Apollodorus, The Library, 2.4.8-2.7
Heracles
Before Amphitryon reached Thebes, Zeus came during the night and made the one night as long as three. He made himself look like Amphitryon, slept with Alcmene, and told her what had happened with the Teleboans. When Amphitryon arrived and saw that his wife did not welcome him home, he asked the reason. After she said that he had arrived the night before and slept with her, he learned from Teiresias of the encounter she had had with Zeus. Alcmene bore two sons, Heracles, the older by a day, to Zeus, and Iphicles to Amphitryon. When Heracles was eight months old, Hera sent two enormous serpents into his bed because she wanted to destroy the infant. Alcmene called to Amphitryon for help, but Heracles stood up, throttled them, one in each hand, and killed them. Pherecydes says that Amphitryon, wishing to know which of the boys was his son, put the serpents into the bed. When Iphicles fled and Heracles confronted them, Amphitryon knew that Iphicles was his.
Heracles’ Youth
Heracles was taught to drive chariots by Amphitryon, to wrestle by Autolycos, to shoot a bow by Eurytos, to fight in armor by Castor, and to play the lyre by Linos, who was Orpheus’ brother. After Linos had come to Thebes and become a Theban, he was slain by Heracles, who hit him with his lyre (Heracles killed him in a fit of rage because Linos had struck him). When some men prosecuted him for murder, he read out a law of Rhadamanthys that said that any man who defends himself against an instigator of unjust violence is innocent. In this way he was acquitted. Afraid that Heracles would do something like that again, Amphitryon sent him out to tend his herd of cattle. Growing up there, Heracles surpassed everyone in size and strength. It was obvious from his appearance that he was Zeus’ son, for his body was four cubits tall, and a fiery radiance shone from his eyes. He also did not miss when he shot a bow or threw a javelin. When he was eighteen years old and out with the herd, he killed the Cithaironian lion, which used to rush from Mount Cithairon and ravage the cattle of Amphitryon, as well as those of Thespios.
Thespios was king of Thespiai, and when Heracles wanted to kill the lion, he went to this man. Thespios entertained him as a guest for fifty days and had one of his daughters (he had fifty of them by Megamede daughter of Arneos) sleep with him every night before Heracles went out to hunt, for he was eager for all of them to have children with Heracles. Though Heracles thought that he was always sleeping with the same one, he slept with all of them. After overpowering the lion, he wore its skin and used its gaping jaws as a helmet.
When he was returning from the hunt, he ran into some heralds sent by Erginos to collect the tribute from the Thebans. The Thebans paid tribute to Erginos for the following reason: One of Menoiceus’ charioteers, named Perieres, hit Clymenos, kin of the Minyans, with a stone and wounded him in the precinct of Poseidon in Onchestos. When Clymenos was brought to Orchomenos, he was barely alive. As he was dying, he directed his son Erginos to avenge his death. Erginos marched against Thebes, and after inflicting many casualties, he made an oath-bound treaty that the Thebans would send him a hundred cows of tribute every year for twenty years. As the heralds were going to Thebes to get this tribute, Heracles met up with them and mutilated them. He cut off their ears, noses, and hands, tied them around their necks, and told them to take that back to Erginos and the Minyans as tribute. Enraged by this, Erginos marched against Thebes. After Heracles got armor and weapons from Athena and became the commander, he killed Erginos, routed the Minyans, and forced them to pay double the tribute to the Thebans. It happened that Amphitryon died fighting bravely in the battle. Heracles received from Creon his oldest daughter Megara as a prize for bravery. He had three sons with her, Therimachos, Creontiades, and Deicoon. Creon gave his youngest daughter to Iphicles, who had already had a son, Iolaos, with Automedousa daughter of Alcathos. After the death of Amphitryon, Rhadamanthys, the son of Zeus, married Alcmene and, exiled from his county, settled in Ocaleai in Boiotia.
Heracles had already been taught archery by Eurytos. Now he got a sword from Hermes, a bow from Apollo, a golden breastplate from Hephaistos, and a robe from Athena; he cut his own club at Nemea.
