of our inner boar only intensifies. Hercules blinds the boar in a clever way, just directing a ray of the sun. Perhaps this is a hint: instead of focusing all your attention, all your efforts on how to hit the beast, you should just catch the ray of the sun's clear consciousness and direct it correctly. By accentuating and concentrating on abstract goals and activities, as much as possible removing everything that could seduce, we thereby "blind" these temptations.

As for noise and screams, here, it seems to me, is an illustration of the method that psychologists often recommend, namely, the method of releasing all accumulated tension in voluntary actions. The method is childish, rather comical, but effective. Perhaps Hercules would be more befitting to swing a sword, beautifully, noble, but useless, and die at the same time, than to beat the sword against the shield with shouts and abuse and run after the frightened animal, and as a result, win.

We also have a choice: become a hero and pursue our goal of getting rid of weaknesses, or stay like everyone else without standing out so as not to seem ridiculous.

The mountain peak, where the boar is driven, has always been perceived as an area of ​​spiritual ascents and achievements, a place of high pure states. Freed from the exhausting struggle, the soul regains the inviolability of the mountain and the purity of winter snow, which extinguishes the fiery-drying rage of our wild instincts.

Result

The fate of the boar remained unknown. Hercules delivered him alive on his shoulders to Eurystheus, but it is unclear whether he was sacrificed or simply killed. Is it not hidden in this a hint of the indestructibility of our weaknesses, which, even when conquered, are still, perhaps, still alive?

Fifth feat. Stymphalian birds

Target

After the capture of a fierce boar, Hercules is ordered to destroy no less ferocious and bloodthirsty giant birds that live on a swampy lake near Stymphal, devastating the forest and terrorizing the city.

The bird as an archetypal image is most often interpreted positively. She is a messenger, a mediator between the earthly and heavenly worlds, embodies the exalted enlightened spirit of a person who soars up to the spiritual spheres, symbolizes the power of thought, correlating with the fiery and air elements. Therefore, it would be most logical to accept the bird as an image of human thought, that mental halo of human consciousness.

The Stymphalian birds bear little resemblance to the sacred birds of grace in their traditional description.

Firstly, they are heavy: their claws, beak and wings are made of metal, most often copper appears along with iron and, less often, bronze. Since copper, due to its softness, pliability and bewitching brilliance, has always been considered the metal of Venus, it can be assumed that the myth focuses on thoughts colored with base desires. Such a desire is not modified into an intention that presupposes active action, but, on the contrary, destroys and tears from the inside, like birds tore apart all living things with their copper claws. Such a little-known association of birds with the nature of base desires finds its confirmation in the same little-known dialectical features of completely different cultures. For example, the Chinese niao, bird, also means penis.

Secondly, they do not at all fit into the animal forest life, on the contrary, they paralyze it, destroying all living things around. They, like the hydra, lived in the forest, not in a swamp, but on a swampy lake. Each time, rising from the lake, they devastated the forest and attacked people. That is, negative thoughts, rising from the depths of the unconscious, penetrate the soul, and finally reach consciousness.

Consequently, these monsters are a fairly transparent collective image of human negative thoughts, which truly paralyze any will to act and live.

Remarkable in the myth is the fact that Hercules, who sat down to rest, was seized with such languor and laziness that he could not bring himself to even get up, let alone the task with the birds; and he came to his senses only when the feather-arrow almost pierced him. Isn't that how negative thoughts affect us?

Way

The hero who wakes up hits the birds from a bow with his deadly arrows, but, although he manages to kill several, it is too early to talk about complete extermination.

As it was defined in the introduction, the arrows of Hercules, by the way, being also a gift from Athena, are the embodiment of the arrows of consciousness. But, as it turned out, superficial speculation cannot neutralize the horde of negative thoughts that annoy and haunt. Such continuous shooting is exhausting, and the victory of a negative, depressive-manic state is only a matter of time. That is, admitting, and then fighting to the point of exhaustion with such thoughts is not an option, they must be expelled, as the myth shows, and expelled in a completely concrete way, simple and complex at the same time.

Gods come to the aid of man. Athena sends crotals (rattles), which Hephaestus made, according to one version of the myth, and the frightened flock will forever be carried away from the Stymphalian Valley. The hero in such a comical situation cannot help laughing.

Instead of winning battles and losing a war, the myth teaches us to win a war. Athena is the archetype of intelligence, strategic thinking and practicality. In addition, in addition to the widespread image of the virgin warrior goddess and mistress of wisdom, Athena controlled the psychic energy of intuition, inspiration, foresight, and belonged to the elements of air and fire. Birds, as a traditional image of harbingers and a popular symbol of divination, can also be understood as the embodiment of the oppressive fear of the future, which rarely torments our minds. Wise calmness and, as a result, intuitive insight will quickly help to quickly cope with this fear.

At the same time, the myth suggests not a static fatalism, but a dynamic way of controlling one's thoughts.

Crotals are an ancient musical instrument similar to castanets. The ratchet in the ancient world, as well as in the shamanism of the modern world, has a cult purpose. Its function is the call, the call of gods, spirits, that is, the highest spiritual substance. In addition, being a musical instrument, it symbolizes fun, dance, or, more broadly, the power of rhythm and freedom. Sistras, rattles, were popular sacred attributes of many ancient goddesses.

The fact that it was made by Hephaestus himself, the "Olympian-artisan", "the god-worker", indicates precisely the benefits of labor, creative production, and the fact that it is not some kind of crude tool of a farmer, but an instrument of art, suggests that this work should be inspired, sublime and joyful. Because an occupation that brings joy and satisfaction is in itself a gift of the gods, divinely inspired, and will surely drive away heavy oppressive thoughts. Negative thoughts are afraid of spiritual power.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the material of the instrument is the same as that of the deadly feathers of birds - copper. It is very likely that the recommendation of the myth echoes the popular Freudian theory of libido sublimation, when carnal desires, in this case, arrows-feathers of birds, with the aim of spiritual harmony and comfort, should be embodied, transformed into a peaceful action, for example, into a dance symbolized by rattles.

Result

Probably, this is the only feat of the hero that did not exhaust, but made him laugh. Although Hercules did not get anything, in any case, he relaxed well. Recalling the sad consequences of drunken idleness with the centaur, this feat proves that it is more useful for inner balance and spiritual comfort to at least rattle with a rattle, dance and laugh heartily.

The sixth feat. Augean stables

Target

Like the lessons of our life, this feat again surprises with its unexpected peculiarity. The valiant hero is ordered to do something that would seem to humiliate his dignity as a fighter and warrior. Hercules is sent to clean out the stables of King Augean, to rid them of the manure that has accumulated over thirty years.

This feat, despite its simplicity, is read in two dimensions: purely practical and mental-emotional.

So the first one. Here, the hero is required not so much courage and courage as ordinary worldly wisdom, economic ingenuity, or, in the modern interpretation, business acumen. This is indicated by nothing more than a business agreement between Hercules and the king about 10 percent of income in the form of a tenth of the Augean cattle. Hunting for a deer is a bit related to this task, but nevertheless, dirty and stinking stables are more reminiscent of routine and life than a golden animal.

The stables belonged to Augius, the richest king of Hellas, the son of Helios himself. The divine functions of Helios, in contrast to his identical Apollo (Phoebus), are somewhat monotonous and even boring. As the sun god, Helios rode out in his chariot every day and strictly followed the same route in the sky. The sun is traditionally responsible for our realization in society, and the presence of solar deities in myth, as it were, hints at the need to move along the eternal trajectory of the life cycle. However, like Hercules, a person is doomed to work far from the solar chariot or elegant palaces.

The stables represent the roughness of the material world. The law of human existence is strict and implacable: the monotonous painstaking work is rarely avoided. And therefore, in whatever spheres our mind soars, no matter how lofty our thoughts are, the material catches up and lies in wait for us in the most ordinary everyday moments.

As for the emotional and mental perspectives, the function of purification, liberation is cultivated here, in contrast to several previous exploits, where the goal was mastery, capture. Although the order of feats is quite arbitrary, it is this one that is numbered fifth or sixth, that is, it is located almost at the equator. If the path of Hercules is taken as a metaphor for our life path, then the figure of a 30-year period in myth can serve as an allegory for the middle of life. It is this age that psychology considers a kind of threshold time when the comprehension of the accumulated experience takes place, and, often, very radical changes.

The myth shows that sooner or later the time comes for an ordinary banal cleaning. Any change requires reconstruction and reorganization, a revision of the past; and the richer it is, the more information should be analyzed. The amount of manure in the encampments of Avgius is directly proportional to the volume of all that is superfluous, stagnant, worked out in our minds. And so that the horses of our inspiration will continue to be suitable for their daily victorious march, and not rot in dung heaps, the need to get rid of all this garbage is ripe.

