Hercules

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula, Doris Vickers

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star chart

Her star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).

One of the 88 IAU constellations.

Etymology and History

The peculiar position and orientation of the figure raises the suspicion that it is older and perhaps not of Greek origin. There is a hypothesis that a Babylonian mythical creature may have stood here. However, this could only apply to the northern parts of Hercules and only to very early periods, i.e. the Sumerian culture. There is no trace of such a creature in the Babylonian MUL.APIN of the late 2nd millennium, and the Babylonian constellation Canis Major was always located in the southern parts of Hercules.

Origin of Constellation

Babylonian

In all written sources of the late second and first millennium BCE, this region is rather empty in the Babylonian uranology. The parts in the vicinity of Vega were covered by the Mesopotamian constellation of The Dog (UR.KU, UR.GI₇ (𒌨𒂠)) and the southern parts might have belonged to the constellation of Zababa, a warrior in the area that is now Ophiuchus.

Greco-Roman

Aratos

Near it there circles a figure like a man toiling. No one is able to say definitely [65] what it is or on what task the man is intent, but they just call him the man on his knees; again, labouring on its knees, the figure looks like a man crouching. From both his shoulders arms are raised and extend in different directions to a full stretch. He has the tip of his right foot above the mid-point of the tortuous Dragon’s head. (Kidd 1997)

Eratosthenes

Var. 1 (Τοῦ ἐν γόρασιν): It appears to be Heracles trampling the Serpent underfoot. The hero can be clearly seen brandishing his club and wrapped in his lion skin. It is said that, on his quest for the golden apples, he killed the snake that had been placed there as a guardian. Hera had placed it there precisely so that it would confront Heracles. This is why, once this extremely perilous task had been completed, Zeus deemed the ordeal worthy of remembrance and placed the image among the constellations. On one side is the snake, raising its head; on the other, Heracles, trampling it underfoot, immobilising it under one knee while crushing its head with his other foot, brandishing his club in his right hand as if he were about to strike it, while his left arm is wrapped in his lion's skin. He has a shining star on his head, one on his right arm, one on each shoulder, one on his left elbow, one at the end of his arm, one on each side -the brightest being the one on the left flank-, two on the right thigh, one on the bent knee, two on the calf, one on the foot, one above the the right hand, called ‘the Mace’, and four on the lion's skin. In all, nineteen.

Var. 2 (Τοῦ ἐν γόρασιν): It shows Heracles trampling underfoot the Serpent. One <distinguishes clearly> the hero's posture, protected by his lion skin. It is said that he <set out> in search of the golden apples, and killed <the snake> which had been put there as a guard, at the cost of many difficulties. For the snake had a great many different voices, was of exceptional size, of impressive strength, and sleep had no hold on it. <...> This Heracles has a star on his head, one on his arm, one shining on each shoulder, one on his left elbow <...>, one on his calf, <one> under his right hand called ‘the Mace’. Thirteen in all.

la la la

Hipparchus

Rising (Lib II Cap V §10)

The Rising of ...

	east		south
	lam1	lam2	lam1	lam2
	Vir 11	Sco 7 1/2	Gem 7 1/2	Leo 14
star	the one in the right foot and the one in the right knee	the one at the end of the left hand
duration	4 3/5 hours = 276 min = 69 degree

Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10)

	west		south
	lam1	lam2	lam1	lam2
	Sgr 14	Aqr 16	Aqr 23	Tau 7 1/2
star	the one at the end of the right hand	the one in the left foot
duration	4 3/5 hours = 276 min = 69°

Stars Mentioned

	Greek	German	English	ident.	src		lam_culm
					Lib II Cap V §10	rising, east, first
					Lib II Cap V §10	rising, east, last
					Lib II Cap VI §2	setting CrB, south, last	Psc 13.5
					Lib II Cap VI §13	setting Aql, south, first	Ari 2
					Lib III Cap I §9	rising Ori, south, last	Psc 13

Hyginus, Astronomica

Eratosthenes says he is Hercules, placed above the dragon we have already mentioned, and prepared to fight, with his left hand holding his lion skin, and his right the club. He is trying to kill the dragon of the Hesperides, which, it is thought, never was overcome by sleep or closed its eyes, thus offering more proof it was placed there as a guard. Panyassis in the Heraclea says of the sign that Jupiter, in admiration of their struggle, placed it among the stars; for the dragon has its head erect, and Hercules, resting on his right knee, tires to crush the right side of its head with his left foot. His right hand is up and striking, his left extended with the lion skin, and he appears to be fighting with all his strength. Although Aratus says no one can prove who he is, nevertheless we shall try to show that we can say something reasonable.

