These were tasks that could only be performed by someone with superhuman strength, such as facing a multi-headed serpent. In Greco-Roman mythology, Hercules was the son of a mortal woman and Zeus, the chief of the gods. His birth provoked the wrath of Hera, the official wife of Zeus, who sent two serpents to kill the newborn. This one, however, without much effort, strangled the snakes, showing from an early age that he had enormous strength.
Hercules grew up, but Hera continued to pursue him and used her powers to provoke a madness in the hero, who ended up killing his own wife and children. When Hercules came to his senses, he sought out the Oracle of Delphi – the most famous temple for consulting Greek deities – to seek guidance on how to face the tragedy.
The Oracle ordered him to surrender himself in servitude to Eurystheus, king of the city of Mycenae, who ordered the completion of the 12 famous tasks. “The 12 labors were carried out so that Hercules could redeem himself for the deaths he committed and, also, to elevate him to divine status at the end of his journey”, says historian Renata Beleboni, from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp).
After the last labor, Hercules married a woman named Dejanira. On a trip, the centaur Néssus tried to rape her and the hero killed him. However, before dying and willing to take revenge, Néssus told Dejanira that her blood was an elixir of love and advised her to keep some in case her husband stopped loving her. When in fact Hercules fell in love with another woman, Dejanira sent him a cloak with drops of the blood of Nessus. When wearing it, the hero felt the poison and realized that he was going to die.
According to mythology, his human body was burned on a pyre, but his essence ascended to Olympus – the abode of the gods. Despite everything being a myth, some historians suspect that the story of Hercules may have been inspired by a real man, who would be a powerful leader enslaved by some Greek kingdom.
Hero faced several monsters and had to clean a gigantic stable
1 – NEMEIAN LION
A gigantic lion, almost invulnerable, devastated the Nemean region, near the city of Mycenae. Hercules tried to kill him with his club and with his bow, without success. So he cornered the animal and strangled it to death. After completing the first task, the hero took the lion’s skin and began to use it as a cloak.
2 – LERNA HYDRA
In the city of Lerna lived a huge serpent with nine heads, one of which was immortal. Hercules cut off eight heads and Iolaus, his nephew, burned the wounds so that they would not be born again. The immortal head was buried in a deep hole. By dipping his arrows in the Hydra’s blood, the hero made them poisonous.
3 – ERYMANTHUS BOAR
A wild boar terrorized the vicinity of Mount Erymanthus, in northwest Arcadia. Huge and ferocious, it killed anyone who crossed its path. The task was to capture him alive. The animal was surrounded and, when it got tired, it was dominated by Hercules.
4 – CERINE DOE
On Mount Cerineus – also near the region of Arcadia – there was a doe with golden horns and bronze feet. She was very fast and had to be captured alive. Hercules pursued her for a year to the ends of the known world. He finally captured her while crossing a river.
5 – STYMPHALES BIRDS
In a forest on the shores of Lake Stymphale, in northern Arcadia, hid birds that, in addition to devouring the region’s crops, also attacked men. To kill them, Hercules first used a cymbal (an ancient stringed instrument) to attract them. As soon as the birds left the forest, the hero was able to hit them with his poisonous arrows.
6 – AUGIA STABLES
Augeias, king of Elis, a region west of Arcadia, had large herds of horses (or cattle, depending on the version), but did not take care of his stables, which accumulated a colossal amount of manure over the years. Hercules managed to wash them in a single day, using the water of two rivers, whose courses he diverted with his strength.
7 – BULL OF CRETE
In revenge, Poseidon, god of the sea, had driven a beautiful bull belonging to the king of Crete, a Greek island, crazy. The animal devastated the fields of the region and Hercules went there to subdue it. After controlling the bull, the hero had to swim from Crete to the mainland, taking the beast with him.
8 – MARES OF DIOMEDES
Diomedes – son of Ares, god of war – lived in Thrace (a region now belonging to Turkey and Bulgaria). He had four ferocious and carnivorous mares, which he fed with the foreigners who appeared in his lands. Hercules captured the mares and, noticing that they were starving, served them Diomedes as a meal.
9 – HIPPOLYTA’S BELT
Hippolyta was queen of the Amazons, a tribe of warrior women who lived near the Black Sea. She had a beautiful belt, desired by the daughter of Eurystheus. At the behest of the king, Hercules convinced Hippolyta to give him the object, but Hera incited the Amazons to war and the hero had to kill the queen.
10 – GERION OXS
Geryon, a three-headed giant, lived on the island of Erythia (possibly near Cadiz in southern Spain) and had a large herd of oxen. The animals were guarded by a monstrous shepherd, Eurytion, and his dog, both with many heads. After killing the pair, Hercules finished off Gerion, using his club, and delivered the oxen to Eurystheus.
11 – GOLDEN POMES
The golden apples were in an unknown garden and Hercules roamed the world after them. According to some mythological texts, Atlas was the one who finally found the pommels for the hero – who had received the punishment of carrying the world on his back from Zeus. While Atlas went after the apples, Hercules held the world up for him.
12 – GUARDIAN OF HADES
Cerberus, a three-headed dog with a snake-like tail, guarded the entrance to Hades, the underworld, allowing everyone in, but not letting anyone out. Hercules captured him and, after showing Cerberus to Eurystheus, returned the guardian dog to Hell.
Read too:
– What are the main Greek gods?
– What was the Trojan War?
– What was the secret Greek cult, the Eleusinian Mysteries?