After his battle against the Minyans it happened that Heracles was driven mad because of the jealousy of Hera. He threw his own children by Megara into a fire, along with two of Iphicles’ sons. For this he condemned himself to exile. He was purified by Thespios, and going to Delphi, he asked the god where he should settle. The Pythia then for the first time called him by the name Heracles; up until then he had been called Alceides. She told him to settle in Tiryns and serve Eurystheus for twelve years. She also told him to accomplish ten labors imposed upon him and said that when the labors were finished, he would become immortal.
Hercules Labor I: The Nemean Lion
[4.5] After Heracles heard this, he went to Tiryns and did Eurystheus’ bidding. First, he commanded him to bring back the skin of the Nemean Lion. This animal, Typhon’s offspring, was invulnerable. When he was going after the lion, he came to Cleonai and was put up as a guest by Molorchos, a poor man. When Molorchos wanted to sacrifice a victim, Heracles told him to hold off for thirty days; if he returned from his hunt
safe and sound, he told Molorchos to make a sacrifice for a god to Zeus Soter {“Saviour”}; if he died, he told Molorchos to make a sacrifice to himself fit for a hero. When he got to Nemea and tracked down the lion, he first shot it with his bow. When he found that it was invulnerable, he brandished his club and pursued it. When it fled into a cave with two entrances, Heracles blocked up one entrance and went after the beast through the other. Getting it in a headlock, he held on, squeezing until he choked it. He put it across his shoulders and brought it back to Cleonai. He found Molorchos on the last of the thirty days about to offer the victim to Heracles in the belief that he was dead. Instead, Heracles sacrificed it to Zeus Soter and then took the lion to Mycenae. Terrified by Heracles’ demonstration of manly courage, Eurystheus forbade Heracles from entering the city in the future and ordered him to display his labors before the gates of the city. They say that out of fear Eurystheus also had a bronze storage jar installed under the ground for him to hide in, and he sent a herald, Copreus, the son of Pelops the Eleian, to command Heracles to do his labors. This Copreus had killed Iphitos, gone into exile in Mycenae, and settled there after receiving purification from Eurystheus.
Hercules Labor II: The Lernaian Hydra
The second labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to kill the Lernaian Hydra, which had been raised in the swamp of Lerna and was making forays onto the plain and wreaking havoc on both the livestock and the land. The Hydra had an enormous body with nine heads, eight of them mortal, and the one in the middle immortal. Heracles mounted a chariot driven by Iolaos and travelled to Lerna. He brought his horses to a halt and found the Hydra on a hilt by the Springs of Amymone, where she had her lair. He shot flaming arrows at her and forced her to come out. As she did so, he seized her and put her in a hold, but she wrapped herself around one of his legs and held on tight. Heracles got nowhere by smashing her heads with his club, for when one was smashed, two heads grew back. An enormous crab came to assist the Hydra and pinched Heracles’ foot. Because of this, after he killed the crab, he called for Iolaos to help. Iolaos set fire to a portion of the nearby forest and with the burning pieces of wood he scorched the stumps of the heads, preventing them from coming back. Having overcome the regenerating heads in this way, Heracles then cut off the immortal one, buried it, and placed a heavy rock over it by the road that leads through Lerna to Elaious. As for the Hydra’s body, he ripped it open and dipped his arrows in her bile. Eurystheus told Heracles that he should not have to count this labor as one of the ten, for Heracles had not overcome the Hydra by himself, but with the help of Iolaos.
Hercules Labor III: The Cerynitian Deer
The third labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to bring the Cerynitian Deer alive to Mycenae. This deer was in Oinoe. It had golden horns and was sacred to Artemis. Because of this Heracles did not want to kill or wound it, so he pursued it for an entire year. When the beast was wearied by the chase, it fled to a mountain known as Artemisios and then to the Ladon River. When it was about to cross this river, Heracles shot the deer with his bow and captured it. Putting it on his shoulders, he hurried through Arcadia. But Artemis, with Apollo, met up with him and was ready to take the deer away. She reproached him because he was killing her sacred animal, but he made the excuse that he was being forced to do it and said that the guilty party was the beast alive to Mycenae.
