HERCULES

Hercules Herkules Herkules

Hercules is a northern constellation named after Hercules, the Roman mythological hero adapted from the Greek hero Heracles. It is one of the best observable summer contellations in the northern hemisphere. Its stars aren't particularly bright, but its four central stars (Epsilon, Zeta, Eta and Pi) form a distinctive quadrangle, that can be easily identified in the sky.

Due to its large size and fainter stars the constellation that we know as Hercules today, was part of many constellations and didn't play a prominent role in the starlore of ancient cultures. It was singificant in the Greco-Roman mythology, where it was named after Heracles, the half-human, half-god hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, the ancestor of royal clans, whom the later Roman emperors often identified themselves with. The ancient Greeks even celebrated the festival of the Heracleia for his honor, and many popular stories and songs were told about his life and andventures (the most famous being The Twelve Labours of Heracles).