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One morning Jupiter boasted among the gods in Olympus that a son would
that day be born in the line of Perseus, who would rule over all the
Argives. Juno was angry and jealous at this, and, as she was the goddess
who presided over the births of children, she contrived to hinder the
birth of the child he intended till that day was over, and to hasten that
of another grandson of the great Perseus. This child was named
Eurystheus, and, as he had been born on the right day, Jupiter was forced
to let him be king of Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae, and all the Dorian
race; while the boy whom he had meant to be the chief was kept in
subjection, in spite of having wonderful gifts of courage and strength,
and a kind, generous nature, that always was ready to help the weak and
sorrowful.
[Picture: Virtue and Vice]
His name was Alcides, or Hercules, and he was so strong at ten months
old, that, with his own hands, he strangled two serpents whom Juno sent
to devour him in his cradle. He was bred up by Chiron, the chief of the
Centaurs, a wondrous race of beings, who had horses' bodies as far as the
forelegs, but where the neck of the horse would begin had human breasts
and shoulders, with arms and heads. Most of them were fierce and savage;
but Chiron was very wise and good, and, as Jupiter made him immortal, he
was the teacher of many of the great Greek heroes. When Hercules was
about eighteen, two maidens appeared to him--one in a simple white dress,
grave, modest and seemly; the other scarcely clothed, but tricked out in
ornaments, with a flushed face, and bold, roving eyes. The first told
him that she was Virtue, and that, if he would follow her, she would lead
him through many hard trials, but that he would be glorious at last, and
be blest among the gods. The other was Vice, and she tried to wile him
by a smooth life among wine-cups and dances and flowers and sports, all
to be enjoyed at once. But the choice of Hercules was Virtue, and it was
well for him, for Jupiter, to make up for Juno's cheat, had sworn that,
if he fulfilled twelve tasks which Eurystheus should put upon him, he
should be declared worthy of being raised to the gods at his death.
[Picture: Scene in the Arachnaean Mountains near Argos]
Eurystheus did not know that in giving these tasks he was making his
cousin fulfil his course; but he was afraid of such a mighty man, and
hoped that one of these would be the means of getting rid of him. So
when he saw Hercules at Argos, with a club made of a forest tree in his
hand, and clad in the skin of a lion which he had slain, Eurystheus bade
him go and kill a far more terrible lion, of giant brood, and with a skin
that could not be pierced, which dwelt in the valley of Nemea. The fight
was a terrible one; the lion could not be wounded, and Hercules was
forced to grapple with it, and strangle it in his arms. He lost a finger
in the struggle, but at last the beast died in his grasp, and he carried
it on his back to Argos, where Eurystheus was so much frightened at the
grim sight that he fled away to hide himself, and commanded Hercules not
to bring his monsters within the gates of the city.
[Picture: Hercules fighting the Lion] There was a second labour ready for
Hercules--namely, the destroying a serpent with nine heads, called Hydra,
whose lair was the marsh of Lerna. Hercules went to the battle, and
managed to crush one head with his club, but that moment two sprang up in
its place; moreover, a huge crab came out of the swamp, and began to
pinch his heels. Still he did not lose heart, but, calling his friend
Iolaus, he bade him take a fire-brand and burn the necks as fast as he
cut off the heads; and thus at last they killed the creature, and
Hercules dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood, so that their least
wound became fatal. Eurystheus said that it had not been a fair victory,
since Hercules had been helped, and Juno put the crab into the skies as
the constellation Cancer; while a labour to patience was next devised for
Hercules--namely, the chasing of the Arcadian stag, which was sacred to
Diana, and had golden horns and brazen hoofs. Hercules hunted it up hill
and down dale for a whole year, and when at last he caught it, he got
into trouble with Apollo and Diana about it, and had hard work to appease
them; but he did so at last; and for his fourth labour was sent to catch
alive a horrid wild boar on Mount Erymanthus. He followed the beast
through a deep swamp, caught it in a net, and brought it to Mycenae.
[Picture: Hercules fighting the Hydra] The fifth task was a curious one.
Augeas, king of Elis, had immense herds, and kept his stables and
cow-houses in a frightful state of filth, and Eurystheus, hoping either
to disgust Hercules or kill him by the unwholesomeness of the work, sent
him to clean them. Hercules, without telling Augeas it was his appointed
task, offered to do it if he were repaid the tenth of the herds, and
received the promise on oath. Then he dug a canal, and turned the water
of two rivers into the stables, so as effectually to cleanse them; but
when Augeas heard it was his task, he tried to cheat him of the payment,
and on the other hand Eurystheus said, as he had been rewarded, it could
not count as one of his labours, and ordered him off to clear the woods
near Lake Stymphalis of some horrible birds, with brazen beaks and claws,
and ready-made arrows for feathers, which ate human flesh. To get them
to rise out of the forest was his first difficulty, but Pallas lent him a
brazen clapper, which made them take to their wings; then he shot them
with his poisoned arrows, killed many, and drove the rest away.
