"Alright folks, here she is, all the way from ancient Greece. The greatest heroine of all, the strongest of Mount Olympus. The one, the only Herculena the Great."
The crowd went wild as the carnival master left and there center stage was Herculena. The strongwoman of the sideshow waved to the crowd as she took her place. She looked like a true Greek goddess there; her long blonde hair flowing beneath the golden headband she wore. She was clad in a short white tunic and golden sandals. Her skin looked almost olive thanks to how tan she was. She flexed her giant arm muscles, her biceps bulging and causing more cheers from the already worked up crowd.
Her show started off with a few more flexes and poses before she began to walk from weight to weight. She would bring men up to the stage and have them call out the pounds written on each one. 150, 200 pounds, all the way up to 300. Then she gave them a chance to lift it, and of course no one succeeded. One by one, she lifted each one above her head with relative ease. The crowd yelled and cheered as each weight was well up in the air. They went even wilder watching her take giant steel beams and bending them into all sorts of shapes without breaking a sweat. Then came Herculena's finale. A giant, bearded man took the stage next to her, dressed as Zeus. He was tall and his body loaded with muscles, but even he was dwarfed next to Herculena. The two got down and arm wrestled one another, but Herculena easily won. After defeating "Zeus," she even lifted him up over her head with only one hand!
Her act over, she blew kisses to the crowd as she left the stage and the next performer prepared to go on. As the next act was starting, in the crowd a lone woman was fighting her way out of there and back towards the wagons of the carnival's performers. She was stopped by a few, who let her by after she told her story. She asked where she could find Herculena at and they directed her to the lone wagon in the back, further out from the others. She approached the wagon, a light on inside. On the sides of the wagon were large murals advertising "Herculena the Great." Pictures of her and her large muscles, her lifting weights and people and bending steel. The woman walked up the wooden steps and knocked on the door.
"Enter," a voice said in a heavy European accent from within. The woman turned the door and went into the large circus wagon. The cabin was lit by an oil lamp on a table by the window. Sitting on the cot was Herculena herself. On a nearby table were the headband and blonde wig she had worn for her show and her real hair, short, curly and black could be seen. She had kicked off her sandals and was just putting her feet into a nice warm foot bath.
"Can I help you?" she asked the newcomer.
"Yes my name is Lillie. I'm the reporter who wrote to you about doing a story for my paper."
"Yes, come and sit. I would be glad to answer your questions."
"Thank you, er, Herculena."
"Just call me Maria," she said with a laugh as Lillie took a seat on the wooden stool across from the bed. "Herculena the Great is just a character I play, as I have done quite often."
"Well I saw your show tonight and it was wonderful Maria."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"You play different characters in your shows," Lillie asked as she took out a notebook and began noting what was being said.
"A few. The crowds love to see the show, but there are many times when a backstory will drive them wild. Someone far removed from their normal life. LIke when I played an Indian maiden, buckskin dress, beads and braided wig all. She was a big hit in Germany. Running Doe was her name, I believe. Yes, I was Princess Running Doe in those shows."
"Interesting," the reporter said.
"And then a few years ago in England, I played one of those cavemen that are popular. Or I should say I was a cavewoman. I forget the name I was billed under. I dressed the part, animal skins and wild hair. I even carried a heavy wood club on the stage and began my show by snapping it in half with my bare hands."
"But I have played characters like that quite often. I have been everything from barbarian queens, jungle girls, exotic island natives. I like to come up with the characters I play, I find it fun to be someone different on stage. The person or creature nobody else would think of."
"Why do you play different characters? Why not keep playing the popular ones?"
"Some are not as popular as others. But it is mainly due to boredom. I will grow tired of playing one particular person and use the excuse to think of another. In fact, I am beginning to feel that way about Herculena. Soon I will retire her and move on to my next persona."
"Do you have any plans for who she will be?"
"I've seen several stories being written about other worlds, especially Mars. I have been designing a Martian woman to play. I have a few ideas for a costume and when the carnival closes for the season I plan to see about having it made."
"That sounds very unique. I feel I may have to come back to see this new character."
"Perhaps you shall." The two women laughed before the questioning continued.
"So Maria, how did you get into this lifestyle of being a strongwoman?"
"It goes back to my youth at home in Romania. I was my father's only child. He was a farmer and had no sons to help, so from a young age I was doing many chores that required physical strength. As I grew up, I got much stronger. Then when I was orphaned as a teen, I ran away to join a circus. I have been traveling the world since then, living this life."
"Did you start out performing the feats you do now?"
"Not at first. I started out mainly assisting the circus strongman and occasionally wrestling men as well. As I worked though, I was able to train my body to get even stronger than it was. Over time, I became able to do what I do now for my act."
"How easy has it been for you to train?"
"I have always been large for a woman. My height has been measured at around 6'3" and I have a rather larger frame than most. But that is only a small part of it. I train my body every day, lifting weights for an hour at a time, multiple times a day."
"How many times a day do you lift?"
"On days I have a show, I only lift three times. If there is no show, I will lift four, sometimes five if I feel up to it. But Sundays are my rest days and I will only do one hour of lightweights then."
"If I may ask, how much can you lift?"
"Do you mean over my head or in general?"
"How about both?"
"Over my head, I have lifted a weight measured at 350 pounds. But I feel it is possible I have lifted more than that before, but probably not much more."
"That is quite impressive."
"So I have been told. I can easily lift around 450 pounds up to my chest, maybe 500 if I feel like trying."
"Now that sounds like quite a remarkable sight."
