[Illustration: Hercules.]
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 Mycenæ, 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.
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.
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.
There was a second labor 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
firebrand 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
labor 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 labor 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 Mycenæ.
The fifth task was a curious one. Augeas, King of Elis, had immense
herds, and kept his stables and cowhouses 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 labors,
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 labor for Hercules to bring the animal to Mycenæ. 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 valor. Eurystheus's 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 found 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 of 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.
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 Antæus. Though thrown down over and over again,
Antæus 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. 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 upon 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 labor 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 under world, and thus completed his twelve great
labors.
Hercules was subject to fits of madness, in one of which he slew a
friend, and as a penalty he allowed himself to be sold as a slave. He
was purchased by the Queen of Lydia, Omphale, and remained in her
service three years. She used to make him do a woman's work, and even
dressed him at times in female garments, while she herself wore his
famous lion skin and laughed at him.
[Illustration: Hercules at the Feet of Omphale.]
But strong as he was, Hercules had in time to meet death himself. He had
married a nymph named Deianira, and was taking her home, when he came to
a river where a Centaur named Nessus lived, and gained his bread by
carrying travellers over on his back. Hercules paid him the price for
carrying Deianira over, while he himself crossed on foot; but as soon as
the river was between them, the faithless Centaur began to gallop away
with the lady. Hercules sent an arrow after him, which brought him to
the ground, and as he was dying he prepared his revenge by telling
Deianira that his blood was enchanted with love for her, and that if
ever she found her husband's affection failing her, she had only to make
him put on a garment anointed with it, and his heart would return to
her; he knew full well that his blood was full of the poison of the
Hydra, but poor Deianira believed him, and had saved some of the blood
before Hercules came up.
Several years after, Hercules made prisoner a maiden named Iole, in
Lydia, after gaining a great victory. Landing in the island of Euboea,
he was going to make a great sacrifice to Jupiter, and sent home to
Deianira for a festal garment to wear at it. She was afraid he was
falling in love with Iole, and steeped the garment in the preparation
she had made from Nessus's blood. No sooner did Hercules put it on, than
his veins were filled with agony, which nothing could assuage. He tried
to tear off the robe, but the skin and flesh came with it, and his blood
was poisoned beyond relief. Unable to bear the pain any longer, and
knowing that by his twelve tasks he had earned the prize of endless
life, he went to Mount Oeta, crying aloud with the pain, so that the
rocks rang again with the sound. He gave his quiver of arrows to his
friend Philoctetes, charging him to collect his ashes and bury them, but
never to make known the spot; and then he tore up, with his mighty
strength, trees by the roots, enough to form a funeral pile, lay down on
it, and called on his friend to set fire to it; but no one could bear to
do so, till a shepherd consented to thrust in a torch. Then thunder was
heard, a cloud came down, and he was borne away to Olympus, while
Philoctetes collected and buried the ashes.