A fight for the wife. Hercules performed many more feats while in the service of Eurystheus. He freed Prometheus, chained in the Caucasus mountains, and took part in the Argonauts' campaign for the Golden Fleece. He did not forget the promise made to Meleager in Hades - to marry his sister. He went to King Oeneus, her father, to ask for Deianira's hand. But he met a formidable rival there: the river god Aheloy also sought her consent. Oeneus decided that whoever emerged victorious in the fight would receive his daughter, and Hercules fought the mighty god in a duel. They fought for a long time, but Hercules defeated Achelous and gave Oeneus his daughter as his wife.

Deianira and the centaur Nessus. Hercules went home with his young wife. A wide river met him on the way: a centaur named Nessus transported travelers across it for a fee. Dejanira sat on his back, and Hercules began to swim. Suddenly he heard the loud cries of his wife calling for help, and saw that the centaur, captivated by the beauty of Dejanira, wanted to kidnap her. Hercules quickly got ashore, pulled his bow and fired a deadly arrow. It whistled in the air, overtook the centaur, pierced his back, and its tip came out through the chest. The mortally wounded Nessus fell to his knees, blood poured from his wound in a stream, mixed with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra. But he did not want to die unavenged. Gathering his last strength, Nessus turned to Deianira: “Oh, beautiful daughter of Oeneus! I am guilty before you, but I want to atone. Take my blood and keep it! If Hercules ever stops loving you, rub his clothes with this blood and you will again become dearer to him than all the women in the world!”

Dejanira did everything as the dying centaur told her. She collected his blood in a small vessel and hid it, but did not say anything to Hercules.

Campaign against King Eurytus. Years have passed. Hercules and Deianira lived happily. Their son Gill was born, and he grew up strong and handsome. One day Hercules went on a campaign against King Eurytus. A long time ago, even before marrying Deianira, Hercules wanted to marry Eurytus’s daughter Iola. He defeated all the suitors in the competition, but did not give him Euryt Iola. Hercules was angry and swore revenge. And now he conquered the city in which Eurytus ruled, killed him and his sons, and captured many prisoners. Among them was the beautiful Iola. Hercules sent the prisoners to his home, and he himself decided to first celebrate the victory and make sacrifices to the immortal gods.

Dejanira's jealous plan. Dejanira saw Iola, and jealousy crept into her heart. “Oh, it’s no coincidence that my husband sent a beautiful princess here! - she thought. “He wants to leave me and marry her!” This thought haunted Dejanira, and then she remembered Nessus’ dying gift. Dejanira took the vessel from a secret place: she kept it away from the rays of the sun and the fire of the hearth. She rubbed the blood and put the luxurious cloak that she had woven for her husband in a small box, called the servant and said: “Hurry to Hercules and give me my gift. Let him put it on when he makes a sacrifice to the great Zeus, and before that not a single ray of bright Helios should fall on the cloak.”

The servant went to Hercules. But gloomy forebodings gripped Deianira. She looked at the place where she had thrown the woolen rag soaked in the blood of the centaur, with which she had been rubbing her cloak, and saw that it had turned to ashes, and bloody foam appeared on the floor. Dejanira realized that her messenger was bringing Hercules’ death, but she could do nothing. She sent another messenger to her husband - but it was too late!

The suffering of Hercules and the death of Deianira. Hercules received a parcel from his wife at the very moment when he began the sacrifice. He was delighted: his wife remembers and loves him, since she sent him such a beautiful cloak! He put on Deianira's gift and approached the altar. On this day, the radiant Helios warmed the earth, and heat emanated from the sacrificial fire. The hero's body became covered with sweat, and suddenly he felt the poisoned cloak sticking to his body! Hercules screamed from unbearable pain, fell to the ground, began to tear off his damned clothes, but only the cloak stuck to his body more and more, and Hercules tore off pieces of it along with his own skin.

Hercules was brought on a stretcher native home, he learned there the whole truth about the gift and exclaimed: “This means how the prediction of my father Zeus was fulfilled! After all, it was predicted to me that I should not be afraid of living enemies, that from the machinations of the dead I would descend into the dark kingdom of Hades!” The hero’s suffering was severe; Deianira was horrified when she learned about it. Unable to bear what she had done, she pierced her heart with a sharp sword.

Funeral pyre of Hercules. Hercules ordered his son to take it to high mountain This one. There, at the top, they built a huge funeral pyre and laid the greatest of heroes on it. The suffering of Hercules became more and more intense, and the poison of the Lernaean Hydra, mixed with the blood of the centaur, penetrated deeper and deeper into his blood. Death in flames is easier than such torment! But no one dared to set fire to the funeral pyre. Finally, a hero named Philoctetes came to the mountain, and Hercules turned to him: “Spare me from suffering, friend! Light the fire, and take my tight bow and deadly arrows for yourself!”

Philoctetes agreed. The flame of the fire flared up brightly, but the lightning of the great Zeus sparkled even brighter. Pallas Athena and Hermes were brought to the fire on a golden chariot, picked up the greatest of the heroes and carried him to Olympus. The gods met him there. Hera forgot her former hatred of Hercules and gave him her daughter, the eternally young goddess Hebe, as his wife. Since then, Hercules has lived on bright Olympus along with the immortal gods - this is how Zeus rewarded him for his earthly exploits and suffering.

Will rule over all relatives. Hera, having learned about this, accelerated the birth of Perseid's wife Sthenel, who gave birth to the weak and cowardly Eurystheus. Zeus involuntarily had to agree that Hercules, who was born after this by Alcmena, would obey Eurystheus - but not all his life, but only until he accomplished 12 great feats in his service.

Hercules with early childhood was distinguished by enormous strength. Already in the cradle, he strangled two huge snakes sent by Hera to destroy the baby. Hercules spent his childhood in Thebes, Boeotia. He liberated this city from the power of neighboring Orkhomenes, and in gratitude, the Theban king Creon gave his daughter, Megara, to Hercules. Soon, Hera sent Hercules into a fit of madness, during which he killed his children and the children of his half-brother Iphicles (according to the tragedies of Euripides (“”) and Seneca, Hercules also killed his wife Megara). The Delphic oracle, in atonement for this sin, ordered Hercules to go to Eurystheus and, on his orders, perform the 12 labors that were destined for him by fate.

The first labor of Hercules (summary)

Hercules kills the Nemean lion. Copy from the statue of Lysippos

The second labor of Hercules (summary)

The second labor of Hercules was the fight against the Lernaean Hydra. Painting by A. Pollaiolo, c. 1475

The third labor of Hercules (summary)

Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds. Statue of A. Bourdelle, 1909

The fourth labor of Hercules (summary)

The Fourth Labor of Hercules - Kerynean Hind

The fifth labor of Hercules (summary)

Hercules and the Erymanthian boar. Statue of L. Tuyon, 1904

The sixth labor of Hercules (summary)

King Augeas of Elis, the son of the sun god Helios, received from his father numerous herds of white and red bulls. His huge barnyard had not been cleared for 30 years. Hercules offered Augeas to clear the stall in a day, asking in return for a tenth of his herds. Believing that the hero could not cope with the work in one day, Augeias agreed. Hercules blocked the rivers Alpheus and Peneus with a dam and diverted their water to Augeas's farmyard - all the manure was washed away from it in a day.

