Why Do Hercules Have To Do The 12 Labors

There were many heroes in Greek Mythology. One of those heroes was named Hercules. Hercules had an interesting life of many events and struggles. He was commanded to do several seemingly impossible tasks. There were a few reasons why Hercules had to do these labors. First, Hercules was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, the granddaughter of Perseus. Hera, Zeus’ spouse, was furious when she found out that her husband had had a child with another woman. She therefore sent 2 serpents to try and kill Hercules. However, Hercules was unusually strong and strangled the snakes before they could strangle him. However, Hera continued to affect his life. Another thing she did was cause him to go insane and murder his wife and children. When he came out of the fit and realized what he had done, he felt very guilty and sad and went to the Oracle at Delphi to seek Apollo, the God of Truth, to find out what he could do to be punished for what he had done (History.com).

When he went, the King gave him 12 Labors. These labors would, to the average person, seem impossible. The first labor was to kill the Nemean Lion. This was difficult because no weapon could penetrate its skin. However, Hercules blocked off the entrance of its cave and then choked it to death. The next task was to kill the multi-headed hydra that lived in Lerna. This was not easy because when one of the heads was cut off, two grew in its place. Also, the breath of the beast was lethal. To accomplish this task, he worked with his nephew, Iolaus. While Hercules cut off the heads, Iolaus seared the necks with a torch to prevent the heads from growing back