Heracles and His Influence on Ancient Eastern Beliefs — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

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Additional Information

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Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
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Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Heracles and His Influence on Ancient Eastern Beliefs

Name: Richard Ward
Major: Archaeology/History
Hometown: Tinley Park, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project

Abstract

Heracles and His Influence on Ancient Eastern Beliefs pursued the goal of determining how Heracles related to the beliefs of cultures within the region of the Near East. This was a unique project because the task of drawing connections between ancient cultures' beliefs that regard mythology is difficult due to the fact that many records of beliefs and stories are incomplete. The method used to accomplish this task started with the analysis of Heracles within his own culture. After analysis of him and his actions, the next step was to narrow down the regions that were the most likely to have been influenced by Greek beliefs. Of the areas in the east, Babylonian and Phoenician cultures seemed to have the most ties to Greece due to trade and expansion of Greek civilization. The mythology of both cultures were researched and the gods were analyzed. At the end of the comparison, two gods were found that were almost mirror images of Heracles, from his physical attributes to his actions as a man as well as a god. The research is continuing to find further evidence of a connection between these belief systems as well as other gods within the Eastern region that have ties to Heracles.

Poster file