by Joe Corcoran
onto one knee. For a second the full weight of the sky fell onto that one rock, until an instant later, with a loud boom, it crumbled to powder. Quickly Hercules regained his feet, and balanced the weight once more on his head. Looking to his left, he was dismayed to see the sky was covered in hundreds of tiny scratches where it had rested on the rock.
“I’m sure from a distance it will just look like there’s a cloud there,” he told himself.
Now he was determined to stand still and wait for Atlas - no matter how bad the pain. If only he knew how long it would be. It seemed like an hour already. Maybe he should summon Zeus? But maybe Atlas was on his way back at this very moment. Zeus would be angry to be called on for no reason, and Zeus could be unpredictable when he was angry. I know, thought Hercules to himself, I’ll start counting and then I’ll know when an hour’s gone by. I just need to figure out how high I should be able to count in an hour … Hercules was still trying to work out the number when Atlas arrived back. The Titan paused just below the summit, so as not to bump his head on the sky.
“Well, for a little man you are quite strong,” said Atlas, grinning up at Hercules, then the grin faded, “is that a scratch?”
“No, no, just a cloud.”
“It looks like a scratch to me.”
“Have you got the apple?” asked Hercules, changing the subject.
“Yes, I do,” replied Atlas, “and I saw Zeus too. He’s not happy that you killed Hera’s serpent. He says he’s gone to find another one, so I’m to take the apple to Olympus on his behalf. You’ll have to hold the sky up a little longer, I’m afraid.”
“You’re lying,” said Hercules.
“How did you know? … I mean, no I’m not,” replied Atlas.
“I know that you’re lying, because I know that the apple is to be a gift from Zeus to Hera to celebrate their wedding anniversary. He would never let another man deliver it to her,”
Atlas looked almost comical as he tried to figure out whether or not to deny this accusation, so Hercules continued, “I know that the lie wasn’t your idea, you’re not clever enough to have come up with this alone.”
“It’s true,” said Atlas, with a sheepish grin, “everything about me is big except my brain.”
“So it must have been your daughters who put you up to this deception,” Hercules said, “if you stop it now and take back the sky, then I promise not to call Zeus to punish you.”
“Well, that’s just the thing,” said Atlas, the grin returning to his face, “my daughters have used their magic to cast a spell of silence around these mountains. You can call as loud as you want, Zeus won’t be able to hear you.”
Sure enough, although Hercules called and shouted for Zeus until he was hoarse, his father did not appear.
“And don’t think you’ll be able to move from that spot either,” continued the Titan, “I’ve tried and the sky is much too heavy. So I’m free and you’re stuck in eternal torment. Who’s the dummy now?”
Well, what could Hercules do? He dropped his eyes to the ground, sighed a deep sigh of defeat and spoke to Atlas as follows:
“Very well, you win. I don’t blame you for wanting to escape. This is a terrible punishment to endure. I hope you enjoy your freedom,” then he looked up at Atlas and continued, “just, before you leave me here forever, will you grant me one last request.”
“Of course,” Atlas murmured, motioning for Hercules to continue.
“The sky is rubbing my head terribly. I’m sure it won’t be long before it wears right through the skin. Please would you take the weight off for a few seconds while I make a pad out of my cloak to put on my head?”
Atlas said that this was the least he could do for someone who was so gracious in defeat. He put down the apple and climbed up to the summit so that he could rest his back against the sky. Then, with a great grunt, he lifted it off Hercules’ head. As soon as he was free from the burden, Hercules dived for the apple, grabbing it in both hands and rolling quickly down the mountainside, out of the reach of Atlas.
“You tricked me,” bellowed Atlas, for sure enough it was now he, not Hercules, who was pinned at the top of the mountain by the weight of the sky.
“It’s no crime to trick a trickster,” said Hercules, and when Atlas looked puzzled he explained.
“You broke your promise, and tried to trick me into carrying the sky forever. Now we are simply back to where we would have been if you had kept your word. All is fair.”
“I see,” said Atlas slowly, “I didn’t behave very honourably, and now I’ve got what I deserve.”
