Greece; for while the Greek Herakles appealed to the popular imagination, he appears never to have entered deeply into the religious life of the people. But for the Romans Hercules fulfilled a real religious need, and apparently satisfied true aspirations. In passing from Greece to Rome he seems to have taken on a new seriousness more in keeping with the character of the people that welcomed him. The quest of the Roman Hercules is thus at once a study of both myth and religion wherein lie many unexplained and perhaps inexplicable difficulties.'

But while many difficulties remain, perhaps no myth has so surely been gaining in clearness of form and content in recent years. Among the scholars who have discussed it in whole or in part may be mentioned Heffter,' Hartung, Metzger,* Schwegler, Mommsen, Hillen,' Bréal,

1 Wissowa, Relig. u. Kult., p. 219; cf. Gruppe, Griech. Myth. u. Relig., vol. 1, p. 457.

2 Ueber Mythologie, Neue Jahrb. f. Philologie u. Paedagogik, vol. 2 (1831), pp. 440-445.

8

Ueber den römischen Hercules, als Probe einer Darstellung der römischen Religion nach den Quellen, Program, Erlangen, 1835 Religion der Römer, Erlangen, 2 vol., 1836, vol. 2, pp. 21-31.

5

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4 Pauly, Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Alterthumswissenschaft, vol. 3, Stuttgart, 1844, article Hercules, pp. 1175-1182. Römische Geschichte, vol. 1, Tübingen, 1853, pp. 364-376. 'History of Rome, Eng. trans. by Dickson, New York, 1900, vol. 1, p. 230. Derivation of Hercules, Die unteritalischen Dialekte, Leipzig, 1850, p. 262.

'De Herculis Romani Fabula et Cultu, Monasterium, 1856. 'Hercule et Cacus, Paris, 1863; reprinted in Mélanges de Mythologie et de Linguistique, Paris, 1877, pp. 1-161. The latter is the work cited in the following pages. Cf. the review of Fr. Spiegel, Zeitschrift f. Vergleichende Sprachforschung, vol. 13 (1864), pp. 386-392.

1

3

Preuner, Reifferscheid, Preller, Marquardt, Türk, R. Peter, Fowler,' Dürrbach, and Wissowa."

8

Attempts have been made to find a new meaning in an old myth or to find a new myth with an old meaning, and inasmuch as the literature cited by R. Peter in Roscher's Lexikon" is not complete, I shall review it briefly here. Heffter, wishing to show by example how mythology should be studied, chose the myth of Hercules at Rome. For this purpose he collected a number of references from ancient literature, gave their general content in brief form, and attempted to account for the epithet victor. But the first to make a critical study of the myth was Hartung, who advanced the view that it was purely Italic in origin, that the hero of the myth was not Hercules but an old divinity, Recaranus," somewhat similar to Hercules but in reality

1 Hestia-Vesta, Tübingen, 1864, pp. 382-384.

2 Annali dell' Instituto Archeologico di Roma, vol. 39 (1867), pp. 352-362.

3 Römische Mythologie, 3te Aufl., vol. 2, Berlin, 1883, pp. 278-300.

4 Römische Staatsverwaltung, 2te Aufl., vol. 3, Leipzig, 1885 (Handb. d. Röm. Alter., vol. 6), p. 377 f.

"De Propertii Carm. quae pertinent ad Antiquitatem Romanam Auctoribus, Halle, 1885, pp. 35-42.

6 Roscher's Lexikon d. Griech. u. Röm. Mythologie, vol. 1. 2, Leipzig, 1886-1890, pp. 2253-2297, 2901-3023.

Roman Festivals, London, 1899, pp. 193-197.

8 Daremberg et Saglio, Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, vol. 3. 1, Paris, 1899, pp. 124-128.

9

'Religion u. Kultus d. Römer, München, 1902 (Iwan v. Müller, Handbuch d. klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. 5. 4), pp. 219-231; Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopädie d. cl. Altertumswissenschaft, vol. 3, Stuttgart, 1899, pp. 1165-1169. 10 Vol. 1. 2, pp. 2253-2258.

11 Religion d. Römer, vol. 2, p. 24. Der Name des Recaranus lautet so echtlateinisch, dass wir nicht zu irren fürchten, wenn wir in ihm einen Wiederbringer oder Wiedergewinner erkennen,

only another name or personified attribute of Jupiter.' Jupiter was Dius Fidius, who again was identical with Semo Sancus, and to Semo Sancus the epithet genius was applied by P. Victor in the de Regionibus Urbis, Regio VII. But Hartung did not' openly identify Jupiter with Genius, the tutelary god of each individual male, as R. Peter's critique would suggest.*

66

sei es dass gerere (Garanus) oder creare dessen Stamm war." 1 Ibid. p. 31: So ist Recaranus zwar eine besondere Persönlichkeit neben Jupiter, aber doch so wenig von derselben getrennt, dass er in der That nur eine endliche Erscheinung oder Sichtbarwerdung desselben zu nennen ist." Cf. pp. 26, 44. 2 Ibid. p. 44 ff. 3 Ibid. p. 47. 'Roscher's Lexikon, vol. 1. 2, p. 2256. There is no evidence to show that men called upon Jupiter as their tutelary god, i. e. as Genius in the sense that women called upon Juno (cf. Birt, Roscher's Lexikon, vol. 1. 2, pp. 1613-1625, s. v. Genius). And the authority for the identification of Sancus with Genius is worthless. Urlichs, Codex Urbis Romae Topographicus, p. 37, reads Sacellum Senii Sangi, with the note, genii sangi Parrh; corrupt. e Semonis Sanci vel Sangi. Reifferscheid, arguing from Aul. Gellius 11. 6, 1, attempted to prove from the fact men swore by Hercules and women by Juno that Hercules must be the genius of men. The reasoning is not conclusive. It is true that men did not swear by Juno or women by Hercules but the inference that Hercules was therefore the genius of men is a non sequitur. It is not known that any name was ever given to the tutelary deity of men other than that of genius merely: Hercules is never called the genius. In all the mention of genius singly and in connection with Juno it is significant that Hercules never occurs. Women, it is true, used the word Juno in this sense (cf. Otto, Iuno, Philologus, vol. 64 (1905), p. 179; Ihm. Roscher's Lexikon, vol. 2, pp. 615, 616; Wissowa, Relig. u. Kult., p. 154), but it has not been conclusively shown that even this usage of the word Juno was old. The evidence brought forward thus far rather goes to show that it was a comparatively late idea. The exclamation Mehercle (cf. Festus, Ponor, p. 90, s. v. Mecastor.) certainly is nothing more than the Athenian oath by Herakles,

