Hercules

During his life Hercules, a great hero of Greek mythology, performed many great feats.  He was very intelligent and very powerful, Greeks in general honored and admired him.  Nothing that lived in the air, sea, or land ever defeated him.  Hercules, a super hero figure in Greek mythology known for his unworldly strength, accomplished many great feats.
   
He was born in Thebes and for a long time Hercules was thought to be the son of Amphytiron, a distinguishes general, but in reality his father was Zeus.  Zeus took the form of Amphytiron while he was away at war and visited Alcimenes, Hercules' mother.  In earlier years Hercules was called Alcides, and had a half brother named Iphicles.  The two children were clearly of different descent and it was shown by the was they stood in the face of danger.  One night after their mother had given them a bath and fed them she laid them in their bed and sang a lullaby to them until they were asleep.  After everyone in the house was fast asleep Hera, who despised Hercules because he was Zeus's son, sent two large snakes into the house to kill Hercules.  When the snakes rose above the edge of the crib the children woke.  Iphicles was terrified and tried to get out of the bed, but mighty young Hercules took a snake in each hand and held on tight.  The snakes twisted and turned and wound their coils around his body, but Hercules held on to their necks until he had choked the life out of them.  The children's mother had heard Iphicles screaming and yelled to their father.  When they finally got in the room, Hercules was sitting in the bed, laughing, with two very large dead snakes in his hands.  He happily gave the dead snakes to Amphityron.  From that point on everyone knew that Hercules was destined to do great things.
   
When Hercules was a little older he went to school.  Great care was taken by the teachers who educated him, because teaching him what he did not want to learn was dangerous business.  He seems to not have liked music, or his teacher for that subject, because one day he was angry with is music teacher and he beat him to death with his lute.  This was the first time that he had ever accidentally killed someone, and he was very sorry, but it would not stop him from doing it again many times.  The other subjects he was taught were fencing, wrestling, and driving.  When Hercules was eighteen and full grown, he want to the woods of Cithaeron and he killed the great Thespian lion by himself.
   
Hercules met his next wife, Princess Megara, while he was conquering the Minyans who had been causing trouble with Thebes.  The citizens gave him their princess as a reward.  Hercules and Megara had three sons together.  They lived very happily for a while until Hera sent a madness upon Hercules That made him kill his wife and three sons.  When Hercules came back to sanity after the killings he looked around the bloodstained room and realized what he had done.  He was on his way to get revenge for the death of his family and children, by killing himself when Thesus stopped him.  They had a short conversation where Thesus convinced Hercules not to kill himself.  A short time passes and Hercules went to see the oracle at Delphi, who told him to go see his cousin Eutystheus, King of Mycenae, and submit to everything he wanted Hercules to do.  After the priestess told Hercules that Eurystheus would purify him, he went willingly.  This was very humiliating for him because Eurystheus occupied the throne that would have been his if Hera had not deceived Zeus.

  
Eurystheus was a very bright individual, and when the strongest man in the world came to him humbly prepared to be his slave, he came up with a series of penances which from a viewpoint of difficulty could not be improved upon.  The tasks Eurystheus gave hem are called "the Labors of Hercules."  There were twelve of them and each one was almost impossible(Hamilton 164). 
   
The first labor that Eurystheus imposed upon his new slave was to kill the Nemean loin.  This lion was no ordinary cat, it was very large and invulnerable to his arrows.  When Hercules realized this, he blocked off one entrance to the lion's cave, which had two mouths, and walked into the other entrance, cornered the lion, and strangled it.  He then threw the large beast over his back and took it back to Mycenae.  Eurystheus was terrified when he saw Hercules coming and went to hide in a large underground storage jar made of bronze.  He send the herald Corpreus to tell Hercules that his trophies would be displayed at the city gates, and all future orders would be given to him by Corpeus rather than Eurystheus.  Since Eurystheus did not want the lion, Hercules skinned it and dressed himself in the pelt(Tripp 279).
   
The second labor that Eurystheus want Hercules to do was far harder than the first.  This labor was to kill the Hydra of Lerna.  This terrible many-headed monster was half sister to the Neman lion and some say this monster had been nourished by Hera out of hatred for Hercules.  The Hydra lived near the spring Amymone, in Lerna, with its devoted friend, a large crab.  Hercules boldly approached the Hydra's lair and forced it into the open with a flight of burning arrows.  This Hydra had nine headst and Hercules very quickly found out that one head was immortal and when he cut off the other eight two more grew back in the place of the one that he cut off.  To make things worse the crab was out of the swamp and was biting his foot.  Hercules would not admit defeat but he knew that he could not handle this enemy alone.  He called to Iolaüs, his half brother's son, for help.  Iolaüs brought burning brands and as Hercules cut a head off Iolaüs seared its neck so the head could not grow back.  Then all of the heads were finally severed and the immortal one hacked off at the neck, Hercules buried it under a large stone beside the road that lead from Lerna to Elaeüs and dipped his arrows in the deadly venom in this monster's gall.  This poison was in future years to destroy many of him enemies and finally Hercules himself.
   
For the third labor Hercules was to capture a golden-horned stag sacred to Artemis.  In order for him to take the animal alive he pursued it for an entire year and finally ran it down near Arcadia beside the river Ladon.  Some say that he caught the creature in nets, others that he crept up on the animal while it slept(Tripp 280).
   
Eurystheus immedately sent Hercules back to arcadia to capture alive the Erymanthian boar for his fourth labor.  This huge beast ranged over Mt. Erymanthus and ravaged the country near Psophis.  Hercules this animal by trapping it deep in the snow and brought it back to Eurystheus who again hid in his jar(Tripp 281).
   
