648cffd6350baad67bd3606f480d760d633e03fdce7409b43899be39ab097fd8

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+The African slave trade was a trade in slaves and, like most of the world, has carried on for thousands of years in Africa. The first main route passed through the Sahara. After the Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western type of slavery. Despite being against the law, slavery continues in all parts of the world, including Africa. In Mauritania, slavery was not made illegal until August 2007.[1]
+

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+The African slave trade was a trade in slaves and, like most of the world, has carried on for thousands of years in Africa. The first main route passed through the Sahara. After the Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western type of slavery. Despite being against the law, slavery continues in all parts of the world, including Africa. In Mauritania, slavery was not made illegal until August 2007.[1]
+

ensimple/5758.html.txt

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+The African slave trade was a trade in slaves and, like most of the world, has carried on for thousands of years in Africa. The first main route passed through the Sahara. After the Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western type of slavery. Despite being against the law, slavery continues in all parts of the world, including Africa. In Mauritania, slavery was not made illegal until August 2007.[1]
+

ensimple/5759.html.txt

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+The Treaty of Trianon is the peace treaty formed in 1920 by the Allies of World War I on one side, and Hungary, on the other.[1][2][3][4]
+
+Hungary lost much of its land to neighbouring countries,[5] such as Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Hungary was partitioned, lost two thirds of her territory, and lost one-third of her Hungarian population. This brought irredentism. Hungary also had to pay World War I reparations. The treaty limited the size of the Hungarian army.

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+Football (soccer)
+Basketball
+Rugby
+Gymnastics
+Baseball
+American football
+Cycling·Auto racing
+Cricket·Golf
+Field hockey·Handball
+Archery·Shooting
+Fencing·Weightlifting
+Pentathlon·Triathlon
+Horseback riding
+
+Swimming· Diving
+Water polo·Sailing
+Canoeing·Rowing
+
+Boxing·Wrestling
+Karate·Taekwondo
+
+Tennis· Volleyball
+Table tennis· Badminton
+
+Winter sports
+
+Skiing·Curling
+Bobsled·Luge
+Snowboarding·Biathlon
+Ice sledge hockey
+
+Basketball is a team sport where two teams, usually consisting of five players on each team, play against each other on a rectangular court. The objective is to get the ball through a hoop mounted high on a backboard on the opponent's side of the court, while preventing the opponent from shooting it into your team's hoop. It is a very popular sport worldwide, played with a round and usually orange(orange-brown) ball that bounces. Basketball players mainly use skills such as dribbling, shooting, running, and jumping. Each made basket is worth two points, while a basket made from beyond the three-point line is worth three points. If a player gets into too much physical contact, they may be given free throws which are worth one point each. The game typically lasts for four-quarters and the team with the most points at the end of the four-quarters win the game. If the score is tied at the end of the game, there will be something called overtime, which is additional play time to allow one team to win the match.
+
+The game is played between men's teams or between women's teams. Basketball has been played in the Summer Olympic Games since 1936. The shot clock rule started in 1954. The first basketball game took place in 1892, where the court was half the size of what it is today.In 1891 the game was invented by James Naismith.
+
+In early December 1891, James Naismith (1861–1939), a Canadian physical education teacher at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, invented an indoor game called basketball. He invented the sport to keep his students from becoming bored during the winter. Naismith wrote the basic rules and then nailed a peach basket onto a 20-foot tall pole. Unlike modern basketball hoops, the bottom of the peach-basket was still there, so after a point was scored, somebody had to get the ball out of the basket with a long stick. Over time, people made a hole at the bottom of the basket so the ball could go through more easily.  The first game of basketball was played at the International Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusetts. The score of the first game of basketball ever played was 1-0. There is a sculpture in Springfield, outside where the first game was held. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is also in Springfield.
+
+For that first game of basketball in 1891, Naismith used two half-bushel peach baskets as goals, which gave the sport its name. The students were enthusiastic. After much running and shooting, William R. Chase made a midcourt shot, which was the only score in that historic contest. Word spread about the newly invented game, and numerous associations wrote Naismith for a copy of the rules, which were published in the January 15, 1892, issue of the Triangle, the YMCA Training School's campus paper.
+
+Since the rules had not been formally written, there was no maximum number of players then, unlike today. This also meant that there were no set rules to the game; Naismith only observed how it was played and changed the rules accordingly.
+
+The aim of basketball is to score more points than the other team, by making the ball in the basket. Players on one team try to stop players on the other team from scoring. Baskets can be worth 1, 2, or 3 points. Each normal score is worth two points; however, if a player throws the ball into the hoop from behind the large arched line on the court, called the "3-point line," the score is worth three points. You get points by "shooting" (throwing or dropping) the ball into the opponents' basket. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
+The ball is moved forward by shooting, passing (throwing or handing off) or dribbling it. The ball may not be carried by a player who is walking or running without dribbling it. If this rule is violated, it is called a travel.
+
+The court, where the game is played, is a rectangle, and at both end lines there is a goal called a "hoop" in the shape of a circle basket with the bottom cut out.
+
+In each game of basketball these things are required:
+
+Basketball is played with two teams, with 5 players from each team on the court at one time. The maximum number of players on the bench differs by the league. In international play, a maximum of 7 players is allowed on the bench, resulting in a roster of 12 players. The NBA has 13-player rosters; college and high school teams have 15-player rosters. When a player wants to substitute for another player on the court, they let the score bench know. The referees will signal for the player waiting to come into the court. The player that was in the game comes off the court and the player that was  sitting on the bench goes inside the game. This is called a substitution. In regional matches, in some areas, a minimum of 3 players are required to be on the bench. In India, there might be leeway in the number depending on the category of the tournament you're playing in.
+
+A game of basketball is made up of four different quarters, each ten (or in the National Basketball Association, 12) minutes long. In the NCAA, or National Collegiate Athletic Association, there are 2  20 minute halves. At the start of every game the referee throws the basketball up in the air, and one player from each team tries to hit it to their teammates, that is called a "jump ball."
+
+At the start of each quarter the team who has the possession arrow pointing towards their hoop gets the ball. Then the arrow is switched, and the next team gets the ball next quarter.
+
+After four-quarters, the team who scores the most points wins. If the two teams score the same number of points, there is a five-minute "overtime" to see who can score more points. "Overtime" can be played over and over until one team finally scores more points.
+
+If a player does something illegal in the game, it is called a "foul." If a player fouls someone on the other team who is shooting the basketball, the player who was fouled gets to shoot "free throws" from the "foul line." A free throw is a shot that no one is allowed to try to block. A free throw is shot from the straight line in front of the hoop. Each successful free throw is worth one point.
+
+If a player fouls an opponent who is not shooting, the other team gets the ball, and can throw it in bounds from the sideline. Players can do three things with the ball: "dribble" (bounce) the ball, "pass" the ball to a teammate, or "shoot" the ball at the hoop. The player with the ball tries to keep the ball and not let the other team get it.
+
+The ball can't be kicked or hit with the fist. If this is violated, the other team gets possession of the ball and gets to throw it in from the nearest out of bounds area.
+
+Once a player commits five fouls, he is no longer allowed to play in the game, and a player on the bench must go in the game immediately. If a team commits four fouls, the opposing team gets to shoot a free throw on any next foul that doesn't involve shooting. (Depending on the league).
+
+In a game of basketball, there are a number of officials who are not from either team, who are there to help. Officials are important to the game, and help it run efficiently. Here is a list of some of these people:
+
+Fans and media in North America will often use "referee" to describe all on-court officials, whether their formal titles are "referee", "umpire", or "crew chief".
+
+There are some basketball terms that players have to understand when playing the game. Here are some terms:
+
+In professional basketball teams, each player has a position. A position is a job or role that a player has to take part in to play the game. If everyone is doing their job correctly, the team is usually successful.
+
+Other positions, more usual in professional basketball teams, are used in basketball.
+
+There are many types of basketball. Some are for people with disabilities, others are played more by a specific group, some are played using only half the court, and some are for when there are fewer players.
+
+This is the most popular "pick up game" variation of basketball. Pick up games are when teams are chosen on the court instead of having official teams. Due to there being no referee, this more casual game has more relaxed rules than official games. Instead of 5 players, there are only three players on each team, hence the name.
+
+While the exact rules vary from place to place, there are several common rules typically found in most games, including:
+
+There are officially sponsored 3 on 3 tournaments, though the game is mostly played without an official league.
+
+Variations with 2 player and 4 player teams often follow this same format.
+
+Twenty-one (21) is a variation of basketball that does not include teams. It is often played with odd-numbers of players or when there are too few players for 3 on 3 games.
+
+The object of 21 is to score exactly 21 points. Players keep track of their own scores and call out their points after making a basket. All players play defense against all other players and compete for the rebound on a miss.
+
+When a player makes a shot, he or she scores 2 points and is then awarded a chance to score an additional 3 points by attempting a series of free-throws. If a player makes a free-throw, he or she is awarded an additional point and an additional free-throw. If a player makes three straight free-throws they are then given the ball a the top of the key and the other players may then defend.
+
+One special rule is that if a player gets 20 points and then misses a free-throw, or scores 17 points and then makes all three free-throws, their score is set back to 15. This is because their next basket would put them over 21 points, and the object of the game is to get exactly 21.
+
+Due to there being no teams, there are a number of special rules to 21:
+
+The game H-O-R-S-E, (pronounced horse) is played by two or more players. The player in control of the ball tries to make a shot however they want. The other layer has to repeat their shot. If they miss, they get an H added, until they get enough letters to finish the word horse and they lose. If the player who has the ball missed their shot, no letter is added and control moves to the next player.
+
+In this variation, the players are all seated in a wheelchair. This is often played by people who cannot walk or are unable to play normal basketball. The rules are altered slightly, but the game follows the same general concepts.

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+The Treaty of Trianon is the peace treaty formed in 1920 by the Allies of World War I on one side, and Hungary, on the other.[1][2][3][4]
+
+Hungary lost much of its land to neighbouring countries,[5] such as Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Hungary was partitioned, lost two thirds of her territory, and lost one-third of her Hungarian population. This brought irredentism. Hungary also had to pay World War I reparations. The treaty limited the size of the Hungarian army.

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+The Treaty of Versailles (French: Traité de Versailles) was a peace treaty between the nations of Japan, the United States, France, Germany and Britain after World War I. The treaty was made in 1919. Germany, Austria and Hungary did not participate in writing it. Germany had the choice between signing it or facing the occupation of Germany by Allied troops.
+
+Germany had to reduce its armed forces from 6 million to 100,000 men and to get rid of its submarines, military aircraft and most of its artillery. Its navy battleships were limited to only six small ones.
+
+Germany also had to give back French territories it had occupied, as well as large territories of its own to Poland and other neighbours, and to give up all of its colonies. Germany was to pay back the huge World War I reparations for the damage done to Allied countries, mostly France, during World War I by German troops. The sum was to be very large but was not yet fixed: many gold marks had to be paid only as a first part of the German debt.
+
+The treaty made a League of Nations, which was intended to make decisions and keep the peace after the treaty was signed. The League solved some international disputes without war, but could not stop World War II.
+
+This treaty can be seen as a one-sided peace, dictated to Germany.  The English economist John Maynard Keynes thought that it was a great mistake to force such harsh measures on the German people, but his advice was ignored.
+
+Germany set up the Weimar Republic. It was democratic but suffered an economic collapse, with the huge inflation of its currency, the mark.  Adolf Hitler became chancellor and overruled the treaty. His actions eventually led to World War II.
+
+Germany had to give back French areas (Alsace-Lorraine) taken by Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, which was still an embarrassment for France. The French made Germany take its troops out of the Rhineland (the long stretch of land on Germany's border with France where the Rhine River flows), an important part of land for Germany since it had many factories and businesses. If Germany had its troops come back into the Rhineland, the French were allowed to invade Germany.
+
+Germany also had to give parts to Poland, a country made out of Russian and Austrian parts and the Polish and Lithuanian people who lived in them. Poland had been a big kingdom a few hundred years earlier, but Austria, Prussia and Russia had split it in the Partitions of Poland.
+
+Belgium was allowed to have Moresnet and Eupen and Malmedy, which is the main reason that Belgium has a German-speaking community.
+
+Versailles also split up many large empires on the losing side. US President Woodrow Wilson thought that to be a very good idea because many people in Europe wanted to be free from the big empires. but it also created problems such as having many small countries next to a much bigger Germany.
+
+In the separate Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye the same year. Austria-Hungary was split into many countries. One was Austria, which was meant to be the homeland of the Austrians, who spoke German and mainly ruled Austria-Hungary. Its capital was Vienna. One of the problems of Versailles was that most  Austrians, like Adolf Hitler, thought that Austria should become part of Germany, which later led to the German invasion of Austria.
+
+Hungary was also created. Like Poland, it was a country that was strong on its own centuries before. Its capital was Budapest. Another new country, Czechoslovakia was created to be the homeland of the Czechs and Slovaks. The Czech part was made up of the country once called Bohemia and Moravia. The country's capital was Prague. Many Germans lived near its borders in the the Sudetenland, and Hitler later insisted for it to belong to Germany, which many of its people wanted.
+
+Bosnia, Slovenia, Croatia (parts of Austria-Hungary), northern Macedonia (part of Bulgaria), Serbia and Montenegro were made into one country, called Yugoslavia (meaning Southern Slavic). It was made to be a Southern Slavic homeland but had many religious, language and national differences.
+
+New countries by the Baltic Sea (Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania) were also created in other treaties after World War I.  The Russian Revolution started during the war, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was killed and a communist state formed. A civil war raged in Russia between the anticommunist White Russians and the communist Red Russians. Russia had lost control of its western territory (Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and parts of Poland). Later during the World War II, the Soviet Union would take over Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and half of Poland.
+
+Another treaty, the Treaty of Sèvres, gave parts the defeated Ottoman Empire to the various victors. However, Greek and Turkish armies soon  started another war.
+
+The German Empire became the Weimar Republic. A big problem for Germany was to pay back a giant amount of money for the all of the damage done to the Allied countries, mostly France, during World War I. That made Germany one of the poorest countries in Europe for almost 20 years and caused political fighting in Germany.  Two important parties, the Communist Party, which wanted a communist revolution like that of Russia, and the Nazis, who thought that Germany should become the most powerful country in Europe, fought for many years.
+
+As Germany owed a huge amount of money to the Allies, it  started to get loans by the US (such as under the Dawes Plan). When the Great Depression hit in 1932, the US requested for all its money back. Germany refused to pay and printed more and more money to pay debts.  That led to hyperinflation and the Reichsmark was worthless.  The German economy was shattered. Many Germans hated the treaty, and some even wanted to fight another war to get rid of it.
+
+Also, the League of Nations created after Versailles was usually not powerful enough to stop wars. Japan took Manchuria and the League did not stop it. Italy invaded Ethiopia, and although the Ethiopian Emperor begged the League to help him, it did not do so. Germany, Japan and Italy left the League and became the Axis powers, and by invading many peaceful countries caused World War II. The United States and, for a time, the Soviet Union, did not even join the League even though it was the idea of US President Woodrow Wilson in the first place. The League was never taken seriously even though one reason that it was  created to make sure that the treaty was followed.
+
+The treaty failed to keep peace in the end and was a reason for Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, to win the support of many Germans to get rid of the "chains of Versailles", leading to World War II.
+
+. Langley, Andrew. Living through World War II. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library, 2012.

