Hercules
Conclusion of the Twelve Labors of Hercules, or how many different deeds can a naked hero do?
The ninth labor was to bring back the "girdle of Hippolyta", queen of the Amazons, a race of mythical female warriors. It wasn't a girdle in the modern sense of the word; it was worn around the waist like a belt. In any case, the goddess Hera was still holding a grudge against Hercules after all these years. She convinced the Amazons that Hercules was trying to kidnap their queen, and the Amazons attacked. In the resulting melee, Hippolyta was killed, but Hercules got the girdle and returned with it.
(The Belt of Hippolyta by J.M.Felix Magdalena, 2010)
The tenth labor was to obtain the cattle of the giant Geryon, who lived at the western edge of the world.
(Hercules defeats king Gerion by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1634, Prado Museum, Madrid)
In Roman versions of the myth, when Hercules was returning with the cattle, the giant Cacus stole some of them, and Hercules had to fight and kill Cacus.
(Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence)
But the most interesting part of the story is the legend that on this journey to the far west, Hercules split a mountain in half, creating the Strait of Gibraltar and leaving the mountain halves on either side, one of which is the Rock of Gibraltar. The other one is a mountain in Morocco. In ancient times these mountains were known as the Pillars of Hercules.
(Hercules separates Mounts Calpe and Abylla by Francisco de Zurbaran, 1634, Prado museum, Madrid)
The durability of this myth is demonstrated by this 1915 poster for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal. The poster is labeled "the Thirteenth Labor of Hercules" at the bottom. It shows a giant Herculean figure (nude, of course) creating the Panama Canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific, just as Hercules supposedly created the Strait of Gibraltar, linking the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
King Eurystheus had told Hercules that he had to do ten labors. Then Eurystheus reneged on the deal, claiming that the second labor (killing the Hydra) didn't count, because Hercules had help, and neither did the fifth labor (cleaning the Augean stables) because the river water had done the cleaning, not Hercules himself. So Hercules still had to perform two more labors.
The eleventh labor was to steal the golden apples of the Hesperides from a mythical garden. Some side incidents are more interesting than the actual part about the apples. Along the way, Hercules met Antaeus, a man who wrestled and killed all passers-by. Antaeus was the son of the earth goddess Gaia, and as long as his feet touched the earth, he could not be defeated. Hercules lifted his feet off the ground (above) and crushed him to death.
(Hercules and Antaeus by the circle of Vittore Gambello, early 1500s)
The other interesting incident is that Hercules met Atlas, who held up the heavens on his shoulders. Hercules offered to hold the heavens for a bit while Atlas retrieved the apples of the Hesperides for him (in one version of the myth, Atlas is the father of the nymphs who guard the apples). Upon his return, Altas decided he didn't want to hold up the heavens any more, and he was going to leave Hercules holding them forever. Hercules agreed, but asked Atlas to take the heavens back for just a minute so Hercules could adjust the pad on his shoulder. Atlas took the heavens back, and it was "So long, sucker!" Hercules departed with the apples.
This statue is the Farnese Atlas in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples. It's a Roman copy c. 150 AD of an earlier Greek sculpture. You might think Atlas is holding a globe of the earth, but it's not the earth, it's a celestial globe depicting the constellations of the sky. Atlas didn't hold up the earth; he held up the sky.
The twelfth labor was to bring back Cerberus, the fierce three-headed dog that was the guardian of the gates of the underworld. Hercules descended into the underworld and asked Hades, the god of the underworld, if he could bring Cerberus to the surface. Hades agreed if Hercules could subdue the beast without weapons.
(Hercules (center) with Cerberus, Greek krater, c. 330-310 BC, Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich)
Of course, Hercules subdued Cerberus with his bare hands, just like the lion and the bull. He then brought Cerberus back to Eurystheus, who was so frightened that he begged Hercules to take Cerberus back, and he released Hercules from performing any more labors.
That ends the Twelve Labors of Hercules, but we have many more myths from other cultures to come.
(Hercules and Cerberus by "FP", 1500-1550, now in the Museum of New Zealand)
6 comments:
very interesting!
What's interesting is how far this myth had spread. There are variants in India, China, Korea, and Japan.
I think you forgot that all of this began as a sort of atonement for killing his family (when Hers struck him with madness).
Fascinating stuff. Thank you for the effort you put into this.
The result of the splitting of the mountains --- may have been the inspiration for the Guardians in LOTR.
Agatha Christie wrote a series of stories featuring her detective Hercule Poirot, titled "The Labours of Hercules." Each case bore some resemblance to one of the labors of Hercules, sometimes tenuously (the Nemean Lion was a yappy lapdog, the Arcadian Deer was a ballet dancer). Ever since I read the stories, I've been fascinated by artistic renderings of Hercules and his mythological labors. Thanks!
That's interesting. I didn't know about those variants. I explained about Hercules' atonement in the first part of this 3-part series.
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