MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS & HEROES

MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS & HEROES Chapters 11-12

THE LABORS OF HERCULES

Heracles (Hercules) • Son of Zeus and Alcmene (mortal) • Persecuted throughout his life by Hera who is jealous of Zeus’s affair with Alcmene • Born “Alcides” but renamed “Heracles” (glory of Hera) to appease Hera • Sends snakes to kill him in his crib when he is a baby

Hera’s Revenge • Hercules married Megara, daughter of the King of Thebes • They had three sons together • Hera found the family and struck Hercules with a fit of madness • Hercules killed his three sons and his wife because he thought they were beasts • Athena knocks out Hercules with a rock • When he recovers, he realizes what he’s done

Hercules’ Penance • Feeling guilty for murdering his family, Hercules consults the Oracle at Delphi • He is ordered to accomplish ten tasks given to him by King Eurystheus • Completing these “labors” would purify him and earn him immortality • Although he was supposed to complete ten, he was made to perform 12 since he got help completing two of them

1. Kill the Nemean Lion • Lion had hide so thick it could not be pierced by arrows or knife • Hercules wrestled the lion to the ground and strangled it

2. Kill the Hydra of Lerna • Hydra is a huge serpent with many heads • Each time he cut off a head, two more grew in its place • So, when he cut off a head, Iolaus cauterize the stump, preventing the new heads from growing. • Hydra had one immortal head, which Hercules buried • Didn’t get credit for this one because Iolaus helped him

3. Capture the Cerynitian Hind • The deer with the golden antlers was sacred to Artemis • Hercules had to capture it unharmed • Took him one year to catch it • Finally caught it in a huge net while it slept

4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar • The boar had plagued the countryside for a long time • Hercules called it out and led it straight into a snow drift. • Caught the boar in chains

5. Clean the Augean Stables • This task was intended to humiliate him and it seemed impossible • The stables belonging to King Augeus contained thousands of cattle and hadn’t been cleaned in thirty years • He had to complete the task in one day • Diverted the courses of two rivers to make them run through the stables and wash away the dung

6. Drive out Stymphalian Birds • These man-eating birds had taken over a forest in Arcadia • Hercules got rid of them by using a giant rattle made by Hephaestus • Rattle’s noise scared them away • Because Hephaestus helped him, he did not get credit for this one.

7. Capture the Cretan Bull • Beautiful bull given to Minos by Poseidon • Hercules subdues the bull after a long struggle

8. Captures the Mares of Diomedes • Dangerous man-eating horses • Hercules rounds up the horses • Diomedes attacks Hercules • Hercules defeats Diomedes and feeds him to his own horses • The horses then become tame

9. Fetch Hippolyte’s Girdle • Belt/sash owned by the Queen of the Amazons • Hercules asks for the girdle and the Queen simply gives it to him.

10. Steal the Cattle of Geryon • Hercules first has to kill a two-headed watch dog • Encounters many other obstacles along the way to completing the task

11. Fetch the Golden Apples • These apples belonged to Atlas’s daughters. • Hercules convinces Atlas to fetch the apples for him while he holds the world on his shoulders for Atlas • Atlas returns with the apples but refuses to take the world back on his shoulders • Hercules tricks Atlas

12. Fetch Cerberus from Hades • Three-headed guard dog of the Underworld • Gets guidance from Athena, Hermes, and Hestia • Wrestles Cerberus bare-handed because he promised Hades not to use weapons

Death and Immortality • Hercules finally “purified” • He was given immortality, but he would first have to die. • A dying centaur tricked Hercules’ wife (Deianeira) into killing him with a poison shirt • His mortal body was burned alive at his request • He ascends to Mount Olympus

MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS & HEROES