2. The Birth of a Hero
Many years ago, in ancient Greece, a woman named Alcmene gave birth to a
boy, Hercules, or Heracles in Greek. Hercules’ father was Zeus, the King of
Gods, so Hercules was a very powerful little boy – he was a demigod.
Zeus’ wife and the Queen of Gods, Hera, was jealous that Zeus had had a baby
with Alcmene and she wanted to harm Hercules. One night, when Hercules was
sleeping in his crib, Hera sent two snakes to kill him. Hercules woke up just in
time to see the snakes above him and he killed them with his bare hands.
Did You Know…?
‘Demi’ means half, so the word ‘demigod’ means ‘half-god’.
3. The Birth of a Hero
Years later, when Hercules was a
young man, he got married to
Megara, a princess, and had children.
Hera, who hadn’t forgotten her
grudge towards Hercules, turned him
temporarily mad and made him hurt
his children. When Hercules
recovered, he asked the god Apollo
what he should do to be forgiven for
his actions.
Apollo told him that he should go and
meet his cousin, Eurystheus, and do
whatever he commanded him for twelve
years. After that, he would become
immortal and would live on Mount
Olympus with the rest of the gods.
So, Hercules met Eurystheus and this is
how his twelve labours started. However,
Hera was always trying to put obstacles in
his way.
Did You Know…?
It is said that Hercules was born with the name Alcaeus but he
was later given the name Hercules, which meant ‘Glory of Hera’.
That name meant that he would overcome the difficulties that
Hera would put in his way.
4. The Nemean Lion
For the first labour, Eurystheus asked
Hercules to bring him the skin of a
terrible lion that terrorised the hills
around Nemea, a small village in
Greece.
Immediately Hercules went to Nemea
and started tracking the lion. He
found it near its cave. However, he
soon discovered that his arrows did
nothing to the lion’s impenetrable
skin. So, he hunted the lion into its
cave, blocking one of the two
entrances. He then grasped the lion
and killed it with his bare hands.
Hercules took the lion’s skin and made his
armour out of it, which he would wear
from now on. He then returned to
Eurystheus to tell him the news.
Eurystheus, who didn’t expect that
Hercules would come back alive, was so
scared when he saw him with his new
armour that he hid inside a large jar
buried in the earth. From then on,
Eurystheus gave his commands to Hercules
from inside that jar.
5. The Lernean Hydra
For the second labour,
Eurystheus asked Hercules to
track and kill a terrible huge
serpent who lived in the water
near a place called Lerna. The
beast, with its nine immortal
heads that breathed fire and
venom, terrorised everyone
nearby.
Hercules took with him his
nephew Iolaus and together
they faced her. Hercules began
to smash the head of the
fearsome creature, but
something terrible happened:
every time Hercules smashed
one of the heads, two more
would burst forth in its place!
When everything seemed hopeless, Hercules told Iolaus
that every time he would cut a head Iolaus should
burn it. And it succeeded! The fire prevented more
heads to appear and the hero was now ready to face
the last one. When he cut off the final head, he buried
it deep in the ground and placed a boulder on top.
Then he dipped his arrows into Hydra’s venomous
blood and made them more deadly.
6. The Hind of Ceryneia
The deer was so fast that
Hercules had a tough time
hunting it. He hunted it for a
year before he was able to
catch it! One day when it was
exhausted from the hunt, the
deer went to a river.
Hercules thought that this was
his last chance. As he didn’t
want to kill the deer because
Artemis would be angry, he
shot it in its leg and injured it.
Then, he took it in his arms
and went back to Eurystheus.
As soon as Eurystheus saw the
deer, Hercules set it free.
Did You Know…?
Artemis was the Goddess of Hunting and
Archery and she lived on Mount Olympus
with the gods. Deer were her sacred animals.
Next, Hercules’ task was to catch the Hind of Ceryneia,
the sacred female deer of goddess Artemis. The creature
lived in the forest near the town of Ceryneia and
Eurystheus wanted it brought to him alive.
7. The Erymanthian Boar
For the fourth labour,
Eurystheus asked Hercules
to find the Erymanthian
Boar and bring it to him.
