Hercules had already returned to Mycenae six times and, on the orders of Ephrystheus, set off on a journey full of dangers. He accomplished six glorious deeds: he killed the Nemean lion, destroyed the Lernaean hydra, caught the Cerynean hind, defeated the Erymanthian boar, drove the Stymphalian birds out of Hellas, and cleaned out the stables of King Augeas in one day.
Days dragged on, and Eurystheus seemed to have forgotten about the existence of Hercules. One day a messenger came to Hercules from Jason, the son of the king of Iolkos, from whom his relative Pelias had taken away power over the city of Iolkos.
“My lord Jason,” the envoy said, “is gathering the most courageous heroes of Hellas, so that together with them they can go by sea to the end of the world, to Colchis, for the skin of the golden fleece ram. King Eetus of Colchis does not rightfully own this fleece. Return the golden fleece to Hellas - a matter of valor and honor. Do you accept Jason’s invitation?”
“Go to waste this service to the cowardly Eurystheus!” cried Hercules. “I am not his slave! I am going with you!”
So Hercules came to Iolcus in Thessaly. Best sons The Hellas had already gathered there to set sail on a strong, fast ship called the Argo to the kingdom of Eeta.
When the Argo passed the halfway point to distant Colchis, a misfortune happened: Hylas, the youngest among the Argonauts and a great friend of Hercules, disappeared.
For a long time Hercules searched for his pet on the inhospitable shore where the Argonauts landed to replenish their supplies of fresh water, but he never found him. Saddened by the loss of his friend, Hercules refused to sail further with the Argonauts and returned to Mycenae.
And there a new order from Eurystheus awaited him: to tame the Cretan bull and deliver it to Argolis. This bull once sailed to the island of Crete, and the Cretan king Minos promised the god of the seas, Poseidon, to sacrifice the bull to him24. But Minos liked the snow-white bull with golden horns so much that the king kept it for himself, and sacrificed another bull to Poseidon. The god of the sea became angry and sent fury upon the handsome golden-horned man. A mad bull broke out of his stall, ran away from the royal court and became a threat to the entire island.
Having received the order of Eurystheus, Hercules went to the seashore and boarded a Phoenician ship bound for Crete.
Whether it was the machinations of Hera or the dictates of fate, but as soon as the ship entered the open sea, a fierce storm came. The ship rushed for a long time among the raging waves until it crashed on the shore of a strange, unfamiliar country.
Trees grew here that looked like bunches of large feathers: thick stems emerged straight from the trunk, on which swayed leaves so large that a person could hide under each one.
Hercules and his surviving companions walked along the shore along the hot yellow sand and came to Big city by the sea. “You are in Egypt,” said the inhabitants of the city, “and Egypt is ruled by the great Busiris, a powerful and formidable king.”
Hercules asked to be taken to the king. But as soon as he entered the palace, he was captured and chained.
“You have come at the right time, stranger,” the ruler of Egypt told him. “Today is a holiday in my country, and I will sacrifice you and your companions to our gods.”
“The gods do not accept human sacrifices,” Hercules objected to him.
Busiris laughed: “For hundreds of years in Egypt they have been sacrificing all foreigners, and the gods have not yet become angry with us. We, the Egyptians, have surpassed all nations in piety, and it is not for you to teach us.”
When Hercules was brought to the altar and a priest in a long white robe raised a sacrificial knife over him, the mighty son of Zeus easily broke the chains with which he was chained. He hit the priest with a piece of chain, scattered the royal guard, then took Busiris’s sword and stabbed the cruel king.
Struck by the hero's strength, the Egyptians did not dare touch him. Hercules freed his companions and hurried with them to the harbor. There they found a ship that, for a modest fee, took them to the island of Crete.
The accomplishment of the very feat for which he was sent was not difficult for Hercules. Having met the mad Cretan bull, Hercules jumped on its back, wrapped a chain around its horns and tightened it tightly. The bull tried in vain to throw off the unexpected burden from his back - Hercules sat tightly, squeezing his ribs with his legs more and more tightly. Mooing pitifully, the bull ran to the sea, threw himself into the waves and swam. At sea, the fury left him, and he became calm, like a working ox in the field. Guided by the hand of Hercules, the bull swam across the sea to the Peloponnese.
Hercules himself took the bull to Eurystheus's barnyard. But the shepherds could not keep him in the stable. The bull broke free and went for a walk throughout the Peloponnese, not giving in to anyone, until he was caught by young Theseus, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus.
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To fulfill Eurystheus' seventh order, Hercules had to leave Greece and go to the island of Crete. Eurystheus instructed him to bring a Cretan bull to Mycenae. This bull was sent to the king of Crete Minos, son of Europa, by the shaker of the earth Poseidon; Minos had to sacrifice a bull to Poseidon...
