Heracles, or more commonly known today as Hercules, is one of the most recognisable names
from Greek mythology. Whilst Heracles features in countless myths, many of his greatest achievements
came as part of his battle for atonement, a series of feats better known as the twelve
labours of Heracles. So what were these mighty deeds, and were they really that impressive?
Let’s find out together… Before exploring the infamous 12
labours of Heracles, it is important to understand why he was compelled to undertake
such a dangerous task. And as is common in Greek mythology, the background is a tragic one.
To understand Heracles, we must go back to his birth.
The son of mighty Zeus, Heracles however was not a true god owing to his mortal mother Alcmene.
The, perhaps unsurprising, infidelity of Zeus naturally enraged his godly wife Hera who upon
learning that her husband had fathered a child with another woman, a mortal no less, was enraged.
Hera was vengeful and hated Heracles because he reminded Hera of her unfaithful husband.
Hera tried to kill Heracles as an infant, sending snakes into his crib to poison him.
Despite his mortal mother, Heracles was still a demi God and thus possessed immense strength,
which he used to effortlessly strangle the snakes that Hera had sent into his crib. Her plot had
failed, but she would not forget so easily. Hera bided her time, waiting patiently in the
shadows until Heracles grew into a man. He married and had many sons. Seeing how desperately Heracles
loved his wife and children, she determined now was the best time to strike and take her revenge.
She sent a madness upon Heracles that poisoned his mind and drove him unknowingly to murder his
entire family. Upon regaining his senses, Heracles realised what he had done and was devastated,
overcome with grief and pain. Desperate to atone for his sins,
he turned to the God Apollo for guidance and was told that he would need to serve King Eurystheus
for ten years, performing whatever labours the King might demand of him.
Heracles despaired at this, loathing to serve a man whom he knew to be far inferior to himself,
yet fearing to oppose his father Zeus. Eventually, he placed himself at the Kings disposal.
Hera, still determined to eradicate Heracles from the world, suggested to Eurystheus that
he order Heracles to fulfil ten impossible labours. Hera believed that Heracles would die
attempting to complete these labours which would finally eradicate him from the world.
Only ten labours I hear you ask, I thought there were 12? Good spot, we will come on to that later.
With his task set and the pain of his lost family still fresh in his mind,
Heracles set to work as determined as ever to atone for his sins.
FIRST LABOUR
The first labour is perhaps one of the most well known, the slaying of the mighty Nemean Lion.
Setting off on his journey, Heracles stopped in a nearby town where he met a young boy who
told him that if Heracles slew the Nemean lion and returned alive within 30 days,
the town would sacrifice a lion to Zeus, but if he did not return within 30 days or if he died,
the boy would sacrifice himself to Zeus. As if he didn’t have enough pressure on him already!
While searching for the lion, Heracles fletched some arrows to use against it, not knowing that
its golden fur was impenetrable. When he found and shot the lion, firing at it with his bow,
he discovered the fur's protective property as the arrow bounced harmlessly off the creature's
thigh. After some time, Heracles made the lion return to his cave. The cave had two entrances,
one of which Heracles blocked; he then entered the other. In those dark and close quarters,
Heracles stunned the beast with his club and, using his immense strength, strangled it to death.
After slaying the lion, he tried to skin it with a knife from his belt, but failed. He
then tried sharpening the knife with a stone and even tried with the stone itself. Finally, Athena,
noticing the hero's plight, told Heracles to use one of the lion's own claws to skin the pelt
that some stories claim became part of his armour. When he returned on the 30th day carrying the
carcass of the lion on his shoulders, King Eurystheus was amazed and terrified. Eurystheus
forbade him ever again to enter the city; from then on he was to display the fruits of his
labours outside the city gates. Eurystheus would then tell Heracles his tasks through a herald,
not personally. Eurystheus even had a large bronze jar made for him in which to hide from Heracles if
need be. Eurystheus then warned him that the tasks would become increasingly difficult.
SECOND LABOUR True to his word, the second
labour the King tasked was to slay the Lernaean Hydra. A Hydra, that to make matters worse,
had been specifically raised by Hera with the sole purpose of killing Heracles.
The Lernaean Hydra was a fearsome monster that lived in the swamp of the lake Lerna.
The Hydra had nine heads, one of which was immortal and the rest were mortal.
