Report on the fifth labor of Hercules. Legends and myths: who is Hercules

Amphitryon). In the absence of Amphitryon (who fought against the tribes of TV fighters), Zeus, taking his appearance, appeared to Alcmene; While their wedding night lasted, the sun did not rise above the ground for three days. After the return of her husband, Alcmene gave birth to sons at the same time - Iphicles from her husband and Hercules from Zeus. On the day when Hercules was about to be born, Zeus swore in the assembly of the gods that the baby from his descendants, who would be born on that day, would rule over Mycenae and neighboring nations.

One day, Hercules stayed overnight with King Thespius. The king, wanting to have grandchildren from the hero, sent 50 of his daughters to him. All the girls became pregnant and gave birth to boys at the same time. (Some authors call this the thirteenth labor). Subsequently, the sons of Hercules settled the island of Sardinia.

However, jealous Hera delayed the birth of Alcmene and accelerated the birth of Nikippa, the wife of the Mycenaean king Sthenel, by two months, and on this day the son of Sthenel, the grandson of Perseus and the great-grandson of Zeus Eurystheus, was born, who, in accordance with Zeus’s rash oath, received power over the Peloponnese. Hera sent two monstrous snakes to the cradle of Hercules and Iphicles, but the baby Hercules strangled them. According to some versions of the myth, Zeus or Athena tricked Hera into breastfeeding Hercules, but the baby sucked with such force that Hera threw him away, and the Milky Way arose from drops of milk.

The best teachers - the wise centaur Chiron, Autolycus, Eurytus, Castor - taught Hercules various arts, wrestling, archery; Hercules was taught to play the cithara by Lin, but when he resorted to punishment during the learning process, Hercules, in a fit of anger, killed Lin with a blow from the cithara. Frightened by the strength and temper of Hercules, Amphitryon sent him to Mount Cithaeron (east of Thebes) to the shepherds. There, at the age of eighteen, Hercules killed the lion of Cithaeron, which was devastating the surrounding area. Returning from a hunt, he met the heralds of Ergin, the king of neighboring Orkhomenes, who demanded tribute from the Thebans. Hercules cut off their noses, ears and hands and ordered them to be taken to Ergin instead of tribute. In the war that began, the young hero killed Ergin and put his army to flight, but Amphitryon, who fought with his son, died.

Hercules was called "Melampyg" ("black-bottomed"). This epithet figuratively means “brave, daring”

The Theban king Creon, as a reward for the valor of Hercules, gave him his eldest daughter Megara in marriage. When they had children, Hera, still hostile to Hercules, sent madness upon him, in a fit of which he killed his children. Having come to his senses, he goes into exile. He arrives in Delphi to ask the god where he should settle. The Oracle orders him to bear the name Hercules (before that his name was Alcides) and commands him to settle in Tiryns, serve Eurystheus for 12 years and perform 10 labors, after which Hercules will become immortal. Carrying out the orders of Eurystheus, Hercules performs 12 famous feats (mythographers present them in different sequences).

First of all, he obtains the skin of the Nemean lion. Since the lion was invulnerable to arrows, Hercules was able to defeat him only by strangling him with his hands. When he brought the lion to Mycenae, Eurystheus was so afraid that Hercules ordered him not to enter the city in the future, but to show the prey in front of the city gates. Eurystheus even built himself a bronze pithos in the ground, where he hid from Hercules and communicated with him only through the herald Copreus.

Agatha Christie gave the name "Hercule" (the French version of "Hercules") to her character. In 1947, she created the book “The Labors of Hercules” - a collection of 12 short stories entitled in honor of the labors of Hercules, in each of which Poirot solves another riddle.

Putting on the skin of the Nemean lion, Hercules sets off to carry out the second order of Eurystheus - to kill the Lernaean hydra, which was stealing cattle and devastating the lands in the vicinity of Lerna. She had 9 heads, one of them was immortal. When Hercules cut off one of the heads, two grew in its place. Karkin, a huge crayfish, crawled out to help the hydra and grabbed onto Hercules’ leg. But Hercules trampled him and called for help from Iolaus (his nephew, who from that time became Hercules’ faithful companion), who cauterized the fresh wounds of the hydra with burning brands, so that the heads did not grow back. Having cut off the last, immortal head, Hercules buried it in the ground and rolled it over with a heavy stone. Having cut the hydra's body, Hercules plunged the tips of his arrows into its deadly bile. Eurystheus refused to include this feat among the 10 assigned to Hercules because... Iolaus helped him.

The third labor of Hercules was the capture of the Cerynean fallow deer. The doe, which belonged to Artemis, had golden horns and copper hooves. Hercules pursued her for a whole year, reaching the land of the Hyperboreans, and caught her, wounding her with an arrow. Apollo and Artemis wanted to take the doe from him, but Hercules referred to the order of Eurystheus and brought the doe to Mycenae.

