The
son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene was Heracles
And
his twin by Alcmene and Amphitryon was Iphicles
Hera,
the wife of Zeus was jealous of his last mortal son
And
she decided on a path to vent her hate and anger on
So
while he was still an infant Hera, wanting him dead
Sent
a pair of serpents to kill him as he slept in his bed
But
to Hera’s disappointment things didn’t go as planned
Heracles
was found with a strangled serpent in each hand
Heracles
is known as the strongest by far of all mortals
Stronger
than many of the Gods and victorious in battles
But
offsetting his strength was a lack not of intelligence
But
he did lack wisdom and had very little common sense
And
it was his quick temper that often left him undone
Once
when he was too hot, he threaten to shoot at the sun
His
pride was easily offended and held grudges at length
And
his appetites for life were as great as his strength
If
he held grudges, he would still do anything for a friend
Once
his anger passed, he was his fiercest critic in the end
He
was too strong for anyone to force on him at any time
Any
kind of a punishment no matter how bad the crime
That
he was willing to do the most severe penance shows
That
he had a fundamental sense of justice that he chose
During
his many punishments Heracles shows us at length
Patience,
fortitude and endurance as heroic as his strength
Many
of the great deeds of Heracles occurred more or less
While
doing a penance for acts of anger or carelessness
As
a man His first heroic deed was the killing of a lion
Which
had been savaging the countryside from Cithaeron
And
then he defeated Erginus, who was the one exacting
An
unjustified annual tribute from Creon the Theban king
In
gratitude Creon the Theban king offered to the victor
Heracles
the hand in marriage his young daughter Megara
Lycus
tried to seize the throne when Creon died years later
But
Heracles soon put an end to that by killing the usurper
But
in the rejoicing that follows, taking a hand again is Hera
Acting
with anger and hatred that had never relented in her
She
struck Heracles with a fit of madness at the celebration
And
in a rage, he killed both Megara and their three children
The
Delphic oracle decided as punishment for these murders
Heracles
is ordered to perform as penance Twelve Labors
So
not for the first time that he had to atone for his crimes
Since
he had come of age Heracles had proved many times
His
unerring marksmanship with bow and arrow and spear
A
possessor of superhuman strength and a champion wrestler
He
needed all of these for the labors set by one of his family
His
cousin Eurystheus, who was king of Tiryns and Mycenae
By
rights, Heracles should have had the crown upon his head
But
Hera had tricked Zeus into crowning Eurystheus instead
To
begin his labors Heracles had to kill the Nemean lion firstly
This
he did by strangling the beast with his bare hands only
Then
His second labor was to kill the many-headed hydra
This
he did with Iolaus his nephew in the swamps of Lerna
Then
his task was to capture the fleet footed Cerynitian hind
It
was in Arcadia he caught it after it took him a year to find
He
then returned once more to Arcadia for his fourth labor
On
mount Erymanthus he captured the huge Erymanthian boar
Next
was cleaning the Augean stables a task meant to demean
But
Heracles diverted two rivers to leave the stable yards clean
Once
more he had to return to the stark wilderness of Arcadia
To
find flesh eating Stymphalian birds and kills their number
The
seventh labor involved a huge fire-breathing creature
The
Cretan bull ravaging the countryside he had to capture
The
mares of Diomedes then had to be brought to Eurystheus
This
was achieved with the help of his young squire Abderus
He
went to the land of the Amazons for the ninth of the labors
To
steal the belt from Hippolyte the queen of the women warriors
For
labor ten he was sent outside ancient Greece by Eurystheus
He
captured the cattle of Geryon and killed Geryon and Orthrus
Stealing
the apples of Hesperides was to be labor number eleven
This
he did killing Ladon and securing help from Atlas the Titan
The
twelfth and final labor for Heracles was to capture Cerberus
He
dragged the hellhound from Hades and gave it to Eurystheus
Penance
was done upon completion of the twelfth labor
Though
could not bring back the victims of the murder
In
the years after as well as in between his great Labors
Heracles
had a great many other adventures and chores
He
was one of the Argonaut sailing with the hero Jason
Wielding
a massive club which was his favorite weapon
He
wore as a cloak the skin he took from the Nemean lion
It
was his usual garb and as a helmet he had its head on
Heracles
accomplished some amazing feats for a mortal
He
once forced the god Poseidon to give way in battle
In
another encounter he wounded Ares the god of war
And
he wrestled the great god Zeus himself to a draw
The
hero could move mountains that hindered his way
He
could and did toss boulders about like pebbles all day
Heracles
even relieved the Titan Atlas of his eternal burden
He
stood and on his back supported the weight of heaven
So
strong he was the deciding factor in battle with the Titans
Defeating
the Giants and winning victory for the Olympians
When
the Titanic sons of Gaia tried to storm the godly citadel
When
a hail of flaming oaks and rocks almost won the battle
The
deities of Mount Olympus would never have prevailed
Without
Heracles and his bowmanship which never failed
His
reward in recognition of his assistance in their victory
Was
to become the only mortal born hero to become a deity
When
Heracles allowed a centaur to ferry across a river
His
wife Deianara on the other side the centaur attacked her
Heracles
killed him with an arrow but before the Centaur died
He
told her for a love potion to keep some blood he supplied
Deianara
used some on Heracles' tunic to keep him faithful
But
it contained Hydra poison from the arrow and was fatal
He
used Hydra venom on the arrow, which Deianara didn’t see
And
was poisoned when He donned the tunic dying in agony
On
his funeral pyre lightning consumed his mortal remains
And
he was apotheosized by Zeus and joined the Olympians
So,
he was given a home on Mount Olympus for eternity
And
Heracles also married the lovely goddess of youth Hebe
But
there was part of him had not come from Zeus his father
And
that part had come from Alcmene his mortal mother
The
mortal part of his soul went to the Underworld directly
And in Company of heroes roams the Elysian Fields eternally
