The same night Zeus slept with Alcmene, Amphitryon came home early and also slept with her. Zeus had approached Alcmene in the form of her husband, who was away at war at the time. Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, the wife of the hero Amphitryon. Alcmene’s husband, the hero Amphitryon, was from an important family, too, also tracing his lineage to Perseus through his father, Alcaeus. Alcmene was the daughter of Electryon, the king of Mycenae and a son of the hero Perseus. Heracles was the son of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Usually, he can also be identified by his weapons: his club, his bow, and the skin of the Nemean Lion (which he wore as armor). Said in Greek myth to have been the strongest man who ever lived, Heracles was always depicted as large and muscular. He was known as Hercules in Roman literature. PronunciationĪccording to some traditions, Heracles was originally named Alcaeus in honor of his grandfather and was only renamed Heracles later in an attempt to placate a furious Hera. Note that closing hours alter substantially through the winter period according to sunset times.The name Heracles is derived from the name of the goddess Hera and the Greek word kleos (meaning “glory”)-it can be translated as “Hera’s glory.” His name is thus an homage to the goddess who was his lifelong enemy. Resurrected in 1996, the two-day Modern Nemean Games (occur each Olympic year in June.īuses to/from Corinth Isthmus (around €5, one hour, four to five daily, one Sunday) stop on request outside the site on the way to modern Nemea, about 4km northwest of the site. Look out for ancient graffiti in the tunnel. The athletes’ starting line is still in place, together with the distance markers. Alternatively, enter it the way the athletes would have done, through the atmospheric and archaeologically important tunnel hidden behind the columns by the site entrance. There's a fantastic view of it in all its glory from the path that skirts it through the pine trees. The athletes probably oiled up here before competition. Other ruins include a hostelry and, under a roof, a bathhouse, which has some beautifully preserved washbasins. Don’t miss the video that explains the extraordinarily advanced race-starting mechanism or the sad story of the last Christian inhabitant of the settlement.Īt the temple site, the three original columns of the 4th-century-BC Temple of Zeus have been joined by six more, reassembled by an American team. The jewel of the collection, quite literally, is the Gold of Aidonia, an exquisite assortment of gold rings, seals and beads from the site of Aidonia, near Nemea. It has two models of the ancient site – the first shows what it would have looked like at the site's zenith around 300 BC, the second in AD 500, when a Christian basilica and community had developed around the ruined temple – as well as ancient paraphernalia from the Games and treasures from the area's Mycenaean tombs. It's worth visiting the site’s museum before seeing the remains of the temple. After Hercules had killed the lion by lifting it off the ground and choking it to death, the lion became the constellation Leo (each of Hercules' 12 labours is related to a sign of the zodiac). It was also around here that Hercules carried out the first of his labours – the slaying of the lion that had been sent by Hera to destroy Nemea. The Nemean Games, held in the stadium here, were hosted by the nearby city of Kleonai and became one of the great Panhellenic festivals. Like Ancient Olympia, Nemea was not a city but a sanctuary of Zeus. It's located 31km southwest of Corinth and 4km northeast of modern Nemea. The atmospheric stadium is nearby once connected to the sanctuary by a sacred road, it plays host to a resurrected version of the Games. Three original columns of the imposing 4th-century-BC Doric Temple of Zeus survive, and the on-site museum displays rich finds from the area. Ancient Nemea was once the venue for the biennial Nemean Games, held in honour of Zeus.
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