I was reading this short article about journeys as symbols and it really made me think of Heracles, mainly because I really love Greek and Roman mythology. According to this article, journey narratives usually include several aspects.
One is “the necessity of a test or tests of one’s spiritual powers and/or resolve to continue the journey to its conclusion.” This is definitely true for Heracles. Because he killed his children from his first marriage, he had to perform 12 labors. His first labor was to kill the Nemean Lion, which was not vulnerable to any weapon. I would consider this a very difficult test, and Heracles passed it with flying colors. All his labors were hard tasks that took cleverness and strength to do and several included slaying very dangerous and vicious animals.
A second aspect is “a precious object and/or person to be found and/or possessed.” This can be found in Heracles 12th, and last task. His taskmaster, Euystheus, then demanded that Heracles retrieve the Golden Apples of Hesperides, which provided the Gods with eternal youth.
A third aspect is “guardians of the object or person who must be overcome.” Guarding the Golden Apples were a serpent and the Hesperides, which were nymps. To get the apples Heracles had to enlist the help of Atlas, one of the great Titans.
A fourth aspect if “helpers who assist the hero/pilgrim!” This was described in the previous paragraph. Atlas helped Heracles to get the apples. Also, Heracles always had the help of Athena, who had always been a friend to him. Iolaos, Heracles’ nephew, would also sometimes help him if he was around.
Anyways, reading this article about the journey symbol made me think of Heracles because I’m a big Greek mythology fan and know more about that than I do any other religion.
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