Hercules: Labours of Hercules and Augean Stables Essay

Timofey Izossimov
Mr. Gaspaire
English 10, Period 6
27 April 2012
Hercules
Hercules was one of gods in Greek Myth. His name in Roman was Hercules and for Greek name was Heracles. Hercules was the son of Zeus was father and wife name is Megara. He need a skills to become a hero that’s why he learned from an Autolycus, father of Odysseus, Eurytus, greatest of the contemporary archers, Castor, Linus, and Eurytus. His skills was wresting, archery, wresting in a bodily armor, lyre, and sailing. Hercules killed his first wife and children he killed them because he was under the influence of Hera, his step mother, and she did not like him so he killed them when he was influenced by her. When they were all dead Hercules snapped out of it and felt horrible so he asked if the gods would forgive him, and they said to him because you kill your wife and children you have a punishment to do twelve labors.
The twelve labors is The Nemean Lion, The Lernaean Hydra, The Ceryneian Deer, The Erymathian Boar, The Augean Stables, The Stymphalian Birds, The Create Bull, The Horses of Diomedes, The Girdle of Hippolyta, The Cattle of Geryon, The Apples of Hesperides, and Cerberus. He has first fight is Nemean Lion was a ferocious monster with a hide that could not be pierced by any weapon. This made it near impossible to kill, but Hercules managed to strangle the monster with his bare hands, using his unusual strength. After he had strangled the lion, he used one of its claws to skin the monster and he wore the hide, which retained its magical properties, until his death. Lernaean Hydra was a monster that lurked in the swamps near a small settlement called Lerna and had nine heads. This monster frequently terrorized the nearby countryside. For this labour, Hercules was accompanied by his nephew Iolaus. When they found the Hydra, Hercules soon discovered that if he cut off one head, two more would grow back. Hercules managed to defeat the Hydra when Iolaus held a torch to each of the stumps so that the flames prevented new heads from growing. After he had slain the Hydra, Hercules dipped his arrows in its blood, which was poisonous. Ceryneian Hind, a large and beautiful female deer that was sacred to Artemis. This hind was a spectacular creature with antlers of gold, hooves of brass, and with speed so swift that it could out-dash a flying arrow. Heracles shot it with an arrow poisoned with the blood of the hydra, and immobilized it. Erymathian Boar was a great beast that had its lair on Mount Erymanthos. Hercules searched for long before he finally found the boar’s tracks on a snow-bank. As soon as the boar realized the presents of Hercules he try to run away, but Hercules had a rope with him, throw it to the boar, managing to pass the loop tight around the boars head, immobilizing it. Flinging it up onto his shoulder, he carried it back to Eurystheus, who cowered as usual in his storage jar. Augean Stables was had been given a huge amount of cattle as a gift from his father, many herds in fact. His problem was, the stables where he kept them had never been cleaned. Hercules made a breach in the foundations of the cattle-yard, and then diverting the courses of the two rivers, he turned them into the stable-yard and within few hours he got the job done without getting dirty and in less than days (How he killed The Twelve labours’, part 4). Stymphalian Birds After cleaning the Augean Stables, Eurystheus sent Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian Birds. Heracles could not go too far into the swamp, for it would not support his weight. Athena, noticing the hero's plight, gave Heracles bells which Hephaestus had made especially for the occasion. Heracles shook the bells and frightened the birds into the air. Heracles then shot many of them with his arrows. The rest flew far away, never to return. The Argonauts would later encounter them. Heracles then brought some of the birds he had killed to Eurystheus. Cretan Bull is a savage bull. When Hercules

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