Why did Hercules perform his feats? Add your price to the Comment database. When and how did Hercules die? The most difficult feat of Hercules
The last two labors of Hercules were the most difficult. Before he could return to his home in Tiryns, Eurystheus gave him another task. He ordered him to bring golden apples from the magical garden of the Hesperides.
In this garden there grew an apple tree with golden fruits - it was given by Gaia, the goddess of the Earth, to her daughter Hera on the day of her wedding with Zeus. The Hesperides were the daughters of the Titan Atlas, who held the firmament on his shoulders. The Garden of the Hesperides was guarded by the hundred-headed dragon Ladon.
Resorting to cunning, Hercules managed to deceive the mighty Atlas and with his help get the golden apples.
Hercules performed the last, twelfth labor when Eurystheus sent the hero to the kingdom of the dead, Hades, so that he would deliver to him the terrible three-headed dog Kerberus, guarding the entrance to the underworld. Instead of fur, this dog had snakes wriggling on its body, and at the end of its tail there was a snake head with a huge mouth.
Eurystheus was already rejoicing in advance:
This time Hercules will not return alive!
Hercules went to the dark kingdom of Hades and reached its gates. But he did not want to kidnap Kerber from the god Hades, who was the brother of Zeus, and decided to ask him to give him up. Hercules descended into the underground kingdom, where night reigned forever, and went to its ruler Hades.
Seeing Hercules in a lion's skin, with a huge club, the shadows of the dead scattered in horror, and only one of them approached the hero. It was the shadow of his friend, the hero Meleager.
O great Hercules! When you return to the world of the living, in memory of our friendship, marry my sister Deianira!
Hercules promised to fulfill his friend’s request and went on. Finally, he appeared before the throne of Hades.
What brought you to the kingdom of darkness, Hercules?
O great Hades! It was not of my own free will that I came here and it was not of my own free will that I ask you...
Hades knew that Hercules was serving Eurystheus at the behest of the Olympian gods, and said:
Kerberos will be yours if you manage to tame him without weapons.
Hercules found the dog, which was sitting on a chain at the gates of the underworld, and grabbed him by the neck. The dog howled menacingly and began to escape from the mighty hands of Hercules, fighting back with his tail and digging into his body with snake teeth. But the dog could not stand it and fell at the feet of Hercules, half strangled.
Hercules led Cerberus to the gates of Mycenae. Eurystheus almost died of fear when he saw a terrible three-headed dog, poisonous foam dripping from its mouth. He shouted in horror:
Take him back to Hades!
Hercules returned the dog to the kingdom of the dead.
Having completed twelve labors, Hercules received the forgiveness of the gods and set off to wander around the world. He reached Calydon, a city in Aetolia, where the beautiful Deianira, the sister of his dead friend Meleager, lived.
Remembering the promise made to a friend in the underworld, Hercules began to ask King Calydon for the hand of his daughter Deianira. But it turned out that among her many suitors was the river god Ahelous, and Deianira had already been promised to him.
No one dared to compete with the immortal god, who could turn into a bull, a spotted snake and a man with the head of a bull. Dejanira was not happy with the groom, dying of fear at the sight of a giant with a shaggy beard, along which streams of water constantly flowed.
Hercules entered into battle with the bull-headed Achelous. Like two mighty bulls, they fought each other and stood strong, like heavy rocks. Hercules pressed Achelous to the ground, but he slipped out of his hands, turning into a snake.
Even in the cradle I strangled snakes! - Hercules laughed and, as if with iron pincers, grabbed the snake by the neck.
Then Ahelous turned into a bull, but Hercules grabbed him by both horns and slammed him to the ground so that he broke one horn. The disgraced Achelous had to surrender.
Having married Dejanira, Hercules went with her to Tiryns. During the journey, they came to the stormy Even River. On the shore they saw the centaur Nessus, who offered to transport Deianira to the other side for a small fee. Hercules put Deianira on a centaur, and he himself swam across the river.
But Nessus turned the other way and tried to kidnap Deianira. Hearing his wife's screams, Hercules grabbed his bow and shot a poisoned arrow at the kidnapper. Blood gushed from the wound, mixed with the poison of the Lernaean hydra.
Dying, the centaur Nessus said to Deianira:
I didn't mean to hurt you! I want to give you advice: collect my blood and save it. She will help you preserve the love of Hercules forever. If he ever stops loving you, rub my blood on his clothes - and no woman will be more dear to him than you!
Several years passed, and Dejanira learned that Hercules was going to marry a beautiful young girl. Deianira's heart was gripped by resentment. And then she remembered what Ness had once told her.
She took out the vessel in which she kept the blood of the centaur, rubbed it on the tunic of Hercules, put it in the casket and sent it with a messenger to her husband:
Let him wear it when he makes a sacrifice to Zeus!
But as soon as Hercules put on this tunic, it seemed to have grown to his body, and a terrible poison began to burn him. Maddened by pain, Hercules tried to tear off his clothes, but his blood was already boiling and the poison had penetrated to his bones. Only death could save Hercules from terrible torment.
He asked his friends to take him to the top of the mountain, build a large fire and burn him on it. Hercules laid a lion's skin on top of the woodpile, lay down on it, placing his club under his head, and ordered the fire to be lit. This is how the great Hercules died. But Zeus announced to all the gods:
Hercules will not be touched by death, he will be immortal! - and took him to Olympus.
Hercules (Heraclius, Alcides), Greek, Lat. Hercules- son of Zeus and, the greatest hero of Greek legends. By the way, the name of Hercule Poirot, for example, is also from “Hercules”.
His name (usually in its Latinized form) is usually used when one wants to emphasize the enormous height or enormous physical strength of a person. But Hercules was not only a hero. This was a man with human weaknesses and positive qualities, who without hesitation entered into a struggle with fate and used his abilities not only for the sake of his own glory, but also to benefit humanity, to save it from troubles and suffering. He accomplished more than other people, but he also suffered more, which is why he was a hero. For this he received the reward that his Babylonian predecessor Gilgamesh or the Phoenician Melqart had vainly sought; For him, the most impossible dream of man came true - he became immortal.
Hercules was born in Thebes, where his mother Alcmene fled with her husband, who had killed his father-in-law Electryon and feared the revenge of his brother Sthenelus. Of course, Zeus knew about the upcoming birth of Hercules - not only because he was an omniscient god, but also because he was directly related to his birth. The fact is that Zeus really liked Alcmene, and he, taking the guise of Amphitryon, freely entered her bedroom. On the day when Hercules was supposed to be born, Zeus recklessly declared in the meeting of the gods that today the greatest hero would be born. She immediately realized that we were talking about the consequences of her husband’s next love affair, and decided to take revenge on him. Allegedly doubting his prediction, she provoked him into an oath that the one born on this day would rule over all his relatives, even if they were from the family of Zeus. After which, with the help of Ilithyia, Hera accelerated the birth of Nikippa, the wife of Sthenel, although she was only in her seventh month, and delayed the birth of Alcmene. This is how it happened that the mighty Hercules, the son of the almighty Zeus, had to serve the wretched half-baked Eurystheus, the son of the mortal Sthenel - a sad fate, but a true hero is able to overcome this injustice of fate.
Still from the film "Hercules"
Alcmene's son was named Alcides at birth in honor of his step-grandfather, . Only later was he called Hercules, because he supposedly “thanks to Hera achieved glory” (this is the traditional, although not entirely conclusive, interpretation of his name). In this case, Hera turned out to be the hero’s benefactor against her will: she plotted all sorts of intrigues for him to take revenge for her husband’s betrayal, and Hercules, overcoming them, accomplished one feat after another. To begin with, Hera sent two monstrous snakes to his cradle, but the baby Hercules strangled them. Shocked by this, Amphitryon realized that such a child was capable of doing great things over time, and decided to give him a proper upbringing. The best teachers taught Hercules: the son of Zeus Castor taught him combat with weapons, and the Echalian king Eurytus taught him archery. He was taught wisdom by the fair Radamanthos, and music and singing by the brother of Orpheus himself, Lin. Hercules was a diligent student, but playing the cithara was worse for him than other sciences. When one day Lin decided to punish him, he hit him back with a lyre and killed him on the spot. Amphitryon was horrified by his strength and decided to send Hercules away from people. He sent him to graze cattle on Mount Cithaeron, and Hercules took it for granted.