Rejoicing that a son would soon be born to him, the aegis-powerful Zeus said to the gods: Listen, gods and goddesses, what I tell you: my heart tells me to say this! Today a great hero will be born; he will rule over all his relatives who descend from my son, the great Perseus...
Having matured, Hercules defeated King Orchomen Ergin, to whom Thebes paid a large tribute annually. He killed Ergin during the battle, and imposed a tribute on the Minyan Orkhomenes, which was twice as much as what Thebes paid. For this feat, the king of Thebes, Creon, gave Hercules his daughter Megara as his wife, and the gods sent him three beautiful sons...
For a long time Hercules searched for the lion's lair along the wooded slopes of the mountains and in the gorges; finally, when the sun began to lean towards the west, Hercules found a lair in a gloomy gorge; it was located in a huge cave that had two exits. Hercules blocked one of the exits with huge stones and began to wait for the lion, hiding behind the stones...
After the first feat, Eurystheus sent Hercules to kill the Lernaean hydra. It was a monster with the body of a snake and nine heads of a dragon. Like the Nemean lion, the hydra was generated by Typhon and Echidna. The hydra lived in a swamp near the city of Lerna and, crawling out of its lair, destroyed entire herds and devastated the entire surrounding area...
Eurystheus instructed Hercules to kill Stymphalian birds. These birds almost turned the entire environs of the Arcadian city of Stymphalus into a desert. They attacked both animals and people and tore them apart with their copper claws and beaks. But the most terrible thing was that the feathers of these birds were made of solid bronze, and the birds, having taken off, could drop them, like arrows, on anyone who decided to attack them...
Eurystheus knew that a wonderful Kerynean doe lived in Arcadia, sent by the goddess Artemis to punish people. This doe devastated the fields. Eurystheus sent Hercules to catch her and ordered him to deliver the doe alive to Mycenae. This doe was extraordinarily beautiful, her horns were golden and her legs were copper...
Eurystheus again gave him an assignment: Hercules had to kill the Erymanthian boar. This boar, possessing monstrous strength, lived on Mount Erymanthes and devastated the surroundings of the city of Psofis. He gave no mercy to people and killed them with his huge fangs. Hercules went to Mount Erymanthus. On the way he visited the wise centaur Fol...
Soon Eurystheus gave a new assignment to Hercules. He had to clear the entire farmyard of Augeas, king of Elis, son of the radiant Helios, from manure. The sun god gave his son innumerable wealth. Augeas' herds were especially numerous. Among his herds were three hundred bulls with legs as white as snow...
After taming the Cretan bull, Hercules, on behalf of Eurystheus, had to go to Thrace to the king of the Bystons, Diomedes. This king had horses of marvelous beauty and strength. They were chained with iron chains in the stalls, since no fetters could hold them. King Diomedes fed these horses with human meat. He threw all the foreigners to them to eat...
Hercules chose a difficult time for Admet. Great grief reigned in the house of King Fer. His wife Alcestis was supposed to die. Once upon a time, the goddesses of fate, the great Moirai, at the request of Apollo, determined that Admetus could get rid of death if, in the last hour of his life, someone agreed to voluntarily descend in his place to the dark kingdom of Hades...
The fame of the exploits of the son of Zeus has long reached the land of the Amazons. Therefore, when Hercules’ ship landed at Themiscyra, the Amazons and the queen came out to meet the hero. They looked with surprise at the great son of Zeus, who stood out like an immortal god among his heroic companions. Queen Hippolyta asked the great hero Hercules...
On the way back to Tiryns from the land of the Amazons, Hercules arrived on ships with his army to Troy. A difficult sight appeared before the eyes of the heroes when they landed on the shore near Troy. They saw the beautiful daughter of King Laomedon of Troy, Hesione, chained to a rock near the seashore. She was doomed, like Andromeda, to be torn to pieces by a monster emerging from the sea...
Soon after returning from a campaign in the land of the Amazons, Hercules set out on a new feat. Eurystheus instructed him to drive the cows of the great Geryon, the son of Chrysaor and the oceanid Callirhoe, to Mycenae. The path to Geryon was long. Hercules needed to reach the westernmost edge of the earth, those places where the radiant sun god Helios descends from the sky at sunset...
As soon as Hercules returned to Tiryns, Eurystheus again sent him to the feat. This was already the eleventh labor that Hercules had to perform in the service of Eurystheus. Hercules had to overcome incredible difficulties during this feat. He had to descend into the gloomy, horror-filled underworld of Hades and bring the guardian of the underworld, the terrible hellish dog Kerberus, to Eurystheus...
