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1. THE and 12 labours By: Kevin Sorromero

2. Thing to know before reading • This Mythology Originates from the land of Greece • The information you’ll be reading is just another version of 2-4 ways to tell these stories • It might take a while for this consists of twelve different tales • It is only ten Labour because two of his Labours he had help but still counted it in anyways. • I HOPE you enjoy my presentation

3. Table of Content 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

4. Labour 1: The Nemean Lion King Eurystheus has sent Hercules to go to Nemea and slay the beast called The Nemean Lion. Along his journey he stumbles upon a town called Cleonae where he met a shepherd named Molorchos who has said that he lost his dear son to the treacherous beast. Hercules has promised that if he came back in 30 days they would sacrifice a ram to the almighty Zeus, King of the Gods. And if he does not return in 30 days or is killed the ram would be a sacrifice to Hercules as a mourning offer. While he searched for the Lion he gathered some arrows to use against it. He then later found out that the beast fur was impenetrable when he shot his arrows and just bounced off with no sign of damage. Later on in the fight he managed to make the Lion retreat to his cave which consists of two entrances. He blocked of one of those entrances and entered the other one to fight the Lion. He then used his club to stun the great Lion and then used his immense strength to strangle the beast to death. In a matter of minutes the Lion was killed. He tried to skin it with his knife but failed then he tried to sharpen his knife with a stone but still failed and even tried to use the stone itself. Then Athena, Goddess of Wisdom has told Hercules to use the great beast’s claw skin the pelt. On the thirtieth day he return to the City of Tiryns with the Lion’s carcass on his shoulder to meet King Eurystheus. The King was both amazed and terrified of him completing an impossible quest. He later on told Hercules that he is forbidden to enter the city and that he would receive his labours outside the city gates and will be told by a Herald. King Eurystheus was to afraid to meet face to face with him and has made a Bronze jar to hide in just in case if he needed to. He then explained to Hercules that each of his labours would get more difficult than the last and is sent off to go on his next quest. The Larnaean Hydra

6. Labour 2 : The larnaean hydra After his victory against The Nemean Lion, King Eurystheseus sent Herclues to go and slay The Larnanean Hydra which was raised by Hera, Wife of Zeus to kill Hercules. He went to a swamp near Lake Lerna where the Hydra lived. While trudging through the swamp he covered his nose and mouth to protect him from the poisonous fumes. He shot fiery arrows in the lair of the beast to lure him out. Once the beast was in sight he immediately confronted the Hydra. He wield his sword and started attacking the beast. Cutting off each of its 9 heads but he soon found out that each time he cuts off a head two always grew back. This was a struggle to Hercules but he knew the weakness of this creature. The Hydra only had on immortal head. So he then called on his nephew Lolaus to help him in his quest to slay the Hydra. Lolaus thought of an idea to put a stop from the heads of the creature to grow back. He used a torch and put it on the head stump of the heads Hercules decapitated. Hera saw that Hercules was winning the struggle and sent a giant crab to aid the Hydra but was easily disposed of by Hercules with him stomping on the crab. With the swing of his Golden Sword given to him by Athena, the immortal head of the Hydra met the floor. Hercules took the immortal head of the great Hydra and buried it under a great rock between Lerna and Elaius. He then dipped his arrow into the pisionous blood of the Hydra and the second Labour was complete.

8. Labour 3 : Ceryneian hind Hercules has completed yet again another labour. This angers King Eurystheseus and Hera for their plan on killing the warrior failed. So the King thought long and hard on what the third Labour would be and hoping that this would bring doom to Hercules. He ruled out another slaying quest knowing that Hercules could wit stand even the most fearsome opponents. So he said to go and capture the Ceryneian Hind for it was so fast it could outrun an arrow. Sometime during the search for the Hind he awoke from his slumber and noticed the antlers in the distance. He chased after the Hind on foot for a full year going through Greece, Thrace, Istria and the land of Hyperboreans. Through his luck he captured the creature though it sleep with a trap net. The plan of King Eurystheseus was to unleash the anger of Artemis, The Goddess of hunt on Hercules for capturing her sacred animal. While Hercules was bringing back the Hind he came across Artemis and Apollo, God of Light. Hercules begged the Goddess for forgiveness for capturing her sacred animal and promises that he will release the Hind after he had finish his quest. Artemis forgave him and ruined the planned of King Eurystheseus. Hercules took the Hind to The King and was told that it would be part of the King’s Menagerie but Hercules remembered that he has to let the Hind go so he told the King to come down and get it himself but by the time he got there he found not a Hind because by the time Hercules let it go it ran all the way back to its mistress but a disappearing Hercules. Yet again Hercules has over come another creature and this time he told him to capture The Erymanthian Boar alive for his fourth Labour.

