THE LIFE AND TIMES
Zeus fell in love with a beautiful Greek woman named Alcmene. When Alcmene's husband, Amphitryon, was away, Zeus made her pregnant. This made Hera so angry that she tried to prevent the baby from being born. When Alcmene gave birth to the baby anyway, she named him Herakles. The name Herakles means "glorious gift of Hera" in Greek, and that got Hera angrier still. Then she tried to kill the baby by sending snakes into his crib. But little Hercules was one strong baby, and he strangled the snakes, one in each hand, before they could bite him.
Hera remained angry. Hera decided to pay Zeus back for his infidelity by making the rest of Herakles' life as miserable as she could.
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| Louvre G 192, Attic red figure stamnos, c. 480-470 B.C. The baby Hercules wrestles with the snakes Hera has sent to his crib. Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the Musée du Louvre |
When Herakles became a great warrior, he married Megara. They had two children. Herakles and Megara were very happy, but Hera sent a fit of madness to Herakles that put him into so great a rage, he murdered Megara and the children.
When Herakles regained his senses and saw the horrible thing that he had done, he asked the god Apollo to rid him of this pollution. Apollo commanded the hero to do certain tasks as a punishment for his wrongs. Apollo declared that he had to go to the city of Tiryns. The king of Tiryns was Eurystheus. He had a reputation for being mean, and Herakles knew that the king would give him a tough time. The hero had to serve Eurystheus for twelve years while he performed the Labors. There was some good news, though. When the tasks were completed, Apollo said, Herakles would become immortal.  |
| Aerial view of the fortress-palace at Tiryns. The citadel's impressively thick fortress walls have stood for over thirty centuries. Photograph by Raymond V. Schoder, S.J., courtesy of Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers |
THE LABORS
Ref: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/labors.html
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