Hercules
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Hercules. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
hir'ku-lez, one of the heroes of classical mythology. He was the son of the divine Zeus and mortal Alcmene. Hera, wife of Zeus, was, of course, offended, and declared war against Hercules from his birth. She sent two serpents to destroy him in his cradle, but the child strangled them with his hands. Hera, however, contrived to render Hercules subject to his cousin Eurystheus whose commands he was required to execute. This cousin assigned him what are known as the twelve labors of Hercules. They were: 1. The strangling of the Nemean lion. 2. The killing of the Lernean hydra, a nine-headed serpent. 3. The capture of the Arcadian stag, with golden horns and brazen feet. 4. The capture of the Erymanthian boar, by chasing it in the deep snow until it was tired. 5. The cleaning of the Augean stables , where 3,000 oxen had been kept for 30 years. He turned on the water of two rivers and swept the stables clean. 6. The slaughter of the Stymphalian birds. They fed on human flesh. These he shot with his bow and arrows. 7. The capture of the Cretan bull. 8. The capture of the man-eating mares of Diomedes. 9. The securing of the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons. 10. The fetching of the red oxen of Geryon. 11. The procuring of the golden apples of the Hesperides. 12. The bringing to the upper world of Cerberus, the watch-dog of Hades. Finally, after performing his wondrous deeds, Hercules married Dejanira and settled down in peace. After several years Dejanira became jealous. She sent Hercules a garment saturated with poison, believing it to be a love charm. Hercules suffered intense agony from the poison. The wife in her remorse committed suicide. Hercules in grief caused a funeral pile to be placed in Mt. Oeta. He lay down with his head resting on his club and drew his lion's skin over him. He gave his bow and arrow to a friend, Philoctetes, and asked him to apply the funeral torch. The flames spread. Hercules maintained an unchanging countenance. When the mortal half inherited from his mother had been burned, Zeus enveloped him in a cloud and took him to heaven in a chariot. Hera, now reconciled to her husband's son, received him into her family, and gave him her daughter Hebe in marriage. Hercules is the most celebrated hero of the early Greek legends. He appears in all the most important myths of the time preceding the Trojan War. He is the Greek ideal of human perfection, not physical perfection alone--but that perfection which combines the highest qualities of mind and body. One story relates that in his youth the two goddesses, Virtue and Pleasure, appeared to him where two roads met and each besought his favor. At the time Hercules was suffering from the oppression of his master Eurystheus, and was very unhappy. He longed to follow Pleasure, but chose Virtue, and remained faithful to her counsels. Many temples were built to the honor of Hercules and he was worshiped as a god. He was a favorite subject for artist and sculptor. See Augean Stables ; Geryon ; Hesperides
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Known to the Greeks as Heracles . See page 124, A celebrated hero who, after death, was ranked among the gods. According to the ancients there were many persons of the same name, but the son of Jupiter and Alcmena , generally called the Theban, is the most celebrated. The birth of Hercules was attended with many miraculous events. Before he was eight months old Juno sent two snakes to devour him, which he seized and crushed to death. He achieved a series of enterprises known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules. These comprised the slaughter of the Nemaean lion, the destruction of the Lernaean hydra, the catching of a stag having golden horns and remarkable for his swiftness, the seizing alive a wild boar which committed great ravages, the cleansing of the stables of Augias, the killing of the carnivorous birds near the Lake Stymphalis, the taking captive a prodigious wild bull, the obtaining of the mares of Diomedes which fed on human flesh, the getting possession of the girdle of the queen of the Amazons, the destruction of the monster Geryon, the obtain- See page 124, Ganymedes , ing the apples from the garden of the Hesperides , and the bringing to the earth the threeheaded dog Cerberus . Besides these labors he aided the gods in their wars with the giants, and performed numerous difficult feats. He was conducted by Mercury to Omphale, queen of Lydia, whom he married, and whom he permitted to dress in his armor while he was sitting to spin with her female servants. He delivered Dejanira from the Centaur Nessus, whom he killed. The Centaur, as he expired, gave Dejanira a mystic tunic, which, in a jealous paroxysm, she gave to Hercules to put on, which he had no sooner done than he was seized with a desperate distemper which was incurable. He erected a burning pile on Mount Aeta, on which he cast himself. Jupiter surrounded the burning pile with smoke, amidst which Hercules, after his mortal parts were consumed, was carried to heaven in a chariot drawn by four horses.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
or HERAC- LES, the beloved son of Zeus by Alcmene, was intended by his father to be king of the Argives; but Hera, the jealous spouse of Zeus, by a trick caused Eurystheus to become king of Argos. Nor was her wrath satisfied with this; she made Hercules serve Eurystheus, by far the inferior man. And he enjoined hard adventures on Hercules, even sending him to Hades to fetch up the dog Cerberus. Thus Hercules was doomed to a life of trouble, and became the type among the Greeks not only of manly strength, but of manly endurance. Besides the labors imposed on him by Eurystheus, Hercules undertook adventures on his own account, killing a sea monster that ravaged Troy, and destroying Troy when the mares promised him as reward for killing the monster were denied him. His love of horses also led him to kill Iphitus, though his guest. Finally, after death, he himself joined the banquet of the deathless gods, with Hebe as his wife; but his phantom, armed with bow and arrow and gold baldric, with wild boars and lions wrought upon it, terrified the dead in Hades.