The sixth labor - Hercules cleans the stables of Augeas. Roman mosaic from the 3rd century. according to R.H. from Valencia

The seventh labor of Hercules (summary)

Seventh labor - Hercules and the Cretan bull. Roman mosaic from the 3rd century. according to R.H. from Valencia

The Eighth Labor of Hercules (summary)

The Thracian king Diomedes owned horses of wondrous beauty and strength, which could only be kept in a stall with iron chains. Diomedes fed the horses with human meat, killing the foreigners who came to him. Hercules led the horses away by force and defeated Diomedes, who rushed in pursuit, in battle. During this time, the horses tore to pieces Hercules' companion, Abdera, who was guarding them on the ships.

The Ninth Labor of Hercules (summary)

The queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, wore a belt given to her by the god Ares as a sign of her power. Eurystheus's daughter, Admeta, wanted this belt. Hercules with a detachment of heroes sailed to the kingdom of the Amazons, to the shores of the Pontus Euxine (Black Sea). Hippolyta, at the request of Hercules, wanted to give up the belt voluntarily, but other Amazons attacked the hero and killed several of his companions. Hercules defeated seven of the strongest warriors in battle and put their army to flight. Hippolyta gave him the belt as a ransom for the captured Amazon Melanippe.

On the way back from the land of the Amazons, Hercules saved Hesion, the daughter of the Trojan king Laomendon, who, like Andromeda, was doomed to sacrifice, at the walls of Troy sea ​​monster. Hercules killed the monster, but Laomedont did not give him the promised reward - the horses of Zeus belonging to the Trojans. For this, Hercules, a few years later, made a campaign against Troy, took it and killed the entire family of Laomedon, leaving only one of his sons, Priam, alive. Priam ruled Troy during the glorious Trojan War.

The tenth labor of Hercules (summary)

On the westernmost edge of the earth, the giant Geryon, who had three bodies, three heads, six arms and six legs, was tending cows. By order of Eurystheus, Hercules went after these cows. The long journey to the west itself was already a feat, and in memory of it, Hercules erected two stone (Hercules) pillars on both sides of a narrow strait near the shores of the Ocean (modern Gibraltar). Geryon lived on the island of Erithia. So that Hercules could reach him, the sun god Helios gave him his horses and a golden boat, on which he himself sails across the sky every day.

Having killed Geryon's guards - the giant Eurytion and the two-headed dog Ortho - Hercules captured the cows and drove them to the sea. But then Geryon himself rushed at him, covering his three bodies with three shields and throwing three spears at once. However, Hercules shot him with a bow and finished him off with a club, and transported the cows on Helios’s shuttle across the Ocean. On the way to Greece, one of the cows ran away from Hercules to Sicily. To free her, the hero had to kill the Sicilian king Eryx in a duel. Then Hera, hostile to Hercules, sent rabies into the herd, and the cows that had fled from the shores of the Ionian Sea were barely caught in Thrace. Eurystheus, having received Geryon's cows, sacrificed them to Hera.

The Eleventh Labor of Hercules (summary)

By order of Eurystheus, Hercules descended through the Tenar abyss into the gloomy kingdom of the god of the dead Hades in order to take away his guard from there - three-headed dog Cerberus, whose tail ended in the head of a dragon. At the very gates underworld Hercules freed the Athenian hero Theseus, who was rooted to the rock, who, together with his friend, Periphoes, was punished by the gods for trying to steal his wife Persephone from Hades. In the kingdom of the dead, Hercules met the shadow of the hero Meleager, to whom he promised to become the protector of his lonely sister Deianira and marry her. The ruler of the underworld, Hades, himself allowed Hercules to take Cerberus away - but only if the hero was able to tame him. Having found Cerberus, Hercules began to fight him. He half-strangled the dog, pulled him out of the ground and brought him to Mycenae. The cowardly Eurystheus, at one glance at the terrible dog, began to beg Hercules to take her back, which he did.

The Eleventh Labor of Hercules - Cerberus

The Twelfth Labor of Hercules (summary)

Hercules had to find the way to the great titan Atlas (Atlas), who holds the firmament on his shoulders at the edge of the earth. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to take three golden apples from the golden tree in the garden of Atlas. To find out the way to Atlas, Hercules, on the advice of the nymphs, lay in wait for the sea god Nereus on the seashore, grabbed him and held him until he showed the right road. On the way to Atlas through Libya, Hercules had to fight the cruel giant Antaeus, who received new powers by touching his mother, Earth-Gaea. After a long fight, Hercules lifted Antaeus into the air and strangled him without lowering him to the ground. In Egypt, King Busiris wanted to sacrifice Hercules to the gods, but the angry hero killed Busiris along with his son.

The fight of Hercules with Antaeus. Artist O. Coudet, 1819

Photo - Jastrow

Atlas himself went to his garden for three golden apples, but Hercules at that time needed to hold the vault of heaven for him. Atlas wanted to deceive Hercules: he offered to personally take the apples to Eurystheus, provided that at this time Hercules continued to hold the sky for him. But the hero, realizing that the cunning titan would not return, did not fall into deception. Hercules asked Atlas to relieve him under the sky for a short rest, and he himself took the apples and left.

The sequence of the 12 main labors of Hercules varies in different mythological sources. The eleventh and twelfth labors especially often change places: a number of ancient authors consider the descent into Hades for Cerberus to be the last achievement of Hercules, and the journey to the Garden of the Hesperides as the penultimate.

Other labors of Hercules

After completing 12 labors, Hercules, freed from the power of Eurystheus, defeated the best archer in Greece, Eurytus, king of the Euboean Oichalia, in a shooting competition. Eurytus did not give Hercules the promised reward for this - his daughter Iola. Hercules then married Deianira, the sister of Meleager, whom he met in the kingdom of Hades, in the city of Calydon. Seeking the hand of Deianira, Hercules endured a difficult duel with the river god Achelous, who during the fight turned into a snake and a bull.

Hercules and Deianira went to Tiryns. Along the way, Dejanira was attempted to be kidnapped by the centaur Nessus, who offered to transport the couple across the river. Hercules killed Nessus with arrows soaked in the bile of the Lernaean hydra. Before his death, Nessus, secretly from Hercules, advised Deianira to collect his blood poisoned by the hydra poison. The centaur assured that if Dejanira rubbed Hercules’ clothes with her, then no other woman would ever please him.

