Herculus

The Greeks called him Heracles. The Romans called him Hercules.

He was the son of Zeus, the king of the gods. His mother was Alcmene, a mortal woman. That makes him a demigod. His strength and courage were beyond anything a normal man had.

Early Life and The Twelve Labors

The best-known stories about Hercules are the Twelve Labors. These were tasks that looked impossible. He had to complete them as a penance.

Nemean Lion
Hercules had to kill a lion that no weapon could wound. He strangled it. He used its own claws to skin it and wore the hide as a cloak.

Lernaean Hydra
This was a snake with many heads. When one head was cut off, it grew back. Hercules burned each neck after cutting off the head, so nothing could grow back.

Ceryneian Hind
This sacred deer had golden horns. He had to catch it alive. It took him a year of chasing.

Erymanthian Boar
He caught this fearsome boar alive. He brought it back to King Eurystheus.

Augean Stables
King Augeas kept thousands of cattle in these stables. Hercules cleaned them in one day. He did it by sending two rivers through them.

Stymphalian Birds
These birds ate people. Hercules scared them out of the Stymphalian marshes. Then he shot many of them.

Cretan Bull
A raging bull was terrorizing Crete. He caught it and brought it back to Eurystheus.

Mares of Diomedes
These horses ate people. Hercules tamed them. He fed their master, Diomedes, to them.

Belt of Hippolyta
Hippolyta was the Queen of the Amazons. At first Hercules got her belt peacefully. Then Hera stepped in. She was Zeus’ wife and Hercules’ stepmother. After that he had to fight the Amazons.

Cattle of Geryon
Geryon was a monster who lived at the end of the world. Hercules traveled there and killed him. Then he took the cattle.

Apples of the Hesperides
A dragon with a hundred heads guarded these golden apples. In one version Hercules killed the dragon. In another he tricked Atlas into fetching the apples for him.

Cerberus
This was the last labor. Cerberus was the three-headed dog at the gate of the Underworld. Hercules had to capture him without weapons. He did.

Later Adventures and Death
The labors were not the end of his story. He fought many enemies, some human and some monsters. He sailed with the Argonauts in the quest for the Golden Fleece. He also played a key part in the Trojan War, on the side of the Greeks.

His death was cruel. His wife, Deianira, was tricked into giving him a poisoned shirt. It stuck to his skin. The pain was unbearable, so Hercules built his own funeral pyre. From that fire he rose to Olympus and became a god.

Legacy
People remember Hercules for his strength and his bravery. He overcame great odds. His story has been told again and again, from Greek plays to modern films. His story stands for the human fight against hardship.