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HERCULES (0. Lat. Hercoles, Hercles)
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See also:HERCULES (0. See also:Lat. Hercoles, Hercles) , the latinized See also:form of the mythical Heracles, the See also:chief See also:national See also:hero of Hellas. The name `HparcXijr("Hpa, and KX os = See also:glory) is explained as " renowned through See also:Hera " (i.e, in consequence of her persecution) or " the glory of Hera " i.e. of See also:Argos. The thoroughly national See also:character of Heracles is shown by his being the mythical ancestor of the Dorian dynastic tribe, while revered by Ionian See also:Athens, Lelegian See also:Opus and Aeolo-Phoenician See also:Thebes, and closely associated with the Achaean heroes See also:Peleus and Telamon. The Perseid Alcmena, wife of See also:Amphitryon of See also:Tiryns, was Hercules' See also:mother, See also:Zeus his See also:father. After his father he is often called Amphitryoniades, and also Alcides, after the Perseid See also:Alcaeus, father of Amphitryon. His mother and her See also:husband lived at Thebes in See also:exile as guests of See also: In the domain of letters he remained until his See also:death a veritable pontiff, and an See also:article or See also:book of his was an event celebrated from one end of Portugal to the other. The nation continued to look up to him for See also:mental leadership, but, in his later years, lacking See also:hope himself, he could not stimulate others or use to See also:advantage the See also:powers conferred upon him. In politics he remained a constitutional Liberal of the old type, and for him the See also:people were the See also:middle classes in opposition to the See also:lower, which he saw to have been the supporters of tyranny in all ages, while he considered Radicalism to mean a return via anarchy to See also:absolutism. However, though he conducted a See also:political propaganda in the newspaper See also:press in his See also:early days, Herculano never exercised much See also:influence in politics. See also:Grave as most of his writings are, they include a See also:short description of a See also:crossing from See also:Jersey to See also:Granville, in which he satirizes See also:English character and customs, and reveals an unexpected sense, of See also:humour. A rare capacity for tedious See also:work, a dour Catonian rectitude, a See also:passion for truth, See also:pride, irritability at See also:criticism and See also:independence of character, are the marks of Herculano as a See also:man. He could be broken but never See also:bent, and his See also:rude frankness accorded with his hard, sombre See also:face, and alienated men's sympathies though it did not lose him their respect. His lyrism is vigorous, feeling, austere and almost entirely subjective and See also:personal,, while his See also:pamphlets are distinguished by See also:energy of conviction, strength of See also:affirmation, and contempt for weaker and more ignorant opponents. His See also:History of Portugal is a See also:great but incomplete See also:monument. A lack of See also:imagination and of. the philosophic spirit prevented him from penetrating or See also:drawing characters, but his See also:analytical See also:gift, joined to persevering toil and honesty of purpose enabled him to See also:present a faithful See also:account of ascertained facts and a satisfactory and lucid explanation of political and economic events. His remains See also:lie in a majestic See also:tomb in the Jeronymos at Belem, near See also:Lisbon, which was raised by public subscription to the greatest See also:modern historian of Portugal and of the See also:Peninsula. His more important See also:works have gone through many See also:editions and his name is still one to conjure with. Au'rnoluTrns.