The Story of Hercules As Told by The Ancient Sources

On Greek mythology.

I’ve read the Biliotheca, one of the original documents that carried Greek mythology across the ages.

Find below a short version of the story of Hercules as told in the book.

Heracles

Hercules is the Roman name of the demi-god Heracles. We will therefore use the name Heracles as we are concerned with the most authentic version of the story.

Heracles was born from Zeus and Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon. When he was eight months, Hera (Zeus’ wife) threw two snakes into Heracles’ bed.

He killed them both with his bare hands.

Heracles spent his childhood learning how to fight, ride horses, wrestle, and play the zither as taught by Linos (Orpheus’ brother.)

One day, Linos hit Heracles who then killed him out of anger. Amphitryon sent him to keep the cows in the countryside so that this type of incident does not happen again.

He grew up to become taller, stronger, and better than everybody else. One day, a lion came from the mountain to kill the cows of Amphytrion and Thespius, the Thespians’ king.

He killed the lion and wore his skin as a coat, and his head as a helmet.

Impressed, Thespius offered him hospitality for 50 nights, giving him each night one of his 50 daughters in the hope to have strong grandchildren this way, without Heracles’ notice.

After freeing the Thespians from Thebes, Heracles received a sword from Hermes, arrows from Apollo, a golden cuirass from Hephaistos, and a coat from Athena.

Since Hera was jealous of him, she drove him crazy and Heracles killed some of his children.

He condemned himself and left the Thespians for Delphi where he asked Pithya where he should establish himself.

Pithya named him Heracles (his name up to now had been Alcide) and told him to go to Tiryns to serve its king, Euristeo, for 12 years, and accomplish the 10 labors he would give him.

If he succeeded, he’d be granted immortality by Zeus.

So Heracles went to see Euristeo.

The First Labor: Kill The Nemean Lion

His first labor was to bring back the Nemean lion’s skin, which was invulnerable.

Heracles first shot him with his arrows and when he realized the lion could not be killed this way, pursued it to his lair that had a double entrance.

He blocked one of the entrances and jumped on the lion who got out by the other entrance. He strangled it until it died.

He carried it back to Tiryns and thus, accomplished his first labor.

The Second Labor: Kill the Lernaean Hydra

The Hydra lived in Lerna. It had 9 heads, one immortal, and eight mortal and killed the herds and destroyed the houses in the area.

So Heracles went to Lerna with Iolaus.

He quickly began fighting with the Hydra but every time he cut one of its heads, two came back. A giant crab came to help the Hydra so Heracles first killed the crab, then asked for the help of Iolaus.

Iolaus burnt the forest around and used the wood to burn the root of each head that tried to grow again after the previous one had been cut.

This way, Heracles managed to cut them all. He cut the immortal head and buried it under a big stone.

Euristeo did not count this as a success since Iolaus helped Heracles.

The Third Labor: Capture The Ceryneian Hind Alive

The third labor was to capture the Ceryneian hind alive and bring it to Mycenae.

Since he couldn’t shoot his arrow, Heracles pursued the hind for a year. Exhausted, the hind let itself be captured.

The Fourth Labor: Capture The Erymanthian Boar Alive

Euristeo asked Heracles to bring back the Erymanthian boar, alive.

On his way, Heracles passed by the centaur Pholus’ house, who invited him to dine.

Heracles asked him for wine, but Pholus refused to open the communal barrel which had been reserved for special occasions, fearing that the smell would alert the other centaurs.

Heracles insisted and Pholus obliged. A few minutes later, the centaurs were in front of his door.

Heracles fought back and some centaurs escaped to Chiron (a wise centaur). Heracles went after them and shot an arrow that ended up in Chiron’s knee.

Heracles was sorry.

He tried to heal Chiron but the wound could not be cured. Chiron wanted to die but he was immortal.

So Prometheus offered Zeus to be immortal instead of Chiron. Zeus accepted, and Chiron died.

As he looked at the corpses, Pholus took one of Heracles’ arrows and wondered how such a small weapon could kill such big beasts.

He dropped the arrow on his foot and died immediately.

When Heracles came back, he buried Pholus, went to get the boar, captured it in a net, and went back to Tiryns.

The Fifth Labor: Evacuate The Manure of Augeas’ Cows in One Day

Augeas was king of Elis. Heracles went to him and offered to clean the stables in a day against one tenth of his herd.

Augeas accepted and took his son, Phylea, as a witness (remember this for later).

Heracles dug a canal around the stables and managed to clean it all in a day.

But when Augeas learned he did it because Euristeo asked him to, he refused to give him the promised cows.

So Heracles went to court. Philea testified against his father who expelled them from the kingdom before the end of the lawsuit.

Heracles ended up in Olenus where he killed a centaur that came to take for wife a girl who didn’t want to marry him before going back to Tiryns.

Since he asked to get paid for cleaning the stables, Euristeo did not validate the labor.

The Sixth Labor: Hunt the Stymphalian Birds

These birds had found refuge on a lake. Since Heracles did not know how to get them to leave, Athena gave him castanets she got from Hephaistos.

Heracles used them which prompted the birds to fly away. He then killed them with his arrows.

