gonies of Greece and Israel. Hamilton's analysis of Golden Age Greece makes this point:
The way of Greek religion could not but be different from the ways of religions dependent not upon each man's seeking truth for himself, as an artist or a poet must seek it, but upon an absolute authority to which each man must submit himself. In Greece there was no dominating church or creed, but there was a dominating ideal which everyone would want to pursue if he caught sight of it (Hamilton, Greek 175).
Hercules's adventures in the cosmos focus on himself as hero and as leader but not as a member of a community beyond a family (and in any case he kills his first family). Compare the Old Testament focus on the Jews as a people and their myriad difficulties in adhering to the monotheism and moral structures mandated by Yahweh, their "jealous God" (Exod. 20:5; 1 Kings 16:30, 33; Jud. 13:1). What has to be remembered about the people of Israel is that they are distinct because of their God. The monotheistic conception of God sets Israel apart from pagan polytheists. Yah
...