Editing Heracles (section)

==Cult==
The ancient Greeks celebrated the festival of the ''[[Heracleia (festival)|Heracleia]]'', which commemorated the death of Heracles, on the second day of the month of [[Metageitnion]] (which would fall in late July or early August). What is believed to be an [[Egypt]]ian Temple of Heracles in the [[Bahariya Oasis]] dates to 21 BCE. A reassessment of [[Ptolemy]]'s descriptions of the island of [[Malta]] attempted to link the site at [[Ras ir-Raħeb]] with a temple to Heracles,<ref>[[Ptolemy|Ptol.]] iv. 3. § 37</ref> but the arguments are not conclusive.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ventura|first=F.|title=Ptolemy's Maltese Co-ordinates|journal=Hyphen|date=1988|volume=V|issue=6|pages=253–69}}</ref> Several ancient cities were named [[Heraclea (disambiguation)|Heraclea]] in his honor. A very small island close to the island of [[Lemnos]] was called Neai (Νέαι), from νέω, which means "I dive/swim", because Heracles swam there.<ref>[https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/nu/103 Suda, nu,103]</ref> According to the Greek legends, the [[Herculaneum]] in Italy was founded by him.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dherculaneum-geo Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Herculaneum]</ref>

Several ''poleis'' provided two separate sanctuaries for Heracles, one recognizing him as a god, the other only as a hero.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The "Sacred History" of Euhemerus of Messene|last=Winiarczyk|first=Marek|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2013|isbn=978-3110278880|page=30}}</ref> Sacrifice was made to him as a hero and as a god within the same festival.<ref>Burkert 1985, p. 208.</ref> This ambiguity helped create the Heracles cult especially when historians (e.g. Herodotus) and artists encouraged worship such as the painters during the time of the [[Peisistratos]], who often presented Heracles entering Olympus in their works.<ref name=":0" />

Some sources explained that the cult of Heracles persisted because of the hero's ascent to heaven and his suffering, which became the basis for festivals, ritual, rites, and the organization of mysteries.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Ancient Mystery Cults|last=Burkert|first=Walter|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1987|isbn=978-0674033870|location=Cambridge|pages=75–76}}</ref> There is the observation, for example, that sufferings (''pathea'') gave rise to the rituals of grief and mourning, which came before the joy in the mysteries in the sequence of cult rituals.<ref name=":1" /> Also, like the case of Apollo, the cult of Heracles had been sustained through the years by absorbing local cult figures such as those who share the same nature.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|last1=Hornblower|first1=Simon|last2=Spawforth|first2=Antony|last3=Eidinow|first3=Esther|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0198706779|location=Oxford|page=367}}</ref> He was also constantly invoked as a patron for men, especially the young ones. For example, he was considered the ideal in warfare so he presided over gymnasiums and the ''ephebes'' or those men undergoing military training.<ref name=":2" />

There were ancient towns and cities that also adopted Heracles as a patron deity, contributing to the spread of his cult. There was the case of the royal house of Macedonia, which claimed lineal descent from the hero,<ref>{{Cite book|title=King and Court in Ancient Macedonia: Rivalry, Treason and Conspiracy|last=Carney|first=Elizabeth|publisher=The Classical Press of Wales|year=2015|isbn=978-1910589083|location=Swansea|page=66}}</ref> primarily for purposes of divine protection and legitimator of actions.

The earliest evidence that shows the worship of Heracles in popular cult was in 6th century BCE (121–122 and 160–165) via an ancient inscription from Phaleron.<ref name=":2" /> After the 4th century BCE, Heracles became identified with the Phoenician God [[Melqart]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Melqart/|title=Melqart|website=World History Encyclopedia}}</ref>

[[Oitaeans]] worshiped Heracles and called him Cornopion (Κορνοπίων) because he helped them get rid of [[locust]]s (which they called ''cornopes''), while the citizens of [[Erythrae]] at [[Karaburun|Mima]] called him Ipoctonus (ἰποκτόνος) because he destroyed the vine-eating ''ips'' (ἀμπελοφάγων ἰπῶν), a kind of [[cynips]] wasp, there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197:book=13:chapter=1:section=64|title=Strabo, Geography, Book 13, chapter 1, section 64|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=ko/rnoy|title=Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, κόρνοψ|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=i)pokto/nos|title=Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, ἰποκτόνος|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

Near the town of [[Bura (Achaea)|Bura]] in [[Achaea]], there was a statue of Heracles on the River [[Buraicus]] and an oracle in a cave. People who consulted this oracle first prayed before the statue, then threw four dice from a mound that was always kept ready onto a table. These dice were marked with certain characters, the significance of which was elucidated by an artwork shown in the cave. Because of this town Heracles had the epithet Buraicus (Βουραϊκός).<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DB%3Aentry+group%3D10%3Aentry%3Dburaicus-bio-1 A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Buraicus]</ref>