![\"Heracles](\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greekromanmyth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1141\/2020\/12\/Athena_Herakles_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_2648.jpg\")
Athena and Heracles, red-figure kylix, ca. 480 BCE (Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nSections & Primary Sources<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Homer,\u00a0Iliad,<\/em> 19.74-144<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nHeracles and the Snakes<\/a>\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Pindar,\u00a0Odes<\/em>, \"Pythian 9\" 84-90<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t
- Pindar,\u00a0Odes<\/em>, \"Nemean 1\" 34-75<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
<\/a>Alcmene and Amphitryon<\/h2>\r\nThe following content is adapted from\u00a0Mythology\u00a0Unbound<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by T. Mulder.\r\n
Heracles was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Alcmene was married to Amphitryon, the heir to the throne of Tiryns. But Alcmene refused to consummate her marriage until Amphitryon had avenged the murder of her brothers, who had been killed by Taphian Pirates. Consequently, Amphitryon traveled to the Taphian Islands (off the western coast of Greece, near Ithaca) and stayed there for several weeks, until he had killed all of the Taphian Pirates.<\/p>\r\n
On the night before Amphitryon returned from his journey, Zeus came to Alcmene in the form of her husband. He told her that he had just returned from avenging her brothers. Alcmene was overjoyed and gladly allowed him into her bed. The next day when the real Amphitryon returned home, he wondered why she did not give him a hero\u2019s welcome. After speaking with his wife, he discovered the truth: Alcmene had spent the previous night with someone else. Amphitryon did not believe Alcmene\u2019s story, that the man she had been with had looked and sounded exactly like him, but the seer Teiresias told him that the interloper had been Zeus himself and that Alcmene\u2019s story was true. Amphitryon believed her and they finally consummated their marriage. This early part of Heracles' story was dramatized in the play<\/a> Amphitryon,\u00a0<\/em>created by the Roman\u00a0 playwright Plautus in the late 3rd century BCE.<\/p>\r\n
Alcmene was pregnant with twins: one of them from Zeus and another one from Amphitryon. Upon discovering that Alcmene was carrying Zeus\u2019 child, Hera grew irritated. When Alcmene went into labor, Hera sent Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent the birth from taking place. No birth can take place unless Eileithyia is physically present and allows the birth to proceed. Eileithyia sat outside the delivery room crossing her fingers and legs which halted the labour. Alcmene was close to breathing her last breath when her nurse, Galanthis, came up with a trick to break Eileithyia\u2019s spell. She shouted that the baby had already come. Eileithyia, in confusion as to how this could have happened, jumped up and broke her spell, allowing Alcmene to deliver two baby boys. In her anger at being tricked, Eileithyia turned Galanthis into a weasel. The two babies were named Iphicles and Heracles. But the parents did not know which one of their sons was Zeus\u2019 child and which one was the child of Amphitryon.<\/p>\r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/a>Homer,\u00a0Iliad<\/em>, Book 19 (trans. A. S. Kline, adapted by P. Rogak)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek epic poem, 8th century BCE<\/h4>\r\n
In this passage from the Iliad, <\/em>the trick that Hera plays on Zeus to delay the birth of Iphicles and Heracles is narrated.<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n[74-144] \"Even [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], they say, was blinded by her [ [pb_glossary id=\"1492\"]At\u00eb[\/pb_glossary] ] once, though he\u2019s supreme among gods and men. It was [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary], a mere woman, cunningly tricked him, when [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary] was due to bear the mighty Heracles in turreted [pb_glossary id=\"4675\"]Thebes[\/pb_glossary]. [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] had made a proud boast to the immortals: \u2018Listen, gods and goddesses, while I speak what my heart prompts. This very day [pb_glossary id=\"783\"]Eileithyia[\/pb_glossary], goddess of childbirth, will bring a boy-child into the world, born of a race descended from me, who will hold power over all his neighbours. At that moment Queen [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] showed her cunning: \u2018As usual, you\u2019ll play the deceiver, and nothing will come of your words. So then, Olympian, give us instead your solemn oath that the man, born of your stock, who issues from between a woman\u2019s thighs today, will indeed hold power over all his neighbours.\u2019 [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], misled by her cunning, in his blindness swore a mighty oath. Then [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] darted swiftly from high [pb_glossary id=\"628\"]Olympus[\/pb_glossary] to Argos in Achaea where she knew that Nicippe, noble wife of Sthenelus, [pb_glossary id=\"1493\"]Perseus[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 son, was seven months pregnant with a boy-child. [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] induced the child prematurely, while restraining the [pb_glossary id=\"783\"]Eileithyiae[\/pb_glossary], and delaying [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary]\u2019s labour. Then she told [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], son of [pb_glossary id=\"169\"]Cronus[\/pb_glossary], the news: \u2018Father [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], lord of the lightning-flash, a word with you. That mighty man is born indeed who shall rule the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Argives[\/pb_glossary], fitting, truly, for a child of your lineage. It is [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], a boy-child for Sthenelus, [pb_glossary id=\"1493\"]Perseus[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 son.\u2019 At her words he felt a sharp pain deep in his mind, and in a blaze of anger he at once seized [pb_glossary id=\"1492\"]At\u00eb[\/pb_glossary] by her gleaming tresses, swearing a mighty oath that she who blinds us all should never again be found on [pb_glossary id=\"628\"]Olympus[\/pb_glossary] or in the starry heavens. With that, he whirled her round and flung her from the sky down to the ploughed fields of men below. [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] would think of her and groan later, whenever he saw his dear son Heracles toiling at [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 labours.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nRecovered from: https:\/\/www.poetryintranslation.com\/PITBR\/Greek\/Iliad19.php#anchor_Toc239246275<\/a>\r\nTranslated by A. S. Kline \u00a9\u00a0Copyright<\/a> 2009 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
<\/a>Heracles and the Snakes<\/h2>\r\n
When they were about eighteen months old, Hera sent two snakes to kill both Iphicles and Heracles while they were sleeping in their crib. While Iphicles screamed in terror and cowered in the corner, Heracles grabbed hold of the snakes and strangled one in each hand. In doing so he also made clear that he was the son of Zeus.<\/p>\r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/a>Pindar,\u00a0Odes,\u00a0<\/em>\"Pythian 9\" (trans. D.A. Svarlien)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek victory ode, 474 BCE<\/h4>\r\n
This poem was written to celebrate the victory of Telesicrates of Cyrene in the hoplite race at the Pythian games in 474 BCE. Here Pindar describes the circumstances of Heracles' conception and birth.<\/div>\r\nWise [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary] lay with [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] and with [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], and bore [85] in a single birth twin sons, strong and victorious in battle. Only a mute man does not have Heracles' name on his lips, and does not always remember the waters of [pb_glossary id=\"1477\"]Dirce[\/pb_glossary], which reared him and [pb_glossary id=\"1404\"]Iphicles[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: https:\/\/www.perseus.tufts.edu\/hopper\/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DP.%3Apoem%3D9<\/a>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/a>Pindar,\u00a0Odes,\u00a0<\/em>\"Nemean 1\" (trans. D.A. Svarlien, adapted by L. Zhang and P. Rogak)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek victory ode, 476? BCE<\/h4>\r\n
Pindar wrote this ode to celebrate the victory of Chromius of Aetna in chariot racing at the Nemean Games, probably in 476 BCE. He describes the episode with Heracles and the snakes sent by Hera.<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\nBut as for me, I cling to the theme of Heracles gladly, calling up an ancient story from among the great heights of his excellence, [35] of how, when the son of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] suddenly came out of his mother's womb into the brilliant light, escaping her birth-pangs, with his twin brother, he did not escape the notice of gold-throned [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] when he was placed in his saffron swaddling-clothes. But the queen of the gods, [40] offended in her heart, immediately sent serpents. The doors opened, and they crept into the spacious inner-chamber, eager to coil their swift jaws around the babies. But Heracles lifted his head straight up, and had his first experience of battle, seizing [45] the two necks of the serpents in his two irresistible hands. When they were strangled, time squeezed the breath of life out of their unspeakable limbs. Unbearable fear struck the women who were then helping [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary] at her bedside; [50] for she herself leapt to her feet from her bed, undressed as she was, and tried to ward off the violent attack of the monsters. And swiftly the chiefs of the Cadmeans rushed in together in their bronze armor, and [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] came brandishing a sword drawn from its scabbard, overcome with sharp distress. For each man alike is oppressed by his own trouble, but the heart recovers quickly from someone else's grief. [55] He stood, possessed by overwhelming astonishment and delight. For he saw the supernatural courage and power of his son; the immortals had turned the story of the messengers to falsehood for him. [60] And he called his neighbor, the outstanding prophet of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] the highest, the truthful seer [pb_glossary id=\"929\"]Teiresias[\/pb_glossary]. And the prophet told him and all the men what fortunes the boy would encounter: how many he would slay on land, and how many lawless monsters at sea. And he told of a certain one, [65] most hateful, who walked with crooked insolence towards men, whom the boy would send to his doom. For he said that when the gods meet the [pb_glossary id=\"601\"]giants[\/pb_glossary] in battle on the plain of Phlegra, the shining hair of the [pb_glossary id=\"601\"]giants[\/pb_glossary] will be stained with dirt beneath the rushing arrows of that hero. But he himself [70] will have allotted to him in peace, as an extraordinary reward for his great hardship, continuous peace for all time among the homes of the blessed. He will receive flourishing [pb_glossary id=\"1239\"]Hebe[\/pb_glossary] as his bride and celebrate the wedding-feast, and in the presence of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] the son of [pb_glossary id=\"169\"]Cronus[\/pb_glossary] he will praise the sacred law.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: https:\/\/www.perseus.tufts.edu\/hopper\/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.<\/a>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n<\/a>Early Adventures<\/h1>\r\n
\r\n Sections & Primary Sources<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n\r\nLinus and Thespius<\/a>\r\n\r\nMegara<\/a>\r\n- \r\n \t
- Euripides,\u00a0Heracles<\/em>, 1131-1339<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
<\/a>Linus and Thespius<\/h2>\r\n
As he grew older, Heracles learned many important skills from great teachers, but he had a short temper and did not realize his own strength. When his music teacher, Linus, who was the brother of Orpheus, reprimanded him for not practicing enough, Heracles took his chair and smashed it over Linus\u2019 head, killing him instantly. Amphitryon decided to send Heracles to live at his country estate to protect his family.<\/p>\r\n
By the time Heracles was seventeen, he had grown to be a tall and strong young man. Around the same time, a lion was roaming in the area of Mount Cithaeron and was terrorizing the countryside. Thespius, the king of the area, asked Heracles to come and stay with him and help his men kill the lion. Thespius also happened to have fifty daughters. For fifty days Heracles went out to find the lion, and each night Thespius sent a different daughter in to sleep with Heracles, though Heracles thought it was the same daughter each night. After the fifty days, Heracles had killed the lion and all of Thespius\u2019 fifty daughters were pregnant.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
<\/a>Megara<\/h2>\r\n
