The Theogony of Hesiod

1	Herakles, born of Alkmene, a mortal woman, was the son of Zeus.
2	(Iliad. 820-868) But when Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, huge Earth bare her youngest child Typhoeus of the love of Tartarus, by the aid of golden Aphrodite. Strength was with his hands in all that he did and the feet of the strong god were untiring.
3	From his shoulders grew an hundred heads of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark, flickering tongues, and from under the brows of his eyes in his marvellous heads flashed fire, and fire burned from his heads as he glared.
4	Hera, the spouse of Zeus, bore ill-will towards Alkmene and her hero-son, and when Herakles was still an infant in the cradle she sent two great serpents to destroy him.
5	But the child took the serpents and strangled them with his own hands.
6	And there were voices in all his dreadful heads which uttered every kind of sound unspeakable; for at one time they made sounds such that the gods understood, but at another, the noise of a bull bellowing aloud in proud ungovernable fury; and at another, the sound of a lion, relentless of heart; and at anothers, sounds like whelps, wonderful to hear; and again, at another, he would hiss, so that the high mountains re-echoed.
7	And truly a thing past help would have happened on that day, and he would have come to reign over mortals and immortals, had not the father of men and gods been quick to perceive it.
8	Then, while he was still a youth, a madness sent by the Goddess came upon him, and unwittingly he slew the children of Iphikles, his half-brother.
9	Coming to know what he had done, sleep and rest went from him; he went to Delphoi, the shrine of Apollo, to be purified of his crime.
10	But he thundered hard and mightily: and the earth around resounded terribly and the wide heaven above, and the sea and Ocean's streams and the nether parts of the earth.
11	Great Olympus reeled beneath the divine feet of the king as he arose and earth groaned thereat. And through the two of them heat took hold on the dark-blue sea, through the thunder and lightning, and through the fire from the monster, and the scorching winds and blazing thunderbolt.
12	At Delphi, at the shrine of Apollo, the priestess purified him, saying, "Thou shalt go to Eurystheus, thy cousin, in Tiryns, and serve him in all things.
13	When the labours he shall lay upon thee are accomplished, and when the rest of thy life is lived out, thou shalt become one of the Immortals."
14	The whole earth seethed, and sky and sea: and the long waves raged along the beaches round and about, at the rush of the deathless gods: and there arose an endless shaking.
15	Hades trembled where he rules over the dead below, and the Titans under Tartarus who live with Cronos, because of the unending clamour and the fearful strife.
16	Herakles, on hearing these words, set out for Tiryns.
17	He stood before his cousin who hated him; he, a towering man, stood before a king who sat there weak and trembling.
18	So when Zeus had raised up his might and seized his arms, thunder and lightning and lurid thunderbolt, he leaped form Olympus and struck him, and burned all the marvellous heads of the monster about him.
19	But when Zeus had conquered him and lashed him with strokes, Typhoeus was hurled down, a maimed wreck, so that the huge earth groaned.
20	Herakles said, "I have come to take up the labours that you will lay upon me; speak now, Eurystheus, and tell me what you would have me do."
21	Eurystheus, that weak king, looking on the young man who stood as tall and as firm as one of the Immortals, had a heart that was filled with hatred.
22	And flame shot forth from the thunder- stricken lord in the dim rugged glens of the mount , when he was smitten.
23	A great part of huge earth was scorched by the terrible vapour and melted as tin melts when heated by men's art in channelled crucibles; or as iron, which is hardest of all things, is softened by glowing fire in mountain glens and melts in the divine earth through the strength of Hephaestus.
24	He lifted up his head and said with a scowl:"There is a lion in Nemea that is stronger and more fierce than any lion known before.
25	Kill that lion; bring the lion's skin to me that I may know that you have truly performed your task."
26	Even so, then, the earth melted in the glow of the blazing fire. And in the bitterness of his anger Zeus cast him into wide Tartarus.
27	(Iliad. 869-880) And from Typhoeus come boisterous winds which blow damply, except Notus and Boreas and clear Zephyr. These are a god-sent kind, and a great blessing to men; but the others blow fitfully upon the seas.
28	So Eurystheus said, and Herakles, with neither shield nor arms, went forth from the king's palace to seek and combat the dread lion of Nemea.
29	He went on until he came into a country where the fences were overthrown, and the fields wasted, and the houses empty and fallen.
