Both in summer and autumn, when the harvest was ripening in the fields, the peasants who lived at the foot of Mount Erymanths anxiously examined their plots in the morning and each time found traces of terrible devastation: the ground was dug up, the crops were trampled and uprooted, and the fruits in the gardens crushed by someone's brute force.

People said that on the slopes of the mountain, covered with a dense oak forest, a wild boar settled, which at night descended from the mountain and devastated the fields. But its fangs and hooves were so terrible that no one dared to go into the forest and kill the beast.

And so for the fourth time Copreus appeared to Hercules and conveyed to him the next order of Eurystheus: to catch the Erymanthian boar.

“Catching the Erymanthian boar is not a tricky thing,” Hercules said to Iolaus when Copreus left, “but getting to him is not easy: the approaches to Erymanthus are blocked by centaurs, and passing through the possessions of these unbridled, lawless half-men, half-horses is more difficult than catching some wild boar".

"Where did these centaurs come from?" - asked Iolaus.

“I’ll tell you, friend, what I know about them... There once lived a king of the Lapith tribe, Ixion,” Hercules began the story. “Ixion was the first among mortals to defile himself with kindred blood. Not wanting to pay Dioine, his father-in-law, a ransom for his wife, he pushed him into the wolf a pit full of hot coals. Dioineus met a terrible death. Ixion turned to Zeus himself for cleansing, and Zeus not only cleansed the murderer, but also brought him closer to his throne. There, on Olympus, the mortal Ixion began to seek the love of Hera, the divine wife of the greatest of gods. To find out the extent of Ixion's dishonor, Zeus gave the appearance of Hera to the Cloud-Nephele, who stopped over Olympus. From this lawless union of the imaginary Hera and Ixion, the lawless centaurs came. Thus, the dishonor of the king of the Lapiths was proven. By the verdict of Zeus, Ixion was cast into the darkest depths of Hades and forever chained to the ever-spinning fiery wheel. And the cruel, merciless centaurs, having moved from Thessaly to the north of the Peloponnese, still live near Mount Erymanthus. Among all this lawless brethren, only the wise centaur Chiron, who has the gift of immortality, and the hospitable centaur Pholus are friendly to people, and the rest are just waiting for an opportunity to trample with their hooves anyone who walks on two legs. These are the ones I have to fight with."

“We have to fight,” Iolaus corrected Hercules.

“No, my friend, you will have to stay,” Hercules objected. “I can handle the centaurs alone.”

Hercules walked for many days to Mount Erymanthus to fulfill the fourth order of Eurystheus. Several times he saw from afar herds of centaurs rushing madly, as if in a fit of madness. Only the gods know what day of the journey Hercules saw a cave in front of which an already middle-aged centaur stood unusually calmly and calmly.

“Who are you, daredevil, who is not afraid to wander into our domain?” - asked the centaur.

“I am a royal hunter,” answered Hercules. “The king ordered me to get a wild boar that lives on this mountain. Can you show me how to find it?”

“Oh, this boar greatly annoys us, the inhabitants of this mountain. I will show you its trail. But first, be my guest. My name is Phol. I, unlike my brothers, honor the law of hospitality. Come into my cave, I will pour you a cup of good wine."

Hercules accepted Fol's invitation, and, calling his name, entered the centaur's dwelling. A huge wineskin of wine was immediately opened and the cups were raised. The fragrance of wonderful wine spread far away. Other centaurs smelled this fragrance and came to Fola's cave. They were terribly angry with Fol because he opened a wineskin with the treasured wine for a man. Threatening Hercules with death, they demanded that he leave the cave and surrender.

Hercules was not afraid. From the depths of the cave, he began to throw burning brands from the hearth at the centaurs. "Call Chiron! Chiron here!" - the centaurs shouted. Hercules was surprised: is it really the wise Chiron among this herd? He left the cave to greet the noble centaur, and at the same moment stones flew at the son of Zeus, which were thrown at him by half-horses, half-people, maddened with anger.

What could Hercules do? He pulled his bow, which never missed, and began shooting arrows poisoned with the blood of the Lernaean Hydra at the centaurs.

One by one, the dead centaurs fell to the ground. Cloud-Nephele took pity on her children and rained heavily. It is easy for four-legged centaurs to jump on wet soil, but Hercules slipped, and for the first time his arrow flew past the target. The hero aimed at the most ferocious and powerful centaur, but hit an old, gray-haired man standing at a distance who did not take part in the battle. The centaurs heard the sorrowful groan of their wounded comrade and fled. The battle is over. Everything around was quiet, only the wounded old centaur moaned barely audibly. Fol, who had been hiding there, came out of the cave.

"Gods! Yes, this is Chiron!" - he shouted when he saw the wounded centaur.

“Chiron?” asked Hercules. “Oh, what have I done! I so longed to meet you, the wisest of the wise, I so wanted to listen to your speeches. And now - I see you dying, and I am your killer!”

