Hercules, the mighty son of Zeus, was already a praised hero for his achievements in youth.
But his fate would still give him major challenges. Zeus already planned great honors for his son even before he was born.
The great god had proclaimed that the first grandson of the lineage of the hero Perseus would inherit the throne of Mycenae.
But the goddess Hera, jealous to see a bastard son of her husband being so much praised, intervened.
She forced Hercules’ cousin, Eurystheus, to be born prematurely, and so he would steal the hero’s inheritance.
Therefore, the mighty Hercules became a subject of King Eurystheus, who dreaded the Hercules’ growing power and reputation.
Hercules obeyed his cousin against his will. But when he decided to impose him the first labors, the hero, dismayed, decided to consult the Oracle of Delphi to know if he had to continue to obey a man whom he considered lower than himself.
The Oracle told him that for each labor he accomplished, the power usurped by Eurystheus would diminish.
Hercules, who still had some hope to get the news from the Oracle that he would not need to obey Eurystheus, was upset.
Taking advantage of the hero’s vulnerability, the goddess Hera planted the seed of madness in his head.
Hercules started to see the most dreadful creatures and fought great battles against them. But all of that was nothing but hallucinations.
When he recovered from this ferocious madness, Hercules had blood on his hands, and his sons and wife, Megara, lay dead at his feet.
When he realized what had happened, Hercules went into exile and in distant lands remained engulfed in a major depression.
But the time healed his wounds, and he decided to return to Mycenae to be at the service of King Eurystheus.
With that, he could purify himself from the terrible sins committed against his family. Hercules was commanded to obey his cousin Eurystheus, the King of Mycenae.
He feared that with a greater reputation, the hero Hercules would try to take his throne.
So, Eurystheus ordered him a labor that seemed impossible. He would have to exterminate a giant lion that terrified the forests of Argolis.
That beast withered the herds in the region, and after devouring a couple of men, it developed a taste for human flesh.
People said that the beast was the son of the monstrous Typhon and the malignant Echidna, and for that reason, there were rumors that its pelt was invulnerable to traditional weapons.
Hercules, with his bow and arrow and his powerful club, went hunting the creature. The hero spent some time in the forests of Nemea looking for the lion until he finally found traces that led up to the cave where the monstrous feline was hidden.
Hercules entered the monster’s lair full of animal bones and human skulls. From the bottom of the cave, it was possible to hear the sounds of the giant animal’s breath.
Hercules spotted the beast on a stone and shot one of his arrows against the animal’s head.
It rebounded on the animal’s pelt. Furious, the gigantic lion unleashed a mighty roar and prepared to attack.
Hercules and the lion jumped one against the other. The lion exposed its powerful claws, whereas the hero raised his mace.
Hercules hit the creature’s head, which, despite the devastating impact, endured the attack with not a single scratch.
Realizing that his weapons were useless, Hercules and the lion started a melee. The lion stuck its claws into its opponent, who withstood the excruciating pain of the wounds.
Hercules managed to encircle the animal’s neck with his arms and initiated a deadly choke.
The Nemean lion could not resist the hero’s strength and succumbed. Making use of the animal’s claws, Hercules managed to rip off its pelt and returned to Mycenae.
Eurystheus, watching Hercules as he approached dressed in the animal’s skin, fearing for his life, hid inside a metal barrel.
And so Hercules completed his first labor. King Eurystheus ordered Hercules, as his second labor, to end a creature that lived in the region of Argolid.
This creature was a dreadful monster, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and was known by the name of Hydra.
The brave hero and his nephew, who was his inseparable companion, went to meet the creature.
Along the way, they encountered a village devastated by the creature, and a survivor pointed the way to the beast’s lair.
The Hydra lived inside the sinister swamp of Lerna. Hercules and his nephew broke into the stenchful swamp until they found the monster’s cave.
In order to remove the creature from that hole, Hercules used his bow, firing flaming arrows into the cave.
Then, from the soil of the cave, the mighty Hydra appeared, who furiously attacked. The monster had several heads eager to devour the hero.
Despite his large size, Hercules was extremely agile, and thus he managed to dodge the attacks of the beast.
