Hercules: Final Labors

Hercules was only supposed to do ten labors originally, but Eurythesus didn’t count two of these labors because he thought Hercules had cheated. In the next labor, labor eleven, Hercules had to get and bring back golden apples that belonged to Zeus. Hera, Zeus’s wife, gave Zeus the apples, and Hera already doesn’t’ want Hercules to succeed, which makes the task more difficult.

When Hercules left to find the apples, and he had no idea where they were located. He traveled to many countries in search of these golden apples. The apples were at the northern edge of the world, and it was guarded by a Greek monster. The monster that was protecting the golden apples was Ladon, a hundred-headed dragon. It was also guarded by Hesperides, the daughter of Atlas.

Hercules encountered many people throughout his journey, and he had to participate in many fights. The first person Hercules encountered on his journey was Kyknos, son of Ares. They fought against each other and Hercules won easily. The fight was broken up by a lightning bolt, and then Hercules continued on his journey. Hercules then found a sea nymph, Nereus. This sea nymph knew the location of the garden where the apples were held. He was also a shape shifter and tried to leave Hercules’s hands through this talent. Hercules held onto him until he got the information he needed. Hercules also met Antaeus on his voyage and they fought. Hercules held Antaeus up and crushed him because whenever Antaeus touched the ground, he would gain strength. Hercules found Prometheus chained up next. He freed Prometheus from his chains and killed the eagle that was responsible for his eternal suffering. Because of this, Prometheus told Hercules where the apples were.

Hercules went to Atlas, the holder of the sky, to get help with his labor. He pleaded his case and because Atlas was tired of holding up the sky, he obliged. Hercules held the sky as Atlas retrieved the apples. When he returned, Hercules asked Atlas to hold the sky for a moment so he could adjust his shoulder. When Atlas held the sky once again, Hercules grabbed the apples and left Atlas.

Hercules then returned to Eurythesus to give him the apples and complete his eleventh task. The apples were immortal, so even though Hercules got them for Eurythesus, they were soon returned to the goddess, Athena.

For Hercules’s final labor, he had to kidnap Cereberus, the guard of the underworld.  No mortal has returned from going to the underworld, and Hercules thought he would be the first one to leave this dreaded fate.

Hercules found the god, Hades, and told him of the labor he was forced to complete. Hades was willing to give Cereberus to Hercules if he wrestled the monster to the ground. He couldn’t use any weapons, just his brute strength. He succeeded and returned the underworld god. He was free of performing any more labors because of the completion of the twelve. He was no longer being punished for the murder of his family.