The Erymanthian Boar was
a monstrous boar living on
Mount Erymanthos, in
Arcadia.
In ancient Greece, boars
were dangerous animals
and that boar was the most
dangerous of all. They
frequently attacked other
animals and even humans.
Hercules found it easily. The
boar, frightened by Hercules,
hid in a thicket but Hercules
found it and trapped it in a
net. He then took it to
Eurystheus.
Eurystheus, who was
frightened when he saw
Hercules carrying the boar,
hid in his jar again. He asked
Hercules to get rid of it. Some
people say that Hercules
threw it into the sea and the
boar went to Italy.
8. The Augean Stables
Without losing time, Hercules dug two
ditches that went through the stables
to the rivers nearby. He used them to
turn the course of the rivers into the
yard where the stables were and the
water rushed through the stables,
cleaning everything. Hercules
managed what no one had done
before!
When Augeas learnt that Eurystheus
sent Hercules to him, he refused to
carry out his promise of repaying
him. Hercules returned empty handed
to Eurystheus.
Augeas was a king. He had more
cattle than anyone in Greece and
the stables where he put his cattle
were never cleaned. He had cows,
goats, horses, sheep and bulls.
Eurystheus asked Hercules to go
and clean Augeas’ vast stables in
one single day.
When Hercules reached the stables
and met Augeas, he didn’t tell him
that he was sent by Eurystheus. He
told him that he would clean up
his stables if Augeas would repay
him by giving him a tenth of his
cattle. Augeas agreed.
9. The Stymphalian Birds
For his sixth task, Hercules had to face an enormous flock of birds called the
Stymphalian Birds. The birds lived by a lake near the Greek town of Stymphalos.
It was said that the birds were man-eaters, with beaks and wings made of iron.
Hercules didn’t know how he could
beat the birds while they hid
sheltered by the trees. The goddess
Athena helped him. She gave him a
pair of krotala, a type of musical
instrument similar to castanets that
made a lot of noise.
When the birds heard the loud noise,
they were scared out of their hiding
place. Hercules seized the
opportunity and shot them with the
arrows he had coated in Hydra
venom. He managed to kill some of
the birds, however some escaped but
never returned to Stymphalos.
10. The Cretan Bull
Minos, the king of the island of Crete, was a powerful ruler. Wanting to prove his worth
even more, Minos asked the King and God of the Sea, Poseidon to send him an animal
and promised that he would sacrifice it in his honour. Poseidon sent Minos a bull,
believing he would keep his word.
The bull was an elegant beast and when Minos saw its beauty he decided to keep it as
part of his cattle herd. He then chose another bull to sacrifice. Poseidon was furious at
this disrespect and made the bull become enraged, causing disasters around Crete.
Eurystheus asked Hercules to
capture the bull. Hercules went
to Crete and asked Minos’
permission to capture it.
The king, wanting to get rid of
the bull, agreed to what
Hercules said. So, Hercules got
hold of the bull and brought it
to Eurystheus, who upon seeing
the ferocious bull became
scared and set it free.
11. The Horses of Diomedes
Some people say that Hercules went to
this mission with some Greek
companions. When he arrived at Thrace,
he captured the horses and left one of his
companions to watch them so that he
could go back and fight Diomedes.
However, Hercules didn’t know that these
were not common horses. They had jaws
made of copper and ate humans. So,
when Hercules got back to his
companion, he was dead. He took the
horses and brought them to Eurystheus.
Eurystheus sent the horses to Olympus
where they were killed by wild beasts.
Diomedes, the king of Thrace, was the son of the god
Ares. Diomedes was known for his four dangerous
horses. For his next task, Hercules had to go to
Diomedes’ land and steal the horses.
12. Hippolyte’s Belt
Next in the order was the task of
getting Hippolyte’s belt. Hippolyte
was the queen of the Amazons, a
tribe of fierce warrior women. She
always wore her belt - a special piece
of armour given to her by Ares, the
Greek God of War.