The Seventh Labor: Bring Back the Bull from Crete

No one is certain which bull it was (the one Poseidon sent to Minos from the sea, or the one Zeus sent to transport Europa?)

In any way, Minos ruled over Crete. He told Heracles to wrestle with the bull, which Heracles did.

He captured the bull and went back to Tiryns, where Euristeo left the bull free.

The Eighth Labor: Bring Back the Cannibal Mares of Diomedes of Thrace to Mycenae

Heracles went with a group of people to Thrace where he knew the inhabitants, called the Bistonians, were prone to fight.

He captured the mares and went back to his ship when the Bistonians came after him.

He asked Abderus, son of Hermes, to watch the mares while he fought the Bistonians.

But the mares killed Abderus. After winning his fight, Heracles founded the city of Abdera where Abderus had died, and went back to Tiryns where Euristeo left the mares free.

The Ninth Labor: Bring Back the Hippolyte’s Belt

Euristeo’s daughter, Admete, wanted Hippolyte’s belt.

Hippolyte was the queen of the Amazons, a nation of female warriors who lived like men, in Themiscyra.

So Heracles took a few volunteers and sailed to the kingdom of the Amazons.

He first stopped on Paros where lived the sons of Minos, the king of Crete.

Two of his companions were killed while getting out of the ship, so Heracles, furious, killed the murderers and laid siege in the city.

Eventually, he was invited to choose two inhabitants from the island to replace his two companions. He chose two sons of Androgeus, son of Minos.

He kept going and arrived in Mysia where King Lycos welcomed them.

They were attacked by the Bebryces and Heracles helped Lycos fight back, killing their King Mygdon.

He also seized a huge portion of their land and gave it to Lycos, who, as thanks, called it Heraclea.

He eventually arrived in Themiscyra and Hippolyte came to ask what he was looking for. She promised to give him the belt, but Hera, jealous, transformed herself into an Amazon and announced that Heracles had come to kidnap Hippolyte.

So the Amazons charged Heracles who, thinking it was a trap, killed Hippolyte, took the belt, and left.

He arrived in Troy where the city had been cursed by Apollo and Poseidon due to King Laomedon’s arrogance.

Apollo had sent an epidemic and Poseidon, a sea monster that kidnapped men.

The only way to lift the curse was for Laomedon to give his daughter, Hesione, to the monster.

Heracles told Laomedon he’d save Hesione and kill the monster if he gave him the mares Zeus had given him.

Heracles proceeded as promised but Laomedon never gave him what he promised.

He passed by Thasos, fought the Thracians, and gave the island to the sons of Androgeus before making his way back to Tiryns with the belt.

The Tenth Labor: Bring Back The Flock of Geryon From Erythia

Geryon had the body of one man, but the legs of three.

His cows were red and kept by Eurytion, the herdsman, and Orthos, the two-headed dog.

Heracles went through the continent looking for these cows and arrived in Libya where he built two columns as a sign he had passed by there. Helios burnt him, so he drew his bow to him.

To reward his bravery, Helios gave him a golden cup to sail to Erythia.

He arrived and the dog quickly came to bark. Heracles killed it, then killed Eurytion before taking the cows.

Geryon came to stop him but Heracles killed him too.

He led the cows in the golden cup to Tartessos and gave Helios back his boat there.

Then he killed two sons of Poseidon who tried to steal his cows.

He arrived in Rhégion (today south of Italy) where one of the bulls named Italos, escaped and swam to the land of Eryx (hence giving the region the name of “Italy”).

Heracles gave his cows to Hephaistos and ran after Italos who was hid by Eryx among his own cows.

Eryx told Heracles he wouldn’t give him his bull back unless he beat him up at wrestling.

Heracles beat him up three times, killed him, took his cows, and continued his way back.

Hera sent a horsefly and the cows ran away.

Heracles managed to assemble a part of them and went back to Euristeo who sacrificed the cows…to Hera.

The Eleventh Labor: Bring Back The Golden Apples From the Hesperides

Heracles had conducted ten labors, but Euristeo did not count the hydra and the stables.

So he told him to go get the golden apples from the Hesperides.

The apples were on the Atlas. They had been given to Zeus by the Earth for his wedding to Hera. A hundred-headed immortal dragon kept them, helped by the Hesperides.

So Heracles made his way to the nymphes, daughters of Zeus, who told him where was Nereus, a sea god who knew where the apples were.

Heracles tied him up and refused to untie him until Nereus told him where the apples were.

He then made his way to Libya, ruled by Antaeus, who forced strangers to wrestle with him and killed them.

Heracles killed Antaeus and made his way to Egypt where Busiris ruled. Busiris sacrificed every foreigner on the altar of Zeus to lift a curse.

Heracles was captured but untied himself and killed Busiris and his son. Then he made his way to Arabia, then back to Libya where he took Helios’ golden cup.

He passed by Prometheus’ mountain, killed the eagle, freed Prometheus, and gave Zeus Chiron instead of him.

Prometheus told Heracles he shouldn’t get the apples by himself, but instead send Atlas, who carried the sky, to fetch them.

