Mythic Comparison: Hercules, Jason, Daedalus Essay

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So she makes the product of that union, Hercules, go mad, so he kills his wife and child. Once again, the sense of someone exceeding the bounds placed by the gods of humanity (in this case, being the child of Zeus) is punished, although Hercules is able to use his divine attributes to overcome Hera's wrath and endure his punishment.

But of course perhaps the most notable example in Greek mythology of hubris is that of Oedipus. Oedipus, it is forecast, will kill his father and murder his mother. Upon hearing of this prophesy, his father Laius abandons the young son. But the boy is raised by commoners. Oedipus leaves this simple couple once he learns of his fate, from the Oracle and Delphi when he comes of age. After wandering for a long time, he kills Laius, who is a stranger to him, in the road, in a dispute -- the gods, hiding Laius' identity, much like Hercules was blinded by madness and induced to kill his wife by Hera.

And then, like Hercules, Jason, and Daedalus -- Oedipus is confronted with a challenge, to solve the riddle of the Sphinx that is imprisoning the city of Thebes.

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Oedipus triumphs, only to be rewarded by marrying the 'foreign' Jocasta, like Jason marries Medea. And like Jason, this match ends in tragedy because Jocasta is Oedipus' mother. (Again, the loved ones of the overreaching hero are punished more than the hero himself -- Oedipus blinds himself, rather than is blinded as punishment)

All of these stories celebrate and condemn the heroism of humanity at the same time -- humanity strains at the constraints of fate, physical confinement, and the limits of human excellence by trying to create new lives, escapes, and going on quests. But this path is fraught with peril, and the casualties of the hero's loved ones are proof of this truth......

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