The swamp was covered in a poisonous mist, so upon his arrival, Heracles put a cloth
on his mouth and nose. To lure the Hydra out of its lair, the hero shot flaming arrows,
achieving his intent. However, when he chopped one of the Hydra's heads, he realised in horror
that two new heads would spring back. At that point, the hero felt hopeless,
so he asked for the help of his nephew, Iolaus. Iolaus, probably advised by the goddess Athena
who favoured the hero, thought of an idea and put it in action; as soon as Heracles would chop one
of the monster's heads, Iolaus would cauterise the stump with a firebrand. The plan was successful;
no more heads would appear. Hera, angry that her side was losing the battle, sent a huge crab to
distract Heracles, which he simply squashed under his foot. When it was time for the immortal head
to be cut off, Heracles took a golden sword that Athena gave him, and using the same technique,
the two heroes managed to kill the monster. Before Heracles left, he dipped his arrows
in the poisonous blood of the Hydra, one of which he later used to kill the centaur Nessus;
this poison would also lead to Heracles’s own demise, but that is a story for another day.
Hera turned her slain monster into the constellation of the same name,
while she transformed the crab into the constellation Cancer.
Upon returning victorious however, the King did not count the success of killing the hydra as
one of the labours, using as an excuse the fact that Heracles was helped by Iolaus.
THIRD LABOUR In their effort to mark an
end to Heracles' successes, Eurystheus and Hera decided that the next task Heracles should do
would be to capture the Ceryneian Hind. This was a sacred deer belonging to the goddess Artemis,
and had golden antlers and hooves of bronze. It was believed that it was
so fast that it could outrun a flying arrow. Heracles made a real effort to track the animal.
When he saw it, he followed it for a whole year through the lands of Greece, Thrace, Istria and
the land of Hyperboreans. According to one version of the myth, he managed to capture the hind while
it was sleeping. On his way back, Artemis and her twin brother Apollo appeared in front of Heracles.
This task was given by Eurystheus, thinking that Heracles would cause the anger of the
goddess and that she would punish him. However, when she appeared in front of him, Heracles
asked for forgiveness, explaining to her that this was part of his penance for killing his wife
and children. He also told her he would return the hind to her as soon as he showed it to Eurystheus.
Artemis accepted his apology and let him go. When he returned to the king's court, Eurystheus
told Heracles that the animal now belonged to him. Not forgetting his promise to the goddess,
Heracles tricked Eurystheus by telling him he should take the animal himself and bring it to
the palace. When Eurystheus came out to take the deer, the hero let it go and the animal
ran back to Artemis. Heracles simply replied to Eurystheus that he was not been quick enough.
FOURTH LABOUR The Erymanthian Boar was a giant animal
living on Mount Erymanthos, which was dedicated to the goddess Artemis as well. Eurystheus
thought that capturing this beast would be the perfect task that would lead to the hero's death.
Heracles set forth on his journey to the mountain, but decided to stop by his friend's place, Pholus,
a kind centaur. After eating together, Heracles asked his friend to open a jug of wine that he
had, which attracted the other centaurs to Pholus' dwelling. Not knowing that wine was supposed to be
watered down before being consumed, the centaurs quickly became drunk and attacked
Heracles. The hero killed most of them by shooting his poisonous arrows against them;
the centaurs that remained fled to the cave of Chiron, the wisest of the centaurs.
Pholus did not understand why these arrows were so lethal. Out of curiosity, he picked one up but
it fell on his foot and poisoned him as well. Another version has it that one of the arrows
mistakenly hit Chiron as well; although Chiron, being immortal, did not die, he could still feel
an insufferable pain. Not able to withstand it, the wise centaur asked to be rid of the pain,
exchanging his immortality as well as take the place of the Titan Prometheus, who was
bound on the top of a mountain and his liver was being eaten daily by an eagle. Zeus accepted the
exchange. Heracles then killed the eagle with one of his arrows, stopping the torture for Chiron.
Chiron advised Heracles how to catch the Erymanthian Boar; he told him that it would
be very easy if the hero lured the boar into thick snow. Heracles followed Chiron's advice
and captured the boar in no time. He then returned to Eurystheus, who upon seeing the creature
was so scared that he hid himself in a large jar and asked Heracles to get rid of the animal.
FIFTH LABOUR The fifth labour was to clean
the stables of King Augeas. This assignment was intended to be both humiliating and impossible,
since these divine livestock were immortal, and had produced an enormous quantity of dung.
The stables of Augeas had never been cleaned in thirty years, and Eurystheus asked
Heracles to clean them within a day. When Heracles reached Augeas' court,
he asked for one tenth of the cattle if he managed to clean the stables in a day; the king agreed.
