Why did Hercules perform his labors? Add your price to the database Comment. When and how Hercules died The life of Hercules summary
When Hercules was at war in distant Euboea, the ambassador Lichas told Dejanira that Hercules fell in love with the beautiful Iola, the captive daughter of King Eurytus, and wants to take her as his wife.
Dejanira was saddened. Hercules forgot her during a long separation. Now he loves someone else. What should she do, unhappy? She loves the great son of Zeus and cannot give him to another. The heartbroken Dejanira remembers the blood that the centaur Ness once gave her, and what he said to her before his death. Dejanira decides to resort to the blood of a centaur. After all, he told her: “Rub the clothes of Hercules with my blood, and he will love you forever, not a single woman will be dearer to him than you.” She is afraid to resort to Dejanira to a magical remedy, but her love for Hercules and the fear of losing him finally overcome her fears. She takes out the blood of Nessus, which she kept in a vessel for so long, so that a ray of the sun does not fall on her, so that the fire in the hearth does not warm her. Dejanira rubs it with a luxurious cloak, which she wove as a gift to Hercules, puts it in a tightly closed box, calls the ambassador Lichas and says to him:
- Hurry, Lichas, to Euboea and take this box to Hercules. It has a cloak in it. Let Hercules put on this cloak when he makes a sacrifice to Zeus. Tell him that no mortal should put on this cloak except him, so that even the ray of bright Helios does not touch the cloak before he puts it on. Hurry, Lichas!
Lichas left with a cloak. After his departure, Dejanira was seized with anxiety. She went to the palace and, to her horror, she sees that the wool with which she rubbed her cloak with the blood of Ness has decayed, Deianira threw this wool on the floor. A ray of sun fell on the wool and warmed the blood of the centaur, poisoned by the poison of the Lernean hydra. Together with the blood, the poison of the hydra heated up and turned the wool into ashes, and poisonous foam appeared on the floor where the wool lay. Dejanira was horrified; she is afraid that Hercules will die, wearing a poisoned cloak. Hercules' wife is tormented more and more by a premonition of irreparable trouble.
A little time has passed since Lichas left for Euboea with the poisoned cloak. Gill, the son of Hercules and Dejanira, who returned home, enters the palace. He is pale, his eyes are full of tears. Looking at his mother, he exclaims:
- Oh, how I would like to see one of the three: either that you were not alive, or that another called you mother, and not I, or that you had a better mind than now! Know that you have killed your own husband, my father!
- Oh, grief! Dejanira exclaimed in horror. What are you talking about, my son? Which person told you this? How can you accuse me of such a crime!
- I myself saw the suffering of my father, I did not learn this from people!
Gill tells his mother what happened on Mount Conenon, near the city of Oichalia: Hercules, having erected an altar, was already preparing to offer sacrifices to the gods, and above all to his father Zeus, when Lichas came with a cloak. The son of Zeus put on a cloak - a gift from his wife - and proceeded to the sacrifice. First, he sacrificed twelve selected bulls to Zeus, in total, the hero slaughtered a hundred sacrifices to the Olympian gods. Flames flared brightly on the altars. Hercules stood, reverently raising his hands to the sky, and called on the gods. The fire, burning hot on the altars, warmed the body of Hercules, and sweat came out on the body. Suddenly, a poisoned cloak stuck to the hero's body. Convulsions ran through the body of Hercules. He felt terrible pain. Suffering terribly, the hero called Lichas and asked him why he brought this cloak. What could innocent Lichas answer him? He could only say that Dejanira had sent him with the cloak. Hercules, not realizing anything from the terrible pain, grabbed Lichas by the leg and hit him against a rock, around which the sea waves rustled. Lichas crashed to death, Hercules fell to the ground. He fought in unspeakable agony. His cry carried far across Euboea. Hercules cursed his marriage to Dejanira. great hero called his son and with a heavy groan said to him:
- Oh, my son, do not leave me in misfortune - even if death threatens you, do not leave me! Lift me up! Get me out of here! Take me where no mortal can see me. Oh, if you feel compassion for me, don't let me die here!
They lifted Hercules, put him on a stretcher, carried him to the ship to transport him home. This is what the Ras said to Gill's mother and ended the story with these words:
“Now you will all see here the great son of Zeus, perhaps still alive, or perhaps already dead. Oh, let the harsh Erinyes and the avenger Dike punish you, mother! You killed the best man the earth has ever borne! You will never see such a hero!
Silently she left for the palace of Dejanira, without uttering a single word. There, in the palace, she grabbed a double-edged sword. The old nanny saw Dejanira. She calls rather Gill. Gill hurries to her mother, but she has already pierced her chest with a sword. With a loud cry, the unfortunate son rushed to his mother, he impoverishes her and covers her cold body with kisses.
At this time, the dying Hercules is brought to the palace. He fell asleep on the way, but when the stretcher was lowered to the ground at the entrance to the palace, Hercules woke up. The great hero was unconscious of the terrible pain.
Oh great Zeus! he exclaims, “what country am I in?” Oh, where are you, men of Greece? Help me! For your sake, I cleansed the land and the sea from monsters and evil, but now none of you wants to save me from severe suffering with fire or a sharp sword! Oh, you, brother of Zeus, the great Hades, put me to sleep, put me to sleep, the unfortunate one, put me to sleep with fast-flying death!
“Father, listen to me, I beg you,” Gill asks with tears, “the mother unwittingly committed this atrocity. Why do you want revenge? Learning that she herself is the cause of your death, she pierced the heart with the edge of the sword!
- Oh, gods, she died, and I could not take revenge on her! It was not by my hand that the insidious Dejanira died!
"Father, it's not her fault!" Gill says. - Seeing Iola, the daughter of Evrit, in her house, my mother wanted to return your love by a magical means. She rubbed her cloak with the blood of the centaur Nessus, slain by your arrow, not knowing that this blood was poisoned by the poison of the Lernean hydra.
- Oh, woe, woe! exclaims Hercules. - So this is how the prediction of my father Zeus was fulfilled! He told me that I would not die by the hand of the living, that I was destined to die from the machinations of Hades who had descended into the dark kingdom. This is how Nessus, who was slain by me, ruined me! So this is the kind of peace the oracle in Dodona promised me - the peace of death! Yes, it's true - the dead have no worries! Fulfill my last will, Gill! Carry me with my faithful friends to high Oeta, lay a funeral pyre on its top, lay me on the fire and set fire to it. Do it soon, end my suffering!
“Oh, have pity, father, are you really forcing me to be your killer!” Gill begs his father.
- No, you will not be a killer, but a healer of my suffering! I still have a wish, make it come true! Hercules asks his son. “Take Evrit’s daughter, Iola, as your wife.
But Gill refuses to fulfill his father's request and says:
“No, father, I cannot marry the one who was responsible for the death of my mother!”
“Oh, submit to my will, Gill! Do not cause in me again subsided suffering! Let me die in peace! - Hercules persistently prays to his son.
Gill resigned himself and dutifully answers his father:
- All right, father. I will be submissive to your dying will.
Hercules hurries his son, asks to fulfill his last request as soon as possible.
"Hurry, my son!" Hurry to put me on the fire before these unbearable torments begin again! Carry me! Farewell, Gill!
Friends of Hercules and Gill lifted the stretcher and carried Hercules to high Oeta. There they built a huge fire and placed the greatest of heroes on it. The suffering of Hercules is becoming stronger, the poison of the Lernean hydra penetrates deeper into his body. Hercules tears the poisoned cloak from himself, it sticks tightly to the body; together with the cloak, Hercules tears off pieces of skin, and terrible torments become even more unbearable.
The only salvation from these superhuman torments is death. It is easier to die in the flames of a fire than to endure them, but none of the hero's friends dare to light a fire. Finally, Philoctetes came to Oeta, Hercules persuaded him to set fire to a fire and, as a reward for this, presented him with his bow and arrows, poisoned by the poison of the hydra. Philoctetes set fire to the fire, the flame of the fire flared up brightly, but the lightning of Zeus flashed even brighter. Thunder rolled across the sky. On a golden chariot, Pallas Athena and Hermes were brought to the fire and they lifted the greatest of the heroes of Hercules to the bright Olympus. There he was met by the great gods. Hercules became the immortal god. Hera herself, forgetting her hatred, gave Hercules her daughter, the eternally young goddess Hebe, as a wife. Since then, Hercules has been living on the bright Olympus in the host of the great immortal gods. This was his reward for all his great deeds on earth, for all his great sufferings.
