Heracles Slay the Nemean Lion. 2. Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra. 3. Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis. 4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar. 5. Clean the Augean stables in a single day. 6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds. 7. Capture the Cretan Bull. 8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes. 9. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. 10. Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon. 11. Steal the apples of the Hesperides (he had the help of Atlas to pick them after Hercules had slain Ladon). 12. Capture and bring back Cerberus. After completing these tasks, Heracles joined the Argonauts
Greek mythology libretti for many of Handel's and Mozart's operas. By the end of the 18th century, Romanticism initiated a surge of enthusiasm for all things Greek, including Greek mythology. In Britain, new translations of Greek tragedies and Homer inspired contemporary poets (such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Keats, Byron and Shelley) and painters (such as Lord Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema). Christoph Gluck, Richard Strauss, Jacques Offenbach and many others set Greek mythological themes to music. American authors of the 19th century, such as Thomas Bulfinch and Nathaniel Hawthorne, held that the study of the classical myths was essential to the understanding of