Hercules, the most famous mastiff

The English Mastiff, often called simply Mastiff, is a large breed of dog descended from the ancient Alaunt and Molosser.

This breed is powerfully built. With a massive body, broad skull and head of generally square appearance. It is one of the largest dog breeds in terms of mass, though the Irish Wolfhound and Great Dane are taller but not nearly as robust.

The Mastiff breed is a combination of dignity and courage; calm and affectionate to its master, but capable of protection. This particular mastiff-type breed is an extremely capable guard.
One of the famous English mastiff is "Hercules" (a.k.a. "the Beast"), from the film The Sandlot (played by Ch. Mtn. Oaks Gunner)

Twelve Labours of Hercules (Joke)

The Erymanthian boar ...by G.F. Susini

Giovanni Francesco (Gianfrancesco) Susini (Florence c 1585 Florence – after 17 October 1653) was a Mannerist Florentine sculptor in bronze and marble, trained in the workshop of Giambologna.
He continued to work in Giambologna's style, and Susini's sculpture was already mistaken for that of his master by the end of the century. His uncle, Antonio Susini, was the principal bronze-caster of Giambologna, and the young Francesco received early training as a junior member of Giambologna's workshop.
Susini continued to operate the family bronze foundry. According to Baldinucci, Giovanni and Antonio Susini continued to use Giambologna's models after the elder master's death to cast finely finished bronze sculptures for discerning patrons.
You can admire his work Hercules Carrying the Erymanthian Boar, from model by Giambologna.

Gerion, a heavy metal band

Gerión is formed in early 2001 with musicians from other bands
Cryogeny, Sambeth, Betrayal, Double Drive). The band is named in honour a three heads monster that Hercules killed.

By then, the training was provided by:

Fernando Pergolini x (Voice)
Alexis Das Neves x (Guitar)
Ariel Tronconi x (Guitar)
Oscar Pérez Lozano x (Bajo) x (Bass)
Federico Robledo x (Drums)

During the month of May 2001, the band recorded their first demo in the ORION study, comprised 4 items (to fall, not knowing, Impossible, crucified), gaining wide acceptance by people and media.
In early 2002, Gerión changed of guitarist, and joined the project Cicatiello John (Guitarist)replacing Alexis Das Neves. With this change, the band took a new musical ideas.
Enjoy this song!

Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons

Real Name: Hippolyta (also spelled Hippolyte)
Identity/Class: Olympian god
Occupation: Vassal of Pluto, former Monarch
Group Membership: Queen of the Amazons; leader of the Bacchae
Affiliations: Ares, Pluto, Pazuzu formerly sought Hercules as her lover
Enemies: Hercules and the Argonauts, The Champions, Caledonia, Marvel Girl (Valeria Von Doom), Thor
Known Relatives: Artume (daughter), Ares (father), Otrera (mother, possibly deceased), Zeus (grandfather), Antiope, Penthesiliea, Melanippe, Hiera (sisters, deceased), Hippolytus (nephew, deceased)
Aliases: Queen of the Amazons
Base of Operations: Hades, formerly Themiscyra (now part of modern Turkey)
First Appearance: Thor I#127 (April,1966)
Powers/Abilities: Hippolyta possesses greater strength, stamina and resistance to injury than any other Olympian goddess. She has superhuman strength(Class 50) and above average prowess in armed and unarmed combat taught by Ares himself. In addition, she can further enhance her strength by donning the Gauntlets of Ares. These grant her close to Class 100 strength, but they are only effective in combat. They do not grant strength unless used in a fight against another. Her girdle was also a highly sought-after item.
Height: 6' 2
Weight: 200 lbs.

Adventure n.1: (Marvel Treasury#24) - Hippolyta posed as an innocent woman who Hercules saved from being hit by a car. He accompanied her back to her apartment, which was actually one of Mt. Olympus' touchstones on Earth, and she revealed her true identity. Furious over his spurning of her love, she attacked and tried to kill him, her own strength greatly amplified by the Gauntlets of Ares. However, in the course of the battle, they collapsed some immense pillar. Hercules caught the pillar to save Hippolyta, but because of its magical ties to Olympus (or some other such plot device), he could not hurl it away. Hippolyta had merely to stand back and watch Hercules be crushed, but she couldn't do it. She added her strength to his (the Gauntlets' power was no help here) in tossing the pillar aside. Saying they made better friends than enemies, ercules offered her his hand in peace. Disgusted, she slapped it away, asking why she would want his hand when she couldn't have his heart. She told him she had repaid her debt to him for saving her life, but that some day she would have her revenge.

The Labours of Hercules... by Agatha Cristie

The Labours of Hercules is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1947 and in the UK by Collins Crime Club in September of the same year[3]. The US edition retailed at $2.50and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence (8/6).

