1) The Nemean Lion

Eurystheus first orders Hercules to kill the Nemean Lion a child of Typhon (son of Poseidon and Medusa). No arrow can pierce the lion, and the king hopes Hercules will be killed in the fight. Hercules throws aside his club and kills the lion with his bare hands. He wears the lion skin from then on as his armor.

2) The Lernean Hydra

The Hydra was a child of Typhon and Echidnaie a half-sister of the Nemean Lion. It lived near a spring Amymone and had many heads which grew back when cut off. Thr only way to stop the heads from growing back was to cauterize the necks of the severed heads before a new head could grow back. Hercules used the body of the Hydra to produce his poisoned arrows. Probably there is some relation between the word "toxic" and the Greek word "toxon," meaning arrow. An explanation of the myth is that it commemorates a plague which devastated the population of ancient Lernea.

3) The Kerynean Hind

Herakles was assigned to bring alive the hind of Keryneia, a deer with golden horns and bronze hoofs beloved by Artemis. He tried for a
full year, without success. Finally he caught her. The goddess Artemis was angry, but Herakles explained that he had no desire to hurt the sacred animal. Artemis lent him the hind to finish his labor.

4) The Erymanthian Boar

Hercules captured and presented the Erymanthian Boar to Eurystheus (A cousin of Hercules who was king of Mycenae and Tiryns) He ordered Hercules to perform the 12 labors. Here Hercules brings the boar alive and Eurystheus hides in a bronze vase. Hercules was cheated out of being king by Hera and Eurystheus, and the king was scared Hercules might take revenge.

5) Cleansing of the Augias Stables

Augeias had a herd of three thousand oxen, but his stables had not been cleaned for thirty years. Hercules was required by Eurystheus to clean the stables in a single day. Hercules made a deal that if he could do it, he would get some of the cattle. He diverted the River Alpheus into the stables and cleaned them out with the flood. Eurystheus didn't count this labor because of the deal for the cattle.

6) The Stymphalian Birds

The extermination of the Stymphalian birds in North-Central Arcadia. Hercules killed the terrible Stymphalian birds. He used a set of bronze castanets he obtained from Athena produced by Hephaistus. The birds heard this noise they flew upward and were shot down by Hercules.

7) The Cretan Bull

Hercules and the Bull of Crete. Hercules captures the Cretan bull which was the father of the Minotaur.

8) The Mares of Diomedes

Herakles was ordered to bring alive the mares of Diomedes, king of Bistones at Thrace, who were fed with human flesh.

9) The Girdle of the Amazons

Herakles was commanded to bring the girdle of Hyppolyte, queen of the Amazons, so the king could give it to his daughter Admete.
After many adventures, Herakles found the queen, who promised to give him the girdle. But Hera told the Amazons that their queen was in danger. There was a fierce battle in which Herakles slew Hyppolyte and many others.

10) The Cattle of Geryon

To perform the labor of capturing the cattle of King Geryon, Hercules fought him and his two-headed dog Orthus. Geryon is killed with the poisoned arrows of Hercules and the dog with his club.

11) The Hesperides golden apples

Next, Hercules was to win the golden apples which grew in the garden of the Hesperides, near the spot where Atlas stood, forever supporting on his shoulders the weight of the heavens. Heracles got Atlas to go and fetch the apples while he held up the heavens. Atlas wasn't going to take is position again, but Hercules tricked him and brought back the apples.

12) The Capture of Cerberus

In his final labor, Hercules descended to the darkness of the Underworld and there captured Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Hades who guards the Underworld. Hades required that Hercules use only his bare hands, and that the dog must be returned unharmed when the labor was completed.