Hercules was one of the most famous heroes of Greek legend. His father was Zeus, king of the Gods and his mother was a princess, Alcmene. Hera, wife of Zeus was jealous of Alcmene and heated Hercules. When Hercules married Megara, a Theban princess, Hera made him become insane and he burned his house, killing his wife and children. When Hercules recovered his sanity, he sought help from the oracle at Delphi to se what he should do to earn forgiveness. He learned that he had to serve for twelve years as a slave to his weak and scrawny cousin, Eurystheus, who hated him because of his power and strength.

Hercules would be given twelve labors to perform by his cousin. These would have been impossible for a man of ordinary strength, but Hercules was determined to try his hardest and to succeed. Hercules performed 12 great labors for Eurystheus. First, he killed the Nemean Lion. As Hercules wandered in the dark and gloomy forest he wondered if this was even worth it. He decided to take a rest and think about it on a rock. Just as he was getting comfortable, this hideous beast jumped out in front of him. Hercules reacted quickly and threw the huge boulder that he was

So who was Hercules really? A man that cared about others or a strong half god who tried to seek forgiveness? I think he's both! Hercules was a great hero because he was mostly human. Perhaps because he was also a person looking for forgiveness by helping others. But most of all! He was half god all Hero. So now Hercules had glory and fame. He had repented for his sins with twelve tasks. He would go around performing heroic deeds to win even more fame. Even Zeus was happy with Hera because she had made his son famous. But Hera still hated Hercules. She drove him insane again and he killed men left and right. Again, he had to repent for his sins. This time, he was sentenced to serve as the slave of the queen of Omphale for three years. In that position he could win no glory. He sat at her feet and spun and sewed while she wore his lion skin and held his club. When his three years were over he had learned his lesson. He wanted to marry a girl named Deianira, but she had already been promised to a river-god, who could change his shape when he wanted to. Hercules and the god decided to wrestle. Hercules easily beat the river-god and Deianira happily married Hercules.

The sixth labor was clean the stables of king Augeas of Elis in one day. For seventh labor, he went to Crete and captured the savage bull of Minas, the Cretan king. The tenth labor took Hercules far the west past the Pillars. To get a cattle the monster Geryon. The eleventh labor he was told to retrieve three golden apples from the tree that Mother Earth gave Zeus and Hera for their wedding gift, he had to carry them to the H

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Approximate Word count = 1082
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)