047 Herakles: From Zero to Hero

In this episode, we discuss the iconography of the hero Herakles (also known as Hercules); his early myths, his infamous twelve labors, and his later life; his heroic persona, how he was worshipped as a pan-Hellenic divine hero, and some of his cults, including those in initiatory and pederastic contexts, as a guardian of the city, and as a military and wrestling champion; and his role as a founder of many Greek cities and as an apostle of Hellenism in the western Mediterranean Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/06/047-herakles-from-zero-to-hero.html