恐龙夫妇寻亲记中文版

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The Works of Heracles Part Two

Cretan bull

Eurystheus did not calm down. Heracles was sent directly to work on his sixth work. For this, he had to travel to farther places than before. Sail to Crete, where King Minos was king. You may know the story of how Ariadne, daughter of Minos, helped Theseus defeat the Half-Man and Half-Bull, better known as the Minotaur. Now that was a different beast. He came out of the sea, called by the sea god Poseidon. King Minos demanded a sacrifice of the bull be made on the shore. When Minos saw how beautiful the bull was, he played a sneaky trick - he took a different ox to the beach and sacrificed that ox instead - but it is foolish to try to deceive the gods. Poseidon was furious, and sent his bull to stomp around the island. Their hooves were so heavy that they made the ground shake and knock down buildings. Heracles wrestled the Cretan bull, tied it up, and brought it back as another live exhibit for Eurystheus. The king saw the beautiful Taurus from the top of his tower. He called to Heracles and ordered him to release:

"King, I advise against that!" He called again Heracles. In this the wrath of Eurystheus:

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The king replied: “O slave, do not disobey me, or I will strike this deed and it will not count” - and so Heracles did what he was told. The bull rushed over the hills and trampled the fields, causing the city walls to tremble, and the people were afraid that their roofs would fall into them. The strong man was desperately waiting for his next command from the king.

Mares of Diomedes

Heracles VIII's work led him to Thrace, which would today be northern Greece and southern Bulgaria. The people of Thrace in those days were extremely warriors, and no more than King Diomedes. Now this king had four horses known as Maris Diomedes. Their names were Bodagros - the fasting person, the lampoon - the bright, the blond xanthus, and the terrible Deimos. They were completely insane and totally unmanageable - the fiercest horses that had ever existed. In fact, if they had a particularly bad trait - it was that they were horses that ate a human. No one ever managed to ride them - even one night. Heracles sneaked into their stables, tied them together, and rode on Demos' back while he led the others behind. King Eurystheus was impressed by seeing Heracles riding on a horse eating a man, but he did not want hideous creatures for himself. The hero ordered their release on Mount Olympus so that Zeus could decide what to do with them. I am glad to say that their birds were calmer, and after some time the Greeks took their descendants to fight in the Trojan War.

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Hippolyte belt

Heracles' ninth work was a more subtle task. King Eurystheus' daughter was 18 years old, and he promised her a very special birthday gift - an especially beautiful belt encrusted with precious stones. The only problem was that this belt belonged to Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons. The Amazons were a ferocious tribe of fighters who lived on the shores of the Black Sea. The belt was given to Hippolyte by her father, Ares, the god of war. King Eurystheus would not have promised his daughter this gift if he did not have Heracles to bring it for him. Now, Heracles might have been a tough guy, but he wasn't a bony head. He understood that it was always better to try diplomacy before a war. He met Queen Hippolyte on her royal battleship, and he turned on all his magic. The War Queen liked the muscular man, and agreed to give him her belt. Hera, as always, was eager to stir up trouble for Heracles, so she thought this was too easy. She appeared among the Guardians of the Amazons and screamed that Heracles was trying to kidnap their queen. They rushed in with their swords drawn, and Heracles did not escape without a fight he did not want. He returned the belt to Eurystheus just in time for his daughter's birthday - and I'm glad to say that she is very pleased with her present. They rushed in with their swords drawn, and Heracles did not escape without a fight he did not want. He returned the belt to Eurystheus just in time for his daughter's birthday - and I'm glad to say that she is very pleased with her present. They rushed in with their swords drawn, and Heracles did not escape without a fight he did not want. He returned the belt to Eurystheus just in time for his daughter's birthday - and I'm glad to say that she is very pleased with her present.

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Gereon cattle

Hercules' efforts were advancing more and more further from home. On his next mission, he had to cross the Libyan desert to reach the other side of Africa. His orders were to obtain Gereon's cattle, a three-headed monster. Getting there was worse than the act itself, because the sun's rays were more disturbing to our thick-skinned hero than a cloud of Amazon arrows. He was not used to taking punishment without giving his best, and so Heracles shot one of his arrows into the sun. Apollo, the sun god, was so moved that he appeared in his chariot and drove Heracles to the seashore. There he presented him with his golden trophy that was floating like a boat, and Heracles paddled to the island where Gereon and his livestock lived. When he reached shore, he was attacked by a two-headed guard dog. The first appeared, then the head of the other mutt with his baton. Next three-headed Gerion came to him, with three swords and three shields, all of which grew from one body. Heracles didn't bother much - our hero shot the triple monster with one of his poisonous arrows - and that was his end. He loaded the cattle on a ship and sailed them to the mainland - but once on land, he ran into more trouble. Hera sent Godfly to torture the cattle and they sealed him and turned away from him. He spent a year rounding it again before he could return to Mycenae with his award. He loaded the cattle on a ship and sailed them to the mainland - but once on land, he ran into more trouble. Hera sent Godfly to torture the cattle and they sealed him and turned away. He spent a year rounding it up again before he could return to Mycenae with his award. Carry cattle on a ship and sail to the mainland

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Once on land, however, he ran into more trouble. Hera sent Godfly to torture the cattle and they sealed him and turned away. He spent a year rounding it up again before he could return to Mycenae with his award.

