Heracles
Heracles, Heracles (in ancient Greek Ἡρακλῆς [Hēraklḗs], from the name of the goddess Hēra, and kleos, 'glory', meaning 'glory of Hera') or Hercules (in Roman mythology) was a hero of Greek mythology. He was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, a mortal queen, the adoptive son of Amphitryon, and the great-grandson of Perseus on the maternal line.
He received the name Alceo or Alcides at birth, in honor of his grandfather Alceo (Ἀλκαῖος, Alkaios); although this same word evokes the idea of strength (Greek ἀλκή). It was in his adulthood that he received the name by which he is known, imposed by Apollo, through the Pythia, to indicate his status as a servant of the goddess Hera. In Rome, as well as in Western Europe, he is better known as Hercules, and some Roman emperors—including Commodus and Maximian—identified with him.
Heracles in Greek mythology
He is the most famous of the Greek heroes, the paradigm of virility and the champion of the Olympian order against the chthonic monsters. His extraordinary strength is the main one of his attributes, but so are courage, pride, a certain candor and a formidable sexual vigor. He is considered the ancestor of the Kings of Sparta (in this way these Dorian leaders legitimized themselves as Achaeans) and the influence of this polis in Archaic and Classical Greece was one of the reasons for the spread of his legend and his cult, making Heracles the quintessential Dorian hero.
Mythological accounts of him abound, with the most famous being the twelve labors. The stories in which he is the protagonist form a cycle that developed constantly throughout Antiquity, which is why it is difficult to make a chronological or even coherent exposition of them. The French historian Pierre Grimal, in his Dictionary of Greek and Roman mythology, proposes to classify them into three categories, namely:
- The cycle of the Twelve Jobs.
- The independent exploits of them.
- The secondary adventures that took place during the work.
As a framework of the three cycles appear the accounts of his birth and death and apotheosis, relatively invariable in the various sources.
The earliest mentions of Heracles appear in the works of Homer and Hesiod, but more or less complete accounts of his adventures are in the works of Psynos of Lindos (a native of Rhodes, and otherwise unknown), Pisander of Cámiros (another Rhodian poet, fl. ca. 640 BC) and Paniasis of Halicarnassus ([[century V BC]]), author of a work titled Heraclea. All of these works, with the exception of a few quotes fragmentary, they have been lost.
The later poets, their commentators, and finally the mythographers of the Hellenistic age are, at present, the only surviving written sources that relate the exploits of Heracles. An important aid for the study of the same is the iconography, very abundant, which includes the main episodes of the legends. Iconography that extends from the archaic to the modern era. As an example, it is enough to point out the frieze of the temple of Apollo in Delphi and the collection of the Museo del Prado.
Heracles in other mythologies
The stories and the cult of Heracles spread to every place where the Greeks settled; in many cases the hero was incorporated into other mythologies or was identified with some previous mythical character. Among the Etruscans, extremely receptive to Hellenic mythology, Heracles became Hercle, son of Tinia and Uni. Through this personification, the Latins developed the figure of Hercules. In the mythology of Rome, Hercules is completely identified with the Greek Heracles and only a few episodes are added to his adventures intended to relate him to Italy and Lazio.
In other cases, the Greeks themselves equated with Heracles the mythical beings of other cultures; this was the case with the Phoenician god Melkart, the Egyptian gods Jonsu and Herishef or the Celtic god Ogmios. Sometimes these other Heracles were characterized with distinctive epithets such as Tyrian Heracles, Tasian Heracles (of Thassos), Canopic Heracles, or Dactyl Heracles. This fact led historians and philosophers to speculate about the existence of different Heracles throughout history, with Alcmene's son being the last of them and merely a hero.
Birth and childhood
Zeus lay with Alcmene, daughter of Electryon and granddaughter of Perseus, after assuming the appearance of her husband, Host of Thebes, also a Perseid, who had left home to go to war against the Taphians. Returning victorious, Amphitryon also lay with Alcmene; for which she became pregnant with twins; the future Heracles by Zeus and Iphicles, by her husband.
On the night they were due to be born, Zeus swore that the child member of the house of Perseus who was born that night would become a great king (other versions claim that it was Hera who convinced her husband to give birth to him). swore, only to later be able to wrest the right to the crown from his son).
When Hera found out about the oath, knowing Zeus's adultery and hating the fruit of his infidelity, she wanted to harm him. She ran to Alcmene's house and slowed her labor by sitting cross-legged with her clothes tied in knots. At the same time, she caused Eurystheus, the twins' cousin, to be born two months early, being crowned king of Mycenae. And she would have permanently delayed her birth if she hadn't been deceived by Galantis, her maid, who told her that she had already delivered the children. Hera, without understanding anything, untied her knots thus allowing Alcmene to actually give birth to Heracles and Iphicles, who were born in Thebes. The ancient Greeks celebrated the birth of Heracles on the fourth day of every Greek month.
Another version tells that Hera delayed the delivery by making Ilitia sit in the mentioned position, and that she was the one deceived by Galantis. Illithia turned the maid into a weasel and forced her to give birth by laying eggs through her mouth.
A few months after Heracles was born, Hera sent two snakes to kill him while he slept in his cradle. The hero strangled a snake with each hand and was found by his nursemaid amusing himself with their bloodless bodies as if they were insignificant toys. This episode was represented in the arts both in mosaics (Heracles strangling the snakes) and in paintings.
One version of the origin of the Milky Way is that Zeus tricked Hera into nursing Heracles. Finding out who it was, she jerked it away from her breast, in the process of which she spurted a stream of milk that formed the stain that crosses the sky and has been seen on it ever since (a similar story is told about Hera and Hermes, though in In that case, the trick worked and the goddess became more fond of the newborn).
Youth
Heracles grew up healthy and strong. He received music classes from maestro Lino with his brother, but he was a rebellious and undisciplined student. Lino constantly scolded him, and one day Heracles became so enraged that he hit him with a lyre, killing him instantly. The young Heracles had to appear before a court, accused of murder, but he got out of trouble citing a sentence of Radamantis, according to which there was the right to kill the adversary in case of legitimate defense (although Lino had not really touched Heracles). He was therefore acquitted. But Amphitryon, restless, and fearing that his foster-son should be seized with new fits of anger, hastened to send him to the field, and put him in charge of his flocks. There, according to a tradition, a Scythian herdsman named Teutaro continued his education, training him in the art of handling the bow.
Heracles continued to perform feats such as killing the Lion of Cithaeron, which was harassing and hunting the local herds, and dressed in its skin. When he returned from his hunt, he met the emissaries of the Minion king Erginus of Orchomenus, who had defeated the Thebans years before and had imposed a heavy tribute on them that they had to pay every year. Heracles attacked them, cutting off their noses and ears and tying them around their necks, sending them back with the message that this was all the tribute he was to receive. The Theban king Creon rewarded him by giving him the hand of his daughter, Princess Megara, with whom he had several children. Pyrrha, his younger sister, married Iphicles, the hero's twin brother.
