Greek Heroes

The Greek mythology is full of heroic tales and legends. The Ancient Greek heroes have inspired generations and their stories are still narrated and followed.

Although the Greek mythology has an ample amount of heroic characters, ten of the most famous Greek heroes are mentioned below:

Heracles

Heracles who is also called Hercules is believed to be the strongest Greek hero. He was born a son of Zeus and had the goddess queen Hera against him ever since his birth.

Hera sent upon him a cloud of madness which made Heracles kill his own wife but since it was under Hera’s guidance, Zeus gave him a chance to redeem himself by giving him 12 tasks of Delphic Oracles as a punishment.

Heracles with his strength completed all the tasks.

Then he was brought to Olympus by Zeus where he fought and defeated the Giant snake and became the gatekeeper of the gods.

Achilles

Achilles, according to the Greek, is the greatest warrior of not only the Trojan War, but the ancient Greek mythology in general.

This great warrior was born as a son of the nymph Thetis and Peleus.
Thetis wished for his son to be immortal for which she dipped him in the river Styx.

The entire body of Achilles became immortal except for the heel from which his mother held him.

He was killed by Paris who shot his vulnerable ankle with a poisoned arrow, killing the great warrior.

Odysseus is the most cunning and the smartest hero of the Greek mythology.

He was the descendant of the Hermes the god of thieves and was the Son of Sisyphus.

All his life he fought his enemies not by his physical strength but with his shrewdness and intelligence.

He was the one who came up with the idea of the Trojan horse that led to the fall of troy.

He was the only warrior from the war who reached his home land after a series of disasters and tests by the gods and the beasts.

Penelope was the wife of Odysseus and was brave and cunning as his husband.

She fought all the greedy suitors waiting to conquer the kingdom and marrying her.

The bravery and strength she showed while waiting for her husband and by saving the kingdom, makes her one of the greatest heroes of the Greek mythology.

Cadmus is a very important hero of Greek mythology as he is believed to be the founder of Thebes.

It is said that before finding Thebes, Cadmus had settled in Boeotia after failing in finding her sister Europa. Here he lost his men to the giant serpent of Ares.

To take his revenge, Cadmus fought the serpent and killed it. He also alone fought the men of Ares, the final 5 men left from the army, helped him finding the city of Thebes.

Perseus, the great hero, was the son of Zeus and Danaë. After his birth, his grandfather tried to kill him but he and his mother escaped safely to the island of Seriphos.

When he was young he was sent by the king Polydektes to kill Gorgon medusa the sea monster and save the Princess Andromeda.

The king thought that Perseus would never kill the monster and he sent him so that he could marry Perseus’ mother after his death.

But proving the king wrong, Perseus not only killed the monster but also returned to Seriphos to kill the king and rescue his mother.

Theseus was the son of the king of Athens, Aegeus and the princess Aethra.

Although he was king’s heir he couldn’t be the king as he was born of a secret marriage.

When young, he was sent by the king Minos to Crete to kill the dreadful beast Minotaur which had been eating the Athenian Sacrifices.

He killed the beast with the help of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos.

Jason was the nephew of the wicked king Pelias of Iolcus. He was brought up by the centaur Chiron in a cave, where he was deserted.

He later returned to the city where his uncle tried to kill him. He sent him to fetch the Golden Fleece from Colchis.

To fight, Jason built the ship Argo and carried with him fifty heroes including Heracles.

After steeling the Fleece he returned to Iolcus and snatched the throne from his uncle.

Bellerophon is better known as the great hero who got proud. He was the son of the god of sea Poseidon and a mortal queen.

When he was young he travelled to Lycia where the king Iobates was ordered to kill him. To do so Iobates sent Bellerophon to kill the fire breathing chimera in the land of Caria.

But instead of getting killed himself he defeated the chimera after which he got arrogant and decided to fly to Olympus to see the gods. Zeus threw him back to earth where he spent his life as a blind and a lame man.

Hector although was the enemy of Achilles, is considered as one of the greatest heroes of the Trojan War.

He was the leader of the Trojan troops and he was the one who killed Patroclus, the favorite of Achilles.

He was then killed by Achilles after a fierce battle.