classical mythology herakles labors

Labor 1: Nemean Lion
Goal: Kill the Nemean Lion

The lion’s skin was impenetrable, so Herakles defeated the lion by killing it with a club an then skinned it with his own claw

Labor 2: Lernaen Hydra
Goal: Kill the Lernaen Hydra
A water serpent with many heads, and every head Herakles cut off sprouted two new heads. Iolaus cauterized heads so they didn’t grow back and Herakles cut off immortal head.

Labor 3: Ceryneian Deer
Goal: Obtain the Ceryneian Deer, sacred to Artemis
Apollo and Artemis stopped him, but Herakles promises to let it go after showing it Copreus.

Labor 4: Erymanthian Boar
Goal: Capture the Erymanthian Boar
Herakles visits Pholus, a centaur, who gives him special centaur wine. This attracted a lot of centaur’s to the cave so he fights them with Chiron and Pholus. He captures the boar after and dangles it above Eurystheus to scare him.

Labor 5: Augean Stables
Goal: Clean out King Augeus’ dirty stables
Herakles diverted a rive to flow through the stables, cleaning them in one day. Aegeus does not keep up his end of the deal and denies Herakles cattle, so Herakles kills him and his sons. He establishes the athletic competitions to honor Zeus at the site, one of the origins of the Olympic Games

Labor 6: Stymphalian Birds
Goal: Get rid of deadly Stymphalian birds at a lake
The Stymphalian birds had arrow firing wings and armor-piercing beaks, so they were hard to kill. Herakles used tiny finger symbols to make noise and shot them down with arrows.

Labor 7: Cretan Bull
Goal: Capture the Cretan Bull
Herakles wrestles the bull and grabbed it by the horns. He rides it back to the Peloponnese and lets it wander to Marathon.

Labor 8: Horse of Diomedes
Goal: Capture the Horses of Diomedes, who ate human flesh
Herakles takes a side quest and invites himself into Admetus’ palace, whose wife died in order for him to be immortal. Herakles brings Alcestis back from the dead and he captures the horses. He then feeds Diomedes to them.

Labor 9: Girdle of Hippolyta
Goal: Get Hippolyta, queen of the Amazon’s, girdle
Herakles charms Hippolyta into giving him the girdle. However, Hera, disguised as an Amazon, claimed Herakles had taken Hippolyta. Herakles gets attacked by the Amazon’s and Herakles ends up strangling Hippolyta to get the girdle.

Labor 10: Cattle of Geryon
Goal: Get the cattle of Geryon, a monster who lives in the Atlantic Ocean
He was frustrated, so he shot an arrow at the sun. Helios decides to help him and gives Herakles a magic cup he can float to Erythia in. He kills every monster, including Cacus in Italy, and returns with the cattle. He then sacrifices the cattle to Hera.

Labor 11: Apples of Hesperides
Goal: Get the golden apples from the tree in the Garden of Hesperides

Herakles goes on a side adventure to kill Busitis and his sons in Egypt, where he also releases Prometheus. To get the apples, he holds up the sky while Atlas gets them. He tricks Atlas to hold the sky again and gives the apples to Athena, who returns them.

Labor 12: Cerberus

Goal: Bring Cerberus to Earth from the Underworld

Herakles travels down the same cave Orpheus did and asks Persephone and Hades if he could take Cerberus. They said yes, under the condition that he can’t use weapons. Herakles gets a collar and a leash to drag him back to Earth, and then releases him after the labor is complete.