The 12 Labors Of Heracles. By Juan Garcia

Heracles, strongest man in the world. Heracles was the strongest man in the world but he still feared the greek gods.

Hera, Zues’ wife. Hera was always jealous of Zeus’ lovers and his children, so she hated Heracles. From the day he was born she declared war on him and had tried to kill him while he was just a baby, she put 2 snakes in his crib but even as a baby he killed the snakes by choking them.

Heracles’ teachings. Since that day Heracles family saw he had potential and they prepared him for it. He was taught everything by his masters. He learned how to use a bow and arrow, he learned how to fight and learned how to drive a chariot. He even learned how to sing and play the lyre.

Heracles Temper With his strength and stature came a hot temper. One time he got mad at his music teacher for hitting him and he threw a harp at him and killed him. Since Heracles didn’t start it, the gods didn’t punish him.

Labor one: The Nemean Lion. His first labor was to kill the Nemean lion. The lion is more of a monster than a lion. Its skin couldn’t be penetrated by spears or arrows. Heracle blocked the cave where the lion was and then he choked it to death and took it to Eurystheus.

Labor two: The Hydra His next task was to kill the hydra. The Hydra was a monster with many heads and every time one gets killed two or three more grow. Heracles was trying to kill the monster but when he would kill one head more would just keep growing. So he got an idea, he told Iolaus to sear the neck shut for every head he cut off so that the heads couldn’t grow anymore. He did kill The Hydra.

Labor three: The Cerynitian Hind. His third labor was to capture the the Cerynitian Hind. He couldn’t hurt it because it was sacred to Artemis, goddess of the hunt. He hunted it for a year before he could capture it. He shot an arrow in between the tendon and the bone on the back of the leg without drawing blood. Artemis got mad at him so he blamed Eurystheus.

Labor four: The Erymanthian Boar. This beast was an enormous boar in Arcadia, when Heracles finally saw it he chase it and ran it into a snowbank, immobilizing it. Then he put it on his shoulder and and carried it back to Eurystheus and he was still in his storage jar scared.

Labor five: The Augean Stables For his next labor Heracles had to clean out the stables of King Augeus in a single day. King Augeus used to have vast herds of cattle and over the years it started to smell really bad and there was a thick aroma that hung over all of Peloponnesus. Instead of using tools Heracles connected two rivers through the stable and got the job done without getting dirty. But since Augeus paid him. Eurystheus didn’t count it as a labor.

Labor Six: The Stymphalian Birds The Stymphalian birds lived in a marsh near lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. Heracles heard that these birds would feed on human flesh, killed by shooting feathers of brass or just by surrounding people. Hearcles killed them by shooting arrows at them by the dozen.

Labor seven: The Cretan Bull The Cretan Bull was the son of a Goddess and a man. The Bulls mother was Pasiphae. Pasiphae’s husband wanted to get rid of the bull so Heracles was assigned the task. Even though it was a fire-breathing monster, Heracles captured it and sent it back to the homeland. It ended up near Athens where it became the duty of Theseus.

Labor eight: the Mares of Diomedes Heracles’ eighth labor was to bring Eurystheus the Mares of Diomedes. These monsters were horses that would dine on the flesh of the people that would receive hospitality at Diomedes. Heracles caprtures them and took them to Eurystheus, then he let them go and they were soon eaten by monsters on Mt. Olympus.

Labor nine: Hippolyte’s Belt For his ninth labor he had to go to the land of the Amazons to take their queens belt and give it to Eurystheus. The Amozons were a race of warrior women, they invented how to fight from horseback. Heracles had a group of heroes go with him to help him. Hippolyte ended up giving Heracles her belt but Hera didn’t want to make his task so easy so she told the Amazons that the Greeks had captured their queen and a big fight broke out. Heracles got away with the belt and Theseus kidnapped an Amazon princess.

Labor ten: the Cattle of Geryon When creating monsters, the Greeks would use multiplication. So Geryon (The owner of some famous cattle that Heracles was ordered to steal) had three heads and/or three separate bodies from the waist down. His watchdog Orthrus had two heads. This labor took place in Spain. When Orthrus saw Heracles leaving with the cattle, he rushed at him but Heracles killed him with just one swing of his wooden club. Then Heracles took the Cattle to Eurystheus.

Labor eleven: The Apples of Hesperides The apples were hidden in a grove behind a high wall and guarded by Ladon, a many headed dragon. Heracles was told that he would never find the apples without the help of the God Atlas. Atlas was a god that had to carry the weight of the heavens on his shoulders because it was his punishment for siding against Zeus in war. Atlas told Heracles that he would get the apples for him if he held the heavens for him while he went to go get them, but first Heracles had to kill the dragon so he did by shooting arrows at it. Then Atlas said that he would take the Apples to Eurystheus for him but he just wanted to leave Heracles with the heavens so that he wouldn’t have to carry them anymore. Heracles accepted his offer but he told Atlas to hold the heavens while he got a cushion for his shoulder but Heracles just left with the apples and never came back.

Labor twelve: The Capture of Cerberus As his final labor, Heracles had to capture the hellbound Cerberus up from Hades, the kingdom of the dead. Heracles was scared because nobody had ever came back from Hades alive but he knew he couldn’t quit on his last task. Heracles went to Hades and tried taking Cerberus but then Hades came and Heracles had convinced him to let him take Cerberus to Eurystheus and he would bring him back to Hades.