Hercules: Eighth and Ninth Labors

For Hercules’s eighth labor, he had to capture Diomedes’s man-eating horses. Diomedes was the king of a Thracian tribe. He brought some men with him to help him on this quest. He easily overpowered the people who were taking care of the stables, and captured the horses. Hercules then trusted the young man, Abderos. The horses overcame the youth and ended up killing him. Hercules at the time was fighting the Thracian tribe that Diomedes ruled over. He won and killed the king, Diomedes.  In honor of the Abderos, he named the city he took over Abdera. After the small war, Hercules returned the horses to Eurysthesus. Eurysthesus then set the man-eating horses free. They ended up reaching Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. It was at Mount Olympus where the horses were killed. They were eaten by wild beasts. There are other versions of this myth. These myths include Hercules going on the labor alone, having to bring back a chariot as well as the horses, and one in which Hercules tames the horses with a golden chariot.

For the ninth labor, Hercules faced the challenge of getting the belt of Hippolyte. Hippolyte was the leader of the Amazons, which was a tribe of warrior women. This leather belt had been given to Hippolyte because she was the best out of the warrior women. It carried her sword and spear. Eurysthesus wanted the belt to give it to his daughter as a gift. When Hercules reach the city where Hippolyte was, he talked to her and she told Hercules that he could have the belt. Hera, the goddess of childbirth and marriage thought something bad would happen with the arrival of Zeus. She disguised herself as a warrior woman and told the Amazons that Hercules was going to capture Hippolyte. They put on their armor and went down to where Hercules and Hippolyte were. When Hercules saw them coming to attack, he killed Hippolyte, untied her belt, and left. There was a great battle between the Greeks and the Amazons because of this incident.