The twelve labors
In a fit of madness provoked by Hera, Heracles killed his wife, his children and two of his nephews with his bare hands (other versions say that he left Megara alive, and that when he came to, he could not continue living with her and handed her over to her nephew Yolao). Waking up and discovering the terrible acts he had committed, he felt terrible pain, and ashamed, he isolated himself from society, going to live in the wilds. After a long search, he was found by his brother Ificles, who convinced him to go to the Oracle of Delphi. In penance for this execrable action, the Delphic sibyl told her that she had to carry out a series of ten labors ordered by Eurystheus, the man who had usurped her legitimate right to the crown and whom she hated the most. Heracles carried out the ten labors successfully, but Hera, insulting him, convinced Eurystheus to label the second as invalids, in which he was helped by his nephew Iolao, and the fifth, since well thought out, he performed it for Augeas (according to some versions, he was hiding behind the fact that the work had been done by the rivers, just like Augeas, so as not to pay Heracles what was agreed in the personal bet they made). Because of this, Heracles had to perform two more labors, making a total of twelve (actually this mythical item was not part of the legend at first: it was added in an attempt to explain why the number of labors varies from ten to twelve according to the different versions).
The traditional order of jobs is:
- Kill the Lion of Nemea and strip him of his skin.
- Kill the Lerna Hydra.
- Capture the Jabalí of Erimanto.
- Capture the Cerinea Deer.
- Clean the Augias stables in one day.
- Kill the Birds of the Sketch.
- Capture the Toro of Crete.
- Stealing Diomedes' Yeguas.
- Steal the hippolite belt.
- Stealing Gerion's cattle.
- Steal the apples from the Hespérides garden.
- Capture Cerbero and get him out of Hades.
According to the Chronicon of Jerome of Estridón, Heracles completed his twelve labors in the year 1246 B.C. c.
Kill the Nemean lion and strip it of its skin
The Nemean lion was a ruthless monster that lived in Nemea, terrorizing its surroundings. His real strength was that he had such thick skin that it was impervious to weapons, making him appear to be invincible. Heracles traveled to the city, where he stayed at Molorco's house, and then went hunting for the beast. He shot arrows at him, attacked him with a bronze sword, and struck him with a club made of an olive tree (which he himself had uprooted from the ground), but it was all to no avail. So Heracles planned a strategic coup. He went to the animal's den, which had two entrances, and blocked one of them. He urged the lion into the other, and cornering it, he strangled it.
Heracles took the body of the lion to Mycenae for Eurystheus to see, but Eurystheus was so frightened that he forbade him to re-enter the city; henceforth, the fruit of his labors should show him from outside. Eurystheus ordered his blacksmiths to forge him a bronze jar that he hid underground, and in which he took refuge every time he announced himself to Heracles, communicating his instructions through a herald.
But the job was not finished yet, as Heracles was to strip the lion of its skin. But since it was impenetrable to weapons, he spent hours and hours trying without success. Finally Athena, disguised as an old witch, helped Heracles, warning him that the best tools to cut the lion's skin were his own claws. With this small divine intervention, Heracles completed his first labor.
The very thick skin of the Nemean lion was used by Heracles in all the adventures that followed it, as the most effective of armor, while the lion's head was used as a helmet.
Kill the Lernaean Hydra
The Lernaean Hydra was an ancient and ruthless chthonic aquatic monster in the form of a multi-headed serpent, whose number of heads, according to the different versions, ranges from three, five or nine to one hundred, and even ten thousand (being three and nine the most frequent numbers); he had one, covered with sheets of bronze, which was immortal. What made her terrible was that every time she lost a head she would regenerate two (or one stronger one, according to other versions). She also had toxic breath. She was raised by Hera under a plane tree near the Ammone spring, in Lake Lerna, where there was an entrance to the underworld that the Hydra guarded. His murder was ordered as a second task for Heracles to procure his death, since the Lernaean hydra was (or so it was said) the sister of the Nemean Lion (both were sons of Typhon and Echidna), and wanted to take revenge on Heracles for having killed his brother.
Heracles arrived at the swamp near Lake Lerna with his nephew Yolao, whom he had asked for help, since he alone was powerless against the monster. They covered their mouths and noses with a cloth to protect themselves from the hydra's toxic breath and approached the Amimone fountain, his refuge. The details of the fight are explained by Apolodoro. Heracles shot flaming arrows into the fountain to force it out, and once face to face, he attacked it with his sword, lopping off several heads. According to some accounts, Hera sent a crab named Carcinos to pinch Heracles's feet and get in his way, but the hero crushed the animal and continued fighting. The hydra regenerated two heads for every one he lost, so Heracles realized that he was not going to get anywhere with that method. Then, Yolao had the idea (probably inspired by Athena) to burn the hydra's necks to cauterize the wound and thus prevent him from regenerating two new heads. After Heracles cut off the head, Yolao passed a burning cloth through the stump, and thus, they ended up defeating the Lernaean hydra, which died without heads. Heracles took the immortal, who was powerless without the rest of her body, and buried her under a great rock on the sacred path between Lerna and Eleia, thus completing his second labor. The hero dipped the tips of his arrows with the hydra's poisonous blood (which he would use in his later adventures).
But Hera, in one of her tricks to harm the hero, informed Eurystheus that it had been Yolaus who had burned the stumps, and he dismissed the work as invalid, since Heracles had had help.
Capture the Cerinean Doe
The Doe of Cerinea had hooves of bronze and antlers of gold. She was consecrated to Artemis, since she was one of the five hinds that the goddess had tried to capture to harness to her chariot and she had been the only one who had managed to escape from her.
Heracles chased the deer day and night for a year without being able to catch her, since she was incredibly fast (so much so that not even arrows reached her). Finally, in the country of the Hyperboreans, he captured her while she stopped to drink water, piercing both legs with arrows that only pierced skin, sinew, and bone (her blood was a terrible poison, capable even of killing gods, for which Heracles preferred not to spill a drop, since he would have to explain himself if he did). Once immobilized, he seized her and took her to Mycenae for Eurystheus to see her.
The great feat of Heracles served as an example to many other heroes of antiquity such as Yhuidr and Casto.
Catching the Erymanthian Boar
The Erymanthian Boar was a terrible creature, capable of creating earthquakes at will and uprooting trees with its tusks, that lived in Erymanthos, wreaking havoc all around. This boar fed on men.
Adventure Related
On the way to Erymanthus, Heracles made a stop to visit his old friend the centaur Pholus, who, in memory of distant times, shared his food and wine with him. But the other centaurs, smelling the wine that was specially reserved for them, became so enraged that they attacked Heracles. This first rejected them, but little by little they made him furious too, and wielding his bow, he killed several centaurs with arrows smeared with the blood of the Hydra of Lerna while the others withdrew in fear.
