Alcmene. To woo Alcmene, Zeus assumed the form of her husband. The wife of Zeus, Hera, took a promise from her husband that the one who was born at a certain time would become a great king. Despite the fact that Hercules was supposed to be at the appointed hour, Hera intervened in the process, as a result of which Hercules' cousin, named Eurystheus, was born earlier. Nevertheless, Zeus agreed with Hera that Hercules would not obey his cousin forever, but would only fulfill his twelve orders. It was these acts that later became the famous 12 labors of Hercules.
Ancient Greek myths attribute many deeds to Hercules: from a campaign with the Argonauts to the construction of the city of Gythion along with the god Apollo.
Hera could not forgive Zeus for betrayal, but she vented her anger on Hercules. For example, she sent madness on him, and Hercules in a fit killed his own, born to Megara, the daughter of the king of Thebes. A prophetess from the temple of Apollo at Delphi stated that in order to atone for his terrible deed, Hercules must fulfill the instructions of Eurystheus, who envied the strength of Hercules and came up with very difficult tests.
A painful death of a hero
For twelve years, Hercules coped with all the tasks of his cousin, having received freedom. The further life of the hero was also feats, the content and number of which depends on the authors of specific myths, since there are quite a lot of ancient Greek monuments.
Most authors agree that, having defeated the river god Achelous, Hercules won the hand of Dejanira, the daughter of Dionysus. Once Dejanira was kidnapped by the centaur Ness, who admired her beauty. Nessus carried travelers across a stormy river on his back, and when Hercules and Dejanira approached the river, the hero put his wife on a centaur, and he went swimming.
Nessus tried to escape with Dejanira on his back, but Hercules wounded him with an arrow poisoned by the most powerful poison in the world - the bile of the Lernean hydra, which he killed during the second assignment of Eurystheus. Nessus, dying, advised Dejanira to collect his blood, lying that it could be used as a love potion.
Earlier, with an arrow poisoned by the bile of the hydra, Hercules mortally wounded his teacher and friend, the centaur Chiron.
After some time, Dejanira learned that Hercules wanted to marry one of his captives. Having soaked the cloak with the blood of Nessus, she sent it as a gift to her husband to return his love. As soon as Hercules put on the cloak, the poison entered his body, causing terrible torment.
To get rid of suffering, Hercules uproots trees, folding them into a huge fire, and lies down on firewood. According to legend, the funeral pyre agreed to set fire to best friend the hero Philoctetes, for which Hercules promised him his bow and poisoned arrows.
It is believed that Hercules died at the age of fifty, after his death he was accepted among the immortals and ascended to Olympus, where he finally reconciled with Hera and even married her daughter.
Hercules, in ancient Greek mythology, a hero, a demigod with great power.
Family and environment
Numerous myths about future fate Hercules, after being released from service, basically come down not to victories over monsters, but to campaigns, the capture of cities and the birth of numerous children, whose descendants reigned in the city-states of Greece.
Herodotus writes that when Hercules passed through Scythia, he met a half-maiden-half-snake and entered into a marriage relationship with her. The sons from this connection became the ancestors of the Scythians.
Hercules also participated in the campaign of the Argonauts along with Hylas. According to one version, he was not just a participant, but a leader.
Hercules was also placed in the sky as a constellation. There are different versions of which constellation represents Hercules. Or it is the Kneeling One, which displays the victory of the hero over the dragon at the Hesperides. Or Ophiuchus, since he strangled the snake near the river Sagaris in Lydia. Either he became the constellation Gemini along with Theseus or Apollo.
Name, epithets and character
At birth, Hercules was named Alcides. The very name "Hercules" most likely means "the glorified Hero" or "thanks to Hera." This etymology was already known to the ancient authors, who tried to reconcile the apparent contradiction between the meaning of the name Hercules and Hera's hostile attitude towards him. In different parts of Greece, Hercules was revered under different names. The Eritheans revered him as Ipokton, as he exterminated the worms that undermine the vine.
Cornopion is revered by the Eteans for delivering them from the locust, which they call "corn dog". In Iberia, his epithet is Pevkei, in Thebes, Promach.
Another epithet of Hercules is Melampig, which is also the name of the rock at Thermopylae. According to Hesychius, this epithet means "brave, daring".
A few more epithets found in different sources are Keraminth, Mekistei, Musaget and Palemon.
