His family

In the very old days, there lived in Thebes a little boy, Amphitryon. He was the nephew of the king of Thebes and his wife was the beautiful Alcmene.Amphitryon and Alcmene had two children, but they were nothing alike.

Who they thought was his father

One was whiny, weak and cowardly and was called Iphicles. The other was strong, brave and indomitable, as if he were the child of a god, and they called him Hercules.And indeed Hercules was the child of the god Zeus.

The Hatred of Hera

But the goddess Hera found out that her husband had a child with a mortal woman and she was very angry. And because she couldn't deal with Zeus, she decided to kill little Hercules.

One night when the two brothers were sleeping in their room, Hera sent two venomous snakes to drown Hercules, who was eight months old at the time. The snakes entered the room hissing and Iphicles, who heard them first, cried. Hercules woke up, sat up a little, and when the two snakes reached his bed, he seized them by the throat.

The feat of Hercules

He held them very tightly until he choked them.Alcmene heard Iphicles crying and went to see why he was crying. When she saw the snakes in Hercules' hands, she was frightened and cried out louder than Iphicles' cries. He was thrown out of sleep, and Amphitryon, seizing his sword, entered the children's room. He saw the snakes and rushed to kill them. But Hercules laughed and threw them at his feet, drowned and drowned.

What people believed

The whole world heard about this feat of Hercules and everyone said that this boy will become a great man. Amphitryon was proud then and admired his son. He too believed that Hercules was his child, but he was also the son of the god Zeus. That is, he was a demigod and would become a great hero.

The training of Hercules

And his parents took great care of their child. They sent him to the best teachers and he learned a lot of things: How to fight, how to throw the shuttles with the bow, how to strike with the staff, how to hold the shield, how to fight on the horse, and how to heal his wounds with herbs.

Hercules is angry

As Hercules was a little boy, he had to learn to play the lyre. But he didn't succeed very well, because his fingers were big and fat. So the teachers taught him and he was sad. Until one day he threw away the lyre in anger and left for Kithairon.

The terrible lion

On this mountain were his father's cattle, oxen and cows. There were many other herds and shepherds up there. But all of them, shepherds and cattle, suffered from a big lion that ate the cattle. No one thought of killing it, for they were seized with fear and terror when they heard its roar

The decision of Hercules

Hercules, who was fifteen years old at the time, decided to do it. He cut a thick and sturdy stick, his famous club, and set a spike on the lion. When it appeared, he leapt in front of it with his club held high. But now he was afraid of the lion and ran away roaring.

Hercules chased it, caught up with it and killed it by hitting it on the head. Then he took it, skinned it and wore its skin. So he went down to Thebes and the whole world admired the lad who saved them from that great evil.

The dilemma of Hercules

When Hercules was eighteen years old, he was the strongest boy in all of Greece. But he was plagued by a problem. He could not decide how to use his great strength.

One day, as he was walking in silence and contemplating, he came to a place where the road opened in two, like a pair of scissors. One road was wide and fair at first, and as he went on it rose and narrowed. The other was narrow at first and as it went downhill it went down into a green plain and widened. Hercules sat down on a stone, rested his head on his two hands and thought.

Meeting with two women.

When he looked up, he saw two young women in front of him. One stood closer to Hercules, had a proud face and wore many ornaments. The other stood further back. She wore a simple dress and her face was gentle and modest.

The Evil One

Μίλησε η πρώτη και είπε:

- Hercules, you are the strongest man on earth. Seize what you desire and live happily ever after.

- What is your name?Hercules then asked her.

- My friends call me Happiness, my enemies call me Evil.

The Virtue

Then the second spoke and said:

- The power, Hercules, was given to you by the gods, to help the weak, to punish the wicked and to do good deeds. Then people will honor you and you'll be happy.

- What is your name?Hercules asked her.

- I only have friends and they call me Virtue.

The decision of Hercules

Hercules again rested his head in his hands and thought. The two women walked away. Evil followed the road, which was wide at first. Virtue followed the road, which was narrow at first. Hercules watched them until they were lost.

- I will follow the path of Virtue, he said.

His soul was filled with joy. He had made the right decision.

The wedding

Hercules grew up always doing good and defending the right. With his great strength he protected the weak and everyone loved him and honoured him for his kindness and courage. When he became a man, he took a royal wife, had three children and was very happy.

The sin

Only Hera could not digest his happiness and that's why he was not able to distinguish between good and evil. Then, in his madness, Hercules did a great evil. Hera, to punish him more, gave him his reason again. When Hercules realized what he had done, he wept and beat himself. For many days and nights he lay fasting and awake and did not want to live. Finally he decided to go to the oracle of Delphi to ask for an oracle (advice) from the god Apollo.

At the Oracle of Delphi

When he entered the temple, Pythia did not give him an oracle, because he was dirty and unkempt. Hercules was angry then, took on his shoulder the sacred tripod of Pythia and left to go elsewhere, to build another oracle. Pythia warned Apollo and he caught up with Hercules down in the Peloponnese. They then joined hands. They fought for three days, and neither could defeat the other. Then Zeus came down and reconciled them. Hercules brought the Holy Tripod back to the oracle and Pythia gave him the following oracle:

"Go to your uncle Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae, and carry out twelve of his orders. Then your sin will be forgiven."

To Eurystheus

Indeed, Hercules started and went to Mycenae. As soon as Eurystheus saw him, he feared that he would take the throne from him and thought of ordering him to do something very difficult, lest he be killed and escape from him. So he ordered him to perform twelve difficult tasks. Hercules managed to accomplish all twelve. It is his great deeds that Hercules is called Athos.