Hercules was the son of Zeus, the supreme god of Olympus, and of Alcmene, a mortal woman who was the wife of Amphitryon. Hera, the wife of Zeus, was an enemy of Hercules. She sent snakes to kill the infant Hercules as he lay in his crib, but he had such strength that he strangled the snakes, taking one in each hand.
Later, when he had become a hero, Hera drove Hercules into a fit of madness, causing him to murder his wife and children. To expiate his crime, Hercules submitted himself to Eurystheus, King of Mycenae, who required him to perform a series of nearly impossible tasks. These were known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules:
1. Kill the Nemean Lion
2. Destroy the Lernean Hydra
3. Capture the Cerynean Hind (a stag with golden horns)
4. Capture the wild boar of Erymanthus
5. Clean the Augean stables in a single day
6. Drive away the Stymphalian birds
7. Capture the Cretan bull
8. Capture the man-eating horses of Diomedes, King of Thrace
9. Bring back the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons
10. Capture the cattle of Geryon, a monster who had three bodies joined at the waist
11. Bring back the Golden Apples of the Hesperides
12. Capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Hades
From Bandinelli's sculpture
of Hercules and Cacus (1534),
Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy.
