Labor One: The Nemean Lion What was the task? He had to kill the Nemean lion and bring the king back its skin as proof. What made it so difficult? The huge lion had a hide so tough it couldn’t be pierced with any mortal weapon. How did he accomplish it? He chased the beast from its lair and squeezed it to death with his bare hands. He used its own claws to skin it. He wore the lion’s skin as a cloak and its jaws as a helmet.

Labor Two: The Hydra What was the task? He had to kill the hydra that lives in the swamp of Lerna. What made it so difficult? It has nine heads. The fumes of its breath are fatal to anyone who breathed them. When he cut off one head, two more grew back in its place. How did he accomplish it? His chariot driver brought him his firebrand and, as he cut off each head, he would sear each empty neck closed so no new head would grow back.

Labor Three: The Cerynitian Stag What was the task? He needed to capture the stag from the heard of sacred deer of Artemis and bring it back to the king alive. What made it so difficult? Heracles’s brute strength could harm a deer and call Artemis’s wrath down upon him for she would punish anyone who harmed her beloved animals. How did he accomplish it? He gained the stag’s trust slowly. He then approached the stag and they both ran to the king together.

Labor Four: The Great Boar What was the task? He had to trap the Erymanthian boar. What made it so difficult? Its tusks were as sharp as the finest swords. To approach the wily animal directly would mean certain death. How did he accomplish it? He shouted and startled the boar from its cave. He chased it up the mountain until its tusks got it stuck in the snow. Unable to move, he tied it around the waist and dragged it to the king.

Labor Five: The Augean Stables What was the task? He had one day to clean out the stables that had a herd of 3,000 cattle whose stables had not been cleaned in 30 years for King Augeas. What made it so difficult? The inside of the stable was filled with mountains of dung. It was such a mess that no mortal could clean the stable alone, not in one day, maybe not in a lifetime. How did he accomplish it? Using his enormous strength, Heracles held back the water with one hand while he pushed the rivers’ banks with the other. He made two rivers join and run straight through the stables.

Labor Six: The Stymphalian Birds What was the task? He needed to get rid of the swarm of deadly birds. What made it so difficult? They had razor like claws and beaks that the birds used to tear apart and eat mortal flesh. Their pointed brass feathers were so sharp that if one feather fell from a bird in flight, it would kill anyone underneath. How did he accomplish it? He wore the Nemean lion as a shield. The birds began to attack him, but could not penetrate the lion’s hide. He then let out a gigantic roar which scared the birds so badly that they flew off—never to return.

Labor Seven: The Cretan Bull What was the task? He had to capture the Cretan Bull and bring it back to the king alive. What made it so difficult? It was a fierce, fire-breathing creature that even the local Cretans couldn’t capture. How did he accomplish it? He seized the angry bull by its great horns. He flung it to the ground and dragged it many miles until it was tame. He rode it back to the king.

Labor Eight: The Man-Eating Mares What was the task? He had to go to Thrace where King Diomedes keeps his man-eating horses and bring them back to me alive. What made it so difficult? These four horses were famous for feeding on human flesh and bared their blood-stained teeth at him when he saw them. How did he accomplish it? He knew that only an evil man could breed them so he killed Diomedes and fed him to his mares. They became so tame that he was able to ride them back to the king who dedicated them to Hera.

Labor Nine: The Girdle of Hippolyta What was the task? He had to bring the king the golden girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. The girdle was a belt that signified her status as queen. What made it so difficult? The Amazons were a tribe of women who waged war more skillfully than any group of mortals. They were known to dislike men. How did he accomplish it? Hippolyta greeted him and was please to meet a warrior equal to herself. She gave him the girdle willingly and even agreed to marry him. Hera spread a rumor that Heracles was there to kidnap the queen and the Amazons attacked him. Hippolyta was killed during the battle.

Labor Ten: The Cattle of Geryon What was the task? He had to bring the king the cattle of Geryon. What made it so difficult? They lived on an island that was guarded by the three-headed monster named Geryon and his two-headed dog, Eurythion. The island was hard to reach and the monster would be dangerous. How did he accomplish it? He borrowed a boat from Helios, the sun. He made it to the island and began to load the cattle in his boat when Geryon attacked him. Heracles used his poisonous arrows (from the hydra) to shoot into each of Geryon’s heads. Once he made it Greece, Hera sent a swarm of gadflies that chased the cattle all over Greece. Heracles patiently rounded them up and brought them to the king.

Labor Eleven: The Golden Apples What was the task? He had to bring the king three apples from the tree in the garden of Hesperides that Gaea, the mother earth, gave to Hera and Zeus when they married. What made it so difficult? No mortal knew the location of the garden. The Titan, Prometheus, warns him that the apples would be fatal to any mortal who tired to pick them. How did he accomplish it? He squeezed the secret location out of Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. Once there, he saw Atlas was holding up the earth (that was a punishment given to him by Zeus. Heracles offered to hold up the earth if Atlas would get him three apples. Atlas agreed, but decided he didn’t want to take the earth back because it was too heavy. Heracles told him that he would be glad to hold it if he could just make himself a shoulder pad out of the lion’s skin. Atlas took the earth back, but Heracles ran away to the king.

Labor Twelve: The Cerberus What was the task? He had to capture Cerberus from the underworld and bring him to the king. What made it so difficult? The entrance to the underworld was hidden. Cerberus was the three-headed watchdog of the underworld. How did he accomplish it? Heracles twisted the features of his face into a hideous expression and walked into the underworld. Hades was so frightened, he handed him Cerberus and told him to treat him well. The king released Heracles of his labors. He took Cerberus back to Hades.

Heracles married a woman named Deianira. Together, they were traveling when they came to a river. Nessus, a centaur, was the ferryman of the river. As he was carrying Deianira to the other side, he insulted her and Heracles shot him. Nessus, as he lay dying on the shore, told her to take some of his blood as a potion to use if her husband ever loved anyone more than her. One day, after Heracles met a woman named Lole, his wife secretly rubbed some of the potion on Heracles’s robe. When he put on the robe, pain surged through his body. The potion didn’t kill him, but the pain to much for him to stand. He builds a giant funeral pyre and burns himself to death. Just before he died, Zeus pulled him up to Mount Olympus where he became immortal. The gods welcomed Heracles, for the fates had predicted an attack from a terrible enemy. When the 50-legged giants surrounded Mount Olympus, Heracles cast them into the dark pit of Tartarus. This was Heracles’s final heroic deed; afterward, he lived in happiness, married to Hebe, the goddess.