HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY
THE 12 LABOURS OF HERCULES
1. The Nemean lion
The first feat of Hercules concerns the extermination of the terrible lion of Nemea, a region near Corinth.
This lion lived in a cave that had two openings.
Hercules followed a clever and bold strategy that suited his heroism. He closed one opening of the cave with a pile of stones, after entering the cave. Then he came face to face with the lion. Very quickly his weapons proved useless and he decided to deal with it with his own hands. So he grabbed it in his arms and choked it. Then he skinned it using the teeth of the lion, since the tools did not catch it, he took it on his shoulders and brought it to Mycenae and Eurystheus, as, besides, it was his mission.
The legend says that Eurystheus was so frightened when he saw the body of the lion that he hid in a large bronze jar. After this Hercules was obliged not to bring the spoils of his labours in the city.
2. Lernaean Hydra
The Lernaean Hydra was a monster with nine heads that lived in the marshes of a coastal area near Argos, Lerna, from which it took its name.
Hercules soon found out that his mission would not be easy at all. As soon as he cut off one head of the hydra, two would grow in its place.
At the same time godess Hera sent a crab as the monster's assistant, who harassed Hercules, biting his leg every time the hero attempted to cut off a hydra's head.
To counter the proliferation of the heads of the Lernaean hydra, Hercules acted cleverly. He gave a lighted torch to Iolaus and told him to burn the new heads and the place where he cut off the head. In this way Hercules cut off the eight heads of the monster and the last head, which was the centre of its life and, according to the myth, immortal.
Once Hercules cut off the immortal head, he buried it and covered it with a large rock so that there would be no possibility of it coming to life again. With the bile of the monster Hercules blocked his arrows making them poisonous.
Despite the great feat, Eurystheus refused to acknowledge it, claiming that Iolaus' contribution was decisive. The oracle said that Hercules had to perform all his feats alone. The hero justified the presence of his nephew by the appearance of the crab. It was a two-on-two battle.
3. Deer of Kyrenia
After the killing of Lernaean Hydra, Eurystheus asked Heracles to bring him the sacred deer of the goddess Artemis that lived on Mount Kerynia on the border of Achaia and Arcadia.
Eurystheus' intention was not to kill the deer. He just wanted to confront Hercules with Artemis, the goddess of hunting, who did not like to disturb her sacred animals.
Hercules suffered a lot. The deer had golden antlers and bronze hooves, but most of all it ran faster than the wind. So he hunted it in mountains and valleys for a whole year throughout Arcadia.
Finally, he managed to catch it. Some say he caught it while sleeping, others that he injured it while it was trying to quench its thirst in the Ladon River. As soon as he caught it, he tied its legs and took it on his shoulder to carry it to Mycenae.
On the way, however, she bumped into Artemis and her brother Apollo. As soon as the goddess saw her beloved animal captured and wounded, she began to shout and threaten the hero with the harshest punishment. Hercules, however, managed to soothe her. He told her that he was not to blame but his bad fate that forced him to obey orders and carry out the wishes of Eurystheus. He also assured her that no one intended to kill it.
The goddess agreeing to Hercules let him carry the animal and showing it to Eurystheus.
4. Erymanthus wild boar
Eurystheus ordered Heracles to bring him alive the wild boar that lived in the forested mountain of Erymanthos on the border of Arcadia and Elis. The wild boar was very bloodthirsty and terrorized the inhabitants of the Arcadian town, destroying crops and animals.
On the road to Erymanthus, on Mount Foloi in Arcadia, Hercules met the Centaur Pholos, who offered him hospitality and treatment. So he invited him to a feast. Hercules ate roasted meat and Pholos ate raw meat.
But after a while the hero got thirsty and asked Folo for wine. The Centaur told him that he had buried in a jar of wine given to the Centaurs by the god Dionysus, but he was afraid to open it, lest he provoke the wrath of the other Centaurs. Hercules insisted, the jar was dug up and opened, but the smell of the old wine gathered the other Centaurs, who with fierce tempers moved towards the cave where the feast was taking place.
Some were carrying clubs, others stones and others lit torches. Folos hid as soon as he saw them, but not Hercules. He confronted them and chased many of them to Maleas, where the centaur Chiron lived persecuted from Pelion.