With a powerful blow of his mace, the hero crushed one of the monster’s heads, but two others quickly emerged, replacing it.
Enraged, the hero continued to crush the heads, but another two appeared each time. Iolaus yelled for Hercules to stop because he was only making his labor even more difficult.
Then, they had the idea of cauterizing the necks from where the new heads were emerging.
So, while Hercules smashed her heads, his nephew cauterized the wounds with a torch. With that, the heads were being crushed one after the other.
The goddess Hera, the enemy of Hercules, seeing the hero defeating yet another creature, sent crabs to help Hydra.
But they could only distract the hero for a little and ended up crushed as well.
Hercules and Iolaus defeated the last severed head, but she remained alive. The hero threw her into a hole and buried her with a huge stone.
The Hydra had an extremely toxic blood. Hercules, aware of that, bathed his arrows in the monster’s poisonous blood, and now had a weapon even more powerful.
The goddess Hera decided to honor the crabs who fought in her name, creating the constellation of Cancer.
To everyone’s astonishment, Hercules returned victorious to Mycenae and presented himself for his next labor.
Hercules had already defeated the Nemean lion and the Lernaean Hydra, two very strong opponents.
Eurystheus’ plan of ending Hercules’ life was not going right, and his rival became more popular each day.
Without knowing how to defeat his cousin, Eurystheus had a great idea and gave two new tasks to the hero.
Hercules would have to bring alive two creatures to Mycenae, the Ceryneian Hind and the boar of Erymanthus.
The Ceryneian Hind was one of the most elusive animals that existed. Capturing it would be almost impossible, and bringing the mighty boar without killing it was even more unlikely.
Eurystheus knew that Hercules would not return without the animals because the hero just could not admit failure.
Hercules departed, and the king was certain that he would never see Hercules again. More than a year had passed already, and the hero could not find the wild hind.
This hind was like no other. It was simply splendid, had gold horns and iron hooves.
The creature was one of the five sacred hinds created by the goddess Artemis, but was the only one who lived free.
The others served the goddess, pulling her chariot. Hercules finally managed to get closer to the hind and shot an arrow in one of its legs.
The wounded hind could no longer run, and the hero grabbed it. The goddess Artemis appeared and asked the reason for such a sacrilege.
Hercules explained that according to the Oracle of Delphi, he is at the service of the King Eurystheus, and after presenting the hind to the king, the animal would be released into the wild.
The goddess allowed Hercules to carry on with his journey. After presenting the hind to Eurystheus, the hero went on again.
This time, looking for the Erymanthian boar. The creature was quite strong, and Hercules had to use his intelligence to capture it.
Since he could not kill it, he would have to get him tired. The hero then chased it, leading it into an area where the snow was accumulated on the ground.
The great boar had to make a huge effort to move through the snow, and ended up defeated by fatigue.
Hercules tied and dragged it up to the royal palace of Mycenae. Eurystheus, panic-stricken after seeing such a creature, hid inside the bronze barrel again.
And so, Hercules had fulfilled one of his labors. The king Eurystheus of Mycenae was frustrated because he could not get rid of Hercules, and with every labor, the hero accumulated more glories.
For this reason, the king decided to give Hercules a degrading task, ignoble to a man who was a son of Zeus.
The hero should clean, in a single day, the stables of King Augeas in Elis.
The barn had not been cleaned for a long time and accumulated tons of manure.
Eurystheus believed that, in addition to the task’s difficulty, Hercules would refuse to do a job so despicable.
However, the hero humbly respected his king’s wish and departed to the Augean kingdom. The need to cleanse his sins was more important than his pride.
Hercules presented himself before King Augeas and offered his services to clean the stables, but without telling that he was there at the service of King Eurystheus.
The son of Zeus negotiated with Augeas the payment and reached an agreement. The king believed that cleaning the barn in just one day was impossible, and therefore he promised to deliver a tenth of his large flock to the hero.
If Hercules failed to finish the work in just one day, he would get nothing.
The king called his son to bear witness to the agreement. A shovel was given to Hercules, but he put it aside and walked towards the river Alpheus.
Using his immense strength, Hercules skipped large rocks in the river, diverting its course towards the Augean stable.
