Prayers and rites to Hercle

 

Etruscan Hercle hymn

O Hercle, son of Tinia’s thunderous might and mortal womb, whose sinews bind earth to empyrean! Lo, the celestial spheres sing of thy labors, and the fourfold winds carve thy name upon the pillars of the world. Thou, who tread the shadowed paths of Aita’s realm and scaled the sunlit peaks where Tinia’s eagles roost, bearer of the Nemian pelt, whose grip unseats chaos—hail! In thy wake, the Hydra’s venom flees, the Stag of Artumes kneels, and the Boar of Erymanthus is tamed. The Lasa whisper of thy cunning, how thou didst outwit the Cacus of Velch, he whose breath was flame and theft. Thy club, hewn from the oak of sacred groves, sunders both beast and destiny, while thy quiver, filled with astral arrows, pierces the veil of mortal plight. O traveler of Tyrrhenia’s dusky shores, thy sandals, dusted with the ash of Volsinii’s altars, tread the borderlands where man and god converge. The Hinthial of heroes crowns thee, and the Culsu of twilight parts at thy approach. Thou art the bridge between Catha’s dawn and Usil’s descent, the unyielding knot in Mantus’s net.

The Haruspices divine thy will in lightning’s arc, and the Fulgurator marks thy favor in storm’s reply. Thy trials, writ in stars and sacrifice, guide the Rasna through tempest and triumph. For thou art both shepherd and sword, the furrower of fields and the sower of strife.

To thee, O Hercle, we pour the wine of devotion, lay pomegranates ripe with life’s blood, and burn myrrh to cloak thy celestial ascent. Guard our holy places, that no malefic hand may breach the sacred bounds. Let thy strength course through our veins as the Tiber through stone, and in our hour of peril, remind us: even the heavens bowed to thy resolve.

Hail, Hercle! Thy deeds grace the sacred scrolls, and the Gods themselves pause to honor thy name—unbroken, undimmed, unconquered.

 

Hercle hymn

O Hercle, whose thews are as the adamantine cords of cosmic order, whose exhalations stir the celestial bellows of the starry forge! Illustrious scion of Tinia, thou who in infancy didst seize thy sire’s fulminous bolts and fashion them into a radiant carcanet for Eternity’s throat! To thee, who hast traversed the ossuary depths of Gaia and scaled the ribbed vault of Olympus’ dome, we proffer libations of untamed honey mingled with hallowed ash—offering bittersweet as thy storied pilgrimage, where agony and triumph entwine like serpents.

Though mortal in thy nascence, thou art immortal in thy exploits, bridging with Herculean stride the gulf ’twixt frail clay and empyreal splendor. The Hydra’s baleful venom yet smolders in thy hallowed scars, eternal witness to thy covenant with suffering’s sacred fire. By Lake Trasumene’s tranquil verge, where the yielding reeds incline in homage to thy tread, thou didst school the tempestuous waves to hush their clamorous discord beneath thy sovereign gaze. And lo! The accursed Cacus of Veii, that infernal pilferer of flame, doth still howl in Tartarean gloom, his knotted sinews unraveled by thy avenging grasp. What brutish terror, what despotic yoke, what maze of desolation dare not quail before thy resplendent wrath?

Even the august pantheon did court thy favor: Menrva, she of the tempest-hued iris, bestowed upon thee the quiver of Fate’s unerring darts; Fufluns, mirthful and ever-vinous, proffered the chalice that transmutes lament to lyric. Yet thou, demigod and paradox, didst spurn the ambrosial courts to wander amidst the humble abodes of mortals—their soot-darkened shrines, their tremulous invocations. Thy cudgel, hewn from the sanctified heartwood of Tuscania’s primordial grove, stands ever-vigilant: a sentinel at the crossroads of destiny, a vigilant guardian o’er the birth-chamber’s sacred threshold, and the merchant’s creaking wain laden with earthly hopes.

In the hallowed precincts of the Augur’s art, thy legend is divined in the hieroglyphs of avian flight: twelve labors, twelve portents, twelve beacons kindled in Stygian night. Thou art Taurus who bears Luna’s argent orb upon his gilded horns, the Cervine who outpaces his own umbral twin. Etruria’s fertile loam, imbued with the ferrous essence of thy divine perspiration, doth yield the vine that bears thy name—a libation to thy metamorphosis. O hero transcended, who hast sloughed mortality’s chrysalis as the serpent doth its outworn skin, ascend once more—as from Oeta’s fragrant pyre thou rose, a coruscation of astral cinders—and deign to bless those intrepid souls who dare to persevere.

We, mortals of fragile clay and ephemeral breath, uplift our supplicant palms to thee. Let thy fortitude be the ambrosia for which we thirst, thy steadfastness the aegis we implore. For in thy chronicle, inscribed in sanguine script and celestial thunderclap, we discern the illuminated pathway toward our own transcendence—a testament that even the dust-born may aspire to touch the firmament.

Etruscan liturgy to Hercle

Hark now, assembled votaries, attend with due reverence and minds purified, as we approach the numinous threshold of the potent divinity, Hercle, Master of Might, Guardian of Portals. Let the precinct be hallowed, swept clean of all mundane soilure and profane influence. Let the lustral waters be asperged, that we may stand unsullied before the Aetherial Presence.