30	Some rush upon the misty sea and work great havoc among men with their evil, raging blasts; for varying with the season they blow, scattering ships and destroying sailors.
31	And men who meet these upon the sea have no help against the mischief. Others again over the boundless, flowering earth spoil the fair fields of men who dwell below, filling them with dust and cruel uproar.
32	He went on until he came to a waste around that land: there he came on the trail of the lion; it led up the side of a mountain, and Herakles, without shield or arms, followed on the trail.
33	He heard the roar of the lion.
34	(Iliad. 881-885) But when the blessed gods had finished their toil, and settled by force their struggle for honours with the Titans, they pressed far-seeing Olympian Zeus to reign and to rule over them, by Earth's prompting. So he divided their dignities amongst them.
35	(Iliad. 886-900) Now Zeus, king of the gods, made Metis his wife first, and she was wisest among gods and mortal men. But when she was about to bring forth the goddess bright-eyed Athene, Zeus craftily deceived her with cunning words and put her in his own belly, as Earth and starry Heaven advised.
36	Looking up he saw the beast standing at the mouth of a cavern, huge and dark against the sunset.
37	Three times the lion roared, and then went within the cavern.
38	For they advised him so, to the end that no other should hold royal sway over the eternal gods in place of Zeus; for very wise children were destined to be born of her, first the maiden bright-eyed Tritogeneia, equal to her father in strength and in wise understanding; but afterwards she was to bear a son of overbearing spirit, king of gods and men.
39	But Zeus put her into his own belly first, that the goddess might devise for him both good and evil.
40	Around the mouth were strewn the bones of creatures it had killed and carried there. Herakles looked upon the bones when he came to the cavern.
41	He went within.
42	(Iliad. 901-906) Next he married bright Themis who bare the Horae (Hours), and Eunomia (Order), Dike (Justice), and blooming Eirene (Peace), who mind the works of mortal men, and the Moerae (Fates) to whom wise Zeus gave the greatest honour, Clotho, and Lachesis, and Atropos who give mortal men evil and good to have.
43	(Iliad. 907-911) And Eurynome, the daughter of Ocean, beautiful in form, bare him three fair-cheeked Charites (Graces), Aglaea, and Euphrosyne, and lovely Thaleia, from whose eyes as they glanced flowed love that unnerves the limbs: and beautiful is their glance beneath their brows.
44	Far into the cavern he went; he came to where the lion lay gorged with the prey it had taken. The breath from its mouth and nostrils came heavily to him.
45	The beast yawned.
46	(Iliad. 912-914) Also he came to the bed of all-nourishing Demeter, and she bare white-armed Persephone whom Aidoneus carried off from her mother; but wise Zeus gave her to him.
47	(Iliad. 915-917) And again, he loved Mnemosyne with the beautiful hair: and of her the nine gold-crowned Muses were born who delight in feasts and the pleasures of song.
48	Herakles sprang on it; he put his great, knotted hands upon its throat.
49	No growl came out of the mouth, but the great eyes blazed and the terrible paws tore at Herakles.
50	(Iliad. 918-920) And Leto was joined in love with Zeus who holds the aegis, and bare Apollo and Artemis delighting in arrows, children lovely above all the sons of Heaven.
51	(Iliad. 921-923) Lastly, he made Hera his blooming wife: and she was joined in love with the king of gods and men, and brought forth Hebe and Ares and Eileithyia.
52	Against the rock Herakles held the beast; strongly he held it, choking it through the skin that was almost impenetrable.
53	Terribly the lion struggled; the strong hands of the hero held its throat until it struggled no more.
54	(Iliad. 924-929) But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to bright-eyed Tritogeneia (29), the awful, the strife-stirring, the host-leader, the unwearying, the queen, who delights in tumults and wars and battles.
55	But Hera without union with Zeus -- for she was very angry and quarrelled with her mate -- bare famous Hephaestus, who is skilled in crafts more than all the sons of Heaven.
56	Then Herakles stripped off the impenetrable skin from the lion's body; he put it upon himself for a cloak.
57	As he went through the forest he pulled up a young oak-tree and trimmed it to make a club for him. self.
58	(Iliad. 929a-929t) (30) But Hera was very angry and quarrelled with her mate. And because of this strife she bare without union with Zeus who holds the aegis a glorious son, Hephaestus, who excelled all the sons of Heaven in crafts.
59	But Zeus lay with the fair- cheeked daughter of Ocean and Tethys apart from Hera.... ((LACUNA)) ....deceiving Metis (Thought) although she was full wise.
