HERACLEO. — Founder of the Italian school of the Valentinians (c. 120–80). Fragments of his commentary on the Gospel of St. John are preserved in the commentary of Origen, and two fragments are found in Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, IV, 7; and Eclogae propheticae, 25, 1. His doctrine was similar to that of Ptolemy (Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, I, 1–9) and he sought to mitigate the heretical elements of Valentinian doctrine in the Eastern school (Excerpta ex Theodoto).
In his exegesis of the Gospel of St. John, he shows familiarity with ancient Christian literature (frg. 21; Kerygma Petri; frg. 12; Testimonia; cf. Tertullian, Adversus haereses, 14; frg. 38; chiliastic traditions) and with Platonic and Stoic philosophy. The center of his doctrine is the Valentinian myth of the fallen spirit, which through Christ regains consciousness of its transcendent origin. Heracleo sought to find this myth in the allegorical exegesis of the Gospel (the Samaritan image of Sophia, the centurion of the Demiurge). Epiphanius (Panarion, 36, 2) attributes to Heracleo the rite of the Gnostic Marcus concerning the ascent of souls after death (anointing with water and oil), which Irenaeus (Adversus haereses, I, 21, 5) attributes to an anonymous group. The reason for this cannot be determined. Epiphanius’ account of Heracleo does not inspire confidence.