Chapters 11-12

MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS & HEROES

THE LABORS OF HERCULES

Heracles (Hercules)

Son of Zeus and Alcmene (mortal)

Persecuted throughout his life by Hera who is jealous of Zeus’s affair with Alcmene

Born “Alcides” but renamed “Heracles” (glory of Hera) to appease Hera

Sends snakes to kill him in his crib when he is a baby

Hera’s Revenge

Hercules married Megara, daughter of the King of Thebes

They had three sons together Hera found the family and struck

Hercules with a fit of madness Hercules killed his three sons

and his wife because he thought they were beasts

Athena knocks out Hercules with a rock

When he recovers, he realizes what he’s done

Hercules’ Penance

Feeling guilty for murdering his family, Hercules consults the Oracle at Delphi

He is ordered to accomplish ten tasks given to him by King Eurystheus

Completing these “labors” would purify him and earn him immortality

Although he was supposed to complete ten, he was made to perform 12 since he got help completing two of them

1. Kill the Nemean Lion

Lion had hide so thick it could not be pierced by arrows or knife

Hercules wrestled the lion to the ground and strangled it

2. Kill the Hydra of Lerna

Hydra is a huge serpent with many heads

Each time he cut off a head, two more grew in its place

So, when he cut off a head, Iolaus cauterize the stump, preventing the new heads from growing.

Hydra had one immortal head, which Hercules buried

Didn’t get credit for this one because Iolaus helped him

3. Capture the Cerynitian Hind

The deer with the golden antlers was sacred to Artemis

Hercules had to capture it unharmed

Took him one year to catch it

Finally caught it in a huge net while it slept

4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar

The boar had plagued the countryside for a long time

Hercules called it out and led it straight into a snow drift.

Caught the boar in chains

5. Clean the Augean Stables

This task was intended to humiliate him and it seemed impossible

The stables belonging to King Augeus contained thousands of cattle and hadn’t been cleaned in thirty years

He had to complete the task in one day

Diverted the courses of two rivers to make them run through the stables and wash away the dung

6. Drive out Stymphalian Birds

These man-eating birds had taken over a forest in Arcadia

Hercules got rid of them by using a giant rattle made by Hephaestus

Rattle’s noise scared them away

Because Hephaestus helped him, he did not get credit for this one.

7. Capture the Cretan Bull

Beautiful bull given to Minos by Poseidon

Hercules subdues the bull after a long struggle

8. Captures the Mares of Diomedes

Dangerous man-eating horses

Hercules rounds up the horses

Diomedes attacks Hercules

Hercules defeats Diomedes and feeds him to his own horses

The horses then become tame

9. Fetch Hippolyte’s Girdle

Belt/sash owned by the Queen of the Amazons

Hercules asks for the girdle and the Queen simply gives it to him.

10. Steal the Cattle of Geryon

Hercules first has to kill a two-headed watch dog

Encounters many other obstacles along the way to completing the task

11. Fetch the Golden Apples

These apples belonged to Atlas’s daughters.

Hercules convinces Atlas to fetch the apples for him while he holds the world on his shoulders for Atlas

Atlas returns with the apples but refuses to take the world back on his shoulders

Hercules tricks Atlas

12. Fetch Cerberus from Hades

Three-headed guard dog of the Underworld

Gets guidance from Athena, Hermes, and Hestia

Wrestles Cerberus bare-handed because he promised Hades not to use weapons

Death and Immortality

Hercules finally “purified” He was given immortality,

but he would first have to die.

A dying centaur tricked Hercules’ wife (Deianeira) into killing him with a poison shirt

His mortal body was burned alive at his request

He ascends to Mount Olympus