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+The Treaty of Versailles (French: Traité de Versailles) was a peace treaty between the nations of Japan, the United States, France, Germany and Britain after World War I. The treaty was made in 1919. Germany, Austria and Hungary did not participate in writing it. Germany had the choice between signing it or facing the occupation of Germany by Allied troops.
+
+Germany had to reduce its armed forces from 6 million to 100,000 men and to get rid of its submarines, military aircraft and most of its artillery. Its navy battleships were limited to only six small ones.
+
+Germany also had to give back French territories it had occupied, as well as large territories of its own to Poland and other neighbours, and to give up all of its colonies. Germany was to pay back the huge World War I reparations for the damage done to Allied countries, mostly France, during World War I by German troops. The sum was to be very large but was not yet fixed: many gold marks had to be paid only as a first part of the German debt.
+
+The treaty made a League of Nations, which was intended to make decisions and keep the peace after the treaty was signed. The League solved some international disputes without war, but could not stop World War II.
+
+This treaty can be seen as a one-sided peace, dictated to Germany.  The English economist John Maynard Keynes thought that it was a great mistake to force such harsh measures on the German people, but his advice was ignored.
+
+Germany set up the Weimar Republic. It was democratic but suffered an economic collapse, with the huge inflation of its currency, the mark.  Adolf Hitler became chancellor and overruled the treaty. His actions eventually led to World War II.
+
+Germany had to give back French areas (Alsace-Lorraine) taken by Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, which was still an embarrassment for France. The French made Germany take its troops out of the Rhineland (the long stretch of land on Germany's border with France where the Rhine River flows), an important part of land for Germany since it had many factories and businesses. If Germany had its troops come back into the Rhineland, the French were allowed to invade Germany.
+
+Germany also had to give parts to Poland, a country made out of Russian and Austrian parts and the Polish and Lithuanian people who lived in them. Poland had been a big kingdom a few hundred years earlier, but Austria, Prussia and Russia had split it in the Partitions of Poland.
+
+Belgium was allowed to have Moresnet and Eupen and Malmedy, which is the main reason that Belgium has a German-speaking community.
+
+Versailles also split up many large empires on the losing side. US President Woodrow Wilson thought that to be a very good idea because many people in Europe wanted to be free from the big empires. but it also created problems such as having many small countries next to a much bigger Germany.
+
+In the separate Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye the same year. Austria-Hungary was split into many countries. One was Austria, which was meant to be the homeland of the Austrians, who spoke German and mainly ruled Austria-Hungary. Its capital was Vienna. One of the problems of Versailles was that most  Austrians, like Adolf Hitler, thought that Austria should become part of Germany, which later led to the German invasion of Austria.
+
+Hungary was also created. Like Poland, it was a country that was strong on its own centuries before. Its capital was Budapest. Another new country, Czechoslovakia was created to be the homeland of the Czechs and Slovaks. The Czech part was made up of the country once called Bohemia and Moravia. The country's capital was Prague. Many Germans lived near its borders in the the Sudetenland, and Hitler later insisted for it to belong to Germany, which many of its people wanted.
+
+Bosnia, Slovenia, Croatia (parts of Austria-Hungary), northern Macedonia (part of Bulgaria), Serbia and Montenegro were made into one country, called Yugoslavia (meaning Southern Slavic). It was made to be a Southern Slavic homeland but had many religious, language and national differences.
+
+New countries by the Baltic Sea (Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania) were also created in other treaties after World War I.  The Russian Revolution started during the war, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was killed and a communist state formed. A civil war raged in Russia between the anticommunist White Russians and the communist Red Russians. Russia had lost control of its western territory (Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and parts of Poland). Later during the World War II, the Soviet Union would take over Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and half of Poland.
+
+Another treaty, the Treaty of Sèvres, gave parts the defeated Ottoman Empire to the various victors. However, Greek and Turkish armies soon  started another war.
+
+The German Empire became the Weimar Republic. A big problem for Germany was to pay back a giant amount of money for the all of the damage done to the Allied countries, mostly France, during World War I. That made Germany one of the poorest countries in Europe for almost 20 years and caused political fighting in Germany.  Two important parties, the Communist Party, which wanted a communist revolution like that of Russia, and the Nazis, who thought that Germany should become the most powerful country in Europe, fought for many years.
+
+As Germany owed a huge amount of money to the Allies, it  started to get loans by the US (such as under the Dawes Plan). When the Great Depression hit in 1932, the US requested for all its money back. Germany refused to pay and printed more and more money to pay debts.  That led to hyperinflation and the Reichsmark was worthless.  The German economy was shattered. Many Germans hated the treaty, and some even wanted to fight another war to get rid of it.
+
+Also, the League of Nations created after Versailles was usually not powerful enough to stop wars. Japan took Manchuria and the League did not stop it. Italy invaded Ethiopia, and although the Ethiopian Emperor begged the League to help him, it did not do so. Germany, Japan and Italy left the League and became the Axis powers, and by invading many peaceful countries caused World War II. The United States and, for a time, the Soviet Union, did not even join the League even though it was the idea of US President Woodrow Wilson in the first place. The League was never taken seriously even though one reason that it was  created to make sure that the treaty was followed.
+
+The treaty failed to keep peace in the end and was a reason for Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, to win the support of many Germans to get rid of the "chains of Versailles", leading to World War II.
+
+. Langley, Andrew. Living through World War II. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library, 2012.

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+A treaty is a written agreement between two or more parties that consists international law. The parties may be countries or other important groups. A treaty  may be about any subject.
+
+Two countries might agree to stop a war, or declare war on a common enemy,  or allow each other's citizens or merchandise to cross borders freely. Treaties are usually used to settle disputes. The European Union is set up by treaties between most of the European nations.

ensimple/5764.html.txt

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+A treaty is a written agreement between two or more parties that consists international law. The parties may be countries or other important groups. A treaty  may be about any subject.
+
+Two countries might agree to stop a war, or declare war on a common enemy,  or allow each other's citizens or merchandise to cross borders freely. Treaties are usually used to settle disputes. The European Union is set up by treaties between most of the European nations.

ensimple/5765.html.txt

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+A treaty is a written agreement between two or more parties that consists international law. The parties may be countries or other important groups. A treaty  may be about any subject.
+
+Two countries might agree to stop a war, or declare war on a common enemy,  or allow each other's citizens or merchandise to cross borders freely. Treaties are usually used to settle disputes. The European Union is set up by treaties between most of the European nations.

ensimple/5766.html.txt

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+A treaty is a written agreement between two or more parties that consists international law. The parties may be countries or other important groups. A treaty  may be about any subject.
+
+Two countries might agree to stop a war, or declare war on a common enemy,  or allow each other's citizens or merchandise to cross borders freely. Treaties are usually used to settle disputes. The European Union is set up by treaties between most of the European nations.

ensimple/5767.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+A treaty is a written agreement between two or more parties that consists international law. The parties may be countries or other important groups. A treaty  may be about any subject.
+
+Two countries might agree to stop a war, or declare war on a common enemy,  or allow each other's citizens or merchandise to cross borders freely. Treaties are usually used to settle disputes. The European Union is set up by treaties between most of the European nations.

ensimple/5768.html.txt

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+The African slave trade was a trade in slaves and, like most of the world, has carried on for thousands of years in Africa. The first main route passed through the Sahara. After the Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western type of slavery. Despite being against the law, slavery continues in all parts of the world, including Africa. In Mauritania, slavery was not made illegal until August 2007.[1]
+

ensimple/5769.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+The African slave trade was a trade in slaves and, like most of the world, has carried on for thousands of years in Africa. The first main route passed through the Sahara. After the Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western type of slavery. Despite being against the law, slavery continues in all parts of the world, including Africa. In Mauritania, slavery was not made illegal until August 2007.[1]
+

ensimple/577.html.txt

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+Football (soccer)
+Basketball
+Rugby
+Gymnastics
+Baseball
+American football
+Cycling·Auto racing
+Cricket·Golf
+Field hockey·Handball
+Archery·Shooting
+Fencing·Weightlifting
+Pentathlon·Triathlon
+Horseback riding
+
+Swimming· Diving
+Water polo·Sailing
+Canoeing·Rowing
+
+Boxing·Wrestling
+Karate·Taekwondo
+
+Tennis· Volleyball
+Table tennis· Badminton
+
+Winter sports
+
+Skiing·Curling
+Bobsled·Luge
+Snowboarding·Biathlon
+Ice sledge hockey
+
+Basketball is a team sport where two teams, usually consisting of five players on each team, play against each other on a rectangular court. The objective is to get the ball through a hoop mounted high on a backboard on the opponent's side of the court, while preventing the opponent from shooting it into your team's hoop. It is a very popular sport worldwide, played with a round and usually orange(orange-brown) ball that bounces. Basketball players mainly use skills such as dribbling, shooting, running, and jumping. Each made basket is worth two points, while a basket made from beyond the three-point line is worth three points. If a player gets into too much physical contact, they may be given free throws which are worth one point each. The game typically lasts for four-quarters and the team with the most points at the end of the four-quarters win the game. If the score is tied at the end of the game, there will be something called overtime, which is additional play time to allow one team to win the match.
+
+The game is played between men's teams or between women's teams. Basketball has been played in the Summer Olympic Games since 1936. The shot clock rule started in 1954. The first basketball game took place in 1892, where the court was half the size of what it is today.In 1891 the game was invented by James Naismith.
+
+In early December 1891, James Naismith (1861–1939), a Canadian physical education teacher at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, invented an indoor game called basketball. He invented the sport to keep his students from becoming bored during the winter. Naismith wrote the basic rules and then nailed a peach basket onto a 20-foot tall pole. Unlike modern basketball hoops, the bottom of the peach-basket was still there, so after a point was scored, somebody had to get the ball out of the basket with a long stick. Over time, people made a hole at the bottom of the basket so the ball could go through more easily.  The first game of basketball was played at the International Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusetts. The score of the first game of basketball ever played was 1-0. There is a sculpture in Springfield, outside where the first game was held. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is also in Springfield.
+
+For that first game of basketball in 1891, Naismith used two half-bushel peach baskets as goals, which gave the sport its name. The students were enthusiastic. After much running and shooting, William R. Chase made a midcourt shot, which was the only score in that historic contest. Word spread about the newly invented game, and numerous associations wrote Naismith for a copy of the rules, which were published in the January 15, 1892, issue of the Triangle, the YMCA Training School's campus paper.
+
+Since the rules had not been formally written, there was no maximum number of players then, unlike today. This also meant that there were no set rules to the game; Naismith only observed how it was played and changed the rules accordingly.
+
+The aim of basketball is to score more points than the other team, by making the ball in the basket. Players on one team try to stop players on the other team from scoring. Baskets can be worth 1, 2, or 3 points. Each normal score is worth two points; however, if a player throws the ball into the hoop from behind the large arched line on the court, called the "3-point line," the score is worth three points. You get points by "shooting" (throwing or dropping) the ball into the opponents' basket. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
+The ball is moved forward by shooting, passing (throwing or handing off) or dribbling it. The ball may not be carried by a player who is walking or running without dribbling it. If this rule is violated, it is called a travel.
+
+The court, where the game is played, is a rectangle, and at both end lines there is a goal called a "hoop" in the shape of a circle basket with the bottom cut out.
+
+In each game of basketball these things are required:
+
+Basketball is played with two teams, with 5 players from each team on the court at one time. The maximum number of players on the bench differs by the league. In international play, a maximum of 7 players is allowed on the bench, resulting in a roster of 12 players. The NBA has 13-player rosters; college and high school teams have 15-player rosters. When a player wants to substitute for another player on the court, they let the score bench know. The referees will signal for the player waiting to come into the court. The player that was in the game comes off the court and the player that was  sitting on the bench goes inside the game. This is called a substitution. In regional matches, in some areas, a minimum of 3 players are required to be on the bench. In India, there might be leeway in the number depending on the category of the tournament you're playing in.
+
+A game of basketball is made up of four different quarters, each ten (or in the National Basketball Association, 12) minutes long. In the NCAA, or National Collegiate Athletic Association, there are 2  20 minute halves. At the start of every game the referee throws the basketball up in the air, and one player from each team tries to hit it to their teammates, that is called a "jump ball."
+
+At the start of each quarter the team who has the possession arrow pointing towards their hoop gets the ball. Then the arrow is switched, and the next team gets the ball next quarter.
+
+After four-quarters, the team who scores the most points wins. If the two teams score the same number of points, there is a five-minute "overtime" to see who can score more points. "Overtime" can be played over and over until one team finally scores more points.
+
+If a player does something illegal in the game, it is called a "foul." If a player fouls someone on the other team who is shooting the basketball, the player who was fouled gets to shoot "free throws" from the "foul line." A free throw is a shot that no one is allowed to try to block. A free throw is shot from the straight line in front of the hoop. Each successful free throw is worth one point.
+
+If a player fouls an opponent who is not shooting, the other team gets the ball, and can throw it in bounds from the sideline. Players can do three things with the ball: "dribble" (bounce) the ball, "pass" the ball to a teammate, or "shoot" the ball at the hoop. The player with the ball tries to keep the ball and not let the other team get it.
+
+The ball can't be kicked or hit with the fist. If this is violated, the other team gets possession of the ball and gets to throw it in from the nearest out of bounds area.
+
+Once a player commits five fouls, he is no longer allowed to play in the game, and a player on the bench must go in the game immediately. If a team commits four fouls, the opposing team gets to shoot a free throw on any next foul that doesn't involve shooting. (Depending on the league).
+
+In a game of basketball, there are a number of officials who are not from either team, who are there to help. Officials are important to the game, and help it run efficiently. Here is a list of some of these people:
+
+Fans and media in North America will often use "referee" to describe all on-court officials, whether their formal titles are "referee", "umpire", or "crew chief".
+
+There are some basketball terms that players have to understand when playing the game. Here are some terms:
+
+In professional basketball teams, each player has a position. A position is a job or role that a player has to take part in to play the game. If everyone is doing their job correctly, the team is usually successful.
+
+Other positions, more usual in professional basketball teams, are used in basketball.
+
+There are many types of basketball. Some are for people with disabilities, others are played more by a specific group, some are played using only half the court, and some are for when there are fewer players.
+
+This is the most popular "pick up game" variation of basketball. Pick up games are when teams are chosen on the court instead of having official teams. Due to there being no referee, this more casual game has more relaxed rules than official games. Instead of 5 players, there are only three players on each team, hence the name.
+
+While the exact rules vary from place to place, there are several common rules typically found in most games, including:
+
+There are officially sponsored 3 on 3 tournaments, though the game is mostly played without an official league.
+
+Variations with 2 player and 4 player teams often follow this same format.
+
+Twenty-one (21) is a variation of basketball that does not include teams. It is often played with odd-numbers of players or when there are too few players for 3 on 3 games.
+
+The object of 21 is to score exactly 21 points. Players keep track of their own scores and call out their points after making a basket. All players play defense against all other players and compete for the rebound on a miss.
+
+When a player makes a shot, he or she scores 2 points and is then awarded a chance to score an additional 3 points by attempting a series of free-throws. If a player makes a free-throw, he or she is awarded an additional point and an additional free-throw. If a player makes three straight free-throws they are then given the ball a the top of the key and the other players may then defend.
+
+One special rule is that if a player gets 20 points and then misses a free-throw, or scores 17 points and then makes all three free-throws, their score is set back to 15. This is because their next basket would put them over 21 points, and the object of the game is to get exactly 21.
+
+Due to there being no teams, there are a number of special rules to 21:
+
+The game H-O-R-S-E, (pronounced horse) is played by two or more players. The player in control of the ball tries to make a shot however they want. The other layer has to repeat their shot. If they miss, they get an H added, until they get enough letters to finish the word horse and they lose. If the player who has the ball missed their shot, no letter is added and control moves to the next player.
+
+In this variation, the players are all seated in a wheelchair. This is often played by people who cannot walk or are unable to play normal basketball. The rules are altered slightly, but the game follows the same general concepts.

