…as we know them from their ancient stories filtered through multiple translations and pop culture to today.
In a one-on-one, no weapons smackdown, with both at the peak of strength, who do you favor?
Samson, by a hair.
:golf clap:
Bravo.
Herakles, no question. He was a demigod. Samson was only human.
Samson killed a lion with his bare hands, but Herakles killed a magical lion with an impenetrable hide. Herakles also killed the many-headed hydra and the man-eating Stymphalean birds. He captured the three-headed guardian of Hell, Cerberus, alive, not to mention a half dozen other fearsome beasts. Compared to Herakles’ feats, Samson’s other major claim to fame, killing 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, was child’s play.
Well, shoot, Davy Crockett kilt him a b’ar when he was only three, that puts him one up on Samson.
I’d say that we’d have to know the details of the arena, given that both relied heavily on creative use of their environment. It’s not just having the strength; it’s how you use it.
Samson also famously collapsed a temple and, before that, figured out that some dudes were going to ambush him at a gate so he pulled the Gaza city gate out of its moorings and humped the entire thing up a hill going “Haha, ambush me at the gate now suckers”
Much of Hercules’ feats were either sort of half-assed or else required help. His killing of the hydra was disqualified because he had assistance. He had help during his travels to the underworld. He scared off the birds with some cymbals and caught the boar by chasing it into deep snow. Sure, rerouting a river was clever and he tricked himself into a golden apple but this is a feat of strength (and Samson had his own tricks, using foxes to burn fields and his lion riddle). Hercules’ major feats of raw strength were mainly him wrestling some bit of fauna and I’d think that a guy who can kill 1,000 men with a jawbone and knock down buildings could manage wrestling a magic pig.
Tough question. Heracles/Hercules was a demigod, with Zeus for a father. But Samson’s name is the same as that of the Middle Eastern Sun God of several groups “Samson” = “Shamash”, and there’s some speculation that stories told about the Biblical Samson are actually stories about the god (and not just about a human character with a theophorous name). This would explain why Samson was “hairy” (the “hair” being the sun’s rays) and why cutting off the hair weakened him (the sun loses its power – and its rays – at night). In my book, a god beats a demi-god.
In terms of what they could do, they were both strong men, and popular. Samson literally brought the house down. But Hercules was no slouch, either – carrying Cerberus back from Hades was no mean feat. That he required help with the hydra is no demerit, considering the hydra’s rapid head-healing attributes. How would Samson have dealt with that on his own?
I’d call it about a toss-up, with Samson maybe getting the edge in divinity.
I’d vote for Herakles, myself.
In D&D terms, the Action Economy is king. A bunch of low level threats are worse than one equivalent (in total level) high level threat since each one gets their own turn, chance to hit, etc. A fighter will be capable of defeating a hydra or fancy lion long before he can defeat 1,000 trained & armed soldiers in melee combat – much less while unarmored and holding a weak improvised weapon.
From a theological/mythological point of view, Hercules is a demigod and there’s no real biblical comparison to the term (even things like the Nephilim, we have no real info about) however Samson has direct divine support. In Greek mythology, it seems that the gods say “Go do some stuff, here take this magic hat” but don’t perform miracles on the behalf of the hero. In the Bible, God says “go do this thing” and then lends holy mojo along the way. In Greek terms, Moses would have gotten a magical staff that parts water (and someone else probably would have stolen it as these myths seem to go), in the Bible the stick wasn’t the actual conduit but rather just a prop as God makes the waters part. When the Greek gods DO intercede in something, it’s by actually appearing in some form or another and physically doing something: giving a weapon, applying a healing salve, etc. But if it’s one-on-one combat here then there’s not much they can do.
I think that gives Samson the win – once they’re in the ring, Hercules is pretty much on his own while Samson is as divinely powerful as God wants him to be. Assuming that God wants to one-up the Greek pantheon, Samson will walk out victorious.
Herakles/Hercules grabs Samson’s hair and yanks it out. Game over.
Bolding mine. He’d probably pray and the Hydra would bite itself or some such.
Samson’s vow as a Nazarite was that he would never cut his hair. Not sure having some pulled out in a fight would violate that vow. Delilah knew to have a servant cut his hair because she played on his weakness: his lustful nature. One could make a case that he lost his strength because he gave in to lust. After all, he hadn’t cut his hair or even chosen to have it cut. So, he hadn’t violated the vow per se. God apparently disapproves of lustfulness.
Steve Reeves vs Victor Mature? I’d have to go with Vic. 
Samson got pissed at the Philistines and so collected 300 foxes, tied lit torches to their tails, slapped them on the ass and sent them to run through the Philistines’ fields, groves and vineyards. Maybe he can throw flaming foxes at any hydras that come along.
Also, don’t forget the time when he bravely defeated the Vampire Women.
Didn’t Hercules take the sky/earth/whatever off Atlas’s shoulders for a short while? In my book, that gives him the edge.
The sky but, c’mon… the sky is made of air.
Yeah, I support the sky on my shoulders every time I walk outside.
Also, when the Greek gods got involved, they often had peculiar notions of helping. “What’s that? You’re about to be raped? Here, I’ll turn you into a tree. Problem solved!”
Old Testament God was mean and really touchy about his name and stuff, but his ideas of help and mercy are closer to my own than Zeus et al provided.
So, if the divines decide to get involved, God will most likely do something that will actually help Samson. The Greek Pantheon may well decide to do something like “help” Hercules by turning him into a rock or animal when he starts getting his ass kicked.