Heracles (Euripides)
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| Heracles | |
 The madness of Herakles by Asteas |
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| Written by | Euripides |
|---|---|
| Chorus | Old Men of Thebes |
| Characters | Amphitryon Megara Heracles' Children Lycus Iris Madness Heracles Theseus |
| Setting | Before the palace of Heracles at Thebes |
Heracles or Hercules Furens (Greek: Ἡρακλής μαινόμενος / Hēraklēs Mainomenos) is a play by Euripides (c. 416 BC). While Heracles is in the underworld obtaining Cerberus for one of his labors, his father Amphitryon, wife Megara, and children are sentenced to death in Thebes, Greece by Lycus. Heracles arrives in time to save them, however the goddesses Iris and Madness (personified) cause him to kill his wife and children in a frenzy. It is the second of two surviving plays by Euripides where the family of Heracles are suppliants (the first being Heraclidae). It was first performed at the Great Dionysia festival.
In a prologue filled with genealogical detail, Amphitryon outlines the ancestral history of Heracles' and Lycus' families. Lycus is ruling Thebes unlawfully and is about to kill Amphitryon, and - because Megara is the daughter of the lawful king Creon - Heracles' wife Megara and their children. Heracles cannot help his family, for he is in Hades engaged in the last of his twelve labors: bringing back the monstor Cerberus who guards the gates there. The family have taken refuge at the altar of Zeus; they are forbidden to enter their palace and are watched too closely to escape.
The Chorus sympathize with them and encourage them, but, being old men, are unable to help. Lycus comes to ask how long they are going to try and prolong their lives by clinging to the altar. He claims that Heracles has been killed in Hades and will never help them. He justifies the proposed slaughter, claiming that Heracles' children will attempt to avenge their grandfather, Creon, by killing Lycus when they grow up. He depreciates the deeds of Heracles, calling him a coward for using a bow instead of a spear. Amphitryon, point by point, argues the other side and asks permission for them to go into exile. Lycus declares that he is through with words and orders his men to bring logs, stack them around the altar, and burn the suppliants alive.
Megara refuses to be burned alive: that is a coward's death. She has given up hope for Heracles' return and gets permission from Lycus to dress the children in robes of death to face their executioners. The old men of the Chorus have stoutly defended Heracles' family, but, because of their age, can do more than disagree with Lycus and sing in praise of Heracles' famous labors.
Megara returns with the children, dressed for death. She tells of the kingdoms Heracles had planned to give each of them and of the brides she intended them to marry. As Amphitryon laments the futility of the life he has lived, Megara catches sight of Heracles approaching. When Heracles hears the story of Creon's overthrow and Lycus' plan to kill Megara and the children, he resolves upon revenge. He tells them the reason for his long absence is that in addition to bringing Cerberus back from Hades and imprisoning him, he also brought back Theseus, who is now on his way to his home in Athens. With the children clinging to his robes, he goes into the palace with Megara.
Lycus returns and, impatient at finding only Amphitryon ready, storms into the palace to get the others. He is met inside by Heracles, and killed. The Chorus sing a joyful song of celebration, but it is interrupted by the appearance of Iris and Madness, hovering over the house.
Iris announces that she has come to make Heracles kill his own children by driving him mad. Hera, Zeus' wife, is behind the plan: she has hated Heracles since birth because Zeus was his father. She also resents his god-like strength and wants to humble him.
A Messenger reports that when the fit of madness fell on Heracles, he believed he had to kill Eurystheus, the king who assigned his labors. Moving from room to room, he fancied that he was going from country to country. When Amphitryon tried to stop him, he thought it was Eurystheus, and his own children those of Eurystheus. In his madness he killed his three sons and his wife. When he threatened Amphitryon, Athena struck him and he fell asleep. The palace doors are opened to reveal Heracles, now asleep and tied to a pillar, surrounded by the bodies of his wife and children. When he wakes up, Amphitryon tells him what he has done; in his shame he wants to commit suicide.
Theseus, king of Athens, whom Heracles had freed from Hades, enters; he has heard that Lycus had overthrown Creon and desires to help overthrow Lycus. When he hears what Heracles has done, he asks him to uncover his head. Friendship, Theseus says, is greater than any fear he has of pollution from someone guilty of kindred bloodshed. Heracles, not easily comforted, says he can be welcome to no man; it would be better for him to commit suicide. Theseus offers him hospitality in Athens and half his wealth. He argues that even the gods commit evil acts, such as forbidden marriages, yet continue to live on Olympus and face out their crimes. Why shouldn't Heracles? Heracles vehemently denies this line of argument: such stories of the gods, he says, are merely the inventions of poets. A deity, if really such, can have no desires. Finally convinced that it would be cowardly to commit suicide, he resolves to go to Athens with Theseus. The law forbids him to remain in Thebes or even attend the funeral of his wife and children. He asks his father to bury his dead, and, leaning on Theseus, leaves.
[edit] Critisism
Like many of Euripides' plays, this one falls into two parts. Having been raised to the height of triumph when he kills Lycus, Heracles is now driven to the depths of despair by Madness. There is no real connection between the two parts, and for this reason, the play is often criticized for lack of unity.
Courage, endurance and nobility are the themes of this play. Megara in the first half of the play and Heracles in the second are innocent victims of powerful, authoritative forces they cannot defeat. The spiteful, irrational nature of Hera's jealous plot against Heracles can be seen to mirror Euripides' notion of an indifferent world ruled by chance. Heracles' reactions also carry a message for men to rely on themselves, not on the hope of Divine authority and wisdom - that the concept of moral goodness operates in humankind alone. Heracles must learn to recognise and live with the fact that violence and madness are part of his nature, and only he has the right to forgive what he has done.
[edit] Translations
- Edward P. Coleridge, 1891 - prose: full text
- Aurthur S. Way, 1912 - verse
- Hugh Owen Meredith, 1937 - verse
- William Arrowsmith, 1956 - verse
- Philip Vellacott, 1963, - prose and verse
[edit] References
- Vellacott, Philip (1963). 'Euripides: Medea and Other Plays'. Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-14-044129-1
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