Retelling by N.A. Kuhn

Death of Hercules and his acceptance into the host of the Olympian gods

Based on the tragedy of Sophocles "Trakhinyanka"

When Hercules was sold into slavery by Omphale for the murder of Iphit, Deianira and her children had to leave Tiryns. The wife of Hercules was given shelter by the king of the Thessalian city of Trachina Keik. Three years and three months have passed since Hercules Deianira left. Hercules' wife worried about the fate of her husband. There was no news from Hercules. Deianira did not even know if her husband was still alive. Deianira was tormented by forebodings. She called her son Gill and said to him:

Oh my beloved son! It's a shame you don't look for your father. It's been fifteen months since he hasn't let any news of himself.

If you can only believe the rumors, - Gill replied to his mother, - then they say that after three years his father was a slave to Omphale, when his term of slavery ended, he went with an army to Euboea to the city of Oikhalia to take revenge on King Eurytus for insulting ...

My son! - interrupted Gilla's mother, - your father Hercules never left me before, leaving for great deeds, in such anxiety as the last time. Even at parting, he left me a tablet with an old prediction written on it, given to him in Dodona. It is said there that if Hercules stays in a foreign land for three years and three months, then either his death befell, or, having returned home, he will lead a joyful and calm life. Leaving me, Hercules left me with an order that his children should inherit from the lands of his fathers in case of his death. The fate of my husband worries me. After all, he told me about the siege of Oikhalia, that he would either perish under the city, or, having taken it, would live happily. No, my son, go, I pray you, find your father.

Gill, obedient to the will of his mother, set off on a long journey to Euboea, to Oyhalia, to look for his father.

Some time later, after Gill left Trachina, a messenger comes running to Deianira. He informs her that Ambassador Lichas is coming from Hercules. Lichas will bring good news. Hercules is alive. He defeated Evryta, took and destroyed the city of Oikhalia and will soon return to Trachina in glory of victory. Following the messenger comes to Deianira and Lichas. He leads the prisoners, and among them Iola, daughter of Evrita. Joyfully meets Deianir Lichas. Hercules' ambassador tells her that Hercules is still powerful and healthy. He is about to celebrate his victory and prepares to make rich sacrifices before leaving Euboea. Deianira looks at the prisoners; noticing a beautiful woman among them, he asks Lichas:

Tell me, Lichas, who is this woman? Who are her father and mother? She grieves most of all. Is this not the daughter of Evryta himself?

But Lichas replies to the wife of Hercules:

I don’t know, queen, who she is. Probably, this woman belongs to a noble Euboean family. She did not say a word on the way. She has been shedding tears of sorrow ever since she left her hometown.

Unhappy! - exclaimed Deianira, - to this grief I will not add new suffering to you! Lead, Likhas, to the prisoners' palace, I will come right after you!

Likhas left with the prisoners to the palace. As soon as he left, the servant approached Deianira and said to her:

Wait, queen, listen to me. Likhas did not tell you the whole truth. He knows who this woman is; this is Evrita's daughter, Iola. Out of love for her, Hercules once competed with Eurytus in archery. The proud tsar did not give him, the conqueror, his daughter to wife, as he had promised - having insulted, he drove the great hero out of the city. For the sake of Iola, Hercules now took Oikhalia and killed the king of Evrita. The son of Zeus did not send Iola here as a slave - he wants to marry her.

Deianira was saddened. She reproaches Likhas for hiding the truth from her. Likhas confesses that Hercules, captivated by the beauty of Iola, really wants to marry her. Deianira grieves. Hercules forgot her during a long separation. Now he loves another. What should she do, unhappy? She loves the great son of Zeus and cannot give him to another. The heartbroken Deianira recalls the blood that the centaur Nessus once gave her, and what he said to her before he died. Deianira decides to resort to the blood of a centaur. After all, he told her: "Rub the clothes of Hercules with my blood, and he will always love you, no woman will be dearer to him than you." She is afraid to resort to Deianira's magic remedy, but love for Hercules and the fear of losing him finally overcome her fears. She takes out the blood of Ness, which she kept in a vessel for so long that a ray of the sun would not fall on her, so that the fire in the hearth would not warm her. Deianira rubs it on a luxurious cloak that she weaved as a gift to Hercules, puts it in a tightly closed box, calls Lichas and says to him:

Hurry, Lichas, to Euboea and take this box to Hercules. There is a cloak in it. Let Hercules wear this cloak when he sacrifices to Zeus. Tell him that no mortal should wear this cloak except him, so that even a ray of bright Helios does not touch the cloak before he puts it on. Hurry, Likhas!

Likhas left, with a cloak. After he left, Deianira was seized with anxiety. She went to the palace and, to her horror, saw that the wool with which she rubbed the cloak with Ness's blood had decayed. Deianira threw this wool to the floor. A ray of sun fell on the wool and warmed the centaur's blood poisoned by the poison of the Lernaean hydra. Together with the blood, the poison of the hydra heated up and turned the wool into ash, and poisonous foam appeared on the floor, where the wool lay. Deianira was horrified; she is afraid that Hercules will die, wearing a poisoned cloak. The foreboding of irreparable misfortune torments Hercules' wife more and more.

Little time has passed since Lichas left for Euboea with the poisoned cloak. Gill, who has returned to Trachina, enters the palace. He is pale, his eyes are full of tears. Glancing at his mother, he exclaims:

Oh, how I would like to see one of three: either that you were not alive, or that the other would call you mother, not me, or that you have a better mind than now! Know that you have ruined your own husband, my father!

Oh woe! Deianira exclaimed in horror. - What are you saying, my son? Which person told you this? How can you accuse me of such an atrocity!

I myself saw my father's suffering, I did not learn it from people!

Gill tells his mother what happened on Mount Kaneion, near the city of Oikhalia: Hercules, having erected an altar, was already preparing to make sacrifices to the gods, and above all to his father Zeus, when Lichas came with a cloak. The son of Zeus put on a cloak - a gift from his wife - and began to sacrifice. Before he sacrificed twelve selected bulls to Zeus, in total the hero sacrificed one hundred sacrifices to the Olympian gods. Flames burst out brightly on the altars. Hercules stood, reverently raising his hands to the sky, and called upon the gods. The fire, burning hot on the altars, warmed the body of Hercules, and sweat appeared on the body. Suddenly, a poisoned cloak stuck to the hero's body. Convulsions ran through the body of Hercules. He felt a terrible pain. Suffering terribly, the hero called Likhas and asked him why he had brought this cloak. What could innocent Likhas answer him? He could only say that Deianira had sent him with the cloak. Hercules, unaware of anything from the terrible pain, grabbed Lichas by the leg and hit him on the rock, around which the sea waves were rustling. Likhas crashed to death. Hercules fell to the ground. He fought in untold agony. His cry resounded far across Euboea. Hercules cursed his marriage to Deianira. The great hero called his son and with a heavy groan said to him:

Oh, my son, do not leave me in misfortune - even if death threatens you, do not leave me! Lift me up! Get me out of here! Take me where no mortal can see me. Oh, if you feel compassion for me, don't let me die here!

