Discourses · Character

Hercules

Mythological hero, exemplar of endurance and divine mission.

minor

First appearance: i of the things which are in our power and not in our power

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With Caesar (psychological): Caesar identifies with Hercules to project strength and heroic destiny, a psychological self-mythologizing. With Eurystheus (rivalry): Eurystheus, as Hercules' taskmaster, imposes impossible…

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See Hercules in i of the things which are in our power and not in our power

Character Web

6 connections

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Relationship types

Psychological
Rivalry
Family
Other

Character groups

Mythological exemplars
Stoics under tyranny
Philosophers and rulers

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This passage is the dramatic climax because it delivers the emotional and psychological peak of Epictetus’s ar…

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Relationships

Caesar
psychological · ambivalent
Eurystheus
rivalry · negative
Zeus
family · positive

Relationship notes

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See Hercules in i of the things which are in our power and not in our power

In the story

Hercules appears across 9 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Discourses
Used as an example of service to God and enduring hardship for a greater purpose.
VI: Of Providence
Used as an example of how challenges and labors reveal and exercise virtue.
XVI: That We Do Not Strive to Use Our Opinions About Good and Evil
Used as an exemplar of service to God and purging injustice, contrasting with those who sit idle.
How We Should Struggle Against Appearances
Mentioned as a standard of heroic virtue, with Socrates' victory ranked in number from Hercules.
Book III
Referenced as a model of service to God and enduring hardship for a greater purpose.
About Cynism
Example of one who endured tasks set by Eurystheus without complaint, paralleling the Cynic's endurance under Zeus.
XXIV: That We Ought Not to Be Moved by a Desire of Those Things Which Are Not in Our Power
Mentioned as one who traveled the world, married, and left his children without lament, knowing no man is an orphan.
To Those Who Fear Want
Used as an exemplar of obedience to divine will and labor despite lacking material abundance.
X: What Things We Ought to Despise, and What Things We Ought to Value
Cited as an example of one who faced great challenges without anxiety, fighting boars and bad men.

Chapter companion notes

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See Hercules in i of the things which are in our power and not in our power