Further, Hercules participates in gigantomachy, when Gaia gives birth to giants against the Olympians. Wild chthonic forces break out, which Hercules pacifies. And the most interesting thing for us, connected with Hercules, is, of course, his death. The story of the death of Hercules begins with the fact that he is once again expelled, and with the “soft”, “compliant”, “delicate” nature of Hercules, it is not at all surprising that somewhere they did not want to endure him as a neighbor and were regularly expelled. And now, once again, he is expelled, he goes with his wife to look for a new home. They drive up to the river, where the carrier is located - the centaur Ness, who offers to transfer Dejanira, the wife of Hercules, on his back. Hercules agrees, Ness puts Dejanira on his back and instead of transferring her, he tries to kidnap her. Hercules grabs his bow with poisoned arrows, shoots at Nessus, kills him. But Ness, wanting to avenge Hercules for his death, advises Deianira to collect his blood in a special vessel, and when Hercules decides to change Deianira, she can rub Hercules' clothes with his blood in order to bewitch Hercules again. What Dejanira does. A number of years pass, Hercules wants to marry another - a captive captured in battle, at the same time a princess. Dejanira remembers the advice of Nessus, takes this vessel, rubs the blood of Nessus, mixed with the poison of the Lernean Hydra, into Hercules' clothes, sends him a poisoned tunic. Under the rays of the sun, blood and poison foam, everything begins to stick to the body of Hercules. He tears off this tunic from himself along with pieces of skin, the poison ulcerates his body. Poor dying Hercules orders himself alive to lay down a funeral pyre, ascends to it still alive, tormented by this poison. In the fire of the fire, he goes to Olympus, is accepted by Zeus among the gods. In the future, Hercules one way or another becomes a god. In ancient Greece, not so much, but in Rome the cult of Hercules was extremely widespread. And there he was closely associated with various rural gods - the gods who were worshiped in villages, estates. But we are not now interested in the cult of Hercules. We are now interested in the mass of logical inconsistencies (supposedly inconsistencies) in this legend. Just Oldie is also very ironic about this. Dejanira, wearing ox-skin gloves, was she rubbing this same blood into her tunic? Hercules dies from putting on a chiton rubbed with blood. But beforehand, Dejanira herself rubbed the robe with this blood, that is, she touched this blood. Meanwhile, no death threatens her, nothing happens to her. Upon learning that she had unwittingly killed her husband, she committed suicide. But this is herself. Why didn't Dejanira die? This is the first question. Second question. Very nice outdoor picture. Hercules orders a funeral pyre to be built for himself while still alive, and ascends to it. Is it not easier, not faster, to throw himself at the sword? Why is there a bonfire motif? Why does the image of Hercules appear, burning alive? Two questions. If we approach Greek myths the way the Greeks approached them (all these are people, and everything must be explained according to the laws of human psychology), then these two questions remain unanswered, and these two episodes turn out to be absurd. If, however, we approach this according to the laws of mythological thinking, then there will be no exaggerations here and everything will turn out to be strictly logical. Who kills the poison of the Lernaean Hydra? Now he threatened Helios, then Apollo. It is a poison capable of killing immortals. In Hercules, as we know, two-thirds of divine blood, and accordingly, the poison in the Lernaean Hydra kills the divine component in Hercules. But since Hercules is not a god, but a man, this poison cannot finally kill him. In Hercules there is also mortal flesh, which is not subject to this poison. And so poor Hercules is tormented, suffering from this poison, but he cannot die. Further about the circumstances of burning alive. For all the formal illogicality, the motive of self-immolation is internally, emotionally extremely convincing. And as an artistic image, he absolutely does not raise any objections. Why? Because the concepts of Hercules and rage are absolutely inseparable concepts. We said that for mythological thinking there are no abstract concepts, there are only concrete representations. Therefore, rage must be concretely materialized. And indeed, this materialization is in a huge number of legends. In all archaic epic tales of any peoples known to us (and even partly this "slips" into the classics), rage is fire. In the Irish legend, in the legends of the peoples of Siberia, at the moment of rage, the body is engulfed in fire, and sometimes more than one: the head is surrounded by a scarlet flame, tongues of blue flame fly from somewhere white, and so on. Not a hero, but a walking firework. Jokes are jokes, but the spectacle is very impressive. In the Buddhist iconography of Tibet, the body of angry deities is engulfed in flames. Since Hercules is the embodiment of rage, then his death, like other extreme manifestations of rage (he burned the children alive and the palace), death through the flames is not just a logical death, but the only possible death. Why does he order a funeral pyre to be built for himself? Why doesn't he do it himself? Apparently, because, although, as we have already said, death for the heroic hero is directly or indirectly suicide, but, apparently, the human in Hercules must be killed, as the divine is killed in him, and must be killed precisely by people. Therefore, a fire is built for him. On such a powerful chord, on such a vivid image, the biography of Hercules ends.
The greatest mythological hero in history, his name is Hercules. Tormented by repentance for a terrifying sin, he must, in atonement for it, perform 12 incredible feats. This legend about a real hero, in which the events are encrypted ancient world.
more popular than Hercules ancient history There was no one. The son of God and a mortal woman, he is endowed with supernatural power, and his mission 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 represent heroes with various superpowers. In ancient Greece, one who was endowed with incredible physical strength was considered a hero, 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 the demigods have divine power, but at the same time they are mortal, they can be killed.