The waters of the river passed through the stable doors and completely removed the dirtiness.
After the cleaning, Hercules allowed the river to return to its natural course. King Augeas felt perplexed seeing his stable clean and Hercules’ hands spotless.
When Hercules took his payment, the king said he had never made that agreement, but Phyleus, his own son, claimed to have witnessed the agreement.
Furious over such betrayal, the king expelled Hercules and his son, but Hercules would not accept such humiliation.
He gathered an army of Thebans and removed Augeas from his throne, replacing him with the honored prince Phyleus.
And yet another labor had been completed. After cleaning the Augean stables, Hercules returned to Eurystheus.
The king questioned the validity of his latest accomplishment since he had paid a reward by Augeas, and because of that, he would have to complete an extra task.
Hercules would have to go to Arcadia and get rid of the Stymphalian, giant birds of prey which terrorized the region near Lake Stymphalia.
After a long journey, the hero reached the edge of the lake, and to his amazement, the number of birds was enormous.
Doing such a task by means of brute force seemed impossible, and Hercules had never been famous for solving his challenges with astuteness.
Therefore, the help of his sister Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was decisive. The goddess gave him a musical instrument of iron, made by the god Hephaestus in his sacred forge.
Athena also told him how to defeat the birds. Hercules climbed up on a hill near the lake, and from there, he used the instrument with his outstanding strength.
The noise was so raucous that the birds fled terrified, and as they flew away, Hercules, with his arrows drenched in Hydra’s blood, hit them.
Another work had been done, and now the hero set sail towards the island of Crete.
Eurystheus ordered Hercules to go to the island of King Minos to capture the fearsome bull of Crete.
This was not a common bull. The animal would have to be sacrificed in honor of the god Poseidon, but because of his qualities, Minos chose not to sacrifice it.
Due to this decision, Poseidon instilled an uncontrollable fury in the bull. Hercules was facing the bull, father of the terrible Minotaur.
The bull was incredibly strong, but not strong enough to defeat Zeus’s son. Hercules grabbed it by the horns and threw it on the ground, and after tying it up, put it on a ship towards the Hellespont.
After arriving in Mycenae, the bull is presented to Eurystheus, who, after confirming the completion of the task, released the animal.
The bull wandered throughout Greece, causing terror, but the plains of Marathon marked the beast’s end when it was confronted with another hero.
His name was Theseus. Hercules had just received his eighth labor, and now he would have to travel to Thrace to bring the famous anthropophagous mares of Diomedes.
He was the son of Ares, the god of war, and reigned over the Bistones, a barbaric and cruel people.
And certainly, Diomedes was the cruelest among the Thracians. He captured foreigners who crossed his lands and took them to the royal barn.
Powerful mares were found there, so strong that they were tied with iron chains. The mares no longer eat oats or any other cereal.
They had acquired a taste for human flesh. So, Diomedes would throw the visitors as a meal for his terrible horses.
During his trip to Thrace, Hercules had the company of some friends, like his nephew Iolaus and Abderus, who was Hermes’ son.
Hercules, after arriving in the kingdom of Diomedes, became aware of the atrocities that the king committed against visitors of his kingdom.
Diomedes repeatedly insulted the duty of hospitality, one of Zeus’s requirements. After being aware of the arrival of new visitors, the king and his guards went to meet them.
Hercules defeated the royal guard, and after grabbing the king, threw him to be devoured by his own mares.
The mares were calmer after being fed, and so Hercules led them to his ship.
However, more soldiers appeared trying to avenge their king. Hercules asked the son of Hermes to hold the mares while the hero fought the soldiers.
The guards were easily defeated, but after his return, Hercules encountered Abderus being devoured by mares.
Hercules mourned the death of his friend, and after burying him, declared the foundation of the city of Abdera in a tribute to his friend.
Already in Mycenae, King Eurystheus consecrated the mares in honor of the goddess Hera. The horses that descended from these mares were extraordinary animals.
According to the legend, the horse of Alexander the Great had the blood of these mares running in his veins.
And under the command of Alexander the Great, he would participate in the conquest of almost all the known world.
