Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5571357-20140513150425/@comment-24898439-20140609020919

Just a quick note on the Greco-Roman mythology of Hercules/Hades. In most ancient versions of the myth, Hercules is the one who kills Megara. Hera/Juno threw madness upon him (as punishment for him being the love child of her husband Zeus/Juppiter with yet another mortal woman) and as a result he killed his wife and children. He was then made to perform the 12 labors to atone for the blood guilt that he had accrued as a result of these murders (though he would not be held accountable under our penal system today, blood guilt in the ancient world accrued even when one was insane). Originally, there was supposed to only be ten labors, but two were deemed invalid, so he ended up having to perform 12. Hades also was not an villain in the Greco-Roman myth sources. Implacable to be sure, dark and cold, but not a villain.