The Labors and Death of Heracles - Musowls

The Labors of Heracles
By Benton Ferebee and David Gaines

Hera
• Daughter of Cronus and Rhea
• Wife (and sister) of Zeus
• Jealous of Zeus’ many love affairs
• Symbols: Pomegranate, Peacock feather, and
the Diadem
• Gave birth to Ares, Enyo, Hebe, Eileithyia,
Hephaestus, and Eris

Zeus
• Son of Cronus and Rhea
• Kill his own father but not before rescuing his
siblings from the depths of his fathers’
stomach
• Father of Hercules

Birth
After Hercules, the Roman name for Heracles,
was born to Zeus, the god of the sky and
lightening, and a mortal, Zeus’ wife, Hera, grew
jealous of Hercules. She sent two serpents to kill
him quietly in night. In the morning Hercules
was found strangling the serpents as if they
were ragdolls.

Labor 1: The Nemean Lion
• Molorchus * club
• Deal- 30 Days *Choking
• Arrows were useless

Labor 2: The Lernaen Hydra
• Club was useless
• Two heads after one
• Iolaus used a troch to
burn the edge of the
head before the two
could grow back
• Eurystheus denied this
labor because Iolaus
helped Hercules
• After the hydra was
killed, Hercules ripped it
open and dipped his
arrows in its poison

Labor 3: The Hind of Ceryneia
*Hind=female deer
• Special deer
• Golden horns
• Bronze hooves
• Artemis’ special pet
• Year long chase
• Atremisius
• River Ladon
• After Hercules told Artemis
that he had to complete these
labors, she healed the hind
and Hercules carried it alive to
Eurystheus

Labor 4: The Erymanthian Boar
• Hercules was ordered to bring
Eurystheus the boar alive
• Lived on a mountain called
Erymanthus
• Killed men every day
• Visited Pholus a centaur
• Attacked by centaurs for drinking
wine
• A poisoned arrow fell onto Pholus’
foot and killed him
• Hercules chased the boar into a
thicket and captured it in a net

Labor 5: The Augean Stables
• Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clean the
stables of King Augeas
• He owned thousands of cattle
• He was completely caught off guard when
Hercules said he would clean the stables
for a tenth of his cattle
• Hercules took King Augeas’ son to watch
• Hercules tore holes in both sides of the
barn and dug trenches so the nearby river
could flow the mess right out of the stables
• When Hercules went to collect his reward,
King Augeas refused because he had heard
that Eurystheus was behind sending
Hercules
• Hercules took it to court, and made King
Augeas’ son testify against his dad
• The judge ruled in favor of Hercules, but
King Augeas banished Hercules and his son
• Eurystheus denied this labor because he
got paid for doing it

Labor 6: The Stymphalian Birds
• Drive away birds from nearby Stymphalos
• Athena gives Hercules noisemaking krotala
• Hecules used the krotala to lure the birds
out of their nests and shot them with his
arrows
• 2 nd century AD travel writer named
Pausanias tried to find these monstous
birds
• “These fly against those who come to hunt
them, wounding and killing them with their
beaks. All armor of bronze or iron that men
wear is pierced by the birds; but if they
weave a garment of thick cork, the beaks of
the Stymphalian birds are caught in the
cork garment... These birds are of the size
of a crane, and are like the ibis, but their
beaks are more powerful, and not crooked
like that of the ibis.”

Poseidon, Minos, and the Bull
• Poseidon was going to help Minos, future king of Crete,
claim the throne. In return, Minos had to sacrifice
anything Poseidon sent him from the sea. One day the
god of the sea decided to send a bull from the sea.
Minos still remembered his promise, but decided the
bull too beautiful to kill. Poseidon grew angry. He made
the bull rampage the city, and made Minos’ wife,
Pasiphae fall in love with the beast. Soon after,
Pasiphae gave birth to the mighty Minotaur, a beast
with “the head of a bull and the body of a man”. Minos
had nothing to do but banish the Minotaur into the
Labyrinth, and the keep it quiet, fed it prisoners every
year.

