The Myth of Hercules, from the Library of Apollodorus

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Hercules is Born to Alcmene and Zeus, not Amphitryon

[2.4.7] Amphitryon conquered all the islands. He slew Comaetho, and sailed with the spoils of war to Thebes, and gave the islands to his lieutenants to control; and they founded cities named after themselves and dwelt in them. From there, Amphitryon went home to sleep with his wife Alcmene.

[2.4.8] But before Amphitryon reached Thebes, Zeus came by night and using his power to make one night the length of three, he assumed the likeness of Amphitryon and slept with Alcmene. Alcmene did not know it was not her husband. But when Amphitryon arrived and saw that he was not welcomed
by his wife, he inquired the cause; and when she told him that he had come the night before and slept
with her, he learned from the prophet Tiresias how Zeus had enjoyed her. And Alcmene bore two sons, namely, Hercules, whom she had by Zeus and who was the elder by one night, and Iphicles, whom she had by Amphitryon.

[2.4.8] When the child was eight months old, Hera out of jealousy for Zeus desired the destruction of the babe and sent two huge serpents to the bed. Alcmene called Amphitryon to her help, but Hercules arose and killed the serpents by strangling them with both his hands. However, Pherecydes says that it was Amphitryon who put the serpents in the bed, because he would know which of the two children was his, and that when Iphicles fled, and Hercules stood his ground, he knew that Iphicles was begotten of his body.

Hercules’s Early Life

[2.4.9] Hercules was taught to drive a chariot, to wrestle, to shoot with the bow, to sword-fight, and to play the lyre. Hercules’s lyre instructor was killed by Hercules with a blow of the lyre; when the instructor struck Hercules with the lyre, Hercules flew into a rage and slew him. When he was tried for murder, Hercules quoted a law of Rhadamanthys, who laid it down that whoever defends himself against a wrongful aggressor shall go free, and so he was acquitted. But fearing he might do the like again, Amphitryon sent him to the cattle farm; and there he was nurtured and outdid all in stature and strength. Even by the look of him it was plain that he was a son of Zeus; for his body measured six feet, and he flashed a gleam of fire from his eyes; and he did not miss, neither with the bow nor with the javelin. While he was with the herds and had reached his eighteenth year he slew the lion of Cithaeron, for that animal, going forth from Cithaeron, harried the cattle of Amphitryon and of Thespius.

[2.4.10] Now this Thespius was king of Thespiae, and Hercules went to him when he wished to catch the
lion. The king entertained him for fifty days, and each night, as Hercules went forth to the hunt, Thespius had one of his daughters sleep with Hercules. Thespius had fifty daughters and was anxious that all of them should have children by Hercules. Thus Hercules, though he thought that his bed-fellow was always the same, had intercourse with them all.

[2.4.10] And having vanquished the lion, he dressed himself in the skin and wore the scalp as a helmet.

[2.4.11] Hercules once outraged the heralds of a king named Erginus who were sent to retrieve tribute from the city of Thebes; for he cut off their ears and noses and hands, and having fastened them by ropes from their necks, he told them to carry that tribute to Erginus. Indignant at this outrage, Erginus marched against Thebes. But Hercules, having received weapons from Athena and taken the command, killed Erginus, put his army to flight, and compelled them to pay double the tribute to the Thebans. And Hercules received from Creon his eldest daughter Megara as a prize of valor [to be his wife], and by her he had three sons, Therimachus, Creontiades, and Deicoon.

[2.4.12] Now it came to pass that after the battle with Erginus that Hercules was driven mad through the jealousy of Hera and flung his own children, whom he had by Megara, and two children of Iphicles into
the fire. Following this heinous crime he condemned himself to exile, and going to the oracle at Delphi he inquired of the god where he should dwell. And the Pythian priestess told him to dwell in Tiryns,
serving Eurystheus king of Tiryns to perform ten labors imposed on him, and so, she said, when the tasks were accomplished, he would be immortal.

The Labors & The Lion

[2.5.1] When Hercules heard that, he went to Tiryns and did as he was bid by Eurystheus. First,
Eurystheus ordered him to bring the skin of the Nemean lion; it was an invulnerable beast
begotten by the monster Typhon. And having come to Nemea and tracked the lion, he first shot an
arrow at him, but when he perceived that the beast was invulnerable, he heaved up his club and made
after him. And when the lion took refuge in a cave with two mouths, Hercules closed up the one entrance and came in upon the beast through the other, and putting his arm round its neck held it tight till he had choked it; so laying it on his shoulders he carried it to Eurystheus.

[2.5.1] Amazed at his manhood, Eurystheus forbade him thenceforth to enter the city, but ordered him to exhibit the fruits of his labors before the gates. They say, too, that in his fear he had a bronze jar made for himself to hide in under the earth, and that he sent his commands for the labors through a herald, Copreus, son of Pelops the Elean. This Copreus had killed Iphitus and fled to Mycenae, where he was purified by Eurystheus and took up his abode.

The Hydra

[2.5.2] As a second labor he ordered him to kill the Lernaean hydra. That creature, bred in the swamp of
Lerna, used to go forth into the plain and ravage both the cattle and the country. Now the hydra had a
huge body, with nine heads, eight mortal, but the middle one immortal. Mounting a chariot with a friend named Iolaus, he came to Lerna, and having halted his horses, he discovered the hydra on a hill beside the springs of the Amymone river, where was its den. By pelting it with fiery shafts Hercules forced the hydra to come out, and in the act of doing so he seized and held it fast. But the hydra wound itself about one of his feet and clung to him. Nor could he accomplish anything by smashing its heads with his club, for as fast as one head was smashed there grew up two. A huge crab also came to the help of the hydra by biting his foot. So he killed it, and in his turn called for help on Iolaus who, by setting fire to a piece of the neighboring wood and burning the roots of the heads with the brands, prevented them from sprouting. Having thus got the better of the sprouting heads, he chopped off the immortal head, and buried it, and put a heavy rock on it. But the body of the hydra he slit up and dipped his arrows in the gall.

However, Eurystheus said that this labor should not be reckoned among the ten because he had not got the better of the hydra by himself, but with the help of Iolaus.

The Cerynitian Hind

[2.5.3] As a third labor he ordered him to bring the Cerynitian doe alive to Mycenae. Now the doe was
at Oenoe; it had golden horns and was sacred to Artemis; so wishing neither to kill nor wound it,
Hercules hunted it a whole year. But when, weary with the chase, the beast took refuge on the
mountain called Artemisius, and thence passed to the river Ladon, Hercules shot it just as it was about
to cross the stream, and catching it put it on his shoulders and hastened through Arcadia. But Artemis
with Apollo met him, and would have wrested the hind from him, and rebuked him for attempting to kill her sacred animal. Howbeit, by pleading necessity and laying the blame on Eurystheus, he appeased the
anger of the goddess and carried the beast alive to Mycenae.

The Erymanthian Boar

[2.5.4] As a fourth labor he ordered him to bring the Erymanthian boar alive; now that animal ravaged
Psophis, going forth from a mountain which they call Erymanthus. So passing through Pholoe he was
entertained by the centaur Pholus, a son of Silenus by a Melian nymph. He set roast meat before
Hercules, while he himself ate his meat raw. When Hercules called for wine, he said he feared to open
the jar which belonged to the all the centaurs, not just himself. But Hercules, bidding him be of good courage, opened it, and not long afterwards, scenting the smell, the centaurs arrived at the cave of Pholus, armed with rocks and firs. The first who dared to enter, Anchius and Agrius, were repelled by Hercules with a shower of burning firewood, and the rest of them he shot and pursued as far as Malea.

[2.5.4] But Pholus, drawing the arrow dipped in the hydra’s gall from a corpse, wondered that so little a thing could kill such big fellows; howbeit, it slipped from his hand and lighting on his foot killed him on the spot. So when Hercules returned to Pholoe, he beheld Pholus dead; and he buried him and proceeded to the boar hunt. And when he had chased the boar with shouts from a certain thicket, he drove the exhausted animal into deep snow, trapped it, and brought it to Mycenae.

The Stables of Augeas

[2.5.5] The fifth labor he laid on him was to carry out the dung of the cattle of Augeas in a single day.
Now Augeas was king of Elis; some say that he was a son of the Sun, others that he was a son of
Poseidon, and others that he was a son of Phorbas; and he had many herds of cattle. Hercules accosted
him, and without revealing the command of Eurystheus, said that he would carry out the dung in one
day, if Augeas would give him the tithe of the cattle. Augeas was incredulous, but promised. Having
taken Augeas’s son Phyleus to witness, Hercules made a breach in the foundations of the cattle-yard, and then, diverting the courses of the Alpheus and Peneus rivers, he turned them into the yard, having first made an outlet for the water through another opening. When Augeas learned that this had been accomplished at the command of Eurystheus, he would not pay the reward; moreover, he denied that he had promised to pay it. But Eurystheus would not admit this labor either among the ten, alleging that it had been performed for hire.

The Stymphalian Birds

[2.5.6] The sixth labor he enjoined on him was to chase away the Stymphalian birds. Now at the city of
Stymphalus in Arcadia was the lake called Stymphalian, embosomed in a deep wood. To it countless
birds had flocked for refuge, fearing to be preyed upon by the wolves. So when Hercules was at a loss
how to drive the birds from the wood, Athena gave him bronze cymbals, which she had received from
Hephaestus. By clashing these on a certain mountain that overhung the lake, he scared the birds. They
could not abide the sound, but fluttered up in a fright, and in that way Hercules shot them.

The Cretan Bull

[2.5.7] The seventh labor he enjoined on him was to bring the Cretan bull. This was the bull that ferried across Europa for Zeus; but some say it was the bull that Poseidon sent up from the sea when Minos promised to sacrifice to Poseidon what should appear out of the sea. And they say that when Minos saw the beauty of the bull he sent it away to the herds and sacrificed another to Poseidon; at which the god was angry and made the bull savage. To attack this bull Hercules came to Crete, and when, in reply to his request for aid, Minos told him to fight and catch the bull for himself, he caught it and brought it to Eurystheus, and having shown it to him he let it afterwards go free. But the bull roamed to Sparta and all Arcadia, and traversing the Isthmus arrived at Marathon in Attica and harried the inhabitants.

The Mares of Diomedes

[2.5.8] The eighth labor he enjoined on him was to bring the mares of Diomedes the Thracian to
Mycenae. Now this Diomedes was a son of Ares, and he was king of the Bistones, a very warlike Thracian people, and he owned man-eating mares. So Hercules sailed with a band of volunteers, and having overpowered the grooms who were in charge of the mangers, he drove the mares to the sea. When the Bistones in arms came to the rescue, he committed the mares to the guardianship of Abderus, who was a son of Hermes, a native of Opus in Locris, and a minion of Hercules; but the mares killed him by dragging him after them. But Hercules fought against the Bistones, slew Diomedes and compelled the rest to flee. And he founded a city called Abdera beside the grave of Abderus who had been done to death, and bringing the mares he gave them to Eurystheus. But Eurystheus let them go, and they came to Mount Olympus, as it is called, and there they were destroyed by the wild beasts.

The Belt of Hippolyte

[2.5.9] The ninth labor he enjoined on Hercules was to bring the belt of Hippolyte. She was queen of the
Amazons, who dwelt about the river Thermodon, a people great in war; for they cultivated the manly
virtues, and if ever they gave birth to children through intercourse with the other sex, they reared the
females; and they pinched off the right breasts that they might not be trammeled by them in throwing
the javelin, but they kept the left breasts, that they might suckle. Now Hippolyte had the belt of Ares in
token of her superiority to all the rest. Hercules was sent to fetch this belt because Admete, daughter of
Eurystheus, desired to get it. So taking with him a band of volunteer comrades in a single ship. Having put in at the harbor of Themiscyra, he received a visit from Hippolyte, who inquired why he was
come, and promised to give him the belt. But Hera in the likeness of an Amazon went up and down the
multitude saying that the strangers who had arrived were carrying off the queen. So the Amazons in
arms charged on horseback down on the ship. But when Hercules saw them in arms, he suspected
treachery, and killing Hippolyte stripped her of her belt. And after fighting the rest he sailed away and
touched at Troy. After threatening them with war, he brought the belt to Mycenae he gave it to Eurystheus.

The Cattle of Geryon

[2.5.10] As a tenth labor he was ordered to fetch the cattle of Geryon from Erythia. Now Erythia was an
island near the ocean; it is now called Gadira. This island was inhabited by Geryon, son of Chrysaor by Callirrhoe, daughter of Ocean. He had the body of three men grown together and joined in one at the
waist, but parted in three from the flanks and thighs. He owned red cattle, of which Eurytion was the
herdsman and Orthus, the two-headed hound born of the monsters Typhon and Echidna, was the watchdog.

[2.5.10] So journeying through Europe to fetch the cattle of Geryon he destroyed many wild beasts and set foot in Libya, and proceeding to Tartessus he erected as tokens of his journey two pillars over against each other at the boundaries of Europe and Libya. These are now the Pillars of Hercules. But being heated by the Sun on his journey, he bent his bow at the god, who in admiration of his hardihood, gave him a golden goblet in which he crossed the ocean. And having reached Erythia he lodged on Mount Abas. However, the dog rushed at him; but Hercules struck it with his club, and when the herdsman Eurytion came to the help of the dog, Hercules killed him also. But word was reported to Geryon what had occurred, and, coming up with Hercules beside the river as he was driving away the cattle, Geryon joined battle with him and was shot dead. And Hercules, embarking the cattle in the goblet and sailing across to Tartessus, gave back the goblet to the Sun. And passing through Abderia he came to Liguria in Italy, where sons of Poseidon attempted to rob him of the cattle, but he killed them and went on his way through Italy. But at Rhegium a bull broke away and hastily plunging into the sea swam across to Sicily, and having passed through the neighboring country since called Italy after it, for the locals called the bull Italus.

[2.5.10] When Hercules he came to the shores of the sea, Hera afflicted the cows with a gadfly, and they dispersed among the skirts of the mountains of Thrace. Hercules went in pursuit, and having caught some, drove them to the Hellespont; but the remainder were thenceforth wild. In this way he conveyed the herd and gave them to Eurystheus, who sacrificed them to Hera.

The Apples of the Hesperides

[2.5.11] When the labors had been performed in eight years and a month, Eurystheus ordered Hercules,
as an eleventh labor, to fetch golden apples from the Hesperides, for he did not acknowledge the labor
of the of Augeas nor that of the hydra. These apples were not, as some have said, in Libya, but on Atlas
among the Hyperboreans. They were presented by Mother Earth to Zeus after his marriage with Hera,
and guarded by an immortal dragon with a hundred heads, offspring of Typhon and Echidna, which
spoke with many and diverse sorts of voices, and the Hesperides guarded the apples as well.

[2.5.11] So journeying he came to the river Echedorus. And going on foot through Illyria and hastening to the river Eridanus he came to the nymphs, the daughters of Zeus and Themis. They revealed Nereus to him, and Hercules seized him while he slept, and though the god turned himself into all kinds of shapes, the hero bound him and did not release him till he had learned from him where the apples and the Hesperides were. Being informed, he crossed Libya.

[2.5.11] Libya was then ruled by Antaeus, son of Poseidon, who used to kill strangers by forcing them to wrestle. Being forced to wrestle with him, Hercules hugged him, lifted him aloft, broke and killed him; for when Antaeus touched earth so it was that he grew stronger, wherefore some said that he was a son of Earth.

[2.5.11] After Libya he crossed Egypt and then the Middle East. Passing by Arabia and journeying through Libya to the outer sea he received the goblet from the Sun. And having crossed to the opposite mainland he shot on the Caucasus the eagle that was devouring the liver of the titan Prometheus, and
Hercules released Prometheus from his imprisonment.

[2.5.11] Now Prometheus had told Hercules not to go himself after the apples but to send Atlas, first relieving him of the burden of the sphere; so when he was come to Atlas in the land of the Hyperboreans, he took the advice and relieved Atlas. But when Atlas had received three apples from the Hesperides, he came to Hercules, and not wishing to support the sphere Atlas said that he would himself carry the apples to Eurystheus, and bade Hercules hold up the sky in his stead. Hercules promised to do so, but succeeded by craft in putting it on Atlas instead. For at the advice of Prometheus he begged Atlas to hold up the sky till he should put a pad on his head. When Atlas heard that, he laid the apples down on the ground and took the sphere from Hercules. And so Hercules picked up the apples and departed. But some say that he did not get them from Atlas, but that he plucked the apples himself after killing the guardian snake. And having brought the apples he gave them to Eurystheus.

The Hound of Hades

[2.5.12] A twelfth labor imposed on Hercules was to bring Cerberus from Hades. Now this Cerberus had
three heads of dogs, the tail of a dragon, and on his back the heads of all sorts of snakes. And having come to Taenarum in Laconia, where is the mouth of the descent to Hades, he descended through it. But when the souls saw him, they fled, save Meleager and the Gorgon Medusa. And Hercules drew his sword against the Gorgon, as if she were alive, but he learned from Hermes that she was an empty phantom. When Hercules asked Pluto for Cerberus, Pluto ordered him to take the animal provided
he mastered him without the use of the weapons which he carried. Hercules found him at the gates of
Acheron, and, covered by the lion’s skin, he flung his arms round the head of the brute, and though the dragon in its tail bit him, he never relaxed his grip and pressure till it yielded. So he carried it off and ascended from Hades. Hercules, after showing Cerberus to Eurystheus, carried him back to Hades.

The Remainder of Hercules’s Life & Death

[2.6.1] After his labors Hercules went to Thebes and gave Megara to Iolaus, and went to seek another wife.

[2.7.5] And having come to Calydon, Hercules wooed Deianira, daughter of Oeneus. So Hercules married Deianira.

[2.7.6] And taking Deianira with him, he came to the river Evenus, at which the centaur Nessus sat and
ferried passengers across for hire, alleging that he had received the ferry from the gods for his
righteousness. So Hercules crossed the river by himself, but on being asked to pay the fare he entrusted
Deianira to Nessus to carry over. But Nessus , in ferrying her across, attempted to violate her. She cried out, Hercules heard her, and shot Nessus to the heart when he emerged from the river. Being at the point of death, Nessus called Deianira to him and said that if she would have a love charm to operate on
Hercules she should mix the seed he had dropped on the ground with the blood that flowed from the
wound inflicted by the barb. She did so and kept it by her.

[2.7.7] On his arrival at the city Trachis Hercules gathered an army to attack Oechalia, wishing to punish an enemy. He slew the enemy and conquered the city, leading the lady Iole captive. Deianira learned about Iole, and fearing that Hercules might love Iole more than herself, she supposed that the spilt blood of Nessus was in truth a love-charm, and with it she smeared the tunic. So Hercules put it on and proceeded to offer sacrifice. But no sooner was the tunic warmed than the poison of the hydra began to corrode his skin; he tore off the tunic, which clung to his body, so that his flesh was torn away with it. In such a sad plight he was carried on shipboard to Trachis: and Deianira, on learning what had happened, hanged herself. But Hercules proceeded to Mount Oeta, in the Trachinian territory, and there constructed a pyre, mounted it, and gave orders to kindle it. When no one would do so, Philoctetes, passing by to look for his flocks, set a light to it. To him Hercules gave his bow. While the pyre was burning, it is said that a cloud passed under Hercules and with a peal of thunder wafted him up to heaven. Thereafter he obtained immortality, and was reconciled to Hera.

To cite this reading, use the following format:

Apollodorus. Apollodorus, The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Harvard University Press, 1921. Perseus Digital Library, www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D4