Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς in ancient greek) is called Hercules in Rome, and he's one of the biggest heroes in the Greek mythology. He wasn't a god, but he did have immense strength. Heracles was called after Hera because Zeus wanted to make up with his wife, after he cheated on her again. But for Hera, this wasn't enough, she sent two giant snakes to Heracles when he was a baby! But Heracles killed the snakes with his bare baby hands. Later, when he had married Megara and got three kids, Hera made him go mad and he killed them all. To pay for this, he had to serve the man who got the job he would get, now king Eurystheus (Εὐρυσθεύς) for ten tasks. He had to do them alone and without reward. Because Eurystheus would lose his throne if Heracles succeeded, so he thought of the most impossible tasks.

 

Task 1

His first task was to kill and skin the Nemean Lion, a vicious creature with fur stronger than any weapon and claws so sharp, they could go through any material. After fighting a while, Heracles stunned the beast and strangled it to death. To get its skin, Heracles used the beast's own nails. When Heracles returned to Eurystheus, the king went so scared of the fur, he decided to put a giant vase in the ground to hide, before he sent Heracles to his next task. After this adventure, Heracles kept the fur as armour.

 

Task 2

After the lion, Heracles had to kill another monster, the Hydra of Lerna. The Hydra's a creature which lives in the lake of Lerna, together with its helper, a giant crab. When Heracles came by the lake, he discovered the Hydra's got nine heads from which is one immortal. He immediately started cutting heads off, but for every head he had done, there were growing two back! To prevent this, he called his nephew Iolaos to help him. Whenever Heracles cut a head off, Iolaos held a torch by it, so the blood would clot. When only the immortal head was left, Athena sent a magical sword, which could cut it off. After the fight, Heracles went back to Eurystheus and threw the still alive and writhing head to him, so he scared the king into his vase. When Eurystheus came out of hiding, he told Heracles this task wouldn't count, because he had help of Iolaos.

 

Task 3

Hercules' third task was to bring the Golden Hind of Artemis to Eurystheus, which was completely impossible because the Hind was superfast and under the protection of Artemis, the goddess of hunting. When Heracles found the animal, he chased it for a full year long. At last, he captured it by trapping it in a net while it slept. Eurystheus had hoped Artemis would get angry with Heracles because of this, but Heracles explained the goddess it was part of his penance, and promised he would return it. Artemis forgave him and Eurystheus had to think of another tasks.

 

Task 4

Heracles' next task was to capture the Erymanthian Boar, a giant beast that had killed Adonis. While he was searching for the creature, he met a kind centaur, Pholus. After a nice dinner, he gave Pholus a big jar of wine, as a gift. Pholus immediately called the other centaurs to share the wine, but he didn't know  he had to thin the wine with water. When some of the centaurs were drunk, they attacked Hercules, and he shot them with poisonous arrows. By accident, the immortal centaur Chiron got hit by an arrow, and his pain was so torturing, he decided he wanted to become mortal again. But instead of this, he replaced Prometheus, who was chained to a rock and had the punishment of an eagle coming every day again to pick out his liver. After a few days, Chiron regret his choice, and Hercules shot the eagle. Thankful, Chiron tells Heracles he has to drive the Boar into thick snow, so he couldn't run away. Heracles did this, and bringing the beast to Eurystheus, he scared the king into his vase again.

 

Task 5

The fifth task wasn't so difficult, it was mostly humiliating. He had to clean Augeas' stables, which housed 3000 cows and wasn't cleaned for 30 years. Augeas said he would give Heracles a tenth of his cattle if the hero did it in 1 day. After a few minutes, Heracles came with a plan. He rerouted the rivers through the stables so the water washed out the filth. Heracles took his 300 cows and returned to Eurystheus, but when he came there, the king said this task also wouldn't count, because he got another reward for it.

 

Task 6

The next task Eurystheus thought of, was to drive away the Stymphalian Birds. These birds weren't normal animals, they could shoot their bronze feathers to enemies. To scare the birds off, he got a rattle from Athena, and when he used it, all of the birds flew away. He shot a few to show Eurystheus and returned to get his next task.

 

Task 7

The next thing Heracles had to do was catch the Cretan Bull, a giant bull. To do this, he surprised and strangled it, but he didn't kill it yet. When he brought the beast to Eurystheus, the king hid himself in the vase again, and Hercules decided to sacrifise the animal to Hera. But because it was a sign of Heracles' glory, the goddess didn't want the sacrifise. He released the bull and it wandered of to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull.

 

Task 8

His next task was to steal the Mares of Diomedes, whick were breathing fire and only eating human flesh. When he arrived at Diomedes' house, he got invited to eat and sleep. But Heracles didn't sleep, and at midnight, Diomedes came to kill him. Instead of that, Heracles killed Diomedes and fed him to the horses. When the horses had eaten, they became calmer and he bound their mouths shut.

 

Task 9

After the horses, the daughter of Eurystheus asked for Hippolyta's belt, Hippolyta was the queen of the Amazons. When Heracles asked Hippolyta for her belt, she didn't have any problems with it. But Hera disguised herself as one of the Amazons and spread the rumour of Heracles abducting their queen, so they attacked Heracles. He slew Hippolyta, stripped her of the belt, fought off the attackers, and sailed away.

 

Task 10

The task wich should be his last (but wasn't!) was to steal the cattle of Geryon, a giant with three upperbodies. When he came there, he broke into a battle with Geryon, who carried three shields, three spears and three helmets. After days of fighting, the monster felt because of a poisonous arrow. When he got back, all of the cows were sacrifised to Hera.

 

Task 11

Now, Heracles had to steal the apples of the Hesperides, which were guarded by a dragon. To do this, he asked Atlas, he would take Atlas' place and Atlas would steal the apples. But when he wanted Atlas to take his place back, the giant decided he wouldn't. Heracles asked Atlas to take his place for a few seconds, so he could make his cloak more comfortable. When Atlas took his place, Heracles ran away with the apples.

 

Task 12

Heracles' last task was to bring Cerberus, the guard of the underworld, to Eurystheus and back. When Heracles came in the underworld, Hades said he could take Cerberus if he mastered it without shield or iron. Heracles used the lion skin as armour and made stone points for his arrows. When he got Cerberus, he brought him to Eurystheus, who didn't come out of his vase for a year. When Heracles tried to bring Cerberus back, it escaped and got back to the underworld on its own.

 

When Heracles got free, he married Deianira. He had to fight the rivergod Acheloüs for her. In this fight, he cut off one of the god's horns, which is better known as the Cornucopia, the horn of wealthiness. Soon after they married, Heracles and Deianira had to cross a river, and a centaur named Nessos offered to help them. But when Nessos was bringing Deianira over, he tried to rape her. When Heracles saw this, he shot him. While dying, Nessos told Deianira to collect some of his blood and if she wanted to stop Heracles of having affairs with other women, she only had to apply it to his clothes. Years later, when Heracles was on a business trip, she sent him a new cloak, wich was soaked in Nessos' blood. When Heracles put his cloak on, it sticked to his body and started to burn skin away. Heracles chose a voluntary death, asking that a pyre be built for him to end his suffering. After death, the gods transformed him into an immortal, or alternatively, the fire burned away the mortal part of the demigod, so only the god remained. When Deianira heard this, she threw herself on a sword in shame.