Hercules lived well on Kiferon; there he killed a formidable lion that was killing people and livestock, and made himself an excellent cloak from its skin. In his eighteenth year, Hercules decided to look at the world and at the same time look for a wife. He made himself a club from the trunk of a huge ash tree, threw the skin of the Cythaeronian lion (whose head served as his helmet) over his shoulders and headed for his native Thebes.
On the way, he met strangers and from their conversation learned that they were tribute collectors from the Orkhomen king Ergin. They went to Thebes to receive from the Theban king Creon one hundred oxen - an annual tribute imposed on him by Ergin by right of the strongest. This seemed unfair to Hercules, and when the collectors began to mock him in response to his words, he dealt with them in his own way: he cut off their noses and ears, tied their hands and ordered them to go home. Thebes enthusiastically greeted their fellow countryman, but their joy did not last long. Ergin and his army appeared in front of the city gates. Hercules led the defense of the city, defeated Ergin and obliged him to return to Thebes twice as much as he had received from them. For this, King Creon gave him his daughter Megara and half of the palace as his wife. Hercules remained in Thebes, became the father of three sons and considered himself the happiest man in the world.
But the hero’s happiness does not lie in a peaceful life, and Hercules soon had to be convinced of this.
Illustrated: the labors of Hercules, reconstruction of the metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, 470-456. BC. Top row: Nemean lion, Lernaean hydra, Stymphalian birds; second row: Cretan bull, Cerynean doe, belt of Queen Hippolyta; third row: Erymanthian boar, horses of Diomedes, giant Geryon; bottom row: golden apples of the Hesperides, Kerberos, cleaning the Augean stables.
While he was a shepherd, Hera believed that everything was going as it should. But as soon as he became the royal son-in-law, she decided to intervene. She could not deprive him of his power, but what could be worse than power not controlled by the mind? So, Hera sent madness upon him, in a fit of which Hercules killed his sons and two children of his half-brother Iphicles. What made it even worse was that Hera then restored his sanity. Heartbroken, Hercules went to Delphi to find out how he could cleanse himself of the taint of involuntary murder. Through the mouth of the Pythia, God told Hercules that he should go to the Mycenaean king Eurystheus and enter into his service. If Hercules completes the twelve tasks that Eurystheus entrusts to him, shame and guilt will be removed from him, and he will become immortal.
Hercules obeyed. He went to Argos, settled in his father’s castle of Tiryns near Mycenae (truly this dwelling was worthy of Hercules: with its walls 10-15 m thick, Tiryns remains the most indestructible fortress in the world to this day) and expressed his readiness to serve Eurystheus. The powerful figure of Hercules instilled such fear in Eurystheus that he did not dare to personally entrust him with anything and conveyed all orders to Hercules through his herald Copreus. But the more fearlessly he came up with tasks for him: one more difficult than the other.
Nemean lion
Eurystheus did not make Hercules bored for long while waiting for work. Hercules was ordered to kill a lion that lived in the neighboring Nemean mountains and instilled terror in the entire area, since it was twice the size of an ordinary lion and had an impenetrable skin. Hercules found his lair (this cave is still shown to tourists today), stunned the lion with a blow from his club, strangled him, threw him over his shoulders and brought him to Mycenae. Eurystheus was numb with horror: the incredible strength of the servant frightened him even more than the dead lion thrown at his feet. Instead of gratitude, he forbade Hercules to appear in Mycenae: from now on, let him show “material evidence” in front of the city gates, and he, Eurystheus, will control them from above. Now let Hercules immediately set off to carry out a new assignment - it’s time to kill the Hydra!
Lernaean Hydra
It was a monster with the body of a snake and nine dragon heads, one of which was immortal. lived in the swamps near the city of Lerna in Argolis and devastated the surrounding area. People were powerless before her. Hercules found out that Hydra has an assistant, Karkin, a huge crayfish with sharp claws. Then he also took with him an assistant, the youngest son of his brother Iphicles, the brave Iolaus. First of all, Hercules set fire to the forest behind the Lernaean swamps to cut off Hydra’s path to retreat, then heated the arrows in the fire and began the battle. The fiery arrows only irritated the Hydra; she rushed at Hercules and immediately lost one of her heads, but two new ones grew in its place. In addition, cancer came to the aid of Hydra. But when he grabbed Hercules’ leg, Iolaus killed him with a precise blow. While Hydra looked around in bewilderment in search of her assistant, Hercules uprooted the burning tree and burned one of its heads: a new one did not grow in its place. Now Hercules knew how to get down to business: he cut off the heads, one by one, and Iolaus burned the necks before new heads could grow from the embryos. The last, despite desperate resistance, Hercules chopped off and burned the immortal head of the Hydra. Hercules immediately buried the charred remains of this head in the ground and rolled it over with a huge stone. Just in case, he cut the dead Hydra into pieces, and tempered his arrows in its bile; Since then, the wounds inflicted by them have become incurable. Accompanied by the inhabitants of the liberated region, Hercules and Iolaus returned victoriously to Mycenae. But in front of the Lion Gate the herald Copreus was already standing with a new order: to clear the land of Stymphalian birds.
Stymphalian birds
These birds were found near Lake Stymphalian and devastated the surrounding area worse than locusts. Their claws and feathers were made of hard copper, and they could shed these feathers on the fly like their modern distant relatives - bombers. Fighting them from the ground was a hopeless task, as they immediately showered the enemy with a shower of their deadly feathers. So Hercules climbed a tall tree, scared the birds away with a rattle, and began shooting them down with his bow one after another as they circled around the tree, dropping copper arrows to the ground. Finally, in fear, they flew far over the sea.
Kerynean fallow deer
After the expulsion of the Stymphalian birds, Hercules was faced with a new task: to catch a doe with golden horns and copper legs, who lived in Keryneia (on the border of Achaea and Arcadia) and belonged to Artemis. Eurystheus hoped that the powerful goddess would be angry with Hercules and force him to humble himself. Catching this doe was no small matter, as she was timid and quick as the wind. Hercules pursued her for a whole year until he managed to get within shooting distance. Having wounded the doe, Hercules caught her and brought her to Mycenae. He asked Artemis for forgiveness for his act and brought her a rich sacrifice, which appeased the goddess.
Erymanthian boar
The next task was of the same kind: it was necessary to catch the Erymanthian boar, which was ravaging the outskirts of the city of Psofis and killing many people with its huge tusks. Hercules drove the boar into deep snow, tied it up and brought it to Mycenae alive. Eurystheus, out of fear of the monstrous beast, hid in a barrel and from there begged Hercules to get away with the boar as soon as possible - for this, he supposedly would entrust him with a less dangerous task: to clean out the stable of the Elisian king Augeas.
Augean stables
What is true is true, Hercules had a safe job, but they were huge, and there was so much manure and all kinds of dirt accumulated in the barn... it was not for nothing that this barn (or stable) became a proverb. Cleaning this barn was a superhuman task. Hercules offered the king to restore order in one day if he received a tenth of the royal cattle for this. Augeas agreed, and Hercules immediately got down to business, relying not so much on his strength as on his intelligence. He drove all the cattle out to pasture, dug a canal leading to and Peneus, and diverted the water of these two rivers into it. The gushing water cleared the barn, after which all that remained was to block the channel and again drive the cattle into the stalls. However, King Augeas meanwhile learned that this work had previously been entrusted to Hercules by Eurystheus, and under this pretext he refused to reward Hercules. In addition, he insulted the hero, saying that it was not appropriate for the son of Zeus to earn extra money by cleaning other people's cowsheds. Hercules was not one of those who forget such grievances: a few years later, freed from service with Eurystheus, he invaded Elis with a large army, ravaged the possessions of Augeas, and killed him himself. In honor of this victory, Hercules founded the Olympic Games.
Cretan bull
The next assignment brought Hercules to Crete. Eurystheus ordered the delivery of a wild bull that had escaped from the Cretan king Minos to Mycenae. It was the best bull in the royal herd, and Minos promised to sacrifice it to Poseidon. But Minos did not want to part with such a magnificent specimen, and instead he sacrificed another bull. Poseidon did not allow himself to be tricked and, in retaliation, sent rabies onto the hidden bull. Hercules not only caught the bull that was ravaging the island, but also tamed it, and it obediently transported it on its back from Crete to Argolis.
