Ch. 22

Front 1

Acheloüs

Back 1

River-god with whom Heracles competed for the hand of Deianira. (page 576)

Front 2

Admetus and Alcestis

Back 2

King of Pherae and husband of Alcestis; Apollo is required to serve him for a year and receives such kind treatment from the king that Apollo grants that if someone can be found willing, he may die in Admetus' stead. This is the subject of Euripides' Alcestis. Alcestis, Admetus' wife, will choose to die in place of her husband; she will be rescued from death by Heracles. (page 568)

Front 3

Alcmena

Back 3

Daughter of Electryon; with Amphitryon she bears Iphicles; with Zeus she bears Heracles. (page 563)

Front 4

Amphitryon

Back 4

Husband of Alcmena; father of Iphicles; stepfather of Heracles; he was exiled from Mycenae for the accidental death of his father-in-law, Electryon, and dwelt with Alcmena in Thebes. (page 563)

Front 5

Antaeus

Back 5

Son of Ge and Poseidon. In one of the more famous side labors of Heracles, Antaeus is killed when Heracles learns his secret: he must lift Antaeus off the earth, from which he receives strength, to defeat him. (page 572)

Front 6

athloi

Back 6

Greek word for "labors" or contests undertaken for a prize. (page 567)

Front 7

Atlas

Back 7

Heracles journeys to the west to retrieve apples from the garden of the Hesperides. In one version, Atlas agrees to help him if Heracles will take Atlas' burden of the vault of heaven for a while. Atlas retrieves the apples, but it is only through a ruse that Heracles is able to trick Atlas into taking back his burden. (page 567)

Front 8

Augeas

Back 8

Son of Helius and king of Elis. Heracles cleans the Augean stables, but Augeas tries to cheat him of his payment; in return Heracles mounts an expedition, defeats Augeas, and institutes the Olympic Games. (page 568)

Front 9

Autolycus

Back 9

Heracles' wrestling tutor. (page 565)

Front 10

Cacus

Back 10

In a side exploit, Heracles defeats the Italians fire-god Cacus. (page 572)

Front 11

Cerberus

Back 11

The last of the twelve labors and a metaphorical conquest of death; Heracles retrieves Cerberus, the three-headed hound of Hades. (page 570)

Front 12

Cercopes

Back 12

A pair of dwarfs who had been told "to beware the black-bottomed man." (page 574)

Front 13

Chiron

Back 13

Centaur, wounded by one of Heracles' poisoned arrows; his torment is so great he gives up his immortality. (page 568)

Front 14

Deianira

Back 14

Daughter of Oeneus, king of Calydon; Heracles wins her as his bride. Deceived by the centaur Nessus, she believes that a phial of his blood will prevent Heracles from loving another woman; in time she will use it, causing such torment for Heracles that he resolves to be burned on a pyre. (page 567)

Front 15

Electryon

Back 15

King of Mycenae; father of Alcmena; grandfather of Heracles; he is accidentally killed by Amphitryon. (page 563)

Front 16

Eurystheus

Back 16

Son of Sthenelus; his birth is hastened by Hera, making him king instead of Heracles; it was for Eurystheus that Heracles performed the labors. (page 564)

Front 17

Eurytus, Iole, and Iphitus

Back 17

King of Oechalia; father of Iole, Eurytus refuses to give Iole to Heracles. In anger Heracles will kill Iole's brother, Iphitus. For this murder, Heracles goes to Delphi for purification, but the Pythia is unresponsive. Heracles attempts to carry off the sacred tripod of Delphi, and wrestles with the god Apollo. Zeus ends the conflict, and Heracles learns he must be a slave for a year to atone for his blood guilt. (page 565)

Front 18

Geryon

Back 18

The tenth labor of Heracles and a metaphorical conquest of death. The hero must destroy Geryon, a three-bodied monster, and drive off his cattle. (page 570)

Front 19

Hebe

Back 19

Upon his apotheosis, Heracles, now a god, marries Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera. (page 563)

Front 20

Heracles

Back 20

Most popular and greatest of the Greek heroes; Heracles was a heros theos ("hero god"). Heracles is most famous for the twelve labors he performed in Eurystheus' service; he is associated with Argos, Tiryns, Boeotia (Thebes), and Trachis. At the end of his life, in physical torment, he is burned on a pyre; the end of his life forms the subject of Sophocles' Trachiniae. In the Odyssey, when Odysseus encounters Heracles in the Underworld, the poet remarks that only his shade inhabits Hades, Heracles himself lives with the gods. His name means "glory of Hera." (page 563)