Araethus, as we said before, calls this figure Ceteus, son of Lycaon, and father of Megisto. He seems to be lamenting the change of his daughter to bear form, kneeling on one knee, and holding up outstretched hands to heaven, asking for the gods to restore her to him.

Hegesianax, however, says that he is Theseus, who seems to be lifting the stone at Troezene. Aegeus is thought to have put [corrupt] and a sword under it, and warned Aethra, the mother, not to send him to Athens until he could lift the stone by his own strength and bring the sword to his father. And so he seems to try to lift the stone as high as he can. In this connection, too, some have said that the Lyre, placed nearest this sign, is the lyre of Theseus, for he was skilful in all the arts and seems to have learned the lyre as well. This, too, Anacreon says: Near Theseus, son of Aegeus, is the Lyre.

Others call him Thamyris, blinded by the Muses, kneeling as a suppliant; others, Orpheus, killed by the Thracian women because he looked on the rites of Father Liber.

But Aeschylus, in the play entitled Prometheus Lyomenos , says that he is Hercules, fighting not with the dragon, but with the Ligurians. For he says that at the time Hercules was driving away the cattle of Geryon, he journeyed through the territory of the Ligurians. They joined forces in trying to take the herd from him, and pierced many of the beasts [?] with arrows. But after Hercules' weapons failed, worn out by the number of the barbarians and lack of arms, he fell to his knees, already suffering from many wounds. Jove, however, out of pity for his son, provided that there should be a great supply of stones around him. With these Hercules defended himself and put the enemy to flight. And so Jove put he image of his fighting form among the constellations.

Again, some have said that he is Ixion with his arms bound, because he tried to attack Juno.

Others say he is Prometheus, bound on Mt. Caucasus. (Mary Ward 1960)

Almagest Ἐγγόνασι.

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Τοῦ ἐν γόρασιν ἀστερισμός.	Constellation of Hercules
1	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς	The star on the head	alf Her
2	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ ὅμου παρὰ τὴν μασχάληη	The star on the right shoulder by the armpit	bet Her
3	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ βραχίουος.	The star on the right upper arm	gam Her
4	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ ἀγκῶνος	The star on the right elbow	kap Her
5	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ ὤμου	The star on the left shoulder	del Her
6	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ βραχίουος	The star on the left upper arm	lam Her
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ ἀγκῶνος	The star on the left elbow	mu Her
	τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ καρπῷ ν’ ὁ ἐπόμευος	The rearmost of the 3 stars in the left wrist	omi Her
	τῶν λοιπῶν β ὁ βόρειος.	The northernmost of the other 2	nu Her
	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The southernmost of them	xi Her
	ὁ ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ πλευρᾷ.	The star in the right side	zet Her
	ὁ ἐν τῇ ἀριστερᾷ πλευρᾷ	The star in the left side	eps Her
	ὁ τούτου βορειότερος ἐπὶ τοῦ γλουτοῦ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ,	The one north of the latter, on the left buttock	59 Her
	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκφύσεως τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηροῦ.	The one on the place where the thigh joins the same [buttock]	61 Her
	τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ μηρῷ τριῶν ὁ προηγούμεσος;	The most advanced of the 3 in the left thigh	pi Her
	ὁ τούτῳ ἐπόμευος	The one to the rear of this	69 Her
	ὁ ἔτι τούτῳ ἑπόμενος.	The one yet further to the rear of this	rho Her
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ γόνατος.	The star on the left knee	tet Her
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ ἀντικρημίου.	The star on the left shin	iot Her
	τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ ἀκροποδίῳ ἢ ὁ προηγούμενος.	The most advanced of the 3 stars in the left foot	74 Her
	ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν.	The middle one of the three	77 Her
	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν.	The rearmost of them	82 Her
	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκφόσεως τοῦ δεξιοῦ μηροῦ.	The star on the place where the right thigh joins [the buttock]	eta Her
	ὁ βορειότερος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ μηρῷ.	The star north of it in the same thigh	sig Her
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ γόνατος	The star on the right knee	tau Her
	τῶν ὑπὸ τὸ δεξιὸν γόνυ β’ ὁ νοτιώτερος.	The southernmost of the 2 stars under the right knee	phi Her
	ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν.	The northernmost of them	ups Her
	ὁ ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ κυήμῃ.	The star in the right lower leg	chi Her
	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρου τοῦ δεξιοῦ ποδὸς ὁ αὐτός ἐστι τῷ ἐπ’ ἄκρῳ τοῦ κολλορόβου	The star on the end of the right leg is the same as the one on the tip of the staff	-
	χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἀστέρες κη, ὧν γ’ μεγέθουςξ, δ’ ὕ, εβ,ς γ	Not counting the latter, 28 stars, 6 of the third magmtude, 17 of the fourth, 2 of the fifth, 3 of the sixth
	ὁ ἐκτὸς αὐτοῦ ἀμόρφωτος	Star outside this constellation
	ὁ νοτιώτερος τοῦ ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ βραχίουι.	The star south of the one in the right upper arm	ome Her
	ἀστὴρ ἂ μεγέθους ἐ	l star of the fifth magnitude

Convex Hull for the stars inside Engonasin (CC BY Youla Azkarrula).

