One of the most popular figures in Greek mythology is Heracles, that today is more often known by his Roman name, Hercules. Heracles was half-god. He was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. Heracles was famous for his strength and bravery. There are may stories of his adventures. The most famous are his Twelve Labors. As punishment for killing his own children in a mad frenzy, Heracles was made to serve King Eurystheus of Mycenae. King Eurystheus asked Heracles to do 12 tasks.
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The goddess Hera was jealous that Zeus, her husband, loved a mortal woman. Because of that, she hated Heracles. When he was a grown man, he went to the Oracle at Delphi, who gave messages from the gods, to learn what he should do with his great gift of strength. Though Heracles could not see her, it was the goddess Hera who spoke through the Oracle that day. Hera say to him that he must go with his cousin King Eurystheus of Mycenae and put himself at his service. Finally at Mycenae, King Eurystheus was jealous of Heracles because of his strength and his fame. The king did not know when he was putting the tasks for Heracles, that the quiet words that came to him were whispered by jealous Hera, hoping to do Heracles harm.
12 Impossible Tasks
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King Eurystheus asked Heracles to do 12 tasks. This tasks were difficult and mostly impossible.
1. To kill the Nemean lion. This lion had a hide so tough that no weapon could damge it. So Heracles had to kill the lion with his bare hands. Afterwards, he wore the lion's skin as protection of any.
1. To kill the Nemean lion. This lion had a hide so tough that no weapon could damge it. So Heracles had to kill the lion with his bare hands. Afterwards, he wore the lion's skin as protection of any.
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2. To destroy the Lernaean Hydra. In the swamps of Lerna lived the Hydra. It had a dog-like body and nine serpent's heads, which grew again each time they were cut off. Heracles had to strike off ach head and seal the neck with a burning torch before he could killl it.
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3. To capture the Ceryneian hind alive. This deer had hooves of bronze, horns of gold and was sacred to Artemis. Catching it alive was even more difficult than killing it. Heracles stalked it for a whole year before being able to catch it in a net and carry it to Eurystheus.
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4. To trap the Erymanthian boar. Heracles drove the enormous, fierce creature into a deep snowdrift and when it was trapped he tied it with chains.
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5, The fifth Labor of Heracles was to clean the Augean stables. This assignment was intended to be both humiliating (rather than impressive, as had the previous labors) and impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung. These stables had not been cleaned in over 30 years, and over 1,000 cattle lived there. However, Hercules succeeded by rerouting the rivers Aplheus and Peneus to wash out the filth.
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6. After cleaning the Augean Stables, Eurystheus sent Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian birds , man-eating birds with beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims; they were sacred to Ares, the god of war. Furthermore, their dung was highly toxic. They had migrated to Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia, where they bred quickly and took over the countryside, destroying local crops, fruit trees and townspeople. Hercules could not go too far into the swamp, for it would not support his weight. Athena, noticing the hero's plight, gave Hercules a rattle which Hephaestus had made especially for the occasion. Hercules shook the rattle and frightened the birds into the air. Hercules then shot many of them with his arrows. The rest flew far away, never to return. The Argonauts would later encounter them.
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7. Heracles was then sent to capture the Cretan bull by Eurystheus as his seventh task. Eurystheus, who hid in his palace at first sight of the creature, wanted to sacrifice the bull to Hera, who hated Herscles. She refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on Herscles. The bull was released and wandered into Marathon.
8. Heracles was not aware that the horses, called Podagros (the fast), Lampon (the shining), Xanthos (the blond) and Deinos (the terrible), were kept tethered to a bronze manger because they were wild; their madness being attributed to an unnatural diet of human flesh. Eating make the horses calmer, and Heracles took the opportunity to bind their mouths shut, and easily took them back to King Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera.
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9.Eurystheus' daughter Admete wanted the belt of Hippolyta, a gift to the queen of the Amazons from the war god Ares. To please his daughter, Eurystheus ordered Heracles to retrieve the belt as his ninth labour.All would have gone well for Heracles had it not been for Hera. Hippolyta, impressed with Heracles and his exploits, agreed to give him the belt and would have done so had Hera not disguised herself and walked among the Amazons sowing seeds of distrust. She claimed the strangers were plotting to carry off the queen of the Amazons. Alarmed, the women set off on horseback to confront Hercules. When Heracles saw them, he thought Hippolyta had been plotting such treachery all along and had never meant to hand over the belt, so he killed her and took the belt, returning to Eurystheus.