Way

Through reflection, correct calculation and an unfamiliar method, Hercules handles the task quickly, conscientiously and skillfully. Instead of going deep into the fetid camps, he, on the contrary, moved away from them, and began to build a dam on a river that flowed nearby. And then he dug a channel for quite a long time, and thus changed the vector of its direction. Having smashed the walls of the stables, he directed a strong stream of the river directly through the barnyard, which was cleaned very efficiently and quickly. The iconography of this feat depicts the hero, imposingly leaning on his club and proudly observing his achievement.

The myth illustrates that the meaning of human labor is not to mindlessly picking up years of waste with a shovel and a shovel, consoled by the thought of the oppressed worker's own plight, but in rational thinking, wise use of all available resources.

So, foresight, the ability to calculate in advance and predict events pay off handsomely, allowing you to avoid boring and joyless floundering in the muck of everyday life. It is the desire and effort to go beyond the framework, to approach the solution of life's issues in an unconventional way that clears the way and makes it possible to let into your life a stream of opportunities that will work for you.

And if you again slightly shift the foreshortening towards the intangible, then you can find a hint on how to analyze and revise your experience. In this case, it is advisable to make out the central symbol of the myth - water, or, more precisely, the river. The symbol of water is extremely rich and diverse, but in the context of the myth of the stables, its purifying aspects are brought to the fore. Considered the receptacle of being itself, it is water that contains the past, present, future, is a symbol of universal human experience, concentrated in the forms and content of cultural images. Changing and acquiring various states, it embodies an example of understanding and acceptance, impartial contemplation.

In contrast to the sun, water is a passive feminine principle with a powerful power of the unconscious, and the myth demonstrates the advantages of the “water” power of the unconscious over the “solar” power of consciousness. It is the irrational illogical action associated with the inner world, introverted cognition, intuitive insight that can unexpectedly effectively help in clearing the clogged mental world of a person, as well as so-called everyday issues that are resolved as if by themselves. The myth clearly depicts such a causal chain.

In addition, the river serves as an additional key. In symbolic terms, a river is that water that does not act statically, like the sea, but which, due to its flow and floods, determines the dynamics and constant temporal periodization of events. Hercules influences the river, breaking through a channel, seeking to change the vector of its flow. And he succeeds. We cannot stop the flow of time, but the example of the hero proves that directing it, using it wisely, using it to change and cleanse itself, both morally and physically, is available to us and is completely real.

Result

The result of the feat, unfortunately, is not as optimistic as its beginning. Hercules did not receive the promised tenth of the flocks for one single reason. The greedy Augeas simply changed his word, amazed at the hero's resourcefulness. So, Hercules suffered from his own genius. There is also a hint of a sad pattern here that even glorified heroes, or authoritative respected personalities, do not always foresee deception. People who differ from the general mass do not always remain in an advantageous position, although it is they who serve as the very engine of progress and the cornerstone of evolution. However, the revenge of Hercules, which takes place already outside the framework of the twelve exploits under consideration, when he brutally avenged Augeas by attacking his kingdom, and taking possession of absolutely all of his wealth, leaves some hope for a reward, even with interest.

The seventh feat. Cretan bull

Target

Probably the most intriguing and exciting feat of Hercules is his adventure with the bull. Now Hercules has a journey to Crete, since he was sent precisely for the bull that belongs to Minos, the ruler of Crete. This time it is not a monster spawned by a monster, but a gift from God, Poseidon himself. Minos did not fulfill the instructions and did not sacrifice the bull, as a result of which God sent rabies to the animal, and the gift turned into a curse: the inhabitants were expecting a miraculous salvation with hope. Therefore, they rejoiced at the appearance of the glorified hero.

The myth affects the ancient and almost the most eternal string in the nature of man, his consciousness and soul: invisible, but so tangible, constantly cognizable, and yet unknown, powerful and beautiful, and so uncontrollable. Passion, desire, lust, sensual instinct - all this is embodied in the symbol of the bull, the traditional archetype of the collective unconscious.

With the symbolism of the bull, the myth sends us back to the distant past, emphasizing the authenticity, primordiality of images. It was on Crete that the center of world culture was born. The bull is a zoomorphic image of the supreme Olympian Zeus, his earthly aspect. The Cretan-Minoan civilization was based on the cult of the sacred bull, and researchers come to the conclusion that even the very name "Minos" was the divine title of the Cretan kings in general. And their ancestor is considered to be the same Europe, which Zeus, inflamed with passion, seduced with the appearance of a bull and brought to Crete.

Such veneration of the bull is seen as a direct heritage of the ancient Egyptian culture, where the word “bull” itself was a necessary component of the title of the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom. Many gods incarnated in bulls: Bukhis, the son of a heavenly cow, solar Apis, later Serapis.

In Indian myths, the progenitor of the world is the bull; among the Japanese it also plays a key role in cosmogony, breaking an egg; among the Sumerians, the bull is the ruler of time; in Asia Minor, bull horns have become a symbol of holiness and wisdom and an integral attribute of power.

The allusion to the symbolism of Taurus is completely transparent here, which in the astrological tradition has always been associated with fertility and productive forces, therefore, with animal magnetism, attraction, passion, the sexual act itself as an earthly expression of divine love.

Sacrificing bulls, cleansing rituals and cult games with bulls, that is, rituals aimed at increasing the fertility of the earth, automatically increased the fertile powers of the person himself. In other words, they awakened in him the power of desire as the basis of his existence. And, unlike other cults of antiquity, the veneration of the bull turned out to be the most constant. After all, all these elements migrated from Egypt to Greece, and through it - into Western thinking. And the fact that the remnants of this cult are found even in the modern Spanish bullfight can serve as a proof of the relevance and necessity of their intimate content. As if unconsciously people are still trying to connect with the ancient source of earthly power.

It is also not surprising that the influence of Poseidon is so emphasized in the myth, because he is directly associated with the sign of Taurus. Namely, through the number 7, which was considered the sacred number of Poseidon and the number of stars in the Pleiades cluster in the constellation Taurus.

Poseidon, lord of the seas, ruler of underwater life, especially patronized sailors and fishermen, divers and swimmers. He was revered, but also feared, since such destructive manifestations as tsunamis, earthquakes and floods also emanated from him. In terrestrial nature it rules over all liquid substances, in human anatomy it is associated with blood, lymph, that is, fluids and secretions, including sperm. In a psychological context - with the psychic energy of sensation. Poseidon's gifts: the pursuit of thrills and the lust for pleasure, the desire to feel the world with every fiber of the soul, the intensity and unrestrainedness in passion are embodied in the image of a bull.

In a sense, the bull as a symbol of the next stage of development is unique, it combines both the male principle, personified by the active image of Zeus the Taurus, and the female, symbolized by his origin from the watery depths of the kingdom of Poseidon. The flame that bursts out of the nostrils of the mythical bull, along with its belonging to the sea, designates this bull as a transition zone between the elements of fire and water, as a point of overcoming an incompatible dualism, and its fury and rage reflects a conflict, an imbalance of two creative forces in human consciousness. Combining the features of both solar and lunar deities, the bull, as it were, represents that longed-for unity of opposites, to which humanity has been striving throughout its history. Perhaps this is what determines its popularity in almost all cultures.

To master this unity, in my opinion, is the global goal of achievement, and on a more earthly level, it is to attract passion and gain mastery over your desires.

Way

The divinity, the sacredness of the bull also predetermines the style of testing for Hercules, which is not to destroy, get rid of, expel or purify, as in previous tests, but to tame; but in order to tame, you need to know, study. The myth is silent about the detailed interaction of the hero with the bull. Arriving on the island, he seems to disappear from the reader's field of vision, and again we see him as a proud winner riding a conquered bull, which completely voluntarily ferries its rider across the sea, without surprising him with any unpleasant surprises.

In other words, in this feat we are not equipped with instructions for controlling passions and desires. And, perhaps, such secrecy hides the answer: passion is purely personal of each person, and must be learned in an intimate atmosphere; and the ways of knowing, taming desires are so varied and creative that they are not limited to specific recommendations.

Result

The bull, devouring and devastating the surrounding area, terrifying with its fury, appears as a meek obedient animal at the end of the myth.

The result of the test is clear: tamed passions uplift our spirit, crowning the victor with glory, giving the consciousness of our own strength. However, this stereotypical representation does not always take into account the detail that Hercules saddled the bull, did not kill, did not tie, did not catch with a net. Isn't there a hint here that violence is contraindicated in the matter of taming passion and desire?

