The Twelve Labors of Hercules

Parents have been telling their children of the Twelve Labors of Hercules for over 2,500 years. It is one of those fundamental stories that are at the very core of the Western literary tradition. The superheroes we so closely follow in comic books, television shows and motion pictures are derivitives of the story telling formulas the ancient Greeks laid out long ago. James Riordan's "The Twelve Labors" fits into a nice niche. It can be read to young children and it is also a good book for young readers (Grades 3-6) who are looking for a more advanced chapter book. But beware, there is certain moral ambivelence in the Hercules stories. Due to Hera's jealousy, Hercules is manipulated into doing some pretty terrible things. Not only does he kill his wife and sons, Hercules accidently also kills a number of innocents. If you think Batman has a dark side, you have not seen anything. But in the end, it is this duality which makes Hercules an interesting superhero.

All cultures have their legends of heroes and the greatest in Western culture is Hercules. His twelve labors were considered so impossible that any extremely difficult task is now described as herculean. However, the myth of Hercules is as much a tale of tragedy as it is of triumph, making it more complex than a simple tale of hero defeats villain. His labors are a penance for having murdered his wife and family in a fit of mindless rage. Meted out by the Oracle at Delphi, it is clear that the intent of the punishment was to have him die in the attempt. It is important for children to learn these myths, as they explain a great deal about how the ancients viewed the world and how our understanding of the world has changed over time. Books like this, detailing the labors at the level of children, should be required reading in the early years. While the story is readable and the illustrations well done, there is one serious difficulty with the book. Zeus and the other gods, creatures such as centaurs and Titans such as Atlas appear in the labors. When my youngest daughter was reading the book, she often stopped and asked questions like, "What’s a centaur?" If I had not been present to answer the questions, her enjoyment of the book and understanding of the tales would have been significantly reduced. It would have been very helpful if a list of the characters in the book with a one sentence description had been included. Overall, the authors do a good job in telling the greatest myth of antiquity. The illustrations help keep the attention of the reader, but the lack of explanation concerning the other characters does weaken it.