“An involuntary murderer,” Chiron replied, “and I absolve you of the blame. There is only one thing bad: I am the son of Cronus and the nymph Philyra, a centaur who absorbed immortality with his mother’s milk. I cannot die, but the poison of the Lernaean Hydra, with which the arrow was saturated, who wounded me, brings me unbearable suffering. Will they really last forever? Gods, let me die! I return my immortality to you and pray to you: take my life and let my voluntary death become the key to the liberation of the most just titan Prometheus. There is no guilt behind Prometheus "Great Zeus! Calm your unrighteous anger!"

These were the last words of the wise Chiron. The ground shook. Zeus heard Chiron's plea. Peace spread across the wounded man’s face and his breathing stopped.

Pholus and Hercules carried the body of dead Chiron into the cave. Fol removed the arrow from his wound. “How does this little piece of wood strike death?” asked Fol. "Carefully!" - Hercules shouted. But it was too late: Fol dropped the arrow, and it stuck in his leg. The centaur opened his mouth to scream in pain, but without even groaning, he fell dead.

Hercules carried the killed centaurs into a cave, covered it with a large stone, like a tomb, and headed into the thicket of the Erymanthian forest.

He tracked the boar without difficulty, caught it, took it to Mycenae and showed it to Copreus. Eurystheus did not even want to look at Hercules’s prey. As soon as he heard the roar of the Erymanthian boar, the cowardly king hid in a large copper water vessel.

Hercules laughed, ordered the boar to be roasted and a treat for the people.

On assignment Eurystheus, was to catch alive the Erymanthian boar - a huge, ferocious boar that lived on Mount Erymanthus, dedicated to the goddess Artemis, and devastated the area around the city of Psophida.

Labors of Hercules

On the way to Erymanthus, Hercules was hospitably received by the centaur Pholus. Phol fed Hercules heartily, but at first he did not dare to treat him with wine, because the vessel with this drink standing by him was considered the property of all the centaurs, and not just him. However, Hercules reminded Pholus that it was this vessel that the god Dionysus had long ago left in his cave - and intended it just for such an occasion.

Hercules and Pholus treated themselves to wine. Sensing his scent, the other centaurs became furious at the “thief.” With large stones, fir trees torn out of the ground, brands and axes, they rushed to Fola's cave. Foul hid out of fear, but Hercules boldly repelled the attack of the first two centaurs, Ancia and Agria, with a hail of firebrands. Grandmother of the Centaurs, Goddess of the Clouds Nephela, a heavy downpour poured down, from which the string on Hercules’ bow weakened, and the ground under his feet became slippery. However, the hero was not embarrassed. He killed several centaurs, and all the others, fleeing from him, ran to the town of Maleya, where they took refuge with their king Chiron.

The centaur Chiron raises the hero Achilles. Painting by E. Delacroix

Fol began burying his dead relatives. From the body of one of them he took out an arrow shot by Hercules, began to look at it, but accidentally dropped it. The fallen arrow pierced Fol's leg, and he also died. Hercules buried Tholos with great honor - since then the surrounding area bears the name of this centaur: Tholos. A centaur named Pylenor, wounded in the arm by Hercules, ran away and washed his wound in the river Anigrus, which flows here. They said that after this it acquired a terrible smell, familiar to all the ancient Greeks, which was felt throughout its entire course.

Hercules and the Erymanthian boar. Statue of L. Tuyon, 1904

Hercules, meanwhile, went to catch the Erymanthian boar. On the instructions of Eurystheus, he had to capture the monster alive. This was a very difficult task, but Hercules managed to drive the boar out of the thicket with loud cries, drive it into a deep snowdrift and jump on its back. Hercules bound the Erymanthian boar with chains and carried it on his shoulders to Mycenae, to Eurystheus, who hid from fear in a copper jug. Passing through the market square in Mycenae, Hercules heard that the Argonaut heroes were going to sail to Colchis for the Golden Fleece. Ardently wanting to participate in their enterprise, Hercules abandoned the chained boar and, with his friend Hylas, hurried to join the sailors. The Erymanthian boar was then killed by someone, and its fangs were placed in the Kuma temple

THE FOURTH LABOR OF HERCULES: THE ERYMANTHIAN BOAR

Hercules did not rest for long after hunting the Kerenean hind. Having recovered from the shock, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to catch alive the ferocious boar that lived on Mount Erymanthos in the same Arcadia. Erymanthian boar, possessing monstrous power, devastated the surroundings of the city of Psofis. The boar did not give mercy to people, killing everyone he met with his huge fangs. Hercules had to go again to the lair of the terrible beast.

On the way, he visited an old acquaintance of the centaur Fol, a descendant of the wise centaur Chiron, born in secret from Rhea. From Chiron came a large tribe of centaurs, who had the appearance of half-humans, half-horses. Sometimes they helped people and heroes, and sometimes they came into conflict with them. He accepted the great son of Zeus with honor and prepared a rich meal for him. During the feast, when friends were feasting, adorning their heads with ivy wreaths, Phol placed a large vessel of wine on the table. And then, attracted by the fragrance of the wondrous aroma, other centaurs, armed with stones and stakes, rushed to the cave. Their indignation knew no bounds: how could Fol open a vessel with a precious drink, which was the property of the entire community! But Hercules was not at a loss. He quickly jumped up from his bed, grabbed his bow, and immediately fiery arrows flew at the centaurs. Meanwhile, the wise ken-taur Chiron arrived. He tried to stop the ensuing fight, but one of the arrows, saturated with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra, hit him in the leg. Chiron was immortal, but the poison, having penetrated his blood, caused him such terrible torment that the wise centaur chose to renounce his immortality and voluntarily descended into Hades.