Hercules Labor IV: The Erymanthian Boar
The fourth labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to bring the Erymanthian Boar alive. This beast was causing destruction in Psophis by making attacks from a mountain they call Erymanthos. Traveling through Pholoe, Heracles stayed as a guest with the Centaur Pholos, the son of Seilenos and an ash-tree Nymph. This Centaur offered Heracles meat that was roasted, but he himself ate his raw. When Heracles asked for wine, Pholos said that he was afraid to open the Centaurs’ communal storage jar. Heracles told him not to worry and opened the jar. Not much later the Centaurs scented the odor and came armed with rocks and fir trees to Pholos’ cave. Heracles repelled Anchios and Agrios, the first to grow bold enough to enter, by hitting them with burning firewood, and he shot the rest with his bow, pursuing them all the way to Malea. From there they fled to the home of Cheiron, who had settled at Malea after being driven from Mount Pelion by the Lapiths. Heracles shot an arrow from his bow at the Centaurs, who had surrounded Cheiron. The arrow went through Elatos’ arm and lodged in Cheiron’s knee. Distressed by this, Heracles ran, pulled out the arrow, and applied a drug that Cheiron gave him. Cheiron, with his wound unable to be cured, left to return to his cave. He wanted to die there but was unable to do so because he was immortal. Prometheus offered himself to Zeus to become immortal in Cheiron’s place, and that is how Cheiron died. The rest of the Centaurs fled, each to a different place: some came to Mount Malea; Eurytion went to Pholoe; and Nessos went to the river Euenos. Poseidon took in the rest at Eleusis and concealed them within a mountain. As for Pholos, he pulled an arrow out of a corpse and marveled that such a small thing could kill such a large foes. The arrow slipped out of his hand and fell on his foot, killing him instantly. When Heracles returned to Pholoe and saw that Pholos was dead, he buried him and went to hunt the boar. He chased it from a thicket by shouting, and when it tired out, he forced it into deep snow, lassoed it, and brought it to Mycenae.
The fifth labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to clear out the dung of the Cattle of Augeias in only a single day. Augeias was the king of Elis. According to some, he was the son of Helios, according to other, of Poseidon, and according to still others, of Phorbas. He had many herds of cattle. Heracles came to him and, without revealing Eurystheus’ command, told him he would clear out the dung in a single day if Augeias would give him one-tenth of the cattle. Augeias promised he would, but did not believe it was possible. Heracles called upon Augeias’ son Phyleus to act as witness. Then he made a hole in the foundation of the stable and diverted the rivers Alpheios and Peneios, which flowed near one another, and caused them to flow in after he made an outlet through another opening.
When Augeias learned that this had been accomplished at Eurystheus’ command, he would not render payment and went as far as to deny ever having promised to do so in the first place, saying that he was ready to be brought to trial over the issue. When the judges had taken their seats, Phlyeus was called by Heracles as a witness against his father and said that he had agreed to make a payment. Augeias, enraged, ordered both Phyleus and Heracles to depart from Elis before the vote was cast. So Phyleus went to Doulichion and settled there, and Heracles came to Olenos to the house of Dexamenos to help, he killed Eurytion when he came for his bride. Eurystheus did not count the labor among the ten either, because he said that it was done for payment.
Hercules Labor VI: The Stymphalian Birds
The sixth labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to chase away the Symphalian Birds. There was the city of Stymphalos in Arcadia in a marsh called the Stymphalian Marsh, which was covered in thick woods. Countless birds took refuge in it out of fear of being eaten by the Wolves. When Heracles was at a loss how to drive the birds from the woods, Athena got bronze castanets from Hephaistos and gave them to him. By rattling these on a mountain situated near the marsh, he startled the birds. They could not stand the racket and took to wing in fright. In this way Heracles shot them.
The seventh labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to bring the Cretan Bull. Acusilaus says that this was the bull that carried Europa across the sea for Zeus, but some say that it was the one sent forth from the sea by Poseidon when Minos said that he would sacrifice to Poseidon whatever appeared from the sea. But they say that when he caught sight of the beauty of the bull, he sent it off to his herds and sacrificed another to Poseidon, and that the god, angered by this, made the bull go wild. Heracles went to Crete after this bull, and when he asked for help capturing it, Minos told him to take it himself if he could subdue it. He captured it, carried it back, and showed it to Eurystheus. Afterward, he let it go free, and it wandered to Sparta and all of Arcadia, and, crossing the Isthmos, it came to Marathon in Attica, where it plagued the locals.
