Heracles, also known in Rome as Hercules, was the son of Zeus and Almecna, a princess of Thebes.
Hera, Zeus's wife, angry about infidelity sent two snakes to kill him when he was still a baby. But Heracles, who was very strong, took the snakes between his strong fingers like tongs and strangled them.
The child grew up, becoming stronger and stronger.
Years later, He learned that the king of Greece, Euristeo, wanted to dethrone the King of Thebes, Host, who was his stepfather.
Heracles offered Euristee to be his slave for twelve years, if he allowed his stepfather, Host, to remain on the throne during that time.
Euristeo, seeing him so strong, feared that he would dethrone him and consulted the oracle of Apollo, and he said to him, “Access the order, but during that time send him to do the most difficult and dangerous jobs you can imagine.
The first task that Euristeo commissioned him was to bring the skin of the Lion of Nemea.
Heracles came out on his quest very well armed.
When he found the Lion, he shot all his arrows at him, but the skin was so thick that he couldn't get through it.
Then he turned to his huge club and hit him with it on the head while shouting all kinds of screaming.
The Lion, confused, got into his cave. This cave, dug in the mountain, had two entrances. Heracles, gathered many rocks and piled them over one of the entrances until completely covered it and then entered the cave armed with a sharp steel arrow and its powerful mace.
When the lion saw him, he opened his huge mouth, showing his sharp teeth, with the manes on his back pointed.
Heracles, then, pounced, unloaded the mace on the lion's head, leaving him badly wounded but still alive. Then he braided himself in a melee fight. With his powerful arms, he pressed him to suffocation completely.
When the lion died, he ripped off his skin and placed it on his shoulders as if it were a shell, and returned to the presence of Euristee.
This time Euristeo asked Heracles to kill the Hydra of Lerna.
To accomplish this difficult task, Heracles asked his faithful companion Yolao for help.
When they reached the lagoon of Lerna, Heracles shot her arrows to force her out of the water.
When the fearsome Hydra finally appeared, Herakles crushed his head with his mace. But from every drop of the hydra's blood, two new heads of small hydras grew at high speed were reborn.
As the struggle was fierce and became endless by the rapid reproduction of the hydras, he asked Yolao: “Soon, help me!” Arm a Tea with the branch of a tree in that forest and burn hydra heads as soon as they are born.
Yolao, did what Heracles told him and so he burned his heads one by one, preventing them from developing.
When the hydra had only one head left, Heracles cut it off and then cut it into many pieces that he then buried.
Heracles, before retiring, plunged his arrows into the ponzoñous blood of the hydra. Now I had poisoned arrows.
As soon as he finished the hydra, King Euristeo ordered him to bring alive the deer of Mount Cerinaeus, who was consecrated to the goddess Artemis.
This deer had golden horns and bronze legs. No one managed to reach her since she never got tired of running.
Heracles spent a whole year chasing her, until one day he followed her to a river. Since it was very grown, the deer did not dare to cross it. Then Heracles took her by surprise, grabbed her by the horns, tied her legs, carried her on her shoulders, and carried her safely to Euristee.
Euristeo ordered him to go in search of the boar of Erimanto and bring him alive.
Heracles set out to find him with his usual weapons.
The hardest thing was to find him, as the fearsome beast hid very well, and only came out of his hiding place to sow panic among the inhabitants of Arcadia.
Heracles checked each bush one by one and stirred the weeds until he found it. The boar fled and Heracles went after him crossing valleys and mountains without resting.
Heracles saw a dead end gorge and managed to get the boar, already exhausted, to go in to rest. - Yeah. Heracles took advantage of that moment to capture him, held his jaws with sharp fangs, tied his legs and loaded him on his wide back to lay him at the feet of Euristee.
Euristee then ordered Heracles to exterminate the birds of the swamp of Stymphalo.
These birds had the beak and legs of bronzes and their outer feathers were like steel darts. They smashed all the crops and ate the flesh of humans and herds. They were the terror of the region.