After a short battle, the centaurs fled, and the saddened Hercules continued on his way. Soon he reached Mount Erymantha. There, following the tracks left on the trees by fangs, the hero found the boar’s lair in a dense forest and drove him out of the thicket with loud cries.

The ferocious beast furiously attacked the hero. The blows of the sword did not cause him any harm and only inflamed him with furious rage. Then Hercules turned his shiny shield so that the sun was reflected in it, and directed a bright beam straight into the eyes of the boar. Then he shouted loudly and began to hit the shield with his sword. Blinded by the light, frightened by the noise, the boar began to run. Hercules drove him to the top of a mountain covered with snow until the boar got stuck in a deep snowdrift. Then Hercules in one leap rushed onto the monster’s back, tied him up and put a heavy burden on his powerful shoulders. All the residents of Mi-ken who came out to meet him joyfully greeted the daredevil. Eurystheus, seeing Hercules returning with the Erymanthian boar, climbed out of fear into a bronze pithos dug deep into the ground.

- a cycle of tales about the 12 labors performed by Hercules when he was in the service of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus. Each labor of Hercules is a separate story, unlike all the others. The hero of Ancient Greece had to go through many trials that were incomprehensible to a mere mortal.

The fourth labor of Hercules (summary)

Possessing monstrous strength, the Erymanthian boar (boar) terrified the entire surrounding area. Hercules, on the way to fight with him, visited his friend, the centaur Pholus. There he had a quarrel with other centaurs over the wine that Pholus treated him to. While chasing the centaurs, Hercules burst into Chiron's cave and accidentally killed him with an arrow. Having found the Erymanthian boar, Hercules drove it into deep snow, where it got stuck. The hero took the tied boar to Mycenae, where, at the sight of this monster, the frightened Eurystheus hid in a large jug.

The fifth labor of Hercules (summary)

The sixth labor of Hercules (summary)

However, the greedy Augeas did not give the promised payment for the work to Hercules. Having already been freed from service with Eurystheus, a few years later Hercules gathered an army, defeated Augeas and killed him. After this victory, the hero established the famous Olympic Games in Elis, near the city of Pisa.

The seventh labor of Hercules (summary)

The tenth labor of Hercules (summary)

On the westernmost edge of the earth, on the island of Erithia, the giant Geryon, who had three torsos, three heads, six arms and six legs, grazed. Hercules, on the orders of Eurystheus, went after these cows. Having killed Geryon's guards - the giant Eurytion and the two-headed dog Orff, and then Geryon himself, Hercules transported the cows on Helios's shuttle across the Ocean. Eurystheus, having received Geryon's cows, sacrificed them to Hera.

The Eleventh Labor of Hercules (summary)

Eurystheus ordered Hercules to take three golden apples from the golden tree in the garden of Atlas. Atlas held the vault of heaven on his shoulders. He promised to go for the apples himself if Hercules held the firmament at that time.

Having brought the apples, Atlas offered to take them to Eurystheus himself. But Hercules, realizing the deception, asked Atlas to replace him under the sky for a short rest, and he himself took the apples and left.

The Twelfth Labor of Hercules (summary)

Hercules, on the orders of Eurystheus, descended into the dark kingdom of the god of the dead, Hades, in order to take away his guard, the three-headed dog Cerberus, from there. The ruler of the underworld, Hades, himself allowed Hercules to take Cerberus away - but only if the hero was able to tame him. Having found Cerberus, Hercules began to fight him. He half-strangled the dog, pulled him out of the ground and brought him to Mycenae. At one glance at the terrible dog, the cowardly Eurystheus began to beg Hercules to take her back, which he did.

Myths about the labors of Hercules

Nemean Lion - the first labor of Hercules

Hercules was supposed to bring the skin of the Nemean lion, which came from the fire-breathing monster Typhon and the gigantic snake Echidna and lived in the valley between Nemea and Cleanae. While still in Cleanae, Hercules visited one poor man, Molarchus, who was about to make a sacrifice to Zeus at that time. Hercules persuaded him to postpone the sacrifice for thirty days, because he wanted to bring a sacrifice with him to the savior Zeus upon returning from a dangerous hunt; if Hercules did not return from the hunt, then Molarchus had, according to the condition, to calm his shadow with a sacrifice. Hercules went into the forest and searched for the lion for several days, finally found him and threw an arrow at him; but the lion was not wounded: the arrow bounced off him as if from a stone. Then Hercules raised his club at the lion; the lion ran away from him into a cave that had two exits. The hero blocked one exit and approached the beast with the other. In an instant the lion jumped on his chest. Hercules grabbed the lion with his mighty arms and strangled him, then he put him on his shoulders and carried him to Mycenae. He came to Molarch on the thirtieth day after his departure and found him about to offer a funeral sacrifice for Hercules. Here both made a sacrifice to Zeus the Savior and thereby laid the foundation for the Nemean Games. When Hercules brought the lion to Mycenae, Eurystheus, at the sight of the powerful hero and terrible beast, came into great horror and gave the following order: from now on, Hercules will show evidence of his exploits from the city gates.