After all, the beautiful bull went berserk when Minos regretted giving it back to Poseidon, that is, he did not want to return it to his native element, the sea deity. In the esoteric tradition, the good Poseidon is a masculine, bodily powerful, sexually attractive type. Poseidon's lack of energy, turned on the inner world of a person, leads to the vice of gluttony in food, incites gluttony and drunkenness. Its excess, directed to the outside world, leads to the vice of violence, to sexopathology.

Rejecting, condemning, forbidding ourselves and others, retaining in ourselves and others carnal pleasures, we do not pay tribute to that primitive, fertile force, which we owe the gift of desires and passion; that is, we do not return the sacrifice to God. Thus, we transform the sublime creative energy either into a devouring and corroding force from the inside, or into a destructive and crushing force.

The outcome of Hercules' campaign shows what one should strive for. Like a bull carrying a hero on its powerful back through the waves of the sea, our passion, our desire should carry us along the waters of life, and not suppress it, as the result of this victory is sometimes seen superficially.

Eighth feat. Hippolyta's Belt

Target

The eighth feat proposes to plunge into a rather delicate situation, which no mortal has yet been able to harmoniously solve, namely, into the contradictory sphere of interpersonal relations and life together. Moreover, the myth is not so focused on the theoretical self-improvement of the soul, as on the very practical, somewhat commonplace problem of regulating cooperation between a man and a woman; and contains a lesson for some as well as for others.

The daughter of Eurystheus decided to get the belt of the queen of the Amazons herself, Hippolyta, and, of course, Hercules was immediately sent for him. On the way, he visits many islands, where he performs feats of arms, but his path to the country of the Amazons does not seem to play a decisive role, and acquires a somewhat routine character. So, the goal is to get Ares' belt, which is owned by the leader of the Amazons.

The belt in almost all cultures of antiquity and the modern world signified prestige, dignity, maturity and symbolized the power of power and influence of the wearer. It was on the belt that the sword, wallet, attributes of adulthood, stability, and confidence were located. The location of the belt covers those parts of the human body that in the Eastern tradition correspond to the second and third chakras - zones of willpower and sexual strength. The word itself appears in proverbs and biblical phrases as a symbol of the will and impulse for an active life: “to gird ourselves with glory and strength”, “to gird the loins”.

The Amazons were controversial. Their independence, military skill and courage were so frightening and repulsive that their tribe and way of life were overgrown with all sorts of disgusting details. As with every mythical archetype, harmony, balance of energies, represented in a certain way, plays an important role here. The Amazon archetype bestows very valuable qualities on the female soul: pride, independence, self-sufficiency. An excess of these energies inevitably leads to irreconcilable feminism, a woman literally turns into a callous warrior, rejecting a man, expelling him from her territory, from her inner space. She fanatically guards her "belt", and few of the men dare to go to the distant "wild spaces" of her soul in order to try to defeat her aggressiveness, isolation, and still take the belt. On the other hand, the lack of energy of the Amazon makes a weak-willed, weak-willed creature out of a woman, depriving her of that notorious intriguing "spark", in other words, taking away from her the "belt" of fiery Ares.

The origin of the belt, it seems to me, is the key to understanding the basis of the relationship between a man and a woman. Ares is a masculine deity, the embodiment of the nature of a man, his original qualities: aggression, pressure, strength, irascibility, war, the spirit of competition and rivalry. In its celestial aspect, it responds to the unpredictable "red" Mars, explosive, destructive force.

God, who did not evoke sympathy either among the Olympians or among people, but, oddly enough, was the most adored lover of the very mistress of love, the popular and desired Aphrodite. Despite the myriad of her lovers, Aphrodite truly loves only Ares, that is, without the fiery energies of pure masculinity, love is devoid of true completeness. And the fact that the belt, more precisely, the power of Ares belongs to the Amazon, can illustrate that the source of the strength and courage of a man is precisely a woman. The secret of his achievements, accomplishments, his exploits, and in the modern interpretation, social success and prestige is the power of inspiration that belongs to a woman, or rather, her loins, which is released upon coming into contact with a man.

Way

Hercules, already a self-sufficient and formed man, a god-like hero is not afraid of the prospect of taking possession of the belt of the inaccessible Hippolyta. Despite all the successes and achievements in life, a man clearly needs a woman, a partner, a companion; it is no coincidence that Hippolyta is a warrior, leader, leader among the Amazons. The hero needs a belt, a focus of power, the time has come to take possession of it.

In all likelihood, the belt is a mysterious invisible, but very tangible force materialized in myth, originally belonging to a woman. Coming into contact, a woman always gives, gives, donates this power free of charge for the good of the man who is nourished by it. Different versions of the myth seem to read different scenarios of interaction between a man and a woman, concentrated around the eternal core substance - femininity, female eros.

In one of them, Hippolyta would like to give up the belt voluntarily, after seeing a strong attractive athlete-hero. Hercules, in turn, does not even dream of fighting with women, and intends to ask or win out a belt as a reward. This option is perhaps the most harmonious: a woman's pride and independence are replaced by meekness and complaisance in response to the humility and affection of an equally proud and self-confident man.

There is a variant in which Hercules appears to be not such a noble knight. He does not hesitate to equip a military expedition, to take possession of the treasure by force. But this is also an illustration of a simple pattern: in response to aggression and predatory instincts, a man receives an absolutely identical response; and even having acquired the coveted belt, he is hardly able to boast of a worthy victory.

But even in a harmonious version, not everything is so cloudless. As always, Hera intervened in the fate of Hercules. The myth tells of the insidious plot of the hater of Hercules, who sowed doubts among the Amazons about the hero's frankness, and thus provoked a battle. This time we see the manifestations of Hera among the Amazons, which hints at the manifestations of the Hera archetype we have considered in female consciousness and behavior. The union was ruined by inappropriate suspiciousness, suspicion, unfounded fears and fears of losing itself. Mistrust in a man, fear of succumbing and dissolving in him always plays a cruel joke with a woman, either provoking him to aggression, or forcing him to defend himself against unfair condemnation, again, showing aggression.

Result

Hercules still gets the belt and gives it to Admete. On the way home, he saves from certain death in the jaws of the sea monster Hesiona, the daughter of the Trojan king Laomedont. Perhaps this is a kind of atonement for the unfortunate outcome of contact with Hippolyta. Still, Hercules learned to master the energies of the belt. Indeed, given the symbolism of the sea element as an emotional and unconscious beginning, it can be assumed that this incident symbolically demonstrates the understanding and support of a woman by a man who literally saves her from monstrous complexes that threaten to swallow her.

And Hippolyta, or a woman with a strong Amazon archetype, succumbing to the ill-fated intrigues of a destructive dark beginning, remains a loser in any case. Or dies, which symbolizes the extreme version of the defeat of a woman, moral mental death; or is deprived of freedom, that is, completely loses the energy of his archetype; or he suffers a defeat and makes an unprofitable peace, sacrificing some of his Amazons - suppresses his qualities for the sake of imaginary freedom; however, in any case, she loses her belt, loses power, independence, authority.

Therefore, the lesson of this feat is a call to a man not to succumb to the dangerous thoughtless outbursts of his aggression, and to a woman not to be led by her secret fears and insecurities.

The ninth feat. Diomed's horses

Target

The ninth feat is somewhat terrifying in its bloodthirstiness. Hercules was ordered to deliver wild horses (or mares, according to one of the versions), which belonged to the Thracian ruler Diomedes. The cruel king fed all the strangers to his favorites.

Despite the seeming simplicity, the symbolism of the myth is quite difficult to interpret.

The horse, like a bull, is dual. It also belongs to two opposite elements. Most often associated with fire and light. It is this interpretation that is already somewhat stereotyped: the images of the winged Pegasus, the fiery horses in the chariot of Helios, the white horses of Apollo, Mithra, Diana are still popular and understandable. Less known is the origin of the horse from Poseidon, whose psychotype we examined in the seventh myth about the Cretan bull. In the context of this fact, the horse symbolizes the wildness and wildness of desires, lust, and is more related to the element of an unstable, unreliable wind. It is noteworthy that Poseidon himself turned into a stallion in order to overtake and unite with Demeter. In the sagas and legends of many peoples, there are ominous, wild horsemen, wild hunt.

As a symbol of speed, it symbolized the running of time. The change in the rhythm of the day was associated with the running of the horse, and the calendar was associated with parts of its body. It is also associated with the cyclical nature of being, and, as a result, with death. Since ancient times, he played a special role in funeral rites, transferring the deceased to another world.