It features Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and gives an account of twelve cases with which he intends to close his career as a private detective. His regular sidekicks (his secretary, Miss Lemon, and valet, Georges) make cameo appearances, as does Chief Inspector Japp. The stories were all first published in periodicals between 1939 and 1947.

In the Foreword to the volume, Poirot declares that he will carefully choose the cases in order to conform to the mythological sequence of the Twelve Labours of Hercules. In some cases (such as The Nemean Lion) the connection is a highly tenuous one, while in others the choice of case is more or less forced upon Poirot by circumstances. By the end, The Capture of Cerberus has events that correspond with the twelfth labour with almost self-satirical convenience.

Hercules & Dürer

Albrecht Dürer (May 21, 1471 – April 6, 1528)[1] was a German painter, printmaker and theorist from Nuremberg. His still-famous works include the Apocalypse woodcuts, Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514), which has been the subject of extensive analysis and interpretation. His watercolours mark him as one of the first European landscape artists, while his ambitious woodcuts revolutionized the potential of that medium. Dürer's introduction of classical motifs into Northern art, through his knowledge of Italian artists and German humanists, have secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance. This is reinforced by his theoretical treatise which involve principles of mathematics, perspective and ideal proportions.

Dürer painted only two tables with pagan themes. This is one episode in the life of Hercules, and the other is the Death of Lucretia. The Hercules is exposed in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, the birthplace of the painter.

The Dolar Sign: "$"

The most popular explanation is that the dollar sign derives from the Spanish coat of arms engraved on the Spanish colonial silver coins “Real de a Ocho” (”piece of eight”) or Spanish dollar under circulation in the Spanish colonies of America and Asia, as well as in the English Thirteen Colonies and later the U.S. and Canada.

The Spanish coat of arms has two columns (), which represent the Pillars of Hercules and an “S”-shaped ribbon around each, with the motto “Non Plus Ultra” originally, and later “Plus Ultra”.

The Alameda de Hercules

The Alameda de Hércules is a promenaded and the largest public space within the historic center of Seville. It is located between the river Guadalquivir and the Macarena neighborhood.

The neighborhood is now known as a center for alternative, "hippy", and bohemian culture. Many of its venues host independent music performers and its many bars and cafes cater to those identifying with these sectors or who simply enjoy the aesthetic. It is one of the key nightlife centers of Seville, and particularly of the historical center.

Ships "Hercules"

Five ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hercules, or HMS Hercule, after the Greek and Roman hero Hercules. Another was launched, but never served in the Navy:

-HMS Hercules was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1759 and sold in 1784.
-HMS Hercule was a 74-gun third rate captured by HMS Mars in 1798 and broken up in 1810.
-HMS Hercules was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1815. She was used for harbour service from 1853 and was sold in 1865.
-HMS Hercules was an ironclad battleship launched in 1868. She was used for harbour service from 1881, as a barracks from 1905, was renamed HMS Calcutta in 1909, HMS Fisgard II in 1915, and was sold in 1932.
-HMS Hercules was a Colossus-class battleship launched in 1910 and sold for breaking up in 1921.
-HMS Hercules was to have been a Majestic-class light fleet aircraft carrier. She was launched in 1945 but was not completed. She was sold to India in 1957, and commissioned in 1961 as INS Vikrant. She was paid off in 1997 and opened as a museum ship in 2001.

Hercules' song

Hercules is a song by British pop-rock singer and songwriter Elton John from his album, Honky Chateau. It is an uptempo ballad telling about a girl who falls for a tough guy named Hercules. Hercules is also Elton's middle name. It was performed at his 60th Birthday concert in Madison Square Garden.

The Hercules Text

Jack McDevitt’s first novel, published in 1986, The Hercules Text, tells the story of the discovery of the first confirmed extraterrestrial signals. Told from the point of view of Harry Carmichael, the bureaucrat administrator of the Goddard Space Center, the novel focuses in on the reactions a variety of scientists have to the message and their conflict with the United States government over the disposition of the information. McDevitt’s novel is set apart, however, by a strong message concerning the place this new knowledge has in the world.

Hercules & Football

Hércules Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team formed in 1922, playing in 2008-09 in Segunda División. The team is based in the city of Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencia, and holds home games at the Estadio José Rico Pérez, which seats 30,000 spectators.

Hércules was too a professional soccer team that played in San Salvador, El Salvador. Hércules was a powerhouse during the late 1920's and early 1930's, winning titles in 1927, 1928 and in the 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33, 1933-34 seasons. Although the Primera División de Fútbol Profesional in El Salvador didn't exist at that time, and the Salvadoran Sports Comission (Comisión Nacional de Educación Física) didn't conduct an official national tournament during those years, the championships they won are often considered the national titles.

Finally, the USV Hercules is one of the oldest clubs in the Netherlands. In 1882 Hercules is now a healthy and still growing sports with about 2500 members of tennis, football (futsal + field), badminton, cricket and goalbal to practice sports.

