Talk:Hercules (constellation)
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I don't like the translation of Herakles as "glory of Hera". It is accurate, but confusing in this context, because it's not clear that it is the mere literal meaning of the name. I prefer the old explanation "the hero".
However I don't dare to revert without knowing thirds' opinions. – Torsten Bronger 19:19, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
- I changed it because I was not sure that Hercules meant hero in any sense other than Heracles being a hero. But I could like to change it back, too. — Sverdrup (talk) 20:37, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
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- Don't get me wrong: Although I didn't know so far, Heracles of course means "glory of Hera". But I think that this is very special information. The description of the constellation in this article should use a concise catchphrase for Heracles, and this is "the hero" in my opinion. It is even worth a thought to translate it to English with "Hercules, the hero". (I don't know, but I don't believe that "Cassiopeia" means "queen" for example.)
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- That's reasonable, and approximately what I though when typing "the hero" first. I'll change it back. — Sverdrup (talk) 22:16, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
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Was there any discussion of this move? Hercules (constellation) seems much better to me. john k 22:53, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)
- I agree with you. – Torsten Bronger 10:35, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)
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[edit] Vandalised
This article has been vandalised by 199.216.204.250.
[edit] Hercules
In my science class we had to choose and reserch a constellation, I chooses Hecules god he is so sexy
[edit] Problematic formatting
The following two sections read poorly and appear to have originally been combined differently. In particular, the 2nd paragraph of the 1st section (placed in bold) appears to refer to elements in the 2nd section. However, I'm not correcting it because I don't know which visualization is being referred to: RandomCritic 18:30, 22 May 2006 (UTC) H-E-R-C-U-L-E-S
[edit] Mythology
Hercules (Roman, Herakles in Greek mythology) was the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene. One of the most widely known of the Greek heroes, he is best known for his superhuman strength, strong emotions, quickness to act, and often poorly thought out plans. Many stories are told of his life, the most important of which is the story of The Twelve Labours.
However, such visualisation was much later, as some parts require quite faint stars to be included, including those which have Flamsteed numbers but not Bayer designations. Earlier views of the constellation held it to be various things, predominantly a stag. Together with the constellation Sagitta, and the association of this area of the sky (the Zodiac of Scorpio) with Artemis, this may be the origin of the myth of the Cerynian Hind, one of The Twelve Labours of Herakles.
[edit] Graphic visualization
The stars of the constellation Hercules can be connected in an alternative way, which graphically shows the hero in an athletic pose and holding a club.
The hero's head is traced by a quadrangle of stars: π Her, η Her, ζ Her and ε Her known as the "Keystone" asterism. This quadrangle lies between two very bright stars: Vega in the constellation Lyra and α CrB (Gemma, or Alphecca) in the constellation Corona Borealis.
The hero's right leg contains two bright stars of the third magnitude: α Her (Ras Algethi) and δ Her (Sarin). The latter is the right knee.
The hero's left leg contains dimmer stars of the fourth magnitude which do not have Bayer designations but which do have Flamsteed numbers.
The star β Her belongs to the hero's outstretched right hand, and is also called Kornephoros.
The Globular Cluster M13 lies on the top of the hero's head, between the stars η Her and ζ Her. It is dim, but may be detected by the unaided eye on a very clear night.
