In
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
,
Heracles or
Herakles ( ; + , ; a
compoundIn linguistics, a compound is a lexeme that consists of more than one stem. Compounding or composition is the word-formation that creates compound lexemes...
of the goddess '
HeraIn the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera or Here was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage. In Roman mythology, Juno was the equivalent mythical character. The cow, and later, the peacock were sacred to her...
' [Ήρα] and the Greek word '
kleosThis article is about the Greek term. For the rock album see Kleos .Kleos is the Greek word often translated to "renown", or "glory". It is related to the word "to hear" and carries the implied meaning of "what others hear about you"...
' [κλεος], meaning "glory of Hera", or "glorious through Hera"),
Alcides or
Alcaeus (original name), was a
divine heroA hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
, the son of
ZeusIn Greek mythology, Zeus is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the...
and
AlcmeneIn Greek mythology, Alcmene or Alcmena was the mother of Heracles.-Background:Alcmene was born to Electryon, king of Mycenae and a son of Perseus. Her mother was either Anaxo, daughter of Alcaeus and Astydamia, or Lysidice, daughter of Pelops and Hippodameia...
, foster son of
AmphitryonAmphitryon , in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis.Amphitryon was a Theban general, who was originally from Tiryns in the eastern part of the Peloponnese. He was friends with Panopeus....
and great-grandson (and half-brother) of
PerseusPerseus , the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the cult of the Twelve Olympians...
. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be
HeracleidaeIn Greek mythology, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles , especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira Other Heracleidae included Macaria, Lamos, Manto, Bianor, Tlepolemus, and Telephus...
and a champion of the
Olympian orderThe Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. The first ancient reference of religious ceremonies for them is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes...
against
chthonicChthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion.Greek khthon is one of several words for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather...
monsters. In
RomeRoman mythology, or Latin mythology, refers to the mythological beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Ancient Rome. It can be considered as having two parts; One part, largely later and literary, consists of borrowings from Greek mythology...
and the
modernModernity is a term that is related to the modern era, but is distinct both from it and from modernism. In different contexts, the term refers to a condition associated with cultural and intellectual movements of a period beginning anywhere from 1436 to 1789 , and extending to the 1970s or later...
WestThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
, he is known as
HerculesHercules is the Roman name for the mythical Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength, who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became...
, with whom the later
Roman EmperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin titles such as imperator , augustus, caesar and princeps were all associated with it...
s, in particular
CommodusLucius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 180 to 192 . The name given here was his official name at his accession to sole rule; see Changes of name for earlier and later forms...
and
MaximianMarcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius , commonly referred to as Maximian, was Caesar from July 285 and Augustus from April 1, 286 to May 1, 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn...
, often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their own, some of it linking the hero with the geography of the Central Mediterranean. Details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well.
Extraordinary strength,
courageCourage, also known as bravery, will, intrepidity, and loyalty, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation...
, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females were among his characteristic attributes. Although he was not as clever as the likes of
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...
or
NestorIn Greek mythology, Nestor of Gerênia was the son of Neleus and Chloris, and the King of Pylos. He became king after Heracles killed Neleus and all of Nestor's brothers and sisters...
, Heracles used his wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice, such as when laboring for the king
AugeasIn Greek mythology, Augeas , whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and husband of Epicaste. Augeas was one of the Argonauts....
of
ElisElis, or Eleia is an ancient district, that corresponds with the modern Ilia Prefecture...
, wrestling the giant
AntaeusAntaeus in Greek mythology was a giant of Libya, the son of Poseidon and Gaia, whose wife was Tinjis. He was extremely strong as long as he remained in contact with the ground , but once lifted into the air he became as weak as other men...
, or tricking
AtlasIn Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens from the ranges now called the Atlas Mountains. Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia or Klyménē :...
into taking the sky back onto his shoulders. Together with
HermesHermes is the Messenger of the gods in Greek mythology as well as a guide to the Underworld. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of...
he was the patron and protector of
gymnasiaThe gymnasium in ancient Greece functioned as a training facility for competitors in public games. It was also a place for socializing and engaging in intellectual pursuits. The name comes from the Greek term gymnos meaning naked. Athletes competed in the nude, a practice said to encourage...
and
palaestraThe palaestra was the ancient Greek wrestling school. The events that did not require a lot of space, such as boxing and wrestling, were practiced there. The palaestra functioned both independently and as a part of public gymnasia...
e. His iconographic attributes are the
lion skinThe Nemean lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived in Nemea. He was eventually killed by Heracles....
and the
clubA club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon....
. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have "made the world safe for mankind" and to be its benefactor. Heracles was an extremely passionate and emotional individual, capable of doing both great deeds for his friends (such as wrestling with
ThanatosIn Greek mythology, Thánatos was the daemon personification of Death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person...
on behalf of Prince
AdmetusFor other uses, see Admetus In Greek mythology, Admetus /æd 'mi: təs/ was a king of Pherae in Thessaly, succeeding his father Pheres after whom the city was named. Admetus was one of the Argonauts and took part in the Calydonian Boar hunt....
, who had regaled Heracles with his hospitality, or restoring his friend
TyndareusIn Greek mythology, Tyndareus or Tyndareos was a Spartan king, son of Oebalus and Gorgophone , husband of Leda and father of Helen, Castor and Polydeuces, Clytemnestra, Timandra, Phoebe and Philonoe.Tyndareus had a brother named Hippocoon, who seized power and exiled Tyndareus...
to the throne of
SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars...
after he was overthrown) and being a terrible enemy who would wreak horrible vengeance on those who crossed him, as Augeas,
NeleusNeleus was the son of Poseidon and Tyro, brother of Pelias. Tyro was married to Cretheus but loved Enipeus, a river god. She pursued Enipeus, who refused her advances. One day, Poseidon, filled with lust for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus and from their union was born Pelias and Neleus, twin...
and
LaomedonIn Greek mythology, Laomedon was a Trojan king, son of Ilus, brother of Ganymedes and father of Priam, Astyoche, Lampus, Hicetaon, Clytius, Cilla, Proclia, Aethilla, Clytodora, and Hesione. Tithonus is also described by most sources as Laomedon's eldest legitimate son; and most sources omit...
all found out to their cost.
Origin and character
Many popular stories were told of his life, the most famous being The Twelve Labours of Heracles; Alexandrian poets of the Hellenistic age drew his mythology into a high poetic and tragic atmosphere. His figure, which initially drew on Near Eastern motifs such as the lion-fight, was known everywhere: his
EtruscanThe Etruscans were a diachronically continuous population speaking a distinct language and practicing a distinctive culture that ranged over the Po Valley and some of its alpine slopes, southward along the west coast of Italy, most intensely in Etruria, with enclaves as far south as Campania, and...
equivalent was
Hercle, a son of
TiniaThe Etruscan bright sky god Tinia was the highest god in Etruscan mythology, the Etruscan equivalent of the Roman Jupiter and the Greek Zeus. He was the husband of Thalna or Uni and the father of Heracle....
and
UniUni may refer to:*The Japanese name for sea urchin eaten as sushi*Uni-ball and uni are brands of pens and pencils made by the Mitsubishi Pencil Company*Uni , the supreme goddess of Etruscan mythology*A short form for University...
.
Heracles was the greatest of Hellenic
chthonicChthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion.Greek khthon is one of several words for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather...
heroes, but unlike other Greek heroes, no tomb was identified as his. Heracles was both hero and god, as
PindarPindar , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, Pindar is the one whose work is best preserved...
says
heroes theos; at the same festival sacrifice was made to him, first as a hero, with a chthonic
libationA libation is a ritual pouring of a drink as an offering to a god. It was common in the religions of antiquity, including Judaism:...
, and then as a god, upon an altar: thus he embodies the closest Greek approach to a "demi-god". The core of the story of Heracles has been identified by Walter Burkert as originating in Neolithic hunter culture and traditions of shamanistic crossings into the netherworld.
Hero or god?
Heracles' role as a culture hero, whose death could be a subject of mythic telling (see below), was accepted into the
Olympian PantheonThe Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. The first ancient reference of religious ceremonies for them is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes...
during Classical times. This created an awkwardness in the encounter with
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...
in the episode of
OdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon. Indeed it is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of...