Heracles stayed in the area of Thebes long enough to distinguish himself in a war the Thebans were fighting against the Minyans, an autochthonous group that inhabited the Aegean region according to Greek mythology. The king of Thebes was so happy to have had Heracles\u2019 help that he offered his daughter, Megara, to become Heracles\u00b4 wife. Megara and Heracles married and had two sons. They lived for a few years in peace, but Hera was still out to torment Heracles, so she sent him into madness. In his madness, Heracles killed his wife and children. When he regained his sanity, Heracles was devastated and decided to go to the Oracle at Delphi to ask Apollo how he could be purified for this murder. The Pythia told him that he had to go to Tiryns and perform twelve labours for the ruler, Eurystheus. If he could complete all twelve labours successfully, he would not only be purified of the murders, but he would also achieve immortality.<\/p>\r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/a>Euripides,\u00a0Heracles<\/em>, 1131-1339 (trans. E. P. Coleridge, adapted by L. Zhang and P. Rogak)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek tragedy, ca. 416 BCE<\/h4>\r\n
[content warning for the following source: infanticide, suicide]<\/h5>\r\n
\r\n\r\nThis tragic play, written by Euripides, was likely performed in 416 BCE at the City Dionysia Festival in Athens.\r\n\r\nWhile in most accounts of the myth of Heracles, it is the hero's deranged killing of his wife, Megara, and their children (under the influence of madness sent by Hera) that initiates his undertaking of the twelve labours, in this play, Euripides has Heracles complete his twelve labours before killing Megara and the children. It is while he is performing the twelfth labour of bringing the three headed dog Cerberus up from Hades that the events of the play begin.\r\n\r\nThis scene, towards the end of the play, opens as Heracles, with the help of his mortal father, Amphitryon, is becoming aware of what he has done in his moment of madness.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nAMPHITRYON:<\/h6>\r\n[1131] See here the corpses of your children.\r\n
HERACLES:<\/h6>\r\nO horror! What sight is here? Ah me!\r\n
AMPHITRYON:<\/h6>\r\nMy son, against your children you have waged unnatural war.\r\n
HERACLES:<\/h6>\r\nWar! what do you mean? Who killed them?\r\n
AMPHITRYON:<\/h6>\r\n[1135] You and your bow and some god, whoever is to blame.\r\n
HERACLES:<\/h6>\r\nWhat are you saying? What have I done? Speak, father, you messenger of evil!\r\n
AMPHITRYON:<\/h6>\r\nYou were insane; it is a sad explanation that you are asking for.\r\n
HERACLES:<\/h6>\r\nWas it I that killed my wife also?\r\n
AMPHITRYON:<\/h6>\r\nYour own arm alone has done all this.\r\n
HERACLES:<\/h6>\r\n[1140] Alas! A cloud of mourning wraps me round.\r\n
AMPHITRYON:<\/h6>\r\nFor this reason I lament your fate.\r\n
HERACLES:<\/h6>\r\nDid I break my house to pieces in my frenzy?\r\n
AMPHITRYON:<\/h6>\r\nI know nothing but this: that you are utterly undone.\r\n
HERACLES:<\/h6>\r\nWhere did the madness seize me? Where did it destroy me?\r\n
AMPHITRYON:<\/h6>\r\n[1145] When you were purifying yourself with fire at the altar.\r\n
HERACLES:<\/h6>\r\nAh me! Why do I spare my own life when I have become the murderer of my dear children? Shall I not rush to leap from some high rock, or aim the sword against my heart [1150] and avenge my children's blood, or burn my body, which she [ [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] ] drove mad, in the fire and so avert from my life the infamy which now awaits me?\r\n\r\nBut here I see [pb_glossary id=\"1438\"]Theseus[\/pb_glossary] coming to check my deadly counsels, my kinsman and friend. [1155] Now shall I stand revealed, and the dearest of my friends will see the pollution I have incurred by my children's murder.[footnote]\"Pollution\" here refers to the Greek concept of miasma<\/em>, the idea that death defiles someone or makes them impure. For further explanation, see Mythology Unbound<\/em><\/a>.[\/footnote] Ah, woe is me! What am I to do? Where can I find freedom from my sorrows? Shall I take wings or plunge beneath the earth? Come, let me veil my head in darkness; [1160] for I am ashamed of the evil I have done, and, since for these I have incurred fresh blood-guiltiness, I do not want to harm the innocent.\r\n\r\nTheseus and his retinue enter.<\/i>\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nI have come, and others with me, young warriors from the land of Athens, encamped by the streams of Asopus, [1165] to bring an allied army to your son, old friend. For a rumour reached the city of the Erechtheidae, that Lycus had usurped the scepter of this land and had become your enemy even to battle. Wherefore I came making recompense for the former kindness of Heracles [1170] in saving me from the world below, if you have any need of such aid as I or my allies can give, old man.\r\n\r\nHa! why this heap of dead upon the floor? Surely I have not delayed too long and come too late to check new ills? Who slew these children? [1175] whose wife is this I see? Boys do not go to battle; no, it must be some other strange mischance I here discover.\r\n\r\nIn the following lines, Amphitryon makes sung responses to Theseus' spoken questions.<\/i>\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\nO king, whose home is that olive-clad hill!\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nWhy this piteous prelude in addressing me?\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\n[1180] The gods have afflicted us with grievous suffering.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nWhose are these children, over whom you weep?\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\nMy own son's children, woe to him! he was their father and butcher both, hardening his heart to the bloody deed.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nHush! good words only!\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\n[1185] I would I could obey!\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nWhat dreadful words!\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\nFortune has spread her wings, and we are ruined, ruined.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nWhat do you mean? what has he done?\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\nSlain them in a wild fit of frenzy [1190] with arrows dipped in the venom of the hundred-headed hydra.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nThis is Hera's work; but who lies there among the dead, old man?\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\nMy son, my own enduring son, that marched with gods to Phlegra's plain, there to battle with giants and slay them, warrior that he was.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\n[1195] Ah, ah! whose fortune was ever so cursed as his?\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\nNever will you find another mortal that has suffered more or been driven harder.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nWhy does he veil his head, poor wretch, in his robe?\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\nHe is ashamed to meet your eye; [1200] his kinsman's kind intent and his children's blood make him abashed.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nBut I come to sympathize; uncover him.\r\n
AMPHITRYON<\/h6>\r\nMy son, remove that mantle [1205] from your eyes, throw it from you, show your face to the sun. As a counterweight, fighting along with my tears, I entreat you as a suppliant, as I grasp your beard, your knees, your hands, and let fall [1210] the tear from my old eyes. O my child! restrain your savage lion-like temper, for you are rushing forth on an unholy course of bloodshed, eager to join woe to woe, child.\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nTHESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nEnough! To you I call who are huddled there in your misery, [1215] show to your friends your face; for no darkness is black enough to hide your sad mischance. Why do you wave your hand at me, signifying murder? is it that I may not be polluted by speaking with you? [1220] If I share your misfortune, what is that to me? For once I had good fortune with you. I must refer to the time when you brought me safe from the dead to the light of life. I hate a friend whose gratitude grows old; one who is ready to enjoy his friends' prosperity [1225] but unwilling to sail in the same ship with them when they are unfortunate. Arise, unveil your head, poor wretch! and look on me. The gallant soul endures such blows as heaven deals and does not refuse them.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nO Theseus, did you see this struggle with my children?\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\n[1230] I heard of it, and now I see the horrors you mean.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nWhy then have you unveiled my head to the sun?\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nWhy have I? you, a mortal, can not pollute what is of the gods.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nTry to escape, luckless wretch, from my unholy taint.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nThe avenging fiend does not go forth from friend to friend.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\n[1235] For this I thank you; I do not regret the service I did you.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nWhile I, for kindness then received, now show my pity for you.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nAh yes! I am piteous, a murderer of my sons.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nI weep for you in your changed fortunes.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nDid you ever find another more afflicted?\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\n[1240] Your misfortunes reach from earth to heaven.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nTherefore I am resolved on death.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nDo you think the gods pay attention\u00a0 to your threats?\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nThe god has been remorseless to me; so I will be the same to the gods.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nHush! lest your presumption add to your sufferings.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\n[1245] My ship is freighted full with sorrow; there is no room to stow anything further.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nWhat will you do? Where is your fury drifting you?\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nI will die and return to that world below from which I have just come.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nSuch language is fit for any common fellow.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nAh! yours is the advice of one outside sorrow.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\n[1250] Are these indeed the words of Heracles, the much-enduring?\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nThough never so much as this. Endurance must have a limit.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nIs this the benefactor and great friend to mortals?\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\nMortals bring no help to me; no! Hera has her way.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nNever would Hellas allow you to die through sheer perversity.\r\n
HERACLES<\/h6>\r\n[1255] Hear me a moment, that I may enter the contest with words in answer to your admonitions; and I will unfold to you why life now as well as formerly has been unbearable to me. First I am the son of a man who incurred the guilt of blood, before he married my mother Alcmena, [1260] by slaying her aged father. Now when the foundation is badly laid at birth, it is necessary for the race to be cursed with woe; and Zeus, whoever this Zeus may be, begot me as an enemy to Hera; yet do not be vexed, old man; [1265] for you rather than Zeus I regard as my father. Then while I was being suckled, that bedfellow of Zeus foisted into my cradle fearsome snakes to cause my death. After I took on a cloak of youthful flesh, [1270] of all the toils I then endured what need to tell? what did I not destroy, whether lions, or triple-bodied Typhons, or giants or the battle against the hosts of four-legged Centaurs? or how when I had killed the hydra, [1275] that monster with a ring of heads with power to grow again, I passed through a herd of countless other toils besides and came to the dead to fetch to the light at the bidding of Eurystheus the three-headed hound, hell's porter. Last, ah, woe is me! I have dared this labor, [1280] to crown the sorrows of my house with my children's murder. I have come to this point of necessity; no longer may I dwell in Thebes, the city that I love; for suppose I stay, to what temple or gathering of friends shall I go? For mine is no curse that invites greetings. [1285] Shall I go to\u00a0Argos? how can I, when I am an exile from my country? Well, is there a single other city I can rush to? Am I then to be looked at askance as a marked man, held by cruel stabbing tongues: \u201cIs not this the son of Zeus that once murdered children [1290] and wife? Plague take him from the land!\u201d Now to one who was once called happy, such changes are a grievous thing; though he who is always unfortunate feels no such pain, for sorrow is his birthright.\r\n\r\nThis, I think, is the piteous pass I shall one day come to; [1295] for earth will cry out forbidding me to touch her, the sea and the river-springs will refuse me a crossing, and I shall become like Ixion who revolves in chains upon that wheel. And so this is best, that I should be seen by no one of the Hellenes, [1300] among whom in happier days I lived in bliss. What right have I to live? what profit can I have in the possession of a useless, impious life? So let that noble wife of Zeus dance, beating her foot in its shoe; [1305] for now has she worked her heart's desire in utterly confounding the first of\u00a0Hellas' sons. Who would pray to such a goddess? Her jealousy of Zeus for his love of a woman has destroyed [1310] the benefactors of\u00a0Hellas, guiltless though they were.\r\n
