Heracles

Heracles (/ˈhɛrəklz/ HERR-ə-kleez; Greek: Ἡρακλῆς, lit. "glory/fame of Hera"), born Alcaeus (Ἀλκαῖος, Alkaios) or Alcides (Ἀλκείδης, Alkeidēs), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon. He was a descendant and half-brother (as they are both sired by the god Zeus) of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae (Ἡρακλεῖδαι), and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. Details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well.

Heracles
God of strength and heroes
Divine protector of mankind and the patron of the gymnasium
One of the most famous depictions of Heracles, Farnese Hercules, Roman marble statue on the basis of an original by Lysippos, 216 CE. National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy
AbodeMount Olympus
SymbolClub, lion skin
Personal information
Born
Died
ParentsZeus and Alcmene
Siblingsmaternal: Iphicles, Laonome; paternal: Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Dionysus, Helen of Troy, Perseus and many others
ConsortMegara, Omphale, Deianira, Hebe
ChildrenAlexiares and Anicetus, Telephus, Hyllus, Tlepolemus
Equivalents
Roman equivalentHercules
Etruscan equivalentHercle
Canaanite equivalentMelqart
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