Krishna was Hercules
Archaeologically and historically, the historical Kṛṣṇa appears to have been a hero named Vāsudeva, associated with the Vṛṣṇi clan and ruler of the Mathurā region. The devotees who worshipped him were the so-called Bhāgavatas, who represent an early and ancestral form of what would later become Vaiṣṇavism.
Initially deified as a hero, Vāsudeva was later associated with the figure of Nārāyaṇa-Viṣṇu, as these Vedic traditions merged in the epic and Puranic periods. The mythological figure of Kṛṣṇa we know today results from the fusion of this historical hero and the cosmic god.
This Vāsudeva-Kṛṣṇa is a war hero, a virile and warlike symbol. Even in the Mahabharata, this still resonates strongly: Kṛṣṇa is a kṣatriya (the noble and warrior caste), a political and military hero; when he descends as an avatar (divine incarnation), his primary mission is to uphold the rājadharma, the dharma of the warrior nobility. So much so that he is the king and military leader of the Yādavas.
The gentler, more loving, and devotional image of Kṛṣṇa emerges strongly only later, in the Purāṇa narratives, especially in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, where he appears as the lover of the gopīs and the god of bhakti.
Interestingly, Megasthenes, a Greek emissary who visited India, mentions an Indian Hercules, whom many scholars identify as Kṛṣṇa.
Interestingly, there are also theories that point to Hercules as a composite mythical figure, emerging from the fusion of real war leaders in Greek oral tradition, which draws parallels with the case of Krishna. Some ancient images of Vasudeva also recall certain visual traits of representations of Hercules in the Hellenistic world.
Initially deified as a hero, Vāsudeva was later associated with the figure of Nārāyaṇa-Viṣṇu, as these Vedic traditions merged in the epic and Puranic periods. The mythological figure of Kṛṣṇa we know today results from the fusion of this historical hero and the cosmic god.
This Vāsudeva-Kṛṣṇa is a war hero, a virile and warlike symbol. Even in the Mahabharata, this still resonates strongly: Kṛṣṇa is a kṣatriya (the noble and warrior caste), a political and military hero; when he descends as an avatar (divine incarnation), his primary mission is to uphold the rājadharma, the dharma of the warrior nobility. So much so that he is the king and military leader of the Yādavas.
The gentler, more loving, and devotional image of Kṛṣṇa emerges strongly only later, in the Purāṇa narratives, especially in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, where he appears as the lover of the gopīs and the god of bhakti.
Interestingly, Megasthenes, a Greek emissary who visited India, mentions an Indian Hercules, whom many scholars identify as Kṛṣṇa.
Interestingly, there are also theories that point to Hercules as a composite mythical figure, emerging from the fusion of real war leaders in Greek oral tradition, which draws parallels with the case of Krishna. Some ancient images of Vasudeva also recall certain visual traits of representations of Hercules in the Hellenistic world.