But going back to the apples, according to later interpretations of the legend, it was decided that the “golden apple” given to Hera by Gaia on her wedding to Zeus, was actually an orange tree. That is why the rocks at the European and African sides of the Gibraltar Strait bear his name – the Pillars of Hercules (Hercules is the Roman name of Heracles). Instead of climbing over the Atlas Mountains, Heracles, thanks to his superhuman strength, just passed through it, thus connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. His last labor was to bring three golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides, which was at the westernmost end of the world, at the border with the Atlantic. Eurystheus was furious that Heracles had accomplished something that Eurystheus thought could not possibly be done.According to the ancient Greek legend, the unusually strong son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, had to carry out 12 “heroic labors” by order of Eurystheus, to whom he was sent in service by the jealous Hera. According to an alternative version, Heracles slew Ladon, the dragon who guarded the apples instead. When Atlas returned, he decided that he did not want to take the heavens back, and instead offered to deliver the apples himself, but Heracles tricked him by agreeing to remain in place of Atlas on the condition that Atlas relieve him temporarily while Heracles adjusted his cloak.Ītlas agreed, but Heracles reneged and walked away with the apples. This would have made the labour – like the Hydra and the Augean stables – void because Heracles had received help. Heracles persuaded Atlas to get the three golden Apples for him by offering to hold up the heavens in his place for a little while.Ītlas could get the apples because, in this version, he was the father or otherwise related to the Hesperides. Heracles finally made his way to the garden of the Hesperides, where he encountered Atlas holding up the heavens on his shoulders. Herodotus claims that Heracles stopped in Egypt, where King Busiris decided to make him the yearly sacrifice, but Heracles burst out of his chains.
Heracles killed Antaeus by holding him aloft and crushing him in a bear hug. In some variations, Heracles, either at the start or at the end of this task, meets Antaeus, who was invincible as long as he touched his mother, Gaia, the Earth. Heracles first caught the Old Man of the Sea, the shapeshifting sea god, to learn where the Garden of the Hesperides was located. The first additional labour was to steal three of the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides. After Heracles completed the first ten labours, Eurystheus gave him two more, claiming that slaying the Hydra did not count (because Iolaus helped Heracles), neither did cleaning the Augean Stables (either because he was paid for the job or because the rivers did the work).
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