While Heracles was burying his victims, his friend Pholus pulled out one of Heracles' arrows and began to examine it, amazed that something so small could kill creatures as formidable as centaurs. Clumsily, the arrow slipped from her hand and landed on his foot, burying itself in it.
The arrow, smeared with such lethal poison, also ended the life of Pholus, who was buried by Heracles at the foot of the mountain that would take his name: Foloe.
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Heracles found the boar and jumped after it. After chasing him for several hours, he cornered him in a snowy area, where he jumped onto his back. Heracles chained him and took him to Mycenae alive, carrying him on his shoulders.
Cleaning the Augean stables in a single day
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By design of the gods, the cattle of Augeas, king of Elis, did not suffer from diseases, and twelve bulls that his father, the sun god Helios, had given him, defended the rest of the herd, assuring that neither suffered casualties caused by the surrounding beasts. With all this, the Augean cattle became the largest in the country.
Euristeo imposed this job on Heracles in order to humiliate and ridicule him, since the amount of accumulated excrement was such (the Augean stables had never been cleaned) that it was practically impossible to clean them in a single day. Thus the great Heracles, victor of terrible monsters and performer of heroic feats, would fall humiliated before such a demeaning task. Even Augeas made a personal bet with Heracles, promising to give him a share of the cattle if he could complete the job.
Nobody expected Heracles to succeed, since in this work force was of no use to him, but what the cunning hero did was divert the course of the rivers Alfeo and Peneo, taking them through the stables through a channel that he himself had dug. The rivers washed away all the dirt and Heracles, to everyone's surprise, completed his fifth labor.
Adventure Related
Eurystheus and Augeas, who did not expect Heracles to achieve it, refused to accept it. Eurystheus told Heracles that he had actually done the job for Augeas, since he knew of the bet they had agreed to (he was informed of this by the mischievous Hera), so it was invalid for him. According to other versions, he hid behind the fact that the work had not even been done by him, but by the rivers.
And to make matters worse, when Heracles demanded from Augeas the part of the cattle that he had promised, he got away using the same argument that the work had been done by the rivers. Heracles took the matter to court, and the testimony of Phileo, son of Augeas, in favor of the hero, convinced the judges that Augeas should fulfill his promise. He reluctantly handed over the part of the cattle that he promised in the bet and banished his son for having made him lose his mind. Heracles, furious at such injustice, abandoned Elis, and seeking alliances among the princes of all Greece, declared war on Augeas. He sent his army to counterattack, led by the Molionid twin brothers, his two efficient generals of his. These took advantage of the fact that Heracles felt ill and signed a truce with them to attack by surprise. They terribly defeated the hero's men and murdered his brother Iphicles, who had accompanied him to war. Given the numerous casualties, the Corinthians, allies of Heracles, officially declared peace to the Augean army, signing an Isthmian truce, in honor of the Isthmian Games, probably the antecedent of the Olympic Games in Antiquity, during which the peace (actually these games had never been held, they were a sudden invention of the Corinthians to be able to sign the truce and escape from the unfavorable situation in which they found themselves).
But Heracles did not forget that stab in the back. Three years later, he took advantage of the fact that the Molinids and his men were celebrating a festival in honor of Poseidon to ambush them, in which he massacred the Augean army and killed his son Eurytus and the Molinids, thus leaving him without his best generals.
Later, he returned to recruit another army among the cities of the Peloponnese, with which he delivered the final blow. He sacked Elis and killed Augeas, making the banished Phileo king.
Pausanias, on the other hand, affirms that Heracles spared Augeas's life and restored him to the throne, while Phileo settled permanently in Duliquio. According to this version, on the death of Augeas it would be his son Agasthenes who would succeed him.
Kill the Stymphalian Birds
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The birds of the Stymphalus were birds that had beaks, wings, and talons of bronze. They inhabited the region and the forest around Lake Stymphalus. Eurystheus entrusted Heracles as the sixth job to put an end to these birds, since they constituted a real danger, since they were carnivorous and sometimes attacked livestock or the population, and their poisonous droppings ruined crops.
Heracles reached the Stymphalus and began to shoot his bow at the birds, knocking down many of them. But little by little he found himself powerless before his mission, since they were too many for his arrows and his legendary strength was of no use to him, since in the air he could not catch them. Then Athena appeared, gave him a bronze rattle (a bell or cymbal, according to other versions) and told him to play it from the top of a high hill. In doing so, the birds were so startled that they took flight and were never seen again on the lake or in the woods. Most fled to the island of Ares in the Black Sea (where they were found by the Argonauts), but some of them made their way to Mycenae. When Heracles returned to the said polis, Eurystheus was in his refuge, since several of the birds of the Stymphalian fluttered around his palace. Seeing this, Heracles rang his bell and the birds flew away.
Capturing the Cretan Bull
The Cretan Bull was the bull that Poseidon raised from the sea when King Minos promised to offer a sacrifice to the god; but Minos found it so beautiful that he incorporated it into his herds as a stallion instead of slaughtering it. Poseidon, enraged, made Queen Pasiphae fall in love with the animal and conceive with him a son, Minotaur, after which he drove the bull mad, turning it into a terrible wild animal that breathed fire from its nostrils.
Heracles appeared before Minos, who authorized him to capture the bull (if he could), since it was wreaking havoc on Crete. Heracles managed to get on the animal's back and lead it to Mycenae through the Aegean Sea. Eurystheus, seeing the beautiful bull, wanted to offer it to Hera, but she rejected it when she saw the ferocity of the animal, so she released it.
The bull crossed the Argolis and crossed the Isthmus of Corinth, wreaking havoc wherever it went, until Theseus managed to kill it on the plain of Marathon, near Athens, the city of which he was a hero.
Stealing Diomedes's mares
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The Mares of Diomedes were four carnivorous animals (twenty, according to other versions) that the giant Diomedes kept chained, feeding them with the meat of his innocent guests.
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Heracles left with a group of volunteers managing to snatch the mares from their owner, who went with his army after the thieves. Heracles sent his friend Abdero into custody of the mares while he and his men faced Diomedes and his men. But as Abdero led the cart to which they were tied away from the fight, the mares broke free and devoured him. Heracles and his men defeated the enemy army, and the hero killed Diomedes by throwing him to his own mares, which devoured him mercilessly. The few adversaries that remained standing fled in terror as they saw how the bloodthirsty animals gave a good account of their leader. When they finished eating it, the mares became inexplicably tame, and Heracles was able to tie them back to the chariot of the deceased Diomedes and take them to Mycenae, where they were delivered to Eurystheus, who gave them to Hera. It is said that they died on Mount Olympus, devoured by beasts and vermin. According to a legend, Bucephalus, the horse of Alexander the Great, descended from one of these mares.
