' To these well-known " twelve labors" must be added many other achievements, such as his battles with the centaurs and with the giants; his participation in the expe dition of the Argonauts; the liberation of Prometheus and Theseus, etc. After accom plishing all these exploits, Hercules, while in a state of mental aberration, murdered his faithful friend 1phitus; lie was afterwards purified from the inu•der;.but was com pelled to sell himself for three years into slavery. When his period of slavery had expired, he returned to Peloponnesus, and some time afterwards became a suitor for the hand of Dejanira, the daughter of (Eneus, king of Calydon, whom he married, after having overcome his rival Achelous. With her he now repaired to Trachinia. Having arrived at the river Evenus, he encountered the centaur Nessus. Hercules passed through on foot; but Nessus, under pretense of carrying Dejanira over, attempted to offer her violence; whereupon Hercules slew him with an arrow dipped in the poison of the Lerinean hydra. Nessus, before expiring, instructed Dejanira how to prepare .a love-potion for Hercules. The hero now made war against Eurytos (king of (Echalia, who had defrauded him), slew him and his sons, and carried off his daughter lole. Thence he went to Keneeon in Eubcea, and erected an altar to Zeus Kenmos. In order to celebrate the rite with due solemnity, he sent Lichas to Trachis for a white garment. Dejanira, jealous of Tole, anointed the robe with the philter she had received from Nessus. Hercules put it on, and immediately the poison penetrated his bones. _Mad dened by the terrible pain, lie seized Lichas by the feet and flung him into the sea. He tore off the dress, but it stuck to his flesh, which was this torn from his bones. In this condition Hercules was conveyed by sea to Trachinia; and Dejanira, being informed of what had occurred, destroyed herself. Hercules himself repaired to Mt. (Eta, where he erected a funeral-pile, and ascending it, commanded that it should be set on fire. The burning pile was suddenly surrounded by a dark cloud, in which, amid thunder and lightning, Hercules was carried up to heaven. There lie became reconciled to Hera, and married Hebe.
According to most mythologists, there were several heroes of the name of Hercules. Among these are an Indian, an Egyptian, a Tyrian or Phenician, and a Theban Her •cules. The last is the most celebrated, and to him the actions of the others have possi bly been attributed. Others, who would explain the story of Hercules symbolically, -pretend that it conceals an astronomical-idea; while others discover in this myth the history of the early development of Greece. On the astronomical hypothesis, the twelve labors of Hercules are simply the course of the sun through the twelve signs of the .zodine, which the plastic poetry of the Greeks has converted into a legend. According do Max Miller. Hercules was the sun-god, and the legend of his death symbolizes the sunset: "In his last journey Hercules proceeds from east to west. lie proceeds from the Kenmon promontory to Trachis, and then to Mount (Eta, where his pile is raised. The coat which Dejanira sends to the solar hero is an expression frequently used in other mythologies, it is . . . . the clouds which rise from the waters and surround the sun like a dark raiment. Hercules tries to tear it off, i.e.,, his fierce splendor breaks through the thickening gloom, but fiery mists embrace him, and are mingled with the parting rays of the sun, and the dying hero is seen through the scattered clouds of the sky tearing his own body to pieces, till at'l'ast it is consumed in a general conflagration." Comparative Mythology, in the Oxford Essays, 1856.
Festivals were celebrated in honor of Hercules, at which his exploits were sung. In this manner arose the Reraeleia, long poems celebrating the life and actions of Hercules. Hercules is represented in plastic art as the ideal of a hero. Strength is the characteristic idea, which has been developed by the sculptors Myron and Lysippus in a form not to be surpassed. A complete series of representations of the twelve labors may be seen in the vases of Voice. The conflict with the giants very frequently occurs on vases of the oldest'style; the one on the casket of Cypselos is particularly worthy of notice. Her cules's figure is generally youthful.