Horses of Diomedes
Then Hercules sailed to Thrace (but already on a ship) to bring Eurystheus the fierce horses that the Biston king Diomedes fed with human meat. With the help of several of his friends, Hercules obtained horses and brought them to his ship. However, Diomedes and his army overtook him there. Leaving the horses in the care of his father, Hercules defeated the Bistons in a fierce battle and killed Diomedes, but in the meantime the wild horses tore Abdera to pieces. When the deeply saddened Hercules delivered the horses to Mycenae, Eurystheus released them - just as he had previously released the Cretan bull.
But neither grief nor neglect of the results of his labors broke Hercules. Without hesitation, he went to the island of Erithia to bring from there a herd of cattle that belonged to the three-body giant Geryon.
Giant Geryon
This island was located far to the west, where the land ended in a narrow isthmus. With his mighty club, Hercules divided the isthmus in half and placed two stone pillars along the edges of the resulting strait (in the ancient world, present-day Gibraltar was called nothing less than the Pillars of Hercules). He came to the western edge of the world just at the time when he was in his solar chariot to the Ocean. To escape from the unbearable heat, Hercules was ready to shoot an arrow at Helios. The reaction of the gods is unpredictable: admiring the courage of the hero who aimed his bow at him, Helios not only did not get angry, but even lent him his golden boat, on which Hercules sailed to Erythia. There he was attacked by the two-headed dog Orff and the giant Eurytion, who were guarding Geryon's herds. Hercules had no choice - he had to kill both, and then Geryon himself. Having endured many misadventures, Hercules drove the herd to the Peloponnese. On the way, he defeated the strongman Eryx, who stole one cow from him, and the giant Kaka, who stole part of his herd. When Hercules was already hoping that he would safely reach Mycenae, Hera instilled madness in the cows, and they ran away in all directions. Hercules had to work hard to round up the entire herd again. Eurystheus sacrificed cows to the eternal opponent of Hercules - Hera.
Belt of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta
The next feat of Hercules was an expedition to the country of female warriors - the Amazons, from where he was supposed to bring Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, the belt of Hippolyta. Hercules went there with a small detachment consisting of his friends, and on the way stopped in Mysia, where King Lycus, known for his hospitality, reigned. During the feast arranged by Lik in their honor, warlike Bebriks invaded the city. Hercules got up from the table, together with his friends expelled the Bebriks, killed their king, and donated all their land to Lycus, who named it Heraclea in honor of Hercules. With his victory he gained such fame that Queen Hippolyta herself came out to meet him to voluntarily give him her belt. But then Hera began to spread rumors about Hercules that he intended to take Hippolyta into slavery, and the Amazons believed her. They attacked the detachment of Hercules, and the Greeks had no choice but to take up arms. They eventually defeated the Amazons and captured many of them, including their two leaders, Melanippe and Antiope. Hippolyta returned Melanipa's freedom, giving Hercules her belt for this, and Hercules gave Antiope to his friend Theseus as a reward for his bravery. In addition, he knew that Theseus wanted to take her as his wife (this is what Theseus did upon returning to Athens).
Hellhound Kerber
So, Hercules performed ten labors, although Eurystheus at first refused to count the murder of the Lernaean Hydra (under the pretext that Hercules used the help of Iolaus) and the cleansing of the Augean stable (since Hercules demanded payment from Augeas). The eleventh mission led Hercules to the underworld. Eurystheus demanded that Kerberus himself be presented to him - no more and no less. It was truly a hellish dog: three-headed, snakes writhing around its neck, and its tail ended in a dragon's head with a disgusting mouth. Although until then no one had returned from the afterlife alive, Hercules did not hesitate. The gods were impressed by his courage, and they decided to help him. Hermes, the guide of the souls of the dead, brought him to the Tenar gorge (at the present Cape Matapan, in the extreme south of the Peloponnese and the entire European continent), where there was a secret entrance to the kingdom of the dead, and then Athena accompanied him. After a terrible journey, on which he met the shadows of dead friends and slain enemies, Hercules appeared before the throne. Hades listened favorably to the son of Zeus and without any reason allowed him to catch and take away Kerberus, provided that he did not use weapons. True, Kerber himself has not yet said his word. The guardian of the underworld fought back with teeth and nails (or rather, claws), beat his tail with a dragon's head and howled so terribly that the souls of the dead rushed in confusion throughout the afterlife. After a short struggle, Hercules squeezed him with such force that the half-strangled Cerberus calmed down and promised to unquestioningly follow him to Mycenae. At the sight of this monster, Eurystheus fell to his knees (according to another version, he again hid in a barrel or in a large clay vessel for grain) and conjured Hercules to do mercy: return this hellish creature to its rightful place.
Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini "Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides"
Golden apples of the Hesperides
The last task remained: Eurystheus ordered Hercules to tell him that he must bring him three golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides, daughters of the Hesperides, who, for rebelling against the gods, was doomed to forever support the vault of heaven. Nobody knew where these gardens were. It was only known that the way to them was guarded by the ever-watchful dragon Ladon, who does not know defeat in the fight and kills all the vanquished, and finally by Atlas himself. Hercules headed to Egypt, walked through Libya and all the lands familiar to him from the time of his trip to Erithia, but he never found the gardens of the Hesperides. Only when he came to the farthest north, to the endless waters of Eridanus, the nymphs there advised him to turn to the sea god Nereus - he knows and can tell everything, but he must be forced to do it. Hercules waylaid Nereus, attacked him and after a stubborn struggle (all the more difficult since the sea god kept changing his appearance) tied him up. He let him go only when he learned everything he needed to know. The Gardens of the Hesperides were located in the far west, somewhere between today's Morocco and southern France. Again Hercules had to go through Libya, where he was met by Antaeus, the son of the earth goddess Gaia. According to his custom, the giant immediately challenged Hercules to single combat. Hercules avoided defeat only because during the struggle he guessed where the giant got his strength from: feeling tired, he fell to mother earth, and she poured new strength into him. Therefore, Hercules tore him off the ground and lifted him into the air. Antaeus became weak, and Hercules strangled him. Continuing his journey, Hercules again and again overcame the obstacles and traps that robbers and rulers prepared for travelers. He also escaped the fate that the Egyptians intended for all foreigners, who sacrificed them to the gods. Finally, Hercules came to Atlas and explained to him the purpose of his coming. With suspicious readiness, Atlas volunteered to personally bring apples to Hercules if in the meantime he would hold the vault of heaven on his shoulders. Hercules had no choice - he agreed. Atlas kept his promise and even offered to deliver the apples directly to Mycenae, promising to return immediately. Cunning can only be overcome by cunning: Hercules apparently agreed, but asked Atlas to hold the vault of heaven while he made himself a backing so that the pressure on his shoulders would not be felt. As soon as Atlas took his usual place, Hercules took the apples, kindly thanked him for the service - and stopped only in Mycenae. Eurystheus could not believe his eyes and, in confusion, returned the apples to Hercules. He donated them to Athena, and she returned them to the Hesperides. The twelfth task was completed, and Hercules received freedom.
The life and death of Hercules after completing the twelve labors
Soon Hercules became free in another sense: he generously gave up his wife Megara to Iolaus, who in his absence, like a faithful friend, consoled her and became so accustomed to her that he could no longer live without her. After which Hercules left Thebes, with which nothing now connected him, and returned to Tiryns. But not for long. There, new machinations of the goddess Hera awaited him, and with them new sufferings and new exploits.
It is not known exactly whether Hera instilled in him a desire for a new wife or aroused in him an ambitious desire to defeat the best archer in Hellas, the Echalian king Eurytus. However, both were closely interconnected, since Eurytus proclaimed that he would give his daughter, the fair-haired beauty Iola, as a wife only to the one who defeats him in archery. So, Hercules went to Echalia (most likely it was in Messenia, according to Sophocles - on Euboea), appeared at the palace of his former teacher, fell in love with his daughter at first sight, and the next day defeated him in a competition. But Eurytus, stung by the fact that he was disgraced by his own student, declared that he would not give his daughter to the one who was a slave to the cowardly Eurystheus. Hercules was offended and went to look for a new wife. He found her in distant Calydon: she was the beautiful Deianira, daughter of King Oeneus.
