Hercules' Labors: Fact Or Fiction?

72 Pages·1969·3.636 MB·English

by  Jan Schoo

HERCULES'
LABOR S
FACTOR FICTION?
1969
'nr-,....,1 A 11 n,Jr PlJBLISHERS - CHICAGO
Library of Congress Catalog,,e C'ard No. 67-17574
First Printing: April 1969
CONTENTS
Preface ..... ............................... .ix
f. Introduction .............................. xv
If. A tittle known but signijlCant story from the North
Sea coast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ill. 1r1e Cvcle of the Twelve l,abors of Herac/es ..... 6
IV. 11ze First Labor: 11,e Lion ofNemea .......... 9
V. The Second Labor: Hydra, the Dragon ofLerna .. 14
VI. The 111irda nd Fourth tabor: 71ie Erymanthian
boar and the hind of Ceryneia ... .............. 18
VII. 11ze Fzj/h Labor: 11ze Stymphalian birds . ..... 21
VIII. The Sixth [,abor: 11ze Stables ofAugias ...... 29
[X. Heracles, 11ze Hero of Labor . ............... 33
X. The Seventh [,abor: The liull of Crete ......... 39
XI. 11,e Giant Talas . ......................... 45
XII. 11zeG ods and the Son of Talas ............. 59
XIII. Ullikwnmi, 71,e Stone Monster of the Hittites. 63
XIV. 71,e Saga of Balder and the Myth of Oedipus .. 69
XV. The Highth Labor: 71ze Horses ofDiomedes . .. 77
XVI. The Ninth Labor: 71,e Belt of Ilippolyte . .... 81
Manufactured in the United States of America XVII. The Tenth Labor: 11ze Cattle of Geryon .... . 85
First American Edition XVIII. The Ueventh Labor: f!esperic/es and Atlas . . 93
XL¥. T'lze Twelfth Labor: The Ile/lhounc/ C'erberus.103
All Rights Reserved
XX. The Mycenaean Greeks, Great Performers of
the Past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 08
Bibliography ............................. I I 9
COPYRIGHT © l 969 BY ARGONAu·r INC . , p UBLISHERS Index .... ............................... 125
737 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 6061 l
PREFACE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The myths about the twelve great labors of Hercules are pretty
simple stories. For centuries people all over the world have
7ft!e 1'<1gell.e-rac/es & !t,m (Cbin oj'fferac!ea
enjoyed them. But, if we look at the wild jungle of later
in South fta/v, ea. 415 40011.C:)
interpretations in which these stories almost seem to get lost,
fi:g 1 : 17ze Pelopunnese, Attica ancl Boeotia --~. J f
the picture is neither simple nor enjoyable.
hg 2 : Santorin in the center of the Mvcenaean-
In the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th
1v!inoan world ................. · ....... f/2 century a flood of literature came into existence concerning
Fig. ,3 : lsl~nd volc~no ofSantorin after F Fouque these myths and mythology in general. How smug were some
(/)antorm et ses erupti'ons, 1879) ......... .49 of these writers. "debunking" the old stories and showing off
Fig. 4: ls/and volcano of Krakatau afier R.D.M. their modern, scientific erudition against the simpleminded
. Verbeck ( Krakatau, 1885) .............. 56 story telling of the poor ancients. And. if you read what an
Fig. 5 : Sketchmap of Lake Copais with Mycenaean outstanding savant like the German scholar Yon Wilamowitz,
drainage systern ................. _ . _ . _ 113 one of the most famous and learned men of his time. who prob
Bronze Statuette ofllerac!es, British Museum ... 1o ably dreamt in Greek, had to say about the deeds of Hercules,
vou fall soundly asleep in pure self-dcfense.
