Hercules. Of all the Grecian heroes, no other obtained such celebrity as Hercules, son of Jupiter and Alcmene. Wonderful strength was ascribed to him even in his infantile years. Eurystheus imposed upon him many difficult enterprises, which he carried through with success; particularly those which are called the "twelve labors of Hercules." These were: to kill the Nemaean lion; to destroy the Lernaean hydra; to catch alive the stag with golden horns; to catch the Erymanthean boar; to cleanse the stables of Augeas; to exterminate the birds of Lake Stymphalis; to bring alive the wild bull of Crete; to seize the horses of Diomedes; to obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons; to destroy the monster Geryon; to plunder the garden of Hesperides, guarded by a sleepless dragon; and to bring from the infernal world the three-headed dog, Cerberus. Many other exploits were ascribed to him, by which he gave proof of his extraordinary strength and exhibited himself as an avenger and deliverer of the oppressed. Such were: his slaying the robber, Cacus; the deliverance of Prometheus, bound to a rock; the killing of Busiris, and the rescue of Alceste from the infernal world. His last achievement was the destruction of the centaur, Nessus. Nessus, dying, gave his poisoned tunic to Deianira; Hercules afterwards receiving it from her, and putting it on, became so diseased that he cast himself in despair upon a funeral pile on Mount Aeta. The worship of Hercules became universal, and temples were erected to his honor.

---