Two nymphs (Depravity and Virtue) offered our hero, when he was still young, a choice between a pleasant, easy life or a hard, but glorious and full of exploits, and Hercules chose the latter. One of the first trials was arranged for him by King Thespius, who wanted the hero to kill a lion on Mount Kiferon. As a reward, the king invited him to impregnate each of his 50 daughters, which Hercules carried out in one night (sometimes referred to as the 13th feat).
The hero later married Megara. The goddess Hera sent him a fit of insanity, as a result of which Hercules killed Megara and his children. Our hero went to the Delphic oracle to find out his fate. The oracle was controlled by Hera, about which he had no idea. Following the prediction received, the hero went to serve King Eurystheus, for 12 years fulfilling any of his instructions. Many victories were won in this service, their description is collected in the book "The Twelve Feats of Hercules," this myth or true, each reader has the right to decide for himself. Feats brought the hero great fame and fame. Indeed, to think only, Heracles is known and remembered until now, after many millennia!
Briefly, the twelve exploits of Hercules will be described below.
Feat 1. Nemean Lion
The first task given to Heracles Eurystheus (cousin of the hero) is to kill the Nemean Leo and bring his skin. It was believed that Leo was a descendant of Typhon and Echidna. He controlled the lands around Nemea and had such a thick skin that it was impenetrable by any weapon. When Hercules first tried to kill the beast, any of his weapons (bow and arrows, a club of olive wood, which he pulled directly from the ground, and a bronze sword) were ineffective. Finally, the hero dropped his weapon, attacked Leo with his bare hands and strangled him (in some versions he broke Leo's jaw).
Hercules was already disbelieved that he could complete the task, because he could not remove the skin from the beast. However, the goddess Athena helped him, saying that the claws of the animal itself are the best tool for this. The twelve deeds of Hercules were accomplished not without the help of the skin of the Nemean Lion, which was used for protection.
Feat 2. Lernean Hydra
The second feat was the destruction of the Lernean Hydra, a sea creature with many heads and poisonous breathing. The monster had so many heads that the ancient artist, drawing on a vase, could not depict them all. Arriving in a swamp near Lake Lerna, Hercules covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect them from toxic fumes. Then he shot red-hot arrows at the monster's den to attract his attention. Hercules attacked Hydra with a sickle. But, as soon as he cut off her head, he discovered that two more heads had grown in her place. Then our hero called his nephew, Iolaus, to help. Iolaus (perhaps inspired by Athena) suggested using burning firebrands after they chop off Hydra's head. The animal's own poisonous blood was thus used to burn the heads, and they could not grow again. When Eurystheus learned that his nephew was helping Hercules, he declared that his feat was not counted.
Feat 3. Cerinean Doe
Eurystheus was very indignant that Hercules managed to avoid death by completing the previous two tasks, so he decided to spend more time thinking about the third test, which would certainly bring death to the hero. The third task was not connected with the murder of the beast, since Eurystheus thought that Hercules could cope even with the most formidable opponents. The king sent him to capture the Cerinean Doe.
There were rumors about this animal that it runs so fast that it can overtake the flight of any arrow. Hercules noticed the Doe by the golden glitter of her horns. He pursued her for a year in the vastness of Greece, Thrace, Istria, Hyperborea. Our hero caught the Doe when she was exhausted and could not continue to run. Eurystheus gave Hercules this difficult task also because he hoped to arouse the wrath of the goddess Artemis for defiling the sacred animal. When the hero returned with Doe, he encountered Artemis and Apollo. He asked the goddess for forgiveness, explaining his act by saying that he had to catch the animal in order to atone for his guilt, but promised to return it. Artemis forgave Hercules. But, having arrived with Doe in the courtyard, he learned that the animal should remain in the royal menagerie. Hercules knew that he should return the Doe, as promised to Artemis, so he agreed to give it only on condition that Eurystheus himself went out and took the animal. The king came out, and at the moment when our hero passed the Doe to the king, she fled.
Feat 4. Erimanf Boar
The twelve exploits of Hercules are continued by the fourth - the capture of the Erimanf Boar. On the way to the place of the feat, the hero visited Foul, a kind and hospitable centaur. Hercules had lunch with him, and then asked for wine. Foul had only one pitcher, a gift from Dionysus, but the hero convinced him to open the wine. The smell of the drink attracted other centaurs, who got drunk with undiluted wine and attacked. Hercules shot them with his poisonous arrows, forcing the survivors to retreat to the cave of Chiron.
