Mythology & Folklore Stack Exchange
Mythology & Folklore Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [hercules]

For questions about Hercules, the popular name for the Ancient Greek hero and the son of Zeus, known for completing a series of labors.

Here is a list of all the times Hercules is referenced in Greek literature (this is useful if you need to quote the original Hercules myth).

38 questions
20
votes
1 answer

Was there a cult of Hercules in Germania?

Publius Cornelius Tacitus in his De Origine et situ Germanorum tells us that 1st century Germanic tribes worshipped Hercules: They say that Hercules, too, once visited them; and when going into battle, they sing of him first of all heroes. They…
yannis
  • 17,215
  • 8
  • 77
  • 209
17
votes
1 answer

Was there a significant transformation of the Heracles mythos from Homeric times to classical times?

Homer, in book 5 of the Iliad, tells us that during his expedition against Neleus of Pylos (Poseidon's son), Heracles won battles against Poseidon and Apollo, and managed to wound Hera and Hades with his arrows. He also killed Neleus and eleven of…
yannis
  • 17,215
  • 8
  • 77
  • 209
15
votes
3 answers

Why is Heracles named after Hera if she hated him so much?

Why is Heracles named after Hera if she hated him so much? He was Zeus's favored son but not Hera's. This is from Eric Flaum's The Encyclopedia of Mythology.
user28
14
votes
3 answers

Why did Heracles transform into a fawn, during the gods flight to Egypt?

In some tellings of Typhon's revolt, the gods take animal forms and flee to Egypt in panic. The version in the Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis references Nicander of Colophon and explicitly mentions the animals each god transformed into: [28.…
yannis
  • 17,215
  • 8
  • 77
  • 209
12
votes
4 answers

Is it Heracles or Herakles?

In the question, "What happened to Theseus after Heracles found him" that I answered, someone edited my answer and replaced Heracles with Herakles. I was confused because when I searched up Heracles on the internet, it showed that he was spelled…
12944qwerty
  • 365
  • 3
  • 14
12
votes
1 answer

What happened to Prometheus after Hercules freed him?

I couldn't find much (any) info about this question. According to wikipedia: Prometheus, in eternal punishment, is chained to a rock in the Caucasus, Kazbek Mountain or Mountain of Khvamli, where his liver is eaten daily by an eagle, only to be…
eko
  • 225
  • 1
  • 3
  • 8
11
votes
2 answers

Do we know how Hercules avoided the Hydra's venomous breath?

In most all references to the Lernaean Hydra, it says that the hydra has venomous breath and blood. Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30 : "He [Herakles] killed at the spring of Lerna the nine headed Lernaean Hydra, offspring of Typhon. This monster was so…
Patrick vD
  • 213
  • 1
  • 7
10
votes
2 answers

Does Hercules have a tail?

I was astonished when I saw these two tapestries in a museum: Hercules fighting Centaurs Hercules fighting a multi-headed dog In both of them Hercules/Heracles seems to have a well defined tail with a wisp of longer hair at its end. I went to…
Armfoot
  • 219
  • 1
  • 5
8
votes
3 answers

How does one get purified of murder in Greek mythology?

There are four myths that I know of where someone murders another and does something about it to be relieved of it. The first, most famous and only myth saying what is done, is Heracles. He murdered his family under the influence of Hera's madness.…
Andrew Johnson
  • 6,755
  • 4
  • 42
  • 100
7
votes
3 answers

Are there stories of a hero or god fighting off old age?

I recently learned of Geras, the personification of old age. The deity is primarily known from vase depictions that show him with Heracles. One example is this Attic red-figured neck-amphora1: Unfortunately, the mythic story of Heracles fighting…
yannis
  • 17,215
  • 8
  • 77
  • 209
7
votes
1 answer

Was Eurystheus a lover of Heracles? Did Heracles have any other male lovers?

In some versions of the 12 labors of Heracles, Eurystheus is a lover of Heracles and he undertook the 12 labors for Eurystheus' love. Did Heracles have any other male lovers?
user28
7
votes
1 answer

Hercules predicted the Moors would conquer Spain?

I have read that in Spanish legend, King Roderic/Rodrigo, last King of the Visigoths before the invasion of the Moors, insisted on entering the cave or tower of Hercules, left sealed since the times of Greek myth but forced open by Roderic, thinking…
Ben Warner
  • 526
  • 2
  • 10
7
votes
2 answers

Did Hercules complete his labors as described in the 2014 movie "Hercules"?

Is it true that most monsters of his labors are exaggerated, like the hydra monster that turned out to be warriors with masks of serpents as it is shown in the 2014 movie, Hercules?
S. GOLIZADEH
  • 189
  • 6
6
votes
2 answers

Has Herakles been swallowed by a whale?

I heard a rumor that there was an ancient Greek myth about a human swallowed by a whale (or other large sea monster) and living to tell the tale, similar to the Biblical story of Jonas the prophet. I was surprised because I hadn't heard of such a…
Matt Cloudy-grid
  • 1,570
  • 13
  • 37
6
votes
2 answers

How did Hercules kill the lion without being clawed to death?

The myth says he killed the lion by putting the beast in a stranglehold and choking it to death, but how did he avoid being clawed and bitten by the lion while doing so?
Hao S
  • 413
  • 2
  • 10
1
2 3