Stars within the Constellation Area

id	Label	IAU design.	description	Vmag
1	Kornephoros	HIP 80816	Constellation lines	2.77
2	Rasalgethi	HIP 84345	Constellation lines (Vertex)	2.78
3	ζ Herculis	HIP 81693	Constellation lines	2.8
4	* zet Her B	* zet Her B	Inside the hull	2.94
5	Sarin	HIP 84379	Constellation lines	3.13
6	π Herculis	HIP 84380	Constellation lines	3.18
7	μ Herculis	HIP 86974	Constellation lines	3.42
8	η Herculis	HIP 81833	Constellation lines	3.5
9	ξ Herculis	HIP 87933	Constellation lines	3.7
10	γ Herculis	HIP 80170	Constellation lines	3.76
11	ι Herculis	HIP 86414	Constellation lines	3.8
12	ο Herculis	HIP 88794	Constellation lines (Vertex)	3.827
13	τ Herculis	HIP 79992	Constellation lines (Vertex)	3.87
14	θ Herculis	HIP 87808	Constellation lines	3.88
15	ϵ Herculis	HIP 83207	Constellation lines	3.92
16	ϵ Coronae Borealis	HIP 78159	Inside the hull	4.13
17	ρ Herculis	HIP 85112	Inside the hull	4.17
18	σ Herculis	HIP 81126	Constellation lines	4.196
19	ϕ Herculis	HIP 79101	Inside the hull	4.27
20	Maasym	HIP 85693	Constellation lines	4.41
21	ν Herculis	HIP 87998	Constellation lines	4.41
22	χ Herculis	HIP 77760	Constellation lines	4.62
23	69 Her	HIP 84606	Inside the hull	4.65
24	τ Coronae Borealis	HIP 79119	Inside the hull	4.73
25	68 Her	HIP 84573	Inside the hull	4.8
26	π Serpentis	HIP 78554	Inside the hull	4.817
27	κ Coronae Borealis	HIP 77655	Inside the hull	4.82
28	52 Her	HIP 82321	Inside the hull	4.823
29	ξ Coronae Borealis	HIP 80181	Inside the hull	4.849
30	ι Coronae Borealis	HIP 78493	Inside the hull	4.971
31	ν 2 Boötis	HIP 76041	Inside the hull	4.978
32	ζ 1 Coronae Borealis	HIP 76669	Inside the hull	4.979
33	Marsic	HIP 79043	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.994
34	30 Her	HIP 80704	Inside the hull	5.01
35	ν 1 Boötis	HIP 75973	Constellation lines (Vertex)	5.026
36	51 Her	HIP 82504	Inside the hull	5.029
37	-	HIP 83947	Inside the hull	5.065
38	87 Her	HIP 87194	Inside the hull	5.1
39	μ Coronae Borealis	HIP 76307	Inside the hull	5.11
40	70 Her	HIP 84887	Inside the hull	5.12
41	90 Her	HIP 87563	Inside the hull	5.15
42	ν 1 Coronae Borealis	HIP 80197	Inside the hull	5.2
43	-	HIP 80843	Inside the hull	5.243
44	ϕ Boötis	HIP 76534	Inside the hull	5.254
45	59 Her	HIP 83313	Inside the hull	5.267
46	53 Her	HIP 82587	Inside the hull	5.333
47	82 Her	HIP 86182	Constellation lines (Vertex)	5.353
48	54 Her	HIP 82802	Inside the hull	5.354
49	-	HIP 84821	Inside the hull	5.357
50	2 Her	HIP 77907	Inside the hull	5.38
51	ρ Coronae Borealis	HIP 78459	Inside the hull	5.38
52	-	HIP 82764	Constellation lines	5.387
53	ν 2 Coronae Borealis	HIP 80214	Inside the hull	5.39
54	-	HIP 83838	Inside the hull	5.39
55	72 Her	HIP 84862	Inside the hull	5.39
56	λ Coronae Borealis	HIP 78012	Inside the hull	5.424
57	-	HIP 80008	Inside the hull	5.48
58	-	HIP 85385	Inside the hull	5.514
59	-	HIP 87308	Inside the hull	5.517
60	25 Her	HIP 80460	Inside the hull	5.54
61	* sig CrB A	HD 146361	Inside the hull	5.55
62	83 Her	HIP 86667	Inside the hull	5.558
63	V819 Her	HIP 84949	Inside the hull	5.561
64	-	HIP 83692	Inside the hull	5.565
65	π Coronae Borealis	HIP 77048	Inside the hull	5.575
66	-	HIP 78276	Inside the hull	5.586
67	74 Her	HIP 84835	Inside the hull	5.59
68	-	HIP 79358	Inside the hull	5.615
69	-	HIP 82028	Inside the hull	5.619
70	-	HIP 85715	Inside the hull	5.633
