Hercules and the Golden Apple

A recurring motif in numerous national and ethnic folklore or fairy tales is the golden apple. Recurrent themes show a hero finding the golden apples that a monstrous antagonist has hidden or stolen. In Irish mythology, gold apples can also be found on the Silver Branch of the Otherworld.

Hercules and the Golden Apple Full Story

A book I read many years ago inspired me to write and produce "Hercules and the Golden Apple," a musical about this specific chapter of the Greek myths of Hercules. Greek myths were collected, but the writing was lighthearted and contemporary; given that the book was published in the 1920s, the term "modern" is relative.

This Greek myth, in contrast to so many others, including those about Hercules, emphasised cunning and cleverness over raw strength and divine intervention. It stayed in my mind. I reread the myth of Hercules after more than forty years when I was perusing through a used book store and found a copy of the same book. I was given a commission to write a tale about a "hero" around that same time. The fact that I wrote a musical adaptation of this tale was fate, or perhaps it was one of Athena's cunning plans.

Golden Hercules

One of the twelve labours Hercules was tasked with performing by the Oracle of Delphi was retrieving two golden apples from the Garden of Hesperides. He owed money to King Eurystheus of the kingdom of Tiryns in Mycenae. Hera caused Hercules' rage and delusion, which led him to murder his family. He became obligated to King Eurystheus in order to atone for this deed. A favourite of Hera, the king plotted with her to use Hercules' labours to put an end to him by making them so challenging and perilous that it didn't seem likely the haughty son of Zeus would survive.

The Golden Apple

Hercules and the Golden Apple Story Moral

The literary component that arguably has the biggest impact on conflict in a story is the theme of an epic poem or short story. The theme is what the reader and the characters are meant to take away from the narrative. The overarching themes of Hercules and The Iliad almost always foreshadow the impending conflict and the ways in which it will help shape the character.

Perseverance in the face of all adversity is a theme that frequently appears in Hercules. Hercules must successfully complete twelve tasks in this epic poem to establish his virtue (Hamilton). One conflict can easily follow another throughout the entire narrative thanks to these twelve difficulties.

Conclusion

In various accounts of Hercules eleventh labour, the golden apples were mentioned. Heracles killed the dragon and took the apples in one version. In a different version, Atlas took the apples for Heracles while Heracles held the heavens. Heracles dines with the Hesperides in some artistic depictions, and they give him the apples without hesitation.