Adventure Related
In honor of his friend Abdero, devoured by the mares while fighting at his side, Heracles founded the city of Abdera next to his tomb, where as a last tribute, he established agonal games in his honor; in these chariot races were prohibited, since they were related to the death of Abdero.
Stealing Hippolyta's Belt
Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, was the one who ordered Heracles' ninth labor, which consisted of stealing the magic belt of the Amazon queen Hippolyta, to whom her father, Ares, had given it to her.
There are two versions of this work:
Version 1
Hippolyta, upon learning the reasons for Heracles' arrival, promised to give him the belt, but Hera, disguised as an Amazon, spread the rumor that Heracles and his companions had kidnapped the queen, so the Amazons attacked the queen. Heracles ship. He thought that Hippolyta's promise had been a hoax, he fought against the Amazons, killed Hippolyta and took her belt from him.
Version 2
Heracles kidnaps Melanipa, one of Hippolyta's sisters, and demands the belt as a ransom. The Amazon queen ends up giving it to him and the hero frees his sister. Meanwhile, Theseus kidnaps Antiope, another sister of Hippolyta, and tries to flee with her along with Heracles. Hera, the hero's eternal enemy, informs the Amazons of Antiope's kidnapping, so that they attack Theseus, and, most pleasantly for her, Heracles. This is how it happens, but both manage to flee, and they take Antiope, with whom Theseus ends up marrying (many versions attribute to her the motherhood of Hippolytus, the son of Theseus and Hippolyta; there are even some versions that put Melanipa as mother). The Amazons unsuccessfully try to recapture it by attacking Athens (according to some accounts, Antiope is killed in the attack).
Before fleeing, Heracles kills Hippolyta and takes her axe, which he would give to his future wife Omphale, who keeps it in the royalties of the Lydian kings. Zeus also wields this weapon in one of the statuary representations of him.
Stealing Geryon's cattle
Geryon was a monstrous giant, son of Chrysaor and Callirroe. He is described as an anthropomorphic being made up of three bodies, with their respective heads and limbs, according to most versions. Although the exact form of the union between the three bodies is not usually specified, he is usually represented with a linear or radial union by the waists. He is sometimes portrayed with wings, but it is not usual. Aside from these features, the majority aspect of him was human. He lived on the Eriteia island (currently Cádiz), beyond the Pillars of Hercules, already in the Ocean.
Adventure Related
Heracles set out on the journey to the island of Eriteia. While traveling there, he crossed the Libyan desert (Libya was the generic name for North Africa for the Greeks) and was so frustrated by the heat that he began shooting arrows at Helios, the sun. He begged him to stop, and Heracles asked in exchange for the golden cup that the god used to cross the sea every night, from west to east. The hero used this cup for the trip to Eriteia, but found the pass blocked by rocks when the Mediterranean ended. Heracles separated them by opening the Strait of Gibraltar and setting the Pillars of Hercules as its limits, the first located on the Rock of Gibraltar and the second on Mount Hacho de Ceuta, at an altitude of 204 meters (according to other versions on Mount Musa of Morocco, with an elevation of 851 m).
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Geryon's cattle were kept in a hut guarded by Ortro, the two-headed dog brother of Cerberus, and by the shepherd Eurytion. Heracles killed both of them, and when Geryon arrived, according to some versions warned by Menoetius, the shepherd of Hades, he killed him too, tearing his body into the three of which it was made.
The hero set out to drive the cattle to Eurystheus. Along the way, on the scale he made on the Aventine Hill in Rome, a giant named Cacus stole part of Heracles' cattle while he was sleeping (according to Roman versions). The giant made the cattle walk backwards so as not to leave tracks, a repetition of the young Hermes trick. According to some versions, Heracles with the rest of the cattle passed a cave where Cacus hid the stolen cattle, and then they began to call each other, thus discovering the thief's hiding place. According to others, Caca, Caco's sister, told Heracles where her brother hid the proceeds of the robbery. The hero killed Caco and recovered the part of the cattle stolen by him.
According to Roman mythology, Heracles founded an altar on the spot where the Forum Boarium, the cattle market, would later be held.
Passing through Sicily, the hero was challenged to a fight by Erice, the king of the island, who was a very strong boxer. Heracles bet part of the cattle and his opponent, very sure of himself, put his kingdom at stake. But it was the hero who won the combat, in which he killed Erice, who was buried in the temple dedicated to his mother Aphrodite on the mountain to which he gave his name: Erice. Heracles left the kingdom to his inhabitants, telling them that in posterity he would send his descendants to rule (these descendants would be the Heracleids, led by his nephew Yolao).
To annoy the hero, Hera sent a horsefly to sting the cattle, irritating and scattering them. Next, the goddess sent a flood that raised the level of a river so much that Heracles could not ford the cattle. He began to pile stones in the river, building a path through which he drove the cattle.
Later, Echidna assaulted Heracles and stole his cattle. When the hero went to claim it, the nymph asked as a ransom for him to have sexual relations with her. Heracles did so, and from this union Agathirsus, Gelonus, and Scytes were born.
Finally the hero arrived at Mycenae with the cattle, which were sacrificed to Hera by order of Eurystheus.
Stealing the apples from the garden of the Hesperides
The trees in the garden of the nymphs Hesperides gave golden apples. Heracles first captured Nereus, the old man of the sea (halios geron), a shape-shifting sea god, and demanded that he tell him the location of said garden. The old man ended up giving him the information.
Related Adventures
In some versions, the hero meets Antaeus at the beginning or end of the work, who was invincible as long as he was in contact with his mother, Gaia, Earth. Heracles killed him by holding him off the ground and crushing him with a strong hug.
Herodotus affirms that the hero stopped in Egypt, where the soldiers of King Busiris imprisoned him, since the monarch, to appease the anger of the gods, had promised to sacrifice all foreigners (although according to other versions handpicked for his annual sacrifice). Heracles was held with the other wretches sentenced to death, but he managed to break his chains (ropes, according to other versions) and escape. Seeing the cruel regime to which Egypt was subjected, he decided to confront Busiris, whom he killed, thus saving the lives of all the foreign prisoners.
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Finally arriving at the Garden of the Hesperides, Heracles tricked Atlas into picking some apples from the garden by offering to hold the sky while he went looking for them, as the Titan would have no problem doing so, as he was the father of apples. Hesperides (although according to some versions, they were only a simple relationship). Upon returning, Atlas decided not to accept holding the heavens again, and instead offered to take the apples to Eurystheus himself, but Heracles tricked him again by agreeing to stay in Atlas's place, on the only condition that he hold the sky for a moment so that the hero could put on his cloak more comfortably. Atlas agreed, and so Heracles took the apples and left.