- But there were other men, like Ernst Curtius, also a German
scholar, who in the middle of the 19th century did the obvious
thing. went to Greece and visited the localities mentioned in
the myths. They wanted to see for themselves whether, on the
spot. they could make out what the ancient Greeks had been
talking about. Afler careful observation of local conditions
Curtius suggested that at least some of the stories dealt with
works executed to tame wild rivers or catch springs. Thus,
Curtius opened the door for a better understanding of the
myths. But few were the ones who followed him.
In fact, in the next century this useful approach was neg
lected or forgotten. Learned constructions flourished again,
now often based on anthropological viewpoints which, though
quite valuable as such, did not necessarily apply to the myths
under consideration. Certain conditions have to be fulfilled
before the explanation of any myth can be accepted as true or
IX
xi
X HERCULES' LABORS PREFACE
convincing. In the first place the story has to be explained not . d Their penetration of deeper realms represented an
by choosing convenient parts only, but as an entity which has necteh ·. human development and, though accomplished sep
to be embraced and understood in one single sweep. In the epoc I I~ d w·1thout any direct connection, they were the result
arate Yan h. h · It·
second place the interpretation should be applicable only, or at , , t-meous and inseparable movement w 1c s1mu ct-
of " span ' · · d f "I"h" d I ment
least to best advantage, at the locality where the event pictured I ,ecmcd to invade the mm so men. 1s . eve op
in the myth was said to have happened. In the third place the n;eao_u;~ ; ~o meaanss restricted to the sciences ment10ne?. It can
interpretation should show common sense and simplicity, not i°un djust well in mathematics, in physics, chemistry and
erudition alone, though erudition may be an asset. b ~ ,y in which equally far reaching changes took place.
A main impediment, in my opinion, has been the tendency of TI~ -~g hanges in scientific understanding were demonstrated
students concerned with this matter to cover too much ground moesst e VcIV I "diy , though in <·1 terrify• ing way ' by the man-made
at one time. Surely, it is valuable to look for comparable stories losion of matter in the atomic bomb.
elsewhere and to search for world-wide similarities. But I exi n the field of comprehending the _fleeting prod~~ts ~f the
wonder whether it might not be advantageous once in a while . mi"nd. 1·ke dreams and fantasies, Freud WdS the out-
h umc1n • 1 h" ·
to forget what comparable action was taken by a different hero standing pioneer whose courage was equalle? by_ 1s sagacity.
in another area. Instead it might be worthwhile to consider one But his oversexualized view of the world wh~ch hkely was the
story at the time and see what a particular hero was told to result of his own sexually repre_ssed personal'.ty, can hardly be
have done at a specific locality. It might well be that by obtain maintained. Adler and Jung, ongmaHy Freud s coworkers,' did
ing a clear answer about one special deed, a lot of advantage much to broaden the field and make its study more acceptable.
could be gained for the understanding of other heroic perform [n his later works Freud included many _ideas ':h1ch '.mder
ances. rfferent names responded to views and obJect1ons b1ought up
Every myth asks for careful, attentive listening and then a ~~ Adler and Jung, but, in my opinion, th':se_ late~ modifica
one-sweep, intuitive approach in order to be comprehended. It tions never equalled the brilliant work ol Freud s younger
has to be handled in much the same way as we should deal with
years. I · f th t nts of
a dream or other fantasy of the human mind. How to cope with Jung amazed the world by his e~p oratlon o e cone_
such volatile material has been shown by the three great men the human psyche and the scientific obJect1v_1tyw ith which he
who, at the start of this century, developed psychology into an examined its volatile material. Jung's d1scuss1on an? nan:mg of
almost new science, namely: Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler the collective unconscious, the archetypes contamed m t_he
and C. G. Jung. Not without reason their science has been human psyche, his four psychol~gical or functional typ~s, with
called "depth"-psychology. their introversion and extraverston an? last ~ut no~ lec1st the
These three scientists did not stand alone in their opening of process of individuation have found their w~y mto s~1ence and,
a new era. At the same time that they extended the study of the at present, belong more or less to the pubhc domam. .
