-The life of Herakles- much inferior to him),Hera sent him mad,causing him to kill his children,and he finally embarked on his labours after a long period of mourning.36 It was sometimes claimed that the priestess at Delphi first gave the hero his name of Herakles when telling him of his forthcoming labours,and that he had originally been named Alkaios (or Alkeides)after his putative grandfather;in that case,Apollo is supposed to have given him the name Herakles because he would win imperishable glory,kleos,by doing favours, cra,to men,ie.through his labours(noa yae av0 OuLφQwv x，入eosdφ0 TOV EEELS).37 It is certainly true that his name,which really means 'Glory of Hera',seems inappropriate for a hero who received nothing but hostility from Hera(at least until his apotheosis).Other mythographers devised varied explanations,suggesting,for instance,that the Argives conferred the name on him after his first exploit in strangling the pair of snakes as a baby, to indicate that he had gained glory,eleos,through Hera(who had sent the snakes with the intention of killing him!).38 THE LABOURS OF HERAKLES The cycle of labours At some stage in the development of the mythology of Herakles,perhaps as late as the fifth century BC,a canonic list came to be established of the tasks that he was supposed to have performed for Eurystheus.These were known to the Greeks as the atbloi,a term generally rendered as labores in Latin,hence our modern expression, 'the labours',although neither of these translations quite catches the flavour of the original;an atblos was literally a contest,especially for a prize,and by extension a struggle or ordeal that involves toil and trouble.The term could therefore be applied most appropriately to describe the arduous tasks that were performed by Herakles for Eurystheus,all the more so since he was thought to have won immortality as the ultimate reward for his labours.Homer already uses the word (though not as yet with the latter suggestion)when referring to the harsh labours,chalepous aetblous, that were imposed on the hero by Eurystheus.39 There is no reason to suppose, however,that Homer knew of any ordered cycle of labours.Although some of the exploits that were later included in the canonic cycle are recorded as early as the eighth century BC in works of art,and all but one-the clearing of the Augeian stables-are attested by the sixth century,it is not known when they came to be classed together as the cycle of labours that he performed for Eurystheus.The full canonic sequence first appears in a series of carvings for the metopes for the temple of Zeus at Olympia,which can be dated to c.460 BC.Some have argued that these sculptures played a decisive role in establishing the canonic list,and that the stan- dard number was thus determined by architectural considerations;or else the sequence may have imposed itself through an earlier epic account,perhaps in the Heraeleia of Herodotus'uncle Panyasis;but this remains a matter for conjecture. According to a classification that was devised by the early Greek mythographers, the exploits of Herakles could be divided into three main classes.These atbloi,or labours,were distinguished on the one hand from the parerga,or incidentals,the chance adventures that befell the hero while he was performing his labours,and on 254much inferior to him), Hera sent him mad, causing him to kill his children, and he finally embarked on his labours after a long period of mourning.36 It was sometimes claimed that the priestess at Delphi first gave the hero his name of Herakles when telling him of his forthcoming labours, and that he had originally been named Alkaios (or Alkeides) after his putative grandfather; in that case, Apollo is supposed to have given him the name Herakles because he would win imperishable glory, kleos, by doing favours, era, to men, i.e. through his labours (ρα γρ νθρπ ισι φρων κλ ς φθιτ ν !"εις).37 It is certainly true that his name, which really means ‘Glory of Hera’, seems inappropriate for a hero who received nothing but hostility from Hera (at least until his apotheosis). Other mythographers devised varied explanations, suggesting, for instance, that the Argives conferred the name on him after his first exploit in strangling the pair of snakes as a baby, to indicate that he had gained glory, kleos, through Hera (who had sent the snakes with the intention of killing him!).38 THE LABOURS OF HERAKLES The cycle of labours At some stage in the development of the mythology of Herakles, perhaps as late as the fifth century BC, a canonic list came to be established of the tasks that he was supposed to have performed for Eurystheus. These were known to the Greeks as the athloi, a term generally rendered as labores in Latin, hence our modern expression, ‘the labours’, although neither of these translations quite catches the flavour of the original; an athlos was literally a contest, especially for a prize, and by extension a struggle or ordeal that involves toil and trouble. The term could therefore be applied most appropriately to describe the arduous tasks that were performed by Herakles for Eurystheus, all the more so since he was thought to have won immortality as the ultimate reward for his labours. Homer already uses the word (though not as yet with the latter suggestion) when referring to the harsh labours, chalepous aethlous, that were imposed on the hero by Eurystheus.39 There is no reason to suppose, however, that Homer knew of any ordered cycle of labours. Although some of the exploits that were later included in the canonic cycle are recorded as early as the eighth century BC in works of art, and all but one – the clearing of the Augeian stables – are attested by the sixth century, it is not known when they came to be classed together as the cycle of labours that he performed for Eurystheus. The full canonic sequence first appears in a series of carvings for the metopes for the temple of Zeus at Olympia, which can be dated to c. 460 BC. Some have argued that these sculptures played a decisive role in establishing the canonic list, and that the stan￾dard number was thus determined by architectural considerations; or else the sequence may have imposed itself through an earlier epic account, perhaps in the Herakleia of Herodotus’ uncle Panyasis; but this remains a matter for conjecture. According to a classification that was devised by the early Greek mythographers, the exploits of Herakles could be divided into three main classes. These athloi, or labours, were distinguished on the one hand from the parerga, or incidentals, the chance adventures that befell the hero while he was performing his labours, and on — The life of Herakles — 254