The twelve labours of Hercules

Before you read

Hercules was a demigod. This means that he was half god, half human. His father was Zeus, king of the gods, and his mother was Alcmene, a beautiful human princess.

New words
terrorise grasped swamp snowdrifts marshes cymbals to make someone feel frightened took something in hand and held it firmly a very wet soft land a large pile of snow formed by the wind grounds near a lake, that often floods and is always wet

flat round musical instruments made of brass, which makes a loud noise when struck with another cymbal

The twelve labours of Hercules Once Hera, the queen of gods made Hercules go insane. Under his insanity, he killed his nephews andnieces. When the madness passed and he saw what he had done he was overwhelmed with grief and guilt. He went to the oracle of the god Apollo at Delphi, asked what he could do to compensate his terrible deed. They told him, Go to King Eurystheus, and undertake the labors he will put upon you. Hercules went to Tiryns, the land ruled by King Eurystheus. Eurystheus said to him, Go to Nemea, where a fierce lion terrorises the people. No weapon can pierce through its terrible skin. Kill this lion and bring its skin to me.He always designed impossible task to Hercules, but Hercules was determined to complete all the challenges. pi of Hercules strangling the lion Hercules followed the lions tracks to a deep dark cave hidden in a hillside. He grasped the lions neck with his hands and strangled it to death.He then skinned the lion and hurried back to the palace of King Eurystheus. He sent his servants to Hercules to tell him of the next task. Go to the swamp of Lerna and defeat the hydra.

Hercules found the monster in the depths of the swamp. The monster had nine heads and came toward them screaming with rage. Hercules began to knock off the creatures heads. The creature was weakening. Finally, Hercules tore off the central head. Then Hercules dipped his arrow points in the poison blood of the hydra, which lay in pools all around, so as to make them deadly. Other labours followed, and they took Hercules far and wide. In the forest of Ceryneia he chased a deer with golden antlers for an entire year, caught it and carried it alive to King Eurystheus. Earlier, he had gone to the land of King Augeias, who kept a stable filled with thousands of cattle, which had never been cleaned. Eurystheus, with intentions to make Hercules carry baskets of dung, ordered him to clean those stables. But Hercules changed the course of two rivers and sent them through the stables so that they were entirely cleaned in one day. On Mount Erymanthus there lived a great boar. Hercules chased it into deep snowdrifts, where hecaught it. After that he went to the land of Thraceand fought against Diomedes, killing him and hisman-eating horses. Another labour brought Hercules to the marshes ofStymphalus. Somewhere in these vast marshes therelived vicious birds that shot their featherslike arrows into people. Then they tore the peopleinto pieces and devoured them. The goddessAthena caused a set of brazen cymbals to appear upon the ground next to his feet,Hercules striked the cymbals together and the sound of their brassy clashing startled the birds from their branches andnests. As the birds flew up his arrows pierced them.Most were killed and those who lived flew away andnever returned. pic of Hercules shooting arrorws and killing the flying birds and cymbals lying on the ground He came to Themiscyra. This was the landof the Amazons, woman-warriors, whose queen,Hippolyte, had a sword-belt made of bronze and glittering glass. It was given to her by the god of war, Ares. Hercules next labour was to take this belt from her. Expecting a battle, he was surprised when Hippolyte gave it to him freely. In Crete, he carried away the bull Poseidon gave to King Minos. On the island of Erytheia, he killed Geyron, a giant man-monster with one head and three bodies, and his two-headed dog, Orthrus. He took their herd of cattle whose skin were red. Helios the sun-god caused a floating golden cup to appear in the sea, and Hercules drove the bull of Crete and the red cattle onto this cup and floated back to Tiryns. His next task was to bring golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides which was guarded by a serpent who never sleeps. At the worlds edge he met Atlas, the giant who holds up the sky. My daughters live there. Let me bring back the apples. I am the only one they will let have them. But you must hold up the sky while I am gone. Said Atlas. Hercules agreed to carry the sky until Atlas returned. Some months later Atlas returned, holding a branch with three golden apples. He denied to carry the sky again. Atlas was getting ready to go when Hercules said, Friend, let me do just one thing before youre off. That lions skin lying thereI carryit with me wherever I go. It would make a good padto cushion my shoulders against this mighty burden.Kindly take up the sky again for a moment asI gather it up. Then you can return the load to

me.Atlas agreed to do so, but once the sky was returnedto Atlas, Hercules took the branch and walkedaway, ignoring Atlass angry cries for him to return. The final labour required Hercules to go down tothe world of the dead and bring back Cerberus,the fierce three-headed dog. The gods Hermes andAthena met him at the river between the two worldsand helped him. He carried Cerberus back to Tirynsand showed it to King Eurystheus.

Word power
1. Match the following words with their correct meanings. terrorise grasped swamp snowdrifts marshes 2. Make sentences using the given words. terrorise grasped swamp snowdrifts marshes a very wet soft land took something in hand and held it firmly to make someone feel frightened grounds near a lake, that often floods and is always wet a large pile of snow formed by the wind

Comprehension check
1. Answer the following questions. a. Why did Hercules kill his nephews and nieces? b. What was Hercules first labour? c. How did he clean the stables? d. How was Hercules able to kill the vicious birds? e. What was his final labour?

2. Fill in the blanks. a. He grasped the lions neck with his hands and. it to death. b. Hercules found the monster in the . of the swamp. c. On Mount Erymanthus there lived a great .. d. At the worlds edge he met Atlas, the . who holds up the sky. 3. Re-arrange the words to make meaningful sentences. a. killednephewshisand henieces b. thenine had headsmonster c. as arrows pierced the flew up his them birds d. Hercules until to the sky Atlas returned carry agreed

4. List all the twelve labour of Hercules. Among them, which do you think was the hardest one for Hercules to complete? Give reasons. 5. Write down the sentences in correct sequence according to the events in the story. a. b. c. d. e. Hercules carried away the bull Poseidon gave to King Minos. Hercules agreed to carry the sky until Atlas returned. He grasped the lions neck with his hands and strangled it to death. As the birds flew up his arrows pierced them. He caught a deer with golden antlers.

Creative writing
Have you ever done something that you regret of doing? What would you do to correct your mistakes?