Tenth Labor:
Cattle of Geryon
Geryon
a monster with three bodies joined at the waist, had
distinctive red cattle
• Lived on an island in the Far West near the Ocean (i.e., the edge of
the world!)
Trudging in the hot North African desert trying to find passage to the
island, Heracles fires an arrow at the sun
Helius is impressed with this spiritedness, lends Heracles the cup in
which he sails the ring of Ocean from West to East every night.
In this cup, Heracles sails into Ocean (and so out of the
Mediterranean)
Heracles finds and kills Geryon, rustles the cattle into the cup of
Helios, and sails back.
• Lands in Spain, returns the cup to Helios.
• Drives the cattle overland all the way to Greece, stops in Italy along the
way (details in Aeneid).
– Furthers Heracles’ worldwide reputation.
– Eurystheus sacrifices the cattle to Hera.
The Pillars Of Heracles
Phrase comes to mean
(for the ancients) the
edge of the known
world
Eleventh Labor:
Apples of Hesperides
Apples of Hesperides
were a wedding gift for the wedding of Zeus and Hera
had a habit of stealing the apples
from the tree.
The Hesperides, the ‘Nymphs of the West
Hera set a 100-headed serpent, to guard the apples
Ladon
As advised by who, Heracles takes the sky from Atlas and has
Atlas get the apples
Prometheus
Atlas returns with three apples, wants to take them to Eurystheus
himself.
– I.e., he is tired of holding up the sky.
Heracles asks him to take it back for a minute to get a pillow, then
grabs the apples and runs (brains again!).
Twelfth Labor
Cerberus
Cerberus
Three headed monster dog who is the guard of the Underworld
Hades allows him to take Cerberus
but Heracles cannot use any
weapons, He drags Cerberus by a chain, using his Nemean Lion skin to
protect himself.
By overpowering the guard of the Underworld
he proves that he is
more powerful than death itself.
• This is the greatest mortal achievement, but Heracles will die too!
The Twelve Labors
Perhaps became canonized as these twelve in 470 BCE when the Temple of
Zeus at Olympia was decorated.
• 12 stone panels (metopes) carved with Heracles’ labors
– Accident of space? Augean stables a local addition?
– Compare the 12 Olympians: 12 a powerful number?
• By the Hellenistic Period, these 12 labors were established in roughly this order.
• A lost poem perhaps arranged the 12 in order?
– Paradise and Hades, the last two labors, are surely symbolic.
The cycle begins with Heracles wanting to remarry,
winning a girl Iolê in an archery contest.
• Her father, Eurytus, won’t give her up, because he’s heard
about Megara (so he says anyway).
• Heracles ends up killing Iolê’s brother Iphitus while hosting
him as a guest
• Clear violation of xenia
Herculues goes to delphi again to ask for atonement, the pythia is like nah, so hercules steals the tripod and apollo is like, wait!!!
Apollo purifies Heracles and orders him to serve a woman for
three years as her slave.
• All money made goes to Iphitus’ father.
buys hurcules in a slave market, a
humiliating procedure
Omphalê, Queen of Lydia, Heracles is her love slave, wears her clothes, does her bidding
• She dresses in his lion skin, carries his club!
• Major comic potential
• E.g., Pan sees them in bed, comes to ravish Omphalê himself, jumps on
the figure in the negligee and finds that he’s grabbed Heracles!
Heroic hero and Comic hero
His stories evoke a bygone era when brawn could solve most
problems, served as example of dangers of excess.
The Death of Heracles
Escorting Deianira (second love) home, he hires the Centaur Nessus to ferry her, While dying, Nessus tells Deianira to take some of his poisoned
blood for a love potion, should she ever need one., Heracles later seeks Iolê, the girl denied him, and whose brother he had
killed as his host.
• He takes Iolê by force, plans a sacrifice to Zeus for his victory, asks
Deianira for a clean outfit for the sacrifice.
across a river (he swims).
• Nessus assaults her in the middle of the river (sexually, we
presume).
• Heracles shoots him with a poisoned arrow.
Deinaira learns the reason for the sacrifice and stains the cloak with Nessus’
poisoned blood.
• She wants Heracles to love her alone and thinks the blood will produce love
not death.
• Deianira kills herself when she learns the result.
• Once wearing it, Heracles’ skin blazes and he is in terrible pain.A storm cloud forms around the pyre, thunder cracks, and Heracles is taken
into the cloud.
• Only his armor is found on the pyre, no bones whatsoever.
• This is his apotheosis (i.e., becoming a god).
• Heracles is transported to Olympus, where he lives as a god with his new
bride, Hebê (Goddess of Youth).
– I.e., Heracles will stay forever young.
Heraclids
descendants of Heracles.
