The Labors of Hercules 12

Hans Sebald Beham, Hercules Dragging Cerberus from the Underworld (1545) 

Francisco de Zurbaran, Hercules and Cerberus (1634) 

Peter Paul Rubens, Hercules and Cerberus (c. 1637) 

Johann Köler, Heracles Brings Cerberus from the Gates of Hell (1855) 

The Labors of Hercules 10

Attic amphora, Heracles Fighting Geryon (6th century BC) 

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hercules and the Cattle of Geryon (c. 1537)  

Francisco de Zurbaran, Hercules Defeats King Geryon (1634) 

Seneca, Moral Letters 44.3

Then who is well-born? He who is by nature well fitted for virtue. 
 
That is the one point to be considered; otherwise, if you hark back to antiquity, everyone traces back to a date before which there is nothing. From the earliest beginnings of the Universe to the present time, we have been led forward out of origins that were alternately illustrious and ignoble. 
 
A hall full of smoke-begrimed busts does not make the nobleman. No past life has been lived to lend us glory, and that which has existed before us is not ours; the soul alone renders us noble, and it may rise superior to Fortune out of any earlier condition, no matter what that condition has been. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 44 
 
We praise all sorts of attributes as desirable, and we speak of how important it is to “breed” them into society. Some wish for us to be physically strong, so we might conquer by force, while others stress intelligence, so we can outwit our opponents, while yet others claim that simply looking attractive enough will provide us with our wants. 
 
When the experts in “science” teach us that the purpose of life is survival and reproduction, is it any surprise that we limit human worth to feeding, fighting, and fornicating? 
 
If a man believes he is just an animal, he will listen only to his appetites. He must consciously reflect upon his reason and his will to recognize why he has been made to be so much more. 
 
Any other human qualities rise or fall with the presence or absence of wisdom and love. The best things that can happen to us, however pleasant or painful, and the worthiest pedigrees we can inherit, however genteel or common, are those that help us to grow in virtue. 
 
A strong arm must be directed by justice. Sharp wits are useless without a moral compass. The fairest form brings nothing but shame when temperance and modesty are lacking. Living longer is not the same as living better, just as passing on the genome is no substitute for nurturing a conscience. 
 
Back in Boston, I knew some blue bloods who looked down at others for not being descended from someone who happened to get rich a hundred years ago, but I also once met an old Austrian aristocrat who laughed at any ancestry that didn’t go back to before the Thirty Year’s War, and here in Oklahoma I now speak to folks who think they’re special for having gone to a certain church for a whole ten more years than the Mexican family down the street. 
 
As comforting as a legacy can be, and as much as it has set the stage, it does not bind me to being this or that. No one else can play my part for me. 

—Reflection written in 2/2013 

IMAGE: Francisco de Zurbaran, Allegory of Charity (c. 1655) 

The Labors of Hercules 7

Francisco de Zurbaran, Hercules and the Cretan Bull (1634) 

B. Picart, Hercules Captures the Cretan Bull (1731) 

Lorenzo Mattielli, Hercules Captures the Cretan Bull (1729) 

The Labors of Hercules 5

Detail from a Roman mosaic, Hercules Cleans the Augean Stables by Rerouting the Rivers Alpheus and Peneus (3rd century AD) 

Francisco de Zurbaran, Hercules Diverting the Course of the River Alpheus (1634) 

Anonymous, The Stables of Augeas (1808) 

The Labors of Hercules 4

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hercules and the Erymanthian Boar (c. 1537) 

Antonio Tempesta and Nicolo Van Aelst, Hercules and the Boar of Erymanthus (1608) 

Francisco de Zurbaran, Hercules and the Erymanthian Boar (1634) 

The Labors of Hercules 2

Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Hercules and the Hydra (c. 1475) 

Francisco de Zurbaran, Hercules and the Hydra (1634) 

Gustave Moreau, Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra (1876) 

John Singer Sargent, Hercules and the Hydra (1925) 

The Labors of Hercules 1

Peter Paul Rubens, Hercules and the Nemean Lion (c. 1620) 

Francisco de Zurbaran, Hercules Fighting with the Nemean Lion (1634) 

Marcello Bacciarelli, Hercules and the Nemean Lion (1777) 

Epictetus, Discourses 1.6.7

What do you think would have become of Heracles if there had not been a lion, as in the story, and a hydra and a stag and a boar and unjust and brutal men, whom he drove forth and cleansed the world of them? 
 
What would he have done if there had been nothing of this sort? Is it not plain that he would have wrapped himself up and slept?
 
No, to begin with he would never have been a Heracles at all, had he slumbered all this life in such ease and luxury; and if by any chance he had been, of what good would he have been? 
 
What use would he have made of his arms and his might and his endurance and noble heart as well, had not he been stimulated and trained by such perils and opportunities?
 
I may think that a good life should be an easy life, full of amusements and pleasures, where things “go my way”, where Fortune gives me whatever I might want. 
 
I would be sorely mistaken to think in such a way, confusing the life of a man with that of a sponge. 
 
“Yes, I see what you mean! I won’t get anything if I don’t work hard for it! That’s why I’m so motivated to make a name for myself now, so I can get the success and security that will make the rest of my life worth living.”
 
