1. Aim: What were the 12 labors of Hercules?
Do Now: Who were Perseus and Andromeda? What was the name of their most famous descendant? HW: Latin 2 Vocabulary Quiz Friday 5/10 on pg. 43 of Wheelock’s Latin 3 Vocabulary Quiz Friday 5/10 on pg of Wheelock’s Final- Latin 2- June 11th and 12th Latin 3- June 11th, 12th, and 13th Speaking- May 29th Dictation (Latin 3)- May 30th Latin 3 Review session- Tuesday May 28th 2:40-3:40 LHS Meeting- Monday at 2:30 in Rm 202

2. Hercules

3. Son of Jupiter and Alcmene
Alcmene- the mortal granddaughter of Perseus and Andromeda
Jupiter disguised himself as Alcmene’s husband Amphitryon

4. Amphitryon,

5. Oddly enough, Amphitryon returned home from war later that night!
Alcmene was now pregnant with, not one, but two sons…yay

6. What do you remember about Juno’s personality? i.e. Jupiter’s wife

7. Juno made Jupiter swear an oath

8. He promised her that the child born that night into the Perseus family would become High King
Juno made him promise this, knowing that a boy named Eurystheus would be born soon
Juno caused Eurystheus to be born prematurely, before Hercules
She would’ve prevented Hercules’ birth altogether if it hadn’t been for Alcmene’s servant who lied, saying that the boy had already been born

9. More questionable parenting in mythology
Alcmene, when she found out what her servant had done, and afraid of Juno’s vengeance, abandoned Hercules

10. Minerva, Hercules’s half-sister, brought Hercules to Juno

11. Juno didn’t recognize the baby and nursed him
The divine milk gave baby Hercules supernatural powers

12. Juno was NOT finished trying to destroy Hercules
She sent two giant snakes into the bed chamber of the twins when they were only 8 months old
Hercules strangled both snakes and was found by his nurse, playing with them like toys

13. It was at this moment that Hercules’ mother and step-father knew that he was…different
They summoned a seer named Tiresias who foresaw that Hercules was destined to slay many monsters

14. Growing up, Hercules was not the most ambitious student
He killed his music tutor Linus with a lyre

15. Amphitryon sent Hercules to tend to some cattle on a mountain
There he was visited by two figures: Vice and Virtue
They offered him a choice between a pleasant, easy life and a severe but glorious life
Which one do you think he chose?

16. Later, Hercules got married
He married King Creon’s daughter Megara

17. Yet more questionable parenting
In a fit of madness, induced by Juno, Hercules murdered his and Megara’s children
Once he realized what he’d done, Hercules was devastated

18. He consulted the Oracle of Delphi which (surprise surprise) was being manipulated by Juno
To atone for his crime, Hercules was instructed to serve King Eurystheus (the man who became king in Hercules’s place)
Hercules was ordered to perform 10 labors set forth by Eurystheus, upon completion of which, Hercules would be purified of his sin and become an immortal god

19. Kind of like a really really really high stakes version of the Triwizard Tournament

20. Task # 1- Slay the Nemean Lion

21. This lion had been attacking the city of Nemea
Hercules defeated the lion with his bare hands
He then wore the skin of the lion as a cloak as a demonstration of his victory

22. Task # 2- Slay the Lernaean Hydra

23. So what’s the Lernaean Hydra?
A fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion and a body of many snakes which lay in a swamp near Lerna (a region of Greece)

24. With the help of his nephew, Hercules defeated the Hydra
He then dipped his arrows in the Hydra’s poisoned blood, thus impregnating them with venom

25. Task # 3- Capture (but not kill) the Golden Hind of Diana

26. The Golden Hind (deer) of Diana
Golden antlers
Hooves of bronze or brass
Could outrun a flying arrow

27. After chasing the hind for a year..
Hercules captured it and presented it, alive, to Eurystheus

28. Task # 4- Capture the Erymanthian Boar and bring it to Mycenae
A fearsome boar, on the loose

29. Just like the 3rd task, this one took a long time
But with perseverance and patience, our tireless hero captured the boar and brought it to Mycenae

