Hercules
Publié le 22/02/2012
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Roman A god, closely associated with
the Greek hero Heracles. Ancient Romans also saw
Hercules as the patron and guardian of merchants
and soldiers. He was a helper to those in need and
protected men at sea from danger and disease.
A shrine to Hercules stood on the edge of the
Palatine Hill in Rome. He was honored in the Roman
festival calendar on August 12, when men held a great
celebration that included slaughtering oxen. Women
were not allowed at this festival.
The cult of Hercules arrived early in Italy from
Greece, about the second century b.c. and soon
developed a very strong following. Greek colonists
who settled in communities on the eastern shores
of Italy brought the stories of this much-loved deity
with them when they traveled across the Ionian Sea.
Hercules' cult grew until he commanded a wide following
throughout the Italian peninsula.
Many of the stories of Hercules traveled across
the seas with his religious celebrations, but Roman
poets shared details their own people added to the
mythology.
Hercules and Cacus According to Livy, a
Roman historian of the first century b.c., Hercules
arrived at the Tiber River in central Italy on his way
back to Greece after capturing the cattle of Geryon,
which was the 10th labor he undertook for King
Eurystheus. The hero stopped to rest by the river.
As he slept, a strong, fierce local shepherd named
Cacus (2) stole the finest cattle in the herd. Cacus
tried to disguise his theft by dragging the cattle by
their tails. He hid his treasure in a nearby cave.
When Hercules awoke, he was confused at the
disappearance of so many cattle. Unable to find the
missing animals, he began to drive the remaining
cattle on their journey. As these cows bellowed, the
cows hidden in the caves began to moo in reply. Hercules,
hearing this evidence, discovered the cave, killed
Cacus with a club, and continued on his journey.
Virgil, a Roman poet who lived at the same time
as Livy, told a much more dramatic version of this
story in the Aeneid.
In astronomy, Hercules is a large constellation in
the northern celestial hemisphere. It is also the name
of a large crater on the Moon.
Liens utiles
- Seghers, Hercules Pieterszoon - vie et oeuvre du peintre.
- Seghers Hercules Pietersz, vers 1590-vers 1638, né à Haarlem, peintre et graveur hollandais.
- Seghers, Hercules Pieterszoon - biographie.
- Seghers, Hercules Pieterszoon - dessin & gravure.
- Heracles (Herakles; Glory of Hera) Greek The greatest hero of Greek mythology, he was called Hercules by the Romans.