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Heracles ( ; , ''Hēraklēs'', from ''Hēra'', "Hera", and ''kleos'', "glory"〔Becking, Bob, ''et al.''. ''Dictionary of deities and demons''. ed. Toorn, Karel van der. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1999〕), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides〔''Bibliotheca'' ii. 4. § 12〕 (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon〔. By his adoptive descent through Ampitryon, Heracles receives the epithet Alcides, as "of the line of Alcaeus", father of Amphitryon. Amphitryon's own, mortal son was Iphicles.〕 and great-grandson (and half-brother) of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae () 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 Maximian, often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their own, some of it linking the hero with the geography of the Central Mediterranean. Details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well. Extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females were among the characteristics commonly attributed to him. Heracles used his wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice, such as when laboring for the king Augeas of Elis, wrestling the giant Antaeus, or tricking Atlas into taking the sky back onto his shoulders. Together with Hermes he was the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae.〔Pausanias, ''Guide to Greece'', 4.32.1〕 His iconographic attributes are the lion skin and the club. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children.〔Aelian, ''Varia Historia'', 12.15〕 By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have "made the world safe for mankind" and to be its benefactor.〔Aelian, ''Varia Historia'', 5.3〕 Heracles was an extremely passionate and emotional individual, capable of doing both great deeds for his friends (such as wrestling with Thanatos on behalf of Prince Admetus, who had regaled Heracles with his hospitality, or restoring his friend Tyndareus to the throne of Sparta after he was overthrown) and being a terrible enemy who would wreak horrible vengeance on those who crossed him, as Augeas, Neleus and Laomedon all found out to their cost. ==Origin and character== Many popular stories were told of his life, the most famous being The Twelve Labours of Heracles; Alexandrian poets of the Hellenistic age drew his mythology into a high poetic and tragic atmosphere.〔Burkert 1985, pp. 208-9〕 His figure, which initially drew on Near Eastern motifs such as the lion-fight, was known everywhere: his Etruscan equivalent was Hercle, a son of Tinia and Uni. Heracles was the greatest of Hellenic chthonic heroes, but unlike other Greek heroes, no tomb was identified as his. Heracles was both hero and god, as Pindar says ''heroes theos''; at the same festival sacrifice was made to him, first as a hero, with a chthonic libation, and then as a god, upon an altar: thus he embodies the closest Greek approach to a "demi-god".〔 The core of the story of Heracles has been identified by Walter Burkert as originating in Neolithic hunter culture and traditions of shamanistic crossings into the netherworld.〔Burkert 1985, pp. 208-212.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Heracles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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