Foul, curious about the arrows, took one and dropped it on his foot. The arrow also struck Chiron, who was immortal. Hercules asked Chiron how to catch the Boar. He replied that it was necessary to drive him into deep snow. Chiron's pain caused by the arrow wound was so intense that he voluntarily renounced immortality. Following his advice, Hercules caught the Boar and brought it to the king. Eurystheus was so frightened of the formidable animal that he climbed into his night pot and asked Hercules to get rid of the beast. The twelve exploits of Hercules, pictures and a description of the following exploits see below.
Feat 5. Augean Stables
The story "The Twelve Feats of Hercules" continues with the cleansing of the Augean stables in one day. Eurystheus gave the hero such a task to humiliate him in the eyes of people, because previous deeds glorified Heracles. The inhabitants of the stables were a gift from the gods, and therefore they were never sick and did not die, it was considered impossible to clean them. However, our hero succeeded, he came up with to change the channels of the rivers Alfei and Peny, which washed all the dirt.
Augeus was angry because he had promised Heracles a tenth of his cattle if the work was done within 24 hours. He refused to keep his promise. Hercules killed him after completing the task, and transferred the control of the kingdom to the son of Auggius, Philaeus.
Feat 6. Stimphalia Birds
The Twelve Feats of Hercules, the author continues with the next feat. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to kill birds that feed on humans. They were the pets of Ares and were forced to fly to Stimphalia to avoid the pursuit of a pack of wolves. These birds multiplied rapidly, capturing the countryside and destroying the crop of local crops and fruit trees. The forest in which they lived was very dark and dense. Athena and Hephaestus helped Hercules by forging huge copper rattles that scared flying birds and helped the hero shoot them down with arrows. The surviving Stimphalian birds never again returned to Greece.
Feat 7. Cretan bull
The seventh task of Hercules was to go to the island of Crete, where the local king Minos allowed him to pick up the bull, as he wreaked havoc on the island. Hercules defeated the bull and sent him back to Athens. Eurystheus wanted to sacrifice the bull to the goddess Hera, who continued to be angry with the hero. She refused to accept such a gift, since it was obtained as a result of the victory of Hercules. The bull was released and went to wander around the Marathon. According to another version, he was killed at this city.
Feat 8. Coney Diomedes
Hercules had to steal horses. In different versions of the books "The Twelve Feats of Hercules," the names of the exploits vary slightly, and the plot changes somewhat. For example, according to one version, the hero took his friend Abder and other men with him. They stole the horses and were pursued by Diomedes and his assistants. Hercules did not know that the horses were cannibals, and it was impossible to tame them. He left Abder to look after them, and he went to fight with Diomedes. Abder was eaten by animals. In retaliation, Hercules fed Diomedes to his own horses.
According to another option, the hero collected animals on the heights of the peninsula and quickly dug a trench, filling it with water, thus forming an island. When Diomedes arrived, Hercules killed him with the ax used to create the trench and fed his horses his body. The meal made the horses calmer, and the hero took advantage of this to gag them and send them to Eurystheus. Then the horses were freed and began to roam around Argos, calmed down forever. The twelve exploits of Hercules depict pictures of ancient artists very picturesquely.
Feat 9. Hippolyta's Belt
The ninth task of Hercules was to receive at the request of Admeta, daughter of Eurystheus, the belt of Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons. The belt was a gift from Ares, the god of war. So the hero came to the land of the Amazons, a famous tribe of women warriors who lived on the banks of the Fermodont River, which flowed through the north-east of Asia Minor and flowed into the Black Sea.
According to one legend, in order to save their men, leave them at home, the Amazons killed the arms and legs of male babies, making them unsuitable for war. According to another legend, they killed all the male infants. The Amazons left chest was either open or cut off so as not to interfere with their use of the bow or throwing spears.
Hippolyta was so fascinated by the hero’s muscles and lion skin that she herself gave him the belt without a fight. But Hera, who continued to follow Heracles, assumed the form of an Amazon and spread among them a rumor that Heracles wanted to abduct the queen. Amazons rushed at the enemy. In the ensuing battle, the hero killed Hippolyta and received a belt. Then he and his comrades defeated the Amazons and returned with a trophy.