Why did Hera pursue Heracles?
AT ancient greece Hercules served as a role model, 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. In Hercules, Hera notices something special, something that distinguishes him from the rest of the children of Zeus, this is what was the beginning of Hera's hatred for Hercules.
One night, when Hercules was still very young, Hera sent two poisonous snakes to his house. But Hercules grabbed each of them 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 immortality was destined for him. 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, you can say that he is a god enclosed in a human body. Often, he unintentionally harms the people around him, so it is difficult for him to become his own among people.
Hercules found it difficult to establish emotional contacts, and his father did not protect him from the trials that Hera sent him.
Children and wife of Hercules
Desperately striving for a normal life, Hercules marries a beautiful princess who gives birth to two sons. However, Hera is already determined to make sure that Hercules will never know happiness.
This time, Hera sends madness to Hercules during his sleep. And waking up, Hercules sees in his wife and his two sons - terrible enemies. In the darkness of the night, Hercules kills them all. Waking up from his madness, he finds 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. The rage of Hercules subsided and was replaced by a strong repentance that would haunt him all his life. The Greeks called this the sin of bloodshed. It was something like a curse, which was imposed by the blood of the slain victim.
From now on, Hercules wants to get rid of the terrible stigma of the killer and this will permeate his whole life. To cleanse his soul, he will have to perform many feats that were previously beyond the control of anyone.
In desperation and confusion, in search of parting words, Hercules goes to the greatest soothsayer in ancient Greece in 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 by cruel punishment could he atone for his terrible guilt, for this he must go to his relative and sworn enemy, King Eurystheus.
But there is a catch here. Through the lips of the priestess, Hera broadcasts, 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. Making them, the hero will have to rid the world of the great filth.
Performing these tests, Hercules, on the one hand, undergoes purification, removes guilt for the murder of the entire family. We feel this is unfair. After all, there was no direct fault of Hercules in the murder of his family, because he was under the influence of Hera's madness. But the ancient Greeks did not care if 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 had committed.
1 feat 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 the skin of a lion cannot be pierced with an arrow. 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 in 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 exploits of Hercules, a motive can be traced, 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 feat of Hercules
In the second feat, Hercules needs to kill another monster - the nine-headed hydra. Something flashed near the surface of the water. Circles diverge ... this is a giant snake, not with one, but with nine heads like a dragon. Her poisonous breath envelops the victim, and she eats them alive.
But this time, the monster is confronted by an equal opponent, the strongest of all living people, 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. Thus destroying the hydra, Hercules dipped the tips of his arrows into her blood. Henceforth, the arrows of Hercules were poisonous.
3 and 4 feat of Hercules
Hercules then performs two more labors, killing Golden doe Artemis (an animal capable of outrunning a flying arrow on the run) and a carnivorous boar, which Hercules was able to catch alive.
Eurystheus asked Hercules such challenging tasks that he did not expect him to fulfill them. In Hercules, the prototype of the 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 the vast stables full of sewage. You only have one day to complete the task. This is a menial job that Hercules has never done before.
Bypassing the stables, Hercules notices that they pass between two full-flowing rivers, then a plan is born to him. With the help of his great power, he changes the course of the rivers so that they flood the stables and carry out all the sewage.
During the fifth feat, Hercules has to perform 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 Heracles establishes the Olympic Games, which since then have been held every 4 years on the sacred plain, on which the olive trees planted by Hercules in honor of the goddess Pallas Athena grew.
6 feat of Hercules
The sixth feat of Hercules is associated with birds that eat people. They symbolize the unattainable goals of man. He banishes them with poisonous arrows, marking an important milestone, half of the trials are over.
But the tests are getting harder and harder. They lead Hercules further and further into mysterious places.
7 feat of Hercules
To accomplish the seventh feat, Hercules goes to the island of Crete. He must find and capture 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 has to fight with people.
In the following exploits, Hercules fights two foreign rulers who threaten Greece.
8 feat of Hercules
First, he meets with the tyrant Diamed, the king of the bistones. Diamed's horses ate human flesh. Having defeated him, Hercules gave Diamed to be eaten by his own horses. This feat suggests that the evil done by you always returns.
This is the first feat when Hercules kills someone, sheds human blood.
9 feat of Hercules
The murder occurs in the next feat, when Hercules kills the Amazons, cruel women warriors, while stealing the belt of their leader Hippolyte, which, according to legend, was the belt of the god of war Ares and bestowed on 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 performs, he does not have peace inside. Physical pain cannot heal mental wounds.
