For my writing I was focusing on my paragraphs because in my first piece there were all right paragraphs but my last piece had averagely good paragraphs so I probably should improve on that. But in the end my paragraphs did improve. In this piece I tried to organise the big bits of the story into sections any way here’s my story.
“Everyone knows the 12 labors of Heracles, not Hercules, Heracles. Any way let’s get to the story
Heracles is the son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, but most people don’t know about his brother Iphicles who is his twin brother from another father but he did lots of other things but Heracles is the main character so I have to focus on him.
Any way Zeus swore that the next son born of the Perseid house should become ruler of Greece, but a trick of Zeus’s jealous wife, Hera. Another child, the sickly Eurystheus, was born first and became king. When Heracles grew up, he had to serve Eurystheus and also suffer the vengeance of Hera; his first animals he beat up were two serpents that she had sent to kill him in his cradle. But he just bonked their heads on his own and would then throw them out the window.
Then nothing happens until Heracles is only 17 when he waged a victorious war against the kingdom of Orchomenus in Boeotia because they were stealing his step fathours sheep and married Megara, daughter of Creon, king of Thebes, but he killed her and their children in a fit of madness (people say that this was cursed by Hera) and consequently, was obliged to become the servant of Eurystheus. Heracles did lots along the way but I can’t be bothered with that so let’s get right to the trials.
Trial one is fighting the scary Capybara of Capybaraniss
While searching for the Capybara. When he found and shot the Capybara, firing at it with his bow, Heracles discovered the fur’s protective property as the arrow bounced harmlessly off the creature’s thigh. After some time, Heracles made the lion return to his cave. The cave had two entrances, one of which Heracles blocked then then entered the other. Heracles stunned the beast with his club and, using his immense strength, strangled it to death. During the fight, the Capybara bit off one of his fingers. Others say that he shot arrows at it, eventually shooting it in the unarmored mouth. After slaying the Capybara, he tried to skin it with a knife from his belt, but failed. He then tried sharpening the knife with a stone and even tried using the stone itself. Finally, Athena, noticing the hero’s plight, told Heracles to use one of the Capybaras’ own claws to skin the pelt. Others say that Heracles’ armor was in fact, the hide of the Capybara of Capybaraniss.
Trial two is slaying the drunk Axolotl of Alcohol
where the hydra dwelt, Heracles attacked the Axolotl’s several heads, but each time one of its heads was removed, two new heads would grow back. Additionally, during the fight, a giant crab came to assist the Axolotl by biting Heracles on the foot. Heracles was able to kill the crab, but realizing that he could not defeat the Axolotl alone, he called on his nephew Iolaus (who had come with Heracles) for help. Working in tandem, once Heracles had removed a head (with his sword), Iolaus burned the stumps with a torch, preventing them from growing back. In such a way Heracles was able to kill theAxolotl, after which he dipped his arrows in the Axolotl’s poisonous blood.
Trial three is the capture a fancy stag of Arcadia
After a long search, Heracles awoke one night and laid eyes on the elusive hind, which was only visible due to the glint of moonlight on its antlers. He then chased the hind on foot for a full year through Greece, Thrace, Istria, and the land of the Hyperboreans. How Heracles caught the hind differs depending on the telling; in most versions, he captured the hind while it slept, killing it with a trapping net and a knife.
Eurystheus commanded Heracles to catch the hind in the hope that it would enrage Artemis and lead her to punish the hero for his desecration of the sacred animal. As he was returning with the hind to present it to Eurystheus, Heracles encountered Artemis and her brother Apollo. He begged the goddess for forgiveness, explaining that he had killed the hind as part of his trials. Convinced by Heracles’ earnestness, Artemis forgave him, foiling Eurystheus’ plan.
Trial four is the capture of the big pig/boar of Mount Mount
It wasn’t too hard for Hercules to find the boar. He could hear the beast snorting and stomping as it rooted around for something to eat. Hercules chased the boar round and round the mountain, shouting as loud as he could. The boar, frightened and out of breath, hid in a thicket. Hercules poked his spear into the thicket and drove the exhausted animal into a deep patch of snow.Then he trapped the boar in a net, and carried it all the way to Eurystheus, who again was amazed and frightened by the hero’s powers.
