Heracles

**Heracles** (/ˈhɛrəkliːz/ HERR-ə-kleez; Ancient Greek: Ἡρακλῆς, Hēraklēs, Glory/Pride of Hēra, "Hera"), born as Alcaeus (Ἀλκαῖος, Alkaios) or Alcides (Ἀλκείδης, Alkeidēs) is the son of the king of the ancient Greek gods, Zeus, and the mortal Queen Alcmene of Thebes, and is a demigod with superhuman strength inherited from Zeus. Heracles is a divine fabled hero in Greek mythology. He was the adoptive son of Amphitryon and the grand-grandchild and half brother (as they are both sons of the god Zeus) of Perseus. The Romans later adopted the myths of Heracles under the name **Hercules**.

One day, in a bout of madness induced by the goddess Hera, Heracles killed his wife Megara and their children. In a wish to take the punishment for his crime and show his worth as a hero, and to become a god so that he could dwell on Mount Olympus, Heracles was given 12 different tests. Only by accomplishing them, a place for him on Olympus could be considered.

After accomplishing all the tasks, the judges at the mountain decided that he had not been punished enough, and he was chained to a tree on the bank of a subterranean lake in the pit of Tartarus, which lies in the underworld of Hades. Several thousands years passed before he broke free, with help from the she-devil, Satina Dargue, and a drink from the river Phlegethon. Satina tempted the hero and had him free the humans Philip Engel and Samuel from their prison in the underworld, after which he began to fight the god of the underworld himself, the only person he was never able to conquer.

## History

### Greek mythology

Several thousands of years ago, Heracles was born in Thebes, Boeotia, Greece, to Alcmene, after her having slept with the god Zeus, who had disguised himself as Alcmene's groom, Amphytrion. The husband came home later that same night, and made her pregnant with yet another son - a case of heteropaternal superfecundation, where a woman bears twins with different fathers.

Hera, the wife of Zeus and the queen of the ancient Greek gods, despised Zeus for him often sneaking down to the mortal world to sleep with women, but since the Greek gods cannot punish one another, she let her wrath rain on Zeus' partners. However, on the day of the birth of Heracles, whom Zeus dedicated to Hera by naming him after her, instead of taking her fury out on the mortal who bore him, Alcmene, she began to harbor a fierce hatred for the demigod, whom she wanted to see suffer for Zeus' infidelity. For instance, she sent two serpents to kill him, but Heracles simply strangled them and used them as playthings. Following this defeat, Hera did everything in her power to make the hero's life difficult. A demigod, Heracles grew up with superhuman strength, which he had inherited from his father, and was hailed as the greatest hero of all.

One day Hera's hatred went so far as to induce a bout of madness and rage in Heracles that made him kill his wife Megara and their children. To repay his sins, Heracles was willingly given 12 hard tasks. Heracles overcame all tasks, including defeating the hydra, conquering the giant Geryon, tamed the man-eating horses, strangling the Nemean lion with his bare hands, and even Cerberus, the three-headed beast dog who guards the gate of Hades, was defenseless when Heracles came for it. However, these victories were only a few of the ones Heracles accomplished in his life. However, even though Heracles believed that he would finally be allowed to rise up to Olympus as a god after all his suffering, but instead the three judges of Olympus decided, that he had not been punished enough, and that he should go to Hades as a condemned. Heracles found that Hades the god was the only person he could not defeat, and finally he was chained by the foot to a tree at the bank of a subterranean lake, in the pit of Tartarus, his only company being Tantalus, who had been chained to a different tree before in the middle of the lake.

### *The Wrongful Death*

Several thousand years later, Heracles was met by Philip Engel and Satina Dargue, who had gone to Hades to save Philip's friend Sam. They found him chained to the tree by the lake of Tantalus, where he had been all along. He told his story, of his exploits and defeats to the judges of Olympus, to Philip, who out of pity gave him some water from the lake to drink. When Heracles kept asking for more water, Philip stopped, knowing that it would just go on like this.

When Philip and Satina were caught and locked up together with Sam, Satina managed to escape, after which she gave Heracles a sip of water from the fiery river Phlegethon. The water awakened the old powers in Heracles and it allowed him to stand up, which was enough for him to break his chains. As thanks, the demigod destroyed the thick metal door to Philip and Sam's prison, and determined to get revenge on Hades, he then attacked the god of the underworld.

