Herakles (Ancient Greek: Ἡρακλῆς μαινόμενος, Hēraklēs Mainomenos, also known as Hercules Furens and sometimes written as Heracles) is an Athenian tragedy by Euripides that was first performed c. 416 BC.

While Heracles is in the underworld obtaining Cerberus for one of his labours, his father Amphitryon, wife Megara, and children are sentenced to death in Thebes by Lycus.

Heracles arrives in time to save them, though the goddesses Iris and Madness (personified) cause him to kill his wife and children in a frenzy.

In a prologue filled with genealogical detail, Amphitryon outlines the ancestral history of Heracles' and Lycus' families.

Heracles cannot help his family, for he is in Hades engaged in the last of his twelve labours: bringing back the monster Cerberus who guards the gates there.

He justifies the proposed slaughter, claiming that Heracles' children will attempt to avenge their grandfather, Creon, by killing Lycus when they grow up.

Lycus declares that he is through with words and orders his men to bring logs, stack them around the altar, and burn the suppliants alive.

She has given up hope for Heracles' return and gets permission from Lycus to dress the children in robes of death to face their executioners.

As Amphitryon laments the futility of the life he has lived, Megara catches sight of Heracles approaching.

When Heracles hears the story of Creon's overthrow and Lycus' plan to kill Megara and the children, he resolves upon revenge.

The Chorus sing a joyful song of celebration, but it is interrupted by the appearance of Iris and Madness, hovering over the house.

A Messenger reports that when the fit of madness fell on Heracles, he believed he had to kill Eurystheus, the king who assigned his labours.

The palace doors are opened to reveal Heracles, now asleep and tied to a pillar, surrounded by the bodies of his wife and children.

He argues that even the gods commit evil acts, such as forbidden marriages, yet continue to live on Olympus and face out their crimes.

Heracles vehemently denies this line of argument: such stories of the gods, he says, are merely the inventions of poets.

Characters in the play stand on opposite ends of one another in terms of ideology and characteristics, creating a dichotomy between them.

Megara refuses to accept this threat and although she has the children dressed in robes of death, she still holds out hope for Herakles' arrival.

Hope drives this piece of work; giving all those within it the ability to push forward no matter the dreadful circumstances.

It also renders inexplicable his supernatural strength to complete tasks that mere mortals cannot, such as the 12 labors for Eurystheus.

By having Heracles boldly deny the existence of the gods as the Greeks know them, Euripides may be offering his own atheistic beliefs.

Heracles goes so far as to say, "ah, all this has no bearing on my grief; but I do not believe that gods commit adultery, or bind each other in chains.

Even though it is Hera that sends Madness to inflict Heracles, it may also be that he is not emotionally sound or stable and this is what causes him to murder his wife and children.

The play in its dichotomous halves shows the inexorable reality of the existence of destructive and constructive forces in its principal hero, Heracles.

[6] Theology: Euripides' Heracles is a tragedy that, while having many attributes of a classic mythological tale, proposes a sequence of events that goes against the chronology of the traditional story's design.

Euripides foregrounds this event, placing it chronologically during the time of Heracles' labors for Eurystheus and makes it the focus of his play.

In fifth century Athens there was a theological revolution with intellectuals questioning, challenging, and rewriting the traditional view of the gods.

After Herakles murders his family, he questions, in a conversation with Theseus, the true nature of the gods and their existence, while at the same time contemplating suicide.