# Hercules — Discourses character guide

> Hercules in Discourses by Epictetus.

**Role:** minor

**First appearance:** 0004-i-of-the-things-which-are-in-our-power-and-not-in-our-power

## Who they are

Mythological hero, exemplar of endurance and divine mission.

## Relationships

### [Caesar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/characters/caesar)

_psychological_

Caesar identifies with Hercules to project strength and heroic destiny, a psychological self-mythologizing.

### [Eurystheus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/characters/eurystheus)

_rivalry_

Eurystheus, as Hercules' taskmaster, imposes impossible labors out of jealousy and enmity.

### [Zeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/characters/zeus)

_family_

Hercules is the son of Zeus, a divine parent-child relationship marked by heroic destiny and paternal favor.

## In the story

### [Discourses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/discourses)

Used as an example of service to God and enduring hardship for a greater purpose.

### [VI: Of Providence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/xviii-how-we-should-struggle-against-appearances)

Mentioned as a standard of heroic virtue, with Socrates' victory ranked in number from Hercules.

### [Book III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/book-iii)

Referenced as a model of service to God and enduring hardship for a greater purpose.

### [About Cynism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/xxii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/xxvi-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/chapters/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.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/characters/hercules
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/discourses_se/characters