So, Hercules has to conquer these monsters, but he also has to fight their master. What will a person have to overcome in this test? In myth, the horse, as a sunny and positive symbol of activity, valor, loyalty, wisdom and nobility, appears in the repulsive, even unnatural image of a man-eating animal. It means that you need to conquer what could become a faithful companion and companion on the path of life, but instead devours our flesh. In my opinion, the very fact of the number of these horses implies the presence of many opponents for the soul. The first of them is time, personified by the horse, its inexorable run. It is time that turns out to be a devourer of human flesh, mercilessly destroying the body with decrepitude and disease. The second is desires and passions, and not only in a sexual context, but the very thirst for power, money, prestige, authority. Ambition and desire for realization, achievements, are transformed into a fever of vanity, a thirst for power and profit, unbridled workaholism, and begin to tear human consciousness, in other words, the "sun horse" turns into a mad, wild horse of Poseidon's depths.

Way

Hercules, without much effort bridling the mad horses, challenges Diomedes to a duel and kills him.

It would not be superfluous to take into account the fact that Diomedes was the son of Ares himself, and given his senseless cruelty, this king can be considered the embodiment of the perverted manifestations and consequences of Mars aggression, which gives rise to sadistic inclinations.

The only thing that darkens the joy of victory is the death of Hercules' friend Abder, whom he entrusted to hold the mares during the battle with the king. To conquer endless vices, it is advisable to get to the bottom of the essence, identify and eliminate their cause. Instead of heading to the stables and starting to tame the animals, Hercules could save his friend from death by first dealing with Diomedes. And so, even with a positive outcome, he was overtaken by the owner of the horses and was forced to entrust them to a friend, a weaker one.

However, the myth contains the truth: the struggle on the difficult path of the development of the soul cannot do without sacrifices, and mistakes cannot be avoided on the path itself. Taming shortcomings without destroying the cause will sooner or later lead to a decisive confrontation, and then something will have to be sacrificed. Time management, when ambition and cruelty are still alive in the soul, will not lead to anything but to an inevitable confrontation with its dark beginning, and in any case, it will destroy what served as our support.

Result

The horses were safely delivered by Hercules to Mycenae, and sacrificed to the gods, and after another version, they were released into the thickets, where they were torn apart by other predatory animals.

The tamed thirst for those immaterial and such longed-for blessings is subject to something higher in man, to what is commonly called morality and spirituality; or it is released into the thicket of our soul, where it is absorbed, destroyed by other desires and passions.

In the context of an all-consuming time, a person who allocates and manages his time either sacrifices it to his own improvement and development (as if sacrificing time to the gods), or directs it into an active life outside (symbolized by the forest and mountains), and in this case, time, what has devoured a person is itself devoured by activity.

Tenth feat. Geryon's cows

Target

Hercules' next assignment involves a long and dangerous journey: he is tasked with stealing a whole herd of red cows from the giant monster Geryon, who lives at the end of the world - the "extreme west", and drive him to Eurystheus.

So, in order to understand the essence of this task, first you need to consider the symbol of a cow.

The cow was sacred not only to India. Since ancient times, there have been representations, especially in ancient Egyptian culture, about the Heavenly Cow in the hypostasis of the stellar Nut, which absorbed the sun at sunset, and at dawn gave birth to it again, as well as in the guise of the seven Hathors, corresponding to the Pleiades of the constellation Taurus. Isis was portrayed as a cow, or often with cow horns, and in Greece one of Hera's epithets was "hair-eyed". This animal personified all moon goddesses in their nutritional aspect, embodied the principle of productivity, was the personification of Mother Earth, the progenitor. As an image of the womb, which bears all that exists, it is an absolutely feminine symbol.

Unlike the bull, horse, boar, and other creatures, the cow does not contain conflicting poles. She is an absolutely positive, good symbol. This is both a virtue and a powerful cleansing power, abundance and prosperity. By the way, oddly enough, a red cow also appears in Judaism. One of the chapters of Bamidbar, commentaries on the Torah, contains the prescription of the law of purification, according to which a red cow must be burned in order to cleanse it with ashes. In the same chapter, an explanation is given that the red color in the Jewish tradition means a material approach to the world, and the red cow is the power of material transformation. Plus, red is the color of the earth in many cultures.

With her lifestyle and character, the cow reflects this principle: feeding on the gifts of the earth, she produces a useful, vitamin, multifunctional product - milk, which is sacred in many ancient mysteries. She is patient, imperturbable and submissive to fate, manifests the principle of obedience to the higher order of nature, the worldview of philosophical fatalism.

There is a long way to the cows - you need to get to the ends of the earth, to an island in the West Sea. The West almost always denoted the kingdom of death, and the island as such was interpreted as the world of the dead, which implies a mystical journey in the style of the Orphic, who sought to achieve a special state through initiation - the mortification of stereotypical thinking and the acquisition of fresh enlightened consciousness.

To fully understand the barriers that separate us from the knowledge of the secrets of the Great Mother, one should also clarify the symbolism of her guardians. The cows are at the mercy of the ugly giant Geryon and under the supervision of his servants - the giant Eurytion and the dog-headed Orthra.

So Ortr, the two-headed dog. He is none other than the offspring of Echidna, brother of Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The double-headedness of the fierce guardian of the cows is a direct allusion to the frightening duality that is the source of the dark depths of the unconscious and aggressively rejects our consciousness from the calm and harmony of unity.

The giant Eurytion did not have any distinctive features, so the general description of the giant characterizes him well. The giant, as a popular mythical and fabulous creature, is associated with a shapeless primitive nature, represents a stage of savagery, and is also considered a source of destructive natural disasters - rockfalls and earthquakes. Being a rude, stupid, aggressive and stupid creature, it symbolizes irrational elements - unbridled fears, faceless, nameless, which overwhelm the psyche and create obstacles to a sober assessment of reality. In ancient traditions, a giant is a symbol of primary nature before its mastery by a cultured person.

Geryon is also related to Echidna, being her brother. He is distinguished by a special ugliness - he has three fused bodies, three heads, and six arms and legs. There is a hint of a tripled hexade, the biblical ominous number of the beast - 666, emphasizing the power of the devil's offspring. The dominance of the triad is evident.

The number three is one of the most symbolically saturated numbers, unchanged in ceremonial magic and religious rituals. Even the Pythagoreans noted its sacred essence: self-sufficiency, universal significance as an impulse for development. However, its dynamism is not always constructive. Being the number of the triangle describing the fiery element of the pyramid, the number was the center of instability and unpredictability, potential danger.

Perhaps Geryon's torso is a metaphor for the rigidity of the mental, sensual and physical worlds of man; his heads, separate, and yet connected - a metaphor of a differentiated, not universal consciousness, and legs and arms - contradictory and incoherent actions.

So, Hercules is ready to go after the cows to take them away from giants and monsters. And our soul, our consciousness, are ready to go on a journey for the origins in search of the Great Mother in order to find the comfort of Divine protection in the bosom of the Progenitor, who nourishes her favorites and generously endows with warmth, prosperity, abundance. Femininity as a source of abundance, as a condition for fertility, the archetype of the earth itself is being belittled and leveled in our time, the demonic and chaotic nature of the feminine is cultivated. Therefore, consciousness is looking for ways to restore contact with its earthly, feminine principle, its positive beneficial aspect; seeks ways to free him from the watchful monsters of dullness, primitive savagery and deep-rooted fears. The myth tells how to find the highest cosmic selfless love and free generosity, embodied in the heavenly cow, destroying pride, ego and greed personified by the giants.

Way

The task also determines the style of its execution. Without a doubt, this is one of the most intense and plot-intensive exploits of Hercules. Therefore, it makes sense to briefly interpret them.

A long way through Africa awaits the hero, and in this feat he is no longer waiting for a forest grove and forest, but a hot dangerous desert, which symbolizes the withdrawal of his consciousness to an unfamiliar, unusual way of thinking, a rejection of the beaten familiar path.

The slightly mystical nature of the feat is hinted at by the first act of the hero, who gets to the ends of the earth. On the shores of a narrow sea strait, he erects two stone pillars, which went down in history under the name of Gibraltar. On a symbolic level, such an act, impractical from the point of view of the goal of achievement, makes one think of some kind of initiation. After all, the pillars of Hercules are very reminiscent of the columns of the mysterious temple of the Priestess, depicted on the second major lasso of the Tarot deck, the most mysterious and secretive. It is the Priestess who is the keeper of the secrets of the Great Mother, and depicted with a moon sickle, is the image of the moon goddesses. It is not surprising that the hero erects pillars, that is, constructs an entrance, or rather, a border between the worlds. Its gate, as it were, separates everyday consciousness from meditative consciousness, which is necessary for a special kind of cognition.

