# The Seven Labors of Hercules **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783 "2003-02-08T23:37:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/1 "2003-02-08T23:37:06Z")
What were they? The only one I can remember, and that vaguely, is his having to clean out a huge stable and rerouting a river through it. And having to retrieve three golden apples…My famous memory has let me down. Please help! ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/2 "2003-02-09T00:08:28Z")
Actually, there were Twelve Labors. I can’t remember all of them at the moment, but the ones I remember are:[ul] [li]Kill the Hydra[/li][li]Kill the Nemean Lion[/li][li]Capture Cerberus from the Underworld[/li][li]Clean out the Augean Stables[/li][li]Capture the Apples of the Hesparides[/li][li]Capture the Cretean Bull[/li][li]Take the girdle of the Amazonian Queen Hippotoyla[/li][/ul] Hmm. That’s all I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/3 "2003-02-09T00:18:46Z")
The others were [ul] [li] Capturing the man-eating mares of King Diomedes[/li][li] Driving away the Stymphalian birds[/li][li] Capturing the golden Hind of Ceryneia[/li][li] Capturing the cattle of Geryon[/li][li] (The hardest one for me to remember) Capturing the Erymanthian boar [/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/4 "2003-02-09T00:18:55Z")
The Nemean Lion The Lernean Hydra The Hind of Ceryneia The Erymanthean Boar The Augean Stables The Stymphalian Birds The Cretan Bull The Horses of Diomedes The Belt of Hippolyte Geryon’s Cattle The Apples of the Hesperides Cerberus ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/5 "2003-02-09T00:20:11Z")
Doh, should have hit preview. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/6 "2003-02-09T00:24:13Z")
I searched and found this cool encapsulated and illustrated version of Heracules’ life. [The Labors of Heracles from Greek mythology.](http://www.mythweb.com/hercules/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/7 "2003-02-09T00:46:10Z")
Beautiful! Thank you all! ---
**Author:** ![Melandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Melandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melandry)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/8 "2003-02-09T01:58:15Z")
The Brunching Shuttlecocks version is great too: [http://www.brunching.com/laborsofhercules.html](http://www.brunching.com/laborsofhercules.html) [http://www.brunching.com/laborsofhercules2.html](http://www.brunching.com/laborsofhercules2.html) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/9 "2003-02-09T02:14:01Z")
What about when he had to gather the stunflower seeds from the edge of the bottomless cliff? Oh, wait a minute, that was Li’l Abner, wasn’t it? Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/10 "2003-02-09T03:19:13Z")
Agatha Christie did a very cute take on this, called “The Labors of Hercules”, a set of short stories where her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot tries to emulate his name-sake. The Nemean Lion turns out to be a Pekinese dog, the many-headed hydra is a scandal, etc. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/11 "2003-02-09T03:20:51Z")
I much prefer the _Erotic Adventures of Hercules_. “Hercules! The Siren tore off my clothes!” ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/12 "2003-02-09T07:44:49Z")
Ah, Hercules. Hero of song and story… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-seven-labors-of-hercules/153783/13 "2003-02-09T07:50:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by asterion \* > \*\*I much prefer the _Erotic Adventures of Hercules_. “Hercules! The Siren tore off my clothes!” \*\* The Cyclops, rather. Though if it been an agressive lesbian Siren, that’s even sexier.