When it comes to the Greek mythical figure Hercules, most people would say that they are very familiar with his courage, his muscular body, and his overall importance as an heroic figure. There is no doubt that Hercules fits perfectly with all of those qualities. However, his story goes deeper into the possibility of the beloved hero having a history of mental illness and violence. Hercules’ disturbing antics share very similar qualities to the local story dated back in the year 1892 of the Lizzie Borden axe murder case. Each was originally not known to cause any type of disturbances, thus presenting questions concerning their moments of insanity and what caused them to go insane.
In this image of pottery owned by the Fitchburg Art Museum, Hercules is in the midst of struggling to accomplish his second labor out of twelve: slaying the great Lernean Hydra. With the assistance of his nephew Iolaus, Hercules was eventually able to defeat the nine-headed beast, but what even brought him here in the first place? All fingers point right at Hera, the wife of Hercules’ father Zeus. Hera was constantly furious at her husband as he would frequently cheat on her with his several mistresses. To vent her frustrations, she would lash out and get revenge on them or on their children. One of the mistresses turned out to be the mortal woman Alcmene. Zeus was very attracted to her - so much so that he traveled down to earth, transformed himself into her husband, and seduced her. They eventually became the parents to a child named Hercules, who was half human, half god. After many failed attempts at trying to kill him as an infant, Hera sent down a madness on Hercules when he was older, making him kill his own wife and children. As punishment for the murders, he was assigned the twelve labors.
Several hundreds of years after Hercules’ time, the world was introduced to Lizzie Andrew Borden, who was born on July 19, 1860. Lizzie was the daughter of Sarah and Andrew Borden and grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. After the death of her mother, Andrew remarried a woman named Abby, with whom Lizzie, as well as her sister Emma, did not want anything to do. On the morning of August 4, 1892, both Abby and Andrew Borden were found murdered from a “brutal hatchet attack” in their Fall River home. The case was a cause célèbre all across the United States, many speculating about Lizzie’s mental health, some thinking she lapsed into a moment of insanity when the murder occurred.
It’s very interesting how you can dig deep into a story and how many different connections you can discover. Although both Hercules and Lizzie Borden were overcome with insanity leading up to their murders, that insanity stemmed from different starting points. Hercules’ insanity was caused by Hera being a nuisance. As for Lizzie, her insanity was, according to some theories, fueled by jealousy and greed; the jealousy came from the feelings she had towards her stepmother, while the greed was always there because Lizzie was probably well aware that she and her sister would come into a sizable inheritance after their parents’ deaths. It seems as though, even with iconic figures such as Hercules, everyone has their own trigger and/or breaking point.
Carlisle, Marcia R. "What Made Lizzie Borden Kill?" American Heritage, vol. 43, no. 4, 1992, alistapart.com/article/writeliving.
“Lizzie Borden.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/lizzie-borden-9219858.
Mark, Joshua J. “The Life of Hercules in Myth & Legend.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, 23 July 2013, https://www.ancient.eu/article/733/.
Carlsen, Carl. “The Fishermen’s Memorial and the Fishermen’s Wives Memorial (Gloucester
Harbor): Location, History, and Legends.” Poetry of Places in Essex County, North Shore Community College, myweb.northshore.edu/users/ccarlsen/poetry/gloucester/memorialshistory.htm Accessed 2 May 2018.
Meeke, Kieran. “The Statue of Queen Anne at St. Paul’s.” Secret London, 26 March 2010,
secret-cities.com/2010/03/26/the-statue-of-queen-anne-at-st-pauls/
Winterhaze13. “The English Navy 1649-1815.” All Empires, July 2006,
www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=english_navy_1649-1815
Lauf, Cornelia. “Locating William Kentridge's Massive Mural in the Roman Landscape.” Hyperallergic, 21 Apr. 2016, hyperallergic.com/292807/locating-william-kentridges-massive-mural-in-the-roman-landscape/.
LaManche, Liz. “Connected by Sea: Boston’s 1000-Ft Tattoo.” Dock Tattoo Project, http://earthsign.com/docktattoo/. Accessed 5 May 2018.
Shao, Yiqing. “East Boston Pier Is Getting Public Art ‘Tattoos’.” Boston Magazine, 27 Aug. 2014, www.bostonmagazine.com/arts-08/12/dock-tattoo-project-east-boston-harborarts-pier/.
Tomrankinarchitect. “William Kentridge's Triumphs and Laments.” TRA_20, 7 July 2017, tomrankinarchitect.com/2016/07/william-kentridges-triumphs-and-laments/.
This statue is placed on top of the Supreme Court building, the Italian Palace of Justice, or Palazzo di Giustizia, right beside the Tiber River in Rome, Italy. The woman portrayed on top of the building is Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. Victoria is seen riding in a quadriga, which is a chariot drawn by four horses. It is representative of a Roman chariot racing which was an extremely common practice in ancient Roman culture. The term quadriga refers to the chariot with the four horses, the chariot alone, or merely the four horses themselves; it is a versatile word. She is holding a signum manipuli, which is a Roman standard staff with an eagle (the Aquila) and a wreath. The eagle standard represented a Roman legion in battle; the eagle was the standard that lasted in the Roman empire, as there were others such as the wolf, minotaur, horse, and boar which were removed from use. The Aquilifer was in charge of carrying the Aquila in battle, a high position of honor and prestige. Losing the signum manipuli in battle was seen as a horrendous disgrace, as it was the most important possession of the legion. The statue was created by sculptor Ettore Ximenes in 1926. “Winged Victory” statues are very prominent and important in cultures for centuries.
Like the Winged Victory, the Lexington Minuteman statue is representative of the victory and honor of the beginning battles of the American Revolution: “The Lexington Minuteman is a life-size bronze figure of a colonial farmer with musket by Boston sculptor Henry H. Kitson. It stands at the southeast corner of the Lexington Battle Green, facing the route of the British advance...Although called the ‘Minuteman,’ it is meant to represent a member of the Lexington militia, local colonists who had volunteered to be first responders to military and other threats. The actual Minutemen were an elite subset of this group, young and fit and able to respond quickly” (“Minuteman Statue”). With the outfit of the normal Revolutionary soldier, strong facial features and bodily features, as well as the rifle ready to be fired, it sends a message of strength, honor, and victory, like the Winged Victory.
While the Romans had their gods and goddesses, they were not the only ones. Victoria was a Roman goddess of victory. In another culture, the Norse, Freyja was a goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, war, and death. Like Victoria, she is one of the strongest and most valiant of the gods. She was also said to have knowledge and power that is without equal among humans and gods alike. The mythical stories involving gods and goddesses still have their place in today’s society and their depictions have had a lasting effect.
These depictions of honor and glory of Victory are important to cultures and life all around us, from the Roman times to modern times. Traditions are important to acknowledge and uphold. This connection between Rome and Massachusetts shows the classcal impact on the world and the significance of its culture.
“Palace of Justice, Rome.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Justice,_Rome.
“Minuteman Statue.” Visit Lexington MA, www.tourlexington.us/attractions/pages/minuteman-statue. Accessed 5 May 2018.
McCoy, Daniel. “Freya.” Norse Mythology for Smart People, norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/the-vanir-gods-and-goddesses/freya/. Accessed 5 May 2018.