Hercules Statue
In his famous work Ilayada, Hemeros tells that the coasts of Zonguldak, which includes Ereğli, were also home to volunteer Anatolian soldiers who participated in the famous Trojan wars (1200 BC). One of the most striking stories of Greek mythology, the story of Hercules (Heracles) catching the three-headed monster dog Kerberos waiting for the gate of Hell takes place in Ereğli. According to Greek mythology, Hellağzı is in Ereğli. The discovery of burning stones or coal in Ereğli in 1829, thousands of years after this mythological explanation, is interesting in terms of its connotation of hell. Ereğli was named after Hercules. Kerberos, who confronted Heracles when he descended into the land of the dead, is the guardian of the land of the dead. It prevents the living from coming in, and it does not allow the dead souls to come out. When Hercules brought Kerberos to the surface, it is said that the poisonous plant Aconite (poppy) began to grow in the places where his saliva fell on the ground. Some call this herb as Kaplanboğan. However, the Olympian gods Athena and Hermeias gave Heracles the invisibility mask they stole from Hades, allowing him to enter the land of the dead without being seen. (It is said that as a result of illegal excavations in the Acheron valley, a marble mask sitting on a human face was found. It is said that this mask was found in the house of an elderly citizen in Karadeniz Ereğli until the 1980s.)