## Physical appearance

When Philip Engel and Satina Dargue first encountered Heracles he was chained to a tree by an underground lake in Tartarus. At this point he was well up in years and so emaciated he could have hidden behind the branches of the furrowed tree. His body was sinewy and marred by old scars and his back was so bent, it could only belong to a man without hope. His eyes were gray in the shadows and dull with despondency. Yet there was still a hint of pride in his eyes that not even Hades could crush.

Since Heracles' despondency was simply a result of Tartarus getting to him, a drink from Phlegethon, the river of fire, was all that was needed to reawaken his old powers and get him to stand up. As soon as he was standing, he was able to break his chains. After breaking free he was neither bigger or stronger, but his back was straighter, he held his head high, and his eyes shone with a vigor Philip had never seen in any eyes. But the biggest change was the Heracles' smile, which stretched from ear to ear.

In his emaciated form Heracles' muscles were still strong, being able to tight like ropes on his old bones when flexing, with his veins swelling.

## Abilities

Heracles has superhuman strength as a result of his status as a demigod and the son of Zeus, the most powerful among the gods. The myths about him told that his strength was comparable to that of 12 grown men, but it is possible that it is far more than that, as evidenced in the myth about how he caused the Milky Way to appear. He was known for being brave.

## Mythological background

In Greek mythology, Heracles was the son of the king of ghe gods, Zeus, and the mortal human woman, Queen Alcmene of Theben. A major factor in the well-known tragedies surrounding Heracles is the hatred that the goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus, felt towards him, for the fact that he was one of Zeus' many illegimate offspring. According to myth, Zeus came down from Mount Olympus and, disguised as the husband of Alcmene, King Amphytrion, slept with and impregnated Alcmene. He then left her, but later that same night, Amphytrion came home, having returned early from a war he had partook in. Amphytrion slept with Alcmene and impregnated her, too - resulting in a case of hetereopaternal superfecundation, where a woman bears twins with different fathers. Heracles' mortal twin brother, the son of Amphytrion, was Iphicles, who would later become the father of Heracles' charioteer, Iolaus.

The existence of Heracles proved one of Zeus' many infidelities, and on the night that Heracles and Iphicles were to be born, Hera, well knowing of Zeus' adultery, made the king of the gods swear that the child born that night to the House of Perseus would become High King. Hera did this well-knowing that Heracles would be born a descendant of Perseus, but so would his cousin, Eurystheus. When the oath was sworn, she hurried to Alcmene's dwelling, where she forced the goddess of child birth, Ilithya, to slow the birth of the twins. Meanwhile she caused Eurystheus to be born prematurely, which made him High King in Heracles' place. She would have permanently slowed Heracles' birth if she had not been tricked by Galanthis, Alcmene's servant, who lied to Ilithya, telling her Heracles had already been born.

A demigod and a son of Zeus, Heracles inherited divine superhuman strength from his father, which, according to myth, was equal to that of 12 grown men, but which must have been more considering all the myths about the hero's deeds. Heracles gained additional superhuman strength as a baby, when Athena, half sister of Hera and protectoress of heroes, took him him to Athena and tricked her into letting him drink milk from her breasts. Not recognizing the demigod, Hera let Heracles suck on her nipples, but he did it so hard that she felt pain, and she pushed him away. Her milk sprayed across the heavens and formed the Milky Way. And with the divine milk had gained additional superhuman strength. Athena brought the baby back to its mother, where he was raised by Alcmene and his foster father, Amphytrion.

Originally named Alcaeus (Ἀλκαῖος, Alkaios) or Alcides (Ἀλκείδης, Alkeidēs), the demigod was later given the name Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς, Hēraklēs, from Hēra, "Hera" or "Glory to Hera") in a failed by Zeus to calm Hera. When Heracles and Iphicles were 8 months old, Hera sent two giant snakes to their room. Heracles strangled them to death and used them as playtings. Shocked, Amphytrion sent for the seer Tiresias, who prophesied an unusual future for the boy and said that he would destroy many mythological monsters. But throughout his life, Hera still tried to punish him.