CHORUS LEADER<\/h6>\r\nThis is the work of none other of the gods than the wife of Zeus; you are right in that surmise.\r\n
THESEUS:<\/h6>\r\nI cannot counsel you . . . rather than to go on suffering. There is not a man alive that has wholly escaped misfortune's taint, [1315] nor any god either, if what poets sing is true. Have they not intermarried in ways that law forbids? Have they not thrown fathers into ignominious chains to gain the sovereign power? Still they inhabit Olympus and brave the issue of their crimes. [1320] And yet what shall you say in your defence, if you, a child of man, take your fate excessively hard, while they, as gods, do not? No, then, leave\u00a0Thebes in compliance with the law, and come with me to the city of Pallas. There, when I have purified you of your pollution, [1325] I will give you homes and the half of all I have. Yes, I will give you all those presents I received from the citizens for saving their fourteen children, when I slew the bull of\u00a0Crete; for I have plots of land assigned me throughout the country; these shall henceforth [1330] be called after you by men, while you live; and at your death, when you have gone to Hades' halls, the whole city of\u00a0Athens\u00a0shall exalt your honor with sacrifices and a monument of stone. For it is a noble crown of a good reputation [1335] for citizens to win from\u00a0Hellas, by helping a man of worth. This is the return that I will make you for saving me, for now you are in need of friends. But when the gods honor a man, he has no need of friends; for the god's aid, when he chooses to give it, is enough.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: http:\/\/www.perseus.tufts.edu\/hopper\/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0102%3Acard%3D1131<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n<\/a>The 12 Labours<\/h1>\r\n
\r\n Sections & Primary Sources<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n\r\nEurystheus<\/a>\r\n- \r\n \t
- Euripides,\u00a0Heracles,\u00a0<\/em>348-425<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t
- Pseudo-Apollodorus, 2.4.8-2.7.7<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t
- Bacchylides, \"Ode 5,\" 56-90<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n1. The Nemean Lion<\/a>\r\n\r\n2. The Lernean Hydra<\/a>\r\n\r\n3. The Cerynetian Hind<\/a>\r\n\r\n4. The Erymanthian Boar<\/a>\r\n\r\n5. The Augeian Stables<\/a>\r\n\r\n6. The Symphalian Birds<\/a>\r\n\r\n7. The Cretan Bull<\/a>\r\n\r\n8. The Mares of Diomedes<\/a>\r\n\r\n9. The Belt of Hippolyte<\/a>\r\n\r\n10. The Cattle of Geryon<\/a>\r\n\r\n11. The Golden Apples of the Hesperides<\/a>\r\n\r\n12. Cerberus<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1360\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1125\"]
![\"Reconstructed](\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greekromanmyth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1141\/2021\/04\/Temple_of_Zeus_in_Olympia_-_Metopes.jpg\")
Heracles' Twelve Labours, reconstruction of metopes from the Olympia temple of Zeus, ca. 457 BCE.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a>Eurystheus<\/h2>\r\n
As a punishment for the murder of his own children, Heracles was told by the Pythia that he had to perform twelve tasks for Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns.\u00a0 Eurystheus was also king of Mycenae. Eurystheus had inherited the throne of Mycenae from his father, Sthenelos, who had usurped it from Amphitryon, Heracles\u2019 mortal father. Therefore, Heracles should really have been king of Mycenae instead of Eurystheus. Heracles had to perform any twelve tasks that Eurystheus set for him, even though Eurystheus had usurped Heracles\u2019 throne and he was neither as strong nor as brave as Heracles. This subordinate relationship to Eurystheus was humiliating for Heracles, and that was obviously part of the punishment. While the first six of Heracles\u2019 labours took place in the Peloponnese, the last six labours took place throughout the Greek world.<\/p>\r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/a>Euripides,\u00a0Heracles,<\/em> 348-425 (trans. E. P. Coleridge, adapted by L. Zhang and P. Rogak<\/h3>\r\n
Greek tragedy, ca. 416 BCE<\/h4>\r\n
\r\n\r\nThis tragic play by Euripides was likely performed in 416 BCE at the City Dionysia Festival in Athens. Early in the play, the chorus, made up of old men of Thebes, recounts some of Heracles' previous labours.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nCHORUS:<\/h6>\r\n[348] [pb_glossary id=\"946\"]Phoebus[\/pb_glossary] is singing an elegy, after singing his happier songs, [350] for [pb_glossary id=\"1408\"]Linus[\/pb_glossary] dead in his beauty, playing his lyre in a key of gold; but I wish to sing a song of praise, a crown to all his labour, on the one who has gone to the gloom beneath the Netherworld, [355] whether I am to call him son of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] or of [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary]. For the virtue of noble works is a glory to the dead\r\n\r\nFirst he cleared the grove of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] [360] of a lion, and put its skin upon his back, hiding his yellow hair in its fearful tawny gaping jaws.\r\n\r\nAnd then one day with a murderous bow he wounded [365] the race of wild [pb_glossary id=\"1398\"]Centaurs[\/pb_glossary], that roam the hills, slaying them with winged shafts. Peneus, the river of lovely currents, knows him well, as do those far uncultivated fields, [370] the farms on [pb_glossary id=\"2333\"]Pelion[\/pb_glossary], and the neighboring caves of Homole, from where the [pb_glossary id=\"1398\"]Centaurs[\/pb_glossary] rode forth to conquer Thessaly, arming themselves with pine trees.\r\n\r\n[375] And he slew that dappled deer with horns of gold [ the [pb_glossary id=\"1414\"]Cerynitian hind[\/pb_glossary] ], that preyed upon the country-folk, glorifying [pb_glossary id=\"180\"]Artemis[\/pb_glossary], huntress queen of Oenoe.\r\n\r\n[380] Next he mounted on a chariot and tamed the horses of [pb_glossary id=\"1425\"]Diomedes[\/pb_glossary], that greedily chewed their bloody food in gory troughs with unbridled jaws, devouring with hideous joy the flesh of men; [385] then crossing the heights of Hebrus that flow with silver, he continued to labour for the tyrant of [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\nAnd he came to those minstrel maids [ the [pb_glossary id=\"1396\"]Hesperides[\/pb_glossary] ], [395] to their orchard in the west, to pluck from golden leaves the apple-bearing fruit, when he had slain the tawny dragon, whose terrible coils were twined all round to guard it; [400] and he made his way into [pb_glossary id=\"216\"]Ocean[\/pb_glossary]'s lairs, bringing calm to men that use the oar.\r\n\r\nAnd he stretched out his hands to uphold the sky, [405] seeking the home of [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary], and on his manly shoulders took the starry mansions of the gods.\r\n\r\nThen he went through the waves of heaving Euxine against the mounted host of [pb_glossary id=\"1207\"]Amazons[\/pb_glossary] living round Maeotis, [410] the lake that is fed by many streams, having gathered to his standard all his friends from Hellas, to fetch the gold-embroidered garment of the warrior queen, [415] a deadly quest for a girdle. Hellas won those glorious spoils of the barbarian maid, and they are safe in [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n[425] And many other glorious achievements he brought to a happy ending; to [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary]' house of tears has he now sailed, the goal of his labours, where he is ending his career of toil, and he does not come back again.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: http:\/\/www.perseus.tufts.edu\/hopper\/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0102%3Acard%3D348<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/a>Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca,<\/em> Book 2\u00a0(trans. J. G. Frazer, adapted by L. Zhang and P. Rogak)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek mythography, 2nd century CE<\/h4>\r\n
[content warning for the following source: infanticide (2.4.12), sexual assault (2.7.6), graphic description of death (2.7.7), suicide (2.7.7)]<\/h5>\r\n
This section from Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheca<\/em> is the most comprehensive account of Heracles' twelve labours and other myths about Heracles.<\/div>\r\n[2.4.8] But before [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] reached [pb_glossary id=\"4675\"]Thebes[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] came in the night and, prolonging the one night so that is seemed like three, he assumed the appearance of [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] and slept with [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary], relating to her what had happened concerning the Teleboans. But when [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] arrived and saw that he was not welcomed by his wife, he inquired about the cause; and when she told him that he had come the night before and slept with her, he learned from [pb_glossary id=\"929\"]Teiresias[\/pb_glossary] how [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] had slept with her. And [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary] bore two sons: Heracles, whom she had by [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] and who was the elder by one night, and [pb_glossary id=\"1404\"]Iphicles[\/pb_glossary], whom she had by [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary]. When the child [Hercules] was eight months old, [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] wished to destroy him, and sent two huge serpents to the bed. [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary] called [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] to her help, but Hercules arose and killed the serpents by strangling them with both his hands. However, Pherecydes says that it was [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] who put the serpents in the bed, so that he would know which of the two children was his, and that when [pb_glossary id=\"1404\"]Iphicles[\/pb_glossary] fled, and Hercules stood his ground, he knew that [pb_glossary id=\"1404\"]Iphicles[\/pb_glossary] was begotten of his body.\r\n\r\n[2.4.9] Hercules was taught to drive a chariot by [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary], to wrestle by [pb_glossary id=\"1405\"]Autolycus[\/pb_glossary], to shoot with the bow by [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary], to fence by [pb_glossary id=\"1407\"]Castor[\/pb_glossary], and to play the lyre by [pb_glossary id=\"1408\"]Linus[\/pb_glossary]. This [pb_glossary id=\"1408\"]Linus[\/pb_glossary] was a brother of [pb_glossary id=\"950\"]Orpheus[\/pb_glossary]; he came to [pb_glossary id=\"4675\"]Thebes[\/pb_glossary] and became a Theban, but was killed by Hercules with a blow of the lyre; for being struck by him, Hercules flew into a rage and slew him. When he was tried for murder, Hercules quoted a law of Rhadamanthys, who laid it down that whoever defends himself against a wrongful aggressor shall go free, and so he was acquitted. But fearing he might do the like again, [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] sent him to the cattle farm; and there he was nurtured and outdid all in stature and strength. Even by the look of him it was plain that he was a son of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary]; for his body measured four cubits, and he flashed a gleam of fire from his eyes; and he did not miss, neither with the bow nor with the javelin.\r\n\r\nWhile he was with the herds and had reached his eighteenth year he slew the lion of [pb_glossary id=\"918\"]Cithaeron[\/pb_glossary], for that animal, coming from [pb_glossary id=\"918\"]Cithaeron[\/pb_glossary], plagued the cattle of [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] and of Thespius.\r\n\r\n[2.4.10] Now this Thespius\u00a0was king of Thespiae, and Hercules went to him when he wished to catch the lion. The king entertained him for fifty days, and each night, as Hercules went forth to the hunt, Thespius\u00a0made one of his daughters sleep with Hercules (fifty daughters having been borne to him by Megamede, daughter of Arneus); for he was anxious that all of them should have children by Hercules. Thus Hercules, though he thought that his bed-fellow was always the same, had intercourse with them all. And having vanquished the lion, he dressed himself in the skin and wore the scalp as a helmet.