Why was Hercules a hero?
Actually, the Greek myth of “Heracles”, and later the Roman borrowing to get “Hercules” tells us about a man who was the illegitimate son of the god Zeus and a mortal woman. His heroic deeds and actions have, through the years, been adapted and expanded to fit many different social and political agendas. Hercules was described as brave, strong, loyal, intelligent, compassionate, hard-working, et cetera – traits which in many ways are good for anybody to emulate. So, he was a “hero” because he had those traits – if you practice them, you can be, too.
