The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

by Apollodorus

  Electryon married Anaxo, the daughter of Alcaios, and fathered a daughter, Alcmene, and nine sons, [Stratobates,] Gorgophonos, Phylonomos, Celaineus, Amphimachos, Lysinomos, Cheirimachos, Anactor, and Archelaos; and after these, he also had an illegitimate son, Licymnios, by a Phrygian woman, Mideia.

  Sthenelos had Alcyone and Medusa, by Nicippe, daughter of Pelops, and afterwards he had a son, Eurystheus, who also ruled in Mycenae. For when Heracles was due to be born, Zeus declared before the gods that the descendant of Perseus who was then about to be born* would become king of Mycenae, and Hera, out of jealousy, persuaded the Eileithuiai* to delay Alcmene’s delivery, and arranged that Eurystheus, the son of Sthenelos, should be born at seven months.

  The exile of Amphitryon

  6 While Electryon was ruling at Mycenae, the sons of Pterelaos came there with Taphios and claimed back the kingdom of [their maternal grandfather]* Mestor; and when Electryon disregarded their claim, they drove his cattle away. The sons of Electryon tried to rescue them, and they challenged and killed one another. Of the sons of Electryon, only Licymnios survived, because he was still a child, and of the sons of Pterelaos only Everes, who was guarding the ships. Those of the Taphians who escaped sailed away taking the stolen cattle, which they left in the care of Polyxenos, king of the Eleans; but Amphitryon ransomed them from Polyxenos and brought them back to Mycenae. Wanting to avenge the death of his sons, Electryon planned an expedition against the Teleboans. He entrusted the kingdom to Amphitryon, together with his daughter Alcmene, making him swear an oath that he would respect her virginity until his return. As he was receiving his cows back, however, one of them rushed forward, and Amphitryon let fly at her with the club that he had in his hands, but it rebounded from her horns to hit Electryon on the head, striking him dead.* Sthenelos grasped this as a pretext to banish Amphitryon from the whole of Argos and seize power for himself in Mycenae and Tiryns; as for Midea, he summoned Atreus and Thyestes, the sons of Pelops, and entrusted the city to them.

  5. Heracles, and the Heraclids

  Amphitryon in Thebes, and the mar against the Teleboans

  Amphitryon went to Thebes with Alcmene and Licymnios and was purified by Creon, and he gave his sister, Perimede, to Licymnios as a wife. And since Alcmene said that she would marry him* when he had avenged the death of her brothers, he promised to do so, and, inviting Creon’s assistance, he prepared to march against the Teleboans. Creon said that he would join the expedition if Amphitryon would first rid the Cadmeia of the vixen* (for the Cadmeia was being devastated by a savage vixen). But even if somebody engaged to do so, it was fated that nobody could catch her. 7 Such harm was being caused to the country that each month the Thebans exposed a son of one of their citizens to her, for she would otherwise have carried off a great number of them. So Amphitryon visited Cephalos, son of Deioneus,* in Athens, and in return for a share of the plunder from the Teleboans, he persuaded him to bring to the hunt the dog* that Procris had been given by Minos and brought over from Crete; for it was fated that this dog would catch whatever it chased. So it came about that as the vixen was being pursued by the dog, Zeus turned both of them to stone.*

  With the help of his allies, Cephalos from Thoricos in Attica, Panopeus from Phocis, Heleios, son of Perseus, from Helos in the Argolid, and Creon from Thebes, Amphitryon sacked the islands of the Teleboans. Now as long as Pterelaos was still alive, Amphitryon was unable to capture Taphos; but when Comaitho, the daughter of Pterelaos, who had fallen in love with Amphitryon, plucked the golden hair from her father’s head, he died, and Amphitryon gained control of all the islands. He then put Comaitho to death* and sailed to Thebes with the plunder, giving the islands to Heleios and Cephalos, who founded cities that bear their name and settled in them.

  The birth and early life of Heracles

  8 Before Amphitryon arrived back in Thebes, Zeus came to the city by night, and tripling the length of that single night, he assumed the likeness of Amphitryon and went to bed with Alcmene, telling her all that had happened in the war with the Teleboans. When Amphitryon arrived and saw that his wife was welcoming him with no great ardour, he asked her the reason; and when she replied that he had come the previous night and slept with her, he found out from Teiresias about her intercourse with Zeus.