Hercules accidentally hit Chiron with a poisoned arrow. The centaur, of course, could not die since he was immortal, but he suffered terrible pains. That's why he traded his life for Prometheus' freedom and so he died.
The end of the Folo was similar. He picked up a poisoned arrow and began to observe it. But it fell and injured his leg, causing a wound from which he died.
Hercules' mission in capturing the boar was difficult. He had to take him alive, which wasn't easy. So he used his brain and his cunning.
Arriving at Erymanthus, he found the animal's shelter and forced it to come out of its hiding place, a dense clump of bushes. Then he followed it.
The boar in front, Hercules behind, began a chase which the hero directed towards the snowy peaks of the mountain. There the boar got lost in the snow and, naturally, get tired. As soon as it was exhausted, Hercules approached it, caught it with a noose he had made beforehand and immobilized it by tying its legs. Then he took it on his shoulders and moved to Mycenae.
At the sight of the terrible Erymanthian boar, Eurystheus was terrified and hid again in the bronze jar as he did with the lion of Nemea.
5. Τhe stables of Augeas
Augeas, the son of Helios, was king of Elis, while according to others he was ruler of the whole northwestern Peloponnese. His property included countless herds of cattle whose manure had accumulated in his stables and had created an intolerable situation, destroying even these crops.
Hercules presented himself to Augeas and told him that he could clear his stables if he gave him a tenth of his flocks.
Of course he did not mention that he was acting on the orders of Eurystheus, who commissioned him to carry out the mission with his own hands in one day. Augias, not believing that his dung could be cleaned, accepted Hercules' challenge and promised him the reward he was asking for.
Due to his supernatural powers, Hercules managed to divert the two major rivers of the Peloponnese, the Alpheus and the Pinios, from their course and with their waters to clean the manure of Avgea.
Learning, however, that Heracles was acting in the context of his services to Eurystheus, he refused to give him the agreed fee.
At the same time, Eurystheus refused to recognize the feat, claiming that Hercules performed it for payment and using the trick of the rivers and not with his own hands.
Hercules did not forget the behaviour of Augeas. Later he gathered an army and went against him to punish him. Indeed, Augeas was killed, paying the price for his pride and his retreat.
6. Stymphalid birds
Stymphalid birds were carnivorous birds, fed on human meat, had high legs and iron wings, and could shoot their wings like arrows, rarely missing. They lived in the lake near the town of Stymphalo in northern Arcadia, at the foot of a mountain of the same name, and were multiplying rapidly.
There were so many of them that according to legend when they flew all together, they hid the sun, and with their croaks they terrorized everyone. These were the birds that Hercules had to destroy.
After passing through the dense vegetation, Hercules reached the lake that was the shelter of the birds. But to deal with them, he had to flush them out of their hiding place. The goddess Athena supported him in his difficult task. He gave the hero a pair of bronze rattles made by Hephaestus. Hercules began to bang the clappers together so loudly that they made a terrible noise.
The frightened birds, emerging by thousands from the vegetation, flew into the sky. The demigod's shuttles decimated them.
The few that survived fled to an island in the Black Sea that is said to have belonged to the god of war, Ares.
Hercules dedicated some of the killed birds as trophies to goddess Athena to thank her for her help.
7. The wild bull of Crete
The seventh feat of Heracles was the capture and transport to Mycenae, in front of Eurystheus, of a wild bull from Crete that had been seized by fury.
Hercules, after getting King’s Minoas permission, set out with his club and a rope to capture the bull. Struggling with him, he managed to grab him by the horns and tie the muzzle to his legs so as to immobilize him.
Then he climbed on the back of the animal and through the sea they reached Argolida.
There Eurystheus wanted to sacrifice the bull to Hera, but the goddess refused the offer, since she did not want to accept an indirect gift from Hercules.
So the bull was released and after wandering in the Peloponnese he passed to Attica and Marathon. It is the same bull that was killed by the hero of Attica, Theseus.
8. The horses of Diomedes
Diomedes, son of the god Ares, reigned over a warlike people of Thrace, the Bistonians. He had in his possession four wild and man-eating horses whose nostrils breathed fire and whose dew was bronze.
Any foreigner who arrived in the area of the Bistonians, Diomedes would throw him for food on his horses.
