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| − | [[Image:Heracles.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Heracles, a Roman bronze ([[Louvre Museum]])]]
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| − | In [[Greek mythology]], '''Heracles''' or '''Herakles''' (Roman: Hercules) meaning "glory of [[Hera]]," was a [[hero|divine hero]], the son of [[Zeus]] and [[Alcmene]], foster son of [[Amphitryon]] and great-grandson (and half-brother) of [[Perseus]]. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be [[Heracleidae]] and a champion of the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian order]] against [[chthonic]] monsters. In [[Roman mythology|Rome]] and the [[modernity|modern]] [[western world|West]], he is known as '''''[[Hercules]]''''', with whom the later [[Roman Emperor]]s, in particular [[Commodus]] and [[Maximian]], often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their own.
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| − | Extraordinary strength, [[courage]], ingenuity, and sexual prowess were among his characteristic attributes. Although he was not as clever as the likes of [[Odysseus]] or [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]] in the [[Greek mythology|Greek myths]], Heracles used his wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice, such as when laboring for the king [[Augeas]] of [[Elis]], wrestling the giant [[Antaeus]], or tricking [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]] into taking the sky back onto his shoulders. Together with [[Hermes]] he was the patron and protector of [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasia]] and [[palaestra]]e. His iconographic attributes are the [[Nemean Lion|lion skin]] and the [[Club (weapon)|club]]. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have "made the world safe for mankind" and to be its benefactor. Heracles was an extremely passionate and emotional individual, capable of doing both great deeds for his friends (such as wrestling with [[Thanatos]] on behalf of Prince [[Admetus]], who had regaled Heracles with his hospitality, or restoring his friend [[Tyndareus]] to the throne of [[Sparta]] after he was overthrown) and being a terrible enemy who would wreak horrible vengeance on those who crossed him, as Augeas, [[Neleus]] and [[Laomedon]] all found out to their cost.
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| − | ==Heroic character==
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| − | Heracles was the greatest of Hellenic [[chthonic]] heroes, but unlike other Greek heroes, no tomb was identified as his. Heracles was both hero and god, as [[Pindar]] says ''heroes theos''; at the same festival sacrifice was made to him, first as a hero, with a chthonic [[libation]], and then as a god, upon an altar: thus he embodies the closest Greek approach to a "[[demi-god]]".<ref name="Burkert" /> The core of the story of Heracles has been identified by Walter Burkert as originating in Neolithic hunter culture and traditions of [[shaman]]istic crossings into the netherworld.<ref>Burkert 1985, pp. 208-212.</ref>
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| − | Heracles' role as a culture hero, whose death could be a subject of mythic telling, was accepted into the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian Pantheon]] during Classical times. This created an awkwardness in the encounter with [[Odysseus]] in the episode of ''[[Odyssey]]'' XI, called the [[Nekuia]], where Odysseus encounters Heracles in [[Hades]]:
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| − | [[Image:Temple To Hercules.JPG|right|thumb|Ruins in [[Kos]] of the temple to Heracles, the ''Herakleion'']]
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| − | :''And next I caught a glimpse of powerful Heracles—
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| − | :''His ghost I mean: the man himself delights
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| − | :''in the grand feasts of the deathless gods on high...
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| − | :''Around him cries of the dead rang out like cries of birds
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| − | :''scattering left and right in horror as on he came like night..."''<ref>[[Robert Fagles]]' translation, 1996:269.</ref>
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| − | Ancient critics were aware of the problem of the aside that interrupts the vivid and complete description, in which Heracles recognizes Odysseus and hails him, and modern critics find very good reasons for denying that the verses beginning, in Fagles' translation ''His ghost I mean...'' were part of the original composition: "once people knew of Heracles' admission to Olympus," they would not tolerate his presence in the underworld," remarks [[Friedrich Solmsen]],<ref>Friedrich Solmsen, "The Sacrifice of Agamemnon's Daughter in Hesiod's' Ehoeae" ''The American Journal of Philology'' '''102'''.4 (Winter 1981, pp. 353-358), p. 355.</ref> noting that the interpolated verses represent a compromise between conflicting representations of Heracles.