He didn’t get her easily: to do this, Hercules had to defeat her former fiancé, the powerful, in single combat, who could also turn into a snake and a bull. After the wedding, the newlyweds remained in the palace of Oeneus, but Hera did not leave Hercules alone. She darkened his mind, and at a feast he killed the son of his friend Architelos. Actually, Hercules just wanted to slap him on the head for pouring water intended for washing his feet on his hands. But Hercules did not calculate his strength, and the boy fell dead. True, Architelos forgave him, but Hercules did not want to stay in Calydon and went with Deianira to Tiryns.
During the journey they came to the Evenu River. There was no bridge across it, and those wishing to cross were transported for a reasonable fee by the centaur Nessus. Hercules entrusted Dejanira with Nessus, and he himself swam across the river. Meanwhile, the centaur, captivated by Deianira's beauty, tried to kidnap her. But he was overtaken by the deadly arrow of Hercules. The bile of the Lernaean Hydra poisoned the blood of the centaur, and he soon died. And yet, before his death, he managed to take revenge: Nessus advised Deianira to save his blood and rub Hercules’ clothes with it if he suddenly stopped loving Deianira, and then Hercules’ love would immediately return to her. In Tiryns, it seemed to Dejanira that she would never need “love blood.” The couple lived in peace and harmony, raising their five children - until Hera again intervened in the fate of Hercules.
By a strange coincidence, simultaneously with the departure of Hercules from Ehalia, King Eurytus’ herd of cattle disappeared. Autolycus stole it. But this one, in order to divert suspicion, pointed to Hercules, who supposedly wanted to take revenge on the king for the insult. All of Ehalia believed this slander - with the exception of Eurytus's eldest son, Iphitus. To prove the innocence of Hercules, he himself went in search of the herd, which led him to Argos; and since he got there, he decided to look into Tiryns. Hercules warmly welcomed him, but when during the feast he heard what Eurytus suspected him of, he became angry, and Hera instilled in him such uncontrollable anger that he threw Iphitus from the city wall. This was no longer just murder, but a violation of the sacred law of hospitality. Even Zeus was angry with his son and sent him a serious illness.
The anguished Hercules, straining his last strength, went to Delphi to ask Apollo how he could atone for his guilt. But the Pythia soothsayer did not give him an answer. Then Hercules, losing his temper, took away from her the tripod from which she proclaimed her prophecies - they say, since she does not fulfill her duties, then the tripod is of no use to her. Apollo immediately appeared and demanded the return of the tripod. Hercules refused, and the two mighty sons of Zeus started a fight like little children, until their thunder father separated them with lightning and forced them to make peace. Apollo ordered the Pythia to give advice to Hercules, and she announced that Hercules should be sold into slavery for three years, and the proceeds should be given to Euryta as a ransom for her murdered son.
Thus, Hercules again had to part with freedom. He was sold to the Lydian queen Omphale, an arrogant and cruel woman who humiliated him in every possible way. She even forced him to weave with her maids, while she herself walked in front of him in his skin of the lion of Cythaeron. From time to time she let him go for a while - not out of kindness, but so that upon his return the slave's lot would be all the more burdensome to him.
Hercules at Omphale. Painting by Lucas Cranach
During one of these vacations, Hercules participated in, another time he visited the Aulidian king Sileus, who forced every foreigner to work in his vineyard. One day, when he fell asleep in a grove near Ephesus, the dwarfs Kerkops (or Dactyls) attacked him and stole his weapons. At first, Hercules wanted to thoroughly teach them a lesson, but they were so weak and funny that he set them free. Hercules himself invariably returned to his slave service.
Finally the last day of the third year arrived, and Hercules received his weapons and freedom from Omphale. The hero parted with her without anger and even granted her request to leave her a descendant as a keepsake (born of Hercules subsequently ascended to the Lydian throne). Returning to his homeland, Hercules gathered his faithful friends and began to prepare to pay off old scores. King Augeas was the first to pay for the long-standing insult, then it was the turn of the Trojan king Laomedon.
After all these deeds, is it any wonder that the glory of Hercules reached the snowy peaks of Olympus? But this was not all that he did. For example, he freed the titan Prometheus, snatched Alcestis from the hands of the god of death Thanatos, defeated many enemies, robbers and proud people, for example, Cycnus. Hercules founded a number of cities, the most famous of them being Heraclea (Herculaneum) near Vesuvius. He made many wives happy with offspring (for example, after the first night spent by the Argonauts on Lemnos, at least fifty Lemnian women called him the father of their sons). Ancient authors had doubts about some of his other achievements and deeds, so we will not dwell on them. However, all the authors unanimously admit that he had an honor that no other mortal had been granted - Zeus himself asked him for help!
A still from one of the many TV series and films about Hercules (Hercules). Actor Kevin Sorbo plays Hercules.
This happened during the Gigantomachy - the battle of the gods with the giants. In this battle on the Phlegrean fields, the Olympian gods had a hard time, since the giants had incredible strength, and their mother, the earth goddess Gaia, gave them a magic herb that made them invulnerable to the weapons of the gods (but not mortals). When the scales were already tipping towards the giants, Zeus sent Athena for Hercules. Hercules did not have to be persuaded for long; Hearing his father's call, he eagerly hurried to the battlefield. The most powerful of the giants was crushed first, and then, with exemplary interaction with the Olympic team of gods, all the other rebels were killed. By this, Hercules earned the gratitude of not only the gods, but also people. For all his shortcomings, Zeus was still much better than his predecessors Kronos and Uranus, not to mention the primordial Chaos.
Upon returning from the Phlegrean fields, Hercules decided to repay the last of his old debts. He went on a campaign against Ehalia, conquered it and killed Eurytus, who had once insulted him. Among the captives, Hercules saw fair-haired Iola and was again inflamed with love for her. Having learned about this, Dejanira immediately remembered the dying words of Nessus, rubbed the tunic of Hercules with his blood and, through the ambassador Lichas, handed the tunic to Hercules, who was still in Ehalia. As soon as Hercules put on the tunic, the poison of the Lernaean Hydra, which poisoned the blood of Nessus, penetrated the body of Hercules, causing him unbearable torment. When he was brought on a stretcher to the palace to Dejanira, she was already dead - having learned that her husband was dying in agony through her fault, she pierced herself with a sword.
Unbearable suffering led Hercules to the idea of giving up his life of his own free will. Obeying Hercules, his friends built a huge fire on Mount Ete and laid the hero on it, but no one wanted to set the fire on fire, no matter how Hercules begged them. Finally, young Philoctetes made up his mind, and as a reward, Hercules gave him his bow and arrows. A fire flared up from the torch of Philoctetes, but the lightning of Zeus the Thunderer shone even brighter. Together with lightning, Athena and Hermes flew to the fire and carried Hercules to heaven in a golden chariot. All of Olympus greeted the greatest of heroes, even Hera overcame her old hatred and gave him her daughter as his wife, forever. Zeus called him to the table of the gods, invited him to taste nectar and ambrosia, and as a reward for all his exploits and sufferings, declared Hercules immortal.
Still from the cartoon “Hercules and Xena: Battle for Olympus”
Zeus' decision remains in force to this day: Hercules truly became immortal. He lives on in legends and sayings, he is still the model of a hero (and as a true hero, he inevitably has negative traits), the Olympic Games are still held, which he is said to have founded in memory of his victory over Augeas or on his return Argonauts from Colchis. And he still lives in the heavens: on a starry night, the constellation Hercules can be seen with the naked eye. The Greeks and Romans revered him as the greatest of heroes and dedicated cities, temples and altars to him. The creations of ancient and modern artists glorify him. Hercules is the most frequently depicted image of ancient myths and any legends in general.
The oldest known sculptural image of Hercules - “Hercules fights the Hydra” (c. 570 BC) - is kept in Athens, in the Acropolis Museum. Among the other numerous works of Greek sculpture, metopes from the temple “C” in Selinunte (c. 540 BC) and 12 metopes depicting the labors of Hercules from the temple of Zeus in Olympia (470–456 BC) are known. Of the Roman sculptures, the most preserved copies are “Hercules” by Polykleitos and “Hercules fighting the lion” by Lysippos (one of them is in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage). Several wall images of Hercules were preserved even in the Christian catacombs of Rome (mid-4th century AD).
Of the architectural structures traditionally associated with the name of Hercules, the most ancient Greek temple in Sicily, in Akragante (6th century BC), is usually named in first place. In Rome, two temples were dedicated to Hercules, one under the Capitol, the second behind the Circus Maximus near the Tiber. Altars of Hercules stood in almost every Greek and Roman city.
