The last I wrote of
Hēraklēs, our hero had successfully navigated Eurystheus' scheme of getting him killed
by help of Artemis. Hēraklēs completed another labour, made Artemis happy, and saved the day. All was well in the world of Hēraklēs. At this point, Hēraklēs is aware he still has eight labours ahead of him: he completed three successfully, but the labour with the
Lernaean Hydra was disqualified because he had accepted the help of his nephew and lover Iolaus. It was most certainly an unfair ruling, but nothing can be done about it: Hēraklēs must continue with his quest in hopes of cleansing himself
of his crime.
The fourth labour is to capture the Erymanthian Boar, which got his name from the mountainside and swamp it roamed on. It seems Eurystheus realized that capturing something can be a lot more deadly than killing something, especially when that something is bigger and badder than any of its peers. That said,
Hyginus in his Fabulae describes that the task was not to capture the boar, but to kill it, which Hēraklēs accomplished. As far as I am aware, though, he is the only one. Pausanias mentions the boar in his '
Description of Greece', saying:
"There is also a legend that Heracles at the command of Eurystheus hunted by the
side of the Erymanthus a boar that surpassed all others in size and in strength.
The people of Cumae among the Opici say that the boar's tusks dedicated in their
sanctuary of Apollo are those of the Erymanthian boar, but the saying is
altogether improbable." [8.24.5]
All who write about the labour agree that it is a difficult one. A boar is a ferocious animal, and even modern day hunters take care when hunting boar.
Diodorus explains why this labour might have been the hardest so far:
"This Command was thought to be exceedingly difficult, since it required of the
man who fought such a beast that he possess such a superiority over it as to
catch precisely the proper moment in the very heat of the encounter. For should
he let it loose while it still retained its strength he would be in danger from
its rushes, and should he attack it more violently than was proper, then he
would have killed it and so the Labour would remain unfulfilled." [4.12.1]
This labour became even harder to complete for Hēraklēs when he met the
kéntauroi (or 'centaurs') on his way to the boar. Our hero went the long way to visit Phontus, a kéntaur who dwelt in a cave on Mount Pholoe, who was the son of Seilenus and the nymph Melia. Having heard of Hēraklēs, Phontus entertained him in his cave, and provided him with food. Hēraklēs, thirsty from the savory meat dish, asked for wine, but Phontus said he only had the wine that was communal to all the kéntauroi, and he did not dare touch it. Hēraklēs convinced him to do so, regardless, and the kéntauroi came galloping to the cave. Hēraklēs fought them, and many died. Phontus, inspecting one of Hēraklēs' arrows dipped in
hydra poison, which the hero had used to kill one of the kéntauros, dropped it onto his foot and he died of the poison as well. Hēraklēs, grieving for the death of Phontus, buried him near his cave. There are many accounts of this, but the most beautiful--abide lengthy--description in my opinion is from
Diodorus:
"About this time that Heracles was performing these Labours, there was a struggle
between him and the Centaurs, as they are called, the reason being as follows.
Pholus the Centaur, from whom the neighbouring mountain came to be called
Pholoê, and receiving Heracles with the courtesies due to a guest he opened for
him a jar of wine which had been buried in the earth. This jar, the writers of
myths relate, had of old been left with a certain Centaur by Dionysus, who had
given him orders only to open it when Heracles should come to that place. And
so, four generation after that time, when Heracles was being entertained as a
guest, Pholus recalled the orders of Dionysus.
Now when the jar had been opened and the sweet odour of the wine,
because of its great age and strength, came to the Centaurs dwelling near there,
it came to pass that they were driven mad; consequently they rushed in a body to
the dwelling of Pholus and set about plundering him of the wine in a terrifying
manner.
At this Pholus hid himself in fear, but Heracles, to their surprise,
grappled with those who were employing such violence. He had indeed to struggle
with beings who were gods on their mother’s side, who possessed the swiftness of
horses, who had the strength of two bodies, and enjoyed in addition the
experience and wisdom of men. The Centaurs advanced upon him, some with pine
trees which they had plucked up together with the roots, others with great
rocks, some with burning firebrands, and still others with axes such as are used
to slaughter oxen.
