Hercules

For other uses, see Hercules (disambiguation). Hercules and Cacus, by Baccio Bandinelli, 1525 - 1534. Piazza della Signoria, Florence. Hercules (also known as Alcides) was the name in Roman mythology of the hero Heracles from Greek mythology, the Roman name being a metathesis of the Greek name. He is the son of Jupiter (also known as Jove), the Roman counterpart to the Greek god Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. Hercules made the choice of a life of virtue offered to him by Athene, in preference to a life of pleasure offered by Aphrodite, in his youth. He was made to perform twelve great tasks, called The Twelve Labours of Hercules and became a god; the Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged. Hercules can be identified by his attributes, the lionskin and the club. He is often compared to the biblical strong man Samson, who also possessed vast superhuman strength and performed similar feats such as wrestling a lion. The cult of Hercules may have been the first foreign one to be adopted in Rome; his most important shrine, the Ara Maxima, was in the original Palatine settlement. He became popular with merchants, who customarily paid him a tithe of their profits. Hercules founded an altar where the Forum Boarium, the cattle market, was later held. The later Roman Emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximinus, often identified or compared themselves with Hercules. Movie and television adaptations The legend of Hercules has been described in many movie and television adaptations. Steve Reeves starred in a number of 1950s movies as Hercules A syndicated TV series The Sons of Hercules, which repackaged Italian Maciste films Hercules appears as a character in the movie Jason & the Argonauts Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1969 film debut, Hercules in New York The Disney movie Hercules and its spin-off animated TV series The syndicated TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Young Hercules, a television series based on the hero's youth The Mighty Hercules, an animated series that ran in the 1960s Hercules, a public domain character appearing in several comic books Howard Waldrop's novella A Dozen Tough Jobs, in which 12 labors are performed by a black man named "Herka Lee" in the Depression era American South. Spoken-word myths - audio files Hercules myths as told by storytellers 1. Hercules and Hylas, read by Timothy Carter Bibliography of reconstruction: Homer, Odyssey, 12.072 (7th c. BCE); Theocritus, Idylls, 13 (350 - 310 BCE); Callimachus, Aetia (Causes), 24. Thiodamas the Dryopian, Fragments, 160. Hymn to Artemis (310 - 250? BCE); Apollonios Rhodios, Argonautika, I. 1175 - 1280 (c. 250 BCE); Apollodorus, Library and Epitome 1.9.19, 2.7.7 (140 BCE); Sextus Propertius, Elegies, i.20.17ff (50 - 15 BCE); Ovid, Ibis, 488 (8 CE - 18 CE); Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, I.110, III.535, 560, IV.1-57 (1st c. C.E.); Hyginus, Fables, 14. Argonauts Assembled (1st c. CE); Philostratus the Elder, Images, ii.24 Thiodamas (170 - 245 CE); First Vatican Mythographer, 49. Hercules et Hylas Namesakes As a word associated with legendary strength, Hercules has been used for a variety of products: Hércules CF A football team based in Alicante, Spain. Hercules, a constellation The lunar crater Hercules Herculane, a spa town in Romania Hercules, a 1907 built steam tug now preserved in San Francisco, California. Hercules, a small town in California named after the Hercules Powder Company Hercules Motorcycles, built by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss HMS Hercules, several ships of the Royal Navy The Bristol Hercules, an aircraft engine The C-130 Hercules, a transport aircraft USS Hercules, a hydrofoil formerly operated by the U.S. Navy. Hercules, an IBM mainframe emulator Hercules Graphics Card Hercules, a bomb-detecting robot at Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport The Tower of Hercules (La Torre de Hércules), an ancient lighthouse dating from ca. the 1st century C.E., in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. Elton Hercules John Wikimedia Commons has media related to: bg:Херкулес Search Term: "Hercules" Categories: Roman mythology

Remembering Hebrew Hercules