### Deciding to become a hero

After having killed his music tutor Linus with a lyra, because he corrected Heracles, the demigod was sent away by Amphytrion to take care of cattle on top of a mountain. According to the allegorical parable "The Choice of Heracles", invented by the sophist Prodicus (c. 400 BCE) and told in Xenophon's *Memorabilia* 2.1.21-34, he was met by two allegorical figures—Vice and Virtue—who gave him the choice between a nice and easy life or a hard and glorious life, and Heracles chose the latter.

### Twelve labors of Heracles

Later in Thebes Heracles married King Creon's daguther, Megara, but one day, in a bout of madness induced in him by Hera, Heracles killed his wife and their children. After being cured of the madness by hellebore by Antikyreus, the founder of Antikyra, he discovered what he had done and fled to the oracle Xenoclea in Delphi. Unbeknownst to him the oracle was guided by Hera, and instructed him to serve King Eurystheus of Tiryns for 10 years, and do any task he demanded, to atone for his crime. Eurystheus gave Heracles 10 hard tasks, which, if he accomplished them, would cleanse him of his sin and allow him to become a god on Mount Olympus. Heracles accomplished them all, but in the end Eurystheus did not accept two of the tasks: the cleansing of the Aegian Stables, since Heracles would receive payment for it, and the defeat of the Lernaean Hydra, because Heracles' njephew, Iolaus, had helped. Therefore Eurystheus gave him two more tasks: fetch the Golden Apples of the Hesperides and capture Cerberus. With ease Heracles accomplished the tasks. There are several versions and tales of the *twelve labors of Heracles* or *Hercules*. For instance, what happened during the individual labors, and which order they happened in. The traditional order of the labors as given in pseudo-Appolodorus' *Bibliotheca* are:

1. Slay the Nemean Lion
2. Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra
3. Capture the Ceryneian Hind
4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar
5. Clean the Augean stables in a single day
6. Slay the Stymphalian birds
7. Capture the Cretan Bull
8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes
9. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta
10. Obtain the cattle of the giant Geryon
11. Steal the apples of the Hesperides
12. Capture and bring back Cerberus.

#### Nemean Lion

A lion terorizing Nemea with a hide so thick that no weapon could penetrate it. According to one myth, it would abduct women to its lair in a cave near Nemea, lure warriors from towns nearby to save them, and when they entered and came near the woman, the woman would turn into the lion and kill the warrior, consuming the body and sacrificing the bones to the god Hades. Wandering the area Heracles came to the city Cleonae, where he, according to one version, met a boy who said that if Heracles could slay the Nemean Lion and return within 30 days, the town would sacrifice a lion to Zeus, but if he did not return within the time or died, the boy would sacrifice himself to Zeus. In another version he met Molorchus, a shepherd who had lost his son to the lion, and who said that if Heracles returned within 30 days, a ram would be sacrificed to Zeus, but if he failed, it would be sacrificed to the dead Heracles as a mourning offering.

While searching Heracles fletched some arrows to use against the lion, not knowing its skin was impenetrable. When he shot an arrow at it, it bounced harmlessly off its thigh. Heracles eventually got the lion to return to its cave, which had two entrances, one of which Heracles had blocked. He entered through the other and in the darknes stunned the lion with his club, then choked it to death. During the fight the lion bit off of one of his fingers. Some sources claim that after firing arrows at it, one hit it in its unguarded mouth. After killing it, he tried to skin the lion with a knife from his belt, but failed. He tried to sharpen it with a stone and even tried with the stone itself. Athena, noticing the hero's plight, told him to use one of the lion's own claws to skin it, and he succeeded and took the skin as armor. Other sources state that his armor was the skin of the lion of Cithaeron.

Heracles returned to Tiryns on the 13th day, wearing the skin of the lion. King Eurystheus, terrified, forbade him ever again to enter the city, and in the future he had to display the fruits of his labors from outside the city gates. Eurystheus would henceforth give Heracles his labors through a messenger. He had a bronze jar made which he could hide inside from Heracles, if it was necessary. Eurystheus warned Heracles that the labors would only become more difficult from then on.