Then Eurystheus demanded the Erymanthian boar from Hercules (fourth labor). On the way to Erymanthus (in Northern Arcadia), Hercules stopped at the centaur Pholus, who began to cordially treat Hercules. Attracted by the smell of wine, other centaurs rushed to Fola's cave, armed with stones and tree trunks. In the battle, their mother, the cloud goddess Nephele, came to the aid of the centaurs, throwing down streams of rain to the ground, but Hercules still partially killed and partially dispersed the centaurs. In this case, Chiron and Pholus accidentally died; Pholus, amazed at the deadly power of the arrows, pulled one of them from the body of the dead centaur and accidentally dropped it on his leg, and the hydra's poison instantly killed him. Hercules caught the Erymanthian boar, drove it into deep snow, and carried it bound to Mycenae.

The golden apples of the Hesperides, which Hercules obtained during his exploits, are oranges. Citrus fruits are scientifically called “hesperidia” in memory of this myth.

The fifth labor of Hercules was to cleanse the huge barnyard of King Augeas of Elis from manure. Hercules, having previously negotiated with Augeas a tenth of his cattle as payment, made holes in the walls of the room where the cattle were located and diverted the waters of the rivers Alpheus and Peneus there. The water washed through the stalls. But when Augeas found out that Hercules was carrying out the orders of Eurystheus, he did not want to pay him, and Eurystheus, in turn, declared this feat not to be counted because Hercules performed it for a fee.

The sixth labor of Hercules was the expulsion of the Stymphalian birds with sharp iron feathers, which were found in a forest swamp near the city of Stymphalus (in Arcadia) and devoured people. Having received copper rattles made by Hephaestus from Athena, Hercules scared away the birds with noise and then killed them; according to another version of the myth, some of the birds flew to an island in Pontus Euxine, from where the Argonauts subsequently drove them away with a cry.

The seventh labor of Hercules was to capture the Cretan bull. This monster, sent by Poseidon to Minos, was taken by Hercules to Greece, where it was subsequently killed by Theseus in the vicinity of Marathon. The eighth feat was the abduction of the mares of the Thracian king Diomedes, who ate human flesh. Hercules killed Diomedes and gave his body to be eaten by mares. After this they became tame, and Hercules drove them to Mycenae.

The ninth labor was the expedition under the belt of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. This belt, a gift from Ares, was desired by Eurystheus’s daughter, Admet. Hera turned the Amazons against Hercules, but he killed Hippolyta and took possession of the belt. The tenth feat was the abduction of the cows of Geryon, a three-headed and three-body monster who lived on the western edge of the world. During his voyage to the west, Hercules erected two rocks - the so-called. Pillars of Hercules. According to another version, he pushed the mountain apart, thus forming the Strait of Gibraltar. Hercules killed the shepherds who were guarding the cows and delivered the herd to Eurystheus.

There was a time when Hercules wore women's clothing. As punishment for the murder of the Argonaut Iphitus, the oracle ordered him to serve Queen Omphale. Hercules was dressed in women's clothes, he spun wool and did household chores. Omphale wore his lion skin and club.

The eleventh labor was the theft of the golden apples of the Hesperides. Not knowing where to find these apples, Hercules sent Atlas for them, while he himself remained holding the vault of heaven on his shoulders. The last of the labors of Hercules was that he brought Kerberos out of the underworld. He accomplished this most difficult task with the help of Hermes and Athena. In addition to these feats, Hercules performed many others.

He freed Prometheus and accompanied the Argonauts at the beginning of their voyage. Hercules killed the king of Egypt Busiris, the giant Antaeus and the son of Ares Cycnus. To atone for the murder of his friend Iphitus, Hercules voluntarily entered into slavery to the Lydian queen Omphale. He later married Deianira, daughter of Oeneus and sister of Meleager, winning her in single combat with the river god Achelous. The centaur Nessus threatened Deianira with violence while she was crossing a river on his back, and Hercules struck him down with a poisoned arrow; Before his death, Nessus advised Dejanira to collect his blood and use it as a love potion.

When Hercules captured Echalia and took Iola away as a captive, Dejanira soaked Hercules’ tunic with the blood of Nessus, hoping in this way to return her husband’s love. However, the love potion turned out to be a powerful poison. The messenger Lichas, who delivered the tunic, was thrown into the sea, and the hero, who was experiencing unbearable torment, was carried to the funeral pyre on Mount Ete and consigned to fire. Having ascended to heaven, Hercules became a deity, made peace with Hera and took her daughter Hebe as his wife.

Hercules was revered as a hero and god throughout Greece. Hercules' name, meaning "glory of Hera", indicates that he was originally a man, real or fictitious, since no god could have a name that included the name of another deity. His homeland was Tiryns; the story of his birth in Thebes arose as a result of Hercules being confused with the local strongman hero Alcaeus.

The Greeks called Hercules Hercules. He was not endowed with great intelligence, but his courage eclipsed any lack of cunning. Hercules was easily irritated by outbursts of rage at innocent passers-by, and then regretted, felt guilty for what he had done and was ready to accept any punishment. Only supernatural forces could defeat him. In Greek mythology, only two figures - Hercules and Dionysus - from ordinary people became completely immortal and were worshiped as gods.