King Minos of Crete had once vowed to sacrifice to the gods whatever
should appear from the sea. A beautiful white bull came, so fine that it
tempted him not to keep his word, and he was punished by the bull going
mad, and doing all sorts of damage in Crete; so that Eurystheus thought
it would serve as a labour for Hercules to bring the animal to Mycenae.
In due time back came the hero, with the bull, quite subdued, upon his
shoulders; and, having shown it, he let it loose again to run about
Greece.
He had a harder task in getting the mares of the Thracian king, Diomedes,
which were fed on man's flesh. He overcame their grooms, and drove the
beasts away; but he was overtaken by Diomedes, and, while fighting with
him and his people, put the mares under the charge of a friend; but when
the battle was over, and Diomedes killed, he found that they had eaten up
their keeper. However, when he had fed them on the dead body of their
late master, they grew mild and manageable, and he brought them home.
The next expedition was against the Amazons, a nation of women warriors,
who lived somewhere on the banks of the Euxine or Black Sea, kept their
husbands in subjection, and seldom brought up a son. The bravest of all
the Amazons was the queen, Hippolyta, to whom Mars had given a belt as a
reward for her valour. Eurystheus' daughter wanted this belt, and
Hercules was sent to fetch it. He was so hearty, honest, and
good-natured, that he talked over Hippolyta, and she promised him her
girdle; but Juno, to make mischief, took the form of an Amazon, and
persuaded the ladies that their queen was being deluded and stolen away
by a strange man, so they mounted their horses and came down to rescue
her. He thought she had been treacherous, and there was a great fight,
in which he killed her, and carried off her girdle.
Far out in the west, near the ocean flowing round the world, were herds
of purple oxen, guarded by a two-headed dog, and belonging to a giant
with three bodies called Geryon, who lived in the isle of Erythria, in
the outmost ocean. Passing Lybia, Hercules came to the end of the
Mediterranean Sea, Neptune's domain, and there set up two
pillars--namely, Mounts Calpe and Abyla--on each side a the Straits of
Gibraltar. The rays of the sun scorched him, and in wrath he shot at it
with his arrows, when Helios, instead of being angry, admired his
boldness, and gave him his golden cup, wherewith to cross the outer
ocean, which he did safely, although old Oceanus, who was king there, put
up his hoary head, and tried to frighten him by shaking the bowl. It was
large enough to hold all the herd of oxen, when Hercules had killed dog,
herdsman, and giant, and he returned it safely to Helios when he had
crossed the ocean. The oxen were sacrificed to Juno, Eurystheus' friend.
Again Eurystheus sent Hercules to the utmost parts of the earth. This
time it was to bring home the golden apples which grew in the gardens of
the Hesperides, the daughters of old Atlas, who dwelt in the land of
Hesperus the Evening Star, and, together with a dragon, guarded the
golden tree in a beautiful garden. Hercules made a long journey,
apparently round by the North, and on his way had to wrestle with a
dreadful giant named Antaeus. Though thrown down over and over again,
Antaeus rose up twice as strong every time, till Hercules found out that
he grew in force whenever he touched his mother earth, and therefore,
lifting him up in those mightiest of arms, the hero squeezed the breath
out of him. By-and-by he came to Mount Caucasus, where he found the
chained Prometheus, and, aiming an arrow at the eagle, killed the
tormentor, and set the Titan free. In return, Prometheus gave him much
good counsel, and indeed seems to have gone with him to Atlas, who,
according to this story, was still able to move, in spite of the
petrifaction by Hercules' grandfather. Atlas undertook to go to his
daughters, and get the apples, if Hercules would hold up the skies for
him in the meantime. Hercules agreed, and Atlas shifted the heavens to
his shoulders, went, and presently returned with three apples of gold,
but said he would take them to Eurystheus, and Hercules must continue to
bear the load of the skies. Prometheus bade Hercules say he could not
hold them without a pad for them to rest on his head. Atlas took them
again to hold while the pad was put on; and thereupon Hercules picked up
the apples, and left the old giant to his load.
One more labour remained--namely, to bring up the three-headed watch-dog,
Cerberus, from the doors of Tartarus. Mercury and Pallas both came to
attend him, and led him alive among the shades, who all fled from him,
except Medusa and one brave youth. He gave them the blood of an ox to
drink, and made his way to Pluto's throne, where he asked leave to take
Cerberus to the upper world with him. Pluto said he might, if he could
overcome Cerberus without weapons; and this he did, struggling with the
dog, with no protection but the lion's skin, and dragging him up to the
light, where the foam that fell from the jaws of one of the three mouths
produced the plant called aconite, or hellebore, which is dark and
poisonous. After showing the beast to Eurystheus, Hercules safely
returned him to the underworld, and thus completed his twelve great
labours.
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