The Scirra Amazon (Roman, 30 Bc - 500 Ad).
The ninth labour can be described in two ways; there’s a rather short version (the one I will present here) and there’s a longer one with innumerable additions that can be put in and out of the myth as the story teller wishes.
That the story allows other myths and legends to be added is important. You may have noticed if you’ve read the Iliad or Odyssey that Homer (if there was any such person) goes through extensive namedropping (especially in book two, the catalogue of ships). It is generally considered that all these names were added by bards as they retold the story at different places – every ruler wanted a connection to the epic heroes. We are probably facing some kind of similar phenomena here.
Anyway, this is the short version of the ninth labour:
Hippolyte (called Melanippe by the ancient author Diodorus) was the queen of the Amazons and she owned a gift from Ares (the God of the bloody, ruthless war), a girdle. Erystheus daughter unfortunately wanted this girdle and talked her father into sending Heracles after it. The hero took a number of companions with him and it is the travels before (and after) he found the queen that contains the side stories.
Heracles was welcomed by the queen who even promised to give him the girdle. However, Hera didn’t like how things were playing out, and she took the form of an Amazon and went into the camp spreading the rumour that a stranger was robbing the queen. The other Amazons rose up to her defence and Heracles killed her as he thought that she had betrayed him, snatched the girdle and returned home with it. A bard could add a number of adventures on the way home as well, one important is how Heracles became an enemy of Troy (he would come to destroy the city, but more on that later).
A Greek grave stelé depicting a horse. Notice that it is unrelated to the labours of Heracles - the point is to show how the animal is portrayed in Greek (late classical/hellenistic) art.
This is the story of the man eating horses Diomedes, not to be confused with the Homeric Diomedes, had which Heracles was to capture. As with the other beasts he encountered, these were horrible creatures. The hero travelled to Bistone in Thrace with some companions, sprung a surprise attack and managed to steal the mares. They were however caught up by the locals when they came to the seashore and Heracles himself had to fight the Bistones. The mares was to be checked during the fight and the hero asked the son of Hermes, Abderus to do this. He was unfortunately consumed while the Bistones was defeated; Heracles threw a grave mound for him and founded a city under the friends’ name.
Then he brought the beast with him to Mycenae, only to let them loose as his habit was – they were later killed by wild beasts at Mount Olympus.
A Roman relief depicting a bull on it's way to be sacrificed. Notice that this is only a part of the relief, their's also a pig and a sheep (thus becoming a traditional pig, sheep, bull sacrifice).
The origin of the Cretan bull is disputed among the ancient authors; some say that it was the bull which Europa rode, others that it was a gift to Minos from Poseidon. The later scenario is somewhat illogical as Minos was supposed to sacrifice the bull to Poseidon (it all seems very strange) but he was so charmed by its beauty that he kept it. Poseidon was angered by this and he put madness into the bulls mind and made it caused havoc to the land.
Erysteus asked Heracles to catch this bull and Minos allowed him to do so (I really wonder if Heracles would have taken no for an answer). The hero caught it and carried it home where he ended up setting it loose, allowing it to roam Greece until it stayed at the fields of Marathon (Theseus, an ancient king of Athens, later found it there).
A relief depicting the labours of Heracles - they sixth labour at the left.
The modern view over the Stymphalus acropolis cliff and what's left of the lake. The setting must have been absolutely stunning during antiquity.
The Stymphalian birds were the pets of Ares, had brazen claws and beaks and arrows instead of feathers. A great number of these creatures haunted the inhabitants of the central Peloponnesus and lived of their flesh. Erystheus commanded Heracles to expel these birds and he went to the lake where they dwelled (conveniently called Stymphalus). Athena helped the hero by giving him a brazen rattle and he used this to scare the birds who took flight – they were vulnerable in the air and he shot some down, others took refuge at the island of Aretisa (where the Argonauts found them later).
Water bodies were commonly considered deities during antiquity, this is Oceano (first or second century Ad).
Heracles obviously was capable not only of slaughtering monsters but also of capturing them, Erystheus thus had to try to find the hero’s weakness in yet another way. The fifth labour can therefore be considered as an attempt to take away some of Heracles honour since it seemed as there was no way to get through it with clean hands.
The challenge this time was to clean the stables of Augeas in one day, which seemed impossible as Augeas cattle was so numerous that they covered most of his land with dung, making it impossible to cultivate (Paus. V.1.9).
Heracles faced the task by meeting with Augeas, offering him to clean the stables in one day. They also agreed on a reward, a tenth of the cattle (Apollod. Epit. II.5.5) or a piece of land (Paus. V.1.9) - this would be of importance later. Now the hero couldn’t clean out all the dung himself in one day so he took help of two nearby rivers, Alpheus and Peneus (Apollod. Epit. II.5.5) or the river Menius (Paus. V.1.10) (remember that rivers were considered a type of deities).
Augeas However refused to reward the hero, why is unclear and several reasons given such as that Heracles cleaned the stables on the order of Eurystheus (Apollod. II.5.5), the he accomplished it by cunning (Paus. V.1.9), or that he had divine helpers. Heracles was expelled (with Augeas sons, as they defended Heracles right to the reward). The hero wasn’t content though, he marched on Augeas and killed him. Then he founded the Olympian Games during the victory celebrations.
Erystehus hiding in a pithos, rendered unusually humouristicly. Detail from a Roman sarcophagus.
