What is the difference between hercules and heracles

If the SAME religion can be splintered into dozens of different sects with drastically different belief systems, is it so hard to accept the probability that two SIMILAR religions, such as the Greeks and Romans practiced, could be distinctly different? Most myth researchers are quick to say that the Greek Herakles was taken into the Roman pantheon directly from the ancient Greek religion and that, aside from the spellings of their names, there is no inherent difference between the Greek Herakles and the Roman Hercules.

However, when we get to the details of his existence, the Roman Hercules becomes more and more Roman and less and less Greek. The story of Cacus and the Roman Hercules is an example of the way in which the Romans incorporated the Greek Herakles into their pantheon and simultaneously made him a Roman. Not surprisingly, Cacus lived in Italy on the Tiber River. He was the son of Vulcan, the Roman god of creative fire. Displaying the characteristics of his father, Cacus was gigantic and belched fire and black smoke.

After the Roman Hercules had taken Geryon's cattle, he camped near Cacus' cave. Unable to resist any form of criminal behavior, Cacus stole four bulls and four heifers from Hercules' herd.

Cacus must have been familiar with the Homeric Hymn to Hermes because he used the same trick Hermes had used when he stole the cattle of Apollon, i.

Although well hidden, the stolen cattle began to bellow and Hercules soon found Cacus' cave. After a thunderous battle, Hercules drug the lifeless body of Cacus from the shattered cave, reclaimed his cattle and restored the accumulated plunder to the local inhabitants.

This story is from the Aeneid book 8, lines and perfectly illustrates the way in which the Romans borrowed from previously tried-and-true legends to make their own beliefs seem more credible. It should be noted that the Greek Herakles did not encounter Cacus when he took the Cattle of Geryon. Other lessons can be learned from the Aeneid about how the Romans disdained the ancient Greek religion and, in fact, did not adopt or admire the Greek gods, goddesses or traditions.

The Aeneid was an undisguised attempt to re-instill the noble values on which Rome had been founded and to give new faith to the people of Rome after the flagrant excesses of Julius Caesar and Marcus Antony. The Roman gods and goddesses portrayed in the Aeneid were not the same Immortals that the Greeks worshiped. The Romans were a different breed and so were their deities. In the Aeneid, Greek heroes, such as Menelaus and Diomedes, are depicted as butchers and cowards.

Graceful Greek goddesses, such as Iris and Pallas Athena Athene , were given a dark countenance that was both unflattering and semi-evil. The Roman goddess of Love, Venus, was no Aphrodite. She was not just a manipulator, like Aphrodite, she was a trickster in the most vile sense of the word. The Aeneid was not a celebration of the religion the Romans inherited from the Greeks.

The Aeneid was a denunciation of Greek religious values and its institutions. After his adoption into the Roman pantheon, the Roman Hercules was given an alter in Rome and it's been suggested that he replaced a less popular Roman tough-guy named Recaranus. The idea of a righteous strong-man or tender-hearted tough-guy seems to have always been a popular standard in Western thought and the Romans were quick to adopt the Greek Herakles and give him a Roman name, distinctly Roman attributes and a Roman father.

The Greek Herakles was the son of Zeus and Alkmene a mortal woman. He lived and died a generation before the Trojan War and fathered scores of children. His descendants ruled many cities and regions of the Greek world for hundreds of years after his death. The cult of Herakles was popular throughout the prehistoric and historic Greek world. Greek historians such as Herodotus and Xenophon wrote of Herakles as if he was a flesh-and-blood man and made no apologies for their sincere beliefs.

In the ancient Roman religion, Jupiter is the father of Hercules. Zeus kills him with his thunderbolt. What is Hercules weakness? Hercules' weakness was his temper and lack of intelligence. He was notorious for getting himself into trouble because of his temper. Who was the first demigod? According to the ancient Greeks, the demigod Heracles or Hercules, as the Romans called him was the son of a mortal woman named Alcmene and the supreme god Zeus.

Zeus' lawful wife Hera hated the child born out of wedlock, and sent two snakes to kill the baby. Who killed Medusa? How many wives did Hercules have? Hercules' 12 Labours. Hercules married Megara, the daughter of Kreo, King of Thebes, and together they had five children.

Who killed Heracles? Soon after they wed, Heracles and Deianira had to cross a river, and a centaur named Nessus offered to help Deianira across but then attempted to rape her. Enraged, Heracles shot the centaur from the opposite shore with a poisoned arrow tipped with the Lernaean Hydra's blood and killed him. Who is Hercules wife? Deianira was the second wife of the Greek hero and demi-god Herakles better known as Hercules, son of the god Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene.

How did Hercules die? Hercules Dies By Poison They both realized far too late what had actually happened. Hercules was in so much agony after he took the potion that he wished he were dead.

Hercules eventually died and after he did, his mortal portion perished. Amature vs. Lieing vs. Preferred vs. Omage vs. Finally vs. Attendance vs. Latest Comparisons Moho vs. Primarily vs. Breastplate vs. Stearin vs. Organogram vs. Tubercule vs. Glyptal vs. Faucet vs. Com vs. Destroyable vs. Aboriginal vs. Coelomate vs. Ocean vs. Judge vs. Flag vs. Forbear vs.