The Eleventh Labour of Hercules
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Telling Tips:
- Have fun with character voices as the shapeshifter! Why not ask the audience to suggest what Nereus changes into next, and craft that beast with your body and voice? Your storytelling improvisation skills will benefit mightily as a result...
- Give your story some structure by thinking of a refrain to recite between each of Hercules' encounters. It could be something he says, or something you as a teller say. Work in some call-and-response to check your audience are still with you.
Did you know that there were only supposed to be ten labours for Hercules? Unfortunately, Eurystheus, the man who was setting the labours, was not easily pleased, and when Hercules had finished all ten, Eurystheus decided that two of them didn't count.
"You received payment for the cleaning of the stables, so that doesn't count," he declared, "and you had help when you killed the hydra - you didn't do it by yourself. So that doesn't count either. You'll have to do two more tasks for me."
Eurystheus was sure that the next task he set was impossible. He told Hercules to bring him some golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides.
He didn't give Hercules any more clues, so the hero set out to find out where on earth the garden was. The only person he could think of who might know was called Nereus. Unfortunately, Nereus wasn't really a person - he was a shape-shifting god of the sea and he didn't appreciate being disturbed to be asked silly questions about apples.
Hercules' good knowledge of myths and legends meant that he knew how to deal with a shapeshifter: you have to hang on to him, whatever he changes into, until he runs out of ideas. Then he will answer your question. So Hercules wrapped his arms around Nereus and hung on tight as the god started to change shape.
No matter whether Nereus changed himself into a growling lion, a slippery eel or a hairy spider, Hercules kept a tight grip. Even when the god went for his last resort, a blazing fire, Hercules ignored the burns and kept hanging on. Wearily, Nereus turned back into an old man and told Hercules where the garden was.
At once, Hercules set off, and on his way he came across Prometheus. Do you know Prometheus? He's the guy who brought fire to earth by stealing it from the gods, who were so angry that they gave him a truly horrible punishment. They chained him to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver. Sounds nasty, doesn't it? Well, it gets worse: every night his liver would grow back, and every day the eagle would come and eat it again, so poor Prometheus on his rock suffered a slow, tortuous death every day - except that he was never allowed to die.
Hercules felt very sorry for Prometheus, and as luck would have it, he showed up at exactly the eagle's dinner time. One arrow killed the bloodthirsty bird, and Heracles freed a very grateful Prometheus from his chains, and asked him, "Am I going the right way for the Garden of Hesperides?"
"Oh, you can't go in there," replied Prometheus.
"Why not?"
"Well, for a start, there's a hundred-headed dragon guarding it. Then there are the Hesperides themselves, the daughters of this giant called Atlas. And as if that wasn't enough, every mortal that sets foot in the garden dies."
Hercules explained about having to get the apples. "What do you suggest I do?"
Prometheus considered this for a moment, then said, "You need an immortal to do it for you. Why not see if you can get Atlas to get the apples? He's the giant that holds up the sky above the earth. If you did his job for him, I'm sure it would be a weight off his shoulders - and he should be able to get past the dragon and his own daughters, no problem."
Hercules liked the sound of that plan, and he set off to find Atlas, who was very grateful indeed for the chance to pass the weight of the heavens on to someone else for a bit. In fact, when he came back with the golden apples, it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't have to take the sky back again. He could just leave Hercules there with it instead. So he cunningly said, "Tell you what, old chap - I'll take these apples to Eurystheus for you. You just stay there."
Hercules wasn't stupid, and he had to think very quickly to stop Atlas running off with the apples. He had a feeling the giant would never come back. So Hercules said, "Of course! I'd love the honour of doing this job for longer. Only, I'm very new at it, and the heavens are in a bit of an awkward position on my back. Could you grab them for a moment while I roll up my cloak to use as a cushion so they don't rub so much?"
"Sure," agreed Atlas gruffly, taking the sky from Hercules - who instantly grabbed the apples and ran off as fast as he could, leaving the giant feeling rather stupid.
When Hercules got back to Eurystheus, he handed over the three golden apples. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing he didn't say how he'd got them - after all, Eurystheus had already discounted the hydra because somebody had helped out. Either way, Eurystheus was very surprised - and very scared. The apples belonged to Hera, after all - they had been stolen from a very powerful and very angry goddess, and now they were sitting in a golden pile in his lap!
In the end, Eurystheus gave them to another goddess, Athena, who took them back to the Garden of Hesperides where they belonged - and as far as I know, that's where they still are today...