Zeus, the king of gods, was married to the goddess Hera, but often cheated on her. Once he did so with the human woman Alcmene, and from this a child was born. However, Hera was tricked into giving milk to the child. Nursed on Hera’s milk, and with Zeus as his father, Heracles was the strongest man alive.
Although he was strong, Heracles often made mistakes, and frequently lost his temper, including killing his music teacher when he was a child. However, Heracles biggest problem was Hera, who hated him because he reminded her of Zeus’s cheating.
One day Hera made Heracles crazy, and in his madness Heracles killed his own children. When he realised what he had done, Heracles went to the Oracle (who knew everything) and asked her what he should do. What he did not know, however, was that Hera guided the Oracle to tell Heracles to serve King Eurystheus, Heracles’s enemy, for 10 years as punishment.
King Eurystheus decided to give Heracles 10 great tasks to do.