Labours Of Heracles Audiobook

Labours Of Heracles audiobook with text and illustrations, and dramatized 🎵 with sound effects and music, by Audiobooks Dimension.

Title : Labours Of Heracles (ἆθλοι)
Author : Peisander (Πείσανδρος)
Written : 640 BCE
Place of Origin : Ancient Greece
Original Media type : Papyrus, Fragments
Original Language : Ancient Greek
Genre(s) : Adventure, Ancient Greece, Epic, Greek Mythology, Historical Fiction
Translator : Padraic Colum (1881 - 1972)
Narrator : Anthony Quayle
Musicians : Natalia Kolesnikova, Dmitrii Paderin
Editor : AudioBooks Dimension

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Dramatized 🎵

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The Labours Of Heracles (ἆθλοι) are a series of tasks carried out by the greatest of the Greek heroes Heracles ( Ἡρακλῆς). They were accomplished in the service of King Eurystheus (Εὐρυσθεύς). The episodes were later connected by a continuous narrative. The establishment of a fixed cycle of twelve labours was attributed by the Greeks to an epic poem written by Peisander (7th to 6th centuries BCE), now lost.

When we look back into the far past to discover the early world of the Greek heroes, it is not into the darkness we have to look, but into a bright land where the sun shines much and often, where the meadows are green and sprinkled with flowers, where the small shining rivers flow merrily down to the sea, and the beautiful mountains rise up into the violet sky. This lovely land is set in the Mediterranean Sea, or 'the Sea of the Middle of the Earth'. From east and west and south the travellers come to the wonderful harbours of Greece that wind so securely in from the sea. All these travellers' tales of the splendid East this wise and simple people hearken to and are made wiser by, till at last they themselves build up a state which, though so small, is nobler and greater than any that are to be found in the East.

In the days of the first heroes, the towns are very small and closely walled about : the people all through the land are full of fancies and are great weavers of tales. There is no end to the wonders that surround them. Every forest tree has its nymph, that makes her home within it and sometimes looks out from among the branches or wanders along the forest paths, fleeing back to her shelter the moment a strange foot is heard. Every river has its water spirit that comes leaping cheerily down from the mountains and runs with the ripples on their way to the sea. The rainbow is Iris, a fair maiden, the messenger between heaven and earth. The dawn is also a maiden, Eos : she drives a rose-coloured chariot drawn by white horses. She sets out before the sun, he following after : night and sleep fly before her and the stars disappear. The great sea has its greater spirit, the god Poseidon, 'the mighty shaker of the shores'—'the azure-haired', so called because the blue waves leap about his head as he rises from the sea. In his hand he bears his trident, or three-pronged fork, with which he rules the waves. The greater gods live upon Mount Olympus. Those who have climbed this tall mountain say that the snow lies unmelted on its top even in the heats of summer : but the old Greeks said that an eternal spring reigned there, and there dwelt a marvellous company of gods and goddesses who ruled the fates of men. Father of them all was Zeus, whose voice was the thunder and whose weapon was the lightning. He was supposed to sit on an ivory throne with an eagle at his feet. The queen of heaven was called Hera. She was a beautiful and often an angry queen. When she wished to punish or to help one of her favourites among men she would rush down from the heavens like a falling star. The beautiful Phoebus Apollo was the god of music and poetry and all the arts that go to make life beautiful. He was much loved of the Greeks. Then there was the goddess of love and the noble goddess of wisdom, the god of wind and merriment and many more. Indeed it might be said that for every strong feeling of the heart and mind the Greeks imagined a radian living spirit from whom it proceeded. The spirits of awe, love, anger, beauty, wisdom, and many more, were given a human form and fairy powers. Gods and goddesses these wonderful creatures were called, and on Mount Olympus was their home, whence they ruled the affairs of men. There they sat in their eternal spring, never growing older, feasting on nectar and ambrosia, the sweetest of food and drink—often laughing, often angry and quarrelsome, and often behaving in a very queer way indeed.

These were the beliefs of the very first of all the heroes, the mighty Heracles, whose story is one of the most wonderful in the world.

