Hercules, in Greek mythology greatest of heroes, son of Zeus and mortal woman Alcmene. Zeus needed a mortal hero to defeat the giants, and he decided to give birth to Hercules. The best mentors taught Hercules various arts, wrestling, and archery. Zeus wanted Hercules to become the ruler of Mycenae or Tiryns, key fortresses on the approaches to Argos, but jealous Hera thwarted his plans. She struck Hercules with madness, in a fit of which he killed his wife and three of his sons. To atone for his grave guilt, the hero had to serve Eurystheus, king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, after which he was granted immortality.

Hercules at the crossroads
Virtue and Vice,
Pompeo Batoni, 1765

Francois Lemoine,
1725

The most famous is the cycle of tales about the twelve labors of Hercules. The first feat was to obtain the skin of the Nemean lion, which Hercules had to strangle with his bare hands. Having defeated the lion, the hero tanned its skin and wore it as a trophy. The next feat was the victory over the Hydra, the sacred nine-headed snake of Hera. The monster lived in a swamp near Lerna, not far from Argos. The difficulty was that instead of the head severed by the hero, the hydra immediately grew two new ones. With the help of his nephew Iolaus, Hercules overpowered the ferocious Lernaean hydra - the young man burned the neck of each head severed by the hero. True, the feat was not counted by Eurystheus, since Hercules was helped by his nephew.

Gustave Moreau, 1876

Boris Vallejo, 1988

The next feat was not so bloody. Hercules had to catch the Cerynean doe, the sacred animal of Artemis. Then the hero caught the Erymanthian boar, which was devastating the fields of Arcadia. In this case, the wise centaur Chiron accidentally died. The fifth feat was cleaning the Augean stables from manure, which the hero did in one day, directing the waters of the nearest river into them.

The last of the feats performed by Hercules in the Peloponnese was the expulsion of the Stymphalian birds with pointed iron feathers. The ominous birds were afraid of the copper rattles made by Hephaestus and given to Hercules by the goddess Athena, who was favorable to him.

The seventh labor was the capture of a ferocious bull, which Minos, king of Crete, refused to sacrifice to the god of the sea Poseidon. The bull copulated with Minos' wife Pasiphae. who gave birth to the Minotaur, a man with a bull's head.

Hercules performed his eighth labor in Thrace, where he subjugated the man-eating mares of King Diomedes to his power. The remaining four feats were of a different kind. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to obtain the belt of the queen of the warlike Amazons, Hippolyta. Then the hero kidnapped and delivered the cows of the three-headed giant Geryon to Mycenae. After this, Hercules brought Eurystheus the golden apples of the Hesperides, for which he had to strangle the giant Antaeus and deceive Atlas, who held the firmament on his shoulders. The last labor of Hercules - the journey to the kingdom of the dead - was the most difficult. With the assistance of the queen underworld The hero was able to get Persephone out of there and deliver the three-headed dog Kerberus (Cerberus), the guardian of the underworld, to Tiryns.

The end of Hercules was terrible. The hero died in terrible agony, wearing a shirt that his wife Dejanira, on the advice of the centaur Nessus dying at the hands of Hercules, soaked in the poisonous blood of this half-man, half-horse. When the hero, with his last strength, ascended the funeral pyre, crimson lightning struck from heaven and Zeus accepted his son into the host of immortals.

Some of the labors of Hercules are immortalized in the names of constellations. For example, the constellation Leo - in memory of the Nemean lion, the constellation Cancer recalls the huge cancer Karkina, sent by Hera to help the Lernaean hydra. In Roman mythology, Hercules corresponds to Hercules.

Since childhood, we have heard about the exploits of Hercules. Books, cartoons and films tell us over and over again about his victories over the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra or the cleaning of the Augean stables. Let us remind you that the great Greek demigod performed only 12 feats, not counting various small things like strangling snakes with his bare hands in infancy or active participation in the famous campaign of the Argonauts for the Golden Fleece.

Today's schoolchildren know the biography of Hercules better than the multiplication table, and can talk about his life, from birth to his ascension to Olympus, without a cheat sheet. However, if you ask them who Hercules is, such a question will cause difficult thoughts. And not only among the younger generation. Well... As they say in popular advertising - let's talk about it. Let’s first refresh our memory by remembering the main moments of the bright but short earthly life of the legendary hero.

Hercules, Greek Ilya Muromets

Hercules is the fruit of the love of the head Greek Olympus the thunderer Zeus and Alcmene, daughter of the Mycenaean king Electryon. Moreover, in order to fully satisfy his passion, the leader of the divine pantheon did not hesitate to create a small apocalypse - he stopped the sun and arranged a night for himself that lasted three days. It is not surprising that as a result of such turbulent events, not some ordinary hero was born, but a mighty Hero, a demigod of the royal family.

