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All
the gods knew that Hercules
was half man and half god. His mother was a mortal. But his father was
a king - the king of all the gods, the mighty Zeus. But Hercules did not know he was part god until he had
grown into a man.
Hera, Zeus' wife, was
very jealous of Hercules. She tried all kinds of ways to kill him,
including sending a couple of really big snakes into his crib. He
was just a baby, but Hercules crushed those snakes and barely
noticed. Hercules was incredibly strong, magically strong, even as a
baby!
Zeus admired
strength. He loved his little son. He figured that sooner or later,
Hera might actually find a way to kill little Hercules. To keep Hercules safe from
attack, Zeus sent him to live with a mortal family on earth.
Hercules grew up
loved and noble. But he didn't fit in on earth. He was too big and
too strong. One day, his earth father told him he was a god, well,
part god anyway.
The rest of the story
of Hercules is a series of stories, tasks, and adventures, as
Hercules earned his way into the heavens, to take his place with the
gods.
As the
story goes .....
Eurystheus was the mortal cousin of Hercules. When
Eurystheus was crowned king of Tiryns (a little village in the
city-state of Argos), Hera helped Eurystheus design 12 Labors (missions
or tasks) that Hercules had to complete.
Supposedly, when Hercules
had completed the 12 missions, he would earn his immortality. That's what the
Oracle at Delphi had said. Actually, the oracle had said,
"If you complete 12 Labors, immorality will be yours." Of
course, being an oracle, she never explained what she meant by
"immortality" - would he live forever in legend or for real?
Hercules never asked. (She would not have told him anyway.)
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