Heracles, the greatest Greek hero, is a demigod whose mortal life is dominated by a series of successes due to his formidable strength and failures due to his excessive passions. While his passions seemingly cause him pain and bring him unhappiness, he ultimately gains eternal glory through the trials he endures. Through images of unnecessary conflict and violence, Heracles is directly and indirectly characterized as tragically flawed by a lack of self-control, indicating the need for proper judgment and intelligence to counterbalance brute force. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay renowned sources. Even if “without his consent, he could not have been punished by anyone” (227), he demonstrates “greatness of soul” (227) by always going beyond his expectations to repair his faults. Unfortunately, this often led him to punish "himself when others were inclined to exonerate him" (227), subjecting himself to extremes that no other human being could resist. For example, in order to purify himself from killing his "children and Megara" (229), he performs "the labors of Heracles" (232), a series of arduous tasks that include feats like killing "the lion of Nemea ". (232), chasing away the “Stymphalian birds” (233) and bringing up “Cerberus, the three-headed dog, from Hades” (234). Furthermore, in his regret at having disrespected the house of his friend Admetus during a period of mourning, he "blames himself" (241) and decides to fight against Death and "bring Alcestis back from the dead » (241). Although he succeeds in all his tasks, he is never truly "quiet and at ease" (236), meaning that the suffering he endures is useless in healing his emotional state. Heracles, the ideal Greek portrayed as being fiercely devoted to repentance to the point of self-destruction, emphasizes the importance that Greek culture places on proper reconciliation of one's actions, regardless of one's status in life. Heracles' great power, giving him the appearance of invincibility, overshadows his vulnerability to errors of judgment and accidental abuses of his strength, which cause not only great suffering to him, but also to those around him. Heracles is often “conspicuously absent” (226) and does not apply his intellect to much of what he does. Instead, his emotions are “rapidly aroused and likely to spiral out of control” (226). For example, when he was a child, he “didn't like his music teacher” (229), so he “annoyed him with his lute (229), delivering “an unintentional fatal blow” (229 ). Another time, “with a simple swing of his arm” (237), he accidentally killed an innocent boy who was serving him. Furthermore, wrongly motivated by his sexual appetite for Deianira, Heracles fights "the river-god Achelous" (236), although Achelous has "no desire to fight [Heracles]" (236). Heracles' warlike actions may allude to the Greek belief that the best way to resolve problems is through conflict rather than negotiation. The tragedy of Heracles is the irony of juxtaposing his cunning during battle with a lack of decision-making skills and restraint outside of battle. this reveals his apparent blessing, his great strength, like a curse that limits his success to conflict situations. Despite his inability to "not get drunk" (242) in a house of mourning, he is intelligent enough to defeat Antaeus, a giant invincible as long as he "[touches] the earth" (236) by "holding him in the air” (236) and strangling him. Despite its “simplicity and clumsy stupidity”.