Besides these, Hercules achieved other la bors equally great and celebrated, such as his war with Jupiter against the giants, his expedi tion with the Argonauts to Colchis, the pillage of Troy, the liberation of Prometheus and Theseus, etc. During three years' slavery, im posed by the Delphian oracle for plundering the temple to avenge supposed neglect, Her cules' mistress, Omphale, queen of Lydia, mar ried him. Hercules afterward married De janira, daughter of CEneus, king of /Etolia, and when Iole, daughter of the king of (Echalia, a princess formerly refused to Hercules, be came his captive, Dejanira sent Hercules the tunic given her by the dying centaur Nessus as having the power to recall a husband from un lawful love. The tunic had been infected by the poisoned arrow shot by Hercules at the centaur when he offered violence to Dejanira, after carrying her across the river Evenus. When Hercules put the tunic on, the poison penetrated his system and he suffered untold torments; in remorse Dejanira killed herself.
In his agony Hercules had himself conveyed to Mount (Eta and laid on a funeral pyre which at his commands was set on fire. In the midst of a dark cloud, accompanied by lightning and thunder, his immortal spirit was transported to Heaven, where he took his place among the gods, became reconciled to Juno and married her daughter Hebe.
While the myth of Hercules is of Greek origin, counterparts of the legend appear among many nations. Some scholars regard Hercules as a solar hero, and the twelve labors to repre sent the 12 zodiacal signs. Artists represent him under a variety of forms, as a child, a youth, and man, in his numerous adventures and exploits. The principal ancient statue is the Farnese Hercules at Naples, by the Athe nian Glycon. In the Vatican, the Torso di Michelangelo, so called because that artist studied it during several years, is a remarkable fragment of an ancient statue of Hercules. Consult Gayley, 'The Classic Myths' (1911).