\r\n\r\n[2.4.11] As he was returning from the hunt, he met heralds sent by Erginus to receive the tribute from the Thebans. Now, the Thebans paid tribute to Erginus for the following reason: Clymenus, king of the Minyans, was wounded by a stone thrown by a charioteer of Menoeceus, named Perieres, in a precinct of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary] at Onchestus. And, while being carried dying to Orchomenus, with his last breath he tasked his son Erginus to avenge his death. So Erginus marched against [pb_glossary id=\"4675\"]Thebes[\/pb_glossary], and after slaughtering many of the Thebans, he concluded a treaty with them, confirmed by oaths, that they should send him tribute for twenty years, a hundred cattle every year. Falling in with the heralds on their way to [pb_glossary id=\"4675\"]Thebes[\/pb_glossary] to demand this tribute, Hercules outraged them; he cut off their ears and noses and hands, and having fastened them by ropes from their necks, he told them to carry that tribute to Erginus and the Minyans. Indignant at this outrage, Erginus marched against [pb_glossary id=\"4675\"]Thebes[\/pb_glossary]. But Hercules, having received weapons from [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary] and taken the command, killed Erginus, put the Minyans to flight, and compelled them to pay double the tribute to the Thebans. And it chanced that in the fight [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] fell fighting bravely. And Hercules received from Creon his eldest daughter [pb_glossary id=\"1390\"]Megara[\/pb_glossary] as a prize of valor, and by her he had three sons, Therimachus, Creontiades, and Deicoon. But Creon gave his younger daughter to [pb_glossary id=\"1404\"]Iphicles[\/pb_glossary], who already had a son [pb_glossary id=\"1412\"]Iolaus[\/pb_glossary] by Automedusa, daughter of Alcathus. And Rhadamanthys, son of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], married [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary] after the death of [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary], and dwelt as an exile at Ocaleae in Boeotia.\r\n\r\nHaving first learned from [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary] the art of archery, Hercules received a sword from [pb_glossary id=\"210\"]Hermes[\/pb_glossary], a bow and arrows from [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary], a golden breastplate from [pb_glossary id=\"356\"]Hephaestus[\/pb_glossary], and a robe from [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary]; for he had himself cut a club at Nemea.\r\n\r\n[2.4.12] Now it came to pass that after the battle with the Minyans, Hercules was driven mad through the jealousy of [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] and flung his own children, whom he had by [pb_glossary id=\"1390\"]Megara[\/pb_glossary], and two children of [pb_glossary id=\"1404\"]Iphicles[\/pb_glossary] into the fire; he thus he condemned himself to exile, and was purified by Thespius, and appealing to [pb_glossary id=\"945\"]Delphi[\/pb_glossary] he inquired of the god [ [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary] ] where he should dwell. The Pythian priestess then first called him Hercules, for before this point he was called [pb_glossary id=\"1480\"]Alcides[\/pb_glossary]. And she told him to dwell in Tiryns, serving [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] for twelve years, and to perform the ten labours imposed on him, and so, she said, when the tasks were accomplished, he would be immortal.\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.1] When Hercules heard that, he went to Tiryns and did as [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] commanded. First, [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] ordered him to bring the skin of the [pb_glossary id=\"1484\"]Nemean lion[\/pb_glossary], an invulnerable beast begotten by [pb_glossary id=\"602\"]Typhon[\/pb_glossary]. On his way to attack the lion he came to Cleonae and lodged at the house of a day-laborer, Molorchus; and when his host would have offered a victim in sacrifice, Hercules told him to wait for thirty days, and then, if he had returned safe from the hunt, to sacrifice to Saviour [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], but if he were dead, to sacrifice to him as to a hero. And having come to Nemea and tracked the lion, he first shot an arrow at it, but when he perceived that the beast was invulnerable, he heaved up his club and made after it. And when the lion took refuge in a cave with two mouths, Hercules built up the one entrance and came in upon the beast through the other, and putting his arm round its neck held it tight till he had choked it; so laying it on his shoulders he carried it to Cleonae. And finding Molorchus on the last of the thirty days about to sacrifice the victim to him as to a dead man, he sacrificed to Saviour [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] and brought the lion to [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary]. Amazed at his manhood, [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] forbade him from then on to enter the city, but ordered him to exhibit the fruits of his labours before the gates. They say, too, that in his fear he had a bronze jar made for himself to hide in under the earth, and that he sent his commands for the labours through a herald, Copreus, son of Pelops the Elean. This Copreus had killed Iphitus and fled to [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary], where he was purified by [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] and took up his abode.\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.2] As a second labour he [ [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] ] ordered him to kill the [pb_glossary id=\"1413\"]Lernaean hydra[\/pb_glossary]. That creature, bred in the swamp of Lerna, used to go forth into the plain and ravage both the cattle and the country. Now the [pb_glossary id=\"1413\"]hydra[\/pb_glossary] had a huge body, with nine heads, eight mortal, but the middle one immortal. So, mounting a chariot driven by [pb_glossary id=\"1412\"]Iolaus[\/pb_glossary], he came to Lerna, and having halted his horses, he discovered the hydra on a hill beside the springs of the Amymone, where its den was. By pelting it with fiery arrows, he forced it to come out, and in the act of doing so he seized and held it fast. But the [pb_glossary id=\"1413\"]hydra[\/pb_glossary] wound itself about one of his feet and clung to him. Nor could he achieve anything by smashing its heads with his club, for as fast as one head was smashed, two grew back. A huge crab also came to the help of the [pb_glossary id=\"1413\"]hydra[\/pb_glossary] by biting his foot. So he killed it, and in his turn called for help on [pb_glossary id=\"1412\"]Iolaus[\/pb_glossary] who, by setting fire to a piece of the neighboring wood and burning the roots of the heads with the brands, prevented them from sprouting. Having thus got the better of the sprouting heads, he chopped off the immortal head, and buried it, and put a heavy rock on it, beside the road that leads through Lerna to Elaeus. But the body of the [pb_glossary id=\"1413\"]hydra[\/pb_glossary] he sliced up, and he dipped his arrows in the gall. However, [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] said that this labour should not be counted among the ten because he had not defeated the hydra by himself, but with the help of [pb_glossary id=\"1412\"]Iolaus[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.3] As a third labour he ordered him to bring the [pb_glossary id=\"1414\"]Cerynitian hind[\/pb_glossary] alive to [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary]. Now the hind was at Oenoe; it had golden horns and was sacred to [pb_glossary id=\"180\"]Artemis[\/pb_glossary]; so wishing neither to kill nor wound it, Hercules hunted it a whole year. But when, weary with the chase, the beast took refuge on the mountain called Artemisius, and from there passed to the river Ladon, Hercules shot it just as it was about to cross the stream. He caught it and put it on his shoulders and hastened through Arcadia. But [pb_glossary id=\"180\"]Artemis[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary] met him, and would have wrested the hind from him, and rebuked him for attempting to kill her sacred animal. However, by pleading necessity and laying the blame on [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], he appeased the anger of the goddess and carried the beast alive to [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.4] As a fourth labour he ordered him to bring the [pb_glossary id=\"1415\"]Erymanthian boar[\/pb_glossary] alive; now that animal ravaged Psophis, descending from a mountain which they call Erymanthus. So passing through Pholoe he was entertained by the [pb_glossary id=\"1398\"]centaur[\/pb_glossary] Pholus, a son of [pb_glossary id=\"218\"]Silenus[\/pb_glossary] by a Melian [pb_glossary id=\"217\"]nymph[\/pb_glossary]. He set roast meat before Hercules, while he himself ate his meat raw. When Hercules called for wine, he said he feared to open the jar, which belonged to the [pb_glossary id=\"1398\"]centaurs[\/pb_glossary] in common. But Hercules, bidding him be of good courage, opened it, and not long afterwards, scenting the smell, the centaurs arrived at the cave of Pholus, armed with rocks and firs. The first who dared to enter, Anchius and Agrius, were repelled by Hercules with a shower of brands, and the rest of them he shot and pursued as far as Malea. There they took refuge with [pb_glossary id=\"1416\"]Chiron[\/pb_glossary], who, driven by the [pb_glossary id=\"1418\"]Lapiths[\/pb_glossary] from [pb_glossary id=\"2333\"]Mount Pelion[\/pb_glossary], lived at Malea. As the centaurs cowered around [pb_glossary id=\"1416\"]Chiron[\/pb_glossary], Hercules shot an arrow at them, which, passing through the arm of Elatus, stuck in the knee of [pb_glossary id=\"1416\"]Chiron[\/pb_glossary]. Distressed at this, Hercules ran up to him, drew out the shaft, and applied a medicine which [pb_glossary id=\"1416\"]Chiron[\/pb_glossary] gave him. But the hurt proved incurable, and [pb_glossary id=\"1416\"]Chiron[\/pb_glossary] retired to the cave. He wished to die there, but he could not, for he was immortal. However, [pb_glossary id=\"1389\"]Prometheus[\/pb_glossary] offered himself to [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] to be immortal in his stead, and so [pb_glossary id=\"1416\"]Chiron[\/pb_glossary] died. The rest of the [pb_glossary id=\"1398\"]centaurs[\/pb_glossary] fled in different directions, and some came to Mount Malea, and Eurytion to Pholoe, and [pb_glossary id=\"1397\"]Nessus[\/pb_glossary] to the river Evenus. The rest of them Poseidon received at Eleusis and hid in a mountain. But Pholus, drawing the arrow from a corpse, wondered that so little a thing could kill such big fellows; however, it slipped from his hand and landed on his foot killed him on the spot. So when Hercules returned to Pholoe, he saw Pholus dead; and he buried him and proceeded to the boar hunt. And when he had chased the boar with shouts from a thicket, he drove the exhausted animal into deep snow, trapped it, and brought it to [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.5] The fifth labour he laid on him was to carry out the dung of the cattle of [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary] in a single day. Now [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary] was king of Elis; some say that he was a son of the [pb_glossary id=\"876\"]Sun[\/pb_glossary], others that he was a son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary], and others that he was a son of Phorbas; and he had many herds of cattle. Hercules accosted him, and without revealing the command of [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], said that he would carry out the dung in one day, if [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary] would give him the tithe of the cattle. [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary] was incredulous, but promised. Having taken [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary]'s son Phyleus to witness, Hercules made a breach in the foundations of the cattle-yard, and then, diverting the courses of the Alpheus and Peneus [rivers], which flowed near each other, he turned them into the yard, having first made an outlet for the water through another opening. When [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary] learned that this had been accomplished at the command of [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], he would not pay the reward; furthermore, he denied that he had promised to pay it, and on that point he professed himself ready to submit to arbitration. The arbitrators having taken their seats, Phyleus was called by Hercules and bore witness against his father, affirming that he had agreed to give him a reward. In a rage [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary], before the voting took place, ordered both Phyleus and Hercules to leave Elis. So Phyleus went to Dulichium and lived there, and Hercules went to Dexamenus at Olenus. He found Dexamenus on the point of betrothing his daughter Mnesimache to the [pb_glossary id=\"1398\"]centaur[\/pb_glossary] Eurytion, and being called upon by him for help, he slew Eurytion when that centaur came to fetch his bride. But [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] would not admit this labour either among the ten, alleging that it had been performed for hire.\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.6] The sixth labour he enjoined on him was to chase away the [pb_glossary id=\"1421\"]Stymphalian birds[\/pb_glossary]. Now at the city of Stymphalus in Arcadia was the lake called Stymphalian, in the midst of a deep wood. To it countless birds had flocked for refuge, fearing to be preyed upon by the wolves. So when Hercules was at a loss how to drive the birds from the wood, [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary] gave him bronze castanets, which she had received from [pb_glossary id=\"356\"]Hephaestus[\/pb_glossary]. By clashing these on a mountain that overhung the lake, he scared the birds. They could not tolerate the sound, but fluttered up in a fright, and in that way Hercules shot them.