Children of Heracles

Children of Heracles (

Background

The Children of Heracles was written by the youngest of the great trilogy of Greek playwrights Euripides. His mother’s name was Cleito; his father’s name was Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides. One tradition states that his mother was a greengrocer who sold herbs in the marketplace. Aristophanes joked about this in comedy after comedy; but there is better indirect evidence that Euripides came of a well-off family. With the Peloponnesian War waging, Euripides left Athens in 408 BCE to live the remainder of his life in Macedonia. Many believe he wrote some of his best plays there. It is said that when Athenians speak of “the poet” they are referring to Euripides. Euripides played little or no part in Athenian political affairs; the one exception was a brief diplomatic mission to Sicily. He died in Macedonia in 406

Eurystheus was responsible for many of the troubles of Heracles. In order to prevent the children of Heracles from taking revenge on him, he sought to kill them. They flee under the protection of Iolaus, Heracles' close friend and nephew. The characters that are part of this tragedy are Eurystheus, a powerful tyrant, Demophon, King of Athens, Macaria, the daughter, Alkmene, her mother, and Iolaus.

Plot synopsis

The play begins at the altar of

When Macaria, a daughter of Heracles, hears about the oracle's pronouncement and realises her family's predicament, she offers herself as the victim, refusing a lottery. Bidding farewell to her siblings and to Iolaus, she leaves to be sacrificed. At the same time, Hyllus arrives with reinforcements. Although Iolaus is old and feeble, he insists on going out to the battle. Once there, he miraculously regains his youth and captures Eurystheus. A debate about executing him follows. Alcmene, Heracles's aged mother, insists that Eurystheus be executed at once, though such an execution is against Athenian law. Finally, Eurystheus tells them a prophecy of how his spirit will protect the city from the descendants of Heracles's children if they slay and bury him, and so it is done.

Translations

• Edward P. Coleridge, 1891, prose, The Heracleidae: full text
• Arthur S. Way
  , 1912, verse
• Ralph Gladstone, 1955, verse
• Henry Taylor and Robert A. Brooks, 1981, The Children of Herakles^[1]
• David Kovacs, 1994, prose, Heracleidae: full text
• John Davie, 1996, Children of Heracles^[2]
• Kenneth McLeish, 1997, Herakles' Children^[3]
• George Theodoridis, 2010, prose, Herakleidae: full text
• Mark Griffith, 2013, The Children of Heracles

References

Sources

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Heracleidae (Euripides)

• Burian, Peter, and Alan Shapiro, eds. 2010. The Complete Euripides. By Euripides. Vol. 3. The Greek Tragedy in New Translations ser. Oxford and New York: Oxford.
  ISBN 0-19-538877-1
  .
• Davie, John, trans. 2003. Medea and Other Plays. By Euripides. London and New York: Penguin.
  ISBN 0-14-044929-9
  .
• Walton, J. Michael, and Kenneth McLeish, eds. 1997. Plays: V. By Euripides. Methuen Classical Greek Dramatists ser. London: Methuen.
  ISBN 0-413-71640-6
  .

• E. M. Griffiths, "Euripides' "Herakles" and the Pursuit of Immortality", Fourth Series, Vol. 55, Fasc. 6 (2002), pp. 641–656.
• Elmer G Suhr, "Herakles and Omphale" , Vol. 57, No. 4 (Oct., 1953), pp. 251–263 (15 pages)
• H. A. Shapiro, ""Hȇrȏs Theos": The Death and Apotheosis of Herakles" , Vol. 77, No. 1 (Sep. - Oct., 1983), pp. 7–18 (12 pages)
• Thalia Papadopoulou, "Herakles and Hercules: The Hero's Ambivalence in Euripides and Seneca" , Fourth Series, Vol. 57, Fasc. 3 (2004), pp. 257–283 (27 pages)
• Karelisa Hartigan, "Euripidean Madness: Herakles and Orestes" , Vol. 34, No. 2 (Oct., 1987), pp. 126–135 (10 pages)
• Brooke Holmes, "Euripides' Heracles in the Flesh", , Vol. 27, No. 2 (October 2008), pp. 231–281 (51 pages)