Hercules the Invincible

Once upon a time, in Ancient Greece, a son was born to Zeus, the king of gods, and Alcmene, a mortal princess. Zeus’ wife Hera knew the boy, named Hercules, was her husband’s illegitimate child, so she resented Hercules and sought to destroy him.

One day, when Alcmene was asleep, the two year old Hercules crawled out of his crib and sneaked away from the palace. Intentionally, he headed towards the dark and sinister forest. In the forest, he met a gigantic bear, which was inching towards him. He uprooted a tree and flung it at the bear. The sheer force of the throw killed the bear.

When Hercules grew up, he married a beautiful princess named Megara. Together they bore three children and they lived happily. Seeing Hercules so happy made Hera furious. She drove him and his family to poverty. His children began to complain about the meager food and their bad fortune. Not able to bear this anymore, Hercules went in search for Hera.

After a long and tiring search, Hercules finally found her.

“What have I done to you? Why are you doing this to me?” yelled Hercules, looking at Hera with murderous rage.

“Do you want to know how you can get your riches back?” asked Hera calmly.

“How?” retorted Hercules.

“All you have to do is clean the Augean stables in one day,” replied Hera.

“Ha!” Hercules guffawed. “You set me, the strongest man on Earth, to this task?”

“Pride goes before a fall,” Hera warned and then disappeared.

After days and days of travelling, Hercules finally reached his destination. “Ugh!” he muttered. “Smells horrible.” He had no time to waste. He stared at the dirty and
demolished stables, thinking. There were no other options. Except one…

“Father,” Hercules prayed. “Please help me this time.”

Suddenly, a gale of wind blew in his direction. Slowly, the speed of the gale began to increase. After some time, it turned into a mini-tornado. Hercules himself had to hold on to a large chunk of wood to avoid flying away.

After a while, the stables were so clean and shiny that Hercules couldn’t even believe his eyes. He quickly thanked Zeus and returned to Hera, triumphant.

“I have done what you wished for,” bellowed Hercules. “Now it is time for you to repay me.”

Hera reluctantly gave all of his riches back to him. Hercules and his family lived happily ever after.

About the Author
Hansini is a student of Manthan School (Tellapur campus). She studies in Class 5D.