Heracles was invincible and a very powerful man physically and no one could dominate him or pin him down in physical combat. Yet this powerful man died of excruciating pain from

Jason, in his youthful zeal and eagerness to assist those in need, encounters a mysterious figure disguised as an elderly woman who beseeches his help to traverse a river and her name is 

Heracles’s demi-god status is further enhanced and immortalized to the status of an Olympian by Zeus because

Heracles was perhaps the only person in Greek mythology who contended with Hades or death and came out alive as he

38. When Oedipus discovers his “crime,” he is not just horrified and numb; he chooses to blind himself and retreat into exile. This act of self-blinding symbolically signifies his

39. Oedipus is raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth after 

Zeus intended for Heracles to rules over Mycenae and all the descendants of Perseus. Instead, Heracles’s claim did not hold because Heracles was second in line to Eurystheus as Hera interfered by

“See how tame he is, how gentle. Not in the least like other bulls. I do believe he has the power of reason, just like human beings, and all that he lacks is speech.” In this speech the individual being praised is Zeus, but he is in the shape of an animal when he appears to Europa because

Heracles, originally the offspring of Zeus and a mortal woman, acquired immortality through being nursed by a goddess whose name is

40. Amongst the royal household of Thebes, the person who is most sympathetic to Oedipus’s plight and who stays with him until his death is