Greek Myths XS: The Pillars of Herakles-Hercules

The ancient Greeks pictured the earth as a sphere, surrounded by a giant mass of water. They divided the world in three continents, named after Europa, the princess whom Zeus famously abducted in the form of a bull; Asia in the East, wife of Prometheus and Libya (North Africa), mistress of Poseidon. At the beginning of time, Libya and Europe would have been connected and it would have been Herakles who separated them, creating the strait of Gibraltar and marking the spot with a pillar on each side. Far beyond these “pillars of Herakles” lay a mythical island, where the monster Geryon kept a herd of cattle, that Herakles had to obtain as his tenth labour. To reach the island, Herakles rowed a giant floating drinking cup, leant out by sun god Helios, which makes up for some hilarious illustrations. He brought the cattle back, but he had to call in help from his father Zeus. Afterwards, Zeus couldn’t resist putting a picture of his son in the sky, not as a mighty hero, but as a kneeling supplicant. And that’s how we can still see him today.

Hercules in the Bowl of Helios, kylix, Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy

Pillars of Hercules Monument, Gibraltar, UK

Did you know?

• Pliny the Elder (1st cent. AD): “At any rate we call the earth a sphere and admit that it is included within poles… An ordinary person… inquires why men on the opposite side do not fall off – as if there is not an equally good reason for them wondering why we do not fall off…”

• The Romans used the name “Africa”, after the North African “Afri”-tribe, instead of “Libya”.

• The goddess Libya was identified with Isis. She would have been the mother of Belus and grandmother of Aigyptos and Danaois. (cfr. “Dysfunctional”)

• Jules Verne mentions the “pillars of Herakles/Hercules” in his novel “20 000 Miles beneath the Sea”.

• Helios used the drinking cup as a vessel every night, to sail back home after his daily trip through the sky. About Helios: cfr. ‘Party Island”, “All that Shines”, “Follow the Sun”, “Joyride”, “Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh”, “Feel the Static”, “Too little, too late”, “Blind Tasting”.

• Geryon was the son of Chrysaor and thus the grandson of Medousa and Poseidon. To slain him, Herakles used the the venomous blood of the previously slain Hydra to dip his arrows in. On his way back with the cattle, he was attacked by all kinds of giants and monsters and needed his father’s help.

• About Herakles’ (Hercules’) 12 labours:  “A Thick Skin”, “A Hard Shell”, “Ho Ho Ho”, “Bulls and Boars”, “Spring Cleaning”, “A Proud Father”, “Sycophants”, “Choose your Battles”, “Forbidden Fruit”, “The Hellhound”.

• The Northern “pillar of Hercules” could be the rock of Gibraltar or the “pillar of Melqart” near Cadiz, while the Southern pillar could be Monte Hacho in Ceuta or Jebel Musa in Morocco.

• According to Plato, mythical Atlantis was situated beyond the “pillars of Hercules”.

• About the abduction of Europa: cfr. “Beethoven and the Bull”.

• Asia was an Oceanid, daughter of Okeanos (Oceanus) and Thetys. She’s mentioned both as the wife and mother of Prometheus. About Prometheus: cfr.”Learning a Lesson”, “The Philanthropist” and “A Smokescreen”.