Heracles

• Stories of Herakles
• Hercules, a Bright Constellation in the Sky
• Short-sighted, Far-sighted, and so on

Stories of Heracles

Heracles is an ancient culture hero. There is a constellation named after him. His iconographic attributes are the lion skin and the club. the Greek historian Herodotus writes that Heracles was an Egyptian god first (more below). The greeks called him Heracles (Herakles), and in Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene and the greatest of the Greek heroes. The child was originally given the name Alcides by his parents; it was only later that he became known as Heracles. The Romans called him Hercules and had many distinctively Roman myths and practices associated with him under that name. His Etruscan equivalent was Hercle, a son of Tinia and Uni.

Heracles, an Egyptian god

The Greek historian Herodotus tells:

"Such Egyptians as possess a temple of the Theban Jove, or live in the Thebaic canton, offer no sheep in sacrifice, but only goats; for the Egyptians don't all worship the same gods, excepting Isis and Osiris, the latter of whom they say is the Grecian Bacchus. ... The Thebans, and such as imitate them in their practice, give the following account of the origin of the custom:

"Hercules," they say, "wished of all things to see Jove, but Jove didn't choose to be seen of him. At length, when Hercules persisted, Jove hit on a device - to flay a ram, and, cutting off his head, hold the head before him, and cover himself with the fleece. In this guise he showed himself to Hercules."
      Therefore the Egyptians give their statues of Jupiter the face of a ram: and from them the practice has passed to the Ammonians, who are a joint colony of Egyptians and Ethiopians, speaking a language between the two; hence also, in my opinion, the latter people took their name of Ammonians, since the Egyptian name for Jupiter is Amun. Such, then, is the reason why the Thebans don't sacrifice rams, but consider them sacred animals. On one day in the year, however, at the festival of Jupiter, they slay a single ram, and stripping off the fleece, cover with it the statue of that god, as he once covered himself, and then bring up to the statue of Jove an image of Hercules. When this has been done, the whole assembly beat their breasts in mourning for the ram, and afterwards bury him in a holy sepulchre.

The account I received of this Hercules makes him one of the twelve gods. Of the other Hercules, with whom the Greeks are familiar, I could hear nothing in any part of Egypt. That the Greeks, however (those I mean who gave the son of Amphitryon that name), took the name from the Egyptians, and not the Egyptians from the Greeks, is I think clearly proved, among other arguments, by the fact that both the parents of Hercules, Amphitryon as well as Alcmena, were of Egyptian origin . . . The Egyptian Hercules is one of their ancient gods. Seventeen thousand years before the reign of Amasis, the twelve gods were, they affirm, produced from the eight: and of these twelve, Hercules is one.

In the wish to get the best information that I could on these matters, I made a voyage to Tyre in Phoenicia, hearing there was a temple of Hercules at that place, very highly venerated . . . In a conversation that I held with the priests, I inquired how long their temple had been built ... They said that the temple was built at the same time that the city was founded, and that the foundation of the city took place two thousand three hundred years ago. In Tyre I remarked another temple where the same god was worshipped as the Thasian Hercules. So I went on to Thasos, where I found a temple of Hercules which had been built by the Phoenicians who colonised that island when they sailed in search of Europa ... These researches show plainly that there's an ancient god Hercules ... Hercules worshipped is known by the name of Olympian, and has sacrifice offered to him as an immortal". [. . .]

With the Egyptians, ... Pan is exceedingly ancient, and belongs to those whom they call "the eight gods," who existed before the rest. Hercules is one of the gods of the second order, who are known as "the twelve"; and Bacchus belongs to the gods of the third order, whom the twelve produced. [All from The History of Herodotus by Herodotus, book 2]

Heracles in Greek myths

JUPITER (the king of gods, also called Zeus) secretly laid his son Heracles beside his wife Hera in order that the child could feed from her godly breasts and thus become immortal. The stout little baby suckled her so strongly that a lot of milk spilt and sprayed over the heavens. To be more exact, Hera didn't know whose child she suckled - she only knew that his mother had abandoned him. But when the baby sucked too hard, Hera threw him from her breast with a spurt of milk. That spray formed the Milky Way. Stray droplets landed on the Earth and became lilies.

Afterwards, Heracles grew towards manhood. He got a good education from many famous masters. He became renowned for his athletic body, his strength and willingness to help those less strong and able than himself. Later on, he was taught archery by Teutarus, a cattleman.

Before he was eighteen, he was visited by two young women who called themselves Vice and Virtue. They came to offer him a way of life. Vice tried to lure him with promises of idle luxury, and Virtue promised that in his serving others, there would come toil, tribulation and suffering, but also true happiness in time. He chose that path.

At the age of eighteen, at the palace of King Thespius, the king wanted to have Hercules father his grand-children. So he put one of his fifty daughters in Hercules' bed each night. And thus Hercules had fifty sons who eventually colonised Sicily.
      Heracles became a favorite with nearly all the Greek gods. They equipped him thoroughly. For example, the great smith of Greek gods and goddesses made a golden breastplate for him.

Well armed and protected, Heracles paraded through Greek mythology. With all his variety, Heracles still fuels the imagination of artists, dramatists not excluded.

Not all writers gave the labours in the same order. There are over a dozen more deeds and travels than twelve typically ascribed to Heracles and interpolations that have become attached to them in time. Also, there are often more than just one version of a single tale and myth. All of this has to be considered.

The death of Heracles is described in Ovid's Metamorphoses Book IX.

Via the Greco-Buddhist culture, Heraclean symbolism was transmitted to the far east. An example remains to this day in the Nio guardian deities in front of Japanese Buddhist temples.

Heracles, a Bright Constellation in the Sky

Heracles (Hercules) is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the the 88 modern constellations today. It is the fifth largest of the modern constellations. In earlier times, an alternative Greek name was Engonasin, "on his knees" or "the kneeler" or "The kneeling man". "Labouring at his wheel" is another name of the constellation.

Heracles is one of the brightest constellations in the sky. The constellation lies between Lyra and Bootes. Heracles is depicted in the sky holding a club, his favourite weapon.

Heracles is known for his hard labours, which ended in making him immortal. Further, on Olympus, Heracles married Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth.
       The stellar figure is found to depict (by interpolating lines, somehow), a kneeling man with an apple branch in his right hand, and a club in the other one.




Literature  



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