The Twelve Labours of Hercules

by Joe Corcoran

wide and shallow baskets that reminded Hercules of shields. They must have been working through the night, because there were already piles of these baskets placed around the square. Just as they were about to ask one of the weavers what was going on, up ran Iolaus. He saw the confused look on the face of Hercules and started to explain.

  “I saw how the bird got caught in my basket. If we equip each soldier with a wicker shield then, when the birds attack, they’ll get trapped just the same.”

  So on their way down to the city gate, all the soldiers passed by the market square and picked up one of the special shields. Then, as Hercules and the captain had planned during the night, they split into three groups. One, led by the captain, would head straight for the farm to rescue the family. The other two would go and try to find where the birds had come from. Hercules would take one group to the north, where the borders of the kingdom were guarded by a range of mountains. Iolaus would take the final group to the south, keeping to the coastline. If they found anything along the way, each group was accompanied by a fast horseman who could go and alert the others. Otherwise they would all meet up again at the Stymphalian swamps, which sat between the mountains and the sea.

  It was the captain who found the birds first. While Hercules and Iolaus had an uneventful day, he had marched his men at double speed, and by evening they came within sight of the farm. At first it looked deserted, and they feared they might be too late, but then they spotted the shapes of the birds, sitting dead still on the roof of the farm and in a nearby tree. The captain ordered his men to form a turtle, with their bronze shields interlocking to create a solid barrier all around and above the group. In this way they advanced towards the farm under the watchful eyes of the birds. If they could have got to the farmhouse door like this, then they might have rescued the people inside without a fight. As it was, they had not gone too far before there was a squawking and a flapping and the birds rose into the air and flew towards them. As the captain had suspected, at first the birds hovered above the soldiers and fired their feathers. These fell like an iron rain on the wall of shields, creating a terrible din inside but without doing any harm. Now the squawking grew louder, and the captain got ready to spring his surprise. Looking through a gap in the shields, he saw the birds getting ready to dive. At the last minute, he shouted his order.

  “Switch shields! Switch shields!”

  As one body the soldiers dropped their bronze shields and held up the woven shields instead. Crash, crash, crash, went the birds, as they smashed into the wicker. One soldier screamed in agony as a bird’s beak pierced his arm, but all the others found themselves faced with the heads of one or more of the birds, trapped in their shields. As they had been instructed they wrung their necks, ripped the bodies free and readied themselves for the next assault. Two more times the remaining birds tried to smash a way through the wall, but both times they were caught in the same way. Finally, those that were left turned and flew away. As soon as it was clear, the captain ran to the farmhouse, where he found the farmer’s family, hungry and thirsty but otherwise unhurt. They stayed for the night at the farm, and the next morning, the captain sent the family back to Troezen with a small group of guards. The rest of their party carried on towards the swamps, all feeling a lot more confident now that they had faced their enemy and emerged victorious.

  Exactly as planned, the three parties of troops now converged on the swamps from different sides. Hercules from the mountains, Iolaus from the coast and the captain of the guard in the middle. It took a little while for them to meet up because of a thick mist that hung over the swamp, sometimes making it difficult for the soldiers to even see the men marching in front of them. Iolaus, for one, was very relieved to see the others. More than once he had led his troops into the swamp, and they’d had to retrace their steps as they found themselves ankle deep in mud. Furthermore, although they hadn’t seen any birds, evil cries and shrieks had never been far away, echoing through the mist. Iolaus had, therefore, become convinced that the swamp was the home of these dangerous creatures, and for the whole morning he had clung tightly to his wicker-work shield, expecting an attack at any moment. The captain of the guard noticed his white knuckles as they approached each other. “Don’t worry, son,” he told Iolaus, keeping his voice low to avoid being overheard, “without fear there is no bravery.” This made the young man feel a little better, and he was able to concentrate on the council of war that now took place.