In Tiryns, during a fit of madness again sent by Hero, Hercules killed his close friend, the son of Eurytus, Iphitus. Zeus punished Hercules with a serious illness for this. Trying to find out a cure for it, Hercules went on a rampage in the Delphic temple and fought with the god Apollo. Finally it was revealed to him that he must sell himself into slavery for three years to the Lydian queen Omphale. For three years Omphale subjected Hercules to terrible humiliation: she forced him to wear women's clothing and spin, and she herself carried the lion’s skin and the hero’s club. However, Omphale allowed Hercules to take part in the campaign of the Argonauts.

Freed from slavery to Omphale, Hercules took Troy and took revenge on its king, Laomedon, for his previous deception. He then took part in the battle of the gods with the giants. The mother of the giants, the goddess Gaia, made these children of hers invulnerable to the weapons of the gods. Only a mortal could kill giants. During the battle, the gods threw the giants to the ground with weapons and lightning, and Hercules finished them off with his arrows.

Death of Hercules

Following this, Hercules set out on a campaign against King Eurytus, who had insulted him. Having defeated Eurytus, Hercules captured his daughter, the beautiful Iola, whom he should have received after a previous competition with her father in archery. Having learned that Hercules was going to marry Iola, Dejanira, in an attempt to return her husband’s love, sent him a cloak soaked in the blood of the centaur Nessus, soaked in the poison of the Lernaean Hydra. As soon as Hercules put on this cloak, it stuck to his body. The poison penetrated the hero’s skin and began to cause terrible pain. Dejanira, having learned about her mistake, committed suicide. This myth became the plot of Sophocles’ tragedy “The Trachinian Women”

Realizing that death was near, Hercules ordered his eldest son, Gill, to take him to the Thessalian Mount Eta and build a funeral pyre there. Hercules gave his bow with poisoned arrows to the hero Philoctetes, a future participant in the Trojan War, who agreed to set the flame on fire.

As soon as the fire ignited, the gods Athena and Hermes descended from the sky in thunder and lightning, and carried Hercules to Olympus in a golden chariot. Hercules married the eternally young goddess Hebe there and was accepted into the ranks of the immortals.

After the death of Hercules, the cowardly Eurystheus began to persecute his children (Heraclides). They had to take refuge in Athens, with the son of Theseus, Demophon. The army of Eurystheus invaded Athenian soil, but was defeated by an army led by the eldest son of Hercules, Gill. The Heraclides became the ancestors of one of the four main branches of the Greek people - the Dorians. Three generations after Gill, the Dorian invasion of the south ended with the conquest of the Peloponnese, which the Heraclides considered the rightful inheritance of their father, treacherously taken from him by the cunning of the goddess Hera. In the news of the captures of the Dorians, legends and myths are already mixed with memories of genuine historical events.

When Hercules was at war in distant Euboea, the ambassador Lichas told Deianira that Hercules fell in love with the beautiful Iola, the captive daughter of King Eurytus, and wanted to take her as his wife.

Dejanira was saddened. Hercules forgot her during a long separation. Now he loves someone else. What should she, the unfortunate one, do? She loves the great son of Zeus and cannot give him to another. Dejanira, heartbroken, remembers the blood that the centaur Nessus once gave her, and what he told her before his death. Dejanira decides to resort to the blood of a centaur. After all, he told her: “Rub Hercules’ clothes with my blood, and he will love you forever, no woman will be dearer to him than you.” Dejanira is afraid to resort to a magical remedy, but her love for Hercules and the fear of losing him finally overcome her fears. She takes out the blood of Nessus, which she had kept in a vessel for so long so that a ray of sun would not fall on it, so that the fire in the hearth would not warm it. Dejanira rubs it on the luxurious cloak that she wove as a gift to Hercules, puts it in a tightly closed box, calls Ambassador Lichas and tells him:

- Hurry, Lichas, to Euboea and take this box to Hercules. It contains a cloak. Let Hercules wear this cloak when he sacrifices to Zeus. Tell him that no mortal should put on this cloak except him, so that not even a ray of bright Helios touches the cloak before he puts it on. Hurry up, Lichas!

Likhas left with a cloak. After his departure, Deianira became restless. She went to the palace and, to her horror, saw that the wool with which she rubbed the cloak with the blood of Nessus had decayed; Dejanira threw this wool on the floor. A ray of sun fell on the wool and warmed the blood of the centaur, poisoned by the poison of the Lernaean hydra. Along with the blood, the hydra's poison heated up and turned the wool into ashes, and poisonous foam appeared on the floor where the wool lay. Dejanira was horrified; she is afraid that Hercules will die wearing a poisoned cloak. Hercules' wife is tormented more and more by the premonition of an irreparable misfortune.

A little time has passed since Lichas left for Euboea with a poisoned cloak. The son of Hercules and Deianira Gill, who has returned home, enters the palace. He is pale, his eyes are full of tears. Looking at his mother, he exclaims:

- Oh, how I would like to see one of three things: either that you were not alive, or that someone else would call you mother, and not me, or that you would have a better mind than now! Know that you destroyed your own husband, my father!

- Oh, grief! – Dejanira exclaimed in horror. - What are you saying, my son! Which person told you this? How can you blame me for such an atrocity!

“I myself saw my father’s suffering, I didn’t learn this from people!”

Gill tells his mother what happened on Mount Konenone, near the city of Oichalia: Hercules, having erected an altar, was already preparing to make sacrifices to the gods and, first of all, to his father Zeus, when Lichas came with a cloak. The son of Zeus put on a cloak - a gift from his wife - and began the sacrifice. First, he sacrificed twelve selected bulls to Zeus, but in total the hero sacrificed one hundred sacrifices to the Olympian gods. The flames on the altars flared up brightly. Hercules stood reverently raising his hands to the sky and called on the gods. The fire that burned hotly on the altars warmed the body of Hercules, and sweat began to form on his body. Suddenly a poisoned cloak stuck to the hero’s body. Convulsions ran through Hercules' body. But he felt terrible pain. Suffering terribly, the hero called Lichas and asked him why he had brought this cloak. What could innocent Lichas answer him? He could only say that Dejanira had sent him with the cloak. Hercules, unconscious of the terrible pain, grabbed Lichas by the leg and hit him against a rock, around which the sea waves roared. Lichas crashed to death, and Hercules fell to the ground. He struggled in unspeakable pain. His cry carried far across Euboea. Hercules cursed his marriage to Deianira. The great hero called his son and with a heavy groan told him:

“Oh, my son, do not leave me in misfortune, even if death threatens you, do not leave me!” Lift me up! Take me away from here! Take me to a place where no mortal could see me. Oh, if you feel compassion for me, don’t let me die here!

