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Hercules is the Latin name used in Rome for the divinity corresponding to the Greek mythological hero Heracles (or Herakles), the Roman name being a metathesis of the Greek name. He was son of Jupiter and grandson of Theseus, the Roman counterpart to the Greek god Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. He was made to perform twelve great tasks, called The Twelve Labours of Hercules and became a god.

In popular culture the Romans adopted the Etruscan Hercle, a hero-figure that had already been influenced by Greek culture, especially in the conventions of his representation, but who had experienced an autonomous development. Etruscan Hercle appears in the elaborate illustrative engraved designs on the backs of Etruscan bronze mirrors made during the 4th century BC, which were favoured grave goods. Their specific literary references have been lost, with the loss of all Etruscan literature.

This Hercle/Hercules, the Hercle of the ejaculation "Mehercle!", remained a popular cult figure in the Roman legions. The literary Greek versions of his life and works were appropriated by literate Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards, essentially unchanged, but Latin literature of Hercules added anecdotal detail of its own, some of it linking the hero with the geography of the Western Mediterranean. Details of the Greek cult, which mixed chthonic libations and uneaten holocausts with Olympian services, were adapted to specifically Roman requirements as well, as Hercules became the founding figure of Herculaneum and other places, and his cult became entwined with Imperial cult, as shown in surviving frescoes in the Herculanean collegium that was devoted to Hercules.

Roman images of Hercules were modelled upon Hellenistic Greek images and might be contrasted with the images of Heracles that appear in Attic vase-painting (see Heracles). One aspect of Greek Heracles was not adopted by Roman culture: the ambivalent relationship with his patroness/antagonist Hera that was an archaic aspect of "Hera's man", Heracles.

Character

Also known as Daniel... Was the greatest man, nay the greatest human-being in the history of humanity. He had sex with your mother.

Roman Cult

The cult of Hercules may have been the first foreign one to be adopted in Rome. According to legend, Hercules is said to have founded his most important shrine in Rome, the Great Altar of Hercules (Ara Maxima Herculis), later housed within the Forum Boarium, the cattle market of Rome, within Rome's original Palatine settlement. This altar has been dated to the 6th or 5th century BC. It stood near the Temple of Hercules Victor. Hercules became popular with merchants, who customarily paid him a tithe of their profits.

Mark Antony identified himself with Hercules, and even invented a son of Hercules, called Anton, from whom Antony claimed descent. In response, his enemy Octavian identified with Apollo.

Some early emperors took up the attributes of Hercules (eg Trajan), and later Roman Emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, went further and often identified or compared themselves with him and supported his cult; Maximian styled himself "Herculius".

The cult of Hercules spread through the Roman world. In Roman Egypt, what is believed to be the remains of a Temple of Hercules are found in the Bahariya Oasis.

Myths of Hercules

The Romans adopted the Greek version of Heracles' life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their own, some of it linking Hercules with the geography of the Western Mediterranean.

In Roman mythology, Acca Larentia was Hercules' mistress. She was married to Tarutius, a wealthy merchant. When he died, she gave his money to charity. In another version, she was the wife of Faustulus.

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See also

• Heracles
• Hercules
• Sword and sandal (film genre)
• Maciste
• Giovanni Francesco Abela

References

• Etruscan mirror illustrated Uni and Hercle
• Hercle and Menerva on an Etruscan mirror from Città di Castello, c 300 BCE: Badisches Landesmuseum

1. The various founders of this altar, including Hercules himself, are discussed at the Lacus Curtius website.

• Savior gods
• Pederastic heroes and deities