His vast cave had many tunnels and two openings. If anyone ever pursued him through one entrance, he could always escape out of the other. Heracles had been warned of this by the shepherds. He walked around the mountain and found the lion’s escape hole. He uprooted a tree, and used its trunk to lever a vast boulder into the opening- now it was sealed. Heracles went back to the first entrance, and crept into the lion’s cave. Inside, he caught sight of its green, gleaming eyes. The lion did not expect a human to pounce on him, but that’s what Heracles did. He grappled and wrestled with the man-eating beast and finally defeated it, killing it with his bare hands.
If you have ever seen a picture of Heracles, you will know that he liked to wear a lion skin over his shoulders, and that its mane was a kind of hood over his head. The ancient world was full of pictures of Heracles, most of them on vases. The lion skin that he wore was, of course, that of the Nemean Lion. When he reported back to Eurystheus, he was wearing his new uniform. He was such a terrifying site that the king hid inside a giant jug, and spoke to the hero from within it. After that, he forbade him to ever come into the city again. In future, he must stand outside the walls to display his trophies.
Heracles’ next task was to fight another terrible creature. This one lurked in the swamps of Lerna, and it was known as the Lernaean Hydra. It was giant snake with multiple heads. If you cut off one of its heads, two more would grow in its place. It was indeed a fierce opponent. Even Heracles did not think he could fight this monster on his own. He enlisted the help of his nephew, Iolaus. Heracles fought the Hydra with his sword, and each time he lopped off one of its heads, Iolaus jumped in with a torch and burned the stump before it sprout a couple of new heads. Hera looked down on this struggle to the death, and thought, “Two humans against one monster! That’s hardly fair!” and she sent a giant crab to join in the fight. Heracles and Iolaus stood back to back and fought off both these supernatural beasts. After defeating them in battle, Heracles collected some of the Hydra’s blood to use as poison on his arrows.
He returned to Eurystheus with news of his victory, but the king was not satisfied. “You did not fight the Hydra on your own,” he said, “And so the labour does not count.” Heracles shook his giant fist at the king, but Eurystheus, who was feeling safe at the top of his tower, shouted down: “It’s no use arguing. You’ve still got nine more labours to do, Heracles. Your next task is to bring me the sacred dear of Artemis – you’ll find it roaming the hills of Ceryneia. You will know it when you see it. It has little horns, made of gold.”
The deer was elusive and swift on its feet. Heracles was strong, but not so fast. He spent a year tracking the graceful creature over the hills of Ceryneia. Artemis, the goddess of hunting, did not approve of humans tracking her dear. When Heracles fired an arrow at her sacred dear, she was angry. Even though she was a goddess, she feared the strength in the arms of the son of Zeus. She brought Apollo along for moral support. The golden god of light appeared before Heracles and said,
“What’s all this? Shooting the sacred dear of Artemis is not allowed. It’s a good thing you did not kill the Ceryneian Hind with your arrow just now.”
“Well,” said Heracles unfazed, “I am commanded by Heaven to perform these deeds, so although you are god, you must let me do it.”
Apollo knew very well that Heracles was no ordinary man, but the son of Zeus. He consulted with Artemis and they agreed on a compromise. He could take the sacred dear to Eurystheus alive, but then he must let it go. That was how Heracles completed his third labour and reported back to the king of Tiryns.
“That was an easy one,” said Eurystheus, “The dear wasn’t a threat to anyone. Now you must take on a more dangerous foe. A wild boar is terrorising the people of Erymanthia. Your fourth task is to defeat the Erymanthian Boar. Since you are going a bit soft and don’t like killing animals anymore, you must bring back the bad piggy to me alive.”
And so Heracles set off once more across the part of Greece that is called the Peloponnese. It is the land where the wonderful civilisation of the Mycenaeans was based. Later on, the people of the Peloponnese were called the Spartans, but in the time of heroes, there were many more small city states. Heracles’ journey took him through Pholoe, which was home to the centaurs. Centaurs were strange hybrids, half horse and half human. There he was entertained by a centaur called Pholus
0
Reviews (0)