Front 21

Heraclidae

Back 21

According to the tradition they are to be identified with the Dorian tribes in the Peloponnesus at the end of the Mycenaean period; Heraclidae literally means descendants of Heracles. (page 584)

Front 22

Hesione

Back 22

In a side labor Heracles travels to Troy, rescues Hesione from a sea monster, and wrests the throne from Laomedon and gives it to Priam. (page 570)

Front 23

Hesperides

Back 23

The Hesperides ("daughters of night") tend the garden where are to be found the golden apples given by Ge to Hera; Heracles must retrieve some of these apples from a tree guarded by a serpent named Ladon. The tree is a symbol of immortality, and this eleventh labor is another metaphorical conquest of death. (page 567)

Front 24

Hippolyta

Back 24

For the ninth labor, Heracles must fetch the girdle of the Amazon queen Hippolyta. (page 569)

Front 25

Hylas

Back 25

Hylas, a youth beloved of Heracles, is snatched away by the nymphs of a spring; Heracles decides to leave the expedition of the Argo to search for the boy. (page 575)

Front 26

Hyllus

Back 26

Son of Heracles who promises his dying father to marry Iole. (page 577)

Front 27

Iolaüs

Back 27

Nephew of Heracles who aids him in some of his exploits. (page 567)

Front 28

Iphicles

Back 28

Son of Alcmena and Amphitryon; half-brother of Heracles. (page 563)

Front 29

Ladon

Back 29

Serpent that guards the tree in the garden of the Hesperides. (page 567)

Front 30

Linus

Back 30

Music tutor, whom Heracles kills. (page 565)

Front 31

lion skin

Back 31

Heracles is often represented wearing the token of his first labor, the killing of the Nemean lion. (page 567)

Front 32

Megara

Back 32

First wife of Heracles, whom he kills along with their children in a fit of madness sent by Hera; the Delphi oracle tells Heracles he must perform twelve labors for Eurystheus. (page 565)

Front 33

Mt. Oeta

Back 33

Located in Trachis, it was the site of Heracles' death and apotheosis. (page 563)

Front 34

Nessus

Back 34

Centaur who offers to help Heracles bring Deianira across a river; in the attempt he tries to rape her but is wounded by one of Heracles' poisoned arrows. As he dies, the centaur tells Deianira that the blood from his wound will work as a love potion, should Heracles' eyes ever wander to another woman; Deianira later will use the potion and bring about the destruction of her husband. (page 577)

Front 35

Omphale

Back 35

Lydian queen whom Heracles serves as a slave for a year. (page 570)

Front 36

Orthus

Back 36

Geryon's two-headed hound. (page 570)

Front 37

parergon (pl. parerga

Back 37

Greek term meaning "side labor." (page 568)

Front 38

Pillars of Heracles

Back 38

After Heracles' conquest of Geryon, Heracles drives the cattle back home; on the way he passes the Strait of Gibraltar, which becomes named the Pillars of Heracles. (page 547)

Front 39

Poeas and Philoctetes

Back 39

Poeas, father of Philoctetes, is given Heracles' bow in return for lighting the hero's pyre on Mt. Oeta; Philoctetes will use that bow at Troy and kill Paris. (page 580)

Front 40

Prometheus

Back 40

On the way to retrieve the apples of the Hesperides, in one of the most famous side labors, Heracles unchains the titan Prometheus; in return, Prometheus advises Heracles to enlist the help of Atlas. (page 568)

Front 41

Pterelaüs and Comaetho

Back 41

Pterelaüs was king of the Teleboans; Amphitryon was engaged in a battle with them but found them invincible. Pterelaüs' daughter, however, had fallen in love with Amphitryon; to help him, she cut from her father's head the golden lock that guaranteed him immortality and the Teleboans invincibility in war. (page 563)

Front 42

Theseus and Pirithoüs

Back 42

When Heracles goes to fetch Cerberus, he encounters Theseus and Pirithoüs, who had become trapped upon magical seats for attempting to abduct Persephone; Heracles is able to free Theseus. (page 568)