The Twelve Labours of Hercules
The Twelve Labours of Hercules
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The Twelve Labours of Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek demigod Heracles, who was the son of Zeus (Roman equivalent Jupiter) and the woman Alcmene. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.The Romans adapted the Greek hero's iconography and myths for their literature and art under the name Hercules.
The ‘Twelve Labours of Hercules’
- Slay the Nemean Lion.
- Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra.
- Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis.
- Capture the Erymanthian Boar.
- Clean the Augean stables in a single day.
- Slay the Stymphalian Birds.
- Capture the Cretan Bull.
- Steal the Mares of Diomedes.
- Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
- Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon (on the Aventine Hill- Rome).
- Steal the apples of the Hesperides.
- Capture and bring back Cerberus
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek demigod Heracles, who was the son of Zeus (Roman equivalent Jupiter) and the woman Alcmene. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.The Romans adapted the Greek hero's iconography and myths for their literature and art under the name Hercules.
The ‘Twelve Labours of Hercules’
- Slay the Nemean Lion.
- Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra.
- Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis.
- Capture the Erymanthian Boar.
- Clean the Augean stables in a single day.
- Slay the Stymphalian Birds.
- Capture the Cretan Bull.
- Steal the Mares of Diomedes.
- Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
- Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon (on the Aventine Hill- Rome).
- Steal the apples of the Hesperides.
- Capture and bring back Cerberus
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The Twelve Labours of Hercules
Story taken from the following book:
Author: Geraldine McCaughrean
Book Title: Greek Myths
Place of Publication: Toronto
Publishing Co.: Maxwell Macmillan Canada
Year of Publication: 1992
Page: 51
The Twelve Labors of Heracles
There was once a baby born who was so remarkable that the gods themselves stared down at his cradle. He was called Heracles, and when huge snakes slithered into his crib to strangle him, he knotted and braided them as if they were pieces of string, and threw them out again. For Heracles was strong — fantastically strong — stronger than you and I and a hundred others put together.
Fortunately, he was also gentle and kind, so that his friends had nothing to fear from him. His schoolteacher made him promise never to touch alcoholic drink, though.
"If you were ever to get drunk, Heracles," the schoolmaster said, "who knows what terrible thing you might do with that great strength of yours!"
Heracles promised, and he truly meant to keep his promise, but then his friends all drank at parties, and his family always had wine with their meals. It seemed foolish for Heracles to ask for fruit juice or water. So he was tempted to take just one glass of wine, and after that another and another and another. Soon he was roaring drunk, throwing punches in all directions. When the wine's work was done, Heracles' own family lay dead on the floor, and Heracles was an outcast hated by everyone and most of all by himself.
For his crime, he was condemned to serve King Eurystheus as a slave for seven years. Eurystheus was a mean, spiteful man, whose kingdom was overrun by a great many problems, and he decided to set Heracles the twelve most dangerous tasks he could think of — tasks that were to become known as the Twelve Labors of Heracles.
A giant lion that could not be injured by any man-made weapons was terrorizing his kingdom, eating men, women, and children.
"Go and kill the Nemean lion, slave," he told Heracles.
Heracles was so miserable that he did not much care whether he lived or died. He found the lion's den and strode in, with no weapon but his bare hands. When the beast sprang at him, Heracles took it by the throat and shook it like a rug, then wrung it out like washing. When it was dead, he skinned it and wore the lion skin for a tunic, knotting the paws around his waist and shoulders.
If King Eurystheus was grateful, he did not show it, but simply set Heracles his second labor.
"If you can kill lions," he said, "you may as well try to kill the Hydra."
The Hydra was a water serpent that lived in the middle of a swamp. When it was born, it had nine heads. But each time one was cut off, two new heads grew to replace it. By the time Heracles came face to face with the Hydra, it had fifty heads, all gnashing their horrible teeth.
Heracles was quick with his sword and nimble on his feet. But though he slashed through many snaking necks without being bitten, the struggle only became more difficult. The heads just multiplied! So Heracles ran off a short way and lit a fire. Then he heated his wooden club red hot and, with his sword in one hand and his club in the other, he reentered the fight.
This time, as he cut through each neck, he singed the ragged end with his red-hot club, and the head did not regrow. At last the Hydra looked like nothing more than a knobbly tree stump.
There was no time to rest after fighting the Hydra. King Eurystheus sent Heracles to
capture a stag with golden antlers, then to kill a huge wild boar. Heracles' fifth labor was a particularly unpleasant one: to clean the Augean stables.
Lord Augeas kept one thousand animals penned up in sties and stables stretching the length of a foul valley. He was too lazy to clean out his animals and too cheap to hire farmhands. So the wretched beasts stood up to their bellies in manure. People for miles around complained about the smell.
