Hera gets irrational revenge on Herakles
Herakles’ wife and father are not sure if he will return from Hades,
where he has been dispatched on his final labor. Lycos, King of Thebes, is at the palace
gates, demanded the execution of Herakles’ two young children in order to protect
himself from future usurpation. Just as the children are about to be led out to death, Herakles
returns triumphant (as he always does) and kills
Lycos, much to the joy of his happy family.
As Herakles and his family offer prayers at the temple, Iris, handmaiden
to Hera, and Madness enter. Reluctantly
Madness accepts her assignment, which is to drive Herakles insane. She does so. In his deluded state, he murders
his wife and children. His father mourns. When the bound Herakles awakes from his
madness, he is downcast. But his friend
Theseus takes charge of him and leads him off the stage and into his new
bereaved life.
The gods, Hera in particular, put a heavy strain on humans. For no really good reason, she destroys
Herakles’s life. His father hidesso that in his madness he will not commit the unforgivable sin of
patricide. But at the end of the play,
Theseus, a fellow human, allows Herakles to lean against him, taking him back
to Athens and sharing half of his wealth.
Trust in humans, not in the gods, although I love the personification of
Madness. She does not want to do what
she is sent to do.
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