In those distant days when men believed that mighty Zeus ruled over gods and men there lived on this earth, in the land of Greece, a hero whom men admired and loved above the gods themselves. His name was Heracles and in daring and in number his feats outshone any the world had ever seen before. Heracles was such a towering figure that no single region could hold him within its narrow boundaries. He became the hero of all Greece and something beyond that still: the heroic expression of the hopes and yearnings of all the Hellenes. At that time, Greece was divided into many small city-states forever making war on one another — and the result was ruin and despair. Yet everyone spoke the same language, worshipped the same gods and shared the same love of life and peace. And so, little by little, it became the longing of all the people of Greece to be united into one state. But it remained a mere wish. It is this wish that the language of mythology expresses so beautiful in the story of the birth of Heracles. In those days men believed that all great issues were settled by the gods of Olympus. Zeus himself, they felt, wanted the Greek states to be united and so he decided to father a son, Heracles, who would grow up to be a hero mighty enough to accomplish this desire. The city which this son of Zeus was to rule would be none other than golden Mycenae, the proudest, richest and most powerful city in all the land. Mycenae had been founded by the great hero Perseus, himself a son of Zeus. On the death of Perseus, his son Electryon came to the throne. Electryon had nine sons and a daughter, Alcmene, who would one day become the mother of Heracles. Tall and stately, Alcmene was the fairest and wisest woman in the world. Thick, silky tresses framed her lovely face and long dark lashes set off her large and expressive eyes. Electryon's daughter had all the natural graces that became a woman destined to be the mother of heroes. And if Zeus fathered the child, she would certainly give birth to the greatest hero who had ever appeared on the face of this earth. This is why, of all woman, mortal and immortal, he chose Alcmene to be the mother of Heracles.

Of course, Zeus was already married to Hera; but either because men liked to believe that heroes and great leaders should have some god for a father, or because certain kings liked to boast that they were the sons of Zeus, the ancient Greeks considered it no shame to say that the gods fathered children on any woman they pleased. Whatever the case may be, it is said that after the birth of Heracles no other woman ever bore a child by Zeus again. As he had done on previous occasions, Zeus employed cunning to achieve his aim. And he had to wait quite a while before the opportunity presented itself. But let us begin the story from the beginning.

Alcmene's father, Electryon, had promised his daughter in marriage to Amphitryon, king of Troezen. But tragedy struck Mycenae and the wedding was postponed. All Alcmene's brothers were killed in battle with the fearsome Teleboans, a race of men with ear-shattering voices who had seized Electryon's herds and wished to place their own king on the throne of Mycenae. Failing to achieve this goal, they had to give the cattle to Polyxenus, king of the Elids, so he could hide them away. However, Amphitryon found them and, wishing to help his future father-in-law, he purchased the animals and brought them to Mycenae. To his surprise, Electryon was furious.

"What right does Polyxenus have to sell off stolen animals — and how could you agree to such a shameful bargain?" he cried in anger.

"By all the gods!" exclaimed Amphitryon. "I was only trying to help you! I would rather see your herds in the darkest depths of Hades than have men killed on their account!" And in exasperation he flung his heavy club into the midst of the herd. It was only a moment of fury but the result was a tragedy which could never be undone. For the club hit the horns of a bull, rebounded, struck Electryon on the head and laid him in the dust, dead.

After this misfortune Electryon was succeeded on the throne of Mycenae by his brother Sthenelus while Amphitryon, grief stricken by the harm he had unwittingly caused, gave up everything he possessed including the kingdom of Troezen (which was taken by Sthenelus) and left for Thebes, where Creon ruled. Yet not for a moment did he cease to love Alcmene, and in the end he sent a man to Mycenae to beg her forgiveness for the evil he had accidentally done her, and to ask whether she still wished to marry him in spite of everything. It was then that Zeus planted in Alcmene's mind the answer which would serve his purpose.

"I agree to marry Amphitryon", Alcmene told the messenger, "but only on condition that immediately the wedding rites have been celebrated he will make war on the Teleboans and take revenge for the death of all my brother. This is not my wish alone; I believe it to be my dead father's too".

And so the wedding at last took place — but only the wedding. For as soon as the ceremony was over, Amphitryon bade farewell to his bride and set off at the head of his army to do battle against the Teleboans. After Alcmene had been alone for a few days, Zeus transformed himself into the shape of Amphitryon, then he told Alcmene the whole story of the battle he had supposedly fought, even given her vivid accounts of his own feats of valour! Alcmene took Zeus into her arms without the least suspicion and spent a long night of bliss with him.