#### Lernaean Hydra

Raised by Hera to kill Heracles, according to myth, the Lernaean Hydra lurked in a swamp in Lerna, near Lerna Lake, and was a huge serpentine dragon-like creature with nine heads. When Heracles came to the swamp, Heracles covered his mouth and nose with a piece of cloth to protect himself from the poisonous fumes. He fired flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair, the Spring of Amymone, a deep cave, which it only came out from to terrorize the nearby villages. With a sickle, a sword, or his olive wood club (depending on the version of the myth), Heracles confronted the Hydra and a hard battle ensued, for each time Heracles cut off one of its heads, two new ones grew out from the place of beheading. Furthermore, one of its heads was immortal.

According to the *Bibliotheca* Heracles asked his nephew, Iolaus, to help, and he came up with the idea of burning the wounds on the neck stubs after each beheading, so that the heads could not grow out. While Heracles cut off the heads, Iolaus burned the open wounds. When Hera saw that they were winning, she sent a gigantic crab to distract Heracles, but he crushed it under his foot. He cut off its immortal head with a golden sword given to him by Athena, and afterwords placed it under a giant rock on the sacred way between Lerna and Elaius, then dipped his arrows in the Hydra's poisonous blood. Another version states that after cutting each head off, he dipped his sword in the blood and used its poison to burn each head, so they could regrow. Hera, furious that Heracles had killed the monster she had raised to destroy him, placed the Hydra in the sky as the constellation "the Hydra", and turned the crab into the constellation "Cancer".

#### Ceryneian Hind

A fast hind (deer) with bronze hooves and gold antlers living in Keryneia, which Heracles had to capture and bring to Tiryns. The animal was sacred for Artemis, goddess of hunt. After starting his search, Heracles woke from sleeping and saw the hind by the glint on its antlers, whereafter he chased it for a year through Greece, Thrace, Istria, and the land of the Hyperboreans, then finally caught it in a net. In some versions he caight the animal while it slept, and tamed it with the net, and in others he met Artemis in her temple, and asked her to give up the hind and tell Eurystheus all that had happened so the third labor would be considered to be completed. In another version Heracles caught it with an arrow between its forelegs. Eurystheus had given Heracles the task hoping he would anger Artemis for his desecration of her sacred animal, but on his way back the hero met Artemis and her brother Apollo, and he begged her forgiveness, explaining that its capture was part of his penance, promising to return it to her. Artemis allowed it, foiling Eurystheus' plan. Upon returning and learning that it would become part of the king's menagerie, Heracles said that he would only give it up if Eurystheus would come out and fetch it. The king came out, but the moment Heracles let it go, the hind sprinted back to Artemis, and Heracles left saying he had not been quick enough.

#### Erymanthian Boar

Disappointed that Heracles had overcome another beast, and humiliated by the hind's escape, Eurystheus gave Heracles his forth labor: capturing the Erymanthian Boar of Mount Erymanthos and bringing it to Tiryns, hoping he would fail. On Mount Erymanthos Heracles visited his friend, the centaur Pholus ("cave man"), and at supper in his cavern asked for some wine. Pholus only had two glasses of wine, a gift from Dionysus to all centaurs on the mountain, but Heracles convinced him to open it and the smell attracted more centaurs. Not knowing wine had to be tempered with water the centaurs became drunk and attacked Heracles, who shot poisonous arrows at them, killing many, and the rest retreated to the cave of Chiron. Pholus, curious to see why the arrows caused so much death, picked up an arrow but dropped it, and it pierced his foot and killed him. In one version a stray arrow also hit Chiron, who was immortal but felt pain so strong that he willingly gave up immortality and switched places with the titan Prometheus who was chained on top of the mountain with an eagle eating his liver every day, although Prometheus was immortal. The eagle continued its torture on Chiron, so Heracles shot and killed it. It is generally believed that Heracles received Chiron's immortality in this version. However, the tale contradicts the fact that Chiron later taught Achilles, and the tale of the centaurs sometimes appears in other parts of the twelve labors, as does the freeing of Prometheus.

Heracles had visited Chiron to gain advice on how to capture the boar, and had learned that he should drive it into thick snow, which meant the labor happened in the dead of winter. Heracles caught the boar, bound it and carried it back to Eurystheus, who, at the sight of it, hid in his bronze jar and begged Heracles to remove it.

