1.2 Heracles/Hercules

Question 1

Who was Heracles’ divine father, and who was his mortal mother?

Answer 1

Zeus - Alcmene

Question 2

Why did Heracles have to perform the Twelve Labors?

Answer 2

To atone for killing his wife and children in Hera-induced madness

Question 3

What was the first labor of Heracles, and how did he complete it?

Answer 3

Nemean Lion - Strangled it with his hands

Question 4

What creature did Heracles kill in his second labor, and who helped him?

Answer 4

Lernaean Hydra - Iolaus cauterized the necks

Question 5

What was the third labor, and why was it challenging?

Answer 5

Ceryneian Hind - Sacred to Artemis, took a year to catch

Question 6

What did Heracles capture in the fourth labor, and how did he trap it?

Answer 6

Erymanthian Boar - Drove it into snow

Question 7

How did Heracles clean the Augean Stables in the fifth labor?

Answer 7

Diverted rivers Alpheus and Peneus

Question 8

What did Heracles use to drive off the Stymphalian Birds in the sixth labor?

Answer 8

Bronze castanets from Athena

Question 9

What was the seventh labor, and where did it come from?

Answer 9

Cretan Bull - Captured from Crete

Question 10

Who owned the man-eating horses in the eighth labor, and what did Heracles do?

Answer 10

Diomedes - Fed him to the horses to tame them

Question 11

What did Heracles take in the ninth labor, and what complication arose?

Answer 11

Girdle of Hippolyta - Hera incited the Amazons to fight

Question 12

Whose cattle did Heracles steal in the tenth labor, and what monster guarded them?

Answer 12

Geryon - Orthrus (two-headed dog)

Question 13

How did Heracles get the Apples of the Hesperides in the eleventh labor?

Answer 13

Tricked Atlas into retrieving them

Question 14

What was the twelfth labor, and where did Heracles take it?

Answer 14

Cerberus - Captured from the underworld

Question 15

Who tricked Alcmene into sleeping with him to conceive Heracles?

Answer 15

Zeus, disguised as Amphitryon

Question 16

What caused Heracles’ death?

Answer 16

Poisoned shirt from Nessus, given by Deianeira

Question 17

Who did Heracles marry after ascending to Olympus?

Answer 17

Hebe, goddess of youth

Question 18

What was Heracles ordered to do by the Delphic Oracle?

Answer 18

Serve Eurystheus and complete Twelve Labors

Question 19

What are Heracles’ two main symbols in art?

Answer 19

Club and lion skin

Question 20

What flaw led to Heracles killing his family?

Answer 20

Madness induced by Hera

Question 21

How did Heracles show perseverance in his labors?

Answer 21

Completed all despite Hera’s obstacles

Question 22

What positive trait did Heracles embody for Greeks?

Answer 22

Strength and endurance

Question 23

What Roman name is Heracles known by?

Answer 23

Hercules

Question 24

What monster did Hercules kill near the future site of Rome?

Answer 24

Cacus

Question 25

Where was Hercules worshipped in Rome?

Answer 25

Ara Maxima in the Forum Boarium

Question 26

How did Romans view Hercules differently from Greeks?

Answer 26

As a protector and state hero

Question 27

What labor tied Hercules to Roman trade?

Answer 27

Cattle of Geryon (cattle linked to commerce)

Question 28

How is Hercules often depicted in Roman art?

Answer 28

Resting or triumphant, with civic symbols

Question 29

What Greek labor involved holding up the sky temporarily?

Answer 29

Apples of the Hesperides

Question 30

Why was Heracles a universal hero?

Answer 30

Appealed to both Greeks and Romans through strength and redemption

Question 31

What goddess constantly opposed Heracles?

Answer 31

Hera

Question 32

Why did Greeks admire Heracles’ labors?

Answer 32

Showed human potential overcoming divine challenges

Question 33

How did Hercules’ death reinforce his heroism?

Answer 33

Endured suffering, earned divinity

Question 34

What labor involved cleaning in a single day?

Answer 34

Augean Stables

Question 35

Why was Hercules linked to Roman soldiers?

Answer 35

Embodied military strength and victory

Question 36

What did Heracles do with the Cretan Bull after capturing it?

Answer 36

Released it after showing Eurystheus

Question 37

What labor involved the underworld?

Answer 37

Cerberus

Question 38

Why was the Nemean Lion’s skin significant?

Answer 38

Worn as invincible armor

Question 39

How did Heracles’ labors reflect Greek values?

Answer 39

Valor, ingenuity, atonement

Question 40

What Roman site did Hercules’ Cacus myth justify?

Answer 40

Forum Boarium

Question 41

Why did Romans connect Hercules to their origins?

Answer 41

Linked to Aeneas and Rome’s founding via cattle