Hercle
Hercle | |
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Drawing of a scene on an Etruscan mirror in which Uni suckles the adult Hercle before he ascends to immortality | |
Personal information | |
Parents | Tinia and a mortal woman (raised and adopted by Uni) |
Siblings | Menrva (half-sister) |
Equivalents | |
Greek equivalent | Heracles |
Roman equivalent | Hercules |
Canaanite equivalent | Melqart[1] |
Egyptian equivalent | Heryshaf |
Germanic equivalent | Hercules Magusanus |
In Etruscan religion, Hercle (also Heracle or Hercl), the son of Tinia and Uni, was a version of the Greek Heracles, depicted as a muscular figure often carrying a club and wearing a lionskin. He is a popular subject in Etruscan art, particularly bronze mirrors, which show him engaged in adventures not known from the Greek myths of Heracles or the Roman and later classical myths of Hercules.[2]
In the Etruscan tradition, Uni (Roman Juno) grants Hercle access to a life among the immortals by offering her breast milk to him.[3][4][5] Hercle was the first man elevated to a godhood through his deeds and Etruscan aristocrats tried to identify with this ascension, as reflected in artwork and literature.
Hercle differed in many aspects from the Greek Heracles.[5] He seems to have enjoyed a special status in Italy in general.[5] In art, he is shown to be a defender of an unknown goddess against creatures on the other side of a human border, showing his status as a Liminal deity.[5] In Etruria, he was also associated with running water.[5] He was also the master of animals, the protector of flocks and herds, and of herdsmen.[5]
Worship
Hercle was more of an oracular god in Etruria than in Greece.[4] Several inscriptions have come to light from 1970 that show evidence of cult worship.[4] Particularly, a sanctuary at Caere preserved many inscriptions of dedications to the god.[4] In Toledo, a bronze weight and an attic red-figured cup created by Euphronios testify an important cult to Hercle.[4]
Scenes from Etruscan art
Hercle can be recognized in Etruscan art from his attributes, or is sometimes identified by name. Since Etruscan literature has not survived, the meaning of the scenes in which he appears can only be interpreted by comparison to Greek and Roman myths, through information about Etruscan myths preserved by Greek and Latin literature, or through conjectural reconstructions based on other Etruscan representations.
See also
References
- ^ "Melqart | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
- ^ Nancy Thomson de Grummond, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2006), pp. 12–13.
- ^ De Grummond, Etruscan Myth, pp. 83–84.
- ^ a b c d e The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press. 2006. ISBN 0-292-70687-1.
- ^ a b c d e f The Etruscan World. Routledge. 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-67308-2.
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- Hercle
- Ercole
- Hercule
- Alcide
- Zeus (father)
- Alcmene (mother)
- Megara, Omphale, Deianira, and Hebe (wives)
- Heracleidae (children)
Poems | |
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Plays |
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Other |
- Hercules and the lion of Nemea (5th century BCE)
- Hercules of the Forum Boarium (2nd century BCE)
- Lansdowne Heracles (c. 125)
- Statue of Hercules, Dura-Europos (c. 150–256)
- Farnese Hercules (216)
- Hercules slaying Antaeus (c. 1460)
- Hercules and Deianira (c. 1470)
- Hercules and the Hydra (c. 1475)
- Hercules Killing the Stymphalian Birds (1500)
- Hercules and Antaeus (c. 1500–1510)
- The Choice of Hercules (c. 1520–1525)
- Hercules and Antaeus (1531)
- Hercules and Cacus (1534)
- The Origin of the Milky Way (1575–1580)
- The Choice of Hercules (1596)
- Hercules and Omphale (1603)
- Hercules Fighting the Nemean Lion (1634)
- Hercules and the Hydra (1634)
- Hercules Separates Mounts Calpe and Abylla (1634)
- The Death of Hercules (1634)
- Hercules's Dog Discovers Purple Dye (1636)
- The Origin of the Milky Way (1637)
- Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides (1638)
- Landscape with Hercules and Cacus (c. 1660)
- Hercules and Omphale (1732–1734)
- Libertas Americana (1783)
- The Sanctuary of Hercules (1884)
- Hercules the Archer (1909)
- Achelous and Hercules (1947)
- The Twelve Labors of Hercules (1981)
- The Labors of Herakles (2006–2008)
- Hercules and the Erymanthian Boar
- Hercules and the Nemean Lion
- Ercole amante (1662)
- Alcide (1693)
- Ercole su'l Termodonte (1723)
- Admeto (1727)
- Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213 (1733)
- Hercules (1744)
- Le nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe (1747)
- The Choice of Hercules (1750)
- Hercule mourant (1761)
- Le Rouet d'Omphale (1871)
- Déjanire (1911)
- Atlántida (1962)
- Hercules vs. Vampires (2010)
- The Mighty Hercules
- The Sons of Hercules
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995)
- Hercules and the Amazon Women (1994)
- Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (1994)
- Hercules and the Circle of Fire (1994)
- Hercules in the Underworld (1994)
- Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur (1994)
- Hercules: The Animated Series (1998)
- "Hercules and the Arabian Night" (1999)
- Young Hercules (1998)
- Hercules (2005 miniseries)
- Atlantis (2013)
- Hercules (Marvel Comics)
- Hercules (DC Comics)
- Hercules (Radical Comics)
- The Mighty Hercules (Gold Key Comics)
- The Return of Heracles (1983)
- Hercules (1984)
- Disney's Hercules (1997)
- Herc's Adventures (1997)
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (2000)
- Heracles Chariot Racing (2007)
- Glory of Heracles (2008)
- Hercules in popular culture
- Hercules (franchise)
- Hercules (2019 musical)
- Pillars of Hercules
- Maczuga Herkulesa
- Hercules' Club
- Xena: Warrior Princess
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