Hercules Labor VIII: The Mares of Diomedes
The eighth labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to bring the Mares of Diomedes the Thracian to Mycenae. Diomedes was the son of Ares and Cyrene. He was king of the Bistones, a very warlike Thracian tribe, and owned man-eating mares. So Heracles sailed with his willing followers, overpowered the men in charge of the mares’ mangers, and drove them to the sea. When the Bistones came out under arms to rescue them, Heracles handed the mares over to Abderos to guard. Abderos, a son of Hermes, was a Locrian from Opous and Heracles’ boyfriend. The mares dragged him to death. Heracles fought the Bistones, and by killing Diomedes he forced the rest to flee. He founded a city, Abdera by the tomb of the slain Abderos, and then took the mares and gave them to Eurystheus. Eurystheus released them, and they went to the mountain called Olympos, where they were destroyed by the beasts.
Hercules Labor IX: The War-Belt of Hippolyte
The ninth labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to bring the war-belt of Hippolyte. She was the queen of the Amazons, who used to dwell near the river Thermodon, a tribe great in war. For they cultivated a manly spirit; whenever they had sex and gave birth, they raised the female children. They would constrict their right breasts so that these would not interfere with throwing a javelin but allowed their left breasts to grow so that they could breastfeed. Hippolyte had Ares’ war-belt, a symbol of her preeminence over all the Amazons. Heracles was sent to get this belt because Admete, Eurystheus’ daughter wanted to have it. Assembling some willing allies, he sailed with one ship and landed on the island of Paros, where the sons of Minos dwelled, Eurymedon, Chryses, Nephalion and Philolaos. It happened that those on the ship disembarked, and two of them were killed by the sons of Minos. Angry over their deaths, Heracles killed the sons of Minos on the spot, blockaded the rest of the population and besieged them until they sent ambassadors and appealed to him to take whichever two men he wanted in place of those who were killed.
So he ended the siege and took with him Alcaios and Sthenelos, the sons of Androgeos son of Minos. He came to Lycos son of Dascylos in Mysia and was his guest. When Lycos and the king of the Bebryces fought, Heracles aided Lycos and killed many Bebryces, inluding their king Mygdon, a brother of Amycos. He took away a large portion of the Bebryces’ territory and gave it to Lycos, who called the whole territory Heracleia.
Heracles sailed to the harbor in Themiscyra, and Hippolyte came to him. After she asked why he had come and promised to give him the war-belt, Hera made herself look like one of the Amazons and went among the populace saying that the strangers who had come were abducting the queen. Under arms they rode down on to the ship. When Heracles saw that they were armed, he thought that this was the result of some treachery. He killed Hippolyte and took the war-belt, and then he fought the rest, sailed away, and landed at Troy.
It happened at that time that the city was in difficulties because of the wrath of Apollo and Poseidon. For Apollo and Poseidon, desiring to test the insolence of Laomedon, made themselves look like mortals and promised to build walls around Pergamon for a fee. But after they built the walls, Laomedon would not pay them. For this reason Apollo sent a plague and Poseidon sent a sea monster that was carried up on shore by a tidal wave and made off with the people in the plain. The oracles said that there would be an end to the misfortunes if Laomedon set out his daughter Hesione as food for the sea monster, so he set her out and fastened her to the cliffs near the sea. When Heracles saw that she had been set out, he promised to save her if he would get from Laomedon the mares that Zeus had given as compensation for the kidnapping of Ganymedes. After Laomedon said that he would give them, Heracles killed the sea monster and saved Hesione. But Laomedon refused to pay up, so Heracles set sail threatening that he would make war against Troy.
He landed at Ainos, where he was the guest of Poltys. On the Ainian shore, when he was about to sail off, he shot and killed Sarpedon, Poseidon’s son and Poltys’ brother, because he was insolent. Coming to Thasos and conquering the Thracians who lived there, he gave the island to the sons of Androgeos to live in. He set out from Thasos to Torone, and after being challenged to wrestle by Polygonos and Telegonos, sons of Proteus son of Poseidon, he killed them in the course of the match. He brought the war-belt to Mycenae and gave it to Eurystheus.
