Hercules was the son of Zeus but his mother was not Zeus’
wife (Hera) but another woman called Alcmena. Because of this, Hera
hated Hercules throughout his life. She tried to kill him when he was still a
baby by sending two giant snakes into his bedroom. Hercules strangled them both
with his bare hands.
When he was eighteen he married Megara,
the daughter of the king of Thebes. Soon afterwards, Hera
caused him to have a fit of madness which made him murder his wife and
children.
He asked the oracle how he could make up for this terrible crime. He was
told that he would have to obey all the commands of King Eurystheus (king of Mycenae) for
twelve years. As soon as the cowardly king saw Hercules he was terrified by his
strength and made up some tasks which he thought would be impossible.
Four of the Twelve Labours
1. The Lion of Nemea
Hercules was ordered to destroy and bring back the great lion which had
been attacking the countryside of Nemea for many
years. To his surprise, Hercules found that his weapons had no effect against
the lion. He stunned it with his enormous club.and
strangled it with his bare hands He took the lion back to the king and Eurystheus fled in terror. He then built himself a huge
brass jar to hide in whenever Hercules frightened him. Hercules made the skin
of the lion into a cloak which he always wore from then on.
2. The Hydra
Hercules was then ordered to kill the Hydra, a huge,
poisonous .water snake with fifty heads which lived in the marshes of Argos.
Each time Hercules cut off a head, two more grew. He therefore ordered his
friend Iolaus to burn the root of each
head with a red hot iron after Hercules had cut it off. The plan worked and
when Hercules had killed the Hydra he dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood.
5. The Augean
Stables
Hercules was then ordered to clean the stables of King Augeas ruler of Elis.
He had three thousand oxen but their stables had not been cleaned for ten
years. Augeas promised him a tenth of his herd if he
succeeded. Hercules completed the task in just one day by diverting the river Alpheus to run through the stables. Augeas refused to give him his reward however, so Hercules
drove him from Elis and made his son king instead.
12. Cerberus
The last labour was to fetch the monstrous three headed dog Cerberus,
guardian of the Underworld. Hades, King of the Underworld,
allowed him to take the dog provided he captured him with his bare hands.
Hercules did so and on his return, Eurystheus fled in
terror to another city. Cerberus was then taken back to Hades.