\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.7] The seventh labour he enjoined on him was to bring the [pb_glossary id=\"1422\"]Cretan bull[\/pb_glossary]. Acusilaus says that this was the bull that ferried across [pb_glossary id=\"1423\"]Europa[\/pb_glossary] for [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary]; but some say it was the bull that Poseidon sent up from the sea when [pb_glossary id=\"1424\"]Minos[\/pb_glossary] promised to sacrifice to [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary] what should appear out of the sea. And they say that when he saw the beauty of the bull he sent it away to the herds and sacrificed another to [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary]; at which the god was angry and made the bull savage. To attack this bull Hercules came to Crete, and when, in reply to his request for aid, [pb_glossary id=\"1424\"]Minos[\/pb_glossary] told him to fight and catch the bull for himself, he caught it and brought it to [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], and having shown it to him he let it afterwards go free. But the bull roamed to Sparta and all Arcadia, and traversing the Isthmus arrived at Marathon in Attica and bothered the inhabitants.\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.8] The eighth labour he enjoined on him was to bring the mares of [pb_glossary id=\"1425\"]Diomedes[\/pb_glossary] the Thracian to [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary]. Now this [pb_glossary id=\"1425\"]Diomedes[\/pb_glossary] was a son of [pb_glossary id=\"179\"]Ares[\/pb_glossary] and Cyrene, and he was king of the Bistones, a very warlike Thracian people, and he owned man-eating mares. So Hercules sailed with a band of volunteers, and having overpowered the grooms who were in charge of the mangers, he drove the mares to the sea. When the Bistones in arms came to the rescue, he entrusted the mares to the guardianship of Abderus, who was a son of [pb_glossary id=\"210\"]Hermes[\/pb_glossary], a native of Opus in Locris, and a minion of Hercules; but the mares killed him by dragging him after them. But Hercules fought against the Bistones, slew [pb_glossary id=\"1425\"]Diomedes[\/pb_glossary] and compelled the rest to flee. And he founded a city Abdera beside the grave of Abderus who had been killed, and bringing the mares he gave them to [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary]. But [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] let them go, and they came to [pb_glossary id=\"628\"]Mount Olympus[\/pb_glossary], as it is called, and there they were destroyed by the wild beasts.\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.9] The ninth labour he enjoined on Hercules was to bring the belt of [pb_glossary id=\"1426\"]Hippolyte[\/pb_glossary]. She was queen of the [pb_glossary id=\"1207\"]Amazons[\/pb_glossary], who dwelt by the river Thermodon, a people great in war. They cultivated the manly virtues, and if ever they gave birth to children through intercourse with the other sex, they raised the females; and they pinched off the right breasts that they might not be hindered by them when throwing javelins, but they kept the left breasts, so that they could suckle. Now [pb_glossary id=\"1426\"]Hippolyte[\/pb_glossary] had the belt of [pb_glossary id=\"179\"]Ares[\/pb_glossary] to show her superiority over all the others. Hercules was sent to fetch this belt because Admete, daughter of [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], wanted to have it. So taking with him a band of volunteer comrades in a single ship, he set sail and put in to the island of Paros, which was inhabited by the sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1424\"]Minos[\/pb_glossary]: Eurymedon, Chryses, Nephalion, and Philolaus. But it happened that two of those in the ship landed and were killed by the sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1424\"]Minos[\/pb_glossary]. Indignant at this, Hercules killed the sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1424\"]Minos[\/pb_glossary] on the spot and besieged the rest, until they sent envoys to request that in the place of the murdered men he would take two of them, whomever he wanted. So he ended the siege, and taking on board Alcaeus and Sthenelus, the sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1735\"]Androgeus[\/pb_glossary] son of [pb_glossary id=\"1424\"]Minos[\/pb_glossary], he came to Mysia, to the court of [pb_glossary id=\"3900\"]Lycus[\/pb_glossary], son of Dascylus, and was entertained by him; and in a battle between him and the king of the Bebryces, Hercules sided with [pb_glossary id=\"3900\"]Lycus[\/pb_glossary] and slew many, amongst others King Mygdon, brother of [pb_glossary id=\"1996\"]Amycus[\/pb_glossary]. And he took much land from the Bebryces and gave it to [pb_glossary id=\"3900\"]Lycus[\/pb_glossary], who called it all Heraclea.\r\n\r\nHaving put in at the harbor of Themiscyra, he received a visit from [pb_glossary id=\"1426\"]Hippolyte[\/pb_glossary], who inquired why he had come, and promised to give him the belt. But [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary], in disguise as an [pb_glossary id=\"1207\"]Amazon[\/pb_glossary], went up and down the multitude saying that the strangers who had arrived were carrying off the queen. So the [pb_glossary id=\"1207\"]Amazons[\/pb_glossary] in arms charged on horseback down on the ship. But when Hercules saw them in arms, he suspected treachery, and killing [pb_glossary id=\"1426\"]Hippolyte[\/pb_glossary] stripped her of her belt. And after fighting the rest he sailed away and landed at [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\nBut it happened that the city was then in distress, as a result of the wrath of [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary]. Because, wanting to put the wantonness of [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary] to the test, [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary] assumed the appearance of men and undertook to fortify Pergamum for wages. But when they had fortified it, he [ [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary] ] would not pay them their wages. Therefore [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary] sent a pestilence, and [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary] a sea monster, which, carried up by a flood, snatched away the people of the plain. But as oracles foretold deliverance from these disasters if [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary] would expose his daughter [pb_glossary id=\"1391\"]Hesione[\/pb_glossary] to be devoured by the sea monster, he exposed her by fastening her to the rocks near the sea. Seeing her exposed, Hercules promised to save her, on the condition that he would receive from [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary] the mares that [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] had given in compensation for the rape of [pb_glossary id=\"364\"]Ganymede[\/pb_glossary]. When [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary]'s promised that he would give them, Hercules killed the monster and saved [pb_glossary id=\"1391\"]Hesione[\/pb_glossary]. But when [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary] would not give the promies reward, Hercules set out to sea, after threatening to make war on [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\nAnd he landed at Aenus, where he was hosted by Poltys. And as he was sailing away he shot and killed on the Aenian beach a rude man, Sarpedon, son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary] and brother of Poltys. And he came to Thasos and subjugated the Thracians who lived on the island, then gave it [Thasos] to the sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1735\"]Androgeus[\/pb_glossary] to dwell in. From Thasos he proceeded to Torone, and there, being challenged to wrestle by Polygonus and Telegonus, sons of Proteus, son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary], he killed them in the wrestling match. And he brought the belt to [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary] and gave it to [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.10] As a tenth labour he was ordered to fetch the cattle of [pb_glossary id=\"1162\"]Geryon[\/pb_glossary] from Erythia. Now Erythia was an island near the ocean; it is now called Gadira. This island was inhabited by [pb_glossary id=\"1162\"]Geryon[\/pb_glossary], son of [pb_glossary id=\"1158\"]Chrysaor[\/pb_glossary] by Callirrhoe, daughter of [pb_glossary id=\"216\"]Ocean[\/pb_glossary]. He had the body of three men grown together and joined in one at the waist, but separated in three from the hips and thighs. He owned red cattle, of which Eurytion was the herdsman and [pb_glossary id=\"2423\"]Orthus[\/pb_glossary], the two-headed hound, begotten by [pb_glossary id=\"602\"]Typhon[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"643\"]Echidna[\/pb_glossary], was the watchdog. So journeying through Europe to fetch the cattle of Geryon, he destroyed many wild beasts and set foot in Libya. Proceeding to Tartessus, he erected as tokens of his journey two pillars over against each other at the boundaries of Europe and Libya. But being heated by the [pb_glossary id=\"876\"]Sun[\/pb_glossary] on his journey, he aimed his bow at the god, who in admiration of his boldness, gave him a golden goblet in which he crossed the ocean. And having reached Erythia he camped on Mount Abas. However the dog, perceiving him, rushed at him; but he struck it with his club, and when the herdsman Eurytion came to help the dog, Hercules killed him also. But Menoetes, who was there pasturing the cattle of [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary], reported to [pb_glossary id=\"1162\"]Geryon[\/pb_glossary] what had occurred. He [ [pb_glossary id=\"1162\"]Geryon[\/pb_glossary] ], coming up to Hercules beside the river Anthemus, as he was driving away the cattle, joined battle with him and was shot dead. And Hercules, embarking the cattle in the goblet and sailing across to Tartessus, gave back the goblet to the [pb_glossary id=\"876\"]Sun[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\nAnd passing through Abderia he came to Liguria, where Ialebion and Dercynus, sons of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary], attempted to rob him of the cattle, but he killed them and went on his way through Tyrrhenia. But at Rhegium a bull escaped, and hastily plunging into the sea swam across to Sicily, and having passed through the neighboring country since called Italy after it, for the Tyrrhenians called the bull italus, came to the plain of Eryx, who reigned over the Elymi. Now Eryx was a son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary], and he joined the bull with his own herds. So Hercules entrusted the cattle to [pb_glossary id=\"356\"]Hephaestus[\/pb_glossary] and hurried away in search of the bull. He found it in the herds of Eryx, and when the king refused to surrender it unless Hercules should beat him in a wrestling match, Hercules beat him three times, killed him in the wrestling, and took the bull and drove it with the rest of the herd to the Ionian Sea. But when he came to the creeks of the sea, [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] afflicted the cows with a gadfly, and they dispersed among the skirts of the mountains of Thrace. Hercules went in pursuit, and having caught some, drove them to the Hellespont; but the remainder were from then on wild. Having with difficulty collected the cows, Hercules blamed the river Strymon, and while it had been navigable before, he made it unnavigable by filling it with rocks; and he conveyed the cattle and gave them to [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], who sacrificed them to [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.11] When the labours had been performed in eight years and a month, [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary] ordered Hercules, as an eleventh labour, to fetch golden apples from the [pb_glossary id=\"1396\"]Hesperides[\/pb_glossary], for he did not acknowledge the labour of the cattle of [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary] nor that of the [pb_glossary id=\"1413\"]hydra[\/pb_glossary]. These apples were not, as some have said, in Libya, but on [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary] among the [pb_glossary id=\"1203\"]Hyperboreans[\/pb_glossary]. They were presented <by [pb_glossary id=\"358\"]Earth[\/pb_glossary]> to [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] after his marriage with Hera, and guarded by an immortal dragon with a hundred heads, offspring of [pb_glossary id=\"602\"]Typhon[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"643\"]Echidna[\/pb_glossary], which spoke with many and diverse sorts of voices. With it the [pb_glossary id=\"1396\"]Hesperides[\/pb_glossary] Aegle, Erythia, Hesperia, and Arethusa were also on guard. He journeyed and came to the river Echedorus. And [pb_glossary id=\"1388\"]Cycnus[\/pb_glossary], son of [pb_glossary id=\"179\"]Ares[\/pb_glossary] and Pyrene, challenged him to single combat. [pb_glossary id=\"179\"]Ares[\/pb_glossary] championed the cause of [pb_glossary id=\"1388\"]Cycnus[\/pb_glossary] and marshalled the combat, but a thunderbolt was hurled between the two and parted the combatants. And going on foot through Illyria and hastening to the river Eridanus, he came to the [pb_glossary id=\"217\"]nymphs[\/pb_glossary], the daughters of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"192\"]Themis[\/pb_glossary]. They revealed [pb_glossary id=\"1431\"]Nereus[\/pb_glossary] to him, and Hercules seized him while he slept, and though the god turned himself into all kinds of shapes, the hero bound him and did not release him until he had learned from him where the apples and the [pb_glossary id=\"1396\"]Hesperides[\/pb_glossary] were. With this information, he travelled across Libya. That country was then ruled by [pb_glossary id=\"1382\"]Antaeus[\/pb_glossary], son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary], who used to kill strangers by forcing them to wrestle. Being forced to wrestle with him, Hercules hugged him, lifted him aloft, broke and killed him; for when he touched earth he grew stronger, for which reason some said that he was a son of [pb_glossary id=\"358\"]Earth[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\nAfter Libya he travelled through Egypt. That country was then ruled by [pb_glossary id=\"1385\"]Busiris[\/pb_glossary], a son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary] by Lysianassa, daughter of Epaphus. This [pb_glossary id=\"1385\"]Busiris[\/pb_glossary] used to sacrifice strangers on an altar of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] in accordance with an oracle. For Egypt was visited with shortages for nine years, and Phrasius, a wise seer who had come from Cyprus, said that the shortages would end if they slaughtered a stranger in honour of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] every year. [pb_glossary id=\"1385\"]Busiris[\/pb_glossary] began by slaughtering the seer himself and continued to slaughter the strangers who landed. So Hercules also was seized and hauled to the altars, but he burst his bonds and killed both [pb_glossary id=\"1385\"]Busiris[\/pb_glossary] and his son Amphidamas.