Editing Hercules (section)

=== Worship in myth ===

There is evidence of Hercules worship in myth in the Latin epic poem, the ''[[Aeneid]]''. In the 8th book of the poem [[Aeneas]] finally reaches the future site of Rome, where he meets [[Evander of Pallantium|Evander]] and the Arcadians making sacrifices to Hercules on the banks of the Tiber river.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Loar|first=Matthew|date=February 23, 2020|title=Hercules, Mummius, and the Roman Triumph in Aeneid 8|journal=Classical Philology |volume=112|pages=45–62|doi=10.1086/689726|s2cid=164402027|url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1139&context=classicsfacpub}}</ref> They share a feast, and Evander tells the story of how Hercules defeated the monster Cascus, and describes him as a triumphant hero.<ref name=":2" /> Translated from the Latin text of Vergil, Evander stated: "Time brought to us in our time of need the aid and arrival of a god. For there came that mightiest avenger, the victor Hercules, proud with the slaughter and the spoils of threefold Geryon, and he drove the mighty bulls here, and the cattle filled both valley and riverside.<ref name=":2" />

Hercules was also mentioned in the Fables of [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]]. For example, in his fable about [[Philoctetes]] he tells the story of how Philoctetes built a funeral pyre for Hercules so his body could be consumed and raised to immortality.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae3.html|title=Hyginus, Fabulae, 100–49|last=Grant|first=Mary|website=Theoi Texts Library|access-date=March 7, 2020}}</ref>