71	78 Her	HIP 85790	Inside the hull	5.65
72	-	HIP 83254	Inside the hull	5.658
73	-	HIP 80953	Inside the hull	5.68
74	-	HIP 84691	Inside the hull	5.68
75	16 Her	HIP 79666	Inside the hull	5.69
76	10 Her	HIP 79349	Inside the hull	5.7
77	50 Her	HIP 82422	Inside the hull	5.72
78	73 Her	HIP 85157	Inside the hull	5.72
79	-	HIP 85888	Inside the hull	5.726
80	84 Her	HIP 86731	Inside the hull	5.729
81	4 Her	HIP 77986	Inside the hull	5.75
82	-	HIP 80898	Inside the hull	5.754
83	79 Her	HIP 86254	Inside the hull	5.76
84	-	HIP 83367	Inside the hull	5.762
85	υ Coronae Borealis	HIP 79757	Inside the hull	5.779
86	M 13	M 13	Inside the hull	5.8
87	-	HIP 78649	Inside the hull	5.804
88	-	HIP 81289	Inside the hull	5.814
89	77 Her	HIP 85379	Constellation lines	5.83
90	-	HIP 79357	Inside the hull	5.868
91	V636 Her	HIP 82172	Inside the hull	5.87
92	39 Her	HIP 81729	Inside the hull	5.916
93	* 7 CrB B	HR 5833	Inside the hull	5.93
94	-	HIP 85382	Inside the hull	5.94
95	-	HIP 84656	Inside the hull	5.962
96	-	HIP 84431	Inside the hull	5.975
97	-	HIP 88190	Inside the hull	6
98	-	HIP 87445	Inside the hull	6.001
99	-	HIP 81911	Inside the hull	6.01
100	-	HIP 86462	Inside the hull	6.03
101	-	HIP 88020	Inside the hull	6.03
102	-	HIP 80021	Inside the hull	6.038
103	-	HIP 86178	Inside the hull	6.05
104	-	HIP 82012	Inside the hull	6.059
105	56 Her	HIP 82780	Inside the hull	6.064
106	-	HIP 81670	Inside the hull	6.07
107	-	HIP 83494	Inside the hull	6.07
108	-	HIP 86096	Inside the hull	6.122
109	8 Her	HIP 79102	Inside the hull	6.127
110	-	HIP 79686	Inside the hull	6.136
111	-	HIP 78985	Inside the hull	6.14
112	-	HIP 82426	Inside the hull	6.158
113	-	HIP 82355	Inside the hull	6.165
114	-	HIP 88277	Inside the hull	6.167
115	-	HIP 83565	Inside the hull	6.2
116	63 Her	HIP 84054	Inside the hull	6.2
117	-	HIP 84599	Inside the hull	6.22
118	κ Herculis B	HIP 79045	Inside the hull	6.23
119	61 Her	HIP 83462	Inside the hull	6.23
120	-	HIP 86925	Inside the hull	6.24
121	-	HIP 85181	Inside the hull	6.253
122	-	HIP 80888	Inside the hull	6.26
123	-	HIP 76366	Inside the hull	6.28
124	-	HIP 82419	Inside the hull	6.29
125	57 Her	HIP 82987	Inside the hull	6.29
126	-	HIP 78153	Inside the hull	6.297
127	-	HIP 79350	Inside the hull	6.3
128	-	HIP 86506	Inside the hull	6.309
129	V451 Her	HIP 83308	Inside the hull	6.31
130	-	HIP 83007	Inside the hull	6.326
131	-	HIP 86501	Inside the hull	6.33
132	-	HIP 83013	Inside the hull	6.355
133	-	HIP 83816	Inside the hull	6.36
134	-	HIP 86537	Inside the hull	6.374
135	-	HIP 86713	Inside the hull	6.376
136	-	HIP 83365	Inside the hull	6.383
137	-	HIP 79385	Inside the hull	6.388
138	-	HIP 77397	Inside the hull	6.39
139	-	HIP 83493	Inside the hull	6.39
140	-	HIP 85313	Inside the hull	6.39
141	-	HIP 86130	Inside the hull	6.39
142	-	HIP 84934	Inside the hull	6.397
143	-	HIP 82516	Inside the hull	6.4
144	-	HIP 81231	Inside the hull	6.403
145	23 Her	HIP 80247	Inside the hull	6.404
146	V959 Her	HIP 86153	Inside the hull	6.406
147	* sig CrB B	HR 6064	Inside the hull	6.42
148	-	HIP 85688	Inside the hull	6.431
149	-	HIP 83834	Inside the hull	6.44
150	-	HIP 83593	Inside the hull	6.441
151	-	HIP 87045	Inside the hull	6.465
152	-	HIP 82526	Inside the hull	6.488
153	-	HR 6052	Inside the hull	6.5
154	-	HIP 85810	Inside the hull	6.52
155	-	HIP 79248	Inside the hull	6.61
156	z Her	HIP 87280	Constellation lines (Vertex)	6.89

