Different mythologies from different regions of the world have similar patterns which seem to indicate that the idea of the hero is one with a universal message and that derives from a universal impetus in human beings to have someone to look up to, some to serve as a champion, and someone on whom to base a certain philosophical view of life and how to direct it. Yet often these mythologies offer more than similar patterns and have even closer agreement in terms of specific aspects of the stories and lives of heroes. An examination of the Roman version of the story of Hercules and the Celtic myth of Cuchulain shows a number of areas of agreement indicating similar patterns. The agreement is not so close as to imply borrowing, but rather it shows different ways of expressing certain human needs, attitudes, and desires which go into shaping mythology in every society.
One of these elements is the simple need for a hero, for someone who is stronger, more powerful, and more daring than the average human being and who serves as a model for the mass of human beings, as a potential savior for a society, as the explanation for various natural phenomena that have been given mythic origins or causes, and so on. The hero is often of divine or semi-divine origin, and the latter is true of both Hercules and Cuchulain.
Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles, and his story is told by a number of Roman writers, including Ovid. However, Ovid gives only a brief account of the life of Hercules, which is unlike his more common and extremely detailed method of presentation: "He never cares to dwell on heroic exploits; he loves best a pathetic story" (Hamilton 159). Hamilton says it might seem odd that Ovid skips over the story of Hercules' slaying of his wife and children, but that story had been told well by Euripides so that Ovid may have skipped it for that reason:
He has very little to day about any of the myths t...