The banquet of Hercules in Sant' Omero

In February the "Sodalizio dei cultori di Ercole", an association formed around the most ancient church in Abruzzo, Santa Maria a Vico, Sant'Omero, holds the historical re-enactment of the pagan banquet of Hercules' followers, an event recorded in a Roman stone inside the church.
Sant'Omero is a town and comune in Teramo province in the Abruzzo region of eastern Italy.

Strength athletics

Strength athletics, more generally known as strongman competitions, is a sport which tests competitors' strength in a variety of different ways.

Normally, a strongman contest comprises six events, though at the top level of competition, seven or eight events may be held. Among the most common events are:

-Farmer's Walk - competitors race along a course while carrying a heavy weight in each hand. A variation is the Giant Farmer's Walk, with a much heavier weight carried over a shorter distance.

-Hercules Hold or Pillars of Hercules - contestants stand between two pillars, pivoted to fall outwards. The competitor must simply hold them up for as long as possible.

-Vehicle Pull - probably the most famous of all strongman events. The competitor pulls a vehicle from a stationary start, for a prescribed distance - fastest over the course wins. In smaller competitions the vehicle is usually a truck, however in major contests such as World's Strongest Man anything goes, including trains and aeroplanes.

-Atlas Stones - five stones of increasing weight are placed on top of podia at approximately head height. This used to form the climax of most strongman events but has been seen less in recent years.

-Refrigerator Carry - a staple of earlier WSM events that has made a comeback in recent years. The competitors carry two refrigerators, attached to an iron bar they hold on their shoulders, and walk it across the finish line as fast as they can.

-Carry and Drag - an object (usually a heavy anchor) is run across half of the course. The competitors then must attach it to a chain of almost equal weight and pull it across the rest of the course.

Hercules' Cave

Hercules' Cave is underground domed spaces of Roman times placed in the city of Toledo (Spain), and located at San Ginés's alley.
According to the legend, Hercules built a bewitched palace near Toledo, constructed with jade and marble, and concealed in his interior the misfortunes that were threatening Spain. He put a padlock in the door and ordered that every new king should add one, since the threats would be fulfilled the day in which one of them was curious and was entering. According to the legend, Don Rodrigo was this king, and of the palace only there stays the current cave that would conceal wonderful treasures, among them the famous Table of Solomon.

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is an television series, filmed in New Zealand and United States. It was produced from 1995 to 1999, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Hercules. It ran for six seasons, producing action figures and other memorabilia as it became one of the highest rated syndicated shows in television history.

Hercules in a curious etymology of Badajoz

In 1344 Alfonso X the Wise wrote the "Crónica Geral de Espanha". In this story we were talking about the myth of Hercules and Gedeom to Crunha and Badalhouce.

Badalhouce was known as the former Portuguese-Galician to the city of Badajoz. This chapter of the Chronicle is based in Roman mythology of Hercules. On the tenth of the labour, Hercules should look to the giant Gerión, killing him and stealing his cattle.

The chronicle tells us that Hercules cut the head to Gerión and placed it on top of a tower.
Then he gave the orders to populate that zone, drawing many people. The first person to arrive was a woman named Crunha, why Hercules was ordered to that city called Crunha (La Coruña).
After that, Hercules was at a place that came to be called in order of Hercules, Bailhos Doces (Sweet Dance, and later became Badalhouce).

The story of Hercules and Gerión tries to explain that the name of Badajoz (Bailhos Doces - Badalhouce - Badajoz) could come from a place to perform ritual dances.

The Farnese Hercules

The Farnese Hercules is an ancient sculpture, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD by Glykon of an original of Lysippos or one of his circle, of the fourth century BC., made for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome (dedicated in 216 AD), where it was recovered in 1546.

The heroically-scaled Hercules is one of the most famous sculptures of Antiquity, and has fixed the image of the mythic hero in the European imagination. It quickly made its way into the collection of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III. Alessandro Farnese was well placed to form one of the greatest collections of classical sculpture that has been assembled since Antiquity.

Cancer, an interesting sign of Zodiac

Cancer is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for crab and it is commonly represented as such. Its symbol is ♋. Cancer is small and its stars are faint. It lies between Gemini to the west and Leo to the east, Lynx to the north and Canis Minor and Hydra to the south.

Cancer the crab, plays a minor role in the Twelve Labors of Hercules. While Hercules was busy fighting the multi-headed monster, Hydra, the goddess Hera, who did not like Hercules, sent the Crab to distract him. Cancer grabbed onto the hero's toe with its claws, but barely breaking the rhythm of his great battle with Hydra, Hercules crushed the crab with his foot. Hera, grateful for the little crustacean's heroic but pitiful effort, gave it a place in the sky.