Hera, the wife of Zeus, really disliked the future legend and from his very birth began to plot all sorts of intrigues against Hercules. Either the snake will send him, or he will punish him with madness... However, that’s why a hero is a hero, to overcome all difficulties. Ultimately, the wayward goddess, patroness of marriage and guardian of the family hearth, made peace with illegitimate son her formidable husband and even married him to her daughter Hebe.

During his short but stormy earthly life, Hercules was noted for a considerable number of glorious deeds. The most famous are the so-called 12 labors of Hercules, performed at the instigation of the supreme king of the Peloponnese, the narrow-minded and insignificant Eurystheus. We will not describe here the deeds of the mythical Greek - there is a huge amount of literature and films on this topic. Now, having made a brief overview of the life of our hero, let's try to establish a connection between Hercules and Hercules. However, let's first find out who Hercules is and where he came from.

Hercules, new centurion

After the rapid flowering of Greek civilization, a new sun rose over the world - the Roman Empire. Her famous legions are very short term(by historical standards) captured almost the entire more or less inhabited world at that time. And unlike previous and future world conquerors, they did it soundly, for centuries. The Romans did not ignore the cultural center of the then civilization - divine Hellas. It was occupied without unnecessary blood and brutality, but firmly and for a long time.

The influence of the Greeks on Rome was enormous. Religion, mythology, many holidays and rituals were perceived by the “barbarians from the Apennines” as their own. We can safely say that Greek culture gave a powerful impetus to the development and formation of the “Roman world”.

Of course, the Romans could not copy everything from the Greeks down to the decimal point. This would be contrary to the Roman spirit and the logic of the conqueror. Therefore, all the gods, heroes and other mythical characters from Hellas, having come into the possession of the Romans, received different names and over time even began to be passed off as native Roman figures.

This trend did not bypass our hero, Hercules. In Roman mythical officialdom, he received a new name - Hercules. Later this name took root in the Western world, but the countries of the Byzantine sphere of influence used exclusively the Greek original - Hercules. Thus, we smoothly moved on to the question posed in the title of the article, namely, what is the difference between Hercules and Hercules?

Comparison

We think that the attentive reader has already understood everything himself. However, our task is to clearly formulate the conclusion that follows from our short journey to the land of myths of Ancient Greece and Rome.

So, summary. There is no difference between Hercules and Hercules. These are two absolutely identical heroes with different names. The name Hercules is original, Greek, and has no other variants. The Roman Hercules is the same Greek Hercules, renamed to suit the imperial ambitions of the Latins. As already indicated, both of these names have become widespread and are used simultaneously, but in different circles of world culture - Western and Eastern.

3 - Stymphalian birds. They killed people and animals with their copper feathers, tore them apart with copper claws and beaks, and then devoured them. They lived in the vicinity of the city of Stymphala. Hercules was able to kill the birds with the help of Pallas Athena, who gave him two copper tympani forged by Hephaestus. From the deafening ringing that rose from the tympanums, the birds flew up over the forest, and Hercules was able to shoot them with a bow.

4 - Kerynean fallow deer. She had golden horns and copper hooves. Belonged to the goddess of hunting Artemis. She was sent by the goddess to punish people and devastated the fields. Hercules was ordered to catch her alive. He chased the doe for a whole year and was able to catch it only after he wounded her in the leg.

5 - Erymanthian boar (boar) and the battle with the centaurs. The boar, who had monstrous strength, lived on Mount Erymanthes and devastated the surroundings of the city of Psofis. Hercules drove the monster into deep snow and carried it bound to Mycenae.

6 - Augean stables. Hercules had to clear the stables of Augeas, king of the Epean tribe in Elis, from manure in one day. Augeas had countless herds of cattle, which were given to him by his father (Helios or Poseidon). The barnyard had not been cleared for 30 years. To fulfill the order, Hercules blocked the Alpheus River and directed its waters to the barnyard.

7 - Cretan bull. The fire-breathing bull was sent by Poseidon to the king of Crete Minos, who was supposed to sacrifice the bull to the god of the seas. Minos kept the bull in his herd and sacrificed another. Poseidon became angry and sent the donated bull into a frenzy. Hercules had to catch the bull and bring it to Mycenae. To accomplish this, Hercules sat on the broad back of a bull and swam across the sea on it.

8 - Horses of King Diomedes. Horses of wondrous beauty and strength. They lived in Thrace with King Diomedes, who fed them human flesh, throwing all foreigners to them to be eaten. Hercules tamed the cannibal horses and delivered them to Eurystheus, who released them into freedom. In the mountains, the horses were torn to pieces by wild animals.

9 - Belt of Hippolyta. The belt was presented to the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, by the god of war Ares and served as a symbol of power over the Amazons. Hercules was supposed to bring this belt to Eurystheus for his daughter, the priestess of the goddess Hera.