The hero managed to complete the task by diverting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to pass through the
stables and wash them out. Augeas refused to pay Heracles, and the hero took him to court, where he
managed to win his claim, backed by Augeas' son, Phyleus. However, Phyleus and Heracles were both
banished by Augeas before the court had ruled. Furious, Heracles returned to Elis, killed Augeas
and handed the throne to Phyleus. This is when he was said to have founded the Olympic Games.
Although Heracles was successful, Eurystheus did not count it as a success,
saying that it was the rivers that had done the work for him, and that he accepted payment for it.
Seven still to go then…
SIXTH LABOUR Eurystheus' next task to Heracles
was to kill the Stymphalian birds, large flying monsters that ate humans with their bronze beaks;
their wings were made of metallic feathers that could be thrown against their prey,
while their dung was highly poisonous. We are starting to see a real
dung-based theme emerging here aren’t we… They belonged to the god of war, Ares, and
lived in the area of the lake Stymphalia, where they bred quickly and took over the countryside,
destroying local crops, fruit trees, and townspeople.
Heracles was unable to go too deep into the swamp as he would eventually drown.
Athena helped him by providing him with a rattle; the sound the rattle produced scared the birds and
made them fly from their hiding place. While in the air, they were an easy target for Heracles,
who shot many of them down with his poisonous arrows. The remaining birds
flew away to plague other lands; in fact, they were later encountered by the Argonauts.
SEVENTH LABOUR The seventh task Eurystheus
gave to Heracles was to capture the Cretan Bull. This was a legendary creature that wreaked havoc
on the island of Crete, destroying crops and land. After getting permission from King Minos,
Heracles managed to catch the bull with his bare hands and sent it back to Eurystheus' court. Upon
seeing the creature, Eurystheus hid in his jar and decided to sacrifice the animal to Hera.
The goddess rejected the offer, as this would glorify Heracles' success even more. Instead,
the animal was left free and went to the area of Marathon, getting the name Marathonian Bull.
It was later caught by Theseus and was sacrificed to Athena and Apollo.
EIGTH LABOUR
The Mares of Diomedes were fearsome animals that had been trained to eat human flesh. They were
owned by Diomedes, king of Thrace. It was believed that due to their unnatural diet, the horses
were seized with madness, uncontrollable and sometimes they even breathed fire.
According to one source, Heracles brought a number of young men with him to help him with his task.
After they managed to steal the animals, they were all chased by Diomedes and his army.
Heracles told his companion Abderus to take care of the horses, while he was fighting Diomedes.
Upon his return, Heracles realised that Abderus was devoured by the mares.
Overcome with anger, Heracles fed Diomedes to his own horses, and later founded the city
of Abdera in memory of his friend. After the horses were fed, they became calm and Heracles
seized the opportunity to bind their mouths shut. He brought them back to Eurystheus, who
either sacrificed them to Hera or left them roam free, as they had now become permanently calm.
NINTH LABOUR Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus,
learned that Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, had been given a girdle as a gift from her father,
Ares, and wanted it for herself. So, Eurystheus decided to make this the ninth
labour that Heracles would have to complete. Heracles took some friends with him and set
sail for the region of Themiscyra, where the Amazons dwelled. On their way there, they stopped
at the island of Paros, where the sons of king Minos of Crete killed two of Heracles' friends.
Furious, Heracles killed the sons of Minos and demanded that two of the inhabitants replace his
dead comrades. Thus, two of Minos' grandsons joined the band, and they all set sail again.
After a brief stop at the court of Lycus, a friend of Heracles, they eventually reached
the land of the Amazons. Hippolyta had heard of the glorious feats that Heracles had performed,
and impressed, she immediately agreed to give her girdle. Heracles asked her to have lunch together
on the ship and Hippolyta eagerly followed. At the same time, however, a disguised Hera went
to the Amazons and started spreading rumours about Heracles wanting to abduct their queen.
The Amazons decided to confront Heracles and rode towards the ship. Upon seeing them,
Heracles thought that this had all been set up by Hippolyta and that she had no intention of
handing over the girdle; so, he killed her, took the belt and set sail back to the King.
TENTH LABOUR The tenth labour of Heracles was to steal
the cattle of Geryon, who lived on the island of Erytheia, somewhere in the west. Heracles went on
his quest, and he first had to cross the desert of Libya. At some point, having been so frustrated at
the heat, he shot an arrow at the sun. Helios, the sun god, was so impressed by Heracles' courage,
that he decided to help him by offering him his own golden chariot with which he sailed across the
sea from west to east every night. Heracles hopped on the chariot and reached Erytheia overnight.