They lifted Hercules, put him on a stretcher, carried him to the ship to transport him to Trakhina. This is what Gill told his mother and ended the story with the following words:

Now you will all see here the great son of Zeus, maybe still alive, or maybe already dead. Oh, let the harsh Erinyes and the avenger Dike punish you, mother! You have destroyed the best human that the earth has ever carried! You will never see such a hero!

Silently she went to the palace of Deianir, without uttering a single word. There, in the palace, she grabbed a double-edged sword. The old nanny saw Deianira. She calls rather Gill. Gill hurries to his mother, but she has already pierced her chest with a sword. With a loud cry, the unfortunate son rushed to his mother, he hugs her and covers her cold body with kisses.

At this time, they bring the dying Hercules to the palace. He fell asleep on the way, but when they lowered the stretcher to the ground at the entrance to the palace, Hercules woke up. The great hero was unaware of the terrible pain.

Oh great Zeus! - he exclaims, - in which country am I? Oh, where are you men of Greece? Help me! For your sake, I cleansed the land and the sea from monsters and evil, but now none of you wants to save me with fire or a sharp sword from heavy suffering! Oh, you, brother of Zeus, great Hades, put me to sleep, put me to sleep, the unfortunate, put me to sleep with swift death!

Father, listen to me, I pray you, - asks Gill with tears, - the mother unwittingly committed this atrocity. Why do you want revenge? Learning that she herself is the cause of your death, she pierced your heart with the edge of a sword!

Oh gods, she died, and I could not take revenge on her! The insidious Deianira did not die from my hand!

Father, it is not her fault! - says Gill. - Seeing Iola, the daughter of Evryta, in her house, my mother wanted to return your love by a magical means. She rubbed the cloak with the blood of the centaur Nessus slain by your arrow, not knowing that this blood was poisoned by the poison of the Lernaean hydra.

Oh woe, woe! - exclaims Hercules. - So this is how the prediction of my father Zeus came true! He told me that I would not die by the hand of the living, that I was destined to perish from the intrigues of Hades, who had descended into the dark kingdom. This is how Nessus, who was slain by me, ruined me! So this is what the oracle in Dodon promised me - the peace of death! Yes, it’s true - the dead have no worries! Do my last will, Gill! Take me with my faithful friends to high Oeta, lay a funeral pyre on top of it, put me on the fire and set it on fire. Do it quickly, end my suffering!

Oh, have pity, father, are you really forcing me to be your killer! Gill pleads to his father.

No, you will not be a killer, but a healer of my suffering! I still have a wish, grant it! - Hercules asks his son. “Take Evryta’s daughter, Iola, as your wife.

But Gill refuses to fulfill his father's request and says:

No, father, I cannot marry the one who was responsible for the death of my mother!

Oh, submit to my will, Gill! Do not cause in me the calmed suffering again! Let me die in peace! - persistently begs his son Hercules.

Gill resigned himself and obediently replies to his father:

Okay, father. I will be submissive to your dying will.

Hercules hurries his son, asks him to fulfill his last request as soon as possible.

Hurry, my son! Hurry to put me on the fire before these unbearable torments begin again! Carry me! Goodbye Gill!

Friends of Hercules and Gill raised the stretcher and carried Hercules to high Oeta. There they made a huge bonfire and laid on it the greatest of heroes. The sufferings of Hercules are becoming stronger, the poison of the Lernaean hydra penetrates deeper into his body. Hercules tears off his poisoned cloak, he stuck tightly to his body; Together with the cloak, Hercules tears off pieces of skin, and the terrible torments become even more intolerable. The only salvation from these superhuman torments is death. It is easier to die in a fire, it is easier to endure them, but none of the hero's friends dares to light the fire. Finally, Philoctetus came to Oeta, he was persuaded by Hercules to light a fire and as a reward for this he presented him with his bow and arrows, poisoned by the poison of the hydra. Philoctetes set fire to the fire, the fire flared brightly, but Zeus's lightning flashed even brighter. Thunder rolled across the sky. On a golden chariot, Athena-Pallas with Hermes was brought to the fire and they lifted the greatest of the heroes of Hercules to the bright Olympus. There the great gods met him. Heracles became the immortal god. Hera herself, forgetting her hatred, gave Hercules to wife her daughter, the eternally young goddess Hebe. Since then, Hercules has been living on the bright Olympus in the host of the great immortal gods. This was his reward for all his great deeds on earth, for all his great sufferings.

For many years Hercules lived with Keik with his wife and children. He traveled a lot, saving people from destruction; finally he embarked on another campaign, which was the last in his life.

He decided to march with his army and punish the ungrateful king Evritus, who once expelled him from his home. He approached the city of Evryta and easily defeated it and conquered the city. He killed the king of Evrita and his three sons, destroyed the capital and took prisoner his daughter, the beautiful Iola.

For a long time she waited for Hercules Deianir and languished in obscurity, not receiving news from him.

Longing for her husband, Deianira told her eldest son Gill about her fears for his fate and asked him to go in search of his father.

When Gill was about to set off, the messenger of Hercules appeared and told Deianir that her husband was alive and would soon return home crowned with victory.

He said that Hercules destroyed the city of Evryta, destroyed the king and his children and gave Deianira as a gift the captives taken during this war. Deianira looked sadly at the captives doomed to eternal slavery in a foreign country, and she liked one of them for her beauty.

She asked her where she was from, but Princess Iola, in tears, did not answer, and then Deianira ordered the maids to take her to the house and take care of her.

When the messenger of Hercules left, one of the captives appeared to Deianira and said that the beautiful captive was the daughter of King Evryta Iola, whom Hercules once wanted to marry, and that because of her he went to war on Evryta and sent her here because he still loves her.

Then Deianira remembered the advice of the centaur Ness and decided to get a magic blood clot in order to regain the love of Hercules, which she considered lost.

