HISTORY PROJECT:

HERACLES AND THE TWELVE LABOURS

-1-


Just as different regions of Greece had their own cults, they also had their own heroes, some of whom were claimed as ancestors of important regional families.Stories of heroes were enough interesting to become a part of the common stock of Greek myths that could have been well-known to everyone. For me as a big Greek-heroes fan are the Greek myths about heroes very interesting.That is why I did not have any problems with choosing the topic for my work. I decided to specialize on one well-known Greek heroe called Heracles. In this work I would like to aim the attention on the specific 12 labours he had to complete. I have been always interested in books with enjoyable myths about the heroes. That means I had no problems with finding my sources. Our family library contains many books connected with the topic I chose, from tales about Greek heroes to book specialized on gods and myths of the ancient world. For this time I decided not to use the Internet, because I had quite enough sources to gather information from. Heracles ( Hercules in Latin) He was born in Thebes in Boeotia, but his stepfather Amphitryon was actually a prince of Tiryns who was temporarily exiled in Thebes. In gratitude for his valour during the war, the King of Thebes gave Heracle his daughter, Megara, as his wife. (1) They had children and lived happily, until Hera struck him with a fit of madness that caused him to kill all his family. Polluted by this deed, Heracles had to leave Thebes, go to Mycenae and submit himself to King Eurystheus for twelve years.(2) During this time Eurystheus gave him twelve labours or tests that he had to complete. The Nemean Lion (site: north of the Plain of Argos, in the hills)
His first task was to bring back the skin of the Nemean lion, a skin that could not be pierced by weapons. Herakles choked the lion in his strong arms, then used its own claws to skin it, and returned to ciy with the skin slung across his shoulders. Because of this, he is usually shown wearing a lions skin as well as carying a club.(3)
The Hydra of Lerna (site: five miles south of Argos, on the coast road to Arcadia and Sparta) :
He was next sent to Lerna to destroy the Hydra, a many headed water monster that lived in a swamp.