The lesson of the map is the acquisition of knowledge, but not the set of functional abilities that replace knowledge in the modern world, but that true, hidden and accessible only to those who truly thirst. In other words, before the assignment it is necessary to "go through the columns of the temple": to distance oneself from the world and the hectic haste of everyday life.

Unusualness is also emphasized by the specificity of the scene of the feat - the island as a symbol of another dimension. Even such an experienced hero pondered on the shores of the Ocean how to get to the island, until Helios himself arrives on his chariot. His blinding light is so strong that Hercules intends to shoot an arrow at him. Strange as it may seem, such behavior, unthinkable for ancient consciousness, gives unexpected results: God lends him his own boat.

The rook is an image of a ferry, its function is to connect different parts of the universe. Probably, this is the most popular fairytale symbol: often a magic boat delivers the hero to a magical inaccessible island, however, only the brave has such a path. Hercules, not afraid to challenge Helios, receives a vehicle as a reward from him. Does this not inspire to challenge the solar rational consciousness, and, in spite of the expected defeat, unexpectedly find the means of free passage unhindered through the waters of the unconscious?

On the island and afterwards, Hercules was in for constant unpleasant surprises: in contrast to the previous feats, which took place behind a relatively simple “came-saw-conquered” scheme, cows give him constant trouble. And again the mystical triplicity appears.

The fight for the cows takes place in three stages: first, he kills Orff's dog with a blow of his club, then he fights Eurytion for a short time, and, having already taken possession of the herd, he collides with Geryon himself, who is struck with just one arrow. So, gaining secret knowledge allows the use of all skills acquired on the path of improvement: both will and clear consciousness.

It was believed that the initiates who have comprehended the secret of the Triad know no obstacles or barriers, and gain wisdom and understanding. The law of the three prescribes the hero to face the main obstacle three times - the giants. This is the shepherd of the flock, his own master Geryon, and the evil fire-breathing Kak, who stole a couple of cows from the sleeping Hercules while driving the flock.

The victory over the giants symbolized the victory over chaos, a step towards the establishment of space. Having got rid of the inconsistency and differentiation inherent in the ordinary worldview, the hero acquires a universal syncretic thinking.

The difficulty and fragility of the acquired knowledge is indicated by all the incessant adventures of Hercules on the way home: in addition to natural elements, he withstands the attack of the barbarians, the intrigues of the Sicilian prince Eriks, who keeps the strayed cow at home and makes the hero fight for it; a dangerous battle with Kakoy, which also did not fail to steal; the herd suffered from the rage sent by the Hero and fled; and at the end of the path even one more giant was found, filling the entrance to the gorge with a huge stone.

Probably, preserving knowledge is a feat no less difficult than obtaining it. Mining is not a guarantee of ownership. Constant vigilance and readiness to protect and preserve it is the lesson of the second part of this feat. The story of driving the herd warns against those who are always not averse to taking advantage of the achievements of the heroes, from the limited savagery of the barbarians, from the explosive rebellion of their own nature, and the stumbling blocks of still invisible giants.

Result

Cows Eurystheus sacrificed to Hera, which once again emphasizes the connection of the sacred animal with the goddess. Perhaps in this way the myth demonstrates the destruction of the chaotic destructive aspect of the feminine energies through reunification with the newly acquired ancient primordial principle.

Eleventh feat. Apples of the Hesperides

Target

Eurystheus sends Hercules to find the wonderful garden of the Hesperides, and get three golden apples from there. Although the eleventh adventure is already deeply rooted in human consciousness as the hero's quest for immortality, it still contains more detailed information about the longed-for key to immortality that everyone is looking for in their lives. Therefore, we will look at each element of the myth to determine the essence of this feat.

It would be quite logical to start with the symbol apples. The apple has imprinted itself in such archetypal word forms as "apple of knowledge", "apple of temptation and temptation", "apple of discord". They are cherished and nurtured by the heavenly nymphs themselves and are considered a heavenly treasure that bestows good and good. Both goddesses and mortals are eager to get them, even despite the paradoxical ability to generate global fatal conflicts, such as, for example, the expulsion of the first people from paradise, the quarrel of the three wise goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite because of the judgment of Paris, or the tragic Trojan War. ... And does not this desired, longed-for, precious gift from heaven possess all the characteristics of Love and Beauty itself?

Love, which subjugates wisdom and power, and the very life of a person; despite its heavenly origin, it is capable of casting down into the abyss of earthly passions. The very image of the fruit, the fruit associated with the plant world, hints at the only divine grace that can be known through the flesh. In the biblical Song of Songs, the apple is mentioned as the source of conception and birth - the sacred goals of love. The apple is most often associated with love magic and love spells, appearing in many conspiracies and rituals.

The second point worthy of attention is the fact that the apples were gold... Gold is the color of the sun, reason and immortality, a divine principle in the manifest world. In the Bible, a wise word is compared with a golden apple. The symbol of the golden apple contains the idea of ​​the dazzling and destructive power of Divine Beauty. That is, the love to which one should strive is that notorious Divine love, immortal and illuminated by the light of the Higher Mind, and the condition to get three fruits may indicate a thirst for spiritual, heart and physical unity in love.

The apples were on tree... The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. A polysemantic ancient symbol that reflects the foundations of the Universe and inscribes a person into the structure of the laws of life. Embodying the core of the cosmos, he was an earthly image of the Divine essence, a metaphor for cyclicality: growth, becoming, dying and birth.

The psychoanalytic tradition denotes the subconscious through the roots of the tree, through the trunk - the physical life of a person, and through the crown that belongs to heaven - consciousness and superconsciousness. And the fruits, in turn, are symbolic aspects of superconsciousness. The whole integral perception of the world gives rise to the fruit of Divine beauty - Love. Love, as a reunion under the canopy of harmony, is indicated by the fact that this tree was a wedding gift of the earth-Gaia to the supreme Olympians.

Hercules needs to find garden Hesperides. Traditionally, it is interpreted as immortality, and its fruits as the key to it. But what rejuvenates, if not love, what gives immortality and memory, besides love? The garden is a polymorphic symbol. It is impossible to ignore the parallels with the Garden of Eden, the "scientific" gardens of the Platonic Academy, the hedonistic Epicurean gardens. In addition to the fact that the garden is a symbol of cultivated consciousness, it embodied the space of satisfied love longing. This is the mythical garden of Krishna, where the shepherdess-gopis danced and enjoyed the sensual love of the deity, and the biblical garden of pomegranates in the love Song of Solomon's Songs, and the gardens of Indian maharajas with dancing naked virgins.

The fact that no one knew the location of the garden, and Hercules was looking for it for a long time, symbolizes the incessant wanderings of man in search of pleasure and love.

The fifth detail is that the apples belonged to To the Hesperides, in other words, love belongs to the extraterrestrial world, is under the auspices of the stars, or the highest destiny of man. Astronomically, the Hesperides, Egla ("shine"), Erythia ("red") and Hesperos ("Vechernitsa") personified the western evening visibility of the brightest stars: Venus, Mars and Mercury.

The star sign is often represented in symbolic systems; it is found in emblems and emblems, in mandalas and yantras, being the key to the higher spheres of consciousness. Also in the Tarot one of the arcana of spiritual initiation and alchemical transformation is called "Star". The leitmotif of the card is hope, and the essence is indicating the way, the Highest patronage, the gift of tranquility and hope, the prediction of the future. A round dance of seven stars with one huge one in the center is a projection of the starry sky.

Astrological symbols of ancient cultures were concentrated around the seven planets known at that time, which were revered by medieval alchemy as a source of creation and creative energies.

The stars connect a person with heaven, being like the heavenly counterpart of an earthly person. Pharaohs of Egypt after death became stars, and there was a whole science of "star path of transformation". In modern culture, the star has become a symbol of attractiveness and inaccessibility.

The sixth and final factor is the Dragon that guards the golden tree. Even the Hesperides themselves were afraid to approach him. The negative coloring that this mythical creature has acquired is due to the veil of mystery that has enveloped it since prehistoric times. In the traditional reading, the dragon is a lower nature, demonic power, chaos that is regularly reborn and a sin that must be overcome. Victory over him was seen as a victory of spirit over matter.

In his highest understanding, the Dragon is the keeper of spiritual treasures and the guardian of the threshold; the most ancient interpretations correlate him with the rhythm of life, and parts of his body with cosmic forces.

In the myth, the dragon is an inhabitant of the bright palaces of the starry expanses, he is a symbol of wisdom, immortality and eternal rebirth, which is sublimated in the title of the initiated hierophants of Egypt and Babylon, who were called dragons. The wingedness of a dragon indicates the volatility and dynamism of the forces that it represents.