They lifted Hercules, put him on a stretcher, and carried him to the ship to transport him home. This is what Gill told his mother and ended the story with these words:

“Now you will all see the great son of Zeus here, maybe still alive, or maybe already dead.” Oh, may the harsh Erinyes and the avenger Dike punish you, mother! You have destroyed the best man the earth has ever bore! You will never see such a hero!

Silently she went to Dejanira's palace, without uttering a single word. There, in the palace, she grabbed a double-edged sword. The old nanny saw Dejanira. She calls Gill rather. Gill hurries to her mother, but she has already pierced her chest with a sword. With a loud cry, the unfortunate son rushed to his mother, he impoverished her and covered her cold body with kisses.

At this time, the dying Hercules is brought to the palace. He fell asleep during the journey, but when the stretcher was lowered to the ground at the entrance to the palace, Hercules woke up. The great hero was unconscious of the terrible pain.

- Oh, great Zeus! - he exclaims, - what country am I in? Oh, where are you, men of Greece? Help me! For your sake, I cleared the earth and sea from monsters and evil, but now none of you wants to save me from severe suffering with fire or a sharp sword! Oh, you, brother of Zeus, great Hades, put me to sleep, put me to sleep, the unfortunate one, put me to sleep with fast-flying death!

“Father, listen to me, I beg you,” Gill asks with tears, “the mother unwittingly committed this atrocity.” Why do you want revenge? Having learned that she herself was the cause of your death, she pierced your heart with the edge of a sword!

- Oh, gods, she died, and I could not take revenge on her! It was not by my hand that the treacherous Dejanira died!

- Father, it’s not her fault! says Gill. “Seeing Iola, daughter Euryta, in her house, my mother wanted to use a magical means to return your love. She rubbed her cloak with the blood of the centaur Nessus, killed by your arrow, not knowing that this blood was poisoned by the poison of the Lernaean hydra.

- Oh, woe, woe! - Hercules exclaims. - So this is how the prediction of my father Zeus came true! He told me that I would not die by the hand of a living man, that I was destined to die from the machinations of Hades, who had descended into the dark kingdom. This is how Nessus, who was struck down by me, destroyed me! So this is the peace the oracle in Dodona promised me - the peace of death! Yes, it’s true - the dead have no worries! Fulfill my last wish, Gill! Take me and my faithful friends to high Oeta, build a funeral pyre on its top, lay me on the pyre and set it on fire. Do it quickly, stop my suffering!

- Oh, have mercy, father, are you really forcing me to be your killer! – Gill begs his father.

- No, you will not be a murderer, but a healer of my suffering! I still have a wish, make it come true! - Hercules asks his son. - Take Eurytus’s daughter, Iola, as your wife.

But Gill refuses to fulfill his father’s request and says:

- No, father, I cannot marry the one who was responsible for the death of my mother!

- Oh, submit to my will, Gill! Don’t cause the subsided suffering in me again! Let me die in peace! - Hercules persistently begs his son.

Gill humbled himself and humbly answers his father:

- Okay, father. I will be submissive to your dying will.

Hercules hurries his son, asking him to quickly fulfill his last request.

- Hurry, my son! Hurry to put me on the fire before this unbearable torment begins again! Carry me! Goodbye Gill!

The friends of Hercules and Gill lifted the stretcher and carried Hercules to high Oeta. There they built a huge fire and laid the greatest of the heroes on it. The suffering of Hercules becomes more and more intense, the poison of the Lernaean hydra penetrates deeper into his body. Hercules tears off his poisoned cloak, it sticks tightly to his body; Hercules tears off pieces of skin along with his cloak, and the terrible torment becomes even more unbearable.

The only salvation from these superhuman torments is death. It is easier to die in the flames of a fire than to endure them, but none of the hero’s friends dares to set the fire on fire. Finally, Philoctetes came to Oeta, Hercules persuaded him to set fire to the fire and, as a reward for this, gave him his bow and arrows, poisoned by the poison of the hydra. Philoctetes lit the fire, the flames of the fire flared up brightly, but the lightning of Zeus flashed even brighter. Thunder rolled across the sky. On a golden chariot, Pallas Athena and Hermes were brought to the fire and they carried the greatest of the heroes, Hercules, to the bright Olympus. The great gods met him there. Hercules became the immortal god. Hera herself, forgetting her hatred, gave Hercules her daughter, the eternally young goddess Hebe, as a wife. Since then, Hercules has lived on bright Olympus in the host of the great immortal gods. This was his reward for all his great deeds on earth, for all his great suffering.

Hercules (Heraclius, Alcides), Greek, Lat. Hercules- son of Zeus and, the greatest hero of Greek legends. By the way, the name of Hercule Poirot, for example, is also from “Hercules”.

His name (usually in its Latinized form) is usually used when one wants to emphasize the enormous height or enormous physical strength of a person. But Hercules was not only a hero. This was a man with human weaknesses and positive qualities, who without hesitation entered into a struggle with fate and used his abilities not only for the sake of his own glory, but also to benefit humanity, to save it from troubles and suffering. He accomplished more than other people, but he also suffered more, which is why he was a hero. For this he received the reward that his Babylonian predecessor Gilgamesh or the Phoenician Melqart had vainly sought; For him, the most impossible dream of man came true - he became immortal.

Hercules was born in Thebes, where his mother Alcmene fled with her husband, who had killed his father-in-law Electryon and feared the revenge of his brother Sthenelus. Of course, Zeus knew about the upcoming birth of Hercules - not only because he was an omniscient god, but also because he was directly related to his birth. The fact is that Zeus really liked Alcmene, and he, taking the guise of Amphitryon, freely entered her bedroom. On the day when Hercules was supposed to be born, Zeus recklessly declared in the meeting of the gods that today the greatest hero would be born. I immediately realized that we're talking about about the consequences of her husband’s next love affair, and decided to take revenge on him. Allegedly doubting his prediction, she provoked him into an oath that the one born on this day would rule over all his relatives, even if they were from the family of Zeus. After which, with the help of Ilithyia, Hera accelerated the birth of Nikippa, the wife of Sthenel, although she was only in her seventh month, and delayed the birth of Alcmene. This is how it happened that the mighty Hercules, the son of the almighty Zeus, had to serve the wretched half-baked Eurystheus, the son of the mortal Sthenel - a sad fate, but a true hero is able to overcome this injustice of fate.

Still from the film "Hercules"

Alcmene's son was named Alcides at birth in honor of his step-grandfather, . Only later was he called Hercules, because he supposedly “thanks to Hera achieved glory” (this is the traditional, although not entirely conclusive, interpretation of his name). In this case, Hera turned out to be the hero’s benefactor against her will: she plotted all sorts of intrigues for him to take revenge for her husband’s betrayal, and Hercules, overcoming them, accomplished one feat after another. To begin with, Hera sent two monstrous snakes to his cradle, but the baby Hercules strangled them. Shocked by this, Amphitryon realized that such a child was capable of doing great things over time, and decided to give him a proper upbringing. We worked with Hercules best teachers: he was taught combat with weapons by the son of Zeus Castor, and archery by the Ehalian king Eurytus. He was taught wisdom by the fair Radamanthos, and music and singing by the brother of Orpheus himself, Lin. Hercules was a diligent student, but playing the cithara was worse for him than other sciences. When one day Lin decided to punish him, he hit him back with a lyre and killed him on the spot. Amphitryon was horrified by his strength and decided to send Hercules away from people. He sent him to graze cattle on Mount Cithaeron, and Hercules took it for granted.

