Ender and Hercules are from two different times but are very similar. Ender’s futuristic earth has been attacked by the Bugger species twice and the government is preparing for another attack. The government is training boys who they think will qualify to save the world from destruction. Ender is chosen to go to battle school when he is six by Colonel Graff. With Ender’s skill he soon becomes the best in the battle school and defeats the buggers after completing command school. Zeus and Alcmene were the parents of Hercules. Due to Zeus’ unfaithfulness towards his wife, Hera, Hercules was despised. She did many things to make Hercules’ life miserable. For example, Hera sent two snakes into his room when he was a baby to kill him, “but Hercules sat up and grasped the deadly creatures by the throat. They turned and twisted and wound their coils around his body, but he held them fast. The mother heard Iphicles’ screams and calling to her husband, rushed to the nursery. There sat Hercules laughing, in each hand a long limp body. He gave them gleefully to Amphitryon. They were dead” (Hamilton 227). Hercules was destined to be the strongest mortal. Both Ender and Hercules are known for their physical abilities, the challenges they overcame, and their unique lives. Ender and Hercules are famous for their physical abilities. Ender, like Hercules, had immense skill and strength for his age. He develops his skill in battle school where he makes his army, Dragon army, invincible. He learns how to gain skill by observing previous battles and methods used by the Buggers when he receives a new teacher, Mazer Rackham. Mazer tells him, “I am your enemy, the first one you've ever had who was smarter than you. There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you. I am your enemy from now on. From now on I am your teacher" (Card 262). Ender uses his skills to save the world and the human race from the attacks. The Greeks admired Hercules because he “was the strongest man on earth and he had the supreme self confidence magnificent physical strength gives. He considered himself on an equality with the gods- and with some reason” (Hamilton 225). Hercules was the strongest man of his time and was honored for his strength. The challenges that Ender and Hercules overcame did not weaken them, instead they gained more skill and strength. The battles Ender fights and mind games he plays helps to teach him methods on how to save the world. Separating from Valentine, the one person he loved the most, was hard for Ender but it helped him gain strength. Standing up for himself when he got attacked by Stilson, Bernard, and Bonzo also made him stronger. Ender’s abuse is usually ignored or comes from his “parents and older brother, the officers running the battle school and the other children being trained there” (Kessel). Ender was driven mad by Hera. Hercules “killed his children and Megara, too, as she tried to protect the youngest. Then his sanity returned. He found himself in his bloodstained hall, the dead bodies of his sons and his wife beside him” (Hamilton 229). As a result of killing his family Hercules had to complete the twelve impossible labors. The twelve labors were assigned to Hercules by King of Mycenae, his cousin. These labors challenged Hercules’ ability and strength. Ender and Hercules lives’ are very unique. In Ender’s futuristic world, a third child was against the law. Ender was a “third”. A “third” was the name used to call a rare third child. The government was trying to find a kid by attaching a monitor to the kids who might have a chance at saving the world. These monitors were used to observe the kids’ actions. Both Valentine and Peter had a monitor but Ender’s