According to other versions, the hero was the only person who stole the apples (besides Perseus), although Athena later returned them to their proper place in the garden.
The apples were considered by some to be the same "apples of happiness" that tempted Atalanta, and by others, one of them was the "apple of contention" used by Eris to provoke a beauty contest on Olympus (that would end up giving rise to the Trojan War), putting it as a prize.
Capture Cerberus and bring him out of the underworld
Heracles first traveled to Eleusis to be initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, which would teach him how to enter Hades and how to get out alive. These would also allow him to absolve himself a little more of the guilt of having killed his wife, his children and his nephews (something extra to the twelve jobs).
Adventure Related
The hero found the entrance to the underworld in Tenaros. Athena and Hermes helped him get through it on his way in and out. Thanks to Heracles' insistence and his own fierce appearance, Charon took him in his boat across the Acheron. While sailing, they found Theseus and Pirithous, who had been captured by the god Hades while trying to kidnap Persephone, who had magically attached them to a bank. Heracles pulled Theseus off the bench, but part of his thighs stuck to it (this explains why the Athenian hero's descendants had such thin thighs). But when he tried to free Piritoo the earth began to shake, so he had to abandon him.
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Version 1
To take Cerberus away, Heracles simply asked the god Hades for permission, and he agreed on the condition that he did not harm the animal. The hero obeyed, treating Cerberus kindly, and Cerberus, flattered to receive such treatment for the first time, meekly ushered him outside.
Version 2
Heracles shot an arrow at the god Hades, knocking him out of action, and after a violent fight against Cerberus, managed to capture him and drag him through the Acherusia cave to the outside of the Underworld.
Version 3
Heracles asked Hades if he could take the dog and Hades allowed him on the condition that he could only use his bare fists to capture it, the hero knocking out the dog with a devastating blow to the head that did not come to kill him to transport it I tie its legs and once I show the dog to Eurystheus I leave it again in the Underworld
Other adventures
Participation in the Gigantomachy
After the Olympian gods condemned the Titans to Tartarus, the mother of the latter, Gaea spawned the mighty Giants from the blood of Uranus or with Tartarus itself for her revenge.
The oracle prophesied that giants could not die at the hands of the gods unless a mortal fought by their side, so Zeus summoned Heracles through Athena.
The Giants made a first attack against the gods armed with huge rocks and tree trunks.
The battle was fought where the Giants dwelled, in Phlegra or in Pallene.
- Heracles first attacked Alcioneo, a giant who was immortal whenever he fought in his homeland. Heracles went through it with one of his poisoned arrows, but as the giant fell to the ground he returned to life again. Following the advice of Athena, Heracles dragged him out of his homeland, and died from the wound of the arrow. It is also said that Heracles killed the giant by breaking his neck with his hands.
- Porfirion attacked Heracles and tried to rape Hera. Zeus shot him with the lightning and Heracles shot him with his arrows.
- Ephialtes died of an arrow in each eye, one Apollo and another Heracles.
- When Encélado left the battlefield, Atenea crushed him with the island of Sicily, where he was imprisoned. His breath of fire comes from Etna. According to other versions Encélado was killed by Sileno.
- Mimas was buried by Hefestus under a molten metal mass, in which he remains in prison (the Vesuvius).
- Polibotes was buried by Poseidon, who threw a piece of the island of Cos, thus giving place to the new island of Nisiros.
- Hippolyte was defeated by Hermes, wearing this a helmet that made him invisible.
- Grathion was shot down by Artemisa arrows.
- Dioniso nominated Éurito with his thunder.
- He burned Clitio with his infernal torches.
- Armed with their bronze mosses, the Moiras killed Agrio and Toante.
- Hera defeated the giant Foitos.
- Hera agreed to fight against Dioniso at Ctonio, promising Afrodita in return, but was killed by Deméter.
- Ares killed Peloro.
Each Giant was finished off by Heracles' arrows soaked in the venom of the Lernaean Hydra, except for those imprisoned under the islands.
Death to Cycnus and fight Ares
Cycnos was a bloodthirsty giant and he wanted to build a temple with the bones and skulls of the people and animals he killed.
The giant challenged Heracles to single combat at Itone; the hero accepted and killed Cycnus in combat. The death of the giant provoked the fury of his father, Ares, who also faced Heracles. Even so, the hero defeated the god and forced him back to Olympus.
Expedition with the Argonauts
The throne of the city of Yolcos had been occupied by Pelias, having been made regent by his half-brother Aeson or having dethroned him by force. When Jason, son of Aeson, was of manhood, he came to Iolcos in order to reclaim the kingdom that had belonged to his father, but an oracle had warned Pelias against a one-sandaled man, and thus Jason came. Thus, Pelias agreed to hand over the throne to him on the condition that he perform the feat of bringing the spirit of Phrixus and the Golden Fleece from Colchis.
Jason sent heralds throughout Hellas to announce the completion of the future expedition and numerous heroes arrived who wanted to be part of it. There are various literary sources that include the names of the members of the expedition, who received the name of "Argonauts" due to the name of the ship. They were also called "minias". Thus a number between 45 and 69 men set out on the adventure, among which was Heracles.
Stay on Lemnos
The expedition reached the island of Lemnos. There they found an island inhabited by women, who had killed all the men on the island as revenge because they had married Thracian women because those of Lemnos had begun to smell bad. This bad smell had been caused by the goddess Aphrodite as punishment because the women there had suppressed her cult.
The Argonauts were well received on the island, they established loving ties with the Lemnians, whose highest authority was Queen Hipsipyle, and they remained on the island for a long time, until Heracles (or Orpheus), who had not disembarked, told them urged to re-embark and continue the journey.
Kidnapping of Hylas and abandonment of Heracles
Then they sailed to Mysia, where Hylas, who had been sent to fetch water, was abducted by nymphs from a spring. Heracles and Polyphemus searched for the young Argonaut, without success and, according to the majority tradition, none of the three returned to board the Argo, which left without them when Tifis wanted to take advantage of some gusts of wind. On board the ship, Telamon rebuked Tiphys for leaving Heracles behind, but Zetes and Calais defended the ship's pilot and when, shortly after, the sea god Glaucus emerged from the sea, to shout to them that the fate of Heracles, Hylas and Polyphemus was not to reach Colchis, but the gods had reserved other different destinations, Telamon gave in to his anger. In Theocritus' account, however, Heracles reached Colchis on foot.