The most difficult labor of Hercules in the service of Eurystheus was his last, twelfth labor. He had to go to the great titan Atlas, who holds the firmament on his shoulders, and get three golden apples from his gardens, which were watched over by the daughters of Atlas, the Hesperides...
On the island of Euboea, in the city of Oichalia, King Eurytus ruled. The fame of Eurytus as the most skilled archer spread far throughout Greece. The archer Apollo himself was his teacher, even giving him a bow and arrows. Once upon a time, in his youth, he learned from Eurytus how to shoot a bow and Hercules...
After Eurytus drove Hercules out of Oichalia, the great hero came to Calydon, the city of Aetolia. Oineus ruled there. Hercules came to Oeneus to ask for the hand of his daughter Deianira, since he had promised Meleager in the kingdom of shadows to marry her...
Father Zeus sent his beloved daughter Pallas Athena to Hercules on the island of Kos to call upon the great hero to help in their fight against the giants. The giants were born by the goddess Gaia from drops of the blood of Uranus, overthrown by Cronus. These were monstrous giants with snakes instead of legs, with shaggy long hair on their heads and beards...
There they built a huge fire and laid the greatest of the heroes on it. The suffering of Hercules becomes more and more intense, the poison of the Lernaean hydra penetrates deeper into his body. Hercules tears off his poisoned cloak, it sticks tightly to his body; Hercules tears off pieces of skin along with his cloak, and the terrible torment becomes even more unbearable. The only salvation from these superhuman torments is death...
After the death of Hercules, his children and his mother Alcmene lived in Tiryns with Hercules' eldest son, Gill. They did not live there long. Out of hatred for Hercules, Eurystheus drove the children of the greatest hero out of their father’s possessions and pursued them wherever they tried to hide. The children of Hercules wandered throughout Greece for a long time: finally, the elderly Iolaus, nephew and friend of Hercules, sheltered them...
Cretan Bull (Seventh Labor)
To fulfill Eurystheus' seventh order, Hercules had to leave Greece and go to the island of Crete. Eurystheus instructed him to bring a Cretan bull to Mycenae. This bull was sent to the king of Crete Minos, son of Europa, by the shaker of the earth Poseidon; Minos had to sacrifice a bull to Poseidon. But Minos felt sorry for sacrificing such a beautiful bull - he left it in his herd, and sacrificed one of his bulls to Poseidon. Poseidon was angry with Minos and sent the bull that came out of the sea into a frenzy. A bull rushed all over the island and destroyed everything in its path. Great hero Hercules caught the bull and tamed it. He sat on the broad back of a bull and swam on it across the sea from Crete to the Peloponnese. Hercules brought the bull to Mycenae, but Eurystheus was afraid to leave Poseidon's bull in his herd and let him go free. Sensing freedom again, the mad bull rushed across the entire Peloponnese to the north and finally ran to Attica to the Marathon field. There he was killed by the great Athenian hero Theseus.
Date of creation: -.
Genre: myth.
Subject: -.
Idea: -.
Issues. -.
Main characters: Hercules, the Cretan bull.
Plot. There are no more monsters left in the entire Peloponnese. Hercules dealt with everyone. Eurystheus nevertheless came up with a new impossible task. This time the son of Zeus had to catch the Cretan bull. The god of the sea, Poseidon, sent the Cretan king Minos a huge, beautiful bull to sacrifice. Minos was sorry to kill the magnificent animal and he included it in his countless herds. In return, he slaughtered another bull in honor of Poseidon. The god of the sea noticed the deception and became terribly angry. He made sure that the donated bull was seized with rabies. The Cretan bull began to rush all over the island, terrifying its inhabitants. No one dared to engage in single combat with him. The bull trampled fields and destroyed farm buildings with impunity. Some sources indicate that flames burst out of the bull's mouth.
Eurystheus already appreciated the incredible strength of the hero. He knew that taming the monster would not be for him big problem. The king hoped that Hercules would not be able to find a way to transport his prey across the sea.
The son of Zeus silently listened to Eurystheus' order. He was not afraid to anger Poseidon, because the god himself sent madness to the sacrificial bull and, thus, removed his protection from him.
Hercules sailed to Crete and appeared before Minos. The king was delighted at the appearance of the mighty hero. He offered him any help, but the son of Zeus refused it and went in search of the bull alone. People walked around the mad animal, and the hero calmly approached the bull, took it by the horns and bent its head to the ground. The animal immediately felt the superhuman strength of the enemy and did not even try to resist. Riding on a bull, the son of Zeus crossed it to the Peloponnese. Eurystheus, as usual, was very frightened at the sight of another monster. He ordered his release. The Cretan bull rushed north. Having reached the Marathon field, he met death at the hands of another mighty hero, Theseus.
