This exhibit is a subset of materials from the Perseus Project and is copyrighted. The first of these Labors of Hercules is to kill the lion of Nemea. To read more about Eurystheus and the reasons for Hercules' Labors, see Further Resources. Spurred on by Hera, Eurystheus devises a series of twelve impossibly difficult tasks. Clean the Augean stables in a single day. These tasks were: Kill the Nemean Lion and bring back its fur. As Hera was always hostile to the offspring of her husband by mortal mothers, she declared war against Hercules from. In one of the more well known stories of Hercules, he had to complete twelve tasks. His struggles made Hercules the perfect embodiment of an idea the Greeks called pathos, the experience of virtuous struggle and suffering which would lead to fame and, in Hercules' case, immortality. Hercules was the son of Zeus and Alcmena. These golden apples can grant immortality, and once again Hercules is successful in completing the task. By the end of these Labors, Hercules was, without a doubt, Greece's greatest hero. One of the last labors for Hercules is stealing the apples from Hesperides. Heracles makes his way down under and pops in on Hades, god of the dead. Because Hercules was an illegitimate son of Zeus outside of his marriage with Hera, the goddess. For the twelfth and final labor, Eurystheus thinks up pretty much the worst thing he can imagine: Heracles has to bring back the three-headed hellhound, Cerberus, Hades' vicious beast that guards the gates of the underworld. Fortunately, Hercules had the help of Hermes and Athena, sympathetic deities who showed up when he really needed help. Even as a child he was known for his immense strength. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance, and the god's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders.Īs part of his sentence, Hercules had to perform twelve Labors, feats so difficult that they seemed impossible. When he awakened from his "temporary insanity," Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children. The goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind.
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