Hercules' 12 "Heroic Labors" By Caroline Kepler

Recently in class we read and analyzed The Iliad, which is an Epic Poem Written by Homer detailing the Trojan War and its key players. In the sections of the book that we analyzed, Achilles who was a demigod living on earth and the hero of the epic, displaying qualities such as strength, loyalty, and bravery. In Greek mythology there are several other heroes who were born from Gods and lived out most of their lives as heroes on earth. For example Hercules, son of Zeus and Alcmene, lived and completed heroic tasks in the mortal world and only made it to Olympus after his death.

Hercules' most notable achievement was his completion of 12 "heroic labors". These tasks were picked by the Mycenaen King Eurystheus as punishment for Hercules killing his 2 sons and wife, while under a spell from Hera. His first task was to slay a lion that was terrorizing the people in the hills of Nemea. He trapped the lion in a cave and strangled it, from that day on he wore the lion's pelt as a cloak. For his next task Hercules received help from his nephew, Lolaus, they traveled together to the city of Lerna. Together they slayed the 9 headed Hydra, a snake-like creature who lived under water and guarded the entrance to the underworld. Hercules cut off each of the Hydra's heads while Lolaus burned each wound with a torch to stop the head from growing back again. Next, Hercules had to capture Diana's sacred pet, a red deer with golden antlers and bronze hooves. It was believed that anyone who tried to take her pet would be killed, but when Hercules explained his situation she allowed him to move on without punishment. Hercules' next 2 tasks were less taxing than his previous ones, but no less important. At Mount Erymanthus he captured a wild man eating boar with a giant net, stopping it from attacking people nearby. His second task was mainly assigned to embarrass him. He had to clean the dung out of King Augeas stables in one day and he did so by flooding the barn using 2 nearby rivers. Hercules completed his next task with the aid of Athena. Carnivorous birds had set up homes in the trees in the town of Stymphalos and with the noisemaker, that Athena gave to him, he was able to frighten the birds away. For his next labor Hercules drove a rampaging bull from the island of Crete to Eurystheus, who then released the bull into the streets of Marathon. Like his previous labor, for Hercules’ eighth task he captured and brought Eurystheus 4 man-eating horses of the Thracian King Diomedes, who Eurystheus dedicated to Hera and then set free. Hera later got in the way of Hercules completing his ninth labor, which was to get the belt of the Amazon queen Hippolyte. Hera disguised herself as an Amazon Warrior and spread rumors that Hercules intended to kill the queen. Hippolyte was planning on giving Hercules the belt, but once the warriors got wind of the rumors they attacked Hercules to protect their queen. Fearing for his life Hercules killed Hippolyte and took the belt from her dead body. Hera’s interference didn’t stop there, while Hercules was try to complete his next task, stealing cattle from a three-headed, six-legged monster Geryon, she did all that she she could to prevent him from succeeding. Her actions were unsuccessful and Hercules made it back to Mycenae with the cows.  Similar to his second task, Hercules received help from Prometheus, a mortal, and Atlas, a God, to complete his eleventh task. Together they stole Zeus’ wedding gift from Hera, which was a set of golden apples guarded by a group of nymphs known as the Hesperides. This was not an easy feat to accomplish, but he was able to complete the mission with the help of his allies and after showing the king the apples he returned the them to their rightful home in the Gods’ garden. For Hercules’ twelfth and final task he had to kidnap Cerberus, who was the 3 headed guard dog at the gates of Hades. He wrestled the beast to the ground using his superhuman strength and after presenting Cerberus to Eurystheus he was able to return him unharmed to the entrance of the underworld. After Hercules completed his 12 “heroic labors” he lived out the rest of his life in the mortal world performing heroic acts that were small in comparison to what he had previously done. When his life in the mortal world came to an end Athena came down in her chariot and and carried him up to Olympus, where he spent the rest of eternity living with the Gods.