The Twelve Labors of Heracles were a series of seemingly impossible tasks assigned to him by King Eurystheus as penance for killing his family in a madness sent by Hera. The labours were the central quest of Heracles’s life, and they were the model for the Western hero cycle. The twelve labours included slaying the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Stymphalian Birds, and the Cretan Bull; capturing the Ceryneian Hind, the Erymanthian Boar, the Cattle of Geryon, Cerberus, and the Apples of the Hesperides; cleaning the Augean Stables; obtaining the Girdle of Hippolyta; and taming the Horses of Diomedes. The labours were the foundation of Heracles’s fame, and they were the model for countless hero cycles in Western literature.
This guide offers a complete account of each of the twelve labours, with the story, the symbolism, and the legacy of each.
The Origin of the Labors
The Twelve Labors of Heracles began with the madness sent by Hera. According to the myth, Heracles had married Megara, the daughter of King Creon of Thebes, and they had several children. But Hera, who hated Heracles, sent a madness upon him, and in his frenzy he killed his own wife and children.
When the madness lifted, Heracles was consumed with guilt. He consulted the Oracle at Delphi, and 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 the twelve years of service began.
Eurystheus, a weak and fearful man, was terrified of Heracles, and he tried to assign him tasks that would end in his death. The first two labours, in particular, were designed to kill him.
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. The lion was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and its skin could not be pierced by any weapon.
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. He finally strangled the lion to death with his bare hands. He wore the lion’s impenetrable skin as a cloak, with the head as a helmet, and this became his iconic costume in art and literature.
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. With this method, he was finally able to kill the creature. He also dipped his club in the Hydra’s poisonous blood, and later dipped his arrows in the blood, which would eventually 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, who dedicated it to Artemis.
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. He then brought the horses back to Eurystheus, who dedicated them to Hera.
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. On the way, he had many adventures, including the slaying of the giant Antaeus and the wrestling of the god of the sea, Nereus.
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 he was allowed to take Cerberus on the condition that he did not use weapons. He wrestled Cerberus into submission and brought the dog to Eurystheus, who was so terrified that he hid again in his bronze jar.
The Order of the Labors
The order of the twelve labours is not consistent in all sources. In some traditions, the first labour was the Nemean Lion, in others the Hydra. The most common order is the one given above, with the Nemean Lion first and Cerberus last. The labours were set by King Eurystheus, and they were the conditions under which Heracles could be purified of the murder of his family.
The labours were the central quest of Heracles’s life, and they were the foundation of his fame. They were also the model for the Western hero cycle, with its themes of impossible tasks, divine help, magical weapons, and final victory. The labours have been retold in countless works of literature, art, and film, and they remain one of the most popular and most influential cycles of myth in Western culture.
The Legacy of the Labors
The Twelve Labors of Heracles have been retold in countless works of literature, art, and film, including the 1958 Italian film Hercules starring Steve Reeves, the 1983 film Hercules starring Lou Ferrigno, the 1997 Disney animated film Hercules, and the 2008 TV series The Legend of Hercules. The labours have also been used in psychology, particularly in the work of Roberto Assagioli, who developed a system of psychosynthesis that used the labours as a model for personal growth and transformation.
For more on the mythological context, see our profile of Heracles, our guide to the Greek heroes, and our profile of Eurystheus. For more on the cultural legacy, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture.