Herakles: Timeless Hero & Fashion Trendsetter

Herakles (or Hercules) is the mythological archetype for a hero. His exploits, known as the Twelve Labors, set a benchmark for heroic behavior that is marked by courage, fearlessness, gallantry, and boldness. Herakles displayed all these characteristics and more throughout his lifetime. 

Because of his extraordinary reputation as a hero, Herakles as a fashion designer is overlooked. How was he a fashion designer? This aspect of his life, while typically ignored, is clearly demonstrated on coins. As we will see, he made a fashion statement with his prototype of the hoodie that men and women would wear for the next 2,500+ years.

Herakles’ Hoodie

Hera, Zeus’s jealous wife, set Herakles’s story into motion with her attempts to kill the infant Herakles, who was born to a mortal woman after Zeus had seduced her. After all, he was not Hera’s son. When this failed, she later drove the adult Herakles into a fit of madness.         

As a result, Herakles murdered his children. Seeking purification for this crime, Herakles consulted the Oracle at Delphi, where he learned that he must serve the king of Mycenae.                                             

Zeus promised his son, Herakles, that he would be granted immortality at the end of his service.    

The king of Mycenae commanded Herakles to undertake a series of dangerous and challenging tasks. These labors were intended to ultimately cause Herakles death.    

The Nemean Lion

The first task was killing the Nemean Lion. Hera released a lion to ravage the countryside around Nemea in the Peloponnese. In some versions of the story, weapons were useless against the beast, and Herakles strangled the lion with his bare hands.    

Rather than walking away from the dead animal, Herakles decided to fashion the lion’s skin into a robe-like piece of clothing with the lion’s scalp as a head covering. The lion’s scalp could be pushed off when not needed, and its front paws could be tied below the chin to secure the garment.

This simple yet elegant piece of clothing became the model for what we now call a hoodie. Its unisex styling and timeless look lends itself to all occasions, from casual to formal. 

 A Brief History of the Hoodie

Men and women have worn hooded garments for centuries. The basic style is most familiar to us as the standard clothing for medieval European monks. Likewise, outdoor workers during this period typically wore a hooded cape known as a chaperon.

The modern hooded sweatshirt appeared in the United States in the 1930s. It was designed for laborers, and Champion was the manufacturer. Exclusive fashion houses, inspired by hip-hop culture, began marketing the hoodie in the 1970s. Likewise, universities began selling hoodies displaying the school’s logo.

At the end of the 20th century, hoodies were associated with rebellious young men, such as skateboarders, surfers, and rappers. The clothing trend became so popular that major fashion companies, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Giorgio Armani, and Ralph Lauren, included the hoodie in their 1990s collections.

Herakles is shown wearing his lion’s scalp and/or skin on many ancient and modern coins, a few of which are pictured here.

Herakles’ Lion’s skin

When Herakles was not wearing his lion’s-skin garment, he often carried it draped over his club. This created a very striking casual look that enhanced his reputation as a style trendsetter.                         

Herakles would also occasionally use his lion’s skin as a seat cushion. By draping the skin on the ground or over a large rock, he was able to demonstrate another practical and useful aspect of this garb.

 A Hero Like Herakles

One way for a man to present himself as a courageous leader was to show his image wearing a lion’s skin. Here are several powerful men from history using the lion’s skin to associate themselves with Herakles.

 A woman who wished to be seen as a heroine or an exotic figure could wear a lion’s skin without compromising her femininity. Here again, Herakles anticipated the unisex aspect of modern clothing.

Conclusion

Herakles, except during his association with Omphale, is always shown with his lion’s-skin “hoodie.” Paradoxically, this shield-like garment, when altered by an enemy, killed Herakles. Fortunately, Zeus took his son into the world of the gods.

Herakles did not realize that his lion’s skin outer garment would morph into the modern hoodie. But heroes do tend to be emulated by their admirers. If you have a hoodie hanging in your closet, wear it with pride and walk tall, knowing that you are participating in a timeless, worldwide phenomenon.