Hercules was the son of Zeus and Alcmene. Alcmene had a husband, Amphitryon, an outstanding Greek warrior and heir to the throne of Tiryns. One night, when Amphitryon was on a campaign, Zeus appeared to Alcmene under the guise of a husband. When Amphitryon returned, the blind prophet Tiresias told him that Alcmene would give birth to a child who would become a great hero.

The fight of Hercules with the Nemean lion

Alcmene gave birth to twin boys, Hercules and Iphicles. When the goddess Hera discovered that Zeus had seduced Alcmene and gave birth to Hercules, she was furious. Hera was jealous of Zeus and tried to kill the baby by sending two poisonous snakes to him. The child strangled snakes in his crib. Although Hera failed to kill Hercules, she haunted him throughout her life and brought him much suffering and punishment.

Lessons from Hercules

Like most Greek youths, Hercules attended music lessons. One day, Linus, his mentor, taught Hercules to play the lyre. Hercules, disappointed with his game, flew into a rage and broke the lyre on Linus's head. Linus died instantly, and Hercules was shocked and very sorry. He didn't want to kill his teacher. He just didn’t know his strength and didn’t learn to control it.

Miraculous acquisition of immortality

At a time when Hercules was very young, he went to fight the Minyan king Ergin, to whom Thebes paid tribute. As a reward for his release from tribute, the king of Thebes gave Hecules the hand of his daughter Megara. Hercules and Megara had three children. One day, Hercules was returning home after a trip, and Hera sent him into a fit of madness, during which he killed his wife and children. When Hercules came to his senses, he was horrified by his action. Heartbroken, he went to Delphi to the oracle to find out how he could atone for his guilt. The oracle told him to go to the king of Tiryns Eurystheus and carry out any of his orders. The oracle also said that if Hercules completed all the tasks assigned to him, he would become immortal.

Twelve Labors of Hercules

King Eurystheus gave Hercules 12 difficult and dangerous tasks. They became known as the twelve labors of Hercules.

The hero's first task was to kill the Nemean Lion, a beast that terrorized a certain area and could not be killed by any weapon. Hercules strangled the beast with his strong hands, without using any weapons, and from its skin he built himself a cape, which made him invulnerable.

12 labors of Hercules on ancient coins

The second task was to destroy the Lernaean Hydra, a creature with nine heads that lives in the swamp. One of the hydra's heads was immortal, and the others grew back after being cut off. Hercules went to fight the hydra with his friend Iolaus. Hercules cut off the heads one by one, and Iolaus used a torch to burn them with fire so that new ones would not grow. The last ninth head of the hydra remained alive, and Hercules had to bury it under a pile of stones.

The next task was to catch the Kerynean hind with golden horns, which the goddess Artemis considered sacred. She rushed across the fields, devastating them. Hercules hunted her for a whole year, finally wounded her and brought her to Tiryns. Artemis demanded that the sacred animal be returned to her. Hercules promised that the doe would remain alive.

The fourth labor of Hercules was to catch the Erymanthian boar, which was terrorizing the lands around Mount Erymanthus. Chasing the animal from its lair, Hercules drove it so that the beast’s strength was exhausted; the hero easily dealt with it and brought the tied boar to Eurystheus.

The fifth labor of Hercules is known as the cleaning of the Augean stables in one day. The son of the sun god Helios, King Augeas had huge herds of cattle, the stables of which had not been cleaned for many years. Hercules offered to do this work in one day in exchange for a tenth of the herd. Augeas agreed, realizing that no one could do this in a day. Hercules filled up the river bed, it turned its waters towards the stables, and in one day all the manure was washed away.

The sixth labor was the fight against the Stymphalian birds, with iron claws, beaks and wings, which attacked people and terrorized the countryside. The goddess Athena helped Hercules scare away the birds, forcing them to fly out of their nests, and Hercules shot them with a bow.

The seventh task was to bring the Cretan bull alive to Tiryns. This bull was given by the god Poseidon to the king of the island of Crete, Minos. Because Minos did not sacrifice this bull, but replaced it with another, Poseidon sent the bull into a frenzy, and it destroyed everything in its path. Hercules caught it and swam across the sea on it.

With his eighth task, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring him the horses of Diomedes. King Diomedes of Thrace had beautiful but wild horses, which he fed with human meat. Hercules led away the herds of horses. Diomedes set off in pursuit of him, and Hercules was forced to kill him, and tamed his horses and brought him to Eurystheus.

The ninth test was to obtain the belt of the Amazon queen Hippolyta. When the Amazons attacked Hercules, thinking he was going to kidnap their queen, Hercules was forced to kill them. Hippolyta, as a ransom for one of the Amazons captured by Hercules, gave him a belt.

