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01233: Heracles chaining Cerberus. "Hercules, the hero of Tiryns, dragged Cerberus with chains wrought of adamant, while the great dog fought and turned away his eyes from the bright light of day." (Ov. Met. 7.410). Guillaume T. de Villenave, Les Métamorphoses d'Ovide (Paris, Didot 1806–07). Engravings after originals by Jean-Jacques François Le Barbier (1739–1826), Nicolas André Monsiau (1754–1837), and Jean-Michel Moreau (1741–1814).
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"I wish to sing a song of
praise, a crown to all his toil, on the one who has
gone to the gloom beneath the nether world, whether
I am to call him son of Zeus or of Amphitryon. For the virtue of noble toils is
a glory to the dead." (Euripides, Heracles 354).
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The Labours of Heracles 1 are the tasks that Heracles 1 had to
perform serving King Eurystheus of Mycenae, as Heaven had
ordained, and as the Pythian priestess had revealed
to him. These Labours were just a fraction of all
his deeds, but it is because of them that Heracles 1 gained
immortality, going to dwell among the gods, and
marrying Hebe in Olympus.
Agreement of Zeus and Hera
Zeus had thought to
bestow on Heracles 1,
his son by Alcmena,
great power on earth by letting him sit on the
throne of Mycenae. And
when the child was about to be born he declared to
the gods:
"… I wish you to know that this day Ilithyia … will bring into the world a human child, born of a stock with my blood in their veins, who shall have dominion over all his neighbours." (Zeus to the gods.
Homer, Iliad 19.100).
But Hera, his legitimate
wife in Heaven, grieved at her husband's love
affair with Alcmena,
persuaded the goddess of childbirth Ilithyia to
retard the girl's delivery, so that Eurystheus should be
born first, though a seven-month child. And since Eurystheus also was a
descendant of Perseus 1, the proclamation of Zeus was therefore made to
mean, against the god's wish, Eurystheus and not Heracles 1. Zeus was deeply annoyed,
but as he would not go against his own word, he
persuaded Hera to agree
that while Eurystheus should be king (for being the first born of his
stock, as he had proclaimed), Heracles 1 would be
allowed to serve him and perform Labours, to be
prescribed by Eurystheus himself.
But that after he had performed the Labours, Heracles 1 should be given immortality.
This was the agreement reached in Heaven, and in
order to fulfil it, Eurystheus, led by
the goddess to whom he owned his throne, took upon
himself the detestable task of being the master of
a man better than himself. In that way he paid for
the crown that Hera had
given him, and by exercising his hateful authority
on Heracles 1, he led
his subject to immortality, thus fulfilling also Zeus' wish. From the
Labours themselves, Eurystheus obtained
nothing or very little for himself.
The Pythia reveals the plan of Heaven
Heracles 1 learned
about Heaven's agreement from the Pythian
priestess, when he, after having run amok in Thebes maddened by Hera, came to Delphi to inquire about
where he should dwell. There the Pythia told him to
dwell in Tiryns and serve Eurystheus for twelve years, performing the Labours that the king would impose on him, adding also that when the Labours were accomplished, he would gain immortality. When the oracular authority had thus revealed
the path, Heracles 1,
following the instructions he had received,
presented himself before Eurystheus, who ordered the tasks through his herald Copreus.
LABORS OF HERACLES 1
(Apollodorus' order) |
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1. The Nemean Lion
First of all Eurystheus ordered him to bring the skin of the Nemean Lion, an invulnerable beast offspring of Typhon (see Zeus) and Echidna (see BESTIARY), that could not be wounded by any weapon except the human hand. The Nemean Lion lived in the neighbourhood of the mountain called Tretus, which is between Mycenae and Nemea,
lurking in a cleft at its base. When after shooting
an arrow against the beast Heracles 1 perceived
that it was invulnerable, he, closing up one of the
cleft's openings followed the lion inside the cleft
or cave. There Heracles 1 grappled with the lion, and holding tight his
arm around its neck, choked it to death. He then
brought the lion to Mycenae where Eurystheus, amazed at
the sight, ordered him to leave thenceforth the
fruits of his Labours before the gates without
entering the city. Heracles 1 put about
himself the skin of the lion, and henceforth used
it to protect his body.
