Hercules and his Adventures

Jupiter, the great God, one day beheld Alemena, the wife of Amphitryon, and at once fell in love with her. When the husband was away fighting a war, Jupiter assumed the exact shape of the absent Amphitryon. Alemena, unaware of the deception, received him willingly. And of the union, Hercules was born.

Juno, the Queen of Jupiter, hated Hercules from the beginning. One day, when the infant was asleep, Juno sent a huge serpent to sting him. But the eight-month-old Hercules calmly grasped the frightful creature just under the head, and crushed it to death.

As Hercules grew young, he became famous for his strength and courage. One of the first brave actions of his youth was the slaying of a fierce lion that had terrified the shepherds of his country. He next helped the natives of Thebes against their hated enemy and was rewarded by being given the lovely princess Megara in marriage. She bore him several beautiful children. Jealous of his good fortune, Juno sent a sudden madness to overtake him. Sitting with his family, Hercules suddenly thought them not to be his wife and children, but wild animals. He slew them all. Then he returned to his senses and knew of the misfortune he had brought upon himself. So great was his horror and sorrow that for a while he roamed the forests like a wild beast, and no man dared to come near him. He wandered until he comes to Delphi, where he asked the oracle of Apollo, as to how he could purge himself of the sin. The oracle told him that he should go to his cousin. Eurystheus, king of Mycenae, follow his directions and perform whatever adventures he wants him to undertake.

The first labor set to him was to slay the Nemean lion. When no arrow shot by Hercules would pierce its skin, Hercules dropped all weapons and with his bare hands suffocated him to death. Next he was sent to slay the Hydra of Lerna, a serpent-like creature with nine heads, one of which was immortal. In this task Hercules was helped by his cousin, Iolaus. As he cut off one head of the monster, two grew in its place. Then Iolaus, directed by his great cousin, heated a brand, and as Hercules chopped off each head, he burnt the neck with the glowing brand and no new heads grew back. Over the last immortal head he rolled a huge rock and from under its heavy weight, the Hydra could never come out.

The third labor set to Hercules was to bring to the court the Cerynean stag, sacred to goddess Athena. Hercules chased it for a whole year, and when it was worn with fatigue, captured it, and with Athena’s consent, brought it toMycenae. The fourth task given to Hercules was to master a wild boar which lived in a cave high in the mountains. Hercules pursued the beast relentlessly and when finally the winter snows fell, he was enabled to track the weary animal to its last hiding place, and capture it.

The (fifth) task set to him was much more difficult. There was a king Augeas, who ruled over a fertile country, and had large herds of cattle. So numerous were his herds and so few his servants that his stables were never clean and the filth increased from year to year. The king gave Hercules the seemingly hopeless task of cleaning the stables in a single day. But Hercules diverted the courses of two swift-flowing streams so that they flowed through the Augean stables and cleansed in a single day the filth of years. The Idiom“Cleansing the Augean stables” comes from this adventure.

Next, Hercules was asked to free the country from he Stymphalian birds, a strange bird with claws of iron and quills sharp as a huntsman’s arrow. Hercules took with him a huge shield for his labor. He rang a bell, which he also carried, made a clamorous noise on the shield, and when the birds attacked him with their murderous quills, they blunted their points on the huge protecting shield. Thus defeated birds flew off, and Hercules killed many with his own well-aimed arrows.

Next, Hercules was sent to the island of Crete, to conquer the savage bull which was Poseidon’s gift to King Minos. Hercules found the bull one day drinking from its favourite stream. And grasping the animal by the horns wrestled with it and subdued it. Suddenly, after it had been conquered, all fierceness went out of the bull and it became gentle and willing to follow its new master.

For his eighth labor, Hercules was sent to conquer a pair of steeds belonging to King Diomedes. These fierce creatures fed only on human flesh. With his bare hands, Hercules brought them to their knees and drove them of subdued and conquered. Next Hercules was sent to the land of the Amazons, where the beautiful Queen Hippolyta reigned. Hercules was ordered to bring back the girdle of Hippolyta. Now the queen had heard of the wondrous exploits of Hercules, and willingly offered herself as well as the girdle. When Hippolyta came down to the sea to bid farewell to Hercules as he prepared to set sail homeward, Juno spread the rumour that Hercules and his companions were carrying off the queen. The Amazons attacked them, and Hercules, suspecting that it was a plot of the Queen, slew her.

His tenth labor was to bring to Mycenae the cattle of the giant Geryon, who had three bodies and heads and extra arms and legs. As Hercules neared Geryon’s domain, a mountain blocked his approach. Then Hercules broke the mountain and pushed the two halves to either side, creating a narrow sea passage through which he sailed. The Pillars of Hercules, as they are called, still stand on either side of the strait of Gibraltar, and every one can see them there. Hercules soon arrived at his destination, slew Geryon and brought the cattle to Mycenae.

In the garden of the Hesperides, there was a tree which bore golden apples. An ever wakeful dragon guarded the tree, and it was aided in this task by the Hesperides, fair nymphs who were the daughters of mighty Atlas. The eleventh task set to Hercules was the bringing in of these apples. Hercules set forth to find the garden and encountered many difficulties on the way. First, he struggled with Antaeus, a wrestler almost as powerful as Hercules himself. Antaeus would not allow him to pass, unless the two first met in a trial of strength. Now all of the challenger’s strength was derived from Earth, who was his mother, and each time that Hercules threw Antaeus to the ground, he sprang up with renewed energy. Then Hercules guessed his secret, and held him off the ground and strangled him to death. Hercules was then advised to go to Libya and induce Atlas to help him acquire the golden apples. He told Atlas about the labor he was compelled to perform, and begged him to go and get the apples for him. Atlas who bore the world on his shoulders replied, “This I will do, if you will relieve me of my burden while I am gone.” Then Atlas carefully shifted the world from his own shoulders to those of Hercules. In spite of his care, buildings shook and fell down as the great globe trembled. Atlas returned with the apples and Hercules brought them to Eurystheus.

During the course of one of his journeys Hercules became a slave to Queen Omphale in Libya, whom he served for several years. She compelled him to dress like a woman and do woman’s work, such as weaving and spinning. Finally, Hercules had to descend to Hades or Hell to bring back the triple-headed dog, Cerberus, the dog who watches the gates of Hades. When Hercules finally encountered this creature, he quickly caught it by the throat and subdued it. He then appeared before Pluto, the god of the under-world, to ask permission to carry the conquered dog to the upper world. This request Pluto granted and Hercules brought the dog to the palace of Eurystheus and presented it to the king.

About this time, Hercules was attracted by the beauty of Deianira, princess of Aetolia, who was also loved by the river god, Achelous. Hercules fought with the god, killed him, and won his prize. As he was carrying her home, they came to a wide river. On its bank stood the Centaur, Nessus, who offered to carry the young bride on his back. Hercules agreed, but no sooner did Nessus reach the middle of the stream than he tried to violate the chastity of Deianira. She screamed in fright and Hercules, still on the shore, shot an arrow at the Centaur. Nessus could reach the other bank, but there he fell dying on the ground. With his last breath, he told the girl to take a scarf she was wearing and dip it in the blood flowing from his wound. Then he told Deianira that if Hercules should ever cease to love her, she was to extract the blood from this cloth and dip some garment of Hercules in it, and his love for her was sure to return.

Deianira kept this love charm a secret, until one day she heard that her husband was in love with the beautiful maiden Iole. She did now as Nessus had advised, and when Hercules put on the shirt which she had prepared, a poison began to burn deep into his body and the tortured giant knew now that he was dying. Thus his own wife killed him by mistake. Women should beware of jealousy.