#### Cleaning the Augean Stables

Heracles' fifth labor was to clean the Augean Stables in a single day. The job was designed to humiliate Heracles, and impossible, as the cattle there were divinely healthy (and immortal) and therefore produced vast amounts of dung. The stables, belonging to King Augeas, had not been cleaned in over 30 years, and over 1,000 cattle livet there, however Heracles did it by re-routing and the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash it out. Before starting, Heracles had asked Augeas for one-tenth of his cattle, but after finishing the work Augeas refused to honor the deal, as Heracles had been ordered to fulfil the task by Eurystheus to begin with. Heracles made claim to his reward in court, and was supported by Augeas' son, Phyleus. Augeas banished them both before the court ruled. Heracles returned and killed Augeas, and gave his kingdom to Phyleus. Heracles' success was however discounted by Eurystheus, on the ground that the rivers had done the work for him and he was to be paid. The king of Tiryns told him he still had 7 more labors.

#### Stymphalian Birds

The sixth labor was to slay the Stymphalian Birds, man-eating birds with beaks and claws of bronze and metallic feathers that they could fire at their victims. They were sacred for Ares, god of war. Furthermore, their dung was extremely toxic. Having migrated to Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia, they quickly bred and took over the countryside, destroying local crops, fruit trees, and townspeople. Heracles could not go too far into the swamp, for it could not support his weight. Athena, noticing his plight, gave Heracles a rattle made by Hephaestus especially for the occasion. He shook the rattle and scared the birds into the air, then took many down with arrows. The rest flew away, and never returned. The Argonauts later encountered them.

#### Cretan Bull

The seventh labor was capturing the Cretan Bull, which Heracles sailed to Crete to do. Here King Minos gave him permission to take the Bull with him, and even offered his assistance (which Heracles refused, presumably because he did not want the labor to be discounted like before). The Bull had wreacked havoc on Crete by uprooting crops and leveling orchard walls. Heracles snuck up behind it and used his fists to throttle it, stopping before it could die, then brought it back to Tiryns. Eurystheus hid in his bronze jar at the first glimpse of the creature. He wished to sacrifice it to Hera, but she refused it as it reflected glory on Heracles. The Bull was released and wandered into Marathon, where it became known as the Marathonian Bull.

#### Mares of Diomedes

Heracles had to capture and bring the Mares of Diomedes, which had been trained to eat human flesh by its owner, King Diomedes of Thrace, back to Eurystheus in Tiryns. In one version of the myth Heracles had gathered a group of youth to help him. They took the horses, called Podargos ("swift-footed"), Lampon ("the shining"), Xanthos ("the blood"), and Deinos ("the terrible"), and was chased by Diomedes and his men. Heracles did not know that the horses were bound to a bronze manger because they were wild, their madness being attributed to an unnatural diet of human flesh. Some versions tells that they expelled fire when they breathed. Heracles' favored companion, Abderus, controlled them while he fought Diomedes, and then discovered that the boy had been eaten. To take revenge Heracles fed Diomedes to his own horses, and then founded the city of Abdera next to the boy's grave. After having eaten their owner's body, the horses became calm and could easily be tamed.

In another version Heracles stayed awake so Diomedes could not behead him at night, and cut the chains binding the horses. After scaring the horses onto higher ground on a peninsula, Heracles quickly dug a trench through the peninsula, filling it with water, and had thereby made it an island. When Diomedes arrived, Heracles killed him with the axe he had used to dig the trench, then fed his dead body to the Mares, which calmed and could easily be tamed. Both versions ends with the man-eating Mares becoming calmer and Heracles took the chance and bound their mouths tightly, and then easily brought them back to Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera. In some versions they were allowed to roam freely around Argos, as they had become pernanetly calm. In others Eurystheus ordered the horses be taken to Mount Olympus to be sacrificed to Zeus, but Zeus refused them and sent wolves, lions and bears to kill them. Roger Lancelyn Green claims in his *Tales of the Greek Heroes* that their descendents were used in the Trojan War.