She took out a hidden talisman, which she protected from daylight, coated it with the new clothes prepared for Hercules, and instructed the messenger to give it to her husband as a gift. “Take these clothes to Hercules on the island of Euboea, this is my gift to him. I myself weaved and sewed, but let not a ray of light or a reflection of fire touch it; I will hide it in a casket, and you will fulfill exactly my instructions. " The messenger promised to do everything, as Deianira ordered him, and took the chest of clothes to Euboea.

And now Deianira began to joyfully await the return of her husband. She sends her son Gill to hasten his father to return home as soon as possible. But her joy soon gave way to great grief. Gill returned home alone.

Your gift ruined your father, ”the young man exclaimed, entering his mother, trembling with anger and horror. - When my father sacrificed to the gods, at that time a messenger appeared in Euboea with your gift, deadly clothes. His father put it on himself, and suddenly his body was covered with bloody sweat, as if a poisonous Echidna had sunk into his body, and he fell, exhausted from pain, to the ground. "Deianira's gift burns my body!" - exclaimed the father, cursing you. Crying, he called me to him and said: "My son, do not leave me in grief, take me away from this country, do not let me die in a foreign land." And we carried him to the ship and sailed to the shores of Hellas. Soon he will arrive here, and you may see your father still alive. Mother, it was you who ruined him, because of you the best of the husbands of Hellas perished!

Silently she listened to Dejanir's words of her son. Struck with grief, she silently retired to her chambers and wandered for a long time, like a shadow, through the empty house. Then she threw herself on the bed and pierced her chest with a sword - and when the son entered her bedchamber, he saw her lying on the floor and dying.

Shedding bitter tears, Gill rushed to his mother, reproaching himself that in vain he accused her of a terrible crime. Later, he learned about how the evil centaur deceived Deianira and that she unwittingly caused the death of Hercules.

At this time, the dying Hercules was brought on a stretcher, and his terrible moans filled the house.

Ungrateful children of Hellas! Can't anyone help me? How much suffering I have endured, how many deeds I have accomplished! Look at these hands, with which I defeated the Nemean lion and the Lernaean hydra, with which I fought against the giants and against Cerberus. It was not the enemy's spear that struck me, but the woman's hands destroyed me.

When Hercules learned that Deianira took her own life due to the fact that she became his involuntary killer, following the advice of the insidious centaur, he remembered the prediction that only the dead could kill him. Sensing death, he betrothed his son Gill to the beautiful princess Iola, and then ordered himself to be carried to the top of Mount Eta.

A huge fire was laid out on its top, and Hercules' friend Philoctetes came up to him, lit a fire and received from Hercules his deadly arrows as a gift. A bonfire caught fire, lightning struck it, a large light cloud descended from the sky and enveloped the body. Under the thunderclap, the hero's body was taken to the top of Olympus. Pallas Athena met Hercules on Olympus and took him to her father Zeus and Hera, who had persecuted the hero on earth all her life, but now she was reconciled with him. Zeus and Hera gave him their daughter, the beautiful Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, as his wife, and she bore Heracles two sons - Anikt and Alexiar, that is, "Invincible" and "Turner of troubles."

The glory of the mighty hero Hercules, who was not defeated by anyone on earth, who did a lot of good to people and accomplished many wonderful feats, lived for many centuries among the peoples of ancient Hellas.

Alcmene. To achieve Alcmene, Zeus took the guise of her husband. The wife of Zeus, Hera, took a promise from her husband that the one who was born at a certain time would become a great king. Despite the fact that Hercules was supposed to be at the appointed hour, Hera intervened in the process, as a result of which Hercules' cousin named Eurystheus was born earlier. Nevertheless, Zeus agreed with the Hero that Hercules would not obey his cousin forever, but would carry out only twelve of his orders. It was these deeds that later became the famous 12 feats of Hercules.

Ancient Greek myths attribute to Hercules many deeds: from a campaign with the Argonauts to the construction of the city of Githion together with the god Apollo.

Hera could not forgive Zeus for betrayal, but she ventured her anger on Hercules. For example, she sent madness on him, and Hercules, in a fit, killed his own, born to the daughter of the king of Thebes, Megara. The prophetess from the temple of Apollo in Delphi stated that in order to atone for his terrible act, Hercules must fulfill the instructions of Eurystheus, who envied the power of Hercules and came up with very difficult tests.

The painful death of a hero

For twelve years, Hercules coped with all the tasks of his cousin, gaining freedom. The further life of the hero was also feats, the content and number of which depends on the authors of specific myths, since there are quite a few ancient Greek monuments.

Most authors agree that, having won a victory over the river god Aheleus, Hercules won the hand of Deianira, the daughter of Dionysus. One day, Deianiru was kidnapped by the centaur Nessus, who admired her beauty. Nessus carried travelers across the stormy river on his back, and when Hercules and Deianira approached the river, the hero put his wife on a centaur, and he went swimming.

Nessus tried to hide with Deianira on his back, but Hercules wounded him with an arrow, poisoned by the most powerful poison in the world - the bile of the Lernaean hydra, which he killed during the second mission of Eurystheus. Nessus, dying, advised Deianira to collect his blood, lying that it could be used as a love potion.

Earlier, with an arrow poisoned by the bile of the hydra, Hercules mortally wounded his teacher and friend the centaur Chiron.

After some time, Deianira learned that Hercules wanted to marry one of his captives. After soaking the cloak with Ness's blood, she sent it as a gift to her husband in order to return his love. As soon as Hercules put on his cloak, the poison entered his body, causing terrible torment.

To get rid of suffering, Hercules uproots the trees, making a huge fire out of them, and lies down on the wood. According to legend, the funeral pyre agreed to set fire to the hero's best friend Philoctetus, for which Hercules promised him his bow and poisoned arrows.

It is believed that Hercules died at the age of fifty, after death he was accepted among the immortals and ascended to Olympus, where he finally reconciled with the Hero and even married her daughter.

The end of Hercules

In battles, in campaigns, in wanderings around the world, the life of Hercules passed. He traveled all over Greece, visited many cities, but did not live anywhere for a long time, and for many years he did not have a family or a home. But one day he remembered that in the kingdom of the dead he promised his friend Meleager to marry his sister Deianira, and went to Calydon, where she lived.

In Calydon at this time there were competitions of suitors - many sought the beautiful Deianira. Suddenly, the river god Aheloy appeared among them - a monster with bull horns on his head, with a green beard, along which water flowed. Seeing such a rival, all the suitors fled. Deianira wept bitterly with fear.

