Hercules: Difference between revisions

This constellation is said to represent the Roman Hercules, Greek Herakles, who was the greatest of the Greek heroes and famous for his twelve labors. As an infant Hercules strangled two serpents sent by Juno to kill him as he lay asleep in his cradle. It is suggested that the two serpents represent the the Lunar Nodes. He died on a funeral pyre, became a god, and ascended to Mount Olympus to join the other gods. Engonasin is a Greek title for Hercules, with Roman writers translating it Geniculator or Geniculatus; these terms meaning 'the Kneeling Man'.The name Hercules is from a Latin translation of Greek Herakles. Herakles' name is translated 'the glory of Hera' or 'the fame of Hera', the prefix of his name relates to Hera, wife of Zeus.

Heracles was the son of the god Zeus and a mortal woman, Alcmene, whom Zeus visited in the form of her husband, Amphitryon. Early in life Herakles was called Alcaeus, or Alcides, after his mother Alcmene, the name Heracles came later. Heracles comes from Hera + kles, and is translated 'the glory of Hera.' The Hera- in his name refers to Hera (Roman Juno), wife of Zeus (Roman Jupiter). His name is somewhat ironic as the events in the myth of Herakles are motivated by the unrelenting hostility of Hera toward him for being Zeus' illicit son. The etymology of his name as 'the glory of Hera' is unmistakable as the Greeks understood it; "as the hero's name makes clear, he owes his heroic identity to his kleos and, ultimately, to Hera" , even though she persecuted, and tried to eliminate him throughout his life. Hercules becomes reconciled with Hera through death and marries her daughter Hebe on Mount Olympos.<ref>[http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Hercules.html Constellation of Words]</ref>

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