Ancient Myths ( I )

During this last trimester I want to review some of the most famous European myths. And I would like to start with one of my favourites: Hercules' twelve labours.

Synopsis: Hercules was son of Zeus (an immortal god) and Alcmene (a mortal woman). He inherited a supernatural strenght from his father; but not the immortality. Hercules, of course, didn't want to die. For this reason he spent a great part of his time looking for the eternal life.

IMPORTANT: In all the story, Hercules has got a mortal enemy: Hera, wife of Zeus. All Hercules problems are directly or indirectly related with her. Hera hates our hero because he is a bastard, resulting of Zeus infidelity.

The begining of everything:

Hercules got married with a beautiful woman called Megara. They were happy, and they had two children. But Hera, always angry with Hercules, put a spell on him and made him kill his family. After the crime, Hercules recovered his sanity, discovering what he had done. He cried, screamed, punched, kicked... Terrified by his own facts, even he tried to commite suicide. Fortunately Theseus (his best friend) stopped him at the last momment.

The twelve labours:

Although it hasn't been his fault (Hera was the real guilty), Hercules was very repentant and worried about the crime. So, he decided to go to Delphi, a sacred place. There, a priestess called Pythia told him the following message:

"Go to Tyrins and serve King Eurystheus for twelve years. By means of it, you will be forgiven"

So, Hercules went there and serve the king. During those twelve years, Hercules carried out his famous twelve labours: a series of good and necessary tasks which provided him forgiveness, and finally the desired immortality.

The twelve labours were:

1. To kill the Nemean Lion.
2. To kill the nine - headed Hydra.
3. To capture a sacred deer.
4. To capture a firece wild boar.
5. To clean a very big and dirty stables in a single day.
6. To kill some assasin birds, covered with iron feathers.
7. To capture the Minotaur.
8. To capture some cannibal horses (mares)
9. To get the crown of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons (a tribe of fighter women)
10. To get some oxen from an evil giant.
11. To steal some golden apples from a secret and dangerous garden.
12. To capture Cerberus, the demoniacal monster warden of hell's gates.