But he withstood them without sign of fear and maintained a battle
which was worthy of his former exploits. The Centaurs were aided in their
struggle by their mother Nephelê, who sent down
a heavy rain, by which she gave no trouble to those who had four legs, but for
him who was supported upon two made the footing slippery. Despite all this
Heracles maintained an astonishing struggle with those who enjoyed such
advantages as these, slew the larger part of them, and forced the survivors to
flee.
Of the Centaurs which were killed the most renowned were Daphnis,
Argeius, Amphion, also Hippotion, Oreius, Isoples, Malanchaetes, and Thereus,
Doupon, and Phrixus. As for those who escaped the peril by flight, every one of
them later received a fitting punishment: Homadus, for instance, was killed in
Arcadia when he was attempting to violate Alcyonê, the sister of Eurystheus. And
for this feat it came to pass that Heracles was marveled at exceedingly; for
though he had private grounds for hating his enemy, yet because he pitied her who was being outraged, he
determined to be superior to others in humanity.
A peculiar thing also happened in the case of him who was called
Pholus, the friend of Heracles. While he was burying the fallen Centaurs, since
they were his kindred, and was extracting an arrow from one of them, he was
wounded by the barb, and since the wound could not be healed he came to his
death. Heracles gave him a magnificent funeral and buried him at the foot of the
mountain, which serves better than a gravestone to preserve his glory; for
Pholoê makes known the identity of the buried man by bearing his name and no
inscription is needed." [4.12.3 - 4.12.8]
Apollodorus gives an extended account where the fight claims another casualty besides poor Pholus: the kéntauros
Kheiron, teacher of heroes and kings:
"Thence they took refuge with Chiron, who, driven by the Lapiths from Mount
Pelion, took up his abode at Malea. As the centaurs cowered about Chiron,
Hercules shot an arrow at them, which, passing through the arm of Elatus, stuck
in the knee of Chiron. Distressed at this, Hercules ran up to him, drew out the
shaft, and applied a medicine which Chiron gave him. But the hurt proving
incurable, Chiron retired to the cave and there he wished to die, but he could
not, for he was immortal. However, Prometheus offered himself to Zeus to be
immortal in his stead, and so Chiron died. The rest of the centaurs fled in
different directions, and some came to Mount Malea, and Eurytion to Pholoe, and
Nessus to the river Evenus. The rest of them Poseidon received at Eleusis and
hid them in a mountain." [2.5.4]
Moving on, Hēraklēs finally reached the Erymanthian Boar's territory, and unlike the
Golden Hind of Artemis, he did not have to chase after the boar at all. At the first challenging shout, the beast charged him, and Hēraklēs frightened him off so he could pursue and capture him more easily. In the words of Apollodorus:
"And when he had chased the boar with shouts from a certain thicket, he drove the
exhausted animal into deep snow, trapped it, and brought it to Mycenae." [4.12.2]
Apollodorius Rhodius, a Hellenic epic poet and scholar of the Library of Alexandria who flourished in the
third century BC writes the ending even better in his '
Argonautica':
"...he [Hēraklēs] carried the boar alive that fed in the thickets of Lampeia, near the vast
Erymanthian swamp, the boar bound with chains he put down from his huge
shoulders at the entrance to the market-place of Mycenae" [122]
Another little tidbit by
Diodorus, to which the image at the top of his post relates:
"...when it came to the struggle he kept so careful an eye on the proper balance
that he brought back the boar alive to Eurystheus; and when the king saw him
carrying the boar on his shoulders, he was terrified and hid himself in a bronze
vessel." [4.12.2]
This labour was quite costly to Hēraklēs, who not only singlehandedly slew most of the kéntauroi, but also killed two good men--and all over a bottle of wine, I might add. Hēraklēs still has many labours ahead of him, and his adventure is far from over. For now, though, we will let our hero recover from this ordeal.
Image property:
here.