Heracles stood on a hilltop, looking down on the valley. He saw a river bubbling close by,
and it gave him an idea. Moving boulders as easily as if they were feather pillows, he built a dam, so that the river flowed out of its course and down the valley instead. Startled horses and cows and goats and sheep staggered in a torrent of rushing water, but the dung beneath them was scoured away by the river. Heracles only had to demolish the dam with one blow of his club, and the river flowed back to its old riverbed. The animals stood shivering and shaking themselves dry , in a green, clean valley.
King Eurystheus was ready and waiting with his next three commands. Heracles was to destroy a flock of bloodthirsty man-eating birds, tame the mad bull of Crete, and capture the famous wild horses that could run faster than the wind and liked to eat human flesh. By now the king had begun to feel very nervous about his slave. He began to hide whenever Heracles came back from doing his work.
"The mad bull is tamed, master. The man-eating birds are dead, and your wild horses are outside in the yard," said Heracles, when he returned soon after. "What must I do next?"
But Eurystheus was running out of problems, and his mind turned to thoughts of getting rich with the help of Heracles.
"Get me the jeweled belt worn by the queen of the Amazons!" said the king, from inside his urn.
Here was one task for which Heracles did not mean to use his great strength. He simply went to the queen of those savage female warriors and explained why he was there. She took an instant liking to him and gave him the belt straight away. Unfortunately, word spread through the camp that Heracles had come to kill the queen, and he had to fight a thousand angry women, fierce as wasps, before he could escape with the jeweled belt.
And so it continued. No sooner did Heracles finish one task, than he was set another one. To fetch King Eurystheus the legendary giant oxen, Heracles made a bridge over the sea by bending two mountain peaks out across the water. To fetch Pluto's three-headed dog, Cerberus, he traveled down to the fearful Underworld.
Finally, Eurystheus asked Heracles to bring him the apples of the Hesperides. This magical fruit grew on a tree in a garden at the end of the world, and around that tree coiled a dragon that never slept. Even Heracles, with all his courage and strength, trembled at the thought of fighting the dragon. Better by far that a friend should ask it for the fruit and be allowed to take it. So Heracles went to see a giant named Atlas.
Now Atlas was no ordinary giant, as big as a house. Atlas was the biggest man in the world, and towered above houses, trees, cliffs, and hills. He was so tall that the gods had given him the task of holding up the sky and keeping the stars from falling. The sun scorched his neck and the new moon shaved his beard, and for thousands of years he had stood in one spot.
"How can I go to the end of the world?" said Atlas, when Heracles asked him for the favor. "How can I go anywhere?"
"I could hold the sky for you while you were gone," suggested Heracles.
"Could you? Would you? Then I'll do it!" said Atlas.
So Heracles took the sky on his back, though it was the heaviest burden he had ever
carried. Atlas stretched himself, then strode away toward the end of the world. The gardeners were members of his family.
Fetching the apples was no hardship. But as the giant hurried back across the world, carrying the precious fruit, he thought how wonderful it felt to be free! As he got closer to home, the thought of carrying that weight of sky again seemed less and less attractive. His steps slowed.
When at last he reached Heracles — poor, exhausted, bone-bent Heracles — Atlas exclaimed, "I've decided! I'm going to let you go on holding up the sky, and I'll deliver these apples to King Eurystheus."
There was a silence. Then Heracles grunted, "Fine. Thank you. It's a great honor to be allowed to hold up heaven, But if you could just help me get a pad across my shoulders before you go.... These stars do prickle...."
So Atlas took charge of the sky again — just while Heracles made a pad for his shoulders.
He even gave Heracles the apples to hold, because he needed both hands.
"Well, I'll be on my way now," said Heracles, juggling with the apples as he scurried away.
"Most grateful for your help. Perhaps next time, you'll get the better of me."
Finally, after seven years, Heracles was free of his labours. But he was never free from his sorrow at taking that first glass of wine — not until the day he died. But the gods did not forget him. They cut him out in stars and hung him in the sky so people would remember his labors for all time, among the singing planets.
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The Twelve Labours of Hercules
The Twelve Labors of Hercules. King Eurystheus gave Hercules a series of 12 difficult and dangerous tasks. Known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules, these were his most famous feats. The hero's first task was to kill the Nemean Lion, a monstrous beast that terrorized the countryside and could not be killed by any weapon. Hercules strangled the beast with his bare hands and made its skin into a cloak that made him invulnerable.
For his second labor, the hero had to kill the Lernaean Hydra, a creature with nine heads that lived in a swamp. One of the beast's heads was immortal, and the others grew back when cut off. With the help of his friend Iolaus, Hercules cut off the Hydra's eight heads and burned each wound, which prevented new heads from growing back. Because he could not cut off the ninth head, he buried the creature under a great rock.
The next task was to capture the Cerynean Hind, a golden-horned deer that was sacred to the goddess Artemis*. After hunting the animal for a year, Hercules finally managed to capture it. As he was taking it to Tiryns, Artemis stopped him and demanded that he return the deer. The hero promised that the sacred animal would not be harmed, and she allowed him to continue on his journey.
