12 Labors of Hercules (Herakles/Heracles)

The great mythological hero Hercules (Heracles) was larger than life. While he became an example of virtue, Hercules also made serious errors. In the Odyssey, attributed to Homer, Hercules violates the guest-host covenant. He also destroys families, including his own, for which reason Hercules undertook the 12 labors.

The historian Diodorus Siculus (fl. 49 B.C.) calls the 12 labors a means to Hercules' apotheosis (deification). Apollodorus, a second century A.D. historian, says the 12 labors are a means of expiation for the crime of murdering his wife, children, and the children of Iphicles. In contrast, for Euripides, a dramatist of the Classical period, the labors are much less important. Hercules' motive for performing them is to gain permission from Eurystheus to return to Tiryns.

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