The Labors of Hercules

Baby Hercules: Hercules, the Latin equivalent of Heracles, was the son of Zeus and Alcmene. Hera tried to murder the infant Hercules by putting serpents in his cradle. Luckily for Hercules, he was born with great strength and killed the serpents.

Education: Hercules had great strength and people treated him with awe and respect. Heracles was taught ： to drive the chariot by Amphitryon to wrestle by Autolycus to the art of archery by Eurytus to fence by Castor to play the lyre by Linus

This is not Disney’s Hercules story: The goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children. When he awakened from his "temporary insanity," Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance, and the god's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders.

Blood on his hands -- Grief.

12 Labors – for Atonement Was it Hercules’s fault? People feared him. He feared himself. He was tormented by guilt and vowed to make amends somehow. Eurystheus took pity on Hercules and decided to give him purpose. 12 Impossible labors/feats to help Hercules get redemption.

What kind of man was he? Sometimes Hercules appears mean. Sometimes he appears stupid. Sometimes he seems nice and only wants to do good for other people. Sometimes he is careless and hurts or kills people.

The Nemean Lion Arrows are useless against the lion. Grasping the lion in his mighty arms, and ignoring its powerful claws, he held it tightly until he'd choked it to death. He used its own claws to cut off its hide and he wore it as a cloak.

The Lernean Hydra A monstrous serpent with nine heads, the hydra attacked with poisonous venom. Each time Hercules cut off one of the hydra's heads, Lolaus held a torch to the headless tendons of the neck. The flames prevented the growth of replacement heads.

The following is a completely inaccurate version of the Hydra fight. Let’s watch it! 9Z1CRXDmM

Capture the Stag This was a special deer, because it had golden horns and hoofs of bronze. She was Diana's special pet -- that meant that Hercules could neither kill the deer nor hurt her. It took him a year to catch it.

The Erymanthian Boar Every day the boar would come crashing down from his lair on the mountain, attacking men and animals all over the countryside. Hercules trapped it in the snow.

The Augean Stables Hercules Cleans Up Hercules went to King Augeas, and without telling anything about Eurystheus, said that he would clean out the stables in one day, if Augeas would give him a tenth of his fine cattle. Hercules did this by redirecting a river through the cattles. It washed everything out, made a huge mess, and Augeas wasn’t too happy about it.

The Stymphalian Birds were plaguing a town. The goddess Athena came to his aid, providing a big shield. Hercules clashed the shield loudly, scaring the birds out of the trees, then shot them with bow and arrow, as they took flight.

The Cretan Bull Minos himself, in order to prove his claim to the throne, had promised the sea-god Poseidon that he would sacrifice whatever the god sent him from the sea. Poseidon sent a bull, but Minos thought it was too beautiful to kill, and so he sacrificed another bull. When Hercules got to Crete, he easily wrestled the bull to the ground and drove it back to King Eurystheus.

Capturing The Man-Eating Horses of Diomedes

Hippolyte's Belt Hercules Fights the Amazons The Amazons were warrior women. Queen Hippolyte had a special piece of armor. It was a leather belt that had been given to her by Ares She asked Hercules why he had come, and when he told her, she promised to give him the belt. But the goddess Hera went up and down the army saying to each woman that the strangers who had arrived were going to carry off the queen.

Although Hippolyte had been kind to him, Hercules assumed she was responsible for the Amazon attack. He killed her, then left.

The Cattle of Geryon Geryon was a monster. Hercules defeated him and stole the cattle.

The Apples of the Hesperides I These apples were kept in a garden at the northern edge of the world, and they were guarded not only by a hundred-headed dragon, named Ladon, but also by the Hesperides, nymphs who were daughters of Atlas, the titan who held the sky and the earth upon his shoulders.

The Apples of the Hesperides II Hercules' first problem was that he didn't know where the garden was. Hercules found Atlas. Atlas hated holding up the sky and the earth so much that he would agree to the task of fetching the apples, in order to pass his burden over to Hercules. Hercules held up the world until Atlas returned.

When Atlas got back with the apples, he decided that he didn’t want to have his old job back. Hercules asked him to hold the Earth for just a minute so he could shift the weight. Atlas was stupid enough to agree, then Hercules took the apples and left.

Cerberus Cerberus was a vicious beast that guarded the entrance to Hades and kept the living from entering the world of the dead. Hercules threw his strong arms around the beast, perhaps grasping all three heads at once, and wrestled Cerberus into submission. The dragon in the tail of the fierce flesh-eating guard dog bit Hercules, but that did not stop him. Cerberus had to submit to the force of the hero.

Other famous stories … One was to rescue the princess of Troy from a hungry sea- monster. Another was to help Zeus defeat the Giants in a great battle for the control of Olympus. Further Adventures of Hercules

Frees Prometheus Hercules freed Prometheus: the god who gave man fire and who, as a punishment, was chained to a rock where an eagle at his liver every day.

Brings woman back from the Underworld Hercules accidentally insulted a man whose wife had just died. In order to make it up to him, Hercules went to the Underworld and brought the guy’s wife back.

After the Labors … Hercules went to the town of Thebes and married Deianira. She bore him many children. Later on in their life, the male centaur, Nessus, abducted Deianira, but Hercules came to her rescue by shooting Nessus with a poison tipped arrow. The dying Nessus told Deianira to keep a portion of his blood to use as a love potion on Hercules if she felt that she was losing him to another woman.

Hercules ’ End A couple of a months later, Deianira thought that another woman was coming between her and her husband, so Deianira washed one of Hercules' shirts in Nessus' blood and gave it to him to wear. Nessus had lied to her, for the blood really acted as a poison and almost killed Hercules. On his funeral pyre, the dying Hercules ascended to Olympus, where he was granted immortality and lived among the gods.