The fourth labor of Hercules was to seize the Erymanthian Boar, a monstrous animal that ravaged the lands around Mount Eryman-thus. After forcing the animal from its lair, Hercules chased it until it became so exhausted that he could catch it easily.
The hero's fifth task was to clean the Augean Stables in one day. King Augeas, the son of the sun god Helios, had great herds of cattle whose stables had not been cleaned for many years. Hercules accomplished the task by diverting rivers through the filthy stables.
The sixth task involved driving away the Stymphalian Birds, a flock of birds with claws, beaks, and wings of iron that ate humans and that were terrorizing the countryside. Helped by the goddess Athena*, Hercules forced the birds from their nests and shot them with his bow and arrow.
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The Twelve Labours of Hercules
The Labors of Hercules
Retold by R.Warner
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Hercules suffered much during his life, but after his death he became a god. His mother was Alcmena, his father was Jupiter, and he was the strongest of all the heroes who lived in his time.
All through his life he was pursued by the hatred and jealousy of Juno, who tried to destroy him even in his cradle. She sent two great snakes to attack the sleeping baby, but Hercules awoke, grasped their necks in his hands, and strangled them both.
Before he was eighteen, he had done many famous deeds in the country of Thebes, and Creon, the king, gave him his daughter in marriage. But he could not long escape the anger of Juno, who afflicted him with a sudden madness, so that he did not know what he was doing, and in a fit of frenzy killed both his wife and his children. When he came to his senses, in horror and shame at what he had done, he visited the great cliffs of Delphi, where the eagles circle all day and where Apollo's oracle is. There he asked how he could be purified of his sin, and he was told by the oracle that he must go to Mycenae and for twelve years obey all the commands of the cowardly king Eurystheus, his kinsman. It seemed a hard and cruel sentence, but the oracle told him also that at the end of many labors, he would be received among the gods.
Hercules therefore departed to the rocky citadel of Mycenae that looks down upon the blue water of the bay of Argos. He was skilled in the use of every weapon, having been educated, as Jason was, by the wise centaur Chiron. He was tall and immensely powerful. When Eurystheus saw him, he was both terrified of him and jealous of his great powers. He began to devise labors that would seem impossible, yet Hercules accomplished them all.
First he was ordered to destroy and to bring back to Mycenae the lion of Nemea, which for long had ravaged all the countryside to the north. Hercules took his bow and arrows and, in the forest of Nemea, cut himself a great club, so heavy that a man nowadays could hardly lift it. This club he carried ever afterwards as his chief weapon.
He found that his arrows had no effect on the tough skin of the lion, but as the beast
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sprang at him, he half stunned it with his club: then, closing in with it. he seized it by the throat and killed it with his bare hands. They say that when he carried back on his shoulders to Mycenae the body of the huge beast, Eurysiheus fled in terror and ordered Hercules never again to enter the gates of the city, but to wait outside until he was told lo come in. Eurystheus also built for himself a special strong room of brass into which he would require if he was ever again frightened by the power and valianceof Hercules. Hercules himself took the skin of the lion and made it into a cloak which he wore ever afterwards, sometimes with the lion's head covering his own head like a cap, sometimes with it slung backwards over his shoulders.
The next task given to Hercules by Eurystheus was to destroy a huge water snake, called
the Hydra, which lived in the marshes of Argos, was filled with poison, and had fifty venomous heads. Hercules, with his friend and companion, the young Iolaus, set out from Mycenae and came to the great cavern, sacred to Pan, which is a holy place in the hills near Argos. Below this cavern a river gushes out of the rock. Willows and plane trees surround the source, and the brilliant green of grass. It is the freshest and most delightful place. But as the river flows downwards to the sea, it becomes wide and shallow, extending into pestilential marshes, the home of stinging flies and mosquitoes. In these marshes they found the Hydra, and Hercules, his great club, began to crush the beast's heads, afterwards cutting them off with his sword. Yet the more he labored, the more difficult his task became. From the stump of each head that he cut off, two other heads, with forked and hissing tongues, immediately sprang. Faced with an endless and increasing effort, Hercules was at a loss what to do. It seemed to him that heat might prove more powerful than cold steel, and he commanded Iolaus to burn the root of each head with a red-hot iron immediately after it was severed from the neck. This plan was successful. The heads no longer sprouted up again, and soon the dangerous and destructive animal lay dead, though still writhing in the black marsh water among the reeds. Hercules cut its body open and dipped his arrows in the blood. Henceforward these arrows would bring certain death, even if they only grazed the skin, so powerful was the Hydra's poison.
