Reversing Greek Mythology

After attending the wedding of Theseus and Phaedra, Luo Yin did not return to Thebes with Ariadne, but followed Creon's instructions to come to Mycenae.

At this time, the king of Mycenae was Eurystheus, who was also the great king of Argos and the high priest serving the patron god of Mycenae, Zeus.

Because he was born prematurely, Eurystheus was always frail and sickly.

Eurystheus became the king of Mycenae and has been cooperating with his cousin Hercules. Eurystheus used Heracles' powerful force to enhance the hegemony of Mycenae. Heracles was also defeated by Eurystheus. Lystheus gave him the identity of the son of Zeus and became a demigod hero.

The first task Eurystheus gave Heracles was to destroy the Nemean Lion.

The Nemean Lion lived in a forest in the Argos region. Although Heracles's destruction of the Nemean Lion was a heroic act, he was also protecting the great king Eurystheus of the Argos region. Benefit.

So this is obviously not a heroic act of selfless sacrifice for others.

The second task given to Hercules by Eurystheus was to destroy the Hydra.

The hydra Hydra lives in the Lerna swamps in the Argos region.

The prototype of this story is apparently a group of snakes in the Lena swamp that damaged nearby farmland and livestock.

Heracles wiped out the snakes in the marshes and defended the interests of Eurystheus, the great king of Argos.

Although people hundreds of years later made up the story of Hercules fighting the mythical beast Hydra, the real prototype was that Hercules discovered that the snakes in the swamp were killing one after another, so he simply and crudely set fire to the snakes. The swamp.

Then the myth makers boasted that Hercules destroyed Hydra, but in reality the Lerna Swamp was still infested with snakes.

The third task Eurystheus gave Hercules was to capture alive the deer from Mount Cerunea, and the fourth task was to capture alive the wild boar of Erymanthus.

These two mythical beasts are both sacred beasts of Artemis, the goddess of hunting, and they were both required to be captured alive.

Obviously, the prototypes of these two mythical beasts in reality are city-state kings or tribal leaders who support Artemis.

Mycenaean kings continued to suppress the worship of Artemis.

City-states worshiping Artemis appeared again in Arcadia, and Eurystheus asked Heracles to go to Arcadia and visit Mount Cerunea and Erymanthus in Arcadia. Sishan captured the two leaders alive and reduced them to stags and wild boars serving Artemis.

Hercules went to the Arcadia region to eliminate two city-states that were hostile to Mycenae, and he was defending the interests of Mycenae. He was worthy of being a hero of the Mycenaeans.

The fifth task Eurystheus gave Heracles was to clean the cowshed of Augeas, king of Inlys.

This was obviously a test by Eurystheus as the Kingdom of Yinlis grew stronger.

After Hercules understood the strength of the Kingdom of Inlis, he launched a war with the support of Eurystheus, killed the uncontrollable Augeas, and made Augeas' son obey the city of Mycenae. Phileus became the new King of Inlis.

When people made up the myth hundreds of years later, they rewritten the invasion war launched by Heracles as Hercules cleaning the cowshed for Augeas, Augeas was unwilling to pay, so that Hercules had A reason to take revenge on Augeas.

The sixth task Eurystheus gave Heracles was to drive away the strange birds from Lake Stymphalos.

The prototype of this story is the reappearance of tribes in Arcadia that were hostile to the Mycenaean city.

So Hercules came to Arcadia again.

Because Hercules failed to capture the leader of the tribe, he reduced the tribe to a fleet of birds that escaped quickly.

If Hercules captures the leader of this tribe, the sixth task will be for Hercules to capture Artemis's sacred bird alive.

There is no doubt that Hercules was once again destroying hostile forces for the city of Mycenae.

The seventh task Eurystheus gave Heracles was to tame the Cretan bull.

This story obviously conflicts greatly with the story of Theseus.

In the story of Theseus, King Minos of Crete was punished by Poseidon for the bull, which resulted in the queen and the bull giving birth to the Minotaur.

But in the story of Hercules, Minos wanted to kill the rebellious bull with his own hands, and the Minotaur did not appear in Crete.

So Heracles only subdued the bull and did not destroy the Minotaur.

The prototype of this story is obviously that the city of Mycenae began maritime trade with Crete.

Theseus went to Crete, which was also the prototype of the city of Athens trading with Crete.

The eighth task given to Hercules by Eurystheus was to bring back the mare of King Diomedes of Thrace.

The prototype of this story is that the city of Mycenae wanted to obtain war horses from the nomads in the Thracian region.

Although in reality, Heracles sacrificed a large number of his comrades to bring back a few horses.

But in the myths concocted by people hundreds of years later, it was glorified that Hercules defeated the Thracians and built a city there to commemorate his comrades.

The ninth task Eurystheus gave Heracles was to go to the southern shore of the Black Sea to test the powerful empire guarded by the Sun Queen.

Because the empire guarded by the Sun Queen has not completely declined, Heracles can only leave in disgrace.

The tenth task given to Heracles by Eurystheus was to bring back the cattle of the giant Ceryon.

In the era of barter city-states, cattle, sheep, horses, and grain were all symbols of wealth.

The prototype of this story is that the Mycenaeans explored the sea to the west of Greece and obtained a lot of wealth.

In real history, the city-states in the western coastal areas of Greece were generally weak, and both the Phoenicians and the Greeks had established a large number of colonies.

The eleventh task given to Hercules by Eurystheus was to pick the golden apples.

This story does not seem to have an exact prototype. It is more like an expression of Heracles's vast travels. He went east to the Caucasus region on the east coast of the Black Sea, to the west to the coast of the Western Mediterranean, to the north to the Thracian region, and to the south. Through Egypt and Libya.

The edges of the world of Greek mythology all have the footprints left by Hercules.

The last task Eurystheus gave Hercules was to go to the underworld and bring back Cerberus, the three-headed dog of hell.

The prototype of this story is that Heracles went to the Pylos area guarded by Persephone, killed King Neleus of Pylos and his eleven sons, and made Nestor, who was obedient to Mycenae, the new king of Pylos. King Pylos.

Cerberus seems to be the debased version of Neleus.

Because Neleus is the high priest of Poseidon, the king of the sea, and a demigod hero with the identity of Poseidon's son.

In the context of Neleus' desire to dominate the Pylos region and make Poseidon the husband of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld and the King of Hades, Neleus can indeed be said to be the watchdog of hell guarding Poseidon.