God · Greek
Heracles
Heracles, a god of the Greek world, and the gods ancient sources said were the same.
Tradition: greek
Documented identifications
| Link | Who said so | Note |
|---|---|---|
| identified as Heryshaf | Greek naming of Herakleopolis Magna, Ptolemaic period | Egyptians most often identified Heracles with the ram god Heryshaf (Arsaphes), whose cult centre was Herakleopolis Magna. |
| identified as Melqart | Herodotus, Histories 2.44, c. 430 BCE; Cyprus from the 6th c. BCE | Herodotus sailed to Tyre to see the temple of "Heracles", the city god Melqart, and was told it was 2,300 years old. |
| identified as Nergal | Inscriptions and art of Palmyra, Hatra and Tarsus, 1st-3rd c. CE | In the Hellenistic East Heracles served as the Greek name of the underworld god Nergal. |
| identified as Verethragna | Nemrut Dag monument of Antiochus I of Commagene, 62 BCE | The Iranian victory god Verethragna (Artagnes) stands at Nemrut as Heracles-Artagnes-Ares. |
| identified as Krishna | Megasthenes, Indica, c. 300 BCE (quoted by later writers) | Megasthenes says the Sourasenoi of Methora (Mathura) worship Heracles, most likely Hari-Krishna. |
| adopted as Hercules | Archaic Rome, via Etruscan Hercle, 6th c. BCE | Heracles reached Rome through the Etruscan Hercle and became Hercules. |
| identified as Ogmios | Lucian, Heracles 1-6, c. 175 CE | Lucian saw in Gaul an old, dark Heracles called Ogmios, leading men by chains fixed to his tongue. |
| adopted as Hercle | Etruscan Orientalizing period, 7th c. BCE | The Etruscans adopted the Greek hero as Hercle, the bridge to the Roman Hercules. |