Ever Hear of the Greek Hero Born Hercules?

Classical and Norse mythology first grabbed my attention when I was in middle school in the early '90s, an interest stemming off comic book characters such as Marvel's Thor and Hercules. The former had some relational differences from its source material, but it had all of the names of the Norse Aesir correct (this, long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe turned them from actual gods into extraterrestrial beings). However, the latter of those two heroes, who was often a thorn in Thor's side – though a fellow Avenger – was part of the Greek characters Marvel had, along with his father Zeus and half-brother Ares. Sounds right.... right?

Given I had decades of comic-book material ahead of my time on this plane, it was great that both Marvel and DC Comics put out reference materials to give the overall origins and subsequent stories of their characters (and I do believe I can rightfully blame these books as the cause of my penchant for reference materials ever since, though that's neither here nor there for this topic). The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (original '80s edition) fed my thirst for who all the Marvel characters were; then I started reading Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe, which had an entry on the Olympian Gods that used all the correct names for Greek myth.

My memory is a little fuzzy on what exactly was my next encounter in those references (comics or other readings), but I ended up on Heracles' involvement with the Amazons, Wonder Woman's people. (Note: this was before the worldwide web, let alone smart phones, so I could not just look up this information with a few clicks. I had to buy comics or go to this thing called a "public library." And even many of those sources gave similarly conflicting information on names for many Greco-Roman immortal beings.)

So, who had it correct? Marvel's Hercules or DC's Heracles? If you know anything about Greek mythology, you know that his envious step-mother was Hera; ergo, you might think that DC had the correct Greek name, for Heracles – or rather Herakles – means "Glory of Hera." But wait a minute… almost every story we see in pop culture – from the Kevin Sorbo vehicle in the '90s to Marvel Comics to so many movies including Disney's animated feature (not to mention the World Wrestling Federation's late Raymond Fernandez in the '80s) – used the name Hercules; and many of them tell us that Hera far-beyond hated his guts, being he was the illegitimate son of her philandering husband, Zeus, King of the Gods. Heck, I can even say that DC also called him Hercules before their huge reset in the '80s called "Crisis on Infinite Earths."

So which is it already? What name did his parents give him? Hercules or Herakles? Well if you are rooting for the former because everything you've seen and heard in pop culture calls him that, I'm sorry to burst your bubble (despite some "experts" preferring its usage). For those of you who went all in on the latter name, the house (sort of) just emptied your bank account (yes, it's Greek, but I'll get to why it's not so correct in a bit). Granted, when we talk of comic books, these characters exist in the modern times, so in a way the names are not incorrect; however, when those characters – or any of the "Hercules" we see in movies – exist in Ancient Greece, the names – to a certain extent – are not correct.

I've already told you the translation of the Greek name Herakles; well, Hercules is the version used by the Romans and derived from the earlier Etruscan civilization… and Hercules was an entirely different deity in his own right to whom the Romans later assigned the tales of Herakles.

"So, then what's the big deal," you might ask. "Why does it matter if Hercules is used instead of Herakles?" The answer is because it goes beyond the words themselves. It is about the chronology (incidentally, that word comes from Chronos/Kronos, the Titan personifying the passage of time… and the grandfather of Herakles) of the character's life and subsequent deification/apotheosis.

Glory of Hera… it is an ambiguous term. I have read about three separate theories on the etymology of the name Herakles. One theory holds that our hero got his name because his glory would only be attained through the various feats he had to complete due to Hera's wrath. Another theory believes that name was a way to appease Hera's wrath by appealing to her ego. The final theory, which I find most compelling despite so many sources using his name in reference to his entire life, is that he was given the name only after dying; becoming a full-fledged god upon joining Olympus; and finally being accepted (even re-birthed!!!) by Hera: after all, he had helped save Olympus from the Giants (a role fulfilled by Heron in Netflix's Blood of Zeus). Regardless of which one is accurate, Herakles was not the hero's original name.

I know of one instance of pop culture that gets it correct… almost. Released the same year as the Dwayne Johnson vehicle simply called Hercules, Kellan Lutz starred in 2014's The Legend of Hercules, where his character was born as Alcides, though otherwise the story is as much out of kilter with myth as the many other iterations of the tale; and then proceeds to use the Roman name too. Notice that my article's title states "Greek Hero Born Hercules"… never did I say there was no such hero under the name Hercules, just that it wasn't Greek (as I already explained) and that he was not born with that name.

When Alkmene bears her twin sons, one by Zeus, the other by the king Amphitryon, they are named Alcides/Alkeides (or Alcaeus/Alkaios after his ersatz grandfather) and Iphicles/Iphikles, respectively. As in the film above and with certain explanations of the myth, Alcides did not adopt a different name until later in life. So, the next time you watch a Hollywood-driven adaptation of the myth, remember that any juvenile version (at the very least) of the character, such as when he strangles Hera's assassin serpents in his crib, know that the name should be Alcides (or Alcaeus); and that any adult version should be Heracles, not the ever-so-ingrained-in-our-collective-consciousness Hercules. (Please do forgive me for omitting the diacritical marks on all these names. It's all Greek to me.)

And don't take all the other parts of the movies or other entertainment sources as gospel for other characters, their relationships, etc., such as the awesome Clash of the Titans telling you that Perseus slew the Kraken (which is from Scandinavian, not Greek, mythology: Perseus slew the Cetus/Ketos); or Disney telling you that Hades is the villain and Philoctetes was a satyr. Read online sources. But also be sure to use the names Alcides and Heracles as your compass to make sure you don't use sources that fall into the same trap of calling him Hercules (or getting other names wrong as well).

But to end all of this with some nutty humor in the form of another pop culture reference – even though it goes against the grain of the entire point I have herein professed – here's some Eddie Murphy for you: "Hercules! Hercules! Hercules! Hercules!"