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+The African slave trade was a trade in slaves and, like most of the world, has carried on for thousands of years in Africa. The first main route passed through the Sahara. After the Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western type of slavery. Despite being against the law, slavery continues in all parts of the world, including Africa. In Mauritania, slavery was not made illegal until August 2007.[1]
+

ensimple/5771.html.txt

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+A tram (tramcar, trolley, or streetcar) is a passenger vehicle that is like a light train. It carries people to places within a city. Because a single tram can carry many people at the same time, riding on a tram instead of driving a car is a good way to help prevent pollution and stop the roads getting too busy.
+
+The word tram is used mainly outside North America, while within North America these vehicles are called streetcars or trolleys as they run mainly on streets.
+
+More modern and larger trams manufactured since the 1970s, such as the one in the second picture from Warsaw, are called light rail vehicles.  These vehicles are bigger because they are very often made of two or more parts, with a bendy section in the middle which works like a human joint.  In railway jargon, these types of vehicles are called "articulated".  These may sometimes have their own right-of-way instead of traveling on the street and their stops are usually farther apart than the stops of trams so that they can travel faster.
+
+On Market Street in San Francisco, vintage streetcars from the 1910s through the 1940s, called "historic streetcars" (the F Market line), that travel on the street are a popular tourist attraction.  Another city whose trams are highly used by tourists is Hong Kong, because here the trams have two floors which is very rare in the world.
+
+The largest tram networks in the world are in: Melbourne, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Moscow and Vienna.
+
+Trams first came into use in the 1890s, when they replaced horsecars--streetcars drawn by horses.
+
+In the 1910s to 1930s, in many metropolitan areas in North America, there were special bigger and longer streetcars that traveled long distances to distant suburbs on what were called interurban lines.  These streetcar lines sometimes had "dedicated tracks" with their own right-of-way (land surrounding the tracks) and made fewer local stops.
+
+In the late 1940s and early 1950s, in the United States, there was a conspiracy by Standard Oil, General Motors, and Firestone Rubber. They formed a company called National City Lines to buy streetcar systems, tear up the tracks, and replace them with buses in almost all the cities in North America.  They did this so they could make bigger profits by selling more oil, buses, cars and rubber tires.  Because of this, it was necessary to spend  hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds in the 1980s and 1990s to reconstruct the streetcar systems as light rail systems using light rail vehicles.  This conspiracy is somewhat referred to in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

ensimple/5772.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+A tram (tramcar, trolley, or streetcar) is a passenger vehicle that is like a light train. It carries people to places within a city. Because a single tram can carry many people at the same time, riding on a tram instead of driving a car is a good way to help prevent pollution and stop the roads getting too busy.
+
+The word tram is used mainly outside North America, while within North America these vehicles are called streetcars or trolleys as they run mainly on streets.
+
+More modern and larger trams manufactured since the 1970s, such as the one in the second picture from Warsaw, are called light rail vehicles.  These vehicles are bigger because they are very often made of two or more parts, with a bendy section in the middle which works like a human joint.  In railway jargon, these types of vehicles are called "articulated".  These may sometimes have their own right-of-way instead of traveling on the street and their stops are usually farther apart than the stops of trams so that they can travel faster.
+
+On Market Street in San Francisco, vintage streetcars from the 1910s through the 1940s, called "historic streetcars" (the F Market line), that travel on the street are a popular tourist attraction.  Another city whose trams are highly used by tourists is Hong Kong, because here the trams have two floors which is very rare in the world.
+
+The largest tram networks in the world are in: Melbourne, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Moscow and Vienna.
+
+Trams first came into use in the 1890s, when they replaced horsecars--streetcars drawn by horses.
+
+In the 1910s to 1930s, in many metropolitan areas in North America, there were special bigger and longer streetcars that traveled long distances to distant suburbs on what were called interurban lines.  These streetcar lines sometimes had "dedicated tracks" with their own right-of-way (land surrounding the tracks) and made fewer local stops.
+
+In the late 1940s and early 1950s, in the United States, there was a conspiracy by Standard Oil, General Motors, and Firestone Rubber. They formed a company called National City Lines to buy streetcar systems, tear up the tracks, and replace them with buses in almost all the cities in North America.  They did this so they could make bigger profits by selling more oil, buses, cars and rubber tires.  Because of this, it was necessary to spend  hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds in the 1980s and 1990s to reconstruct the streetcar systems as light rail systems using light rail vehicles.  This conspiracy is somewhat referred to in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

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+Digestion is the process in which breakdown of food from larger to smaller food .
+
+Digestion occurs in three phases. Mechanical digestion is the physical breakdown of large pieces of food into smaller pieces which can be got at by digestive enzymes. In chemical digestion, enzymes break down food into the small molecules the body can use. Finally, the nutrients are absorbed into the blood stream. Once in the blood stream the nutrients are taken to the liver, which is a kind of chemical factory for the body.
+
+After we swallow food, it travels down a muscular tube to the stomach. There, it is mashed into a mixture like soup. The mixture passes into the small intestine, where tiny bits of food pass into the bloodstream. The food that is still left goes into the large intestine. Finally, waste products leave the body. Digestion usually takes about 18 hours. Food stays in the stomach for about three hours.[1] If uncoiled, the small intestine would be about six meters (20 feet) long.[2] Many digestive tracts are about as long as a bus.[2]
+
+Food slowly enters the small intestine from the stomach. This is where nutrients are taken into the blood. It then enters the large intestine. Water is taken away from it. The food that is left is called feces. The feces are stored in the rectum until the waste can leave the body through the anus.

ensimple/5774.html.txt

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+A tram (tramcar, trolley, or streetcar) is a passenger vehicle that is like a light train. It carries people to places within a city. Because a single tram can carry many people at the same time, riding on a tram instead of driving a car is a good way to help prevent pollution and stop the roads getting too busy.
+
+The word tram is used mainly outside North America, while within North America these vehicles are called streetcars or trolleys as they run mainly on streets.
+
+More modern and larger trams manufactured since the 1970s, such as the one in the second picture from Warsaw, are called light rail vehicles.  These vehicles are bigger because they are very often made of two or more parts, with a bendy section in the middle which works like a human joint.  In railway jargon, these types of vehicles are called "articulated".  These may sometimes have their own right-of-way instead of traveling on the street and their stops are usually farther apart than the stops of trams so that they can travel faster.
+
+On Market Street in San Francisco, vintage streetcars from the 1910s through the 1940s, called "historic streetcars" (the F Market line), that travel on the street are a popular tourist attraction.  Another city whose trams are highly used by tourists is Hong Kong, because here the trams have two floors which is very rare in the world.
+
+The largest tram networks in the world are in: Melbourne, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Moscow and Vienna.
+
+Trams first came into use in the 1890s, when they replaced horsecars--streetcars drawn by horses.
+
+In the 1910s to 1930s, in many metropolitan areas in North America, there were special bigger and longer streetcars that traveled long distances to distant suburbs on what were called interurban lines.  These streetcar lines sometimes had "dedicated tracks" with their own right-of-way (land surrounding the tracks) and made fewer local stops.
+
+In the late 1940s and early 1950s, in the United States, there was a conspiracy by Standard Oil, General Motors, and Firestone Rubber. They formed a company called National City Lines to buy streetcar systems, tear up the tracks, and replace them with buses in almost all the cities in North America.  They did this so they could make bigger profits by selling more oil, buses, cars and rubber tires.  Because of this, it was necessary to spend  hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds in the 1980s and 1990s to reconstruct the streetcar systems as light rail systems using light rail vehicles.  This conspiracy is somewhat referred to in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

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+Rail transport is the movement of passengers and goods using wheeled vehicles, made to run on railway tracks. In most countries, this transportation method helps trade and economic growth. Railways (UK) or railroads (North America) provide an energy-efficient [2] way to transport material over land. The railway tracks are a large part of the system and provide smooth and hard surfaces on which the wheels of the train roll with a little friction. Also, the track spreads the weight of the train which means larger amounts can be carried than with trucks and roads.
+
+Rail transport started to be important in the Industrial Revolution.  The first railroads were built in England.
+

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+Transport, or transportation, is moving people or things from one place to another place.[1] Transport can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations.
+
+Infrastructure includes roads, railways, airports, canals and pipelines. The infrastructure is the network where things are carried. Infrastructure also includes airports, railway stations, bus stations and seaports (docks). Infrastructure is usually built by governments and paid for by taxes from the citizens of a country or region. Infrastructure such as roads and railways are designed by civil engineers and urban planners.
+
+Vehicles or vessels travel on the infrastructure. Vehicles include cars, trucks, trains and airplanes. Vehicles are usually designed by mechanical engineers. Vessels include boats, ferries, and barges which travel on canals and use docks and seaports. In the same way that trains use train stations, airplanes use airports. In the same way that trains use railway lines (train tracks), airplanes use flight paths and then fly in the sky.[2]
+
+Operations control the system. Operations include traffic signals, railway signals and air traffic control. Operations also include the government policies (a policy is a plan of action to guide decisions and actions) and regulations (a set or group of laws and rules) used to control the system, such as tolls, fuel taxes, and traffic laws.
+
+Transport and communication can be used instead of each other (someone could telephone a person rather than visit them). Transport traffic also needs communication.  For example, air traffic control lets more airplanes fly.  So, an increase of either transport or communication usually leads to an increase in the other one.
+
+Transport uses a lot of energy. Most transport uses hydrocarbons (oil and gas). This can create pollution. Environmental regulations (laws) and low-pollution fuels (for example liquified natural gas) can reduce pollution. But as more vehicles are used, more pollution is created.  Ethanol and biodiesel pollute less than petroleum.
+
+Transport can be by land, water or air:
+
+Media related to Transport at Wikimedia Commons

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+A trapezoid (in North America) or trapezium (in Britain and elsewhere) is a quadrilateral, which is defined as a shape with four sides, which has one set of parallel sides. In North America, they call a trapezium as an irregular quadrilateral by people outside of North America.
+
+To calculate the area of a trapezoid, you must add the two parallel sides together, divide that by 2, then times that by its height.

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+The Labors of Herakles is a series of tasks performed by the Greek hero Herakles (Latin: Hercules) as a penance for a terrible crime he committed. These tasks required great strength and courage. For the most part, they involved killing fierce animals and horrible monsters. The Labors were said to have been devised by Hera, the goddess of marriage.  She hated Herakles because he was a bastard son of her husband Zeus. She hoped these tasks would kill him. Herakles however performed them with great success, and, in the process, became very famous. The Labors of Herakles probably had their origin in the religious and magical practices of prehistoric man. They are the subject of ancient and modern art.
+
+Mortals die, but gods live forever. Herakles was part mortal, part god. His father was the god Zeus and his mother was the mortal Alkmene. Zeus' wife Hera was the goddess of marriage. She hated Herakles because he was one of her husband's bastards. She tried many times to kill him, even when he was a baby. He lived in spite of Hera's persecution and hatred, and did many great deeds as a young man.
+
+Herakles married Megara, the daughter of a king. They became the parents of several children. Hera caused Herakles to go mad and to kill his family. The priestess of Delphi ordered Herakles to serve his cousin King Eurystheus of Tiryns as a penance for this crime. Eurystheus would present a series of tasks to Herakles. These tasks were said to have been designed by Hera herself in the hope that they would kill Herakles.
+
+There is no definite order for the Labors. Most of the time, however, the order is: Nemean Lion, Lernean Hydra, Cerynitian Hind, Erymanthian Boar, Augean Stables, Stymphalian Birds, Cretan Bull, Mares of Diomedes, Girdle of Hippolyta, Cattle of Geryon, Apples of the Hesperides, and Kerberos. The order here is that of the sculptures called metopes on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. These sculptures (made about 460–450 BC) were placed high on the outside of the temple in a frieze. Their order was described by the ancient Greek geographer, Pausanias. Some of these metopes are used in this article to illustrate the Labors. The first group of six metopes are from the west end of the temple. The second group of six are from the east end. Some of the illustrations here are taken from Greek vase paintings. The Labors of Herakles became the subject of much ancient and modern art, and even movies like Hercules (1958) starring Steve Reeves and the Walt Disney animated movie Hercules (1997).
+
+A large and dangerous lion was terrorizing the people and animals near the city of Nemea. Weapons of iron, bronze, or stone could not pierce the lion's thick hide (skin). Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill and skin this lion.[1]
+
+Herakles went to the region of Nemea and stayed with a poor man named Molorchos at Kleonai. Molorchos' son had been killed by this lion. Molorchos wanted to sacrifice his only ram to Herakles, but Herakles asked him to wait thirty days. If he did not return within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to him as a hero. If he returned within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to Zeus the Deliverer.[2]
+
+Herakles found the lion outside its lair on Mount Tretos. His arrows and sword were useless against the beast. He hit the lion with his club and the animal went into his lair. Herakles blocked one of the two openings to the cavern with nets, then entered the cavern. He wrestled the lion and choked it to death. The lion bit off one of his fingers. He returned to Molorchos' hovel with the lion's carcass on his back. The two men sacrificed to Zeus.[3]
+
+When Herakles presented the dead animal to Eurystheus, the king was disgusted. He ordered Herakles to leave such things outside the gates of Tiryns in the future. Eurystheus then put a large bronze jar underground. This was the place where he would hide whenever Herakles returned to the city with some trophy of his Labors. Zeus put the lion among the stars as the constellation Leo.[4]
+
+In the future, Eurystheus would only communicate with Herakles through Kopreus, his dungman. Herakles skinned the lion with one of its own claws. He wore the skin as a kind of armor and the lion's skull as a helmet.[5] Euripides wrote in his play Herakles:"First he cleared the grove of Zeus of a lion, and put its skin upon his back, hiding his yellow hair in its fearful tawny gaping jaws."[6]
+
+The origin of the Nemean Lion is not certain. Some say he was the son of either Typhon or the Chimera and the dog Orthros. Some say the moon goddess Selene gave birth to the lion and let it fall to Earth near a two-mouthed cave at Nemea. She set it against the people because they had failed to properly observe her worship. Some say that Hera had Selene create the lion from sea foam and that Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, carried it to Nemea.[7] Others say the lion was the son of the snake goddess Echidna and her son, the dog Orthos.  This would make the lion a brother to the Sphinx of Thebes.  Hera was said to have brought the lion from the eastern land of the Arimoi and to have released it near Nemea.[8]
+
+The Hydra ("water-snake") was a monster with many heads. She lived beneath a plane tree near the spring called Amymone. This spring was near the seaside city of Lerna. She was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and the sister of Kerebos.[9] Hera raised the Hydra to torment Herakles. The Hydra had a dog-like body.[10] Its breath was poisonous. The head in the middle of the monster was immortal—it could not die. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill this monster. Herakles and his nephew Iolaos (the son of his brother Iphicles) drove to the swamp near Lerna in Herakles' war chariot.[11] Iolaos was Heracles' charioteer and his lover.[12]
+
+Athena told Herakles to force the monster from the swamp with fire arrows. He did, but the monster twisted itself about his feet. He beat the heads with his club, but crushing one head only caused others to erupt. A great crab crawled from the swamp to help the Hydra. It bit Herakles in the foot. He crushed its shell. Herakles called Iolaos for his help and cut the Hydra's heads off with his sword. Iolaos sealed the neck stumps with torches so other heads could not grow in their place.[11]
+
+The Hydra was at last killed. Herakles cut off the immortal head and buried it under a heavy stone in the road. He dipped his arrowheads in the Hydra's poisonous blood. They became deadly.[13] Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus would not count this adventure as a Labor because Herakles had had his nephew's help. He added another Labor to the list. Hera set the crab in the sky as a constellation.[14][15] The river Anigrus in Elis stank because the Hydra's poison was washed from the arrows Heracles used to kill the centaur Nessus in its waters.[16]
+
+The Stymphalian Birds were man-eating birds living on the shores of Lake Stymphalos in north-eastern Arcadia. The birds were sacred to Ares, the god of war. Their feces poisoned the land and crops would not grow. The birds attacked men with their bronze beaks and claws. They could rain down their sharp bronze feathers to kill men and their animals.[17]
+
+Herakles failed to drive them off with his arrows. Athena gave him a set of metal castanets (or a rattle) made by the blacksmith of the gods, Hephaestus. Herakles climbed to a rocky place over the lake and made so much noise with the castanets that the birds flew as far as the Isle of Ares in the Black Sea. Herakles was able to kill many of them with his arrows as they flew away.[17]
+
+Some say the birds were women. Artemis Stymphalia ruled the swamps about the lake. Her temple there had pictures of young girls with the feet of birds. These girls lured men to their deaths in the swamps. They were said to be the daughters of Stymphalos and Ornis. These two were killed by Herakles when they would not give him food, drink, and a place to rest.[18][19]
+
+The Cretan Bull rose from the sea. Poseidon, god of the sea, intended King Minos to sacrifice the bull, but it was so handsome that Minos kept it for himself. He sent it to mate with his cows, then sacrificed another bull to Poseidon. The god was angry and caused Minos' wife, Queen Pasiphaë, to develop a sexual desire for the animal.[20]
+
+She mated with it and gave birth to a son. This son was the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The Cretan Bull went mad. Heracules captured it by throwing a rope about its head and about a leg. Some say he wrestled it, or stunned it with his club.[20]
+
+Minos let Heracules take the bull to Greece. Eurystheus wanted to give the bull to Hera but she would not take it because Heracules had captured it. She let it go and it wandered about Greece. Theseus of Athens finally captured it and sacrificed it to Athena, or some say, Apollo.[21] The bull had spent its days in Crete destroying crops and belching fire.[22]
+
+When Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was a child, she saw five hinds (female deer) grazing near the Anaurus River in Thessaly. Each was as large as a bull, each had hooves of bronze, and all had antlers of gold.  She caught four of them, and used them to pull her chariot. The fifth escaped the goddess and lived on the Keryneian Hill in Arkadia. Hera planned to use this hind against Herakles someday.[23]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this hind and bring it alive to Tiryns. The danger in this Labor lay in pursuing the hind through wild lands from which no hunter ever returned.[24] Herakles hunted the hind for a year, chasing it through Istria and the Land of the Hyperboreans. The hind took refuge on Mount Artemision. Herakles let fly an arrow that pinned the hind's forelegs (front legs) together without drawing blood. He put the hind on his shoulders and took her back to Tiryns.[25]
+
+Artemis and Apollo stopped Herakles on his way to Tiryns. On some vases, Apollo is seen trying to forcibly take the hind from Herakles.  Herakles however lay the blame for the theft on Eurystheus. Artemis accepted this plea and allowed him to pass.[26] Some say Herakles used a net to capture the hind or captured her when she was asleep under a tree.[25]
+
+Eurystheus' daughter Admete was a priestess of Hera.[27] She wanted the Golden Girdle (belt) of Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazons. This girdle had been a gift to Hippolyte from her father, Ares, the god of war. The Amazons were all related to Ares. They hated men and mated only to make more female warriors. Baby boys were killed or crippled. The lives of these women were devoted to war.
+
+Herakles and friends sailed to their land of Pontos on the Black Sea. The Amazons lived at the mouth of the Thermodon River.[20] Hippolyte welcomed Herakles. She fell in love with his muscles and his great fame. She promised him the girdle as a love token. Hera disguised herself as an Amazon. She whispered among others that Herakles was going to kidnap the Queen. The Amazons charged Herakles' ship on horseback. Herakles killed Hippolyte, and took the girdle. Many Amazons were killed.[28]
+
+Some say Hippolyte would not part with the girdle. Herakles threw her from her horse and threatened her with his club. She would not ask for mercy. Herakles killed her.[29] Some say Hippolyte's sister Melanippe was taken prisoner. She was ransomed with the girdle. Some say Hippolyte herself was taken prisoner and ransomed with the girdle. Others say Theseus took Hippolyte prisoner and gave the girdle to Herakles.[28] Herakles gave the girdle to Eurystheus, who gave it to Admete.[30]
+
+A large and dangerous boar was living on Mount Erymanthos. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this boar.[31] On Mount Erymanthos, Herakles forced the boar from the wood with his shouts. He then drove the boar into deep snow and jumped on its back. He put the boar in chains, placed it on his shoulders, and took it to Eurystheus. The king was so scared he hid in his bronze jar.[32][33] Herakles left the boar in the market square of Tiryns. He then joined the Argonauts on the Quest for the Golden Fleece.[34]
+
+Mount Erymanthos took its name from a son of Apollo. Aphrodite blinded him because he saw her taking a bath. Apollo was angry. He turned himself into a boar and killed her boyfriend Adonis.[31]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him the Horses of King Diomedes of Thrace. King Diomedes' horses were savage man-eaters, and were fed on the flesh of Diomedes' innocent guests. Herakles and his friends sailed to the coast of Thrace. Having found the stables of Diomedes, they killed the king's servants. They then put Diomedes before the horses. The animals tore him to pieces and ate him. The horses grew calm after feeding, and were led to the ship. Herakles sent them to Eurystheus.[35]
+
+Diomedes was the son of Ares, the god of war, and the king of the Bistones, a Thracian tribe of warlike people. While travelling in connection with this Labor, Herakles visited King Admetos. His wife Alcestis had just died. Herakles wrestled Death for Alcestis and he won. Alcestis was returned to life. This event is the basis for Euripides' play Alcestis. Eurystheus dedicated the savage horses to Hera. They were said to have bred into the age of Alexander the Great.
+
+Another story says Herakles captured the horses and drove them to his ship. Diomedes and his men chased the thieves. Herakles and his friends left the ship to fight the king and his men. The horses of Diomedes were left in the care of Abderos, Herakles' male lover. The horses ate him. Herakles built the city of Abdera in his memory. It was after this Labor that Herakles joined the Quest for the Golden Fleece. He dropped out of the search when his lover Hylas was lost on a strange island. Some say Herakles went on to Kolchis and rejoined the Quest. Others say he returned to Tiryns and the Labors.[36]
+
+Geryon was a very strong giant with three bodies, six hands, and three heads. He was the King of Tartessus in Spain.[37] He had wings, and the picture on his shield was an eagle.[38] He lived on an island called Erytheia. This island was far to the west in Okeanos, the river that circles the Earth. At night, the Sun sailed upon this river in a Golden Cup.[39]
+
+Geryon had large herds of cattle.[39] They were watched over by Eurytion, Geryon's servant, and a huge two-headed dog named Orthrus, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.[37] King Eurystheus ordered Herakles to capture Geryon's cattle.[39]
+
+Herakles crossed the Libyan desert. At the narrow channel that separates Europe and Africa, he built the Pillars of Herakles.[40] The Sun was hot and Herakles threatened to shoot him with his bow and arrows. The Sun asked him not to do this. Herakles agreed. He borrowed the Sun's Golden Cup and sailed away in it. The Titan Oceanus tested Herakles' seamanship by causing violent waves. Herakles threatened to shoot Oceanus, too. Oceanus calmed the waves. Some say Herakles sailed in an urn and used his lion skin as a sail.[41]
+
+On Geryon's island, Herakles killed the two-headed dog Orthos and the servant Eurytion, who tried to help the dog. Herakles was driving the cattle to the Golden Cup when Geryon appeared, ready to fight. Herakles shot him down and sailed away with the cattle.[42] Herakles had many adventures on his return to Greece. On the Greek coast, Hera sent gadflies to drive the herd of cattle far and wide. Herkales managed to round-up a few and these he presented to Eurystheus. He sacrificed them to Hera.[43]
+
+Hera received golden apples as a gift when she married. She planted them in her garden far to the west near Mount Atlas. It was on this mountain that the Titan Atlas held the sky on his shoulders. He was being punished for having joined the other Titans in making war on Zeus. When Hera heard his daughters were stealing from the garden, she sent a one hundred-headed dragon called Ladon to the garden to protect the apples. Three nymphs called the Hesperides also guarded the apples.
+
+Eurystheus wanted Herakles to bring him three golden apples. Herakles set off. The river god Nereus refused to give him directions and changed his shape again and again. Herakles tied him to a tree until he told the way. In the Caucasus, Herakles freed the Titan Prometheus, the fire-bringer, from his chains. Prometheus warned Herakles not to pick the apples himself, but to ask someone else to do it.
+
+Herakles asked Atlas to pick the apples. The Titan agreed, but only if Herakles would kill the dragon and then take the sky on his shoulders. Herakles killed the dragon and took the sky on his shoulders. Atlas picked the apples but refused to take the sky again. He liked being free. Herakles tricked him. He asked Atlas to take the sky — only for a moment — while he put a cushion on his shoulders. Atlas took the sky. Herakles took the apples and headed for Tiryns. Eurystheus did not know what to do with the apples. He gave them to Herakles. Athena returned the apples to the garden, because they did, after all, belong to the gods.[44]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him Kerberos, a three-headed dog-like monster with a dragon's tail and a mane of poisonous snakes. It guarded the entrance to the Underworld. The three heads could see the past, present, and future. Some say they represented birth, youth, and old age.[45] Kerberos allowed the dead to enter the Underworld, but anyone who tried to leave was eaten.[46] Kerberos was the offspring of Echidna, a monster part woman/part snake, and Typhon, a fire-breathing giant. Kerberos' brother was the two-headed dog Orthrus.[47]
+
+Herakles' first step was to undergo the Mysteries of Eleusis. These rites would protect him in the land of the dead. They would also cleanse him of the massacre of the Centaurs. Athena and Hermes guided Herakles into the Underworld. He was ferried across the River Styx in Charon's boat. On the opposite shore, he met the Gorgon, Medusa. She was a harmless phantom and he passed her without trouble. He met Meleagros and offered to marry his sister, Deianeira. Eventually, he did. When Herakles asked Hades for Kerberos, Hades allowed him to take the monster, but only if he could do so without using his weapons. Herakles wrestled the monster and choked it. Once the monster had yielded, he led it away.
+
+As they neared the Earth's surface, Kerberos tossed his three heads because he hated the sunlight. His spit flew in all directions. From that spit grew the poisonous plant, aconite. When Heracles arrived in Tiryns, Eurystheus was performing a sacrifice. The king gave the best cuts of meat to his relatives and only a slave's portion of meat to Herakles. Herakles was furious with this insult and killed Eurystheus' three sons. Eurystheus was terrified when presented with Kerberos and hid in his bronze jar. Herakles took Kerberos back to the Underworld. Another account says the monster escaped.[48][49][50] This Labor is the twelfth and last Labor in some accounts.
+
+King Augeias of Elis lived on the west coast of the Peloponnese. He was a son of Helios, the sun god. It was said that the rays of the sun shone in his eyes.[51] Augeias had many cattle. His animals were always healthy, and gave birth to many young.  His stables had not been cleaned in years and were thick with animal waste. The valleys were also full of waste. The smell of this waste poisoned the land. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to clean the stables in a day. He liked the thought of Herakles doing such dirty work.[52]
+
+Herakles went to Elis. He did not tell Augeias that Eurystheus had ordered him to clean the stables.Instead, he made a bargain with Augeias. He promised to clean the stables if Augeias would give him some of his cattle. The bargain was made. Augeias' son Phyleos acted as witness. Herakles set to work. First, he made two holes in the stone foundation of the stables. Then he changed the paths of the Alpheios and Peneios Rivers. The rivers were made to flow through one hole and out the other. This is how the stables were washed clean.[53]
+
+Augeias learned from Eurystheus' servant Copreus that Eurystheus had ordered Herakles to clean the stables.[54] He would not respect the bargain he had made with Herakles. Herakles took the case to court. Phyleos was called to court and told the truth about the bargain. Augeias was so angry he drove his son and Herakles out of the land. Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus said that the Labor did not count because Herakles had made a bargain with Augeias. Eurystheus also thought that the river gods had really done the work.[55][56]
+
+This Labor was the last one presented in the frieze on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. It was important to the Greeks because one day Herakles made war on Augeias and defeated him. Herakles then laid out the Olympian sanctuary in the land of King Augeias and started the Olympic Games.[57] It was said that Menedemus of Elis gave Herakles advice on this Labor and that the hero had the help of his nephew Iolaos.[54] While Augeias and Herakles were making their bargain, Phaeton, one of Augeias' twelve white bulls, charged Herakles. These white bulls guarded all the cattle against wild animals. Phaeton thought the hero was a lion. Herakles forced the bull to the Earth by twisting its horn.[58] Herakles was going to get Augeias' daughter as part of the bargain, but he did not. This was given as one reason for making war later on Augeias. He was also going to become Augeias' slave if the work was not done in one day.[53]

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+Colour or color[1] is a property of light as seen by people. Most of the world's spelling of the word is colour, the word color is used in American English.
+
+The most common colour names are:
+
+"Primary colours" can be mixed to make the other colours. Red, yellow and blue are the three traditional primary colours. The primary colours for television screens and computer monitors are red, green and blue. Printers use magenta, yellow and cyan as their primary colours; they also use black.
+
+People who can not see colours or have a distorted sense of colour are called colour blind. Most colour blind people are male.
+
+Colours are sometimes added to food. Food colouring is used to colour food, but some foods have natural colourings, like beta carotene.
+
+When something has no colour, it is transparent. An example is air.
+
+A translucent material is not the same as a colourless material because it can still have a colour, like stained glass.
+

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+Football (soccer)
+Basketball
+Rugby
+Gymnastics
+Baseball
+American football
+Cycling·Auto racing
+Cricket·Golf
+Field hockey·Handball
+Archery·Shooting
+Fencing·Weightlifting
+Pentathlon·Triathlon
+Horseback riding
+
+Swimming· Diving
+Water polo·Sailing
+Canoeing·Rowing
+
+Boxing·Wrestling
+Karate·Taekwondo
+
+Tennis· Volleyball
+Table tennis· Badminton
+
+Winter sports
+
+Skiing·Curling
+Bobsled·Luge
+Snowboarding·Biathlon
+Ice sledge hockey
+
+Basketball is a team sport where two teams, usually consisting of five players on each team, play against each other on a rectangular court. The objective is to get the ball through a hoop mounted high on a backboard on the opponent's side of the court, while preventing the opponent from shooting it into your team's hoop. It is a very popular sport worldwide, played with a round and usually orange(orange-brown) ball that bounces. Basketball players mainly use skills such as dribbling, shooting, running, and jumping. Each made basket is worth two points, while a basket made from beyond the three-point line is worth three points. If a player gets into too much physical contact, they may be given free throws which are worth one point each. The game typically lasts for four-quarters and the team with the most points at the end of the four-quarters win the game. If the score is tied at the end of the game, there will be something called overtime, which is additional play time to allow one team to win the match.
+
+The game is played between men's teams or between women's teams. Basketball has been played in the Summer Olympic Games since 1936. The shot clock rule started in 1954. The first basketball game took place in 1892, where the court was half the size of what it is today.In 1891 the game was invented by James Naismith.
+
+In early December 1891, James Naismith (1861–1939), a Canadian physical education teacher at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, invented an indoor game called basketball. He invented the sport to keep his students from becoming bored during the winter. Naismith wrote the basic rules and then nailed a peach basket onto a 20-foot tall pole. Unlike modern basketball hoops, the bottom of the peach-basket was still there, so after a point was scored, somebody had to get the ball out of the basket with a long stick. Over time, people made a hole at the bottom of the basket so the ball could go through more easily.  The first game of basketball was played at the International Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusetts. The score of the first game of basketball ever played was 1-0. There is a sculpture in Springfield, outside where the first game was held. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is also in Springfield.
+
+For that first game of basketball in 1891, Naismith used two half-bushel peach baskets as goals, which gave the sport its name. The students were enthusiastic. After much running and shooting, William R. Chase made a midcourt shot, which was the only score in that historic contest. Word spread about the newly invented game, and numerous associations wrote Naismith for a copy of the rules, which were published in the January 15, 1892, issue of the Triangle, the YMCA Training School's campus paper.
+
+Since the rules had not been formally written, there was no maximum number of players then, unlike today. This also meant that there were no set rules to the game; Naismith only observed how it was played and changed the rules accordingly.
+
+The aim of basketball is to score more points than the other team, by making the ball in the basket. Players on one team try to stop players on the other team from scoring. Baskets can be worth 1, 2, or 3 points. Each normal score is worth two points; however, if a player throws the ball into the hoop from behind the large arched line on the court, called the "3-point line," the score is worth three points. You get points by "shooting" (throwing or dropping) the ball into the opponents' basket. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
+The ball is moved forward by shooting, passing (throwing or handing off) or dribbling it. The ball may not be carried by a player who is walking or running without dribbling it. If this rule is violated, it is called a travel.
+
+The court, where the game is played, is a rectangle, and at both end lines there is a goal called a "hoop" in the shape of a circle basket with the bottom cut out.
+
+In each game of basketball these things are required:
+
+Basketball is played with two teams, with 5 players from each team on the court at one time. The maximum number of players on the bench differs by the league. In international play, a maximum of 7 players is allowed on the bench, resulting in a roster of 12 players. The NBA has 13-player rosters; college and high school teams have 15-player rosters. When a player wants to substitute for another player on the court, they let the score bench know. The referees will signal for the player waiting to come into the court. The player that was in the game comes off the court and the player that was  sitting on the bench goes inside the game. This is called a substitution. In regional matches, in some areas, a minimum of 3 players are required to be on the bench. In India, there might be leeway in the number depending on the category of the tournament you're playing in.
+
+A game of basketball is made up of four different quarters, each ten (or in the National Basketball Association, 12) minutes long. In the NCAA, or National Collegiate Athletic Association, there are 2  20 minute halves. At the start of every game the referee throws the basketball up in the air, and one player from each team tries to hit it to their teammates, that is called a "jump ball."
+
+At the start of each quarter the team who has the possession arrow pointing towards their hoop gets the ball. Then the arrow is switched, and the next team gets the ball next quarter.
+
+After four-quarters, the team who scores the most points wins. If the two teams score the same number of points, there is a five-minute "overtime" to see who can score more points. "Overtime" can be played over and over until one team finally scores more points.
+
+If a player does something illegal in the game, it is called a "foul." If a player fouls someone on the other team who is shooting the basketball, the player who was fouled gets to shoot "free throws" from the "foul line." A free throw is a shot that no one is allowed to try to block. A free throw is shot from the straight line in front of the hoop. Each successful free throw is worth one point.
+
+If a player fouls an opponent who is not shooting, the other team gets the ball, and can throw it in bounds from the sideline. Players can do three things with the ball: "dribble" (bounce) the ball, "pass" the ball to a teammate, or "shoot" the ball at the hoop. The player with the ball tries to keep the ball and not let the other team get it.
+
+The ball can't be kicked or hit with the fist. If this is violated, the other team gets possession of the ball and gets to throw it in from the nearest out of bounds area.
+
+Once a player commits five fouls, he is no longer allowed to play in the game, and a player on the bench must go in the game immediately. If a team commits four fouls, the opposing team gets to shoot a free throw on any next foul that doesn't involve shooting. (Depending on the league).
+
+In a game of basketball, there are a number of officials who are not from either team, who are there to help. Officials are important to the game, and help it run efficiently. Here is a list of some of these people:
+
+Fans and media in North America will often use "referee" to describe all on-court officials, whether their formal titles are "referee", "umpire", or "crew chief".
+
+There are some basketball terms that players have to understand when playing the game. Here are some terms:
+
+In professional basketball teams, each player has a position. A position is a job or role that a player has to take part in to play the game. If everyone is doing their job correctly, the team is usually successful.
+
+Other positions, more usual in professional basketball teams, are used in basketball.
+
+There are many types of basketball. Some are for people with disabilities, others are played more by a specific group, some are played using only half the court, and some are for when there are fewer players.
+
+This is the most popular "pick up game" variation of basketball. Pick up games are when teams are chosen on the court instead of having official teams. Due to there being no referee, this more casual game has more relaxed rules than official games. Instead of 5 players, there are only three players on each team, hence the name.
+
+While the exact rules vary from place to place, there are several common rules typically found in most games, including:
+
+There are officially sponsored 3 on 3 tournaments, though the game is mostly played without an official league.
+
+Variations with 2 player and 4 player teams often follow this same format.
+
+Twenty-one (21) is a variation of basketball that does not include teams. It is often played with odd-numbers of players or when there are too few players for 3 on 3 games.
+
+The object of 21 is to score exactly 21 points. Players keep track of their own scores and call out their points after making a basket. All players play defense against all other players and compete for the rebound on a miss.
+
+When a player makes a shot, he or she scores 2 points and is then awarded a chance to score an additional 3 points by attempting a series of free-throws. If a player makes a free-throw, he or she is awarded an additional point and an additional free-throw. If a player makes three straight free-throws they are then given the ball a the top of the key and the other players may then defend.
+
+One special rule is that if a player gets 20 points and then misses a free-throw, or scores 17 points and then makes all three free-throws, their score is set back to 15. This is because their next basket would put them over 21 points, and the object of the game is to get exactly 21.
+
+Due to there being no teams, there are a number of special rules to 21:
+
+The game H-O-R-S-E, (pronounced horse) is played by two or more players. The player in control of the ball tries to make a shot however they want. The other layer has to repeat their shot. If they miss, they get an H added, until they get enough letters to finish the word horse and they lose. If the player who has the ball missed their shot, no letter is added and control moves to the next player.
+
+In this variation, the players are all seated in a wheelchair. This is often played by people who cannot walk or are unable to play normal basketball. The rules are altered slightly, but the game follows the same general concepts.

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+The Labors of Herakles is a series of tasks performed by the Greek hero Herakles (Latin: Hercules) as a penance for a terrible crime he committed. These tasks required great strength and courage. For the most part, they involved killing fierce animals and horrible monsters. The Labors were said to have been devised by Hera, the goddess of marriage.  She hated Herakles because he was a bastard son of her husband Zeus. She hoped these tasks would kill him. Herakles however performed them with great success, and, in the process, became very famous. The Labors of Herakles probably had their origin in the religious and magical practices of prehistoric man. They are the subject of ancient and modern art.
+
+Mortals die, but gods live forever. Herakles was part mortal, part god. His father was the god Zeus and his mother was the mortal Alkmene. Zeus' wife Hera was the goddess of marriage. She hated Herakles because he was one of her husband's bastards. She tried many times to kill him, even when he was a baby. He lived in spite of Hera's persecution and hatred, and did many great deeds as a young man.
+
+Herakles married Megara, the daughter of a king. They became the parents of several children. Hera caused Herakles to go mad and to kill his family. The priestess of Delphi ordered Herakles to serve his cousin King Eurystheus of Tiryns as a penance for this crime. Eurystheus would present a series of tasks to Herakles. These tasks were said to have been designed by Hera herself in the hope that they would kill Herakles.
+
+There is no definite order for the Labors. Most of the time, however, the order is: Nemean Lion, Lernean Hydra, Cerynitian Hind, Erymanthian Boar, Augean Stables, Stymphalian Birds, Cretan Bull, Mares of Diomedes, Girdle of Hippolyta, Cattle of Geryon, Apples of the Hesperides, and Kerberos. The order here is that of the sculptures called metopes on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. These sculptures (made about 460–450 BC) were placed high on the outside of the temple in a frieze. Their order was described by the ancient Greek geographer, Pausanias. Some of these metopes are used in this article to illustrate the Labors. The first group of six metopes are from the west end of the temple. The second group of six are from the east end. Some of the illustrations here are taken from Greek vase paintings. The Labors of Herakles became the subject of much ancient and modern art, and even movies like Hercules (1958) starring Steve Reeves and the Walt Disney animated movie Hercules (1997).
+
+A large and dangerous lion was terrorizing the people and animals near the city of Nemea. Weapons of iron, bronze, or stone could not pierce the lion's thick hide (skin). Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill and skin this lion.[1]
+
+Herakles went to the region of Nemea and stayed with a poor man named Molorchos at Kleonai. Molorchos' son had been killed by this lion. Molorchos wanted to sacrifice his only ram to Herakles, but Herakles asked him to wait thirty days. If he did not return within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to him as a hero. If he returned within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to Zeus the Deliverer.[2]
+
+Herakles found the lion outside its lair on Mount Tretos. His arrows and sword were useless against the beast. He hit the lion with his club and the animal went into his lair. Herakles blocked one of the two openings to the cavern with nets, then entered the cavern. He wrestled the lion and choked it to death. The lion bit off one of his fingers. He returned to Molorchos' hovel with the lion's carcass on his back. The two men sacrificed to Zeus.[3]
+
+When Herakles presented the dead animal to Eurystheus, the king was disgusted. He ordered Herakles to leave such things outside the gates of Tiryns in the future. Eurystheus then put a large bronze jar underground. This was the place where he would hide whenever Herakles returned to the city with some trophy of his Labors. Zeus put the lion among the stars as the constellation Leo.[4]
+
+In the future, Eurystheus would only communicate with Herakles through Kopreus, his dungman. Herakles skinned the lion with one of its own claws. He wore the skin as a kind of armor and the lion's skull as a helmet.[5] Euripides wrote in his play Herakles:"First he cleared the grove of Zeus of a lion, and put its skin upon his back, hiding his yellow hair in its fearful tawny gaping jaws."[6]
+
+The origin of the Nemean Lion is not certain. Some say he was the son of either Typhon or the Chimera and the dog Orthros. Some say the moon goddess Selene gave birth to the lion and let it fall to Earth near a two-mouthed cave at Nemea. She set it against the people because they had failed to properly observe her worship. Some say that Hera had Selene create the lion from sea foam and that Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, carried it to Nemea.[7] Others say the lion was the son of the snake goddess Echidna and her son, the dog Orthos.  This would make the lion a brother to the Sphinx of Thebes.  Hera was said to have brought the lion from the eastern land of the Arimoi and to have released it near Nemea.[8]
+
+The Hydra ("water-snake") was a monster with many heads. She lived beneath a plane tree near the spring called Amymone. This spring was near the seaside city of Lerna. She was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and the sister of Kerebos.[9] Hera raised the Hydra to torment Herakles. The Hydra had a dog-like body.[10] Its breath was poisonous. The head in the middle of the monster was immortal—it could not die. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill this monster. Herakles and his nephew Iolaos (the son of his brother Iphicles) drove to the swamp near Lerna in Herakles' war chariot.[11] Iolaos was Heracles' charioteer and his lover.[12]
+
+Athena told Herakles to force the monster from the swamp with fire arrows. He did, but the monster twisted itself about his feet. He beat the heads with his club, but crushing one head only caused others to erupt. A great crab crawled from the swamp to help the Hydra. It bit Herakles in the foot. He crushed its shell. Herakles called Iolaos for his help and cut the Hydra's heads off with his sword. Iolaos sealed the neck stumps with torches so other heads could not grow in their place.[11]
+
+The Hydra was at last killed. Herakles cut off the immortal head and buried it under a heavy stone in the road. He dipped his arrowheads in the Hydra's poisonous blood. They became deadly.[13] Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus would not count this adventure as a Labor because Herakles had had his nephew's help. He added another Labor to the list. Hera set the crab in the sky as a constellation.[14][15] The river Anigrus in Elis stank because the Hydra's poison was washed from the arrows Heracles used to kill the centaur Nessus in its waters.[16]
+
+The Stymphalian Birds were man-eating birds living on the shores of Lake Stymphalos in north-eastern Arcadia. The birds were sacred to Ares, the god of war. Their feces poisoned the land and crops would not grow. The birds attacked men with their bronze beaks and claws. They could rain down their sharp bronze feathers to kill men and their animals.[17]
+
+Herakles failed to drive them off with his arrows. Athena gave him a set of metal castanets (or a rattle) made by the blacksmith of the gods, Hephaestus. Herakles climbed to a rocky place over the lake and made so much noise with the castanets that the birds flew as far as the Isle of Ares in the Black Sea. Herakles was able to kill many of them with his arrows as they flew away.[17]
+
+Some say the birds were women. Artemis Stymphalia ruled the swamps about the lake. Her temple there had pictures of young girls with the feet of birds. These girls lured men to their deaths in the swamps. They were said to be the daughters of Stymphalos and Ornis. These two were killed by Herakles when they would not give him food, drink, and a place to rest.[18][19]
+
+The Cretan Bull rose from the sea. Poseidon, god of the sea, intended King Minos to sacrifice the bull, but it was so handsome that Minos kept it for himself. He sent it to mate with his cows, then sacrificed another bull to Poseidon. The god was angry and caused Minos' wife, Queen Pasiphaë, to develop a sexual desire for the animal.[20]
+
+She mated with it and gave birth to a son. This son was the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The Cretan Bull went mad. Heracules captured it by throwing a rope about its head and about a leg. Some say he wrestled it, or stunned it with his club.[20]
+
+Minos let Heracules take the bull to Greece. Eurystheus wanted to give the bull to Hera but she would not take it because Heracules had captured it. She let it go and it wandered about Greece. Theseus of Athens finally captured it and sacrificed it to Athena, or some say, Apollo.[21] The bull had spent its days in Crete destroying crops and belching fire.[22]
+
+When Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was a child, she saw five hinds (female deer) grazing near the Anaurus River in Thessaly. Each was as large as a bull, each had hooves of bronze, and all had antlers of gold.  She caught four of them, and used them to pull her chariot. The fifth escaped the goddess and lived on the Keryneian Hill in Arkadia. Hera planned to use this hind against Herakles someday.[23]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this hind and bring it alive to Tiryns. The danger in this Labor lay in pursuing the hind through wild lands from which no hunter ever returned.[24] Herakles hunted the hind for a year, chasing it through Istria and the Land of the Hyperboreans. The hind took refuge on Mount Artemision. Herakles let fly an arrow that pinned the hind's forelegs (front legs) together without drawing blood. He put the hind on his shoulders and took her back to Tiryns.[25]
+
+Artemis and Apollo stopped Herakles on his way to Tiryns. On some vases, Apollo is seen trying to forcibly take the hind from Herakles.  Herakles however lay the blame for the theft on Eurystheus. Artemis accepted this plea and allowed him to pass.[26] Some say Herakles used a net to capture the hind or captured her when she was asleep under a tree.[25]
+
+Eurystheus' daughter Admete was a priestess of Hera.[27] She wanted the Golden Girdle (belt) of Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazons. This girdle had been a gift to Hippolyte from her father, Ares, the god of war. The Amazons were all related to Ares. They hated men and mated only to make more female warriors. Baby boys were killed or crippled. The lives of these women were devoted to war.
+
+Herakles and friends sailed to their land of Pontos on the Black Sea. The Amazons lived at the mouth of the Thermodon River.[20] Hippolyte welcomed Herakles. She fell in love with his muscles and his great fame. She promised him the girdle as a love token. Hera disguised herself as an Amazon. She whispered among others that Herakles was going to kidnap the Queen. The Amazons charged Herakles' ship on horseback. Herakles killed Hippolyte, and took the girdle. Many Amazons were killed.[28]
+
+Some say Hippolyte would not part with the girdle. Herakles threw her from her horse and threatened her with his club. She would not ask for mercy. Herakles killed her.[29] Some say Hippolyte's sister Melanippe was taken prisoner. She was ransomed with the girdle. Some say Hippolyte herself was taken prisoner and ransomed with the girdle. Others say Theseus took Hippolyte prisoner and gave the girdle to Herakles.[28] Herakles gave the girdle to Eurystheus, who gave it to Admete.[30]
+
+A large and dangerous boar was living on Mount Erymanthos. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this boar.[31] On Mount Erymanthos, Herakles forced the boar from the wood with his shouts. He then drove the boar into deep snow and jumped on its back. He put the boar in chains, placed it on his shoulders, and took it to Eurystheus. The king was so scared he hid in his bronze jar.[32][33] Herakles left the boar in the market square of Tiryns. He then joined the Argonauts on the Quest for the Golden Fleece.[34]
+
+Mount Erymanthos took its name from a son of Apollo. Aphrodite blinded him because he saw her taking a bath. Apollo was angry. He turned himself into a boar and killed her boyfriend Adonis.[31]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him the Horses of King Diomedes of Thrace. King Diomedes' horses were savage man-eaters, and were fed on the flesh of Diomedes' innocent guests. Herakles and his friends sailed to the coast of Thrace. Having found the stables of Diomedes, they killed the king's servants. They then put Diomedes before the horses. The animals tore him to pieces and ate him. The horses grew calm after feeding, and were led to the ship. Herakles sent them to Eurystheus.[35]
+
+Diomedes was the son of Ares, the god of war, and the king of the Bistones, a Thracian tribe of warlike people. While travelling in connection with this Labor, Herakles visited King Admetos. His wife Alcestis had just died. Herakles wrestled Death for Alcestis and he won. Alcestis was returned to life. This event is the basis for Euripides' play Alcestis. Eurystheus dedicated the savage horses to Hera. They were said to have bred into the age of Alexander the Great.
+
+Another story says Herakles captured the horses and drove them to his ship. Diomedes and his men chased the thieves. Herakles and his friends left the ship to fight the king and his men. The horses of Diomedes were left in the care of Abderos, Herakles' male lover. The horses ate him. Herakles built the city of Abdera in his memory. It was after this Labor that Herakles joined the Quest for the Golden Fleece. He dropped out of the search when his lover Hylas was lost on a strange island. Some say Herakles went on to Kolchis and rejoined the Quest. Others say he returned to Tiryns and the Labors.[36]
+
+Geryon was a very strong giant with three bodies, six hands, and three heads. He was the King of Tartessus in Spain.[37] He had wings, and the picture on his shield was an eagle.[38] He lived on an island called Erytheia. This island was far to the west in Okeanos, the river that circles the Earth. At night, the Sun sailed upon this river in a Golden Cup.[39]
+
+Geryon had large herds of cattle.[39] They were watched over by Eurytion, Geryon's servant, and a huge two-headed dog named Orthrus, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.[37] King Eurystheus ordered Herakles to capture Geryon's cattle.[39]
+
+Herakles crossed the Libyan desert. At the narrow channel that separates Europe and Africa, he built the Pillars of Herakles.[40] The Sun was hot and Herakles threatened to shoot him with his bow and arrows. The Sun asked him not to do this. Herakles agreed. He borrowed the Sun's Golden Cup and sailed away in it. The Titan Oceanus tested Herakles' seamanship by causing violent waves. Herakles threatened to shoot Oceanus, too. Oceanus calmed the waves. Some say Herakles sailed in an urn and used his lion skin as a sail.[41]
+
+On Geryon's island, Herakles killed the two-headed dog Orthos and the servant Eurytion, who tried to help the dog. Herakles was driving the cattle to the Golden Cup when Geryon appeared, ready to fight. Herakles shot him down and sailed away with the cattle.[42] Herakles had many adventures on his return to Greece. On the Greek coast, Hera sent gadflies to drive the herd of cattle far and wide. Herkales managed to round-up a few and these he presented to Eurystheus. He sacrificed them to Hera.[43]
+
+Hera received golden apples as a gift when she married. She planted them in her garden far to the west near Mount Atlas. It was on this mountain that the Titan Atlas held the sky on his shoulders. He was being punished for having joined the other Titans in making war on Zeus. When Hera heard his daughters were stealing from the garden, she sent a one hundred-headed dragon called Ladon to the garden to protect the apples. Three nymphs called the Hesperides also guarded the apples.
+
+Eurystheus wanted Herakles to bring him three golden apples. Herakles set off. The river god Nereus refused to give him directions and changed his shape again and again. Herakles tied him to a tree until he told the way. In the Caucasus, Herakles freed the Titan Prometheus, the fire-bringer, from his chains. Prometheus warned Herakles not to pick the apples himself, but to ask someone else to do it.
+
+Herakles asked Atlas to pick the apples. The Titan agreed, but only if Herakles would kill the dragon and then take the sky on his shoulders. Herakles killed the dragon and took the sky on his shoulders. Atlas picked the apples but refused to take the sky again. He liked being free. Herakles tricked him. He asked Atlas to take the sky — only for a moment — while he put a cushion on his shoulders. Atlas took the sky. Herakles took the apples and headed for Tiryns. Eurystheus did not know what to do with the apples. He gave them to Herakles. Athena returned the apples to the garden, because they did, after all, belong to the gods.[44]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him Kerberos, a three-headed dog-like monster with a dragon's tail and a mane of poisonous snakes. It guarded the entrance to the Underworld. The three heads could see the past, present, and future. Some say they represented birth, youth, and old age.[45] Kerberos allowed the dead to enter the Underworld, but anyone who tried to leave was eaten.[46] Kerberos was the offspring of Echidna, a monster part woman/part snake, and Typhon, a fire-breathing giant. Kerberos' brother was the two-headed dog Orthrus.[47]
+
+Herakles' first step was to undergo the Mysteries of Eleusis. These rites would protect him in the land of the dead. They would also cleanse him of the massacre of the Centaurs. Athena and Hermes guided Herakles into the Underworld. He was ferried across the River Styx in Charon's boat. On the opposite shore, he met the Gorgon, Medusa. She was a harmless phantom and he passed her without trouble. He met Meleagros and offered to marry his sister, Deianeira. Eventually, he did. When Herakles asked Hades for Kerberos, Hades allowed him to take the monster, but only if he could do so without using his weapons. Herakles wrestled the monster and choked it. Once the monster had yielded, he led it away.
+
+As they neared the Earth's surface, Kerberos tossed his three heads because he hated the sunlight. His spit flew in all directions. From that spit grew the poisonous plant, aconite. When Heracles arrived in Tiryns, Eurystheus was performing a sacrifice. The king gave the best cuts of meat to his relatives and only a slave's portion of meat to Herakles. Herakles was furious with this insult and killed Eurystheus' three sons. Eurystheus was terrified when presented with Kerberos and hid in his bronze jar. Herakles took Kerberos back to the Underworld. Another account says the monster escaped.[48][49][50] This Labor is the twelfth and last Labor in some accounts.
+
+King Augeias of Elis lived on the west coast of the Peloponnese. He was a son of Helios, the sun god. It was said that the rays of the sun shone in his eyes.[51] Augeias had many cattle. His animals were always healthy, and gave birth to many young.  His stables had not been cleaned in years and were thick with animal waste. The valleys were also full of waste. The smell of this waste poisoned the land. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to clean the stables in a day. He liked the thought of Herakles doing such dirty work.[52]
+
+Herakles went to Elis. He did not tell Augeias that Eurystheus had ordered him to clean the stables.Instead, he made a bargain with Augeias. He promised to clean the stables if Augeias would give him some of his cattle. The bargain was made. Augeias' son Phyleos acted as witness. Herakles set to work. First, he made two holes in the stone foundation of the stables. Then he changed the paths of the Alpheios and Peneios Rivers. The rivers were made to flow through one hole and out the other. This is how the stables were washed clean.[53]
+
+Augeias learned from Eurystheus' servant Copreus that Eurystheus had ordered Herakles to clean the stables.[54] He would not respect the bargain he had made with Herakles. Herakles took the case to court. Phyleos was called to court and told the truth about the bargain. Augeias was so angry he drove his son and Herakles out of the land. Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus said that the Labor did not count because Herakles had made a bargain with Augeias. Eurystheus also thought that the river gods had really done the work.[55][56]
+
+This Labor was the last one presented in the frieze on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. It was important to the Greeks because one day Herakles made war on Augeias and defeated him. Herakles then laid out the Olympian sanctuary in the land of King Augeias and started the Olympic Games.[57] It was said that Menedemus of Elis gave Herakles advice on this Labor and that the hero had the help of his nephew Iolaos.[54] While Augeias and Herakles were making their bargain, Phaeton, one of Augeias' twelve white bulls, charged Herakles. These white bulls guarded all the cattle against wild animals. Phaeton thought the hero was a lion. Herakles forced the bull to the Earth by twisting its horn.[58] Herakles was going to get Augeias' daughter as part of the bargain, but he did not. This was given as one reason for making war later on Augeias. He was also going to become Augeias' slave if the work was not done in one day.[53]

