Disclaimer: I'm not sure who these characters belong to, but it isn't me. It's someone unlikely to sue, but still.
Tell me, O Muse,
of the greatest hero of all time,
who completed twelve labors of the utmost difficulty
'gainst the will of Hera.
Son of the Lord Zeus and Alcmene,
he was hated by Hera
and named for this reason
Heracles.
Two serpents of death sent
to his cradle
became heralds of heroism
when strangled by the babe.
Like Odysseus's journey his life began
smooth and with great fortune,
before the seeds of madness were sown
by the queen, his hated antagonist.
Heracles strangled his
wife and children, who became
heralds of
tragic heroism.
Sent in disgrace to
King Eurystheus, Heracles
was forced to complete
ten deadly labors.
Required first of the young hero
was the death of the Nemean lion.
Born of Echidna, by Orthus
the beast was invulnerable
to sword, arrow,
and spear.
But fearless Heracles, never despairing,
did with the lion
as he did with two serpents,
his wife Megara,
and his sons,
Therimachus,
Deicoon,
and Creontiades.
Skinning the great beast's corpse,
Heracles wore the
impenetrable hide for
the rest of his days.
The next of his tasks
was the slaying of
the Hydra.
With nine heads, one immortal,
the Hydra was much more
fearsome than it appeared.
Like the phoenix, dying and renewing,
when one head was severed,
two more
were regenerated.
Even the greatest of all men
could not kill this creature
of darkness alone.
With his nephew Iolaüs by his side,
Heracles found the Hydra unlike the phoenix.
Though fire causes
the phoenix to be reborn,
fire against the necks of the heads
cut off by Heracles
prevented further
growth.
The blood of the Hydra,
which was deadly venom,
Heracles used
to coat many of his arrows.
The wickedness of Eurystheus,
backed by the goddess,
discounted this labor
for it was solved not by Heracles
but by Heracles and another,
Iolaüs.
The third labor was
in itself not deadly, but was,
considering the retribution
to be brought on Heracles for the completion
of the task, the
most dangerous of all.
The Cerynitian hind had been given
to the huntress, Artemis,
and transformed by the goddess,
into a beautiful doe.
Sacred to Artemis was the doe,
of white hide,
gold hooves,
and fleet foot,
which Heracles was required
to capture
alive.
For a year and more
Heracles chased the doe,
unwilling to injure her,
for fear of the enmity
of another goddess.
Finally, in reckless abandon,
Heracles sent at the doe
a bit of wood,
feather,
and stone,
injuring, but not slaughtering,
the creature of the goddess of the moon.
As he was returning with the deer,
the lady of the light appeared
before him in a towering rage,
for the gods do not quickly forgive
the death
of their sacred beings.
Dropping on his knees,
the strongest mortal ever to live
begged the night queen
to believe
in his lack of intent
to kill the lovely beast.
With a softened heart, the lady
of the hunt
allowed Heracles to continue on
the condition that he
protect her doe from harm.
The next of his tasks was
to retrieve the deadly Erymanthian Boar
alive.
With wine given him by the centaur Pholus,
Heracles attracted the boar;
however, the wild centaurs
arrived as well.
A battle ensued between the
enraged centaurs and the
tragic hero.
Although victory belonged
to Heracles, the price
was the life of Pholus,
and the wise centaur, Cheiron.
Heracles captured the boar and
brought it to the king, but
the cowardice of Eurystheus
caused him to hide
in a brass jar from the boar, and implore
Heracles to show
the fruits of his labors outside the city wall.
Angered at the success of Heracles,
Eurystheus and Hera
planned the most humiliating of tasks:
the cleaning of the Augeian stables in
one day.
The state of the Augeian stables was
the result of thousands of cattle,
lazy stable boys,
and many years.
A lesser man would have
faltered at this task,
but not our hero!
Heracles diverted streams and built dams,
altering the course of two rivers,
making them rush through the stables.
Eurystheus refused
to count this labor as well,
saying that the rivers
cleaned the stables instead of Heracles.
Adding a labor for this one,
as well as the slaying of
the Hydra, Heracles now
had twelve tasks.
The sixth of Heracles's tasks
was to chase away the
Stymphalian birds, with beaks of brass.
So many were there that
the hero knew not what to do.
However, Athena,
having an affection for the demigod,
showed him the way.