When Heracles tried to hunt them by throwing his sharp arrows, they bounced off the outer steel feathers that served as armor. They were only vulnerable in their inner part, that is, in their chest.
Heracles could not swim through the swamp because it was full of mud and could not walk on it because it sank into the mud by its own weight.
The goddess Athena, seeing her despair and intending to help him, gave her a cymbal, then said to her, “Shake it!”
Heracles then shook the cymbal and the birds flew, discovering the vulnerable breast.
There Heracles who was a magnificent archer, shot his arrows and exterminated them all.
Euristee, quickly entrusted another job to our hero, Heracles.
This time he asked him to corner, capture and bring Patrons to the fearsome Cretan Bull. A company not easy.
Heracles embarked on the island of Crete.
Once there, he looked for the bull until he found it. Then he chased him into a forest.
Heracles climbed into a tree and I hope the bull passed by and threw himself on the back of the animal. After a strong melee fight, he managed to put a ring on his nose and drag him through the water until he deposited it in front of Euristeo.
The King of Elida, Augiah had very dirty stables.
He had a lot of herds of oxen and no one had cleaned them in thirty years. The manure had accumulated and gave off a nauseating smell that spread throughout the region.
Hercles saw that the task was very difficult to accomplish because the stables were huge as there were more than thirty thousand animals.
Then he had a brilliant idea.
He opened a gap in one of the side walls of the huge stable, then went to a nearby river, the river Alfio, and with the help of a shovel and his strength, he diverted the course of the river to pass the torrent inside the stable.
The waters of the river crossed the stable, sweeping the accumulated manure, making it spotless.
Euristee, entrusted Heracles with another difficult task. I was supposed to bring him Diomedes' horses this time.
Diomedes, he was Ares' son, he was very bloodthirsty. He had a stable with a command of horses spitting fire through his mouth. Diomedes, fed them with the shipwrecked foreigners coming to the beaches of the island.
Heracles sailed to Thrace with a group of friends.
When they arrived, they immediately went to the stables of Diomedes, attacked the servants who looked after the stable and then went in search of Diomedes to throw him in the middle of the bronze manger where the horses were eating. In this way he would suffer in his own flesh the same punishment he used for the poor shipwrecked. The horses devoured him instantly.
Later, he led them with the help of his friends to the palace of Eurystheus.
Euristeo had a daughter named Admeta, who always longed to have the belt of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons.
Euristeo, ordered Heracles to find him and bring him to his daughter.
Heracles left with a group of friends for the Amazon country.
Upon arrival, Heracles was able to see that the Amazons formed a village of warriors. All of them knew how to fight on horseback and were skilled in the use of weapons.
Hippolyte received him very well, and when he asked him what was the reason for his visit, Heracles said to him, “King Euristheus asked me to wear your belt, for his daughter Admeta wishes to have it.
Hippolyte answered him, “I will give it to you myself with my respects to the king.
Rea, Zeus' wife, who was always attentive trying to harm Heracles as an illegitimate son of her husband, disguised herself as an Amazon and began to sow suspicions among the Amazons. He said to them, “Do not trust Heracles, it is very treacherous.” All he wants is to capture Hipolita.
The Amazons began to suspect and then rose in terrible struggle, dying even the Hippolyte herself in the bloody battle.
Heracles took off his belt and was able to return to Euristeo with the commission accomplished.
Euristeo decided this time, to send Heracles to look for the Red Bulls of Gerion.
Gerion was a terrible giant with three bodies. He lived on an island far from the west, across the ocean and had a herd of beautiful red bulls, guarded by a bowler and a fearsome dog with three heads.
To get to this remote place, Heracles had to travel the coast of Africa. Upon reaching the strait that separates Europe from Africa, he erected two columns, one on each continent to commemorate its passage through that territory.
In that place, the sun shone so strongly, and the temperature was so overwhelming that Heracles, enraged, threw two arrows into the sun.
