Heracles
divine hero in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Alcmene
Heracles ( Ancient Greek: Ἡρακλῆς, lit. 'glory/fame of Hera'), born Alcaeus (Ἀλκαῖος) or Alcides (Ἀλκείδης) was the greatest of the Greek heroes. He was considered the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon. He was thought to be both a hero and a god. No tomb was ever identified as his, and at some festivals sacrifice was offered to him first as a hero and then, upon an altar, as a god. He was widely worshipped as a patron of young men and of gymnasia.
Heracles appears in numerous myths, which often involve the enmity of Hera, the wife of Zeus. Driven mad by Hera, Heracles killed his wife Megara and their children. Heracles performed a series of labours, conventionally numbered twelve, on the orders of his cousin Eurystheus, the king of Argos. These tasks included the killing of the Nemean lion and the Lernaean Hydra, the theft of the golden apples of the Hesperides, and the capture of Cerberus. Episodes outside the cycle of labours have him sailing with the Argonauts, sacking Troy in the generation before the Trojan War, freeing Prometheus, and serving a further term of slavery to Omphale, queen of Lydia.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Heracles” is divine hero in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Alcmene. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Heracles, divine and hero, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “divine hero in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Alcmene” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q122248. VIAF identifies the subject as 68982877. The Library of Congress control number is no2014084680. 2 of 7 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Heracles”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Heracles primary sources, Heracles archive and Heracles research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Heracles”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Heracles” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.