We all know who
Hercules is, right? Big, muscular Greek hero who had super-man strength and killed tons of monsters. Well, for those unfortunate few who don't, he was pretty much what I just said. For the writing class that I have been taking lately we had to write a short story or summary on whatever we choose in our own words. I chose the awesome legend of
The Twelve Labors of Hercules!!! Here it is... enjoy :)
Hercules driven mad by the goddess
Hera, madly murdered his wife and children. To pay for his crime,
Zeus the Chieftain of the Olympian Gods, commanded Hercules to serve his cousin,
King Eurystheus 10 labors or task. First he was to single-handedly kill the
Nemean Lion, a legendary lion with a fur coat that was indestructible. Next he was to destroy the
Lernaean Hydra, a terrible lizard beast with 7- heads. He and his servant
Iolaus, soon realized that this beast might be too much! Every time one of it's monstrous heads was severed, two more grew in it's place. Iolaus then came up with a brilliant idea to burn each head before they could multiply. His plan worked and they brought one of the heads for proof to Eurystheus. Unfortunately is scared Hercules's cousin so much, he ordered that a brass pot be stuck in the ground so that every time Hercules came with his demon trophies he could happily hide inside without fear of monsters.
He easily captured the the
Golden Hind of Artemis, the
Cretan Bull and the
Erymanthian Boar. The king then ordered him to clean the
Augean stables, the home of immortal cattle. Hercules achieved this by redirecting two nearby rivers crashing into the stables, instantly washing away all the waste. After that he exterminated every last one of the Stymphalian birds, man-eating birds with beaks of bronze, metallic feathers and toxic dung, all with only a pair of magic symbols and one arrow. Next he tamed the
mares of Diomedes, four mythical man-eating horses with an appetite. He then met his match against the six-armed, six-legged three-headed giant,
Geryon when he tried to herd his red cattle. Later he left to retrieve the girdle of
Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazons. He succeeded only to arrive back to his cousin and find that the Hydra and the Augean Stables didn't count towards his penance. The king went on how he had help from Iolous and the two rivers. So Hercules went out to steal the Golden Apples of the
Hespirides. He traveled to the former-Titan general
Atlas, who was condemned to hold up the sky forever by Zeus. Atlas swore on the river
Styx that he would return with the apples, since he was the Hespirides father on one condition... That Hercules would hold up the sky while he was gone.
Atlas returned hours later, all the time Hercules was almost crushed to a pulp by the sky, the apples in hand. Devastation then struck when Atlas refused to take back his burden. Hercules then wittily told him to hold the sky for a moment while he fix his toga to make it more comfortable. Atlas agreed and cursed Hercules for tricking him. Eurystheus finally told Hercules of on final task, to tame the
Ceberus, a giant, black, guardian dog belonging to
Hades, the Lord of the Dead. To do so Hercules travelled to the underworld to convince Hades to let him borrow his beast. Hades agreed to but told Hercules that he must use no weapon of any kind against him. Obviously by now you would guess that Hercules wins, well... he does! With his penance payed, his trophies mounted above his fireplace and the gods pleased, Hercules lives happily ever after.
The End
Nation: Woodsor