2. The Hydra of Lerna
As a second labour Eurystheus ordered Heracles 1 to kill the
Hydra that lived in the swampy region of Lerna, a city south of Argos in the Peloponnesus. This beast which ravaged the country was, as the previous one, a child of Typhon and Echidna. Some affirm that the Hydra had a huge body with nine heads, eight of which were mortal, the middle one being immortal; but others have said that it had one hundred heads of serpent, or even countless heads; and still others, perhaps fearing the large amount of thoughts that so many heads could have produced, say that the Hydra had only one head. Heracles 1 came to Lerna in his chariot, which was driven by Iolaus 1, son of Iphicles, Heracles 1's
half-brother, and having discovered the Hydra on a
hill beside the springs of Amymone—called
after one of the DANAIDS—, he
started shooting arrows at it. When the Hydra,
being provoked by the shooting, came out of its
den, Heracles 1 started cutting off its heads, but when one was
severed it was replaced by two others. So when Heracles 1 understood the hopelessness of such efforts, he commanded Iolaus 1 to prevent new heads from sprouting by searing with a burning brand the part that had been severed. By that means the flow of the Hydra's blood was checked in its necks, and after cutting off all the mortal heads, Heracles 1 chopped off
the immortal one too, which he buried beside the
road that leads from Lerna to Elaeus, putting a heavy rock on it. It is also said that a huge Crab that had come
to help the Lernaean Hydra bit Heracles 1's foot, and
that he destroyed it; but for being so courageous
in opposing Heracles 1, this crab was, after its death, promoted by Hera to celestial rank by
putting it among the CONSTELLATIONS. Heracles 1 then
slit up the body of the Hydra and dipped his arrows
in its gall; for this reason the wounds produced by
him became incurable, as that of Chiron, that of the Centaur Pholus 1, and that of Paris. And indeed Heracles 1 himself
was, years later, destroyed by the venom of the
Hydra.
3. The Cerynitian Hind
The extraordinary triumph over the Hydra, some
may think, could have caused the admiration even of Eurystheus; but to be
pleased was not this king's concern, and therefore
he limited himself to issue a third command, which
was to bring the Cerynitian Hind of the golden
horns alive to Mycenae.
This beautiful animal could neither be killed nor
wounded, being sacred to Artemis. That is why Heracles 1 used
sagacity instead of strength and captured it by the
use of nets, although others have said that he
caught it asleep whereas still others affirm that
he wore it out by running it down. However, when Heracles 1 was running
through Arcadia with the
animal on his shoulders, there appeared the sweet
children of Leto, Apollo and Artemis, wishing to take
the hind from him. But as Heracles 1 pleaded
necessity, blaming Eurystheus, the
deities let him carry the animal to Mycenae. The hind was
not supposed to be killed; yet some have said of Heracles 1:
"And he slew
that dappled deer with horns of gold, that preyed
upon the country-folk, glorifying Artemis, huntress queen of Oenoe." (Euripides, Heracles 375).
4. The Erymanthian Boar
Eurystheus then
ordered Heracles 1 to
bring back alive the Erymanthian Boar, which lived
in the Arcadian mountain called Lampeia and ravaged
the city of Psophis in northwestern Arcadia. Some have said
that the boar sallied from Mount Erymanthus, but in
any case Heracles 1 is
said to have chased the boar with shouts from a
certain thicket, driving it into deep snow where it
was trapped. Then Heracles 1 brought it to Mycenae where Eurystheus, terrified
at the sight, hid himself inside a bronze vessel.
But if the Erymanthian Boar was dead, as some say,
the king's reaction would be unlikely or difficult
to understand.
5. The Stables of Augeas
The fifth labour that Eurystheus prescribed
was to carry out the dung of the cattle of King
Augeas of Elis in a single day, without the assistance of any other man. Some have thought that this labour was conceived
to specially humiliate Heracles 1 by making
him carry upon his shoulders the cattle's dung, and
that this is the reason why Heracles 1, declining the task as unworthy to be done by his own hands, turned the course of the rivers Alpheus and Peneus into the stables, cleansing them by the rivers' streams. It is told that Heracles 1 did not
reveal to King Augeas that he was under Eurystheus' command,
and that he offered him to clean in one day the
enormous mass of dung which had accumulated in the
stables, if Augeas would give him the tenth part of
the cattle. Augeas, who did not believe that
possible, agreed; but when he learned that the task
had been accomplished at Eurystheus' command, he not only refused to pay but also denied that he had promised it. For this reason arbitrators were called; and during the trial, Augeas' son Phyleus 1 witnessed against his father. That was too much for King Augeas, who without awaiting the verdict, expelled both his son and Heracles 1 from Elis. Taking what had happened into account, Eurystheus refused to
admit the validity of this labour, alleging that Heracles 1 had been
hired by Augeas.