  Alcmene gave birth to two sons, Heracles,* who was the son of Zeus and the elder by a night, and Iphicles, whom she bore to Amphitryon.

  When Heracles was eight months old, Hera, wanting to destroy the child, sent two huge serpents to his bed. Alcmene cried out for Amphitryon, but Heracles leapt up and killed the serpents* by strangling them, one in each hand. According to Pherecydes, however, it was Amphitryon who placed the serpents in the bed, because he wanted to find out which of the children was his own; and seeing that Iphicles fled while Heracles stood his ground, he realized that Iphicles was his child.

  9 Heracles was taught chariot-driving by Amphitryon, wrestling by Autolycos, archery by Eurytos, fencing by Castor, and lyre-playing by Linos. This Linos was a brother of Orpheus, who had arrived in Thebes and become a Theban citizen, but was killed by Heracles with a blow from his lyre (for Linos had struck him,* and Heracles lost his temper and killed him). When a charge of murder was brought against Heracles, he cited a law of Rhadamanthys* saying that if a person defends himself against another who has initiated the violence, he should suffer no penalty. So Heracles was acquitted. And Amphitryon, fearing that he might do something similar again, sent him to his herds; and there he grew up, surpassing all others in size and strength. The mere sight of him was enough to show that he was a son of Zeus: for his body measured four cubits, a fiery gleam shone from his eyes, and he never missed his mark with his arrows or javelins.

  While he was still with the herds, and was now eighteen, he killed the lion of Cithairon, a beast that used to make incursions from Cithairon to destroy the cattle of Amphitryon and Thespios. 10 This last was king of Thespiae, and Heracles visited him when he wanted to kill the lion. He was entertained by him for fifty days, and each night after Heracles went out to the hunt, Thespios arranged that one of his daughters should go to bed with him. For he had fifty of them, borne to him by Megamede, daughter of Arneos, and he was eager that they should all conceive children by Heracles.* And Heracles, in the belief that he was always sleeping with the same woman, had intercourse with all of them. When he had overcome the lion, he dressed in its skin,* and used its gaping mouth as a helmet.

  Heracles and the Minyans; his first marriage, and madness

  11 As he was returning from the hunt, he was met by some heralds who had been sent by Erginos to collect the tribute from the Thebans. The Thebans were paying this tribute to Erginos for the following reason. Clymenos, king of the Minyans,* had been wounded in the sanctuary of Poseidon at Onchestos when he was struck by a stone thrown by a charioteer of Menoiceus,* a man called Perieres; and Clymenos was carried back to Orchomenos half-dead, and as he was dying, he ordered his son, Erginos, to avenge his death. So Erginos mounted an expedition against Thebes, killed no small number of the Thebans, and concluded a treaty with them, sealed by oaths, that they should send tribute to him of a hundred cattle each year for twenty years. When Heracles met with the heralds who were travelling to Thebes for the tribute, he subjected them to a shameful mutilation; for he cut off their ears, noses, and hands, and tying these to their necks with cords, he told them to take that as tribute to Erginos and the Minyans. Outraged by this action, Erginos marched against Thebes. Heracles, who had received arms from Athene, took command of the Thebans, killed Erginos, and put the Minyans to flight; and he forced them to pay tribute to the Thebans at twice the aforementioned rate.

  It happened that during the battle, Amphitryon, fighting with courage, met his death. As a prize of valour, Heracles received from Creon his eldest daughter, Megara, who bore him three sons, Therimachos, Creontiades, and Deicoon. And Creon gave his younger daughter to Iphicles, who already had a son, Iolaos, by Automedousa, daughter of Alcathous. And R
hadamanthys, son of Zeus, married Alcmene after the death of Amphitryon, and settled as an exile at Ocaleai in Boeotia.

  Heracles, who had been taught archery earlier by [Eurytos],* received a sword from Hermes, a bow and arrows from Apollo, a golden breastplate from Hephaistos, and a robe from Athene; and he cut a club for himself at Nemea.

