Hercules, a name that has become synonymous with strength itself. He was the greatest and most popular hero of Greek myth, the Superman of the ancient world. But his strength of character, and his many vices, where as vast as his physical prowess. Bound in servitude to a lesser man, his celebrated Twelve Labors would take him to the ends of the earth and beyond - battling injustice, slaying fearsome creatures, committing thefts and murders - even defying the gods themselves. His reward was to be exalted with a place among the immortals. And even today his legend still lives on.
This is the tale of the strongest superhero in Greek mythology and his quest for redemption. To atone for committing a heinous crime, Hercules embarks on a series of impossible phalanges known as the Twelve Labors. Hercules endures as one of history's most influential demi-gods, but recent archaeological discovery's suggest that mythology's strongest man may have been inspired by a real person.
Twelve Greek gods overlooking classical Greece from atop mount Olympus. Their anger was capable of boiling the oceans, electrifying the sky's, or splitting the earth. They seduced mortal women and castrated there enemies. From Zeus to Apollo, Poseidon to Demeter, the gods and goddesses where all powerful and unpredictably fickle. Th great writer Homer dared to mock the gods. Yet, from Eleusis to Athens, the Greek people built magnificent temples and cult site. Ceremonies of birth and death where played out and sacrifices where made as the mystery's where celebrated. propitiating the gods was a duty with lyrical devotion and savage passion. Why did the people of ancient Greece accept the dysfunctional, dazzling pantheon of deity's? Was there power political or or divine? Did they represent the great and brutal warrior kings or where they genuin spiritual beings? Or is there mythology just larger than life.
This special investigates the origins of the mythology of the ancient Greeks. Mythology was interwoven into every aspect of Greek life, each city devoted itself to a particular god and built temples of worship. Different parts of the home where dedicated to certain gods, who where also honored in festivals. Ironically these gods also had human frailties. Where did these gods come from?Did they really exist? Did any of the story's in Greek myth actually occur? New archaeological evidence is being uncovered that supports the possibility. As Greek civilization developed, particularly during the Hellenistic period, which began about 323BC, new philosophy and the influence of neighboring civilizations caused a gradual modification of Greek beliefs.