—See also:Antonio de Serpa Pimentel, See also:Alexandre Herculano e o seu tempo (Lisbon, 1881) ; A. Romero Ortiz, La Litteratura Portuguesa en el siglo XIX. (See also:Madrid, 1869) ; Moniz Barreto, Revssta de Portugal (See also:July 1889). (E. PR.) his foe through See also:life, his See also:birth was delayed, and that of Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus of Argos, hastened, Zeus having in effect sworn that the See also:elder of the two should See also:rule the See also:realm of See also:Perseus. Hera sent two serpents to destory the new-See also:born Hercules, but he strangled them. He was trained in all manly accomplishments by heroes of the highest renown in each, until in a transport of anger at a reprimand he slew See also:Linus, his instructor in See also:music, with the See also:lyre. Thereupon he was sent to tend Amphitryon's oxen, and at this See also:period slew the See also:lion of See also:Mount See also:Cithaeron. By freeing Thebes from paying See also:tribute to the Minyans of See also:Orchomenus he won Creon's daughter, See also:Megara, to wife. Her See also:children by him he killed in a frenzy induced by Hera. After See also:purification he was sent by the Pythia to serve Eurystheus. Thus began the See also:cycle of the twelve labours. 1. See also:Wrestling with the Nemean lion. 2. Destruction of the Lernean See also:hydra. 3. See also:Capture of the Arcadian See also:hind (a See also:stag in See also:art). 4. Capture of the See also:boar of Erymanthus, while See also:chasing which he fought the See also:Centaurs and killed his See also:friends See also:Chiron and Pholus, this See also:homicide leading to See also:Demeter's institution of mysteries. 5. Cleansing of the stables of See also:Augeas. 6. See also:Shooting the Stymphalian birds. 7. Capture of the Cretan See also:bull subsequently slain by See also:Theseus at See also:Marathon. 8. Capture of the man-eating mares of the Thracian See also:Diomedes. 9. Seizure of the See also:girdle of Hippolyte, See also:queen of the See also:Amazons. to. Bringing the oxen of Geryones from Erythia in the far See also:west, which errand involved many adventures in the See also:coast lands of the Mediterranean, and the setting up of the " Pillars of Hercules " at the Straits of See also:Gibraltar. 11. Bringing the See also:golden apples from the See also:garden of the See also:Hesperides. 12. Carrying See also:Cerberus from Hades to the upper See also:world. Most of the labours See also:lead to various adventures called ,rapepya. On Hercules' return to Thebes he gave his wife Megara to his friend and charioteer Iolaus, son of Iphicles, and by beating Eurytus of Oechalia and his sons in a shooting match won a claim to the See also:hand of his daughter Iole, whose See also:family, however, except her See also:brother Iphitus, withheld their consent to the See also:union. Iphitus persuaded Hercules to See also:search for Eurytus' lost oxen, but was killed by him at Tiryns in a frenzy. He consulted the Pythia about a cure for the consequent madness, but she declined to See also:answer him. Whereupon he seized the oracular See also:tripod, and so entered upon a contest with See also:Apollo, which Zeus stopped by sending a flash of See also:lightning between the combatants. The Pythia then sent him to serve the Lydian queen Omphale. He then, with Telamon, Peleus and Theseus, took See also:Troy. He next helped the gods in the great battle against the giants. He destroyed sundry See also:sea-monsters, set See also:free the See also:bound See also:Prometheus, took See also:part in the Argonautic voyage and the Calydonian boar See also:hunt, made See also:war against Augeas, and against See also:Nestor and the Pylians, and restored Tyndareus to the See also:sovereignty of See also:Lacedaemon. He sustained many single combats, one very famous struggle being the wrestling with the Libyan See also:Antaeus, son of See also:Poseidon and Ge (See also:Earth), who had to be held in the See also:air, as he See also:grew stronger every See also:time he touched his mother, Earth. Hercules withstood See also:Ares, Poseidon and Hera, as well as Apollo. The See also:close of his career is assigned to See also:Aetolia and See also:Trachis. He wrestles with See also:Achelous for Deianeira (" destructive to husband "), daughter of Oeneus, king of See also:Calydon, vanquishes the See also:river See also:god, and breaks off one of his horns, which as a See also:horn of plenty is found as an attribute of Hercules in art. Driven from Calydon for homicide, he goes with Deianeira to Trachis. On the way he slays the centaur Nessus, who persuades Deianeira that his See also:blood is