Heracles otherwise known as Hercules
Heracles, born Alcaeus, was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson and half-brother (as they are both sired by the god Zeus) of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as
Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their own, some of it linking the hero with the geography of the Central Mediterranean. Details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well.
Extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females were among the characteristics commonly attributed to him. Heracles used his wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice, such as when labouring for the king Augeas of Elis, wrestling the giant Antaeus, or tricking Atlas into taking the sky back onto his shoulders. Together with Hermes he was the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae. His iconographic attributes are the lion skin and the club. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have "made the world safe for mankind" and to be its benefactor. Heracles was an extremely passionate and emotional individual, capable of doing both great deeds for his friends (such as wrestling with Thanatos on behalf of Prince Admetus, who had regaled Heracles with his hospitality, or restoring his friend Tyndareus to the throne of Sparta after he was overthrown) and being a terrible enemy who would wreak horrible vengeance on those who crossed him, as Augeas, Neleus and Laomedon all found out to their cost.
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Constellation Hercules
Hercules is a constellation named after Hercules, the Greek mythological hero adapted from the Greek hero Heracles. Hercules was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. It is the fifth largest of the modern constellations.
Hercules is bordered by Draco to the north; Boötes, Corona Borealis, and Serpens Caput to the east; Ophiuchus to the south; Aquila to the southwest; and Sagitta, Vulpecula, and Lyra to the west. Covering 1225.1 square degrees and 2.970% of the night sky, it ranks 5th among the 88 constellations in size. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is 'Her'. The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 32 segments (illustrated in infobox). In the equatorial coordinate system, epoch 2000, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between 16h 00m 26.64s and 18h 57m 49.50s, while the declination coordinates are between +3.67° and +51.32°. In mid-northern latitudes, Hercules is best observed from mid-Spring until the early part of the Fall season, culminating at midnight on June 13.
The solar apex is the direction of the Sun's motion with respect to the Local Standard of Rest. This is located within the constellation of Hercules, around coordinates Right Ascension 18h 00m and Declination 30°.[5] The north pole of the supergalactic coordinate system is located within this constellation at Right Ascension 18h 55m 01s and Declination +15° 42' 32?.
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Asteroid 5143 Heracles
5143 Heracles (1991 VL) is an Apollo asteroid, Mercury grazer, Mars crosser and near-Earth object discovered on November 7, 1991 by Shoemaker, C. S. at Palomar Observatory.
It was discovered to be a binary asteroid by Arecibo Observatory in December 2011
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A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids orbiting their common barycenter. The binary nature of 243 Ida was discovered when the Galileo spacecraft flew by the asteroid in 1993. Since then numerous binary asteroids and several triple asteroids have been detected.
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Moon Crater Hercules
HERCULES.--The western companion of Atlas, a fine ring-plain, about 46 miles in diameter, with a complex border, rising some 11,000 feet above a depressed floor. There are few formations of its class and size which display so much detail in the shape of terraces, apparent landslips, and variation in brightness. In the interior, S.W. of the centre, is a very conspicuous crater, which is visible as a bright spot when the formation itself is hardly traceable, two large craterlets slightly N. of the centre, and several faint little spots on the west of them. The latter, detected some years ago by Herr Hackel of Stuttgart, are arranged in the form of a horse-shoe. There are two small contiguous craters on the S.W. wall, one of which, a difficult object, was recently detected by Mr. W.H. Maw, F.R.A.S. The well-known wedge-shaped protuberance on the S. wall is due to a large irregular depression. On the bright inner slope of the N. wall are manifest indications of a landslip.
Nomenclature
The IAU name is the Latin spelling for Greek mythological hero Heracles.
The name was given by Riccioli and became Catalog Entry 452 in the Collated List and in Named Lunar Formations.
Felix Chemla Lamèch is reported to have proposed Kephalinos as a replacement name for Hercules F, but the IAU did not accept his proposal. Research: Ewen A. Whitaker and Danny Caes (August 2003, mail correspondence).
The name Hercules is absent in the book Who's Who On the Moon by Elijah E. Cocks and Josiah C. Cocks (Tudor Publishers, 1995), but not because it is a mythological figure: he names Icarus and Daedalus (also mythological figures) are included in the book. Error detected by Danny Caes.
The names Hercules and Cepheus are the only two in the gazetteer of official lunar nomenclature which are also the names of constellations in the celestial northern hemisphere
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The Peoples Park
People's Park is a Historic England Grade II* listed park with various Grade II* structures within it.
"People's Park was presented to the town of Halifax by the manufacturer Sir Frances Crossley who is said to have conceived of the idea while enjoying the 'grand scenery of the White Mountains' in America (Chadwick 1966). Crossley commissioned Paxton (1803-65) to design the park which was laid out on an area of open fields, as shown on the 1848 OS map. The park provided for quiet enjoyment of the scenery and for walking, and all meetings, games and dancing were forbidden. Crossley made an endowment which initially provided enough money for maintenance but gradually reduced in value, so that Halifax Corporation had to take over responsibility. The park is a public park owned by Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council. It is currently (2000) undergoing restoration.
A steep wooded bank runs along the western edge of the park forming a backdrop for a terrace. This bows out at its mid-point in front of the Crossley Pavilion, and stone steps (listed grade II*) lead down to an axial path running eastwards. At each end of the terrace there is a terminus (both listed grade II*) with balustraded walls and stone steps leading down to curving paths. A series of seven (formerly eight) statues is ranged along the terrace, including figures representing Hercules, Venus, Diana, Telemachus and Sophocles by sculptor Francesco Bienaime (all listed grade II*). A number of cast-iron urns (all listed grade II*) in varying states of repair (2000) are positioned along the edge of the terrace."
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This particular statue seems to be a replica of a statue sculpted by Lissipus as can be seen on the Wikepedia page above. However in this case the modesty of Hercules has been preserved with a fig leaf.