In order for Diomedes to be able to keep his horses in their stable, he had tied them with thick iron chains, while at the same time he had placed a strong guard to watch over them.
Eurystheus asked Heracles to bring him the wild horses of Diomedes alive. Because it was a whole operation from Mycenae to Thrace, Hercules chartered a ship and invited many of his hero friends to help him. Among them was one of his best friends, Abderos from Lokrida.
As soon as the ship arrived in the land of the Bistonians, the heroes disembarked and headed for Diomedes' stable. Hercules overpowered the guard, took the horses and led them to the beach where their ship was and left Abderos to guard them.
As soon as Diomedes was informed of the attack and the theft of his horses, he gathered the Bistonians and confronted the invaders. The battle was terrible. Hercules killed many Bistonians, as well as Diomedes himself.
But when they returned to the beach to leave, they found Abderos eaten by the wild horses. Hercules buried him with honors and in his honor he founded a city, Abdira, in which the great philosopher Democritus was later born.
Then he threw the body of Diomedes to the wild horses that devoured him and immediately then they were domesticated.
So Hercules carried them to Mycenae, where Eurystheus released them.
According to legend, the horses of Alexander the Great came from this specific breed of Diomedes' horses.
9. Belt of Hippolyte
The Amazons were a warlike people who inhabited the Black Sea region. Among these people, the main role was played by women, who were great warriors. In fact, in order to draw the bow well and carry the quiver with the arrows, they cut off their right breast, while the other one, they kept it to breastfeed their babies. They kept the girls from their children and raised them accordingly.
In the Amazons there reigned a beautiful and warlike woman, the daughter of the god Ares, Hippolyte. She had a wonderful belt, a gift from her father.
Eurystheus asked Heracles to bring Hippolyte’s belt to him on behalf of his daughter Admitis.
Hercules equipped a ship, gathered several men and set sail for the Black Sea. The journey was long and arduous and on the way Hercules and his companions faced dangers and adventures.
When the ship ran aground in the region of Mysia, on the coast of Asia Minor, their king Lykos was at war with a neighboring tribe. Hercules helped him to defeat his enemies and in honour of the hero, the king named the conquered country, Heraclea.
Then, the ship by which Hercules was brought to the port of Themyscira, the capital of the Amazons.
Hippolyte, hearing of the arrival of the foreigners, went to the harbour with her followers to find out what was bringing the foreigners to their lands. Hercules, without hesitation, asked for the famous belt. Hippolyte had no objection.
But Hera did not remain uninvolved. Transformed into an Amazon, she mingled with the others and convinced them that the foreigners had come with malice aforethought to conquer their kingdom.
So they attacked Hercules and his companions with ferocity. In the fierce battle Hercules killed many amazons and in the end he dueled with Hippolyte herself, whom after a hard fight he killed and took her coveted belt.
9. Zone of Hippolyte
The Amazons were a warlike people who inhabited the Black Sea region. Among these people, the main role was played by women, who were great warriors. In fact, in order to draw the bow well and carry the quiver with the arrows, they cut off their right breast, while the other one, they kept it to breastfeed their babies. They kept the girls from their children and raised them accordingly.
10. The oxen of Gerioni
For the tenth labor, Eurystheus asked Hercules for the red-haired oxen of Gereoni, the monster who lived in the West, on the island of Erythia. The Gereoni was a monster, grandson of the Ocean.
It had three heads and three bodies joined together.
Hercules traveling in the Cup of Sun
Gereonis was assisted in guarding the oxen by the son of Mars Eurytion and a terrible dog with two heads and a serpentine tail, Orthos, who was the brother of the guardian of the Underworld, Cerberus, who was also exterminated by Hercules.
On his way to the land of Gerioni, Hercules crossed the then known Europe until he reached the Iberian Peninsula on the strait that separates Europe from Africa. There, in memory of his journey, he erected two columns, one in Africa and one in Europe, the well-known "Heracleian columns".
Arriving at the edge of the known world, Hercules had to cross the ocean to reach Erythia.
In this he was helped by the chariot of the Sun, a cup, with which the god travelled in the ocean. The Sun only gave it to him for one day.
Hercules started his journey with Hermes' gift, the Horn of Amalthea, full of food for the journey.
