Ambiguity: Euripides' play Heracles asks more questions than it answers. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the topic of faith. During Euripides' time, though most Greeks, like Euripides' Theseus, would have been believers, there is a strain of thinkers who questioned traditional religion and the existence of the gods, much as Heracles does in the play. The play shows the story of how Heracles suffers the ignominy of killing his family. As is typical of an ancient Greek tragedy, the gods have a large hand in it. Hera hates Heracles because he is a living reminder of her husband's infidelity. Because of this she is cruel to him. She could bring about Herakles' death but instead she wants him to suffer. She sends Madness to drive Heracles to murder his wife and progeny. Madness herself sees the irrationality and senselessness in Hera's vengeance. The story, it seems, does an odd job of explaining the faith that the mainstream culture has. Heracles does not believe but has been to Hades and has seen the dog Cerberus and the dead souls of others. Despite evidence of the divine, he chooses to believe, much as Socrates does also, that the gods, as they are commonly believed to be, do not exist. This point of view may reflect the playwright's own. Even if it does not, it does reflect a viewpoint of Euripides' own time that is asking for more from the morality of its religion.[1]
Dichotomy: Euripides' Heracles is a tragedy full of instances of dichotomies, as seen in its characters, events, and themes. Characters in the play stand on opposite ends of one another in terms of ideology and characteristics, creating a dichotomy between them. One example is found in Megara and Amphitryon. When confronted with their deaths and the deaths of Heracles's sons, the two have very different reactions. Megara accepts the fact that she and her children are going to die. Amphitryon, however, continues to hope that his son Heracles will return to save them. Together Megara and Amphitryon form a dichotomy of hope and defeat. Another example of a dichotomy between two characters is between Heracles himself and Lykos. Heracles is known as the most courageous man in Greece; and Lykos accuses him of cowardice. Yet Lykos is attempting to execute Megara and her children out of fear of something they might do. The actions of Heracles and Lykos show that they stand on opposite sides of the spectrum, with Heracles standing with courage and Lykos with cowardice. Furthermore, a dichotomy resides within Heracles. In his returning from the Underworld with Theseus Heracles saves his friend and creates life. In his murdering of his own family after being driven insane, Heracles completes the dichotomy by bringing about death. Finally, there is the theme of the gods' existence and the dichotomy of belief in the characters in the play. After killing his family, Heracles exclaims that the gods do not exist, while others, especially Theseus, argue the opposite. All of these dichotomies come together to create a play that is used more to ask and generate questions and all reflect the current concerns about the belief systems in play during our playwright's time.[2]
Hope (Ἐλπίς): Euripides' Heracles is a play which is open to many different interpretations. Perhaps the greatest theme within the play is that of hope. Hope plays a central role from the play's start until its end. At the start the family of Heracles is in danger of being killed by Lykos and is without the protection of Heracles who is engaged in serving Eurystheus and completing his labors. The salvation of the family rests upon Heracles coming to rescue them. Megara refuses to accept this threat and although she has the children dressed in robes of death, she still holds out hope for Herakles' arrival. Hope is also what gets Heracles through his 12 acts; furthermore hope is offered to him by Theseus so as to help Heracles get through the pain and suffering he experiences from having mistakenly killed his wife and children. Hope drives this piece of work; giving all those within it the ability to push forward no matter the dreadful circumstances.[3]
Identity: In the play Heracles, Euripides plays with the characterization of his main character, Heracles, and his identity. In lines 1263-1265 and lines 1341-1345 Heracles talks about how Zeus cannot be his father and about how the gods cannot exist because, if they do exist, they must be perfect. If this in fact is true, it means that Heracles himself does not exist because Zeus is his father. It also renders inexplicable his supernatural strength to complete tasks that mere mortals cannot, such as the 12 labors for Eurystheus. This paradox creates both a problem in the plot of the story, as well as a problem with the identity and existence of Euripides' main character. By having Heracles boldly deny the existence of the gods as the Greeks know them, Euripides may be offering his own atheistic beliefs. During his time, the religion of polytheism is still widely accepted though there is an intellectual strain questioning the validity and reliability of everything. By penning this play, Euripides joins this intellectual debate and casts doubt on the divine.[4]
Moral responsibility: In Heracles, Euripides' focus is on Heracles and his moral character. In the play Heracles holds himself to a higher ethical standard than he does the gods. This is shown when Heracles believes that the gods, if they exist, do no wrong. Though driven mad by them, he accepts all blame for the awful act of killing his family. Madness agrees that what the gods have done is wrong, but Heracles does not hold the gods to blame for what happens. Theseus then attempts to reason with Heracles stating that no mortal man can stain what is divine (line 1231) and that Hera is to blame (lines 1312-1313). Theseus even says "how dare you then, mortal that you are, to protest your fate, when the gods do not?" (lines 1320-1321). Theseus attempts to absolve Heracles of any responsibility and to place all fault on the divine. Heracles refuses to agree and holds himself accountable. Heracles goes so far as to say, "ah, all this has no bearing on my grief; but I do not believe that gods commit adultery, or bind each other in chains. I never did believe it; I never shall; nor that one god is tyrant of the rest. If god is truly god, he is perfect, lacking nothing. These are poets' wretched lies" (lines 1340-1346). He believes that the gods are perfect and can do no wrong, so this horrible act that they cause him to fulfill is his own fault not theirs. He is the one that is to blame, almost like a caregiver taking responsibility for the actions of their charge.[5]
Opposites: In myth opposites are often at work. Apollo brings plague, but he also heals; Artemis hunts but also protects animals. Hermes causes chaos by his trickery and also brings about refinement through his invention of the lyre. So is the same the case for Heracles in Euripides' play of the same name. In it Heracles realizes that he is not completely sure that he himself believes his father, Zeus, is real. This doubt causes a lack of identity for him and may be a root cause of his angry and dangerous side. Even though it is Hera that sends Madness to inflict Heracles, it may also be that he is not emotionally sound or stable and this is what causes him to murder his wife and children. This dark and dangerous side of him contrasts with his positive and constructive side that makes the world better by ridding it of monsters. That he does such awful things and is still forgiven reflects a balance that is achieved between his opposing sides. Heracles murders his family and he saves lives. The play in its dichotomous halves shows the inexorable reality of the existence of destructive and constructive forces in its principal hero, Heracles.[6]
Theology: Euripides' Heracles is a tragedy that, while having many attributes of a classic mythological tale, proposes a sequence of events that goes against the chronology of the traditional story's design. In the typical chronology it is only after Heracles saves his family from the death threat against them that they are later murdered by Heracles himself after being cursed by the living embodiment of Madness, sent by Hera. Euripides foregrounds this event, placing it chronologically during the time of Heracles' labors for Eurystheus and makes it the focus of his play. Euripides plays with the traditional chronology because, in its essence, the play challenges the theology of his day. In fifth century Athens there was a theological revolution with intellectuals questioning, challenging, and rewriting the traditional view of the gods. With his play Euripides adds to this debate, mainly through the voice of his main character. After Herakles murders his family, he questions, in a conversation with Theseus, the true nature of the gods and their existence, while at the same time contemplating suicide. This scene not only sheds light on Heracles' angst but also reflects Euripides'. By toying with the traditional plot-line of Herakles' life, Euripides also questions traditional theological beliefs. For the context of Euripides and Greek intellectual thought of his day, see E.R. Dodds, Euripides The Irrationalist (The Classical Review, July 1929).