XI, called the Nekuia, where Odysseus encounters Heracles in
HadesHades refers both to the ancient Greek underworld, the abode of Hades, and to the god of the underworld. Hades in Homer referred just to the god; the genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades"...
:
- And next I caught a glimpse of powerful Heracles—
- His ghost I mean: the man himself delights
- in the grand feasts of the deathless gods on high...
- Around him cries of the dead rang out like cries of birds
- scattering left and right in horror as on he came like night..."
Ancient critics were aware of the problem of the aside that interrupts the vivid and complete description, in which Heracles recognizes Odysseus and hails him, and modern critics find very good reasons for denying that the verses beginning, in Fagles' translation
His ghost I mean... were part of the original composition: "once people knew of Heracles' admission to Olympus, they would not tolerate his presence in the underworld," remarks
Friedrich SolmsenFriedrich W. Solmsen was a philologist and professor of classical studies. His edition of Hesiod is considered definitive. He published nearly 150 books, monographs, scholarly articles, and reviews from the 1930s through the 1980s. Solmsen's work is characterized by a prevailing interest in the...
, noting that the interpolated verses represent a compromise between conflicting representations of Heracles.
It is also said that when Heracles died he shed his mortal skin, which went down to the underworld and he went up to join the gods for being the greatest hero ever known.
Christian dating
In Christian circles a Euhemerist reading of the widespread Heracles/Hercules cult was attributed to a historical figure who had been offered cult status after his death. Thus
EusebiusEusebius of Caesarea became the bishop of Caesarea Palaestina, the capital of Iudaea province, c 314...
,
Preparation of the Gospel (10.12), reported that
ClementSt. Clement may refer to either persons:* Pope Clement I, also known as St. Clement of Rome, , martyr and fourth pope* Saint Clement of Metz fl. 4th century), first bishop of Metz...
could offer historical dates for Hercules as a king in Argos: "from the reign of Hercules in
ArgosArgos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour .-Name:The region of Argos is known as the Argolis, Argolid, or Argeia...
to the deification of Hercules himself and of
AsclepiusAsclepius is the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia , Iaso , Aceso , Aglæa/Ægle , and Panacea...
there are comprised thirty-eight years, according to Apollodorus the chronicler: and from that point to the deification of
Castor and PolluxIn Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Lēda and Zeus/Tyndareus , the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra and the half-brothers of Timandra, Phoebe, Heracles and Philonoe...
fifty-three years: and somewhere about this time was the capture of
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
."
Readers with a literalist bent, following Clement's reasoning, have asserted from this remark that, since Heracles ruled over
TirynsTiryns is a Mycenaean archaeological site in the prefecture of Argolis in the Peloponnese, some kilometres north of Nauplion.-General information:...
in Argos at the same time that
EurystheusIn Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus, as was his opponent Heracles. He was married to Antimache, daughter of...
ruled over
MycenaeMycenae , is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
, and since at about this time
LinusIn Greek mythology Linus refers to the musical son of Apollo and one of the Muses. As the son of Apollo or of Amphimarus, a son of Poseidon and Urania, it was related that he was killed by Apollo during a musical contest. As son of Apollo and Terpsichore, he taught music to Orpheus and then to...
was Heracles' teacher, one can conclude, based on
JeromeSaint Jerome was a Christian priest and apologist. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
's date—in his
universal historyUniversal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of mankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
, his
Chronicon—given to Linus' notoriety in teaching Heracles in
1264 BC-Events and trends:* One of the three estimated dates of the Birth of Herakles in Thebes, Greece.* c. 1263 BC—Ramses II, king of ancient Egypt, and Hattusilis III, king of the Hittites, sign the earliest known peace treaty....
, that Heracles' death and deification occurred 38 years later, in approximately 1226 BC.
Cult
The ancient Greeks celebrated the festival of the
HerakleiaThe Herakleia were ancient festivals honoring the divine hero Heracles. The ancient Athenians celebrated the festival, which commemorated the death of Heracles, on the second day of the month of Metageitnion , at the Κυνοσαργες gymnasium at the demos Diomeia outside the walls of Athens, in a...
, which commemorated the death of Heracles, on the second day of the month of Metageitnion (which would fall in late July or early August). What is believed to be an
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
ian Temple of Heracles in the
Bahariya OasisEl-Waha el-Bahariya or Bahariya is an oasis in Egypt. It is approximately 300 km away from Cairo and the least technologically advanced Oasis in the country...
dates to 21 BC.
Birth and childhood
A major factor in the well-known tragedies surrounding Heracles is the hatred that the
goddessA goddess is a female deity. Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities in a pantheon. In some cultures goddesses are commonly associated with the Earth, motherhood, love, and the household, often reflecting the historical gender roles of that culture...
HeraIn the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera or Here was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage. In Roman mythology, Juno was the equivalent mythical character. The cow, and later, the peacock were sacred to her...
, wife of
ZeusIn Greek mythology, Zeus is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the...
, had for him. A full account of Heracles must render it clear why Heracles was so tormented by Hera, when there are many illegitimate offspring sired by Zeus. Heracles was the son of the affair Zeus had with the mortal woman
AlcmeneIn Greek mythology, Alcmene or Alcmena was the mother of Heracles.-Background:Alcmene was born to Electryon, king of Mycenae and a son of Perseus. Her mother was either Anaxo, daughter of Alcaeus and Astydamia, or Lysidice, daughter of Pelops and Hippodameia...
.
ZeusIn Greek mythology, Zeus is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the...
made love to her after disguising himself as her husband,
AmphitryonAmphitryon , in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis.Amphitryon was a Theban general, who was originally from Tiryns in the eastern part of the Peloponnese. He was friends with Panopeus....
, home early from war (Amphitryon did return later the same night, and Alcmene became pregnant with his son at the same time, a case of heteropaternal
superfecundationSuperfecundation is the fertilization of two or more ova from the same cycle by sperm from separate acts of sexual intercourse. The term is also sometimes used to refer to the instances of two different males fathering fraternal twins, though this is more accurately known as heteropaternal...
, where a woman carries twins sired by different fathers). Thus, Heracles' very existence proved at least one of Zeus' many illicit affairs, and Hera often conspired against Zeus' mortal offspring, as revenge for her husband's infidelities. His twin mortal brother, son of Amphitryon was Iphicles, father of Heracles' charioteer
IolausIn Greek mythology, Iolaus was a Theban divine hero, son of Iphicles, Heracles's brother, and Automedusa.He was famed for being Heracles's nephew and for helping with for some of his Labors...
.
On the night the twins Heracles and Iphicles were to be born,
HeraIn the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera or Here was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage. In Roman mythology, Juno was the equivalent mythical character. The cow, and later, the peacock were sacred to her...
, knowing of her husband Zeus' adultery, persuaded Zeus to swear an oath that the child born that night to a member of the House of
PerseusPerseus , the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the cult of the Twelve Olympians...
would be High King. Hera did this knowing that while Heracles was to be born a descendant of Perseus, so too was
EurystheusIn Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus, as was his opponent Heracles. He was married to Antimache, daughter of...
. Once the oath was sworn, Hera hurried to Alcmene's dwelling and slowed the birth of Heracles by forcing
IlithyiaEileithyia , was the Cretan goddess whom Greek mythology adapted as the goddess of childbirth and midwifery. Her name does not appear to have an Indo-European etymology, which for R. F. Willets strengthens her link with Minoan culture. "The links between Eileithyia, an earlier Minoan goddess, and...
, goddess of childbirth, to sit crosslegged with her clothing tied in knots, thereby causing Heracles to be trapped in the womb. Meanwhile, Hera caused
EurystheusIn Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus, as was his opponent Heracles. He was married to Antimache, daughter of...
to be born prematurely, making him High King in place of Heracles. She would have permanently delayed Heracles' birth had she not been fooled by
GalanthisIn Greek mythology, Galanthis was the red-gold haired servant of Alcmene, who assisted her during the birth of Heracles. When Alcmene was in labor, she was having difficulty giving birth to a child so large. After seven days she called for assistance from Lucina, the goddess of childbirth. ...
