Stories and Myths for Kids about Hercules

The famous myths about The 12 Labors of Hercules are a bunch of

little stories that together tell the tale of how the half-man, half god
Hercules used clever tricks and great courage to rid the world of
some really nasty critters, and lived to tell about it.

As the story goes ....

Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of the gods, had two children, Ares - the
god of war, who loved to destroy things, and Hephaestus, god of forge, fire,
and volcanoes, who loved to build things. But Zeus also had other children.
One of those kids was named Heracles, also known as Hercules, also known
by his nickname, Herc.

Zeus loved his little son, Hercules. But Hera, Zeus' wife, was very jealous.
She was jealous of all of Zeus' other kids, but she especially hated Hercules,
possibly because Zeus was so very proud of him. Because Hera was not very
nice sometimes, actually most of the time according to ancient Greek myth,
she tried all kinds of ways to kill Hercules, including sending a couple of big
snakes into his crib. Hercules crushed those snakes in a flash! Hercules was
incredibly strong, even as a baby!

This troubled Zeus, but he loved his wife, Hera. To keep his small son safe
from attack, Zeus sent him to live with a mortal family on earth in the
ancient Greek city-state of Argos. Hercules grew up noble and loved. He
married and had a couple of kids. He was happy, and very big and very
strong. He was hard to miss. Hera soon discovered his location. That's when
the trouble started.

The Terrible Mistake: Time had passed, but Hera had not changed. She
still wanted Hercules gone, as in dead. One day, while Hera was thinking up
ways to kill Hercules, she came up with an idea that might not kill him, but it
would certainly devastate him. Using an evil magic spell, she made Hercules
fall into a fit of madness. While under this spell, he butchered his wife and
children. As the spell passed and his vision cleared, Hercules saw what he
had done. He knew it was a mistake. He knew he had been bewitched, but
he was filled with guilt. He wanted to find some way to atone for his terrible
mistake, only he had no idea what to do. In desperation, he visited the most
powerful wizard of his day, the Oracle at Delphi, and asked for her help.

The Oracle at Delphi: The Oracle believed Hercules would never have
butchered his family unless he had been in the grip of an evil spell. She had
no doubt that the evil spell was cast by Hera. She also knew that Hercules
would never forgive himself unless first he was punished. She told Hercules
exactly what he needed to do to atone. She whispered that he had to visit his
cousin, King Eurystheus, who would give him 12 labors (tasks) that Hercules
must successfully complete. Once all 12 tasks were accomplished, Hercules
would be forgiven.

"Are you sure that such a simple thing will atone for my mistake?" Hercules
asked her.

The Oracle answered: "If you complete 12 Labors, immortality will be yours."
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.) Hercules could barely hear her, her whisper was
that soft, yet somehow, Hera's spies discovered what the Oracle had told
him.

The Fury of Eury: Before Hercules could arrive at his cousin's palace, Hera
got there first. Eurystheus (Eury for short) was the king of a little village in
the city-state of Argos. Hera convinced Eury that Hercules was coming to
steal his crown! It was not enough that Hercules had killed his family, she
told Eury, without mentioning that Hera herself had put Hercules under an
evil spell. Now, she told Eury, he wanted to be a king! Eury believed her. First
Eury became quite nervous, and then quite angry. No one was going to take
his crown, not if he had anything to say about it! Taking advantage of his
fury, Hera suggested that Eury challenge Hercules to 12 labors (missions or
tasks), each so difficult that Hercules would surely die, probably on the very
first task. Hera and Eury put their heads together and came up with 12
impossible labors.

When Hercules arrived, Hera hid. If Hercules had spotted her, he might have
been suspicious, but possibly not even then. Hercules was not interested in
Eury's crown. He was interested in atoning for his terrible mistake. He
immediately accepted the challenge as Hera knew he would.

