1. Perseus
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 13 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"He is said to have come to the stars because of his nobility and the unusual nature
of his conception. When sent by Polydectes, son of Magnes, to the Gorgones, he
received from Mercurius [Hermes], who is thought to have loved him, talaria and
petasus, and, in addition, a helmet which kept its wearer from being seen by an
enemy. So the Greeks have called it the helmet of Haides [the Unseen], though
Perseus did not, as some ignorant people interpret it, wear the helmet of Orcus
[Haides] himself, for no educated person could believe that. He is said, too, to have
received from Vulcanus [Hephaistos] a knife made of adamant, with which he killed
Medusa the Gorgon. The deed itself no one has described. But as Aeschylus, the writer
of tragedies, says in his Phorcides, the Graeae were guardians of the Gorgons. We
wrote about them in the first book of the Genealogiae. They are thought to have had
but one eye among them, and thus to have kept guard, watch one taking it in her
turn. This eye Perseus snatches, as one was passing it to another, and threw is in
Lake Tritonis. So, when the guards were blinded, he easily killed the Gorgon when she
was overcome with sleep. Minerva [Athena] is said to have the head on her breastplate.
Euhemerus says the Gorgon was killed by Minerva."
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 216 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
"[Amongst the scenes depicted on the shield of Herakles :] There, too, was the son of
rich-haired Danae, the horseman Perseus: his feet did not touch the shield and yet
were not far from it--very marvellous to remark, since he was not supported anywhere;
for so did the famous Lame One [Hephaistos] fashion him of gold with his hands. On
his feet he had winged sandals, and his black-sheathed sword was slung across his
shoulders by a cross-belt of bronze. He was flying swift as thought. The head of a
dreadful monster, the Gorgo, covered the broad of his back, and a bag of silver--a
marvel to see--contained it: and from the bag bright tassels of gold hung down. Upon
the head of the hero lay the dread cap of Aides which had the awful gloom of night.
Perseus himself, the son of Danae, was at full stretch, like one who hurries and
shudders with horror. And after him rushed the Gorgones, unapproachable and
unspeakable, longing to seize him : as they trod upon the pale adamant, the shield
rang sharp and clear with a loud clanging. Two serpents hung down at their girdles
with heads curved forward: their tongues were flickering, and their teeth gnashing with
fury, and their eyes glaring fiercely. And upon the awful heads of the Gorgones great
Phobos (Fear) was quaking."

2. Heracles
12 Labours
1. *Slaying the Nemean Lion and bringing back its skin*: The Nemean lion had a skin
so thick that it was impenetrable, so all of Heracles' weapons were useless against it.
Eventually he managed to kill it by strangling it. His next problem was how to skin the
lion, which he solved with help from Athene, by using the lion's own claws, the only
things able to penetrate the skin. Heracles wore the lion's skin from then on as his
armour.
2. *Slaying the Lernaean Hydra*: The Hydra was a monstrous serpent with many heads
that lived in lake Lerna, guarding an entrance to the Underworld. For every head Heracles
cut off, two more grew back in its place. It was Heracles' nephew Iolaus who had the idea
to burn the stumps after cutting off each head to stop it from growing back. This was
successful, leaving the monster with only its one immortal head, which Heracles buried
beneath a great boulder. He then dipped all his arrows in the Hydra's venomous blood,
making his arrows poisonous and deadly. Eurystheus discounted this labour, saying that
since Heracles had received help from Iolaus the task did not count.
3. *Capturing the Ceryneian Hind*: This large deer was sacred to the goddess Artemis,
and had antlers of gold as well as hooves of bronze. The hind was so fast that it could
outrun an arrow, but Heracles pursued it on foot for a whole year. He finally caught it by
shooting it with a (non-poisoned) arrow in the leg, either when it had stopped to drink or
could run no further. King Eurystheus had intended for this task to bring Artemis' hatred
on Heracles, but the hero begged forgiveness from the goddess who forgave him on the
condition of the deer's safe return. King Eurystheus wished to keep the animal, but
Heracles could no allow this and so outwitted him by telling the king to come and take
the deer. As soon as Heracles let go of it, the deer ran back to Artemis, ensuring Artemis'
forgiveness and infuriating Eurystheus.
4. *Capturing the Erymanthian Boar*: This great beast lived on Mount Erymanthos, a
place frequented by the goddess Artemis. Heracles sought the advice of the centaur
Chiron for this labour, who told Heracles to force the boar into thick snow. Heracles was
then able to capture the boar and take it back to King Eurystheus, who was so terrified by
the beast that he hid in a storage jar and begged Heracles to get rid of it.
5. *Cleaning the Augean stables*: Augeas was the king of Elis and boasted the greatest
number of cattle in the country. The cattle were a divine gift to Augeas, and so were
totally immune to disease, meaning that nobody had ever needed to clean the stables.
King Augeas promised to give Heracles one eighth of his cattle if he could complete this
seemingly impossible task in just one day. Heracles achieved this by redirecting the rivers
Alpheus and Peneus through the stables. However Augeas went back on his promise so
Heracles killed him and gave the kingdom to Augeas' son Phyleus, who had been exiled
by his father for supporting Heracles. However, Eurystheus refused to count this as one
of the labours saying that it was the rivers that had done the work and not Heracles.
6. *Slaying the Stymphalian Birds*: These were man-eating birds with poisonous
excrement and metallic feathers that they could fire as weapons. They lived in the dense
woods surrounding lake Stymphalia, making it impossible to find them in the dark of the