Lernaean Hydra - the second labor of Hercules

Hercules also had to kill the Lernaean hydra, a terrible snake with nine heads: eight were mortal, but the middle one was immortal. Hydra was also the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. She grew up in the Lernaean swamp, near the spring of Amymone, and from there she attacked the herds and devastated the country. With courage in his heart, Hercules went to this fight in a chariot driven by Polais, the courageous son of Iphicles. When he arrived in Lerna, he left Iolaus with his chariot behind him and began to look for the enemy. He found the hydra in a cave that was in one rock, and drove it out of there with his arrows; it came to a dangerous struggle. The beast madly rushes at him; but Hercules steps on him with his foot and holds him under him; While the hydra knocked down his other leg with its long tail, Hercules boldly began to strike the monster’s hissing heads with his club. But Hercules could not kill the monster; instead of each broken head, two others grew from the body. In addition, another enemy appeared: a huge sea crayfish, pinching the legs of Hercules. Hercules crushed him and called him to his aid against the Hydra Iolaus. Iolaus occupied part of the nearby forest and burned the wounds with hot brands so that new heads could not grow from them. Finally, only one undying head remained: Hercules took it off and buried it near the road under a heavy rock. Then he cut the monster’s body and dipped his arrows into its poisonous liver. From then on, Hercules began to inflict incurable wounds with his arrows.

Capturing the Kerenean Hind - the third labor of Hercules

The third labor of Hercules was to bring the Cerynean hind to Mycenae alive. It was a beautiful golden-horned and copper-legged doe, dedicated to Artemis, tireless and incredibly fast. Since Hercules did not want to kill her or wound her, he chased her for a whole year to the Hyperborean country and the sources of Istra, and then again drove her to Arcadia; finally, tired of a long hunt, Hercules shot at a doe as she wanted to cross the Ladon River, wounded her in the leg and, grabbing her, put her on his shoulders and carried her to Mycenae. Artemis came towards him with her brother Apollo, began to reproach him for catching her sacred doe, and wanted to take it away from him, Hercules made excuses and blamed it on Eurystheus, whose command he obeyed, and Artemis calmed down. So he brought the doe alive to Mycenae.

Erymanthian boar - the fourth labor of Hercules

When Hercules delivered the hind to Mycenae, Eurystheus instructed him to catch the Erymanthian boar. This boar lived on Mount Erymanthus, between Arcadia, Elis and Achaia, and often invaded the region of the city of Psophis, where it devastated fields and killed people. On the way to this hunt, Hercules crossed the high wooded mountains of Tholos, in which some centaurs lived since they were expelled from Thessaly by Lapithos. Tired, hungry Hercules came to the cave of the centaur Pholus and was warmly received by him, for, although Pholus was also half-man and half-horse, like other centaurs, he was not, like Chiron, as rude and brutally wild as they were. He treated Hercules to boiled meat, while he ate his portion raw. Hercules, who loved to drink good wine at a meal after work and worries, expressed a desire to drink; but the owner was afraid to open the vessel with wine, a precious gift to the centaurs from Dionysus, who was in his custody: he was afraid that the centaurs would come and break the hospitality in their wild anger. Hercules encouraged him and opened the vessel himself; Both of them merrily drink full cups, but soon the centaurs appear: hearing the sweet aroma of wine, they rush from all sides to the cave of Thola, in a wild rage they arm themselves with rocks and pine trunks and attack Hercules. He repels the attack, throws hot brands into their chests and faces and drives them out of the cave. Then he pursues them with his arrows and drives the last remaining ones to the Malean Cape, where they seek refuge with Chiron, who was driven here from the Pelion Mountains. While they are crowding around him, seeking refuge, an arrow from Hercules hits him in the knee. Only then did the hero recognize his old friend; with great sorrow, he ran to him, applied healing herbs given to him by Chiron himself to the wounds, and bandaged them, but the wound inflicted by a poisoned arrow was incurable, so Chiron subsequently voluntarily accepted death for Prometheus, Hercules returned to the cave of Thola and, to to his great grief, he found him dead too: Fol took an arrow from the wound of one killed centaur and, looking at it, marveled at how such a small thing could lay such a giant dead; Suddenly an arrow fell out of his hand, wounded him in the leg, and he immediately fell dead. Hercules sadly buried his master and went to look for the Erymanthian boar. With a cry, he drove him out of the forest thicket and pursued him to the very top of the mountain, where the boar settled in deep snow. The hero got to him, chained him and brought him alive to Mycenae. When Eurystheus saw the terrible beast, he was so frightened that he hid in a copper tub.

The extermination of the Stymphalian birds is the fifth labor of Hercules.

