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hoisting his food from the ground with a tackle; in him we have a remarkable instance of a dauntless stander-of-mast-heads; who was not to be driven from his place by fogs or frosts, rain, hail, or sleet; but valiantly facing everything out to the last, literally died at his post.

HERMAN MELVILLE Moby Dick, 1851

Hercules

In Greek and Roman mythology, Hercules (called Heracles by the Greeks) was a hero of superhuman strength and courage, usually depicted with a lion-skin, club, and bow. He was the son of Zeus by Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon. The jealousy that Zeus' wife, the goddess Hera, felt towards Alcmene drove her to send two serpents to kill the infant Hercules, but he seized and crushed them in his hands. Throughout his life, though, he would be persecuted by Hera. When he had grown to adulthood, Hera sent Hercules into a fit of madness during which he killed his wife, Megara, and their children. When he came to his senses and realized what he had done he went to Delphi to seek advice from the Pythian Oracle. To atone for this crime he was told he had to serve Eurystheus, king of Argos, for twelve years. Eurystheus imposed twelve immense tasks or 'labours' on him. The labours were as follows:

i. The killing of the lion of Nemea, which Hercules strangled with his bare hands, and whose skin he cut off with its own claws and afterwards wore.

2. The killing of the Lernaean Hydra, a water-serpent with many heads, each of which when cut off gave place to two new ones. With the help of his companion Iolaus, Hercules seared each neck with a burning torch as he cut off the head.

3. The capture of an incredibly swift stag, the Cerynean Hind, sacred to Artemis. Hercules had to capture it unharmed, which he did by pursuing it for a year and finally ensnaring it.

4. The capture of a destructive wild boar that lived on Mount Erymanthus. Hercules drove the boar from its lair, then chased it through the snow until it became exhausted.

5.The cleansing of the stables of Augeas, which had never been cleaned out. Hercules accomplished the task by diverting the two rivers Alpheus and Peneus so that they flowed through the stables and washed away the piles of dung.

6.The killing of the carnivorous birds near Lake Stymphalus. He drove them out of the trees by clashing bronze castanets and then shot them down with his bow.

7.The capture of the Cretan wild bull, which Hercules succeeded in bringing back alive to Eurystheus.

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Hercules continued

8.The capture of the mares of Diomedes, which fed on human flesh. In so doing Hecules fed Diomedes to his own mares.

9.The obtaining of the girdle of Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons.

10.The capture of the oxen of the three-bodied monster Geryon.

11 . The obtaining of the golden apples from the garden of the nymphs of the Hesperides. Hercules achieved this with the help of Atlas, the giant who bore the world on his shoulders.

12. The removal from Hades of the three-headed dog, Cerberus, which guarded the entrance to the underworld.

After he had completed these labours, Hercules married Deianira. Once, when Hercules and Deianira had to cross a river, the centaur Nessus offered to carry Deianira across while Hercules swam. However, once Hercules was in the water, Nessus made off with Deianira and attempted to rape her, and Hercules, realizing that he had been tricked, fired an arrow which pierced Nessus through the breast. As he lay dying, Nessus told Deianira to take some of his blood and use it as a love potion by smearing it onto a garment of Hercules if ever she suspected that he was being unfaithful. Some time later, Deianira became jealous of her husband's attraction towards Iole, a princess whom he had captured and was intending to bring home with him. Hercules had asked Deianira to send him some ceremonial robes and she used the opportunity to try out the supposed love potion, by smearing some of the blood of Nessus onto one of the robes in an attempt to win back his love. The blood was in fact a poison, Nessus' revenge, and caused the death of Hercules. When she realized what she had done, Deianira took her own life. The dying Hercules was carried to Mount Oeta, where a funeral pyre was built. After his death he was granted immortality among the gods.

Throughout this book there are references to Hercules and to his labours.

See AUGEAN STABLES at Difficulty

CERBERUS at Guarding

DEIANIRA at Jealousy

HERCULES at Difficulty Strength, and Struggle

HYDRA at Appearing and Rebirth and Resurrection

PILLARS OF HERCULES at Distance.

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Heroes

This theme includes not only heroes and superheroes who represent good

in the fight against evil, but also romantic heroes who represent a chival-

ric or romantic ideal. • See also Adventure Goodness, Rescue.

Batman and Robin The crime-fighting superheroes Batman and Robin made their first appearance in 1939 in an American comic strip, and have since appeared both on television and infilms.In normal life the two are the wealthy Bruce Wayne and his young ward Dick Grayson, but as Batman and Robin, with the aid of clever gadgets and their speedy Batmobile, they fight against cunning super-criminals such as the Joker and the Penguin in order to protect Gotham City.

Biggies Biggies is afictionalBritish pilot. The hero of many adventures in two world wars, created by Captain W. E. Johns and first appearing in books in the 1930s, his name is associated with British stiff-upper-lip courage and patriotism.

Modesty Blaise Modesty Blaise is the heroine of a strip cartoon created by Peter O'Donnell and first published in the Evening Standard in 1963. A retired gangster, shefightsagainst crime and wrongdoing showing great courage and resourcefulness.

Rhett Butler The dashing and charming Rhett Butler is the hero of Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind (1936). The book was made into an immensely popular Hollywood film in 1939, with the role of Butler played by Clark Gable. Set at the time of the American Civil War, the book tells the story of Butler's romance with southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, and he has come to represent an archetype of the romantic hero.

Byron George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824), the English romantic poet, is alluded to as one who led an unconventional, romantically adventurous life. He travelled widely in Europe, and left England permanently following a series of scandals, most notably the suggestion of incest with his sister, and problems with debts. In 1824 he joined the fight for Greek independence, but died of a fever before he saw any realfighting.His name gives rise to the terms 'Byronic' and 'Byronism'.

