Chapter 21 The Tale of Hercules - 21

Though Hercules had thrown Iphitus over the wall in madness, he still felt the heavy burden of this guilt in his heart.He went to various places to plead with the king, hoping to wash away his sins, but he was rejected.Later, he found Deifus, king of Amycle, who agreed to purify him.But God made him seriously ill just to punish him. The always healthy hero was full of strength, but now he couldn't bear the torment of a serious illness. He came to Delphi with his weak body, hoping to find a cure for his illness from the profound oracle.The priestesses there ignored him because he was a murderer and would not explain the oracle to him.In a rage, Hercules took away the three-legged sacred furnace in front of the temple and put it in the wild, where he made an oracle.Apollo was very annoyed by his arrogant behavior.He appeared before Hercules and challenged him.

Zeus didn't want to see his two sons kill each other, so he threw a thunderbolt between them, blocking the fighting sides and quelling their duel.Only then did Hercules receive an oracle: He could only get rid of his sins by selling himself as a slave for three years and giving the money from the sale to the father of the deceased.Hercules had to comply with this demanding requirement.He led several friends, came to Asia by boat, and sold himself to Omphale as a slave.Omphale was the daughter of Irdanos, queen of Meonion. The Herculesians offered Eurytus money for his body.Eurytus refused to accept it, and later had to give the money to the son of Iphitus.Only then did Hercules regain his strength and healed of his illness.Although he was a servant of Omphale here, he still made heroic deeds for the benefit of mankind. He subdued all the robbers who endangered and disturbed the place, and maintained the safety of the mistress and the surrounding neighbors.The Kirkupites who lived in Ephesus at that time plundered and plundered, and did all kinds of evil.Hercules completely defeated them.He bound the captives with ropes, and brought them before Omphalle.

Oris' king Xiluoyusi was the son of Poseidon.He captured passing travelers and forced them to work in the king's vineyard.Hercules hated his arrogance, beat him to death with a shovel, and dug up all his vines by the roots. Honfalle was often harassed by the Itonans.Hercules fought back.He subjugated the Itonans completely, and made them slaves to the service of Omphale. In Lydia there lived a man named Lythiases, the son of Midas.He did a lot of evil and endangered the village.He was a very wealthy man, and he warmly invited the guests home as VIPs. After the dinner, he forced them to till the land for him, and killed the guests in the dead of night.Hercules killed the bully and threw his body in the Miander River.

Hercules came to the island of Duliki on an expedition.He saw a body lying on the sand, which turned out to be that of the unfortunate Icarus.Wearing the bird wings his father made for him, he escaped from the labyrinth of Crete.But he forgot the advice and flew so close to the sun that the bird's wings melted off and he fell into the sea and died.Hercules buried his body with infinite compassion.He named the island Icarini in honor of his friend.Icarus' father, the architect and sculptor Daedalus, thanked Heracles for his merits and built a monument to Heracles at Pisa in Elis.One day, Hercules came to Pisa, and because it was dark at night, he took the sculpture in front of the monument as a living person, thinking that he was looking for him, so he grabbed the stone and smashed the stone statue to pieces.

Hercules also took part in hunting the Calydonian boars during his service at Omphale. Honfalle admired the bravery of her servant, whom she guessed must be a famous hero.When she heard that he was Hercules, the son of Zeus, she immediately set him free and recruited him as her husband.From then on, Hercules lived the luxurious life of the oriental people. He gradually forgot the teachings that the goddess of virtue gave her when he was young, indulged in enjoyment, and did not think about making progress.She put on his lion's skin herself, and put on him a woman's garment, and used it to humiliate him.Hercules was so infatuated with her love that he sat at his wife's feet and spun wool for her.He hung a gold necklace around his neck, which was almost able to hold up to the sky, jade bracelets on his two strong arms, a woman's hair ornament on his head, and a woman's gorgeous gown.He sat with the maids, with the spinning wheel in front of him, and his slender fingers spun the thick yarn. He worked hard, fearing that if he failed to complete the task, he would be ridiculed and scolded by the mistress.Sometimes, when Omfalle was happy, she made her husband in a woman's robe tell her and his maids the heroic deeds of his youth: how he crushed the serpent in the cradle, how he took the serpent from Hades. Back to Cerberus the hellhound.Those women like to listen to his stories, just like listening to wonderful fairy tales.

Hercules' service to Honfalle was drawing to a close, and he awoke suddenly from his stupor.Ashamed, he took off the woman's robe on his body, and restored the true face of the son of Zeus, full of strength.He is willing to make full use of his newfound freedom to avenge his former enemies.