Hercules/ Heracles "Hera's glory" [Greek name]
Intro/ Pre-Labors
 Zeus & Alcmene; Amphitryon is Alcmene's husband [Herc's mortal parents
were both grandchildren of Perseus Herc is son of Zeus AND greatgrandson of Poseidon]
 When Alc. & Amph. married, Alc. refused to consummate marriage until Amph.
finished war at Thebes; Zeus disguised himself as Amph. to sleep with Alc. first;
no fuss over infidelity because a seer said it was Zeus
 prophecy: next child born into Perseus' extended family would be king of Tiryns;
Hera, not wanting Zeus' illegitimate son to have power, delays [7 days of labor!]
Herc's birth so that his cousin Eurystheus is born first
 Alc. gives birth to Herc, son of Zeus, AND Iphicles, son of Amph [Iphicles' son
Iolaus becomes Herc's sidekick -see Hydra]; Herc. is abandoned by Alc., but is
saved when Hera is tricked into nursing him-her milk spilled when she pushed
him away, becoming the Milky Way; Herc's parents take him back
 Hera sends a pair of snakes to kill Herc in cradle- he strangles with bare hands
 took lyre lessons as a child; Linus, brother of Orpheus, his teacher corrected/
rebuked him physically [rap on knuckles?]; Herc killed him by breaking Lyre
over head; no murder charge since it was "self-defense"
 Herc grows up insanely strong; can't miss with a bow; great hunter
 fame spreads; Herc invited to stay with King Thespius, who feasts him & gets
him drunk- Herc sleeps with Thespius' 50 daughters [who all have Herc's son]
 heralds from the Minyans coming to Thebes for tribute; Herc cuts off their ears &
noses & strings the parts on necklaces for them; also fights vs. Minyans on
Thebes' behalf
 marries Megara, princess of Thebes; has 2 sons
 Hera sends madness- Herc kills his family
 Herc goes to Delphi for purification; he must serve Eurystheus for 10 tasks; earn
immortality [humiliation from servitude AND obedience to cousin who 'usurped'
Herc's rule]
Labors
1. kill Nemean Lion [monster- child of Echidna & Typhon] Herc can't shoot it with
bow because pelt is impenetrable; strangles it, wears pelt as trophy/ shield/ armor;
Lion becomes Leo constellation
2. kill Lernean Hydra [and its little crabby friend] giant lizard [monster- child of
Echidna & Typhon] with 9 heads, one of which is immortal; chop one head off, 2
regenerate in its place; crab snapping at Herc's ankles- immortalized by Hera as
Cancer constellation; Herc has nephew Iolaus cauterize [seal with fire from torch]
Hydra's necks when chopped- no regeneration; chop immortal head & bury under
rock; dip arrows in Hydra's poisonous blood; Labor disqualified for having help
3. capture Cerynitian Hind/Deer -golden horns, sacred to Artemis -no shooting!
Herc either used a net or snuck up on it while it slept
4. capture Erymanthian boar -drove boar into deep mountain snow to capture
 accidentally scattered & killed Centaurs on the mountain
 Eurystheus hid in a big jar when boar brought in
 Herc joins crew of Argo [see Jason]; returns after Hylas' disappearance
5. clean Augeian stables; King Augeius has LOTS of cows- mess so deep can't
plow fields; Herc offers to clean for 10% of cattle herd [payment!]; King agrees,
Herc diverts 2 rivers to wash through stables/ fields [all clean, but who wants to
be downriver!] King refuses to pay since Herc was required to do Labor anyway;
Labor disqualified because Herc asked for pay
6. kill/ get rid of Stymphalian birds -noisy, annoying birds [sharp, metal feathers in
some versions] Herc drives them into flying by using noise, then shoots them
7. Cretan Bull [sired Minotaur -see Theseus] Herc captures it, then lets it go where it
becomes a local menace [Theseus eventually caught & sacrificed it]
8. retrieve Diomedes' mares -they eat flesh!; Herc killed Diomedes to get to them,
then fed their former master to the horses to calm them [so they don't eat HIM!]
