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Greek Mythology

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nusrat-diu:
Labors of Hercules Nr. 1: The Nemean Lion
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In the first of the labors of Hercules, Eurystheus commanded the hero to bring him the hide of the Nemean Lion. The lion that had been terrorizing the valley of Nemea, was one of the monstrous children of Echidna and either Orthus or Typhoeus, or had fallen to earth from Selene (Moon). At first, Hercules tried to shoot it with his arrows, but seeing that the lion's pelt could not be pierced, he attacked it with his clubs. The lion ran away and hid in a cave with two entrances. Hercules blocked the one entrance, then wrestled with the lion and strangled it.He then skinned it and wrapped himself in its skin, after first offering a sacrifice to Zeus the Savior.He then returned to Mycanae with the lion thrown over his shoulder.

Seeing Hercules dressed in the lion's pelt, Eurystheus was so frightened that he ordered him to leave all his future trophies outside the city's gates. He then had a large, bronze jar forged and buried in the earth. Thereafter, whenever Hercules approached, the cowardly Eurystheus hid in this jar and had a messenger relay his next orders to the hero.

nusrat-diu:
Labors of Hercules Nr. 2: The Lerna Hydra
Hercules's second task was to kill the Lerna Hydra (water snake), daughter of Typhoeus and Echidna, and sister of Orthus and Cerberus. The Hydra, who lived in the marshes of Lerna, devoured people and animals. She was a horrifying monster with huge dog-like body and many serpentine heads (some say as few as seven, others claim 10,000), one of which was immortal. She had foul, poisonous breath that killed anyone who inhaled it.

Hercules's aide on this labor was his nephew and charioteer Iolaus, the son of his brother Iphicles and Automedusa. They arrived together at the Amynone Spring, which was the monster's hideaway. Hercules forced the beast out by shooting flaming arrows into the lair. Much to his surprise, Hercules saw that for every head he shot off, two more sprung in its place. A giant crab also helped the Hydra by biting on Hercules's leg. Hercules killed the crab. He then sought Iolaus's help, instructing him to sear each new wound with burning branches. This checked the flow of blood and prevented the growing of new heads.

After he killed the Hydra, Hercules dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood. Thereafter, anyone wounded with these arrows would die. He then buried the monster's head in the road between Lerna and Elaeus and placed a rock over it.

Although Hercules completed this labor, Eurystheus refused to give him credit for it, because he claimed Hercules had received assistance (from Iolaus) to accomplish the feat.

nusrat-diu:
Labors of Hercules Nr. 3: The Cerynitian Hind
The third of the labors of Hercules was to capture alive the Cerynitian hind, which the nymph Taygette had dedicated to the goddess Artemis and which lived in the Sanctuary of Artemis on mount Cerynea.

A wonderful deer with golden antlers and brass hoofs, this hind roamed the hills of Cerynea between Arcadia and Achaea, in central Peloponnesus. Because the hind was sacred, Hercules hoped to capture it unharmed. After pursuing it for almost a year, the hero finally managed to capture the animal on the banks of the river Ladon, after having chased it as far as the land of the Hyperboreans.

While returning to Tiryns with the deer on his shoulders, Hercules met Artemis and Apollo. Artemis chastised Hercules, but let him pass with her deer when he insisted that Eurystheus should be blamed for this insult.

nusrat-diu:
Labors of Hercules Nr. 4: The Erymanthian Boar
For his fourth labor, Hercules was ordered to capture the boar that lived on the Mount Erymanthus, and was ravaging the land of Psophis (near present day Kalavrita). Hercules first chased the boar out of its hiding place in the forest, pushed it into a snow covered ravine, and then captured it in chains.

On his way back to Eurystheus, Hercules clashed with the centaurs who attacked the hero by throwing rocks and tree trunks at him, after going mad from the smell of the wine Hercules had been offered by his friend centaur Pholus. Hercules killed many of his attackers and drove the rest to a new home on Mount Malea, where their king Cheiron lived, who was also an old friend and teacher of Hercules. By accident, however, Cheiron was mortally wounded by one of Hercules's poisonous arrows. His pain was so intense, that Cheiron, being immortal, resigned his immortality to Prometheus.

nusrat-diu:
Labors of Hercules Nr. 5: The Augeian Stables
Perhaps to humiliate him, Eurystheus assigned Hercules as his sixth labor, to clean the stables of Augeias, king of Elis (located on the western coast of Peloponnesus) and a son of the sun god Helius.

Augeias, who had taken part in the expedition of the Argonauts, had countless herds. When Hercules asked for one-tenth of the king's animals as his fee for cleaning the stables, the king agreed because he was convinced that the task was impossible. But Hercules, proved to be more clever than the king had imagined: He tore down a wall and diverted the waters of the rivers Alpheius and Peneius into the stables.

The stables were cleaned in a matter of hours, but Augeias refused to keep his promise, insisting that Hercules had a duty to perform this labor for Eurystheus. To make matters worse, Eurystheus refused to give him credit for accomplishing the labor, contending that he had done it as a job for hire. As some other storytellers insist, Eurystheus withheld credit and Augeias refused payment, because they contended that the river gods Alpheius and Peneius, rather than Hercules himself, accomplished the feat.

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