, Alcmene's servant, who lied to Ilithyia, saying that
AlcmeneIn Greek mythology, Alcmene or Alcmena was the mother of Heracles.-Background:Alcmene was born to Electryon, king of Mycenae and a son of Perseus. Her mother was either Anaxo, daughter of Alcaeus and Astydamia, or Lysidice, daughter of Pelops and Hippodameia...
had already delivered the baby. Upon hearing this, she jumped in surprise, untying the knots and inadvertently allowing
AlcmeneIn Greek mythology, Alcmene or Alcmena was the mother of Heracles.-Background:Alcmene was born to Electryon, king of Mycenae and a son of Perseus. Her mother was either Anaxo, daughter of Alcaeus and Astydamia, or Lysidice, daughter of Pelops and Hippodameia...
to give birth to her twins, Heracles and Iphicles.
The child was originally given the name Alcides by his parents; it was only later that he became known as Heracles. He was renamed Heracles in an unsuccessful attempt to mollify Hera. A few months after he was born, Hera sent two serpents to kill him as he lay in his cot. Heracles throttled a snake in each hand and was found by his nurse playing with their limp bodies as if they were child's toys.
Youth
After killing his music tutor
LinusIn Greek mythology Linus refers to the musical son of Apollo and one of the Muses. As the son of Apollo or of Amphimarus, a son of Poseidon and Urania, it was related that he was killed by Apollo during a musical contest. As son of Apollo and Terpsichore, he taught music to Orpheus and then to...
with a
lyreThe lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. The recitations of the Ancient Greeks were accompanied by lyre playing. The lyre of Classical Antiquity was ordinarily played by being strummed with a plectrum, like a guitar or a zither, rather than...
, he was sent to tend cattle on a mountain by his foster father Amphitryon. Here, according to an allegorical
parableA parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human characters.Some scholars of the New...
, "The Choice of Heracles", invented by the sophist
ProdicusProdicus of Ceos was a Greek philosopher, and part of the first generation of Sophists. He came to Athens as ambassador from Ceos, and became known as a speaker and a teacher. Plato treats him with greater respect than the other sophists, and in several of the Platonic dialogues Socrates appears...
(ca. 400 BC), he was visited by two nymphs—Pleasure and Virtue—who offered him a choice between a pleasant and easy life or a severe but glorious life: he chose the latter.
Later in
ThebesThebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
, Heracles married King
CreonCreon is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus. He had four children: Megareus, Menoeceus, Megara and Haimon with his wife, Eurydice...
's daughter,
MegaraIn Greek mythology, Megara was the oldest daughter of Creon, king of Thebes. In reward for Heracles' defending Thebes from Orchomenus in single-handed battle, Creon offered his daughter Megara to Heracles and he brought her home to the house of Amphitryon...
. In a fit of madness, induced by Hera, Heracles killed his children by Megara. After his madness had been cured with
helleboreCommonly known as hellebores, members of the genus Helleborus comprise approximately 20 species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae...
by Antikyreus, the founder of
AntikyraAnticyra, or Antikyra the ancient name of a city in Phokis, Greece.-Name and Mycenaean past:Mod. name Antikyra; until the early 20th century it was called "Aspra Spitia", a name given after 1960 to a wholly new adjacent settlement, 3 km to the East; in Phocis, on the bay of Anticyra, in the...
, he realized what he had done and fled to the
Oracle of DelphiDelphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis...
. Unbeknownst to him, the Oracle was guided by Hera. He was directed to serve King
EurystheusIn Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus, as was his opponent Heracles. He was married to Antimache, daughter of...
for ten years and perform any task, which he required. Eurystheus decided to give Heracles ten labours but after completing them, he said he cheated and added two more, resulting in the Twelve Labors of Heracles.
Labours of Heracles
Driven mad by Hera, Heracles slew his own children. To expiate the crime, Heracles was required to carry out ten labors set by his archenemy,
EurystheusIn Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus, as was his opponent Heracles. He was married to Antimache, daughter of...
, who had become king in Heracles' place. If he succeeded, he would be purified of his sin and, as myth says, he would be granted immortality. Heracles accomplished these tasks, but Eurystheus did not accept the cleansing of the Augean stables because Heracles was going to accept pay for the labor. Neither did he accept the killing of the Lernaean Hydra as Heracles' cousin, Ioloas, had helped him burn the stumps of the heads. Eurysteus set two more tasks (fetching the Golden Apples of Hesperides and capturing
CerberusCerberus, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of Hades, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping...
), which Heracles performed successfully, bringing the total number of tasks up to twelve.
Not all writers gave the labors in the same order.
ApollodorusApollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...
(2.5.1-2.5.12) gives the following order:
- To kill the Nemean lion
The Nemean lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived in Nemea. He was eventually killed by Heracles....
.
- To destroy the Lernaean Hydra
In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra (Greek: was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast (as its name evinces) that possessed 9 heads— the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint—...
.
- To capture the Ceryneian Hind
In Greek mythology, the Ceryneian Hind , also called Cerynitis, was an enormous hind sacred to Artemis, the chaste goddess of the hunt and moon. It had golden antlers like a stag and hooves of bronze or brass, and it was said that it could outrun an arrow in flight...
.
- To capture the Erymanthian Boar
In Greek mythology, the Erymanthian Boar is remembered in connection with The Twelve Labours, in which Heracles, the enemy of Hera, visited in turn "all the other sites of the Goddess throughout the world, to conquer every conceivable 'monster' of nature and rededicate the primordial world to its...
.
- To clean the Augean Stables.
- To kill the Stymphalian Birds
In Greek mythology, the Stymphalian birds were man-eating birds with wings of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and were pets of Ares, the god of war. Furthermore, their dung was highly toxic...
.
- To capture the Cretan Bull
In Greek mythology, the Cretan Bull was either the bull that carried away Europa or the bull Pasiphaë fell in love with, giving birth to the Minotaur.- Origin :...
.
- To round up the Mares of Diomedes
The Mares of Diomedes, also called the Mares of Thrace, were four man-eating horses in Greek mythology. Magnificent, wild, and uncontrollable, they belonged to the giant Diomedes , king of Thrace, a son of Ares and Cyrene who lived on the shores of the Black Sea...
.
- To steal the Girdle of Hippolyte.
- To herd the Cattle of Geryon
In Greek mythology, Geryon , son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa, was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. A more literal-minded later generation of Greeks associated the region with Tartessos in southern...
.
- To fetch the Apples of Hesperides
In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in Tanger, Morocco at the edge of the encircling Oceanus, the world-ocean....
.
- To capture Cerberus
Cerberus, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of Hades, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping...
.
Further adventures
After completing these tasks, Heracles joined the
ArgonautsIn Greek mythology, the Argonauts were a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
in a search for the
Golden FleeceIn Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the winged ram Chrysomallos . It figures in the tale of Jason and his band of Argonauts, who set out on a quest for the fleece in order to place Jason rightfully on the throne of Iolcus in Thessaly...
. They rescued heroines, conquered Troy, and helped the gods fight against the
GigantesIn Greek mythology, the Giants were the children of Gaia or Gaea, who was fertilized by the blood of Ouranos, after being castrated by his son Cronus....
. He also fell in love with Princess
IoleIn Greek mythology, Iole was the daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia. According to the brief epitome by the so-called Apollodorus, Eurytus had a beautiful young daughter named Iole who was eligible for marriage. Iole was claimed by Heracles for a bride, but Eurytus refused her hand in marriage...
of Oechalia. King
EurytusIn Greek mythology, Eurytus is the name of numerous characters.-The king:King Eurytus, Erytus , or Eurytos of Oechalia , Thessaly, was the son of Melaneus and either Stratonice or Oechalia....
of Oechalia promised his daughter,
IoleIn Greek mythology, Iole was the daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia. According to the brief epitome by the so-called Apollodorus, Eurytus had a beautiful young daughter named Iole who was eligible for marriage. Iole was claimed by Heracles for a bride, but Eurytus refused her hand in marriage...
, to whoever could beat his sons in an archery contest. Heracles won but Eurytus abandoned his promise. Heracles' advances were spurned by the king and his sons, except for one: Iole's brother Iphitus. Heracles killed the king and his sons–excluding Iphitus–and abducted Iole. Iphitus became Heracles' best friend. However, once again, Hera drove Heracles mad and he threw Iphitus over the city wall to his death. Once again, Heracles purified himself through three years of servitude - this time to Queen
OmphaleIn Greek mythology, Omphale was a daughter of Iardanus, either a king of Lydia, or a river-god. Omphale was queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor; according to Bibliotheke she was the wife of Tmolus, the oak-clad mountain king of Lydia; after he was gored to death by a bull, she continued to...
of
LydiaLydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
.