10 - Cows of Geryon. The giant Geryon had three torsos, three heads, six arms and six legs. Hercules had to drive the cows of the giant Geryon to Mycenae. Helios helped Hercules to reach the island of Erythea, where Geryon grazed his flocks, delivering him on his golden boat, and Pallas Athena helped Heryon defeat him.

11 - Kerber. Kerberus (Cerberus) was the guardian of the underworld of Hades. It had three heads, snakes writhed around its neck, and its tail ended with the head of a dragon. Hercules had to go down to Hades and bring Cerberus to Eurystheus. According to the condition of Hades, Hercules could take Kerberus only if he could tame him without weapons.

12 - Apples of the Hesperides. It was considered the most difficult feat. The Hesperides, daughters of the Titan Atlas, looked after the golden apples in their father's gardens. Apples, which bestow eternal youth, grew on a golden tree grown by the earth goddess Gaia as a gift to Hera on her wedding day with Zeus, and the garden was guarded by a dragon. Hercules was ordered to bring three golden apples. The difficulty was that no one, except the prophetic sea elder Nereus, knew the way to the gardens. Nereus was forced to reveal the secret of the path so that Hercules, who had bound him, would release him.

Hercules- the name by which Hercules was known in Ancient Rome and had the glory of a fighter against injustice. Thanks to his willingness to serve people and endurance, he was an ideal for the Stoics.

The Burgundian royal family traced its origins to Hercules and Queen Eliza.

Hercules, or Hercules

Hercules, or Hercules, came from the glorious family of Perseus; he is the greatest hero of Greek myths and beloved national hero the entire Greek people; it represents the image of a person possessing great physical strength, invincible courage and enormous willpower. Performing the most difficult work, obeying the will of Jupiter, he, with a consciousness of his duty, dutifully endures the cruel blows of fate. He fought and defeated the dark and evil forces nature, fought against untruth and injustice, as well as against the enemies of social orders and moral orders established by Jupiter. He is the son of Jupiter, but his mother is mortal, and he is a true son of the earth and a mortal. Despite his strength, he, like mortals, is subject to all the passions and delusions inherent in the human heart, but in his human and therefore weak nature lies the divine source of kindness and divine generosity, making him capable of great feats. Just as he defeats giants and monsters, so he conquers all the bad instincts in himself and achieves divine immortality.

The following is said about its origin. Jupiter, the ruler of the gods, wished to give the gods and people a great hero who would protect them from various troubles. He descended from Olympus and began to look for a woman worthy of becoming the mother of such a hero. His choice fell on Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon. But since Alcmene loved only her husband, Jupiter took the form of Amphitryon and entered his house. The son born from this union was Hercules, who in mythology is called either the son of Amphitryon or the son of Jupiter. And this is why Hercules has a dual nature - man and god. This incarnation of deity in man did not in the least shock popular beliefs and feelings, which, however, did not stop people from laughing at the comical side of this incident. On one antique vase a picturesque image of an ancient caricature has been preserved (Fig. 215): Jupiter is depicted there in disguise and possessing big belly; he is carrying a ladder, which he is going to put against Alcmene’s window, and she is watching everything that is happening from the window; Mercury, disguised as a slave but recognizable by his caduceus, stands in front of Jupiter.

When the time came for the birth of the son of Alcmene, the ruler of the gods could not resist boasting in the assembly of the gods that on that day he would be born into the family of Perseus great hero, called to rule over all nations. Juno forced him to confirm these words with an oath and, as the goddess of childbirth, arranged it so that on that day it was not Hercules who was born, but Eurystheus, also a descendant of Perseus. And thus, Hercules had to obey Eurystheus, serve him and perform various difficult jobs at his command.

When the son of Alcmene was born, Mercury, wanting to save him from the persecution of Juno, took him, carried him to Olympus and laid him in the arms of the sleeping goddess. Hercules bit Juno's breast with such force that milk poured out of her and formed the Milky Way in the sky, and the awakened goddess angrily threw Hercules away, who nevertheless tasted the milk of immortality. In the museum in Madrid there is a painting by Rubens depicting Juno breastfeeding little Hercules (Fig. 216). The goddess sits on a cloud, and next to her stands a chariot drawn by peacocks. Tintoretto interprets this plot somewhat differently in his painting; In his case, Jupiter himself gives Juno a son. Together with Hercules, his brother Iphicles was born, and the vengeful Juno sends two snakes that climb into the cradle to kill the children, but little Hercules grabbed them and strangled them. Pliny mentions a painting by the ancient artist Zeuxis depicting this incident. The same subject is depicted on an ancient fresco, on a bas-relief and on a bronze statue discovered in Herculaneum. Of the newest works on the same topic, paintings by Annibale Carracci and Reynolds are known.