Sarah Ritter
Mr. Dave
Hercules and Cacus
2.04.10

-1 What are the differences between the three accounts (Livy, Vergil, and Ovid)? Be very specific - every minor detail could be important. To be clear, I just want you to list unique details here.
Livy-
→ Stresses on Romulus and Remus's story about the vultures, and how Rome was formed.
→ Cacus was not a monster, he was a shepherd
→ Hercules kills him with his club
→ Oxen, not heifers and bulls.
→ Took oxen from fields, not stalls.
→ Romulus sets up temple for traditional latin gods and Hercules on the hill were he killed Cacus.
→ He was afraid of what stole his oxen, until he finds out where the rest of his oxen were.
→ Falls asleep after fighting monster, Geryon.
→ Falls asleep in grassy place near the Tiber River.
→ Cacus begs for his life, and calls to other shepherds for help.

Vergil-
→ Cacus is a murderous monster.
→ Who happens to belch fire.
→ Bulls and Heifers not oxen.
→ Cacus took bulls form stalls not fields.
→ Hercules grabbed his weapons, shot missiles at Cacus.
→ Hercules is enraged by the stealing of his cattle.
→ Cacus belched fire and smoke, completely submerging the cave in darkness.
→ The arrows caused sunlight to enter the cave.
→ People saw Cacus's carcass at the end.
→ People celebrated Hercules and the death of Cacus.
→ Cacus covers the cave with a rock.
→ Hercules took a tree, causing the banks to break and water to flood the cave and push the rock away.

Ovid-
→ Hercules breaks through the cliff
→ Cave is in a forest
→ Cacus puts part of a hill in front of the cave, not a rock.
→ Falls asleep in the Tegean house
→ Cacus first fought back with sticks, logs, and boulders.
→ Cacus can spew flames
→ Hercules used a triple-knotted club to kill Cacus
→ Hercules offered one of the ox to Jupiter (Zeus)
→ Sets up an alter after killing Cacus
→ The king's mother predicts when Hercules dies, and then turns into a goddess herself.

-2 Discussing each of the three accounts separately, what is the impact of the details told that are unique to that story? In other words, consider which details only Livy uses and the effect that those have on your understanding of Hercules and Cacus (and then repeat the same process for Vergil and Ovid). Also, consider the Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ip side - are there details omitted from that story that are used in the other two accounts? How is the larger message influenced by the inclusion or omission of those details?

Liviys story is a very vague sense of the story. I believe his sole purpose was to make you understand why Romulus built the temple where he did. The fact that he leaves out the fire-breathing monster and replaces him with Cacus the greedy Shepherd makes the story's foucs more on Romulus and his temple in Rome.