Scenes from the life of Hercules were depicted by numerous European artists: Rubens, Poussin (“Landscape with Hercules and Cacus” - in Moscow, in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), Reni, Van Dyck, Delacroix and many others. There are a huge number of statues of Hercules by European sculptors; several of the best works migrated to Sweden and Austria from Czechoslovakia as a result of the Thirty Years' War and dynastic divisions.
Hercules Farnese and the statue of Hercules in the Hermitage
In literature, the oldest mentions of the exploits of Hercules (but not all) are contained in Homer; Subsequently, almost none of the ancient authors ignored Hercules. Sophocles dedicated the tragedy of “The Trachinian Woman” to the last period of Hercules’ life. Perhaps a little later, Euripides created the tragedy “Hercules” based on an unconventional version of the myth (which actually has many variants) - it still remains the best literary monument to Hercules. Among the works of modern times, we will name “The Choice of Hercules” by K. M. Wieland (1773), “Hercules and the Augean Stables” by Dürrenmatt (1954), “Hercules” by Matkovich (1962).
And finally, about the fate of Hercules in music. He was honored with their attention by J. S. Bach (cantata “Hercules at the Crossroads”, 1733), G. F. Handel (oratorio “Hercules”, 1745, which was later revised by him), C. Saint-Saens (symphonic poems “The Youth of Hercules” ", "The Spinning Wheel of Omphale", the opera "Dejanira").
Hercules (Hercules) is a synonym for strongman:
“What a giant he is presented here!
What shoulders! What a Hercules!..”
- A. S. Pushkin, “The Stone Guest” (1830).
The myth of Hercules begins with his unusual birth. The thunder god Zeus had a penchant for earthly women. He liked the beautiful Alcmene, the wife of the king of Mycenae. Zeus, with gentle speeches, tried to convince her to cheat on her husband. But Alcmene was adamant. Then the Thunderer decided to cheat. He drove all the animals of Hellas into the forest where the king of Mycenae was hunting. Carried away by hunting, he did not return home to spend the night. And Zeus in the form of a husband appeared to Alcmene.
On the day when Hercules was to be born, the Thunderer swore in the presence of the gods that the boy would become the ruler of Mycenae. But Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, realized that we were talking about an illegitimate child. She pushed back Alcmene's birth by a day. At the hour appointed by Zeus, Eurystheus was born. It was he who became the ruler of Mycenae, in whose service Hercules accomplished famous feats.
Myths about Hercules: 12 labors
Hera, having learned about the birth of the future hero, vowed to kill him. She sent two poisonous snakes into the cradle. But Hercules showed strength and agility from birth. He strangled the reptiles with his hands.
The myth of Hercules tells that Hera later sent madness to the hero. The man's mind became confused as he played with his sons. He mistook the children for monsters. When the attack of madness passed, Hercules was horrified by his own action. Full of remorse, he decided to go to overseas countries.
Hercules sailed with the Argonauts on a ship to distant Colchis for the Golden Fleece. But his journey did not last long - the god Hermes appeared to the hero near the very shores of Greece. He conveyed the will of the gods: let Hercules humble himself and go into the service of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus.
Jealous Hera, in a desire to get rid of the illegitimate son of Zeus, entered into an agreement with Eurystheus. She advised the ruler of Mycenae to choose the most difficult and dangerous tasks for the hero. The myths about the exploits of Hercules, one might say, appeared thanks to Hera. She herself, unwittingly, contributed to the hero’s centuries-long glory.
First feat
Eurystheus gave the first task to Hercules - to destroy the Nemean lion. The monster was born from the giant Typhon and Echidna, a huge snake. The lion amazed with its size and bloodthirstiness. Its durable skin withstood the blows of swords, and arrows dulled on it.
A lion lived in the vicinity of the city of Nemea, destroying all living things in its path. For a whole month Hercules searched for his lair. Finally he discovered a cave that served as a refuge for the Nemean Lion. Hercules blocked the exit from the lair with a huge boulder, and he himself prepared to wait at the entrance. Finally there was a loud roar and a monster appeared.
The myth of Hercules tells that the hero's arrows bounced off the skin of a lion. The sharp sword did not harm him. Then Hercules grabbed the monster by the throat with his bare hands and strangled him.
The hero returned victoriously to Mycenae. When Eurystheus saw the defeated lion, he was afraid of the incredible strength of Hercules.
Second feat
Let's try to retell the second myth about Hercules briefly. Hera came up with a new deadly task for the hero. A terrible monster was lurking in the poisonous swamp - the Lernaean Hydra. She had the body of a snake and nine heads.
The Lernaean hydra lived near the entrance to the world of the dead. She crawled out of her lair and devastated the surrounding area. Being the sister of the Nemean Lion, she had a huge advantage - one of her nine heads was immortal. Therefore, it was impossible to kill the Lernaean Hydra.
Iolaus offered his help to Hercules - he took the hero to the poisonous swamp on his chariot. The hero fought the hydra for a long time. But, having struck down one head of the monster, Hercules saw two new ones appear in its place.
Assistant Iolaus set fire to a nearby grove and began to cauterize the severed heads of the hydra. When Hercules cut off the last, immortal head, he buried it deep in the ground. He laid a huge rock on top so that the monster could never appear on earth again.
Hercules soaked the arrowheads with the poisonous blood of the hydra. And then he returned to Mycenae, where Eurystheus’ new task awaited him.
Third feat
Myths about the exploits of Hercules indicate his strength, agility, and speed. For more than a year the hero chased the Kerynean doe in order to catch it - this was a new task for the ruler of Mycenae.
A beautiful fallow deer appeared in the vicinity of the Kerenean Mountains. Her horns sparkled with gold, and her hooves shone with copper. The animal's skin sparkled in the sun. The Kerynean fallow deer was created by the goddess of the hunt, Artemis. She did this as a reproach to people who exterminated flora and fauna.
The doe ran faster than the wind - she rushed, running away from Hercules, through Attica, Thesprotia, Boeotia. For a whole year the hero tried to catch up with the beautiful fugitive. In desperation, Hercules took out his bow and shot the animal in the leg. Throwing a net over the prey, he carried it to Mycenae.
Artemis appeared in front of him in anger. Ancient myths about Hercules say that the hero bowed to her. He explained how the will of the gods forced him to serve Eurystheus. That he was not chasing the beautiful doe for himself. Artemis had mercy and allowed Hercules to take the animal to Mycenae.
Fourth feat
And Eurystheus has already prepared a new task for the hero. Which one? The fourth myth about Hercules will tell us about this. Its brief content allows us to find out that a wild boar appeared in Arcadia. The Erymanthian boar used its huge tusks to destroy livestock, forest animals, and travelers...
On the way, Hercules visited his acquaintance, the centaur Pholus. They opened the wine, had fun, sang songs. Other centaurs, attracted by the aroma of the wine, armed themselves with stones and stakes and declared that the wine was a gift to the entire community. A fight ensued. Hercules put the centaurs to flight with his poisonous arrows.
Continuing his journey, the hero soon saw the Erymanthian boar. But the blows of the sword did not frighten the animal. Then Hercules raised his shield high. When the sun was reflected in it, the hero directed the beam directly into the eyes of the beast. Then he began to hit the shield with his sword. Blinded, the animal was frightened by the loud noise. He rushed high into the mountains, where he got stuck in deep snow. Then Hercules tied the boar, put it on his shoulders and brought it to Mycenae.
The inhabitants rejoiced at their deliverance from the formidable monster. Eurystheus, seeing the size of the boar, was so frightened that he hid in a bronze pithos.
Fifth feat
King Augeas was famous for his herds and stables. He fenced off the barnyard with a high fence, because he was in fear around the clock that the bulls and horses might be kidnapped. All day long Augeias tried to count the number of horses in the stables. But the herd was in motion, the horses moved, and the count had to start over.
The accumulated sewage from the horses filled all the stables. The smell from them permeated the whole of Arcadia, says the 5th myth. Hercules sent Eurystheus to clear the Augean stables of manure. The king thought that a strong and brave hero would disdain such a task.
Hercules realized that it was necessary to make a hole in the fence. He broke the fence surrounding the stables on both sides. The water flow of the mountain river immediately washed away all the impurities.
The myth of Hercules briefly reports that after this feat, the hero made a sacrifice to the river god for the unpleasant work. Then he restored the fence and returned to Mycenae for a new assignment.