#### Hippolyta's Girdle

Eurystheus' daughter, Admete, wished for the magical girdle, or belt, belonging to the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, which was gift from her father Ares, the god of war. To please her Eurystheus ordered Heracles to obtain the girdle and bring it to him as his ninth labor. The girdle, which held magical powers, projected a magical aura of protection around Queen Hippolyta and held her sword and javelin. Heracles gathered a group of his friends and set sail, after which he stopped at the island of Paros, which was inhabitated by some of Minos' sons. The sons killed two of Heracles' companions, enraging Heracles who killed two of Minos' sons and threatened the other islanders until they were offered two men to replace his dead. Heracles agreed and took two of Minos' grandsons, Alcaeus and Sthenelus. They continued on their voyage and arrived at the court of Lycus, which Heracles defended in a battle against King Mydgon of Bebryces. Having slain King Mydgon, Heracles gave much of the land to his friend, Lycus, who named it Heraklea. The crew then set sail for Themiscyra, where Queen Hippolyta lived. Everything would have gone well, if Hera had not intervened. Hippolyta, impressed by Heracles and his deeds, agreed to give him the girdle and would have done it, if Hera had not disguised herself as an Amazon and and walked among the warriors and sowing mistrust. She claimed that the stranger had planned to abduct Hippolyta, and alarmed the women se t off on horseback to confront Heracles. When he saw them, he thought Hippolyta had planned to betray him all along and would not give up the girdle, so he killed her, took the girdle and delivered it to Eurystheus.

#### Cattle of Geryon

For the tenth labor Heracles had to capture and bring back the cattle of Geryon. He was a monstrous giant with three bodies, who guarded his cattle with his two-headed dog, Orthrus. In the fullest account in pseudo-Apollodorus' *Bibliotheca* Heracles had to travel to the island Erytheia in the far west (sometimes identified with the Hesperides, or with the island which forms the city of Cádiz), to obtain the cattle. On the way he crossed the Libyan desert, and frustrated by the heat, he shot an arrow at the sun. The sun-god Helios "in admiration of his courage" gave Hercules the golden chariot Helios used to sail across the sea from west to east each night. Heracles rode the chariot to Erytheia. Heracles in the chariot was a favorite motif on black-figure pottery. Such a magical conveyance undercuts any literal geography for Erytheia, the "red island" of the sunset.

When Heracles arrived at Erytheia he was confronted by the two-headed dog Orthrus. With one strike of his olive wood club, Heracles killed Orthrus. The shepherd Erytion came to assist Orthrus, but Heracles took care of him the same way. Hearing the commotion Geryon sprang into action, wielding three shields and three spears, and three helmets. He attacked Heracles at the River Antemus, but was killed by one of Heracles' poisonous arrows. Heracles shot so fiercely that the arrow pierced Geryon's forehead, "and Geryon bent his neck over to one side, like a poppy that spoils its delicate shapes, shedding its petals all at once." Then Heracles herded the cattle back to Eurystheus.

Roman sources state that Heracles (here called Hercules) herded the cattle across the Aventine Hill, where Rome would one day be built. The giant Cacus who lived there stole some of the cattle while Heracles slept, and made it walk back, so they did not leave any trace, a repetition of the trick of the young Hermes. According to some versions Hercules herded the remaining cattle by the cave where Cacus had hidden the animals, and they begun to call to one another. In other versions Cacus' sister, Caca, told Hercules his location, and Hercules killed Cacus and built an altar on the site, on the place that would later become Rome's Forum Boarium (the Cattle Market).

According to the Roman sources, on his way to Eyrthia in the Hesperides, Heracles had to cross a mountain that used to be Atlas. Instead of climbing it, he used his superhuman strength to smash through it, and by doing that connected the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Ocean, creating the Strait of Gibraltar. One part of the split mountain is Gibraltar, the ot her Monte Hacho or Jebel Musa. Since then the mountains have been called "Pilalrs of Hercules," although other features are also connected to the name. Diodorus Siculus, however, held that Hercules narrowed an already existing strait to provent monsters from the Atlantic Ocean from entering the Mediterranean Sea, instead of smashing through an isthmus. In some versions, Heracles instead built the two to hold the sky up from the earth, liberating Atlas from his damnation.

