The Monsters of
Herakles' Labors
The
Twelve Labors of Herakles symbolically express deeper meanings. The ancient
Greeks gave elements of the natural world human names and human form to help
understand events that occurred in both the natural world and human society.
Through symbolism and analogies people learn to understand not only their
personal life but their society as a whole.
As you view the Twelve Labors, consider the use of symbolism and analogy
to interpret the deeper message or meaning that was being expressed by the early
Greek culture. (Links are to the Perseus Project’s Herakles page.)
Labor I: Nemean
Lion
Herakles’ first task assigned by
Eurystheus was to defeat the Nemean Lion. Herakles
tracked the lion to its den and finding that club and arrows proved unless
fought the lion bare handed, choking it to death.
Hesiod names Hera as the deity who raised the Nemean lion, who was a
child of Echidna, who in turn was an offspring of Gaia.
Labor
II: The
Lernaian
Hydra
The Hydra of Lerna by most
ancient accounts was the second challenge that was given to Herakles. Like the Nemean
Lion, the Hydra was said by
Hesiod to have been raised by Hera. Since Herakles’ nephew Iolaus assisted in
defeating the Hydra, Eurystheus did not allow this task to be counted toward the
completion of the labors.
Labor
III: The
Keryneian/Kerynitian Hind
The Keryneian (Kerynetian) Hind is also known
also as Taugete the daughter of Atlas. The
Hind was a rare female deer that possessed golden antlers and bronze hoofs.
There are various versions of this labor.
Some authors wrote that the Hind was finally captured, others that it was
turned loose at Mycenae, and others that Herakles actually killed the beast.
Labor
IV: The
Erymanthian Boar
The Boar hunt was one of many labors in which the hunted animal was captured but
other monsters were killed. In this
labor, the Centaurs were the defeated foe.
The Centaurs were the children of Kronos
or Typhoeus, while the Centaur Pholos was the
child of Silenos. Cheiron, the grand old Centaur,
was believed to be the son of Silenos or Kronos.
The boar was finally taken to Eurystheus as a prize of the labors.
Labor
V: The
Stables of Augeias
The fifth labor was placed on Herakles to make him undignified and servile.
The legendary hero was told to clean out the cattle stables, in one day.
There had been years of accumulating cattle waste.
Herakles did not come forward to explain to Augeas, the owner of the
stables, that he had been ordered to clean the stables.
Instead, he offered his services in exchange for a fee of some cattle.
When the task was complete Augeas discovered that the chore was an
assigned labor and reneged on the original agreement.
Herakles eventually sought revenge and in doing so he killed, The
Moliones, Kteatos and Eurytos, who were
said to be the children of Poseidon. Poseidon, the god of
the ocean, was the father or ancestor of several monsters, and some of
his other children ran afoul of Herakles.
Labor
VI: The
Stymphalian Birds
This labor has many variations among ancient authors. Diodoros and Apollodorus
say that Herakles did not kill these birds, but
put down his normal weapons and used a bronze rattle to scare them away.
Pherekydes & Hellanikos state that Herakles did kill the birds
as they flew away and freed the lands from despair. The artistic evidence
follows the tradition that the birds were killed (Gantz 394).
No other known deaths or attacks made on monsters occurred during this
particular labor.
Labor
VII: The
Kretan Bull
The Kretan Bull who was in the bloodlline of
Inachos & Io was the target of Herakles seventh task. Unlike his other labors, this one was straightforward and
easy. Herakles went to Minos to ask for the Kretan Bull
and when permission was granted he took the bull back to Eurystheus.
It is said that the Kretan Bull was later
called the Marathonian Bull and that the Athenian hero Theseus killed it.
Labor
VIII: The
Mares of Diomedes
The most morbid of all of the labors of Herakles was the capture of the
carnivorous Mares of Dionedes. In order to capture the wild man-eating beasts, Herakles fed
them Diomedes,
the rightful owner of the Mares who was also a son of Poseidon.
Another monster that was killed during the eighth labor was Thanatos
(Death), who was a child of Nyx (Night).
Labor
IX: The
Belt
In this labor, Herakles dealt with a multitude of different events and
challenges that were not part of the actual labor itself.
Hippolyte (a child of Erechthonios or
Gaia) was the queen of the Amazons. Herakles
was ordered by Eurystheus to bring back the girdle that she wore back to him
because his daughter wanted the girdle. When
Hera realized that Hippolyte was going to freely give Herakles the belt, she
started a fight in which the queen of the Amazons was killed (Apollodorus
2.5.9). During this labor Herakles
also killed the sea-monster Scylla, who was causing a crisis at Troy.
Labor
X: The
Cattle of Geryoneus
Geryoneus (the triple-bodied monster who
was the grandchild of Medusa) owned the cattle that Herakles was ordered
to retrieve. Eurytion,
herdsmen for Geryoneus, and Ortho
his two-headed hound, were killed by Herakles while he was going to
obtain the cattle. While taking the cattle Herakles was attacked by Geryoneus
but Herakles easily defeated him, and during many subsequent adventures, Herakles
killed Ialebion & Derkymos, two sons of
Poseidon, while returning the cattle to Eurystheus.
Labor
XI: The
Garden of Hesperides
The eleventh labor challenged Herakles’ intellect when he confronted Atlas in
search of the golden apples of Hesperides.
After killing the monstrous Eagle that was
pestering Prometheus, Herakles found the apples tree filled with golden apples.
In one version, Herakles killed the monster dragon, Ophis
/ Ladon, the child of Phorkys, and took the apples himself. In another
version, Herakles held up the world
while Atlas got the apples, then cleverly persuaded Atlas to return to his task
of holding the world on his shoulder after he first refused.
Herakles also killed Eryx, a monster child
of the Gaia bloodline during this labor of wits over brute strength.
Labor
XII:
Kerberos
The last labor sent Herakles to the land of Hades, a land from which no ordinary
mortal had ever returned. His task
was to retrieve the dog of Hades, Cerberus and bring him back to Eurystheus.
Like many of the myths of Herakles there have been many interpretations
of the twelfth labor. In the end, Herakles did bring Cerberus back to Eurystheus.
As in many of the labors of Herakles challenged or was challenged by
various monsters of the land. During
the Twelfth labor, he killed many other monsters.
They were: Antaeus the son of Poseidon; Boursiris
the son of Poseidon and the two sons of Boursiris,
Iphidamas and
Amphidamas; other monsters, who were
related to Gaia through one of her offspring, were Chalbes
and Emathion.
Interestingly, Kerberos the child of
Typhoeus & Gaia was the only notable monster not killed in the twelfth
labor.