10. Labour 4 : The Erymanthian Boar Hercules has gone to find Chirion to get some advice on how to capture the Erymanthian Boar. He told Hercules to drive it into thick snow so it could not get away so he waited until mid-winter to start his Labour. He successfully captured the boar and bound it and took it to King Eurystheseus. The King was frightened of the beast and ducked down in the half dug storage called a pithos begging Hercules to get it away from him and so Hercules obliged and got rid of the beast. His fourth Labour was a complete. Three days later still frightened by the boar has told Hercules to go and clean the Augean Stables for his fifth Labour.

12. Labour 5 : The augean stables The fifth Labour was to clean the Augean Stables. This particular Labour is not like the other four he has already completed. This one is intended to be for humiliation and impossible. The Augean Stables have not been clean for 30 years and the livestock was very healthy and there are over 1000 cattle so they produce a high amount of dung. But Hercules has yet again done the impossible and cleaned the Stables by redirecting the rivers of Alpheus and Peneusto wash all the filth away.

14. Labour 6 : The Stymphalian birds After he cleaned the Augean Stables, King Eurystheseus has sent Hercules to slay the Stymphalian Birds. These man-eating birds are sacred o Ares. The God of War. They have beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers that they launch at their victims as well as having toxic dung. They migrated to Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia and has been causing trouble with the crops and towns people so that is where Hercules is headed. But he could not go to far down the swamp because it would not support his weight. Athena saw his trouble and helps him by giving him a rattle to draw out the birds and they came out from their nest he shot a lot of them with his arrow and the rest flew away and never to return again

16. Labour 7 : The cretan bull For his seventh Labour, Hercules was sent to Crete to capture the Cretan Bull. He then went to see the King of Crete, Minos and gave him permission to take the bull for it was causing havoc in the city by pulling the crops and leveling the city walls. He snuck up behind the Bull and throttled it around by the horns. He stopped just before it died. Once it gave in he shipped it back to Athens. The first time King Eurystheseus saw the beast he quickly hid in hid pithos and asked him to get rid of it and once again he obliged and released the Bull. This finished his seventh Labour and was told to bring back the man-eating Mares of Diomedes.

18. Labour 8 : the Mares of diomedes King Eurystheseus has sent Hercules to steal the Mares of Diomedes. Hercules was not aware that the Mares Podagros, Lampos, Xanthos, and Deinos were kept in a bronze manger cause they were wild. Their madness were influenced by having the taste of human flesh. They were man-eating horse who were uncontrollable. Hercules left his trusty companion Abderus to look after the Mares while he went to fight Diomedes. Then tragedy happened and Abderus got eaten by the Mares. Hercules sought revenge by feeding Diomedes, the horses’ owner to them. Then Hercules tied the horses’ mouths and took them to King Eurystheseus.