Omphale
OmphaleIn Greek mythology, Omphale was a daughter of Iardanus, either a king of Lydia, or a river-god. Omphale was queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor; according to Bibliotheke she was the wife of Tmolus, the oak-clad mountain king of Lydia; after he was gored to death by a bull, she continued to...
was a queen or princess of
LydiaLydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
. As penalty for a murder, Heracles was her slave. He was forced to do women's work and wear women's clothes, while she wore the skin of the
Nemean LionThe Nemean lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived in Nemea. He was eventually killed by Heracles....
and carried his olive-wood club. After some time, Omphale freed Heracles and married him. Some sources mention a son born to them who is variously named. It was at that time that the
cercopesIn Greek mythology, the Cercopes were mischievous forest creatures who lived in Thermopylae or on Euboea but roamed the world and might turn up anywhere mischief was afoot...
, mischievous wood spirits, stole Heracles' weapons. He punished them by tying them to a stick with their faces pointing downward.
Hylas
While walking through the wilderness, Heracles was set upon by the Dryopians. He killed their king, Theiodamas, and the others gave up and offered him Prince
HylasIn Greek mythology, Hylas was the son of King Theiodamas of the Dryopians. Other sources such as Ovid state that Hylas' father was Heracles and his mother was the nymph Melite, or that his mother was the wife of Theiodamus, whose adulterous affair with Heracles caused the war between him and her...
. He took the youth on as his weapons bearer and beloved. Years later, Heracles and Hylas joined the crew of the
ArgoIn Greek mythology, the Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcus to retrieve the Golden Fleece.-Legendry:...
. As Argonauts, they only participated in part of the journey. In
MysiaMysia was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor or Anatolia . It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lydia on the south, Aeolis on the southwest, Troad on the west and by the Propontis on the north...
, Hylas was kidnapped by a nymph. Heracles, heartbroken, searched for a long time but Hylas had fallen in love with the nymphs and never showed up again. In other versions, he simply drowned. Either way, the
Argo set sail without them.
Rescue of Prometheus
HesiodHesiod was a Greek oral poet. His date is uncertain but leading scholars , agree that Hesiod lived in the latter half of the eighth century BCE. Since at least Herodotus's time , Hesiod and Homer have generally been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived, and they are often...
's
TheogonyThe Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC.-Descriptions:...
and
AeschylusAeschylus was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive, the others being Sophocles and Euripides...
'
Prometheus UnboundPrometheus Unbound is a play by the Greek poet Aeschylus, concerned with the torments of the Greek mythological figure Prometheus and his suffering at the hands of Zeus...
both tell that Heracles shot and killed the eagle that tortured
PrometheusIn Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of human-kind known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
(which was his punishment by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mortals). Heracles freed the
TitanIn Greek mythology, the Titans , were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary Golden Age...
from his chains and his torments. Prometheus then made predictions regarding further deeds of Heracles.
Laomedon of Troy
Before the
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
,
PoseidonIn Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
sent a sea monster to attack
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
. The story is related in several digressions in the
Iliad (7.451-453, 20.145-148, 21.442-457) and is found in Apollodorus'
BibliothekeThe Bibliotheca , in three books, provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends, "the most valuable mythographical work that has come down from ancient times," Aubrey Diller observed, whose "stultifying purpose" was neatly expressed in the epigram noted by Patriarch...
(2.5.9).
LaomedonIn Greek mythology, Laomedon was a Trojan king, son of Ilus, brother of Ganymedes and father of Priam, Astyoche, Lampus, Hicetaon, Clytius, Cilla, Proclia, Aethilla, Clytodora, and Hesione. Tithonus is also described by most sources as Laomedon's eldest legitimate son; and most sources omit...
planned on sacrificing his daughter
HesioneIn Greek mythology, the most prominent Hesione was a Trojan princess, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy, sister of Priam and second wife of King Telamon of Salamis. Poseidon, angered by being cheated out of his wages by Laomedon, sent a sea monster to attack Troy...
to Poseidon in the hope of appeasing him. Heracles happened to arrive (along with
TelamonIn Greek mythology, Telamon , son of the king Aeacus, of Aegina, and Endeis and brother of Peleus, accompanied Jason as one of his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. In the Iliad he was the father of Greek heroes Ajax the Great and Teucer the Archer by different mothers...
and
OiclesIn Greek mythology, Oecles was an Argive king, father of Amphiaraus, son of Mantius and grandson of Melampus....
) and agreed to kill the monster if Laomedon would give him the horses received from Zeus as compensation for Zeus' kidnapping
GanymedeIn Greek mythology, Ganymede, or Ganymedes is a divine hero whose homeland was Troy. He was a Trojan prince, son of the eponymous Tros of Dardania, and of Callirrhoe, and brother of Ilus and Assaracus...
. Laomedon agreed. Heracles killed the monster, but Laomedon went back on his word. Accordingly, in a later expedition, Heracles and his followers attacked Troy and sacked it. Then they slew all Laomedon's sons present there save
PodarcesIn Greek mythology, Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous"....
, who was renamed Priam, who saved his own life by giving Heracles a golden veil Hesione had made. Telamon took Hesione as a war prize; they were married and had a son,
TeucerIn Greek mythology Teucer, also Teucrus or Teucris , was the son of King Telamon of Salamis and his second wife Hesione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. He fought alongside his half-brother, Ajax, in the Trojan War and is the legendary founder of the city Salamis on Cyprus...
.
Other adventures
Heracles defeated the
BebrycesThe Bebryces were a tribe of people who lived in Bithynia. According to Strabo they were one of the many Thracian tribes that had crossed from Europe into Asia.....
(ruled by King
MygdonMygdon may refer to:* Mygdon of Phrygia, in Greek mythology, king who was an ally of King Priam of Troy* Mygdon of Bebryces, in Greek mythology, killed by Heracles, son of Poseidon...
) and gave their land to Prince
LycusLycus or Lykos , a common name for Greek rivers, seems to have originated in the impression made upon the mind of the beholder by a torrent rushing down the side of a hill, which suggested the idea of a wolf rushing at its prey.Lycus or Lykos may refer to:* Lycus , several people in Greek...
of
MysiaMysia was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor or Anatolia . It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lydia on the south, Aeolis on the southwest, Troad on the west and by the Propontis on the north...
, son of
DascylusIn Greek mythology, King Dascylus or Daskylos of Mysia or Mariandyne was the father of Lycus, Priolas, and Otreus. One account says that Dascylus was a son of Tantalus. He is presumably the eponym of the coastal city of Dascylium....
.
- He killed the robber Termerus
In Greek mythology, Termerus was a robber who was killed by Heracles. The episode is referenced in Plutarch's Life of Theseus, in description of Theseus' method of slaying his assailants by returning "the same sort of violence that they offered to him," as Heracles killed Termerus by “breaking his...
.
- Heracles visited Evander
In Roman mythology, Evander or Euander was a deific culture hero from Arcadia, Greece, who brought the Greek pantheon, laws and alphabet to Italy, where he founded the city of Pallantium on the future site of Rome, sixty years before the Trojan War...
with AntorIn Greek mythology, "Antor" was a companion of Heracles. When Heracles visited Evander, Antor stayed behind in Italy.See Virgil X, 779.No more is known about him....
, who then stayed in Italy.
- Heracles killed King Amyntor
Amyntor , was an ancient Greek name attributed to several people both mythological and historical.- Mythological :...
of the Dolopes for not allowing him into his kingdom. He also killed King Emathion- Ethiopian king :Emathion was king of Ethiopia, the son of Tithonus and Eos, and brother of Memnon. Heracles killed him.- Samothracian :Emathion was king of Samothrace, was the son of Zeus and Electra , brother to Dardanus, Iasion, Eetion, and Harmonia...
of Arabia.
- Heracles killed Lityerses
In Greek mythology, Lityerses was a son of Midas. He challenged people to harvesting contests and beheaded those he beat. Heracles won the contest and killed him.According to Iliad , Midas' son was indeed Lityerses...
after beating him in a contest of harvesting.
