THE MADNESS OF HERACLES
Megara
Eldest daughter to King Creon
Would be his reward
He
Most famous of heroes
Since he defeated the Minyans
Her hand in marriage to him
Heracles.
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She
Gave to him,
Heracles
Son of Zeus
Sons we know today as
The Alcaids.
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One
Was to have ruled Argos
Occupying Eurystheus' palace
Heracles threw
His trustee lion pelt
Over his shoulder.
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Another
The King of Thebes
His father setting
The mace of defence.
(Daedalus' deceitful gift)
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A third
Was promised Oechalia
(Which later Heracles would
Lay to waste.)
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For all
The choicest brides
Alliances
With Athens, Thebes, and Sparta.
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When Heracles marched on Thebes
He vanquished Pyraechmus
King of the Euboeans
Ally to the
Minyans.
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He orders the king's body
Torn in two by colts
Exposed unburied
Beside the river
Heracleius.
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Thus he foments terror
Throughout the whole of
Greece.
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Hera
Vexed by his excesses
Drives him
Mad.
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Six of his own children
He mistook
For enemies to be shot
So he shot them down.
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And . .
. . hung their bodies . .
. . into Fire.
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When Heracles recovered his sanity
And saw what he had done
He shut himself in a dark chamber
Avoiding all intercourse
With humans
For many, many days.
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Then
After purification by King Thespius
He went to Delphi
There to inquire
What he should do.
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The Pythoness
Addressing him
For the first time as
Heracles
(and not Palaemon)
She
Advised him to reside
At Tiryus
To serve Eurystheus for twelve years
To perform whatever Labors
Might be set for him.
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In payment for his obeisance
In recompense for his madness
To Mount Olympus he would go
His reward
Immortality.
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Heracles fell
Into deep despair
Loathing as he did
To serve a man
So far inferior
To himself.
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Afraid though
He was
To oppose his father
Zeus
His friends arrived
Solace to offer
To relieve him of
His distress.
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Finally with the passage
Of the holy healer of Time
His pain was alleviated
He placed himself at
The disposal of
Eurystheus.
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When Heracles set forth
On his assigned Labors . .
(Famously Twelve there would be)
Hermes
Gave him a sword.
Apollo
A bow,
With smooth-shafted arrows,
And eagle feathers.
Hephaestus
A golden breastplate.
Athena
A robe.
Poseiden
A team of horses.
Zeus his father gave
A magnificent
And unbreakable shield
With stories worked on it in
enamel
ivory
electrum
gold, and
lapis lazuli.
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Twelve serpent heads
Carved about the boss
Clashed their jaws whenever
Heracles
Went into battle
Terrifying his opponents.
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