The sixth feat
One day, two huge birds appeared near the city of Stymphalus, the myths about Hercules are told. They had copper beaks and bronze feathers. The Stymphalian birds multiplied over time and formed a flock. They destroyed seedlings in the fields. They dropped their bronze feathers like arrows on everyone who came near them.
Hercules, before entering into battle, studied the habits of the creatures for a long time. He realized that, having shed their feathers, birds become defenseless until new ones grow. The warrior goddess Athena appeared to Hercules and presented him with copper rattles as a gift. Hercules was delighted with the help and made a loud noise with the instrument.
The Stymphalian birds flew up in fear and began to shed their sharp feathers. Hercules took refuge under a shield from their onslaught. After the birds dropped all their feathers, the hero shot them with a bow. And those that I didn’t manage to hit flew away from these places.
Seventh feat
What does the seventh myth about Hercules tell about? The summary indicates that there are no more monstrous animals and birds left in Arcadia. But Eurystheus came up with an idea where to send Hercules - to the island of Crete.
The sea god Poseidon gave King Minos a wonderful bull so that the ruler would sacrifice it to the gods. But the king liked the Cretan bull so much that he hid it in his herd. Poseidon found out about the king's deception. In anger, he struck the bull with madness. The monster ran around for a long time, killing people in a frenzy and scattering herds.
Eurystheus, at the behest of Hera, wished to see the Cretan bull alive. Hercules realized that only force can pacify the animal. He went out to fight, grabbed the bull by the horns, and bent his head to the ground. The animal sensed that the enemy was stronger. The Cretan bull stopped resisting. Then Hercules saddled him and drove him into the sea. So, riding on an animal, the hero returned to Arcadia.
The bull did not even try to throw Hercules off, he calmly entered the stall of King Eurystheus. When the hero, tired after a new feat, went to bed, the ruler was afraid to keep a maddened bull and in fear released him into the wild.
So the bull wandered around the outskirts of Arcadia until he was defeated by another hero of Hellas, Theseus.
Eighth feat
The myths about Hercules also tell about the demonic horses of Diomedes. These carnivorous monsters devoured lost travelers. Shipwrecked sailors were killed. When Hercules and his assistant arrived in the country, he immediately went in search of carnivorous horses. By neighing, he realized where the stables of King Diomedes were.
With a blow to the head, he subdued the first horse and threw a bridle around its neck. When the entire herd was bridled, Hercules and his assistant drove him to the ship. And then King Diomedes and his army stood in the way. Hercules defeated everyone, and when he returned to the shore, he saw that the horses had torn his assistant to pieces and fled.
The hero fed the body of King Diomedes to his own horses, drove them onto a ship and took them to Mycenae. The cowardly Eurystheus, at the sight of the carnivorous horses, in horror, ordered them to be released into the forest. There wild animals dealt with them.
Ninth feat
The 12 myths about Hercules are extremely interesting. They all talk about the strength and courage of the son of Zeus, about the amazing adventures that befell him. The ninth tells about Hippolyta's belt. Eurystheus's daughter Admeta wanted to get it. She heard that the belt was given to the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, by Ares himself, the god of war.
Hercules went on a journey with his companions. The Amazons greeted them friendly and asked about the purpose of the trip. Hercules honestly told Queen Hippolyta about how Eurystheus’s daughter wanted to receive her belt as a gift.
Hippolyta agreed to give the jewelry to Hercules. But the goddess Hera interfered. She didn’t like the peaceful solution to the issue - after all, she wanted to destroy the hero. Hera, transforming into one of the Amazons, spread the rumor that Hercules wanted to sell them into slavery.
The militant women believed the evil slander, and a battle ensued. Hercules and his companions defeated the Amazons. The son of Zeus completed this task with a heavy heart. Hercules, the hero of myth, did not want to fight with women, even if they were warriors.
Tenth feat
Our story continues with the tenth myth about Hercules. King Eurystheus thought for a long time before giving the hero a new task. He wanted to send his hated half-brother to a distant country, so distant that it would take a month or more to sail there.
Hercules traveled a long way. He defeated the son of the god Vulcan - the monster Kakus. Later, the city of Rome was founded on the site of their battle.
On the green meadows of Erythia, the cows of Geryon, a giant with three bodies, three heads and three pairs of arms and legs, grazed. They were guarded by a two-headed dog. At the sight of Hercules, he growled and rushed at him. The hero quickly defeated the dog, but then the giant shepherd woke up. The goddess Athena doubled the strength of Hercules, and he knocked the giant down with several blows of his club. The hero won another victory.
Having sailed by ship to Iberia, Hercules lay down to rest, letting the herd go to graze. At first light, he decided to drive the herd overland. Cows traveled through Iberia, Gaul, and Italy. Near the sea, one of them rushed to the water and swam. She ended up on the island of Sicily. The local ruler Eryx did not want to give the cow to Hercules. I had to defeat him too.
The hero returned with the fugitive to the herd and led it to King Eurystheus. The latter sacrificed cows to Hera, hoping to get rid of Hercules.
Eleventh feat
And again a long road awaited the hero. Eurystheus sent Hercules to fetch the golden apples of the Hesperides. They gave immortality and eternal youth. In the garden of the Hesperides, only nymphs guarded the apples. And the garden itself was located at the edge of the earth, where Atlas held the firmament on his shoulders.
On the way to the end of the world, Hercules freed Prometheus in the Caucasus Mountains. He fought with the son of the land of Gaia - Antaeus. Only by tearing the giant off the ground could the hero defeat him. Having reached Atlas, Hercules told him about the purpose of his journey. They agreed that the hero would hold the heavens on his shoulders, and Atlas would ask the nymphs for apples.
Hercules was already exhausted under the weight of the arch, and Atlas returned. The giant really didn’t want to take on an exorbitant burden on his shoulders again. The cunning man invited Hercules to hold the sky for a while until he himself reached Mycenae and gave the apples to the king. But our hero is not so stupid. He agreed, but on the condition that the giant would hold up the heavens, and in the meantime Hercules would make himself a grass pillow - the burden was too heavy. Atlas believed and took his place, and the hero took the apples and returned home.
Twelfth labor
The last task of Eurystheus was the most difficult, says the 12th myth. The Labors of Hercules (a brief summary of them is presented in this article) takes the reader into the amazing world of the mythology of Ancient Greece, a world full of amazing adventures, powerful and treacherous gods and strong, brave heroes. But we digress. So, 12 labors. Hercules had to descend into the kingdom of the dead and kidnap the dog Cerberus. Three heads, a tail in the shape of a snake - at the sight of this fiend of hell, the blood froze in my veins.
Hercules went down to Hades and fought with Cerberus. Having defeated the dog, the hero brought him to Mycenae. The king did not allow the gates to be opened and shouted for Hercules to release the terrible monster back.
But the myths about Hercules do not end there. The 12 feats that the hero performed in the service of Eurystheus glorified him for centuries. Later, he distinguished himself in military campaigns and arranged his personal life.
The Thirteenth Labor and Death of Hercules
Legends of Hellas say that there is also a 13th labor of Hercules. The myth has brought to this day the story of King Thespia. Hercules stayed in his house while hunting the Lion of Cithaeron. Thespius was worried that his daughters would choose unsightly grooms and give birth to ugly grandchildren. The king invited Hercules to impregnate his 50 daughters. So the hero hunted a lion during the day, and spent the night with the king’s daughters.
Many years later, Hercules married Deianira. They had many children. One day the couple were crossing a fast river. Dejanira was transported by the centaur Nessus. He was seduced by the beauty of the woman and wanted to take possession of her. Hercules struck him with a poisonous arrow. Experiencing terrible torment, Ness decided to take revenge on the hero. He persuaded Deianira to draw his blood. If Hercules stops loving her, all he has to do is soak his clothes in the blood of the centaur, and then the husband will not look at any woman again.
Dejanira kept the bottle with Nessus' gift. Returning from a military campaign, Hercules brought a young captive princess to the house. In a fit of jealousy, Dejanira soaked her husband's clothes in blood. The poison quickly took effect and began to cause Hercules severe pain, and there was no way to remove his clothes. The eldest son carried his father in his arms to Mount Etu, where he made a funeral pyre. When the flame flared up, a huge cloud covered Hercules. So the gods decided to accept the hero to Olympus and grant him immortal life.
The greatest mythological hero in history, his name is Hercules. Tormented by repentance for a horrific sin, he must, in atonement for it, perform 12 incredible feats. This legend is about a real hero, in which the events of the ancient world are encrypted.
There was no one more popular than Hercules in ancient history. The son of God and a mortal woman, he is endowed with supernatural powers, and his destiny is to rid the ancient Greek world of evil.
Hercules combined outstanding and at the same time ordinary qualities. He looked like a god, but at the same time remained a man.
Modern people most often imagine heroes with various super abilities. In ancient Greece, a hero was considered one who was endowed with incredible physical strength; in addition, the hero had to suffer.
Hercules is a classic hero of the ancient world. He is doomed by fate to suffer more than anyone else.
The story of Hercules begins with the supreme god - Zeus. Zeus decides to seduce a mortal woman named Alcmene.
Classical mythology is full of stories about the connection of gods with earthly women and the birth of children - demigods. It was believed that demigods have divine power, but at the same time they are mortal, they can be killed.
Why did Hera pursue Hercules?
In ancient Greece, Hercules served as an example to follow, but he had a powerful enemy who dreamed of his death, this is the wife of Zeus, the goddess Hera.
Hera was jealous, and Zeus always hunted for earthly women and conceived a huge number of children with them. Hera hated them all, but she decided that it was Hercules who should answer for all the sins of her lustful husband. Hera notices something special in Hercules, something that distinguishes him from the other children of Zeus, this is what served as the beginning of Hera’s hatred of Hercules.
One night, when Hercules was still very young, Hera sent two poisonous snakes to his house. But Hercules grabbed each one by the neck and squeezed them until he strangled them. From that moment on, people realized that Hercules was not like everyone else.
Hera hated Hercules even more, because she could not kill him. She could turn his life into hell, but she could not kill him, because his fate was destined for immortality. Even the gods must obey fate.
Time passes, Hercules grows up, now he is a demigod living in two worlds, human and supernatural. Hercules was too strong to be a man, one might say that he is a god imprisoned in a human body. Often he unintentionally harms the people around him, so it is difficult for him to become one of the people.
It was difficult for Hercules to establish emotional contacts, and his father did not protect him from the trials that Hera sent him.
Children and wife of Hercules
Desperate for a normal life, Hercules marries a beautiful princess, who gives birth to two sons. However, Hera, determined, already wants to make sure that Hercules never knows happiness.
This time, Hera sends madness to Hercules during sleep. And upon waking up, Hercules sees his wife and his two sons as terrible enemies. In the darkness of the night, Hercules kills them all. Waking up from his madness, he discovers the blood of his family on his hands, at first he does not even understand that he did it.
It is from this event that the real story of Hercules begins. Hercules' rage subsided and was replaced by strong remorse that would haunt him throughout his life. The Greeks called it the sin of bloodshed. It was something like a curse that was cast with the blood of a murdered victim.
From now on, Hercules wants to get rid of the terrible stigma of a murderer and this will permeate his whole life. To cleanse his soul, he will have to perform many feats that were previously beyond the reach of anyone.
In desperation and confusion, in search of guidance, Hercules goes to the greatest soothsayer in ancient Greece at the Delphic oracle.
According to legend, 2500 years ago, a priestess stood here in a sacred trance, she spoke in riddles, and told Hercules that only with cruel punishment could he atone for his terrible guilt, for this he must go to his relative and sworn enemy King Eurystheus.
But there's a catch. Hera speaks through the lips of the priestess, who, through the hands of King Eurystheus, hopes to destroy Hercules.
Eurystheus orders Hercules to complete 12 tasks invented by Hera, they will forever go down in history as the 12 labors of Hercules. By committing them, the hero will have to rid the world of great corruption.
By completing these tests, Hercules, on the one hand, undergoes purification and removes the guilt for killing the entire family. This seems unfair to us. After all, Hercules was not directly guilty of killing his family, because he was under the influence of Hera’s madness. But the ancient Greeks did not care whether he was guilty of this or not, he had to perform these feats in order to get rid of the guilt of the murder he committed.
1st Labor of Hercules – Nemean Lion
The path to salvation begins with the first feat, Hercules needs to kill a wild beast symbolizing the animal instincts of man - the Nemean lion.
Hercules is an excellent archer, but an arrow cannot penetrate the skin of a lion. Gathering all his strength, Hercules manages to overcome the lion. Having won, he removes the skin from the lion and puts it on himself. Since then, Hercules has always been depicted wearing a lion's skin, which protects him in battle.
King Eurystheus is amazed, now he gives Hercules even more monstrous tasks, confident that this time the hero will come to an end.
In the first labors of Hercules there is a motif, man against nature. The ancient Greeks saw nature as a source of danger; they wanted to live in harmony with it, but nature could also kill.
2 labor of Hercules
In the second labor, Hercules needs to kill another monster - the nine-headed hydra. Something flashed at the surface of the water. Circles spread out... this is a giant snake, with not one, but nine heads like a dragon. Her poisonous breath envelops the victim and she eats him alive.
But this time the monster is confronted by an equal opponent, the strongest of all those still alive, a real mythological hero - Hercules.
Hercules draws his sword and cuts one head after another, but two new ones immediately grow in their place. The more he hits, the more goals he gets. Then Hercules decides to cauterize the severed heads so that new ones do not grow in their place. Having thus destroyed the hydra, Hercules dipped the tips of his arrows into its blood. From now on, Hercules' arrows were poisonous.
3rd and 4th labor of Hercules
Then Hercules performs two more feats, killing the Golden Hind of Artemis (an animal capable of outrunning a flying arrow) and a carnivorous boar, which Hercules was able to catch alive.
Eurystheus asked Hercules such difficult tasks that he did not expect him to complete them. In Hercules the prototype of a superman begins to emerge.
Hercules is considered the founder of the Olympic Games
To stop the hero's victorious march, King Eurystheus decides to change tactics. He invites Hercules to clean out the vast stables full of sewage. Only one day is given to complete the task. This is menial work that Hercules has never done before.
Walking around the stables, Hercules notices that they pass between two deep rivers, then a plan is born to him. With the help of his great power, he changes the flow of rivers so that they flood the stables and carry out all the sewage.
During the fifth labor, Hercules has to do dirty work, it signifies the dirty side of human nature. But the principle of Hercules is perseverance. No matter how difficult the task, success is always possible.
After completing the fifth feat Hercules establishes the Olympic Games, which since then were held every 4 years on the sacred plain, on which grew olives planted by Hercules in honor of the goddess Pallas Athena.
6th labor of Hercules
The sixth labor of Hercules involves birds eating people. They symbolize a person's unattainable goals. He drives them out with poison arrows, marking an important milestone, half of the ordeal already over.
But the tests are becoming more and more difficult. They lead Hercules further and further into mysterious places.
7th labor of Hercules
To complete the seventh labor, Hercules goes to the island of Crete. He must find and catch the bull of King Minos.
The Cretan bull represents the power of Crete over mainland Greece at the time of the creation of this myth
Hercules finds the bull and again, with the help of his super strength, defeats him, and sails home with him. By defeating the Cretan bull, Hercules conquers nature. Now he faces a battle with people.
In the following labors, Hercules fights two foreign rulers who threaten Greece.
8th labor of Hercules
First he meets with the tyrant Diamed, the king of the Bistons. Diamed's horses ate human flesh. Having defeated him, Hercules gave Diamedes to be devoured by his own horses. This feat suggests that the evil you have done always comes back.
This is the first feat when Hercules kills someone, sheds human blood.
9 labor of Hercules
The murder also occurs in the next feat, when Hercules kills the Amazons, cruel female warriors, while stealing the belt of their leader Hippolyte, which according to legend was the belt of the god of war Ares and granted its owner the power of war. This was already the ninth feat out of twelve. However, his last battles will be the most difficult.
No matter how many feats Hercules accomplishes, he has no peace inside. Physical pain cannot drown out mental wounds.
10 labor of Hercules
Hercules moves further and further away from Greece. To complete his tenth labor, Hercules must kidnap Geryon's cow herd.
Geryon was an evil giant with three pairs of legs and three heads. Being the grandson of the Gorgon Medusa, he is half monster and will not give up his herd without a fight.
But destroying Geryon is only half the feat, the other half is getting to him. To do this, Hercules must risk his life to sail from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. But on its way stands a mountain range connecting Europe and Africa and separating the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Hercules decides not to go around the mountain, but to go through it. With one blow of his sword he cut the mountain in two.
This part of the myth explains how the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea are connected.
The cliffs on both sides of the strait are forever associated with the name of Hercules. The rocks of Gibraltar were familiar to the ancient Greeks as the pillars of Hercules.
On their way to the Atlantic Ocean, all ancient sailors had to sail through the pillars, many of them anchored there to pay homage to the Hero and pray for their lives, because they did not know what awaited them behind the rocks, if there was anything there at all.
Many objects with the symbolism of Hercules were found in the cave of the Rock of Gibraltar.
Having passed through the mountains, Hercules finds the three-headed Geryon with a herd. Geryon gets angry and starts throwing huge pieces of rocks at Hercules. Then Hercules takes out poisonous arrows and aims at his head. Having struck each one, the Huge Giant falls, and Hercules kidnaps his herd. Thus ended the 10th labor.
Hercules apples of the Hesperides
Next, Hercules must go to the ends of the world to steal golden apples from an orchard guarded by a hundred-headed dragon.
Apples, an orchard, a snake, this story has a parallel with the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Christians of the first centuries compared the apples of the Hesperides with the heavenly tree of life, this was the case in ancient times, when these people talked among themselves and learned each other’s legends.
These apples belong to Hera and in addition they are a sign of her sacred union with Zeus.
Hercules has been searching for Hera's apples for years, without success. Finally reaching the end of the world, he sees the god Atlas carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders.
Atlas is one of the titans. His mission is to carry the weight of the entire earth on his shoulders; he literally carries the world on himself. The common phrase carrying the world on your shoulders directly follows from the myth of Atlas.
Hercules is exhausted and confused, but Atlas knows where the golden apples are. Hercules volunteers to hold the world on his shoulders while he brings them. Atlas returns with the apples, but he doesn't want to feel the weight of this world again. Then Hercules asked Atlas to hold the world for another second so that he could put on his lion's skin. Atlas agrees, and Hercules leaves with Hera's apples. The ocean, on the coast of which Hercules outwitted the sky-ruler Atlas, was named Atlantic in memory of this. This was the eleventh test, there was only one left.
The most difficult feat of Hercules
In the last test, Hera, through King Eurystheus, sends Hercules to a place from which no mortal has ever returned - to the kingdom of the dead. Hercules must find a way to Hades and defeat the three-headed dog.
Cerberus is a three-headed dog, his task is to prevent dead souls from leaving the kingdom of the dead. The ancient Greeks feared that a dead soul might not realize it had died and return to the living.
Having finally entered the kingdom of the dead, Hercules decides to talk diplomatically with Hades and asks him to allow him to take Cerberus with him to earth. Hades agrees, but on the condition that Hercules can defeat the dog with his bare hands.
The fight begins, Hercules manages to put the dog on the ground and hold him until he suffocates.
Hercules carries the dog to the ground and the last 12 labors of Hercules are completed. Finally, Hercules' punishments ended. He has overcome all obstacles, all physical and mental torment, and now he has the right to retire.
Death of Hercules
Hercules builds a huge funeral pyre, his path on earth ends in the same way as his life passed in suffering. Hercules wished to die the death of a Hero and be burned on a funeral pyre. When this happens, it seems that Hercules is completely cleansed; it is not Hercules himself that burns, but his physical shell. His soul is freed and he goes to heaven.
With his death, Hercules finally atones for his guilt, Zeus invites Hercules to join him and the immortal gods on Mount Olympus. Over time, Hera does soften. The suffering is finally over...
Burning in fire, he burns away everything that is mortal in him, and only his essence remains, ascending to heaven.
Hercules lived with Keik for many years with his wife and children. He traveled a lot, saving people from death; finally he undertook another campaign, which was the last in his life.
He decided to march out with his army and punish the ungrateful king Eurytus, who had once expelled him from his home. He approached the city of Euryta and easily defeated it and conquered the city. He killed King Eurytus and his three sons, destroyed the capital and captured his daughter, the beautiful Iola.
For a long time she waited for Hercules Dejanira and languished in uncertainty, not receiving news from him.
Longing for her husband, Dejanira told her eldest son Gill about her fears for his fate and asked him to go in search of his father.
When Gill was ready to set off, a messenger from Hercules appeared and told Deianira that her husband was alive and would soon return home, crowned with victory.
He said that Hercules destroyed the city of Euryta, destroyed the king and his children and gave Deianira as a gift the captives taken during this war. Dejanira looked with sadness at the captives doomed to eternal slavery in a foreign country, and she liked one of them for her beauty.
She asked her where she was from, but Princess Iola, in tears, did not answer, and then Deianira ordered the maids to take her to the house and take care of her.
When the messenger of Hercules left, one of the captives appeared to Dejanira and said that the beautiful captive was the daughter of King Eurytus Iola, whom Hercules once wanted to marry, and that because of her he went to war against Euryta and sent her here because he still loves her.
Dejanira then remembered the advice of the centaur Nessus and decided to get a magical blood clot in order to regain the love of Hercules, which she considered lost.
She took out the hidden talisman, which she protected from daylight, smeared it on the new clothes prepared for Hercules, and instructed the messenger to give it to her husband as a gift. “Take these clothes to Hercules on the island of Euboea, this is my gift to him. I wove and sewed it myself, but let not a single ray of light or reflection of fire touch it; I’ll hide it in a casket, and you carry out my instructions exactly.” The messenger promised to do everything as Dejanira told him, and took the casket with clothes to Euboea.
And so Deianira began to joyfully await the return of her husband. She sends her son Gill to hurry his father to return home quickly. But her joy soon gave way to great grief. Gill returned home alone.
“Your gift destroyed your father,” the young man exclaimed, entering his mother, trembling with anger and horror. “When my father was making a sacrifice to the gods, at that time a messenger appeared in Euboea with your gift, deadly clothing. The father put it on himself, and suddenly his body became covered with bloody sweat, as if a poisonous Echidna had bitten into his body, and he fell, exhausted from pain, to the ground. “The gift of Deianira burns my body!” - your father exclaimed, cursing you. Crying, he called me to him and said: “My son, do not leave me in grief, take me away from this country, do not let me die in a foreign land.” And we carried him onto the ship and sailed to the shores of Hellas. Soon he will arrive here, and you may see your father still alive. Mother, it was you who destroyed him, because of you the best of the men of Hellas died!
Dejanira listened in silence to her son’s words. Struck by grief, she silently retired to her chambers and wandered for a long time, like a shadow, through the empty house. Then she threw herself on the bed and pierced her chest with a sword, and when her son entered her bedchamber, he saw her lying on the floor and dying.
Shedding bitter tears, Gill rushed to his mother, reproaching himself for having in vain accused her of a terrible crime. Later he learned how the evil centaur deceived Deianira and that she unwittingly caused the death of Hercules.
At this time, the dying Hercules was brought on a stretcher, and his terrible groans filled the house.
Ungrateful children of Hellas! Can't anyone help me? How much suffering I have endured, how many deeds I have accomplished! Look at these hands with which I defeated the Nemean lion and the Lernaean hydra, with which I fought the giants and Cerberus. It was not the spear of the enemy that struck me, but the hands of a woman that destroyed me.
When Hercules learned that Dejanira had taken her life because she had become his unwitting killer, following the advice of an insidious centaur, he remembered the prediction that only a dead man could kill him. Anticipating death, he betrothed his son Gill to the beautiful princess Iola, and then ordered himself to be carried to the top of Mount Eta.
They laid a huge fire on its top, and Hercules’ friend Philoctetes approached him, lit the fire and received as a gift from Hercules his deadly, never-missing arrows. The fire caught fire, lightning struck it, a large light cloud descended from the sky and enveloped the body. Under the rumble of thunder, the hero's body was taken to the top of Olympus. Pallas Athena met Hercules on Olympus and took him to his father Zeus and Hera, who had persecuted the hero on earth all his life, but now had reconciled with him. Zeus and Hera gave him their daughter, the beautiful Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, as his wife, and she bore Hercules two sons - Aniktus and Alexiarus, that is, the “Invincible” and the “Abominator of Troubles.”
The glory of the mighty hero Hercules, who was not defeated by anyone on earth, who did a lot of good to people and accomplished many wonderful feats, lived for many centuries among the peoples of ancient Hellas.