Eurystheus next ordered Hercules to capture and bring back alive a stag sacred to
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Diana and famous for its great fleetness of foot, which lived in the waste mountains and forests and never yet had been approached in the chase. For a whole year Hercules pursued this animal, resting for the hours of darkness and pressing on next day in its tracks. For many months he was wholly outdistanced; valleys and forests divided him from his prey. But at the end of the year the stag, weary of the long hunt, could run no longer. Hercules seized it in his strong hands, tied first its forelegs and then its hind legs together, put the body of the beast, with its drooping antlered head, over his neck, and proceeded to return to the palace of King Eurystheus. However, as he was on his way through the woods, he was suddenly aware of a bright light in front of him, and in the middle of the light he saw standing a tall woman or, as he immediately recognized, a goddess, grasping in her hands a bow and staring at him angrily with her shining eyes. He knew at once that this was the archer goddess Diana, she who had once turned Actaeon into a stag and who now was enraged at the loss of this other stag which was sacred to her. Hercules put his prey on the ground and knelt before the goddess. "It was through no desire of my own," he said, "that I have captured this noble animal. What I do is done at the command of my father Jupiter and of the oracle of your brother Apollo at Delphi." The goddess listened to his explanation, smiled kindly on him, and allowed him to go on anyway when he had promised that, once the stag had been carried to Eurystheus, it would be set free again in the forests that it loved. So Hercules accomplished this third labor.
He was not, however, to be allowed to rest, Eurystheus now commanded him to go out to the mountains of Eryman thus and bring back the great wild boar that for long had terrorized all the neighborhood. So Hercules set out once more, and on his way he passed the country where the centaurs had settled after they had been driven down from the north in the battle that had taken place with the Lapiths at the wedding of Pirithous. In this battle they had already had experience of the hero's strength, but still their manners were rude and rough. When the centaur Pholus offered Hercules some of their best wine to drink, the other centaurs became jealous. Angry words led to blows, and soon Hercules was forced to defend himself with his club and with his arrows, the poison of which not only caused death, but also the most extreme pain. Soon he scattered his enemies in all directions, driving them over the plains and rocks. Some he dashed to the ground with his club; others, wounded by the poisoned arrows, lay writhing
544 Our Classical Heritage
in agony or kicking their hooves in the air. Some took refuge in the house of the famous centaur Chiron, who had been schoolmaster to Hercules and who, alone among the centaurs, was immortal. As he pursued his enemies to this good centaur's house, shooting arrows at them as he went, Hercules, by an unhappy accident, wounded Chiron himself. Whether it was because of grief that his old pupil had so injured him. or whether it was because of the great pain of the wound, Chiron prayed to Jupiter that his immortality should be taken away from him. Jupiter granted his prayer. The good centaur died, but he was set in Heaven in a constellation of stars which is still called either Sagittarius or else the Centaur.
Hercules mourned the sad death of his old master. Then he went on to Erymanthus. It was winter and he chased the great boar up to the deep snow in the passes of the mountains. The animal's short legs soon grew weary of plowing through the stiff snow and Hercules caught it up when it was exhausted and panting in a snowdrift. He bound it firmly and slung the great body over his back. They say that when he brought it to Mycenae, Eurystheus was so frightened at the sight of the huge tusks and flashing eyes that he hid for two days in the brass hiding place that he had had built for himself.
The next task that Hercules was ordered to do would have seemed to anyone impossible. There was a king of Elis called Augeas, very rich in herds of goats and cattle. His stables, they say, held three thousand oxen, and for ten years these stables had never been cleaned. The dung and muck stood higher than a house, hardened and caked together. The smell was such that even the herdsmen, who were used to it, could scarcely bear to go near. Hercules was now ordered to clean these stables, and going to Elis, he first asked the king to promise him the tenth part of his herds if he was successful in his task. The king readily agreed, and Hercules made the great river Alpheus change its course and come foaming and roaring through the filthy stables. In less than aday all the dirt was cleared and rolled away to the sea. The river then went back to its former course, and for the first time in ten years, the stone floors and walls of the enormous stables shone white and clean.
Hercules then asked for his reward, but King Augeas, claiming that he had performed the task not with his own hands but by a trick, refused to give it to him. He even banished his own son, who took the side of Hercules and reproached his father for not keeping his promise. Hercules then made war on the kingdom of Elis, drove King Augeas out, and put his son on the throne. Then, with his rich reward, he returned to Mycenae, ready to undertake whatever new task was given him by Eurystheus.
Again he was ordered to destroy creatures that were harmful to men. This time they were great birds, like cranes or storks, but much more powerful, which devoured human flesh and lived around the black waters of the Stymphalian lake. In the reeds and rocky crags they lived in huge numbers, and Hercules was at a loss how to draw them from their hiding places. It was the goddess Minerva who helped him by giving him a great rattle of brass. The noise of this rattle drove the great birds into the air in throngs. Hercules pursued them with his arrows, which rang upon their horny beaks and legs but stuck firm in the bodies that tumbled one after the other into the lake. The whole brood of these monsters was entirely destroyed, and now only ducks and harmless waterfowl nest along the reedy shores.
Hercules had now accomplished six of his labors. Six more remained. After the killing of
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the Stymphalian birds, he was commanded to go to Crete and bring back from there alive a huge bull which was laying the whole island waste. Barehanded and alone he grappled with this bull, and, once again, when he brought the animal back into the streets of Mycenae, Eurystheus fled in terror at the sight both of the hero and of the great beast which he had captured.