Hercules Labor X: The Cattle of Geryones
The tenth labor Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform was to bring back the Cattle of Geryones from Erytheia. Erytheia (now called Gadeira) was an island lying near Oceanos. Geryones, the son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe daughter of Oceonos, lived here. He had a body that was three men grown together, joined into one at the belly but separated into three from the waist down. He had red cattle, which were herded by Eurytion and guarded by Orthos, the two-headed dog that was the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. So traveling across Europe in quest of the cattle of Geryones, he killed many wild beasts before arriving in Libya. Going to Tartessos, he set up as tokens of his journey two facing pillars at, the limits of Europe and Libya. When he was made hot by Helios during his journey, he pulled his bow back and took aim at the god. Helios marveled at his courage and gave him a golden cup in which he traveled across Oceanos. Arriving in Erytheia, he camped on Mount Abas. The dog sensed his presence and charged him, but Heracles hit it with his club and killed the cowherd Eurytion when he tried to help the dog. Menoites, who was there pasturing Hades’ cattle, reported what had happened to Geryones, who caught up as he was driving the cattle along the Anthernous River. He joined battle with Heracles, was shot by an arrow, and died. Heracles put the cattle into the cup and sailed over to Tartessos, where he gave the cup back to Helios.
He went through Abderia and arrived at Ligystine, where Ialebion and Dercynos, the sons of Poseidon, stole the cows. But Heracles killed them and went through Tyrrhenia. One of the bulls broke loose at Rhegion, swiftly plunged into the sea and swam to Sicily. Traveling through the nearby territory, the bull came to the plain of Eryx, who was king of the Elymoi. Eryx, the son of Poseidon, incorporated the bull into his own herds. So Heracles handed the cattle over to Hephaistos and hurried off in search of the bull. He discovered it among the herds of Eryx who said that he would not give it back unless Heracles wrestled and beat him. Heracles beat him three times and killed him during the match. He took the bull and drove it along with the others to the Ionian Sea. When he reached the top of the Adriatic Sea, Hera sent a gadfly against the cattle, and they were scattered throughout the foothills of Thrace. Heracles chased after them; he captured some and took them to the Hellespont, but others were left behind and afterward were wild. Because he had such a hard time collecting the cows, he blamed the Strymon River and, whereas in the old days its streams used to be navigable, he filled it with rocks and rendered it unnavigable. He brought the cows and gave them to Eurystheus, who sacrificed them to Hera.
Hercules Labor XI: The Apples of the Hesperides
Although the labors were finished in eight years and one month, Eurystheus, who would not count the Cattle of Augeias or the Hydra, ordered Heracles as an eleventh labor to bring back the Golden Apples from the Hesperides. These apples were not in Libya, as some have said, but on Mount Atlas in the land of the Hyperboreans. Ge had given them as a gift to Zeus when he married Hera. They were guarded by an immortal serpent, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, which had a hundred heads and used to talk with all sorts of various voices. Alongside the serpent, the Hesperides named Aigle, Erytheia Hesperia and Arethousa, stood guard. So Heracles traveled to the Echedoros River. Cycnos, the son of Ares and Pyrene, challenged him to single combat. When Ares tried to avenge Cycnos and met Heracles in a duel, a thunderbolt was thrown inbetween the two and broke up the fight. Traveling through Illyria and hurrying to the Eridanos River, Heracles came to some Nymphs, daughter of Zeus and Themis. These Nymphs pointed out Nereus to him. Taking hold of him as he slept, Heracles tied Nereus up though he turned into all sorts of shapes. He did not release him until he learned where the apples and the Hesperides were. After he got this information, he passed through Libya. Poseidon’s son Antaios, who used to kill strangers by forcing them to wrestle, was king of this land. When Heracles was forced to wrestle with him, he lifted him off the ground in a bear hug, broke his back, and killed him. He did this because it happened that Antaios grew stronger when he touched the earth. This is why some said that he was the son of Ge.
