Chapter 197 Hercules' Twelve Missions

After attending the wedding of Theseus and Phaedra, Luo Yin did not take Ariadne back to Thebes, but followed Creon's instructions to Mycenae.

At this time, the king of Mycenae was Eurystheus, who was also the great king of Argos and the high priest serving Zeus, the patron god of Mycenae.

Because he was born as a premature baby, Eurystheus has always been weak and sick.

Eurystheus became the king of Mycenae and has always cooperated with his cousin Hercules. Eurystheus used Hercules' powerful military force to enhance the hegemony of Mycenae. Hercules was also given the identity of Zeus' son by Eurystheus and became a demigod hero.

The first task Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to destroy the Nemean Lion.

The Nemean Lion lived in a forest in the Argos region. Although Hercules's destruction of the Nemean Lion was a heroic act, it was also to protect the interests of Eurystheus, the great king of the Argos region.

So this is obviously not a heroic act of selfless dedication.

The second task that Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to destroy the nine-headed Hydra.

The nine-headed Hydra lived in the Lerna Marshes in the Argos region.

The prototype of this story is obviously that there were snakes in the Lerna Marshes that damaged nearby farmland and livestock.

Hercules eliminated the snakes in the swamp and defended the interests of Eurystheus, the great king of the Argos region.

Although people hundreds of years later made up the story of Hercules bravely fighting the mythical beast Hydra, the real prototype was that Hercules found that the snakes in the swamp appeared again after killing one piece, so he simply set fire to the swamp.

Then the people who made up the myth boasted that Hercules eliminated Hydra, but in reality, the Lerna Marshes were still plagued by snakes.

The third task that Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to capture the doe of Mount Cerynea alive, and the fourth task was to capture the wild boar of Erymanthus alive.

These two mythical beasts are the sacred beasts of the hunting goddess Artemis, and they are required to be captured alive.

Obviously, the prototypes of these two mythical beasts in reality are the city-state kings or tribal leaders who support Artemis.

The Mycenaean kings of all generations have insisted on suppressing the worship of Artemis.

The city-states that worship Artemis appeared again in Arcadia, and Eurystheus asked Hercules to go to Arcadia, capture the two leaders alive on Mount Cerynea and Mount Erymanthos in Arcadia, and degrade them to does and wild boars serving Artemis.

Hercules went to Arcadia to eliminate the two city-states that were hostile to Mycenae, and defended the interests of Mycenae. He was worthy of being a hero of the Mycenaeans.

The fifth task that Eurystheus gave Hercules was to clean the cattle shed of Augeas, King of Inlis.

This was obviously a test by Eurystheus as the Kingdom of Inlis grew stronger.

After Hercules understood the strength of the Kingdom of Inlis, he launched a war with the support of Eurystheus, killed the uncontrollable Augeas, and made Augeas' son, Phileus, who was obedient to Mycenae, the new king of Inlis.

When people made up myths hundreds of years later, they rewrote the invasion war launched by Hercules into a story in which Hercules cleaned the cattle shed for Augeas, but Augeas was unwilling to pay, giving Hercules a reason to take revenge on Augeas.

The sixth task Eurystheus gave Hercules was to drive away the strange birds in Lake Stymphalus.

The prototype of this story was the reappearance of a tribe hostile to Mycenae in Arcadia.

So Hercules came to Arcadia again.

Because Hercules did not catch the leader of this tribe, he belittled this tribe as a fast-running bird.

If Hercules captured the leader of this tribe, the sixth task would be for Hercules to capture Artemis's bird alive.

There is no doubt that Hercules was eliminating hostile forces for Mycenae again.

The seventh task given to Hercules by Eurystheus was to tame the bull of Crete.

This story obviously conflicts greatly with the story of Theseus.

In the story of Theseus, King Minos of Crete was punished by Poseidon for the bull, which led to the queen giving birth to the Minotaur with the bull.

But in the story of Hercules, Minos wanted to kill the bull with his own hands, and there was no Minotaur in Crete.

So Hercules only subdued the bull and did not eliminate the Minotaur.

The prototype of this story is obviously that Mycenae began to engage in maritime trade with Crete.

Theseus went to Crete, and the prototype was also Athens trading with Crete.

The eighth task that Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to bring back the mare of Diomedes, the king of Thrace.

The prototype of this story was that Mycenae wanted to obtain war horses from the nomads in the Thracian region.

Although in reality, Hercules sacrificed a large number of comrades to bring back a few horses.

But in the myths made up by people hundreds of years later, it was glorified that Hercules defeated the Thracians and built a city there to commemorate his comrades.

The ninth task that Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to go to the southern coast of the Black Sea to test the powerful empire guarded by the Sun Queen.

Because the empire guarded by the Sun Queen has not completely declined now, Hercules can only leave in disgrace.

The tenth task that Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to bring back the cattle of the giant Geryon.

In the city-state era of barter, cattle, sheep, horses, and grain were all symbols of wealth.

The prototype of this story is that the Mycenaeans explored the ocean west of Greece and obtained a lot of wealth.

In real history, the city-states in the coastal areas of western Greece were generally weak, and both the Phoenicians and the Greeks had established a large number of colonies.

The eleventh task that Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to pick the golden apple.

This story does not seem to have a definite prototype, but rather expresses that Hercules traveled widely, going east to the Caucasus region on the east coast of the Black Sea, west to the western Mediterranean coast, north to the Thrace region, and south to Egypt and Libya.

The edge of the world in the Greek mythology world is all left by Hercules.

The last task that Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to go to the underworld and bring back the three-headed dog Cerberus from hell.

The prototype of this story is that Hercules went to the Pylos region guarded by Persephone, killed the Pylos king Neleus and his eleven sons, and made Nestor, who was obedient to the city of Mycenae, the new king of Pylos.

Cerberus seems to be the degraded image of Neleus.

Because Neleus is the high priest of Poseidon, the sea king, and a demigod hero with the identity of Poseidon's son.

In the context of Neleus wanting to dominate the Pylos region and make Poseidon the husband and Hades of Persephone, the queen of the underworld, Neleus can indeed be said to be a hell watchdog guarding Poseidon, the underworld king.