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+The Labors of Herakles is a series of tasks performed by the Greek hero Herakles (Latin: Hercules) as a penance for a terrible crime he committed. These tasks required great strength and courage. For the most part, they involved killing fierce animals and horrible monsters. The Labors were said to have been devised by Hera, the goddess of marriage.  She hated Herakles because he was a bastard son of her husband Zeus. She hoped these tasks would kill him. Herakles however performed them with great success, and, in the process, became very famous. The Labors of Herakles probably had their origin in the religious and magical practices of prehistoric man. They are the subject of ancient and modern art.
+
+Mortals die, but gods live forever. Herakles was part mortal, part god. His father was the god Zeus and his mother was the mortal Alkmene. Zeus' wife Hera was the goddess of marriage. She hated Herakles because he was one of her husband's bastards. She tried many times to kill him, even when he was a baby. He lived in spite of Hera's persecution and hatred, and did many great deeds as a young man.
+
+Herakles married Megara, the daughter of a king. They became the parents of several children. Hera caused Herakles to go mad and to kill his family. The priestess of Delphi ordered Herakles to serve his cousin King Eurystheus of Tiryns as a penance for this crime. Eurystheus would present a series of tasks to Herakles. These tasks were said to have been designed by Hera herself in the hope that they would kill Herakles.
+
+There is no definite order for the Labors. Most of the time, however, the order is: Nemean Lion, Lernean Hydra, Cerynitian Hind, Erymanthian Boar, Augean Stables, Stymphalian Birds, Cretan Bull, Mares of Diomedes, Girdle of Hippolyta, Cattle of Geryon, Apples of the Hesperides, and Kerberos. The order here is that of the sculptures called metopes on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. These sculptures (made about 460–450 BC) were placed high on the outside of the temple in a frieze. Their order was described by the ancient Greek geographer, Pausanias. Some of these metopes are used in this article to illustrate the Labors. The first group of six metopes are from the west end of the temple. The second group of six are from the east end. Some of the illustrations here are taken from Greek vase paintings. The Labors of Herakles became the subject of much ancient and modern art, and even movies like Hercules (1958) starring Steve Reeves and the Walt Disney animated movie Hercules (1997).
+
+A large and dangerous lion was terrorizing the people and animals near the city of Nemea. Weapons of iron, bronze, or stone could not pierce the lion's thick hide (skin). Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill and skin this lion.[1]
+
+Herakles went to the region of Nemea and stayed with a poor man named Molorchos at Kleonai. Molorchos' son had been killed by this lion. Molorchos wanted to sacrifice his only ram to Herakles, but Herakles asked him to wait thirty days. If he did not return within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to him as a hero. If he returned within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to Zeus the Deliverer.[2]
+
+Herakles found the lion outside its lair on Mount Tretos. His arrows and sword were useless against the beast. He hit the lion with his club and the animal went into his lair. Herakles blocked one of the two openings to the cavern with nets, then entered the cavern. He wrestled the lion and choked it to death. The lion bit off one of his fingers. He returned to Molorchos' hovel with the lion's carcass on his back. The two men sacrificed to Zeus.[3]
+
+When Herakles presented the dead animal to Eurystheus, the king was disgusted. He ordered Herakles to leave such things outside the gates of Tiryns in the future. Eurystheus then put a large bronze jar underground. This was the place where he would hide whenever Herakles returned to the city with some trophy of his Labors. Zeus put the lion among the stars as the constellation Leo.[4]
+
+In the future, Eurystheus would only communicate with Herakles through Kopreus, his dungman. Herakles skinned the lion with one of its own claws. He wore the skin as a kind of armor and the lion's skull as a helmet.[5] Euripides wrote in his play Herakles:"First he cleared the grove of Zeus of a lion, and put its skin upon his back, hiding his yellow hair in its fearful tawny gaping jaws."[6]
+
+The origin of the Nemean Lion is not certain. Some say he was the son of either Typhon or the Chimera and the dog Orthros. Some say the moon goddess Selene gave birth to the lion and let it fall to Earth near a two-mouthed cave at Nemea. She set it against the people because they had failed to properly observe her worship. Some say that Hera had Selene create the lion from sea foam and that Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, carried it to Nemea.[7] Others say the lion was the son of the snake goddess Echidna and her son, the dog Orthos.  This would make the lion a brother to the Sphinx of Thebes.  Hera was said to have brought the lion from the eastern land of the Arimoi and to have released it near Nemea.[8]
+
+The Hydra ("water-snake") was a monster with many heads. She lived beneath a plane tree near the spring called Amymone. This spring was near the seaside city of Lerna. She was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and the sister of Kerebos.[9] Hera raised the Hydra to torment Herakles. The Hydra had a dog-like body.[10] Its breath was poisonous. The head in the middle of the monster was immortal—it could not die. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill this monster. Herakles and his nephew Iolaos (the son of his brother Iphicles) drove to the swamp near Lerna in Herakles' war chariot.[11] Iolaos was Heracles' charioteer and his lover.[12]
+
+Athena told Herakles to force the monster from the swamp with fire arrows. He did, but the monster twisted itself about his feet. He beat the heads with his club, but crushing one head only caused others to erupt. A great crab crawled from the swamp to help the Hydra. It bit Herakles in the foot. He crushed its shell. Herakles called Iolaos for his help and cut the Hydra's heads off with his sword. Iolaos sealed the neck stumps with torches so other heads could not grow in their place.[11]
+
+The Hydra was at last killed. Herakles cut off the immortal head and buried it under a heavy stone in the road. He dipped his arrowheads in the Hydra's poisonous blood. They became deadly.[13] Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus would not count this adventure as a Labor because Herakles had had his nephew's help. He added another Labor to the list. Hera set the crab in the sky as a constellation.[14][15] The river Anigrus in Elis stank because the Hydra's poison was washed from the arrows Heracles used to kill the centaur Nessus in its waters.[16]
+
+The Stymphalian Birds were man-eating birds living on the shores of Lake Stymphalos in north-eastern Arcadia. The birds were sacred to Ares, the god of war. Their feces poisoned the land and crops would not grow. The birds attacked men with their bronze beaks and claws. They could rain down their sharp bronze feathers to kill men and their animals.[17]
+
+Herakles failed to drive them off with his arrows. Athena gave him a set of metal castanets (or a rattle) made by the blacksmith of the gods, Hephaestus. Herakles climbed to a rocky place over the lake and made so much noise with the castanets that the birds flew as far as the Isle of Ares in the Black Sea. Herakles was able to kill many of them with his arrows as they flew away.[17]
+
+Some say the birds were women. Artemis Stymphalia ruled the swamps about the lake. Her temple there had pictures of young girls with the feet of birds. These girls lured men to their deaths in the swamps. They were said to be the daughters of Stymphalos and Ornis. These two were killed by Herakles when they would not give him food, drink, and a place to rest.[18][19]
+
+The Cretan Bull rose from the sea. Poseidon, god of the sea, intended King Minos to sacrifice the bull, but it was so handsome that Minos kept it for himself. He sent it to mate with his cows, then sacrificed another bull to Poseidon. The god was angry and caused Minos' wife, Queen Pasiphaë, to develop a sexual desire for the animal.[20]
+
+She mated with it and gave birth to a son. This son was the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The Cretan Bull went mad. Heracules captured it by throwing a rope about its head and about a leg. Some say he wrestled it, or stunned it with his club.[20]
+
+Minos let Heracules take the bull to Greece. Eurystheus wanted to give the bull to Hera but she would not take it because Heracules had captured it. She let it go and it wandered about Greece. Theseus of Athens finally captured it and sacrificed it to Athena, or some say, Apollo.[21] The bull had spent its days in Crete destroying crops and belching fire.[22]
+
+When Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was a child, she saw five hinds (female deer) grazing near the Anaurus River in Thessaly. Each was as large as a bull, each had hooves of bronze, and all had antlers of gold.  She caught four of them, and used them to pull her chariot. The fifth escaped the goddess and lived on the Keryneian Hill in Arkadia. Hera planned to use this hind against Herakles someday.[23]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this hind and bring it alive to Tiryns. The danger in this Labor lay in pursuing the hind through wild lands from which no hunter ever returned.[24] Herakles hunted the hind for a year, chasing it through Istria and the Land of the Hyperboreans. The hind took refuge on Mount Artemision. Herakles let fly an arrow that pinned the hind's forelegs (front legs) together without drawing blood. He put the hind on his shoulders and took her back to Tiryns.[25]
+
+Artemis and Apollo stopped Herakles on his way to Tiryns. On some vases, Apollo is seen trying to forcibly take the hind from Herakles.  Herakles however lay the blame for the theft on Eurystheus. Artemis accepted this plea and allowed him to pass.[26] Some say Herakles used a net to capture the hind or captured her when she was asleep under a tree.[25]
+
+Eurystheus' daughter Admete was a priestess of Hera.[27] She wanted the Golden Girdle (belt) of Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazons. This girdle had been a gift to Hippolyte from her father, Ares, the god of war. The Amazons were all related to Ares. They hated men and mated only to make more female warriors. Baby boys were killed or crippled. The lives of these women were devoted to war.
+
+Herakles and friends sailed to their land of Pontos on the Black Sea. The Amazons lived at the mouth of the Thermodon River.[20] Hippolyte welcomed Herakles. She fell in love with his muscles and his great fame. She promised him the girdle as a love token. Hera disguised herself as an Amazon. She whispered among others that Herakles was going to kidnap the Queen. The Amazons charged Herakles' ship on horseback. Herakles killed Hippolyte, and took the girdle. Many Amazons were killed.[28]
+
+Some say Hippolyte would not part with the girdle. Herakles threw her from her horse and threatened her with his club. She would not ask for mercy. Herakles killed her.[29] Some say Hippolyte's sister Melanippe was taken prisoner. She was ransomed with the girdle. Some say Hippolyte herself was taken prisoner and ransomed with the girdle. Others say Theseus took Hippolyte prisoner and gave the girdle to Herakles.[28] Herakles gave the girdle to Eurystheus, who gave it to Admete.[30]
+
+A large and dangerous boar was living on Mount Erymanthos. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this boar.[31] On Mount Erymanthos, Herakles forced the boar from the wood with his shouts. He then drove the boar into deep snow and jumped on its back. He put the boar in chains, placed it on his shoulders, and took it to Eurystheus. The king was so scared he hid in his bronze jar.[32][33] Herakles left the boar in the market square of Tiryns. He then joined the Argonauts on the Quest for the Golden Fleece.[34]
+
+Mount Erymanthos took its name from a son of Apollo. Aphrodite blinded him because he saw her taking a bath. Apollo was angry. He turned himself into a boar and killed her boyfriend Adonis.[31]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him the Horses of King Diomedes of Thrace. King Diomedes' horses were savage man-eaters, and were fed on the flesh of Diomedes' innocent guests. Herakles and his friends sailed to the coast of Thrace. Having found the stables of Diomedes, they killed the king's servants. They then put Diomedes before the horses. The animals tore him to pieces and ate him. The horses grew calm after feeding, and were led to the ship. Herakles sent them to Eurystheus.[35]
+
+Diomedes was the son of Ares, the god of war, and the king of the Bistones, a Thracian tribe of warlike people. While travelling in connection with this Labor, Herakles visited King Admetos. His wife Alcestis had just died. Herakles wrestled Death for Alcestis and he won. Alcestis was returned to life. This event is the basis for Euripides' play Alcestis. Eurystheus dedicated the savage horses to Hera. They were said to have bred into the age of Alexander the Great.
+
+Another story says Herakles captured the horses and drove them to his ship. Diomedes and his men chased the thieves. Herakles and his friends left the ship to fight the king and his men. The horses of Diomedes were left in the care of Abderos, Herakles' male lover. The horses ate him. Herakles built the city of Abdera in his memory. It was after this Labor that Herakles joined the Quest for the Golden Fleece. He dropped out of the search when his lover Hylas was lost on a strange island. Some say Herakles went on to Kolchis and rejoined the Quest. Others say he returned to Tiryns and the Labors.[36]
+
+Geryon was a very strong giant with three bodies, six hands, and three heads. He was the King of Tartessus in Spain.[37] He had wings, and the picture on his shield was an eagle.[38] He lived on an island called Erytheia. This island was far to the west in Okeanos, the river that circles the Earth. At night, the Sun sailed upon this river in a Golden Cup.[39]
+
+Geryon had large herds of cattle.[39] They were watched over by Eurytion, Geryon's servant, and a huge two-headed dog named Orthrus, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.[37] King Eurystheus ordered Herakles to capture Geryon's cattle.[39]
+
+Herakles crossed the Libyan desert. At the narrow channel that separates Europe and Africa, he built the Pillars of Herakles.[40] The Sun was hot and Herakles threatened to shoot him with his bow and arrows. The Sun asked him not to do this. Herakles agreed. He borrowed the Sun's Golden Cup and sailed away in it. The Titan Oceanus tested Herakles' seamanship by causing violent waves. Herakles threatened to shoot Oceanus, too. Oceanus calmed the waves. Some say Herakles sailed in an urn and used his lion skin as a sail.[41]
+
+On Geryon's island, Herakles killed the two-headed dog Orthos and the servant Eurytion, who tried to help the dog. Herakles was driving the cattle to the Golden Cup when Geryon appeared, ready to fight. Herakles shot him down and sailed away with the cattle.[42] Herakles had many adventures on his return to Greece. On the Greek coast, Hera sent gadflies to drive the herd of cattle far and wide. Herkales managed to round-up a few and these he presented to Eurystheus. He sacrificed them to Hera.[43]
+
+Hera received golden apples as a gift when she married. She planted them in her garden far to the west near Mount Atlas. It was on this mountain that the Titan Atlas held the sky on his shoulders. He was being punished for having joined the other Titans in making war on Zeus. When Hera heard his daughters were stealing from the garden, she sent a one hundred-headed dragon called Ladon to the garden to protect the apples. Three nymphs called the Hesperides also guarded the apples.
+
+Eurystheus wanted Herakles to bring him three golden apples. Herakles set off. The river god Nereus refused to give him directions and changed his shape again and again. Herakles tied him to a tree until he told the way. In the Caucasus, Herakles freed the Titan Prometheus, the fire-bringer, from his chains. Prometheus warned Herakles not to pick the apples himself, but to ask someone else to do it.
+
+Herakles asked Atlas to pick the apples. The Titan agreed, but only if Herakles would kill the dragon and then take the sky on his shoulders. Herakles killed the dragon and took the sky on his shoulders. Atlas picked the apples but refused to take the sky again. He liked being free. Herakles tricked him. He asked Atlas to take the sky — only for a moment — while he put a cushion on his shoulders. Atlas took the sky. Herakles took the apples and headed for Tiryns. Eurystheus did not know what to do with the apples. He gave them to Herakles. Athena returned the apples to the garden, because they did, after all, belong to the gods.[44]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him Kerberos, a three-headed dog-like monster with a dragon's tail and a mane of poisonous snakes. It guarded the entrance to the Underworld. The three heads could see the past, present, and future. Some say they represented birth, youth, and old age.[45] Kerberos allowed the dead to enter the Underworld, but anyone who tried to leave was eaten.[46] Kerberos was the offspring of Echidna, a monster part woman/part snake, and Typhon, a fire-breathing giant. Kerberos' brother was the two-headed dog Orthrus.[47]
+
+Herakles' first step was to undergo the Mysteries of Eleusis. These rites would protect him in the land of the dead. They would also cleanse him of the massacre of the Centaurs. Athena and Hermes guided Herakles into the Underworld. He was ferried across the River Styx in Charon's boat. On the opposite shore, he met the Gorgon, Medusa. She was a harmless phantom and he passed her without trouble. He met Meleagros and offered to marry his sister, Deianeira. Eventually, he did. When Herakles asked Hades for Kerberos, Hades allowed him to take the monster, but only if he could do so without using his weapons. Herakles wrestled the monster and choked it. Once the monster had yielded, he led it away.
+
+As they neared the Earth's surface, Kerberos tossed his three heads because he hated the sunlight. His spit flew in all directions. From that spit grew the poisonous plant, aconite. When Heracles arrived in Tiryns, Eurystheus was performing a sacrifice. The king gave the best cuts of meat to his relatives and only a slave's portion of meat to Herakles. Herakles was furious with this insult and killed Eurystheus' three sons. Eurystheus was terrified when presented with Kerberos and hid in his bronze jar. Herakles took Kerberos back to the Underworld. Another account says the monster escaped.[48][49][50] This Labor is the twelfth and last Labor in some accounts.
+
+King Augeias of Elis lived on the west coast of the Peloponnese. He was a son of Helios, the sun god. It was said that the rays of the sun shone in his eyes.[51] Augeias had many cattle. His animals were always healthy, and gave birth to many young.  His stables had not been cleaned in years and were thick with animal waste. The valleys were also full of waste. The smell of this waste poisoned the land. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to clean the stables in a day. He liked the thought of Herakles doing such dirty work.[52]
+
+Herakles went to Elis. He did not tell Augeias that Eurystheus had ordered him to clean the stables.Instead, he made a bargain with Augeias. He promised to clean the stables if Augeias would give him some of his cattle. The bargain was made. Augeias' son Phyleos acted as witness. Herakles set to work. First, he made two holes in the stone foundation of the stables. Then he changed the paths of the Alpheios and Peneios Rivers. The rivers were made to flow through one hole and out the other. This is how the stables were washed clean.[53]
+
+Augeias learned from Eurystheus' servant Copreus that Eurystheus had ordered Herakles to clean the stables.[54] He would not respect the bargain he had made with Herakles. Herakles took the case to court. Phyleos was called to court and told the truth about the bargain. Augeias was so angry he drove his son and Herakles out of the land. Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus said that the Labor did not count because Herakles had made a bargain with Augeias. Eurystheus also thought that the river gods had really done the work.[55][56]
+
+This Labor was the last one presented in the frieze on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. It was important to the Greeks because one day Herakles made war on Augeias and defeated him. Herakles then laid out the Olympian sanctuary in the land of King Augeias and started the Olympic Games.[57] It was said that Menedemus of Elis gave Herakles advice on this Labor and that the hero had the help of his nephew Iolaos.[54] While Augeias and Herakles were making their bargain, Phaeton, one of Augeias' twelve white bulls, charged Herakles. These white bulls guarded all the cattle against wild animals. Phaeton thought the hero was a lion. Herakles forced the bull to the Earth by twisting its horn.[58] Herakles was going to get Augeias' daughter as part of the bargain, but he did not. This was given as one reason for making war later on Augeias. He was also going to become Augeias' slave if the work was not done in one day.[53]