\r\n\r\nAnd travelling across Asia he landed at Thermydrae, the harbor of the Lindians. And he freed one of the bullocks from the cart of a cowherd and he sacrificed it, and feasted. But the cowherd, unable to protect himself, stood on a mountain and cursed. For this reason, to this day, when they sacrifice to Hercules, they do it with curses.\r\n\r\nAnd passing by Arabia he killed Emathion, son of [pb_glossary id=\"1511\"]Tithonus[\/pb_glossary], and journeying through Libya to the outer sea he received the goblet from the [pb_glossary id=\"876\"]Sun[\/pb_glossary]. And having crossed to the opposite mainland he shot on the Caucasus the eagle, offspring of [pb_glossary id=\"643\"]Echidna[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"602\"]Typhon[\/pb_glossary], that was devouring the liver of [pb_glossary id=\"1389\"]Prometheus[\/pb_glossary], and he released [pb_glossary id=\"1389\"]Prometheus[\/pb_glossary]. He chose for himself the crown of olive branches, and to [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] he presented [pb_glossary id=\"1416\"]Chiron[\/pb_glossary], who, though immortal, agreed to die in his place.\r\n\r\nNow [pb_glossary id=\"1389\"]Prometheus[\/pb_glossary] had told Hercules not to go after the apples himself, but to send [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary], first relieving him of the burden of the sphere; so when he had come to [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary] in the land of the [pb_glossary id=\"1203\"]Hyperboreans[\/pb_glossary], he took the advice and relieved [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary]. But when [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary] had received three apples from the [pb_glossary id=\"1396\"]Hesperides[\/pb_glossary], he came to Hercules, and not wishing to support the sphere <he said that he would himself carry the apples to [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], and asked Hercules hold up the sky in his stead. Hercules promised to do so, but succeeded by trickery in putting it on [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary] instead. At the advice of [pb_glossary id=\"1389\"]Prometheus[\/pb_glossary], he begged [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary] to hold up the sky so that he could> put a pad on his head. When [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary] heard that, he laid the apples down on the ground and took the sphere from Hercules. And so Hercules picked up the apples and departed. But some say that he did not get them from [pb_glossary id=\"1085\"]Atlas[\/pb_glossary], but that he plucked the apples himself after killing the guardian snake. And he brought the apples and gave them to [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary]. But he, on receiving them, gave them back to Hercules, who gave them to [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary] to bring back to the garden; for it was not lawful that they should be laid down anywhere.\r\n\r\n<\/a>[2.5.12] A twelfth labour imposed on Hercules was to bring [pb_glossary id=\"1228\"]Cerberus[\/pb_glossary] from [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary]. Now this [pb_glossary id=\"1228\"]Cerberus[\/pb_glossary] had three heads of dogs, the tail of a dragon, and on his back the heads of all sorts of snakes. When Hercules was about to depart to fetch him, he went to Eumolpus at [pb_glossary id=\"779\"]Eleusis[\/pb_glossary], wishing to be initiated [into the Eleusinian cult]. However it was not lawful for foreigners to be initiated, so he proposed to be initiated as the adoptive son of Pylius. But he was not able to see the mysteries because he had not been cleansed of the slaughter of the centaurs, and so he was cleansed by Eumolpus and then initiated. And he came to Taenarum in Laconia, where the mouth of the descent to [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary] is, and he descended through it. But when the souls saw him, they fled, except for [pb_glossary id=\"1231\"]Meleager[\/pb_glossary] and the [pb_glossary id=\"956\"]Gorgon[\/pb_glossary] [pb_glossary id=\"1155\"]Medusa[\/pb_glossary]. And Hercules drew his sword against the [pb_glossary id=\"956\"]Gorgon[\/pb_glossary], thinking she was alive, but he learned from [pb_glossary id=\"210\"]Hermes[\/pb_glossary] that she was an empty phantom. And as he approached the gates of [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary], he found [pb_glossary id=\"1438\"]Theseus[\/pb_glossary] and Pirithous, him who courted [pb_glossary id=\"353\"]Persephone[\/pb_glossary] when she was already married and was therefore imprisoned. And when they saw Hercules, they stretched out their hands as if they would be raised from the dead by his might. And [pb_glossary id=\"1438\"]Theseus[\/pb_glossary], indeed, he took by the hand and raised up. But when he would have brought up Pirithous, the earth quaked and he let go. And he also rolled away the stone of Ascalaphus. And wishing to provide the souls with blood, he slaughtered one of the cattle of [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary]. But Menoetes, son of Ceuthonymus, who tended the king, challenged Hercules to wrestle, and, being seized around the middle, had his ribs broken; however, he was let off at the request of [pb_glossary id=\"353\"]Persephone[\/pb_glossary]. When Hercules asked [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Pluto[\/pb_glossary] for [pb_glossary id=\"1228\"]Cerberus[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Pluto[\/pb_glossary] ordered him to take the animal, on the condition that he master it without the use of the weapons which he carried. Hercules found it at the gates of [pb_glossary id=\"795\"]Acheron[\/pb_glossary], and, armoured in his cuirass and covered by the lion's skin, he flung his arms round the head of the brute, and though the dragon in its tail bit him, he never relaxed his grip and pressure until it yielded. So he carried it off and ascended through Troezen. But [pb_glossary id=\"351\"]Demeter[\/pb_glossary] turned Ascalaphus into a short-eared owl, and Hercules, after showing [pb_glossary id=\"1228\"]Cerberus[\/pb_glossary] to [pb_glossary id=\"1240\"]Eurystheus[\/pb_glossary], carried him back to [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n[2.6.1] After his labours, Hercules went to [pb_glossary id=\"4675\"]Thebes[\/pb_glossary] and gave [pb_glossary id=\"1390\"]Megara[\/pb_glossary] to [pb_glossary id=\"1412\"]Iolaus[\/pb_glossary]. And, wishing to marry, he ascertained that [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary], prince of Oechalia, had proposed the hand of his daughter [pb_glossary id=\"1439\"]Iole[\/pb_glossary] as a prize to whoever vanquished himself and his sons in archery. So he went to Oechalia, and though he proved himself better than them at archery, he did not get the bride; for while [pb_glossary id=\"1441\"]Iphitus[\/pb_glossary], the elder of [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary]' sons, said that [pb_glossary id=\"1439\"]Iole[\/pb_glossary] should be given to Hercules, [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary] and the others refused, and said they feared that, if he got children, he would again kill his offspring.\r\n\r\n[2.6.2] Not long after, some cattle were stolen from Euboea by [pb_glossary id=\"1405\"]Autolycus[\/pb_glossary], and [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary] supposed that it was done by Hercules; but [pb_glossary id=\"1441\"]Iphitus[\/pb_glossary] did not believe it and went to Hercules. And meeting him, as he came from Pherae after having saved the dead Alcestis for Admetus, he [ [pb_glossary id=\"1441\"]Iphitus[\/pb_glossary] ] invited him [Hercules] to seek the cattle with him. Hercules promised to do so and entertained him; but going mad again he threw him from the walls of Tiryns. Wishing to be purified of the murder he went to [pb_glossary id=\"1394\"]Neleus[\/pb_glossary], who was prince of the Pylians. And when [pb_glossary id=\"1394\"]Neleus[\/pb_glossary] rejected his request on the score of his friendship with [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary], he went to Amyclae and was purified by Deiphobus, son of Hippolytus. But being afflicted with a dire disease on account of the murder of [pb_glossary id=\"1441\"]Iphitus[\/pb_glossary], he went to [pb_glossary id=\"945\"]Delphi[\/pb_glossary] and inquired how he might be rid of the disease. As the Pythian priestess did not answer him with oracles, he wanted to plunder the temple, and, carrying off the tripod, to establish an oracle of his own. But [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary] fought him, and [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] threw a thunderbolt between them. When they had thus been parted, Hercules received an oracle, which declared that the remedy for his disease was for him to be sold, and to serve for three years, and to pay compensation for the murder to [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n[2.6.3] After the delivery of the oracle, [pb_glossary id=\"210\"]Hermes[\/pb_glossary] sold Hercules, and he was bought by [pb_glossary id=\"1399\"]Omphale[\/pb_glossary], daughter of Iardanes, queen of Lydia, who had become head of state at the death of her husband. [pb_glossary id=\"1406\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary] did not accept the compensation when it was presented to him, but Hercules served [pb_glossary id=\"1399\"]Omphale[\/pb_glossary] as a slave, and in the course of his servitude he seized and bound the [pb_glossary id=\"1442\"]Cercopes[\/pb_glossary] at Ephesus; and as for Syleus in Aulis, who compelled passing strangers to dig, Hercules killed him with his daughter Xenodoce, after burning the vines with the roots. And having put in to the island of Doliche, he saw the body of [pb_glossary id=\"1443\"]Icarus[\/pb_glossary] washed ashore and buried it, and he called the island Icaria instead of Doliche. In return [pb_glossary id=\"1444\"]Daedalus[\/pb_glossary] made a portrait statue of Hercules at Pisa, which Hercules mistook at night for living and threw a stone and hit it. And during the time of his servitude with [pb_glossary id=\"1399\"]Omphale[\/pb_glossary] it is said that the voyage to Colchis and the [pb_glossary id=\"1445\"]hunt of the Calydonian boar[\/pb_glossary] took place, and that [pb_glossary id=\"1438\"]Theseus[\/pb_glossary] on his way from Troezen cleared the Isthmus of malefactors.