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The myth of Hercules has meaning for modern psychotherapy.

We all face existential tests or challenges in life and must confront them heroically.

Humility and self-reflection are crucial to overcoming ego-deflating personal and psychological tasks.

Given the wildly popular new movie version of The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan—there were several previous versions of which I am aware, the original from 1954 starring Kirk Douglas as Odysseus, the 1968 Italian mini-series L'Odissea, a 1997 made-for-television movie directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, and, more recently, a full-length film titled The Return (2024) starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche—it seems apparent that there is, perhaps more than ever, a deep public craving, hunger, thirst, or as Rollo May (1991) put it, a profound collective "cry for myth" in these extremely troubled times.

In The Cry for Myth (1991), his final major work, May writes, "I find that contemporary therapy is almost entirely concerned... with the... individual's search for myths.... A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence.... Indeed, the very birth and proliferation of psychotherapy in our contemporary age were called forth by the disintegration of our myths.... In ancient Greece, for example, when the myths were vital and strong, individuals in the society were able to meet the problems of existence without overwhelming anxiety or guilt feelings." Sadly, not so for us today in our technology-laden 21st century with its anger, rage, violence, and epidemic mental health crisis.

In this post, we will consider the mythic tale of another timeless Greek hero who preceded Odysseus (Ulysses), Hercules (also called Heracles), his heroic cleansing of the long-neglected Augean stables, and its metaphorical relevance to what happens (or needs to happen) in the psychotherapy process.

The Fifth Labor of Hercules

For his fifth and likely filthiest labor, Hercules was required at the behest of Hera, the jealous goddess who had tried and failed........

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