Welcome to the new-and-improved KingDavid8.com! I finally have all of the contents from my old site transferred here, so everything should be working properly. Please let me know if you find any "dead links". My pages also have boxes where readers can leave comments and criticisms, so don't be shy.
This website is mostly aimed at providing arguments and evidence for the non-Christian, the Christian who may be struggling with what he or she believes, or those Christians who are interested in reaching out to others.
My opinions may contradict what other Christians believe, but many of my arguments are also based on arguments given by a variety of Christian sources. I especially owe a debt of gratitude to the writings of Glenn Miller, J.P. Holding, Paul Maier, Grant R. Jeffrey, Lee Strobel, and Gerald Schroeder.
Please feel free to borrow ideas or arguments of mine (since many of them were not mine to begin with). I do ask that if you quote from my site directly, to please credit me.
Jesus & Hercules Parallels - A Christian Response
Most of us are somewhat familiar with Hercules (aka Alcides and Heracles).
Here are the critics' claims:
1) Born of a virgin
According to the legend, Zeus disguised himself as King Amphitryon of Troezen, then paid a visit to the king's wife, Alcmene, slept with her and impregnated her. Nine months later, out pops Hercules along with a twin brother, Iphicles, who was fathered by the king. So we can easily scratch out the idea of Hercules' mom being a virgin.
Sources:
Apollodorus on Hercules (see 2.4.8) (2nd century B.C.)
Diodorus on Heracles (see 4.9.1-7) (3rd century B.C.)
Hesiod On Heracles (8th century B.C.)
2) Was the son of God
This one is true, Zeus being the primary god in Greek mythology.
3) Was known as the 'savior of the world' and the 'redeemer'.
He was not known by either of these titles, neither did he save the world in any sense or did he 'redeem' people as a whole. He defeated badguys and rescued goodguys, but never granted salvation from sin or died to save any of his followers.
4) Before he was born, his parents wandered to a bigger town.
His father (Zeus) and mother (Alcmene) didn't travel together at all. Except for their brief fling when Zeus was disguised as Amphitryon, they weren't ever together.
5) Prophets foretold his birth and that he would be a king.
Which prophets were those? No such thing appears in the Hercules story.
6) His birth was announced by a "heavenly display" and "celestial music".
Not in any version I've ever seen. Also, there is no celestial music at Jesus' birth, either.
7) Was born on December 25th
Again, not true of the historical Jesus. Also not true of Hercules in any tradition.
8) There was an attempt made on his life while he was an infant.
There was indeed an attempt on his life while he was still an infant, when his step-mother, Juno, put a serpent in his cradle (which Hercules kills), but this hardly compares to Jesus.
9) Was shown all of the kingdoms of the world from a high mountain.
Nope.
10) Walked on water.
Nope.
11) Met with a violent death and was resurrected.
The closest thing I've found to a violent death and resurrection is a story in which Nessus tricks Deianara (Herc's wife) into poisoning him. Hercules doesn't actually die, but the gods intervene and give him eternal life, and he ascends to Mount Olympus.
12) His mother and favorite disciple stood by him when he died.
Again, Hercules never really 'died' in any version of the story, and I can find no mention of his mother or any disciple in the one version in which Deianara poisons him.
13) As he died, tells his mother "Do not cry, I'm going to Heaven."
Nope.
14) Last words were "It is finished".
Nope.
15) When he dies, the Earth trembles and darkness covers the land.
Not in any version I've seen.
16) Ascended to Heaven when he died.
Again, he never really died in any version. In the one in which he has a near-death experience (see #11 above), he does ascend to Mount Olympus, which is a realm populated only by gods, so it's not the Greek equivalent of Heaven.
17) Is said to have conquered death.
According to whom? I suppose the idea that he survived many death-defying situations could mean that he 'conquered death' in some sense, but certainly not in the sense that Jesus did.
Links
Pre-Christian sources:
Apollodorus On Heracles (scroll down to 2.4.8 to begin the Heracles story) (2nd century B.C.)
Diodorus Siculus on Heracles (and he writes more on him here) (3rd century B.C.)
Hesiod: Shield Of Heracles (8th century B.C.)
Homeric Hymn To Heracles (6th or 7th century B.C.)
Ovid, "Deianira To Hercules" (late 1st century B.C. or early 1st century A.D.)
Ovid, "Hercules and Achelous" (late 1st century B.C. or early 1st century A.D.)
Genereal Sources:
Encyclopedia Mythica: Hercules
Mythology of the Constellations: Hercules
Tektonics: Alcides
Encyclopedia Of Greek Mythology: Hercules