01 · The stories
Myths & defining acts
Kills the serpents sent by Hera in his cradle (Apollodorus 2.4.8); is driven mad and kills his children (Apollodorus 2.4.12); performs the labours for Eurystheus (Apollodorus 2.5); kills Cacus at the site of Rome (Livy 1.7; Aeneid 8.184ff); and ends among the immortal gods with Hebe as his wife (Odyssey 11.601–603).
02 · Sacred lineage
Family & relations
Father: Zeus. Mother: Alcmene (Hesiod, Theogony 943–944). In the Odyssey, Heracles has Hebe, daughter of Zeus and Hera, as his wife among the immortal gods (11.601–603), and Hesiod also says Heracles made Hebe his wife (Theogony 950–955).
Greek literary genealogies and Roman cult identities are not interchangeable. Explore the family tree and its traditions.
03 · Places of devotion
Abode & sacred sites
In the Odyssey, Odysseus sees Heracles' phantom in the underworld, while Heracles himself takes his joy among the immortal gods (11.601–603). In Rome, the Ara Maxima, which Livy says Evander established for Hercules after Hercules killed Cacus (1.7).
04 · Two traditions
Greek & Roman perspectives
The Greek perspective
In Apollodorus, when the child is eight months old Hera sends two huge serpents to his bed and he kills them (2.4.8). Hera's jealousy later drives him mad, and he flings his children into the fire (2.4.12). He then serves Eurystheus (2.5).
The Roman perspective
Livy says Rome sacrificed to Hercules according to the Greek rite, by the institution of Evander, after Hercules killed Cacus near the site of Rome (1.7). Virgil describes the story of Cacus in the Aeneid (8.184ff).
05 · Extensive analysis
A closer reading
Heracles is a hero who becomes a god: Homer places him among the immortals with Hebe while his phantom is in the underworld. Apollodorus tells his birth, madness and labours; in Rome, Livy and Virgil connect Hercules with Cacus and the Ara Maxima.
06 · Primary sources
What the sources say
These are the main ancient passages behind this entry, with what each one actually says.
- Apollodorus, Library book 2, chapter 4, section 8
When the child is eight months old, Hera sends two huge serpents to the bed and Hercules kills them.
Read the passage - Hesiod, Theogony lines 943–955
Alcmena, joined in love with Zeus, bears mighty Heracles; Heracles later makes Hebe his wife.
Read the passage - Homer, Odyssey book 11, lines 601–603
Odysseus sees Heracles' phantom, but Heracles himself takes his joy in the feast among the immortal gods and has Hebe to wife.
Read the passage - Livy, Ab Urbe Condita book 1, chapter 7
Evander institutes the Greek rite for Hercules after the killing of Cacus.
Read the passage - Virgil, Aeneid book 8, lines 184–279
Evander tells how the monster Cacus lived in a robber's den and how Hercules killed him.
Read the passage
07 · Story & deeper insight
Heracles, Hercules and the twelve labours
After a divinely inflicted madness leads Heracles to kill members of his family, he is required to serve Eurystheus. The labours send him against creatures such as the Nemean lion and the Hydra, across distant landscapes and finally into the underworld. The tasks are not simply athletic demonstrations: they begin within a story of guilt, purification and dependence.
Strength repeatedly needs help or judgement. Iolaus assists with the Hydra, and encounters with monsters demand particular tactics rather than unlimited force. Eurystheus's refusal to count some achievements reveals that the hero cannot determine the rules of his service himself.
Roman Hercules became especially important through local stories and worship, including the defeat of Cacus near the future site of Rome. His path from suffering mortal hero to divine honour distinguishes him from gods born immortal. The labours invite admiration for endurance while preserving the uncomfortable fact that extraordinary power cannot protect a household from every form of violence.