30. Task # 5- Clean the Augean Stables in 1 day
The Augean stables were the home of a herd of cattle that produced poisoned feces
These stables had been given to Augeas by his father Helios…an interesting choice of gift
Augeas offered Hercules one tenth of the cattle if he got the job done in one day

31. How did Hercules clean these stables in 1 day?
First, he dug ditches on both sides of the stables
Next, he moved the feces into the ditches
Finally, he diverted the Alpheios and Penaios Rivers to wash the ditches clean
Job well done! Time to get paid, right?

32. Wrong. Augeas refused to pay
Heracles killed him and gave the kingdom to Augeas’s son

33. Task # 6- Slay the Stymphalian Birds
Man-eating birds were terrorizing a forest near Lake Stymphalia in Northern Arcadia

34. Hercules frightened them by shaking a rattle given to him by Minerva
The birds started flying away from the forest and Hercules was able to shoot many of them with his bow and arrow

35. Task # 7- Capture the Cretan Bull
The Cretan bull was laying waste to the lands of Knossos on Crete
The bull was the father of the Minotaur- a creature with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man. It lived in the center of a Labyrinth designed by Daedalus and his son Icarus

36. Hercules captured the bull and carried it on his shoulders to Eurystheus in Tiryns
Eurystheus released the bull which wandered to Marathon
It terrorized Marathon until it was killed by a hero named Theseus

37. Task # 8- Steal the mares of King Diomedes
These horses had been trained to eat human flesh
Hercules fed King Diomedes himself to the horses
He then bound the mouths of the horses and took them to Eurystheus

38. Task # 9- Take the belt of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons
Amazons- a tribe of female warriors
This belt had been given to Hippolyta by her father

39. Juno had instructed the Amazons to attack Hercules and his companions
Hercules managed to slay Hippolyta, take her waist-belt, and bring it back to Eurystheus

40. Task # 10- Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon
Geryon- the giant grandson of Medusa

41. The herd of cattle was guarded by a two-headed dog, the herdsman Erytion, and the owner Geryon
Hercules killed the dog and herdsman with his club and killed Geryon with a poisoned arrow
He herded the cattle and
brought them to Eurystheus

42. Ten tasks! Guess we’re done, right?
Wrong.

43. According to King Eurystheus…
Task # 2 (the slaying of the Lernaean Hydra) didn’t count because his nephew helped him
Task # 5 (cleaning the Augean stables in 1 day) didn’t count because Hercules was going to accept payment and because the rushing waters, not Hercules, cleaned the stables

44. So guess what? You have two more tasks!

45. Task # 11- Steal the golden apples of the Hesperides (nymphs of the evening)
The golden apples were protected by Juno who ordered Ladon, a hundred-headed dragon, to be their guardian

46. On his journey to find the garden where the apples were kept..
Hercules met Prometheus (a Titan who is credited with creating man from clay and for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humanity)
Hercules shot the eagle eating Prometheus’s liver and, in return, told Hercules that his brother Atlas would know where the garden was
Atlas said he would get the apples for Hercules if he would hold up the heavens while he was gone
Atlas tried to trick Hercules into holding the heavens in his place forever, but Hercules wasn’t fooled. He took the apples and brought them to Mycenae

47. Task # 12- Capture and bring back Cerberus
At this point, Eurystheus is pretty fed up with Hercules’ ability to complete all of these labors
So he sends him on a mission that he believes will be be impossible

48. But Hercules does it again!
Pluto agrees to hand over Cerberus if he is able to obtain him without using any weapons
When Hercules brings Cerberus back to Eurystheus, he is not just stunned but frightened by Hercules’ power and strength

49. The beginning…