- Heracles killed Poriclymenus
In Greek mythology, Poriclymenus was a name attributed to two different individuals.Poriclymenus was a son of Poseidon and Chloris and would-be murderer of Amphiaraus in the battle for Thebes. Amphiaraus was swallowed by the earth before he could kill him though.Poriclymenus was also the son of...
at PylosThis article is about the Greek geographical feature and town. For the mythological figure see Pylus . For board game see Pylos ....
.
- Heracles founded the city Tarentum
Taranto is a coastal city in Puglia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base.It is the third-largest continental city of southern Italy: according to the 2001 census, it has a population of...
(modern: TarantoTaranto is a coastal city in Puglia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base.It is the third-largest continental city of southern Italy: according to the 2001 census, it has a population of...
) in Italy.
- Heracles learned music from Linus
In Greek mythology Linus refers to the musical son of Apollo and one of the Muses. As the son of Apollo or of Amphimarus, a son of Poseidon and Urania, it was related that he was killed by Apollo during a musical contest. As son of Apollo and Terpsichore, he taught music to Orpheus and then to...
(and EumolpusIn Greek mythology, Eumolpus was the son of Poseidon and Chione. According to Apollodorus, Chione, daughter of Boreas and Oreithyia, pregnant with Eumolpus by Poseidon, was frightened of her father's reaction so she threw the baby into the ocean...
), but killed him after Linus corrected his mistakes. He learned how to wrestle from AutolycusIn Greek mythology, Autolycus was a son of Hermes and Chione. He was the husband of Neaera, or according to Homer of Amphithea...
. He killed the famous boxer EryxIn Greek mythology, Eryx was the son of Aphrodite and King Butes of the Elymian people on Sicily. Eryx was an excellent boxer but died when Heracles beat him in a match...
of SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
in a match.
- Heracles was an Argonaut
In Greek mythology, the Argonauts were a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
. He killed AlastorAlastor can refer to a number of people and concepts related to Greek mythology:*Alastor was an epithet of the Greek god Zeus, according to Hesychius of Alexandria and the Etymologicum Magnum, which described him as the avenger of evil deeds, specifically, familial bloodshed. As the...
and his brothers.
- When Hippocoon
In Greek mythology, Hippocoon was a son of King Oebalus and Queen Gorgophone of Sparta. When their father died, Hippocoon's brother, Tyndareus, became king. Hippocoon overthrew him and took the throne, only to be killed by Heracles, who also killed his son , including Lycon, Alcon and Alcinous,...
overthrew his brother, TyndareusIn Greek mythology, Tyndareus or Tyndareos was a Spartan king, son of Oebalus and Gorgophone , husband of Leda and father of Helen, Castor and Polydeuces, Clytemnestra, Timandra, Phoebe and Philonoe.Tyndareus had a brother named Hippocoon, who seized power and exiled Tyndareus...
, as King of SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars...
, Heracles reinstated the rightful ruler and killed Hippocoon and his sons.
- Heracles slew the giants Cycnus
In Greek mythology, four people were known as Cycnus or Cygnus. Most of them ended up being transformed into swans. The most famous Cycnus however, was the son of Ares.-Son of Ares:Cycnus was sired upon Pelopia or Pyrene...
, PorphyrionIn Greek mythology, Porphyrion was a giant, one of the sons of Uranus and Gaia. He attempted to rape Hera. Hera set him against Dionysus, promising the giant Hebe's hand in marriage if he would defeat the god. He was killed when Zeus smote him with lightning and Heracles finally shot him with an...
and MimasMimas was one of the Gigantes of Greek mythology. Like the other giant sons of Gaia, Mimas had serpents for legs and was born fully armoured. Mimas was slain by Hephaestus during the war against the Olympian Gods....
. The expedition against Cycnus, in which Iolaus accompanied Heracles, is the ostensible theme of a short epic attributed to HesiodHesiod was a Greek oral poet. His date is uncertain but leading scholars , agree that Hesiod lived in the latter half of the eighth century BCE. Since at least Herodotus's time , Hesiod and Homer have generally been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived, and they are often...
, The Shield of HeraclesThe Shield of Heracles is a fragment of Greek epic, of 481 lines of hexameters. The theme of the episode is the expedition of Heracles and Iolaus against Cycnus, the son of Ares, who challenged Heracles to combat as Heracles was passing near Itonus, told in a turgid and laboured diction; the...
.
- Heracles killed Antaeus
Antaeus in Greek mythology was a giant of Libya, the son of Poseidon and Gaia, whose wife was Tinjis. He was extremely strong as long as he remained in contact with the ground , but once lifted into the air he became as weak as other men...
the giant who was immortal while touching the earth, by picking him up and holding him in the air while strangling him.
- Heracles went to war with Augeias after he denied him a promised reward for clearing his stables. Augeias remained undefeated due to the skill of his two generals, the Molionides, and after Heracles fell ill, his army was badly beaten. Later, however, he was able to ambush and kill the Molionides, and thus march into Elis, sack it, and kill Augeias and his sons.
- Heracles visited the house of Admetus
For other uses, see Admetus In Greek mythology, Admetus /æd 'mi: təs/ was a king of Pherae in Thessaly, succeeding his father Pheres after whom the city was named. Admetus was one of the Argonauts and took part in the Calydonian Boar hunt....
on the day Admetus' wife, AlcestisAlcestis is a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her story was popularised in Euripides's tragedy Alcestis. She was the daughter of Pelias, king of Iolcus, and either Anaxibia or Phylomache....
, had agreed to die in his place. By hiding beside the grave of Alcestis, Heracles was able to surprise Death when he came to collect her, and by squeezing him tight until he relented, was able to persuade Death to return Alcestis to her husband.
- Heracles challenged wine god Dionysus
In classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos is the god of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, and a major figure of Greek mythology, and one of the twelve Olympians, amongst whom Greek mythology treated him as a late arrival...
to a drinking contest and lost, resulting in his joining the ThiasusIn Greek mythology, the thiasus , was the ecstatic retinue of Dionysus, often pictured as inebriated revelers. In vase-paintings or bas-reliefs, lone female figures brandishing the thyrsos can be recognized as members of the thiasus...
for a period.
- Heracles also appears in Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete...
' The FrogsThe Frogs is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus, in 405 BC, and received first place.-Plot:...
, in which Dionysus seeks out the hero to find a way to the underworld. Heracles is greatly amused by Dionysus' appearance and jokingly offers several ways to commit suicide before finally offering his knowledge of how to get to there.
- Heracles appears as the founder of Scythia in Herodotus' text. While Heracles is sleeping out in the wilderness, a half-woman, half-snake creature steals his horses. Heracles eventually finds the creature, but she refuses to return the horses until he has sex with her. After doing so, he takes back his horses, but before leaving, he hands over his belt and bow, and gives instructions as to which of their children should found a new nation in Scythia.
Women
During the course of his life, Heracles married four times. His first marriage was to
MegaraIn Greek mythology, Megara was the oldest daughter of Creon, king of Thebes. In reward for Heracles' defending Thebes from Orchomenus in single-handed battle, Creon offered his daughter Megara to Heracles and he brought her home to the house of Amphitryon...
, whose children he murdered in a fit of madness. Apollodoros (
Bibliotheke) recounts that Megara was unharmed and given in marriage to
IolausIn Greek mythology, Iolaus was a Theban divine hero, son of Iphicles, Heracles's brother, and Automedusa.He was famed for being Heracles's nephew and for helping with for some of his Labors...
, while in
EuripidesEuripides was the lastof the three great tragedians of classical Athens . Ancient scholars thought that Euripides had written ninety-five plays, although four of those were probably written by Critias...
' version Heracles killed Megara, too.
His second wife was
OmphaleIn Greek mythology, Omphale was a daughter of Iardanus, either a king of Lydia, or a river-god. Omphale was queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor; according to Bibliotheke she was the wife of Tmolus, the oak-clad mountain king of Lydia; after he was gored to death by a bull, she continued to...
, the
LydiaLydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
n queen or princess to whom he was delivered as a slave.
His third marriage was to
DeianiraDeïanira or Dejanira is a figure in Greek mythology, best-known for being Heracles' third wife and, in the late Classical story, unwittingly killing him with the Shirt of Nessus.- Marriage :Deianira is the daughter of Althaea and Oeneus Deïanira or Dejanira (Latinized in Greek, Δηϊάνειρα or...
