Tag: Hercules

Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter), and the mortal Alcmene. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called “Recaranus” or “Garanus”, famous for his strength who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became associated with the earliest Roman cult of Hercules. While adopting much of the Greek Heracles’ iconography and mythology as his own, Hercules adopted a number of myths and characteristics that were distinctly Roman. With the spread of Roman hegemony, Hercules was worshiped locally from Hispania through Gaul.
Hercules’ Latin name was not directly borrowed from Greek Heracles but is a modification of the Etruscan name Herceler, which derives from the Greek name via syncope, Heracles translates to “The Glory of Hera”. An oath invoking Hercules (Hercule! or Mehercle!) was a common interjection in Classical Latin.
In Roman works of art and in Renaissance and post…