Sehun Bolaji
Annotated Bibliography
The Story of Hercules
Hercules, a Demigod, son of Zeus, was a hero born with unfathomable amount of strength. Even with all this power however, his life was a living hell, due to the Goddess Hera putting a spell on him causing him to kill his wife and three sons that he loved so much. Although he was under a spell he couldn’t forgive himself for his actions and sought some form of justice from Apollo, and even though Apollo knew it wasn’t Hercules fault for the crimes he committed, he still insisted that he make amends, ordering Hercules to perform the 12 Heroic labors, which is supposed to absolve him of his guilt and grant him immortality if he’s successful. The theme of this story is that life is supposed to be hard, and that it’s up to you to try and rise above them, and hopefully become better in certain events as you struggle through these hardships. You won’t learn anything by having an easy life. It might even cause personal stagnation in the end. The story of Hercules can relate to depressed and suicidal teenagers around the globe. Hercules story can be an inspiration to them, trying to motivate them that they should not give up due to the burdens of their past, that they should struggle to find something meaningful in their life. The tone of the story is depressing and inspirational due to how regardless of the struggles he had faced in the past, the wars, the murder of his family, and Hera constantly trying to ruin his life, he still tried to fight through all of it and make a name for himself, and in the end, gain immortality to join his father and the rest of his friends in Olympus. The rhetorical appeal used in this story is Pathos as shown by how the emotional struggles the main protagonist went though in the past affects his decisions in the future, how it changed him and turned him into the hero he is today. The author used his problems to grasp the reader and have the reader feel pity for Hercules, while showing us his character growth to motivate his readers on a worldwide scale.
Work Cited
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/ancient-history/hercules