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| − | Many popular stories were told of his life, the most famous being [[The Twelve Labours|The Twelve labors of Heracles]]; Alexandrian poets of the Hellenistic age drew his mythology into a high poetic and tragic atmosphere.<ref name="Burkert">Burkert 1985, pp. 208-9</ref> His figure, which initially drew on Near Eastern motifs such as the lion-fight, was known everywhere: his [[Etruscan mythology|Etruscan]] equivalent was ''Hercle'', a son of [[Tinia]] and [[Uni]].
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| − | ==Mythology==
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| − | === Birth and childhood ===
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| − | {{Greek myth}}
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| − | A major factor in the well-known tragedies surrounding Heracles is the hatred that the [[goddess]] [[Hera]], wife of [[Zeus]], had for him. A full account of Heracles must render it clear why Heracles was so tormented by Hera, when there are many illegitimate offspring sired by Zeus. Heracles was the son of the affair Zeus had with the mortal woman [[Alcmene]]. Zeus made love to her after disguising himself as her husband, [[Amphitryon]], home early from war (Amphitryon did return later the same night, and Alcmene became pregnant with his son at the same time, a case of [[superfecundation]], where a woman carries twins sired by different fathers).<ref>Compare the two pairs of twins born to [[Leda]] and the "double" parentage of [[Theseus]].</ref> Thus, Heracles' very existence proved at least one of Zeus' many illicit affairs, and Hera often conspired against Zeus' mortal offspring, as revenge for her husband's infidelities. His twin mortal brother, son of Amphitryon was Iphicles, father of Heracles' charioteer [[Iolaus]].
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| − | On the night the twins Heracles and Iphicles were to be born, [[Hera]], knowing of her husband Zeus' adultery, persuaded Zeus to swear an oath that the child born that night to a member of the House of [[Perseus]] would be High King. Hera did this knowing that while Heracles was to be born a descendant of Perseus, so too was [[Eurystheus]]. Once the oath was sworn, Hera hurried to Alcmene's dwelling and slowed the birth of Heracles by forcing [[Ilithyia]], goddess of childbirth, to sit crosslegged with her clothing tied in knots, thereby causing Heracles to be trapped in the womb. Meanwhile, Hera caused Eurystheus to be born prematurely, making him High King in place of Heracles. She would have permanently delayed Heracles' birth had she not been fooled by [[Galanthis]], Alcmene's servant, who lied to Ilithyia, saying that [[Alcmene]] had already delivered the baby. Upon hearing this, she jumped in surprise, untying the knots and inadvertently allowing Alcmene to give birth to her twins, Heracles and Iphicles.
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| − | The child was originally given the name Alcides by his parents; it was only later that he became known as Heracles.<ref name="Alcides">By his adoptive descent through Ampitryon, Heracles receives the epithet ''Alcides'', as "of the line of [[Alcaeus]]," father of Amphitryon. Amphitryon's own, mortal son was [[Iphicles]].</ref> He was renamed Heracles in an unsuccessful attempt to mollify Hera. A few months after he was born, Hera sent two serpents to kill him as he lay in his cot. Heracles throttled a snake in each hand and was found by his nurse playing with their limp bodies as if they were child's toys.
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| − | ===Youth===
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| − | After killing his music tutor [[Linus (mythology)|Linus]] with a [[lyre]], he was sent to tend cattle on a mountain by his foster father Amphitryon. Here, according to an allegorical [[parable]], "The Choice of Heracles," invented by the sophist [[Prodicus]] (ca. 400 B.C.E.), he was visited by two nymphs - Pleasure and Virtue - who offered him a choice between a pleasant and easy life or a severe but glorious life: he chose the latter.
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| − | Later in [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], Heracles married King [[Creon]]'s daughter, [[Megara (mythology)|Megara]]. In a fit of madness, induced by Hera, Heracles killed his children by Megara. After his madness had been cured with [[hellebore]] by Antikyreus, the founder of [[Anticyra|Antikyra]],<ref>Pausanias Χ 3.1, 36.5. Ptolemaeus, Geogr. Hyph. ΙΙ 184. 12. Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. «Aντίκυρα»</ref> he realized what he had done and fled to the [[Delphi|Oracle of Delphi]]. Unbeknownst to him, the Oracle was guided by Hera. He was directed to serve King [[Eurystheus]] for 10 years and perform any task which he required. Eurystheus decided to give Hercules ten labours but after completing them, he said he cheated and added two more, resulting in the Twelve Labors of Heracles.
