Hercules

**Hercules** was a figure from Roman mythology.

## Mythology

### Infancy

As an infant, Hercules' jealous step-mother tried to kill him by placing a snake in his crib. However, due to his natural-born strength, he was able to strangle and kill the serpent before it could harm him.

### Labors

Hercules suffered under the wrath of Juno for his entire life. After he had married and had children, Juno drove him mad and caused him to kill his wife and three children. After realizing what he had done, he exiled himself and sought out the Oracle of Delphi to regain his honor. The Oracle told Hercules to seek the help of King Eurystheus of Mycenae who had been influenced by Juno. Eurystheus, following the advice of the jealous goddess, commanded Hercules to complete twelve tasks to repent for his killings.

1. His first labor was to kill the Nemean Lion which had a coat so thick that no weapon could penetrate it. Hercules killed the beast by strangling it.
2. His second task was to slay the Lernaean Hydra, a serpent with nine heads that grew two more heads back each time one was cut off. Hercules defeated the Hydra with the help of Ioloas because Ioloas cauterized the stumps of the decapitated Hydra each time a head was cut off.
3. The third labor was to capture (but not kill) the Cerynitian Hind. Although it took him a year to follow the deer, Hercules eventually captured the hind.
4. His fourth labor was to capture the Erymanthian Boar which had been terrorizing the people of Mycenae. The boar fled onto a snowy mountain where it was slowed down by the snow. Hercules was then able to capture it.
5. For his fifth task, Hercules had to clean the Augean stables. This was where thousands of cattle were kept so it was thought to be near-impossible to clean. Hercules cleaned the stables in a day by diverting a river into the stables to clean them with ease.
6. His sixth task was to either kill or scare away the Symphalian Birds, which were haunting a lake. By using a rattle to scare the birds out of their trees, he shot them out of the sky with his bow and arrows.
7. Hercules' seventh labor was to capture the Cretan Bull.
8. His eighth labor was to capture the man-eating Thracian horses of Diomedes. By killing and feeding the body of Diomedes to the horses, they became tame horses again and Hercules could easily bring them to Eurystheus.
9. The ninth task was to obtain the girdle of the Amazon queen Hippolyta. Although Hippolyta willingly gave Hercules her girdle, Juno convinced the other Amazons that Hercules was trying to kidnap Hippolyta and they attacked him. Hercules successfully fought them off and brought the girdle to Eurystheus.
10. The tenth labor was to capture the cattle of Geryon. By killing Geryon, Hercules was easily able to bring the cattle back to Mycenae.
11. The eleventh task of Hercules was to bring Eurystheus a golden apple of the Hesperides. Since the Hesperides were guarding the apples for Juno, Hercules sought the help of the sky-bearing titan Atlas. Hercules held the sky for Atlas while he retrieved the apples from his daughters. Atlas tried to trick Hercules into holding the sky forever but Hercules was not fooled and ended up tricking Atlas into taking the sky back.
12. The final task of Hercules was to capture Cerberus from the Underworld and bring it to Eurystheus.

### Death

After being freed from his shame, Hercules went to Thebes and married a woman named Deianira and had several children. Some point later in their life, Deianira was abducted by the centaur Nessus. Hercules saved his wife by killing Nessus with a poison-tipped arrow. In his dying moments, Nessus convinced Deianira that Hercules would eventually leave her and, to prevent this, to take some of Nessus' blood and use it as a love potion. Deianira believed Nessus and did what he had instructed her to. Since the blood was poisoned because of Hercules killing Nessus, the blood killed Hercules. While burning on a funeral pyre, Hercules ascended to Olympus and became a god.

## Sources

* "Hercules." *Encyclopedia Mythica* from Encyclopedia Mythica Online.