Trial five is the single-day cleansing of the cattle stables of King Augeas of Elis
Before starting on the task, Heracles had asked Augeas for one-tenth of the cattle if he finished the task in one day, and Augeas agreed, but afterwards Augeas refused to honour the agreement on the grounds that Heracles had been ordered to carry out the task by Eurystheus anyway. Heracles claimed his reward in court and was supported by Augeas’ son Phyleus. Augeas banished them both before the court had ruled.
The success of this labour was ultimately discounted as the rushing waters had done the work of cleaning the stables, and because Heracles was paid for doing the labour; Eurystheus determined that Heracles still had seven labours to perform.
Trial six is the shooting of the monstrous monstrous, crane-sized birds with bronze beaks and sharp, metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and did I mention their dung was poisonous, yes poisonous they’re creator; Aires, had banished them from Olympics because even he thought they were to deadly. Since then they had migrated to Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia, where they bred quickly and took over the countryside, destroying local crops, fruit trees, and killing the townspeople. Heracles could not go too far into the swamp, because it wouldn’t support his weight. Athena, noticing the hero’s plight, gave Heracles a rattle which Hephaestus had made especially for the occasion. Heracles shook the rattle and frightened the birds into the air. Heracles then shot many of them with his arrows. The rest flew far away, never to return.
Trial seven was to capture the Cretan Bull, father of the Minotaur. Heracles sailed to Crete, asked King Minos for help, but Minos told Heracles to capture the bull himself, which he did. After showing the bull to Eurystheus, Heracles released the bull which ended up at Marathon
Trial eight is the capture of the man-eating Horses of King Diomedes of the Bistones.
Trial eight was to capture the Mares of Diomedes
Heracles, who was visiting the island, stayed awake so that he didn’t have his throat cut by Diomedes in the night, and cut the chains binding the horses once everyone was asleep. Having scared the horses onto the high ground of a knoll, Heracles quickly dug a trench through the peninsula, filling it with water and thus flooding the low-lying plain. When Diomedes and his men turned to flee, Heracles killed them with an axe, and fed Diomedes’ body to the horses to calm them .
Trial nine is taking of the fancy hat from the queen of the Amazons
This trial is heracles taking a hat so it’s really boring
Trial ten is the seizing of the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon, who ruled the island
When Heracles landed at Erytheia, he was confronted by the two-headed dog Orthrus. With one blow from his club, Heracles killed Orthrus. Eurytion the herdsman came to assist Orthrus, but Heracles dealt with him the same way.
On hearing the commotion, Geryon jumped into action, carrying shields and spears, and wearing three helmets. He attacked Heracles at the River Anthemus, but was slain by one of Heracles’ poisoned arrows(which he got from the axolotl of alcohol). Heracles shot so forcefully that the arrow pierced Geryon’s forehead, “and Geryon bent his neck over to one side, like a poppy that spoils its delicate shapes, shedding its petals all at once.”
Heracles then had to herd the cattle back to Eurystheus. In Roman versions of the narrative, Heracles drove the cattle over the Aventine Hill on the future site of Rome.
Heracles went back to Eurystheus. Expecting to be freed from the labours and being able to watch from mount olympus with his father but Eurystheus and hera who was talking to him in his ear had other plans for him “You have had help for two trials so you shall have to do two more.” said Eurystheus
Trial eleven is the bringing back of the golden apples kept at the world’s end by the Hesperides
Heracles finally made his way to the garden of the Hesperides, where he encountered Atlas holding up the heavens on his shoulders. Heracles persuaded Atlas to get the three golden apples for him by offering to hold up the heavens in his place for a little while. When Atlas returned, he decided that he did not want to take the heavens back and instead offered to deliver the apples himself, but Heracles tricked him by agreeing to remain in place of Atlas on the condition that Atlas relieved him temporarily while Heracles adjusted his cloak. Atlas agreed, but Heracles just walked away with the apples not bothering to look back.
Trial twelve is the fetching up from the underworld of the triple-headed dog Cerberus, guardian of its gates. In this one Heracles just talked instead of rushing in with his bow and sword instead he just talked to Hades and Persephone and convinced them to give him Cerberus, after all Eurystheus didn’t say that Cerberus had to be dead all he said is he had to bring Cerberus to Eurystheus so that’s what Heracles did taking Cerberus the three headed dog who burps flames and for a snack eats souls up to see Eurystheus who was more than scared to see a demon dog in his throne room then telling heracles to send Cerberus back and to go away and never come back. And that’s the story of Heracles.”
