Занимательное лингвострановедение. Текст 4

Hercules was the name by which the Greek mythological character Heracles was known to the Romans. Heracles, to give him his proper Greek name, was the most famous of the Greek mythological heroes. To make amends for a crime, he was compelled to perform a series of heroic tasks, or Labors.

Amongst these were slaying the many-headed Hydra, retrieving the Golden Apples of the Hesperides (he once forced the God Poseidon to give way in battle. He wounded Ares, God of war, in another encounter. And he wrestled the great god Zeus himself to a draw. The hero could move mountains that hindered the route of his cattle herd. He could and did toss boulders about like pebbles. He even relieved the Titan Atlas of the burden of holding up the heavens. This came about when Eurystheus challenged him to retrieve the Golden Apples of the Hesperides.

Hercules also brought the hellhound Cerberus up from the Underworld. Heracles was also an Argonaut.

Like most authentic heroes, Heracles had a God as one of his parents, being the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Zeus’s wife Hera was jealous of Heracles, and when he was still an infant she sent two snakes to kill him in his crib. Heracles was found prattling delighted baby talk, a strangled serpent in each hand.

When he had come of age and already proved himself an unerring marksman with bow and arrow, a champion wrestler and the possessor of superhuman strength, Heracles was driven mad by the goddess Hera. In a frenzy, he killed his own children. To atone for this crime, he was sentenced to perform a series of tasks, or «Labors», for his cousin Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae.

Петрухин В.Я. Мифы и легенды Древней Скандинавии и Древней Греции. – М.2003 (перевод на английский язык Донская М.М.)

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• Hercules, Herculean Labour, Herculean Task, Strong as Hercules – Геракл, Геркулесова Задача, Геркулесова Сила
• Zeus, Severe Zeus, to thunder – Зевс, Грозен, как Зевс, Метать молнии и громы
• Cerberus – Цербер, Злой, как Цербер, непоколебимый, неприступный
• Ares – Бог Войны, воинственный, грозный, беспощадный
• Argonaut – Аргонавт, мореплаватель, путешественник, искатель приключений