20. Labour 9 : The belt of hippolyta Hercules’ ninth labour was to get the Belt of Hippolyta to give to give to the King’s daughter. Admete. But before he could reach there he had to go through an island. With his companions he set sail to the first island. The Island Paros. two of Minos’ sons inhabited the island and has killed two of Hercules’ companions. This made Hercules go on a rampage and killed the sons and threatened the rest of the inhibiters until both of his companions were replaced. He took the Grandsons of Minos’ Alcaeus and Sthenelus as his new comrades and continued there way though the island. They ended up at the Court of Lycus. Hercules battled for the land against the King of Bebryces. Mygdon. After the death of King Mygdon, Hercules gave most of the land to his friend Lycus. They then set sail to Themiscyra, where Hippolyta , Queen of the Amazon lived. Hippolyta was impressed with Hercules intentions and was happily to give the Belt but Hera had other plans. She disguised herself as an Amazonian and told the rest of the tribe that the strangers meaning Hercules and his companions was going to take the Queen away. This got them angry and immediately charged at Hercules. This changed Hercules mind and thought that this was Hippolyta’s plan all along so he killed her and took the belt and brought it back to King Eurystheseus. Shocked by how Hercules managed to survuve with the encounter with the Amazonians has sent him to go and capture the Cattle of Greyon.

22. Labour 10 : the cattle of greyon To gather the Cattle of Greyon, Hercules had to travel far-off western Mediterranean Island of Erytheia. During his way there he came across the Libyan Desert. He was so frustrated with the heat he shot an arrow at Helios, The Sun God. Impressed by his courage, Helios gave him a Golden Cup that sails over the sea over night. This is how Hercules reached Erytheia. He was immediately attacked by the watchdog called Orthus when he reached land. He killed the dog with a clean swoop of his club and then the owner Eurytion, was also killed the same way. With this happening, Greyon Heard the commotion and quickly geared himself with three helmets, shields, and spears. The battle raged on between Greyon and Hercules. But Greyon fell victim to one of Hercules’ poison arrow. The force of the arrow was so strong that it pierced right through his forehead. Hercules then had to herd the Cattle back to King Eurystheseus. To annoy Hercules, Hera sent a gadfly to bite the Cattle and scatter them. It took nearly a whole year for Hercules to get them back together. To make matters worse, Hera rose the river higher to make it impossible for them to cross. But this did not stop Hercules. He put stones in the river to make the river shallower for them to walk on. When he reached the Court of King Eurystheseuss, the Cattle were sacrificed to Hera.

24. Labour 11 : The apples of the hesperides The eleventh Labour was to get the Apples from the graden of Heperides. He seeked out the Old Man of The Sea, a shape-shifting God to get help on where the Graden of Hesperides is located. During his journey, he stumbled upon a man named Astaeus. He was invincible just as long he touched his mother Gaia, The Titan of Nature. So Hercules grabbed him and killed him with a crushing bear hug that snapped his back bone. When he got to the Graden he managed to trick the Titan Atlas who was punished by Zeusa to hold up the World on his shoulders for all eternity to go and get the apples for him by temporarily holding the World on his shoulders. When Atlas got back he did not want to take World back so he said that he will bring back the Apples to King Eurystheseus. Hercules again managed to trick him again by saying that he needed to adjust his cloak. So once again Atlas had the World on his shourlders and Hercules took the Apples and walked away. When he brought back the Apples, King Eurystheseus was furious that he complete again another impossible task. So he sent Hercules to last and final Labour. Bring back the Cerberus from the Underworld.

26. Labour 12 : The Cerberus The final Labour of Hercules was to capture the Cerberus, A three headed dog from hell alive, bare handedly. He went to Eleusis to be intiated with Eleusis Myteries to learn how he and enter and exit the Underworld alive. He found the entrance at Tanaerum, Athena and Hermes help him traverse the entrance in each direction. Along the way he met Theseus and Pirithous. Locked away by Hades, God of the Underworld for trying to steal his wife Persephone. He manage to free Theseus but Pirithous could not go for the desire to have Hades’ wife all to himself was so insulting that he was doomed to stay behind. Hercules found the God of the Underworld and asked for permission to take the Cerberus to the surface. Hades agreed if he can over power the Cerberus with no use of weapons. He was obviously able to over power the dogs and dragged them over his shoulder. When he got back to King Eurystheseus, The king hid yet again into a pithos to protect himself from the hell hound. He promised to release Hercules from his Labour if he returned the dogs back into the Underworld. As a reward for completing The twelve Labours he was granted immortality after death by his father, Zeus.

28. Thank you for your time