Hera made Hercules insane because she was jealous of him He killed his own wife and children As punishment he had to perform 12 labors for King

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2 Hercules Son of Zeus Hera made Hercules insane because she was jealous of him He killed his own wife and children As punishment he had to perform 12 labors for King Eurystheus If he could complete the labors he would regain his place in history and become an immortal himself!

3 CHARACTERISTICS OF HERCULES Considered the strongest man on earth Self-confidence Lack of intelligence Intelligence did not figure largely in anything he did and is often conspicuously absent (Hamilton, p. 167). personification. Subject to fierce anger and outbursts when he realized he was wrong he would apologize profusely and take any punishment necessary. Many considered this to explain his greatness of soul Killed his music teacher because he hated music.

4 CHARACTERISTICS OF HERCULES Sometimes he punished himself. Spent most of his life apologizing. Couldn t be trusted to run a kingdom like Theseus. Could only think about what to do in a conflict.

5 UNUSUAL CONCEPTION/BIRTH Zeus disguised himself as Amphitryon, Alcmena s husband, when Amphitryon was away at war. Zeus and Alcmena conceived Hercules. When Hera discovered this she was furious and wanted to kill Hercules.

6 HERCULES REVEALED Alcmena had another son with her husband Amphitryon Iphicles. Iphicles was not like Hercules, and often ran away from danger. It was revealed when the two were in bed last night and two snakes crept into their crib while they were asleep. Iphicles screamed and tried to climb out of the crib, while Hercules killed the two snakes. The prophet Teiresias prophesied Hercules would be the hero of all mankind (Hamilton, p. 169).

7 HERA S REVENGE Hera was still angry with Zeus exploits and sent madness upon Hercules. He went mad and killed his three children and his wife, Princess Megara. When his senses came to him he had no memory of what he did. Amphitryon had to tell Hercules what happened and why Hera did this to him.

8 THESEUS TO THE RESCUE Theseus persuaded Hercules not to kill himself. They traveled to Athens where he met with an oracle who told him he could only be purged of such guilt by paying a horrible penance. He traveled to see Eurystheus, King of Mycenae, for redemption. It s said that Eurystheus was under the influence of Hera.

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10 LABOR 1 Nemean Lion A beast no weapons would wound Hercules strangled it with his bare hands He skinned the lion and wore its hide as a trophy! Eurystheus wouldn t let him inside the city

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12 LABOR 2 Lernean Hydra Snakelike Hydra with 9 heads If one of the heads got cut off, 2 would replace it! Hercules defeated the creature by having his newphew Iolaus seal the wounds with a torch after he had cut a head off Buried the immortal head under a rock

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14 LABOR 3 Capture the Hind Deer with gold horns Protected and watched by the goddess Artemis It took Hercules an entire year to track the hind down!

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16 LABOR 4 The Erymanthian Boar Terrorized the people of Mt. Erymanthus Hercules was able to defeat it by chasing it into a snowdrift

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18 LABOR 5 The Augean Stables Over a 1000 cows lived in these stables The stables had not been cleaned in 30 years! Hercules bent two rivers so that they flowed into the stables, cleaning them out

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20 LABOR 6 The Stymphalian Bird Claws and beaks were sharp as swords and feathers flew like darts! Helped by Athena, Hercules scared them from their nest and shot them with arrows

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22 LABOR 7 The Cretan Bull A savage bull who could breathe fire that Poseidon gave Minos! Hercules was able to wrestle it to the ground and return it to the king

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24 LABOR 8 Horses of Diomedes King Diomedes fed these savage horses on human flesh! According to some myths, Hercules killed King Diomedes and fed him to his own horses After eating the king, miraculously the horses hunger for humans was

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26 LABOR 9 Hippolyta Hercules had to bring back the girdle of the Amazon queen The queen welcomed him, but Hera told Hippolyta lies that Hercules would kidnap their queen. As a result, they attacked his ship In the end Hercules was forced to defeat the Amazons to secure the girdle. He kills Hippolyta

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28 Labor 10 The Cattle of Geryon Geryon was a monster with 3 human bodies He guarded beautiful red cattle Hercules defeated Geryon and returned the cattle to the king

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30 LABOR 11 The Golden Apples The apples were guarded by Ladon, a dragon with 100 heads! Hercules had to enlist the help of the titan Atlas, who held up the earth, in order to obtain the apples He had to trick Atlas to get away from him though.

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32 Had the help of Apollo. Eurystheus made him bring the dog back. LABOR 12 Cerberus The three-headed guard dog of the realm of Hades! Hercules had to defeat the beast without the aide of weapons!