Let the netśvis, garbed in vestments of prescribed hue, ascertain that the heavens lend favourable augury, that the flight of feathered messengers portends no ill, and that the sacred smoke doth ascend vertically, signifying acceptance. For it is by adherence to the ancient libri, the sacred scrolls bequeathed unto us, that we maintain the concord betwixt the terrestrial sphere and the celestial mandate.

(The Chief Priest steps forward, facing the altar upon which appropriate offerings are arranged – perhaps depictions of strength, miniature clubs, or vessels of wine.)

The Invocation

O Hercle, Thou Resplendent Son, conceived in might, nurtured unto unparalleled vigour, Attend! We invoke Thee, Hercle, whose sinews were granted the vigour of celestial forge; Thou whom the Greeks name Heracles, yet whom Our Etruscan forebears acknowledged with distinct reverence upon these consecrated lands. Thou Art the Traveller betwixt realms, the Subduer of monstrous forms, the steadfast Bulwark against encroaching chaos.

We call upon Thee by Thy manifold aspects: Thou Art the Strength that shatters the adamant stone; Thou Art the Endurance that outlasts the longest night; Thou Art the Courage that confronts the slavering beast in its noisome lair; Thou Art the Protector of the Terminus, the sacred boundary stones that delineate our fields and homes, preserving them inviolate from transgression; Thou Art the Guardian of flocks, warding off the predator, both seen and unseen; Thou Art the Patron of the Gymnasium, where mortal frames strive to emulate Thy divine thews; Thou Art the Wayfarer's Hope, granting safe passage upon perilous roads and through shadowed valleys; Thou Art invoked where the Earth gives way to the Underworld's embrace, a guide perchance, or a formidable sentinel.

With Thee stand attendant virtues, personified potencies drawn from Thy very essence: behold stalwart Fortitude, her gaze unwavering; observe tireless Industry, his hands ever-occupied; mark vigilant Watchfulness, her senses perpetually alert against peril. They are emanations of Thy sovereign power, facets of Thy complex divinity.

Thou hast traversed the twelve great labours, each a testament writ large across the face of the world: The crushing of the Nemean terror, whose hide became Thy mantle; The destruction of the Lernaean Hydra, its proliferating heads seared by Thy consuming fire and ingenuity; The capture of the Ceryneian Hind, swift as thought, sacred to the Huntress Uni; The ensnaring of the Erymanthian Boar, a brute force subdued by greater force directed by will; The cleansing of Augeas's stables, a task of immense squalor overcome by the redirection of nature's own currents; The dispersal of the Stymphalian Birds, metallic plagues driven off by Thy clamour and unerring aim; The mastering of the Cretan Bull, rampant symbol of untamed nature brought to heel; The acquisition of the Mares of Diomedes, eaters of flesh, turned against their cruel master; The retrieval of the Girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of Amazons, an errand fraught with martial strife and misunderstanding; The herding of the Cattle of Geryon, monstrous guardian defeated in the uttermost West; The procurement of the Apples of the Hesperides, guarded by serpent and nymphs in a garden beyond mortal ken; And the final, most daunting trial: the harrowing of the Underworld, the confrontation with Mantus and Mania, and the binding of Cerberus, the tripartite guardian of the tenebrous gate.

These are but the known chapters of Thy saga, O Hercle; innumerable are the lesser contests, the protections afforded, the blessings bestowed upon those who honour Thee with fitting piety.

The Prayer of Offering

Behold, O Hercle, Unconquerable Might, these offerings we present according unto sacred tradition. Not with boastful pride, but with sincere hearts seeking Thy favour. Accept this unblemished vessel of potent wine, symbol of vigour and the life-force Thou dost embody and protect. Accept these images of Thy club, emblem of Thy power to overcome adversity. Accept the fragrant incense, may its smoke rise as a pleasing savour unto Thy celestial dwelling place. (If a sacrifice is performed, it would be detailed here: e.g., Regard the chosen beast, strong-limbed and without defect, consecrated unto Thee. May its life-essence nourish the bond between mortals and Thy divinity. May the haruspex discern favourable signs within its vital organs, confirming Thy benevolent disposition.) Let the libation be poured forth, sinking into the earth, a tribute shared between the living and the divine essence pervading all.

The Petition

We beseech Thee, therefore, Potent One, Hercle, Pillar of Security: Grant strength unto our arms in labour and in defence; Instill endurance in our hearts when faced with trials manifold; Bestow Thy unwavering courage upon our leaders and our people; Preserve the termini of our lands inviolate, confound those who would move them or trespass with ill intent; Guard our homes from blight, from pestilence, and from the malice of unseen forces; Watch over our merchants upon their journeys, that they may travel safely and return prosperous; Lend vigour to our youths, that they may grow strong in body and resolute in spirit; Grant safe passage unto the souls of our departed, that they may navigate the shadowed path without fear, under Thy potential guidance. Be Thou our shield against adversity, our champion against the darkness, our steadfast guardian in all things.

Conclusion

Thus the invocation is accomplished, the praises sung, the offerings tendered, the petitions humbly laid before Thee, O Hercle. Depart not utterly from this place, but let a portion of Thy protective aura linger. May the signs observed be propitious, confirming Thy benevolent regard. Let the haruspices pronounce the final interpretations, that we may depart hence fortified in spirit and assured of Thy continued vigilance. Go now, votaries, in purity and peace, carrying the blessing of Hercle within your hearts until we assemble once more beneath the gaze of the eternal gods.