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HERCULIS ATHLA DUODECIM AB EURYSTHEO IMPERATA Infans cum esset, dracones duos duabus manibus necavit, quos Iuno miserat (...). Leonem Nemaeum (…) necavit, cuius pellem pro tegumento habuit. Hydram Lernaeam Typhonis filiam cum capitibus novem ad fontem Lernaeum interfecit. Haec tantam vim veneni habuit, ut afflatu homines necaret, et si quis eam dormientem transierat, vestigia eius afflabat et maiori cruciatu moriebatur. Hanc Minerva monstrante interfecit et exinteravit et eius felle sagittas suas tinxit; itaque quicquid postea sagittis fixerat, mortem non effugiebat, unde postea et ipse periit in Phrygia. Aprum Erymanthium occidit. Cervum ferocem in Arcadia cum cornibus aureis vivum in conspectu Eurysthei regis adduxit. Aves Stymphalides in insula Martis, quae emissis pennis suis iaculabantur, sagittis interfecit. Augeae regis stercus bobile uno die purgavit, maiorem partem Iove adiutore; flumine ammisso totum stercus abluit. Taurum, cum quo Pasiphae concubuit, ex Creta insula Mycenis vivum adduxit. Diomedem Thraciae regem et equos quattuor eius, qui carne humana vescebantur, cum Abdero famulo interfecit; equorum autem nomina Podargus Lampon Xanthus Dinus. Hippolyten Amazonam, Martis et Otrerae reginae filiam, cui reginae Amazonis balteum detraxit; tum Antiopam captivam Theseo donavit. Geryonem Chrysaoris filium trimembrem uno telo interfecit. Draconem immanem Typhonis filium, qui mala aurea Hesperidum servare solitus erat, ad montem Atlantem interfecit, et Eurystheo regi mala attulit. Canem Cerberum Typhonis filium ab inferis regi in conspectum adduxit.

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ABDERUS, ABDERI (M): ABDERUS

A servant of Hercules. He helped him killing Diomedes, king of Thrace and his four horses, who used human flesh as food (Labor VIII).

AMAZONA , AMAZONAE (F): AMAZON

Warrior woman in Greek and Roman mythology.

ANTIOPA, ANTIOPAE (F): ANTIOPE

Amazon made captive by Hercules and offered as a present to Theseus.

ARCADIA, ARCADIAE (F): ARKADIA

A district of the Peloponnesus, where Hercules hunted a deer with golden horns (Labor III).

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ATLANTIS, ATLANTIS, ATLANTE: OF ATLAS

Referring to Mount Atlas (north-western Africa) or to a Titan.

AUGEAS, AUGEAE (M): AUGEAS

King of Elis and the owner of an enormous stable that had not been cleaned out in years. Hercules was ordered to wash it out (Labor V).

CERBERUS, CERBERI (M): CERBERUS

Son of Typhon. A three-headed watchdog who guards the entrance to the lower world.

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CHRYSAOR , CHRYSAORIS (M): CHRYSAOR

A giant, the son of Medusa and the father of Geryon.

CRETA, CRETAE (F): CRETE

Island ruled by the king Minos, home of the Minotaur and land of exile for Daedalus.

DINUS, DINI (M): DINUS

One of the four man-eating mares of king Diomedes, killed by Hercules (Labor VIII).

DIOMEDES, DIOMEDIS (M): DIOMEDES

The king of Thrace, he kept four wild mares that fed with the flesh of strangers.

ERYMANTHIUS, ERYMANTHIA, ERYMANTHIUM: ERYMANTHIAN

From Erymanthia, a mountainous region of southern Greece, home of the wild boar hunted by Hercules (Labor IV).

EURYSTHEUS, EURYSTHEI (M): EURYSTHEUS

The king of Argos for whom Hercules performed the twelve labors.

GERYON, GERYONIS (M): GERYON

A triple-bodied giant defeated by Hercules (Labor X).

