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{{Short description|Ancient Etruscan god}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Heracle|Heracles (disambiguation){{!}}Heracles}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Etruscan
| name = Hercle
| image = Uni et hercle.jpg
| caption = Drawing of a scene on an Etruscan mirror in which [[Uni (mythology)|Uni]] suckles the adult Hercle before he ascends to immortality
| deity_of = 
| abode =
| symbol = 
| consort = [[Menrva]]
| parents = [[Tinia]] and a mortal woman (raised and adopted by [[Uni (mythology)|Uni]])
| siblings = [[Menrva]] (half-sister)
| children = [[Epiur]]
| mount =
| Greek_equivalent = [[Heracles]]
| Roman_equivalent = [[Hercules]]
| equivalent1_type = Egyptian
| equivalent1 = [[Heryshaf]]
| equivalent2_type = Germanic
| equivalent2 = [[Hercules Magusanus]]
| Canaanite_equivalent = [[Melqart]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Melqart {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/melqart|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=2020-05-20}}</ref>
}}
In [[Etruscan religion]], '''Hercle''' (also ''Heracle'' or ''Hercl''), the son of [[Tinia]] and [[Uni (mythology)|Uni]], was a version of the Greek [[Heracles]], depicted as a muscular figure often carrying a club and wearing a lionskin. He is a popular subject in [[Etruscan art]], particularly [[bronze mirror]]s, which show him engaged in adventures not known from the [[Greek mythology|Greek myths]] of [[Heracles]] or the [[Roman mythology|Roman]] and later [[classical mythology|classical myths]] of [[Hercules]].<ref>Nancy Thomson de Grummond, ''Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend'' (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2006), pp. 12–13.</ref>

In the Etruscan tradition, [[Uni (mythology)|Uni]] (Roman [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]]) grants Hercle access to a life among the immortals by offering her breast milk to him.<ref>De Grummond, ''Etruscan Myth'', pp. 83–84.</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Religion of the Etruscans|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2006|isbn=0-292-70687-1}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Etruscan World|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-67308-2}}</ref> Hercle was the first man elevated to a godhood through his deeds and Etruscan aristocrats tried to identify with this ascension, as reflected in artwork and literature.

Hercle differed in many aspects from the Greek [[Heracles]].<ref name=":1" /> He seems to have enjoyed a special status in Italy in general.<ref name=":1" /> In art, he is shown to be a defender of an unknown goddess against creatures on the other side of a human border, showing his status as a [[Liminal deity]].<ref name=":1" /> In Etruria, he was also associated with running water.<ref name=":1" /> He was also the master of animals, the protector of flocks and herds, and of herdsmen.<ref name=":1" />

==Worship==

Hercle was more of an [[oracular]] god in Etruria than in Greece.<ref name=":0" /> Several inscriptions have come to light from 1970 that show evidence of cult worship.<ref name=":0" /> Particularly, a sanctuary at Caere preserved many inscriptions of dedications to the god.<ref name=":0" /> In Toledo, a bronze weight and an attic red-figured cup created by Euphronios testify an important cult to Hercle.<ref name=":0" />

==Scenes from Etruscan art==
Hercle can be recognized in Etruscan art from his attributes, or is sometimes identified by name. Since [[Liber Linteus|Etruscan literature]] has not survived, the meaning of the scenes in which he appears can only be interpreted by comparison to Greek and Roman myths, through information about Etruscan myths preserved by Greek and Latin literature, or through conjectural reconstructions based on other Etruscan representations.

==See also==
* [[List of Etruscan mythological figures]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Hercules media|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Etruscan gods]]
[[Category:Etruscan religion]]
[[Category:Etruscan mythology]]
[[Category:Heracles]]
[[Category:Liminal gods]]
[[Category:Oracular gods]]


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