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| − | ===The Labors of Heracles===
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| − | [[Image:Hercules fight with lion.jpg.jpg|thumb|150px|Heracles and the Nemean lion. Black-figure lekythos worked by the Painter of Athens 581, ca. 500 B.C.E. Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.]]
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| − | Driven mad by Hera, Heracles slew his own children. To expiate the crime, Heracles was required to carry out ten labors set by his arch-enemy, [[Eurystheus]], who had become king in Heracles' place. Heracles accomplished these tasks, but Eurystheus did not accept the cleansing of the Augean stables because Heracles was going to accept pay for the labor. Neither did he accept the killing of the Lernaean Hydra as Heracles' cousin, Ioloas, had helped him burn the stumps of the heads. Eurysteus set two more tasks (fetching the Golden Apples of Hesperides and capturing [[Cerberus]]) which Heracles performed successfully, bringing the total number of tasks up to twelve.
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| − | Not all writers gave the labors in the same order. [[Apollodorus]] (2.5.1-2.5.12) gives the following order:
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| − | #To kill the [[Nemean Lion]].
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| − | #To destroy the [[Lernaean Hydra]].
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| − | #To capture the [[Ceryneian Hind]].
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| − | #To capture the [[Erymanthian Boar]].
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| − | #To clean the [[Augean]] Stables.
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| − | #To kill the [[Stymphalian Birds]].
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| − | #To capture the [[Cretan Bull]].
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| − | #To round up the [[Mares of Diomedes]].
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| − | #To steal the Girdle of [[Hippolyte]].
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| − | #To herd the Cattle of [[Geryon]].
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| − | #To fetch the Apples of [[Hesperides]].
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| − | #To capture [[Cerberus]].
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| − | [[Image:0064MC.jpg|thumb|A Roman statue of Hercules with the apple of Hesperides]]
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| − | ===Further adventures===
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| − | After completing these tasks, Heracles joined the [[Argonauts]] in a search for the [[Golden Fleece]]. They rescued heroines, conquered Troy, and helped the gods fight against the [[Gigantes]]. He also fell in love with Princess [[Iole]] of [[Oechalia]]. King [[Eurytus]] of Oechalia promised his daughter, Iole, to whomever could beat his sons in an archery contest. Heracles won but Eurytus abandoned his promise. Heracles' advances were spurned by the king and his sons, except for one - Iole's brother [[Iphitus]]. Heracles killed the king and his sons–excluding Iphitus–and abducted Iole. Iphitus became Heracles' best friend. However, once again, Hera drove Heracles mad and he threw Iphitus over the city wall to his death. Once again, Heracles purified himself through three years of servitude - this time to Queen [[Omphale]] of [[Lydia]].
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| − | ===Omphale===
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| − | [[Omphale]] was a queen or princess of [[Lydia]]. As penalty for a murder, Heracles was her slave. He was forced to do women's work and wear women's clothes, while she wore the skin of the [[Nemean Lion]] and carried his [[olive-wood]] club. After some time, Omphale freed Heracles and married him. Some sources mention a son born to them who is variously named. It was at that time that the [[cercopes]], mischievous wood spirits, stole Heracles' weapons. He punished them by tying them to a stick with their faces pointing downward.
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| − | ===Hylas===
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| − | While walking through the wilderness, Heracles was set upon by the [[Dryopians]]. He killed their king, [[Theiodamas]], and the others gave up and offered him Prince [[Hylas]]. He took the youth on as his weapons bearer and beloved. Years later, Heracles and Hylas joined the crew of the [[Argo]]. As Argonauts, they only participated in part of the journey. In [[Mysia]], Hylas was kidnapped by a nymph. Heracles, heartbroken, searched for a long time but Hylas had fallen in love with the nymphs and never showed up again. In other versions, he simply drowned. Either way, the Argo set sail without them.
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| − | ===Rescue of Prometheus===
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| − | [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' and [[Aeschylus]]' ''[[Prometheus Unbound]]'' both tell that Heracles shot and killed the eagle that tortured [[Prometheus]] (which was his punishment by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mortals). Heracles freed the [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] from his chains and his torments. Prometheus then made predictions regarding further deeds of Heracles.