Hercules came to her aid, entered into single combat with Aheloy and broke one of his horns. Then Aheloy admitted himself defeated, begged Hercules back for his horn, and in return gave Deianira a wonderful Cornucopia filled with flowers and fruits that were never translated into it.

Hercules married Deianira and went with his wife to the city of Trachin, where they were going to build their house. On the way, they had to cross the river. Then they met the centaur Nessus, who, for a fee, carried passers-by across the river on his broad horse back. Hercules put his wife on the back of the centaur and walked forward. He was already in the middle of the river, when suddenly he heard Deianira's cry and, looking back, saw that the centaur was galloping along the bank, carrying away the kidnapped beauty. Hercules quickly grabbed his bow, and a well-aimed arrow instantly caught up with the centaur.

The dying Nessus decided to take revenge on Hercules and said to Deianira:

My blood flows from a mortal wound. Collect and save it - there is a miraculous power in it. If Hercules ever stops loving you, rub his clothes with my blood - and his love will return to you.

Deianira believed the centaur, collected his blood and conjugated.

Hercules and Deianira settled in Trakhin, lived in harmony. Soon they had a son.

The years passed. The son has grown. Hercules often left home to fight. Once he did not return from a campaign for a long time, and Deianira was very worried. She was about to send her son to look for her father, but a messenger from Hercules appeared, said that the hero was alive and well, was returning home and was sending forth prisoners taken in a foreign country. Among the prisoners, Deianira saw a girl of extraordinary beauty and asked the messenger who she was. The messenger answered slyly that this was not a simple captive, but the daughter of the defeated king, whom Hercules once wanted to marry.

Deianira saw that the princess was younger and more beautiful, and thought that Hercules would now stop loving her and leave her alone. She remembered the dying advice of the centaur Ness: with his caked blood she rubbed the new, festive clothes, which she herself weaved for her husband, and sent her with a messenger to meet Hercules.

Hercules accepted his wife's gift and wanted to put it on immediately. But as soon as the clothes touched the body, the poison from the blood of Ness penetrated into him and as if fire began to burn him. Hercules tore off his cursed clothes, but she adhered to the body and caused unbearable pain. He went into a rage, rushed about, shouted and suffered inexpressibly. When they came to tell Deianir about this, the unfortunate woman understood the centaur's cunning.

In despair that she had killed her husband, she threw herself on the sword with her chest and died.

Upon learning of the death of his wife, Hercules stopped moaning and rushing about, gathered his last strength, broke branches in the forest, laid a high fire on the hill and covered it with a lion's skin. Then he lay down on her, called his son and asked to light the fire.

Hercules (Heraclius, Alcides), Greek, lat. Hercules- the son of Zeus and, the greatest hero of Greek legends. By the way, the name of Hercule Poirot, for example, is also from "Hercules".

His name (usually in Latinized form) is usually used when they want to emphasize the enormous height or enormous physical strength of a person. But Hercules was not only a hero. He was a man with human weaknesses and positive qualities, who without hesitation entered into a struggle with fate and used his abilities not only for his own glory, but also in order to benefit mankind, to save him from troubles and suffering. He accomplished more than other people, but he also suffered more, which is why he was a hero. For this he received a reward, which his Babylonian predecessor Gilgamesh or the Phoenician Melqart had vainly sought; for him the most impossible dream of man came true - he became immortal.

Hercules was born in Thebes, where his mother Alcmene fled with her husband, who killed his father-in-law Electrion and feared revenge from his brother Sfenel. Of course, Zeus knew about the upcoming birth of Hercules - not only because he was an omniscient god, but also because he was directly related to his birth. The fact is that Zeus really liked Alcmene, and he, having assumed the form of Amphitryon, freely entered her bedroom. On the day Hercules was supposed to be born, Zeus recklessly declared in the assembly of the gods that today the greatest hero will be born. immediately realized that we were talking about the consequences of another love adventure of her husband, and decided to take revenge on him. Allegedly doubting his prediction, she provoked him to take an oath that the one born on that day would command all his relatives, even if they were of the Zeus clan. Then, with the help of Ilithia, Hera accelerated the birth of Nikippa, the wife of Sfenel, although she was only seven months old, and delayed the birth of Alcmene. And so it happened that the mighty Hercules, the son of the almighty Zeus, had to serve the wretched pre-born Eurystheus, the son of the mortal Sphenel, - a sad destiny, but a true hero is able to overcome this injustice of fate.

Shot from the film "Hercules"

The son of Alcmene was named at birth Alcides in honor of his step-grandfather,. Only later was he called Hercules, because he, they say, "thanks to Hera attained glory" (this is the traditional, although not entirely conclusive interpretation of his name). In this case, Hera turned out to be the hero's benefactor against her will: she built all sorts of intrigues for him in order to avenge her husband's betrayal, and Hercules, overcoming them, performed one feat after another. To begin with, Hera sent two monstrous snakes to his cradle, but the baby Hercules strangled them. Shocked by this, Amphitryon realized that such a child would eventually be able to accomplish great things, and decided to give him a proper upbringing. The best teachers dealt with Hercules: the son of Zeus, Castor, taught him to fight with weapons, and the Echali king Evryt in archery. He was taught wisdom by the just Radamanth, music and singing - the brother of Orpheus himself, Lin. Hercules was a diligent student, but playing the cithara was given to him worse than other sciences. When one day Lin decided to punish him, he hit him back with a cithara and killed him on the spot. Amphitryon was horrified at his strength and decided to send Hercules away from people. He sent him to graze the cattle on Mount Kiferon, and Hercules took it for granted.

Hercules lived excellently on Kiferon; there he killed a formidable lion that killed people and livestock, and made himself an excellent cloak from his skin. In the eighteenth year, Hercules decided to look at the white light and at the same time look after his wife. He made a club for himself from the trunk of a huge ash tree, threw the skin of a Kiferon lion (whose head served as a helmet for him) over his shoulders, and set off for his native Thebes.

