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In Greek mythology, Heracles, or Herakles ("glory of Hera") was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, stepson of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters.

Extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females were among his characteristic attributes. Together with Hermes he was the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae. His iconographic attributes are the lion skin and the club. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have "made the world safe for mankind" and to be its benefactor.

In Rome and the modern West, he is generally known as Hercules.

The Twelve Labors:

Heracles was required to carry out twelve labors set by his arch-enemy, Eurystheus, who had become king in Heracles' place. Heracles accomplished these tasks, but Hera ordered Eurystheus to give two more tasks to Heracles, which he then carried out.

1. The Nemean Lion.

2. The Lernaean Hydra.

3. The Ceryneian Hind.

4. The Erymanthian Boar.

5. The Augean Stables.

6. The Stymphalian Birds.

7. The Cretan Bull.

8. The Mares of Diomedes.

9. The Girdle of Hippolyte.

10. The Cattle of Geryon.

11. The Apples of the Hesperides.

12. The Capture of Cerberus, the guardian dog of Hades.

The Garden of the Hesperides:

"The Garden of the Hesperides" by Frederick, Lord Leighton, 1892The Garden of the Hesperides is Hera's orchard in the west, where either a single tree or a grove of immortality-giving golden apples grew. The apples were planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to her as a wedding gift when Hera accepted Zeus. The Hesperides were given the task of tending to the grove, but occasionally plucked from it themselves. Not trusting them, Hera also placed in the garden a never-sleeping, hundred-headed, dragon, named Ladon, as an additional safeguard.

Although Heracles was supposed to perform only ten labours, Eurystheus discounted those where he was aided or paid, and so two additional labours were given. The first of these (the eleventh overall) was to steal the apples from the garden. Heracles first caught Nereus, the shape-shifting sea god, to learn where the Garden of the Hesperides was located.

In some versions of the tale, Heracles did not know where to travel, and so sought help, being directed to Prometheus to ask, and when reaching Prometheus freed him from his torture as payment. This tale is more usually found in the position of the Erymanthian Boar, since it is associated with Chiron choosing to forgo immortality and taking Prometheus' place.

In some variations, Heracles, either at the start or at the end of his task, meets Antaeus, who was invincible as long as he touched his mother, Gaia, the earth. Antaeus was killed by placing him above the earth, suspended in a tree.

Occasionally, versions tell that Heracles stopped in Egypt, where King Busiris decided to make him the yearly sacrifice, but Heracles burst out of his chains.

Finally making his way to the Garden of the Hesperides, Heracles tricked Atlas into retrieving some of the golden apples for him, by offering to hold the heavens for a little while (Atlas was able to take them, as in this version, Atlas was the father or otherwise kin of the Hesperides). Upon his return with the apples, Atlas decided not to take the heavens back from Heracles, but Heracles tricked him again by agreeing to take his place on condition that Atlas relieved him temporarily so that Heracles could make his cloak more comfortable. Atlas agreed, Heracles walked away. According to an alternative version, Heracles slew Ladon instead.

Heracles was the only person to successfully steal the apples, although Athena later returned the apples to their rightful place, in the garden. They are considered by some to be the same "apples of joy" that tempted Atalanta, as opposed to the "apple of dischord" used by Eris to start a beauty contest on Olympus.

NOTE:

• In Greek mythology, Atlas was one of the primordial Titans.
  
  Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetos and the Oceanid Clymene. Where a Titan and a Titaness are assigned each of the seven planetary powers, Atlas is paired with Phoebe and governs the moon. He had three brothers — Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.
  
  Atlas sided with the Titans in their war (known as the Titanomachy) against the Olympians. His brothers Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius weighed the odds and betrayed the other Titans by an alliance with the Olympians. When the Titans were defeated, many of them were confined to Tartaros, but Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of the earth and hold up the heavens on his shoulders, to prevent the two from resuming their primordial embrace.
  
  In a late story, a giant named Atlas tried to drive a wandering Perseus from the place where the Atlas mountains now stand. Perseus revealed Medusa's head, turning Atlas to stone. As is not uncommon in myth, this account cannot be reconciled with the far more common stories of Atlas' dealings with Heracles, who was Perseus' great-grandson.
  
  One of the hero Heracles' Twelve Labors involved the acquisition of some of the golden apples which grow in Hera's garden, tended by the Hesperides and guarded by the dragon Ladon. Heracles went to Atlas, the father of the Hesperides, and offered to hold the heavens for a little while in exchange for the apples, to which Atlas agreed. Upon his return with the apples, however, Atlas attempted to trick Heracles into carrying the sky permanently by offering to deliver the apples himself. Heracles, suspecting Atlas didn't intend to return again, pretended to agree to Atlas' offer, asking only that Atlas take the sky again for a few minutes so Heracles could rearrange his cloak as padding on his shoulders. When Atlas set down the apples and took the heavens upon his shoulders again, Heracles took the apples and went on his way.
  
  In some versions, Heracles instead built the two great Pillars of Hercules to hold the sky away from the earth, liberating Atlas much as he liberated Prometheus.
   
• In Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, weaving, crafts, and war. Athena's wisdom encompasses the technical knowledge employed in weaving, metal-working, and war, but also includes the cunning intelligence (metis) of such trickster figures as Odysseus.
  
  Athena instructed Heracles how to remove the skin from the Nemean Lion, by using the lion's own claws to cut through its thick hide. The lion's hide became Heracles' signature garment, along with the olive-wood club he used in the battle. Athena also assisted Heracles on a few other labors.
  
  She also helped Heracles defeat the Stymphalian Birds, along with Hephaestus.

About out Logo:

Heraklès archer (1909), bronze sculpture by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle (1861–1929).Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.

Links:

• Mythologie und Herrschaft (German)