Hercules

Also known as: Alcides / the Aonian hero / the Tirynthian / the Tirynthian hero / the son of Amphitryon / the son of Jupiter · Family: Heroes · Role: hero · First appears: Fable 25

When Hercules was born, Juno had Ilithyïa impede Alcmena’s delivery, but Alcmena gave birth once the spell was broken. By Fable 25, one of his arrows, dipped in the Hydra’s poison, had pierced Chiron’s foot. In Fable 77, Œneus left Deïanira’s marriage to whichever suitor proved bravest, setting Hercules against Acheloüs. Hercules subdued and killed Echidna, then defeated Acheloüs in combat, tearing away his horn while Acheloüs was in bull form; he later married Deïanira.

At Evenus in Fable 78, Nessus tried to abduct Deïanira while Hercules was across the river. Hercules stopped him with a poisoned arrow, and the wound proved fatal to Nessus. Deïanira later sent Nessus’s blood-dyed garment to Hercules through Lichas, unaware of its danger. When Hercules put it on, the poison burned across his body; he hurled Lichas into the Eubœan sea, where Lichas became stone. At Œta, Hercules prepared a funeral pyre in obedience to an oracle, and Philoctetes lit it. Hercules died in the flames, and Jupiter carried him among the stars.

In Fable 96, Hercules rescued Hesione from a sea monster, but Laomedon denied him the promised horses. In revenge, Hercules captured Troy. In Fable 109, he appeared to Myscelos in a dream and commanded him to leave Argos for the Æsar. When Myscelos was condemned, Hercules helped secure his acquittal: the black pebbles turned white.