Heracles in Troy
Hera, Poseidon and Apollo conspired against Zeus. After the rebellion Zeus punished Poseidon and Apollo and put them at the service of Laomedon, King of Troy. He made them build the city walls, which they did with the help of Aeacus. At the end, Laomedonte refused to pay for the work, arguing that it had been done fulfilling a sentence from Zeus. Poseidon was outraged and sent a sea monster that devoured the people who left the city. On the advice of an oracle, Laomedon had to sacrifice his daughter Hesione. The young woman was tied to some rocks on the coast, awaiting the arrival of the creature. At that moment, Heracles, Telamon and Oícles, arrived at Tróas. The hero, upon learning of the human offering, which he abhorred, agreed to kill the monster in exchange for the horses that Laomedon had received from Zeus as compensation for Ganymede's abduction. Laomedon accepted the deal. Heracles together with his companions killed the monster and rescued the princess. However, the king of Troy did not keep his word and Heracles left empty-handed, not without threatening the king with war.
Back in Greece, Heracles assembled a small expedition and led the attack on Troy. Laomedon marched against the attackers and killed Oicles in battle, but had to retreat and take refuge behind the walls of Troy, where he was besieged. Telamon was the first to cross the wall and enter the city, followed by Heracles. After the capture, the son of Zeus killed Laomedon and his children, except for Podarces, who was rescued by his sister Hesione, for which he adopted the name Priam (from priamai "buy »). Hesione was assigned as booty to Telamon, with whom she had a son, Teucer.
Heracles establishes the Olympic Games
There are three versions of this issue:
Version 1
He installed them to celebrate his victory over Augea, but this version confuses them with the Isthmian Games.
Version 2
He simply installs them at Olympia, in honor of Zeus.
Version 3
It was not really Heracles, the son of Zeus, who established the Olympic Games, but another Heracles, nicknamed Ideus. He ran to Olympia with four of his brothers to entertain the newborn Zeus. Upon winning, he donned an olive wreath and established the custom of holding a series of sporting events every four years in honor of the god.
Note
After building the Olympic stadium, Heracles wanted to know its dimensions. He was counting his steps along the path and reached the other end of the stadium in two hundred. He called this "stadium distance"; (Greek: στάδιον), which would later become a famous unit of length.
Other adventures
- Heracles defeated the barbarians (ruled by King Migdon) and gave his country to Prince Lico of Misia, the son of Dscilla.
- He killed the thief.
- He visited Evandro with Totor, who then stayed in Italy.
- He killed King Amíntor of Orminius for not allowing him to enter his kingdom. He also killed King Emation of Arabia.
- He killed Litierses after defeating him in a harvest contest.
- He killed Periclímeno in Pilos.
- He founded the city of Tarento in Italy.
- He learned the struggle of Autlic.
- When Hipoconte overthrew his brother Tindoar from the throne of Esparta, Heracles restored the legitimate ruler and killed Hipoconte and his sons.
The Second Penance of Heracles
Iole
Iole or Yole was the young and beautiful daughter of Eurytus, king of Ecalia. Heracles fell madly in love with her as soon as he saw her and tried to get her hand, but Eurytus refused him because he knew Heracles' dark past, in which he killed his wife and children as a victim of madness, and he feared that Heracles lose his reason again and that the same would happen to Iole and the future children they fathered.
Some time later, Éurito organized an archery competition, promising to award Iole's hand to the one who managed to beat his mark and that of his children. Heracles participated eager to win. The sons of Eurytus surpassed all the other competitors in the kingdom, but Heracles hit the target so accurately that he beat their records. When Eurytus realized that he was winning (ironically, since it was Eurytus himself who taught Heracles to shoot), he stopped the competition and did not allow him to continue. His daughter Ífito tried to reason with him without success. Thus, Eurytus broke his promise and earned the hatred of Heracles.
The murder of Ífito
Heracles, after the archery competition in Ecalia, in which he tried unsuccessfully to win the hand of princess Iole, was preparing to leave the city when King Eurytus's mares were stolen. Iphytus, the son of Eurytus, who had supported Heracles in the injustice of the competition, asked him for help to find the mares. Heracles agreed and they conducted a long and fruitless search. The hero returned to Tirinto, his city of residence, and Iphytus continued to investigate alone. Some time later, he discovered the tracks left by the mares and followed them to Tiryns, exactly to the house of Heracles, where the stolen animals appeared. The famous thief Autolico, author of the misdeed, had sold them as his own without his knowledge. Iphytus tried to get Heracles to return them, but he flatly refused, since he had paid for them and they belonged to him. They got into a heated discussion on top of a wall, and in one of his fits of anger, Heracles threw Iphytus into the void, killing him.
Punishment
Heracles, shamed for having yet again killed an innocent man, returned to the Oracle of Delphi, where he was given the penance of serving queen (according to some accounts, princess) Omphale of Lydia for three years. She is she humiliated Heracles, forcing him to do women's work and wear feminine clothes, while she dressed in the skin of the Nemean Lion and carried her olive wood club. After three years, Heracles ceased to be Omphale's slave and took her as his wife. The hero presented her with the ax of Hippolyta, which he kept in the royalties of the Lydian kings. They had a son whose name varies between Agelao and Lamo according to the different versions.
The Death of Heracles
Dejanira
Heracles traveled to Calydon, where on the steps of the temple, he saw the princess Deianira. He forgot about Iole for the moment, since Deianira was a good option for the children he so desired. He courted her until she fell in love with him, but a great obstacle separated them: the fearsome river-god Acheloos, to whom Aeneus, the king of Calydon, had promised the hand of his daughter Deianira. This god had the ability to change shape at will. Heracles challenged him to a duel for the princess, and the river-god accepted. In combat, he transformed into a snake, but the hero knew how to handle the situation. To improve his physical abilities, he then adopted the figure of a bull, but that was really what made him lose, because when he transformed he neglected the fight for an instant, which Heracles took advantage of to pounce on him and kill him (after doing so, he grabbed one of the bulls). the horns of the river-god and gave it to the naiads, with which they made the cornucopia). Thus, Heracles took Deianira as his wife.
After the wedding, Deianira received a message from her brother, Prince Meleager, in which he told her that he missed her, so she set out to pay him a visit in the company of Heracles. During the trip, they had to cross the Eveno River. The centaur Nessus offered to carry Deianira while Heracles swam across, but he fell in love with her, and as soon as he reached the other shore, he galloped off without waiting for Heracles, since he intended to kidnap her and then rape her. Heracles was enraged and shot an arrow smeared with the blood of the Lernaean hydra, which hit her heart, killing him. As Heracles approached the place, the dying Nessus told Deianira to take some of her blood, and if she noticed that she was losing Heracles' love, she would apply it to her, as it was an efficient love potion. This really was a trap to end Heracles' life, but Deianira realized it too late.
