There grew a wondrous tree with golden apples. The Hesperides were the nymphs who guarded the gardens of the gods in the far west. He then ferried the cattle with Helios’ cup back to Eurystheus, who sacrificed it to Hera. Herakles stole the cattle by killing Eurytion, the shepherd, the monstrous dog Orthos and pierced Geryones with a poisonous arrow. Hercules has been given Helios’ golden cup to take him across the Ocean to Erytheia. The monstrous Geryon (or Geryones), was three men joined into one living on Erytheia Island (Red Island), in the outer Ocean in the far west. In another version of the myth, Hercules slew Hippolyte and seized her belt.ġ0. Herakles gained the girdle by capturing the queen’s sister Melanippe in an ambush and then ransoming her in exchange for the girdle. This girdle was a heavy warrior’s belt, given to Hippolyta by her father Ares and indicates that it was a symbol of the sovereignty of the Queen of Amazons. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons Herakles, in order to calm the wild horses down, fed them with their own master and then drove them back to Mycenae in a four-horse chariot.ĩ. Their names were Podargos, Lampon, Xanthos and Dinos. The Mares were four horses which would have formed Diomedes’ chariot-team and were fed on human flesh. The bull wandered about in Attica and settled in Marathon till Theseus sacrificed it to Athena. Hercules wrestled the bull and carried it to Eurystheus and then let it go. He then shot many of them with his poisoned arrows.Īccording to the tradition, this was the bull that had been sent up by Poseidon, god of sea, in response to the prayers of king Minos, but had later been turned wild by the god as Minos had failed to sacrifice it to him. Heracles frightened the birds out of their coverts by the sound of a rattle made by Hephaestus and given to him by goddess Athena. The Stymphalian Birds were man-eating birds with metallic feathers that lived around Lake Stymphalia in Corinth. Clean the Augean stables in a single dayĪugeias was son of Helios and was proud for owning a vast herd of cattle which was kept in the Augeian stables that had been left uncleared over 30 years! Herakles managed to wash the dung away by diverting the rivers Peneios and Alpheios. He then carried it back to Mycenae on his shoulders.ĥ. Herakles, in order to capture it alive, frightened it out of its lair with loud shouts and chased it into deep snow, where he was able to net it. This boar lived on Mount Erymanthos in Arcadia and used to venture down to ravage the lands beneath. Artemis forgave him and Hercules succeeding in his labour by showing it to Eurystheus. Herakles managed to trap it and begged the goddess for forgiveness, promising that he would return it. The golden-horned Cerynitian (or Ceryneian) hind (deer) lived on Mount Keryneia) in Arcadia and was sacred to Artemis, goddess of hunting. After killing the Lernaian Hydra, Hercules dipped his arrows into its blood making them so poisonous that even a scratch from them would prove fatal. With Iolaos’ assistance, Herakles eventually killed as Iolaos would cauterize every cut head to prevent a new one from growing. It was exceptionally difficult to kill is because as soon as one head was cut off, two heads would grow up in its place and to make it worse, Hera sent also a huge crab that bite Herakles. Hydra was a huge many-headed snake that lived in the swamps of Lerna, close to Argos. The impenetrable lion skin was thereafter used as Heracles’ familiar armor. The lion was invulnerable and Hercules killed bare handed by strangling it. While performing his labours, Herakles was accompanied by his nephew Iolaos, who assisted him as his charioteer, and also his half-brother Iphikles.Īs his first labour, Herakles was ordered to kill the monstrous Nemean lion that lived in the mountains near Nemea in Argolid. It is also thought that Hercules has won his immortality as the ultimate reward for his labours. The term The Labours of Herakles (Hercules) is used to describe the arduous tasks that were performed by Heracles for Eurystheus, king of Mycenae.
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