When Hercules arrived in the
land of the Amazons,
Hippolyte asked him the
reason for his arrival. Hercules
told her the truth about her
belt and the queen promised
to give it to him. However,
Hera told the Amazons that
Hercules intended to take their
queen away. So, the Amazons
put on their armour and got
ready to fight.
When Hercules saw the Amazons
with their weapons ready to strike,
he needed to act quickly. He killed
Hippolyte and, fought the rest of
the Amazon warriors alongside his
companions. After the battle
Hercules and the companions that
were still alive sailed away with
Hippolyte’s belt.
13. The Cattle of Geryon
For the next task, Hercules travelled
to the edge of the world. His mission
was to bring Eurystheus the cattle of
Geryon. Geryon was a powerful but
terrible creature, with three heads
and three sets of legs.
Geryon’s cattle were on an island and were
heavily guarded by a two-headed dog and a
herdsman. Hercules killed them both and just as
he was ready to escape with the cattle, Geryon
attacked him. However, Hercules managed to kill
him with his poisonous arrows.
Hercules’ difficulties didn’t stop
there. As Geryon’s island was far
away from Greece, Hercules had to
travel for many days and nights
and he faced challenges along the
way. Some tried to steal the cattle
while Hera sent a gadfly, a fly that
bites animals, to scare the cattle
away. She succeeded and made the
cattle run away from Hercules.
Hercules now had to run around
Thrace and gather the escaped
cattle. At last, he found them and
brought the cattle to Eurystheus,
who sacrificed them to Hera.
14. The Apples of the Hesperides
Now Eurystheus asked Hercules to bring him the golden
apples from a garden that belonged to Zeus. The location
for the garden was a secret and it was guarded by a fierce
dragon and some nymphs, the Hesperides.
First, Hercules needed to find out
where the secret garden was. To do
that, he found the sea-god Nereus
and made him tell him the secret
location. After more adventures he
made his way to Mount Caucasus,
where Prometheus was chained on
a rock. Hercules set him free and
Prometheus helped him with his
quest as a way of thanking him.
Did You Know…?
Prometheus stole the fire from the gods and
gave it to humans against Zeus’ wishes. So
Zeus chained him on a huge rock on Mount
Caucasus as a punishment.
15. The Apples of the Hesperides
According to Prometheus, Atlas was most suitable to go to
the garden and get the apples. The problem was that Atlas
was busy holding the sky on his arms. Hercules agreed to
hold the sky while Atlas went to the garden.
When Atlas came back with the apples, he
tried to betray Hercules by giving the apples
to Eurystheus himself. This would mean that
Hercules need to hold the skies forever.
However, Hercules was smart. He managed
to trick Atlas and placed the sky back on the
Titan’s arms. He then took the apples and
returned to Eurystheus.
Did You Know…?
Atlas was a Titan. When the gods won
the Titanomachy, the terrible battle
between Gods and Titans, Zeus punished
Atlas by condemning him to hold the sky
on his arms forever.
16. Cerberus
Hercules journeyed to the
Underworld and asked Hades
for the creature. Hades, being
the ruler of the Underworld,
agreed to give it to him on the
condition that he should
overpower the dog without
using any weapons.
So, Hercules, with only his
lion-skin as a shield and his
hands, wrestled with Cerberus.
Cerberus used his serpent tail
to bite him but Hercules didn’t
stop. He beat Cerberus and
brought him to Eurystheus.
Then, he safely returned him
to Hades.
Hercules was now free.
For the twelfth and last labour, Eurystheus commanded Hercules to go to the
Underworld and kidnap Cerberus, the creature that guarded the gates. Cerberus was
a terrible dog-like creature; he had three heads, a serpent for a tail and snakes
around his body. Eurystheus was sure that Hercules would not succeed.
29. Quiz
What was the Hind of Ceryneia?
It was a female deer,
sacred to the goddess
Artemis.
30. Over to You
Which labour did you enjoy
learning about the most?
Discuss with a partner. Which labour do you think
was the hardest for
Hercules? Why?
Discuss with a partner.
Can you think of any heroic
figures from other cultures that
achieved incredible feats?
Discuss with a partner.