From the southern sea Hercules was sent to the north to Thrace, over which ruled King Diomedes, a strong and warlike prince who savagely fed his famous mares on human flesh. Hercules conquered the king in battle and gave his body to the very mares which had so often fed upon the bodies of the king's enemies. He brought the mares back to King Eurystheus, who again was terrified at the sight of such fierce and spirited animals. He ordered them to be taken to the heights of Mount Olympus and there be consecrated to Jupiter. But Jupiter had no love for these unnatural creatures, and, on the rocky hillsides, they were devoured by lions wolves, and bears.
Next, Hercules was commanded to go to the country of the Amazons, the fierce warrior women, and bring back the girdle of their queen Hippolyte. Seas and mountains had to be crossed, battles to be fought; but Hercules in the end accomplished the long journey and the dangerous task. Later, as is well known, Hippolyte became the wife of Theseus of Athens and bore him an ill-fated son, Hippolytus.
Hercules had now traveled in the south, the north, and the east. His tenth labor was to be in the far west, beyond the country of Spain, in an island called Erythia. Here lived the giant Geryon, a great monster with three bodies and three heads. With his herdsman and his two-headed dog. called Orthrus, he looked after huge flocks of oxen, and, at the command of Eurystheus, Hercules came into his land to lift the cattle and to destroy the giant. On his way, at the very entrance to the Atlantic, he set up two great marks, ever afterward to be known by sailors and called the Pillars of Hercules. Later, as he wandered through rocks and over desert land, he turned his anger against the Sun itself, shooting his arrows at the great god Phoebus Apollo. But Phoebus pitied him in his thirst and weariness. He sent him a golden boat, and in this boat Hercules crossed over to the island of Erythia. Here he easily destroyed both watchdog and herdsman, but fought for long with the great three-bodied giant before he slew him, body after body. Then he began to drive the cattle over rivers and mountains and deserts from Spain to Greece. As he was passing through Italy he came near the cave where Cacus, a son of Vulcan, who breathed fire out of his mouth, lived solitary and cruel, since he killed all strangers and nailed their heads, dripping with blood, to the posts at the entrance of his rocky dwelling. While Hercules was resting, with the herds all round him, Cacus came out of his cave and stole eight of the best animals of the whole herd. He dragged them backwards by their tails, so that Hercules should not be able to track them down.
When Hercules awoke from his rest, he searched far and wide for the missing animals, but since they had been driven into the deep recesses of Cacus's cave, he was unable to find them. In the end he began to go on his way with the rest of the herd, and as the stolen animals heard the lowing of the other cattle, they too began to low and bellow in their rocky prison. Hercules stopped still, and soon out of the cave came the fire-breathing giant, prepared to defend the fruits of his robbery and anxious to hang the head of Hercules among
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his other disgusting trophies. This, however, was not to be. The huge limbs and terrible fiery breath of Cacus were of no avail against the hero's strength and fortitude. Soon, with a tremendous blow of his club, he stretched out Cacus dead on the ground. Then he drove the great herd on over mountains and plains, through forests and rivers to Mycenae.
Hercules' next labor again took him to the far west. He was commanded by Eurystheus to fetch him some of the golden apples of the Hesperides. These apples grew in a garden west even of the land of Atlas. Here the sun shines continually, but always cool, well-watered trees of every kind give shade. All flowers and fruits that grow on earth grow here, and fruit and flowers are always on the boughs together. In the center of the garden is the orchard, where golden apples gleam among the shining green leaves and the flushed blossom. Three nymphs, the Hesperides, look after this orchard, which was given by Jupiter to Juno as a wedding present. It is guarded also by a great dragon that never sleeps and coils its huge folds around the trees. No one except the gods knows exactly where this beautiful and remote garden is, and it was to this unknown place that Hercules was sent. He was helped by Minerva and by the nymphs of the broad river Po in Italy. These nymphs told Hercules where to find Nereus, the ancient god of the sea, who knew the past, the present, and the future. "Wait for him," they said, "until you find him asleep on the rocky shore, surrounded by his fifty daughters. Seize hold of him tightly and do not let go until he answers your question. He will, in trying to escape you, put on all kinds of shapes. He will turn to fire, to water, to a wild beast, or to a serpent. You must not lose your courage, but hold him all the tighter, and, in the end, he will come back to his own shape and will tell you what you want to know."
Hercules followed their advice. As he watched along the sea god's shore he saw, lying on the sand, half in and half out of the sea, with seaweed trailing round his limbs, the old god himself. Around him were his daughters, the Nereids, some riding on the backs of dolphins, some dancing on the shore, some swimming and diving in the deeper water. As Hercules approached, they cried out shrilly at the sight of a man. Those on land leaped back into the sea; those in the sea swam further from the shore. But their cries did not awake their father till Hercules was close to him and able to grip him firmly in his strong hands. As soon as the old god felt the hands upon him, his body seemed to disappear into a running stream of water; but Hercules felt the body that he could not see and did not relax his grasp. Next it seemed that his hands were buried in a great pillar of fire; but the fire did not scorch the skin, and Hercules could still feel the aged limbs through the fire. Then it was a great lion with wide-open jaws that appeared to be lying and raging on the sands; then a bear, then a dragon. Still Hercules clung firmly to his prisoner, and in the end he saw again the bearded face and seaweed-dripping limbs of old Nereus. The god knew for what purpose Hercules had seized him, and he told him the way to the garden of the Hesperides.