Heracles said to King Eurystheus: "I have now completed my ten works, and you must set me free."

The king replied, "You forget, two of them didn't get. You broke the rules. I helped kill Lernaean Hydra and paid you to clean the Augean stables. You still owe me two more tasks. Now you have to steal the Hesperides apples. Off you go!"

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And he drove off, although he didn't like him very much.

Hesperides apples

The task was more difficult than it looked. Heracles didn't even know where to start looking for the garden. Search for apples, wondering the world. Luckily, while he was crossing a river, a nymph gave him good advice. I told him to catch Nereus, the old man of the sea, because he knows the secret of the apple. Heracles found Nereus sleeping on a rock on the beach. He grabbed him by his foot, and the old man's shape instantly changed, first into a giant fish, then a huge piece of seaweed, into a dolphin, and finally a crab with pincers - but Heracles grabbed him tightly. The old man caved in and said,

"So what do you want from me?"

Heracles made it clear he needed information on the Hesperides apples.

The old man said: “Well, Hera gave them to Zeus on their wedding day. They grow on trees in a happy garden in North Africa. The garden was taken care of by three nymphs, Hesperides. The walls are guarded by an immortal dragon with 100 heads. So as not to try to fight the dragon, Heracles. The only person. The one who can get these apples is Atlas, because he is the father of Hesperides. They will definitely give them to him without a fight. "

Instead of going straight to the garden, Heracles went to see Atlas, the giant of the god whose feet stood at the bottom of the universe and whose shoulders bear the weight of the world. Heracles offered to change places with him, and hold the world up while Atlas went to fetch the apples. As you can imagine, Atlas, who has been crippling the world for millions of years, was happy to have a breather. He gladly let Heracles take the world on his shoulders while he was visiting his daughters. A few weeks later he was back with the Three Divine Apples ... but he didn't want to take back his old job.

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He said, "Stay there, Heracles, I'll take these apples to Eurystheus for you."

Heracles understood that he would carry the world for the rest of the time. This was a very distant business, so he told Foxy to Atlas,

"Sure, but before you go, just take the world for a moment while I adjust my mantle. It's pissed off my shoulder." Atlas naively suggested Heracles. Once freed from the world, Heracles picked up the apple and fled. This episode shows that our hero was more than just a muscular man - he had a mind, too.

Thus, when he presented the three Divine Apples to Eurystheus, Heracles had only one mission remaining. He hoped it would be completed quickly.

"Well done, you are almost done," said Eurystius. "Your last mission is a simple matter of a man like you. All you have to do is go down to the underworld and bring Cerberus."

"What or what?" Heracles said, "No human being can visit the kingdom of the dead and return to the light."

The king replied, "Well, you must, if you want to be free."

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Cerberus, the sentinel dog of the underworld

Mumbling that there were different degrees of "impossible", Heracles began to seek advice on what he could do. He visited Elioces, where the priests specialized in the worship of the dead and the underworld. There he embarked on the Hades Mysteries, and learned where the Styx River flows into the underworld. Not far from there was a cave opening where his descent should begin. In this way, Heracles was the first living human to travel to the abyss. After him Orpheus and Odysseus made the same journey, but they were not yet born. There he met Theseus, who was imprisoned for attempting to kidnap Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld. His leg was bound to a table by a snake that had turned into a stone. Heracles broke the serpentine chain and released the fellow-hero. Then Heracles met Hades, the pale-faced king of the underworld. He agreed to allow him to borrow Cerberus on the condition that he could conquer the three-headed dog without using weapons. This was the kind of work Hercules used to do. Soon the ferocious guard dog of the dead scrambled and whimpered like a puppy.

When he brought it up to showcase it to Eurystheus, I have to say that for once, the Task Manager really liked it. He told Heracles that he could be free once he returned Cerberus to his owner, and so Heracles had to descend into the underworld a second time. When he returned to the light of the world, rejoiced in his heart, because now he had his freedom.

But wait - don't go - that's not the end of the story. Cruel Hera manages to enslave him a second time. Zeus and the other gods convinced that Heracles was not yet sufficiently punished. She said ,

"This mortal man did the impossible not just once, but twelve times. If we leave him arrogant, he will become a threat to us even the gods on Mount Olympus. We must humble him before it is too late."

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And so the gods gave poor Hercules another year of punishment. He was a slave of Amphal, the queen of Lydia. She was pleased that in her strength there was such a strong and handsome man. She loved being teased, and she had him exchange clothes with her. The queen sat on her throne wearing a lion's mantle, clutching his club. She ordered him to wear her clothes. His two giant feet slit her shoe, and her belt exploded as he tried to tie it around his large waist. She scolded him for being so clumsy. Then she had him sit at her feet, dressed as a girl, and tell her his great works. Instead of being touched, she laughed all the way. For Heracles, Omphale's enslavement was much worse than his Twelve Acts brought together for Eurystheus.