human psyche far beyond previous limits, scholars dealing Alfred Adler is perhaps less generally known by name m our
with the science of the earth, with geology- we name specifi untry but we find his teachings applied wherever valuable,
co ' · f I Adler's
cally Schardt, Argand and Heim-astounded their profession practical work of a psychologic nature 1s per ~rm~c. . . ,
with bold conceptions concerning the deeper structure of the ideas regarding infenonty feelmgs and stnvmg tor supenonty,
Alps, showing a mobility of the earth crust, a plasticity and the role of compensation both in performances of body. and
complexity of the mountain world which was formerly un spirit, his interpretation of the actions, subterfuges and flight~
heard of. of individuals to reach their goals as expressed Ill the patter~s
Let us not think that what happened to these sciences, psy of their lives, his stress on the need of equal valuatwn ol md_1-
chology on one hand, geology on the other hand, was discon- vidual and community and on their immanent relat10nsh1p, his
xiii
PREFACE
xii HERCULES' LABORS
,, ·. f't , tised loosely for every type of comparison but that
accent on encouragement are of such outstanding practical bo 1 1so c 0 , · .
importance that they have found their way in the language and · . t the way it should be done by psychologists.
is -~~e myths of Hercules as the ancient Greeks told them are
use of modern life.
· , t,otit 1·.,al rivers real swamps, real earthquakes, real
Though I have learned much from Jung about the fleeting stories d .., '' ' · · J
products of the human mind. about dreams, fantasies and ~orks, real performances, though ~hey may have ',tn ad~dlt~ona
symbols, it will be seen that I do not follow the trend of those . bolic value. When Hercules hghts a drag~Jn d~ L~rtld, he
scientists who try to apply Jung's ideas to every myth. The -~yrn Jes with the water of distinct springs which rise m abun
strug1g · · d 1· · h 1 --,p1·esents the
application of his ideas may be valuable when Jung and dance at that locality. But ll1 a c 1t1on t e c rago~ 1 e , . ·. .
Kercnyi / Das Goett/iche Maedchen, 1941) consider the Greek underworld. also the human un.derworld and. m thdt way, the
goddesses Demeter and Persephone with their cults. But, m th has an additional syrnbohc_ v,alue. . , .
~·rom the trilogy The Masks c~f( _,o d you can see how mu~h .(~
when KerCnyi talks about Hercules. I have the hardest time
like Joseph Campbell owes to modern psychology f01 his
seeing what psychology actually contributed to the under man · · · h th I
standing of the deeds of this hero. In my opinion. it has not understanding of mythology. Everyone dealmg wit my ~) og-
succeeded in explaining one single exploit or any of the curious ical material _will feel the s,.une t~debte:tness. My gn~t1~uc~~
details which make these stories so interesting. :roes out to Freud for his p10neermg efforts, to Jung to1 his
The psychological school of mythology seems to consider all ~enetration of the world of symbols, but to Adler more than_to
anyone else for the help he has given every human bemg with
myths as symbols and deals with them as if they were phe
nomena of the mental world only. But that is far from true. the art of living. The older one gets the more clearly one sees
that we all have an endless debt of gratitude 1.ne very direction.
Though they are products of the mind, many myths, and cer
Where would we be without the help and_ kmdness of others.
tainly the ones of Hercules, speak about real things in the lives
Here, therefore, I want to express my gratitude to my wife and
of the Greeks, about actual works, voyages, founding of colo
daughter for their limitless patience and loyalty, to my fnends
nies, etc. The pictures used in these myths hide to some extent
the realities with which these stories are dealing and they do so for their support and encouragement. _. . _ .
I am especially indebted to Prof. H,:ns G. Guterbo~~ for his_
wit~ a distin.ct purpose, to know the purpose of memorizing
kind allowance to include a number ot Imes from the Song of
and conserving the story, keeping it alive. Had the perform
Ullikummi," contained in his "Hittite Mythology," m Mytho/
ances not been told in such a fascinating manner, they would
not have been engraved so securely in the human mind and of!ies I!/" the Ancient World, edited by Samuel N. Kramer,
L _ _
would have faded nipidly. The pictures used in the ancient published by Doubleday & Company, 196
stories may appear to be symbols, but they actually stand for And belatedly I want to thank Prof. Richard Henmg tn
Germany, author of Terrae Incognitae,_ published by E. J.
realities.
Brill, Leiden, 1944, for his kind appreciat10n ot my attempts at
Let us try to elucidate this by an example. In the Hercules
myths we often find wild animals which the hero conquers. In interpreting some of the ::rncient myths.
Pres Minnick with the Fremont Petroleum Co., Denver,
some of the stories such a wild animal means a "wild" river.
Colorado, should be commended for the nice sketchmaps
The animal is used as a comparable picture: it represents a real
river, a distinct river that runs "wild" and must be "tamed." which he contributed.
The picture of the animal is not used in a symbolic way, at least
not ifwe stick to the definition of a symbol given by Jung in his
Psychologische Typen ( 1921) . The picture of the wild animal Denver, Colorado.
would be symbolic, if it had been used to indicate one of the
human passions and its conquest. Naturally the word "sym-
THE TWELVE GREAT LA BORS OF HERCULES
AND OTHER STORIES OF THE MYCENAEAN
GREEKS
Myth deals with reality.
I. INTRODUCTION
Reality imparts myth.
Nowadays "myth" means a story which deserves little or no
credence. The word often has a derogatory ring. This was not
To veil and to reveal,
always so. Originally myths were the stories of ancient or
primitive peoples about their gods, heroes, religious beliefs and
How rnarvelous,
rituals. To modern man they often sounded strange and incred
ible. This element of strangeness and incredibility caused the
How sirnple
negative connotation which the word has assumed.
Greek "mythos" meant the "spoken word." When the
And yet how hard to see.
Greeks, in the times of their classic development, wrote down
their marvelous stories of gods and heroes, they did not com
prehend their meaning any more. As a consequence, they often
tried to give interpretations and, in that way, they actually
started mythology, the science of myths.
In the last two centuries sagas from all over the world have
been collected and studied. At first this study was exclusively
done by linguists. Later anthropologists took over and recently
psychologists have appeared in the field. All these groups of
scientists have given valuable contributions but only on rare
occasions can one say: here is a really convincing and satisfac
tory explanation of one of the great stories.
It is still common to find myths described as the work of a
primitive mentality. This condescending attitude tacitly pre
xv
xvi
INTRODUCTION
supposes superiority of our modern mind and mental perform
~nce._ But why. I wonder, could these stories not have origin
dted from minds as good as our own? Surely, from the incredi
ble amount of sc~entific knowledge with which we are bur
dened nowadays 1t does not necessarily follow that the per
forma~ce of our minds has improved.
It otten seems that myths which once sparkled with life have
bccom~ s:1fled _by the theories of their interpreters. Explana
~tons l~c1~e the 1mpress1on that the stories have been neatly put
!n m:tra it-~acket:. I~ appears as if we are telling the Greeks what
IS their stones Instead of the Greeks telling l!S.
fhts does not mean that sincere efforts have not been made
t~ reach a more general appreciation .. Most outstanding is the II. A LITTLE KNOWN BUT SIGNIFICANT STORY FROM
trilogy of J. C. Campbell: The Masks of God, in which an THE NORTH SEA COAST
admirable atte?1pt has been made to cover the entire field of
o~·al t~adtt1on fro?1 its simplest individual representation to its Since my native country was Holland, allow me to start with a
h1~hest and classic d_evelopment. But even though these prod rather simple story from the Netherlands. Between its two
ucts of the human mmd have been treated here with reverence northern provinces, Groningen and Friesland (land of the
and un_derstanding, as shown by the title of the work, one still Frisians), the North Sea has established a large embayment.
looks tor help m comprehending the famous myths of a hero Its name is Lauwers Zee (Sea) and the story goes that in an
like Hercules,
cient days people could cross it with the aid of a horse's head .
t?e
. In_ _following chapters _we will try to offer such help, This story is not alive any more. Towards the end of and
fhe1 et ore, we will _keep this mtroduetion short, go straight to after the "eighty years war" against Spain, in the heydays of
the heart of a special story and listen to what it has to tell us. Holland's history, many books were published by the Dutch
proud of their performances and their history- concerning the
sights to be seen in their cities and the stories told in their
country. The story above is contained in one of these books
and was brought back to life again when modern Dutch scien
tists started to study the conduct of Holland's rivers and seas
in past and present times with a view to taming their forces and
regulating their erratic behavior. Naturally this story was con
sidered absurd, because, as was correctly stated, the Lauwers
Zee, since time immemorial, had been one of the widest waters
in the country,
But is this story really absurd? Let us first of all mention that
almost identical sagas were told along the German and Danish
coast. They are concerned with different waters but their
wording is practically the same. Why should an absurd story
have been popular along the North Sea coast all the way from
I
2 HERCULES' LABORS
STORY FROM THE NORTH SEA COAST 3
the Netherlands t_o Denmark? After all, it has been reported
trom_at least six different localities. Is it not much more logical discussing the event. One of the younger fellows may have
to assume that such a widespread occurrence indicates the asked: "Has it always been this way'? Were the waters always
content to be important'? this big and treacherous'?" Then one of the older men after
What do~s the story suggest to the superficial listener and pondering the question may have answered: "At one time, far
wh_at doe_s 11 really mean'? It suggests that an object of re in the past, people could cross this water with the aid of a
stncted size was laid_i n the water and used for crossing, the horse's head." Probably the young fellow did not comprehend
water m question bemg small and insignificant. In the same the true meaning of the answer and its pitfall, but some of the
vem we are to_ldt hat, at one time, the famous Zuider Zee could older ones must have enjoyed the answer immensely. They
be crossed with the aid of a board. Accordingly, the horse's understood the meaning and the fun of it, namely that a ship
head was taken to mean a stepping stone or a number of such was meant, that the water had always been big and boats had
stones. been used at all times to cross them. The answer had been
Could this be the true explanation? I do not think so. With given in the form of a riddle (the horse's head) and only the
~teppmg stones a creek or small river can be crossed farther clever, the more experienced men did understand.
mland but not an embayment of the sea. Moreover we have Exactly the same technique was used in the saga of the
already heard that the Lauwers Zee has always been of con Zuider Zee which at its narrowest point once, it was said,
s1de1:able magnitude. This is also true for the German and could be crossed with the aid of a board, suggesting that the
Danish _locaht1es. There too amazement was expressed that watercourse had been very narrow at one time and could be
the stones had been told about waters which at no time in the bridged. Actually the Zuider Zee has always been quite wide.
past had been narrow or insignificant. At no time could it be crossed by any other board than by ship
Only one conclusion is possible, namely, that the people "board." The stories of the Lauwers Zee and the Zuider Zee
who told these stones_ were not talking about stepping stones are of exactly the same nature. They both suggest that the
at all. _The saga contams a trap for the inattentive listener. It waters formerly were small while they actually tell us that
came from a flat coastal area where nothing was constant but crossings always had to be made by boat.
change: Land was lost at one place by storms and tides, land If anyone is still concerned whether the horse's head could
was gamed elsewhere by mud deposition and the action of mean a ship, let him read the sagas of Norsemen and Vikings
plant growth in times of quiescence. The oldtimers did not try where ships are commonly extolled as galloping horses riding
to tell us that these waters were once small but in a hidden and the waves. Of all comparisons this was the one most common
clever way they let it be known that- though there had been in northern areas. And it was an old one. Bronze razor blades
many changes - the sea gates always had been big and always in the form of ships have been found in prehistoric Scandi
had to _be crossed by ship. Strange as it may seem at first navian and Danish graves. The blade would have the form of a
glance, m the language of myth or saga a horse can mean a ship ship's stern and the handle would be shaped as the neck and
and a horse's head as the most characteristic part of the animal head of a horse. On Assyrian stone columns from the time of
can have th~ s,~me meaning. The story, though not an elaborate Sargon and Sanherib (end 8th and beginning 7th century B.C.)