Heracles went to Atlas and persuaded him to give him the sky while he went to harvest the apples. Atlas accepted and came back with three apples but he no longer wanted to carry the sky.

Prometheus knew this would happen.

Heracles asked Atlas to carry it for him just the time to put a pillow on his head

Atlas took back the sky, Heracles took his apples, and went back to Eurysteo who gave them to him.

Later, Athena took them back to the Hesperides.

The Twelfth Labor: Bring Back Cerberus

NB: Hades was the original name of the god who ruled over the underworld. The word “Hades” evolved to be associated with the place and the god was given the name of Pluto.

Cerberus was a dog with three heads. It kept the entrance of the Hades, the underworld.

To reach it, Heracles had to be initiated by Eumolpus of Eleusis. After his initiation, he left for Laconia where the path to the entrance of the Hades was located.

Once he was by the door, he saw Theseus and Pirithous who had sought the hand of Persephone (queen of the Hades) and who had been chained for that.

Heracles freed Theseus but could not free Pirithous. Wanting to give blood to the souls of the underworld, he slaughtered a cow.

Menoetius, who was the herdsman, was unhappy and challenged Heracles to wrestle. Menoetius was only saved thanks to the prayers of Persephone.

Heracles asked Cerberus to Pluto who told him to take him without weapons.

He jumped on him and strangled him until he was tamed, then took him back to Eurysteo, and back to the Hades.

Life After the Labor

Now that his ten labors had been accomplished, Heracles went back to Thebes. He looked for a wife and heard that Eurytos wanted to marry his daughter to whoever could beat him and his sons at shooting arrows.

Heracles won, but Eurytos, scared that Heracles killed his children once again, refused to give him his daughter.

Soon after, Autolycos stole cows from Eurytos, who thought Heracles had done it. Iphitos, the eldest son of Eurytos, did not believe so and asked Heracles for help finding the cows.

Heracles accepted but was driven crazy once again and threw Iphitos off the walls of Tiryns.

Sorry, he sought to be purified of this murder and went to Neleus, king of Pylos, who refused to purify Heracles as he was friends with Eurytos.

So he went to Amyclae where he was purified by its king, Deiphobus. But the murder of Iphitos led him to catch a terrible disease.

He went to Delphi and asked Pithya for an oracle, which she refused.

He looted the temple and Apollo began to fight with him.

Zeus ended it and Heracles was told he would be cured if he served as a slave for three years, and gave the money of his sale to Eurytos.

So Hermes sold Heracles to Onfale, queen of the Lidia.

Life as a Slave

During the three years working for Onfale, Heracles did a lot of work including killing Syleus, who forced foreigners to work in his vine; hunting the Calydonian Boar; and going on an expedition to Colchis.

He also found Icarus on an island, buried him, and called the island Icaria. As thanks, Dedalus (Icarus’ father) made a statue of him in Pisa.

At the end of the three years, he raised an army and attacked Laomedon (likely because he never got his daughter as promised for saving her from the sea monster).

He killed Laomedon and his children and gave Hesione to one of his companions, Telamon. Hesione could choose one prisoner to take as a slave with her, and she chose her brother Podarces, the only one Heracles hadn’t killed.

She gave her veil as a price and Podarces received the name of Priam, “the one who was sold”.

On his way back from Troy, Hera created a storm which angered Zeus.

Heracles went to Cos, killed their king, and took the island. He was hurt during the fight and was only saved by Zeus.

Then he went to Phlegres to fight the giants with the gods.

Then he went to fight Augeas (the one with the stables) in Elis but fell sick during the battle and left.

He learned the Isthmian Games were happening for the third time in Elis.

So he went back, killed Augeas and his children, and gave the kingdom to Phylea, the son that Augeas had chased after he testified against him.

He also created the Olympic Games.

Then he went to Pylos and killed Neleus and his sons.

Because the sons of Hippocoon were Neleus’ allies, he went to Lacedaemon to kill them too.

Marriage and Death

Heracles went to Calydon to marry Deianira, the daughter of Oeneus. As he was feasting at Oeneus’ place, he accidentally killed one of his cousins.

So Heracles left again. He arrived with Deianira at the river Evinos that the centaur Nessus helped people cross with his boat.

Heracles gave him Deianira and crossed the river by himself. Nessus tried to r*pe her so Heracles shot an arrow in his heart.

Dying, he told Deianira to mix the semen that had spewed on the floor with the blood of his wound as a love potion to coat on Heracles’ clothes if he ever tried to leave her.

Heracles went on to fight many battles with many people and won all of them.

He took as a prisoner a girl named Iole. Deianira, scared to lose Heracles to Iole, coated the clothes of Heracles with the potion Nessus had given her.

Heracles’ clothes began to burn. As he tried to take them out, he removed pieces of his skin.

Realizing she had been trapped by Nessus, Deianira hanged herself.

Heracles went to the mountain, built a fire, climbed on it, and asked someone to light it.

A shepherd came by and received Heracles’ arrows as thanks for lighting the fire.

A cloud came and took Heracles to Olympus.

He reconciled with Hera, obtained immortality, married her daughter Hebe, and got two sons from her.

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