\r\n\r\n[2.6.4] After his servitude, having gotten rid of his disease, he mustered an army of noble volunteers and sailed for [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary] with eighteen ships of fifty oars each. And having come to port at [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary], he left the guard of the ships to Oicles, while he and the rest of the champions set out to attack the city. However, [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary] marched against the ships with an army and slew Oicles in battle, but the troops of Hercules drove him back and besieged him. Once the siege was set, [pb_glossary id=\"1447\"]Telamon[\/pb_glossary] was the first to breach the wall and enter the city, and after him Hercules. But when he saw that [pb_glossary id=\"1447\"]Telamon[\/pb_glossary] had entered it first, he drew his sword and rushed at him, not wanting anybody to be seen as a better man than he. Perceiving that, [pb_glossary id=\"1447\"]Telamon[\/pb_glossary] collected stones that lay to hand, and when Hercules asked him what he was doing, he said he was building an altar to Hercules the Glorious Victor. Hercules thanked him, and when he had taken the city and shot down [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary] and his sons, except [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Podarces[\/pb_glossary], he assigned [pb_glossary id=\"1428\"]Laomedon[\/pb_glossary]'s daughter [pb_glossary id=\"1391\"]Hesione[\/pb_glossary] as a prize to [pb_glossary id=\"1447\"]Telamon[\/pb_glossary] and allowed her to take with her whicher of the captives she wanted. When she chose her brother [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Podarces[\/pb_glossary], Hercules said that he must first be a slave and then be bought by her. So when he was being sold she took the veil from her head and gave it as a ransom; and so [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Podarces[\/pb_glossary] was called [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Priam[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n[2.7.1] When Hercules was sailing from [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] sent terrible storms, which angered [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] so much that he hung her from [pb_glossary id=\"628\"]Olympus[\/pb_glossary]. Hercules sailed to Cos, and the Coans, thinking he was leading a squadron of pirates, tried to prevent his approach with a shower of stones. But he forced his way in and took the city by night, and killed the king, [pb_glossary id=\"1941\"]Eurypylus[\/pb_glossary], son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary] by Astypalaea. And Hercules was wounded in the battle by Chalcedon; but [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] snatched him away, so that he was not harmed. And having laid waste Cos, he came through [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary]'s agency to Phlegra, and sided with the gods in their victorious war on the [pb_glossary id=\"601\"]giants[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n[2.7.2] Not long afterwards he collected an Arcadian army, and being joined by volunteers from the first men in Greece he marched against [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary]. But [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary], hearing of the war that Hercules was preparing for, appointed [pb_glossary id=\"2583\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"2584\"]Cteatus[\/pb_glossary] as generals of the Eleans. They were like two men in one, who surpassed all of that generation in strength and were sons of Actor by Molione, though their father was said to be [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary]; Actor was a brother of [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary]. But it came to pass that on the expedition Hercules fell sick; so he made a truce with the Molionides [sons of Molione]. But afterwards, learning of Hercules\u2019 illness, they [the Molionides] attacked the army and killed many. On that occasion, therefore, Hercules retreated; but afterwards at the celebration of the third Isthmian festival, when the Eleans sent the Molionides to take part in the sacrifices, Hercules waylaid and killed them at Cleonae, and marched on Elis and took the city. And having killed [pb_glossary id=\"1420\"]Augeas[\/pb_glossary] and his sons, he restored Phyleus and gave him the kingdom. He also celebrated the Olympian games and founded an altar of [pb_glossary id=\"632\"]Pelops[\/pb_glossary], and built six altars of the twelve gods.\r\n\r\n[2.7.3] After the capture of Elis, he marched against Pylus, and having taken the city he killed [pb_glossary id=\"1451\"]Periclymenus[\/pb_glossary], the most valiant of the sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1394\"]Neleus[\/pb_glossary], who used to change his shape in battle. And he killed [pb_glossary id=\"1394\"]Neleus[\/pb_glossary] and his sons, except [pb_glossary id=\"1452\"]Nestor[\/pb_glossary]; for he was a youth and was being brought up among the Gerenians. In the fight he also wounded [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary], who was siding with the Pylians.\r\n\r\nHaving taken Pylus he marched against Lacedaemon, wishing to punish the sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1456\"]Hippocoon[\/pb_glossary], because he was angry with them, both because they fought for [pb_glossary id=\"1394\"]Neleus[\/pb_glossary], and because they had killed the son of Licymnius. For when he [the son of Licymnius ] was looking at the palace of [pb_glossary id=\"1456\"]Hippocoon[\/pb_glossary], a Molossian hound ran out and rushed at him, and he threw a stone and hit the dog, which prompted the Hippocoontids to dart out and kill him with blows of their cudgels. It was to avenge his death that Hercules mustered an army against the Lacedaemonians. And having come to Arcadia he begged [pb_glossary id=\"1454\"]Cepheus[\/pb_glossary] to join him with his twenty sons. But fearing that, if he left Tegea, the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Argives[\/pb_glossary] would march against it, [pb_glossary id=\"1454\"]Cepheus[\/pb_glossary] refused to join the expedition. But Hercules had received from [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary] a lock of the [pb_glossary id=\"1155\"]Gorgon[\/pb_glossary]'s hair in a bronze jar and gave it to Sterope, daughter of [pb_glossary id=\"1454\"]Cepheus[\/pb_glossary], saying that if an army advanced against the city, she was to hold up the lock of hair three times from the walls, and that, as long as she did not look in front of her, the enemy would be turned to flight. That being so, [pb_glossary id=\"1454\"]Cepheus[\/pb_glossary] and his sons took the field, and in the battle he and his sons perished, and besides them Iphicles, the brother of Hercules. Having killed [pb_glossary id=\"1456\"]Hippocoon[\/pb_glossary] and his sons and subjugated the city, Hercules restored [pb_glossary id=\"1458\"]Tyndareus[\/pb_glossary] to power and entrusted the kingdom to him.\r\n\r\n[2.7.4] Passing by Tegea, Hercules slept with Auge, not knowing her to be a daughter of Aleus. And she gave birth to her baby secretly and deposited it in the precinct of [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary]. But when the country was ravaged by a pestilence, Aleus entered the precinct and on investigation discovered his daughter's motherhood. So he exposed the babe on Mount Parthenius, and by the providence of the gods it was preserved: for a doe that had just cast her fawn gave it milk, and shepherds took up the baby and called it Telephus. And her father gave Auge to Nauplius, son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary], to sell far away in a foreign land; and Nauplius gave her to Teuthras, the prince of Teuthrania, who made her his wife.\r\n\r\n[2.7.5] And having come to Calydon, Hercules courted [pb_glossary id=\"1235\"]Deianira[\/pb_glossary], daughter of [pb_glossary id=\"1461\"]Oeneus[\/pb_glossary]. He wrestled for her hand with [pb_glossary id=\"774\"]Achelous[\/pb_glossary], who assumed the appearance of a bull; but Hercules broke off one of his horns. So Hercules married [pb_glossary id=\"1235\"]Deianira[\/pb_glossary], but [pb_glossary id=\"774\"]Achelous[\/pb_glossary] recovered the horn by giving the horn of Amalthea as a trade. Now Amalthea was a daughter of Haemonius, and she had a bull's horn, which, according to Pherecydes, had the power of supplying meat or drink in abundance, whatever one wanted.\r\n\r\n[2.7.6] And Hercules marched with the Calydonians against the Thesprotians, and having taken the city of Ephyra, of which Phylas was king, he had intercourse with the king's daughter Astyoche, and became the father of Tlepolemus. While he stayed among them, he sent word to Thespius to keep seven of his sons, to send three to [pb_glossary id=\"4675\"]Thebes[\/pb_glossary] and to send the remaining forty to the island of Sardinia to plant a colony. After these events, as he was feasting with [pb_glossary id=\"1461\"]Oeneus[\/pb_glossary], he killed with a blow of his knuckles the son of Architeles, when the boy was pouring water on his hands; the boy was a relative of [pb_glossary id=\"1461\"]Oeneus[\/pb_glossary]. Seeing that it was an accident, the boy\u2019s father pardoned Hercules; but Hercules wished, in accordance with the law, to suffer the penalty of exile, and resolved to depart to Ceyx at Trachis. And taking [pb_glossary id=\"1235\"]Deianira[\/pb_glossary] with him, he came to the river Evenus, at which the centaur [pb_glossary id=\"1397\"]Nessus[\/pb_glossary] sat and ferried passengers across for hire, alleging that he had received the ferry from the gods for his righteousness. So Hercules crossed the river by himself, but when he was asked to pay the fare, he entrusted [pb_glossary id=\"1235\"]Deianira[\/pb_glossary] to [pb_glossary id=\"1397\"]Nessus[\/pb_glossary] to carry over. But he, in ferrying her across, attempted to rape her. She cried out, Hercules heard her, and shot [pb_glossary id=\"1397\"]Nessus[\/pb_glossary] in the heart when he emerged from the river. On the verge of death, [pb_glossary id=\"1397\"]Nessus[\/pb_glossary] called [pb_glossary id=\"1235\"]Deianira[\/pb_glossary] to him and said that if she would have a love charm to operate on Hercules she should mix the seed he had dropped on the ground with the blood that flowed from the wound inflicted by the arrow. She did so and kept it by her.\r\n\r\n[2.7.7] As he was travelling through the country of the Dryopes, Hercules had a shortage of food. Hercules met Thiodamas driving a pair of bullocks; so he released and slaughtered one of the bullocks and feasted. And when he came to Ceyx at Trachis he was hosted by him and conquered the Dryopes.\r\n\r\nAnd afterwards setting out from there, he fought as an ally of Aegimius, king of the Dorians. For the [pb_glossary id=\"1418\"]Lapiths[\/pb_glossary], commanded by Coronus, were at war with him in a dispute about the boundaries of the country; and being besieged he called in the help of Hercules, offering him a share of the country. So Hercules came to his help and slew Coronus and others, and handed the whole country over to Aegimius free. He killed also Laogoras, king of the Dryopes, with his children, as he was banqueting in a precinct of [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary]; for the king was a violent person and an ally of the [pb_glossary id=\"1418\"]Lapiths[\/pb_glossary]. And as he passed by Itonus he was challenged to single combat by [pb_glossary id=\"1388\"]Cycnus[\/pb_glossary] a son of [pb_glossary id=\"179\"]Ares[\/pb_glossary] and Pelopia; and closing with him Hercules killed him also. But when he came to Ormenium, king Amyntor took arms and prevented him from marching through; but because he would have hindered his passage, Hercules killed him also.\r\n\r\nOn his arrival at Trachis he mustered an army to attack Oechalia, wishing to punish [pb_glossary id=\"1449\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary]. Being joined by Arcadians, Melians from Trachis, and Epicnemidian Locrians, he slew [pb_glossary id=\"1449\"]Eurytus[\/pb_glossary] and his sons and took the city. After burying those of his own side who had fallen, to wit, Hippasus, son of Ceyx, and Argius and Melas, the sons of Licymnius, he pillaged the city and led [pb_glossary id=\"1439\"]Iole[\/pb_glossary] captive. And having put in at Cenaeum, a headland of Euboea, he built an altar of Cenaean [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary]. Intending to offer sacrifice, he sent the herald Lichas to Trachis to fetch fine garments. From him [pb_glossary id=\"1235\"]Deianira[\/pb_glossary] learned about [pb_glossary id=\"1439\"]Iole[\/pb_glossary], and fearing that Hercules might love that damsel more than her, she supposed that the spilt blood of [pb_glossary id=\"1397\"]Nessus[\/pb_glossary] was really a love-charm, and she smeared the tunic with it. So Hercules put it on and proceeded to offer sacrifice. But no sooner was the tunic warmed than the poison of the [pb_glossary id=\"1413\"]hydra[\/pb_glossary] began to corrode his skin; and on that he lifted Lichas by the feet, hurled him down from the headland, and tore off the tunic, which clung to his body, so that his flesh was torn away with it. In such a sad plight he was carried on shipboard to Trachis: and [pb_glossary id=\"1235\"]Deianira[\/pb_glossary], on learning what had happened, hanged herself. But Hercules, after charging [pb_glossary id=\"1486\"]Hyllus[\/pb_glossary] his elder son by [pb_glossary id=\"1235\"]Deianira[\/pb_glossary], to marry [pb_glossary id=\"1439\"]Iole[\/pb_glossary] when he came of age, proceeded to Mount Oeta, in the Trachinian territory, and there constructed a pyre, mounted it, and gave orders to kindle it. When no one would do so, Poeas, passing by to look for his flocks, set a light to it. Hercules gave his bow to him. While the pyre was burning, it is said that a cloud passed under Hercules and with a peal of thunder wafted him up to heaven. Thereafter he obtained immortality, and being reconciled to [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] he married her daughter [pb_glossary id=\"1239\"]Hebe[\/pb_glossary], by whom he had sons, Alexiares and Anicetus.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: https:\/\/www.theoi.com\/Text\/Apollodorus2.html#4<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/a>Bacchylides, \"Ode 5\" (trans. D. A. Svarlien, adapted by L. Zhang and P. Rogak)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek victory ode, ca. 476 BCE<\/h4>\r\n
\r\n\r\nBacchylides wrote this ode for the victory of Hieron of Syracuse in single horse racing at the Olympian games of 476 BCE (the same occasion for which Pindar wrote his\u00a0Olympian 1\u00a0<\/em>ode).\r\n\r\nThis section of the ode deals with Heracles' journey to the underworld to fetch Cerberus, the three-headed dog (his twelfth labour) and his encounter with the dead hero, Meleager (slayer of the Calydonian Boar):\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n[56] So it was, they say, that the gate-destroying unconquerable son [Heracles] of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] of the flashing thunderbolt went down to the halls of slender-ankled [pb_glossary id=\"353\"]Persephone[\/pb_glossary], [60] to bring up into the light from [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary] the razor-toothed dog [ [pb_glossary id=\"1228\"]Cerberus[\/pb_glossary] ], son of the fearsome [pb_glossary id=\"643\"]Echidna[\/pb_glossary]. There he saw the souls of miserable mortals by the streams of Cocytus, [65] like leaves swirled by the wind along the sheep-pasturing headlands of shining [pb_glossary id=\"187\"]Ida[\/pb_glossary]. Among them, the shade of Porthaon's bold, [70] spear-wielding descendant [ [pb_glossary id=\"1231\"]Meleager[\/pb_glossary] ] stood out. When the marvellous hero [Heracles], son of [pb_glossary id=\"1199\"]Alcmene[\/pb_glossary], saw him shining in his armor, he stretched the clear-sounding bowstring onto his bow, and opened the lid of his quiver and drew out a bronze-tipped [75] arrow. But the soul of [pb_glossary id=\"1231\"]Meleager[\/pb_glossary] appeared in front of him and spoke to him, knowing him well: \u201cSon of great [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], [80] stand where you are, and calm your spirit\u2014 Do not shoot a harsh arrow from your hands in vain against the souls of those who have perished. You have no need to fear.\u201d So he spoke. And [Heracles] the son of [pb_glossary id=\"1230\"]Amphitryon[\/pb_glossary] was astonished, [85] and said, \u201cWhat god or mortal raised such a fine young plant as you? In what land? Who killed you? No doubt [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] with her beautiful belt will soon [90] send that killer after me. But that must be the concern of golden-haired [pb_glossary id=\"888\"]Pallas[\/pb_glossary].\u201d\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: http:\/\/www.perseus.tufts.edu\/hopper\/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0064%3Abook%3DEp%3Apoem%3D5#note2<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\nThe following summaries of the Twelve Labours are adapted from Mythology Unbound<\/em><\/a> by T. Mulder and P. Rogak.\r\n<\/a>1. The Nemean Lion<\/h2>\r\n
Eurystheus first told Heracles to kill the lion that had been terrorizing the area of Nemea. This lion was no ordinary lion; it was the offspring of Typhoeus (see chapter 5<\/a>). Heracles tracked the Nemean Lion to its cave, blocked off the entrance, and tried to kill the lion by shooting it with his bow and arrows. But the arrows bounced right off the lion\u2019s hide, doing the animal no harm. Undeterred, Heracles used brute force to strangle the beast and brought the lion back to Tiryns for Eurystheus. Eurystheus, surprised that Heracles had survived the adventure, became very fearful of Heracles. Because Eurystheus did not want the lion, Heracles skinned it and used the hide as a cloak, with the lion\u2019s head serving as a sort of helmet. The lion\u2019s skin became Heracles\u2019 trademark, and he wore it on all his future endeavors.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.1<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>2. The Lernean Hydra<\/h2>\r\n
Next, Eurystheus sent Heracles to kill the Hydra. The Hydra was a sea-monster (its name comes from hyd\u014dr [\u1f55\u03b4\u03c9\u03c1] which means \u201cwater\u201d in Greek), that had many snake-like heads. The Hydra lived in a swampy area near Lerna, and Heracles came to its den. He engaged the Hydra by grabbing one of the heads and hacking at it with his sword until the head was severed from the body. But as soon as Heracles had cut off the Hydra\u2019s head, two more heads grew in its place. At this point, Heracles realized that simply cutting off the Hydra\u2019s heads was not going to work. He also realized that he could not kill the Hydra alone, so he called Iolaus, his charioteer and nephew, to bring a burning brand so he could cauterize the neck after Heracles cut off each head, to prevent new heads from growing back. Heracles and Iolaus managed to destroy each head and burn the neck for all the Hydra\u2019s heads until just one head, which was immortal, survived. They buried this head beneath a giant rock. The Hydra\u2019s blood was a deadly poison, so Heracles dipped his arrows in the blood to make sure that anyone he hit would die of his wound. Heracles would one day regret that the Hydra\u2019s blood was so deadly.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.2<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>3. The Cerynitian Hind<\/h2>\r\n
Eurystheus then sent Heracles to capture the Cerynitian Hind, a deer with golden horns which was sacred to the goddess Artemis. Since the deer was sacred to Artemis, Heracles could not kill it; he had to capture it alive. For a year he tracked the deer around the forests of the Peloponnese which was not an easy task since it was the fastest deer in the world, . He finally captured it in Arcadia when it had paused for a little rest by creeping up behind it and surprising it. On his way back to Tiryns, Heracles encountered Apollo and Artemis hunting. Artemis was not happy to find her sacred deer so constrained, but after he explained his task, Artemis allowed Heracles to take the deer as long as it remained unharmed and it would be released after he was finished with it.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.3<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>4. The Erymanthian Boar<\/h2>\r\n
When the Cerynitian Hind had been released, Heracles now had to capture the Erymanthian Boar, which was ravaging the countryside around Mount Erymanthus and doing a lot of damage to the crops. On his way to find the Erymanthian Boar, Heracles met Pholus, a centaur who, unlike his fellow centaurs, was quite well mannered. Pholus hosted Heracles like a proper guest and offered him some wine. This wine was noticed by the other centaurs, however, who are known for loving wine but also for being unable to hold their liquor. When the centaurs smelled the wine, they went into a frenzy and started attacking Heracles and Pholus in order to steal it. The two successfully drove the centaurs away, but in the process, Pholus dropped one of Heracles\u2019 arrows on his foot and, unfortunately, the Hydra\u2019s poison caused him to die in agony. After this unfortunate incident, Heracles caught up with the Erymanthian Boar and trapped it by driving it into deep snow. He brought the boar back alive to Tiryns to show to Eurystheus, but Eurystheus was so frightened of the enormous beast that he hid in a large storage jar (called a pithos<\/em>) and only peeked out a little so he could verify that Heracles had completed his task.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.4<\/a>.\r\n
At this point, word had spread throughout Greece that Jason was looking for the greatest Greek heroes to go with him on an expedition for the Golden Fleece. Heracles took a break from his labours to join the crew. However, he did not make the entire journey to Colchis. The Argonauts left Heracles behind in Mysia while he searched for his lover Hylas. Unable to find Hylas, Heracles returned to Tiryns for his next labor.<\/p>\r\nFor further discussion of Heracles, Hylas, and the Argonauts, see chapter 18<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>5. The Augean Stables<\/h2>\r\n
The next task Eurystheus had for Heracles was to clean the Augean stables in one day. Augeas was king of Elis, and he had massive stables which had never been cleaned, and so were filled with many years\u2019 worth of horse dung. Heracles came to Augeas and told him that he could clean out the stables in one day if he paid the right sum, one tenth of his cattle. Augeas agreed and Heracles set to work. He diverted the courses of two rivers so they flowed right through the stables and washed away the years of filth. Augeas had not believed that Heracles could perform the task, so he refused to pay the outrageous sum. Heracles was livid, but at this point there was nothing he could do, so he went back to Tiryns.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.5<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>6. The Stymphalian Birds<\/h2>\r\n
Next Heracles was sent to clear away the Stymphalian birds. Lake Stymphalus was overrun by a flock of man-eating birds. Heracles decided that a loud noise would be enough to accomplish this task, so he crashed a few shields together to scare the birds into taking flight. As the birds few into the air, he picked them off one by one with his arrows.<\/p>\r\n
In some versions of this myth, he receives the help of Athena to complete this task. Athena gives Heracles a set of bronze castanets made by Hephaestus, which he uses to make noise and frighten the Stymphalian Birds out of hiding.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.6<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>7. The Cretan Bull<\/h2>\r\n
Heracles was next sent to capture the Cretan bull. Bulls appear in many significant myths of Crete, and this particular bull was also the father of the Minotaur (see chapter 22<\/a>). Heracles trapped the bull and brought it back to Tiryns alive. Eurystheus did not want it, so Heracles let the bull go. The bull wandered up to the area around Athens, and Theseus later killed it as one of his heroic feats.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.7<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>8. The Mares of Diomedes<\/h2>\r\n
The eighth labor was to retrieve the mares of Diomedes. Diomedes was a Thracian king and he had man-eating mares. Heracles, with the help of his lover Abderus, stole the mares from their stable and herded them down to the sea-shore. Diomedes\u2019 men were in hot pursuit, so he left Abderus to take care of the mares while he dispatched with Diomedes and routed his men. When Heracles came back, however, he found that the mares had eaten most of Abderus. Heracles was upset at the death of his lover, and he carefully buried Abderus\u2019 remains. He then gathered the mares into his ship and took them back to Eurystheus. Again, Eurystheus did not want the terrible creatures in his city, so Heracles let the mares loose. They were eventually eaten by wild animals as they wandered on Mount Olympus.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.8<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>9. The Belt of Hippolyte<\/h2>\r\n
For his next labor, Heracles had to retrieve the belt of the Amazon queen, Hippolyte. Heracles was joined on this expedition by his friend Theseus and they set off together. When they reached Themiscyra, Hippolyte came aboard their ship to meet them. She agreed to give them her belt with no fight. However, Hera was not about to allow this labor to be easy, so she came down from Olympus, disguised as an Amazon. Hera told the Amazons that Heracles was kidnapping their queen, and she roused them to fight the heroes. Growing angry because he believed the whole thing had been a set-up, Heracles killed Hippolyte and he and Theseus left taking Hippolyte\u2019s sister, Antiope, and the belt.\u00a0 Other versions say that Hippolyte was not killed at all, but that she was the one whom Theseus took with him to Athens, where she became the mother of Theseus\u2019 son Hippolytus (see chapter 22<\/a>).<\/p>\r\n
See Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.9<\/a>.<\/p>\r\nFor further discussion of the Amazons, see chapter 23<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>10. The Cattle of Geryon<\/h2>\r\n
Next, Heracles was sent to steal the cattle of Geryon, the King of Erytheia (which is modern day Cadiz in Spain). Geryon had three heads and three upper bodies, as well as six arms and six legs. Furthermore, his cattle were guarded by a two-headed watch dog named Orthus. Heracles decided to go through Africa to make his way to Spain. As he crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, he set up large rocks on either side, called the Pillars of Heracles, to show how far he had come across the world. The sun beat down upon him, greatly annoying Heracles, so he drew his bow and pointed it at the sun, chastising it. Helios, the sun god, was amused by this little stunt, so he lent his golden cup to Heracles to use as a boat to take him the rest of his way to Erytheia. When he arrived, Heracles dispatched of Geryon and Orthus.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.10<\/a>.\r\n
<\/a>11. The Golden Apples of the Hesperides<\/h2>\r\n
Nearly done with his labours, Heracles now went to retrieve the apples of the Hesperides. The Hesperides were nymphs who lived in Libya near the mountains where Atlas held up the world (now called the Atlas Mountains) and tended a garden growing golden apples. On his way there, Heracles passed by the Caucasus Mountains and shot the eagle that had long tortured Prometheus, freeing him from his bonds. Grateful for his help, Prometheus gave Heracles some advice as to how to retrieve the apples. Prometheus told Heracles to ask Atlas, who happened to be Prometheus\u2019 own brother, to go get the apples for him.<\/p>\r\nFor further discussion of Prometheus, see chapter 14<\/a>.\r\n
Heracles heeded Prometheus' advice and asked Atlas to get the apples while he held up the world. Atlas was happy to retrieve the apples, but he had no intention of returning to his post. When he returned with the apples, Atlas offered to take them to Eurystheus for Heracles, intending to never return. But Heracles knew what Atlas was planning.\u00a0 He made a show of agreeing to Atlas\u2019 plan, but he asked the Titan to hold the world just for a minute so he could place a pad on his shoulders to made the task more bearable. Atlas took the world onto his shoulders again and Heracles picked up the apples and went back to Tiryns. After he had shown them to Eurystheus, he gave them to Athena, and she, in turn, returned them to the Hesperides.<\/p>\r\nSee Pseudo-Apollodorus,\u00a0Bibliotheca<\/em>, 2.5.11<\/a>.\r\n
- Pseudo-Apollodorus, 2.4.8-2.7.7<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t
- Euripides,\u00a0Heracles,\u00a0<\/em>348-425<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t
- Pindar,\u00a0Odes<\/em>, \"Nemean 1\" 34-75<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
- Pindar,\u00a0Odes<\/em>, \"Pythian 9\" 84-90<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t