Per aspera ad astra.

Per aspera ad astra. Through adversity, to the stars.

The boy had killed his art teacher and Apollo was pissed. Normally, Apollo would demand blood for blood, but the boy’s parentage complicated matters. So the boy was tasked, instead, with tending to Apollo’s flock to earn redemption.

Hera, too, was ticked. Not only had her earlier attempt to kill the boy in his crib crumbled, but he was a constant reminder of his father’s philandering. And now was her chance at revenge.

She started, first, by sending beasts to feed on the flock and prove the boy to be both unworthy and beyond redemption. At first, the boy struggled to beat back the beasts before they’d had their fill. Their assaults wore his will’s thread thin. Yet still, the boy became stronger.

So Hera decided to slap the boy with sheets of sleet and snow. But with each weathered storm, the boy became more resilient.

With each test, Hera was inadvertently building the hero she meant to topple—shaping the legend we now know as Hercules. Preparing him to prevail, against all odds, over the 12 Labors—cementing his seat among the gods.

To the ancients, this story was precious. Recounted by Socrates and Stoics alike, it served as a reminder still relevant today: if Hercules could confront obstacles forthrightly and ascend to the stars in the process, perhaps we, too, might reach the heights we are capable of if we have the courage to confront the obstacles in our way.

Perhaps we, too, might extract value from adversity. Like the fire that “appropriates and devours what is heaped upon it, and leaps up higher out of those very obstacles.” (Marcus Aurelius). Or like the sword that is steeled in the forge—tempered with flame and force so that the blade might cut true when called upon. 

Because, as C.S. Lewis says, “hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” So whosoever you are, and whatsoever obstacles you’re facing, I hope you remember Hercules. Because what looks like a setback just might be a setup. A stepping stone to the stars.

Keep going.