Hercules lived well on Kiferon; there he killed a formidable lion that was killing people and livestock, and made himself an excellent cloak from its skin. In his eighteenth year, Hercules decided to look at the world and at the same time look for a wife. He made himself a club from the trunk of a huge ash tree, threw the skin of the Cythaeronian lion (whose head served as his helmet) over his shoulders and headed for his native Thebes.

On the way, he met strangers and from their conversation learned that they were tribute collectors from the Orkhomen king Ergin. They went to Thebes to receive from the Theban king Creon one hundred oxen - an annual tribute imposed on him by Ergin by right of the strongest. This seemed unfair to Hercules, and when the collectors began to mock him in response to his words, he dealt with them in his own way: he cut off their noses and ears, tied their hands and ordered them to go home. Thebes enthusiastically greeted their fellow countryman, but their joy did not last long. Ergin and his army appeared in front of the city gates. Hercules led the defense of the city, defeated Ergin and obliged him to return to Thebes twice as much as he had received from them. For this, King Creon gave him his daughter Megara and half of the palace as his wife. Hercules remained in Thebes, became the father of three sons and considered himself the happiest man in the world.

But the hero’s happiness does not lie in a peaceful life, and Hercules soon had to be convinced of this.

Illustrated: the labors of Hercules, reconstruction of the metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, 470-456. BC. Top row: Nemean lion, Lernaean hydra, Stymphalian birds; second row: Cretan bull, Cerynean doe, belt of Queen Hippolyta; third row: Erymanthian boar, horses of Diomedes, giant Geryon; bottom row: golden apples of the Hesperides, Kerberos, cleaning the Augean stables.

While he was a shepherd, Hera believed that everything was going as it should. But as soon as he became the royal son-in-law, she decided to intervene. She could not deprive him of his power, but what could be worse than power not controlled by the mind? So, Hera sent madness upon him, in a fit of which Hercules killed his sons and two children of his half-brother Iphicles. What made it even worse was that Hera then restored his sanity. Heartbroken, Hercules went to Delphi to find out how he could cleanse himself of the taint of involuntary murder. Through the mouth of the Pythia, God told Hercules that he should go to the Mycenaean king Eurystheus and enter into his service. If Hercules completes the twelve tasks that Eurystheus entrusts to him, shame and guilt will be removed from him, and he will become immortal.

Hercules obeyed. He went to Argos, settled in his father’s castle of Tiryns near Mycenae (truly this dwelling was worthy of Hercules: with its walls 10-15 m thick, Tiryns remains the most indestructible fortress in the world to this day) and expressed his readiness to serve Eurystheus. The powerful figure of Hercules instilled such fear in Eurystheus that he did not dare to personally entrust him with anything and conveyed all orders to Hercules through his herald Copreus. But the more fearlessly he came up with tasks for him: one more difficult than the other.

Nemean lion

Eurystheus did not make Hercules bored for long while waiting for work. Hercules was ordered to kill a lion that lived in the neighboring Nemean mountains and instilled terror in the entire area, since it was twice the size of an ordinary lion and had an impenetrable skin. Hercules found his lair (this cave is still shown to tourists today), stunned the lion with a blow from his club, strangled him, threw him over his shoulders and brought him to Mycenae. Eurystheus was numb with horror: the incredible strength of the servant frightened him even more than the dead lion thrown at his feet. Instead of gratitude, he forbade Hercules to appear in Mycenae: from now on, let him show “material evidence” in front of the city gates, and he, Eurystheus, will control them from above. Now let Hercules immediately set off to carry out a new assignment - it’s time to kill the Hydra!

Lernaean Hydra

It was a monster with the body of a snake and nine dragon heads, one of which was immortal. lived in the swamps near the city of Lerna in Argolis and devastated the surrounding area. People were powerless before her. Hercules found out that Hydra has an assistant, Karkin, a huge crayfish with sharp claws. Then he also took an assistant with him, youngest son his brother Iphicles, the brave Iolaus. First of all, Hercules set fire to the forest behind the Lernaean swamps to cut off Hydra’s path to retreat, then heated the arrows in the fire and began the battle. The fiery arrows only irritated the Hydra; she rushed at Hercules and immediately lost one of her heads, but two new ones grew in its place. In addition, cancer came to the aid of Hydra. But when he grabbed Hercules’ leg, Iolaus killed him with a precise blow. While Hydra looked around in bewilderment in search of her assistant, Hercules uprooted the burning tree and burned one of its heads: a new one did not grow in its place. Now Hercules knew how to get down to business: he cut off the heads, one by one, and Iolaus burned the necks before new heads could grow from the embryos. The last, despite desperate resistance, Hercules chopped off and burned the immortal head of the Hydra. Hercules immediately buried the charred remains of this head in the ground and rolled it over with a huge stone. Just in case, he cut the dead Hydra into pieces, and tempered his arrows in its bile; Since then, the wounds inflicted by them have become incurable. Accompanied by the inhabitants of the liberated region, Hercules and Iolaus returned victoriously to Mycenae. But in front of the Lion Gate the herald Copreus was already standing with a new order: to clear the land of Stymphalian birds.

Stymphalian birds

These birds were found near Lake Stymphalian and devastated the surrounding area worse than locusts. Their claws and feathers were made of hard copper, and they could shed these feathers on the fly like their modern distant relatives - bombers. Fighting them from the ground was a hopeless task, as they immediately showered the enemy with a shower of their deadly feathers. So Hercules climbed up tall tree, scared the birds away with a rattle and began to shoot them down with his bow one after another while they circled around the tree, dropping copper arrows to the ground. Finally, in fear, they flew far over the sea.

Kerynean fallow deer

After the expulsion of the Stymphalian birds, Hercules was faced with a new task: to catch a doe with golden horns and copper legs, who lived in Keryneia (on the border of Achaea and Arcadia) and belonged to Artemis. Eurystheus hoped that the powerful goddess would be angry with Hercules and force him to humble himself. Catching this doe was no small matter, as she was timid and quick as the wind. Hercules pursued her for a whole year until he managed to get within shooting distance. Having wounded the doe, Hercules caught her and brought her to Mycenae. He asked Artemis for forgiveness for his act and brought her a rich sacrifice, which appeased the goddess.