10 feat of Hercules
Hercules is moving farther and farther away from Greece. To accomplish his tenth feat, Hercules must steal Gerion's cow herd.
Gerion was an evil giant with three pairs of legs and three heads. Being the grandson of the Gorgon Medusa, he is half a monster and will not give up his herd without a fight.
But the destruction of Gerion is only half the feat, the other half is to get to him. To do this, Hercules must, at the risk of his life, sail from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. But standing in his way mountain range connecting Europe and Africa and separating the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Hercules decides not to bypass 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 are connected.
The cliffs on both sides of the strait are forever associated with the name of Hercules. The rocks of Gibraltar are familiar to the ancient Greeks as the pillars of Hercules.
On the way to the Atlantic Ocean, all the ancient sailors had to swim through the pillars, many of them dropped anchor there to honor the Hero and pray for their lives, because they did not know what awaited them behind the rocks, if there was anything at all.
In the cave of the Rock of Gibraltar, many items with the symbols of Hercules were found.
After passing through the mountains, Hercules finds the three-headed Geryon with a herd. Gerion 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, the Huge giant falls, and Hercules kidnaps his herd. Thus ended the 10 feat.
Hercules apples of the Hesperides
Next, Hercules must travel to the ends of the earth to steal golden apples from a garden guarded by a hundred-headed dragon.
Apples, orchard, snakes, in this story there is a parallel with the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Christians of the first centuries compared the apples of the Hesperides with the paradise tree of life, as it was in ancient times, when these people spoke among themselves and recognized each other's legends.
These apples belong to Hera and are also a sign of her sacred union with Zeus.
Hercules has been looking for Hera's apples for years, not 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 bear the weight of the whole earth on his shoulders, he literally carries the world on himself. The common phrase to carry the world on your shoulders directly follows from the myth of the 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 apples, but he does not want to feel the weight of this world again. Then Hercules asked Atlas to hold the world for another second to put on his lion skin. Atlas agrees, and Hercules leaves with Hera's apples. The ocean, on the coast of which Hercules outwitted the sky-keeper Atlanta, was named in memory of this Atlantic. This was the eleventh test, only one remained.
The most difficult feat of Hercules
In the last test, Hera, through King Eurystheus, sends Hercules to where no mortal has ever returned - to the kingdom of the dead. Hercules must find his 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 were afraid that the dead soul might not realize that she had died and return to the living.
Finally infiltrating the realm of the dead, Hercules decides to speak diplomatically with Hades and asks him to let him take the Cerberus back to earth with him. Hades agrees, but on the condition that Hercules can defeat the dog with his bare hands.
The fight begins, Hercules manages to lay the dog on the ground and hold him until he suffocates.
Hercules brings the dog to the ground and the last 12 feat of Hercules is completed. Finally Hercules' punishments were over. He overcame all obstacles, all physical and mental anguish, now he has the right to go to rest.
Death of Hercules
Hercules builds a huge funeral pyre, his journey on earth ends in the same way as his life in suffering passed. 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, not Hercules himself is burned, 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 still softens. The suffering is finally over....
Burning in fire, he burns everything that is in him from a mortal, and only his essence remains ascending to heaven.
The last two labors of Hercules were the most difficult. Before he could return to his place in Tiryns, Eurystheus gave him another task. He ordered him to bring golden apples from the magical garden of the Hesperides.
An apple tree with golden fruits grew in this garden - it was presented 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 vault of heaven on his shoulders. The garden of the Hesperides was guarded by the hundred-headed dragon Ladon.
Having resorted to cunning, Hercules managed to deceive the mighty Atlas and with his help get golden apples.
The last, twelfth feat was performed by Hercules, when Eurystheus sent the hero to the kingdom of the dead Hades, so that he would deliver him the terrible three-headed dog Kerberos, guarding the entrance to the underworld. Instead of wool, this dog had snakes on its body, and at the end of the tail there was a snake's head with a huge mouth.
Eurystheus already rejoiced in advance:
This time, Hercules will not return alive!
Hercules went to the gloomy kingdom of Hades and reached its gates. But he did not want to steal Kerberos from the god Hades, who was the brother of Zeus, and decided to ask him to give him away. Hercules descended into the underworld, where night reigned forever, and went to his 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, take my sister Dejanira as your wife!
Hercules promised to fulfill the request of a friend and went on. Finally, he appeared before the throne of Hades.
What brings you to the realm of darkness, Hercules?
O great Hades! It was not of my own free will that I came here, and it is not of my own free will that I ask you...
Hades knew that Heracles was serving Eurystheus at the behest of the Olympian gods, and said:
Cerberus will be yours if you manage to tame it without weapons.