Hercules had gathered some heroes to follow him to Themyscira, the kingdom of the Amazons, to accomplish yet another task.
The spoiled daughter of King Eurystheus demanded from her father Hippolyta’s girdle as a gift.
Hippolyta was the Amazonian queen, and due to her achievements in the battlefield, received the girdle from the gods as an honor.
To fulfill her daughter’s desire, the king sent Hercules to use everything he deemed was necessary to bring the girdle to his daughter.
Themyscira was a women-only kingdom, and they were famous for being excellent warriors. When he arrived in the kingdom of the Amazons, Hercules was received by Hippolyta, who was stunned by the size of the son of Zeus.
Hercules was diplomatic as he talked to the queen, and she retributed the courtesy. They seemed to be coming to an agreement, and Hippolyta would give her girdle to the hero without a drop of blood.
But the goddess Hera, the enemy of Hercules, would not allow the bastard son of Zeus to accomplish a task so easily.
Disguised, she joined the Amazons and spread the rumor that Hercules had planned to kidnap the queen.
To protect Hippolyta, the Amazons armed themselves and attacked Hercules and his fellows. The battle was bloody.
Many Amazons fell on the battlefield. Among the fallen Amazons was the queen Hippolyta. Hercules picked up her girdle and started his return to Mycenae.
On the way back, the hero passed through Troy and the city was in terrible trouble.
The Trojan king Laomedon was being punished since he had refused to pay the tribute agreed with Poseidon who had built the legendary walls of Troy for the king.
And because of that, his daughter was being delivered as a sacrifice to a terrible sea monster.
The king promised a reward to the hero if he managed to save his daughter.
So, Hercules went to fight the creature. It was no match for the mighty son of Zeus and ended up destroyed.
But Laomedon increased his reputation as a deadbeat and failed to pay the prize to the hero.
Hercules was expelled from Troy, but before leaving, he swore revenge and returned to Greece to deliver the girdle of Queen Hippolyta to the sovereign’s daughter.
The king Eurystheus wanted to see Hercules as far as possible and as his 10th labor, the hero would have to steal the cattle of the giant Geryon.
The giant lived on the mythical island of Erytheia near the Iberian Peninsula. The journey was quite long and no Greek had ever traveled so far.
Hercules sailed for a long time until he reached an immense mountain which separated the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean.
But not even a huge mountain would stop the son of Zeus. Hercules used all his strength to split the mountain in two and pulled the two halves apart.
With that, the hero connected the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and proceeded his journey. The two big hills created by the hero would be known as the Pillars of Hercules.
And nowadays, this place is known as the Strait of Gibraltar. Hercules finally arrived in the island of Erytheia.
No Greek had ever dared to approach the bulls of the giant son of Chrysaor since Geryon was a horrible creature that had several bodies in one.
The giant also had a two-headed guard dog called Orthus, the brother of Cerberus, the infernal dog.
Hercules fought against the dog killing it with his powerful mace. Stealthily, Hercules started to lead the cattle but was detected by Geryon who started an attack.
The fight between Hercules and Geryon was intense and this time, it appeared that Hercules was about to be defeated.
But the hero realized that the goddess Hera, the enemy of Hercules, was hidden and helping the giant.
Hercules shot an arrow against the goddess. Wounded, she flew back to Olympus. The demigod picked one of his arrows soaked with the poisonous hydra’s blood and shot it against Geryon.
The giant had been killed and now Hercules could finally return to Greece leading the famous bulls of Geryon.
Hercules was again traveling around the world to accomplish more labors for the king Eurystheus.
This time, he would have to find the famous Garden of Hesperides and return with one of his famous golden apples.
When the goddess Hera married Zeus, she was gifted by Gaia with a beautiful tree from which golden apples grew.
This tree was maintained by the beautiful and delicate Hesperides and guarded by Ladon, an immense dragon.
In his search for the garden, Hercules encountered the Titan Prometheus who was chained to a rock and had his liver devoured by a giant eagle.
During the night, his liver was regenerated and on the following day, the bird returned to feed again from it.
Prometheus had been punished by Zeus for stealing the sacred fire and delivering it to mankind.