The tenth task was to bring Geryon's cows. Geryon was a monster with three bodies, had three heads and three pairs of arms and legs. The journey to Geryon to the west was difficult, it was necessary to overcome the desert and the sea. The sun god Helios gave Hercules his boat, on which he reached Geryon, killed him and took away his cows.

Hercules defeats the hydra

The eleventh task that Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to bring three fruits from the garden of Atlas, which held the sky. Atlas had a golden apple tree in his garden, from which three fruits had to be picked. Hercules lay in wait for the god Nereus to help him find the way to Atlas. While Atlas went to his garden to buy apples, Hercules had to hold the sky instead. According to other sources, Hercules received the fruit by killing the dragon who stood guard over the tree with golden apples.

Zeus is the main god of a group of higher mythical beings who sat after their affairs on Mount Olympus. He was the father of famous Greek heroes - Hercules, Apollo, Perseus and others. True, the intimate relationships of the Thunderer with both earthly women and immortal goddesses, following the texts of many mythical narratives, aroused the enmity of his third wife Hera throughout all three centuries of their secret marriage.

Illegitimate and narrow-minded

With a high degree of probability we can say that people became pawns in the hands of ancient Greek and other gods. But because of connections with ordinary women, heroes were born who went against the deities, such as Hercules or, as he was also called in Greece, Hercules.

Zeus, who seemingly conquered everyone and everything, could not cope with the tribe of giants who had the secret of their superiority even over the gods. Therefore, for this victory he needed only a mortal hero, and he decided to give birth to one from the mortal woman Alcmene. Hercules was prepared for this test. And the Thunderer also saw the illegitimate ruler of one or another territory.

Hera vs Hercules

When the wife goddess realized that Alcmene gave birth to Hercules from her husband, she became indescribably furious. Such a negative quality of her character is inherent not only in such a situation. The fact that the goddess-wife was distinguished by her power, cruelty and jealous disposition was described in many sources that have survived to this day.

Especially in Homer's Iliad, she is depicted as jealous, quarrelsome and stubborn. Although in Greece they consider the author of this poem not a Hellenic and interpret the concept of “Homer” either as “hostage” or as “blind” (the author was indeed blind for many years). But they understand that Homer took the description from folk songs that glorified the strength and greatness of Hercules.

And in Greek mythology, Hercules was considered, despite his short-sighted mind, the greatest hero - for his strength. What he lacked in intelligence was compensated for by his indefatigable courage. Moreover, he experienced almost mental seizures. Hercules instantly and for no reason flared up and became furious. Then he came to his senses and regretted what he had done.

Hera tried to kill him as a child. To do this, she threw snakes into the baby’s crib so that they would kill him with poison. But even the young Hercules showed what he would be capable of in adulthood: he strangled crawling creatures with his hands.

Realizing that her plans had been thwarted, the goddess tirelessly watched her stepson and did all sorts of dirty tricks to him. In his mythical family, Zeus fathered about sixty children from a dozen women of every mythical class. The wife hated and cruelly punished the illegitimate children of Zeus. As we already understood, Hercules was the first to appear on this list.

Hera almost killed the young man at sea. But in the future, the goddess constantly weaved intrigues when she could not cope with force.

Zeus observed his son's behavior, and it suited him. Zeus needed a mortal hero to defeat the giants, so he also prepared Hercules for this. His fate was predetermined from birth.

Labors of Hercules in order and with pictures

The stories about twelve brave and amazing deeds of the hero of the epic have reached modern times (an ancient poem about “Hercules”). But the number of feats and their order among different authors do not agree. Being at the request of Zeus in the service of the king of the Argolids in the Peloponnese, Eurystheus, his cousin, also from the earthly mother Alcmene, he had to complete 10 tasks.

They were whispered into the king’s ear by the priestess-soothsayer of the Delphic (which actually existed, the ruins of which still stand at the foot of a high rock) Temple of Apollo. The brother tsar rejected two tests and had to replace them with others. So the sum of the feats was finally established at a dozen - twelve. Here are the names of the labors of Hercules in order:

1. Extermination of the Nemean Lion.

It was necessary to obtain his luxurious skin. Strangled him with his hands. He tanned the trophy skin and carried it on his shoulders.

2. Destruction of the multi-headed hydra (not counted due to the assistant).

He cut off all the heads, but the necks grew back. Again he whipped them with a huge strong club. The hydra's breath was poisonous, and Hercules became infected. The lotus flower saved him.

Hercules kills the Lernaean Hydra

3. Expulsion of the Stymphalian birds.

This bloodless feat is the last in the Peloponnese. Near the city of Stymphalus they devastated the lands like locusts. The birds' feathers were iron and sharp at the tips. But they were afraid of metal devices that made cracking, knocking, and noise. They were given by the goddess Athena. According to myths, they never appeared there again.

4. Capture of the Kerynean fallow deer.

Artemis sent five hinds to punish the people for destroying their fields in Arcadia. Apparently, the goddess considered the task completed and drove the deer into the fence. But one ran away. So the son of Zeus caught her for a whole year.

5. Taming of the Erymanthian boar.

The boar is a wild boar that devastated the fields of the same Arcadia. He drove him out of the grove with shouts, caught up with him, tied him up, covered him with the skin of a Nemean lion and brought him to Eurystheus, frightening him to death.

6. Cleaning the Augean stables (not counted due to the requirement to pay for the work).

No one looked after the horses, making it impossible to walk through the stables due to accumulated manure. Hercules blocked the river, and its waters washed away the dung.

7. Taming of the Cretan bull.

He had to be caught, because the king of the island of Crete refused to hand him over to the god of the seas.

8. The theft of the Horses of Diomedes and the victory over this king.

He gave the strangers to feed the horses. Having reached Thrace, the hero turned the cannibals away from bad activities.

9. Theft of the belt of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.

Hercules sailed across the Black Sea to the capital of the Amazon. The Queen of the Amazons promised to give up the belt. But the hero’s evil mother ruined the matter. The battle began, there were many Amazons killed. Hippolyta gave away the ill-fated belt.

10. Theft of Geryon's cows.

The hero took the herd from the three-headed giant Geryon and took it to Mycenae.

Origin of Hercules: son of Alcmene. - Jealousy of the goddess Hera: descendants of Perseus. - Milk of Hera: the myth of the Milky Way. - Baby Hercules and snakes. - Hercules at the crossroads. - Rabies of Hercules.

Origin of Hercules: son of Alcmene

Hero Hercules(in Roman mythology - Hercules) came from a glorious family of heroes. Hercules is the greatest hero of Greek myth and the beloved national hero of the entire Greek people. According to the myths of ancient Greece, Hercules represents the image of a man with great physical strength, invincible courage and enormous willpower.

Performing the most difficult work, obeying the will of Zeus (Jupiter), Hercules, with the consciousness of his duty, humbly endures the cruel blows of fate.

Hercules fought and defeated the dark and evil forces of nature, fought against untruth and injustice, as well as against the enemies of social and moral orders established by Zeus.

Hercules is the son of Zeus, but Hercules' mother is mortal, and he is a true son of the earth and a mortal.

Despite his strength, Hercules, like mortals, is subject to all the passions and delusions inherent in the human heart, but in the human and therefore weak nature of Hercules lies the divine source of kindness and divine generosity, making him capable of great feats.

Just as he defeats giants and monsters, so Hercules conquers all the bad instincts in himself and achieves divine immortality.

They tell the following myth of the origin of Hercules. Zeus (Jupiter), the ruler of the gods, wanted to give the gods and people a great hero who would protect them from various troubles. Zeus descended from Olympus and began to look for a woman worthy of becoming the mother of such a hero. Zeus chose Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon.

But since Alcmene loved only her husband, Zeus took the form of Amphitryon and entered his house. The son born from this union was Hercules, who in mythology is called either the son of Amphitryon or the son of Zeus.

And this is why Hercules has a dual nature - man and god.

This incarnation of deity in man did not at all shock popular beliefs and feelings, which, however, did not prevent the ancient Greeks and Romans from noticing and laughing at the comic side of this incident.

One antique vase preserves a picturesque image of an ancient caricature. Zeus is depicted there in disguise and with a large belly. He is carrying a ladder, which he is going to put against Alcmene’s window, and she is watching everything that is happening from the window. The god Hermes (Mercury), disguised as a slave but recognizable by his caduceus, stands before Zeus.

Jealousy of the Goddess Hera: Descendants of Perseus

When it's time to be born son of Alcmene, the ruler of the gods could not resist boasting in the assembly of the gods that on this day a great hero would be born into the family, destined to rule over all nations.

The goddess Hera (Juno) forced Zeus to confirm these words with an oath and, as the goddess of childbirth, arranged it so that on this day not Hercules was born, but the future king Eurystheus, also a descendant of Perseus.

And thus, in the future, Hercules had to obey King Eurystheus, serve him and perform various difficult works at the command of Eurystheus.

Hera's Milk: The Myth of the Milky Way

When the son of Alcmene was born, god (Mercury), wanting to save Hercules from the persecution of Hera, took him, carried him to Olympus and laid him in the arms of the sleeping goddess.

Hercules bitten Hera's breast with such force that milk poured out of her and formed the Milky Way in the sky, and the awakened goddess angrily threw Hercules away, who nevertheless tasted the milk of immortality.

In a museum in Madrid there is a painting by Rubens depicting the goddess Juno breastfeeding the infant Hercules. The goddess sits on a cloud, and next to her stands a chariot drawn by peacocks.

Tintoretto interprets this mythological plot somewhat differently in his painting. With him, Jupiter himself gives Juno a son, Hercules.

Baby Hercules and snakes

His brother Iphicles was born with Hercules. The vengeful goddess Hera sent two snakes that climbed into the cradle to kill the children. The baby Hercules grabbed the snakes of Hera and strangled him right in his cradle.

The Roman writer Pliny the Elder mentions a painting by the ancient Greek artist Zeuxis, depicting the myth of the infant Hercules strangling snakes.