The Greeks identified Hercules with the Phoenician god-patron of navigation Melkart, the Celts revered him as the patron of writing and the art of the bards. They followed the tradition that Heracles was the Idean Dactyl, whom they called Ogmios.
The descendants of Hercules were called Heracleides. In Roman mythology, Hercules corresponds to Hercules.
Cult and symbolism
The cult of Hercules was widespread throughout the Greek world, and sacrifices were performed in some cases according to the ritual adopted for the gods, in others - according to the ritual customary for heroes. According to Diodorus, the cult of Hercules as a god first arose in Athens. Hercules was revered as the patron saint of gymnasiums, palestras and thermae, often as a healer and averter of all sorts of troubles. Sometimes he was revered along with Hermes, the patron of trade.
Hercules very early turned into a general Greek hero, and the details of the legends that connected him, probably originally with some particular locality or Greek tribe, were erased. However, all attempts to link the origin of the myths about Hercules to one particular place (either with Thebes or Argos) or to consider Hercules as a specifically Dorian hero are unconvincing. The exploits of Hercules quite clearly fall into three cultural and historical types: the curbing of monsters, the military exploits of the epic hero, and the fighting against God.
In Sikyon, Thebes and other cities, festivities were held in honor of Hercules - Heraclea. They were established to commemorate the death of a hero and were held on the second day of the month of metageitnion (approximately August-September).
In Phocis there was a sanctuary of Hercules the Misogynist, whose priest was not supposed to sleep with a woman for a year.
Ovid writes that Hercules' birthday was celebrated on the winter solstice, as were the birthdays of Zeus, Apollo, and other gods. According to Theocritus, Alcmene gave birth to Hercules on the day of the vernal equinox, when the Italians, Babylonians and other peoples celebrated New Year. The fourth day of the month was dedicated to Hercules as the founder of the Olympic Games, he also belonged to every fourth year.
A temple dedicated to Hercules stood in Thespiae, its attendant was a virgin priestess. In Thebes, the sanctuary of Hercules the Binder of the Horses was established.
The veneration of Hercules was spread throughout Macedonia, whose kings were venerated by his descendants.
The indispensable attributes of Hercules were the skin of the Nemean lion, which served as his armor, and a club made of oak (or ash, or olive).
In culture and art
Euripides writes about Hercules in the tragedies Furious Hercules, Alcestis and Heraclides, Sophocles in the tragedy Trachinian, Pausanias in the Description of Hellas, Hesiod in The Shield of Hercules and many other authors. The 15th hymn of Homer and the 12th Orphic hymn are dedicated to him.
The variety of myths about this Hero and the presence of similar characters in the myths of other peoples prompted ancient philologists to think that Hercules is a collective image and several heroes bore this name. The Roman scholar Varro believes that there were 24 Hercules, and John Leads counts 7 of them.
Hercules was depicted as a child strangling snakes, a young man resting after a feat or performing a feat, a powerful bearded man armed with a club and dressed in the skin of the Nemean lion he had killed.
From ancient times to modern times, the myths about Hercules never cease to be of interest to writers, sculptors and artists.
Some of the most interesting works in painting are paintings by Paolo Veronese "The Choice of Hercules" (c. 1580), Reni Guido "Hercules and the Lernean Hydra" (1620), Annibale Carracci "Choice of Hercules" (c. 1596). Francisco de Zurban created a whole series of ten canvases dedicated to exploits, it is interesting that each of his paintings depicts a club, it either lies on the ground and is in the hands of the hero. The Symbolist Gustave Moreau illustrated Heracles' battles with the Lernaean Hydra and the Stymphalian Birds. The image of the hero was no less popular in the Rococo era, the most interesting is the work of Francois Boucher "Omphala and Hercules", where the latter appears as a hero-lover surrounded by cupids and a romantic interior. The popularity of stories about this hero in modern art is not a surprise, one of the strangest paintings is Salvador Dali's painting "Hercules raises the surface of the sea and asks Venus to wait to wake Cupid", written in 1963, what exactly the author wanted to say by this is completely unclear.
Of the works of sculpture, it is worth paying attention to Hercules by the Farnese sculptor Lysippus (an ancient Roman copy from the Greek original), Hercules from the Bull Forum and Hercules the Archer from the pediment of the temple of Athena in Aegina.
