This was a sacred deer with golden horns belonging to the Goddess Artemis and it was so fast it could outrun an arrow. It frightened King Eurystheus so much that he ran away and the boar disappeared. As Heracles dropped it at the King’s feet, the boar began to recover and snorted angrily. Heracles chased the boar up and down the mountains for almost a week before the animal dropped in exhaustion. King Eurystheus wanted this gigantic, wild boar with big tusks brought back to him alive. He asked his nephew Iolaus for help and he had the idea to seal the neck with fire when a head was cut off. Heracles used flaming arrows to attract the Hydra out of its den.īut Heracles struck trouble when he tried to cut off one of the Hydra’s heads and two new heads grew back. The swamp was covered in a poisonous mist, so Heracles had to use a cloth to breathe through. It had been specifically raised by Hera to kill Heracles. The Lernaean Hydra was a fearsome nine-headed monster that lived in the swamp of Lake Lerna. Picture: Supplied by the Australian Museum Media_camera Statue of Heracles fighting the lion. He took the lion’s skin to wear as armour. Inside, Heracles found the lion, stunned it with a club and strangled it with his hands. He followed it back to its den and blocked one entrance before entering through the other. Heracles achieved this after learning the lion’s skin could not be broken with arrows. During those 12 years, the King set these tasks for Heracles: He prayed to the God Apollo for guidance, and the God’s oracle* told him he would have to serve King Eurystheus for 12 years as punishment for the murders. When he woke, Heracles was shocked and upset by what he’d done.

In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children.

The Goddess Hera hated Heracles, because he was the son of her husband Zeus and another woman, and made him lose his mind. He was an adventurer who had superhuman strength and was said to have strangled two snakes in his crib when he was an infant. Heracles, who is also known by the name Hercules, was the greatest of all the Greek heroes.

Media_camera Heracles who completed 12 labours in Greek Mythology

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