60	With the lion's skin over him--that skin that no spear or arrow could pierce--and carrying the club in his hands he journeyed on until he came to the palace of King Eurystheus.
61	The king, seeing a towering man all covered with the skin of a monstrous lion coming towards him, ran and hid himself in a great jar.
62	But he seized her with his hands and put her in his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something stronger than his thunderbolt: therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and dwells in the aether, swallow her down suddenly.
63	But she straightway conceived Pallas Athene: and the father of men and gods gave her birth by way of his head on the banks of the river Trito. And she remained hidden beneath the inward parts of Zeus, even Metis, Athena's mother, worker of righteousness, who was wiser than gods and mortal men.
64	He lifted up the cover to ask the servants what was the meaning of that terrible appearance.
65	His servants told him that this was Herakles come back with the skin of the Nemean lion over him.
66	There the goddess (Athena) received that whereby she excelled in strength all the deathless ones who dwell in Olympus, she who made the host-scaring weapon of Athena. And with it (Zeus) gave her birth, arrayed in arms of war.
67	(Iliad. 930-933) And of Amphitrite and the loud-roaring Earth-Shaker was born great, wide-ruling Triton, and he owns the depths of the sea, living with his dear mother and the lord his father in their golden house, an awful god.
68	On hearing this Eurystheus hid himself again.
69	He would not speak with Herakles nor have him come near him, so fearful was he. Herakles was content to be left alone.
70	(Iliad. 933-937) Also Cytherea bare to Ares the shield-piercer Panic and Fear, terrible gods who drive in disorder the close ranks of men in numbing war, with the help of Ares, sacker of towns: and Harmonia whom high-spirited Cadmus made his wife.
71	(Iliad. 938-939) And Maia, the daughter of Atlas, bare to Zeus glorious Hermes, the herald of the deathless gods, for she went up into his holy bed.
72	The servants came to the king, and when Eurystheus lifted the cover of the jar they told him how Herakles was feasting and devouring all the goods in the palace.
73	The king flew into a rage.
74	(Iliad. 940-942) And Semele, daughter of Cadmus was joined with him in love and bare him a splendid son, joyous Dionysus, -- a mortal woman an immortal son. And now they both are gods.
75	(Iliad. 943-944) And Alemena was joined in love with Zeus who drives the clouds and bare mighty Heracles.
76	Still he was fearful of having the hero stand before him.
77	He issued commands through his heralds ordering Herakles to go forth at once and perform the second of his tasks.
78	(Iliad. 945-946) And Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, made Aglaea, youngest of the Graces, his buxom wife.
79	(Iliad. 947-949) And golden-haired Dionysus made brown-haired Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, his buxom wife: and the son of Cronos made her deathless and unageing for him.
80	It was the task of slaying the great water-snake that made its lair in the swamps of Lerna.
81	Herakles stayed to feast another day; then, with the lion's skin across his shoulders and the great club in his hands, he started off.
82	(Iliad. 950-955) And mighty Heracles, the valiant son of neat-ankled Alemena, when he had finished his grievous toils, made Hebe the child of great Zeus and gold-shod Hera his shy wife in snowy Olympus. Happy he! For he has finished his great works and lives amongst the dying gods, untroubled and unaging all his days.
83	(Iliad. 956-962) And Perseis, the daughter of Ocean, bare to unwearying Helios Circe and Aeetes the king. And Aeetes, the son of Helios who shows light to men, took to wife fair-cheeked Idyia, daughter of Ocean the perfect stream, by the will of the gods: and she was subject to him in love through golden Aphrodite and bare him neat-ankled Medea.
84	But this time he did not go alone; the youth Iolaos, his brother's son, went with him.
85	Herakles and Iolaos went on until they came to the vast swamp of Lerna.
86	(Iliad. 963-968) And now farewell, you dwellers on Olympus and you islands and continents and thou briny sea within. Now sing the company of goddesses, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis, -- even those deathless one who lay with mortal men and bare children like unto gods.
87	(Iliad. 969-974) Demeter, bright goddess, was joined in sweet love with the hero Iasion in a thrice-ploughed fallow in the rich land of Crete, and bare Plutus, a kindly god who goes everywhere over land and the sea's wide back, and him who finds him and into whose hands he comes he makes rich, bestowing great wealth upon him.