Nine months went by, Heracles was born, immediately followed by another boy, Iphicles, who had been fathered by Amphitryon. Amphitryon took even more care of Heracles than of his own child. To teach him, he appointed the greatest sages, the most famous artists and the most outstanding gymnasts of the times. Heracles learned to read and write, was taught literature, philosophy and astronomy and was trained in music and song. But above all he was coached in gymnastics and exercised in every branch of athletics, as well as in the arts of war. Amphitryon himself taught the boy the skills of charioteering. From an early age, too, he was trained to shoot an arrow with unerring aim, to throw a lance further than anyone, to handle a sword with dazzling dexterity and to wield the heaviest of clubs as if it were a mere twig. Heracles also became a matchless wrester, a formidable boxer and the fleetest of runners. And besides all these he mastered the most cunning strategies of war. He never used his strength to do wanton harm to others, but on the other hand he would submit to ill-treatment or abuse from no one. Whoeve provoked his terrible wrath would bring dire consequences on himself.

The myths relating to Heracles suffered more alterations and additions with the passage of time than any other chapter of Greek mythology. The harm was not done by additions more or less in the original spirit, but by others, with an ulterior motive; foreign to the true figure of the hero, they distort his character and are the expression — if they express anything at all — of an era bearing no relation to the heroic age in which the myths were first set. Thus, in researching the sources, one finds the most contradictory claims made about the son of Alcmene, and careful selection is needed to deciding which of them is truly representative of him and which not. The additions fall into three categories.

The first, and oldest, is that which links the hero's name with numerous women, making him the father of a vast number of children. Granted, presenting a hero in this light is not unusual in Greek mythology, but in Heracles' case such additions are in direct conflict with the life and deeds of a hero seeking atonement for his sins and whose actions are repeatedly characterized by self-denial. They damage the hero's moral character, it is true, and cloud our understanding of his true aims, but on the other hand — and this is important — they show that Heracles was such a widely admired figure that many wished to claim him as their father. For this was indeed the case, and it is worth noting that all the extra children later attributed to him were male. What it amounted to was the exploitation of a great name by numerous rulers — and naturally, the greater the exploitation, the greater the name had to be. Curious though it may seem, if we wish to assess the popularity of a god or a hero in Greek mythology we should count, among other things, the number of children he is said to have fathered on mankind; and in this respect Heracles scores higher than Zeus himself. Nor should it be forgotten that whild man's love for the gods was rooted in fear, his love for Heracles stemmed from admiration and was thus of even greater worth. In fact, Heracles was reputedly the father of something like ninety children. After the hero's death there was said to have been — and probably was — a long period of wars named "the return of the Heraclids", the Heraclids being the children or descendants of Heracles.

Around this time, many kings in Greece claimed that they were sons or direct descendants of Heracles, and these were later imitated by certain kings of Asia Minor. In time, it was even said that the coloniser of Sardinia were descended from him, and furthermore that various mythical leaders such as Scythes, Galatis and Celtus, from whom far distant peoples took their names were sons of his, too. All of which goes to show how far the fame of the hero eventually spread. But where the Heracles myths have suffered most is not in this first category of additions, but in the other two: those which depict the hero as a pervert and those which seek to ridicule and belittle him — for in time that, too, became his lot. The former variations are not worth dwelling on; particularly since certain rulers with unnatural proclivities claimed — obviously in an attempt to justify themselves — that the great hero had indulged in the same vices. Indeed, such practices were attributed to the gods themselves and again it is a case, however undesirable, of the exploitation of a great name. It must be stressed, however, that all these distortions occurred in much later times — further proof that they form no part of genuine Greek mythology.

