For my storybook I've decided to explore some of the labors the Greek
hero Heracles accomplished. The best person I found to tell these
stories of Heracles' labors, which are tasks he had to overcome to pay
for a crime he committed, is a young boy's grandfather; this young boy
is Patrick. Grandpa is famous throughout Patrick's family as
being one of the best storytellers, especially about the Greek gods and
goddesses. Through Grandpa's words we will discover Heracles'
great strength and power that makes him famous today.
"Welcome to the tales of the great Heracles! Here you will learn
of the great labors of one of the most famous Greek legends of all
time! The mighty Heracles has..."
"Grandpa! Quit acting so silly! Just get to the best part,
the actual story!” shouted Patrick.
"Oh, alright, BUT we have to go over the background of all of the
stories first," said the young boy's grandpa.
"Aww, do we have to?” Patrick asked.
"Yes, Patrick, we do. It's very important that we know what makes
this man so great in the first place," Grandpa replied.
"Oh OK, I guess I know what you mean,” said Patrick.
"It all began when the great and powerful Zeus, the king of all the
gods in Greece, and his mortal mistress, Alcmene, gave birth to the
baby Heracles . Zeus had a wife, Hera, when Heracles was
born. She became very angry when she found out about Heracles'
birth and tried to hurt Alcmene. After he was born, Hera plotted
to hurt Heracles since she couldn't get to Alcmene like she wanted
to. When he was first born, Hera sent two serpents down to kill
Heracles, but because of his strength at such a young age those
serpents became just like any normal toy to a young infant. There
were things about him that made him unique; he had the strength of the
gods, but carried with him qualities of a mortal man. Hera was
able to hurt him mentally, causing him to have feel outrage and anger
at certain moments. He became so angry that he hurt his own
children and was forced to pay a price. The price he had to pay was to
complete twelve labors, some of which required him to defeat fierce and
powerful creatures, including a fearless lion, a striking boar, and a
powerful bull. The Nemean Lion was a strong creature that created
fear all along the land of Nemea. The Erymanthian Boar was a
destructive creature that destroyed the people's lands in
Erymanthos. The
Cretan Bull was a dangerous animal that roamed Crete and tore down
buildings, homes, farms, and even killed people. The three tales
are a
small part of what Heracles had to go
through, but we are going to talk about just these three tales, so you
can
understand how strong the great Heracles was,” said the
grandfather.
"But Grandfather, if he fought animals like that, like the boar, that
sounds pretty easy to me. I mean, he had weapons and all, didn't
he?" asked Patrick.
"Oh my dear grandson, the only thing he had was his sword, but if it
hadn't been for his great power, none of this would have been
achieved. It takes a great and powerful force to accomplish so
many
labors like these,” the Grandfather replied.
"Wow. So when are you going to tell me about the labors?" asked
Patrick.
"That's what I'm just about to get to. Are you ready to hear
those great stories?" asked the grandfather.
"Oh yes! I'm so ready!” Patrick said.
"Alright, it all began on just any normal day in Cleonae, a small town
in ancient Greece..."
The Nemean Lion
The Erymanthian Boar
The Cretan Bull
Storybook Home
