00:33Irritated by Heracles' first two successful labors, Eurystheus thought of a way to punish
00:38him.
00:40Assigning him his third task, he sent Heracles to capture the Cyrenian Hind, a sacred animal
00:45of Artemis.
00:47His thoughts were that the hero would kill the animal, thereby drawing the ire of the goddess,
00:52who would then punish him severely.
00:54The Cyrenian Hind was a deer with golden horns, bronze hooves, and the speed of lightning.
01:01Well aware it was the favorite pet of Artemis, Heracles knew better than to hurt the animal.
01:06He tracked and chased after it, but the swift hind continuously eluded him for about a year.
01:12At last, when it lay sleeping one day, Heracles snuck up on it and captured it.
01:19But as he turned to head back to Tyrens, Artemis and Apollo appeared before him.
01:25He pleaded with the goddess that his actions were part of his penance for murdering his
01:30wife and children, and promised that the animal would suffer no harm.
01:34That as soon as he showed it to Eurystheus, he would let it go.
01:39With this, Artemis allowed the young hero to continue on his journey.
01:44And so, Heracles returned to the royal court, where Eurystheus wanted to have the deer as
01:50his.
01:51Knowing he could not break his promise to Artemis, the hero simply asked Eurystheus to come get
01:57it himself, and set the animal on the ground.
02:00The second the deer was set on the ground, it spirited away, back to the goddess, to the
02:06utter dismay of Eurystheus.
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