(Some storytellers say that Zeus had fathered this magical beast as well.) Hercules trapped the lion in its cave and strangled it. The Nemean Lionįirst, Apollo sent Hercules to the hills of Nemea to kill a lion that was terrorizing the people of the region. Once Hercules completed every one of the labors, Apollo declared, he would be absolved of his guilt and achieve immortality. He ordered Hercules to perform 12 labors for the Mycenaen king Eurystheus. WATCH: The Greek Gods on HISTORY Vault The 12 Labors of HerculesĪpollo understood that Hercules’ crime had not been his fault-Hera’s vengeful actions were no secret-but still he insisted that the young man make amends. Guilty and heartbroken, Hercules tracked down Apollo, the god of truth and healing (and another of Zeus’ sons), and begged to be punished for what he had done. When her stepson was a young adult, she cast a kind of spell on him that drove him temporarily insane and caused him to murder his beloved wife and their two children. The infant Hercules was unusually strong and fearless, however, and he strangled the snakes before they could strangle him.īut Hera kept up her dirty tricks. Then, after Hercules was born, Hera sent two snakes to kill him in his crib.
(Perseus, who was also said to be one of Zeus’ sons, famously beheaded the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa.)ĭid you know? The constellation Hercules is the fifth-largest one in the sky. According to legend, his father was Zeus, ruler of all the Greek gods on Mount Olympus and all the mortals on earth, and his mother was Alcmene, the granddaughter of the hero Perseus. Hercules was not a god, but was born a mortal, although like many mythic heroes, he had a complicated family tree.
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