On the way, he met strangers and from their conversation learned that they were the tribute collectors of the Orkhomenian king Ergin. They went to Thebes to receive a hundred oxen from the Theban king Creon - an annual tribute imposed on him by Ergin by right of the strongest. It seemed unfair to Hercules, and when the collectors in response to his words began to mock him, he dealt with them in his own way: he cut off their noses and ears, tied their hands and ordered them to return home. Thebes enthusiastically greeted their fellow countryman, but their joy did not last long. Ergin with an army appeared at the gates of the city. Hercules led the defense of the city, defeated Ergin and ordered him to return to Thebes twice as much as he managed to get from them. For this, King Creon gave him his daughter Megara and half of the palace to be his wife. Hercules remained in Thebes, became the father of three sons and considered himself the happiest man in the world.

But the hero's happiness is not in a peaceful life, and soon Hercules had to be convinced of this.

In the illustrations: the exploits of Hercules, reconstruction of the metopes of the temple of Zeus at Olympia, 470-456. BC. Upper row: Nemean lion, Lernaean hydra, Symphalia birds; second row: Cretan bull, Kerinean doe, belt of Queen Hippolyta; third row: Erymanthian boar, horses of Diomedes, giant Geryon; bottom row: golden apples of the Hesperides, Kerberos, cleaning of the Augean stables.

While he was a shepherd, Hera believed that everything was going as it should. But as soon as he became the royal son-in-law, she decided to intervene. She could not deprive him of his power, but what could be worse than power not controlled by reason? So, Hera sent madness on him, in a fit of which Hercules killed his sons and the two children of his half-brother Iphicles. Even worse, Hera then restored his sanity. Heartbroken, Hercules traveled to Delphi to find out how he could cleanse himself from the filth of involuntary murder. Through the lips of the Pythia, God told Hercules that he should go to the Mycenaean king Eurystheus and enter into his service. If Hercules completes the twelve tasks that Eurystheus entrusts to him, shame and guilt will be removed from him, and he will become immortal.

Hercules obeyed. He went to Argos, settled in his father's castle of Tiryns near Mycenae (truly this dwelling was worthy of Hercules: with its walls 10-15 m thick, Tiryns to this day remains the most indestructible fortress in the world) and expressed his readiness to serve Eurystheus. The powerful figure of Hercules instilled such fear in Eurystheus that he did not dare to personally entrust him with anything and transmitted all orders to Hercules through his herald Koprey. But the more fearless he came up with tasks for him: one is more difficult than the other.

Nemean lion

Eurystheus did not make Hercules bored for a long time while waiting for work. Hercules was ordered to kill a lion that lived in the neighboring Nemean mountains and which terrified the entire area, since it was twice the size of an ordinary lion and had an impenetrable skin. Hercules found his lair (this cave is still shown to tourists), stunned the lion with a blow with his club, strangled it, threw it on his shoulders and brought it to Mycenae. Eurystheus was numb with horror: the incredible strength of the servant frightened him even more than a dead lion thrown at his feet. Instead of gratitude, he forbade Hercules to appear in Mycenae: henceforth, let him show "material evidence" in front of the city gates, and he, Eurystheus, will control them from above. Now let Hercules go immediately to carry out a new assignment - it's time to kill Hydra!

Lernean Hydra

It was a monster with a snake body and nine dragon heads, one of which was immortal. lived in the swamps near the city of Lerna in Argolis and devastated the surrounding area. People were powerless in front of her. Hercules found out that Hydra has an assistant, Karkin, a huge cancer with sharp pincers. Then he also took with him an assistant, the youngest son of his brother Iphicles, the brave Iolaus. First of all, Hercules set fire to the forest behind the Lernaean swamps to cut off the retreat for the Hydra, then heated arrows in the fire of the fire and began the battle. Fiery arrows only teased Hydra, she rushed to Hercules and immediately lost one of her heads, but two new ones grew in her place. In addition, cancer came to the aid of Hydra. But when he grabbed Hercules in the leg, Iolaus killed him with an accurate blow. While Hydra looked around in bewilderment in search of her assistant, Hercules uprooted a burning tree and burned one of its heads: a new one did not grow in its place. Now Hercules knew how to get down to business: he cut off heads, one by one, and Iolaus burned his necks before new heads could grow from the embryos. The latter, despite desperate resistance, Hercules chopped off and burned the immortal head of Hydra. Hercules immediately buried the charred remains of this head in the ground and rolled it over with a huge stone. He cut the dead Hydra into pieces, just in case, and tempered his arrows in her bile; since then, the wounds inflicted by them have become incurable. Accompanied by the inhabitants of the liberated land, Hercules and Iolaus returned to Mycenae with a victory. But in front of the Lion's Gate, the herald Koprey was already standing with a new order: to clear the land of the Stymphalian birds.

Stymphalian birds

These birds lived near Lake Stymphalian in and devastated the surroundings worse than locusts. Their claws and feathers were of solid copper, and these feathers they could shed on the fly like their current distant relatives - bombers. Fighting them from the ground was a hopeless affair, as they immediately rained down on the enemy with a rain of their killing feathers. Therefore, Hercules climbed a tall tree, scared the birds with a rattle and began to shoot them down from a bow one by one, while they circled around the tree, dropping copper arrows to the ground. Finally, in fear, they flew far over the sea.

Kerinean fallow deer

After the expulsion of the Stymphalian birds, Hercules faced a new task: to catch a doe with golden horns and copper legs, which lived in Kerineas (on the border of Achaea and Arcadia) and belonged to Artemis. Eurystheus hoped that the powerful goddess would be angry with Hercules and force him to calm down. Catching this doe was no trivial matter, since she was shy and fast like the wind. Hercules chased her for a whole year until he managed to get close to the distance of a shot. Wounding the doe, Hercules caught it and brought it to Mycenae. He asked Artemis for forgiveness for his deed and brought her a rich sacrifice that appeased the goddess.

Erymanthian Boar

The next task was of the same kind: it was necessary to catch the Erymanthian boar, which ravaged the vicinity of the city of Psophis and killed many people with its huge fangs. Hercules drove the boar into deep snow, tied it up and brought it to Mycenae alive. Eurystheus, out of fear of a monstrous beast, hid in a barrel and from there he begged Hercules to get out as soon as possible with the boar - for this he, they say, will entrust him with a less dangerous task: to clean out the stable of the Elidian king Avgius.

