The Reception of Heracles

This chapter briefly outlines the reception of Heracles in Western culture from the end of antiquity until the present day, giving examples of the hero’s many appearances in a wide variety of literary genres, all kinds of visual media, and the performing arts, from the theater to the silver screen. It traces the ways in which particular elements of Heracles’ story and aspects of his character—from the monster-slayer to the comic hero to the incarnation of virtue—have been foregrounded at different periods and in different contexts for ethical, educational, or political ends, or simply for the entertainment of a wide range of audiences, both elite and popular, young and old.