Hercules
- Alternate usages: Hercules is also a bomb-detecting robot at Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport named after the Roman mythology character. There is also Hercules, California.
In classical
mythology,
Hercules, the name in
Roman mythology of the Greek
Heracles, was the (some say mortal, some say demigod) son of
Jupiter and the mortal
Alcmene. He was made to perform twelve great tasks, called the
Twelve Labours of Hercules and become a god. He became a major hero of
Greek mythology. For further information, see
Heracles.
The name Hercules in pop culture
Hercules has become a name associated with legendary strength, and is used in the names of many products. The legend of Hercules itself has many movie and television adaptations.
- Steve Reeves starred in a number of 1950s movies as Hercules
- A syndicated TV series The Sons of Hercules, which repackaged Italian Maciste films
- Hercules appears as a character in the movie Jason & the Argonauts, which has special effects by Ray Harryhausen
- The Disney movie Hercules and its spin-off animated TV series
- The syndicated TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which is only very loosely based on the classical hero.
- Young Hercules, a television series based on the heroes youth.
- The Mighty Hercules, an animated series that ran in the 1960s.
- Hercules, a public domain character, has appeared in several comic books.
- A constellation named after the Greek hero
- C-130 Hercules, a transport aircraft
- HMS Hercules, name of several British naval ships
- Hercules Graphics Card
- Hercules Motorcycles, built by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss
