Hercules

Hercules:

Hercules was the greatest of all the Greek heroes. He was a demi-god son of Zeus. He was the most notable champion of the Olympian order. Queen Hera hated Hercules and tried killing him several times, even as a baby. When he was still in a crib, Hera sent two snakes to Hercules, but he strangled them with his bare hands, killing them. He had the best teachers growing up, including Chiron, outdoing all of his teachers before he even reached adulthood. After killing the Lion of Mount Cithaeron, he clothed himself in it’s hide and fur. His most famous stories are his twelve labors. These include:

Killing the Nemean Lion: The Nemean Lion was a monster that roamed in the region of Nemea. It captured women to lure brave men to save them. When the men would enter the lion’s den, it would eat them. Hercules arrived in the town and a boy asked him to kill the lion. The boy told Hercules that if he didn’t kill it within a month, he would sacrifice himself to Zeus. Hercules followed the Nemean Lion into its den, then knocked it out with his club. Afterwards, he strangled it with his bare hands. He then used the impenetrable lion’s skin as armor, skinning the lion, with the help of Athena, and wearing it.

Killing the Lernaean Hydra: the monster lived in the swamp of Lake Lerna. Hera had specifically raised it to kill Hercules. It had nine heads, one immortal while the other eight were mortal. Hercules had help from his nephew, Lolaus. Hercules would cut the heads of the Hydra off, while Lolaus would cauterize the stump with a firebrand. During the fight, Hera was enraged because Hercules was winning, so she sent a giant crab to distract the hero. But he crushed it under his foot.

Capturing the Ceryneian Hind: it was a sacred deer belonging to the goddess Artemis, said to be fast enough to outrun a flying arrow. Hercules followed it for a complete year, just trying to catch it. He finally managed to capture it while it was sleeping and when he carried it on his way back, Artemis and Apollo appeared in front of him. Eurystheus had hoped that Hercules would anger the goddess when he caught it, but Hercules asked for her forgiveness and explained that it was part of his penance for killing his wife and children. He promised her he would return the Hind as soon as he proved to Eurystheus that he had caught it. Artemis accepted this and let him go.

Capturing the Erymanthian Boar: Hercules captured the boar easily by luring it into thick snow.

Cleaning the stables of Aegeas: this task was intended to humiliate Hercules, because it was quite disgusting. Hercules had to clean the stables of Augeas’s cattle within a day. Hercules managed to do this by diverting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus into the stables to wash them out. Though he succeeded in completing the task, Eurystheus didn’t count it because he claimed that the rivers had done the work instead of Hercules.

Slaying the Stymphalian Birds: belonging to the god of war, Ares, they were very large, flying monsters that ate humans. Athena helped Hercules by giving him a rattle. The sound of the rattle scared the birds, causing them to fly away. When they were in the air, they became easy targets for Hercules, who shot a lot of them out of the sky using his deadly arrows.

Capturing the Cretan Bull: The Cretan Bull was a legendary creature that always wreaked havoc on the island of Crete. After getting King Minos’s permission, Hercules managed to catch the bull with his bare hands. He then sent it back to Eurystheus’ court.

Stealing the mares of the Diomedes: The mares of the Diomedes were very fearsome creatures that had been trained to eat human flesh. Hercules took some men with him to help him capture the animals. When they stole the mares, they were chased by Diomedes and his army. Hercules told Abderus to take the animals, while he dealt with Diomedes.

Stealing the Girdle of Hippolyta: Hercules took some friends with him and set sail, eventually reaching the land of the Amazons. Hippolyta had heard about the incredible things that Hercules had done, and she immediately agreed to give him her girdle. However, when Hercules asked her to have lunch with him on his ship and she agreed, Hera disguised herself and told the Amazons that Hercules wanted to kidnap their queen. The Amazons went after Hercules, and he thought that Hippolyta had set him up and didn’t intend on giving him her girdle. So he killed her and took it.

Stealing the cattle of Geryon: when Hercules reached the island of Erytheia, where Geryon lived, his first obstacle was Orthrus, the two-headed dog (brother of Cerberus). Hercules hit Orthrus once with his club, killing the dog. Hercules then killed Geryon. He then took the cattle.

Stealing the apples of the Hesperides: there’s two versions of how Hercules did this task. One is that he killed Ladon, the dragon that guarded the apples, and took them. Another version says that Hercules came across Atlas, the Titan holding up the sky. Hercules persuaded Atlas to change places for a while, so Atlas could get some of the apples. Atlas got the apples, but then decided he didn’t want to have the heavens back on his shoulders. But Hercules tricked Atlas, saying he wanted to adjust his cloak and then he’d take the heavens back. Atlas fell for it and Hercules walked away with the apples.

Capturing Cerberus: Before going to the Underworld to complete this task, Hercules was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, so he could be trained how to travel from the world of the living into the Underworld. Hercules eventually found Hades and asked if he could take Cerberus to the world above. Hades agreed, but only if Hercules could capture Cerberus without using any weapons. Hercules managed to capture the three-headed dog with his bare hands.

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After completing these twelve labors, Hercules still didn’t rest, even though those twelve alone could have achieved him immortality. Some stories say that Hercules spent pretty much every spare second of his life killing monsters and defending the world from evil, even while he was in the process of completing the twelve labors. When he was on his way to get the apples of the Hesperides, he came upon the chained Prometheus and killed the giant eagle that tormented him. On the same trip to get the apples, he killed the giant Antaeus by wrapping him in a bear hug so he couldn’t get strength from his mother, Gaea, the Earth Goddess. While he was trying to get Cerberus, Hercules freed Theseus from Hades. Hercules even fought the god Apollo, when Apollo intervened to stop Hercules from breaking the tripod of the Oracle of Delphi. Zeus had to throw a thunderbolt into the fight to separate the two of them. But, despite all the incredible things that Hercules did, he died because of a shirt with centaur blood on it. Hercules’ second wife, Deianira, was attacked by the centaur Nessus. Hercules killed the centaur using his poisonous arrows. With Nessus’ dying breath, he convinced Deianira to take his blood (because centaur blood is poisonous) and use it as a love-charm whenever she thought Hercules would be unfaithful. She did this and she kept the shirt of Nessus for two years before she gave it to Hercules. When Hercules put the shirt on, the poison started eating away his flesh, causing him such great pain that he was unable to bear it. While in agony, Hercules built himself a funeral pyre, and laid on it, waiting for someone to light it. No one wanted to, but Hercules’ friend Poeas happened to walk by and agreed to light the pyre. For doing this, he got Hercules' bow and arrows. Hercules was taken up to Mount Olympus, where he married Hebe and was turned into a god. However, Homer says that Odysseus descended into the Underworld and came across the mighty Hercules (it was probably remnants of the hero’s mortal being), and Hercules was formidable enough to cause fear throughout the Underworld.