  12 After his battle with the Minyans, it came about that Heracles was struck by madness through the jealousy of Hera, and threw his own children, who had been borne to him by Megara, into the fire, together with two of Iphicles’ children. Condemning himself to exile on this account, he was purified by Thespios and went to Delphi to ask the god where he should settle. It was on this occasion that the Pythia* called him Heracles for the first time (for until then he had been called Alceides). She told him to settle in Tiryns while he served Eurystheus for twelve years, and to accomplish the [ten] labours* that would be imposed on him; and then, she said, after the labours had been accomplished, he would come to be immortal.*

  First labour: the Nemean lion

  1 On hearing this, Heracles went to Tiryns and fulfilled what

  5

  Eurystheus demanded of him. Eurystheus began by ordering him to fetch the skin of the Nemean lion; this was an invulnerable beast fathered by Typhon.* As he was travelling to confront the lion, Heracles arrived at Cleonai and stayed with a labourer called Molorchos; and when Molorchos wanted to offer a victim in sacrifice, Heracles told him to wait for thirty days, and then, if he had returned safely from the hunt, to offer a sacrifice to Zeus the Saviour, but if he had died, to offer it to himself as a hero.* On reaching Nemea, he sought out the lion, and began by shooting arrows at it, but when he discovered that the beast was invulnerable, he raised his club and chased after it. When the lion took refuge in a cave which had two entrances, Heracles walled up one of them and went in through the other to attack the beast; and throwing his arm round its neck, he held it in a stranglehold until he had throttled it. And hoisting it on to his shoulders, he carried it back to Cleonai. Coming upon Molorchos on the last of the thirty days as he was about to sacrifice to him as a dead hero, Heracles sacrificed to Zeus the Saviour instead, and proceeded to Mycenae with the lion. Astounded by his bravery, Eurystheus refused him entry to the city from that day forth, and told him to exhibit his trophies in front of the gates. They say, furthermore, that in his alarm he had a bronze jar made for himself to hide in beneath the ground, and that he conveyed his commands for the labours through a herald, Copreus,* a son of Pelops the Elean. (Copreus had feld to Mycenae because he had killed Iphitos, and had settled there after he had been purified by Eurystheus.)

  Second labour: the Lernaean hydra

  2 As a second labour, Eurystheus ordered Heracles to kill the Lernaean hydra;* this creature had grown up in the swamp of Lerna, and used to make incursions into the plain and destroy the cattle and the countryside. The hydra had a body of enormous size, and nine heads,* of which eight were mortal, but the one in the centre immortal. So climbing on to a chariot driven by Iolaos, Heracles made his way to Lerna, and halting his horses there, he discovered the hydra on a hill by the springs of Amymone,* where it had its lair. By hurling flaming brands at it, he forced it to emerge, and as it came out, he seized it and grasped it firmly. But it twined itself round one of his legs, and clung to him. By striking the hydra’s heads off with his club Heracles achieved nothing, for as soon as one was struck off, two grew up in its place; and a huge crab came to its assistance by biting Heracles on the foot. So he killed the crab, and summoned assistance on his own account by calling Iolaos,* who set fire to part of the neighbouring forest, and using brands from it, burned out the roots of the hydra’s heads to prevent them from regrowing. And when, by this means, he had prevailed over the regenerating heads, he cut off the immortal head, buried it, and placed a heavy rock over it by the road that leads through Lerna to Elaious. As for the body of the hydra, he slit it open and dipped his arrows into its gall. Eurystheus declared, however, that this labour should not be counted among the ten, because Heracles had not overcome the hydra on his own, but only with the help of Iolaos.

  Third labour: the Cerynitian hind

  3 As a third labour, Eurystheus ordered him to bring the Cerynitian hind alive to Mycenae. This hind, which had golden horns, lived at Oinoe, and was sacred to Artemis;* so Heracles, wanting neither to kill it nor wound it, pursued it for a full year. When the hind, worn out by the chase, fled for refuge to the mountain known as Artemision, and from there towards the River Ladon, Heracles struck it with an arrow* as it was about to cross over the stream, and was thus able to catch it; and then, settling it on his shoulder, he hurried through Arcadia. But he came across Artemis in the company of Apollo, and she wanted to take the hind away from him, accusing him of trying to kill an animal that was sacred to her. By pleading necessity, however, and saying that the person responsible was Eurystheus, he allayed the anger of the goddess and brought the animal alive to Mycenae.