To annoy Heracles, Hera sent a gadfly to bite the cattle, irritate them, and scatter them. Heracles within a year retrieved them. Hera then sent a flood which raised the level of a river so much, Heracles could not cross with the cattle. He piled stones into the river to make the water shallower. When he finally reached the court of Eurystheus, the cattle were sacrificed to Hera.

According to the Greek mythology adopted by Etruscans and Romans, Heracles' trip to Erytheia was the most westernly place the hero reached on his travels. A lost passage written by Pindar, cited by Strabo, was the earliest traceble reference in this context: "the pillars which Pindar calls the 'gates of Gades' when he asserts that they are the farthermost limits reached by Heracles." Since there has been a one-to-one association between Heracles and Melqart since Herodotus, the "Pillars of Melqart" in the temple near Gades/Gádeira (modern Cádiz) have sometimes been considered to be the true Pillars of Hercules.

#### Apples of the Hesperides

After accomplishing the first 10 labors, King Eurystheus gave Heracles 2 more, as Heracles had had Iolaus help in the killing of the Hydra, and because he either was going to be paid for cleaning the Augean Stables or because he used the rivers to do that work for him. The first additional labor was to steal the Apples of the Garden of the Hesperides, which were cared for by the Hesperides (nymphs) and guarded by a dragon that Heracles had to kill before he could take the fruits. Heracles first caught the Old Man of the Sea, the shape-shifting sea god, to learn where the Garden was. In some versions Heracles met, even at the start or at the end of the labor, Antaeus, who was invincible as long as he touched her mother, Gaia, the earth. Heracles killed him by holding him in the air and crushing him in his arms.

Herodotus claims that Heracles stopped in Egypt, where King Busiris decided to make him the yearly sacrifice, but Heracles burst out of his chains.

Eventualy Heracles came to the Garden of the Hesperides, where he met the titan Atlas, who was forced to lift the heavens on his shoulders. Heracles persuaded him to fetch some of the golden apples for him by offering to hold up the heavens in his place for a time. (In this version Atlas could get the apples as he was the father of, or in some other way, related to the Hesperide nymphs). This would discount the labor, like the Hydra and the Augean Stables, as Heracles had help. When Atlas returned, he decided not to take back the heavens and instead offered to deliver the apples himself, but Heracles baited him into taking back the heavens by accepting to stay in Atlas' place on the condition that Atlas would hold up the heavens while Heracles straightened his cloak. Atlas agreed, but Heracles left. In a different version Heracles instead killed Ladon, the dragon guardian of the apples. Eurystheus was furious that Heracles had accomplished something he thought was impossible.

#### Cerberus

Heracles twelth and last labor was to capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog guardian of the entrance to the underworld, and bring him back to Eurystheus. To prepare for the descent into the ujnderworld, Heracles went to Eleusis (or Athens) to join the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis in ancient Greece, which were the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece". When entering the underworld, Hermes and Athens guided Heracles. In the underworld he met Theseus and Pirithous who had been imprised by Hades for attempting to abduct Persephone. A tradition tells of snakes coiling around their legs and turning to stone. Another that Hades feined hospitality and prepared a feast, inviting them to sit at the table. Unbeknownst to them, they sat on chairs of forgetfulness, and became permanently trapped. When Heracles first pulled Theseus from his chair, some of his thigh stuck to it (this explains the supposedly lean thighs of Athenians), but the earth shook at the attempt to free Pirithous, whose desire to have the goddess for himself was so insulting he was condemned to stay behind.

Heracles found the god of the underworld, Hades, and asked for permission to take Cerberus to the surface, and Hades agreed to it if Heracles could overcome the beast without the use of a weapon. Heracles did so with his hands and slung the animal onto its back, then carried Cerberus out of the underworld through a cavern entrance i Peolopnnese, bringing ti to Eurystheus, who fled into his bronze jar. The king of Tiryns begged him to return Cerberus to Hades, and offered to free him of further labors. Heracles then returned Cerberus to Hades.