The view from the Mycenae citadel - the place where Heracles brought the boar.
The forth labor yet again involved Heracles capturing a beast, this time the Erymantioan boar. It’s also worth mentioning that this is the first labor connected to a minor deed caller a pererga – the fight against the centaurs.
It is said that the hero went out to search for the boar but was unable to capture it and thus went to the centaurs for advice. There he found Pholus that told him to drive the boar into deep snow, where it couldn’t get away. The centaur unfortenately had one other thing that Heracles wanted; a jar of excellent wine, a gift from Dionysus. Heracles persuaded the centaur to open the jar and all the other centaurs came running to them as they felt the smell. Now a fight broke out, as it commonly does when alcohol in involved, and Heracles drove the centaurs to the house of Cheiron (an old friend of the hero) who was hit by an arrow.
Now, anyone mortal would be killed by the arrow, but Cheiron was an immortal at this point. The pain being too much however, he asked Zeus to take his immortality and he thus died after the incident.
Heracles went on with the chase after the fight with the centaurs and drove the boar into deep snow where he caught it. Erystheus was so scared when the hero returned to Mycenae with it that he hid in a Pithos (large jar). This is a common scene in pottery painting.
Detail from a Roman sarcophagus.
There are, as always, a number of different versions concerning Heracles labors – this is a main stream version of the third one. It has been suggested that Erystehus understood, after the first two deeds, that the hero wouldn’t be killed by a monster and that another type of challenge was needed. He therefore asked Heracles to catch Artemis stag, a deer with golden antlers and brazen hooves that was faster than any other creature. The hero went out to search for the animal but it was too quick even for him when he tried to catch it and a hunt began. There is no consensus considering the places they passed during the chase but the hero followed the animal for a whole year until he finally got close enough to wound it with an arrow, which made it possible to catch. Then, as he was carrying his pray to Mycenae, Artemis and Apollo appeared and asked him what he was doing (as this was Artemis favorite animal). Heracles somehow explained the situation and was pardoned by the gods and thus succeeded with his third labor.
The sad remains of the Lernean spring.
The second labor was designed by Erystheus to make sure that Heracles wouldn’t survive. He therefore asked the hero to kill the Lernean hydra, a monster spawned by titans and brought up by Hera. This creature dwelled near in a spring or lake in Lerna near Argos and it was a terrible sight compared to the Nemean lion. This monster had nine heads and the middle one was immortal, its blood was poisonous and each time a head was cut off, two new ones sprang forth.
Heracles tried at first to kill it with his arrows but they were ineffective, then he tried to attack it with his club or a sickle (cutting the heads of) but this only made things so much worse. The hero was also attacked by a gigantic crab. However Heracles helper Iolaus came up with an idea and started burning the necks of each decapitated head, thus preventing it from growing out again. This way the hero and helper killed of all the mortal heads until only the immortal one was left, which Heracles buried under a huge rock.
As a last important act, Heracles had his arrows poisoned in the hydras blood, thus making them even more lethal.
Detail of Heracles bow, which he hung of during the fight with the Nemean lion. From a Roman sarcophagus. Notice that the bow, hanging in a tree, is a common way to recognize the hero.
Exactly what tasks Heracles had to endure under Erystheus is uncertain - the earliest sources don’t even mention the so called labors, they only hint that he did great deeds. I, however, would like to present the 12 labors, which are mentioned in “later” works, in the traditional order.
The first labor was the fight with the Nemean lion. This was a great beast lurking in an area close to Mykene (called Nemea) and the hero was instructed to kill it. On his way to the lion’s den Heracles found an old man who was about to sacrificing to Zeus Sotor (an aspect of Zeus, the king of the gods) and he told the man to wait 30 days so that they could celebrate the sacrifice together. If he, Heracles, on the other hand was killed in the fight, he asked the old man to sacrifice to him as a hero.
Heracles then went on to fight the lion and found it in its den. The hero attacked it with his bow, but the skin deflected the arrows. He then tried to kill it with his club, which could not hurt the animal. At last he blocked one of the entrances to the den, went in himself and strangled the animal and then peeled of the skin with its own claws. This is one of the stories about how he gained his lions skin.
He then proceeded by returning to the old man who had given up hope (and was about to sacrifice on his own) and they sacrificed together. It is said that Erystheus was so scared when Heracles returned with the skin after this first labor that he tried to hide from him.
Ancient Tiryns (lager copy)
The story of how Heracles came to endure the labors is long and complex, but these are the main events;
Heracles was on his way home to Thebes after slaying the lion of Cythaeron when he ran into the envoys of King Erginus who was on their way to fetch 100 oxen in tribute from Thebes. Heracles made it very clear to them that they were not welcome (by cutting of their noses and ears) which soon led to King Erginus marching upon Thebes.
Heracles defeated the foreign army and thus gained the friendship of the Theban king who gave him his daughter, Megara, in marriage (with whom he had several children). Hera however soon returned to planning Heracles destruction and slipped madness into his mind – the hero ended up killing his wife and children. He then had (as customs dictated) to be purified and therefore went to Delphi. The Pythia (oracle) there commanded Heracles to go to Tiryns and serve Erysteus for twelve years, after which he would become an immortal. This is also the first time the hero is called Heracles, his name until this point was Alcides (or Alcaeus).