A rattle was given him by the Gray Eyed One,
a rattle of such horrendous noise,
that the birds were
immediately
chased away.
The Cretan bull was the goal
of the next of Heracles's labors.
The bull was sent to Crete
by Poseidon, but when
the king of the isle, Minos, refused
to honor the god, as was his right,
the bull became
the lover of Queen Pasiphaë.
Shocked at the betrayal
by his wife with a bull,
Minos was willing
to give his rival in love
to our hero.
Alas! His trials were not over!
The bull refused
to board a ship, leaving
Heracles stranded on the
isle of Crete with no
way to return to King Eurystheus.
But, the sacredness of
the bull to Poseidon allowed
the beast to walk on water.
Riding the back of the bull, Heracles
made the creature return
to the realm
of Eurystheus.
To fetch the flesh eating mares of Diomedes
was the next trial in store
for our hero.
Heracles easily overcame
the difficulties of capturing
the mares
by throwing Diomedes
to his own horses.
Alas! Even this task had a price
for Abderus, son of Hermes,
the squire
and lover
of Heracles was given the job
of guarding the mares,
but was devoured by his charges.
Heartbroken, Heracles built
a city, which he called Abdera,
as a monument to his squire.
The queen of the Amazons, Hippolyte
possessed a belt which
was desired by
the daughter of Eurystheus, Admeta,
making it
the subject of
our hero's ninth labor.
The queen was won over by
the charms of Heracles
and would willingly have given him
her belt.
However, the jealous goddess, Hera,
in the guise of an Amazon,
spread the word that Hippolyte
was being kidnapped.
The ship of Heracles
was attacked by these enraged women.
Heracles believed
that the warriors of the night
attacked on the orders of Hippolyte,
causing him to kill the queen and take her belt.
The tenth of the trials
faced by our hero
was to capture
the cattle of Geryon.
His journey brought him
along and caused him to be
scorched by the heat of the sun.
Angered, he was bold enough
to challenge the god of the son
with an arrow.
So admiring was Apollo,
the lord of the light,
that he gave our hero
a golden cup
in which he sailed
to Geryon's realm,
Erytheia.
Heracles easily slaughtered
the guardians of the cattle,
the giant, Eurytion,
the two-headed hound, Orthus,
and the three-headed Geryon himself.
Returning to Eurystheus,
our hero encountered many rogues,
who like vultures do to eagles,
stole cattle and challenged him
to duels which
our hero always won.
Heracles continued
with the task of stealing
the apples of Hesperides.
The lovely Hesperides
were three nymphs,
daughters of Atlas and Hespires.
He searched,
battling one thousand nightmares on his way,
for the Titan, Atlas,
holding up the world,
forevermore.
Asking for the location
of the garden,
our hero learned
that, like a rose,
the apples looked beautiful,
but hurt to touch.
Lethal to mortals, the golden apples
were far from the reach
of Heracles.
Imploring Atlas to pick
the apples, our hero found himself
with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Atlas left Heracles the sky,
to retrieve the apples
that shone like stars.
Returning with the stars,
the bitter Atlas
found a way to remove his burden forever.
He told Heracles
that he would take the apples
to King Eurystheus, but
actually meant to flee,
leaving the sky
to a mortal.
Crafty Heracles, however,
saw through the guise
to the treacherous heart within.
Asking Atlas to hold the sky
only while he adjusted the pelt
to allow him relief,
our hero took the stars,
and hurried away.
The final task
was the most deadly
and impossible of all.
The three-headed dog of darkness,
Cerberus,
was to be captured
by our hero.
With the help of fleet-footed Hermes,
Heracles descended
to the Underworld.
Gaining permission from Hades,
the lord of darkness himself,
Heracles went to subdue
the hound of hell.
On only one condition
could he take the beast:
that he use no weapon.
Wrestling the dog, our hero
somehow managed
to defeat the force of darkness
and bring the beast to Eurystheus.
Terrified, the cowardly king
begged the hero to return the dog
to Hades.
Finally, the hero had received
his atonement for the murder
of Megara and their sons,
and could appreciate
the beauty
of rosy-fingered Dawn, creeping up
the horizon.
A/N: And that was my project. It's pretty bad, but I'm still just so impressed with myself for writing this whole thing in one day that I decided to post it. I hope you enjoyed it and review. Bye!