Not to be confused with Ercole "Eckley" DiMeo, the unseen founder of the New Jersey crime family or Ercole "Eckley" Soprano, son of Corrado Soprano, Sr.
Ercole Soprano is a minor, unseen character mentioned in The Sopranos. He was the father to Corrado Soprano Sr., the grandfather of Junior Soprano and Johnny Boy Soprano, and the great-grandfather of Tony Soprano, Janice Soprano and Barbara Soprano.
Ercole is the earliest named member of the Soprano family, but nearly nothing is known about Ercole except that he was the namesake of Junior and Johnny's middle brother Eckley. It's possible that he was a vintner, as Tony mentions during Ray Curto's birthday that his paternal family had some winemakers.
The only other older relative, who remains unnamed, is the great great granduncle of Tony Soprano (or rather his father's great granduncle), who infamously passed out while driving a donkey cart, crashing a full load of olive oil. This man, should his existence not be apocryphal, would have been an uncle to Ercole.