Even more foreign to the spirit of true mythology are those additions made with the intention of demeaning Heracles. Such ulterior motives moved the Athenians, for example, who wanted to establish their own hero, Theseus, as a greater figure than Heracles. Thus Heracles became the target for humiliation once again, many centuries after the period in which he was supposed to have lived. Various insulting incidents were tagged on to his life-story telling, for example, how Omphale dressed him up in woman's clothing, and painting an overall picture of a man who wasted his life tilting at windmills and was anything but famous for his intelligence. And since, in time, Athens became the cultural focus for the whole of Greece, this image of the hero still prejudices those who neglect to consider that these were additions with an ulterior motive and, too, of a much later date. Granted, Greek mythology almost never depicts a god or a hero as entirely faultless, which is in itself proof that the myths have their origin in actual events. The same hold true for Heracles, but without detracting form the fact that he was a just a noble figure: this shines through all his troubled life and deeds. He was sharp-witted, too — the most ancient sources cites his wisdom. He had not yet entered adolescence when he defended himself in court and astounded his judges by the clarity of his reasoning. While still a youth he armed the Thebans in a manner which showed the inventiveness and powers of decision of an inspired leader, and went on to conduct the war again Orchomenus with all the skill of a seasoned general. And Heracles proceeded to put the same seal of resourcefulness and wise reasoning on all his labours. In brief, Heracles was quick-minded, just and great-hearted, and again it becomes clear that had he not possessed these qualities in such abundance no need would ever have been felt to diminish his stature. The rulers of Athens would never have wished to belittle Heracles had the people of the city not loved him even more thatn their own hero, Theseus.

Thus, all three kinds of addition, while seeming on the surface to lower the hero's standing, finally bear witness to a single fact: that Heracles enjoyed greater popularity than any other god or mortal. Students of the mythical period should begin to ask themselves seriously why this hounded and exploited hero should have won such high esteem, and at last seek out the true Heracles. But if he is to be found, I believe that theories such as his being the personification of the sun or a figure from non-Greek myth should be abandoned, and proper consideration given to the possibility that perhaps the Heracles of myth was the glorified image of a hero who really lived in those distant years and achieved fame by humbling the "great king of Mycenae" to the dust, or by defeating and punishing Erginus of Orchomenus, Augeias of Elis, Diomedes of Thrace, Laomedon of Troy, Eurytus of Oechalia and other king still, without ever becoming a king himself.

Film Adaptations :
Hercules (1958)
Hercules (1983)
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995 - 1999)
Hercules (1997)
Young Hercules (1998)
Hercules and Xena (1998)
Hercules (2005)
Hercules (2014)
The Legend of Hercules (2014)

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Persons mentioned in Labours Of Heracles :