Erymanthian boar

The next task was of the same kind: it was necessary to catch the Erymanthian boar, which was ravaging the outskirts of the city of Psofis and killing many people with its huge tusks. Hercules drove the boar into deep snow, tied it up and brought it to Mycenae alive. Eurystheus, out of fear of the monstrous beast, hid in a barrel and from there begged Hercules to get away with the boar as soon as possible - for this, he supposedly would entrust him with a less dangerous task: to clean out the stable of the Elisian king Augeas.

Augean stables

What is true is true, Hercules had a safe job, but they were huge, and there was so much manure and all kinds of dirt accumulated in the barn... it was not for nothing that this barn (or stable) became a proverb. Cleaning this barn was a superhuman task. Hercules offered the king to restore order in one day if he received a tenth of the royal cattle for this. Augeas agreed, and Hercules immediately got down to business, relying not so much on his strength as on his intelligence. He drove all the cattle out to pasture, dug a canal leading to and Peneus, and diverted the water of these two rivers into it. The gushing water cleared the barn, after which all that remained was to block the channel and again drive the cattle into the stalls. However, King Augeas meanwhile learned that this work had previously been entrusted to Hercules by Eurystheus, and under this pretext he refused to reward Hercules. In addition, he insulted the hero, saying that it was not appropriate for the son of Zeus to earn extra money by cleaning other people's cowsheds. Hercules was not one of those who forget such grievances: a few years later, freed from service with Eurystheus, he invaded Elis with a large army, ravaged the possessions of Augeas, and killed him himself. In honor of this victory, Hercules founded Olympic Games.

Cretan bull

The next assignment brought Hercules to Crete. Eurystheus ordered the delivery of a wild bull that had escaped from the Cretan king Minos to Mycenae. It was the best bull in the royal herd, and Minos promised to sacrifice it to Poseidon. But Minos did not want to part with such a magnificent specimen, and instead he sacrificed another bull. Poseidon did not allow himself to be tricked and, in retaliation, sent rabies onto the hidden bull. Hercules not only caught the bull that was ravaging the island, but also tamed it, and it obediently transported it on its back from Crete to Argolis.

Horses of Diomedes

Then Hercules sailed to Thrace (but already on a ship) to bring Eurystheus the fierce horses that the Biston king Diomedes fed with human meat. With the help of several of his friends, Hercules obtained horses and brought them to his ship. However, Diomedes and his army overtook him there. Leaving the horses in the care of his father, Hercules defeated the Bistons in a fierce battle and killed Diomedes, but in the meantime the wild horses tore Abdera to pieces. When the deeply saddened Hercules delivered the horses to Mycenae, Eurystheus released them - just as he had previously released the Cretan bull.

But neither grief nor neglect of the results of his labors broke Hercules. Without hesitation, he went to the island of Erithia to bring from there a herd of cattle that belonged to the three-body giant Geryon.

Giant Geryon

This island was located far to the west, where the land ended in a narrow isthmus. With his mighty club, Hercules divided the isthmus in half and placed two stone pillars along the edges of the resulting strait (in ancient world present-day Gibraltar was called nothing less than the Pillars of Hercules). He came to the western edge of the world just at the time when he was in his solar chariot to the Ocean. To escape from the unbearable heat, Hercules was ready to shoot an arrow at Helios. The reaction of the gods is unpredictable: admiring the courage of the hero who aimed his bow at him, Helios not only did not get angry, but even lent him his golden boat, on which Hercules sailed to Erythia. There he was attacked by the two-headed dog Orff and the giant Eurytion, who were guarding Geryon's herds. Hercules had no choice - he had to kill both, and then Geryon himself. Having endured many misadventures, Hercules drove the herd to the Peloponnese. On the way, he defeated the strongman Eryx, who stole one cow from him, and the giant Kaka, who stole part of his herd. When Hercules was already hoping that he would safely reach Mycenae, Hera instilled madness in the cows, and they ran away in all directions. Hercules had to work hard to round up the entire herd again. Eurystheus sacrificed cows to the eternal opponent of Hercules - Hera.

Belt of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta

The next feat of Hercules was an expedition to the country of female warriors - the Amazons, from where he was supposed to bring Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, the belt of Hippolyta. Hercules went there with a small detachment consisting of his friends, and on the way stopped in Mysia, where King Lycus, known for his hospitality, reigned. During the feast arranged by Lik in their honor, warlike Bebriks invaded the city. Hercules got up from the table, together with his friends expelled the Bebriks, killed their king, and donated all their land to Lycus, who named it Heraclea in honor of Hercules. With his victory he gained such fame that Queen Hippolyta herself came out to meet him to voluntarily give him her belt. But then Hera began to spread rumors about Hercules that he intended to take Hippolyta into slavery, and the Amazons believed her. They attacked the detachment of Hercules, and the Greeks had no choice but to take up arms. They eventually defeated the Amazons and captured many of them, including their two leaders, Melanippe and Antiope. Hippolyta returned Melanipa's freedom, giving Hercules her belt for this, and Hercules gave Antiope to his friend Theseus as a reward for his bravery. In addition, he knew that Theseus wanted to take her as his wife (this is what Theseus did upon returning to Athens).

Hellhound Kerber

So, Hercules performed ten labors, although Eurystheus at first refused to count the murder of the Lernaean Hydra (under the pretext that Hercules used the help of Iolaus) and the cleansing of the Augean stable (since Hercules demanded payment from Augeas). The eleventh mission led Hercules to the underworld. Eurystheus demanded that Kerberus himself be presented to him - no more and no less. It was truly a hellish dog: three-headed, snakes writhing around its neck, and its tail ended in a dragon's head with a disgusting mouth. Although until then no one had returned from the afterlife alive, Hercules did not hesitate. The gods were impressed by his courage, and they decided to help him. Hermes, the guide of the souls of the dead, brought him to the Tenar gorge (at the present Cape Matapan, in the extreme south of the Peloponnese and the entire European continent), where there was a secret entrance to the kingdom of the dead, and then Athena accompanied him. After a terrible journey, on which he met the shadows of dead friends and slain enemies, Hercules appeared before the throne. Hades listened favorably to the son of Zeus and without any reason allowed him to catch and take away Kerberus, provided that he did not use weapons. True, Kerber himself has not yet said his word. The guardian of the underworld fought back with teeth and nails (or rather, claws), beat with his tail with a dragon head and howled so terribly that souls of the dead They rushed around in confusion throughout the afterlife. After a short struggle, Hercules squeezed him with such force that the half-strangled Cerberus calmed down and promised to unquestioningly follow him to Mycenae. At the sight of this monster, Eurystheus fell to his knees (according to another version, he again hid in a barrel or in a large clay vessel for grain) and conjured Hercules to do mercy: return this hellish creature to its rightful place.

Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini "Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides"

Golden apples of the Hesperides

The last task remained: Eurystheus ordered Hercules to tell him that he must bring him three golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides, daughters of the Hesperides, who, for rebelling against the gods, was doomed to forever support the vault of heaven. Nobody knew where these gardens were. It was only known that the way to them was guarded by the ever-watchful dragon Ladon, who does not know defeat in the fight and kills all the vanquished, and finally by Atlas himself. Hercules headed to Egypt, walked through Libya and all the lands familiar to him from the time of his trip to Erithia, but he never found the gardens of the Hesperides. Only when he came to the farthest north, to the endless waters of Eridanus, the nymphs there advised him to turn to the sea god Nereus - he knows and can tell everything, but he must be forced to do it. Hercules waylaid Nereus, attacked him and after a stubborn struggle (all the more difficult since the sea god kept changing his appearance) tied him up. He let him go only when he learned everything he needed to know. The Gardens of the Hesperides were located in the far west, somewhere between today's Morocco and southern France. Again Hercules had to go through Libya, where he was met by Antaeus, the son of the earth goddess Gaia. According to his custom, the giant immediately challenged Hercules to single combat. Hercules avoided defeat only because during the struggle he guessed where the giant got his strength from: feeling tired, he fell to mother earth, and she poured new strength into him. Therefore, Hercules tore him off the ground and lifted him into the air. Antaeus became weak, and Hercules strangled him. Continuing his journey, Hercules again and again overcame the obstacles and traps that robbers and rulers prepared for travelers. He also escaped the fate that the Egyptians intended for all foreigners, who sacrificed them to the gods. Finally, Hercules came to Atlas and explained to him the purpose of his coming. With suspicious readiness, Atlas volunteered to personally bring apples to Hercules if in the meantime he would hold the vault of heaven on his shoulders. Hercules had no choice - he agreed. Atlas kept his promise and even offered to deliver the apples directly to Mycenae, promising to return immediately. Cunning can only be overcome by cunning: Hercules apparently agreed, but asked Atlas to hold the vault of heaven while he made himself a backing so that the pressure on his shoulders would not be felt. As soon as Atlas took his usual place, Hercules took the apples, kindly thanked him for the service - and stopped only in Mycenae. Eurystheus could not believe his eyes and, in confusion, returned the apples to Hercules. He donated them to Athena, and she returned them to the Hesperides. The twelfth task was completed, and Hercules received freedom.

The life and death of Hercules after completing the twelve labors

Soon Hercules became free in another sense: he generously gave up his wife Megara to Iolaus, who, in his absence, true friend He consoled her and got so used to her that he could no longer live without her. After which Hercules left Thebes, with which nothing now connected him, and returned to Tiryns. But not for long. There, new machinations of the goddess Hera awaited him, and with them new sufferings and new exploits.

It is not known exactly whether Hera instilled in him a desire for a new wife or aroused in him an ambitious desire to defeat the best archer in Hellas, the Echalian king Eurytus. However, both were closely interconnected, since Eurytus proclaimed that he would give his daughter, the fair-haired beauty Iola, as a wife only to the one who defeats him in archery. So, Hercules went to Echalia (most likely it was in Messenia, according to Sophocles - on Euboea), appeared at the palace of his former teacher, fell in love with his daughter at first sight, and the next day defeated him in a competition. But Eurytus, stung by the fact that he was disgraced by his own student, declared that he would not give his daughter to the one who was a slave to the cowardly Eurystheus. Hercules was offended and went to look for a new wife. He found her in distant Calydon: she was the beautiful Deianira, daughter of King Oeneus.

He didn’t get her easily: to do this, Hercules had to defeat her former fiancé, the powerful, in single combat, who could also turn into a snake and a bull. After the wedding, the newlyweds remained in the palace of Oeneus, but Hera did not leave Hercules alone. She darkened his mind, and at a feast he killed the son of his friend Architelos. Actually, Hercules just wanted to slap him on the head for pouring water intended for washing his feet on his hands. But Hercules did not calculate his strength, and the boy fell dead. True, Architelos forgave him, but Hercules did not want to stay in Calydon and went with Deianira to Tiryns.

During the journey they came to the Evenu River. There was no bridge across it, and those wishing to cross were transported for a reasonable fee by the centaur Nessus. Hercules entrusted Dejanira with Nessus, and he himself swam across the river. Meanwhile, the centaur, captivated by Deianira's beauty, tried to kidnap her. But he was overtaken by the deadly arrow of Hercules. The bile of the Lernaean Hydra poisoned the blood of the centaur, and he soon died. And yet, before his death, he managed to take revenge: Nessus advised Deianira to save his blood and rub Hercules’ clothes with it if he suddenly stopped loving Deianira, and then Hercules’ love would immediately return to her. In Tiryns, it seemed to Dejanira that she would never need “love blood.” The couple lived in peace and harmony, raising their five children - until Hera again intervened in the fate of Hercules.

By a strange coincidence, simultaneously with the departure of Hercules from Ehalia, King Eurytus’ herd of cattle disappeared. Autolycus stole it. But this one, in order to divert suspicion, pointed to Hercules, who supposedly wanted to take revenge on the king for the insult. All of Ehalia believed this slander - with the exception of Eurytus's eldest son, Iphitus. To prove the innocence of Hercules, he himself went in search of the herd, which led him to Argos; and since he got there, he decided to look into Tiryns. Hercules warmly welcomed him, but when during the feast he heard what Eurytus suspected him of, he became angry, and Hera instilled in him such uncontrollable anger that he threw Iphitus from the city wall. This was no longer just murder, but a violation of the sacred law of hospitality. Even Zeus was angry with his son and sent him a serious illness.

The anguished Hercules, straining his last strength, went to Delphi to ask Apollo how he could atone for his guilt. But the Pythia soothsayer did not give him an answer. Then Hercules, losing his temper, took away from her the tripod from which she proclaimed her prophecies - they say, since she does not fulfill her duties, then the tripod is of no use to her. Apollo immediately appeared and demanded the return of the tripod. Hercules refused, and the two mighty sons of Zeus started a fight like little children, until their thunder father separated them with lightning and forced them to make peace. Apollo ordered the Pythia to give advice to Hercules, and she announced that Hercules should be sold into slavery for three years, and the proceeds should be given to Euryta as a ransom for her murdered son.

Thus, Hercules again had to part with freedom. He was sold to the Lydian queen Omphale, an arrogant and cruel woman who humiliated him in every possible way. She even forced him to weave with her maids, while she herself walked in front of him in his skin of the lion of Cythaeron. From time to time she let him go for a while - not out of kindness, but so that upon his return the slave's lot would be all the more burdensome to him.

Hercules at Omphale. Painting by Lucas Cranach

During one of these vacations, Hercules participated in, another time he visited the Aulidian king Sileus, who forced every foreigner to work in his vineyard. One day, when he fell asleep in a grove near Ephesus, the dwarfs Kerkops (or Dactyls) attacked him and stole his weapons. At first, Hercules wanted to thoroughly teach them a lesson, but they were so weak and funny that he set them free. Hercules himself invariably returned to his slave service.