a love-See also:charm. From Trachis he See also:wages successful war against the Dryopes and See also:Lapithae as ally of Aegimius, king of the See also:Dorians, who promised him a third of his realm, and after his death adopted Hyllus, his son by Deianeira. Finally Hercules attacks Eurytus, takes Oechalia and carries off See also:Iola. Thereupon Deianeira, prompted by love and See also:jealousy, sends him a See also:tunic dipped in the blood of Nessus, and the unsuspecting hero puts it on just before sacrificing at the headland of Cenaeum in See also:Euboea. (So far the dithyramb of See also:Bacchylides xv. [xvi.), agrees with See also:Sophocles' Trachiniae as to the hero's end.) Mad with See also:pain, he seizes Lichas, the messenger who had brought the fatal garment, and hurls him on the rocks; and then hewanders in agony to Mount See also:Oeta, where he mounts a pyre, which, however, no one will kindle. At last Poeas, father of See also:Philoctetes, takes pity on him, and is rewarded with the gift of his See also:bow and arrows. The immortal part of Hercules passes to See also:Olympus, where he is reconciled to Hera and weds her daughter See also:Hebe. This account of the hero's See also:principal labours, exploits and crimes is derived from the mythologists See also:Apollodorus and Diodorus, who probably followed the Heracleia by See also:Peisander of See also:Rhodes as to the twelve labours or that of See also:Panyasis of See also:Halicarnassus, but sundry See also:variations of See also:order and incident are found in classical literature. In one aspect Hercules is clearly a See also:sun-god, being identified, especially in See also:Cyprus and in See also:Thasos (as Makar), with the Tyrian Melkarth. The third and twelfth labours may be See also:solar, the horned hind representing the See also:moon, and the carrying of Cerberus to the upper world an See also:eclipse, while the last See also:episode of the hero's tragedy is possibly a See also:complete solar myth See also:developed at Trachis. The See also:winter sun is seen rising over the Cenaean promontory to toil across to Mount Oeta and disappear over it in a See also:bank of fiery See also:cloud. B ut more important and less speculative is the hero's aspect as a national type or an amalgar ation of tribal types of See also:physical force, of dauntless effort and endurance, of militant See also:civilization, and of Hellenic enterprise, " stronger than everything except his own passions," and " at once above and below the noblest type of man " (See also:Jebb). The fifth labour seems to symbolize some great improvement in the drainage of See also:Elis. Strenuous devotion to the deliverance of mankind from dangers and pests is the " virtue " which, in Prodicus' famous See also:apologue on the Choice of Hercules, the hero preferred to an easy and happy life. Ethically, Hercules symbolizes the attainment of glory and See also:immortality by toil and suffering. The Old-Dorian Hercules is represented in three cycles of myth, the Argive, the Boeotian and the Thessalian; the legends of See also:Arcadia, Aetolia, See also:Lydia, &c., and See also:Italy are either See also:local or symbolical and comparatively See also:late. The fatality by which Hercules kills so many friends as well as foes recalls the destroying Apollo; while his career frequently illustrates the Delphic views on blood-guiltiness and expiation. As Apollo's champion Hercules is Daphnephoros, and fights Cycnus and Amyntor to keep open the sacred way from See also:Tempe to See also:Delphi. As the Dorian tutelar he See also:aids Tyndareus and Aegimius. As See also:patron of maritime See also:adventure (iyeµ6vcos) he struggles with See also:Nereus and See also:Triton, slays Eryx and See also:Busiris, and perhaps captures the See also:wild horses and oxen, which may stand for pirates. As a god of athletes he is often a wrestler (rraX al ycov), and founds the Olympian See also:games. In See also:comedy and occasionally in myths he is depicted as voracious (/3ov¢ayos). He is also represented as the See also:companion of See also:Dionysus, especially in See also:Asia See also:Minor. The " Resting " (avatrav6µevos) Hercules is, as at See also:Thermopylae and near See also:Himera, the natural tutelar of hot