He seemed to like this idea and smiled. Then he thought some more and frowned, “honour can be quite painful, can’t it.” It wasn’t really a question, so Hercules didn’t reply, he simply turned and headed back down the mountain.
Hercules tried to summon Zeus several more times on his way down the mountain, as he was anxious to hand over the apple and complete the challenge, but he had no more success than before. In the end he decided to return to Iolaus and summon Zeus from there. First he returned to the valley floor, where the hind had been grazing peacefully the whole time. In fact she had grown quite bored and decided that now it was play time. She hid from Hercules by kneeling down in the long meadow grass, jumping up when he got near and running away. She thought it was a great game when he starting chasing her. She didn’t notice how angry Hercules was getting.
“Don’t you realise how short of time we are?” he growled when he finally caught her, “Alcyoneus could break free any day now.”
The hind didn’t really understand, but she could see that Hercules was cross and resolved to make amends by running extra fast once they got underway. Hercules quickly got the hind harnessed to the chariot and led her to the entrance to the Underworld. Then he took out the shadow compass, held it in his hand and whispered … nothing. He couldn’t remember the name of the town where he had left Iolaus. He was the king, and he didn’t even know what it was called! Fortunately he had a good idea – ‘Erytheia’ he whispered and, sure enough, the compass swung round to point into the cavern. With a flick of the reins and the thunder of hooves, they disappeared inside.
When he arrived back at the town, Hercules hunted everywhere for Iolaus, who he finally found talking to an old man up on the side of the mountain. They were discussing how to carry fresh water into the town and how to carry sewage out, as this was essential to keeping the population healthy. Iolaus was explaining how to build an aqueduct when Hercules interrupted angrily.
“Don’t you know we’re in a hurry. I don’t even know how long we’ve got left and here you are discussing water works with this old man.”
“This old man,” replied Iolaus calmly, “is the town astronomer. He can tell the day, and many other things, from the positions of the stars.”
“Your young friend and I,” said the old man, “have calculated that in two days it will be exactly a year since Zeus appeared in your dream.”
“Then we must be away,” roared Hercules, “time is running out,” and he started to move uneasily from one foot to the other, wanting to be doing something but not knowing exactly what.
“Calm yourself,” said Iolaus, “everything is prepared. I see you still have the apple. You should summon Zeus and hand it over. While he is here you should ask about the next challenge. Once you know where we need to go and what we need to do, let’s meet by the entrance to the Underworld.”
Iolaus’ sensible words calmed Hercules.
“Very well,” he said, “you two take the chariot. I will wait here to summon Zeus, beyond the town walls and away from other people.”
As soon as the chariot was a safe distance away, Hercules held the golden apple up towards the sky and shouted, “Father Zeus, come and claim what is yours!” Almost immediately there was a flash of bright white light and Hercules found himself standing, not on a mountainside, but on the steps of what looked like a huge temple. Above him rose massive columns of white marble, and below he could see
a gently sloping lawn that disappeared into thick cloud only a stone’s throw away. Inside the building he could see a huge room with an open fire burning at the centre. Around the fire were arranged twelve couches, and countless tables piled high with food and drink. Hercules only had a moment to take in these surroundings before, with no more disturbance than a shimmering in the air, Zeus appeared before him.
“Why have you brought me to Olympus?” asked Hercules.
He had immediately recognised the palace of the gods, which sat at the very summit of Mount Olympus. He had been there before, during the battle with the giants, when it had rung with the sounds of war cries and thunder.
“Foolish boy,” snarled Zeus, and swept his spear with deadly speed at Hercules’ body. Taken by surprise, Hercules nevertheless managed to bring forward his arm to block the blow, but the spear passed through his arm and body as if they were no more than mist. Hercules looked down, amazed to find himself unharmed and also dressed, not in his lion skin, but in a white smock tied with a golden chain at the waist.
“You’re not really here,” continued Zeus, “I have only brought your spirit to this place, so that we can talk. A raven will come to collect the golden apple. You should leave it on the ground when you return to your body.”
“I hope your business with me will be short,” said Hercules, with as much patience as he could