  “As we came down from the mountains,” began Hercules, “we had an excellent view over all of the swamp and to the sea beyond. It is clear that the swamp is where the birds have made their base. I saw at least a dozen myself, as they flew up above the blanket of mist. I thought of shooting them down with my bow, but they disappeared again too quickly.”

  “So, we must go in and deal with them at close quarters,” said the captain of the guard, made bold by his victory at the farmhouse, “if we leave them here, then they will soon start to strike deeper into the kingdom, maybe in greater numbers.”

  “We went into the swamp,” replied Iolaus, “by accident,” he added quickly, as he saw the disapproving look on Hercules’ face. “The ground quickly becomes too waterlogged for a man to walk through, we would sink into the swamp and make easy targets.”

  A scouting party was quickly arranged, and they reported back that what Iolaus said was true. They had also looked to see if there were any clear channels for a boat to pass through, but the swamp looked truly impassable by foot or by boat.

  “How would we have built a boat anyway,” grumbled Hercules, frustrated to be so close to his enemy and yet not able to strike at them, “we’re soldiers, not carpenters!”

  “That’s only partly true,” answered the captain of the guard, pride showing in his face, “we are a modern army and many of the men are trained in carpentry, and some in engineering. It there is a need, this body of men can build siege engines, forts and even bridges.”

  “You could build a bridge across the swamp!” blurted out Hercules, suddenly interested, but the captain shook his head slowly.

  “The area of the swamp is too great,” he answered, “and it takes a long while to build a bridge. The birds would simply move to different areas of the swamp, where the bridge didn’t reach.” He thought a bit longer and added, “We could drain the swamp, it might take months but it would be effective …”

  “I’ve got a quicker way!” burst in Iolaus, his eyes bright with excitement, “Do you remember what you told me, Hercules? What one of the wise men said? About how these things were mechanical, but behaved just like real birds. Well, when I was a child and we wanted to drive away flocks of birds we’d use wooden rattles. They found the noise so frightening that they never came back to the same place again.”

  “Do you think you could show my men how to make these rattles?” asked the captain of the guard, catching onto the idea, “We passed plenty of woods near here, and our carpenters work fast when they’re given a task.” So Iolaus and the troops set to work, finding wood, making rattles and planning how to give these birds a surprise that they would never forget. Hercules, however, stomped around moodily. He knew that the plan would work, but he did not think that his part in it was great enough to justify this being one of his twelve challenges. It wasn’t until he finally sat down and calmed himself enough to think clearly that he remembered his trip down from the mountains. There had been a place, a cliff right at the edge of the swamp, where he’d had an excellent view over the entire area. After having a word with the captain of the guard, and grudgingly accepting a rattle from Iolaus, he took a specially picked group of soldiers and headed back up into the mountains.

  By the time Hercules and his group had reached their vantage point at the top of the cliff, the sun was already sinking in the sky. They could see the glow of small fires burning around the edges of the marsh, the agreed sign that the soldiers in that area were at their posts and ready. Hercules counted eight fires, two more and everyone would be in p
osition. He and his men now had to work quickly to prepare themselves. They each chose a good spot, near the edge of the cliff and stuck arrows in the ground around themselves, so that they would be within easy reach. The ninth fire was lit, and Hercules looked around, shouting words of encouragement and grinning broadly to show the men he was not afraid. Then he saw the spark of the tenth fire sending its glow through the carpet of mist. He raised his rattle and spun it vigorously, it’s clicking call echoing across the stillness. Almost immediately, and from all round the edges of the swamp, came the answering calls of a hundred other rattles. The noise, bouncing off the cliff, was unbelievable, and one or two of the men clamped their hands to their ears. Not Hercules. He dropped his rattle and grabbed his bow, knowing what would come shortly. Around him the other men also notched arrows, taking his lead. Then it started.

  The birds, scared by the noise, had flown round and round the swamp to find a place where they could escape, but they were surrounded on all sides. Now they took the only option left, and began to fly upwards, breaking out of the mist and rising above the din.