He's got a streak of his father's Byronism. Why, look at the way he threw up his chances when he left my office; going off like that for six months with a knapsack, and all for what?—to study foreign architecture—foreign!

JOHN CALSWORTHY The Man of Property, 1906

Dan Dare Dan Dare was a comic-strip cartoon hero who appeared in the Eagle comic between 1950 and 1967. A commander of the Space Fleet, Dan Dare battled against his arch-enemy from Venus, the Mekon.

The Middle East, with all its complexities and dangers and religious tension—yes, and its evils—is being turned into a comic strip in which Dan Dare will launch his

HEROES 1 8 5

space-age high-tech at the Mekon of Baghdad.

The Independent, 1998

Mr Darcy Fitzwilliam Darcy is the hero of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice (1796), who courts and finally wins Elizabeth Bennet. Wealthy and extremely handsome, with a proud and rather aloof manner, he has come to represent a certain type of romantic hero.

She was busy running her tresses through her manicured fingers and flapping her blue-mascaraed eyelashes at James Rattray-Potter, who was propped against the desk in a suave, man-of-the-world pose, ankles crossed. He was a generic Mills and Boon hero to Dominic Planchet's Mr Darcy, but I could see that his brand of florid good looks would appeal to secretaries and girls who lacked confidence.

LAUREN HENDERSON The Black Rubber Dress, 1997

Bulldog Drummond Bulldog Drummond is the hero of a series of stories by 'Sapper', published from 1920 onwards. Drummond is an ex-army officer who fights against the master criminal Carl Peterson.

Flash Cordon Flash Gordon is the spaceman hero created by the American cartoonist Alex Raymond in 1934. He has many adventures in space, notably on the planet Mongo, where he combats the evil Ming the Merciless.

Errol Flynn Errol Flynn (1909-59) was an Australian-born American actor who became famous for his swashbuckling roles in such costume adventure films as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

I gave him a smile. Dawn Patrol. Errol Flynn courageous in the face of certain doom.

ROBERT CRAIS Lullaby Town, 1992

Indiana Jones Indiana Jones is the whip-cracking archeologist-explorer hero of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and its sequels. The first film was promoted with the slogan 'The Hero Is Back'.

Foreign correspondents were a revered, much romanticized group—the Indiana Joneses of journalism.

New Yorker, 1995

Lancelot According to Arthurian legend, Lancelot, or Launcelot, was the most famous of King Arthur's knights. He was the lover of the Queen, Guinevere,

and father of Galahad. His name has become

a byword for chivalrous

heroism.

 

 

Marutha's hero was a Circassian warrior, a sort of

Eastern Sir Lancelot, and every

home she subsequently made with Moshe retained an Oriental flavour.

T. PALMER Menuhin,

1991

 

Lawrence of Arabia

T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935), known as 'Lawrence of

Arabia', was a British soldier and writer who, from 1916 onwards, helped to organize and lead the Arab revolt against Turkey. His book The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926) was an account of the events of this period. He is sometimes alluded to as a brave, romantic adventurer.

My Texan got back into the coach again, stowing his photographic equipment away, having preserved for posterity some mafioso on camel-back who brandished a

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Lawrence of Arabia rifle in one hand and a string of plastic lapis lazuli beads in the other.

PENELOPE LIVELY Moon Tiger, 1988

Lochinvar Lochinvar, the hero of Sir Walter Scott's ballad Marmion (1808), is a young Highlander who goes to the wedding of the woman he loves, abducts her, and rides away with her. Young Lochinvar is the archetypal romantic hero:

'So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, There never was knight like the young Lochinvar'.

He had been quite shocked to learn that at the present point in time she was the only resident of the place, except for Tom away down at the stables and too far away to hear any cries for help—although Tom could get there fairly rapidly if summoned by phone. On the other hand, given Tom's reputation as the local rural Don Juan, perhaps the idea of Tom galloping up to Rose Cottage on a foaming steed looking like young Lochinvar was not exactly the sort of protection he, Markby, fancied for her.

ANN GRANGER A Season for Murder, 1991

Captain Marvel Captain Marvel was an American comic book hero from the 1940s, who used his superhuman powers to defeat evil villains. He transformed himself into his costumed form by uttering the magic word 'Shazam!'

Arnold Schwarzenegger The Austrian-born American actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (b.1947) began his career as a bodybuilder, becoming Mr Universe on seven occasions. As a film actor, he is best known for his role as an impassive killer in The Terminator (1984) and its sequel.

'Nowt better than a bit of exercise,' said Dalziel, patting his gut with all the complacency of Arnold Schwarzenegger flexing his biceps.

REGINALD HILL On Beulah Height, 1998

Ranger was waiting under the canopy. He was dressed in a black T-shirt and black assault pants tucked into black boots. He had a body like Schwarzenegger, dark hair slicked back off his face and a two-hundred-watt smile.

JANET EVANOVICH Four to Score, 1998

Siegfried In Germanic legend, Siegfried (equivalent to the Sigurd of Norse legend) was a prince of the Netherlands and the hero of the first part of the Nibelungenlied. Having obtained a hoard of treasure by killing the dragon Fafner, Siegfried helped Gunther to win Brunhild before being treacherously slain by Hagen. Siegfried's story is also told in the opera of the same name in Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is the young hero of the Star Warsfilms,the first of which, Star Wars, was released in 1977. The films portray a classic struggle between good and evil, in which Luke Skywalker fights against the evil Empire and its general, Darth Vader.

Labour's chief whip versus an amiable rebel—it sounds like a battle between Torque-

mada and Luke Skywalker.

The Observer, 1997

Superman Superman is a US comic book superhero from the planet Krypton

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