The sun surprised by that bold attitude, with the desire to appease him, gave him a golden cup that, as he descended from the sky, could transport him across the sky, crossing the ocean to the coast of the distant horizon where the sun rises to illuminate the world.
Heracles climbed to the glass and flew to the distant island of Gerion.
When he arrived at his destination, the terrible three-headed dog, who soon saw him, began to bark at him and show him his sharp fangs. Heracles took his club and broke all three heads.
Then the boy showed up... What's up? Who's out there? He asked.
Heracles surprised him and also unloaded his mace, leaving him unconscious. When the terrible giant Gerion appeared, Heracles attacked him with his sharp arrows to death.
Then, I took the herd of red bulls that made it up the cup and flew back in it doing the reverse journey through the night over the ocean.
Then he drove the herd of bulls on foot. But when they reached the Rhone, their inhabitants fell in love with these beautiful red oxen and presented a fierce battle. So cruel was the fight that Heracles was badly wounded in the fight.
Heracles thought he was lost and asked for help from his father, Zeus shouting — Please, Father Zeus, help me!
Zeus heard him and to help him, he sent a huge hail storm on the enemy.
The ice stones were huge and the enemies of Heracles fled in fear.
After crossing many regions, and being close to his goal, Hera, who was always attentive to causing problems for Heracles, sent a sling that drove the flock mad with his bites.
The bulls ran mad and the flock dispersed in the mountains.
Heracles lost a lot of time trying to bring the bulls together again, recovered most of it and then turned to Mycenae before Euristee, who could not believe that Heracles, again, would be victorious in such a difficult task.
Euristee, this time he commissioned Heracles to bring him the golden apples, which the goddess Gea had given to Hera as a wedding gift and, that Hera, had planted in a far west garden guarded by the evening Nymphs, known as Hesperides and a hundred-headed dragon named Ladon.
Heracles' journey to the mysterious garden is very complicated as no one knew its location well.
Heracles first went to visit Nymphs for guidance, but the Nymphs told him that he had to look for the god Nereo, as he was the only one who knew the precise location.
Heracles searched for Nereo and captured him to force him to reveal the secret. Nereo didn't mean half a word. Heracles chained him and Nereo, who was a god, turned into a lion, then into a serpent and later into flames. But Heracles stood firm without being frightened and Nereo finally confessed to the secret site of the famous garden.
To get there, Heracles had to cross Africa. He walked and walked to the farthest point of the western world and there he saw the garden doors.
He also saw Atlas, a huge giant who, in his exile, was forced to carry on his backs the weight of the celestial vault.
Heracles knew the existence of the fearsome Dragon Ladon. Then he proposed to the giant that if he went in search of the golden apples, he would hold the firmament in place.
Atlas accepted because he was already tired of having so much weight on his shoulders. He entered the garden and tore out the golden fruits, but when he returned, he told Heracles that he wanted to go in person to deliver the precious loot to Euristee.
Heracles had to think quickly an answer.: - I think it's okay. He said, “But first, let me look for something that can be used as a pad and settle my hair so that it can cushion the weight of so much burden. “Hold the sky for a few minutes until I solve this problem.
The giant did not notice the deception and again carried on his back the entire weight of the celestial vault.
Heracles took the golden apples and ran to Euristee.
Euristeo thought and thought trying to find another difficult job.
Then he said to Hercules, “You must bring me the fearsome can Cerbero.
Hercules, then descended in the company of Hermes into the abyss of the dead.
He reached the throne of Hades, the god of darkness, and explained to him the reason for his visit.
Hades answered him. - You can take Cerbero in broad daylight. But on only one condition. You mustn't use weapons against him.
Hercules, covered himself with the skin of the lion of Nemea, which acted as a protective shield, then took the canine by the neck where the three heads converged, and although the dog managed to bite it with its sharp fangs, Hercules squeezed it with such force that it almost suffocated it.
The animal, feeling that it was dominated, calmed down and followed him like a meek puppy.
When he took him to Euristeo, he was so frightened to see the horrific appearance of the animal that he asked him to urgently return him to Tartar.