In the context of this story, the presence of a dragon may mean that even having reached the "stars" in its development, before receiving the desired "golden apple" of love as a reward, it is still necessary to overcome one's lower nature, the inner "dragon" of sin, and transform it into " dragon "of wisdom, that is, to know the secret of immortality and eternal life, which was possibly provided for by the biblical prescription" to become wise like snakes. "

Way

In search of the garden, Hercules withstands the struggle with the giant Germer, with Kikn, the son of Ares, who asks for directions, and even almost comes into battle with the god of war himself. This symbolizes that in the search for Divine love, the aggressive pressure of Mars is useless, in addition, it is necessary to get rid of selfishness and selfishness.

The next test that one has to face is the fight with the gigantic Antaeus, a remarkable feature of which was a magical connection with the earth: he was invincible as long as he touched the Earth, but as soon as Hercules was able to tear him off and pick him up in his mighty arms, he was defeated. This can mean a kind of reminder to abandon the mundane stereotypical perception of the world. The giant of our limitedness can only be defeated when we literally get off the ground. That is, the second condition for finding Love is the refusal to be down-to-earth.

Finally, upon arriving in the far north, to the sources of the mythical river Eridanus, the hero asks the nymphs for advice, who treated him with the greatest honor and prompted him to turn to the prophetic old man Nereus. Nymphs are a fairly popular symbol of nature in its feminine aspect. As the spirits of every phenomenon of natural life, they are more often kind to people, understanding their concerns, and are always ready to help. That is, it is from nature that one should seek advice and support in the difficult matter of finding love.

Nereus was no longer so kind, and Hercules had to make significant efforts to be able to keep him while the sea deity was constantly changing its appearance. The transformations of the elder symbolize the variety of illusions that torment human consciousness, and remarkable willpower is needed in order to keep the desire in oneself to continue searching for the bright palaces of higher love. And the prophet's belonging to the sea element indicates the water element of the mental unconscious as the source of these emotional and sensory illusions.

True love is impossible without sacrifice. This idea is cultivated in the following two incidents. In Egypt, Hercules wanted to sacrifice the cruel king Busiris, but the hero freed himself and killed the ruler. Passing through the mountains of the Caucasus, he frees the suffering Prometheus. It is in the eleventh feat that the lines of these two greatest heroes of antiquity are intertwined - Hercules, who admires with his strength and Prometheus, which causes awe with his sacrifice for the good of people. The case of Busiris illustrates the danger and meaninglessness of a useless sacrifice for love, a meeting with Prometheus is the true essence of sacrifice. Freeing the titan, Hercules releases the strength of the spirit, love of freedom and the greatness of feat not for the sake of glory, but for the good of others, in the name of humane, useful sacred knowledge.

The fact that Hercules does not come face to face with the Hesperides suggests that even a God-man cannot reach the stars. The sisters give apples to the hero, but through an intermediary - Atlanta. Titan, which supports the firmament on its mighty shoulders, symbolized enormous endurance and strength, but more popular was his perception as an expert on the sky and the world, in honor of which even collections of geographical maps began to be called atlas.

Titan gives apples to Hercules. Atlanta's help can be understood as an indication of the crucial role of knowledge, research, study, and, most importantly, an open, clear consciousness on the path to understanding and gaining the gifts of the higher cosmic spheres.

Knowledge, symbolized by the titan, bears the universe on itself. The one who possesses knowledge bears the whole weight of the world, which cannot be compared even with the greatest achievements of the heroes. This is what the strong invincible, battle-hardened Hercules felt when he agreed to replace Atlanta and hold the firmament on his shoulders. When the cunning titan tempts the hero by offering to take the apples himself, he refuses. The burden of universal knowledge is beyond the strength of mortals. Although it is seductive: after all, it is difficult to resist the temptation of power, which gives education, awareness, knowledge.

Result

Only in the eleventh feat, what Hercules obtained is returned. And, however, this feat cannot be considered meaningless. After Hercules delivers apples to Eurystheus, he, unable to withstand their heat, throws them back to the hero. Then Hercules sacrifices them to his patroness Athena, and she puts them back in the garden of the Hesperides.

This could describe the law that the flow of divine love always returns to the source. Being develops, manifesting itself at different levels of the material world until a certain moment, when the time comes to return the essence of your experience to divine reality.

Such a result, along with the image of a tree, hints at the goal of transforming one's linear-structural perception of life processes into a cyclical one, as a more integral one; and thus reach a higher level of comprehension of the world.

Unlike other feats, where Hercules killed or tied monsters, chased animals, cleaned stables, lured women from belts, in this feat the heavenly nymphs themselves give him apples, and the Atlantean, the holder of the firmament, delivers them to him.

Indeed, if vices are tamed, material well-being is earned, health is achieved by careful care, knowledge is acquired, partnerships are sought, then love is bestowed, presented by higher heavenly powers.

Feat twelfth. Cerberus

Target

In his last feat, Hercules must descend to Hades and deliver Eurystheus to Cerberus himself - a three-headed dog, the guardian of the world of the dead. This terrifying monster possessed three heads and a tail in the form of a poisonous dragon.

Once again we meet with the triad, and this time it is a metaphor for the triplicity of time. The authors of antiquity and the Middle Ages believed that the heads of the lion, wolf and dog represented aspects of time. The unpredictable and strong lion is the power of the present, the lone wolf prowling is the past that consumes our memories, and the dog, known for its instincts of anticipation, is the future. The snakes streaming all over the body, like the dragon at the tip of the tail, correspond to the chthonic forces of the subconscious.

However, in spite of his disgusting appearance, Kerber did not destroy, devastate, or kill; he was guarding. Frankly, his role is most likely positive and necessary in life cycles: being a vigilant servant of Hades, he prevents the return of souls from the underworld, does not release the shadow of the other world. Thus, Kerber symbolizes the border between the worlds, which must be overcome in the final test.

Way

A well-known version is that the hero went down to Hades, and from there he brought out the tamed monster. However, if you look into the details, then everything seemed much more complicated, in the sense that it required Hercules to acquire completely different skills, and turns our consciousness into an area of ​​mystical, irrational, unknown, which challenges our linear rational rational thinking.

First, before going down to Hades, the hero visits Eleusis, a place near Athens, and there is a sacrament Eleusinian Mysteries... These were the most important rituals in honor of the gods and goddesses of fertility, annual initiation rites with the aim of gaining a mystical otherworldly experience, knowledge of death and union with the power that a certain deity embodied. The legendary Orpheus was considered the systematizer and founder of the ordinances of initiation, after whom the followers of these ceremonies were called Orphic. Cult actions were kept secret from the uninitiated, the best proof of which is the little-known fact of Hercules passing these mysteries.

As a result, the hero acquires a mystical experience, which had a revolutionary effect on the human soul, not only making the body healthy, but, most importantly, relieving the fear of death. The ancient experience of the Orphic people is reflected in numerous testimonies about the trances of saints and yogis, as well as in the stories of those who survived coma, lethargy, and clinical death. The soul that has survived the second incarnation is invulnerable to that which crushes an ordinary person, and the happiness from merging with the divine spheres motivated to further improve itself and the world around.

Echoes of the consequences of initiation and special interactions with the matter of time are reflected in some of the details of the story. The hero meets characters who are the past even for him, which hints at the presence of universal human archetypes in our subconscious; he saves Theseus by tearing him off the stone, which symbolizes the control of the present, and also receives information from the shadow of his deceased friend, who asks him to marry his sister, which implies the gift of divination.

Now Hercules can freely and safely enter the world inaccessible to the living.

Secondly, the hero does not descend into the underworld alone: ​​in the best traditions of esoteric sciences, he finds a Teacher who is always present, guides, advises and helps on a spiritual path replete with dangers. Such for Hercules turns out to be one of the Olympian gods, whose personality serves as the most concrete hint of the presence of mystical experience and initiation. God helps to navigate in the underworld, and protects from the fight with shadows.

Myself Hermes, god-messenger, god-mediator, and in the Hellenistic world merged with the Egyptian deity of wisdom and cosmic knowledge Thoth Hermes-Trismegistus ("thrice greatest"). Although the patroness of Hercules Athena continues to help, but the palm is inferior to Hermes.

Deeper into the subconscious, one cannot do without higher help, and Hermes, as the ruler of the Word-Logos and the guide, emphasizes that for a successful journey it is necessary to enlist the support of knowledge and a reliable channel of communication with the heavenly world.

Thanks to Hermes audience with Hades himself, he passes successfully, and the hero is allowed to take the guard, albeit with the condition not to use any weapon. A conversation with the ruler of another world is very reminiscent of protective formulas in ceremonial magic, especially popular in the rituals of Ancient Egypt, when the deceased had to turn to the main guardians-monsters of certain halls of the underworld.