Death and resurrection as god
Main article: Apotheosis of Heracles
Heracles, who had not forgotten Iole, raised Tiryns (the fortress he had inherited from Amphitryon) in arms and attacked Ecalia. He killed King Eurytus and all his sons and relatives and kidnapped Iole. To celebrate such a victory he gave a feast in which he sacrificed twelve oxen in honor of Zeus. Heracles commissioned Deyanira a tunic, since the one she was wearing was very damaged after the fight, and she wanted to be presentable at such an event. This she, dying of jealousy at the thought that her husband preferred Iole, she poured the blood of Neso on the tunic, which she believed to be a potion of her love. However, the centaur's blood turned out to be a deadly poison with devastating effects. As soon as the hero put on the robe, he noticed that his skin was burning. He tried to remove it, but the poison had stuck to his skin. Believing him to be the author of the crime, he grabbed Licas, the servant who had brought him the tunic by order of Deyanira, by the feet and threw him into the sea. When Deianira found out what she had really done, she committed suicide by hanging herself (other versions claim that she stabbed herself in the chest). However, the poison did not kill the hero, but caused him such pain that he himself asked to be killed to end his agony.
His nephew, friend and adventure companion Yolao lit the pyre (according to other versions it was Philoctetes, or Poeas) in which Heracles burned to death, wearing the skin of the Nemean lion over the poisoned tunic, simultaneously, lightning fell from heaven and consumed the pyre.
The lightning had consumed the mortal part of Heracles. He no longer bore resemblance to Alcmene, but like a snake shedding its skin, he now appeared with all the majesty of his divine father. A cloud hid him from his companions while Zeus, thundering, transported him in his four-horse chariot to Olympus, where Athena took him by the hands and presented him to the other gods. Zeus had destined Heracles to be part of the Twelve Olympians, but he was loath to expel any of the other gods to make room for him. Hera was then convinced by Zeus to adopt Heracles in a rebirth ceremony. Hera came to consider Heracles as her son and she was the one she loved the most along with Zeus. All the Olympians welcomed him and Hera married him to her beautiful daughter Hebe, from whom Alexiares and Ancieto were born according to some versions. Heracles finally became the gatekeeper of heaven and never tires of staying at the gates of Olympus.
When Yolaus and his companions returned from Trachis, Menoetius sacrificed a ram, a bull, and a wild boar and instituted his hero worship in the Opus Locria; The Thebans imitated him, however the Athenians led by the inhabitants of Marathon were the first to worship him as a god. One of Heracles' sons, Festus urged the Sicyons to offer him worship as a god. The inhabitants of Sicyon then, after sacrificing a lamb and burning its thighs on the altar of Heracles as a god, dedicate part of its meat to Heracles as a hero. In this they adore him with the name of Cornopion; the inhabitants of Eritrea adore him as Heracles Ipóctono.
According to the Praeparatio evangelica (book 10, xii) of Eusebius of Caesarea, Clement of Alexandria affirms that «between the reign of Heracles in Argos and the deification of Heracles himself and of Asclepius there is included thirty-six years, according to Apollodorus the chronicler, and from that moment to the deification of Castor and Pollux thirty-three years, and at some point in this time the capture of Troy took place. Since Heracles ruled Tiryns in Argos at the same time that Eurystheus ruled Mycenae, and since Linus was Heracles' teacher at that time, it can be concluded that setting the date when Linus taught Heracles in 1264 BC. C. (given by Jerome of Estridón in his Chronicon) the death and deification of Heracles occurred approximately in 1226 B.C. C. The ancient Greeks celebrated the festival of Herakleia on October 12 in commemoration of the death of Heracles.
Related Characters
Adventure Partners
Yellow
While walking through the wilds (the period of time between the murder of his wife, his children and his nephews), Heracles was attacked by dryopes. He killed his king, Tiodamas, and the others surrendered and offered him Prince Hylas. The hero took the young man as a squire.
Years later, Heracles and Hylas joined the crew of the Argo. As Argonauts they only participated in part of the trip, since by order of Hera, Hylas was kidnapped in Mysia by the nymphs of the Pegea fountain. The Argonaut Polyphemus heard the cry that the boy gave when he was captured and warned Heracles. Together they searched for him for a long time, and the ship left without them. Nothing more was ever heard from Hylas, since he had fallen in love with the nymphs and had stayed to live with them.
Yolao
Nephew (he was the son of Iphicles), friend and, according to some authors, also Erómeno of Heracles. He was his main adventure companion.
Actually, he accompanied his uncle on all his jobs, but only helped him personally on the second (and according to some accounts, the tenth). He also accompanied Heracles on the Argo.
He married Megara, his uncle's first wife, since he gave her to him after killing his children as a victim of madness, since only his vision was too painful for him (although according to many versions he also killed her). They had a daughter named Leipefilena.
He won the horse race at the first edition of the Olympic Games, established by his uncle.
In his independent adventures, he was noted for taking part in the Calydonian boar hunt.
In command of the Thespiads, the sons that Heracles had with the daughters of King Thespius, he colonized Sardinia and Sicily (where after his death, he was worshiped as a hero). He returned to Greece shortly before his uncle's death.
It was he who lit the pyre on which Heracles burned to death. He inherited the bow with which he had made so many feats. There are some versions that affirm that the bow was burned next to the hero, and others in which Philoctetes is the one who lights the pyre and he is assigned the bow, with which he achieves great victories in the Trojan War.
After the death of his uncle, he spread the worship of him as a demigod.
According to Pausanias, he died in Sardinia, while according to Pindar and other sources, he was buried in the tomb of his grandfather Amphitryon, where heroic worship was also performed.
Such was his attachment to the children of Heracles, that when Eurystheus harassed them, already after the death of Yolao, he asked the gods of the underworld for permission to recover his youth for an hour and return to earth again to help them. Permission was granted, and alive for an hour, he slew Eurystheus. Another version affirms that he recovered his youth thanks to the intervention of the goddess Hebe, wife of Heracles on Olympus and, therefore, his aunt.
Lovers
- Megara
- Ónfale
- Deyanira
- Hebe
- Parténope
- Epic
- Asytopic
- Calciope
- Auge
- Astidamia
- Autonoe
- Meda
- Equidna
Hiking companions and male lovers
- Abdero (In charge of the carnivorous mares of the Diomedes trade, who would end up killing him. Heracles founded the city of Abdera in his honor, where he was honored with games.).
- Admeto (He participated in the hunting of the Calidon wild boar and was also protected by Apollo, according to Plutarco and Calimaco.).
- Adonis
- Corito
- Elacatas (Spartan standard, honored there with a sanctuary and annual games, according to Sosibio).
- Filoctetes (According to Martial, he was also the heir to the arc of the hero and who lit his pine. Later he was the master of Neoptholemus, son of Achilles.).
- Hilas
- Iphitus
- Nestor (to whom he loved by his wisdom).
- Nireo
- Yolao (Tebano, nephew of Heracles, who he helped on various occasions. Plutarco says that in his time the male couples went down to his grave in Thebes to take an oath of fidelity to him and among them.).
Offspring
Heraclids is the term used to refer to all the descendants of Heracles, although it is also used (even more popularly) for the descendants of his son Hilo.