During this task Hercules heard that Hason was gathering all of the bravest men in Greece to make the dangerous journey to Colchis to get the Golden Fleece.  Hercules could not be left out, so he went to join Jason to make the journey to get the Golden Fleece.
   
Eurystheus perhaps angry with Hercules for taking time away gave him as his fifth labor the mose humiliating assignment of his career.  This was to clean all of the dung from the Augeian stables in one day.  Augeias, King of Elis, owned many herds of cattle, and their dung had become deposited so thickly on the land that it was no longer tillable.  To accomplish this Hercules broke down the walls of the corral and diverted the waters from two rivers through the stables until all of the dung was washed away(Hamilton 164).
   
For his sixth labor Hercules returned to Arcadia to chase away the Stymphalian birds who had taken refuge on lake Stymphalus to get away from wolves.  These birds were so great in numbers taht they caused a plague on the people that lived near the lake.  Hercules was helped by Athena who drove them into the air so he could shoot them with his arrows(Hamilton 164).
   
Until now Hercules' labors had been in Peloponnesus.  The King may have hoped that sending Hercules to distant lands would be more dangerous, or mabye he just wanted more time between visits from this seemingly invincible man.
   
For his seventh labor Eurystheus sent Hercules to Crete to capture, alive, and bring the Cretan bull, the father of the Minotaur.  Hercules traveled to Crete found the bull, subdued it and took it back to Mycenae(Tripp 283).
   
His eighth labor was to capture the flesh eating mared of Diemedes.  While on his way to Thrace, Hercules was entertained by his friend Admetus, King of Pherae.  The king was in mourning for the death of his wife, but told Hercules that it was no one that he knew .  Hercules was eating one night while the King was at the funeral and had a little too much wine with his meal.  One of King Admetus' servants noticed this and asked Hercules how he could do that when the lady of the house had just died.  Hercules realizint that Admetus was being hospitable by not telling him that his wife was dead, and he was very sad.  After hearing this, Hercules went to the underworld and made a deal with Hades to let Admetus' wife return to Earth.  Hercules returned to Earth with his friends wife and gave her to a very grateful husband.  After this he went on his way to capture the flesh eating mares(Grant 224).  To accomplish this task without being eaten he fed the horses thier master so they would not be hungry and took them to Mycenae to show them to Eurystheus.  He then released the them and they were later eaten by wild animals on Mt. Olympus(Tripp 283).
   
The ninth labor of Hercules was to get Hyppolyte's golden belt.  Hyppolyte was quen of the Amazons, a warlike tribe of women who lived on the southern shore of the Black Sea.  When Hercules reached the cuty where the Amazons lived, he asked Hippolyte to come aboard hes ship.  They talked alone for a while and Hippolyte agreed to give the belt to Hercules without a fight.  Hera was infuriated when she heard that this labor was going to be accomplished with suck ease, so she disguised herself as an Amazon.  Hera entered the Amazon city and told the people that Hercules was going to kidnap their queen.  When Hera convinced the women of this, they attacked Hercules and hed men.  What would have been a peaceful talk changed to a bloody battle that ended with Hercules killing the Queen and taking her belt back to Eurystheus(Tripp
   
His tenth labor called for Hercules to bring back to Mycenae the cattle of Geryon.  These cattle were huge beasts with three heads.  Hercules made the trip to the far away land where the cattle ewre kept and stole them.  On his way back to Mycenae, Hercules set up two greats stones to commemorate hes labors, these stones are now known as the Rock of Gibralter and Jebel Musa.  Hercules drove the cattle back to Mycenae and awaited orders for his next labor(Tripp 285-286).
   
The eleventh labor Eurystheus gave Hercules was to bring back he Golden apples of Hesperides, with could have been the hardest labor so far because he did not know where to find these apples.  Hercules went to Atlas, Hesperides' father, and asked him to get the apples for him.  Atlas quickly realizing that this was his chance to get rid of the burden of holding the heavens gladly agreed.  Atlat went and got the golden apples for Hercules and returned.  He told Hercules that take the apples to Eurystheus hemself.  Hercules, having only his with to trust because all of his strength was used holding the heavens, asked Atlas to take the heavens back to he could get a pad to ease the pressure.  When Atlat took the heavens back Hercules took the apples and went happily on his way back to Mycenae.
   
The Twelfth and last labor was the worst of all. this one sent him to the underwould to bring Cerebus, the three-headed dog, to Earth.  Hercules asked Hades for permission and he consented as long as Hercules did not use any weapons to evercome him.  He could only use his hands.  Hercules forced this monster to submit to him and carried the dog to Mycenae.  Eurystheus saw Cerebus and then told Hercules to take it back down to the underworld. This was his last task.
   
Hercules went on to have many more adventures and finally remarried again.  One day when he and his new wife were crossing a river the Centaur Neccus tried to rape Hercules' wife.  He became infuriated and shot Neccus with an arrow.  Before Neccus died he told the lady, "If you ever become angry with Hercules take some of my blood and put it on something that will make contact with his skin."  She did as she was told and took some of the Centaurs blood.  Years later she found out that Hercules was with another woman, so she put some of the blood on Hercules' robe.  When Hercules put this robe on it burned his skin so bad that he wanted to die, but death would not come to him so he went to death.  A great funeral pyre was built for him and he went and laid down on it like someone would lay down on their couch.
    

Hercules was a great man and a great hero who did many things for mankind.  His tasks should be remembered as some of the greatest accomplishments of any time ancient or modern.

Posted in: Biographies,Mythological Persons