Augean stables

What is true, it is true, the work of Hercules was to be safe, but they were huge, and so much manure and all kinds of dirt accumulated in the barn ... not without reason this barn (or stable) has become proverbial. To cleanse this stable was a superhuman task. Hercules, however, offered the king to put things in order in one day, if he would receive a tenth of the royal cattle for this. Augeas agreed, and Hercules immediately got down to business, relying not so much on his strength as on quick wits. He drove all the cattle to the pasture, dug a canal leading to and Penei, and diverted the water of these two rivers into it. The gushing water cleared the barn, after which it remained only to close the channel and drive the cattle back into the stalls. However, King Augeas meanwhile learned that this work had previously been entrusted to Hercules by Eurystheus, and under this pretext he refused to reward Hercules. In addition, he insulted the hero, saying that, they say, the son of Zeus should not earn money by cleaning other people's cowsheds. Hercules was not one of those who forgets such grievances: a few years later, having freed himself from service with Eurystheus, he invaded Elis with a large army, ravaged the possessions of Avgius, and killed him himself. In honor of this victory, Hercules founded the Olympic Games.

Cretan bull

The next assignment led Hercules to Crete. Eurystheus ordered the delivery of a wild bull to Mycenae, who escaped from the Cretan king Minos. It was the best bull in the royal herd, and Minos promised to donate it to Poseidon. But Minos did not want to part with such a magnificent specimen, and instead he sacrificed another bull. Poseidon did not let himself be fooled and, in revenge, sent rabies to the hidden bull. Hercules not only caught the bull that ravaged the island, but also tamed him, and he obediently transported him on his back from Crete to Argolis.

Horses of diomedes

Then Hercules sailed to Thrace (but already on a ship) to bring Eurystheus fierce horses, which the king of the Bistones, Diomedes, fed with human flesh. With the help of several of his friends, Hercules got horses and brought them to his ship. However, there he was overtaken by Diomedes with an army. Leaving the horses in his care, Hercules defeated the Bistons in a fierce battle and killed Diomedes, but the wild horses, meanwhile, tore Abder to pieces. When the deeply grieved Hercules brought the horses to Mycenae, Eurystheus set them free, just as he had previously released the Cretan bull.

But neither grief nor disregard for the results of his labors broke Hercules. Without hesitation, he went to the island of Erythia to bring from there a herd of cattle that belonged to the three-body giant Geryon.

Giant Geryon

This island was located far to the west, where the land ended in a narrow isthmus. With his mighty club, Hercules divided the isthmus in half and placed two stone pillars along the edges of the strait (in the ancient world, present-day Gibraltar was called the Pillars of Hercules). He came to the western end of the world just at the time when in his solar chariot to the Ocean. To escape the unbearable heat, Hercules was ready to shoot an arrow at Helios. The reaction of the gods is unpredictable: delighted with the courage of the hero who directed his bow at him, Helios not only did not get angry, but even lent him his golden boat, on which Hercules sailed to Erythia. There, the two-headed dog Orph and the giant Eurytion, who were guarding Geryon's herds, attacked him. Hercules had no choice - he had to kill both, and then Geryon himself. Having endured many misadventures, Hercules drove the herd to the Peloponnese. On the way, he defeated the strong man Eriks, who stole one cow from him, and the giant Kaka, who stole part of the herd from him. When Hercules was already hoping that he would safely reach Mycenae, Hera infuriated the cows, and they fled in all directions. Hercules had to work hard to drive off the whole herd again. Eurystheus sacrificed the cows to the eternal enemy of Hercules - Hera.

Belt of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons

The next feat of Hercules was an expedition to the country of female warriors - the Amazons, from where he was supposed to bring Hippolyta's belt to Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus. Hercules went there with a small detachment of his friends, and on the way stopped in Mysia, where King Lycus, known for his hospitality, ruled. During a feast arranged by Lik in their honor, warlike bebriks invaded the city. Hercules got up from the table, together with his friends drove out the bebriks, killed their king, and gave all their land to Lika, who named her in honor of Hercules Heraclea. With his victory, he gained such fame that Queen Hippolyta herself came out to meet him in order to voluntarily give him her belt. But then Hera began to spread rumors about Hercules that he intended to take Hippolyta into slavery, and the Amazons believed her. They attacked the detachment of Hercules, and the Greeks had no choice but to take up arms. They eventually defeated the Amazons and took many of them prisoner, including the two leaders, Melanippe and Antiope. Hippolyta returned freedom to Melaniepe, giving Hercules his belt for this, while Hercules presented Antiope to his friend Theseus as a reward for his bravery. In addition, he knew that Theseus and wanted to marry her (as Theseus did on his return to Athens).

Hellhound Kerber

So, Hercules performed ten labors, although Eurystheus at first refused to count the murder of the Lernean Hydra (under the pretext that Hercules used Iolaus' help) and the cleaning of the Augean barn (since Hercules demanded payment from Augeus). The eleventh mission led Hercules to the underworld. Eurystheus demanded to introduce him to Cerberus himself - no more and no less. It was truly a hellish dog: three-headed, snakes wriggling around its neck, and its tail ended in a dragon's head with a disgusting mouth. Although until then no one returned from the afterlife alive, Hercules did not hesitate. The gods were impressed by his courage, and they decided to help him. Hermes, the guide of the souls of the dead, took him to the Tenar gorge (at the present Cape Matapan, in the extreme south of the Peloponnese and the entire European continent), where there was a secret entrance to the kingdom of the dead, and then Athena accompanied him. After an eerie journey in which he met the shadows of dead friends and slain enemies, Hercules appeared before the throne. Hades listened favorably to the son of Zeus and without anything allowed him to catch and take away Cerberus, provided that he did not use the weapon. True, Kerber himself has not yet said his word. The guardian of the underworld fought back with teeth and nails (more precisely, with claws), beat with a tail with a dragon's head and howled so terribly that the souls of the dead rushed in confusion throughout the afterlife. After a short struggle, Hercules squeezed him with such force that the half-strangled Kerberus calmed down and promised to follow him unquestioningly to Mycenae. At the sight of this monster, Eurystheus fell to his knees (according to another version, he again huddled into a barrel or into a large earthen vessel for grain) and implored Hercules to do mercy: to return this hellish creature to its rightful place.

Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini "Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides"

Golden apples of the Hesperides

The last task remained: Eurystheus ordered to convey to Hercules that he should bring him three golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides, daughters, who for a rebellion against the gods was doomed to forever support the firmament. No one knew where these gardens were. It was only known that the way to them was guarded by the vigilant dragon Ladon, who did not know defeat in the struggle and was killing all the defeated, and finally Atlas himself. Hercules went to Egypt, passed Libya and all the lands familiar to him from the time of his trip to Erythia, but he never found the gardens of the Hesperides. Only when he came to the very far north, to the endless waters of Eridan, the nymphs there advised him to turn to the sea god Nereus - he knows and can tell everything, but he needs to be forced to do it. Hercules lay in wait for Nereus, attacked him and after a stubborn struggle (all the more difficult because the sea god kept changing his appearance) tied him. He let him go only when he knew everything he needed to know. The Gardens of the Hesperides were in the far west, somewhere between today's Morocco and southern France. Again Hercules had to go through Libya, where he was met by Antaeus, the son of the earth goddess Gaia. According to his custom, the giant immediately challenged Hercules to single combat. Hercules escaped defeat only because during the struggle he guessed where the giant draws his strength from: feeling tired, he fell to mother earth, and she poured new strength into him. Therefore, Hercules tore him off the ground and lifted him into the air. Antaeus was exhausted, and Hercules strangled him. Continuing the journey, Hercules again and again overcame obstacles and traps that robbers and rulers are preparing for travelers. He also escaped the fate that the Egyptian intended to all foreigners, who sacrificed them to the gods. Finally, Hercules came to Atlanta and explained to him the purpose of the visit. With suspicious readiness, Atlas volunteered to personally bring apples to Hercules, if in the meantime he would hold the firmament on his shoulders. Hercules had no choice - he agreed. Atlas kept his promise and even offered to deliver apples directly to Mycenae, promising to return immediately. The trick can only be interrupted by trick: Hercules apparently agreed, but asked Atlant to hold the firmament while he made a substrate for himself so that his shoulders would not crush. As soon as Atlas took his usual place, Hercules took the apples, kindly thanked for the service - and stopped only in Mycenae. Eurystheus could not believe his eyes and in confusion returned the apples to Hercules. He donated them to Athena, and she returned them to the Hesperides. The twelfth task was completed, and Hercules was freed.

Life and death of Hercules after completing twelve labors

Soon Hercules became free in another sense: he generously yielded to his wife Megara to Iolaus, who in his absence as a faithful friend consoled her and was so used to her that he could no longer live without her. After which Hercules left Thebes, with which now nothing connected him, and returned to Tiryns. But not for long. There, new intrigues of the goddess Hera awaited him, and with them new sufferings and new deeds.

It is not known for sure whether Hera instilled in him a desire for a new wife or awakened in him an ambitious desire to defeat the best shooter in Hellas, the Echali king Evryta. However, both of them were closely interconnected, since Evryth proclaimed that his daughter, the fair-haired beauty Iola, would give in wife only to the one who defeated him in archery. So, Hercules went to Echalia (most likely she was in Messinia, according to Sophocles - on Euboea), appeared at the palace of his former teacher, at first sight fell in love with his daughter, and the next day he defeated him in a competition. But Eurythus, stung by the fact that his own disciple had put him to shame, declared that he would not give his daughter to the one who was a slave to the cowardly Eurystheus. Hercules was offended and went to look for a new wife. He found her in distant Calydon: it was the beautiful Deianira, the daughter of King Oineus.

She did not come easily to him: for this, Hercules had to defeat her former fiancé in single combat, a mighty one, who, moreover, could turn into a snake and a bull. After the wedding, the newlyweds stayed in Oineya's palace, but Hera did not leave Hercules alone. She darkened his mind, and at a feast he killed the son of his friend Architel. Actually, Hercules just wanted to give him a slap on the head for pouring water on his hands, intended for washing his feet. But Hercules did not calculate his strength, and the boy fell down dead. True, Architeles forgave him, but Hercules did not want to stay in Calydon and went with Deianira to Tiryns.

On the way, they came to the river Even. There was no bridge across it, and the centaur Nessus transported those wishing to cross for a moderate fee. Hercules entrusted Ness to Deianir, and he himself overcame the river by swimming. Meanwhile, the centaur, captivated by the beauty of Deianira, tried to kidnap her. But he was overtaken by the deadly arrow of Hercules. The bile of the Lernaean hydra poisoned the centaur's blood, and he soon died. And yet, before his death, he managed to take revenge: Nessus advised Deianira to save his blood and rub Hercules 'clothes with it if he suddenly fell out of love with Deianira - and then Hercules' love would immediately return to her. In Tiryns, Deianir seemed like she would never need "love blood". The spouses lived in peace and harmony, raised their five children - until Hera again intervened in the fate of Hercules.

By a strange coincidence, simultaneously with the departure of Hercules from Echalia, a herd of cattle disappeared from the king of Evryta. It was stolen by Autolycus. But this one, in order to divert suspicion, pointed to Hercules, who, they say, wanted to take revenge on the king for the insult. All Echalia believed this libel - with the exception of the eldest son of Evritus, Iphit. To prove the innocence of Hercules, he himself went in search of the herd, which brought him to Argos; and since he got there, he decided to look into Tiryns. Hercules greeted him heartily, but when, during the feast, he heard what Evritus suspected him of, he became angry, and Hera instilled such indomitable anger in him that he threw Iphit off the city wall. This was no longer just a murder, but a violation of the sacred law of hospitality. Even Zeus was angry with his son and sent a serious illness to him.

The tormented Hercules, straining his last strength, went to Delphi to ask Apollo how he could atone for his guilt. But the Oracle-Oracle did not give him an answer. Then Hercules, losing his temper, took from her the tripod, from which she announced her prophecies, - they say, since she does not fulfill her duties, then she does not need a tripod. Apollo immediately appeared and demanded the return of the tripod. Hercules refused, and the two mighty sons of Zeus started a fight like little children, until the thundering father separated them with lightning and forced them to make peace. Apollo ordered the Pythia to give advice to Hercules, and she announced that Hercules should be sold into slavery for three years, and the proceeds should be given to Euryth as a ransom for his murdered son.

Thus, Hercules again had to part with freedom. He was sold to the Lydian queen Omphale, an arrogant and cruel woman who humiliated him in every possible way. She even made him weave with her maids, while she herself walked in front of him in his skin of a Kiferon lion. From time to time she let him go for a short while - not out of kindness, but so that upon his return he would be the more burdened by the slave lot.

Hercules at Omphale. Painting by Lucas Cranach

During one of these vacations, Hercules participated in, on another time he visited the king of Aulids Sileus, who forced every stranger to work in his vineyard. Once, when he fell asleep in a grove near Ephesus, the dwarfs Kerkopa (or Dactyl) attacked him and stole his weapon. At first, Hercules wanted to thoroughly teach them a lesson, but they were so weak and funny that he set them free. Hercules himself invariably returned to his slave service.