 on way back, Herc was guest of King Admetus, whose wife had JUST died [he
had been sick & she prayed to take his death]; Admetus tried to hide grief for
guest's sake, but when Herc found out, he went to Underworld/ fought with
Thanatos, god of death, and brought her back
9. Hippolyta's belt/ girdle- Hippolyta was an Amazon queen [lived near Black Sea];
Herc asked nicely if he could have her garment, she gave it to him; Hera, in
disguise, provoked a fight by yelling that Herc was kidnapping Hipp; Hipp died in
the ensuing riot/ fight [Theseus may have been on this trip too -see Theseus]
 side trip to Troy -King Laomedon of Troy hired Apollo & Poseidon to build
his city's walls; when complete, he refused to pay the gods; Poseidon sent a
sea monster to terrorize Troy; Laomedon chained daughter Hesione to rock
as sacrifice for monster; Herc offered to get rid of monster for payment Hesione & some of Laomedon's horses [gifts from Zeus]; Herc kills monster,
Laomedon refuses payment; Herc has to go back to labors, but promises
eventual retaliation
10. retrieve Geryon's cattle- Herc travels to Cadiz, Spain to confront Geryon;
Geryon had either 3 heads on one body or 3 bodies from waist up; Geryon's
watchdog was Orthus, who had 2 heads [monster- child of Echidna & Typhon];
Herc clubs dog, shoots Geryon, takes cattle
 sets up the 'pillars'/ rocks on either side of Gibraltar strait -either to bar
monsters from entering Mediterranean or to commemorate himself opening
the straight from Atlantic into Med.
 so tired of heat he aimed his bow at Helios, sun-Titan; Helios was so amused
that he lent huge golden cup as boat for cattle & Herc
Herc vs the cattle-thieves
 got in a fight with Ligurian tribe near Marseilles, France- they tried to steal
his rightfully stolen cattle! Herc was wounded & collapsed; Zeus saved him
with a shower of rocks- Herc threw them at his attackers
 in Italy, near the future site of Rome- Herc kills Cacus the cattle-thief [I
wonder why?] - partial reason why eventual Romans loved Herc
 big detour to Black Sea; woman whose bottom half was a snake steals the
cattle; says she'll give them back if Herc sires a son on her; 3 sons later Herc's
on his way again; leaves one of his bows- the son who was able to draw it
became King/ ancestor of Scythians
 bull escapes from herd; Herc has to wrestle/box Eryx of Sicily to get it back
11. retrieve apples of the Hesperides-golden apples that were Hera's wedding
present from Gaea [her grandmother]; secret location; tended by Hesperides
[nymphs, daughters of Hesperus the Evening star, grand-daughters of AtlasTitan who held up sky]; guarded by Ladon -100 headed dragon; Herc got
location from Nereus the shape-changing sea-god, who couldn't get out of
Herc's strong grip until he gave up the info; 1) offers to hold up Atlas' sky if
Atlas will get apples from his granddaughters; Atlas goes & retrieves 3
apples, but refuses to take sky back; Hercules convinces Atlas to take it back
for "just a minute while I make a pad for my shoulders"; Herc runs off with
apples once Atlas is holding sky again 2) Herc kills Ladon & steals apples
himself, terrorizing nymphs, kicks rock to make spring [see Jason]
 after proving he had apples, he gave them to Athena [ironic -see Trojan War],
who gave them back to Hesperides
 on way to garden, Herc shoots eagle that eats Prometheus' liver [Daddy's
bird! -see Titans]
 Herc fights Antaeus, son of Gaea, who gets his strength from his mother while
in contact with ground; Herc lifts him up and 'hugs' him to death [strangle/
suffocate]
12. retrieve Cerberus from Underworld - Cerberus [monster- child of Echidna &
Typhon] is Hades' watchdog, had 3 heads [or 50 heads & snake-tail in some
stories]; Herc goes to Underworld & asks Hades nicely if he can borrow the
dog, promises no harm and to return him when done
 while in Underworld, frees Theseus from his chair [see Theseus]; killed one
of Hades' cattle to feed shades [blood]
Post-Labors
 tries to win new wife, Iole, in archery contest; wins, but is denied 'prize'
because he murdered his first wife; in retaliation, Herc steals cattle from
Iole's family; when his pursuer [Iole's brother] caught up, Herc flung him off
a roof [was it deliberate or more of Hera's madness?]