one, was built m the best fashion of oral tradition. ships with heads of horses are sculptured and in modern times
Let us try to understand how such a saga came into exist Pietro Mele photographed a ship with a typical horse's head
ence. Let us assume that- long ago-during a howling fall crossing a river in Tibet.
storm a cons1derabl~ amount of land had been lost to the waves, This does not mean that only horses have lent their heads to
maybe even land with some homes, as it could happen today. appear at the bows of ships. Fishes, birds, dragons and women
Now the men of the neighborhood had come together and were can also be found as guiding figures. No doubt the custom must
have changed with time and place. How far back in the past
4
HERCULES' LABORS
STORY FROM THE NORTH SEA COAST 5
our story reaches we do not know. It was the fascinating way it
I b . them ,,ut ·1gain But if we take the horse to mean a
was told that made it popular and kept it alive. It was told by an< nthnegn the ruse <m akes• sens' e and we find exd, mp I es. .m t1 .1 ·s-
< •
clever storytellers for clever listeners. This was the way oral
ship, where the '.same tactics have been used_. In the'.r war
tradition worked and kept certain memorable facts alive. The
to,?:nst the Spaniards the Dutch were besieging the c,1ty of
most successful storytellers were those whose tales were
a~·ed·1 but unable to capture it. So they hid sold1e1s m ,, ship
repeated f'rom one generation to the next until the meaning of
!hich carried a load of peat on its deck. Peat being a welc~me
the story got lost. But even then people might continue to tell it
f el the ship was allowed to enter the city. In the depth of_r nght
because of its incredible and strange contents.
t~e soldier came out, captured the main gate and the besieging
And now that we are at it anyhow, why not take a look at
other "horses·' of the past. Saxo Grammaticus, writing in army took the city. . . , . , ·h· ·rnd
medieval time about the history of the Danes, said the Anglo C'ln we really doubt that the rroJan .horse Wds d s 11r.'
' ,, "fh G ·e ks were 'tt al times
Saxons invaded England under two chieftains: Hengist and that a similar ruse was meant.. ~ I e , ., - ' . . ~ and
gl·e·it sa1·1orsg oing to sea for gam either by tI ade or p11hacty.h · t
Horsa. Horsa is the mare, Hengist the stallion. It does not look ' - · W ·II , • know w e e1
very likely that a war-chief would carry the name "mare" since this was a typical sailor's st<?ry. e Wl n~ve~ t n t need t1o
stallions are the fighters, not the mares. In old Iceland fights actually happened and howd1t was edxec~Ii~,,~e~ e~~ t~oroughly
know. The story was a goo one an w1 ' . ,. .
between stallions were the favoritc sport, as popular as dog or
cock fights elsewhere. relished by many listeners. For later generaho~f1 the_ me~n;~:
of the horse got lost completely, but people st1 en Joye
I can not help but think that the names did not mean indi
seemingly incredible deeds of the past. . . . , ..
viduals but the ships with which the Anglo-Saxons invaded
the British coast. Maybe Hengist stood specifically for the . Let us cone Iu d e WI' th a word of warmng. N· ot <ill hl 01s, es lm
h. . ·h·p. Other explanations are possible anc may ,e
warships and Horsa for the vessels carrying women, children nmeyetd esd .a rAe nsd , I fisn.a lly, a horse in a story~ t' t he pas· t c'a n als, o be 'a
and household goods. "Hengst" is the Dutch word for stallion
horse, no more, no less. It all depends.
and it also was the name of a small boat used until recently on
the Dutch coast. If our assumption is correct Hengist and
Horsa were names which in a condensed way recorded and
commemorated the Anglo-Saxon invasion by sea of their new
homeland.