There, his first obstacle was the two-headed dog Orthrus, brother of Cerberus, the three-headed
dog and guardian of the Underworld. One blow with Heracles' club was enough to kill Orthrus.
Eurytion, the herdsman, heard what happened and when he tried to confront Heracles,
he was killed in the same way. Geryon immediately grabbed his three shields and three spears,
while wearing three helmets and attacked the hero. However, a powerful shot of an
arrow from Heracles' bow was enough to pierce Geryon's forehead and sent him to his demise.
Bringing the cattle back to Tiryns was another task on its own.
According to the Roman version of the story, Heracles took the road over the Aventine Hill
where Rome would later be built on. There, a giant named Cacus stole some of the cattle,
but they were later retrieved, called out by the animals remaining in the possession of Heracles.
As an extra obstacle, Hera sent a gadfly to irritate the animals and scatter them.
Heracles managed to get them back within a year. Before he reached Tiryns, though,
Hera caused a flood that raised the level of a river so much that it could not be crossed. So,
Heracles started piling stones into the river, and bridged the two riverbanks.
He eventually reached Tiryns, where the cattle were sacrificed to the goddess.
11TH LABOUR Despite completing 10 labours,
the disqualification of two of them for outside help and accepting payment meant
that two labours remained for Heracles. The first additional labour was to steal
three of the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides.
The Hesperides were nymphs of the sunset that tended a garden somewhere in the far western
corner of the world. Heracles managed to capture the Old Man of the Sea, a shape-shifting sea
deity, in order to find out the exact location of the garden. During this quest, Heracles
also confronted the half-giant Antaeus, who was invincible by drawing power from his mother, Gaea
(the earth), as long as he touched it. To kill him, Heracles held him high so his feet wouldn't
touch the ground, and crushed him with his hands. There are two versions on how Heracles managed to
acquire the apples. One version has it that he reached the Hesperidean Garden, where he killed
Ladon, the dragon guardian of the apples, and took the apples. According to another version,
he came across Atlas, the Titan god who was condemned to hold the heavens on his shoulders.
Atlas was also the father of the Hesperides, and thus had access to the garden at any time.
Heracles persuaded Atlas to change places for a while, so that Atlas would fetch some
of the apples. Atlas agreed and indeed took some of the apples. However, on his return,
he decided he did not want to take the heavens back on his shoulders. Heracles tricked him
and he said he would be keeping the heavens but wanted to adjust his cloak first. Atlas
agreed to take the heavens back momentarily, but Heracles walked away taking the apples with him.
12TH LABOUR The final labour that Heracles
had to complete was to capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog and guardian of the Underworld.
Before going to the Underworld, Heracles decided to be initiated in the Eleusinian Mysteries,
so that he would be taught how to travel alive from the world of the living to the realm of
the dead and vice versa. He then went to Tanaerum, where one of the entrances to the Underworld lay,
and was helped there by Athena and Hermes. The goddess Hestia also helped him with negotiating
with Charon, the boatman that guided the souls over the river Acheron towards the Underworld.
Once he reached the Underworld, he met Theseus and Pirithous, the two heroes that had been
incarcerated in the Underworld by Hades for attempting to steal Persephone. According
to one version of the story, snakes coiled around their legs and then turned into stone.
A different version has it that the god of the Underworld feigned hospitality and invited
them to a feast. However, the chairs on which the heroes were seated magically caused forgetfulness,
thus keeping them there. Heracles pulled Theseus from his chair, managing to save him; however,
part of his thigh was stuck to it, thus providing an explanation of the supposedly lean thighs of
Athenians. When the hero tried to save Pirithous, though, the earth started trembling; it seems that
because he desired Persephone for himself, it was so insulting that he was not allowed to leave.
Heracles found Hades and asked him to take Cerberus to the surface. The god agreed on
the condition that no weapons should be used to achieve it. Heracles managed to subdue the dog
with his hands and brought it on his back to Tiryns. Eurystheus fled in horror into his jar
and asked Heracles to take the monster back to the Underworld, releasing him from any other labours.
With the 12 labours finally complete, Heracles had not only gained atonement for the painful act
of killing his family, but cemented his name in legend as the greatest Greek hero to ever exist.
There are several versions of the story as to what Heracles did next, but the
most common suggests he joined Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the golden fleece.
A mighty hero then, and a seemingly impossible quest.
Heracles, or Hercules, son of Zeus and divine hero of Greek mythology.