To the ancient Greeks Herakles was the best of men. ... He accomplished many great deeds throughout his lifetime, the best known of which are the twelve labors. In addition to the twelve labors, Herakles fought other deadly monsters. His traditional role was that of civilizing barbarians and liberating the oppressed.

Was Hercules a good guy?

Type of Hero

Heracles (more well known by his Roman name Hercules) is the mythical son of Zeus and Alcmene - although considered a hero in almost all the ancient myths, Hercules was actually a violent and brutal individual even by the standards of ancient Greece.

What kind of person was Heracles?

The Madness of Hera & the Twelve Labors. At this point in the story, Hercules was a young, successful hero, married and, in time, with three strong sons. Hera could not tolerate the situation and so sent upon him a madness in which he killed his children (and, in some versions, Megara as well).