It was a long and difficult journey, but at the end of it Hercules was rewarded. The guardian nymphs (since this was the will of Jupiter) allowed him to pick from the pliant boughs two or three of the golden fruit. The great dragon bowed its head to the ground at their command and left Hercules unmolested. He
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brought back the apples to Eurystheus, but soon they began to lose that beautiful sheen of gold that had been theirs in the western garden. So Minerva carried them back again to the place from which they came, and then once more they glowed with their own gold among the other golden apples that hung upon the trees.
Now had come the time for the twelfth and last of the labors that Hercules did for his master Eurystheus. This labor would seem to anyone by for the hardest; for the hero was commanded to descend into the lower world and bring back with him from the kingdom of Proserpine the terrible three-headed watchdog Cerberus.
Hercules took the dark path which before him had been trodden only by Orpheus and Theseus and Pirithous. Orpheus had returned. Theseus and Pirithous, for their wicked attempt, were still imprisoned.
Page 548
Hercules passed the Furies, undaunted by the frightful eyes beneath the writhing serpents of their hair. He passed the great criminals, Sisyphus, Tantalus, and the rest. He passed by his friend, the unhappy Theseus, who was sitting immovably fixed to a rock, and he came at last into the terrible presence of black Pluto himself, who sat on his dark throne with his young wife Proserpine beside him. To the King and Queen of the Dead, Hercules explained the reason of his coming, "Go," said Pluto, "and, so long as you use no weapon, but only your bare hands, you may take my watchdog Cerberus to the upper air.
Hercules thanked the dreadful king for giving him the permission which he had asked. Then he made one more request, which was that Theseus, who had sinned only by keeping his promise to his friend, might be allowed to return again to life. This, too, was granted him. Theseus rose to his feet again and accompanied the hero to the entrance of Hell, where the huge dog Cerberus, with his three heads and his three deep baying voices, glared savagely at the intruders. Even this tremendous animal proved no match for Hercules, who with his vise-like grip stifled the breath in two of the shaggy throats and then lifted the beast upon his shoulders and began to ascend again, Theseus following close behind, the path that leads to the world of men. They say that when he carried Cerberus to Mycenae, Eurystheus fled in terror to another city and was now actually glad that Hercules had completed what might seem to have been twelve impossible labors. Cerberus was restored to his place in Hell and never again visited the upper world. Nor did Hercules ever go down to the place of the dead, since, after further trials, he was destined to live among the gods above. Page 550
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The Twelve Labours of Hercules
Hercules was a great warrior in Greek mythology. From the northern hemisphere he can be seen kneeling in the sky during Spring. From the southern hemisphere, he appears low in the north. Four bright stars form what is known as the Keystone. Hercules' arms and legs extend from this central square. |
in Greek mythology, hero noted for his strength and courage and for his many legendary exploits. Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles. He was the son of the god Zeus and Alcmene, wife of the Theban general Amphitryon. Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, was determined to kill her unfaithful husband’s offspring, and shortly after Hercules’ birth she sent two great serpents to destroy him. Hercules, although still a baby, strangled the snakes. As a young man Hercules killed a lion with his bare hands. As a trophy of his adventure, he wore the skin of the lion as a cloak and its head as a helmet. |
Son of Zeus and the woman Alcmena, who the god seduced in the shape of her husband Amphitryon, king of Thebes. He also had a twin brother, Iphicles, who was one night younger and the son of Amphitryon.
Heracles was one of the most popular heroes of Greek mythology, and his many feats were constantly retold in art and literature. All over Greece he was worshipped as either a god or a hero. He was the protector of athletics and according to one myth he was the founder of the Olympic Games. He was believed to ward off evil.
His constant persecutor was >Hera, who crazed with jealosy of her husbands liason with Heracles' mother caused the hero many troubles. While Heracles was just a baby in the cradle, she sent two snakes which the child strangled, one in each hand. She also made him insane for a while, which made him murder his children with Megara.
Hercules (also known as Herakles) is the most popular hero in Greek mythology. He was born the son of the Greek king of the gods, Zeus, and the mortal Alcmena. This very fact made him mortal too. However, during his life’s ventures, Hercules proved himself to be a brave man thus earning himself a position among the Greek gods.
Hercules story begins with the relationship of his parents. Both Zeus and Alcemena were married to someone else when they conceived Hercules. Zeus’ wife (who was also his sister) was very angry by the affair. Hera tried to kill Hercules almost immediately after his birth. Her attempt failed.
