Language/Modern-greek-1453/Culture/The-12-Labours-of-Hercules

The 12 Labours of Hercules

One of the most famous names in Greek mythology is Hercules.

Hercules was born a demi-god. His father was Zeus, and his mother was the mortal princess Alcmene, the granddaughter of the hero Perseus who beheaded the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa. Zeus’s infidelity would enrage Hera having tried to kill Heracles ever since he was born, determined to make trouble for Hercules, Hera had once before tried unsuccessfully to kill Hercules, proof of Zeus’s (the father of Hercules) infidelity when he was 8 months old by sending two snakes to poison him. Hercules strangled them in his crib, saving both his own life and the life of his twin brother Iphicles.

But Hera kept up her dirty tricks. When Hercules was a young adult, she cast a kind of spell on him that drove him temporarily insane and caused him to murder his beloved wife Megara and six their children. When he awakened from his temporary insanity, 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 as part of his sentence, Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders. The Labours of Heracles (Greek: άθλοι, athloi) are a series of twelve tasks, Labors, carried out by Heracles, in the service of King Eurystheus.

The episodes were later connected by a continuous narrative. Hercules had to perform twelve Labors, seemed impossible.

Fortunately, Hercules had the help of Hermes and Athena, deities who showed up when he really needed help.

His struggles made Hercules the perfect embodiment of an idea the Greeks called pathos, the experience of virtuous struggle and suffering which would lead to fame and, in Hercules' case, immortality.

The order of the labours given by the mythographer Apollodorus

1) Slaying the Nemean lion

2) Lernaean Hydra

3) Capturing the Ceryneian Hind

4) Capturing the Erymanthian Boar

5) Cleaning the Augean stables in a single day

6) Slaying the Stymphalian birds

7) Capturing the Cretan Bull

8) Stealing the Mares of Diomedes

9) Obtaining the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazon

10) Obtaining the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon

11) Stealing three of the golden apples of the Hesperides

12) Capturing and bringing back Cerberus

1) The Nemean Lion  

First, Eurystheus sent Hercules to the hills of Nemea to kill a lion that was terrorizing the people of the region. Hercules trapped the lion in its cave and strangled it.

For the rest of his life, he wore the animal’s pelt as a cloak.

2) The Lernaean Hydra

Second, Hercules traveled to the city of Lerna to slay the nine-headed Hydra—a poisonous, snake-like creature who lived underwater, guarding the entrance to the Underworld.

For this task, Hercules had the help of his nephew Iolaus. He cut off each of the monster’s heads while Iolaus burned each wound with a torch.

This way, the pair kept the heads from growing back.

3) Capturing the Ceryneian Hind

Next, Hercules set off to capture the sacred red deer of the goddess Diana, with golden antlers and bronze hooves. Eurystheus had chosen this task for his rival because he believed that Diana would kill anyone she caught trying to steal her animal however, once Hercules explained his situation to the goddess, she allowed him to go on his way without punishment.

4) The Erymanthean Boar

Hercules used a giant net to snare the terrifying, man-eating wild boar of Mount Erymanthus.

5) The Augean Stables

Hercules task was supposed to be humiliating as well as impossible: cleaning all the manure out of King Augeas’ enormous stables in a single day. However, Hercules completed the job easily, flooding the barn by diverting two nearby rivers, of Pinios and Alpheios.

6) The Stymphlaian Birds

Hercules’ sixth task was straightforward: Travel to the town of Stymphalos and drive away the huge flock of carnivorous birds that had taken up residence in its trees.

This time, it was the goddess Athena who came to the hero’s aid: She gave him a pair of magical bronze krotala, or noisemakers, forged by the god Hephaistos.

Hercules used these tools to frighten the birds away.

7) The Cretan Bull

Next, Hercules went to Crete to capture a rampaging bull that had impregnated the wife of the island’s king.

(She later gave birth to the Minotaur, a creature with a man’s body and a bull’s head.) Hercules drove the bull back to Eurystheus,

who released it into the streets of Marathon.

8) The Horses of Diomedes

Hercules’ eighth challenge was to capture the four man-eating horses of the Thracian king Diomedes.

He brought them to Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera and set them free.

9) Hippolyte’s Belt

The ninth labor was complicated: stealing an armored belt that belonged to the Amazon queen Hippolyte.

At first, the queen welcomed Hercules and agreed to give him the belt without a fight. However, the troublemaking Hera disguised herself as an Amazon warrior and spread a rumor that Hercules intended to kidnap the queen. To protect their leader, the women attacked the hero’s fleet; then, fearing for his safety, Hercules killed Hippolyte and ripped the belt from her body.

10) The Cattle of Geryon

For his 10th labor, Hercules was dispatched nearly to Africa to steal the cattle of the three-headed, six-legged monster Geryon.

Once again, Hera did all she could to prevent the hero from succeeding, but eventually, he returned to Mycenae with the cows.

11) The Apples of Hesperides

Next, Eurystheus sent Hercules to steal Hera’s wedding gift to Zeus: a set of golden apples guarded by a group of nymphs known as the Hesperides.

This task was difficult—Hercules needed the help of the titan Prometheus and the god Atlas to pull it off—but the hero eventually managed to run away with the apples.

After he showed them to the king, he returned them to the gods’ garden where they belonged.

12) Cerberus

For his final challenge, Hercules traveled to Hades to kidnap Cerberus, the vicious three-headed dog that guarded its gates.

Hercules managed to capture Cerberus by using his superhuman strength to wrestle the monster to the ground.

Afterward, the dog returned unharmed to his post at the entrance to the Underworld.

Author

➡ Marianthi

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