The Greeks and Romans …show more content…
The oracle told me that to overcome my guilt, I must serve my cousin, King Eurystheus. Immediately when I arrived at my cousin’s palace, he ordered me to complete twelve of his labors to be free of my guilt. The first three labors were to eradicate the Nemean Lion, the many-headed hydra, and the Stymphalian Birds. Next, King Eurystheus ordered me to capture the Arcadian Stag, the Erymanthian Boar, a mad Cretan bull, and the horses of King Diomedes. King Eurystheus was getting agitated, because I was completing the tasks with ease. Therefore, he found harder tasks for me to complete, such as stealing the golden belt from the Amazon Queen Hippolyte, Geryon’s cattle, and the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. My next task was very unpleasant. I had to clean the stables of King Augeas, which had 3,000 cows and had never been cleaned. My solution was to use my immense strength to redirect a river straight through the stable. Finally, the twelfth and last labor King Eurystheus chose was the most terrible. He ordered me to retrieve Cerberus, who was the guard dog of the underworld. Again, I used my incredible strength to successfully retrieve the guard dog from Hades and bring him back to the palace to show King Eurystheus. The king was so terrified he told me my labors would be over if I brought the beast back to Hades and the gods would relieve me of my guilt forever. By completing the twelve labors form King Eurystheus, I felt pardoned from my