The condition not to use weapons seems to devalue all such valuable and necessary gifts of the gods and the trophies collected in other exploits. However, as it turns out, Hercules doesn't need them. The hardened hero is no longer touched by the poisonous bites of either the teeth of a terrible dog, or the sting of a dragon, and once a duel with Hydra, also the offspring of Echidna, almost killed only one pinch of cancer.

The mystical experience, the knowledge of the deep spheres of one's unconscious, was just supposed irrational method, therefore, the hero does not use either the arrows of consciousness or his club of will. On the contrary, he seems to be returning to the past, reproducing the style of his first feat, when he also strangled the Nemean lion with his bare hands. The twelfth feat seems to close the circle, because Kerber is the brother of the Nemean Lion and also the offspring of Echidna - a deep unconscious beginning.

Result

The monster has been tamed, not killed, and, even more, has been brought back to its original place. So, overcoming the border between life and death absolutely does not mean its destruction. One of the main signs of obtaining secret knowledge was the recognition, acceptance and adherence to the main law of the universe: expediency, according to which "everything has its place" and "everything has its time."

The example of Hercules, asking permission and the subsequent return of Cerberus, teaches: even in the knowledge of death itself and other worlds, it is necessary to respect the higher design that distributed being. In other words, the true goal of the path, the true purpose of a person is cognition, reunification with one's consciousness and archetypes of the subconscious, harmonious interaction with their images. To join the cycle of life, to find harmony in coexistence with the rhythms and laws of nature presupposed a change in one's consciousness, and not a change in reality according to the limited representation of one's mind.

Epilogue

So, twelve labors unfold an almost universal program of human improvement. Indeed, according to the symbolic interpretation, which is so figuratively capacious that it can be deepened and developed, Hercules goes through three levels of identification.

The first of them is internal self-identification, the struggle unfolds in the plane of the soul and takes place in itself. The most obvious and, not coincidentally, more popular examples are his battles with the Nemean Lion and the Lernaean Hydra. That is, overcoming your ego, subjugating your passions, as well as fighting vices is the first step. This also includes the Stymphalian birds. The fact that the first two should have been destroyed, and the birds, at least, expelled, symbolizes an irreconcilable determination to really get rid of the shadows of the inner world, from those hidden complexes that hinder the movement forward.

The following feats represent a projection onto outer life and social identification. They are associated with mastery, capture, delivery. That is, they symbolize the experience gained in the process of life, the main forces that, in principle, determine the desire to develop, strive, achieve and assert themselves in their existence. These are exploits with the Kerinean deer, the Erimanthian boar, the stables of Augeus, the belt of Hippolyta, the Cretan bull, the horses of Diomedes. The scattered and unsystematic nature of this group of exploits reflects the same randomness and disorder of our hectic life and its hectic pace.

And the last group makes up the mystical triplet of the cycle and is focused on otherworldly worlds, initiations and divine gifts. Hercules travels and learns all three worlds: the secrets of the earthly Great Mother, symbolized by the cows of the tenth feat, the grace of Divine love, embodied in golden apples, and the experience of death as a border in Cerberus. Thus, these exploits tell about the stages of initiation into the mysteries of being.

Hercules had to make equally great efforts both to fight against the creatures of monsters, such as Hydra, Cerberus, Ortros - the offspring of Echidna, and to capture animals - gifts from the gods; fallow deer - the gift of Artemis, the bull - the gift of Poseidon. Sometimes he had one enemy, sometimes many. Feat is not only in the fight against something negative, as our linear dualistic stereotypical thinking often assumes, but even more often it is the correct use of those gifts that life sends us, the correct distribution of those talents and forces that live in us and require realization ...

Perhaps, only when we find time to understand the indissolubility and interconnectedness of the phenomena of being, when we are able to comprehend the nature and language of symbols, only then will the myth speak to us and indicate the path that everyone wants to follow, albeit unconsciously, the path of self-knowledge and self-improvement.

A person is free to choose between complexity and simplicity, victories and decline, saturation and boredom, life and death. But the legend clearly demonstrates that for those who have power, the problem of existential choice shifts from the plane “to be or not to be” to the question “HOW to be”.

And the series of myths about Hercules offers a path and each story a road sign visible to those who yearn to move forward and are in a state of readiness for the next turn of their destiny.

List of sources used

• Kuhn M.A. Legends and myths of ancient Greece. - T .: AT "Tarnex", 1993 p. - 416 p.

The historical significance of the exploits of Hercules.

Essay for literary competition "Phraseological turns" (full version)

Epigraphs

"Eagles sometimes go down below the chickens, but the chickens never rise to the clouds!"

A folk path will not grow to the hero's monument!

Introduction

Now all we hear is “Greece! Greece - that, Greece - that! "

And what do we know about Greece, except for A. Raikin's miniature "In the Greek Hall" and the classic phrase that it has everything?

Yes. There is everything! And from time immemorial!

There is even its own Olympic base at Mount Olympus. True, they have it not like ours, in Sochi, in Krasnaya Polyana, where everything is for the people.

The Greeks boast that they have invented democracy, while the upper Olympic village themselves are so busy with the elite that only one mere mortal and the cupbearer managed to get a job there.

By the way, you will look at this company in the same Greek hall (and many of them were in close family relations!), Well, there are gods! And you start reading about them - nothing human is alien to them!

And their eldest, Zeus, generally established despotism - nepotism - voluntarism, and threw out such feints that one wonders! Either from his head he gave birth to a daughter Athena with a spear in his hand, then he turned into a bull and kidnapped the beautiful Elena, then, blinded by passion for Alcmene, loyal to her husband Amphitryon, having transformed into him, treacherously seduced a woman.

Then the society did not mature enough to the trade union and party committees, so some of them, who thought they knew themselves, were dismissed!

Main part.

By the way, after this misalliance with Alcmene, a child was to be born. What cannot be taken away from Zeus is that, despite his immoral lifestyle, he did not abandon his illegitimate children to the mercy of fate and not only looked after them himself, but also punished others to take care of his own little man.

So everyone in the upper Olympic village already knew that there would be a boy named Hercules, and that a heroic future was destined for him.

Well, how, pray tell, could the lawful wife of Zeus, Hera, take this? Yes, if she could throw thunder and lightning, then humanity would have ceased to exist even then.

Glory to Zeus that it was his working tool, which he cherished like the apple of his eye and did not concede the prerogative of using it to anyone!

Of course, the stepmother decided to kill the newborn. In the spirit of that time, Hera sent two huge poisonous snakes to Hercules and his twin brother Iphicles. Sneaking up to the cradles of the children, the snakes, obviously wanting to curry favor with the goddess, made a fuss - who would bite Hercules, and this woke them smartly on their heads, because, without further ado, he grabbed them by the necks with his plump little hands and strangled both to hell ! And thus, he turned the evil Hera against himself even more.

Years will pass, Hercules grew up, started a happy family, children ...

It was then that the vindictive goddess decided to strike him from around the corner! After all, where it is thin, there it breaks! She sent the red-haired goddess of fools Ate to him, who intoxicated Hercules.

Maddened, he mistook his children for terrible two-headed monsters and killed them. Then the bandage of madness fell from him and, seeing the work of his own hands, Hercules fled from the house in horror.

He joined Jason's team of Argonauts, who went to Colchis to kidnap the Golden Fleece, but the gods intended Hercules to have a different fate and sent a messenger to meet him.

And the fleet-footed Hermes said: “My brother, Hercules! Hear the command of our father, the almighty Zeus. Go to places not so distant to King Eurystheus, serve him faithfully, like a galley slave, fulfill all his whims. Redeem your guilt with deeds. And may the Gods forgive you! "

Without postponing the matter indefinitely, Hercules went to another kingdom-state. And for a long time he wandered, not shaking off the dust from his sandals, scorching by the sun, in the rain and in the storm.

But here is the end - a crown to everything! He reached his goal at last! How suddenly - shit!

Frightened Eurystheus, this Judas, at the instigation of Hera (verily - "Cherchez la femme!"), Sent him to the distant lands to defeat the Nemean lion.

(Where he, the meager Eurystheus, himself could have thought of this. Still, not every cook can rule the state!) Hercules silently listened to the command. Nothing was reflected on his high brow. Taking it for granted, the hero set out on a journey, found a lion, and so, in his hearts, he hit him with a club on a stone skull that he did not leave a stone upon a stone, then he stripped it off like a sticky one, stripping off the last skin (such was the lion's share!) And with a shield he returned to Eurystheus.

