The Three Perspectives of Hercules and Cacus

1. One thing that I noticed about Livy's portrayal is that he was the only writer that mentioned Romulus and Remus in his story. I found that interesting. I also realized that Livy talks about the statue of Hercules and that then leads into the story and both Vergil's and Ovid's almost drop you into the story right away. In Livy's story, Cacus is also portrayed more as a shepherd than a monster. Livy's story is also a lot shorter and doesn't go in further detail. Another thing I noticed was in Livy's portrayal and Ovid's portrayal Cacus was killed by a swing or two from a club. However, in Virgil's account Hercules killed Cacus by choking him. In Livy's account it also seems as if Cacus was not such a monster and as I already stated he was a shepherd. I believe Vergil makes cacus look more like a monster when he talks about the blood-stained cave as well as severed human heads nailed to certain doors in the cave. In fact, gruesome detail is used in both Ovid's and Vergil's stories. Perhaps this is what made them more memorable and this is one of the tools the Greeks used for the process of oral tradition.