I’m afraid that’s not quite what I mean either, because then it’s just a matter of making an effort today to acquire gratification tomorrow. The deeper problem is that we focus too much on what we might receive, instead of on how we should act for its own sake. The worth is shifted from the inside to the outside; peace of mind never comes from accumulating any sort of “stuff”. 
 
I have loved stories about heroism since I was a little child, but from very early on I saw that most heroes don’t end up rebuilding the rest of the world to their liking, and that most heroes don’t walk away having won riches and fame. They face frightening obstacles not to collect any rewards, but simply to do what is good. Their courage proceeds from a love of character over a lust for compensation. 
 
Heracles was a larger-than-life figure, though he still had terrible failings and made tragic mistakes, just like any one of us. I was at first impressed by the epic scale of his deeds, and only slowly began to appreciate that there was far more to his greatness than either brute strength or subtle cleverness. 
 
Behind the grandeur of his achievements, there was always the core of a moral challenge: Heracles was constantly struggling to act with justice, to transform a wrong into a right. 
 
In most versions of the story, his Twelve Labors concerned a penance for his misdeeds rather than winning glory. The tale of his death, where he built his own funeral pyre after being treacherously poisoned, is about as noble an example of fortitude as you will ever find. 
 
All the hardships, the battles, the villains, or the monsters were really just opportunities for Heracles to exercise his virtues to the fullest. Had Providence not provided these chances, or had he not chosen to face them with perseverance, his brawn and his brains would have been completely wasted. It was a strength of conviction that made the man. 

Written in 10/2000

IMAGE: Francisco de Zurbaran, Hercules and the Nemean Lion (1634)

 

St. Francis Kneeling

Francisco de Zurbaran, St. Francis Kneeling (1639)

Seneca, On Peace of Mind 16.4

But when anyone shrinks back in the hour of death and looks longingly at life, we must lay hands upon him. I will never weep for a man who dies cheerfully, nor for one who dies weeping: the former wipes away my tears, the latter by his tears makes himself unworthy that any should be shed for him.

Shall I weep for Hercules because he was burned alive, or for Regulus because he was pierced by so many nails, or for Cato because he tore open his wounds a second time? All these men discovered how at the cost of a small portion of time they might obtain immortality, and by their deaths gained eternal life.

It may sound a bit harsh to our modern sensitivities, but it is never necessary to despair about loss or death. This is not because I shouldn’t care, but rather because I can learn to better distinguish what is worth caring for.

Misfortune is not an evil, and death is not an evil. Give me more or give me less, but the merit of my character is what will determine the value of the circumstances. It is natural for things to change, and it is natural for them to come and go; what will provide my life with any dignity is what I choose to do with what is given, for whatever time that I may have.

Why mourn the loss of a good man? It was his time, and he distinguished himself in wisdom and virtue. His courage in facing fear and pain is an example of greatness.

Why mourn the loss of a bad man? When push came to shove, he chose to live poorly, to compromise the greater for the sake of the lesser. I can have the deepest compassion for him, but I should not admire him.

I remind myself that how I go about dying will be the final measure of how I went about living. I will choose what becomes of it all.

Hercules was terribly mutilated from putting on a poisoned cloak, a victim of trickery, and was only relieved of his suffering when his body was consumed on his funeral pyre.

It is said that Regulus kept his word to freely return to Carthage as a prisoner, only to then be tortured to death by being locked in a barrel pierced with spikes.

Cato wished to deny Caesar the pleasure of having power over his life, and so he stabbed himself with his own sword. The wound was not fatal, however, and when he saw how his friends and attendants rushed to save his life, he pushed them aside and tore out his own bowels to make sure the job was done.

I shrink in horror when I think of these gruesome stories, yet I also think of how behind each is someone fighting to live, and to die, in conviction, integrity, and justice. Hercules, Regulus, and Cato all had fortitude when the end came.

Written in 12/2011

IMAGES:

Francisco de Zurbaran, The Death of Hercules (1634) 

Salvator Rosa, The Death of Regulus (c. 1652)

Guillaume Guillon Lethière, The Death of Cato of Utica (1795)

Not Birds

Francisco de Zurbaran, St. Francis Contemplating a Skull (c. 1635)

Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ 2.2

Of lowly submission

1. Make no great account who is for you or against you, but mind only the present duty and take care that God be with you in whatsoever you do. Have a good conscience and God will defend you, for he whom God will help no man's perverseness shall be able to hurt. If you know how to hold your peace and to suffer, without doubt you will see the help of the Lord. He knows the time and the way to deliver you, therefore must you resign yourself to Him. To God it belongs to help and to deliver from all confusion. Oftentimes it is very profitable for keeping us in greater humility, that others know and rebuke our faults.

 

2. When a man humbles himself for his defects, he then easily pacifies others and quickly satisfies those that are angered against him. God protects and delivers the humble man, He loves and comforts the humble man, to the humble man He inclines Himself, on the humble He bestows great grace, and when he is cast down He raises him to glory; to the humble He reveals His secrets, and sweetly draws and invites him to Himself. The humble man having received reproach, is yet in sufficient peace, because he rests on God and not on the world. Reckon not yourself to have profited in any way unless you feel yourself to be inferior to all.