The frightened king trembled with fear, like an aspen leaf, and, without even feeding the hero with bread and salt, without batting an eye, immediately declared that, they say, there was no need for Hercules to drive a bummer, to beat his thumbs and sent him to the fight against terrorism in the person of the Lernean Hydra ...

Hercules was silent in a rag.

For a long time I was looking for the underfloor reptile, lured her out of the swamp and cut off all her heads with a sword, except for one, and they, like Phoenix, came to life again and pounced on him. And again I had to start everything with Leda's eggs, and chop with a magic sword with the last bit of strength to the right and to the left.

Already goose bumps ran down the hero's spine, until he thought to cauterize the severed necks. True, you can't jump above your head. Even he could not cope with the last, immortal head. But he filled her with huge stones, and presented the severed heads to Eurystheus on a silver platter.

But what is the point of throwing pearls in front of pigs! This poor in spirit puppet, on whose forehead it was written that he was a fool of the king of heaven, again decided to remove the hero out of sight and ordered him to shoot the Eurymanth boar!

Well, I took up the tug - do not say that it is not hefty! Heracles found the beast and raised such a noise, knocking his sword against the shield, so screamed at the whole Ivanovskaya that he drove the frightened boar into deep snow on the top of the mountain and captured him.

But the tsar's ineradicable fear of the hero and women's revenge know no bounds.

And again, being the mouthpiece of Hera, Eurystheus, this pygmy, unworthy to untie the strap of Hercules' sandals, sends him into distant distances to catch the Cyrene doe, the favorite of the goddess Diana.

It was really sensitive and fast as an arrow, a doe. You can't drive up to her on a goat!

But Hercules, after exhausting preliminary training, nevertheless found her and, without making out the road, drove for a long time like a Swede near Poltava. True, unsuccessfully.

Here we must admit that, although he was a guy himself, it was not a mistake, the hero always came to the aid of not only special military equipment, made and donated by the gods, but also the gods themselves in difficult moments with their advice. They appear to him either in a dream, or, if necessary, in reality, directly, and not like in a theater, from the "mechanism". So the goddess Athena advised Hercules to catch the doe with a net.

And now Hercules with a joyful cry: “Oh, we got a bird, stop! You won’t leave the network! ”, Again, with fanfare, he returns to Eurystheus, and again he sends him to the devil knows where - the devil knows why.

But Hercules did not ask for trouble. His motto was: "no gu-gu!"

He sacredly fulfilled his obligations and bore his heavy cross with dignity! No step back!

And, even being the son of Zeus, he did not disdain any work, fought for purity, not in words, but in deeds, not being afraid to lose his face in the dirt, clearing the Augean stables during the night.

This is how the insidious Hera and Eurystheus of Hercules drove to the tail and mane. So Hercules wandered between Scylla and Charybdis, not having where to lay his head, stepping on the throat of his own song, covering marathon distances with Olympic calmness without fear and doubt and performing his feats over and over again.

He was also at the end of the world, where along the way he helped Makar to drive calves.

Not only knew where the crayfish winter, but even with one of them, very, by the way, musically gifted, he was invited to the country house of Kuzkina's mother on Kudykina Gora, where he whistled, albeit in a second voice, her favorite song “The woman who sings”! "I'm shocked!"- Mom rolled her eyes.

But there is an end to everything. Eurystheus could not stand it either.

When he saw that Hercules dragged Cerberus, the evil three-headed dog, the guardian of the underworld, to him on a chain, his soul went into his heels. The king shouted in horror: “Enough, Hercules! I dare not keep in my service the one who conquered death itself! Take the monster back ... and go wherever you want! You have accomplished all twelve labors. The punishment is over. The gods have forgiven you. You are free!"

Well, the Moor has done his job one hundred percent, the Moor can retire.

Oh, sweet word SVO-BO-DA!

The smell of the homeland, the smoke of the homeland reached the hero.

Calling Heaven and Earth as witnesses, Hercules did not postpone leaving until tomorrow.

He did not even tell the tsar everything that was boiling in his soul, everything that he thinks about him, but silently, in English, retired to his native Thebes, where his faithful wife Megara was waiting with the hope of building a normal family life ab ovo.

And the hero walked through mountains and forests, through rivers and fields, humming a melody that had arisen from somewhere, to which the words would be written in many, many years: "The song helps us to build and live!"

P.S... Evil tongues assert, meaningfully and scandalously giggling, that Hercules performed not twelve, but thirteen deeds. But for some reason, no evidence is given!

Conclusion

Now about the historical significance.

It seems to me that the ancient Greek national hero Hercules with his entire life, starting from the lullaby, one might say, "from the cradle of a child," has proved that even one swallow does not make spring, but with God's help there is one warrior in the field.

Adhering to the only correct general line of struggle against evil in all its manifestations, despite some excesses and distortions (which manifested itself in actions according to the principle: "The forest is chopped - chips are flying!", While violating all the Laws on environmental protection and the Helsinki agreements) , Hercules made his feasible contribution to the building of Communism - the bright future of all Mankind.

We have heard from childhood about the exploits of Hercules. Books, cartoons and movies tell us over and over again about his victories over the Nemean lion, the Lernaean hydra or the cleaning of the Augean stables. Recall that the great Greek demigod performed only 12 feats, not counting various small things like strangling snakes with bare hands in infancy or actively participating in the famous Argonauts' campaign for the golden fleece.

Today's schoolchildren know the biography of Hercules better than the multiplication table, and can talk about his life, from birth to ascension to Olympus, without a cheat sheet. However, if you ask them who Hercules is, then such a question will cause serious thoughts. And not only among the younger generation. Well ... As they say in popular advertising - let's talk about it. Let's refresh our memory for a start, remembering the main moments of the bright, but short earthly life of the legendary hero.

Hercules, Greek Ilya Muromets

Hercules is the fruit of love between the head of the Greek Olympus, the Thunderer Zeus and Alcmene, the daughter of the Mycenaean king Electrion. Moreover, in order to fully satisfy his passion, the leader of the divine pantheon did not hesitate to create a small apocalypse - he stopped the sun and made himself a night of three days. It is not surprising that as a result of such turbulent events, not some ordinary hero was born, but a mighty Hero, a demigod of the royal family.

Hera, the wife of Zeus, very much disliked the future legend and from his very birth began to build all sorts of intrigues against Hercules. Either a snake will suit him, then he will punish him with madness ... However, a hero is a hero in order to overcome all difficulties. Ultimately, the wayward goddess, patroness of marriage and guardian of the family hearth, made peace with the illegitimate son of her formidable husband and even married him to her daughter Hebe.

During his short but stormy earthly life, Hercules was noted for a considerable number of glorious deeds. The most famous are the so-called 12 feats of Hercules, performed at the suggestion of the supreme king of the Peloponnese - the near and insignificant Eurystheus. We will not describe here the deeds of the mythical Greek - there is a huge amount of literature and films on this topic. Now, having made a brief overview of the life of our hero, let's try to establish a connection between Hercules and Hercules. However, let's first find out who Hercules is and where he came from.

Hercules, the new centurion

After the rapid flourishing of Greek civilization, a new sun rose over the world - the Roman Empire. Its famous legions in a very short time (by historical standards) captured almost the entire world, more or less inhabited at that time. And unlike the previous and future world conquerors, they did it soundly, for centuries. The Romans did not ignore the cultural center of the then civilization - the divine Hellas. It was occupied without unnecessary blood and rigidity, but firmly and for a long time.

The influence of the Greeks on Rome was enormous. Religion, mythology, many holidays and rituals were perceived by the "barbarians from the Apennines" as their own. We can safely say that Greek culture gave a powerful impetus to the development and formation of the "Roman world".

Of course, the Romans could not copy everything from the Greeks to the point of comma. This would be contrary to the Roman spirit and logic of a conqueror. Therefore, all the gods, heroes and other mythical characters from Hellas, having passed into the possession of the Romans, received other names and, over time, even began to pass themselves off as primordial Roman figures.

This trend did not pass by our hero - Hercules. In the Roman mythical officialdom, he received a new name - Hercules. Later this name stuck in the Western world, but the countries of the Byzantine sphere of influence used exclusively the Greek original - Hercules. Thus, we smoothly moved on to the question in the title of the article, namely, how does Hercules differ from Hercules?

Comparison

We think that the attentive reader has already understood everything himself. However, our task is to clearly formulate the conclusion that follows from our short trip to the land of myths of Ancient Greece and Rome.

So, the summary. There is no difference between Hercules and Hercules. These are two absolutely identical heroes with different names. The name Hercules is original, Greek, with no other options. Roman Hercules - the same Greek Hercules, renamed to please the imperial ambitions of the Latins. As already indicated, both of these names are widespread and are used simultaneously, but in different circles of world culture - Western and Eastern.