Roman Mythology Coloring Pages
Hercules Coloring Pages
Welcome to our Roman Hero Hercules coloring pages section.
Hercules was the strongest of all mortals, the son of Jupiter and the mortal woman Alcmena. His cousin, King Eurystheus, gave him twelve tasks known as the Twelve Labors. Hercules fought monsters, captured wild beasts, and solved problems that seemed impossible. Here they are in order, with a coloring page for each one we have.
The Romans loved Hercules. He was one of their most popular heroes, and they kept the Greek stories of Herakles but gave him the name Hercules.
I made the Greek Herakles page a little older, with more teen-friendly coloring pages, and aimed the Roman Hercules set at younger kids. In Rome, Hercules became something of a celebrity, so I figured the little ones back then would have been big fans too!
The Twelve Labors of Hercules
Labor 1: The Nemean Lion
A giant lion terrorized the forest of Nemea, and no weapon could pierce its golden hide. Hercules made himself a club from an olive tree, knocked the lion down, and wrestled it. He wore the lion's skin as a cloak for the rest of his life.
Labor 2: The Lernaean Hydra
The Hydra was a many-headed water serpent that lived in a swamp. Every time Hercules cut off one head, two more grew back! His nephew Iolaus helped by burning each stump with a torch so the heads couldn't regrow.
Labor 3: The Golden Hind
The hind was a deer with golden antlers, and it belonged to Diana. It was so fast that Hercules chased it for a whole year before he caught it. He had to bring it back alive and unharmed.
Labor 4: The Erymanthian Boar
Hercules had to catch a huge wild boar living on Mount Erymanthus. He chased it into deep snow until it was too tired to run, then carried it back on his shoulders. Eurystheus was so scared of the boar that he hid in a giant jar.
Labor 5: The Augean Stables
King Augeas had thousands of cattle and a stable that hadn't been cleaned in years. Hercules was told to clean it in a single day. Instead of using a shovel, he turned two rivers so they rushed through the stables and washed everything clean.
Labor 6: The Stymphalian Birds
A flock of man-eating birds with metal feathers lived near a lake. Minerva gave Hercules a noisy bronze rattle. The birds took off in fright, and he shot them down with his arrows.
Labor 7: The Cretan Bull
A wild bull was causing trouble on the island of Crete. Hercules wrestled it, tied it up, and carried it back to Greece alive.
Labor 8: The Mares of Diomedes
Diomedes, a king of Thrace, owned four man-eating horses. Hercules defeated Diomedes and tamed the mares, then brought them to Eurystheus.
Labor 9: The Belt of Hippolyta
Hippolyta was the queen of the Amazons, a nation of warrior women. Her magnificent belt was a gift from the god Mars. Juno, who was no friend of Hercules, caused trouble between him and the Amazons. In the end, Hercules left with the belt and brought it back to Eurystheus.
Labor 10: The Cattle of Geryon
Geryon was a giant with three bodies who lived on an island far to the west, guarding a herd of red cattle. Hercules traveled a very long way, defeated the giant, and drove the whole herd back to Greece.
Labor 11: The Golden Apples of the Hesperides
Juno's golden apples grew in a faraway garden guarded by a dragon. On the way, Hercules freed the Titan Prometheus from his chains. Then he met Atlas, the Titan who holds up the sky. Hercules held the sky while Atlas fetched the apples. Atlas didn't want to take the sky back, so Hercules tricked him into holding it for just a moment, and then walked away with the apples.
Labor 12: Cerberus
The last and hardest labor was to go into the underworld and bring back Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards its gates. Pluto said Hercules could take him if he didn't use any weapons. Hercules wrestled the dog with his bare hands, showed him to Eurystheus, and then returned him to the underworld.
Hercules, the Roman Favorite
When the Romans conquered Greece, they kept many of the stories, gods and heroes but changed their names. Herakles became Hercules. The stories stayed much the same, but Hercules became far more popular in Rome than he had been in Greece.
Hercules had a cult following, including Roman Emperors like Commodus, who called himself the Roman Hercules, wore a lion skin and acted out the labors in the colosseum.
Note: Most of the myths about Herakles/Hercules on this site are shared by the Greeks and the Romans, who told the same tales with different names. The following story is different. The story of Hercules and Cacus belongs to the Romans, and it happens on the very land where Rome would one day stand!
Hercules and Cacus
Hercules had finished his tenth labor. He had taken the red cattle of a giant at the far edge of the world, and now he was driving them home toward Greece. It was a long, hot journey, and the cattle were slow.
One evening he came to a quiet river called the Tiber. Green hills rose above the water. There was no city there yet, only a few huts and a small village on one of the hills. The grass was thick and the water was cool, so Hercules let the cattle graze. Then he lay down in the shade and fell fast asleep.
In a dark cave on the nearby Aventine hill lived a giant named Cacus. He was the son of Vulcan, the god of fire, and he breathed smoke and flames. Cacus had been watching the cattle all day. When Hercules began to snore, he crept out and chose the eight finest animals.
Cacus was sneaky. He grabbed each animal by the tail and dragged it into his cave backward, so the hoofprints in the dirt seemed to lead away from the cave instead of toward it. Then he rolled a huge boulder across the entrance and sat inside, very pleased with himself.
When Hercules woke up, he counted his cattle. Eight were missing. He followed the tracks, but they led away from the hills and ended in an empty field. Puzzled, he gathered the rest of the herd and started down the road.
As the herd passed the Aventine hill, a faint mooing came from inside the rock. The stolen cattle were calling to their friends!
Hercules marched up to the hillside and found the cave entrance blocked by the boulder. He shoved it. He pushed it. It wouldn't budge. So Hercules grabbed hold of the rock above the cave and pulled until the top of the cliff broke away, and the cave lay open to the sky.
Cacus roared and blew smoke, but the smoke could not hide him from Hercules. The fight was short. When it was over, Cacus would never steal anything again, and the cattle came trotting out of the cave.
The villagers came running. Their king had heard about Cacus for years and had never been able to stop him. He clasped Hercules' hand and thanked him.
Hercules built an altar by the river and gave thanks to Jupiter, king of the gods. The villagers promised to honor Hercules at that altar every year. Centuries later, the little village grew into the great city of Rome, and the Romans kept the promise. They still told this story, and they never forgot the hero who visited before Rome began.