Hercules found a dog that was sitting on a chain at the gates of the underworld, and grabbed him by the neck. The dog howled menacingly and began to break out of the mighty hands of Hercules, fighting off with its tail and biting into his body with snake teeth. But the dog could not stand it and fell half-strangled at the feet of Hercules.
Hercules led Cerberus to the gates of Mycenae. Eurystheus almost died of fear when he saw a terrible three-headed dog, from whose mouths poisonous foam dripped. He cried out in horror:
Take him back to Hades!
Hercules returned the dog to the realm of the dead.
Having completed twelve labors, Hercules received the forgiveness of the gods and set off to wander the world. He reached Calydon, a city in Aetolia, where the beautiful Dejanira, the sister of his dead friend Meleager, lived.
Remembering the promise given to a friend in the underworld, Hercules began to ask King Calydon for the hand of his daughter Dejanira. But it turned out that among her many suitors was the river god Aheloy, and Dejanira 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 a bull's head. Dejanira was not happy with her fiancé, dying with 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 Aheloy to the ground, but he slipped out of his hands, turning into a snake.
Even in the cradle I strangled snakes! Hercules laughed and, like iron tongs, grabbed the snake by the neck.
Then Aheloy 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. On the way, they came to the turbulent river Even. On the shore they saw the centaur Nessus, who offered to transport Dejanira to the other side for a small fee. Hercules put Dejanira on a centaur, and he himself set off across the river by swimming.
But Nessus turned the other way and tried to kidnap Dejanira. Hearing the cries of his wife, Hercules grabbed his bow and shot a poisoned arrow at the kidnapper. Blood gushed from the wound, mixed with the venom of the Lernaean Hydra.
Dying, the centaur Ness said to Dejanira:
I didn't mean to hurt you! I want to give you advice: collect my blood and save it. She will help you keep the love of Hercules forever. If he ever stops loving you, rub his clothes with my blood - and no woman will be dearer to him than you!
Several years passed, and Dejanira found out that Hercules was going to marry a beautiful young girl. Resentment squeezed Dejanira's heart. And then she remembered what Ness had once told her.
She took out a vessel in which she kept the blood of a centaur, rubbed Hercules' tunic with it, put it in a casket and sent it to her husband with a messenger:
Let him put it on when he makes a sacrifice to Zeus!
But as soon as Hercules put on this tunic, it seemed to stick to his body, and a terrible poison began to burn him. Mad with pain, Hercules tried to tear off his clothes, but his blood was already boiling and the poison had penetrated to the bones. Only death could save Hercules from terrible torment.
He asked his friends to take him to the top of the mountain, build a big fire and burn him on it. Hercules spread a lion's skin on top of the woodpile, lay down on it, placing his club under his head, and ordered to light a fire. Thus died the great Hercules. But Zeus announced to all the gods:
Hercules will not be touched by death, he will be immortal! - and took him to Olympus.
Will rule over all relatives. Hera, having learned about this, hastened the birth of Perseid's wife Sthenelus, who gave birth to the weak and cowardly Eurystheus. Zeus involuntarily had to agree that Heracles, born after this Alcmene, obey Eurystheus - but not all his life, but only until he performs 12 great feats in his service.
Hercules from early childhood was distinguished by great strength. Already in the cradle, he strangled two huge snakes sent by the Hero to destroy the baby. Hercules spent his childhood in the Boeotian Thebes. He freed this city from the power of neighboring Orchomenus, and in gratitude the Theban king Creon gave his daughter, Megara, to Hercules. Soon Hera sent a fit of madness to Hercules, during which he killed his children and the children of his half-brother Iphicles (according to the tragedies of Euripides ("") and Seneca, Hercules killed his wife Megara as well). The Delphic oracle, in atonement for this sin, ordered Hercules to go to Eurystheus and perform, on his orders, those 12 feats that were destined for him by fate.
The first feat of Hercules (summary)
Hercules kills the Nemean Lion. Copy from the statue of Lysippos
The second feat of Hercules (summary)
The second feat of Hercules is the fight against the Lernean Hydra. Painting by A. Pollaiolo, ca. 1475
The third feat of Hercules (summary)
Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds. Statue of A. Bourdelle, 1909
The fourth feat of Hercules (summary)
The fourth feat of Hercules - Keriney doe
The fifth feat of Hercules (summary)
Hercules and the Erymanthian boar. Statue of L. Tuyon, 1904
The sixth feat of Hercules (summary)
The king of Elis, Avgiy, the son of the sun god Helios, received from his father numerous herds of white and red bulls. His huge barnyard has not been cleared for 30 years. Hercules offered to clear the stall for a day for Augeas, asking for a tenth of his herds in return. Considering that the hero could not cope with the work in one day, Avgiy agreed. Hercules blocked the rivers Alpheus and Peneus with a dam and diverted their water to the barnyard of Avgii - all the manure was washed away from it in a day.