1. Abderus (Ἄβδηρος) : a son of Hermes, and Heracles' lover. Heracles founded the city of Abdera near Abderus's tomb.
2. Aias (Αἴας) : a Greek mythological hero, the son of King Telamon and Periboea, and the half-brother of Teucer.
3. Alcides (Ἀλκείδης) : the original name of Heracles given by his parents.
4. Augeias (Αὐγείας) : king of Elis and father of Epicaste. He is known for his stables, which housed the single greatest number of cattle in the country and had never been cleaned.
5. Deianira (Δηϊάνειρα) : the daughter of Althaea and Oeneus, the king of Calydon.
6. Diomedes (Διομήδης) : the son of Ares and Cyrene. He lived on the shores of the Black Sea ruling the warlike tribe of Bistones. He is known for his man-eating horses.
7. Eurystheus (Εὐρυσθεύς) : king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid. Eurystheus was the son of King Sthenelus and Nicippe, and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus.
8. Eurytus (Εὔρυτος) : the king of Oechalia, a skillful archer who have instructed Heracles in his art of using the bow. Eurytus married Antiope, daughter of Pylon (son of Naubolus) and had these children: Iphitus, Clytius, Toxeus, Deioneus, Molion, Didaeon, Hippasus and a very beautiful daughter, Iole.
9. Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς) : the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon. His twin mortal brother, son of Amphitryon, was Iphicles, father of Heracles' charioteer Iolaus. Heracles and his twin were just eight months old when Hera sent two giant snakes into the children's chamber. Iphicles cried from fear, but his brother grabbed a snake in each hand and strangled them. He was found by his nurse playing with them on his cot as if they were toys.
10. Hesione (Ἡσιόνη) : the Trojan princess, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy, sister of Priam and second wife of King Telamon of Salamis.
11. Hippolyte (Ἱππολύτη) : a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' zoster (war belt).
12. Hyllos (Ὕλλος) : a son of Heracles and Deianira and the husband of Iole.
13. Iolaus (Ἰόλαος) : the son of Iphicles and Automedusa, daughter of King Alcathous of Megara. He was famed for being Heracles' charioteer and squire, and for helping with some of his Labors, as well as for being one of the Argonauts.
14. Iole (Ἰόλη) : the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia.
15. Iphicles (Ἰφικλῆς) : the maternal half-brother of Heracles. He was the father of Heracles' charioteer Iolaus by his first wife, Automedusa, daughter of Alcathous.
16. Laomedon (Λαομέδων) : a Trojan king, son of Ilus and thus nephew of Ganymede and Assaracus. Zeus sent Poseidon and Apollo to serve Laomedon as punishment for a conspiracy against Zeus. The two gods built walls around Troy, but Laomedon refused to pay them, leading to a pestilence and a sea monster attacking the city. To end the calamities, Laomedon had to sacrifice his daughter Hesione to the sea monster. Heracles arrived and agreed to save Hesione in exchange for the magical horses, but Laomedon went back on his promise, causing Heracles to wage war on Troy. Heracles eventually conquered the city, killing Laomedon and his sons, except for Podarces. Hesione was given to Telamon as a war prize, and she ransomed her brother Podarces, who then became known as Priam.
17. Meleagrus (Μελέαγρος) : a Calydonian prince as the son of Althaea and the vintner King Oeneus. He was famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt.
18. Minos (Μίνως) : a king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur.
19. Oeneus (Οἰνεύς) : a Calydonian king. He was the son of King Porthaon and Euryte, and thus, brother of Agrius, Alcathous, Melas, Leucopeus, and Sterope. He married Althaea and became the father of Deianeira, Meleagrus, Toxeus, Clymenus, Periphas, Agelaus, Thyreus, Gorge, Eurymede, Melanippe and Perimede.  He introduced wine-making to Aetolia, which he learned from Dionysus and the first who received a vine-plant from the same god.
20. Omphale (Ὀμφάλη) : queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor. She was the wife of Tmolus, the oak-clad mountain king of Lydia; after he was gored to death by a bull, she continued to reign on her own.
21. Peirithous (Πειρίθοος) : the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus. Peirithous and Theseus went to the Underworld to abduct Persephone, but were captured by the Furies.
22. Peleus (Πηλεύς) : the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, and Endeïs, the oread of Mount Pelion in Thessaly. He was a brother of Telamon.
23. Philoctetes (Φιλοκτήτης) : the son of Poeas, king of Meliboea in Thessaly. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer, and a participant in the Trojan War.
24. Priam (Πρίαμος) : the legendary and last king of Troy. He was the son of Laomedon.
25. Telamon (Τελαμών) : the son of King Aeacus of Aegina, and Endeïs, a mountain nymph. He and his brother Peleus were a close friends of Heracles.
26. Theseus (Θησεύς) : the son of Aegeus, King of Athens, and Aethra, a Troezenian princess and the daughter of King Pittheus. Theseus's best friend was Pirithous, king of the Lapiths. They went to the Underworld to abduct Persephone, but were captured by the Furies.

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Deities mentioned in Labours Of Heracles :

