(classical mythology) a hero noted for his strength; performed 12 immense labors to gain immortality

Greek demigod who Herodotus painstakingly sought to find the origins of his career

In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles ("glory of Hera", or Alcides, original name) " + , )" was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, stepson of AmphitryonBy his adoptive descent through Ampitryon, Heracles receives the epithet Alcides, as "of the line of Alcaeus", father of Amphitryon. and great-grandson of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman Emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximinus, often identified themselves.

Heracles was the name of an illegitimate son born to Alexander the Great by his mistress Barsine, daughter of Satrap Artabazus of Phrygia in 327 BC. The first son to be born to Alexander, he was named after the mythical hero from whom the royal family of Macedon claimed its descent.

Heracles is a play by Euripides (c. 416 BCE). While Heracles is in the underworld obtaining Cerberus for one of his labors, his father Amphitryon, wife Megara, and children are sentenced to death in Thebes by Lycus. Heracles arrives in time to save them, however forced by the goddess Iris Madness (personified) causes him to kill his wife and children in a frenzy.