Aristotle’s definition of character is “that in virtue of which we ascribe certain qualities to the agents” (Butcher). What he means by this is that the character should have certain qualities that would contribute to their eventual misery in the play. Heracles’ essential quality in the plot is shown in the following quote spoken by Iris, “…him whom they call the son of Zeus and Alcmena” (Euripides). Heracles is the son of the god Zeus and Alcmena which incites Hera’s jealousy towards him as he is the outcome of Zeus’ extra …show more content…
I believe that the moral theme of Heracles becomes clear at the very end of the play when Theseus says to him, “even the strong are o 'erthrown by misfortunes” (Euripides). This implies that the moral purpose here is to not give up no matter how bad the situation is as Hera took every opportunity she could to make Heracles’ life hard for him out of her jealousy. And yet even after losing his family, being unable to bury them or attend their funeral, and being exiled from his home, he chose to live on in Athens instead of taking his own