88	Right in the middle of the swamp was the water-snake, the Hydra.
89	Nine heads it had; it raised them out of the water as the hero and his companion came near.
90	(Iliad. 975-978) And Harmonia, the daughter of golden Aphrodite, bare to Cadmus Ino and Semele and fair-cheeked Agave and Autonoe whom long haired Aristaeus wedded, and Polydorus also in rich- crowned Thebe.
91	(Iliad. 979-983) And the daughter of Ocean, Callirrhoe was joined in the love of rich Aphrodite with stout hearted Chrysaor and bare a son who was the strongest of all men, Geryones, whom mighty Heracles killed in sea-girt Erythea for the sake of his shambling oxen.
92	They could not cross the swamp to come to the monster, for a man or a beast would sink in it and be lost.
93	The Hydra remained in the middle of the swamp belching mud at the hero and his companion.
94	(Iliad. 984-991) And Eos bare to Tithonus brazen-crested Memnon, king of the Ethiopians, and the Lord Emathion.
95	And to Cephalus she bare a splendid son, strong Phaethon, a man like the gods, whom, when he was a young boy in the tender flower of glorious youth with childish thoughts, laughter-loving Aphrodite seized and caught up and made a keeper of her shrine by night, a divine spirit.
96	Herakles took up his bow and shot flaming arrows at its head.
97	It became more full of rage; it came through the swamp to attack him.
98	(Iliad. 993-1002) And the son of Aeson by the will of the gods led away from Aeetes the daughter of Aeetes the heaven-nurtured king, when he had finished the many grievous labours which the great king, over bearing Pelias, that outrageous and presumptuous doer of violence, put upon him. But when the son of Aeson had finished them, he came to Iolcus after long toil bringing the coy-eyed girl with him on his swift ship, and made her his buxom wife.
99	And she was subject to Iason, shepherd of the people, and bare a son Medeus whom Cheiron the son of Philyra brought up in the mountains. And the will of great Zeus was fulfilled.
100	Herakles swung his club.
101	As the Hydra came near he knocked head after head off its body.
102	(Iliad. 1003-1007) But of the daughters of Nereus, the Old man of the Sea, Psamathe the fair goddess, was loved by Aeacus through golden Aphrodite and bare Phocus.
103	And the silver-shod goddess Thetis was subject to Peleus and brought forth lion-hearted Achilles, the destroyer of men.
104	But for every head knocked off two grew upon the Hydra.
105	And as he struggled with the monster a huge crab came out of the swamp, and, gripping Herakles by the foot, tried to draw him in.
106	(Iliad. 1008-1010) And Cytherea with the beautiful crown was joined in sweet love with the hero Anchises and bare Aeneas on the peaks of Ida with its many wooded glens.
107	(Iliad. 1011-1016) And Circe the daughter of Helius, Hyperion's son, loved steadfast Odysseus and bare Agrius and Latinus who was faultless and strong: also she brought forth Telegonus by the will of golden Aphrodite.
108	The boy Iolaos came; he killed the crab that had come to the Hydra's aid.
109	Then Herakles laid hands upon the Hydra; he drew it out of its swamp.
110	And they ruled over the famous Tyrenians, very far off in a recess of the holy islands.
111	(Iliad. 1017-1018) And the bright goddess Calypso was joined to Odysseus in sweet love, and bare him Nausithous and Nausinous.
112	He knocked off a head; then he had Iolaos put fire to where the head had been, so that two heads might not grow in that place.
113	The life of the Hydra was in its middle head; that head he had not been able to knock off with his club.
114	(Iliad. 1019-1020) These are the immortal goddesses who lay with mortal men and bare them children like unto gods.
115	(Iliad. 1021-1022) But now, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis, sing of the company of women.
116	Now, with his hands he tore it off, and he placed the head under a great boulder so that it could not rise into life again.
117	The Hydra's life was now destroyed.
118	Herakles dipped his arrows into the gall of the monster, making his arrows deadly; afterwards, no thing that was struck with these arrows could keep its life.
119	Again he came to Eurystheus's palace, and Eurystheus, seeing him, ran again and hid himself in the jar.
120	Herakles ordered his servants to tell the king that he had returned and that the second labour was accomplished.
121	Eurystheus, hearing from the servants that Herakles had spoken mildly to them, came out of the jar. Insolently he spoke.
122	"Twelve labours you have to accomplish for me," he said, "and eleven yet remain to be accomplished."