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| − | ===Laomedon of Troy===
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| − | Before the [[Trojan War]], [[Poseidon]] sent a sea monster to attack [[Troy]]. The story is related in several digressions in the ''Iliad'' (7.451-453, 20.145-148, 21.442-457) and is also found in Apollodorus' [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheke]] (2.5.9). [[Laomedon]] planned on sacrificing his daughter [[Hesione]] to Poseidon in the hope of appeasing him. Heracles happened to arrive (along with [[Telamon]] and [[Oicles]]) and agreed to kill the monster if Laomedon would give him the horses received from Zeus as compensation for Zeus' kidnapping [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]]. Laomedon agreed. Heracles killed the monster, but Laomedon went back on his word. Accordingly, in a later expedition, Heracles and his followers attacked Troy and sacked it. Then they slew all Laomedon's sons present there save [[Priam|Podarces]], who was renamed Priam, who saved his own life by giving Heracles a golden veil Hesione had made. Telamon took Hesione as a war prize; they were married and had a son, [[Teucer]].
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| − | ===Heracles' women===
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| − | During the course of his life, Heracles married four times. His first marriage was to [[Megara (mythology)|Megara]], whose children he murdered in a fit of madness. Apollodoros ''([[Bibliotheke]])'' recounts that Megara was unharmed and given in marriage to [[Iolaus]], while in [[Euripides]]' version Heracles shot Megara too.
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| − | His second wife was [[Omphale]], the [[Lydia]]n queen or princess to whom he was delivered as a slave.
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| − | His third marriage was to [[Deianira]], for whom he had to fight the river god [[Achelous]]. (Upon Achelous' death, Heracles removed one of his horns and gave it to some nymphs who turned it into the [[cornucopia]].) Soon after they wed, Heracles and Deianira had to cross a river, and a [[centaur]] named [[Nessus (mythology)|Nessus]] offered to help Deianira across but then attempted to [[rape]] her. Enraged, Heracles shot the centaur from the opposite shore with a poisoned arrow (tipped with the Lernaean Hydra's blood) and killed him. As he lay dying, Nessus plotted revenge and told Deianira to gather up his blood and spilled semen and, if she ever wanted to prevent Heracles from having affairs with other women, she should apply them to his vestments. Nessus knew that his blood had become tainted by the poisonous blood of the Hydra, and would burn through the skin of anyone it touched.
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| − | [[Image:Francisco de Zurbarán 013.jpg|thumb|right|''The Death of Hercules'', by [[Francisco de Zurbarán]]]]
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| − | Later, when Deianira suspected that Heracles was fond of [[Iole]], she soaked a shirt of his in the mixture. Heracles' servant, [[Lichas]], brought him the shirt and he put it on. Instantly he was in agony, the cloth burning into him. As he tried to remove it, the flesh ripped from his bones. Heracles chose a voluntary death, asking that a [[pyre]] be built for him to end his suffering. After death the gods transformed him into an immortal, or alternatively, the fire burned away the mortal part of the demi-god, so that only the god remained. Because his mortal parts had been incinerated, he could now become a full god and join his father and the other Olympians on [[Mount Olympus (Mountain)|Mount Olympus]]. He then married [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]].
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| − | Another episode of his female affairs that stands out was his stay at the palace of [[Thespius]] king of [[Thespiae]], who wished him to kill the [[Lion of Cithaeron]]. As a reward, the king offered him the chance to make love to his daughters, all fifty of them, in one night. Heracles complied and they all became pregnant and all bore sons. This is sometimes referred to as his 13th Labour. Many of the kings of ancient Greece traced their lines to one or another of these, notably the kings of [[Sparta]] and [[Macedon]].
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| − | ===Heracles' male lovers===
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| − | [[Image:Heracles, Iolaus and Eros - Cista Ficoroni foot.jpg|thumb|200px|Heracles and [[Iolaus]], with [[Eros (mythology)|Eros]] between them.<br/>4th c. BCE [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] ritual vessel]]
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| − | As symbol of masculinity and warriorship, Heracles also had a number of male lovers. [[Plutarch]], in his ''Eroticos,'' maintains that Heracles' male lovers were beyond counting. Of these, the one most closely linked to Heracles is the [[Thebes, Greece|Theban]] [[Iolaus]]. According to a myth thought to be of ancient origins, Iolaus was Heracles' charioteer and squire. Heracles in the end helped Iolaus find a wife. Plutarch reports that down to his own time, male couples would go to Iolaus's tomb in Thebes to swear an oath of loyalty to the hero and to each other.<ref>Plutarch, ''Erotikos,'' 761d.The tomb of Iolaus is also mentioned by Pindar.</ref><ref>Pindar, ''Olympian Odes,'' 9.98-99.</ref>
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| − | One of Heracles' male lovers, and one represented in ancient as well as modern art, is [[Hylas]]. Though it is of more recent vintage (dated to the third century) than that with Iolaus, it had themes of mentoring in the ways of a warrior and help finding a wife in the end.<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''Argonautica,'' 1.1177-1357; [[Theocritus]], ''Idyll'' 13.</ref>
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| − | [[Lycurgus (Sparta)|Lycurgus]] also provided Heracles with a male lover—[[Elacatas]], who was honored there with a sanctuary and yearly games. The myth of their love is an ancient one.<ref>Sosibius, in [[Hesychius of Alexandria]]'s ''Lexicon''</ref> [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]]'s eponymous hero, [[Abderus]], was another of Heracles' lovers. He was said to have been entrusted with—and slain by—the carnivorous mares of Thracian [[Mares of Diomedes|Diomedes]]. Heracles founded the city of Abdera in [[Thrace]] in his memory, where he was honored with athletic games.<ref>[[Apollodorus]] 2.5.8; [[Ptolemaeus Chennus]], 147b, in [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]]' ''Bibliotheca''</ref>
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| − | Other myths include that of [[Iphitus]]<ref>Ptolemaeus Chennus, in Photius' ''Bibliotheca''.</ref> and [[Nireus]], who was "the most beautiful man who came beneath Ilion" (''Iliad'', 673). Ptolemy, however, adds that certain authors made Nireus out to be a son of Heracles.<ref>Ptolemaeus Chennus, 147b.</ref>
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| − | There is also a series of lovers who are either later inventions or purely literary conceits. Among these are [[Admetus]], who assisted in the hunt for the [[Calydonian Boar]];<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Erotikos,'' 761e.</ref> [[Adonis]];<ref name="PC">Ptolemaeus Chennus</ref> [[Corythus]];<ref name="PC" /> and [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]], who was said to have been loved for his wisdom. His role as lover was perhaps to explain why he was the only son of [[Neleus]] to be spared by the hero.<ref>Ptolemaeus Chennus, 147e; [[Philostratus]], ''Heroicus'' 696, per Sergent, 1986, p. 163.</ref>
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| − | ===Death of Heracles===
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| − | This is described in [[Ovid|Ovid's]] ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' Book IX. Having wrestled and defeated [[Achelous]], god of the Acheloos river, Heracles takes [[Deianeira]] as his wife. Travelling to [[Tiryns]], a [[centaur]], [[Nessus (mythology)|Nessus]], offers to help Deianeira across a fast flowing river while Heracles swims it. However, Nessus is true to the archetype of the mischievous centaur and tries to steal Deianara away while Heracles is still in the water. Angry, Heracles shoots him with his arrows dipped in the poisonous blood of the [[Lernaean Hydra]]. Thinking of revenge, Nessus gives Deianara his [[Shirt of Nessus|blood-soaked tunic]] before he dies, telling her it will "excite the love of her husband".<ref>Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'', IX l.132-3</ref>
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| − | Several years later, [[rumor]] tells Deianeira that she has a rival for the love of Heracles. Deianeira, remembering Nessus' words, gives Heracles the blood-stained shirt. Lichas, the herald, delivers the shirt to Heracles. However, it is still covered in the Hydra's blood from Heracles' arrows, and this poisons him, tearing his skin and exposing his bones. Before he dies, Heracles throws [[Lichas]] into the sea, thinking he was the one who poisoned him (according to several versions, Lichas turns to stone, becoming a rock standing in the sea, named for him). Heracles then uproots several trees and builds a [[funeral pyre]], which [[Poeas]], father of Philoctetes, lights. As his body burns, only his immortal side is left. Through Zeus' [[apotheosis]], Heracles rises to Olympus as he dies.
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| − | No one but Heracles' friend [[Philoctetes]] ([[Poeas]] in some versions) would light his funeral pyre (in an alternate version, it is [[Iolaus]] who lights the pyre). For this action, Philoctetes (or Poeas) received Heracles' bow and arrows, which were later needed by the Greeks to defeat Troy in the Trojan War.
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| − | Philoctetes confronted [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]] and shot a poisoned arrow at him. The Hydra poison would subsequently lead to the death of Paris. The Trojan War, however, would continue until the [[Trojan Horse]] was used to defeat [[Troy]].
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| − | [[Image:Hera suckling Herakles BM VaseF107.jpg|thumb|left|The ''topos'' of Heracles suckling at Hera's breast was especially popular in [[Magna Graecia]], here on a mid-4th century [[Apulia]]n painted vase; [[Etruscan mythology]] adopted this iconic image]]
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| − | The ancient Greeks celebrated the festival of the ''[[Herakleia]]'', which commemorated the death of Heracles, on the second day of the month of Metageitnion (which would fall in late July or early August)
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| − | ==Reception history==
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| − | Via the [[Greco-Buddhist]] culture, Heraclean symbolism was transmitted to the far east. An example remains to this day in the [[Nio]] guardian deities in front of [[Japan]]ese Buddhist temples. [[Herodotus]] connected Heracles both to [[Phoenicia]]n god [[Melqart]] and to the [[Egypt]]ian god [[Shu (Egyptian deity)|Shu]]. Temples dedicated to Heracles abounded all along the [[Mediterranean Sea]] coastal countries. For example the temple of ''Heracles Monoikos'' (i.e. the lone dweller), built far from any nearby town upon a promontory in what is now the [[Cote d'Azur]], gave its name to the area's more recent name, [[Monaco]].
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| − | The gateway to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic ocean, where the southernmost tip of Spain and the northernmost of Morocco face each other, is, classically speaking, referred to as the Pillars of Hercules/Heracles, owing to the story that he set up two massive spires of stone to stabilise the area and ensure the safety of ships sailing between the two landmasses.
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| − | [[Hercules (Disney character)|Hercules]] has appeared in several movies, such as a Disney animated movie that was loosely based on his myths, and the 1963 cult classic [[Jason and the Argonauts (film)|''Jason and the Argonauts'']], where he appeared as a member of crew of the ''Argo'', searching for the golden fleece.
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| − | ===Christian dating===
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| − | In Christian circles a [[Euhemerism|Euhemerist]] reading of the widespread Heracles/Hercules cult was attributed to a historical figure who had been offered cult status after his death. Thus [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]], ''Preparation of the Gospel'' (10.12), reported that [[Saint Clement|Clement]] could offer historical dates for Hercules as a king in Argos: "from the reign of Hercules in [[Argos]] to the [[deification]] of Hercules himself and of [[Asclepius]] there are comprised thirty-eight years, according to [[Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus]] the chronicler: and from that point to the deification of [[Castor and Pollux]] fifty-three years: and somewhere about this time was the capture of [[Troy]]."
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| − | Readers with a literalist bent, following Clement's reasoning, have asserted from this remark that, since Heracles ruled over [[Tiryns]] in Argos at the same time that [[Eurystheus]] ruled over [[Mycenae]], and since at about this time [[Linus (mythology)|Linus]] was Heracles' teacher, one can conclude, based on [[Jerome]]'s date—in his [[universal history]], his ''Chronicon''—given to Linus' notoriety in teaching Heracles in [[1260s B.C.E.|1264 B.C.E.]], that Heracles' death and detification occurred 38 years later, in approximately 1226 B.C.E.
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| − | ==Notes==
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| − | {{reflist}}
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| − | ==References==
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Burkert | first=Walter | title=Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical (translated by John Raffan) | publisher=Blackwell Publishing | year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-631-15624-0 | chapter=Prehistory and the Minoan Mycenaen Era}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Burn | first=Lucilla | title=Greek Myths | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=1990 | id=ISBN 0-292-72748-8}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Caldwell | first=Richard | title=Approaches to Greek Myth | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | year=1990 | id=ISBN 0-8018-3864-9 | chapter=The Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Greek Myth}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Calimach | first=Andrew | title=Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths | publisher=Haiduk Press| year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-9714686-0-5 | chapter=The Cultural Background}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Cartledge | first=Paul A. | title=The Greeks | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-19-280388-3 | chapter=Inventing the Past: History v. Myth}}
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| − | * Davis, Kenneth C. ''Don't Know Much About Mythology''. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 006019460X
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Dowden | first=Ken | title=The Uses of Greek Mythology | publisher=Routledge (UK) | year=1992 | id=ISBN 0-415-06135-0| chapter=Myth and Mythology}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Edmunds | first=Lowell | title=Approaches to Greek Myth | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | year=1980 | id=ISBN 0-8018-3864-9 | chapter=Comparative Approaches}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Griffin | first=Jasper | title=The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World edited by John Boardman, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1986 | id=ISBN 0-19-285438-0 | chapter=Greek Myth and Hesiod}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Hard | first=Robin | title=The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek mythology" | publisher=Routledge (UK) | year=2003 | id=ISBN 0-415-18636-6 | chapter=Sources of Greek Myth}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Jung Carl Gustav | first=Kerényi Karl | title=Essays on a Science of Mythology | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2001 - Reprint edition | id=ISBN 0-691-01756-5 | chapter=Prolegomena}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Jung | first=C.J. | title=Science of Mythology | publisher=Routledge (UK) | year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-415-26742-0 | chapter=Troy in Latin and French Joseph of Exeter's "Ylias" and Benoît de Sainte-Maure's "Roman de Troie"}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Kelly | first=Douglas | title=An Outline of Greek and Roman Mythology | publisher=Douglas Kelly | year=2003 | id=ISBN 0-415-18636-6 | chapter=Sources of Greek Myth}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Kirk| first=Geoffrey Stephen | title=Myth | publisher=University of California Press | year=1973 | id=ISBN 0-520-02389-7 | chapter=The Thematic Simplicity of the Myths}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Klatt J. Mary | first=Brazouski Antoinette | title=Children's Books on Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology: An Annotated Bibliography | publisher=Greenwood Press | year=1994 | id=ISBN 0-313-28973-5 | chapter=Preface}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Miles | first=Geoffrey | title=Classical Mythology in English Literature: A Critical Anthology | publisher=University of Illinois Press | year=1999 | id=ISBN 0-415-14754-9 | chapter=The Myth-kitty}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Morris | first=Ian | title=Archaeology As Cultural History | publisher=Blackwell Publishing | year=2000 | id=ISBN 0-631-19602-1}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Nagy | first=Gregory | title=Greek Mythology and Poetics | publisher=Cornell University Press | year=1992 | id=ISBN 0-8014-8048-5 | chapter=The Hellenization of the Indo-European Poetics}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=North John A., Beard Mary, Price Simon R.F. | title=Classical Mythology in English Literature: A Critical Anthology | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1998 | id=ISBN 0-521-31682-0 | chapter=The Religions of Imperial Rome}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Papadopoulou | first=Thalia | title=Heracles and Euripidean Tragedy | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2005 | id=ISBN 0-521-85126-2 | chapter=Introduction}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Percy | first=William Armostrong III | title=Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece | publisher=Routledge (UK) | year=1999 | id=ISBN 0-252-06740-1 | chapter=The Institutionalization of Pederasty}}
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| − | *{{cite book | last=Rose | first=Herbert Jennings | title=A Handbook of Greek Mythology | publisher=Routledge (UK) | year=1991 | id=ISBN 0-415-04601-7}}
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| − | *Solmsen, Friedrich. "The Sacrifice of Agamemnon's Daughter in Hesiod's' Ehoeae" ''The American Journal of Philology'' 102.4 (Winter 1981): 353-358.
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| − | ==External Links==
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| − | *[http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/heracles.html Heracles at Theoi.com] Retrieved December 7, 2008.
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| − | *[http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/heracles.html Timeless Myths – Heracles] Retrieved December 7, 2008.
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| − | *[http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Heracles1.html Heracles, Greek Mythology Link] Retrieved December 7, 2008.
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| − | [[Category: Religion]]
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| − | [[Category: Philosophy and religion]]
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| − | [[Category: Mythology]]
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| − | {{Credits|252267497}}
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