Review of the work. The seventh labor was relatively easy for Hercules. Neither he himself nor Eurystheus doubted that the rabid animal could not resist the incredible strength of the son of Zeus. The difficulty and danger of the task consisted of crossing the bull from Crete to the Peloponnese. Hercules showed great courage when he decided to swim on the back of a rabid animal.
Hercules performed six glorious feats, demonstrating his strength, endurance, dexterity and ingenuity. The people glorified him, and the cowardly Eurystheus feared and envied him more than before. The cowardly king with all his soul longed for the death and shame of the glorious hero. But how can this be done if all the monsters in Hellas have been exterminated and the Augean stables have been cleaned out? Eurystheus was tormented for a long time, but nothing but stupid thoughts came to his mind. And then one day he heard an amazing story from a visiting merchant. In those days, some rich merchants sailed their ships on the sea, bringing various strange goods from distant countries. One of them told the Argive king about the Cretan bull:
“Far from here, at the other end of the blue sea, a rich island called Crete flourishes. This beautiful island is ruled by the powerful King Minos. This proud king fears neither men nor gods. One day, a beautiful fat bull came out of the sea onto the shore of his island. The god of the seas, Poseidon, sent this bull to Minos so that the king could make a sacrifice to the gods. But seeing the excellent bull, Minos did not want to sacrifice it and left Poseidon's envoy for himself. Instead, the king killed another bull from his herd. But Poseidon recognized the deception and became terribly angry. A storm began at sea, and huge waves, rising to the skies, began to hit the island with force. But besides this, Poseidon, overcome with anger, sent rage on his beautiful bull. The maddened animal burst out of its stall with a wild roar and rushed away, furiously crushing everything in its path.
As soon as the terrible storm subsided, we sent our ships away from the coast of Crete, fearing the wrath of Poseidon. But the mad Cretan bull still roams the island, maiming and killing people, thereby striking fear into the hearts of all islanders. After all, among them there is no brave hero who could cope with this angry animal.
Hearing the merchant's last words, Eurystheus almost jumped for joy. “This is what I will instruct Hercules to do!” – the king thought maliciously, “And to complicate his task, I’ll tell him to bring the Cretan bull alive to me!” After all, not a single shipbuilder in his right mind would undertake to transport a mad bull on his ship!
When Copreus once again crossed the threshold of Hercules' house, the hero became interested in what the cowardly Argive king would order him after the Augean stables?
The royal herald, meanwhile, announced a new command from Eurystheus:
– The King of Argos orders you, Hercules, to go to the island of Crete to tame the maddened Cretan bull and deliver him alive to Argolis to the king’s barnyard.
After listening to Copreus, Hercules immediately equipped himself for a new feat and, together with the Phoenician sailors, set off for the distant shores of the island of Crete.
Having heard a lot about the beauty and wealth of Crete during a sea voyage, Hercules, stepping onto the abandoned deserted shore of this island, was quite disappointed. The fields were desolate, the roads were overgrown with tall grass, and the deserted villages were striking in their devastation. And all because the inhabitants of the island were afraid of an angry bull, rushing at any person or cattle that caught its eye. The bull trampled many fields and with its steep horns and strong hooves maimed many people and livestock.
When Hercules finally saw for himself the formidable Cretan bull, fiercely flaring his nostrils and beating his hoof, his courage did not leave him. The hero boldly went out to meet the rabid animal. And as soon as the bull rushed at him with a wild roar, Hercules ran towards him and, pushing off the ground with his feet, jumped and then, turning over in the air over the bull’s head, straddled him. The maddened animal tried to throw off the rider, but Hercules tightly wrapped a chain around his steep horns, and strong legs squeezed his sides. The bull resisted for a long time, but his efforts were in vain and, exhausted, he submitted to the hero. Sitting astride the Cretan bull, Hercules headed to the seashore. The islanders began to come out of their shelters and glorify the brave tamer.
Realizing that the sailors would not want to take a rabid animal on board, Hercules decided to cross the sea by swimming on a bull. Oddly enough, the bull, upon entering the water, became humble and docile. Having calmly reached the shores of the Peloponnese, the hero, sitting on a bull, headed to the barnyard of Eurystheus. And the bull obediently walked all the way, guided by the rider’s hand, and even allowed himself to be driven into the stall. But when Hercules, having fulfilled the king’s order, went to rest, the bull again became furious and, sweeping away everything in its path, broke free.
The Cretan bull caused a lot of trouble, wandering around the Peloponnese, until another famous hero named Theseus caught him.
