"Hercules"
Mythology:
Boy oh boy, do we have our work cut out for us on this one! There
are many stories that include the Greek hero Hercules, and he is one of
the more recognized heroes in mythology, at least by name. Even today,
we use the term "Herculean" to describe difficult or near impossible tasks.
Hercules was the son of Zeus, the king of the Olympian Gods. Unfortunately,
Hercules' mother was not Hera, Zeus' wife, but a mortal woman named Alcmene.
To add insult to injury, Zeus forced Hera to breast-feed Hercules, and
her divine milk gave Hercules some of the powers and abilities of the Olympian
Gods. Hera once tried to kill Hercules by sending two snakes into
his crib, but even at that young age Hercules demonstrated his superior
strength and choked the snakes. Hercules spent his life the target
of Hera's rage and jealousy, due to Zeus' affair with his mother.
When Hercules became one of the immortals, Hera could no longer try to
kill him. She did, however, at one point cast a spell on Hercules,
driving him into madness. Possessing superior strength and skill
with weapons, he was unstoppable. Hercules, in his madness, even
went so far as to kill his own children. When the spell was over
and Hercules realized what he had done, he was filled with guilt and sorrow
that soon began to overtake him. He asked the Oracle at Delphi what
he could do to atone for what he had done. The Oracle revealed to
Hercules that he must serve the king of Mycenae, King Eurystheus, for twelve
years. (Interesting note: It is during his visit to the Oracle
at Delphi that Hercules received his name, originally Heracles -- "Glory
of Hera.")
Eurystheus set for Hercules twelve labors, all of which are said to correspond
somehow to the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. These twelve
labors of Hercules are:
1) To kill the Nemean Lion, a beast no weapon could wound. Hercules defeated the Lion and took its hide. Obviously, the constellation Leo is recognized as being the Nemean Lion.
2) To kill Hydra -- a multi-headed monster who would grow back two heads for every one that Hercules cut off. The story tells of how Hera sent Cancer the Crab to distract Hercules during his battle with the Hydra. After defeating Hydra, Hercules soaked his arrow tips in the blood of the monster to act as poison.
3) To catch the Ceryneian Hind, a deer with gold horns and brass hooves and was owned by Artemis.
4) To snare the wild boar of Erymanthus. The boar was vicious and powerful and had ruined Arcadia's vineyards.
5) (Yuck!) To clean the stables of King Augeias of Ellis in one day.
6) To get rid of the huge man-eating birds near the town of Stymphalus in Arcadia. These birds, known simply as the Stymphalian Birds, had claws and beaks made out of brass, and could shoot their lethal feathers like arrows.
7) To capture the fire-breathing bull on the island of Crete. This bull became the constellation Taurus.
8) To capture the man-eating horses that belonged to King Diomedes of Thrace.
9) To obtain the belt of Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons.
10) To steal the cattle of Geryon, a monster with three bodies, said to "rule the land to the west." Interestingly, on his way to accomplish this task, Hercules placed upright the rocks at the Strait of Gibraltar, which are now known as the Pillars of Hercules.
11) To steal the golden apples of the Hesperides -- sisters sent by Hera to guard the tree which bears golden apples and which Hera received (ironically enough) as a wedding present. When Hera found the sisters stealing the apples, she sent Draco the Dragon to guard the tree, which Hercules slayed. Draco is a large constellation in the Northern Hemisphere.
12) To get the guard dog of the underworld, Cereberus, owned by the God of the Underworld Hades. Cereberus had three heads, a back covered with snakes, and the tail of a dragon.
When he was free of his service to Eurystheus, Hercules fell in love with and married Deianeira, who was the daughter of King Oeneus. Just when one might think the story of Hercules would have a happy ending, tragedy struck: One day the couple had to cross a raging river. Hercules, with his great strength and prowess, was able to swim across, and he entrusted his wife to be taken across by a centaur boatman. Halfway across the river, the centaur began to rape Deianeira. Upon seeing this, Hercules shot the centaur with one of his poisoned arrows. The clever centaur realized that the poisonous blood of the Hydra was now mixed with his blood, so as he lay dying, he gave Deianeira some of his blood, claiming it as a token of apology and further stating that it would keep her handsome husband loyal in their marriage. Later, when Deianeira did suspect Hercules of being unfaithful, she coated his shirt with the centaur's blood. When Hercules put the shirt on, it began to burn his flesh. Being part Olympian God, Hercules was not able to die, so he constructed his own funeral pyre, spread the lionskin of Leo upon it, and finally laid down to rest by causing his mortal part to be consumed by the flames. What was left of Hercules, the immortal part, was able to go to Mount Olympus, where he married Hebe. Finally, the story has a happy ending. Because of his heroism and many triumphs, Zeus gave him a final honor by placing Hercules on the celestial sphere as the constellation we see today.
Other Interesting
Sights: The spectacular globular cluster M13
is in the constellation Hercules. M13 is the biggest and brightest
globular cluster in the Northern Hemisphere.
-Interesting trivia
concerning M13: When the giant radio telescope, the Arecibo Observatory,
opened in 1974, a radio message from Earth was sent to this globular cluster
describing our home planet.
Globular Cluster M13