As time passed, Hercules grew into a strong warrior. He met a woman, Megara, and the started a family. The couple was happy, but Hera continued to be jealous. She tricked Hercules into a rage. Unwittingly, he killed his wife and children. Sick with grief, Hercules prayed to the sun god, Apollo, for redemption. Apollo assigned the warrior Hercules 10 tasks (this number later turned into 12). If Hercules completed the tasks, Apollo said his soul would be cleansed.
Hercules was then sent to serve King Eurystheus for 12 years and complete the tasks. Hera continued meddling in Hercules life, but he successfully made it through his term and gained access to the immortal world.
During his life, Hercules managed to find time to remarry. This time to a woman named Deianira. Ironically, Deianira’s love for Hercules ended in is assimilation to the kingdom of Greek gods. Unknowingly, Deianira presented her husband with a cloak that she thought was covered in a love potion. She thought that by giving the cloak to her husband, he would love her forever. Unfortunately, the cloak was really doused in poison and it burned Hercules skin to the point that he attempted suicide. Hercules requested a fire be made and he entered the fire to burn himself alive. Zeus saw this take place and he requested Hera’s forgiveness and she granted. He then requested that Hercules become an immortal and his son was delivered to Olympus to live out the rest of his life.
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The Twelve Labours of Hercules
Hercules as an infant, with supernatural powers
The little boy, Hercules, who was a semi-god grabbed the two gigantic snakes with his little arms and struggled them by clenching them. The angry goddess Hera had sent the snakes to the room, where Hercules was sleeping in a basket together with his brother, with the aim of killing them.
Text and illustration by
C. Kamporoudi
The first labour
The lion of Nemea
Hercules went to Nemea where a fierce lion lived and devoured animals and people. Hercules hit the animal with his arrows but its skin was so tough that it wasn’t pierced. Then Hercules took a branch from a wild olive tree and managed to hit the lion. The animal felt a great pain and hid in its den. It groaned and the whole mountain shook. Afterwards it attacked Hercules. He fought with it for a long time and finally he struggled it clenching its neck with his arms. He put the lion’s fleece around his body so as to be protected from future dangers.
Text and illustration by
Ki. Dasteridis
Hercules Exterminates the Lernean Hydra
A scary beast with a huge body and nine heads lived in the lake Lerne in Peloponnese. Fire was coming out of its nine mouths and it was burning animals, plants and people. Everyone was desperate and nobody dared to come closer to the lake. Evristheas ordered Hercules to kill the monster. Hercules managed to take the Lernean Hydra out of its den and he attacked it by cutting its heads. But when he cut one head, two new heads sprung. Then Hercules asked his cousin’s help. So Iolaos, his cousin lit a torch and when Hercules cut a head he burnt it. The middle head, nevertheless, was immortal. That’s why Hercules buried it deeply in the earth and put a huge stone above it. He also dirred his arrows in the Lernean Hydra’s poisoned body and thus they became lethal.
Text by T.Tilegrafos
and illustration by C.Ziagakis
The Erimanthean Boar
Evristheas sent Hercules to bring him alive a frightening boar which lived on a mountain called Erimanthos in Peloponnese. That boar caused great damage and killed humans and animals. Hercules went to the mountain Erimanthos and went after the boar for many days. Finally the animal got tired and Hercules caught it, put it on his shoulders and took it alive to Mycenae . When Evristheas saw the boar, was scared and hid in an earthenware jar.
Text and illustration by
D.Pantaggelou
Hercules catches Artemis’ deer
Hercules committed himself to this mission and headed towards the mountains where the deer lived. He recognized it by the flash of its horns. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to catch up with it at the speed and immobilize it Hercules decided to exaust it . When the deer saw him, it started running and this chase lasted for a year, until the deer got tired and Hercules grabbed the opportunity and immobilized it. When goddess Artemis heard about what had happened got angry and wanted to punish Hercules. But Hercules asked her to forgive him and promised that when he fulfilled his mission he would return the deer.
Text and illustration by
D. Pantaggelou
Hercules kills the Stimphalida hens
Hercules’ fifth labour was to go to the lake Stimphalida. That was the place where the Stimphalida hens lived. They were huge birds with iron beaks and feathers which fed on human meat. On his arrival, he started shaking two castanets made of copper which were given to him by Athina. The birds came out of the lake’s reeds where the hid and flied being scared. Then Hercules killed many of them with his arrows. Those which survived left and they didn’t return again.
Hercules cleans up Avgias stables.
One day Evristheas told Hercules “Go and clean the king Avgias’ stables and you must finish this task in one day”. King Avgias laughed when Hercules said the reason why he had come. “these stables haven’t been sweeped and cleaned for thirty years” said Avgias to Hercules and he added laughing. “But if you want you can try it. I will be very glad if I se them clean again.” Then an idea came up to Hercules’ mind. A little further a river was flowing and Hercules started working at once. Firstly, he made a dam and he dug a deep ditch from the river up to the stables. When he finished , he opened the dam and the water started flowing rapidly sweeping all the animals’ dung to the sea.