, for whom he had to fight the river god
AchelousIn Greek mythology, Achelous was the patron deity of the "silver-swirling" Acheloos River, which is the largest river of Greece, and thus the chief of all river deities, every river having its own river spirit. His name is pre-Greek, its meaning unknown...
. (Upon Achelous' death, Heracles removed one of his horns and gave it to some nymphs who turned it into the
cornucopiaThe cornucopia is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century BC, also referred to as horn of plenty, Horn of Amalthea, and harvest cone.- In mythology :...
.) Soon after they wed, Heracles and Deianira had to cross a river, and a
centaurIn Greek mythology, the centaurs are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse. In early Attic vase-paintings, they are depicted with the torso of a human joined at the waist to the horse's withers, where the horse's neck would be.This half-human and half-animal composition has led...
named
NessusIn Greek mythology, Nessus was a famous centaur who was killed by Heracles, and whose tainted blood in turn killed Heracles. He was the son of Ixion and Nephele, the Cloud. He fought in the battle with the Lapiths. He became a ferryman on the river Euenos....
offered to help Deianira across but then attempted to
rapeRape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or without sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
her. Enraged, Heracles shot the centaur from the opposite shore with a poisoned arrow (tipped with the Lernaean Hydra's blood) and killed him. As he lay dying, Nessus plotted revenge, told Deianira to gather up his blood and spilled semen and, if she ever wanted to prevent Heracles from having affairs with other women, she should apply them to his vestments. Nessus knew that his blood had become tainted by the poisonous blood of the Hydra, and would burn through the skin of anyone it touched.
Later, when Deianira suspected that Heracles was fond of
IoleIn Greek mythology, Iole was the daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia. According to the brief epitome by the so-called Apollodorus, Eurytus had a beautiful young daughter named Iole who was eligible for marriage. Iole was claimed by Heracles for a bride, but Eurytus refused her hand in marriage...
, she soaked a shirt of his in the mixture, creating the
poisoned shirt of NessusThe Shirt of Nessus, Tunic of Nessus, Nessus-robe, or Nessus' shirt in Greek mythology was the poisoned shirt that killed Heracles. It was once a popular reference in literature...
. Heracles' servant,
LichasIn Greek mythology, Lichas was Hercules' servant. He brought the poisoned shirt from Deianira to Hercules because of her jealousy of Iole, killing him...
, brought him the shirt and he put it on. Instantly he was in agony, the cloth burning into him. As he tried to remove it, the flesh ripped from his bones. Heracles chose a voluntary death, asking that a
pyreA pyre is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon the pyre which is then set on fire. Pyre is wood used for burning.Traditionally, pyres are used for the cremation of the deceased in Hinduism & Sikhism...
be built for him to end his suffering. After death, the gods transformed him into an immortal, or alternatively, the fire burned away the mortal part of the demigod, so that only the god remained. Because his mortal parts had been incinerated, he could now become a full god and join his father and the other Olympians on Mount Olympus. He then married
HebeIn Greek mythology, Hēbē is the goddess of youth . She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia, until she was married to Heracles, ; her successor was the young Trojan prince Ganymede...
.
Another episode of his female affairs that stands out was his stay at the palace of
ThespiusThespius was a legendary king of Thespiae, Boeotia. His life account is considered part of Greek mythology.-Life account:He was reportedly son of Erechtheus, King of Athens and Praxithea. His maternal grandparents were Phrasimus and Diogenia, the daughter of the river god Cephissus. He married...
king of
ThespiaeThespiae was an ancient Greek city in Boeotia. It stood on level ground commanded by the low range of hills which runs eastward from the foot of Mount Helicon to Thebes. According to Pausanias, the deity most worshipped at Thespiae was Eros, whose primitive image was an unwrought stone...
, who wished him to kill the Lion of Cithaeron. As a reward, the king offered him the chance to make love to his daughters, all fifty of them, in one night. Heracles complied and they all became pregnant and all bore sons. This is sometimes referred to as his Thirteenth Labour. Many of the kings of ancient Greece traced their lines to one or another of these, notably the kings of
SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars...
and
MacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
.
Eromenoi
As symbol of masculinity and warriorship, Heracles also had a number of
pederasticGreek pederasty, as idealised by the Greeks from archaic times onward, was a relationship and bond between an adult man and an adolescent boy outside his immediate family. It was seen by the Greeks as an essential element in their culture from the time of Homer onwards...
male beloveds.
PlutarchPlutarch, born Plutarchos then, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 – 120, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, in his
Eroticos, maintains that Heracles'
eromenoiIn the pederastic tradition of Classical Athens, the eromenos was an adolescent boy who was in a love relationship with an adult man, known as the erastes ....
(male lovers) were beyond counting. Of these, the one most closely linked to Heracles is the
ThebanThebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
IolausIn Greek mythology, Iolaus was a Theban divine hero, son of Iphicles, Heracles's brother, and Automedusa.He was famed for being Heracles's nephew and for helping with for some of his Labors...
. Their story, an
initiatoryA rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a person's social status. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures. Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events such as childbirth,...
myth thought to be of ancient origin, contains many of the elements of the Greek pederastic apprenticeship in which the older warrior is the educator and the younger his helper in battle. Thus, Iolaus serves as Heracles' charioteer and squire. In a testament to the closeness between the two heroes, Iolaus is also known as Heracles'
symbomos, (altar-sharer). Unlike all other heroes and gods, each of whom had his or her own altar, sacrifices to either hero could be offered at one and the same altar.
Also in keeping with the initiatory pattern of the relationship, Heracles in the end gave his pupil a wife, symbolizing his entry into adulthood. Iolaus's ritual functions paralleled his relationship with Heracles. He was a patron of male love—Plutarch reports that down to his own time, male couples would go to Iolaus's tomb in Thebes to swear an oath of loyalty to the hero and to each other—and he presided over initiations in the historical era, such as the one at Agyrion in central
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
. The tomb of Iolaus is also mentioned by Pindar.
One of Heracles' best-known love affairs, and one frequently represented in ancient as well as modern art, is the one with
HylasIn Greek mythology, Hylas was the son of King Theiodamas of the Dryopians. Other sources such as Ovid state that Hylas' father was Heracles and his mother was the nymph Melite, or that his mother was the wife of Theiodamus, whose adulterous affair with Heracles caused the war between him and her...
. Though it is of more recent vintage (dated to the third century) than that with Iolaus, it too exemplifies in detail the normal cycle of a youth's initiatory process, consisting of education through service to a warrior, and concluding with promotion to adult status and marriage.
SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars...
, as a warrior city where pederastic
pedagogyPedagogy is the study of being a teacher. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction.Pedagogy is also sometimes referred to as the correct use of teaching strategies . For example, Paulo Freire referred to his method of teaching adults as "critical pedagogy"...
—ostensibly of a chaste nature—was enshrined in the laws ascribed to
LycurgusLycurgus was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi...
, the legendary legislator, also provided Heracles with an
eromenosIn the pederastic tradition of Classical Athens, the eromenos was an adolescent boy who was in a love relationship with an adult man, known as the erastes ....
—Elacatas, who was honored there with a sanctuary and yearly games. The myth of their love is an ancient one.
AbderaAbdera was a city-state on the coast of Thrace 17 km east-northeast of the mouth of the Nestos, and almost opposite Thasos. The site now lies in the Xanthi Prefecture of modern Greece...
's eponymous hero,
AbderusIn Greek mythology Abderus or Abderos was a divine hero, reputed a son of Hermes by some accounts, and eponym of Abdera, Thrace....
, was another of Heracles' beloveds. In what is considered to be initiatory myth, he was said to have been entrusted with—and slain by—the carnivorous mares of Thracian
DiomedesThe Mares of Diomedes, also called the Mares of Thrace, were four man-eating horses in Greek mythology. Magnificent, wild, and uncontrollable, they belonged to the giant Diomedes , king of Thrace, a son of Ares and Cyrene who lived on the shores of the Black Sea...
. Heracles founded the city of Abdera in
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
in his memory, where he was honored with athletic games. The topos of death in such stories is thought to symbolize the passage from one stage of life to another.
Among the lesser-known myths is that of Iphitus. Heracles' subsequent murder of Iphitus is held to be evocative of an initiatory ritual. Another such story is the one of his love for
NireusIn Greek mythology, Nireus was a name attributed to the following individuals:*Nireus was a son of Poseidon and Canace.*Nireus was a son of Aglaea and Charopus. The king of Syme, he fought for the Greeks during the Trojan War, taking three ships...
