It is based on the ancient myth of `Hercules at the Crossroads`.
The young hero must choose between two paths in life: the path of pleasure and vice or the path of virtue, struggle and glory.
The music is built on the contrast of two themes. One is soft, seductive, and sensual (representing sinful pleasures), the other is stern, strong-willed, and heroic (the path of virtue). After a scene of bacchanalia and struggle, the hero chooses the path of self-sacrifice and immortality. The poem ends with a triumphant and majestic apotheosis.