The same mythological plot is depicted on an ancient fresco, on a bas-relief and a bronze statue discovered in Herculaneum.

Of the newest works on the same topic, paintings by Annibale Carracci and Reynolds are known.

Hercules at the crossroads

The young hero Hercules received the most careful education.

Hercules was instructed in academic subjects by the following teachers:

• Amphitryon taught Hercules how to drive a chariot,
• - shoot a bow and carry weapons,
• - wrestling and various sciences,
• musician Lin - playing the lyre.

But Hercules turned out to be little capable of the arts. Hercules, like all people whose physical development prevailed over mental development, had difficulty mastering music and would more willingly and easily pull the string of a bow than pluck the delicate strings of the lyre.

Angry with his teacher Lin, who decided to reprimand him about his game, Hercules killed him with a blow of the lyre.

ZAUMNIK.RU, Egor A. Polikarpov - scientific editing, scientific proofreading, design, selection of illustrations, additions, explanations, translations from ancient Greek and Latin; all rights reserved.

Hercules is a mighty ancient Greek hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene. Legends about him were extremely popular in the ancient world. The ancient Romans called Hercules Hercules. The hero's mother was the daughter of the Mycenaean king Electrion. Her husband Amphitryon was the son of the Tiryns king Alcaeus. One day, during the absence of Amphitryon, Zeus appeared to Alcmene, taking the form of her husband, and lay down with her on the marriage bed. This is how Hercules was conceived. When the legal husband returned, his wife conceived Iphicles from him.

This is how two twin boys were born. But Iphicles was much weaker than his brother, so he did not show himself to be anything outstanding. But he was always devoted to Hercules and helped him in all matters. Here it should be noted that among the ancient Greeks twins were inextricably linked with a mystical component. The Hellenes believed that one of the born twins is always the half-son of the father, but the second was conceived by a divine essence. It was this worldview that was reflected in the legend of Hercules and his twin brother.

Zeus's wife Hera hated Hercules and a few months after his birth she sent two snakes to the baby to kill him. But the baby lying in the cradle grabbed the poisonous reptiles with his hands and strangled them. Thus began the labors of Hercules. But defeating the snakes was only a minor prelude. The main feats, of which there were 12, were accomplished in adulthood, when Hercules turned into a powerful athlete. What kind of feats are these and why did they need to be performed at all?

Twelve Labors of Hercules

At the age of 16, Hercules married Megara, the daughter of the king of Thebes, Creon. The woman was 33 years old at the time of her marriage, or so the ancient Greek playwright Euripides claimed. Megara gave birth to 3 sons, and the marriage promised to be happy, but it all ended tragically.

Hera sent madness to Hercules, and he killed all his children and 2 children of his brother Iphicles. As for his wife, according to some myths he killed her, and according to others he gave her as a wife to his charioteer Iolaus. When the madness passed, the mighty athlete realized what he had done and fell into a state of uncontrollable grief. He went into the desert and began to live there. But soon his brother Iphicles found him and convinced him to go to the Delphic oracle to find out how to atone for his guilt.

Heartbroken, Hercules went to Delphi, where the Pythia Xenoclea was speaking at that time. At first she didn’t want to see the child killer at all, but then she took pity on him and gave out a prophecy. According to it, the mighty athlete had to complete ten labors, which were ordered by Eurystheus, the grandson of Perseus, cousin of Hercules and king of Argolis. He couldn't stand the powerful athlete, and he had similar feelings for his cousin.

But a prophecy is a prophecy, and it had to be strictly fulfilled. However, the Pythia spoke of ten labors, and there were twelve of them. How did this happen? The point here is that in some myths the number 10 was mentioned, and in others the number 12. To smooth out the discrepancy and give it a plausible look, they came up with the following: the legendary athlete performed ten feats, but Hera persuaded the Pythia not to recognize two of them - the 2nd and 5th. Therefore, the tireless hero had to perform two more feats. And the total amount was exactly the required amount. So, what are these labors of Hercules?

The first feat - killing the Nemean lion and skinning it

In Nemea lived a huge lion with a very hard skin. He was the son of the giant Typhon and the half-woman, half-snake Echidna. It is quite understandable that this terrible monster brought terror to the surrounding area. The home of the Nemean lion was a cave with 2 exits. Hercules appeared near the cave and blocked one of the exits with stones. A huge lion appeared from the remaining free passage and entered into battle with the mighty athlete.

Victory over the Nemean Lion

He did not use weapons, as it was pointless. He strangled the ferocious beast with his hands. But it was still necessary to remove a very strong skin. The sharp knife did not take her, and our hero tore incredibly sharp teeth from the lion’s mouth and, with their help, cut up the huge carcass. The legendary athlete brought the skin to Eurystheus as proof of his victory over the Nemean Lion.

The second feat - killing the hydra of Lerna

Hydra Lerna was also the daughter of Typhon and Echidna. It was a snake-like monster with several dozen heads. A poisonous breath emanated from this monster, and new ones immediately grew in place of the lost heads. And so the mighty mythological hero had to fight such a terrible monster.