, who was "the most beautiful man who came beneath Ilion" (
Iliad, 673). Ptolemy adds that certain authors made Nireus out to be a son of Heracles, a fact thought to authenticate this tradition. The last in this category—despite the fact that Greek literature preserves no mention of this role—is the story of
PhiloctetesIn Greek mythology, Philoctetes was the son of King Poeas of Meliboea in Thessaly. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer, and was a participant in the Trojan War. He was the subject of at least two plays by Sophocles, one of which is named after him, and one each by both Aeschylus and Euripides...
. He is also heir to the hero—and thus presumably his disciple—and is the one who lights his pyre. Later he is the initiator of
NeoptolemusNeoptolemus was the son of the warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamia in Greek mythology. Achilles' mother foretold many years before Achilles birth that there would be a great war. She saw that her only son was to die if he fought in the war...
, son of
AchillesIn Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Achilles also has the attributes of being the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy....
.
There is also a series of lovers who are either later inventions or purely literary conceits. Among these are
AdmetusFor other uses, see Admetus In Greek mythology, Admetus /æd 'mi: təs/ was a king of Pherae in Thessaly, succeeding his father Pheres after whom the city was named. Admetus was one of the Argonauts and took part in the Calydonian Boar hunt....
, who assisted in the hunt for the
Calydonian BoarThe Calydonian Boar is one of the monsters of Greek mythology that had to be overcome by heroes of the Olympian age. Sent by Artemis to ravage the region of Calydon in Aetolia because its king failed to honor her in his rites to the gods, it was killed in the Calydonian Hunt, in which many male...
;
AdonisAdonis is a figure of West Semitic origin, where he is a central cult figure in various mystery religions, who entered Greek mythology. He is closely related to the Egyptian Osiris, the Semitic Tammuz and Baal Hadad, the Etruscan Atunis and the Phrygian Attis, all of whom are deities of rebirth...
;
CorythusCorythus is the name of six mortal men in Greek mythology*Corythus, son of Paris and Oenone. After Paris abandoned Oenone, she sent the boy, now grown, to Troy, where he fell in love with Helen, and she received him warmly. Paris, discovering this, killed him, not recognizing his own son...
; and
NestorIn Greek mythology, Nestor of Gerênia was the son of Neleus and Chloris, and the King of Pylos. He became king after Heracles killed Neleus and all of Nestor's brothers and sisters...
, who was said to have been loved for his wisdom. His role as eromenos was perhaps meant to explain why he was the only son of
NeleusNeleus was the son of Poseidon and Tyro, brother of Pelias. Tyro was married to Cretheus but loved Enipeus, a river god. She pursued Enipeus, who refused her advances. One day, Poseidon, filled with lust for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus and from their union was born Pelias and Neleus, twin...
to be spared by the hero.
Children
TelephusA Greek mythological figure, Telephus or Telephos was one of the Heraclidae, the sons of Heracles, who were venerated as founders of cities...
is the son of Heracles and
AugeIn Greek mythology, Auge a daughter of Aleus and Neaera and priestess of Athena Alea at Tegea, bore the hero Telephos to Heracles. Her father had been told by an oracle that he would be overthrown by his grandson. She secreted the baby in the temple of Athena...
.
HyllusIn Greek mythology, Hyllus was the son of Heracles and Deianira, husband of Iole, nursed by Abia.Heracles, whom Zeus had originally intended to be ruler of Argos, Lacedaemon and Messenian Pylos, had been supplanted by the cunning of Hera, and his intended possessions had fallen into the hands of...
is the son of Heracles and Deianeira or
MeliteMelite was one of the naiads, daughter of the river god Aegaeus, and one of the many loves of Zeus and his son Hercules. Given the choice, she chose Hercules over Zeus who went off in search of other pursuits...
.
The sons of Heracles and
HebeIn Greek mythology, Hēbē is the goddess of youth . She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia, until she was married to Heracles, ; her successor was the young Trojan prince Ganymede...
are
Alexiares and AnicetusAlexiares and Anicetus are minor twin gods in Greek Mythology. They are the sons of Heracles and Hebe, and along with their father, the guardians of Mount Olympus. Their names mean "he who wards off war" and "the unconquerable" respectively. They were worshipped the most in Thebes and Rhodes,...
.
There is also, in some versions, reference to an episode where Heracles met and impregnated a half-serpentine woman, known as
EchidnaIn the most ancient layers of Greek mythology, Echidna was called the "Mother of All Monsters"...
; her children, known as the Dracontidae, were the ancestors of the House of Cadmus.
Death
This is described in
Ovid'sPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who wrote about love, seduction, and mythological transformation....
Metamorphoses Book IX. Having wrestled and defeated
AchelousIn Greek mythology, Achelous was the patron deity of the "silver-swirling" Acheloos River, which is the largest river of Greece, and thus the chief of all river deities, every river having its own river spirit. His name is pre-Greek, its meaning unknown...
, god of the Acheloos river, Heracles takes Deianeira as his wife. Travelling to
TirynsTiryns is a Mycenaean archaeological site in the prefecture of Argolis in the Peloponnese, some kilometres north of Nauplion.-General information:...
, a
centaurIn Greek mythology, the centaurs are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse. In early Attic vase-paintings, they are depicted with the torso of a human joined at the waist to the horse's withers, where the horse's neck would be.This half-human and half-animal composition has led...
,
NessusIn Greek mythology, Nessus was a famous centaur who was killed by Heracles, and whose tainted blood in turn killed Heracles. He was the son of Ixion and Nephele, the Cloud. He fought in the battle with the Lapiths. He became a ferryman on the river Euenos....
, offers to help Deianeira across a fast flowing river while Heracles swims it. However, Nessus is true to the archetype of the mischievous centaur and tries to steal Deianara away while Heracles is still in the water. Angry, Heracles shoots him with his arrows dipped in the poisonous blood of the
Lernaean HydraIn Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra (Greek: was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast (as its name evinces) that possessed 9 heads— the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint—...
. Thinking of revenge, Nessus gives Deianara his blood-soaked tunic before he dies, telling her it will "excite the love of her husband".
Several years later,
rumorA rumor or rumour , is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern" However, a review of the research on rumor conducted by Pendleton in 1998 found that research across sociology,...
tells Deianeira that she has a rival for the love of Heracles. Deianeira, remembering Nessus' words, gives Heracles the bloodstained shirt. Lichas, the herald, delivers the shirt to Heracles. However, it is still covered in the Hydra's blood from Heracles' arrows, and this poisons him, tearing his skin and exposing his bones. Before he dies, Heracles throws
LichasIn Greek mythology, Lichas was Hercules' servant. He brought the poisoned shirt from Deianira to Hercules because of her jealousy of Iole, killing him...
into the sea, thinking he was the one who poisoned him (according to several versions, Lichas turns to stone, becoming a rock standing in the sea, named for him). Heracles then uproots several trees and builds a
funeral pyre"Funeral Pyre" was the The Jam's thirteenth single released on 6 June 1981. Backed by the B-side "Disguises", a cover of a Who track, it reached #4 in the UK Singles chart....
, which
PoeasIn Greek mythology, Poeas, or Poias was one of the Argonauts and a friend of Heracles.*As an Argonaut, Poeas is identified as the greatest archer of the group. When facing the giant Talos, some accounts say Medea drugged the bronze giant and Poeas shot an arrow to poison him in his heel.*More...
, father of Philoctetes, lights. As his body burns, only his immortal side is left. Through Zeus'
apotheosisApotheosis , refers to the exaltation of a subject to divine level...
, Heracles rises to Olympus as he dies.
No one but Heracles' friend
PhiloctetesIn Greek mythology, Philoctetes was the son of King Poeas of Meliboea in Thessaly. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer, and was a participant in the Trojan War. He was the subject of at least two plays by Sophocles, one of which is named after him, and one each by both Aeschylus and Euripides...
