Heracles.
The son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, Heracles (Hercules in Latin) became the exemplary Greek hero through the famous twelve labors and other adventures. In youth he was known by the patronym Alcides, after his earthly grandfather Alcaeus, father of Amphitryon. The origin of the name Heracles (“Glory of Hera”) is unclear; however, almost all of Heracles’ deeds and sufferings grew out of Hera’s spite.
     A complex figure, Heracles was endowed with near godlike strength, courage, and fortitude, yet showed his humanity in a violent temper, a lack of temperance (particularly in drink), and an insatiable amorousness. These negative traits were easily forgiven in view of his generosity, defense of the threatened or oppressed, and expense of energy for the cause of right, but they caused him many hardships and eventually contributed to his death. According to the sophist Prodicus, as a young man Alcides was given the choice of a life of pleasure or virtue; he chose the latter, with its attendant trials, but did not entirely renounce the former.
     The adventures of Heracles cited in Greek and Roman myth are varied and numerous. As a child, he escaped death at the hands of Hera (Juno) by strangling the snakes she placed in his cradle. Educated by the greatest experts in archery, wrestling, and music, he showed his violence and unpredictability when he slew his music tutor, Linus. As a young man he was sent to tend the herds of Amphitryon on Mount Cithaeron, where he killed a marauding lion and thus proved his skill and bravery. When he returned to Thebes, he married Megara, daughter of King Creon, but unwittingly murdered their children in a fit of madness brought on by Hera.
     In penance, Heracles was obliged to undertake the famous twelve labors, during which he also performed many other exploits. These included subduing the giant Antaeus and the monster Cacus; setting up the Pillars of Hercules at the limits of the known world; establishing the Olympic Games; engaging in a battle with Pholus and other centaurs that resulted in the wounding and eventual death of the wise centaur Chiron. He also rescued Alcestis from Hades; sailed with the Argonauts; sacked the city of Troy after its king, Laomedon, had refused payment for the rescue of his daughter; and fought at the side of the Olympians against the insurgent Giants.
     After completing the labors, Heracles married Deianeira of Calydon, but later fell in love with Iole, a daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia. For killing her brother, he was sold into slavery to Queen Omphale of Lydia for a year. His painful death, brought about by his romantic entanglement with both Iole and Deianeira, was followed by his ascension to Olympus, reconciliation with Hera, and marriage to her daughter Hebe.
     Heracles has been portrayed as both a hero and a god, a dual role that was debated by scholars as early as the fifth century BCE, when the historian Herodotus identified the divine and mortal Heracles as two different figures. He was worshiped throughout Greece, especially among the Dorians. In Rome he was said to have abolished human sacrifice among the Sabines. Evander, the legendary founder of Rome, was said to have especially revered Hercules as a god.
     So complex were the legends surrounding Heracles that Aristotle commented on the difficulty of writing a unified epic or tragedy about him. However, Euripides and Sophocles did produce enduring tragedies centering on his death, and Aristophanes and other comic poets successfully celebrated the hero’s human foibles. Moralists and philosophers concentrated on the unselfish fortitude that allowed him to labor for the good of man and achieve immortality through his virtue.
     A popular figure in classical art, Heracles was often depicted with a lion-skin cloak, club, and bow. His image was common not only in vase painting and the minor arts, but also in monumental sculpture; the metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (c.460 BCE) take the twelve labors as their theme. In the postclassical arts Heracles is often an allegorical figure, representing strength and courage against moral evils. Athena (Minerva), as goddess of wisdom and virtue, is his especial protector. In the Middle Ages the hero’s rescue of Alcestis and his apotheosis were sometimes interpreted as linking him with Christ.

     A sidelight on the theme is that of the “Gallic Heracles.” Lucian claimed to have seen in Gaul a picture of Heracles dragging his followers by delicate chains of gold and amber fastened to their ears and to his pierced tongue. This image became an allegory of eloquence, reflecting a French claim to Herculean origins. In Alciati’s Emblemata (1534) Heracles is depicted as “Typus Eloquentiae.”

Further Reference:
Galinsky, G. Karl. 1972. The Herakles Theme: The Adaptations of the Hero in Literature from Homer to the Twentieth Century. Totowa, N.J., Rowman & Littlefield.

Listings for Heracles are arranged under the following headings:
Birth of Heracles;
Infant Heracles and the Serpents;
Choice of Heracles;
Madness of Heracles;
Pillars of Heracles;
Heracles and Cacus;
Heracles and Antaeus;
Heracles and Deianeira;
Heracles and Iole;
Heracles and Omphale;
Death of Heracles;
Apotheosis of Heracles

See also:
Heracles, Labors of;
Alcestis;
Jason, and the Argonauts;
Laomedon;
Odysseus, in Hades;
Pirithous, Wedding;
Prometheus, Freed;
Theseus, and the Amazons;
Titans and Giants