Family Tree: (partial)

     Zeus - Danae
          |
        Perseus - Andromeda
                |
  |------------------|-------|----------------|--------|----(more)-
Alceus-Astydamia  Perses Sthenelus-Nicippe  Mestor Electryon-Anaxo

      |                           |                         |

The Birth:
Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene of Thebes. That made Heracles a descendant of Perseus, whose son
Alceus was the father of Amphitryon, the supposed father of Heracles, while Electryon, another son of Perseus, was
the father of Alcmene. Heracles was originally called Alcide(s), a patronym formed from the name of Alceus; it was
when the hero went to Delphi to atone for the murder of the children he had by Megara that the Pythia at the
Oracle instructed him to take the name of Heracles.
Zeus, wishing to have a son who should be a powerful protector of both mortals and Immortals, descended one night
to the city of Thebes while Amphitryon was away in a battle. Zeus, knowing that Alcmene was very virtuous and
much in love with her husband, disguised himself as Amphitryon before going to her bedchamber. Before coming to
Earth, Zeus had arranged for the sun not to cross the sky for three days; he had also convinced the moon to take
three days to cross the sky that night. By doing this, he was sure to have enough time to lie with Alcmene as many
times as he might desire. Shortly afterwards Amphitryon himself returned from a victorious expedition and took his
wife in his arms. From the two successive unions Alcmene conceived twins: Heracles and Iphicles.
Nine months afterwards Zeus was strutting around Olympus, boasting that soon a son of his would be born who
would rule the land of Thebes as no other king had ruled before. When Hera learned of this, she went to Zeus and
made a deal with him that any prince born to the House of Perseus that night would be the next king. Zeus agreed,
certain that his new son, Heracles would be brought into the world that evening. Hera then went down to the palace
of Sthenelus, whose wife, Nicippe, was seven months pregnant. Using her godly talents, Hera sped up Nicippe's
labor so that the first prince born that night was not Heracles but Eurystheus, a weak, timid little soul. Hera had
simultaneously arranged with Eilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, that the birth of Heracles should be retarded. Thus
Eurystheus came into the title of ruler of Greece and Zeus, bound by his solemn oath, was obliged to recognize him
as such.
Infancy:
While still a babe in arms, Heracles sucked at the breast of Hera. This was the condition which had to be fulfilled
for him to achieve immortality. Trickery was necessary in order to achieve it. One myth version has Hermes putting
the baby to the goddess' breast as she lay asleep. When she woke up, she pushed the child away, but it was too late:
the milk that spurted from her breast formed a trail of stars in the sky, the Milky Way. Another version tells that
Alcmene, fearing Hera's jealousy, exposed Heracles as soon as he was born. Athena and Hera happened to be
passing by; Athena asked Hera to give him the breast. Hera did so, but Heracles sucked so hard that he hurt the
goddess. She flung him away, breast-milk spilled - Milky Way created, but Athena took him back to Alcmene,
telling her to bring her child up without any further fear.
Babyhood:
Hera's vengeance against Zeus' infidelities, focused mainly on this child was yet to be satisfied. One night when
Heracles was eight or ten months old, Hera tried to destroy him. Heracles and Iphicles were asleep in their cradle.
Towards midnight, the goddess introduced two huge snakes into the room, which twined themselves around the
babies. Iphicles started to cry, but Heracles grasped the snakes, one in each hand, and strangled them.
Adolescence:
Heracles was then handed over to illustrious tutors; Rhadamanthys taught him wisdom and virtue while Linus
taught him literature and music, and Teutarus taught him archery. During Heracles' adolescence he often had
trouble containing his godlike strength. He was able to quickly master the more athletic arts, such as archery and
swordplay, but when it came to academia he was learning-challenged. Once, during a very discouraging lyre lesson,
he grew irritated with his lack of skill and the beatings he was receiving from his teacher and, unaware of his own
strength, hit Linus over the head with the instrument, thereby crushing the teacher's skull. Heracles was accused of
murder. He defended himself successfully by quoting a judgement of Rhadamanthys, which stated one could kill an
aggressor in self-defense.
Amphitryon then sent him to a cattle farm where he stayed until he was eighteen, further developing his strength
and skills. When he was eighteen, Heracles decided to leave the farm and kill the Cithaerian Lion, which had been
preying upon the herds he tended, as well as some neighbor's cattle. It took him fifty days to finally corner the
animal, during which time he returned each night to the palace of King Thespius. The king wanted to have the
hero's grandchildren, so each night he put one of his fifty daughters in Heracles' bedchamber. As a result Heracles
had fifty sons by these princesses; these sons were called the Thespiades, and were the colonizers of Sicily. After
these fifty days Heracles finally tracked the lion to its lair on Mount Helicon and easily killed it in a matter of
seconds.
Adulthood:
During his adulthood, Heracles found himself pitted against the Minyans, enemies of his countrymen, the Thebans.
In defense of his land, he led the attacks against the invaders and was victorious. In gratitude, King Creon of
Thebes offered him the hand of his eldest daughter, Megara, which he accepted. Hera decided that now was the
time to once more take vengeance. She sent Heracles insane. The hero was thrown into a mad rage and slew his
wife and children, thinking they were enemies. (In some accounts, when Heracles was driven mad by Hera, he killed
his children by Megara, but not her. She he later gave to Iolaus in marriage. Heracles then married Deianira).
When he came to his senses and realized what he had done, he secluded himself and contemplated suicide.
Fortunately, his longtime friend Theseus visited and convinced him that he wasn't responsible for the deaths, and
that he should consult Apollo's Oracle at Delphi. The Oracle told Heracles that in order to cleanse himself of the
deaths he would have to serve Eurystheus for twelve years, and do what Eurystheus ordered. The labors imposed
upon Heracles by Eurystheus became known as "The Twelve Labors". Different mythographers arrange these
labors in differing order; this is one such arrangement.
The Twelve Labors:
1. The first of these labors was the killing of the Nemean lion, a monster (son of Orthrus and Echidna). The lion
lived in a cave with two exits, and was invulnerable, especially to arrows. When his weapons proved useless,
Heracles had to fight it with his bare hands. He blocked one of the exits with rock, entered the other and grabbed
the lion, wrestling with it until he could strangle it. After overcoming the lion, he flayed it, using the lion's claws to do
the job as the skin was impervious to both steel and fire, then cured the skin and wore it as a trophy. The lion skin
made him invulnerable to the weapons of others.
2. His next opponent, the Lernaean Hydra (a daughter of Typhon and Echidna), was a nine-headed serpent sacred
to Hera (the number of heads varies in different versions of the myth from five or six to a hundred, and sometimes
these heads were depicted as human heads). Its breath was so venomous that anyone who approached near it died.
The problem that the hero encountered when fighting with the Hydra was that for every head he cut off with his
sword a new one (or two) grew in its place. But with assistance from his nephew Iolaus he was able to triumph, for
Iolaus burned the stumps of the necks as soon as Heracles severed each head. The central head of the Hydra
(according to some versions) was immortal, so when Heracles cut it off he buried it and placed a huge rock on top of
it. During the battle, when Hera saw it was going badly for the Hydra, she sent an enormous crab to help the Hydra;
this crab attacked the feet of Heracles, but he stepped upon it and crushed it. When he returned to Eurystheus, the
king refused to count the exploit as a labor, because Heracles had received help from his nephew.
3. The next labor was not quite so bloody. Heracles had to capture the Ceryneian hind (Arcadian stag, in some
versions), which was a beast sacred to Artemis, goddess of the wild. According to different accounts, he returned
with either its golden antlers or the hind itself. Euripides says that it was an animal of enormous size, which ravaged
the crops. Heracles killed it and consecrated its horns in the temple of Artemis. However, this version is not the
only one. In Callimachus' account, this hind was one of five coveted by Artemis. They all had gilded horns, and were
bigger than bulls. The goddess captured four of them. The fifth, guided by Hera, took refuge on Mount Cerynein.
The animal was sacred to Artemis, and wore a collar round its neck with the inscription: "Taygete has dedicated me
to Artemis". It was therefore an act of impiety to kill it. This hind was very swift; Heracles hunted it for a year
without catching it. It finally grew tired and sought refuge on Mount Artemisium. When Heracles continued his
pursuit, it tried to cross the river Ladon, in Arcadia. Heracles then wounded it with an arrow, after which he caught
it quite easily. As he was returning he met Artemis and Apollo; the two deities sought to deprive him of the animal,
which belonged to the goddess. They accused him of wanting to kill it, but Heracles put the blame on Eurystheus,
arguing his case so well that they gave him back the hind and allowed him to continue.
4. Another labor required him to capture the Erymanthian boar (Eurystheus was so afraid of this creature that he
hid in a storage pot for days at a time when it was nearby) which plagued the countryside of Arcadia. Heracles
rousted it from its lair, drove it into the deep snow of the countryside, and kept it on the run until it was exhausted.
He then trapped it with a net.
5. The fifth labor was the cleaning of the Augean stables. Wishing to humiliate Heracles by ordering him to do
menial labor, Eurystheus ordered him to clean these stables, owned by the son of the sun god, Augeas, who had vast
herds of animals. King Eurystheus told Heracles to remove the immense piles of dung from the stables, a feat he
achieved by diverting the course of a nearby river. Augeas refused to pay the agreed reward, but Heracles waged a
successful war against him. According to Apollodorus, Eurystheus refused to count this labor on the grounds that
Heracles had received a salary for cleaning the stables, and was therefore not in Eurystheus' service at the time.
6. The next labor that the hero performed was the removal of the carnivorous Stymphalian birds. They had
steel-tipped feathers (which they could shoot like arrows) with which they killed both men and animals. These birds
lived in a forest on the shores of Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia, where they had fled to avoid an invasion of wolves.
They had become a plague to the surrounding territory as they ate the crops in the fields. Eurystheus ordered
Heracles to destroy them. The difficulty lay in driving them out of the dense thickets; to achieve this the hero used
castanets of bronze, which the goddess Athena had specially made for him. Frightened by the noise of these
castanets, the birds broke cover, and Heracles killed them with his arrows.
7. The capture of the Cretan bull was Heracles next labor. The Cretan bull, according to some versions, was the
animal which abducted Europa, though this version does not agree with the myth that Zeus transformed himself into
the bull. According to others, the Cretan bull was the one that had been the lover of Pasiphae. Another account
claims that it was a bull which rose from the sea after Minos had vowed to sacrifice to Poseidon anything which
appeared on the waters, but reneged when he saw the beauty of the animal and sent it to his herd and sacrificed a
much less valuable bull. Whichever version you prefer, it is agreed that the bull was of unsurpassing beauty, and so
Eurystheus decided he wanted Heracles to bring it to him alive. Heracles tracked down the bull on Crete and
captured it alive, as demanded. Eurystheus, upon receipt of the bull from Heracles, decided to sacrifice it to Hera,
but she refused any sacrifice that Heracles was involved with, and set the animal free.
8. The eighth labor was more gruesome. It took Heracles to Thrace in pursuit of the man-eating mares of
Diomedes. Diomedes owned four mares named Podargus, Lampon, Xanthus, and Deinus, which fed on human flesh.
They were tethered with iron chains to keep them from roaming the countryside. Heracles was ordered to capture
them, and bring them alive to Eurystheus. Heracles succeeded in capturing them by overpowering their attendants,
but was attacked by the local citizenry as he tried to escort them back to Eurystheus. He put them in the
safe-keeping of Abderus (Hermes' son) while he fended off the attackers. The mares dragged Abderus away and
killed him. Heracles finally defeated his attackers, killed Diomedes by feeding him to his own mares, and founded a
city called Abdera in memory of his friend.
The last four labors were quite different in nature.
9. Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus ordered Heracles fetch the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the fierce Amazons.
This girdle had belonged to Ares, who presented it to Hippolyta as a symbol of his sovereignty over her people.
Hippolyta willingly agreed to give him the girdle, provided he wrestled her (if he proved a worthy opponent, she
would bed him following the match). Hera, in disguise as an Amazon, incited them by declaring Heracles was
attacking their queen. In the ensuing battle Heracles killed Hippolyta.
10. King Geryon (a western king who had three heads, three bodies, and six hands) had a huge herd of cattle,
attended to by his herdsman, Eurytion, and an enormous dog, Orthrus. Eurystheus ordered Heracles to collect the
herd and bring it to him. He captured the cattle of Geryon after clubbing to death both Eurytion and Orthrus. This
labor took Heracles to most of the Mediterranean countries, and many adventures, during which he killed, among
others, Geryon, Alebion, Dercynus, Cacus, Eryx, etc. He also confronted Helios, Oceanus, and the River Strymon.
His task was made even harder by Hera, who sent a swarm of gadflies to torment the herd, making them scatter all
over. When he finally reached Greece with some of the herd, Eurystheus sacrificed them to Hera. During the
travels/adventures Heracles, found time to build the "Pillars of Heracles" (the Rock of Gibraltar and the Rock of
Ceuta).
11. Heracles was ordered to bring to Eurystheus the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. These were the apples that
the earth goddess Gaia gave to Hera on her wedding to Zeus. Hera had them planted in a garden guarded by an
immortal hundred-headed dragon and three nymphs (the Hesperides). One version of this adventure has Heracles
killing the dragon (or putting it to sleep) and stealing the apples while the nymphs were distracted. Another version
(more popular) has Heracles relieving Atlas of the weight of the heavens while Atlas went to steal the apples, and
then tricking Atlas into holding up the heavens again, and taking the apples back to Eurystheus. Eurystheus didn't
know what to do with the apples after all, and gave them back to Heracles, who in turn gave them to Athena, who
returned them to the Hesperides!
12. The capture of Cerberus was the most testing of the labors, for it meant a descent into the underworld, the
realm of the dead, but it was ordered by Eurystheus. Heracles managed, with some help from Persephone, queen of
the underworld, to bring (briefly) back the three-headed hound Cerberus, but as usual, the fearful Eurystheus hid
himself in his jar. Heracles, not knowing what to do with the dog, returned it to the underworld.

Other Major Adventures:
While the twelve labors form the backbone of the Heracles myths, they were not by any means the extent of his
adventures.
1. One of his campaigns concerned Hesione, daughter of Laomedon, king of Troy. Laomedon had refused to pay
Poseidon and Apollo for building the wall protecting Troy. The gods sent a sea monster against the country in
revenge. An oracle told the king that in order to sooth the gods he must sacrifice his daughter. Hesione, therefore,
was tied to a rock at the seashore for the monster to devour. Heracles wandered into the country and offered to kill
the monster on condition the king pay him with the horses he had received from Zeus in exchange for Ganymede.
The king agrred, but as soon as the deed was done, and his daughter rescued, refused to pay. Heracles departed,
but kept the treachery in mind, and several years later returned with an army and captured/sacked Troy, and killed
Laomedon and all his children except Hesione and her brother Podarces (Hesione pleaded for his life).
2. Another adventure occurred when Heracles was returning from Troy. Hera persuaded Hypnus to make Zeus fall
into a deep sleep. She then raised a storm that drove his ship on to the coast of Cos. The people there thought they
were being attacked by pirates and stormed the ship, seriously wounding Heracles, who was saved by the
intervention of an awakened Zeus. Heracles took the town, killed its king Eurypylus, and had an affair with
Chalciope, the king's daughter (a son, Thessalus, was conceived).
3. After Cos, Heracles took part in the battle between the Gods and the Giants. In this battle Heracles was set upon
by Alcyoneus (a son of Gaia's), a giant with enormous strength. Alcyoneus was invulnerable as long as he fought on
the land where he had been born. Everytime he was thrown to the ground he grew stronger, gaining strength from
the earth (Gaia) from which he had sprung. By the time Heracles caught on to this, Alcyoneus had killed twenty-four
of Heracles' companions, but once Heracles realized what was happening he carried the giant far away and slew him
with his arrows.
4. Another adventure concerns Heracles return to the land of King Augeas, to revenge himself for the affront of not
being paid as agreed for the cleaning of the stables. Heracles returned with an army, which was soundly defeated by
the Molionidae-led forces of the king. ("The Molionidae" is the name given to two nephews of King Augeas.) In
this battle Heracles twin brother Iphicles was killed. Heracles later had occasion to set up an ambush for the
Molionidae, and kill them. He then mounted a second expedition against Augeas, and this time succeeded in
sacking the town, killing Augeas.
5. Another adventure occurred during the war against Pylos. Periclyenus, a son of Neleus, who had the ability to
change his shape, took the form of a bee (in some versions, an eagle) to attack Heracles. Heracles, forewarned by
Athena, recognized him in time and was able to kill him. Also during this war Heracles wounded several gods
including Hera and Ares. Poseidon and Apollo were also involved in the battle according to Pindar. Heracles was
victorious in the war and killed Neleus and all his sons except Nestor, his friend.
6. During another war, this one against Sparta, Heracles was successful in killing Hippocoon and his twenty sons,
and restoring the kingdom to Tyndareus. During this battle Heracles was wounded, and was healed by Asclepius.
7. Heracles forged an alliance with Aegimius, king of the Dorians. As a result of this treaty, Heracles became
involved in three separate wars. In one he defeated the Lapiths who had attacked Aegimius. Then he waged war
against the Dryopes, and killed their king, Theiodamas. Finally, Heracles fought against King Amyntor, killed him,
abducted his daughter, Astydamia, and fathered Ctesippus with her.

Other Minor Adventures:
1. When Heracles was passing through Britain with the cattle of Geryon, Celtine, the king's daughter, hid the herds
and refused to give them back to Heracles unless he married her. He agreed and Celtus was born.
2. When Heracles was hunting the Erymanthian boar, he visited Pholus, the centaur, who received him hospitably,
and invited him to dine. When Heracles asked for wine to wash down the meal,Pholus told him that there was only
one jar in the house, which had been a gift from Dionysus who had advised him to open it only if Heracles should be
his guest. Heracles told Pholus to open it. When the centaurs smelled the wine they rushed from the mountains
armed with rocks and torches to attack them. The first two centaurs to attack were Anchius and Agrius, whom
Heracles killed. Pholus was accidently killed in the fight. While burying one of the centaurs, he drew one of
Heracles' poisoned arrows from a wound and accidentally dropped it on his foot, was poisoned in turn, and died.
Heracles drove off the other centaurs and pursued them to where they took refuge with Chiron. In the ensuing
battle Heracles shot Elatus with a poisoned arrow, but Chiron was hit in the knee by it also. The wounds of
Heracles' arrows could not be healed, and the immortal Chiron, in agony, begged to be made mortal so he could die.
Prometheus agreed to take on his immortality, and Chiron died. In the battle Heracles killed Daphnis, Argeius,
Amphion, Hippotion, Orcius, Melanchaetes, Thereus, Doupon, Phrixus and Homadus.
3. Heracles shot the eagle that was tormenting Prometheus (it ate at Prometheus' liver each day when Zeus had him
chained to the mountain as punishment for giving fire to mankind), and released Prometheus from his chains.
4. Heracles had to sell himself as a slave following his killing of Iphitus (sentence handed down by the Delphi
oracle); he was bought by Omphale, a queen of Lydia, for three years for three talents. She ordered him to rid her
kingdom of robbers and monsters.
He killed Lityerses, an expert harvester who challenged all who passed his estate to a harvesting contest, which he
always won, loser to be beheaded. Heracles sang a song that made Lityerses drowsy, beat him at harvesting, and
cut off his head.
He captured the Cercopes (two brothers named Sillus and Triballus) who robbed passers-by and killed them.
Heracles hung each of them by the feet at the end of a long stick till he figured out what to do with them. But soon
they had him laughing at their rough jokes, and Heracles let them go.
A wine-grower named Syleus forced all who passed his farm to work in his vineyard, then put them to death when
they tired. Heracles, instead of tilling the vines, tore them from the ground, killed Syleus with his hoe, and married,
for a while, Syleus' daughter.
A tribe, called the Itones, were ravaging Omphale's land. Heracles captured and destroyed their city and made
slaves of all the survivors.
According to some myths Omphale then freed Heracles, married him, and bore a son, Lamon. According to other
myths, none of the above happened; immediately upon being bought by Omphale, Heracles and she became lovers.
He spent most of his time dressed in women's clothing, spinning linen at her feet, while she dressed in his lion-skin
and brandished his club.
5. While seeking the Golden Apples, Heracles inadvertently crossed a grove sacred to Pyrene, mother of Lycaon
by Ares. Lycaon took affront at this dishonor and attacked Heracles, who killed him.
6. When Heracles was on the way towards Geryon's cattle he came across a young girl, Pyrene (a different one than
the one above), got drunk, raped the girl. She gave birth to a serpent, fled in disgrace to the mountains, where she
was torn apart by wild animals.

As a result of these labors and adventures, Heracles attained immortality for himself. No other hero gained this
honor. Heracles' death on earth was the work of the Centaur Nessus, who gave the hero's unwitting second wife a
poisoned garment for him to wear. Realizing that his death was near, Heracles consulted the Delphic Oracle, which
told him to build a funeral pyre in Thessaly. When the dying hero climbed on to it, there was a great dash of
lightning and Zeus took his son to join the immortals.

Some of the labors of Heracles are reflected in the names of certain constellations, such as Leo (which represents
the Nemean Lion), and Cancer (the crab that was sent by Hera to help the Hydra), etc.