Difference between revisions of "Hercules"

<p> <strong> [[Hercules]] </strong> is mentioned by this name only in 2Ma 4:19-20 , where Jason, the head of the Hellenizing party in Jerus. (b.c. 174), sent 300 silver drachmas (about £12, 10s.) to [[Tyre]] as an offering in honour of Hercules, the tutelary deity of that city. Hercules was worshipped at Tyre from very early times, and his temple in that place was, according to Herod, ii. 44, as old as the city itself, 2300 years before his own time. As a personification of the sun he afforded an example of the nature-worship so common among the Phœn., Egyp., and other nations of antiquity. </p>

<p> ( ῾Ηρακλῆς ) is mentioned in &nbsp;2 [[Maccabees]] 4:19 as the [[Tyrian]] god to whom the [[Jewish]] high-priest [[Jason]] sent a religious embassy ''(Θεωροί),'' with the offering of 300 drachmae of silver. That this Tyrian Hercules (Herod. ii, 44) is the same as the Tyrian Baal is evident from a bilingual Phoenician inscription found at [[Malta]] (described by Gesenius, Monum. Ling. Phaen. 1, 96), in which the Phoenician words, "To our Lord, to Melkarth, the Baal of Tyre," are represented by the Greek ῾Ηρακλεῖ Ἀρχηγέτει . Moreover, [[Herakles]] and [[Astarte]] are mentioned together by [[Josephus]] ''(Anf. 8,'' 5, 3), just in the same manner as Baal and [[Ashtoreth]] are in the Old Testament. The further identity of this Tyrian Baal with the Baal whom the idolatrous [[Israelites]] worshipped is evinced by the following arguments, as stated chiefly by Movers (Die Phonicier, 1, 178). The worship of Baal, which prevailed in the time of the Judges, was put down by Samuel (&nbsp;1 Samuel 7:4), and the effects of that suppression appear to have lasted through the next few centuries, as Baal is not enumerated among the idols of [[Solomon]] (&nbsp;1 Kings 11:5-8; &nbsp;2 Kings 23:13),. nor among those worshipped in Judah (&nbsp;2 Kings 23:12), or in Samaria, where we only read of the golden calves of [[Jeroboam]] (&nbsp;1 Kings 12:28; &nbsp;1 Kings 15:26). That worship of Baal which prevailed in the reign of [[Ahab]] cannot, therefore, be regarded as a mere continuation or revival of the old [[Canaanitish]] idolatry (although there is no reason to doubt the essential identity of both Baals), but was introduced directly from [[Phoenicia]] by Ahab's marriage with the [[Sidonian]] princess [[Jezebel]] (&nbsp;1 Kings 16:31). In like manner, the establishment of this idolatry in Judah is ascribed to the marriage of the king with a daughter of Jezebel (comp. Josephus, ''Ant. 8,'' 13, 1; 9:6, 6). </p> <p> The power of nature, which was worshipped under the form of the Tyrian Hercules, Melkarth, Baal, Adonis, Moloch, and whatever his other names are, was that which originates, sustains, and destroys life. These functions of the Deity, according to the Phoenicians, were represented, although not exclusively, by the sun, the influence of which both animates vegetation by its genial warmth, and scorches it up by its fervor (see Davis, Carthage, p. 276-9). </p> <p> Almost all that we know of the worship of the Tyrian Hercules is preserved by the classical writers, and relates chiefly to the Phoenician colonies, and not to the mother state. The eagle, the lion, and the thunny-fish were sacred to him, and are often found on Phoenician coins. Pliny expressly testifies that human sacrifices were offered up every year to the Carthaginian Hercules (Hist. Nat. 36, 5, 12), which coincides with what is stated of Baal in &nbsp;Jeremiah 19:5, and with the acknowledged worship of Moloch. [[Mention]] is made of public embassies sent from the colonies to the mother state to honor the national god (Arrian, ''Alex.'' 2, 24; Q. Curt. 4:2; Polyb. 31:20), and this fact places in a clearer light the offence of Jason in sending envoys to his festival (&nbsp;2 Maccabees 4:19). </p> <p> Movers endeavors to show that Herakles and Hercules are not merely Greek and Latin synonymes for this god, but that they are actually derived from his true Phoenician name. This original name he supposes to have consisted of the syllables אר (as found in ארי, ''Lion,'' and in other words), meaning ''Strong,'' and כל, from יכל, ''To Conquer;'' so that the compound means ''Arconquers.'' This harmonizes with what he conceives to be the idea represented by Hercules as the destroyer of Typhonic monsters ''(1. C.'' p. 430). Melkarth, the Μελίκαρθος of Sanchoniathon, occurs on coins only in the form מלקרת . We must in this case assume that a [[Kaph]] has been absorbed, and resolve the word into קרתא מלךְ, ''King Of The City, Πολιοῦχος.'' The bilingual inscription renders it by Ἀρχηγέτης; and it is a title of the god as the patron of the city. (See [[Baal]]). </p>