  Fourth labour: the Erymanthian boar

  4 As a fourth labour, Eurystheus ordered him to bring the Erymanthian boar alive. This beast was causing havoc in Psophis, sallying forth from the mountain known as Erymanthos. While Heracles was passing through Pholoe, he was entertained as a guest by the Centaur Pholos, son of Seilenos and a Melian nymph. The Centaur served roasted meat to Heracles, but he himself ate it raw. When Heracles asked for wine, he said that he was afraid to open the jar that was the common property of the Centaurs;* but Heracles urged him to take courage, and opened it up. Not long afterwards, the Centaurs became aware of the smell, and appeared at Pholos’ cave armed with rocks and fir trees. The first who dared to come inside, Anchios and Agrios, were put to flight by Heracles, who hurled flaming brands at them; and he pursued the others with arrows as far as Malea, where they took refuge with Cheiron (who had settled there after he had been driven from Mount Pelion by the Lapiths).* As the Centaurs clung to Cheiron for safety, Heracles shot an arrow at them, which passed through the arm of Elatos and lodged in Cheiron’s knee. Distressed at this, Heracles ran up to him, pulled out the arrow, and applied a potion which Cheiron gave to him; but when the wound turned out to be incurable, Cheiron withdrew to his cave. He wanted to die, but was incapable of doing so because he was immortal. Only when Prometheus offered himself to Zeus to become immortal in his place was Cheiron able to die.* The rest of the Centaurs fled in all directions; some went to Malea, while Eurytion went to Pholoe, and Nessos to the River Evenos. The rest were received at Eleusis by Poseidon, who hid them under a mountain. Pholos, for his part, had pulled an arrow from a corpse, marvelling that so small a thing could kill creatures of such a size; but the arrow slipped from his hand and landed on his foot, killing him instantly.* When Heracles returned to Pholoe and saw that Pholos was dead, he buried him and went out to hunt the boar. He chased the beast from the thicket with loud cries; and thrusting it exhausted into deep snow, he trapped it in a noose, and took it to Mycenae.

  Fifth labour: the cattle of Angelas

  5 As a fifth labour, Eurystheus ordered Heracles to remove the dung of the cattle of Augeias without assistance in a single day. Augeias was the king of Elis, and, according to some, he was a son of the Sun, or according to others, of Poseidon, or again, of Phorbas; and he owned many herds of cattle. Heracles went up to him, and without disclosing Eurystheus’ order, said that he would remove the dung in a single day if Augeias would give him a tenth of his cattle. Augeias gave his word, not believing that he could do it. After he had engaged Phyleus, the son of Augeias, as a witness, Heracles made a breach in the foundations of [the wall surrounding] the cattle yard, and then, diverting the courses of the Alpheios and the Peneios which flowed nearby, he channelled their water into the yard, after first making an outlet through another breach. When Augeias discovered that the task had been accomplished on the order of Eurystheus, he refused to pay the reward,* and went so far as to deny that he had ever promised to pay a reward, saying that he was ready to submit to arbi
tration on the matter. When the judges had taken their seats, Phyleus was called by Heracles and testified against his father,* saying that he had agreed to pay a reward to Heracles. Augeias flew into a rage, and before the vote had been cast, ordered both Phyleus and Heracles to depart from Elis. So Phyleus went to Doulichion and settled there; and Heracles visited Dexamenos in Olenos. He caught him as he was about to give his daughter, Mnesimache, under compulsion to the Centaur Eurytion; and when he was asked to help, Heracles killed Eurytion as he arrived to claim his bride. Eurystheus would not accept this labour either as one of the ten, saying that it had been accomplished for pay.

  Sixth labour: the Stymphalian birds

  6 As a sixth labour, Eurystheus ordered him to drive away the Stymphalian birds. At the city of Stymphalos in Arcadia there was a lake called Stymphalis, in the depths of a thick forest; and innumerable birds had sought refuge there, fearing to become the prey of wolves. So when Heracles was at a loss as to how he could drive the birds from the wood, Athene gave him some bronze castanets which she had received from Hephaistos. By rattling these from a certain mountain that lay beside the lake, he frightened the birds. Unable to endure the noise, they flew up in alarm, and in that way Heracles was able to shoot them down* with his arrows.