During the voyage the Ocean appeared, causing a violent storm, which did not deter the hero who even threatened and frightened the Ocean with his bow.
As soon as he arrived on the island of Gereoni, he was spotted by the monster dog, Orthos.
Hercules broke both its heads with his club and killed it. Then he eliminated Eurytion, who, hearing the barking of Ortho, ran to help him.
Hercules took the oxen and moved to leave. But a shepherd, who in the same area was herding the flocks of Hades, warned Gereoni, who ran to stop Heracles. But Hercules, killed him too.
According to legend, in the area where Gereoni was killed, a tree with red fruits grew from his blood.
On the way back, after returning the cup to the Sun, Hercules faced many bandits and peoples who all wanted to steal his oxen. Finally, in Thrace, Hera scattered the oxen.
Hercules managed to gather many of them and he returned to Mycenae to delivere the oxen to Eurystheus, who sacrificed them in honor of Hera.
An ancient writer, Apollodorus, says that the labours that Hercules had to perform were originally ten, and so with the oxen of Geryonis his debt to Eurystheus was finished.
11. The golden apples of Esperides
The trees with the golden apples grew in the garden of the gods and came from the wedding gift of the goddess Earth to Hera at her wedding to Zeus.
The garden of the gods was near the place where the giant Atlas lifted the sky on his shoulders.
His daughters cut the golden apples from the tree so Hera in order to protect them, put a terrible snake with a hundred heads, called Ladon, who never slept, to guard her trees with the help of Hesperides nymphs.
Hercules started for his new mission, moving north at first and then arrived via Illyria on the River Heridan. There the river nymphs urged him to ask old Nereus, the sea god, which way he should go to find the garden of the gods.
Nereus was not so willing to help Hercules and the hero had to push him. At first he tried to capture him while he was sleeping, but Nereus woke up and, transformed now into water, then into fire, trying to escape. Hercules, however, caught him and after Nereus took its original form, he showed him the way.
When Hercules arrived in the Caucasus, he met Prometheus, who was tied to a mountain rock and an eagle was coming and eating his liver. He had been punished by the father of the gods, Zeus, for not being disciplined and giving fire to the people, a precious gift that changed their lives.
Hercules killed the eagle and freed Prometheus. The latter in return showed him a way to get the apples of the Hesperides. He told him that the best person for such a job was his brother Atlas, who carried the sky on his shoulders. He advised him to be careful because Atlas was cunning and would try in every way to trick him.
Hercules found Atlas holding the pillars of heaven on his shoulders and begged him to help him cut the apples of the Hesperides.
Titan accepted willingly, but asked Hercules to relieve him of his burden for a while until he could cut the apples and bring them. Hercules, although he was sore, unable to do otherwise, took the pillars of heaven on his shoulders.
Atlas went straight to the Hesperides and told them to give him the three golden apples.
First, however, Ladon, the sleepless snake-guardian of the trees, had to be eliminated. The Hesperides then made a sweet drink to which they added sleeping herbs. As soon as Ladon drank it, he fell into a deep sleep. So Atlas took the apples but returning to Hercules he told him to hold the weight of the sky a little longer until he took the apples to Eurystheus and returned. Hercules restrained his anger and used his cunning.
He pretended to accept, but told Atlas, because the weight was too much, to help him put a pillow on his shoulders. Indeed, Atlas put down the apples and held up the sky to help Hercules. But the hero pushed him down from the sky and he slipped away and fled.
Thus the golden apples of the Hesperides reached Eurystheus, who gave them to Hercules. The latter did not want to keep them and donated them to the goddess Athena, who returned them to the garden of the Hesperides, as that was the place where they should be.
12. Cerberus
Eurystheus ordered Heracles to bring him the terrible monster that guarded the gate of the Underworld, Cerberus. The monster was the child of Typhon and Echidna, and his brothers were Ortho the Geriatrix, the Lernaean Hydra and Chimera.
It had fifty heads, of which the three in front were in the form of a dog, while the others were of other animals, and a tail that ended in the head of a deadly snake.
Before starting his journey Hercules went to Eleusis and was initiated into the
Eleusinian mysteries, in order to be cleansed for the murder of the Centaurs and to be taught how to reach the underworld safely.