2

3

Of Hartung's theory Heffter' remarked: "The demonstration of the identity of Recaranus, Hercules, and Jupiter seems too ingenious still, and the whole stands in need of a new treatment." Metzger accepted Hartung's conclusions without question or modification. Schwegler, also, maintained that the myth was not originally a foreign one which was transferred bodily, but that it was Italic in its

Ηράκλεις. Back of it lay the notion of Ἡρακλῆς ἀλεξίκακος, καλλίνικος. This is clearly seen from the incantation written on a doorpost: ὁ τοῦ Δὸις παῖς καλλίνικος Ἡρακλῆς ἐνθάδε κατοικεῖ· μηδὲν εἰσίτω κακόν. This is one of the earliest attributes of Herakles and one which continues till the latest times; cf. C. I. L. IV, 733; Buecheler, Rhein. Mus., vol. 12 (1857), p. 248; Heim, Incantamenta Magica, Jahrb. f. class. Phil., Sup. vol. 19 (1893), p. 509; Hellan. F. H. G., vol. 1, pp. 64, 138; Bull. Corr. Hell., vol. 15 (1891), p. 671. But Reifferscheid, quoting from memory apparently, does not interpret Gellius rightly. Gellius says nothing about Juno. What he says is that Roman women did not swear by Hercules nor men by Castor, the oath of women. Why men did not swear by Castor he cannot say: Edepol is good swearing for both men and women. According to Nicholson (The Use of Hercle, Edepol, Ecastor by Plautus and Terence, Harvard Studies, vol. 4, 1893, pp. 99-104) Me (hercle) is used altogether by men in Plautus and Terence; Me(castor) is used only by women; Edepol is used by both men and women. In Plautus men swear by Hercules 638 times, by Pollux 498 times; in Terence by Hercules 98, by Pollux 21 times. Women swear by Pollux 108 times in Plautus, by Castor 118 times; in Terence by Pollux 56 times, by Castor 7 times. This means that Pollux is almost as favorite an oath as Hercules, and no great argument regarding Hercules as genius can therefore be drawn from men's speech.

1 Neue Jahrb. f. Phil. u. Paed., vol. 30 (1840), p. 283.

2 Cf. Kuhn, zur Mythologie, Zeitschrift f. deutsch. Altert., vol. 6 (1848), p. 128.

3

Pauly, Real-Encyclopädie, vol. 3, p. 1178.

elements, that the name and conception of the Greek Herakles were superimposed upon a native Italic worship. This native Italic worship was the cult of the Sabine Semo Sancus. In attempting to prove the complete identity of Hercules with Semo Sancus, Schwegler thus elaborated the suggestion first made by Hartung. The superimposition was effected thus: Sancus was the chief divinity of Sabine belief, the god of heaven, of might and right, in conflict with the powers of darkness. The Sabine Sancus, furthermore, was the god of truth and oaths, the Latin Dius Fidius, who was invoked in asseverations as Hercules was. And just as offerings of victory and gain were made to Sancus, so they were made to Hercules. Hercules was Sancus, therefore, and his worship was the Sabine worship of the heavens.* Following the suggestion of Kuhn,

1 Röm. Geschichte, vol. 1, p. 364.

2Cf. Jordan, Statua Vaticana di Semone Sanco, Annali d. Inst., vol. 57 (1885), pp. 105-126; Festus, s. v. propter viam, Ponor, p. 284 M., p. 229; Varro, L. L. 5. 66; Propert., 4. 9, 74; Ovid, F. 6. 213; Pseudo-Servius, in Aen., 12. 538.

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3 Cf. Pseudo-Servius, in Aen., 8. 301; Varro, L. L. 5. 66; Nonn. Marc., p. 494; Dionys., 9. 60; Livy, 8. 20; Festus, Ponor, p. 131 Keil; Gram. Lat., Sup., Hagen, p. 213; Dionys., 2. 49 Cato; Peter, Hist. Rom. Frag., p. 50; C. I. L. VI, 567 ff.; Preller, Röm. Myth., 3te Aufl., vol. 2, p. 273; Fowler, Rom. Fest., p. 137; Wissowa, s. v. Dius Fidius, Roscher's Lexikon, vol. 1. 1, pp. 1189, 1190.

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Preuner followed this view (Hestia-Vesta, p. 384). The argument for the identity of Hercules with Semo Sancus is completely overthrown by the finding of an inscribed statue of the god which proves his affinity not to Hercules but to the archaic type of Apollo as the god of oaths and covenants (cf. Visconti, Studi e Documenti di Storia e Diritto II, 1881, p. 105 ff.; Annali d. Inst., 1885, Tav. A. cf. Wissowa, Neue Jahrb. f. d. klass. Alter., 1, 1898, p. 168; Relig. u. Kult., p. 121).

"Zeitschrift f. deutsch. Altert., vol. 6 (1848), p. 128.