Hercules And The Twelve Labors. To kill the nemean lion, 2. • a later historian, referred to as apollodorus (second century a.d.), says the 12 labors are a means of atonement for the crime of murdering his wife, children, and the children of iphicles.
Wrestle and capture the cretan bull. Driven mad by hera (queen of the gods), heracles slew his sons by his wife, megara. However, one olympian, the goddess hera, hated him before he was even born and strived.