Stymphalian birds lived in a deep wooded valley near a lake, near the Arcadian city of Stymphalus. It was a huge flock of terrible birds of prey, the size of cranes; they had copper wings, claws and beaks, and they could throw their feathers like arrows. The whole region was unsafe from them; they attacked people and animals and ate them. Hercules fulfilled the order and drove them out. When he arrived in the valley, flocks of these birds scattered throughout the forest. Hercules stood on one hill and scared them with the terrible noise of two copper rattles, given to him for this purpose by Athena, so that he could better reach them with his arrows in the air. But he could not kill everyone: some of them flew far to the island of Aretia, to the Euxine Pontus, where the Argonauts subsequently met them.

Augean stables - the sixth labor of Hercules

Hercules cleared the Augean stall in one day - this was his sixth labor. Augeas was the son of the radiant sun god Helios and the king of Elis. He became famous for his immense wealth, which he owed to his loving father. Countless as the clouds of heaven were his herds of bulls and sheep. Three hundred bulls had hair on their legs like snow; two hundred were purple; twelve bulls, dedicated to the god Helios, were white as swans, and one, named Phaethon, shone like a star. In the large barnyard where all these animals were gathered, so much manure had accumulated over time that it seemed impossible to clean it out. When Hercules appeared, he offered Augeas to cleanse the court in one day if the king would give him a tenth of his herds. Augeas willingly accepted the condition, for he doubted the feasibility of this matter. Hercules called the son of Augeias as a witness to the treaty, took the rivers Alpheus and Peneus aside and, breaking the wall of the barnyard in two places, led these rivers through it; the pressure of water in one day swept away all the sewage from the yard, and Hercules completed his task. But Augeas does not give the agreed payment and is locked even in his promise. He is even ready to take the case to court.

A court was convened, and Filey began to testify against his father.

Then Augeas, before the decision of the court took place, expels Philaeus and Hercules from his country. Philaeus went to the island of Dulilichiy and settled there; Hercules returned to Tiryns.

Subsequently, when Hercules was freed from serving Eurystheus, he took revenge on Augeas: he gathered a large army and attacked Elis. But Augean’s nephews, the twin sons of Actor and Molion, therefore called Aktorides and Molionides, ambushed his army and defeated it. Hercules himself was sick at this time. Soon afterwards he himself waylaid the Molionids at Kleon while they were setting off for the Isthmian Games, and killed them. Then he again went to Elis and betrayed her to fire and sword. Finally, he killed Augeas with his arrow. And when he gathered his entire army in Pis and brought rich booty there, he measured out a sacred plot of land for his father Zeus and planted olive trees on it. Then he made a sacrifice to the twelve Olympic gods and the god of the river Alpheus and established the Olympic Games. After the finest of his troops had tested their strength in various competitions, in the evening, under the enchanting moonlight, they celebrated a wonderful feast and sang songs of victory.

From Elis, Hercules went to Pylos against King Neleus, who gave Augeas help in the war against Hercules. In Pylos it came to a terrible battle, in which the gods also participated. The mighty hero fought against Ares and Hera and with his club struck the trident of Poseidon and the scepter of Hades, with which he drives the dead into his kingdom. Hercules resisted even the silver bow of the powerful Apollo. With the help of Zeus and Athena, Hercules was victorious; Having conquered the city of Pylos, he ravaged it and killed Neleus and his eleven beautiful young sons. Of these, he tinkered most with Periclymenes, who received the gift of transformations from Poseidon. He appeared to Hercules in the form of a lion, eagle, snake and bee, but when, intending to attack the hero, he turned into a fly and sat on his chariot, Athena opened her hero’s eyes, and he saw the true image of his enemy and shot at him with a bow . Of the entire Neleus family, only Nestor remained, the youngest of twelve sons. At this time he was in Gerenia and that is why he subsequently had a nickname: Gerenian.

Cretan bull - the seventh labor of Hercules

The Cretan bull was given by Poseidon to the Cretan king Minos so that he would sacrifice this bull to him. But Minos kept a beautiful and strong bull in his herd and killed another. For this, Poseidon enraged the bull, and he caused devastation throughout the island. Eurystheus instructed Hercules to catch this bull and deliver it to Mycenae. With the help of Minos, Hercules caught the bull and tamed it with his mighty hand. Then he sailed to Mycenae on a bull and brought him to Eurystheus. He released the bull and, mad, he began to wander throughout the Peloponnese and finally came to Attica; here he reached the country of Marathon, where Theseus caught him.

Mares of Diomedes - the eighth labor of Hercules

Hercules still had to bring the horses of the Thracian king Diomedes to Mycenae. These horses were so wild and strong that they had to be chained to the manger with strong iron chains. They ate human flesh: the ferocious Diomedes, whose fortified palace was located on the seashore, threw them strangers who were washed ashore by the sea. Hercules went there on the ship, took the horses and their guards and led them to the ship. Diomedes met him at the seashore with his warlike Thracians, and a bloody battle broke out here, in which Diomedes was killed; Hercules threw his body to be devoured by horses. During the battle, Hercules gave the horses to his favorite Abdera for safekeeping, but, returning from the battle, he did not find him: the beautiful young man was torn to pieces by the horses. Hercules mourns him, buries him and erects a beautiful mound over his grave. At the place where Abdera died, Hercules instituted games in honor of the young man and founded a city, which he named Abdera. Eurystheus released the horses, and on the Lyceum Mountains, in Arcadia, they were torn to pieces by wild beasts.

