Hercules
His Labors
Hera made trouble for Hercules by making him temporarily insane. During this insanity, he killed his wife and children. He came out of insanity and asked Apollo for help. He was sent to the king, Eurytheus, for twelve years. he was also to complete twelve labors.
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Hercules was to kill the Nemean Lion. He learned that an arrow can not hurt it, so Hercules used his club and went after the lion.He followed it to a cave with two entrances. Hercules closed one of the doorways, then went to the lion through the other. Grabbing the lion tightly, Hercules choked the lion to death.
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2 |
Hercules had to slay the Hydra as his second labor. He lured it out of its habitat with flaming arrows. After this, the Hydra grabbed his leg tightly so he could not escape. Hercules slayed one head to find that two replaced it. He came to figure out that to keep the replacement heads from coming out, he would have to burn the original. He did this with the eight mortal heads. When he got to the immortal head, he slayed it and buried the head under a heavy rock.
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3 |
The next labor was to kill Diana's sacred animal, a hind, or a deer. He hunted the hind for a year. It found a cave to rest. He caught it and started back home. He ran into Diana. He told her the truth. Diana healed the hind and allowed Hercules to continue.
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4 |
Hercules was to kill the Erymanthian boar. It came to a mountain daily and killed many animals and people. Hercules came to the mountain and chased it around the mountain until it rested in a thicket. Hercules caught it in a net and carried it back.
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5 |
Augeas owned the most cattle in all of Greece. Hercules was told to clean the stables in a day. Hercules started in morning and started digging two trenches. He dug them to the river. The water rushed torwards the stables. It flooded the stable, washing the dirt away.
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6 |
The next labor was to scare a huge flock of birds away from a pond. Hercules did not know how to do this. Luckily, Athena came to help. She gave him a pair of bronze krotala. These were noise makers that was very loud. Hercules climbed a mountain and clapped the krotala together, making very much noise. As the birds fled, he shot them with arrows and slingshots.
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7 |
Hercules' next labor was to dispose of the Cretan Bull, the Minotaur's father. He easily completed the task by driving it to Marathon. Theseus then killed it and the Minotaur.
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8 |
Hercules was sent to retrieve the man-eating mares of Diomedes. He had companions to assist him. He found and killed the people that watched the mares. He started to run the mares towards the sea, but he came to the tribe that owned the mares. He gave them to a companion, Abderos, while Hercules fought the tribe. The mares however gained the best of Abderos and dragged him around until he died. Hercules foght until all were dead or have fled. He named the city Abdera, because of the loss of Abderos, and took the mares back to Eurytheus.
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9 |
Eurytheus wanted to give the belt of Hippolyte, the queen of the great tribe of women warriors, the Amazons, to his daughter as a gift. Hercules was sent to get it. Hercules and some of his friends were greeted by Hippolyte once they arrived. After hearing the story, she agreed to give him the belt, but Hera told the Amazons that Hercules was going to kidnap their queen. They charged on horses toward Hercules. Seeing them, he slayed Hippolyte and fought off the rest of the Amazons. He returned with the belt.
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10 |
Hercules had to steal the cattle of Geryon. He easily killed the guard, the herdsman, and Geryon, but had trouble on the way back. He was attacked many times and the cattle were almost stolen from him, but he returned with the cattle safely.
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11 |
His next task was to steal apples from Zeus. These apples were in a secret garden. Hercules traveled throughout the world searching for it until he found Nereus, who new the location. Hercules fought many battles along the way until he found Prometheus,who had to feel the pain of an eagle killing him daily until Hercules killed the eagle. Prometheus gave the secret to getting the apples. Atlas, the Titan whose punishment was to hold the sky and earth, had to retrieve them. He agreed and told him to take his place. After they had been gotten, Hercules asked Atlas to hold it for a moment so he could get some padding. Atlas was fooled as he ran off with the apples. Later, Athena took them back because they belonged to the gods.
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12 |
Cerberus was a three headed beast that Hercules was to bring to Eurytheus. He wrestled the beast until he could take him safely. Unlike the other beasts that Hercules fought, Cerberus was returned to the Underworld later.
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