Hercules: Third and Fourth Labors

The third labor Hercules had to bring Eurysthesus the Hind of Ceryneia. He had to bring a red female deer from the city of Ceryneia, which is fifty miles away from Eurysethesus’s palace. The deer he had to retrieve was special to Artemis; it was her pet. It was special because it had golden horns and hoofs of bronze. Hercules couldn’t kill the deer or hurt it because of the consequences that he would receive from Artemis if he did. Hercules searched for the deer for a whole year. It became tired with the incessant movement, and went to the river Landon to rest. Hercules shot the deer and started to carry it back to Eurysthesus when he ran into Artemis and Apollo. Artemis was outraged because Hercules had tried to kill her deer. He explained to Artemis about the twelve labors and how he had to return the deer to Eurysthesus. She understood and healed the deer’s wounds.

For the fourth labor, Hercules had to bring the Erymanthian boar to Eurysthesus.The Erymanthian boar was a huge monster with giant tusks. It was terrorizing Greece when Hercules was ordered to capture it and bring it back alive. It lived on the Erymanthus Mountain. Every day, the boar would come down from its home and attack men and animals, destroying everything in its path. Hercules on his way to find the boar, was hungry. He stopped at the home of one of his friends, who ius a centaur. The centaur fed Hercules and when Hercules found a bottle of wine, he opened it. The wine was made by centaurs and when it was opened many collected near the home. They ended up fighting each other, the centaurs vs. Hercules, and Hercules left to find the boar. He discovered the boar, and with an arrow, he plowed it into a snow bank. Hercules then trapped the boar in a net and carried it all the way to Mycenae.