123	"How?" said Herakles. "Have I not performed two of the labours? Have I not slain the lion of Nemea and the great water-snake of Lerna?"
124	"In the killing of the water-snake you were helped by Iolaos," said the king, snapping out his words and looking at Herakles with shifting eyes. "That labour cannot be allowed you."
125	Herakles would have struck him to the ground.
126	But then he remembered that the crime he had committed in his madness would have to be expiated by labours performed at the order of this man.
127	He looked full upon Eurystheus and he said, "Tell me of the other labours, and I will go forth and accomplish them."
128	Then Eurystheus bade him go and make clean the stables of King Augeias.
129	Herakles came into the king's country.
130	The smell from the stables was felt for miles around.
131	Countless herds of cattle and goats had been in the stables for years, and because of the uncleanness and the smell that came from the stables the crops were withered all around.
132	Herakles told the king that he would clean the stables if he were given one-tenth of the cattle and the goats for a reward.
133	The king agreed to give him that reward.
134	Then Herakles drove the cattle and the goats out of the stables; he broke a passage through their foundations and he made channels for the two rivers, Alpheios and Peneios.
135	The waters flowed through the stables, and in a day all the uncleanness was washed away.
136	Then Herakles turned the rivers back into their own courses.
137	He was not given the reward he had bargained for, however.
138	He went back and told of his labour accomplished. "Ten labours remain for me to do now," he said.
139	"Eleven," said Eurystheus. "How can I allow the cleaning of King Augeias's stables to you when you did it for a reward?"
140	Then, while Herakles stood still holding himself back from striking him, Eurystheus ran away and hid himself.
141	Through his heralds he sent word to Herakles, telling him what his other labours would be.
142	He was to clear the marshes of Stymphalos of the man-eating birds that gathered there; he was to capture and bring to the king the golden-horned deer of Keryneia; he was also to capture and bring back alive the boar of Erymanthos.
143	Herakles came to the marshes of Stymphalos.
144	The growth of jungle was so dense that he could not cut his way through to where the man-eating birds were;
145	they sat upon low bushes within the jungle, gorging themselves upon the flesh they had carried there.
146	For days Herakles tried to hack his way through to them.
147	He could not get to where the birds were.
148	Then, thinking that he might not be able to accomplish this labour, he sat upon the ground in despair.
149	It was then that one of the Immortals appeared to him; then, for the first and only time, he was given help by one of the Gods.
150	It was Athena who came to him.
151	She stood apart from Herakles; in her hands she held brazen cymbals.
152	These she clashed together.
153	At the sound of the clashing the Stymphalean birds rose up from the low bushes behind the jungle.
154	Herakles shot at them with his unerring arrows.
155	The man-eating birds fell, one after the other, into the marsh.
156	Then Herakles went north to where the Keryneian deer had her pasture.
157	So swift of foot was she that no hound nor hunter had ever been able to overtake her.
158	For the whole of a year Herakles kept Golden Horns in chase; at last, on the side of Mount Artemision, he caught her.
159	Then Artemis, the Goddess of the Wild Things, would have punished Herakles for capturing the deer.
160	But the hero pleaded with her.
161	She relented and allowed him to bring the deer to Tiryns and show her to King Eurystheus.
162	And Artemis kept charge of Golden Horns while Herakles went off to capture the Erymanthean boar.
163	He came to the city of Psophis, the inhabitants of which were in deadly fear because of the ravages of the boar.
164	Herakles made his way up the mountain to hunt it.
165	Now, upon this mountain a band of Centaurs lived, and they, knowing Herakles, welcomed him.
166	One of them, Pholos, took Herakles to the great house where the Centaurs stored their wine.
167	Seldom did the Centaurs drink wine; a draught of it made them wild, and so they stored it away, leaving it in the charge of one of their band.
168	Herakles begged Pholos to give him a draught of wine; after he had begged for it again and again the Centaur opened one of his great jars.
169	Herakles drank wine and spilled it.
170	Then the Centaurs that were without smelled the wine and came hammering at the door, demanding the draughts that would make them wild.
171	Herakles came forth to drive them away.
172	They attacked him.
173	Then he shot at them with his unerring arrows and he drove them away.
174	Up the mountain and away to the far rivers the Centaurs raced, pursued by Herakles with his bow.
175	One of the band was slain, Pholos, who had entertained the hero.
176	By accident Herakles dropped a poisoned arrow on his foot.
177	Now he took the body of Pholos up to the top of the mountain and he buried the Centaur there.
178	Afterwards, on the snows of Erymanthos, he set a snare for the boar; he caught him there.
179	Upon his shoulders he carried the boar to Tiryns, and he led the deer there by her golden horns.
180	When Eurystheus had looked upon the boar and upon the deer, the boar was slain and the deer was loosed; she fled back to the Mountain Artemision.
181	King Eurystheus thought of more terrible labours that he might make Herakles engage in.
182	Now he would send him oversea, and make him strive with fierce tribes there and more terrible monsters.
183	When he had it all thought out he had Herakles brought before him, and he told him of those other labours.
184	He was to go to savage Thrace and there destroy the man-eating horses of King Diomedes;
185	afterwards he was to go amongst the dread women, the Amazons, daughters of Ares, the God of War, and take from their queen, Hippolyte, the girdle that Ares had given her;
186	then he was to go to Crete and take from the keeping of King Minos the bull that Poseidon had given him;
187	afterwards he was to go to the Island of Erytheia, and take away from Geryoneus, the monster that had three bodies instead of one, the herd of red cattle that the two-headed hound Orthos kept guard over;
188	then he was to go to the Garden of the Hesperides, and from that garden he was to take the golden apples that Zeus had given Hera for a marriage-gift--where the Garden of the Hesperides was no mortal knew.
189	So Herakles set out on this long and perilous quest.
190	First he went to Thrace, that savage land that was ruled by Diomedes, son of Ares, the God of War.
191	Herakles broke into the stable where the horses were; he caught three of them by their heads, and although they kicked, and bit, and trampled, he forced them out of the stable and down to the sea-shore; his companion Abderos waited for him there.
192	The screams of the fierce horses were heard by the men of Thrace; they, with their king, came after Herakles.
193	He left the horses in charge of Abderos while he fought the Thracians and their savage king. Herakles shot his deadly arrows amongst them.
194	He drove them from the sea-shore, and he came back to where he had left Abderos with the fierce horses.
195	They had thrown Abderos upon the ground, and they were trampling upon him. Herakles drew his bow and he shot the horses with his unerring arrows--the arrows that had been dipped in the gall of the Hydra.
196	Screaming, the horses of King Diomedes raced toward the sea; one fell and another fell, and then, as it came to the line of the foam, the third of the fierce horses fell.
197	They were all slain with the unerring arrows.
198	Then Herakles took up the body of his companion; he was dead.
199	Herakles buried the body with proper rites, and he raised a column over it.
200	Afterwards, around that column a city that bore the name of Herakles's friend was built.
201	Then toward the Euxine Sea he went.
202	There, where the River Themiskyra flows into the sea, he saw the abodes of the Amazons.
203	And upon the rocks and the steep places he saw the warrior women; they were standing there with drawn bows in their hands.
204	Most dangerous did they seem to Herakles.
205	He did not know how to approach them; he might shoot at them with his unerring arrows, but when his arrows were all shot away, the Amazons, from their steep places, might be able to kill him with the arrows from their bows.
206	While he stood at a distance, wondering what he might do, a horn was sounded, and an Amazon mounted on a white stallion rode towards him.
207	"Herakles," she cried out, "The Queen Hippolyte permits you to come amongst the Amazons.
208	Enter her tent and declare to the queen the thing that has brought you amongst the never-conquered Amazons."
209	Herakles came to the tent of the queen.
210	There stood tall Hippolyte, an iron crown upon her head and a beautiful girdle of bronze and iridescent glass around her waist.
211	Proud as a fierce mountain eagle looked the queen of the Amazons:
212	Herakles did not know in what way he might conquer her.
213	Outside the Amazons stood; they struck their shields with their spears, keeping up a continuous savage din.
214	"For what has Herakles come to the country of the Amazons?" Queen Hippolyte asked.
215	"For the girdle you wear," Herakles said, and he held his hands ready for the struggle.
216	"Is it for the girdle given me by Ares, the God of War, that you I have come, braving the Amazons?"
217	"For that," Herakles said.
218	"I would not have you enter into strife with the Amazons," said Queen Hippolyte.
219	And so saying she drew off the girdle of bronze and iridescent glass, and gave it into his hands.
220	Herakles took the beautiful girdle into his hands.
221	He was fearful that some piece of guile was being played upon him.
222	He took the girdle and put it around his great brows.
223	He thanked the queen, but even as he did the din outside became more savage.
224	Hera, the Goddess who was his foe, had appeared amongst the Amazons as an Amazon.
225	She stirred the warrior-women up against him.
226	They fell upon him with their spears.
227	Then Herakles drew his bow.
228	Hippolyte came out of her tent and mounted her stallion to draw her Amazons away from him.
229	She rode toward the River Themiskyra and they rode with her.
230	And now the arrows of Herakles flew amongst them, and as they fled across the river the white flanks of their stallions were stained with the blood of the Amazons.
231	He went away from that country with Hippolyte's girdle around his brows.
232	He sailed over the sea and he came to Crete.
233	There he found, grazing in a special pasture, the bull that Poseidon had given king Minos.
234	He laid his hands upon the bull's horns and he overthrew the bull.
235	Then he drove the bull down to the sea-shore.
236	His next labour was to take away the herd of red cattle that was owned by the monster, Geryoneus.
237	In the Island of Erytheia, in the middle of the Stream of Ocean, lived the monster;
238	his herd was guarded by the two-headed hound Orthos--the hound that was brother to Kerberos, the three-headed hound that kept guard in the Lower. world.
239	As Herakles came near to that island, making Minos's bull swim with him, the sun beat upon him, and drew all his strength away from him; he was dazed and dazzled by the rays of the sun.
240	He drew his bow and shot his arrows upwards.
241	He shouted out against the sun, and in his anger he wanted to strive against the sun.
242	Far, far out of sight the arrows of Herakles went.
243	And the Sun God, Helios, was filled with admiration for Herakles, the man who attempted what was impossible.
244	Then did Helios fling down to Herakles his great golden cup.
245	Down, and into the Stream of Ocean fell the great golden cup of Helios.
246	It floated there, wide enough to hold all the men who might be in a ship.
247	Herakles put the bull of Minos into the cup of Helios; the cup bore them away, towards the West, and across the Stream of Ocean.
248	Herakles came to the Island of Erytheia.
249	All over the island straggled the red cattle of Geryoneus, grazing upon the rich pastures. Herakles, leaving the bull of Minos in the cup, went upon the island; he made a club for himself out of a tree, and he went towards the cattle.
250	The hound Orthos bayed and ran towards him, the two-headed hound sprang upon Herakles with poisonous foam upon his jaws.
251	Herakles swung his club and struck the two heads off the hound.
252	Where the foam of the hound's jaws dropped a poisonous plant sprang up.
253	Herakles took the body of the hound; he swung it around, and he flung it far out into the Ocean.
254	Then the monster Geryoneus came upon him.
255	Three bodies he had instead of one; he attacked Herakles by hurling great stones at him. Herakles was hurt by the stones.
256	Then the monster beheld the cup of Herakles; he began to hurl stones at the golden thing, striving to sink it in the sea and so leave Herakles without a way of getting from the island.
257	Herakles drew his bow; he shot arrows into the monster, and left him dead in the deep rich grass of the pastures.
258	He rounded up the red cattle, the bulls and the cows, and he drove them down to the shore; he put them into the golden cup of Helios where the bull of Minos stayed.
259	Then back across the Stream of Ocean the cup floated.
260	The bull of Crete and the cattle of Erytheia were brought past Sicily and through the straits called the Hellespont.
261	To Thrace, that savage land, they were brought.
262	Then Herakles took the cattle out, and the cup of Helios sank into the sea.
263	Through the wide hinds of Thrace he drove the herd of Geryoneus and the bull of Minos, and he came to Tiryns once more.
264	There he did not stay.
265	He started off to find the Garden of the Hesperides, the Daughters of the Evening Land.
266	Long did he search; he found no one who could tell him where the garden was.
267	At last he came to the Mountain Pelion where the Centaur Cheiron was.
268	And Cheiron told Herakles what journey he would have to make to come to the Hesperides, the Daughters of the Evening Land.
269	Far did Herakles journey; weary he was when he came to where Atlas stood, bearing the sky upon his weary shoulders.
270	As he came near he felt an undreamed-of perfume being wafted towards him.
271	So weary was he with his journey and all his toils that he was fain to sink down and dream in that Evening Land.
272	But he roused himself, and he journeyed on towards where the perfume came from.
273	Over that place a star seemed always arising.
274	He came to where a silver lattice fenced a garden that was full of the quiet of evening. Golden bees hummed through the air.
275	How wild and laborious was the world he had come from, Herakles thought!
276	He felt that it would be hard for him to return to that world!
277	He saw three maidens.
278	They stood with wreaths upon their heads and blossoming branches in their hands.
279	When the maidens saw him, they came towards him, crying out, "O man who has come into the Garden of the Hesperides, go not near the tree that the sleepless dragon guards!"
280	Then they went and stood by a tree as if to keep guard over it.
281	All around were trees that bore flowers and fruit, but this tree had golden apples amongst its bright green leaves.
282	He saw the guardian of the tree.
283	Beside the trunk a dragon lay.
284	As Herakles drew near, the dragon showed its glittering scales and its deadly claws.
285	The apples were within reach, but the dragon with its deadly claws stood in the way. Herakles shot an arrow; then a tremor went through the sleepless dragon; it screamed, fell down, and lay stark.
286	The maidens cried in their grief; Herakles went to the tree; he plucked the golden apples and he put them into the pouch he carried.
287	Down on the ground sank the Hesperides, the Daughters of the Evening Land; he heard their laments as he went from the enchanted garden that they guarded.
288	Back from the ends of the earth came Herakles, back from the place where Atlas stood holding the sky upon his weary shoulders.
289	He went back through Asia and Libya and Egypt, and he came again to Tiryns and to the palace of Eurystheus.
290	He brought to the king the herd of Geryoneus;
291	he brought to the king the bull of Minos;
292	he brought to the king the girdle of Hippolyte;
293	he brought to the king the golden apples of the Hesperides.
294	And King Eurystheus, with his thin, white face, sat upon his royal throne and looked over all the wonderful things that the hero had brought him.
295	Not pleased was Eurystheus; rather was he angry that one he hated could win such wonderful things.
296	He took into his hands the golden apples of the Hesperides.
297	But this fruit was not for such as he.
298	An eagle snatched the branch from his hand.
299	The eagle flew and flew until he came to where the Daughters of the Evening Land wept in their garden.
300	There the eagle let fall the branch with the golden apples; the maidens set it back on the tree, and, behold! it grew as it had been growing before Herakles plucked it.
301	The next day the heralds of Eurystheus came to Herakles and they told him of the last labour that he would have to set out to accomplish--this time he would have to go down into the Underworld and bring up from King Hades's realm Kerberos, the three-headed hound.
302	Herakles put upon him the impenetrable lion's skin and set forth once more.
303	This might be the last of his life's labours:
304	Kerberos was not an earthly monster, and he who would struggle with Kerberos in the Underworld would have the Gods of the Dead against him.
305	But Herakles went on.
306	He journeyed to the cavern where there is an entrance to the Underworld.
307	Far into that dismal cavern he went; then he went down, down, down, until he came to that dim river that had beyond it only the people of the dead. Kerberos bayed at him from the place where the dead cross the river.
308	Knowing that this was no shade, the hound Kerberos sprang at Herakles.
309	He could neither bite nor tear through the impenetrable lion's skin.
310	Herakles held him by the neck of his middle head so that Kerberos was neither able to bite nor tear, nor was he able to bellow.
311	Then Persephone to the brink of that river came.
312	She declared to Herakles that the Gods of the Dead would not strive against him if he promised to bring Kerberos back to the Underworld.
313	This Herakles promised.
314	He turned around and he carried Kerberos; his hands were around the monster's neck; from the monster's jaws foam dropped.
315	He carried him on and upward towards the world of men.
316	Out through a cavern that was in the land of Troizen Herakles came, still carrying Kerberos by the neck of his middle head.
317	From Troizen to Tiryns the hero went; men fled at the sight of the monster he carried.
318	On he went toward the king's palace.
319	Eurystheus was seated outside his palace that day, looking at the great jar he had so often hidden in, and thinking to himself that Herakles would never appear to affright him again.
320	Then Herakles appeared.
321	He called to Eurystheus; he held the Hound of Hell towards him.
322	The three heads grinned at Eurystheus; he gave a cry and scrambled into the jar. But before his feet touched the bottom of it
323	Eurystheus was dead of fear.
324	The jar rolled over, and Herakles looked upon the body that was all twisted with fright.
325	Then he turned around; carrying the hound he made his way back to the Underworld.
326	On the brink of the river he loosed Kerberos, and the bellow of the three-headed hound was heard once more by the River Acheron.

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The Theogony of Hesiod

Herakles I