Feat 10. Herion's Herd
Hercules had to go to Erithea to get a herd of Herion. On the way there, he crossed the Libyan Desert and was so annoyed by the heat that he fired an arrow at the Sun. The luminary was delighted with his exploits and gave him a golden boat, which he used every night to cross the sea from west to east. Hercules on the boat reached Erithea. As soon as he stepped on this earth, he came across a two-headed dog, Orff. With one blow, our hero killed a guard dog. The shepherd came to the aid of Orff, but Hercules did the same to him.
Hearing the noise, Gerion himself went to the hero with three shields, three spears and three helmets. He pursued Hercules on the Antemus River, but fell victim to an arrow dipped in the poisonous blood of the Lernean Hydra. The arrow was fired with such force that the hero pierced Herion's forehead with it. The herd was sent to Eurystheus.
To annoy Hercules, Hera sent a gadfly that stung animals, causing them to scatter. It took the hero a year to assemble the herd. Then Hera made a flood, raising the level of the river so that Hercules, along with the herd, could not cross it. Then our hero threw stones into the water and made the water level lower. Eurystheus sacrificed the flock to the goddess Hera.
Feat 11. Apples Hesperides
Eurystheus did not count Heracles two exploits, as they were accomplished with the help of others or bribery, so he assigned two additional tasks to the hero. The first of these was to steal apples from the Hesperides garden. Hercules first caught Nereus, the god who took the form of a sea wave, and asked him where the garden was located. He then tricked Atlas by promising him several golden apples if he agreed to hold the sky for a while. When the hero returned, Atlas decided that he would not want to hold more sky, and offered to deliver the apples himself. Hercules again deceived him, agreeing to take his place, provided that he held the sky for a while so that the hero could correct his cloak. Atlas agreed, but Hercules left and never returned.
On the way back, our hero had to go through many adventures. In Libya, he met the giant Antei, the son of Gaia and Poseidon, who loved to fight with his guests to exhaustion, and then kill them. When they fought, Hercules realized that the power of the giant and its energy are renewed every time he falls to the earth, since the Earth was his mother. Then the hero lifted the giant high into the air and crushed it with his hands.
Arriving in the Caucasus Mountains, he met with the titan Prometheus, who was chained to a rock for 30,000 years. Taking pity on him, Hercules killed an eagle feasting on titanium every day for all these years. Then he went to the wounded centaur Chiron, see feat 4 ("The Twelve Feats of Hercules," a summary), which implored him to free him from pain.
When the hero finally brought the golden apples to Eurystheus, the king immediately gave him the fruits back, since they belonged to Hera and could not remain outside the garden. Hercules gave them to Athena, who returned the apples to their place.
Feat 12. Taming Cerberus
Closes the twelve exploits of Hercules the taming of Cerberus from the underworld of Hades. Hades was the god of the dead and the ruler of the underworld. The hero first went to Eleusis to be ordained to the Eleusinian mysteries and to be able to enter the underworld and return from there alive, and at the same time to absolve himself of the guilt for killing the centaurs. Athena and Hermes helped him find the entrance to the earthly world.
Hercules walked past Charon, the shadow carrier, with the help of Hermes. In hell he freed Theseus, but when he tried to free his friend Pirifoy, an earthquake began, and the hero was forced to leave him in the underworld. Both friends were imprisoned for trying to abduct Persephone, the wife of Hades, and with the help of magic they were chained to a stone. The magic spell was so strong that when Hercules freed Theseus, part of his hips remained on the stone.
The hero appeared before the throne of Aida and Persephone and asked for permission to take Cerberus. The gods agreed, but on condition that he did not harm him. According to one version, Persephone gave her consent because Hercules was her brother. Then our hero drove the dog to Eurystheus, passing through the cave at the entrance to the Peloponnese. When he returned to the palace with Cerberus, Eurystheus was so frightened by the formidable beast that he jumped into a large vessel to escape from him. From the saliva of a dog that fell to the ground, the first poisonous plants grew, including aconite.
You read The Twelve Feats of Hercules, a summary. A whole book is dedicated to these exploits. The collection "The Twelve Feats of Hercules" Kuhn compiled, bringing together all the exploits of the hero. Another option was suggested by a Russian writer. In the book “The Twelve Feats of Hercules,” Ouspensky set out his vision no less interesting.
Cinema also did not stand aside from these exciting myths. The film "The Twelve Feats of Hercules" exists in many versions in different countries of the world, there are even series dedicated to these events.