The sixth feat - Hercules cleans the stables of Augius. Roman mosaic of the 3rd century. according to R. H. from Valencia
The seventh feat of Hercules (summary)
The seventh feat - Hercules and the Cretan bull. Roman mosaic of the 3rd century. according to R. H. from Valencia
The eighth feat of Hercules (summary)
The Thracian king Diomedes owned horses of marvelous beauty and strength, which could only be kept in a stall with iron chains. Diomedes fed his horses with human meat, killing strangers who came to him. Hercules led the horses by force and defeated Diomedes, who rushed in pursuit, in battle. During this time, the horses tore to pieces the companion of Hercules, Abder, who guarded them on the ships.
The ninth feat of Hercules (summary)
The queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, wore a belt given to her by the god Ares as a sign of her power. The daughter of Eurystheus, Admet, wished to have this belt. Hercules with a detachment of heroes sailed to the kingdom of the Amazons, to the shores of Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea). Hippolyta, at the request of Hercules, wanted to give the belt voluntarily, but other Amazons attacked the hero and killed several of his companions. Hercules slew the seven strongest warriors in battle and put their army to flight. Hippolyta gave him the belt as a ransom for the captured Amazon Melanippe.
On the way back from the country of the Amazons, Hercules saved Hesion at the walls of Troy, the daughter of the Trojan king Laomendont, doomed, like Andromeda, to sacrifice to the sea monster. Hercules killed the monster, but Laomedon did not give him the promised reward - the horses of Zeus belonging to the Trojans. For this, Hercules a few years later made a trip to Troy, took it and killed the whole family of Laomedont, leaving only one of his sons, Priam, alive. Priam ruled Troy during the glorious Trojan War.
The tenth feat of Hercules (summary)
At the very western edge of the earth, the giant Gerion, who had three bodies, three heads, six arms and six legs, grazed cows. By order of Eurystheus, Hercules went after these cows. The long journey to the west itself was already a feat, and in memory of him Hercules erected two stone (Hercules) pillars on both sides of a narrow strait near the shores of the Ocean (modern Gibraltar). Geryon lived on the island of Erithia. So that Hercules could reach him, the solar god Helios gave him his horses and a golden boat, on which he himself swims daily through the sky.
Having killed the guards of Geryon - the giant Eurytion and the two-headed dog Orfo - Hercules captured the cows and drove them to the sea. But then Gerion himself rushed at him, covering his three bodies with three shields and throwing three spears at once. However, Hercules shot him with a bow and finished him off with a club, and he transported the cows on the boat of Helios across the Ocean. On the way to Greece, one of the cows ran away from Hercules to Sicily. To free her, the hero had to kill the Sicilian king Eriks in a duel. Then Hera, hostile to Hercules, sent rabies to the herd, and the cows that fled from the shores of the Ionian Sea were barely caught in Thrace. Eurystheus, having received the cows of Geryon, sacrificed them to Hera.
Eleventh feat of Hercules (summary)
By order of Eurystheus, Hercules descended through the abyss of Tenar into the gloomy kingdom of the god of the dead Hades, in order to take away his guard from there - the three-headed dog Cerberus, whose tail ended in the head of a dragon. At the very gates of the underworld, Hercules freed the Athenian hero Theseus, who, along with his friend Perifoy, was punished by the gods for trying to steal his wife Persephone from Hades. In the realm of the dead, Hercules met the shadow of the hero Meleager, whom he promised to become the protector of his lonely sister Dejanira and marry her. The lord of the underworld, Hades, himself allowed Hercules to take Cerberus away - but only if the hero manages to tame him. Finding Cerberus, Hercules began to fight him. He half strangled the dog, pulled him out of the ground and brought him to Mycenae. The cowardly Eurystheus, at one glance at the terrible dog, began to beg Hercules to take her back, which he did.
Eleventh Labor of Hercules - Cerberus
The twelfth feat of Hercules (summary)
Hercules had to find a way to the great titan Atlas (Atlanta), who holds the vault of heaven on his shoulders at the edge of the earth. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to take three golden apples from the golden tree of the Atlas garden. To find out the way to the Atlas, Hercules, on the advice of the nymphs, guarded the sea god Nereus on the seashore, grabbed him and held him until he showed the right way. On the way to the Atlas through Libya, Hercules had to fight the cruel giant Antaeus, who received new powers by touching his mother - Earth-Gaia. After a long fight, Hercules lifted Antaeus into the air and strangled him without lowering him to the ground. In Egypt, King Busiris wanted to sacrifice Hercules to the gods, but the angry hero killed Busiris along with his son.
Hercules fighting Antaeus. Artist O. Coudet, 1819
Photo - Jastrow
Atlas himself went to his garden for three golden apples, but Hercules at that time needed to hold the vault of heaven for him. Atlas wanted to deceive Hercules: he offered to personally take the apples to Eurystheus, provided that at that time Hercules would continue to hold the sky for him. But the hero, realizing that the cunning titan would not return, did not give in to deception. Hercules asked Atlas to change him under the sky for a short rest, and he took the apples and left.
The sequence of the 12 major labors of Hercules varies in different mythological sources. The eleventh and twelfth feats change places especially often: a number of ancient authors consider the descent to Hades after Cerberus the last accomplishment of Hercules, and the journey to the garden of the Hesperides - the penultimate one.
Other exploits of Hercules
After completing 12 feats, Heracles, freed from the power of Eurystheus, defeated the best archer of Greece, Eurytus, the king of the Euboean Oichalia, in a shooting competition. Eurytus did not give Hercules the promised reward for this - his daughter Iola. Hercules then married in the city of Calydon to Dejanira, the sister of Meleager, whom he met in the kingdom of Hades. Seeking the hand of Dejanira, Hercules endured a difficult duel with the river god Achelous, who during the fight turned into a snake and a bull.
Hercules and Dejanira went to Tiryns. On the way, Dejanira was attempted to be kidnapped by the centaur Nessus, who offered to transport the married couple across the river. Hercules killed Nessus with arrows soaked in the bile of the Lernaean hydra. Before his death, Ness secretly from Hercules advised Dejanira to collect his blood poisoned by the poison of the hydra. The centaur assured that if Dejanira rubbed her clothes with Hercules, then no other woman would ever please him.
In Tiryns, during a fit of madness again sent by the Hero, Hercules killed his close friend, the son of Eurytus, Ifit. Zeus punished Hercules for this with a serious illness. Trying to find out a remedy for her, Hercules went on a rampage in the Delphic temple and fought with the god Apollo. Finally, it was revealed to him that he must sell himself for three years as a slave to the Lydian queen Omphale. For three years, Omphala subjected Hercules to terrible humiliations: she forced him to wear women's clothing and spin, and she herself wore a lion's skin and a hero's club. However, Omphale allowed Hercules to take part in the campaign of the Argonauts.
Freed from slavery by Omphale, Hercules took Troy and avenged his previous deception to its king, Laomedon. He then participated in the battle of the gods with the giants. The mother of giants, the goddess Gaia, made these children of hers invulnerable to the weapons of the gods. Only a mortal could kill giants. During the battle, the gods threw the giants to the ground with weapons and lightning, and Hercules finished them off with their arrows.
Death of Hercules
Following this, Hercules set off on a campaign against King Eurytus, who insulted him. Having defeated Eurytus, Hercules captured his daughter, the beautiful Iola, whom he was supposed to receive even after the previous competition with her father in archery. Upon learning that Hercules was going to marry Iola, Dejanira, in an attempt to return her husband's love, sent him a cloak soaked in the blood of the centaur Ness soaked in the poison of the Lernean hydra. As soon as Hercules put on this cloak, he stuck to his body. The poison penetrated the skin of the hero and began to cause terrible torment. Dejanira, having learned about her mistake, committed suicide. This myth became the plot of the tragedy of Sophocles "Trachinian"
Realizing that death was near, Hercules ordered that his eldest son, Gill, take him to the Thessalian mountain Eta and lay a funeral pyre there. Hercules gave his bow with poisoned arrows to the hero Philoctetes, a future participant in the Trojan War, who agreed to set fire to the flame.
As soon as the fire caught fire, the gods Athena and Hermes descended from the sky in thunder and lightning, who carried Hercules to Olympus in a golden chariot. Hercules married there the eternally young goddess Hebe and was accepted into the host of immortals.
After the death of Hercules, the cowardly Eurystheus began to persecute his children (Heraclides). They had to take refuge in Athens, with the son of Theseus, Demophon. The army of Eurystheus invaded the Athenian land, but was defeated by an army led by the eldest son of Hercules, Gill. The Heraclids became the ancestors of one of the four main branches of the Greek people - the Dorians. Three generations after Gylus, the Dorian invasion of the south culminated in the conquest of the Peloponnese, which the Heraclides considered the legitimate heritage of their father, treacherously taken from him by the cunning of the goddess Hera. In news of the captures of the Dorians, legends and myths are already mixed with memories of genuine historical events.
