Heracles

Heracles ( Ancient Greek: Ἡρακλῆς, lit. 'glory/fame of Hera'), born Alcaeus (Ἀλκαῖος) or Alcides (Ἀλκείδης) was the greatest of the Greek heroes. He was considered the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon. He was thought to be both a hero and a god. No tomb was ever identified as his, and at some festivals sacrifice was offered to him first as a hero and then, upon an altar, as a god. He was widely worshipped as a patron of young men and of gymnasia. Heracles appears in numerous myths, which often involve the enmity of Hera, the wife of Zeus. Driven mad by Hera, Heracles killed his wife Megara and their children. Heracles performed a series of labours, conventionally numbered twelve, on the orders of his cousin Eurystheus, the king of Argos. These tasks included the killing of the Nemean lion and the Lernaean Hydra, the theft of the golden apples of the Hesperides, and the capture of Cerberus. Episodes outside the cycle of labours have him sailing with the Argonauts, sacking Troy in the generation before the Trojan War, freeing Prometheus, and serving a further term of slavery to Omphale, queen of Lydia. Heracles married multiple times and fathered a large number of children; his descendants are called the Heracleidae. Ancient tradition also records several male lovers, including Iolaus and Hylas. According to the story of Heracles's apotheosis, his wife Deianira (who had been deceived by the dying centaur Nessus) gave him a garment smeared with poisoned blood. Unable to remove it, he immolated himself atop Mount Oeta, burning away his mortal part. He ascended to Olympus as a god, and married the goddess Hebe. His Roman form is called Hercules; Roman emperors, such as Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves with him. Heracles...