At the entrance of the temple of Apollo at Delphi there were three Maxims inscribed: “Know Yourself”, “Nothing in Excess”, and “A Promise will be Your Ruin”. When the Greeks said “Nothing in Excess” they meant in all aspects of life. The Greek maxim “Nothing in Excess” reflects the idea of moderation and reasonable sufficiency which influences behaviors and choices. Defiance of the maxim “Nothing in Excess” invited discord, catastrophe and repudiation of living wholly with beauty and truth. The maxim, “Nothing in Excess”, is exemplified and defied in Greek myths through the figures Heracles, Niobe, Oedipus and Creon. Heracles, son of Zeus and Alcmena, exhibited excessive mortal strength from infant to adult. When Heracles was eight months old, Hera, desiring his death, sent two serpents to Heracles’ bed; but because of his excessive strength he strangled the serpents with his bare hands. Another example of “the strength of stout Heracles” (Theogony 332) is when he kills Linus, his tutor, in self-defense. Hera, still persecuting Heracles, drove him mad, and as a result he killed his wife, Megara, and his children, flinging them into the fire. Arriving at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the Pythian priestess told Heracles to reside in Tiryns, serving Eurystheus for twelve years and to perform ten labors to be purified for his crime (Parada). His first labor was to destroy the Nemean Lion. Heracles first shot him with an arrow, but when he perceived that the animal was invincible, he broke its neck with his bare hands. Furthermore, in Torone, Heracles was challenged to wrestle by Polygonus and Telegonous and he killed both in the wrestling match (Parada). Heracles possessed extreme super-human strength that he could not moderate. This lack of control led to the divine punishments, such as the ten labors, he received from the gods. Another myth that shows