HERAKLES IS DOOMED TO SERVE EURYSTHEUS
The wrath of Hera followed Herakles. When Zeus saw that Hera's heart
was filled with anger toward Herakles, he mused within his own mind
how he might best appease her resentment and protect the young man.
So he called the gods together in council and they advised that
Herakles be placed in bondage to his uncle Eurystheus, to serve him as
a slave, and they ordained that he should perform twelve hard tasks,
after which he would be numbered among the gods.
Eurystheus was a mean fellow, stupid and cowardly. He was glad enough
to have a chance to bully a man wiser and stronger than himself. He
was born in Tiryns, a great fortress with many castles, built upon a
large rock, but he had been made King of Argos and lived in the
capital, Mykenæ, and he resolved to keep Herakles as far away from the
kingdom as possible, for in his heart he was afraid of him.
Herakles was grieved at being compelled to serve a man so much below
him in strength and character, so he consulted the oracle at Delphi
to see if there was any escape, but he did not murmur, for he was
willing to obey the law of the gods.
The oracle of Delphi was a mysterious influence, a divine spirit which
expressed itself through a priestess living in a sacred temple. It was
supposed to be the voice of the god Apollo using this human agency for
making known his will to men. The priestess became inspired to utter
Apollo's holy laws by sitting on a golden tripod (or stool with three
legs) over a chasm in the rock, from whence arose a sacred, sulphurous
vapor which she breathed in as the breath of the god, and which caused
her to breathe out his commands in wonderful sayings.
The chasm from which the vapor issued was called The Chasm of the
Oracle, and was in a large apartment or room in the temple. This
celebrated temple had many columns of marble and splendid rooms made
beautiful with thousands of marble statues. It stood on the side of
Mount Parnassos, whose snow-covered head reaches into the clouds and
looks down into the blue Gulf of Corinth below it to the south.
It was here that Apollo killed the great dragon, Pytho, which had been
the scourge of the land for many years, and the grateful people built
the temple in his honor. The oracle bade Herakles go forth to be the
slave of Eurystheus and so atone for all his sins, but it gave him as
a compensation a dear friend, Iolaos, who was also his young nephew.
Wherever Herakles went Iolaos went with him and helped him.