Finally, the last day of the third year came, and Hercules received his weapon and freedom from Omphale. Without anger, the hero parted with her and even satisfied her request to leave her a descendant in memory (born of Hercules later ascended to the Lydian throne). Returning to his homeland, Hercules gathered his faithful friends and began to prepare to pay off the old accounts. The first to pay for the long-standing insult was King Augeas, then it was the turn of the Trojan King Laomedont.

After all these deeds, is it any wonder that the glory of Hercules reached the snowy peaks of Olympus? But this was far from all that he did. For example, he freed the titan Prometheus, snatched Alkestida from the hands of the god of death Thanatos, defeated many enemies, robbers and proud people, for example, Kikna,. Hercules founded a number of cities, the most famous of which is Heraclea (Herculaneum) at Vesuvius. He made many wives happy with offspring (for example, after the first night spent by the Argonauts on Lemnos, at least fifty Lemnians named him the father of their sons). Ancient authors had doubts about some of his other accomplishments and deeds, so we will not dwell on them. However, all authors unanimously admit that an honor fell to his lot, which no mortal was honored - Zeus himself asked him for help!

A shot from one of the many TV series and films about Hercules (Hercules). Kevin Sorbo plays Hercules.

This happened during the gigantomachy - the battle of the gods with giants. In this battle on the Phlegrean fields, the Olympian gods had a hard time, as the giants possessed incredible strength, and their mother, the earth goddess Gaia, gave them a magical herb that made them invulnerable to the weapons of the gods (but not mortals). When the scales were already tipping on the side of the giants, Zeus sent Athena for Hercules. Hercules did not take long to persuade; hearing his father's call, he readily rushed to the battlefield. The most powerful of the giants was crushed first - and then, with exemplary interaction with the Olympic team of the gods, all other rebels were killed. With this, Hercules won the gratitude of not only the gods, but also people. For all his faults, Zeus was still much better than his predecessors Kronos and Uranus, not to mention the original Chaos.

Upon his return from the Phlegrean fields, Hercules decided to return the last of his old debts. He set out on a campaign against Echalia, conquered her and killed Evritus, who had once offended him. Among the captives, Hercules saw the fair-haired Iola and again inflamed with love for her. Upon learning of this, Deianira immediately remembered the dying words of Ness, rubbed Hercules's tunic with blood and, through the ambassador Lichas, handed the tunic to Hercules, who was still in Echalia. As soon as Hercules put on the tunic, the poison of the Lernaean hydra, which poisoned the blood of Ness, penetrated into the body of Hercules, causing him unbearable torment. When they brought him on a stretcher to the palace to Deianira, she was already dead - when she learned that her husband was dying in agony through her fault, she pierced herself with a sword.

Unbearable suffering led Hercules to the idea of ​​parting with life at will. Submitting to Hercules, his friends built a huge fire on Mount Ete and put the hero on it, but no one wanted to light the fire, no matter how Hercules begged them. Finally, the young Philoctetes decided, and as a reward, Hercules presented him with his bow and arrows. A fire flared up from the torch of Philoctetes, but the lightning of Zeus the Thunderer glittered even brighter. Together with lightning, Athena and Hermes flew to the fire and carried Hercules to heaven on a golden chariot. All Olympus welcomed the greatest of heroes, even Hera overcame the old hatred and gave him her daughter as his wife, forever. Zeus called him to the table of the gods, invited him to taste nectar and ambrosia, and as a reward for all his exploits and suffering proclaimed Hercules immortal.

A scene from the cartoon "Hercules and Xena: The Battle for Olympus"

Zeus' decision remains in force to this day: Hercules really became immortal. He lives in legends and sayings, he is still an example of a hero (and as a true hero, he inevitably has negative traits), the Olympic Games are still held, which he allegedly founded in memory of his victory over Augeus or upon his return Argonauts from Colchis. And he still lives in heaven: on a starry night, the constellation of Hercules can be seen with the naked eye. The Greeks and Romans honored him as the greatest of heroes and dedicated cities, temples and altars to him. The creations of ancient and modern artists glorify him. Hercules is the most often depicted image of ancient myths and any legends in general.

The oldest known sculptural image of Hercules - "Hercules fighting the Hydra" (c. 570 BC) - is kept in Athens, in the Acropolis Museum. Among the numerous other works of Greek sculpture, metopes from the temple "C" at Selinunte (c. 540 BC) and 12 metopes depicting the exploits of Hercules from the temple of Zeus at Olympia (470–456 BC) are known. The most preserved Roman sculptures are copies of "Hercules" by Polycletus and "Hercules in the fight with the lion" by Lysippos (one of them is in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage). Several wall images of Hercules have survived even in the Christian catacombs of Rome (mid-4th century AD).

Of the architectural structures traditionally associated with the name of Hercules, the most ancient Greek temple in Sicily, in Akragant (6th century BC) is usually named in the first place. In Rome, two temples were dedicated to Hercules, one under the Capitol, the second behind the Circus Maximus near the Tiber. Altars to Hercules stood in almost every Greek and Roman city.

Plots from the life of Hercules were depicted by numerous European artists: Rubens, Poussin ("Landscape with Hercules and Cacus" - in Moscow, at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), Reni, Van Dyck, Delacroix and many others. A huge number of statues of Hercules by European sculptors, some of the best works as a result of the Thirty Years War and dynastic divisions migrated to Sweden and Austria from Czechoslovakia.

Hercules Farnese and the statue of Hercules in the Hermitage

In literature, the earliest mentions of the exploits of Hercules (but not all) are contained in Homer; in the future, almost none of the ancient authors did not bypass Hercules. Sophocles dedicated the tragedy of the Trakhine girls to the last period of Hercules' life. Perhaps a little later, the tragedy "Hercules" was created by Euripides on the basis of an unconventional version of the myth (which actually has many variants) - it still remains the best literary monument to Hercules. From the works of modern times we will name "The Choice of Hercules" by K. M. Wieland (1773), "Hercules and the Augean Stables" by Durrenmatt (1954), "Hercules" by Matkovich (1962).

And finally, about the fate of Hercules in music. He was honored with their attention by J.S.Bach (cantata "Hercules at the Crossroads", 1733), G.F. "," The Spinning Wheel of Omphale ", the opera" Deianira ").

Hercules (Hercules) is a synonym for the strong man:

“What a giant he is here!
What shoulders! What a Hercules! .. "
- A. Pushkin, "The Stone Guest" (1830).