HERCULES, herlii-lez, called by the Greeks HERAKLES, and also ALCIDES, al-sidez, after his grandfather, Alcleus: a mythological hero of Greece, typified by poets, sculptors, and artists of later ages as a model of human per fection, physical and mental. According to the traditions of the heroic age, he united the fin est qualities of mind and heart, as understood at that period, with the highest development of bodily vigor, and under a ceaseless succes sion of labors and sacrifices, strove perpetually after divine excellence. His indomitable per severance was crowned with victories which showed the triumph of the divine part of man's nature over the earthly, while his death secured him immortality, a seat among the gods, and the homage of divine honors.
The legends relate that he was the son of Zeus or Jupiter, king of the gods, and of Alc mena the Theban, daughter of Alczeus, son of Perseus. Knowing that the child born on a certain day would rule over the descendants of Perseus, Hera or Juno, wife of Jupiter, con sumed with jealousy, contrived to prolong the travail of Alcmena and hasten that of the wife of Sthenelus, another son of Perseus, who gave birth to Eurystheus, subsequently chief of the Persidm. Hercules was brought tip at Tiryn thus, or according to Diodorus, at Thebes. Ju piter sought to protect his favorite son in every manner, and to make him worthy of immortal ity. On one occasion, while Juno was asleep, he laid the infant on her breast, that he might feed on the milk of the goddess. She awoke and cast the hated babe from her, and the drops that then fell from her are said to have formed the Milky Way. Under the care of Amphitryon, Alcmena's husband, Hercules received the best instruction in all arts. Castor, the son of Tyn darus, taught him how to fight; Eurytus, arch ery; Autolycus, driving; Eumolpus, singing; Linus, to play the lyre; and under the centaur Chiron he perfected his training, and became the most valiant and accomplished hero of the age.
In his eighteenth year he slew a huge lion in the neighborhood of Mount Cithwron which had preyed on the flocks of Amphitryon and of the king of Thespis. The king, desirous that his 50 daughters might have children by such a hero, entertained him at his court for 50 days, and Hercules became the father of their sons, the Thespiadw. Hercules next freed his native city from the annual tribute of a hundred oxen, paid to Erginus, king of the Orchomenians. Creon, king of Thebes, rewarded Hercules by giving him his daughter Megara in marriage and intrusting him with the government of his kingdom. Subjected to the power of Eurys theus owing to priority of birth, the latter, ac quainted with Hercules' successes and rising power, ordered him to appear at Mycenie and perform the labors which he was empowered to impose upon him. Hercules refused, and Juno to punish him afflicted him with melancholic madness, during which he killed his own chil dren by Megara, supposing them to be the off spring of Eurystheus. When he recovered he was so horrified by the misfostunes which had proceeded from his disobedience and insanity that he consulted the oracle at Delphi; he was told that he must be subservient to the will of Eurystheus and perform ten labors imposed by the king, after which he would attain immor tality. Hercules thereupon went to Mycenw,
where Eurystheus, apprehensive of so powerful an enemy, commanded Hercules to achieve a number of enterprises the most difficult and arduous ever known. The favors of the gods, however, had completely equipped him for their performance; from Minerva he had received a coat of arms and helmet, a sword from Mer cury, a horse from Neptune, a shield from Jupi ter, a bow and arrows from Apollo, and from Vulcan a golden cuirass and brazen buskin with a celebrated brass club.
The first labor was to destroy the lion which infested the forests of Nemea and Cleonm near Mycelia: and was invulnerable to mortal arrows. Hercules attacked him with his club, chased him to his den, and after a sharp and fierce struggle choked him to death. He carried the dead beast on his shoulders to Mycenn, and ever after clothed himself with the skin. The second labor was to destroy the Lernman hydra, which he accomplished with the assistance of his friend Iolaus, who burnt with a hot iron the root of each head as Hercules crushed it to pieces with his club. The third labor was to catch the hind of Diana, famous for its swiftness, golden horns and brazen feet. The fourth labor was to bring alive to Eurystheus a wild boar which ravaged the neighborhood of Erymanthus. In this expedition he destroyed the Centaurs, and caught the boar by closely pursuing it in the deep snow. In his fifth labor Hercules was commanded to clean the stables of Augeas, where 3,000 oxen had been kept for many years; this he accomplished in one day by turning the rivers Alpheus and Peneus through the stables, receiving as payment a tenth of the cattle and concealing the fact that he had been commanded to perform the service. The sixth labor was to destroy the carnivorous birds, with brazen wings, beaks and claws, which ravaged the country near Lake Stymphalis in Arcadia. In his seventh labor he brought alive into Peloponnesus the wild bull, a gift of Posei don to Minos, king of Crete, which had laid waste the island. In his eighth labor he was commissioned to capture the mares of Dio medes, which fed upon human flesh. He killed Diomedes, and gave him to be eaten by his mares, which he brought to Eurystheus. For his ninth labor he was commanded to obtain the girdle of the queen of the Amazons. In his tenth labor he killed the monster Geryon,. king of Gades, and brought to Argos his nu merous flocks, which fed upon human flesh. Adjudging the second and fifth labors as un lawfully performed, Eurystheus imposed two others. These were: the eleventh, to obtain the golden apples from the garden of the Hes perides; and the twelfth, to bring from hell the three-headed dog Cerberus. Pluto prom ised him Cerberus on condition that he should use no weapons but force. Eurystheus, pale with fright when Hercules brought the mon ster to him, ordered its immediate removal. This ended what are generally known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules, and relieved the hero from bondage.