Heracles, known to the Romans as Hercules, was the greatest of all Greek heroes, a figure so central to Greek religion that he was worshipped as a god in many places. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, and he was hated from birth by Hera, Zeus’s wife, who sent two serpents to kill him in his cradle. The infant strangled them both. His defining quest was the Twelve Labors, a series of seemingly impossible tasks assigned to him as penance for killing his family in a madness sent by Hera. He died a tragic death, but he was eventually given immortality and joined the gods on Olympus.
Heracles is the greatest of Greek heroes, the figure whose myth is the most extensive in the ancient sources, and the one hero who was also worshipped as a god in many Greek cities. The standard biographical source is Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca 2.5.1–2.7.7, which gives the most complete extant account of his life; the Iliad treats him in passing (he is the favourite of Zeus, the one mortal who will be made a god), and the tragedy Heracles of Euripides is the standard dramatic treatment of his madness. The Twelve Labors are listed in detail on the Twelve Labors of Heracles page.
The Birth and Early Life of Heracles
Heracles was the son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon, king of Thebes. According to myth, Zeus lay with Alcmene in a night that lasted as long as three ordinary nights, and Heracles was born nine months later. He was named “Heracles” (Glory of Hera) in a typically Greek pun, because his birth would bring glory to Hera through his suffering and eventual apotheosis.
Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, hated the child from birth. She sent two serpents to his cradle, but the infant Heracles strangled them both. The event is often depicted in Greek art, and it foreshadows the hero’s great strength.
Heracles had a twin brother, Iphicles, son of Amphitryon. He was taught many skills: charioteering by Amphitryon, wrestling by Autolycus, archery by Eurytus, music by Linus (whom he killed with a lyre in a fit of anger, his first act of violence), and other arts by various teachers.
The Madness of Heracles
The defining crisis of Heracles’s life came when he was still a young man. He had married Megara, daughter of King Creon of Thebes, and they had several children. But Hera, ever-hating, sent a madness upon him. In his frenzy, Heracles killed his own wife and children, mistaking them for his enemies.
After the madness lifted, Heracles was consumed with guilt. He consulted the Oracle at Delphi to learn how he could be purified. The Pythia told him to go to King Eurystheus of Tiryns and serve him for twelve years, performing whatever labors the king assigned. Heracles agreed, and thus began the Twelve Labors.
The Twelve Labors of Heracles
The Twelve Labors of Heracles were the central quest of his life and one of the most famous hero cycles in all of mythology. The labors were set by King Eurystheus, a weak and fearful man who was terrified of Heracles and tried to assign him tasks that would end in his death.
1. The Nemean Lion
The first labor was to slay the Nemean Lion, an invulnerable beast that lived in a cave in the Nemean region of the Peloponnese. Heracles first tried to shoot the lion with arrows, but the arrows bounced off. He then blocked one of the cave’s two entrances and chased the lion into the other, where he wrestled it and finally strangled it to death with his bare hands. He wore the lion’s impenetrable skin as a cloak, with the head as a helmet.
2. The Lernaean Hydra
The second labor was to slay the Lernaean Hydra, a serpentine water-monster with many heads. For every head Heracles cut off, two more grew in its place. To defeat the Hydra, Heracles had his nephew Iolaus cauterize each neck with a burning brand as he cut off the head, preventing regrowth. He also dipped his club in the Hydra’s poisonous blood, making it deadly. He used the same poison on his arrows, and these poisoned arrows would later cause his own death.
3. The Ceryneian Hind
The third labor was to capture the Ceryneian Hind, a deer with golden horns and bronze hooves, sacred to Artemis. Heracles chased the hind for an entire year, and finally caught it as it was about to cross the river Ladon. He brought it back alive to Eurystheus.
4. The Erymanthian Boar
The fourth labor was to capture the Erymanthian Boar, a giant wild boar that lived on Mount Erymanthus. Heracles chased the boar into deep snow, where it tired, and then he captured it alive and brought it back to Eurystheus, who was so terrified that he hid in a large bronze jar.
5. The Augean Stables
The fifth labor was to clean the Augean Stables in a single day. The stables belonged to King Augeas of Elis, who had vast herds of cattle, and the stables had not been cleaned for years. Heracles diverted two rivers, the Alpheus and the Peneus, through the stables, washing them clean. Augeas, who had promised him a tenth of his cattle, refused to pay, and Heracles later conquered Elis in war.
6. The Stymphalian Birds
The sixth labor was to drive away the Stymphalian Birds, man-eating birds with bronze feathers, sharp beaks, and poisonous dung, that lived in a swamp near the city of Stymphalus. Heracles used a rattle (given to him by Athena) to scare the birds into the air, where he shot them down with his arrows.
7. The Cretan Bull
The seventh labor was to capture the Cretan Bull, the bull that had carried Europa across the sea and that had fathered the Minotaur on Pasiphaë. Heracles captured the bull and brought it back to Eurystheus, who released it. The bull later roamed through Marathon, where it was killed by Theseus.
8. The Horses of Diomedes
The eighth labor was to capture the man-eating mares of Diomedes, a king of Thrace who fed his horses on the flesh of strangers. Heracles killed Diomedes and fed him to his own horses, which became tame.
9. The Girdle of Hippolyta
The ninth labor was to obtain the Girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. Heracles led an expedition to the Amazon kingdom, where Hippolyta was so impressed by him that she gave him the girdle willingly. In other versions, he had to fight the Amazons.
10. The Cattle of Geryon
The tenth labor was to steal the Cattle of Geryon, a giant with three bodies who lived on the island of Erytheia in the far west. Heracles traveled to the ends of the earth, set up the Pillars of Hercules in the Strait of Gibraltar, and brought the cattle back to Greece.
11. The Apples of the Hesperides
The eleventh labor was to steal the golden apples of the Hesperides, which were guarded by a hundred-headed dragon called Ladon. Heracles persuaded the Titan Atlas to retrieve the apples while he held up the sky. Atlas tried to leave Heracles holding the sky forever, but Heracles tricked him into taking the burden back.
12. Cerberus
The twelfth and final labor was to bring Cerberus, the three-headed dog of the underworld, up to the upper world. Heracles descended to the underworld, where Hades agreed to let him take Cerberus on the condition that he did not use weapons. Heracles wrestled Cerberus into submission and brought him to Eurystheus, who was so terrified that he hid again in his bronze jar.
Other Adventures of Heracles
Beyond the Twelve Labors, Heracles had many other adventures. He joined the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, although he was left behind in Mysia. He sacked the city of Troy twice, once to rescue Hesione, the daughter of King Laomedon, and once to rescue Hesione’s son. He fought the Gigantomachy alongside the gods. He participated in the Calydonian Boar Hunt. He wrestled the river god Achelous for the hand of Deianira. He defeated the centaur Nessus, who would later cause his death.
He also had many love affairs and fathered many children. He married Megara, daughter of King Creon of Thebes, but killed her and their children in his madness. He married Deianira, the daughter of King Oeneus of Calydon, after wrestling Achelous for her hand. He had affairs with Omphale, the queen of Lydia, with whom he served as a slave for three years; with Iole, the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia, whose refusal to give her to Heracles led to the destruction of Oechalia; and with many other women.
The Death of Heracles
The death of Heracles was one of the most poignant in Greek myth. After sacking Oechalia and winning Iole as a captive, Heracles sent his companion Lichas ahead to Deianira to announce the victory. Lichas brought back a robe, and Deianira, who had been deceived by the dying centaur Nessus, smeared the robe with the centaur’s poisoned blood, thinking it was a love charm.
When Heracles put on the robe, the poison burned his flesh. He tried to tear it off, but the robe stuck to his skin. In agony, he built a great pyre on Mount Oeta and had it lit. His mortal part was burned away, and his divine part ascended to Olympus, where he was given Hebe, the goddess of youth, as his wife. The phrase “Herculean” has come to mean of extraordinary effort or suffering.
The Worship of Heracles
The worship of Heracles was panhellenic, with major centers in:
- Marathon, where the hero was said to have fought the Marathonian Bull
- Thebes, his reputed birthplace
- Athens, where the Cynosarges was a temple of Heracles
- Olympia, where the Olympic Games were originally said to have been founded by Heracles
- Tarentum in southern Italy, a major Greek colony
Heracles was unique among Greek heroes in being worshipped as a god, not just as a hero. He was offered sacrifices as a god in many places, and his cult was one of the most widespread in the Greek world.
The Romans identified Heracles with Hercules, and his cult in Rome was central to Roman religious life. The temple of Hercules Musarum in the Circus Flaminius was a major cultural center, and the goddess of the Muses was associated with him.
The Legacy of Heracles
Heracles appears in the Percy Jackson series, the God of War video game franchise, and Disney’s Hercules (1997), as well as in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the character of Hercules, in Thor: Love and Thunder). His twelve labours are the most-copied hero cycle in Western art, and the Disney Hercules is animated films of the 1990s. For the broader modern reception, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture.
A Note on Reading This Profile
A note on reading this profile. Heracles is the figure for whom the Bibliotheca of Apollodorus (2.5.1–2.7.7) is the most useful single ancient source, and the Bibliotheca should be read in the Robin Hard translation (Oxford World’s Classics, 1997) for the modern reader. The other great source is the Shield of Heracles, attributed to Hesiod, which gives a different account of his early life. The tragedies of Euripides (the Heracles and the Children of Heracles) are the standard dramatic treatments. The Twelve Labors are listed in detail on the Twelve Labors of Heracles page.