The Shield of Heracles (also known as The Shield of Herakles and, in the original, Aspis Herakleous) is a poem of 480 hexameter lines written by an unknown Greek poet in the style of Hesiod (lived 8th century BCE). It deals with the Greek hero Heracles (also known as Hercules) and his nephew Iolaus and their battle with Cycnus, son of the war-god Ares. It is unclear when the action of the poem takes place in the traditional stories about Heracles. No mention is made of other events in the hero's life other than the divine circumstances surrounding his birth.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/734/the-shield-of-heracles-the-complete-poem/.
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