sts usually showed Athena wearing a helmet and a magic shield calledthe aegis. Athena’s chief symbol was the owl.HERCULESHercules was one of the most famous heroes of Greek legend. His father wasZeus, and his mother was a princess, Alcmene. Hera, wife of Zeus, was jealous ofAlcmene and hated Hercules. When Hercules married Megara, a Theban princess, Heramade him become insane and he burned his house, killing his wife and children. Herculesrecovered his sanity and sought help from the oracle at Delphi. The oracle told him hemust serve his cousin Eurystheus, King of Argos, for twelve years. Hercules performed twelve great labors for Eurystheus. First, he killed theNemean Lion. Second was to kill the Hydra, a serpent with many venomous heards. Thethird and fourth labors, Hercules captured a wild boar and a stag in the Arcadianmountains and showed them to Eurystheus. The fifth labor, Hercules drove away a greatflock of destructive birds. The sixth labor was to clean the stables of King Augeas of Elisin one day. For the seventh labor, Hercules went to Crete and caught the savage bull ofMinos, the Cretan King. the eighth labor was to capture the man-eating mares of KingDiomedes of Thrace. The ninth labor was to obtain the girdle of the Amazon queenHippolyta. The tenth labor took Hercules far to the west, pat the Pillars of Hercules(Straitof Gibraltar) to get the cattle of the monster Geryon. The eleventh labor was to carry theApples of the Hesperides to Eurystheus. For his twelfth labor, Hercules had to showCerberus, the watchdog of the Lower World, to Eurystheus. The last three labors wereways of winning immortality, because Geryon and Cerberus represent Death, and theapples were of the Tree of Life. At the end of his life, Hercules won immortality. When Hercules died his friendsplaced him on a funeral pyre and lit it. After his body had been burned up, he was takenup into Olympus and welcomed as one of the gods. C...