6. The Stymphalian Birds
After this, Eurystheus thought it
fit to get rid of the Stymphalian Birds, which
fleeing from wolves, had come to the Stymphalian
Lake, near the city Stymphalus in Arcadia; so he ordered Heracles 1 to chase them away. These multitude of birds, which destroyed the
fruits of the country, could not be subdued by
force because of their great number. So Heracles 1 fashioned a
bronze rattle, and producing a great noise,
frightened the birds away. Yet others say that when Heracles 1 could not
conceive a way of driving the birds from the lake
and surrounding wood, Athena appeared with
brazen castanets that Hephaestus had given
her. Heracles 1, by clashing the castanets scared the birds; and when they fluttered up in a fright, he shot them down. According to some, these birds were not regular
birds, but men-eating birds, and they deny that Heracles 1 killed
them; he only drove them away, they say. Some birds
called Stymphalian were said to live in the Arabian
desert and believed to be as savage against humans
as lions or leopards. They were able to pierce
armours of bronze or iron, and wound or kill men
with their beaks, or by shooting their feathers at
them as if they were arrows.
7. The Cretan Bull
The seventh labour that Eurystheus ordered
was to bring the Cretan Bull, which could be either
the same bull that ferried Europa for Zeus, or the bull that was
loved by Pasiphae, wife of Minos 2. Heracles 1, they
say, came to Crete and
asked Minos 2 for help,
whereupon the king retorted that Heracles 1 could as
well fight and catch the bull himself. But others
say that Minos 2 did help him. In any case, Heracles 1 caught the Cretan Bull and brought it to Eurystheus, who just
let it go again. The beast then, having first
roamed to Sparta and Arcadia, traversed the
Isthmus of Corinth and
arrived at Marathon in Attica, where it pestered
the inhabitants all it could. This was the end of
that labour.
8. The MARES OF DIOMEDES 1
As the eighth labour Eurystheus demanded that the MARES OF DIOMEDES 1 (Dinus, Lampon, Podargus 1, and Xanthus 2) be brought to Mycenae. Diomedes 1, son of Ares and the nymph Cyrene, was king of the warlike Bistonians, a people living in Thrace. Now these mares, being very savage, were fed in troughs of brass, and on account of their strength, were fastened by iron chains. These cannot be said to be regular mares; for they were carnivorous and fed on the limbs of the strangers that had been caught by the Bistonians. Heracles 1 came to
Thrace with a group of volunteers, and after
overpowering the grooms who were in charge of the
stables, he drove the mares to the beach. As the
Bistonians in arms attacked him, Heracles 1 defended himself, defeating them and slaying King Diomedes 1. But his companion Abderus (son of Hermes), whom Heracles 1 had left behind to guard the beasts, was dragged and killed by them. Others have said that Heracles 1 killed Diomedes 1 by throwing him to his mares, so that these devoured their master. Having thus appeased their hunger, they add, Heracles 1 could more easily put them under his control. In any case the MARES OF DIOMEDES 1 were brought to Mycenae, and Eurystheus, on
receiving them, released them; and they, roaming to
Mount Olympus, were there destroyed by wild beasts.
Such was Eurystheus'
interest in the practical results of the Labours.
9. The Belt of Hippolyte 2
Yet when Eurystheus' daughter Admete 2 desired to own the Belt of Ares, which was in possession of the Amazon Hippolyte 2, he pleased his daughter by sending Heracles 1 to fetch it. Once more Heracles 1 gathered a band of volunteers, and embarking
in one ship, he sailed to Themiscyra, a city in
Asia Minor at the mouth of the Thermodon River
where the AMAZONS had their palace. There he demanded the belt, and some say that Queen Hippolyte 2 had already promised to give it to him when Hera, disguised as an Amazon, disturbed the whole city, saying that the strangers were carrying off the queen. Others have asserted that the AMAZONS paid no heed to Heracles 1's demands.
In any case, there took place a stubborn battle in
which the queen of the AMAZONS perished, as
they say, killed by Heracles 1, who strip
her of her belt, and brought it to Eurystheus.
10. The Cattle of Geryon
The tenth labour that Eurystheus ordered was to fetch the Cattle of Geryon that pastured in Erythia, an island located in the far west in the river Oceanus, or as others say, in that part of Iberia which slope towards the ocean. Geryon was the son of the Oceanid Callirrhoe 1 and Chrysaor, the same whom some have called King of Iberia and who sprang from the trunk of Medusa 1 when her head
was cut off by Perseus 1. Geryon himself had the body of three men
grown together and joined in one at the waist, but
divided in three from the flanks and thighs.
The herdsman of Geryon's red cattle was Eurytion 4, who had a two-headed watchdog Orthus, offspring of Typhon and Echidna. This hound, some say, consorted with its mother and procreated the Sphinx, which harassed
the Thebans until Oedipus discovered her
riddle. Orthus was the first, as it fits a
watchdog, to perceive the presence of Heracles 1 in Erythia,
and for that Orthus was the first to perish when,
after rushing at Heracles 1, was smitten by his club; and when the
herdsman came to aid his two-headed hound, he was
also killed by Heracles 1.
