The Lion, The Hydra, and The Stag

Coverpage - Introduction - The Lion, Hydra, & Stag - The Boar, Stables, & Birds - The Bull, Mares, & Girdle - The Cattle, Apples, & Cerberus

I traveled to Eurystheus's palace in Mycenae; I was willing to be humiliated as his slave if that would restore the honor I had lost after killing my family.  As soon as I got there, he sent me on my first mission as his servant:  to slay the great lion of the Nemean forest.  Grateful that my first task was not embarrassing, I quickly left in the direction of Nemea.

Hercules battling the Nemean lion
Only a few hours after I arrived at the forest, I saw the great beast.  It was the biggest, fiercest lion in all the world, but I knew I must defeat the beast in order to regain my honor.  I shot an arrow at the lion, and it struck his hide without even making him flinch.  I shot several more and, finally, he jumped up in a rage. 

When he spotted me, the lion immediately ran in my direction.  He was much faster than I anticipated, so the only weapon I had a chance to grab was a nearby oak tree; I ripped it up by the roots and struck the lion with it.  I struck him over and over with the tree until he finally retreated into a nearby cave.  I followed him in and wrestled with him for what seemed like an eternity until I finally got my arms around him.  I squeezed as hard as I could until he finally stopped moving. 

Hercules in body armor with club
I threw the lion's huge carcass over my shoulders and dragged it back to Eurystheus.  As soon as I arrived back at his palace, however, he sent me to kill the Hydra, a water snake with over one hundred heads!  Although the Hydra was one of the most-feared monsters in the world, I knew I must attempt the mission in order to redeem myself.  It lived in Lake Lerna, so I set out immediately to complete this second task, using the Nemean lion's tough hide as body armor.  I also carried the remains of the oak tree I used to kill the lion; I carved it down into a club, making it much more manageable.

Hercules battling the Hydra

Knowing the Hydra lived in a swampy area of the lake, I headed straight there.  As soon as I arrived, I saw the Hydra and quickly smashed one of its heads.  Imagine my surprise when two more heads popped out in the place of the one I had just demolished!  When I smashed the new heads, two more emerged from the place of each one!  I knew this process would go on forever, so I began to think of a better way to defeat the monster.  Finally, my wits gave me the answer:  as with many troubles men face, attacking what we see is not always the best solution.  Instead, there is often a source of trouble that produces what we see, so I tried to find the central head that most likely supplied all the others.

In order to stop more heads from appearing, I used a red-hot pipe to cauterize the amputated heads.  I was relieved when the new heads stopped growing and finally, when I was just about to collapse with exhaustion, I reached the biggest head of all.  I quickly struck the head as many times as I could and burned it with the pipe.  As I suspected, without this central head, the rest of the Hydra collapsed and died.  Before returning to Mycenae, I dipped my arrows in the Hydra's blood which I had heard was a toxic poison.
Hercules capturing the stag

As soon as I got back to Eurystheus, he once again sent me on another mission:  to capture the elusive Ceryneian stag.  This large deer was rumored to have brass hoofs and golden horns and was said to be faster than any creature in the world.  Although slaying it may have been possible, I was worried about the prospects of catching it alive.

When I neared the stag for the first time, it jumped up and ran away faster than I could have hoped to follow.  I tried next to trick it by running it into a corner, but it somehow got away again.  I continued trying to catch the stag for more than a year and finally, the deer collapsed in exhaustion.  I was relieved that he finally tired out because I was about to collapse as well!  Never had I felt more rewarded for my persistence.  I grabbed the stag by its horns and dragged it by brute force all the way back to Mycenae.  As was his custom, Eurystheus had yet another seemingly impossible task awaiting me as soon as I returned...









Coverpage - Introduction - The Lion, Hydra, & Stag - The Boar, Stables, & Birds - The Bull, Mares, & Girdle - The Cattle, Apples, & Cerberus


Author's Note:  These first couple stories are very similar to the originals, but there are a few very important changes I made to them.  In the original versions I read for this project (and all other versions I have read...) Hercules actually is a rather violent guy.  He is usually pretty good, but when he gets drunk or loses his temper, he can be pretty cruel.  Some of the sources I read attributed his violence to Hera's influence on him and her efforts to get him into trouble. 
For my version of these stories, however, I want Hercules to be represented in a little more positive light - I want him to be performing these acts out of a sense of duty.  I attributed his murdering his family to Hera's influence, but I want his service to Eurystheus to be completely in an effort to regain his honor. 
There was a portion of the third labor (capturing the Ceryneian stag) that I omitted from my retelling:  in the other versions, he is forcefully dragging the stag back to Mycenae when he encounters the stag's master, the goddess Diana.  When she demands that Hercules release the stag, he apologetically refuses, saying he must take it to his master.  The goddess then gives him the stag as a token of her appreciation for a man who is not too proud to admit his purpose.  After this, the stag follows him obediently, but for reasons that will appear later, I wanted him to struggle dragging the stag all the way back.

The accounts of these labors are adapted from:
R. E. Francillon's book, Gods and Heroes.  Published 1894.
"The Life and Times of Hercules", an article from the Perseus Project, Tufts University.
The images in this story are as follows:
1)  Image of Hercules wrestling the Nemean Lion, as depicted on ancient artifacts, from Tufts University.
2)  Image of Hercules wearing the lion's hide and carrying his club, as depicted on ancient artifacts, from Tufts University.
3)  Image of Hercules battling the Hydra, from an article on Wikipedia.
4)  Image of a statue depicting Hercules capturing the Ceryneian stag, from an article on Wikipedia.

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