3. forest. Heracles climbed a nearby mountain and used bronze clappers given to him by
Athena and Hephaestus to scare the birds out of the trees. He was then able to shoot them
down with his arrows and they flew up out of the forest.
7. *Capturing the Cretan Bull*: This great bull had been sent by Poseidon to King Minos
and was intended to be given in sacrifice to the god. However Minos thought the animal
too beautiful to kill and sacrificed another instead. Poseidon was so angered by this that
he sent the bull mad, to terrorise Minos' kingdom. Heracles went to Crete, and captured it
by strangling it. He took the bull back to King Eurystheus, who wished to sacrifice the
animal to Hera, but the goddess refused the gift as it represented Heracles' glorious deeds.
The bull was therefore released into Marathon, and became known as the Marathonian
Bull.
8. *Stealing the Mares of Diomedes*: The giant Diomedes, King of Thrace, owned these
four savage, man-eating horses. When Heracles went to steal them he brought some
young men to assist him, including one of his eromenoi, Abderus. They stole the horses
and Heracles left Abderus to guard the horses while he fought Diomedes and his men,
unaware that the horses were carnivorous. The horses ate Abderus, and so as revenge,
Heracles fed Diomedes alive to his own horses. He then established the town of Abdera
in remembrance of his lover.
9. *Obtaining Hippolyta's Girdle*: King Eurystheus gave Heracles this task at the request
of his daughter, Admete. Hippolyta was the queen of the Amazons, and possessed a
magical girdle given to her by her father, the god Ares. She gave the girdle to Heracles
willingly as she was so in awe of his physical prowess. However, Hera spread rumours
amongst the other Amazons that Heracles was kidnapping the queen, causing them to run
in and attack him. Heracles fought them off, and believing that Hippolyta had conspired
against him, killed her as well. However some versions of the story tell that Hippolyta
escaped and went on to marry Theseus
10. *Obtaining Geryon's Cattle*: Geryon of Erytheia was a giant warrior with three heads,
three bodies and six arms, all joined onto one set of legs (although some accounts state he
had three sets of legs too). He possessed a herd of glorious red cattle, which were guarded
by the herdsman Eurytion and the two-headed dog, Orthrus, the brother of Cerberus (the
three-headed dog that guards the Underworld). Heracles had to travel to the other side of
the world to reach Erytheia, but was assisted by Helios the Sun God who admired
Heracles' courage after he shot an arrow at him, enraged by the heat of the sun. Heracles
killed Orthrus and Eurytion with his club, and then fought Geryon, killing him with his
poisoned arrows. Heracles then faced more trouble trying to bring the cattle back to
Eurystheus. When one of the bulls escaped Heracles had to wrestle and kill Eryx, a son of
Poseidon. Hera then sent a gadfly to scatter the cattle, and Heracles spent a year
recovering them. When he eventually brought the cattle to Eurystheus, he sacrificed them
to Hera.
11. *Stealing the Apples of the Hesperides*: Eurystheus had originally only intended ten
labours for Heracles, but since he had discounted the Lernean Hydra and the Augean
stables, Heracles still had two more tasks to go. Heracles had to search for many years the
find the garden where theses golden apples grew. They had been a wedding present from
Hera to Zeus, and were guarded by the hundred-headed dragon Ladon, as well as nymphs
called the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas. Heracles caught the sea god Nereus, who tried
to escape by transforming into various shapes, but Heracles held tight until he told him

4. the location of the garden. Heracles then sought out Atlas, the titan who eternally held up
the weight of the earth and sky on his shoulders as punishment for trying to overthrow the
Olympian gods. Heracles offered to hold the weight whilst Atlas got the apples for him.
However, once Atlas returned with the apples he did not want to take the weight back,
and said he would take the apples to Eurystheus himself. Heracles tricked Atlas by
agreeing to this as long as Atlas would hold the sky for him while he placed some
padding on his shoulders. As soon as Atlas took back the sky, Heracles took the apples
and ran.
12. *Capturing Cerberus*: Cerberus was a monstrous three-headed dog that guarded the
entrance to the Underworld, stopping the living from entering. Heracles was initiated into
the Eleusinian Mysteries before he took his journey, as this was supposed to ensure a
safety in the Underworld. He then travelled down into the Underworld through a deep
cave in Laconia, meeting many monsters and ghosts on the way, but always with the aid
of Athena and Hermes. He went before Hades and Persephone and asked their permission
to take Cerberus. They agreed on the condition that Heracles did not hurt him and was
able to subdue him using only his own strength. Heracles succeeded in capturing the
beast and took it back to a terrified Eurystheus, and Cerberus then safely returned to
guarding the Underworld.