HERCULES, HERCULIS (M): HERCULES

The son of Jupiter and Alcmene, he killed his children and his wife in a mad rage inspired to him by Juno. As a punishment, he is ordered by Eurystheus, king of Argos, to perform twelve difficult tasks

HESPERIDES, HESPERIDUM (F. PL.): HESPERIDES

Nymphs who live in a beautiful garden where grows the tree with the golden apples guarded by the dragon Ladon.

HIPPOLYTE, HIPPOLYTES (F): HIPPOLYTA

The daughter of Otrera and Mars. One of the queens of the Amazons. Hercules' task was to take Hippolyte's war belt.

HYDRA, HYDRAE (F): HYDRA

A terrifying monster, the daughter of Typhon. She lived in the swamps near the city of Lerna. The Hydra had the body of a serpent and many heads. Hercules killed her and dipped his arrows in her blood which was extremely poisonous (Labor II).

IUNO, IUNONIS (F): JUNO

The queen of the gods. The sister but also the wife of the chief god Jupiter. The peacock is her symbolic animal.

IUPPITER, IOVIS or IOVIS, IOVIS (M): JUPITER

The supreme god of the Roman pantheon. He is a god of light and sky. His attribute is the lightning bolt.

LAMPON, LAMPONIS (M): LAMPON

One of the four man-eating mares of king Diomedes, killed by Hercules (Labor VIII).

LERNAEUS, LERNAEA, LERNAEUM: OF LERNA

The swamp south of Argos, home of the hydra.

MARS, MARTIS (M): MARS

The god of war and one of the most prominent gods. He is the father of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.

MINERVA, MINERVAE (F): MINERVA

Goddess of wisdom, medicine, science, and the arts. She gave life to Pandora. Daedalus owes his skills to her. She told Hercules how to kill the Lernaean Hydra.

MYCENE, MYCENES (F. PL.): MYCENAE

A city north of Argos, ruled by the king Eurystheus.

NEMAEUS, NEMAEA, NEMAEUM: NEMEAN

Nemea is a Greek city north of Mycenae. The plain of Nemea was the home of an extremely ferocious beast known as the Nemean Lion, son of Typhon. Hercules had to strangle the lion to kill him since no arrow could pierce the lion's skin (Labor I).

OTRERA, OTRERAE (F): OTRERA

A queen of the Amazons, the mother of Hippolyte.

PASIPHAE, PASIPHAES (F): PASIPHAE

The wife of king Minos of Crete. Punished by Venus for forgetting to honour her in due time, she fell in love with a bull.

PHRYGIA, PHRYGIAE (F): PHRYGIA

A large region in Asia Minor, where Hyginus locates Hercules'death. However, most sources refer to Mount Oeta as being the place where Hercules chose to die; he constructed a pyre for himself to end the suffering caused to him by Hydra's poison.

PODARGUS, PODARGI (M): PODARGUS

One of the four man-eating mares of king Diomedes, killed by Hercules (Labor VIII).

STYMPHALIS, STYMPHALIS, STYMPHALE: STYMPHALIAN

The Lake Stymphalus in Arkadia is surrounded by swamps where live strange birds; their feathers are made of sharp metal and they use them as weapons. Hercules succeeded in getting rid of them by shooting them with his deadly arrows (Labor VI).

THESEUS, THESEI (M): THESEUS

A king of Athens famous for many exploits. With Ariadne's help, he killed the Minotaur. Despite his promise to marry her, he abandoned Ariadne on Naxos island.

THRACIA, THRACIAE (F): THRACE

To the ancient Greeks, the land of Thrace was the part of the Balkans located between the Danube river to the north and the Aegean sea to the south. In Hercules' legend, the land was ruled by king Diomedes who owned a team of horses using human flesh as food.

TYPHON, TYPHONIS (M): TYPHON

The child of Tellus and Tartarus, he was so terrifying than even the gods feared him. Only Jupiter could defeat him with his thunderbolts.

XANTHUS, XANTHI (M): XANTHUS

One of the four man-eating mares of king Diomedes, killed by Hercules (Labor VIII).