Of the famous sculptors of a later time, Antonio Pollaiolo "Hercules and Antaeus", "Hercules and Hydra" (1478), Giambologna "Hercules and Antaeus", "Hercules and Ness" and others, William Brodie "Hercules and Ness" and others, William Brodie "Hercules and firmament" (1850) and so on.
The myths about Hercules also inspired the composers Bach, Cavalli, Vivaldi and Saint-Saens.
In modern times
Not many people know that the name Hercule of the character of the famous detective Hercule Poirot of the writer Agatha Christie is french version named "Hercules". And in 1947, she wrote the book "The Labors of Hercules", which is 12 short stories, titled in honor of a feat, where Poirot solves another riddle.
Hercules or Hercules is often found in modern cinema, as a character in a movie, TV series or cartoon. In 1997, Disney even shot a full-length cartoon "Hercules", and a little later, an animated series based on it.
Not bypassed the Hero and the industry of computer games. Here are some games where Hercules is found - Rise of the Argonauts, God of War III, Gods of the Arena and others.
In honor of Hercules, one of the largest asteroids of the main belt (532) Herculinus, discovered on April 20, 1904 by the German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidenberg Observatory, was named.
A well-marked impact crater in the northern part of the visible side of the Moon is called "Hercules". The constellation of the northern hemisphere of the sky, visible throughout Russia, bears the same name, originally it was called "Kneeling", but in the 5th century. BC. The Greeks begin to call him "Hercules". If you connect the stars with dashes, then the constellation looks like a figure of a man, bending one knee and raising a club above his head.
Probably, today only the most incurious children and teenagers do not know who Hercules is. After all, in Soviet time, and later many books on ancient Greek mythology were published, telling in detail about him and his exploits. Let's plunge into the distant past, in the days of Hellas.
Who is he?
Let's start with who Hercules is. This is an ancient Greek hero, on which in many respects the whole mythology rests. The feats he accomplished formed the basis of many songs that brought bread to traveling singers. And in general, his life was full of travel and adventure.
Courage and heroism made him the most famous character in ancient Greek mythology. And not only. After all, in his homeland he was called Hercules, and many great rulers loved to boast that they were descended from him. So Hercules and Hercules are one and the same character, you can call him by both names, as you are more familiar with. After the expansion of the Roman Empire to the east and the capture Ancient Greece the storytellers liked the legends about him very much. So Hercules appeared in Roman mythology.
His parents
Let's start by breaking down the misconception that Hercules is a god. Actually it is not. More precisely, half of it is not. His father was indeed the most powerful god of the ancient Greek pantheon - Zeus himself. But the mother was a mere mortal - Alcmene. This can be stated with certainty - the parents of Hercules in mythology are accurately tracked.
Zeus, captivated by the beauty of Queen Alcmene, took the form of her husband Amphitrion and entered the beauty's bedroom. Nine months later, a hero was born who was destined to accomplish many feats, survive ups and downs.
The hated stepson
As already mentioned, the father of the hero was Zeus, the most powerful god of Olympus. But the goddess Hera did not like at all that her lawful husband was so hungry for beautiful mortals. And all her life she built tricks and harmed Hercules.
It started from infancy. The future hero was lying in bed when two huge poisonous snakes crawled up to him to finish him off, punishing Zeus. Of course, Hera sent them. But the cunning goddess did not take into account that the blood of a demigod already flows in the hero. He jokingly strangled both snakes.
Yes, Hercules received undoubted advantages from kinship - the god Zeus endowed him with remarkable strength, which allowed him to perform many feats. Although cunning and wisdom were also not alien to the young hero.
But throughout her life, Hera did her best to harm him - she sent madness, deprived her of the right to ascend the throne, set up circumstances against Hercules, tried in every possible way to poison his life. But more on that later.
short family life
For the first time, Hercules married very young, choosing the beautiful Megara as his wife. Although he was 16 and she was 33, they were happy and had several children. Everything was going great, and the hero did not even think about leaving native home and set off to perform feats about which wandering singers would lay down many legends.
Unfortunately, happiness did not last long. The treacherous goddess Hera never forgave her husband's son, who was born by a mere mortal. She sent a curse of madness on Hercules.
Possessed, he broke into the house and killed Megara, as well as the common children. At the same time he killed the children of his friend Iphicles.