Belt of Hippolyta - the ninth labor of Hercules

Queen Hippolyta once ruled the warlike people of the Amazons. The sign of her royal dignity was the belt given to her by the god of war Ares. Eurystheus's daughter Admeta wished to have this belt, and Hercules instructed Eurystheus to get it. Hercules sailed along the Euxine Pontus to the capital of the Amazons, Themiscyra, at the mouth of the Fermodon River, and camped near it. Hippolyta came to him with her Amazons and asked about the purpose of his arrival.

The hero’s majestic appearance and noble origin placed Hippolyta in his favor: she willingly promised to give him the belt. But Hera, wanting to destroy Hercules, whom she hated, took on the appearance of an Amazon and spread a rumor that a foreigner wanted to kidnap the queen. Then the Amazons took up arms and attacked the camp of Hercules. A terrible battle began, in which the most famous and brave Amazons competed with Hercules. First of all, Aela attacked him, nicknamed “Whirlwind” for her marvelous speed. But in Hercules she found an even faster opponent. Defeated, Aela sought salvation in flight, but Hercules caught up with her and killed her. Protoya also fell, remaining victorious in single combat seven times. Three maidens, Artemis’s friends and her hunting companions, who never let their hunting spears miss, attacked the hero together, but this time they missed the target and fell to the ground under the blows of the enemy, covering themselves with their shields. Hercules put many other warriors to death, and he also captured their bravest leader Melanippe; The Amazons then fled, and many of them died in this flight. Hercules gave the captive Antiope as a gift to his friend and companion Theseus, but he released Melanippa on a promise - for the belt that Hippolyta gave him before the battle.

The Bulls of Geryon are the tenth labor of Hercules.

From distant eastern countries, Hercules arrived in the far west. Eurystheus ordered him to drive the herds of the three-headed giant Geryon, who were grazing on the island of the western ocean Erythia, to Mycenae. The purple, shiny bulls were guarded by the giant Eurytion and the terrible dog Orth. To reach Erithia, Hercules had a long and difficult path through Europe and Libya, through barbarian countries and deserts. Having reached the strait separating Europe from Libya, Hercules, in memory of this longest journey, placed a pillar-shaped rock on both sides of the strait - and since then these rocks have been called the “pillars of Hercules.” Soon afterwards he arrived at the ocean shore, but Erithia - the goal of the journey - was still far away: how to reach it, how to cross the world's ocean-river? Not knowing what to do, tormented by impatience, Hercules sat on the ocean shore until the evening, and then he sees: Helios is rolling towards the ocean from the high sky on his radiant chariot. It was hard for the hero to look at the close sun, and in anger he pulled his bow on the radiant god. God marveled at the courage of the wondrous man, but was not angry with him; he even gave up his cube-shaped canoe, on which he circled the northern half of the earth every night. On this boat Hercules arrived on the island of Erithia. Here the dog Ort immediately rushed at him, but the hero killed him with his club. He killed Eurytion and drove away Geryon's herds. But Menoetius, who was grazing the herds of Hades nearby, saw what was stolen and told Geryon about it. The giant chased the hero, but died from his arrow. Hercules placed the bulls on the boat of the sun and sailed back to Iberia, where he again handed the ship to Helios. And he drove his herds through Iberia and Gaul, through the Pyrenees and the Alps. Having overcome many dangers, Hercules arrived at the Tiber River, to the place where Rome was later built.

Having stopped in the beautiful Tiber valley, Hercules carefreely indulged in sleep, and at this time the two most beautiful bulls from the herd were kidnapped by the fire-breathing giant Kak, who lived in a cave on the Aventine Mountain and caused terrible devastation throughout the surrounding country. The next morning, Hercules was about to drive his bulls further, but he noticed that not all the herd was intact. And he followed the trail of the lost bulls and reached a cave blocked by a huge, heavy rock. The heads and smoldering bones of the killed people were hung on the rock at the entrance and scattered on the ground. Hercules wondered if the inhabitant of the suspicious cave had stolen his bulls, but - a wonderful thing! - the trail led not into the cave, but out of it. He could not understand this and hurried with his flock from the inhospitable country. Then one of Hercules’ bulls roared, as if lamenting about those who were left behind, and the same roar was heard in response to him from the cave. Full of anger, Hercules returns to Kaka’s dwelling, rolls away the heavy stone of the entrance with his mighty shoulders and bursts into the cave. The giant throws fragments of rocks and tree trunks at him, but can neither intimidate nor deter the enemy. Like a volcano, with a terrible roar it spews smoke and flame at him, but this will not frighten the angry hero. Jumping over the stream of flame, he hit Kak in the face three times, and the terrible monster fell to the ground and gave up his ghost.

While, in gratitude for the victory, Hercules sacrificed a bull to Zeus, the surrounding residents came to him, and among others - Evander, who moved from Arcadia and here laid the first foundations of higher culture. They all welcomed Hercules as their savior and benefactor. Evander, recognizing the son of Zeus in Hercules, erected an altar to him, made a sacrifice and forever established a cult for him at the site of the last labor of Hercules - a place that the Romans subsequently considered sacred.

