Hercules Culture

Question 1

Labor 1

Answer 1

Nemean Lion
- impenetrable skin
- Hercules skins it with its own claws

Question 2

Labor 2

Answer 2

Lernean Hydra
- nine heads, one immortal
- every time head was cut, two grew
- help from nephew Iolus
- Iolus burn head before it grew back
- Hera sends useless crab
- kills eight heads and buries immortal
- makes poison arrows with blood
- not counted because of help

Question 3

Labor 3

Answer 3

Cerynean Hind (female deer)
- ordered to bring back alive
- Artemis’ pet (Mt. Artemisius)
- hunts for an entire year
- if crosses Ladon River, escapes
- frustratedly shoots with arrow
- runs into Artemis and Apollo, upset
- Artemis understands and heals deer

Question 4

Labor 4

Answer 4

Erymanthian Boar
- ordered to bring back alive
- evil temper and destructive
- Pholus the Centaur: Hercules takes communal wine, angering centaurs who throw rocks and trees at him, so Hercules shoots arrows and injures Chiron, while Pholus drops arrow on himself and dies
- easy to track boar
- chases into snowdrift
- catches with net

Question 5

Labor 5

Answer 5

Augean Stables
- clean King Augeas’ stables in one day
- very dirty, not cleaned in 30 years
- Hercules makes deal for 1/10th cattle
- Augeas doesn’t know about labors
- diverts two rivers to wash stables
- Augeas learns about labors, no pay
- doesn’t count because of deal
- angry, kills Augeas

Question 6

Labor 6

Answer 6

Stymphalian Birds
- kill man-eating birds
- Athena helps with bronze Krotala

Question 7

Labor 7

Answer 7

Cretan Bull
- ordered to capture alive
- Poseidon gave King Minos to sacrifice
- Minos kept, Poseidon made ransack
- easily catches
- Eurystheus lets it go, ravages land
- Theseus kills it

Question 8

Labor 8

Answer 8

Mares of Diomedes
- capture King of Bistones’ horses
- fed human flesh
- ambush
- feeds Diomedes to horses

Question 9

Labor 9

Answer 9

Belt of Hippolyte
- Eurystheus’ daughter Admete gift
- Amazon queen Hippolyte’s, by Mars
- warrior women
- Hippolyte easily agrees
- Hera disguises as Amazon
- accuses Hercules of kidnap so attack
- kills Hippolyte and joins fray
- going back to Greece, princess of Troy sacrificed to sea monster because Laomedon owed Poseidon gold, so Hercules saves her, but Laomedon doesn’t pay, so Hercules kills him and sons except Podarces who ransomed with golden cloth and renamed to Priam

Question 10

Labor 10

Answer 10

Cattle of Geryon
- lives on island Erytheia
- guarded by two-headed dog Ortus
- Geryon has three legs and torsos
- Libyan desert hot, so shoots sun
- stops if rides sun’s golden cup
- kills Ortus, herdman, and Geryon

Question 11

Labor 11

Answer 11

Apples of the Hesperides
- Hesperides are daughters of Atlas
- tend golden apples (oranges)
- doesn’t know where to go
- finds Prometheus, punished for giving fire to man, so releases him for direction
- has to find Atlas for directions
- punished by Zeus to hold up the sky
- Atlas said he’ll get apples if takes
- tricking Hercules into keeping it
- Hercules asked for padding to trick him back into taking the weight

Question 12

Labor 12

Answer 12

Cerberus
- bring from underworld
- Hades’ guard dog, three heads
- overpowers/befriends dog