Finally the last day of the third year arrived, and Hercules received his weapons and freedom from Omphale. The hero parted with her without anger and even granted her request to leave her a descendant as a keepsake (born of Hercules subsequently ascended to the Lydian throne). Returning to his homeland, Hercules gathered his faithful friends and began to prepare to pay off old scores. King Augeas was the first to pay for the long-standing insult, then it was the turn of the Trojan king Laomedon.

After all these deeds, is it any wonder that the glory of Hercules reached the snowy peaks of Olympus? But this was not all that he did. For example, he freed the titan Prometheus, snatched Alcestis from the hands of the god of death Thanatos, defeated many enemies, robbers and proud people, for example, Cycnus. Hercules founded a number of cities, the most famous of them being Heraclea (Herculaneum) near Vesuvius. He made many wives happy with offspring (for example, after the first night spent by the Argonauts on Lemnos, at least fifty Lemnian women called him the father of their sons). Ancient authors had doubts about some of his other achievements and deeds, so we will not dwell on them. However, all the authors unanimously admit that he had an honor that no other mortal had been granted - Zeus himself asked him for help!

A still from one of the many TV series and films about Hercules (Hercules). Actor Kevin Sorbo plays Hercules.

This happened during the Gigantomachy - the battle of the gods with the giants. In this battle on the Phlegrean fields, the Olympian gods had a hard time, since the giants had incredible strength, and their mother, the earth goddess Gaia, gave them a magic herb that made them invulnerable to the weapons of the gods (but not mortals). When the scales were already tipping towards the giants, Zeus sent Athena for Hercules. Hercules did not have to be persuaded for long; Hearing his father's call, he eagerly hurried to the battlefield. The most powerful of the giants was crushed first, and then, with exemplary interaction with the Olympic team of gods, all the other rebels were killed. By this, Hercules earned the gratitude of not only the gods, but also people. For all his shortcomings, Zeus was still much better than his predecessors Kronos and Uranus, not to mention the primordial Chaos.

Upon returning from the Phlegrean fields, Hercules decided to repay the last of his old debts. He went on a campaign against Ehalia, conquered it and killed Eurytus, who had once insulted him. Among the captives, Hercules saw fair-haired Iola and was again inflamed with love for her. Having learned about this, Dejanira immediately remembered the dying words of Nessus, rubbed the tunic of Hercules with his blood and, through the ambassador Lichas, handed the tunic to Hercules, who was still in Ehalia. As soon as Hercules put on the tunic, the poison of the Lernaean Hydra, which poisoned the blood of Nessus, penetrated the body of Hercules, causing him unbearable torment. When he was brought on a stretcher to the palace to Dejanira, she was already dead - having learned that her husband was dying in agony through her fault, she pierced herself with a sword.

Unbearable suffering led Hercules to the idea of ​​giving up his life of his own free will. Obeying Hercules, his friends built a huge fire on Mount Ete and laid the hero on it, but no one wanted to set the fire on fire, no matter how Hercules begged them. Finally, young Philoctetes made up his mind, and as a reward, Hercules gave him his bow and arrows. A fire flared up from the torch of Philoctetes, but the lightning of Zeus the Thunderer shone even brighter. Together with lightning, Athena and Hermes flew to the fire and carried Hercules to heaven in a golden chariot. All of Olympus greeted the greatest of heroes, even Hera overcame her old hatred and gave him her daughter as his wife, forever. Zeus called him to the table of the gods, invited him to taste nectar and ambrosia, and as a reward for all his exploits and sufferings, declared Hercules immortal.

Still from the cartoon “Hercules and Xena: Battle for Olympus”

Zeus' decision remains in force to this day: Hercules truly became immortal. He lives in legends and sayings, he is still an example of a hero (and as a true hero, he inevitably has and negative traits), the Olympic Games are still held, which he is said to have founded to commemorate his victory over Augeas or the return of the Argonauts from Colchis. And still he dwells in heaven: starry night The constellation Hercules can be seen with the naked eye. The Greeks and Romans revered him as the greatest of heroes and dedicated cities, temples and altars to him. The creations of ancient and modern artists glorify him. Hercules is the most frequently depicted image of ancient myths and any legends in general.

The oldest known sculptural image of Hercules - “Hercules fights the Hydra” (c. 570 BC) - is kept in Athens, in the Acropolis Museum. Among the other numerous works of Greek sculpture, metopes from the temple “C” in Selinunte (c. 540 BC) and 12 metopes depicting the labors of Hercules from the temple of Zeus in Olympia (470–456 BC) are known. Of the Roman sculptures, the most preserved copies are “Hercules” by Polykleitos and “Hercules fighting the lion” by Lysippos (one of them is in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage). Several wall images of Hercules were preserved even in the Christian catacombs of Rome (mid-4th century AD).

Of the architectural structures traditionally associated with the name of Hercules, the most ancient Greek temple in Sicily, in Akragante (6th century BC), is usually named in first place. In Rome, two temples were dedicated to Hercules, one under the Capitol, the second behind the Circus Maximus near the Tiber. Altars of Hercules stood in almost every Greek and Roman city.

Scenes from the life of Hercules were depicted by numerous European artists: Rubens, Poussin (“Landscape with Hercules and Cacus” - in Moscow, in State Museum fine arts them. Pushkin), Reni, Van Dyck, Delacroix and many others. There are a huge number of statues of Hercules by European sculptors, several best works as a result of the Thirty Years' War and dynastic divisions, it migrated to Sweden and Austria from Czechoslovakia.

Hercules Farnese and the statue of Hercules in the Hermitage

In literature, the oldest mentions of the exploits of Hercules (but not all) are contained in Homer; Subsequently, almost none of the ancient authors ignored Hercules. Sophocles dedicated the tragedy of “The Trachinian Woman” to the last period of Hercules’ life. Perhaps a little later, Euripides created the tragedy “Hercules” based on an unconventional version of the myth (which actually has many variants) - it still remains the best literary monument to Hercules. Among the works of modern times, we will name “The Choice of Hercules” by K. M. Wieland (1773), “Hercules and the Augean Stables” by Dürrenmatt (1954), “Hercules” by Matkovich (1962).

And finally, about the fate of Hercules in music. He was honored with their attention by J. S. Bach (cantata “Hercules at the Crossroads”, 1733), G. F. Handel (oratorio “Hercules”, 1745, which was later revised by him), C. Saint-Saens (symphonic poems “The Youth of Hercules” ", "The Spinning Wheel of Omphale", the opera "Dejanira").

Hercules (Hercules) is a synonym for strongman:

“What a giant he is presented here!
What shoulders! What a Hercules!..”
- A. S. Pushkin, “The Stone Guest” (1830).