Let us add the most famous of all horses in mythology: the
Trojan horse. After a fruitless siege of ten years duration cun
ning Odysseus came up with a ruse which led to the fall and
destruction of Troy. The Greeks feigned defeat, took sail and
hid their ships at a distance but they left a wooden horse, its
belly filled with the mightiest of their warriors. This horse was
hauled inside the walls of the city by the triumphant Trojans.
At night the warriors sneaked out of their hiding place, cap
tured the gate and the city was doomed.
Was this really a wooden horse'? Not very likely. Nothing
would have been more difficult to build than a wooden horse.
Such a task would have surpassed the skills of even the best
craftsmen. And how impossible to fill its belly with warriors
THE CYCLE OF THE TWELVE WORKS 7
performances and may still single out one or other of these
deeds in our language. If someone cleans up a big mess, we
may say that he cleaned an Augiasstable, a figure of speech,
which refers to the famous cleaning job performed by Hercules
for king Augias.
In ancient literature we find a bewildering amount of stories
describing the various exploits of the hero. so bewildering that
the old Greek mythographers, the men who collected and
described the myths, felt a strong need for some kind of classifi
cation. For this purpose they distinguished between three
groups of performances:
I. the "athloi" or "erga," the "labors" or "works" of Hera
!!I. THE CYCLE OF THE TWELVE WORKS cles, a cycle of twelve main exploits which must have been
OF il-lERACLES composed at an early date and contained such works as Hera
clcs performed on his own or aided only by his friend and char
Let us now look at myths that are much older than those found ioteer lolaos:
along the North S_ea, namely the works of Heracles, perhaps I I. the "parerga" or "side-works," minor deeds mentioned in
better known by his Latin name as Hercules. The deeds of this connection with the main works:
h~ro wet:~. famous throughout Greece in the glorydays of he~ I I I. the "praxeis" or "deeds, exploits," consisting of warlike
h1st?ry. I hey were commonly mentioned in her literature, expeditions which put Heracles at the head of an army or
depicted on her vases and pottery, recaptured in her statues which he undertook with a number of other heroes, like the
~1,nds tatue~tes. Were the stories still understood at that time? expedition of the Argonauts.
f·•rom th_e literature it can be concluded that they were not. It Though this ancient classification is not very precise or
wa~ their fascrnat,.ng strangeness which had kept them alive essential, and we will use the words "deeds, works, labors,
u_ntd they were wnttcn down but their actual meaning, by that exploits" as more or less synonymous, it still has merit
t,rne, had already been lost completely. They were wonder because it allows a quick review of the many events attributed
tale~ of the past. ,we c_an only assume that they were created to the hero. Here we will only discuss the twelve "works"
by. tar more ancient Greeks, the Mycenaeans who, like the which apparently from the beginning were considered as the
Minoans on Crete, flourished in the 3rd and 2nd millennium greatest exploits which the hero did perform.
B.C. and were brought back to life through the skillful
endcavors ot great excavators like Schliemann and Evans, In their traditional sequence these twelve works were the
Wade, Bl~gen and many others, not to forget philologists like following:
V e_ntn:" Chadwick a~d Bennett who revived their language. I. Heracles killed the lion of Nemea:
During the Remussance these fabulous stories became 2. He killed the Hydra, the dragon of Lerna:
known throughout Europe and equally popular there as they 3. He caught the Erymanthian boar:
once h~t<lb een in their homeland. This popularity has great!)' 4. He captured the hind of Ceryneia:
:vaned m modern times because nowadays people are far more 5. He drove away the Stymphalian birds:
mterested in exact sciences and the technological wonders of 6. He cleaned the stable of king Augias:
our age. But we still speak of Herculean deeds to stress great 7. He captured the bull of Crete;
8. He took the man-eating horses of Diomedes:
6