Labor 7: The Cretan Bull
• Hercules was sent to
Crete, and quickly
wrestled the brute to the
ground
• When Hercules brought it
back to Eurystheus, he let
it free
• It rampaged the the
surrounding cities and
wound up in Marathon
• Theseus later killed the
bull, and then killed the
Minotaur

Labor 8: The Horses of Diomedes
• Hercules sailed to Bistonia with a
group of volunteers
• Hercules and his men took the horses
from the grooms, and took them back
to the sea
• The Bistonians sent men of their own
and fought Hercules and his men
• While Hercules was fighting, he gave
the horses to Abderos
• The horses soon overpowered him and
trampled him until he was dead
• Eurystheus released the man-eating
mares into the wild
• They soon came to Mount Olympos
where they were devoured by wild
animals

The Amazons
Their name has nothing to do with the amazon
river. It means “missing one breast”. This was
because everytime they threw spears, their right
breast got in the way. They lived apart from men
and if they gave birth, they killed the boys and
only kept the girls.

Behind the Belt
• Queen Hippolyte was given a special belt by
Ares, god of war
• It was fashioned across her chest and helped
her carry her sword and spear
• Eursytheus wanted the belt, so it could be
given to his daughter, and Hercules had to
bring it back

Labor 9: The Belt of Hippolyte
• Hercules’ volunteer friends voyaged
with him to fight the Amazons
• Hippolyte came to see them when they
reached land
• She agreed to give him the belt, but
Hera did not like that
• She changed her form into an Amazon
warrior, and told the others that
Hercules and his men were going to
kidnap the queen
• When Hercules saw them coming, he
quickly killed the queen and took the
belt
• Hercules and his men engaged in a
great battle with the Amazon warriors
• Soon they drove away the enemy and
quickly sailed home

Chrysaor, Callirrhoe, and Geryon
• Chrysaor was one of the two beasts that came
from Medusa’s body after Perseus killed her
• Callirrhoe was the daughter of Oceanus and
Tethys, two Titans.
• Geryon had “three heads and three sets of
legs”

Labor 10: Geryon’s Cattle
• A two-headed dog named Orthus
attacked Hercules when he reached
Geryon’s island
• After he stole the herd, two of
Poseidon’s sons tried to steal it
• A bull escaped from Hercules, and Eyrx
added it to his herd
• Eyrx told Hercules he would give him
the bull back if he beat him in
wrestling
• Hercules beat the king three times,
killed the king, and took the bull
• Hera sent a gadfly, a fly that annoys
animals, and the herd scattered
• Hercules quickly regained control of
the herd, and brought it to Erystheus
who sacrificed it to Hera

Behind the Golden Apples
• Hera gave the golden apples to Zeus as a
wedding gift
• They were guarded by a hundred-headed
dragon name Ladon, and the Hesperides,
nymphs whose father was Atlas, a Titan

Labor 11: The Apples of Hesperides
• Hercules first had to find the garden because he did not know where it
was
• Hercules made his way to Illyria, where the old man of the sea and
one of the only people who knew the true whereabouts of the garden,
Nereus, made his dwelling
• Hercules grabbed him and held on for his life as Nereus changed into
many different shapes trying to get Hercules off of him
• Hercules finally got what he wanted and continued on his quest
• Hercules was challenged to a fight by Antaeus, but Hercules quickly
crushed him
• Then Hercules was captured by Busiris, and taken to become a human
sacrifice
• Hercules got away and killed Busiris
• Hercules soon made his way to Mount Caucasus, where Prometheus
was chained
• Hercules killed the eagle when he got there
• In gratitude, Prometheus sent Atlas to get the apples while Hercules
held the world on his back in place of Atlas
• Atlas got the apples, but forced Hercules to hold the world for the rest
of time
• Hercules tricked him by asking him to take it back while he got some
padding for his shoulders
• After Hercules gave the apple to Eurystheus, Eurystheus gave them
back to Athena

The Underworld and Cerberus
• According to Greek mythology, after a person
died their spirit went t the underworld, ruled by
Hades and Persephone. If a person lived a bad
life, they had to endure eternal punishment, but
if a person lived a good life, they were rewarded.
• Cerberus was the guard to Hades. Is was said that
he had “three heads of wild dogs, a dragon or
serpent for a tail, and heads of snakes all over his
back”.

Labor 12: Cerberus
• For the final labor, Hercules had to
go kidnap Cerberus from the
Underworld
• Hercules took some precautions
before going, like visiting a priest
• Hercules had to travel to Taenarum
in Laconia
• When Hercules reached the
Underworld, Hades agreed to give
him Cerberus, but only if he
defeated Cerberus without the use
of weapons
• After Hercules quickly defeated
Cerberus, he brought him the
Eurystheus

Works Cited
• http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/greek/Th
e-Legends_of_Heracles.htm
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/labors
.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hera
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeus