Heracles

Lore & Background

Heracles was born Alcaeus or Alcides, but was renamed Heracles, meaning 'glory/fame of Hera'. Many popular stories were told of his life, the most famous being the twelve Labours of Hercules. Alexandrian poets of the Hellenistic age drew his mythology into a high poetic and tragic atmosphere. His figure, which initially drew on Near Eastern motifs such as the lion-fight, was widely known.

Heracles was both hero and god, as Pindar says heros theos; at the same festival sacrifice was made to him, first as a hero, with a chthonic libation, and then as a god, upon an altar: thus he embodies the closest Greek approach to a 'demi-god'. The core of the story of Heracles has been identified by Walter Burkert as originating in Neolithic hunter culture and traditions of shamanistic crossings into the netherworld. It is possible that the myths surrounding Heracles were based on the life of a real person or several people whose accomplishments became exaggerated with time.

Reader's Guide

Heracles used his wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice, such as when laboring for the king Augeas of Elis, wrestling the giant Antaeus, or tricking Atlas into taking the sky back onto his shoulders. Together with Hermes he was the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae. His iconographic attributes are the lion skin and the club. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children.

By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have 'made the world safe for mankind' and to be its benefactor. Heracles was an extremely passionate and emotional individual, capable of doing both great deeds for his friends (such as wrestling with Thanatos on behalf of Prince Admetus, who had regaled Heracles with his hospitality, or restoring his friend Tyndareus to the throne of Sparta after he was overthrown) and being a terrible enemy who would wreak horrible vengeance on those who crossed him, as Augeas, Neleus, and Laomedon all found out to their cost.

There was also a coldness to his character, which was demonstrated by Sophocles's depiction of the hero in The Trachiniae. Heracles threatened his marriage with his desire to bring two women under the same roof; one of them was his wife Deianeira. According to the Greek philosopher Dicaearchus, Heracles was square-built, muscular, dark (μέλανα), hook-nosed, with brownish-amber eyes and long hair. Pseudo-Apollodorus adds that 'his body measured four cubits, and he flashed a gleam of fire from his eyes', while the poet Pindar describes him as 'of stature short, but dauntless soul'.

In art, he is usually shown with short, curly hair, a thick neck, a projecting lower forehead, broad shoulders, and strongly developed arms, chest, and legs, as in the Farnese Hercules.

Did You Know?

• He was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and his twin mortal brother was Iphicles, father of his charioteer Iolaus.
• The ancient Greeks celebrated the festival of the Heracleia, which commemorated the death of Heracles, on the second day of the month of Metageitnion (late July or early August).