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The Twelve Labours

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"Hercules and the hydra" by Antonio Pollaiuolo

The Twelve Labours of Hercules (Greek: Δωδεκαθλος, dodekathlos) are a series of archaic episodes connected by a later continuous narrative, concerning a penance carried out by the greatest of the Greek heroes, Heracles, romanised as Hercules. The establishment of a fixed cycle of twelve labours was attributed by the Greeks to an epic poem, now lost, written by Peisander, dated about 600 BC (Burkert).

The labours

As they survive, the Labours of Heracles are not told in any single place, but must be reassembled from many sources. Ruck and Staples assert that there is no one way to interpret the labours, but that six were located in the Peloponnese, culminating with the rededication of Olympia. Six others took the hero farther afield. In each case, the pattern was the same: Heracles was sent to kill or subdue, or to fetch back for Hera's representative Eurystheus a magical animal or plant. "The sites selected were all previously strongholds of Hera or the 'Goddess' and were Entrances to the Netherworld".

A famous depiction of the labours in Greek sculpture is found on the metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, which date to the 450s BC.

In his labours, Heracles was often accompanied by a male companion (an eromenos), according to Licymnius and others, such as Iolaus, his nephew. Although he was only supposed to perform ten labours, this assistance led to him suffering two more. Eurystheus didn't count the Hydra, because Iolaus helped him, or the Augean stables, as he received payment for his work, or because the rivers did the work.

A traditional order of the labours found in Apollodorus is:

1. Slay the Nemean Lion.
2. Slay the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra.
3. Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis.
4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar.
5. Clean the Augean stables in a single day.
6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds.
7. Capture the Cretan Bull.
8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes.
9. Obtain the Girdle of the Amazon Queen.
10. Obtain the Cattle of the Monster Geryon.
11. Steal the Apples of the Hesperides.
12. Capture and bring back Cerberus.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Ruck, Carl (1994). The World of Classical Myth. Durham, NC, USA: Carolina Academic Press. pp. 169. 
2. ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheke 2.5.1-2.5.12.

References

• Burkert, Walter (1985). Greek Religion. Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Twelve Labours

• [1] - Livius Picture Archive: Labours of Heracles
• [2] - The Labours of Hercules at [3] - the Perseus Digital Library
• Gallery of Public Domain Book Engravings Depicting the Twelve Labours of Hercules