When Hercules arrived at the Strait of Sicily, one of his bulls fell into the sea and sailed to Sicily, where King Erice appropriated it. Having instructed Hephaestus to guard the remaining bulls, Hercules went after the lost one. He agreed to give the bull to Erica only if Hercules defeated him in single combat; Hercules defeated and killed him. On the shores of the Ionian Sea, Hercules suffered a new setback. Hera enraged his bulls, scattered them, and it cost the hero a lot of work to collect them. Finally, he collected most of them and drove them to Mycenae, where Eurystheus sacrificed them to Hera.

Apples of the Hesperides - the eleventh labor of Hercules

Hercules was carried away to the far west by his eleventh labor. Here, at the edge of the earth, on the ocean shore, there was a marvelous, golden-fruited tree, which the Earth once grew and gave to Hera during her marriage to Zeus. That tree was in the fragrant garden of Atlas the sky-bearer; The nymphs Hesperides, daughters of the giant, followed him, and he was guarded by the terrible dragon Ladon, whose eye never fell asleep. Hercules had to bring three golden apples from a wonderful tree: a difficult task, especially since Hercules did not know in which direction the Hesperides tree was located. Overcoming incredible difficulties, Hercules wandered for a long time throughout Europe, Asia and Libya and finally arrived in the far north, to the nymphs of the Eridanus River. The nymphs advised him to sneak up on the old man of the sea, the seer god Nereus, attack her and find out from him the secret of the golden apples. This is what Hercules did: he bound the sea god and only then released him when he learned from him the way to the Hesperides. The path went through Libya, and there Hercules attacked the son of the Earth, the giant Antaeus, and challenged him to fight. While Antaeus touched Mother Earth with his feet, his strength was irresistible: but when Hercules, hugging Antaeus, lifted him from the ground, all the power of the giant disappeared: Hercules overpowered him and killed him. From Libya, Hercules arrived in Egypt. Egypt was ruled at that time by Busiris, who sacrificed all foreigners to Zeus. When Hercules arrived in Egypt, Busiris chained him and led him to the altar: but the hero broke the chains and killed Busiris along with his son.

Finally, Hercules reached Atlas, who held the vault of heaven on his shoulders. Atlas promised to get Hercules the apples of the Hesperides; but the hero had to hold the sky for him for this time. Hercules agreed and lifted the vault of the sky onto his mighty shoulders. Returning with the golden apples, Atlas invited the hero to hold the weight for some more time, while he himself undertook to deliver the golden fruits to Mycenae. “I agree,” Hercules answered him, “just let me make a pillow; I’ll put it on my shoulders: the vault of heaven presses me too much.” Atlas believed; but when he stood in his original place, crushed by a heavy burden, Hercules picked up his bow, arrows and apples from the ground and amicably said goodbye to the deceived giant. The hero gave the apples to Eurystheus, but, having received them back as a gift, sacrificed them to Pallas Athena; the goddess returned them to their original place.

Dog Cerberus - the twelfth labor of Hercules

The most difficult and most dangerous feat of Hercules in the service of Eurystheus was the last. The hero had to descend into gloomy Tartarus and get out of there the terrible dog Kerber. Kerberus was a terrible, three-headed beast, whose tail had the appearance and ferocity of a living dragon; the mane of the beast was swarming with all kinds of snakes. Before performing the feat, Hercules visited Eleusis, and there the priest Eumolpus initiated him into the Eleusinian mysteries, which freed a person from the fear of death. Then the hero arrived in Laconia, from where, through one gloomy crevice, the path to the underworld lay. Hermes, the guide of the dead, led Hercules along this dark path. The shadows ran in horror at the sight of the mighty husband: only Meleager and Medusa did not move. Hercules had already raised his sword against Medusa, but Hermes stopped him, saying that this was no longer a terrible petrifying gorgon, but only a shadow devoid of life. The hero had a friendly conversation with Meleager and, at his request, promised to marry his sister Dianira. Near the gates of Hades's dwelling, Hercules saw Theseus and Pirithous, rooted to the rock because they dared to descend into the underworld in order to kidnap the majestic wife of Hades, Persephone. And they stretched out their hands to the hero, begging him to tear them away from the rock and save them from torment. Hercules gave his hand to Theseus and freed him; but when he wanted to take Pirithous away from the rock, the earth shook, and Hercules saw that the gods did not want to free this criminal. To revive the lifeless shadows with blood, the hero killed one of the cows of Hades, which Menoetius was tending.

They started fighting over the cow: Hercules hugged Menoetius and broke his ribs.

Hercules finally reached the throne of Pluto. As an initiate into the Eleusinian mysteries, the god of the underworld graciously accepted him and allowed him to take the dog with him to earth, if only he could defeat him without weapons. Covered with a shell and a lion's skin, the hero went out to the monster, found it at the mouth of the Acheron and immediately attacked it. With his mighty hands, Hercules clasped the triple neck of the terrible dog, and although the dragon, which served as the monster’s tail, stung him unbearably painfully, the hero strangled Kerberus until, defeated, trembling with fear, he fell at his feet. Hercules chained him and brought him to earth. The dog of hell was horrified when he saw the light of day: poisonous foam poured onto the ground from his triple mouth, and from this foam a poisonous fighter grew. Hercules hastened to take the monster to Mycenae and, showing it to the horrified Eurystheus, took it back to the region of Hades.

