Heroes of Greek Myth

Greek heroes were mortals, often with one divine parent, whose deeds were celebrated in poetry and cult.

Heracles

Heracles, called Hercules by the Romans, was the son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. To atone for a crime he served King Eurystheus and completed twelve labors, including slaying the Nemean lion, killing the Lernaean Hydra, cleaning the Augean stables in a single day and capturing Cerberus from the Underworld.

Perseus

Perseus beheaded the Gorgon Medusa. Athena gave him a polished shield so he could look at her reflection instead of her face, and Hermes lent him winged sandals. On his way home he rescued the princess Andromeda from a sea monster.

Theseus

Theseus sailed to Crete and killed the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, finding his way out with a ball of thread given to him by Ariadne. He forgot to change his black sails to white, and his father Aegeus, believing him dead, threw himself into the sea that now bears his name, the Aegean.

Odysseus

Odysseus, king of Ithaca, devised the wooden horse that ended the Trojan War. His journey home took ten years and is told in Homer's Odyssey. He escaped the Cyclops Polyphemus by telling him his name was Nobody.

Achilles

Achilles was the greatest Greek warrior at Troy. His mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable, except for the heel by which she held him. He killed the Trojan prince Hector and was later killed by an arrow shot by Paris.

Jason

Jason led the Argonauts aboard the ship Argo to the kingdom of Colchis to win the Golden Fleece. He succeeded with the help of the sorceress Medea, daughter of the king.