Blessing:
The blessings of Herakles are strength, discipline, and courage. When it seems like there's no way to get through an obstacle, Herakles appears and helps us to dig deep and find what it takes to overcome it. If one is stubborn enough, they can accomplish anything. Herakles, the mortal who became a God, is proof enough of that.
Epithets:
Alexikakos (Averter of Evil), Alkaios (original name), Custos (Guardian), Hegemonios (Leader of the March), Heros Theos (Hero God), Invictus (Unconquered), Kallinikos (Glorious Conquerer), Kyrios (Lord), Melqart (King of the City), Musagates (Leader of the Muses), Saxanus (of the Rocks), Soter (Savior), Victor (Victorius)
Symbols:
lion's head, club
Animal(s):
lion, snake
Sacrifices:
frankincense
Primary Cult Center(s):
Pan-Hellenic
Festivals:
Herakleia: Metageitnion (August-September)
Olympic Games: Hekatombion, 1st year of the Olympiad
4th day of the month
Ways to honor:
Keep fit. Take up a sport, especially boxing, wrestling, running, or the discus. Don't give up, no matter how hard things appear. Enjoy life. Drink, eat, and have lots of sex. Herakles is a God of titanic appetites, and he appreciates watching others take their pleasure - but don't try to outdo him. Only Dionysos has been able to drink Herakles under the table!
For more information:
Apollodorus' Library 1.6.1-2, 1.9.19, 2.4.9, 2.4.12, 2.5.4-12, 2.6.1-2.7.2, 2.7.8, 3.15.2
Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica
Dio Chrysostom's Orations 4.29-32, 8.28, 8.36, 9.8,
Epictetus' Enchridion 2.16.44, 3.22.56-57
Euripides' Alcestis
Euripides' Heracles
Herodotus' The Histories 2.43-44, 4.8-10, 8.43
Hesiod's Catalogues of Women 10-11
Hesiod's Shield of Heracles
Hesiod's Theogony 313-318, 523-531, 950-55
Homer's Iliad 5.395-402, 14.249-62, 19.96-133, 20.144-148
Homer's Odyssey 11.601-625, 21.22-38
Homeric Hymn to Heracles the Lion-Hearted 15
Hyginus' Fabulae 29-36
Hyginus' Poetica Astronomica 2.3, 2.6, 223-24, 2.38
Emperor Julian's Orations 7.220
Ovid's Metamorphoses 9.280-323, 11.194-217
Pausanias' Description of Greece 1.27.9-10, 2.15.1, 2.18.7, 3.15.3-6, 5.1.9.-5.2.2, 5.8.3-4, 8.22.4, 9.27.6-7, 9.29.9, 10.13.8, 10.29.7
Pindar's Isthmian Odes 6.27-54
Pindar's Nemean Odes 1.33, 1.37, 1.44, 1.67-69, 4.22-30, 7.94-97
Diodorus Siculus' Bibliotheca 4.31.1-8, 4.9.1-4.11.2, 4.26.2-4.27.5
Sophocles' Philoctetes
Sophocles' The Women of Trachis
Copyright 2002 Sannion
All Rights Reserved
Posted with permission
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