Hercules decided that Prometheus had suffered too much already and decided that something had to be done.
He slaughtered the hateful bird with his bow and broke the chains that imprisoned the Titan to the rock.
And so, Prometheus was finally free of his punishment. As a gesture of gratitude, Prometheus advised Hercules not to face the mighty dragon.
Instead, he would be better if he met Atlas. Continuing his journey, the hero encountered the powerful Titan Atlas who was also suffering a punishment imposed by Zeus.
Atlas had fought against Zeus during the Titanomachy, the great struggle between gods and titans.
The defeated Atlas was forced to sustain all the weight of the heavenly vault on his back for all eternity.
The Titan was the father of Hesperides and offered himself to bring the apples that Hercules needed as long as he held the sky while the Titan visited his daughter’s garden.
Hercules nodded in agreement and made use of all his strength to withstand the sky’s weight.
Atlas left and after some time, he finally returned. He brought the apples that Hercules needed and seeing the hero, he told him, “Here are the apples.
But don’t worry, I will give them to King Eurystheus myself.” Hercules realized that he was about to be fooled having then to sustain the weight of the whole world on his back for all eternity and in that moment, he used his intelligence.
“Would you really do that for me? You’re so kind. I can no longer face my cousin.
But before that, I’d like to make a request. Can you hold the sky for a moment so I can get my mantle of lion fur to protect my back?
You know how uncomfortable this weight is, right?” Atlas knew how painful that task was and decided to help the hero.
As soon as the Titan held the sky again, Hercules picked up the apples that had been left on the ground and went away forever.
After returning to Mycenae with apples, the great hero received a standing ovation by the subjects of Eurystheus.
The jealous king decided that there was only one way to get rid of Hercules.
He would have to be sent to the realm of the dead. After accomplishing 11 labors that everyone deemed impossible, Hercules was loved by the people since the hero had freed the world from the most sinister creatures.
Eurystheus’ plan to end the son of Zeus only made him more glorified. The king of Mycenae only had the right to impose one more labor to Hercules and because of that, it was his last chance to get rid of the hero.
Eurystheus ordered Hercules to go to the world of the dead to bring the legendary Cerberus with him, Hades’ three-headed dog, which was responsible for overseeing his master’s kingdom.
Before leaving for Hades’ kingdom, the hero was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries. The rituals of these cults symbolized the death and the resurrection.
Hercules went to a secret cave which gave access to the underground world. Right at the entrance, he was greeted by his brother Hermes who was the god who led souls to the kingdom of Hades.
Guided by the messenger god, Hercules was entering the underworld. It was a sinister and sorrowful place.
In Hades’ kingdom, the demigod found his friend Theseus still alive chained to a stone.
Theseus had been punished by Hades for trying, together with his friend Pirithous, to kidnap Persephone, the queen of the underworld.
Hercules freed his friend from captivity so that he could return to the world of the living.
The son of Zeus was now facing Hades, the lord of the world of the dead, and asked for permission to take his dog and introduce him to Eurystheus with the promise that he would take the dog back after completing his job.
Hades allowed Hercules to try to capture the three-headed dog as long as he only used his own hands to dominate the animal.
The hero went to face the monster. When he spotted him, Hercules realized that the beast, besides having three heads, had a serpent tail.
The son of Zeus had already fought against every type of creature and fearless started the fight.
The fight between the demigod and the monster was intense but Hercules managed to defeat the creature.
The hero led Cerberus to the surface. The dog, touched by the sunlight, was nauseated and vomited.
Poisonous plants were born from the place where the animal’s vomit had dropped. Despite the resistance, Hercules dragged the animal to the palace of King Eurystheus and presented the creature to his lord.
After seeing such a monster, Eurystheus, terrified, ran into his barrel of bronze to hide.
The dog was released and returned to the underworld. Hercules had finally accomplished his 12th labor and Eurystheus, resigned for being unable to finish Hercules, ended up releasing the demigod from his duties.
Hercules had reached the pinnacle of his glory and was seen as the benefactor of mankind.
But, this was not the end of his journey. The son of Zeus still had to face tough adventures and ordeals before he could finally attain immortality beside his father.