Hercules performed his twelve labors. Filled with surprise at the mighty hero who had disarmed death itself, Eurystheus freed him from serving himself. Hercules went to Thebes, where the faithful Megara, during her husband’s long absence, watched over his house. From that time on, Hercules could freely control himself.

The fourth feat that Hercules had to perform was to catch alive the Erymanthian boar - a ferocious, huge beast that lived on the cypress-covered slopes of Mount Erymanthus and in the thickets of the Arcadian mountain Lampea and raided the lands around the city of Psophida. Mount Erymanthus is named after the son of Apollo, whom Aphrodite blinded for spying on her while she was bathing. Apollo turned into a boar in revenge and killed her lover Adonis. Nevertheless, the mountain remained the sacred mountain of Artemis.

b. On the way to Erymanthus, Hercules, passing through Tholoia, where he killed a certain Savrus, a cruel robber, was received by the centaur Pholus, whom one of the ash nymphs gave birth to from Silenus. Pholus placed fried meat in front of Hercules, but he himself preferred to eat raw meat, not daring to open the vessel of wine that belonged to all the centaurs, until Hercules reminded him that this was the same vessel that four generations earlier Dionysus had left in the cave just for such a case. The centaurs became excited when they smelled the strong wine. Armed with large stones, fir trees torn out of the ground, brands and axes, they rushed to Fola's cave. If Pholus hid out of fear, then Hercules boldly repelled the attack of the first two centaurs - Ancia and Agria - with a hail of firebrands. Nephele, the goddess of clouds and grandmother of the centaurs, shed a heavy rain on the ground, from which Hercules' bowstring weakened and the ground became slippery under his feet. However, he proved worthy of his glory and killed several centaurs, among them Oreus and Hyleus. The rest fled as far as Malea, where they found refuge with their king Chiron, whom the Lapiths had expelled from Mount Pelion.

c. Already at its end, the arrow fired by Hercules passed through the hand of Elatus and pierced Chiron’s knee. Saddened that the arrow had hit his old friend, Hercules pulled the arrowhead from his knee, and although Chiron himself prepared potions to treat the wounds, in this case they turned out to be useless, and he, groaning, retired into a cave, but did not die, because he was immortal. Prometheus later agreed to become immortal in his place, and Zeus approved the exchange. True, some say that Chiron chose death not because he suffered from pain in his wound, but because he was tired of his long life.

d. Meanwhile, the centaurs fled in different directions: some with Eurytion went to Tholoia, others with Nessus - across the Even River, others - to Mount Malea, and others - to Sicily, where they were exterminated by the Sirens. Poseidon received the rest in Eleusis and hid them in the mountain. Among those whom Hercules later killed was the centaur Homad, who tried to dishonor Eurystheus' sister Alcyone. By showing nobility and thus taking revenge on the enemy for the insult, Hercules gained great fame.

e. Meanwhile, Pholus was burying his dead relatives. He took out one of Hercules' arrows and began to examine it. “Wow, such a large creature died from some kind of scratch,” he was surprised. But then the arrow fell from his hands, pierced his leg, and he fell dead. Hercules interrupted the hunt, returned to Tholoia and interred Thola with extraordinary pomp at the foot of the mountain that now bears his name. It was after these events that the Anigre River acquired its terrible smell, which emanates throughout its entire length from its source on Mount Lapith. It happened that a centaur named Pilenore, whom Hercules had wounded in the arm with an arrow, fled and washed his wound here. Some, however, say that the stinking spirit appeared several years earlier, when foul-smelling objects used in the purification of the daughters of Pret were thrown into Anigre.

f. Hercules, meanwhile, was chasing a boar on the Erymanthos River. Capturing such a ferocious beast alive was a matter of exceptional difficulty, but Hercules managed to drive it out of the thickets with loud screams, drive it into a deep snowdrift and jump on its back. Hercules tied him with chains and carried him alive on his shoulders to Mycenae. But when he heard that the Argonauts were preparing to sail to Colchis, he threw the boar to the ground near the market square and, instead of waiting for further orders from Eurystheus, who was hiding in the copper pithos, he went with Gil to join the sailing ones. It is not known who then killed the boar, only that its tusks are kept in the temple of Apollo in Cumae.

g. According to some accounts, Chiron was accidentally wounded by an arrow that pierced his left leg when he, along with Pholus and young Achilles, received Hercules on Mount Pelion. Nine days later, Zeus placed the image of Chiron among the stars as the constellation Centaur. Others, on the contrary, claim that Zeus designated Pholus as the Centaur constellation, since he surpassed people in the art of predicting the entrails. Sagittarius among the signs of the Zodiac is also a centaur, a certain Mole, who lived on Mount Helicon and was dearly loved by his half-sisters - the muses.