LUPERCUS & HERCULES

I can only find two myths/legends that had to perform 12 labors. Both of these 'heros' had to prove their strength and worthiness to attain their goals.

Lupercus: son of (the Godddess & God) Diana and Dianus; taken by the Grigori to prove his worthiness; tested with twelve labors. After completing these labors, he dwelt among the wolves. Lupercus is easily identifiable as he usually wears a wolf pelt. Each day Lupercus would wake up and journey across the heavens, gathering the souls of those who had died and delivered them to Luna.

Labors:
(1) carry the sacred Ram and set him among the stars;
(2) to purify the hide of the sacred white Bull;
(3) to tame the twin serpents of Teramo;
(4) to carry off the Great Sea Crab to the western horizon;
(5) to free the sacred Lion;
(6) to fashion a bow for the goddess Diana;
(7) to forge the great Scales of Justice for the gods;
(8) to seal the giant Scorpion back within the Earth;
(9) to make a golden arrow for the King of the Centaurs;
(10) to fashion two golden horns for the Great Goat Fish;
(11) to purify the jugs of water which are borne to the Gods;
(12) to leash the two Great Fish of the Sea and set them among the stars.

These 'labors' have all the indications that Lupercus was responsible for setting the astrological signs/constellations in the sky. (the numbers 1 to 12 above correspond to the numbers 1 to 12 below)

(1) Aries, the Ram
(2) Taurus, the Bull
(3) Gemini, the Twins
(4) Cancer, the Crab
(5) Leo, the Lion
(6) Virgo, the Virgin
(7) Libra, the Scales
(8) Scorpio, the Scorpion
(9) Saggitarius, the Archer
(10) Capricorn, the Goat
(11) Aquarius, the Water Bearer
(12) Pisces, the Fish

Hercules was the son of (the God) Zeus and (the mortal) Alcmene. The Goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children. When he awakened from his 'temporary insanity', Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. He prayed to the God Apollo for guidance, and the God's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the King of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders. Eurystheus assigned 12 tasks to Hercules.

Labors:
(1) killing the Nemean lion;
(2) killing the Lernaean Hydra;
(3)capturing the Cerynean hind (female red deer);
(4) capturing the Erymanthian boar alive;
(5) cleaning the Augean stables;
(6) killing man-eating Stymphalian birds;
(7) capturing the Cretan bull;
(8) capturing the man-eating horses of Diomedes;
(9) procuring the belt of Hippolyte;
(10) capturing the red cattle of Geryon;
(11) procuring the golden apples of the Hesperides;
(12) bringing Cerberus up from Hades

NOTES: (the numbers below correspond to the numbers above)
(1) Many times we can identify Hercules in ancient Greek vase paintings or sculptures simply because he is depicted wearing a lion skin.
(2) The 'hydra' was probably a 'water snake'.
(3) This deer had golden horns and hoofs of bronze. Not only that, the deer was sacred to the Goddess of hunting and the moon, Diana; she was Diana's special pet. That meant that Hercules could neither kill the deer nor hurt her. He couldn't risk getting Diana angry at him; he was already in enough trouble with Hera. When he did catch the deer, he put her on his shoulders and turned back to Mycenae. As Hercules hurried on his way, he was met by Diana and Apollo. Diana was very angry because Hercules tried to kill her sacred animal. She was about to take the deer away from Hercules, and surely she would have punished him, but Hercules told her the truth. He said that he had to obey the oracle and do the labors Eurystheus had given him. Diana let go of her anger and healed the deer's wound. Hercules carried it alive to Mycenae.
(8) Diomedes was the king of a Thracian tribe called the Bistones.
(9) Hippolyte was queen of the Amazons, a tribe of women warriors. This leather belt had been given to her by Ares, the War God.
(10) Geryon was the son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe. Chrysaor had sprung from the body of the Gorgon Medusa after Perseus beheaded her, and Callirrhoe was the daughter of two Titans, Oceanus and Tethys. With such distinguished lineage, it is no surprise that Geryon himself was quite unique. It seems that Geryon had three heads and three sets of legs all joined at the waist. In Liguria, two sons of Poseidon, the god of the sea, tried to steal the cattle. At Rhegium, a bull got loose and jumped into the sea and swam to Sicily and then made its way to the neighboring country. The native word for bull was "italus," and so the country came to be named after the bull, and was called Italy.
(11) The golden apples which belonged to Zeus, king of the gods. Hera had given these apples to Zeus as a wedding gift. They were guarded not only by a hundred-headed dragon, named Ladon, but also by the Hesperides, nymphs who were daughters of Atlas, the titan who held the sky and the earth upon his shoulders.
(12) Cerberus was a vicious beast that guarded the entrance to Hades and kept the living from entering the world of the dead. Cerberus was a strange mixture of creatures: he had three heads of wild dogs, a dragon or serpent for a tail, and heads of snakes all over his back. Cerberus' siblings included: Orthus, the Hydra of Lerna, and the Chimera.

Comparisons: (the numbers beside each name correspond to their original labor numbers above)

Lupercus (2) and Hercules (10)
Lupercus had to purify the hide of a Bull, and Hercules chased a Bull to the land that was from then-on known as 'Italus' or Italy.

Lupercus (3) (4) and Hercules (2)
While Lupercus had to 'tame' the serpents, Hercules had to 'kill' the hydra. Seprent and Hydra are both ancient names for 'snake'. The Hydra had a helper who was a giant Crab, and who after death was promoted to the rank of a constellation in the sky by Hera.

Lupercus (5) and Hercules (1)
While Lupercus had to 'free' the sacred Lion, Hercules had to 'kill' the Lion.

Lupercus (9) and Hercules (4)
Lupercus had to make a golden arrow for the King of the Centaurs, and Hercules witnessed 2 of his Centaur friends (Pholus and Chiron) killed by arrows while persuing the Boar

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LUPERCUS & HERCULES

COMPARISONS OF THE 12 LABORS OF LUPERCUS & HERCULES

COMPARISONS OF THE
12 LABORS OF
LUPERCUS & HERCULES