ERCULES, HERCULES was one of the most famous heroes of antiquity. His Greek name, Heracles, means "Glory of Hera," but it seems ironic because Hera hated him from birth and was his implacable enemy throughout his life. Jealous of his mother Alcmene, Hera made his life miserable, forcing him to become a hero. No sooner was he placed in the cradle than Hera sent snakes to kill him, but the baby Heracles strangled them with his tiny fists. At eighteen he killed a mighty lion and afterward wore the skin as a cloak. After his marriage to Megara, Hera sent him a fit of madness, during which he slew his wife and children, believing them his enemies. He sought guidance from the Delphic Oracle, which bade him journey to Tiryns and serve Eurystheus the king for twelve years. Eurystheus set him the Twelve Labors as follows: (l) To kill the Nemean Lion, which then became the constellation Leo. (2) To kill the Lernean Hydra, a many-headed watersnake which infested the marshes of Lerna. Hera sent a crab to help the snake, but Heracles cut off its many heads, then dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood; the snake and the crab then became the constellations Hydra and Cancer. (3) To capture the Erymanthian boar in a net. (4) To capture the hind of Ceryneia alive. (5) To clear the Lake Stymphalus of the birds which infested the woods on its borders, which Heracles did with a brass rattle. (6) To clean the Augean stables, which Heracles did by diverting the river Alpheus from its course so that it flowed through the stables. (7) To capture the Cretan bull, which Heracles took back to Mycenae and let wander until it lay down near Marathon. (8) To slay the horses of Diomedes, which ate human flesh. Heracles slew their master and threw his body to the horses. (9) To obtain the girdle of the Amazon queen, Hyppolyte. There are two versions to this story: (a) Heracles took it from her dead body after he had slain her, or (b) he demanded it as the price of her freedom. (10) To bring back from the extreme west the oxen of Geryon; Heracles set upthe Pillars of Hercules at the end of this journey. (11) To obtain the golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides by slaying the dragon that guarded the tree. The dragon became the constellation Draco. (12) To capture Cerberus, the hound of the underworld, with the help of Hermes and Athena and to present it to Eurystheus (Met IX.1-272; OM IX.1-872).

The Middle Ages saw Hercules as a man who had overcome great obstacles; as a benefactor of humankind, he became an image of virtue. Theodulf, bishop of Orleans during the ninth century, in De libris quos legere solebam et qualiter fabulae poetarum a philosophis mystice pertractentur (PL 105:331-332), says that Hercules represents virtue. Jean le Maire des Belges claims that Hercules was an ancestor of the Burgundian royal house in Illustrations de Gaule et singularités de Troie (c. 1506); on his way to Spain, Hercules was said to have stopped in Burgundy, married Alise, a beautiful lady of noble birth, and thus became the progenitor of the royal house. Book Two of Raoul le Fevre's Recueill des histoires de Troies (1464) treats the labors of Hercules. Caxton published an English translation, Recuyell of the Histories of Troy in 1475, the first book published in English. Colucci Salutati interprets Hercules and his labors in Books Two and Three of his De laboris Herculis (1406). The constellations Cancer, Draco, Hydra, and Leo are all connected with the Hercules legend.

The strength of Hercules, a medieval commonplace or topos, appears in KnT 1943; BD 1057. His betrayal of Dejanira and subsequent death by poisoned shirt form part of the medieval antifeminist tradition, RR 9191-9202, and appear in MLT 200; WBT 725-726; HF I.402, III.1412-1413; PF 28. The death of Ercules is written in the stars, MLT 200. The Monk, MkT 2095-2142, and Lady Philosophy, Bo IV, Metr 7.28-62, recount Hercules's twelve labors. The sun is in the house of Ercules's Lion, Tr IV.32, the latter part of July and the first part of August. Ercules rescues Alceste from death, LGW F 513-516, LGW G 501-504. He helps Jason court Isiphile, LGW 1454-1546; Guido delle Colonne tells this story in Historia destructionis Troiae I-IV. [Achaleous: Alceste: Busirus: Cacus: Cancer: Dianira: Dragoun: Idra: Leo: Socrates]

Ercules, the ME variant of Italian Ercule, appears once initially, HF II.402; six times medially, LGW F 515, LGW G 503; LGW 1480, 1501, 1514, 1524; and six times in final rhyming position, KnT 1943, MLT 200, BD 1058, LGW 1454, 1519, 1544. Hercules, the Latin variant of Greek Heracles, never appears initially; it occurs three times in medial positions, WBP 725; MkT 2095; Tr IV.32; and three times in final rhyming position, MkT 2135, HF III.1413, PF 288. Both forms appear in the prose of Chaucer's Boece.