How many labors did Hercules complete?

In Greek mythology, Hercules (or Heracles, in Greek) is famous for having performed twelve feats as spectacular as they were dangerous. These legendary feats were imposed on him as a penance to atone for a crime, but above all they forged his eternal reputation as a hero par excellence, endowed with superhuman strength and uncommon endurance.

Legend has it that Hercules, driven mad by Zeus’ jealous wife Hera, killed his own wife Megara and their children. Gripped by remorse, he consulted the Pythia, priestess of Apollo at Delphi, to find out how to make amends. She orders him to enter the service of Eurystaeus, King of Mycenae, and to perform whatever tasks Eurystaeus imposes upon him.

Originally, Eurystaeus entrusted him with ten tasks, but two of them were invalidated because Hercules had been helped. Hercules must now complete twelve in all. These labors combine mythological battles, supernatural challenges and physical trials, each symbolizing a confrontation with chaos, death or the forces of nature.

Here are the twelve labors in the order in which tradition places them, although they may vary slightly according to version:

1. Killing the invulnerable Nemean lion, which Hercules strangles with his bare hands;
2. Killing the hydra of Lerna, a monster with several heads that grow back when cut off. He defeats it with the help of his nephew Iolaos;
3. Capture of the Cerynian hind, sacred to Artemis, which he pursued for a year before capturing it unharmed;
4. Capture of the Erymanthe boar, a wild and feared creature that he traps in the snow;
5. Cleansing the stables of Augias in a single day, a challenge he meets by diverting the course of two rivers;
6. Kill the birds of Lake Stymphale, whose feathers are as sharp as arrows;
7. Capture the Cretan bull, given to Minos by Poseidon, who had become uncontrollable;
8. Steal Diomedes’ mares, carnivorous and ferocious, and tame them by giving them their master to devour;
9. Steal the belt of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons;
10. Steal the herd of Geryon, a three-bodied giant living on the edge of the world;
11. Steal the golden apples from the Garden of Hesperides, guarded by an immortal dragon. He achieves this through cunning, enlisting the help of the titan Atlas;
12. Capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog guardian of the Underworld, and bring him back to the surface alive.

These twelve labors are not just physical feats. They symbolize a path to redemption, a struggle against inner demons, but also an ascent to immortality. By performing them, Hercules transforms himself from a man into a divine hero, capable of facing monsters, gods and death itself.

They have inspired countless works of art, literature and philosophy. Each job can be seen as a metaphor: to kill the Nemean lion is to dominate brute savagery; to clean the stables of Augias is to confront moral impurity; to descend to the Underworld and back is to face death in order to be reborn.

Hercules completed a total of twelve labors, imposed by King Eurystaeus to atone for his sins. Each one represents an extraordinary challenge and a veritable initiatory journey. Through these trials, Hercules became the model of the mythical hero, celebrated not only for his bravery and strength, but also for his quest for redemption and self-improvement.

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