The 12 Labors: That's how the 12 Labors of Hercules came about. Sadly for
Hera and Eury, the great Hercules not only solved each of the 12 Labors, but
along the way, had great adventures, discovered true friends, and rid the
world of some really nasty critters. Here are the famous 12 Labors of
Hercules, each myth told in the form of a very short story.

The 12 Labors of Hercules, retold by Lin Donn:

1. The Nemean Lion

2. The Lernaean Hydra

3. The Wild Boar of Erymanthus

4. The Stag of Artemis

5. The Stymphalian Birds

6. The Augean Stables

7. The Cretan Bull

8. The Girdle of Hippolyta

9. The Cattle of Geryon

10. The Mares of King Diomedes

11. The Golden Apples of the Hesperides

12. The Capture of Cerberus

But that was not the end of the story .... In fact, it was only the
beginning.

Hercules had a lot of fun solving the 12 Labors, but he wasn't paid for his
work. Like everyone in ancient Greece, he needed a job, a paying job.
Hercules thought and thought and came up with one of his very best ideas.
He would open a detective agency - the Hercules Detective Agency - to help
the Greek people solve their problems, especially problems the gods had
thrust upon them, just as he had solved the 12 Labors. He would charge a
small fee of food or blankets or something else that he needed. That would
solve everything! Hercules was very pleased with himself for thinking of such
a brilliant solution.

The first thing he did was to create a rather large sign. He hung it on the
outside wall of his hut. The sign said: The Hercules Detective Agency,
Founded to Help the Greek People, No Problem Too Large or Too Small,
Reasonable Fees, Proprietor Hercules (Roman name), also known as Heracles
(Greek name), also known as Herc (Nickname)

After admiring his sign for a considerable amount of time, Hercules began to
worry that although his sign was very nice, it did not seem to be working.
Hercules knew he was famous. Just about everyone in ancient Greece, both
gods and mortals, knew he had solved the 12 Labors. But that was in the
past. How to get the word out that he was open for business in the present?
Once again, Hercules thought and thought, but this time no brilliant solution
occurred to him. As it turned out, there was no need to worry. Word spread
like wild fire that Hercules was open for business. Soon, people began
bringing their impossible problems to his door. Since Hercules kept finding
solutions to their problems, it was not long before the Hercules Detective
Agency soon became nearly as famous as Hercules himself.

It all started one evening with a knock on the door of his hut.

"Herc! Open up! I need your help!" shouted a harmless looking individual
with tousled hair and very worried eyes.

That's how the Hercules Detective Agency found its first client, case file:
(1) The Misunderstood Minotaur and, no matter what you might have heard,
how Hercules and the Minotaur became the best of friends.

Case Files from the Hercules Detective Agency (short stories about
ancient Greece for kids)

1. The Misunderstood Minotaur

2. The Enchanted Well

3. The Missing Olive Trees

4. Kerberos on Strike

5. The Very Inventive Rescue

6. The Scaredly Fish

7. The Tricked Bully

8. The Stone Zoo

9. The Reluctant Oracle

10. Olympic Team Herc

11. The Bad Barber

12. The Talking Tools

13. The Mad Machine

14. The Constant Chatterbox

15. The Voiceless Storyteller

16. The Monster Under the Bridge

17. The Stinky Sandals

18. The Awesome Actor

19. Hercules Challenged

20. The Golden Lyre

21. The Mischievous Trickster

22. The Magic Earrings

23. The Rhyming Poet

24. The Three Harpies

25. The Pearl Divers

26. The Festival Arrow

27. The Dragon Egg

28. The Dangerous Dragon

29. The Golden Nugget

30. The Moving Mountain

31. The Monster on the Causeway

32. The Amazing Matchmaker

33. The Temple Worm

34. The Charcoal Burners

35. The Ionian Sea Pirates

36. The Island of the Sirens

37. The Magic Wool

38. The Minotaur to the Rescue

39. The Missing Trident

40. The Terrible Tutor

41. The Dance Teacher

42. The Water Rights

43. The Winged Monsters

44. The Treasure Map