Medieval and Early Modern Europe

Ramus et Cerberus in Senex (1721/2), thanks to Daniel Crouch and Ian Ridpath.

Traditionally, this hero carries a lion's skin and a club. Yet, in Early Modern Europe, all sorts of variants occured: instead of the skin that was supposed to protect him, he then was depicted with branches of apples or instead of branches with a three-headed snake in his hand.

The creature with the three heads was typically labelled "Cerberus" although the ancient Kerberos/ Cerberus had dog-heads and not snake-heads.

The branch with the apples resembled the myth according to which he stole the "golden apples" as one of his celebrated deeds.

John Senex even labelled the apples, as Ian Ridpath points out:

Hercules holds Ramus, the apple branch, and Cerberus, the three-headed monster, in his outstretched hand, as depicted by the English cartographer John Senex (1678–1740) on his chart of the northern celestial hemisphere, Stellarum Fixarum Hemisphaerium Boreale, published 1721/2. This chart was based on the pirated edition of John Flamsteed's unfinished star catalogue that had been published by Edmond Halley in 1712. Senex called the combined figure Ramus Cerberus, and it appeared again on his planisphere of the northern sky issued posthumously in 1746. Johann Bode adopted the combined figure on his Uranographia atlas of 1801 but changed its name to Cerberus et Ramus, and that is the name by which it became most widely known.

Bode's map in the Uranographia (1801) is available in the digital collection of ETH Zurich.

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• Hercules in the oldest scientific manuscript in the National Library the volume contains various Latin texts on astronomy. The volume, written in Caroline minuscule, consists of two sections, the first (ff. 1-26) copied c. 1000, in the Limoges area of France, probably in the milieu of Adémar de Chabannes (989-1034), whilst the second (ff. 27-50), from a scriptorium in the same region, may be dated c. 1150.
  Hercules in the oldest scientific manuscript in the National Library the volume contains various Latin texts on astronomy. The volume, written in Caroline minuscule, consists of two sections, the first (ff. 1-26) copied c. 1000, in the Limoges area of France, probably in the milieu of Adémar de Chabannes (989-1034), whilst the second (ff. 27-50), from a scriptorium in the same region, may be dated c. 1150.
• Hercules in Bayer (1603)
  Hercules in Bayer (1603)
• Hercules in Fortin (1776)
  Hercules in Fortin (1776)
• Hercules in Jamieson (1822)
  Hercules in Jamieson (1822)
• Hercules in Hall (1825)
  Hercules in Hall (1825)

Mythology

According to legends, Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, the most beautiful and intelligent of mortal women. As a young man, he was particularly tall, strong and skilled with weapons. King Eurystheus of Mycenae set him ten tasks: to eliminate the threats posed by the Nemean lion and the multi-headed Hydra, to drive the fierce birds from the city of Stymphalos, capturing a doe with golden antlers, a wild boar and a fire-breathing bull, cleaning the Augean stables, capturing a flesh-eating mare, the belt of the Amazon queen and several herds of cattle in the far west.

According to some poets, the depiction of Heracles kneeling in the sky is a reminder of these glorious deeds. Some poets tell of an attack on the hero as he was returning home with the herds of cattle. He successfully defended himself, even though his attackers had forced him to his knees.

However, the story of Heracles continues, as King Eurystheus then set him two more tasks – e.g. stealing the apples of the Hesperides. For Eratosthenes, the sub-story with the apples and the giant snake alone was reason enough to identify the constellation with Heracles on his knees.

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)