String Quartet No. 2

for flute, 2 violins, viola, violoncello

Duration - 30 min.

The Hercules Quartets is a three work collection which explores the twelve labors that Hercules performed for Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae.  The goddess Hera, angry with Hercules, made him lose his mind.  During this state, he murdered his wife and kids.  Upon awakening from his delirium, Hercules asked the god Apollo for guidance on rectifying the situation.  Apollo instructed him to serve Eurystheus for 12 years, and during this time he was instructed to perform ten impossible labors.  The number was later raised to twelve after Eurystheus denied him two of the previously completed labors.  String Quartet No. 2 includes labors 6, 11, 2, 7 and 12.

Stymphalian Birds:

For his sixth labor, Hercules was ordered to gather the Stymphalian birds, who resided near Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. The forest ground was soft and swampy, causing Hercules great difficulty in sneaking up on the birds.  The constant sound of the nearby birds nearly drove him mad, until the goddess Athena came to his aid, instructing him and offering him the use of special castanets.  Hercules used the castanets to scare the birds out of hiding.  Once in the air, he took them down with his arrows.

Hera’s Apples:

For his eleventh labor, Hercules was sent to retrieve sacred apples that Hera had received as a wedding present.  Hera had the Hesperides, who were nymphs, guarding her apples. The apples were kept in a grove surrounded by a high wall and guarded by Ladon, a many-headed dragon. The grove was found in the western mountains, named after one of the Titans, Atlas. Atlas sided against Zeus in a war and was punished by being forced to support the heavens with a pillar on his shoulders.  Hercules knew he would never get the apples without the help of Atlas.  Atlas was happy to help.  He instructed Hercules to hold the pillar while he got the apples.  But, first he had to kill the dragon with an arrow over the wall.  Atlas came back with the apples but noticed how nice it was not to have to hold the heavens above. Hercules asked Atlas to take back the pillar long enough for him to fetch a cushion for his shoulder. Atlas agreed and Hercules left, never returning.

Hydra:

The second labor was to kill the many headed, monstrous, Hydra, who lived in the swamps of Lerna.  Once one head was cut off, another would grow back in its place.  The Hydra’s breath was also deadly.  Hercules lured the beast out into the open, but the fight soon went in the Hydra’s favor.  Iolas, Hercules’ nephew, came to his rescue.  Hercules would cut off one head and Iolas would sear it with a flame to prevent it from growing back.  After cutting off all the heads, Hercules buried the immortal head deep beneath a rock.

Pasiphae’s Child:

Hercules’ seventh labor was to rid the Cretan countryside of the Minotaur.  The Minotaur was the son of Queen Pasiphae of Crete and a bull she had been tricked to fall in love with by a vengeful god.  Pasiphae's husband wanted the Minotaur gone.  Hercules overpowered the beast that belched flames, and forced it back to the mainland. It ended up near Athens, where it became the problem of another hero, Theseus.

Cerberus the Hellhound:

The final task was for Heracles to get the hellhound Cerberus up from Hades.  Hercules had to get past the barrier to the underworld, the river Styx.  All the newly dead waited here for the ferryboat of Charon the Boatman. Charon refused to take anyone across unless they were dead and had a bribe of a coin underneath a corpses tongue.  Hercules met neither of these conditions, so he simply scared Charon into taking him across.  The more difficult challenge was Cerberus, who had three heads and razor sharp teeth. Conveniently, Hercules was wearing his lion’s skin which could not be penetrated by anything other than a thunderbolt from Zeus.  Hercules choked Cerberus into submission and dragged him to Tiryns, where he received due credit for this final Labor.

This piece has not been performed or read.