The hydra's task was to guard the underground entrance to the kingdom of Hades. The entrance was located underwater in Lake Lerna. The monster itself lived in a cave on the shore. From time to time it came out and terrified the surrounding area. And in this area saturated with fear, our hero appeared, accompanied by his henchman Iolaus. He began to shoot flaming arrows into the cave, and soon the disturbed hydra jumped out of its hiding place.

Fearless Hercules began to cut off the hydra's heads, and Iolaus immediately cauterized the resulting wounds so that new heads would not grow in their place. Thus, the Hydra of Lerna was destroyed. The mighty athlete buried the most important immortal head in the ground near the road and piled a huge stone on top. But as everyone noticed, in this case the fearless hero was helped by his henchman Iolaus. Therefore, the insidious Hera persuaded the Pythia not to recognize the 2nd labor of Hercules, since he did not perform it alone.

The third feat - the destruction of the Stymphalian birds

Stymphalian birds lived near the city of Stymphalian in Arcadia. They had beaks, wings and claws made of bronze. With their poisonous droppings they destroyed crops, attacked people and animals and killed them. It was extremely difficult to destroy such monsters. But the goddess Athena came to help the mighty athlete. She gave him 2 drums, which Hephaestus himself forged. Our hero came to the mountain where the terrible birds nested and beat the drums.

Stymphalian birds and Hercules

From the terrible noise, bronze monsters rose into the air. The athlete struck some of them with arrows, while others left Greece forever and flew to the Black Sea coast. There, much later, they were met by the Argonauts. Thus the task was completed, and the labors of Hercules continued.

The fourth feat - the capture of the Keryneian fallow deer

The Kerynean fallow deer is an extremely hardy and fast animal. Once upon a time, she was one of the seven Pleiades, but she quarreled with the eternally young Artemis, and she turned her into a swift and tireless doe. According to another version, there were 5 such fallow deer. They were larger than bulls. They had golden horns and copper hooves. Artemis caught the 4 and harnessed them to her chariot. But Hera helped one animal escape, and the doe settled down nicely in Arcadia, where it began to devastate agricultural fields.

It was practically impossible to catch the Kerynean fallow deer. Hercules began to pursue her day and night and approached the animal in the far north. But he had to be caught, not killed, and without shedding a drop of blood. The mighty athlete waited until the doe stopped to drink water and shot 2 arrows at her feet. Each of them pierced one hind leg, but passed between the tendon and bone without damaging the blood vessels. After this, the ancient hero caught the immobilized animal and brought it to Eurystheus.

Feat fifth - cleaning the Augean stables in one day

The Augean stables belonged to King Augeas, who was the son of the solar deity Helios. This king owned a huge amount of cattle. Large stables were built for them in the barnyard. They contained bulls, cows, goats. As for the horses, there were few of them, but for some reason the spacious premises were called “stables.”

No one had ever cleaned them, and countless amounts of manure had accumulated in the buildings. Hercules was asked to remove all this manure in one day. But in this situation, the mythological hero showed commercial savvy and asked Augeas for a tenth of the cattle if he cleaned all the premises in a day. The son of Helios agreed, and the mighty athlete destroyed the wall surrounding the barnyard in 2 places. He diverted water from the nearby rivers Penea and Alpheus into the openings that formed.

River flows poured into the Augean stables and carried away all the manure. Thus, the king's barnyard was cleared in just 1 day. But Augeas did not fulfill his promise and did not give Hercules the promised cattle. This became the cause of a long conflict, and the feat itself, again with the participation of the vengeful Hera, was not credited to our hero, since he demanded a reward.

The sixth feat - victory over the Erymanthian boar

The Erymanthian boar was a huge boar that lived on Mount Erymanthus in Arcadia. He annoyed people by constantly devastating agricultural fields and gardens. The mighty athlete was tasked with capturing this beast alive and bringing it to Eurystheus in Mycenae.

Hercules defeated the Erymanthian boar

Hercules found the boar and chased it. But the boar was fast, and therefore the pursuer could not catch up with him. However, the couple soon found themselves in an area covered in deep snow. The boar noticeably slowed down, having difficulty breaking through the snow cover. The athlete caught up with him, jumped on his back and chained him. After that, he put the huge animal on his shoulders and carried it to Mycenae.

The seventh feat - taming the Cretan bull

The Cretan bull lived on the island of Crete and belonged to King Minos. At one time, Poseidon sent this bull to the king so that he would sacrifice it. But Minos, seeing a large and strong bull, did not want to kill him. An ordinary bull from the royal herd was sacrificed. Poseidon became angry and sent madness to the bull. He began to rush around the island, destroying everything in his path. It was this crazy animal that our hero needed to pacify.