 because of that murder, Herc gets a disease; tries getting purified, but
remains sick; goes to Delphic oracle & is refused help; steals Oracle's sacred
tripod [seat?] & threatens to destroy Delphi; Apollo defends Delphi -they
fight until separated by Daddy Zeus; Herc can be cured if he works as a slave
to a mortal for 3 years & pays Iole's family death-price
Serving Queen Omphale of Lydia
 captured the Cercopes -thieving dwarvish mischief-makers; made Herc laugh
so hard at their jokes he let them go; they became monkeys
 killed Syleus -he forced random passers-by to do his farmwork
 destroyed city of Itoni, Omphale's enemy
 killed big, snake-menace
 did 'womanly tasks' [sewing, weaving, etc.] and wore 'womanly clothes' at
Omphale's whim


sired at least one son with Queen
on his way home, found Icarus' body [see Metamorphoses & Theseus] & gave
proper burial
Avenging Insults
 returned to Troy [see Labor #9] with an army; Telamon of Salamis as
lieutenant; Telamon breaches Troy's walls and nearly gets killed for usurping
Herc's place as head of army [the conqueror goes in first!]; Tel. yields first
place to Herc and builds altar to "Hercules the Conqueror" to feed Herc's
vanity & soothe his temper; Herc kills Laomedon & all but one of his sons Podarces, who is ransomed by Hesione for the price of her veil, and is
renamed Priam [see Trojan War] after the Greek word for 'veil'; Hesione
becomes Tel's concubine, gives him a son named Teucer -a famous Trojan
ancestor; Herc prays to Zeus that Tel sires a son from his wife, producing
Ajax [see Trojan War], named after Zeus' eagle
 on way home, Hera's storms scatter Herc's fleet; Zeus hang Hera by her
wrists in sky with anvils attached to her feet because gods want Herc's help
 gods are warring with Giants; prophecy says they can't win without mortal's
help; they recruit Herc, who shoots a few Giants and goes home
 tries to attack Augeius to avenge non-payment [see Labor # 5]; fails, shoots
Aug's allies; tries again- wins & replaces Aug with Aug's son
 fights Achelous the river-god to marry Deïneira; breaks off god's horn &
offers it to nymphs, who make it Cornucopia; marries D
 Herc's son from the 50 daughters of Thespius are sent to form a new city/
colony
 Herc accidentally kills D's brother at a feast- exiles self, travels with D
 on journey, comes to deep river where Centaur Nessus works as a ferryman;
Herc crosses while Nessus carries D; hears scream & turns around -Nessus is
raping D; Herc shoots Nessus; while Nessus is dying, he tells D to smear some
of his [hydra-poisoned] blood on one of Herc's shirts as a 'love-charm'; D
does
 Herc fights Ares & his son
Death
 takes army to retaliate for refused wife [Iole]; takes Iole as concubine; sends
Iole to his house to get a fresh shirt so he looks nice while making sacrifice; D
get jealous of new girl & sends 'love-charmed' shirt; Herc poisoned -skin
starts falling off; D kills self
 Herc climbs a mountain, builds funeral pyre on top, begs people to light it,
they refuse, fearing Herc; Philoctetes agrees, Herc gives him his special bow
& arrows in thanks; mortal Herc burns up, lightning strikes pyre; all that's
left is immortal Herc -he earned it
 Philoctetes uses Herc's bow & poison arrows to kill Paris [see Trojan War]
 Herc taken to Mt Olympus, becomes god of strength [worshipped by
warriors], marries Hebe, Hera's daughter [but does he ever really make
peace with his mother-in law?]