(
PoeasIn Greek mythology, Poeas, or Poias was one of the Argonauts and a friend of Heracles.*As an Argonaut, Poeas is identified as the greatest archer of the group. When facing the giant Talos, some accounts say Medea drugged the bronze giant and Poeas shot an arrow to poison him in his heel.*More...
in some versions) would light his funeral pyre (in an alternate version, it is
IolausIn Greek mythology, Iolaus was a Theban divine hero, son of Iphicles, Heracles's brother, and Automedusa.He was famed for being Heracles's nephew and for helping with for some of his Labors...
who lights the pyre). For this action, Philoctetes (or Poeas) received Heracles' bow and arrows, which were later needed by the Greeks to defeat Troy in the Trojan War.
Philoctetes confronted
ParisParis , the son of Priam, king of Troy, appears in a number of Greek legends. Probably the best-known was his elopement with Helen, queen of Sparta, this being one of the immediate causes of the Trojan War...
and shot a poisoned arrow at him. The Hydra poison would subsequently lead to the death of
ParisParis , the son of Priam, king of Troy, appears in a number of Greek legends. Probably the best-known was his elopement with Helen, queen of Sparta, this being one of the immediate causes of the Trojan War...
. The Trojan War, however, would continue until the
Trojan HorseThe Trojan Horse was a tale from the Trojan War, as told in Virgil's Latin epic poem The Aeneid. The events in this story from the Bronze Age took place after Homer's Iliad, and before Homer's Odyssey. It was the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the...
was used to defeat
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
.
In Rome
In Rome, Heracles was honored as
Hercules, and had a number of distinctively Roman myths and practices associated with him under that name.
Reception history
Via the Greco-Buddhist culture, Heraclean symbolism was transmitted to the far east. An example remains to this day in the
NioKongōrikishi or Niō are two wrath-filled and muscular guardians of the Buddha, standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in China, Japan and Korea in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are manifestations of the Bodhisattva ' protector deity and are part of the...
guardian deities in front of
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Buddhist temples.
HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
connected Heracles both to
PhoeniciaPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
n god
MelqartMelqart, properly Phoenician Milk-Qart "King of the City", less accurately Melkart, Melkarth or Melgart , Akkadian Milqartu, was tutelary god of the Phoenician city of Tyre as Eshmun protected Sidon...
and to the
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
ian god
ShuIn Egyptian mythology, Shu is one of the primordial gods, a personification of air, one of the Ennead of Heliopolis. He was created by Atum, his father and Iusaaset, his mother in the city of Heliopolis. With his sister, Tefnut , he was the father of Nut and Geb...
. Temples dedicated to Heracles abounded all along the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
coastal countries. For example the temple of
Heracles Monoikos (i.e. the lone dweller), built far from any nearby town upon a promontory in what is now the Cote d'Azur, gave its name to the area's more recent name,
MonacoMonaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a small sovereign city-state located in South Western Europe on the northern central coast of the Mediterranean Sea, having a land border on three sides only with France, and being about away from Italy. Its size is just under 2 km² with an...
.
The gateway to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic ocean, where the southernmost tip of Spain and the northernmost of Morocco face each other, is, classically speaking, referred to as the Pillars of Hercules/Heracles, owing to the story that he set up two massive spires of stone to stabilise the area and ensure the safety of ships sailing between the two landmasses.
Organisations named after Heracles include the Greek football team Iraklis F.C..
Heracles was canonized by
Aleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, yogi, and possibly a spy...
as a saint in
Ecclesia Gnostica CatholicaEcclesia Gnostica Catholica , or the Gnostic Catholic Church, is the ecclesiastical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis , an international fraternal initiatory organization devoted to promulgating the Law of Thelema. Thelema is a philosophical, mystical and religious system elaborated by Aleister Crowley,...
.
HeraclesHercules is a fictional Olympian god in the DC Universe based on the Greek demigod and hero of the same name....
appeared as an enemy of the Amazons in the pages of
Wonder WomanWonder Woman is a DC Comics superhero created by William Moulton Marston. First appearing in All Star Comics #8 , she is one of three characters to have been continuously published by DC Comics since the company's 1944 inception .Wonder Woman is a member of an all-female tribe of Amazons...
. He would later reconcile with them, though. There is also a Marvel Comics superhero named
HerculesHercules is a fictional character that appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby....
, that is a member of the superhero team The Avengers. He claims to be the god of strength himself, descended from Olympus.
HerculesHercules is a Disney character who first appeared in the 1997 film of the same name and later in the midquel television series of the same name. He is based on the mythical character Hercules, although some aspects of his life differ greatly from the original legend...
has appeared in several movies, such as a Disney animated movie that was loosely based on his myths, and the 1963 cult classic
Jason and the ArgonautsJason and the Argonauts is a Columbia Pictures fantasy feature film starring Todd Armstrong as the titular mythical Greek hero in a story about his quest for the Golden Fleece. Directed by Don Chaffey in collaboration with stop motion animation expert Ray Harryhausen, the film is noted for its...
, where he appeared as a member of crew of the
Argo, searching for the golden fleece. In television, Hercules is the mentor and ancestor of Herry Hercules from
Class of the TitansClass of the Titans is a Canadian animated television series created by Studio B Productions and Nelvana. It premiered on December 31, 2005 at 5PM ET/PT on Teletoon with a special 90-minute presentation of the first three episodes. Currently the series airs in the United States on qubo.The series...
.
Spoken word myths
- Heracles and Hylas, read by Timothy Carter
Bibliography of reconstruction: HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
, Odyssey, 12.072 (7th c. BC); TheocritusTheocritus , the creator of ancient Greek bucolic poetry, flourished in the 3rd century BC.-Life:Little is known of him beyond what can be inferred from his writings. We must, however, handle these with some caution, since some of the poems commonly attributed to him have little claim to...
, Idylls, 13 (350–310 BC); CallimachusCallimachus was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya. He was a noted poet, critic and scholar of the Library of Alexandria and enjoyed the patronage of ancient Egyptian Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes...
, Aetia (Causes), 24. Thiodamas the Dryopian, Fragments, 160. Hymn to Artemis (310–250? BC); Apollonios Rhodios, Argonautika, I. 1175 - 1280 (c. 250 BC); ApollodorusApollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...
, Library and Epitome 1.9.19, 2.7.7 (140 BC); Sextus PropertiusSextus Aurelius Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet who was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium) and died shortly after 15 BC.Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of Elegies. He was friends with the poets Gallus and Virgil, and had with them as his patron Maecenas, and through Maecenas, the...
, Elegies, i.20.17ff (50–15 BC); OvidPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who wrote about love, seduction, and mythological transformation....
, Ibis, 488 (AD 8–18); Gaius Valerius FlaccusGaius Valerius Flaccus was a Roman poet who flourished in the "Silver Age" under the emperors Vespasian and Titus and wrote a Latin Argonautica that owes a great deal to Apollonius of Rhodes' more famous epic....
, Argonautica, I.110, III.535, 560, IV.1-57 (1st century); HyginusGaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the famous Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was by Augustus elected superintendent of the Palatine library according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20...
, Fables, 14. Argonauts Assembled (1st century); Philostratus the Elder, Images, ii.24 Thiodamas (170–245); First Vatican Mythographer, 49. Hercules et Hylas
Ancestry
See also
Other figures in Greek mythology punished by the gods include:
- Medusa
In Greek mythology, Medusa , "guardian, protectress") was a gorgon, a chthonic female monster; gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield...
- Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of human-kind known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
- Sisyphus
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity....
- Atlas
In Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens from the ranges now called the Atlas Mountains. Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia or Klyménē :...
- Tantalus
In Greek mythology Tantalus was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies "mortals" . Other versions name his father as Tmolus "wreathed with oak," son of Sipylus, a king of Lydia. Both Tmolus and Mount...
- Ixion
In Greek mythology, Ixion was king of the Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly, and a son of Ares or Antion or the notorious evildoer Phlegyas, whose name connotes "fiery". Peirithoös was his son...
- The Danaides
Further reading
- Padilla, Mark W. (1998). "Herakles and Animals in the Origins of Comedy and Satyr Drama". In Le Bestiaire d'Héraclès: IIIe Rencontre héracléenne, edited by Corinne Bonnet, Colette Jourdain-Annequin, and Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, 217-30. Kernos Suppl. 7. Liège: Centre International d'Etude de la Religion Grecque Antique.
- Padilla, Mark W. (1998). "The Myths of Herakles in Ancient Greece: Survey and Profile". Lanham, Md.: University Press of America.