HERACLES

A national hero of ancient Greece, Heracles performed a series of arduous labors, and his name became a byword for physical strength and bravery. He was worshiped as a god in Greece from at least the sixth century BCE, and his cult was probably the earliest nonindigenous form of worship accepted in Rome.

Heracles was one of the greatest of all

Ancient mythological heroes. His amazing exploits and accomplishments took place over an enormous geographical area that stretched beyond his native land into the farthest corners of the known world. Unlike the deeds of lesser figures, his actions benefited all of Greece rather than just one particular region or city, and Heracles is therefore sometimes described as “panhellenic.” He destroyed or subdued a host of monsters. Even the gods marveled at his enormous strength. Numerous kings, emperors, and generals appropriated Heracles’ two most distinctive symbols—the lion skin and the club—in order to associate themselves with the hero in the hope that they might bask in some of his reflected glory.

The main source for the story of the labors of Heracles is the second-century BCE mythographer Apollodorus, but he is also mentioned by much earlier authors, including Homer (c. eighth-ninth century BCE). In the Odyssey, Homer describes how Odysseus meets Heracles’ spirit in the underworld. For the Greeks he personified superhuman courage and strength. His life was one of toil and hardship on behalf of humankind; his reward was to become immortal after his death.

Heracles became the object of cult worship in Greece, where his rituals involved feasting and sacrifice. Animals

Right: This sculpture of Heracles is an ancient Roman copy of a Greek original dating from the fourth century BCE.

Were lifted onto the sacrificial altar in an echo of Heracles’ great feats of strength. At Thebes in Boeotia the temple of Heracles was attached to a gymnasium, in commemoration of the hero’s athletic prowess.