Regarding the direct descendants of the hero, this is made up of the following children:
- The sons he had with the 50 daughters of King Tespio. According to different versions, he had 49 children, since one refused to join him or 50, or 52, since two of them had twins. La Mythological Library give the names of these children:
- Terímaco (son of Megara).
- Crentiades (son of Megara).
- Deicoonte (son of Megara).
- Everes (son of Parthenope).
- Téstalo (son of Epicaste).
- Tlepolemo (son of Astíoque).
- Tesalo (son of Astíoque or Calcíope).
- Telefo (son of Auge).
- Agelao or Lamo (son of Ónfale).
- Tirseno (son of Ónfale).
- Macaria (son of Deyanira).
- Hilo (son of Deyanira).
- Gleno (son of Deyanira).
- Onites (son of Deyanira).
- Ctesipo (son of Astidamía or Deyanira).
- Palemon (son of Autónoe).
- Alexiares (son of Hebe; although according to some versions, Heracles did not have children with her).
- Aniceto (son of Hebe).
- Antiochus (son of Meda).
- Hispalo (Padre de Hispan ascribed to the founding of Hispalis).
- Agatirso (son of Equidna).
- Gelono (son of Equidna).
- Escites (son of Equidna).
Ancient and modern interpretations
Through Greco-Buddhist culture, Heracleid symbolism was transmitted to the Far East. An example of this has survived to modern times in the Niō guardian deities that stand in front of Japanese Buddhist temples.
Hercules in film and TV
Cinema
| Year | Title | Title in Spanish | Director | Country | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Le fatiche di Ercole | Hercules Travel | Pietro Francisci |  | Adventure |
| 1959 | Ercole e la regina di Lidia | Hercules and the Queen of Lidia | Pietro Francisci | | Adventure |
| 1959 | The vendetta di Ercole | The Revenge of Hercules | Vittorio Cottafavi | | Adventure |
| 1960 | Gli amori di Ercole | The Loves of Hercules | Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia | | Adventure |
| 1961 | Maciste contro Ercole nella valle dei guai | Maciste versus Hercules in the Tribulation Valley | Mario Mattoli | | Adventure / Parodia |
| 1961 | Ercole to the center of the terra | Hercules at the Earth Centre | Mario Bava | | Adventure |
| 1962 | Ulisse contro Ercole | Ulysses against Hercules | Mario Caiano | | Adventure |
| 1962 | The Three Stooges Meet Hercules | The Three Chiflates know Hercules | Edward Bernds |  | Comedia |
| 1963 | Ercole sfida Sansone | Hercules against Sansón | Pietro Francisci | | Adventure |
| 1963 | Golia e il cavaliere mascherato | Goliath against the masked Knight (sometimes translated Hercules against the masked knight) | Piero Pierotti | | Adventure |
| 1964 | Maciste nell'inferno di Gengis Khan | Maciste against the barbarians (sometimes translated Hercules against the barbarians) | Domenico Paolella | | Adventure |
| 1964 | Il trionfo di Ercole | The Hercules Triumph | Alberto De Martino | | Adventure |
| 1964 | Ercole contro Rome | Hercules Against Rome | Piero Pierotti | | Adventure |
| 1964 | Ercole contro i figli del sole | Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun | Osvaldo Civirani | | Adventure |
| 1964 | Ercole contro i tiranni di Babylon | Hercules and the Babylonians | Domenico Paolella | | Adventure |
| 1964 | Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus gli invincibili | Fighting Giants | Giorgio Capitani | | Adventure |
| 1969 | Hercules in New York | Hercules in New York | Arthur Allan Seidelman | | Comedia |
| 1983 | Hercules | The Hercules Challenge | Luigi Cozzi | | Adventure |
| 1985 | Le avventure dell'incredibile Ercole | The Adventures of Hercules | Luigi Cozzi | | Adventure |
| 1986 | Gerakl u Admeta | Hercules and Admeto | Anatoly Petrov |  | Animation |
| 1993 | Hercules Returns | The Return of Hercules | David Parker | .svg){kind=small} | Comedia |
| 1997 | Hercules | Hercules | Ron Clements and John Musker | | Animation |
| 1997 | Burbank's Hercules | Hercules | Leonard Lee and Roz Phillips | | Animation |
| 1997 | Hercules and Xena: The Battle for Mount Olympus | Hercules & Xena: The Battle for Mount Olympus | Lynne Naylor | | Animation |
| 1998 | Young Hercules | The Young Hercules | T.J. Scott. | | Adventure |
| 1999 | Hercules: Zero to Hero | Hercules: From Zero to Heroe | Bob Kline | | Animation |
| 2000 | Herkules | Hercules | Ludwig Ickert and Simone Greiss |  | Animation |
| 2014 | The Legend Of Hercules | Hercules: The Origin of the Legend | Renny Harlin | | Adventure |
| 2014 | Hercules | Hercules | Brett Ratner | | Adventure |
TV movie
| Year | Title | Title in Spanish | Director | Country | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Hercules and the Amazon Women | Hercules and the Amazons | Bill L. Norton | | Adventure |
| 1994 | Hercules and the Lost Kingdom | Hercules and the Lost Kingdom | Harley Cokeliss | | Adventure |
| 1994 | Hercules and the Circle of Fire | Hercules and the Circle of Fire | Doug Lefler | | Adventure |
| 1994 | Hercules and the Lost Kingdom | Hercules and the Lost Kingdom | Harley Cokeliss | | Adventure |
| 1994 | Hercules in the Underworld | Hercules in the Underground World | Bill L. Norton | | Adventure |
| 1994 | Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur | Hercules in the Labyrinth of Minotaur | Josh Becker | | Adventure |
| 1999 | Hercules and the Arabian Night | Hercules and the Night of Arabia | Phil Weinstein | | Animation |
| 2005 | Hercules | Hercules | Roger Young | | Adventure |
Series
| Year | Title | Title in Spanish | Creator | Country | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963-1966 | The Mighty Hercules | Powerful Hercules | Adventure Cartoon Productions |  | Animation |
| 1995-1999 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Hercules: Legendary Trips | Christian Williams | | Adventure |
| 1998-1999 | Hercules: The Animated Series | Hercules: Anniversary Series | Walt Disney Television | | Animation |
| 1998-1999 | Young Hercules | The Young Hercules | Robert Tapert | | Adventure |
| 2004 | Fate/stay night | Fate/stay night | Kinoko Nasu |  | Action/supernatural |
| 2016 | Once Upon a Time | Once upon a time | Jonathan Whitesell | | Adventure/Drama |
| 2021 | Shuumatsu no valkyrie | Record of Ragnarok | Takeo Ono | | Action/Seinen |
Astronomical references
- Asteroid (5143) Heracles
- Moon Crater Hercules
- Constellation of Hercules
Contenido relacionado
Historical linguistics
Pleistocene
VII millennium BC c.