Hercules and Cancer: A Metaphorical Attempt to Beat Mortality

Art offers a visual document of ancestral suffering, as such mythological images in the arts can provide cathartic relief in our patients with existential anxiety. The image of Hercules fighting Hydra and Cancer may serve as an example on how art can help attaining that goal. One example of such an attempt is reflected in the story of Hercules who had to defeat Hydra and Cancer as part of his twelve labors to become immortal. The same way Hercules fought against Cancer to become immortal, humans fight against cancer to defeat death. Cancer is a constant threat to mankind; oftentimes feeling as if it belongs to an alternate reality; a different reality we cannot comprehend, but that will unavoidably reach and impact us all.