1. Aidoneus (Ἀϊδωνεύς) : or Hades, the king of the underworld and god of the dead. He presided over funeral rites and defended the right of the dead to due burial. Haides was also the god of the hidden wealth of the earth, from the fertile soil with nourished the seed-grain, to the mined wealth of gold, silver and other metals.
2. Apollo (Απολλων) : the Olympian god of prophecy and oracles, music, song and poetry, archery, healing, plague and disease, and the protection of the young.
3. Ares (Αρης) : the Olympian god of war, battlelust, courage and civil order.
4. Artemis (Αρτεμις) : the Olympian goddess of hunting, the wilderness and wild animals. She was also a goddess of childbirth, and the protectress of the girl child up to the age of marriage.
5. Athena (Αθηνη) : the Olympian goddess of wisdom and good counsel, war, the defence of towns, heroic endeavour, weaving, pottery and various other crafts.
6. Atlas (Ατλας) : the Titan god who bore the sky aloft. Atlas was a leader of the Titans in their war against Zeus and after their defeat he was condemned to carry the heavens upon his shoulders.
7. Helios (Ἡλιος) : the Titan god of the sun, a guardian of oaths, and the god of sight. He dwelt in a golden palace in the River Oceanus at the far ends of the earth from which he emerged each dawn, crowned with the aureole of the sun, driving a chariot drawn by four winged steeds. When he reached the the land of the Hesperides in the far West he descended into a golden cup which bore him through the northern streams of Oceanus back to his rising place in the East.
8. Hephæstus (Ἡφαιστος) : the Olympian god of fire, smiths, craftsmen, metalworking, stonemasonry and sculpture.
9. Hera (Ἡρη) : the Olympian queen of the gods, and the goddess of marriage, women, the sky and the stars of heaven.
10. Hermes (Ἑρμης) : the Olympian god of herds and flocks, travellers and hospitality, roads and trade, thievery and cunning, heralds and diplomacy, language and writing, athletic contests and gymnasiums, astronomy and astrology. He was the herald and personal messenger of Zeus, King of the Gods, and also the guide of the dead who led souls down into the underworld.
11. Hesperides (Ἑσπεριδες) : the goddess-nymphs of evening and the golden light of sunsets. They were the daughters of the heaven-bearing Titan Atlas. The Hesperides were entrusted with the care of the tree of the golden apples which was had been presented to the goddess Hera by Gaia (the Earth) on her wedding day.
12. Persephone (Περσεφονη) : the goddess queen of the underworld, wife of the god Aidoneus (Hades). She was also the goddess of spring growth, who was worshipped alongside her mother Demeter in the Eleusinian Mysteries.
13. Poseidon (Ποσειδων) : the Olympian god of the sea, earthquakes, floods, drought and horses.
14. Prometheus (Προμηθευς) : the Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel who was given the task of moulding mankind out of clay. His attempts to better the lives of his creation brought him into conflict with Zeus.
15. Zeus (Ζευς) : the King of the Gods and the god of the sky, weather, law and order, destiny and fate, and kingship.

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Other Beings mentioned in Labours Of Heracles :

1. Centaurs (κένταυρος) : a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly.
2. Cerberus (Κερβερος) : the gigantic, three-headed hound of Haides which guarded the gates of the underworld and prevented the escape of the shades of the dead.
3. Cercopes (Κέρκωπες) : mischievous forest creatures who lived in Thermopylae or on Euboea but roamed the world and might turn up anywhere mischief was afoot. They were two brothers, known as sons of Theia and Oceanus, thus ancient spirits.
4. Chiron (Χείρων) : the superlative centaur amongst his brethren. He was the son of the Titan Cronus and the Oceanid Philyra. Chiron lived predominantly on Mount Pelion.
5. Erymanthean Boar (Ἐρυμάνθιος κάπρος) : a mythical creature that took the form of a shaggy and wild tameless boar of vast weight and foaming jaws. It lived in the glens of Lampeia beside the vast marsh of Erymanthus. It would sally from the thick-wooded, cypress-bearing heights of Erymanthus to harry the groves of Arcady and abuse the land of Psophis".
6. Geryoneus (Γηρυών) : son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe, the grandson of Medusa and the nephew of Pegasus. He was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. Geryoneus was often described as a monster with either three bodies and three heads, or three heads and one body, or three bodies and one head. He is commonly accepted as being mostly humanoid, with some distinguishing features (such as wings, or multiple bodies etc.) and in mythology, famed for his cattle.
7. Ladon (Λάδων) : an immortal, never-sleeping, hundred-headed serpent-like dragon.
8. Nessus (Νέσσος) : a centaur, the son of Centauros. He fought in the battle with the Lapiths and became a ferryman on the river Evenus.
9. Orthus (Ορθος) : a two-headed, serpent-tailed dog which guarded the fabulous, red cattle of Geryoneus on the island of Erytheia.
10. Pholus (Φόλος) : a wise centaur and friend of Heracles who lived in a cave on or near Mount Pelion.
11. The Coryneian Deer (Κερυνῖτις ἔλαφος) : a creature that lived in Ceryneia, and took the form of an enormous female deer, larger than a bull, with golden antlers like a stag, hooves of bronze or brass, and a dappled hide, that excelled in swiftness of foot, and snorted fire. The Ceryneian Deer was sacred to Artemis.
12. The Cretan Bull (Κρὴς ταῦρος) : a snow-white bull of Minos, king of Crete, given to him by Poseidon in order to confirm Minos' right to rule, rather than any of his brothers.
13. The Lernaean Hydra (Λερναῖα ὕδρα) : a serpentine lake monster in Greek mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid. It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly.
14. The Mares of Diomedes (Διομήδους ἵπποι) : a herd of man-eating horses in Greek mythology. Magnificent, wild, and uncontrollable, they belonged to Diomedes of Thrace, king of Thrace, son of Ares and Cyrene who lived on the shores of the Black Sea.
15. The Nemean Lion (Νεμέος λέων) : a monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. Its golden fur was impervious to attack, it could not be killed with mortals' weapons. Its claws were sharper than mortals' swords and could cut through any strong armour.
16. The Red Cattle Of Geryoneus : a fabulous herd of cattle whose coats were stained red by the light of the sunset.
17. The Stymphalian Birds (Στυμφαλίδες ὄρνιθες) : a group of voracious birds in Greek mythology. The birds' appellation is derived from their dwelling in a swamp in Stymphalia. The Stymphalian birds are man-eating birds with beaks of bronze, sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and poisonous dung. These birds were pets of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt; or had been brought up by Ares, the god of war. They migrated to a marsh in Arcadia to escape a pack of wolves. There they bred quickly and swarmed over the countryside, destroying crops, fruit trees, and townspeople.

