The 5th Labour of Hercules

His 5th labour was to kill the Stymphalian birds.

The Stymphalian birds were just plain nasty. The people in the area spent their days and nights hiding from these scary birds. The Stymphalian birds had pointed beaks and ripping claws and their feathers were made of razor sharp bronze. They were the stuff of nightmares!

What the Stymphalian birds loved to do more than anything was to fly high in the sky looking for anyone or anything they could attack. They especially loved to drop their sharp feathers on children and animals. You can see why everyone kept their children inside, and sheltered their animals as best they could.

Hercules made a large shield of sturdy bronze, to protect his body from the feathers. He used poisoned arrows to shoot all the Stymphalian birds as they flew by overhead. When the last bird fell, the people hiding inside their huts and homes rushed outside.

Hercules made many new friends that day.

The 4th Labour of Hercules

The Stag of Artemis

His 4th labour was to capture the stag of Artemis.

There were many stags in the mountains. But this one was special. The stag of Artemis was known for its incredible beauty, its golden antlers, and its remarkable speed. It was not dangerous. It was just fast.

Hercules tried to catch the stag for a very long time without success. He had hoped to catch it without injuring it. But the stag was too fast for him. Finally, Hercules shot the stag with an arrow, being very careful to hit the stag in its leg, so the wound would heal. He tied the stag gently to a tree, and left the stag there, while he looked around for a witness who would agreed to swear to King Eury that the stag had been captured. Hercules intended to let the beautiful animal go free once he could prove he had captured it.

It took a while to find anyone who was willing to speak up to King Eury, or to any king for that matter. By the time Hercules returned, dragging his witness with him, he found the goddess Artemis standing next to the empty tree where Hercules had tied the stag. Artemis was furious when she heard that King Eury had sent Hercules after her favourite stag. But she was not furious with Hercules. She offered to be his witness. As she told Hercules, she was going to be speaking soon with King Eury anyway.

After Hours Manchester Festival

I think overall this was a success. I personally wished I had a wall but I think I did best with what I had. I put a lot of hours into this and if anything made me think that sculpture be the main part of my practice. I fret alot when I have deadlines, and more with this one in particular, I just need to plan my timing alot better. That is easier said than done, and with working full time, I'm surprised I managed to fit working this many hours on a project. My next task is what to do next.

"Thereby was wrought the mighty tameless Boar with foaming jaws; real seemed the pictured thing, as by Aleides' giant strength the brute was to Eurystheus living borne on high."

The evolution of my boar, it took me four days in all the make the whole thing. I started with a balloon, newspaper and lots of pva glue. I made the shape with newspaper and tape and just made lots of layers. I had so much fun, I felt like a kid back in primary school. I had one hiccup when I tried to varnish the head and the blue gouache bled so I had to paint over it all again. I thought its best to varnish is but I'm a little hesistant to try it again and I do spray it often with lots of hairspray. Also I'm finding it quite difficult to photograph, so I will have to use an actually camera and not my iphone. Overall I'm happy with the outcome, I'm just a little clueless of what to do next. 

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The 3rd Labour of Hercules

The Wild Boar of Erymanthus
"Hercules third Labour was to bring the wild boar of Erymanthus back to the castle, alive.

Boars are wild pigs that can cut you, and they're smart. And mean. The wild boar of Erymanthus was a gigantic boar, which made him even more dangerous.
Hercules chased the huge boar up and down the mountains for almost a week before the dropped in exhaustion. Hercules was barely winded. He was glad he did no have to kill the boar, he had gotten quite fond of the tricky fellow.

Hercules slung the boar around his neck, and carried him home. By the time he arrived at the castle, the boar had begun to recover. Hercules dropped the boar at King Eury's feet. The boar lifted its heavy head and snorted angrily. King Eury screamed and ran away. No one saw the King for the rest of the day. As for the boar, he disappeared. Some say Hercules gave him a lift home, back to the forest."

Image: Hercules 4th Labour Coin
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The 2nd Labour of Hercules

The Lernaean Hydra

"His second labour was to get rid of the Lernaean Hydra.

The Hydra was a big snake, a very big snake and it had nine heads. One of its heads was immortal, you just couldn't kill it. King Eury made it quite clear that he did not want Hercules returning with any part of the serpent. No snake skin boots.

King Eury and Hera both knew that anyone who approached the monster's den in the swamp was killed by the monster's poisonous breath. Hercules did not have a chance.

But Hercules lured the monsters out of the swamp. With the help of his servant, Iolaus, he clubbed off the monster's nine heads. He burned them but one refused to die. It kept coming back to life. So Hercules crushed that head and buried it deep in the ground, and to this day, it was never seen again."


Image: Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra. Hofburg Imperial Palace, Vienna
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The 1st Labour of Hercules

The Nemean Lion

"The Nemean Lion had huge teeth, and skin so tough that it could not be pierced by arrows. Everyone in the land of Nemean was scared to death of it. Many hunters had tired to kill the beast, but none had succeeded.The Nemean Lion was also very smart. Several hunters had tried to trick it with poisoned meat. The lion never ate the meat, he did, however, eat the hunters.

The lion was strong, but Hercules was stronger. Hercules lured the beast into a trap and strangled it. He made a coat out of the lion's fur and he wore the lion's head as a helmet. With the cheers of the grateful people of Nemean ringing in his ears, Hercules headed for home, delighted with his new clothes.

When King Eury sae the lion's head approaching, he went screaming into his castle. It took Hercules most of one day to convince King Eury that the lion was dead."

Image: Hercules and the Nemean Lion
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