World classic, retold in simple Mandarin
Hercules
赫拉克勒斯
Hercules (赫拉克勒斯, Hèlākèlèsī) is a legend, retold in simple Mandarin as a 5-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 1 (Beginner).
Retold from the Greek myth: a baby who wrestles two snakes grows into the strongest man alive, and a jealous goddess sends him twelve impossible tasks. Lions, a Hydra, two rivers and a sky to hold.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — The warm storyteller who opens and closes scenes.
- Baby Hercules · 赫拉克勒斯 — A laughing baby who is already strong enough to hold two snakes.
- Alcmene · 阿尔克墨涅 — Hercules's loving and frightened mother.
- Hera · 赫拉 — The proud goddess who wants Hercules to suffer.
- Hercules · 赫拉克勒斯 — The strongest man alive, kind and quick to laugh.
- King Eurystheus · 欧律斯透斯 — A nervous king who keeps changing the rules.
- Iolaus · 伊俄拉俄斯 — Hercules's cheerful young friend who carries the fire.
- Atlas · 阿特拉斯 — A giant who has held the sky for years and is tired.
- Hades · 哈迪斯 — The serious, fair king of the underworld.
- Augeas · 奥革阿斯 — A lazy, greedy owner of three thousand cows.
- Messenger · 信使 — The king's out-of-breath runner.
- Cerberus · 刻耳柏洛斯 — A three-headed dog who only needs a gentle hand.
5 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Baby and the Snakes
两条蛇
A baby wins a wrestling match with two snakes, and a jealous goddess swears he will suffer. Twenty years later a nervous king sends him after a lion no weapon can hurt.
Free to read
Chapter 2: The Lion and the Hydra
狮子和九头蛇
Hercules meets a lion that arrows cannot hurt and a snake that grows two heads for one. Then the king finds a way to say it all does not count.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 3: The Dirty Stables
牛的家
Three thousand cows and thirty years of dirt: Hercules gets one day. He does not use a shovel, and the king is still not happy.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 4: The Golden Apples
金苹果
At the top of the world stands a man holding up the sky. Hercules offers to help, but Atlas has a sneaky plan of his own.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 5: The Dog of the Dead
三个头的狗
To finish his last labor Hercules must go deep under the earth and win over a dog with three heads, without hitting it.
SayMei Stories
Key words in Hercules
Behind the story
Hercules is one of the best-known heroes of Greek myth. The stories of his twelve labors were told in ancient Greece for many centuries, and they are now in the public domain. This retelling keeps the famous moments and uses simple Chinese.
Chinese readers know him as 赫拉克勒斯, or in older books 海格力斯. Greek myths reached China through translated storybooks and school reading lists, and "Hercules" is still a word for someone very strong.
Did you know?
- The Greeks said Hercules was the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and a human mother.
- The twelve labors were tasks given to Hercules by King Eurystheus, and they include the lion, the Hydra, the stables and the golden apples.
- Atlas was said to hold up the sky at the edge of the world, which is why a book of maps is still called an atlas.