§ Chiron has a solution, goes with Hercules to the mountain where Prometheus is chained—Trades places
· Chiron tells Hercules how to catch the boar
· Prometheus tells Hercules which woman Zeus shouldn’t mess around with
§ Waits until winter
· Drives the boar into a snowdrift
§ Eurystheus is so scared when Hercules returns that he jumps into a wine jar
o Clean the Augean stables
§ King Augeas’ stables have never been cleaned and he has a herd of cows…
· Must clean the stables in one day
§ Hercules re-routes a river and washes it all away
§ Just like the Hydra, Eurystheus says Hercules didn’t actually do it…
o The Stymphlian Birds
§ Pets of Ares
§ Brass wings
§ Toxic dung
§ Man-eating
§ Hercules gets bronze clappers from Hephaestus
· Drives birds mad
· Shoots them
· Last 6 labors of Hercules
o Capture the Cretan Bull
§ Review Theseus and the Minotaur
§ Releases to wander Marathon
o Steal the horses of Diomedes
§ Diomedes is a giant (and son of Ares) w/ a herd of man-eating, fire-breathing horses
§ Hercules waits until night, looses the horses and chases them up a hill
· Then digs a trench around it, lets a river flow in—Makes it an island
§ When Diomedes shows up, Hercules fights him, kills him and then feeds him to the horses to calm them down
§ Takes them back and dedicates them to Hera
o Get the belt of Hippolita
§ Queen of the Amazons
· A belt from Ares given as a symbol of her queenship
§ Hercules arrives, queen aggress, no prob
· But Hera disguises herself as an Amazon and starts a rumor that Hercules will kidnap the queen
§ Amazons storm Hercules ship, he grabs the belt and runs
o Steal the cattle of Geryon
§ Geryon is a monster with one head, three bodies and two legs (number of arms in dispute)
§ Kills Geryon’s two headed god and then Geryon himself with an arrow
§ Starts the cows back
· Two happenings, Hera sends a fly and he meets a race of dragon women who try to take the cattle
o Apples of the Hesperides
o Cerberus
§ Goes down, asks Hades
§ Must take Cerberus w/o weapons but it’s ok
· End of Hercules’ life
o Goes on to have many other adventures
§ Omphale
· A princess whose brother is accidently killed by Hercules in another Hera-induced fit—Throws him over the city wall
· Forced to serve her, in drag, doing women servant’s tasks
· She forces him to marry her but since he was a slave, it ends when he is freed
§ The Argo
§ Antaeus
· Giant who cannot be defeated while he touches the ground
· Challenges people as they pass, wins and takes their heads
o Wants to build a skull temple to Poseidon
· Hercules figures out that he regains his strength when he is thrown to the ground, so lifts him up!
o The Giant War (Gigantomachy)
§ The giants were created when Uranus’ blood fell onto Gaia
§ Join the Olympians against the Titans
§ But… Over time they become unhappy with Zeus
§ Attempt to storm Olympus
· Ares goes out first—Gets stuck in a jar
§ Hercules to the rescue
· Olympians win
· Ares let out of the jar
o Meets and marries Deianira
§ Just after the wedding, they’re about to cross a river
· A centaur named Nessus offers to take her across
o But when they get to the other side, he takes off with Deianira
§ Hercules shoots him
§ Nessus tells Deianira that his blood is magical and will make Hercules fall in love with her all over again if his affections ever flag
· But his blood has been infected with the Hydra blood…
§ Some years later, Deianira hears a rumor that Hercules has been unfaithful
· Soaks a shirt in the blood and sends it to Hercules
· Later, after the messenger leaves, some of the blood falls on the floor and melts the tiles—She tries to catch the messenger but is too late
§ When Hercules puts the tunic on, it burns him so badly that his bone is exposed in some places
· Hercules knows he is dying but he will only go on his own terms
o Uproots trees to build his own funeral pyre
§ Pyre lit by his nephew Iolus and his best friend Philoctetes
· Philoctetes gets Hercules’ bow and arrows—Takes them with him to the Trojan War and kills Paris
§ As his mortal side burns, Hercules’ immortal side is taken up to Olympus
· Reconciles with Hera
· Marries Hebe, the Goddess of Youth
· Hercules isn’t a god to the Greeks but he is to the Romans
o God of athletics, exercise, training, etc.
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