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Frogs mentioned in Labours Of Heracles :

1. Cabbage Climber : a great-hearted frog.
2. Leeky : the trusted friend of Puff Jaw, died trying to protect his king by the hand of Bread Nibbler, 3rd casualty of war.
3. Loud Crier : a frog warrior, killed by Bread Nibbler, 1st casualty of war.
4. Puff Jaw : king of the frogs.
5. Reedy : friend of Loud Crier, fled into the water at the sight of his friend death.
6. Warter Larker : the most warlike frog.

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Mice mentioned in Labours Of Heracles :

1. Bread Nibbler : the heroic father of Crumb Snatcher.
2. Crumb Snatcher : a noble mouse warrior, the son of Bread Nibbler and Quern Licker.
3. Ham Nibbler : a mouse warrior, killed by Water Larker, 2nd casualty of war.
4. Lick Platter : witness of Puff Jaw’s crime.
5. Quern Licker : daughter of the mouse king, and mother of Crumb Snatcher.
6. Slice Snatcher : the most fearsome mouse warrior.

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Places mentioned in Labours Of Heracles :

1. Acheron (Ἀχέρων) : a river in the Epirus region, the entrance to the Greek Underworld where souls must be ferried across by Charon.
2. Africa : the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
3. Alpheus (Ἀλφειός) : a river in the center of the Peloponneses.
4. Artemision (Ἀρτεμίσιον) : a mountain range which divides Argolis from the plain of Mantinea.
5. Asia : the largest continent in the world. Asia shares the landmass of Eurasia with Europe, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the north by the Arctic Ocean.
6. Calydon (Καλυδών) : a city in ancient Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus.
7. Caucasus : a transcontinental region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically been considered as a natural barrier between Eastern Europe and West Asia.
8. Coryneia (Κερύνεια) : a town and polis (city-state) of ancient Achaea.
9. Crete (Κρήτη) : the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, located south of the Peloponnese, and southwest of Anatolia.
10. Delphi (Δελφοί) : an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The ancient Greeks considered the centre of the world to be in Delphi.
11. Egypt : a country of ancient Northeast Africa. It was concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River.
12. Erymanthus (Ερύμανθος) : an irregular massif of peaks connected by ridges embedded in the mountains located in the north of the Peloponnese. Erymanthus is on the west side.
13. Erytheia (Ἐρύθεια) : a long island close to the coast of southern Hispania.
14. Europe (Εὐρώπη) : a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe shares the landmass of Eurasia with Asia, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Asia and Africa.
15. Evenus (Εύηνος) : a river in western Greece, flowing into the Gulf of Patras.
16. Garden of the Hesperides : Hera's orchard in the west, where either a single apple tree or a grove grows, producing golden apples.
17. Greece (Ἑλλάς) : a northeastern Mediterranean civilization that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically related city-states and other territories.
18. Hellespont (Ἑλλήσποντος) : a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey.
19. Lerna (Λέρνα) : a region of springs and a lake located in Lerna, near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. Even though much of the area is marshy, Lerna is located on a geographically narrow point between mountains and the sea, along an ancient route from the Argolid to the southern Peloponnese.
20. Libya (Λιβύη) : a country immediately west of Egypt, west of the Nile river.
21. Lydia (Λυδία) : Iron Age kingdom situated in the west of Asia Minor. The ethnic group inhabiting this kingdom are known as the Lydians, and their language as Lydian and their capital was Sardis.
22. Mycenæ (Μυκῆναι) : a city in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is one of the major centres of Greek civilisation, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece, Crete, the Cyclades and parts of southwest Anatolia.
23. Nemea (Νεμέα) : a city in the northeastern part of the Peloponnese. It was home of the Nemean Lion.
24. Ocean (Ὠκεανός) : the great river which encircled the entire world.
25. Oichalia (Οἰχαλία) : a town in ancient Thessaly, on the Peneius, between Pelinna to the east and Tricca to the west, not far from Ithome.
26. Olympus (Ολυμπος) : the home of the gods who dwelt in fabulous palaces of marble and gold.
27. Pelion (Πήλιον) : a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in northern Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the Aegean Sea.
28. Peneius (Πηνειός) : a river in Peloponnese. Its source is on the southwestern slope of the mountain Erymanthus, near the village Kryovrysi. Part of its upper course forms the border between Elis and Achaea. The river flows through the plain of Elis.
29. Psophis (Ψωφίς) : an ancient Greek city in the northwest end of Arcadia, bounded on the north by Arcadia, and on the west by Elis. It was said to have been originally called Erymanthus, and its territory to have been ravaged by the Erymanthian Boar.
30. Sicily : the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea. Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe.
31. Stymphalus (Στύμφαλος) : a town in the northeast of ancient Arcadia. The territory of Stymphalus is a plain, bounded by Achaea on the north, Sicyonia and Phliasia on the east, the territory of Mantineia on the south, and that of Orchomenus and Pheneus on the west. This plain is shut in on all sides by mountains. On the north rises the gigantic mass of Cyllene (possibly the mythical ‘rock of Scylla’), from which a projecting spur, called Mount Stymphalus (Στυμφαλος ὄρος), descends into the plain. The mountain at the southern end of the plain, opposite Cyllene, was called Apelaurum (τὸ Ἀπέλαυρον), and at its foot is the subterranean outlet of the lake of Stymphalus (ἡ Στυμφαλὶς λίμνη or ἡ Στυμφηλίη λίμνη). This lake is formed partly by the rain-water descending from Cyllene and Apelaurum, and partly by three streams which flow into it from different parts of the plain. From the west descends a small stream, which rises in Mount Geronteium in the neighbourhood of Kastanía; and from the east comes another stream, which rises near Dusa. But the most important of the three streams is the one which rises on the northern side of the plain, from a copious subterranean outlet; this stream was called Stymphalus by the ancients; it was regarded by them as the principal source of the lake, and was universally believed to make its reappearance, after a subterranean course of 200 stadia, as the river Erasinus in Argolis.
32. Thrace (Θράκη) : all of the territory which lay north of Thessaly inhabited by the Thracians, a region which "had no definite boundaries" and to which other regions were added.
33. Tiryns (Τίρυνς) : a hill fort in Argolis in the Peloponnese, south of Mycenae.
34. Troy (Τροία) : an ancient city in Troad, northwestern Anotolia, at the joint of the Scamander and the Simois rivers.
35. Underworld (δομος Αιδαο) : a distinct realm (one of the three realms that make up the cosmos) where an individual goes after death. It is the land of the dead, the final resting place for departed souls. It was a dark and dismal realm where bodiless ghosts flitted across the grey fields of asphodel.

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Terms mentioned in Labours Of Heracles :

1. Amazons (Ἀμαζόνες) : a group of female warriors and hunters who were known for their physical agility, strength, archery, riding skills, and the arts of combat. Their society was closed to men and they only raised their daughters and returned their sons to their fathers, with whom they would only socialize briefly in order to reproduce.
2. Argonauts (Ἀργοναῦται) : a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BCE) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, Argo, named after its builder, Argus. They were sometimes called Minyans, after a prehistoric tribe in the area.
3. Coryneian : pertaining to Ceryneia (Κερύνεια), a town and polis (city-state) of ancient Achaea.
4. Titans (Τῑτᾶνες) : the pre-Olympian gods. According to the Theogony of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth), with six male Titans—Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Cronus—and six female Titans, called the Titanides (Τῑτᾱνῐ́δες) or Titanesses—Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Tethys.

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