### Further adventures

After Heracles had accomplished the twelve labors Hera was still not finished punishing the demigod. Having fallen in love with Princess Iole of Oechalia, whose father, King Eurytus, had promised her to anyone who could beat his sons in an archery contest, Heracles beat them, but Eurytus abandoned the promise. When King Eurytus and his sons found Heracles making advances at Iole, Heracles killed them all except the son Iphutus, and abducted Iole. Iphitus became Heracles' best friend, however Hera again induced a madness in him, making him throw Iphutus over the wall of Tiryns to his death. To atone for the crime, the Delphic Oracle Xenoclea imposed him to serve as slave for Omphale of Lydia for either 1 or 3 years. The number of years of servitude, and whether Omphale was queen or princess, depends on the version of the myth. Heracles was forced to do women's work and wear women's clothes, while Omphale wore the skin of the Nemean Lion and wielded his olive wood club. After a time Omphale released Heracles and married him. Some sources state that they had one or more sons, but they are named differently in the sources. He had several other adventures during his time with Omphale, and after it he allgedly sacked Troy (years before the Trojan War) and put Priam on its throne. Aside from Iole and Omphale, Heracles had affairs with several women and relationships with men as well.

In Apollonius of Rhodos' *Argonautica* it is relayed how Heracles made war with the Dryopes "because they gave no heed to justice in their lives", and after mercilessly slaying their king, Theiodamas, over the latter's bull, the they gave up and offered him Prince Hylas. He took the young man as weapon bearer and lover, and many years later they joined the crew of the *Argo*. As Argonauts, they only participated in part of the journey. In Mysia, Hylas was kidnapped by the nymphs of a local spring. Heracles, heart-broken, searched for long, but Hylas had fallen in love with the nymphs and never emerged again. In some versions he simply drowned. The *Argo* set sail without them.

Heracles was given a constellation after having fought the two giants, Albion and Bergion or Dercynus, whom he had help from Zeus in defeating. It was kneeling position Heracles took while praying to Zeus for aid which is depicted in the constellation, known as *Engonasin* ("Εγγόνασιν", derived from "εν γόνασιν") - "on his knees" or "the Kneeler".

The gods told Heracles that before he could live on Olympus, he was to found a colony on the island of Sardinia, and make the sons he had with Thespius' daughters the leaders of the settlement. When his sons became adults, he sent them together with Iolaus to the island. Heracles went on many other adventures, performed many other heroic deeds, was involved in much more drama, battles and killings, before dying.

#### Death and becoming a god

The death and godification of Heracles is where *The Wrongful Death* and the myths take different turns, for while Heracles is imprisoned in Tartarus in his death in Kenneth B. Andersen's novel, in the original myths he was killed by the poison of the Lernaean Hydra from his own arrow after wearing the tunic of the centaur Nessus, whom he had previously killed. The tunic, tainted by Nessus' blood, had the Hydra's poison mixed in with the blood. The tale appears in Sophocles' Sophocles' *Trachiniae* and in Book IX of Ovid's *Metamorphoses*. Having wrestled and defeated Achelous, god of the River Acheloos, Heracles takes Deianira as his wife. Travelling to Tiryns, a centaur, Nessus, offers to help Deianira across a fast flowing river while Heracles swims it. Nessus tried to abduct Deianira while Heracles was still in the water, and enraged the demigod shot Nessus with his arrows dipped in the poisonous blood of the Lernaean Hydra. Thinking of revenge, Nessus gives Deianira his blood-soaked tunic before he dies, telling her it will "excite the love of her husband".

Several years later, Deianira hears a rumor that she has a competitor for Heracles' love. She remembered Nessus' tunic and had the herald Lichas deliver it to him. But it was still tainted by the Hydra blood and Heracles was poisoned, his skin torn, exposing his bones. Before dying, Heracles threw Lichas into the sea, believing him to be his killer, then uprooted several trees and built a funeral pyre on Mount Oeta, which Poeas, father of Philoctetes, lit. As his body burned, only his immortal side was left. Through Zeus' intervention, Heracles rose to Olympus as he died, where he gained a new body, immortality and became a god. On Olympus he reconciled with Hera, and then married Hebe, goddess of youth, his fourth and last wife.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Greek mythology
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Roman mythology
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Kenneth B. Andersen. *The Wrongful Death*. Høst & Søn, October 19, 2018 (English print-on-demand paperback) (Original Danish version published April 30, 2009 by Høst & Søn)