He passed through Egypt after Libya. Bousiris, the son of Poseidon and Lysianassa daughter of Epaphos, was king there. He had to sacrifice foreigners on an altar of Zeus in accordance with a prophecy. For nine years barrenness befell Egypt when Phraisios, a seer by profession, arrived from Cyprus and said that the barrenness would end if a foreigner were sacrificed every year to Zeus. Bousiris sacrificed the seer first and then went on to sacrifice those foreigners who landed on his shores. Heracles too was seized and brought to the altars. He broke the chains and killed both Bousiris and his son, Amphidamas.
Passing through Asia, he came to Thermydrai, the harbor of the Lindians. He loosed one of the bulls from a cart-drivers wagon, sacrificed it, and feasted. The driver was unable to protect himself, so he stood on a certain mountain and called down curses. For this reason even today when they sacrifice to Heracles, they do so with curses.
Skirting Arabia, he killed Tithonos’ son Emathion, and, traveling across Libya to the outer sea, he received the cup from Helios. Crossing over to the continent on the other side, on Mount Caucasus he shot down the eagle that ate Prometheus’ liver and that was the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. He freed Prometheus after taking the bond of the olive for himself, and to Zeus he offered up Cheiron, who was willing to die in Prometheus’ place despite being immortal.
Prometheus told Heracles not to go after the apples himself, but to take over holding up the sky from Atlas and send him instead. So when he came to Atlas in the land of the Hyperboreans Heracles followed this advice and took over holding up the sky. After getting three apples from the Hesperides, Atlas came back to Heracles. Atlas, not wanting to hold the sky said that he would himself carry the apples to Eurystheus and bade Heracles hold up the sky in his stead. Heracles promised to do so, but succeeded by craft in putting it on Atlas instead. For at the advice of Prometheus he begged Atlas to hold up the sky because he wanted to put a pad on his head. When he heard this, Atlas put the apples down on the ground and took over holding up the sky, so Heracles picked them up and left. But some say that he did not get them from Atlas, but that he himself picked the apples after killing the guardian serpent. He brought the apples and gave them to Eurystheus. After he got them, he gave them to Heracles as a gift. Athena received them from him and took them back, for it was not holy for them to be put just anywhere.
The bringing back of Cerberos from the house of Hades was ordered as a twelfth labor. Cerberos had three dog heads, the tail of a serpent, and along his back, the heads of all sorts of snakes. When Heracles was about to go off to get him, he went to Eumolpos in Eleusis because he wanted to be initiated into the mysteries. Since he was unable to see the mysteries because he had not been purified of the killing of the Centaurs, Eumolpos purified him and then initiated him. He came to Tainaron in Laconia where the cave that leads to the house of Hades is located. He made his descent through it. When the souls saw him, they all fled except for Meleagros and Medousa the Gorgon. He drew his sword against the Gorgon in the belief that she was still alive, but he learned from Hermes that she was just an empty phantom. When he went near the gates of Hades’ realm, he found Theseus together with Peinthous, the man who tried to win Persephone’s hand in marriage and for that reason was in bonds. When they caught sight of Heracles, they stretched forth their arms so that they could rise up by means of Heracles’ might. He did take hold of Theseus by the hand and lift him up, but when he wanted to raise up Peirithous, the earth shook and he let go. He also rolled Ascalaphos’ rock off. He wanted to provide some blood for the souls, so he slaughtered one of the cows of Hades. Their herder, Menoites son of Ceuthonymos, challenged Heracles to wrestle. Heracles grabbed him around the middle and broke his ribs. Menoites was saved when Persephone begged for mercy for him. When Heracles asked Plouton for Cerberos, Plouton told him to take him if he could defeat him without any of the weapons he carried. Heracles found Cerberos by the gates of Acheron, and, encased by his breastplate and covered entirely by the lion’s skin, he threw his arms around Cerberos’ head and did not stop holding on and choking the beast until he prevailed, even though he was being bitten by the serpent that served as his tail. So he took Cerberos and returned, making his ascent through Troizen. Demeter turned Ascalaphos into an owl; Heracles showed Cerberos to Eurystheus and then brought him back to the house of Hades.