Text and illustration by
Christiana Kouineli
The Cretan Taurus
After a hard fight with the Cretan Taurus , Hercules managed to captivate the wild animal which caused great damages with the flames that were coming out of his mouth.
Text and illustration by
K. Dasteridis
The Cretan Taurus
Once Evristheas sent Hercules to Crete so as to fetch a raging Taurus, which scared everybody. Nobody knew why this was happening. King Minoas had asked Posidon to give him, a Taurus in order to sacrifice it in his honor. But when he saw the magnificent animal coming out of the sea Posidon retreated. He didn’t want to sacrifice it anymore, but he wanted to use it and thus increase the number of his herds. After some time he remembered the promise that he had made to God and sacrificed another Taurus. Posidon understood what had happened and he made the animal get angry. When Hercules arrived at the island heard a strange groaning. It was made by the wild beast which was approaching the town. Later Hercules met the Taurus. He was holding a net so as to capture it. They fought and finally he immobilized the animal and captivated it. The most difficult thing was to find a ship to carry the Taurus. Lucking he found a familiar captain who carried it on his ship to Tyrintha. Eyristheas saw that his cousin couldn’t be defeated and assigned a new labour to him.
Text and illustration by T.Tilegrafos
Diomedes’ Horses
Hercules went to Thrace, where King Diomedes – the son of God Aris – lived. He had four savage horses that lived on human flesh. Hercules killed Diomedes, caught the horses and brought them to Mycinae.
Text and illustration by
C. Tsoulkanaki
Hercules and Hippolitis’ belt
The ninth labour of Hercules was Hippolitis’, the queen of the Amazons, belt. Hippoliti , charmed with Hercules gave him her belt. Hera however - the queen of Gods, spread the rumor among the Amazons, that Hercules intended to capture their queen. Because of that, a terrible battle broke out and during it, Hippoliti and Hercules’ brother Ifiklis were killed.
Text and illustration by
A. Tsirlidis
Girionis’ Oxen
Hercules’ tenth Labour
Hercules travelled to the west, farther than the end of the Earth, to bring Girionis’ Oxen to Mycinae. Girionos was o monster and he had triple- body and three heads. His oxen were guarded by Orthos – a dog who had two heads and the tail of a snake. Hercules killed both, and brought the oxen to king Evristheas who sacrificed them to goddess Hera.
Text and illustration by
C. Tioulfanini
Hercules catches the Cerver of Hades
On Earth, Hercules was unbeatable. For this reason, king Evristheas decided to send him to the Underworld to fetch him the Cerver - a fierce dog with three heads – that was guarding the entrance of Hades. Hercules, after asking for Plutos’ and Persefonis’ permission fought with Cerver , beat him , tied him up and brought him to Mycinae. When king Evristheas looked at the Cerver, was terrified and hid himself in the por. Hercules took the Cerver back to Hades as he had promised to Pluto.
Text and illustration by
T. Makris
The Hesperides’ Apples
Hercules’ twelfth Labour
Hercules, in order to reach the tree with the Hesperides’ Apples, beat Atlas, and killed the terrible monster that existed in that area. In this way he grabbed the Apples and brought them to Mycinae. At last, now, Hercules was free!!!
Text and illustration by
A. Dimitriadou
Hercules’Columns.
In Greek Mythology, Hercules’ Columns were the Columns that Hercules had set up when he brought Hesperides’ Apples to king Eyristheas. The ancient Greeks believed that they lay in the Iviriki peninsula where Gibraltar nowadays ies, There they believed was the end of the world.
These columns were set up by Hercules himself on the two sides of Giblaldar. The one was on the side of Africa and the other on the side of Europe. Most probably they were lighthouses that showed the shops where to turn to get from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean. According to Homer, these columns were the signs for the end of the two continents, and he calls them “the gates of the Ocean”.
Text by
P.Soultas
Hercules , the great hero of the Greek mythology.
Hercules was the son of Alkmini and Zeus, the father of the Gods.He was a man with supernatural power, a semi-God. Goddess Hera hated him and she always found ways to torture him. Hera had told Zeus, that his son will only become immortal , if he managed to perform successfully all the twelve Labours that king Evristheas would consign him. King Evristheas was the king of Mycinae. Besides the twelve labours, Hercules also performed other heroic deeds. He took part in the Argonautic expeditio. In Libia he beat the giant Anteos, the son of Paseidon and Earth. Hercules also set free Prometheas who had given people the secret of use of fire and was punished by Zeus. He also helped Theseas to escape from prison. Hercules killed the Centaur Nessos who tried to steal Hercules’ beautiful wife Diianira. Nessos revenged him by giving Diianira a poisoned shirt. When Hercules wore it he died in unbearable pain. He was burned at the top of a mountain and after his death he became the God of strength. Zeus took him on mountain Olympus and gave him Ivi – the goddess of youth – as a wife.
Text by
C. Kamporoudi
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