The mighty athlete landed on Crete, found a bull, jumped on its back and swam across the Aegean Sea on the mad animal, reaching the Peloponnese. There he brought the bull to Eurystheus, who decided to sacrifice it to Hera. But the goddess did not want to accept the mad bull. Therefore, he was released and began to run, wreaking havoc around him. He rushed towards Athens, but was met by the Athenian hero Theseus. He killed a bull on the Marathon plain, and the exploits of Hercules continued.

The eighth labor - the theft of Diomedes' horses

The king of Thrace, Diomedes, had 4 mares that ate human flesh. The mighty athlete sailed to Thrace on a ship, kidnapped mares and took them to his ship. But Diomedes and his soldiers gave chase. Our hero left the ship, went out to his pursuers and defeated them. Diomedes himself was captured and thrown to be devoured by mares. But while Hercules was fighting, they ate Abdera, the son of Hermes, who was looking after them.

The mighty athlete delivered the horses to Eurystheus, and he, not knowing what to do with the cannibals, set them free. The mares fled to the mountains and began to attack animals, since they ate only meat. In the end, the mares were torn to pieces by predatory animals, and for Hercules it was the turn of the ninth labor.

The ninth feat - the theft of Hippolyta's belt

Hippolyta is the queen of the Amazons, the daughter of the god of war Ares and the Amazon Otrera. She owned a magic belt that her father gave her. Eurystheus's daughter Admeta had her eye on him. Therefore, the powerful athlete was tasked with stealing the belt.

It must be said that there are many variants of the ninth labor. According to one of them, the ancient hero kidnapped Melanippe (Hippolyta’s sister), and they had to give him the belt for her release. According to another version, Hippolyta herself was kidnapped, and the Amazons tried to save her. During the fight, the owner of the belt was killed, and Hercules sailed away on a ship with a magical trophy. Be that as it may, he completed the ninth task.

The tenth feat - stealing Geryon's cows

The giant Geryon, born of Chrysaor and Callirhoe, lived on the island of Garida behind the Pillars of Hercules. He owned a herd of cows, each of which had 3 bodies, 3 heads and 3 pairs of legs. It was these cows that the ancient hero was ordered to kidnap.

The mighty athlete reached the ocean shore, and then sailed on a golden boat given to him by Helios. He arrived on the island, but the herd was guarded by a dog named Orthro and the shepherd Eurytion. The ancient hero fought with them, won and drove the cows to the golden boat. But then an angry Geryon appeared. He rushed at the thief, but lost the battle. The boat set sail, and the cow thief sailed safely to Greece.

However, while Hercules was driving the herd to Mycenae, Hera sent rabies to the cows. The animals fell into madness and ran away in different directions. The athlete had to spend a lot of time and effort to bring the herd back together. In the end, Geryon's cows ended up in Mycenae and were sacrificed to the formidable Hera.

Labor eleventh - stealing golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides

Hesperides are forest nymphs who tend a beautiful garden located near the Atlas Mountains in North Africa. The garden was guarded by the dragon Ladon, as golden apples grew in it. The father of the Hesperides was Hesperus, the son of Atlas. The mother was Nikta, the goddess of the night. There were 7 Hesperides in total, but in this narrative there is no point in giving their names.

The mighty athlete was tasked with stealing apples, which was an extremely difficult task. However, chance intervened. By order of the Egyptian king Busirid, forest nymphs were kidnapped by sea robbers. They landed on a small peninsula to have a feast to celebrate the completion of a successful business. But then Hercules appeared absolutely by accident.

He quickly realized what was going on, killed all the robbers, and took the freed Hesperides to Atlas. He, as a sign of gratitude, gave the mighty athlete golden apples, which were delivered to Mycenae and presented to the insatiable Eurystheus, who had lost all sense of proportion. After this, the ancient hero set off to perform his last twelfth labor.

The twelfth feat - taming the dog Cerberus

The dog Cerberus was the son of Typhon and Echidna. Guarded the gates to the kingdom of Hades (the kingdom of the dead). This creepy dog ​​was a real monster. He had 3 heads, and Hesiod claimed that he had as many as 50 of them, and a snake tail. A poisonous mixture constantly flowed from the monster’s mouth. Cerberus did not let the dead out of their kingdom and did not let the living in if they were overwhelmed by curiosity.

Hercules tames the dog Cerberus

This feat of Hercules has many variations. According to one of them, the mighty athlete simply asked permission from the god Hades to take the dog for a while and take him to Mycenae. He agreed, and the ancient hero brought the monster to Eurystheus, showed it, and then took him back. According to another version, he conquered the terrible monster with his kindness, and he resignedly followed him.

There is also an option that the mighty athlete was helped by Hermes and Athena. They exposed the dog to daylight, and the poisonous mixture from his mouth made him vomit. After this, the monster was taken out of the kingdom of Hades, shown to Eurystheus and returned back. That is, there are many mythological options, but in all cases the athlete does not harm the dog and takes him back to the underworld. But it couldn’t be otherwise, since someone had to guard the entrance to the world of the dead. As for Eurystheus, he was satisfied with the appearance of a terrible dog, and this was the end of the exploits of Hercules.