For the next twelve Fantasy Fridays we’re going to take a look at the mythical creatures in the Twelve Labors of Hercules (Heracles). First, a bit of background about Hercules.
Hercules is the son of the Greek god Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Zeus’s goddess wife, Hera, tried to prevent the birth by tying Alcemene’s legs into knots. When that failed, she sent two snakes to murder the baby Hercules in his cot, but he killed a snake in each hand and played with them as toys.
Eurystheus and Hercules were both grandsons of Perseus and rivals for the throne of Mycenae. Hera hated Hercules so much she sent a madness to consume him, causing Hercules to slay his wife and children, and awarded the throne to Eurystheus.
Zeus still backed Hercules as his choice to be hero over Hera’s choice of Eurystheus. In a contest of wills between Zeus and Hera, Hercules was given a list of labors–originally ten but expanded to twelve–to atone for the murder of his family…labors chosen by Eurystheus. Sounds like a stacked deck to me.
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In other news, I’m excited to be a part of Ciara Knight’s cover reveal for her new novelette, Weighted.
Weighted is a young adult post-apocalyptic with paranormal elements. It is a prequel novelette to The Neumarian Chronicles, and will be released August 2012. Book I, Escapement, will be released in 2013.
Blurb:
The Great War of 2185 is over, but my nightmare has just begun. I am
being held captive in the Queen’s ship awaiting interrogation. My only possible
ally is the princess, but I’m unsure if she is really my friend or a trap set by
the Queen to fool me into sharing the secret of my gift. A gift I keep hidden
even from myself. It swirls inside my body begging for release,
but it is the one thing the Queen can never discover. Will I have the strength
to keep the secret? I’ll know the answer soon. If the stories are true about the
interrogators, I’ll either be dead or a traitor to my people by morning.
Link to add Weighted to Goodreads shelf: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13647847-weighted
Beautiful, isn’t it? Stop by http://ciaraknight.com and tell her so.
Hera was a jealous wench of a goddess, wasn’t she?
Very excited for Ciara’s next book!
She was, Alex, although Zeus would have tried the patience of a saint.
Ciara’s book sounds awesome!
I actually have a Hercules alternate reality in my YA book, Rise From Darkness. His name is Herak.
Thank you so much for sharing the cover of WEIGHTED on your blog!! You are always so supportive.
You’re most welcome, Ciara! I’m glad to be a part of it.
Love this post about Hercules. Somewhere in the corners of my memory I think I knew about these labors, but I’d forgotten.
Love Ciara’s cover, too
The labors are going to be fun to blog about!
Her Ten list on your blog was a hoot!
Ciara is everywhere today.
The Greek myths are always so damn interesting. Loads of story fodder there.
Yay for Ciara! Nice job she did on being everywhere.
Twisted and convoluted, Mary.
Plenty of strange tales to tell!
Ciara did seem to be everywhere today!
Hercules has long been a favorite mythological character for me. Too bad his lawyer couldn’t plead insanity as a defense to killing his wife and children. Here’s another thing: Zeus was the father of Hercules as well as Perseus, who was the grandfather of Hercules. So Zeus was not only the father of Hercules but also his great-grandfather. Family gatherings in those days must’ve been strange affairs.
I shudder to think, Ron. I can’t imagine what the topic of conversation would be while passing the mashed potatoes…
They could loudly express their gratitude to the chef for leaving the skins on those potatoes and adding a carefully selected and measured spice or two. They’d go on from there to speak of the wondrous Olympian gravy. Incest would be where it belonged: at the bottom of their cares.
Love the post..Hercules is such a famous mythical creature..
Love Ciara’s cover and can’t wait for the book.
Thanks, Savannah! Hercules has so many stories…
Ciara’s cover rocks!
Thanks so much for your support, Savannah.
I don’t know much about these mythical characters, Laura, but I am familiar with Hercules. Who isn’t though, right? I have to say I am really enjoying these posts and you have opened my eyes to a world I knew existed, but never had an interest in, until now.
Thank you, Cindy! It’s really a fascinating world.