But the madness did not last long. When reason returned to Hercules, he mourned for a long time, not knowing what to do next, how to atone for the terrible sin that he had committed, even if not through his own fault. Having gone for advice to the Delphic oracle, he received an unequivocal answer. The hero had to go to his cousin King Eurystheus and become his servant in order to perform 12 feats. It is worth saying that he became king only thanks to the intrigues of Hera. However, the high title did not provide him with either strength, or intelligence, or the love of the people. Therefore, Eurystheus had no choice but to envy Hercules and give only those tasks that he considered obviously impossible.
twelve labors
It is worth noting that Hercules in Roman mythology and Greek made different amount feats. Some storytellers spoke of twelve. Others argued that the hero had to perform only ten labors, but Eurystheus did not count two of them and gave others that Hercules had to perform. In any case, there were twelve in total. Their implementation, according to various sources, took from 8 to 12 years. Evrstheus was in no hurry to give assignments to his cousin, bound by an oath, keeping to himself and not providing the desired freedom.
The moves were different. First of all, he had to fight with various monsters:
- Nemean lion.
- Lernaean Hydra.
- Stymphalian birds.
Definitely helped here. main characteristic Hercules is an unseen power. For example, he simply strangled a lion, since the sharpest arrows did not pierce his skin. But later she became a reliable cloak that accompanied the hero until his death.
He pacified a few more, not allowing them to poison life anymore. ordinary people:
- kerinean fallow deer,.
- Erymanthian boar.
- Cretan bull.
- Three-headed dog Cerberus.
- Horses of Diomedes.
Several times the hero had to stoop to banal theft. To fulfill the orders of a cowardly and greedy relative, Hercules stole the golden apples of the Hesperides, the cows from the giant Geryon, the belt of the Amazon queen Hippolyta.
Once he even cleaned the huge stables of King Augeas.
Of course, this is far from full list the feats he accomplished. Hercules also participated in the expedition on the ship "Argo", won the Olympic Games, more than once challenged the most powerful gods, including his father Zeus, and never retreated without achieving victory or at least a "draw".
It is no coincidence that in Greece every child knows exactly who Hercules is, and can accurately name all twelve labors performed by him.
tragic death
A glorious hero died at the age of about 50 years. By this time, he had accomplished his exploits and, having received freedom from the oath to Eurystheus, he married a second time - to Deianira, who bore him four children - Heraclides.
The couple traveled extensively throughout the country, often taking part in battles. One day, the insidious centaur Ness, seeing the beautiful Dejanira, decided to kidnap her. However, Hercules did not allow this - just like a shot arrow, soaked in bile, he killed the kidnapper. Dying, Ness decided to take terrible revenge on his killer. He whispered to Dejanira that his blood has a magical property - if you rub a person's clothes with it, you can get his love forever. The gullible girl believed him and collected some blood, saving it just in case.
Many years later, Deianira suspected Hercules of falling out of love with her - completely groundless, I must say. Having sewn a new shirt for her husband, she rubbed it with blood and presented it to a hero who was returning from another war.
Alas, as soon as Hercules put it on, the poison of the hydra, which dissolved in the blood of Nessus, began to act. The shirt stuck to the body and could not be torn off. The hero suffered from wild pain and suffocated from his own cry. Seeing what she had done, Dejanira could not stand it and committed suicide by throwing herself on the sword.
Hercules, seeing that none of his friends wanted to alleviate his torment, laid down a funeral pyre, covered it with a skin, lay down on it and set fire to firewood. But instead of final death, he went to Olympus for the numerous feats he had accomplished.
distant descendants
The mythology of Hellas and Rome tells in detail about what kind of hero Hercules was. Of course, many people, especially rulers, attributed to themselves a relationship with him. It was not difficult to do this - during his travels, he left many children throughout the country, both legitimate and not quite.
For example, the influential families of the Roman Empire, Antonia and Fabia, allegedly led their own line from Hercules. The Epitid dynasties of the Messenians also could not resist the temptation to include a brave hero among their ancestors. Yes, and the Spartan Eurypontides were happy to tell everyone around (especially subordinates) that it was Hercules who was the founder of their kind.
Conclusion
This is where our article ends. Now you know that Hercules and Hercules are one hero. We learned about the main exploits that brought him such popularity. We read about the heroic, though not easy, fate of the brave demigod of Hellas. So, you can easily answer the question of who Hercules is and what he is known for.
