Editing Heracles (section)

===Omphale===
{{Main|Omphale}}
[[File:Affresco romano - eracle ed onfale - area vesuviana.JPG|thumb|Heracles and [[Omphale]], Roman fresco, [[Pompeian Styles|Pompeian Fourth Style]] (45–79 CE), [[Naples National Archaeological Museum]], Italy]]

[[Omphale]] was a queen or princess of [[Lydia]]. As penalty for a murder, imposed by [[Xenoclea]], the [[Pythia|Delphic Oracle]], Heracles was to serve as her slave for a year. He was forced to do women's work and to wear women's clothes, while she wore the skin of the [[Nemean Lion]] and carried his [[olive|olive-wood]] club. After some time, Omphale freed Heracles and married him. Some sources mention a son born to them who is variously named. It was at that time that the [[cercopes]], mischievous wood spirits, stole Heracles's weapons. He punished them by tying them to a stick with their faces pointing downward.