springs in See also:conjunction with his protectress See also:Athena, who is usually depicted attending him on See also:ancient vases. The glorified Hercules was worshipped both as a god and a hero. In the See also:Attic deme Melita he was invoked as iXe6 aKos (" Helper in ills "), at See also:Olympia as KaXXivtaos (" Nobly-victorious "), in the rustic See also:worship of the Oetaeans as Kopvo7riwv (Kbpvo1r , " locusts "), by the Erythraeans of See also:Ionia as ilroKr6vos (" Canker-See also:worm-slayer "). He was uwrilp (" Saviour "), i.e. a See also:protector of voyagers, at Thasos and See also:Smyrna. Games in his See also:honour were held at Thebes and Marathon and See also:annual festivals in every deme of See also:Attica, in See also:Sicyon and Agyrium (See also:Sicily). His See also:guardian goddess was Athena (See also:Homer, Il. viii. 638; Bacchylides v. 91 f.). In early See also:poetry, as often in art, he is an See also:archer, afterwards a See also:club-wielder and fully-armed See also:warrior. In early art the adult Hercules, is bearded, but not See also:long-haired. Later he is sometimes youthful and See also:beard-less, always with short See also:curly See also:hair and thick See also:neck, the lower part of the brow prominent. A lion's skin is generally worn or carried. See also:Lysippus worked out the finest type of sculptured Hercules, of which the See also:Farnese by Glycon is a See also:grand specimen. The infantine struggle with serpents was a favourite subject. Quite distinct was the Idaean Hercules, a Cretan See also:Dactyl connected with the cult of See also:Rhea or See also:Cybele. The Greeks recognized Hercules in an See also:Egyptian deity See also:Chons and an See also:Indian Dorsanes, not to mention personages of other mythologies. Hercules is supposed to have visited Italy on his return from Erythia, when he slew Cacus, son of See also:Vulcan, the See also:giant of the Aventine mount of See also:Rome, who had stolen his oxen. To this victory was assigned the See also:founding of the Ara See also:maxima by See also:Evander. His worship, introduced from the See also:Greek colonies in See also:Etruria and in the See also:south of Italy, seems to have been established in Rome from the earliest times, as two old Patrician genies were associated with his cult and the Fabii claimed him as their ancestor. The See also:tithes vowed to him by See also:Romans and men of See also:Sora and Reate, for safety on journeys and voyages, furnished sacrifices and (in Rome) public entertainment (polluctum). See also:Tibur was a See also:special seat of his cult. In Rome he was patron of See also:gladiators, as of athletes in See also:Greece. With respect to the See also:Roman relations of the hero, it is See also:manifest that the native myths of Recaranus, or Sancus, or Dius Fidius, were transferred to the Hellenic Hercules. (C. A. M. F.) See L. See also:Preller, Griechische Mythologie (4th ed., See also:Berlin, 1900) ; W. H. See also:Roscher, Ausfiihrliches Lexikon der griechischen and romischen Mythologie (1884) ; See also:Sir R. C. Jebb, Trachiniae of Sophocles (Introd.), (1892); Ch. Daremberg and E. Saglio, Dictionnaire See also:des antigun&s grecques et romaines; See also:Breal, Hercule et Cacus, 1863; J. G. Winter, Myth of Hercules at Rome (New See also:York, 191o).
In the article GREEK ART,-fig. 16 represents Heracles wrestling with the river-god Achelous; fig. 20 (from a small See also:pediment, possibly of a See also:shrine of the hero) the slaying of the Hydra; fig. 35 Heracles holding up the See also:sky on a See also:cushion.
Hercules was a favourite figure in See also:French See also:medieval literature. In the See also:romance of See also: See also:Don Enrique de See also:Villena took from Les Prouesses his prose Los Doze Trabajos de Hercules (See also:Zamora, 1483 and 1499), and See also:Fernandez de See also:Heredia wrote Trabajos y afanes de Hercules (Madrid, 1682), which belies its See also:title, being a collection of adages and allegories. Le Fatiche d' Ercole (1475) is a romance in poetic prose by Pietro See also:Bassi, and the Dodeci Travagli di Ercole (1544) a poem by J. Perillos. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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