So the one who reported to Geryon that his cattle was being stolen and their guardians slain was Ceuthonymus' son Menoetes 1, the herdsman of Hades, who was there
pasturing his lord's cattle. But it would have been
better for Geryon not to be informed; for he
hastened to join battle with Heracles 1 beside a river and, being shot, lost his life in addition to his cattle. Some have imagined that this tale did not
involve just three persons and one dog, for that
would be a children's tale. Instead they conceived
that a multitude of soldiers accompanied Heracles 1 when he
invaded the land. And they do not believe in the
form of Geryon either; for no one has seen such
beings. Instead they say that mighty Chrysaor had
begotten three sons, who fought with great courage
and strength. Similarly, they do not imagine Heracles 1 journeying
to Iberia through Europe, but they say instead that
he sailed with a powerful fleet from Crete, bordering the coast of Africa, and that having then crossed over to Iberia, he engaged the three sons of Chrysaor in single combat, slaying them all one by one. And when in that manner Heracles 1 obtained
victory over the Iberians, he who had gathered such
an army and such a fleet in order to subdue the
country, just put his soldiers in the ships, along
with the huge expedition's purpose, that is, the
cattle, and sailed back to Mycenae in order to
present them to King Eurystheus, who
displaying both indifference and devotion,
sacrificed them to Hera.
11. The Apples of the HESPERIDES
When these ten Labours had been performed, Eurystheus ordered
two additional ones; for he acknowledged neither
the labour of the stables of Augeas nor the slaying
of the Hydra, since in accomplishing the former Heracles 1 had been
hired by the king of Elis, and in destroying the Hydra he had been assisted by Iolaus 1. Having thus taking note of these important
details, Eurystheus ordered, as a form of compensation, two more
Labours, first sending Heracles 1 to fetch
the Apples of the HESPERIDES, which were either in Libya or in the far north. It was on this occasion that Heracles 1, following Prometheus 1's
instructions, asked Atlas to fetch the Golden Apples instead of fetching them
himself. That is why for a short time the Pillars
of Heaven were supported by Heracles 1, who
relieved Atlas while he went to fetch the Golden Apples. Atlas soon returned carrying three Golden Apples, but was
no longer willing to support the vault of the sky,
declaring that he could deliver the fruits to Eurystheus himself.
Seeing that Atlas could not be persuaded, Heracles 1 asked him
to hold the sky just for a moment while he placed a
pad on his head, and when Atlas held the sky again, Heracles 1 picked up the apples and left. This story has been told very differently (see also Atlas and HESPERIDES), but in any case Heracles 1 brought the apples to Eurystheus, who in
turn bestowed them on his rival, who gave them back
to Athena, who returned
them to the HESPERIDES; for as
they say, it was not lawful for these fruits to be
anywhere.
12. The Capture of Cerberus 1
Finally Eurystheus imposed on Heracles 1 a twelfth labour: to bring Hades' three-headed dog Cerberus 1 from the Underworld. Heracles 1 descended to the Underworld in
Laconia, where the entrance at Taenarum is. It is
said that the souls of the dead fled on seeing Heracles 1, with the
exception of Meleager and Medusa 1; and when
he saw this monster, he wished to draw his sword
against her, but he learned from Hermes that he was only
seeing Medusa 1's empty phantom. In the Underworld, Heracles 1 met again Hades' herdsman Menoetes 1, who had exposed him when he had come to fetch the Cattle of Geryon. This time they came into conflict because Heracles 1, wishing to provide the souls with blood,
slaughtered one beast of the cattle of Hades. Menoetes 1 then challenged Heracles 1 to wrestle, but being seized round the middle, had his ribs broken. Heracles 1 then
asked Hades for Cerberus 1, and the god replied that he could take it if he could master it without weapons. So finding the three-headed hound at the gates of the river Acheron, he grasped it without relaxing his grip, and although the dragon in Cerberus 1's tail bit him, he at last gained control over the brute. Yet others have said that he received Cerberus 1 in chains by the favor of Persephone. Heracles 1 returned
to this world through an exit at Troezen, and after
showing the hound to Eurystheus, he
carried it back to the Underworld. (See also Heracles 1 in Hades.)
Notes
The tragic dramatist Euripides (see below) counts among the Labours the slaying of Cycnus at the Pelian Gulf. This Cycnus could be Cycnus 3, son of Ares and Pelopia 3, who challenged Heracles 1 to single combat near Itonus. The Pillars of Heaven refer to what happened
between Heracles 1 and Atlas,
when the former went to fetch the Apples of the HESPERIDES. Heracles 1's
adventures with the CENTAURS are
acknowledged by the other authors, but not included
among the Labours.
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