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+The Labors of Herakles is a series of tasks performed by the Greek hero Herakles (Latin: Hercules) as a penance for a terrible crime he committed. These tasks required great strength and courage. For the most part, they involved killing fierce animals and horrible monsters. The Labors were said to have been devised by Hera, the goddess of marriage.  She hated Herakles because he was a bastard son of her husband Zeus. She hoped these tasks would kill him. Herakles however performed them with great success, and, in the process, became very famous. The Labors of Herakles probably had their origin in the religious and magical practices of prehistoric man. They are the subject of ancient and modern art.
+
+Mortals die, but gods live forever. Herakles was part mortal, part god. His father was the god Zeus and his mother was the mortal Alkmene. Zeus' wife Hera was the goddess of marriage. She hated Herakles because he was one of her husband's bastards. She tried many times to kill him, even when he was a baby. He lived in spite of Hera's persecution and hatred, and did many great deeds as a young man.
+
+Herakles married Megara, the daughter of a king. They became the parents of several children. Hera caused Herakles to go mad and to kill his family. The priestess of Delphi ordered Herakles to serve his cousin King Eurystheus of Tiryns as a penance for this crime. Eurystheus would present a series of tasks to Herakles. These tasks were said to have been designed by Hera herself in the hope that they would kill Herakles.
+
+There is no definite order for the Labors. Most of the time, however, the order is: Nemean Lion, Lernean Hydra, Cerynitian Hind, Erymanthian Boar, Augean Stables, Stymphalian Birds, Cretan Bull, Mares of Diomedes, Girdle of Hippolyta, Cattle of Geryon, Apples of the Hesperides, and Kerberos. The order here is that of the sculptures called metopes on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. These sculptures (made about 460–450 BC) were placed high on the outside of the temple in a frieze. Their order was described by the ancient Greek geographer, Pausanias. Some of these metopes are used in this article to illustrate the Labors. The first group of six metopes are from the west end of the temple. The second group of six are from the east end. Some of the illustrations here are taken from Greek vase paintings. The Labors of Herakles became the subject of much ancient and modern art, and even movies like Hercules (1958) starring Steve Reeves and the Walt Disney animated movie Hercules (1997).
+
+A large and dangerous lion was terrorizing the people and animals near the city of Nemea. Weapons of iron, bronze, or stone could not pierce the lion's thick hide (skin). Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill and skin this lion.[1]
+
+Herakles went to the region of Nemea and stayed with a poor man named Molorchos at Kleonai. Molorchos' son had been killed by this lion. Molorchos wanted to sacrifice his only ram to Herakles, but Herakles asked him to wait thirty days. If he did not return within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to him as a hero. If he returned within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to Zeus the Deliverer.[2]
+
+Herakles found the lion outside its lair on Mount Tretos. His arrows and sword were useless against the beast. He hit the lion with his club and the animal went into his lair. Herakles blocked one of the two openings to the cavern with nets, then entered the cavern. He wrestled the lion and choked it to death. The lion bit off one of his fingers. He returned to Molorchos' hovel with the lion's carcass on his back. The two men sacrificed to Zeus.[3]
+
+When Herakles presented the dead animal to Eurystheus, the king was disgusted. He ordered Herakles to leave such things outside the gates of Tiryns in the future. Eurystheus then put a large bronze jar underground. This was the place where he would hide whenever Herakles returned to the city with some trophy of his Labors. Zeus put the lion among the stars as the constellation Leo.[4]
+
+In the future, Eurystheus would only communicate with Herakles through Kopreus, his dungman. Herakles skinned the lion with one of its own claws. He wore the skin as a kind of armor and the lion's skull as a helmet.[5] Euripides wrote in his play Herakles:"First he cleared the grove of Zeus of a lion, and put its skin upon his back, hiding his yellow hair in its fearful tawny gaping jaws."[6]
+
+The origin of the Nemean Lion is not certain. Some say he was the son of either Typhon or the Chimera and the dog Orthros. Some say the moon goddess Selene gave birth to the lion and let it fall to Earth near a two-mouthed cave at Nemea. She set it against the people because they had failed to properly observe her worship. Some say that Hera had Selene create the lion from sea foam and that Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, carried it to Nemea.[7] Others say the lion was the son of the snake goddess Echidna and her son, the dog Orthos.  This would make the lion a brother to the Sphinx of Thebes.  Hera was said to have brought the lion from the eastern land of the Arimoi and to have released it near Nemea.[8]
+
+The Hydra ("water-snake") was a monster with many heads. She lived beneath a plane tree near the spring called Amymone. This spring was near the seaside city of Lerna. She was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and the sister of Kerebos.[9] Hera raised the Hydra to torment Herakles. The Hydra had a dog-like body.[10] Its breath was poisonous. The head in the middle of the monster was immortal—it could not die. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill this monster. Herakles and his nephew Iolaos (the son of his brother Iphicles) drove to the swamp near Lerna in Herakles' war chariot.[11] Iolaos was Heracles' charioteer and his lover.[12]
+
+Athena told Herakles to force the monster from the swamp with fire arrows. He did, but the monster twisted itself about his feet. He beat the heads with his club, but crushing one head only caused others to erupt. A great crab crawled from the swamp to help the Hydra. It bit Herakles in the foot. He crushed its shell. Herakles called Iolaos for his help and cut the Hydra's heads off with his sword. Iolaos sealed the neck stumps with torches so other heads could not grow in their place.[11]
+
+The Hydra was at last killed. Herakles cut off the immortal head and buried it under a heavy stone in the road. He dipped his arrowheads in the Hydra's poisonous blood. They became deadly.[13] Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus would not count this adventure as a Labor because Herakles had had his nephew's help. He added another Labor to the list. Hera set the crab in the sky as a constellation.[14][15] The river Anigrus in Elis stank because the Hydra's poison was washed from the arrows Heracles used to kill the centaur Nessus in its waters.[16]
+
+The Stymphalian Birds were man-eating birds living on the shores of Lake Stymphalos in north-eastern Arcadia. The birds were sacred to Ares, the god of war. Their feces poisoned the land and crops would not grow. The birds attacked men with their bronze beaks and claws. They could rain down their sharp bronze feathers to kill men and their animals.[17]
+
+Herakles failed to drive them off with his arrows. Athena gave him a set of metal castanets (or a rattle) made by the blacksmith of the gods, Hephaestus. Herakles climbed to a rocky place over the lake and made so much noise with the castanets that the birds flew as far as the Isle of Ares in the Black Sea. Herakles was able to kill many of them with his arrows as they flew away.[17]
+
+Some say the birds were women. Artemis Stymphalia ruled the swamps about the lake. Her temple there had pictures of young girls with the feet of birds. These girls lured men to their deaths in the swamps. They were said to be the daughters of Stymphalos and Ornis. These two were killed by Herakles when they would not give him food, drink, and a place to rest.[18][19]
+
+The Cretan Bull rose from the sea. Poseidon, god of the sea, intended King Minos to sacrifice the bull, but it was so handsome that Minos kept it for himself. He sent it to mate with his cows, then sacrificed another bull to Poseidon. The god was angry and caused Minos' wife, Queen Pasiphaë, to develop a sexual desire for the animal.[20]
+
+She mated with it and gave birth to a son. This son was the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The Cretan Bull went mad. Heracules captured it by throwing a rope about its head and about a leg. Some say he wrestled it, or stunned it with his club.[20]
+
+Minos let Heracules take the bull to Greece. Eurystheus wanted to give the bull to Hera but she would not take it because Heracules had captured it. She let it go and it wandered about Greece. Theseus of Athens finally captured it and sacrificed it to Athena, or some say, Apollo.[21] The bull had spent its days in Crete destroying crops and belching fire.[22]
+
+When Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was a child, she saw five hinds (female deer) grazing near the Anaurus River in Thessaly. Each was as large as a bull, each had hooves of bronze, and all had antlers of gold.  She caught four of them, and used them to pull her chariot. The fifth escaped the goddess and lived on the Keryneian Hill in Arkadia. Hera planned to use this hind against Herakles someday.[23]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this hind and bring it alive to Tiryns. The danger in this Labor lay in pursuing the hind through wild lands from which no hunter ever returned.[24] Herakles hunted the hind for a year, chasing it through Istria and the Land of the Hyperboreans. The hind took refuge on Mount Artemision. Herakles let fly an arrow that pinned the hind's forelegs (front legs) together without drawing blood. He put the hind on his shoulders and took her back to Tiryns.[25]
+
+Artemis and Apollo stopped Herakles on his way to Tiryns. On some vases, Apollo is seen trying to forcibly take the hind from Herakles.  Herakles however lay the blame for the theft on Eurystheus. Artemis accepted this plea and allowed him to pass.[26] Some say Herakles used a net to capture the hind or captured her when she was asleep under a tree.[25]
+
+Eurystheus' daughter Admete was a priestess of Hera.[27] She wanted the Golden Girdle (belt) of Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazons. This girdle had been a gift to Hippolyte from her father, Ares, the god of war. The Amazons were all related to Ares. They hated men and mated only to make more female warriors. Baby boys were killed or crippled. The lives of these women were devoted to war.
+
+Herakles and friends sailed to their land of Pontos on the Black Sea. The Amazons lived at the mouth of the Thermodon River.[20] Hippolyte welcomed Herakles. She fell in love with his muscles and his great fame. She promised him the girdle as a love token. Hera disguised herself as an Amazon. She whispered among others that Herakles was going to kidnap the Queen. The Amazons charged Herakles' ship on horseback. Herakles killed Hippolyte, and took the girdle. Many Amazons were killed.[28]
+
+Some say Hippolyte would not part with the girdle. Herakles threw her from her horse and threatened her with his club. She would not ask for mercy. Herakles killed her.[29] Some say Hippolyte's sister Melanippe was taken prisoner. She was ransomed with the girdle. Some say Hippolyte herself was taken prisoner and ransomed with the girdle. Others say Theseus took Hippolyte prisoner and gave the girdle to Herakles.[28] Herakles gave the girdle to Eurystheus, who gave it to Admete.[30]
+
+A large and dangerous boar was living on Mount Erymanthos. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this boar.[31] On Mount Erymanthos, Herakles forced the boar from the wood with his shouts. He then drove the boar into deep snow and jumped on its back. He put the boar in chains, placed it on his shoulders, and took it to Eurystheus. The king was so scared he hid in his bronze jar.[32][33] Herakles left the boar in the market square of Tiryns. He then joined the Argonauts on the Quest for the Golden Fleece.[34]
+
+Mount Erymanthos took its name from a son of Apollo. Aphrodite blinded him because he saw her taking a bath. Apollo was angry. He turned himself into a boar and killed her boyfriend Adonis.[31]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him the Horses of King Diomedes of Thrace. King Diomedes' horses were savage man-eaters, and were fed on the flesh of Diomedes' innocent guests. Herakles and his friends sailed to the coast of Thrace. Having found the stables of Diomedes, they killed the king's servants. They then put Diomedes before the horses. The animals tore him to pieces and ate him. The horses grew calm after feeding, and were led to the ship. Herakles sent them to Eurystheus.[35]
+
+Diomedes was the son of Ares, the god of war, and the king of the Bistones, a Thracian tribe of warlike people. While travelling in connection with this Labor, Herakles visited King Admetos. His wife Alcestis had just died. Herakles wrestled Death for Alcestis and he won. Alcestis was returned to life. This event is the basis for Euripides' play Alcestis. Eurystheus dedicated the savage horses to Hera. They were said to have bred into the age of Alexander the Great.
+
+Another story says Herakles captured the horses and drove them to his ship. Diomedes and his men chased the thieves. Herakles and his friends left the ship to fight the king and his men. The horses of Diomedes were left in the care of Abderos, Herakles' male lover. The horses ate him. Herakles built the city of Abdera in his memory. It was after this Labor that Herakles joined the Quest for the Golden Fleece. He dropped out of the search when his lover Hylas was lost on a strange island. Some say Herakles went on to Kolchis and rejoined the Quest. Others say he returned to Tiryns and the Labors.[36]
+
+Geryon was a very strong giant with three bodies, six hands, and three heads. He was the King of Tartessus in Spain.[37] He had wings, and the picture on his shield was an eagle.[38] He lived on an island called Erytheia. This island was far to the west in Okeanos, the river that circles the Earth. At night, the Sun sailed upon this river in a Golden Cup.[39]
+
+Geryon had large herds of cattle.[39] They were watched over by Eurytion, Geryon's servant, and a huge two-headed dog named Orthrus, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.[37] King Eurystheus ordered Herakles to capture Geryon's cattle.[39]
+
+Herakles crossed the Libyan desert. At the narrow channel that separates Europe and Africa, he built the Pillars of Herakles.[40] The Sun was hot and Herakles threatened to shoot him with his bow and arrows. The Sun asked him not to do this. Herakles agreed. He borrowed the Sun's Golden Cup and sailed away in it. The Titan Oceanus tested Herakles' seamanship by causing violent waves. Herakles threatened to shoot Oceanus, too. Oceanus calmed the waves. Some say Herakles sailed in an urn and used his lion skin as a sail.[41]
+
+On Geryon's island, Herakles killed the two-headed dog Orthos and the servant Eurytion, who tried to help the dog. Herakles was driving the cattle to the Golden Cup when Geryon appeared, ready to fight. Herakles shot him down and sailed away with the cattle.[42] Herakles had many adventures on his return to Greece. On the Greek coast, Hera sent gadflies to drive the herd of cattle far and wide. Herkales managed to round-up a few and these he presented to Eurystheus. He sacrificed them to Hera.[43]
+
+Hera received golden apples as a gift when she married. She planted them in her garden far to the west near Mount Atlas. It was on this mountain that the Titan Atlas held the sky on his shoulders. He was being punished for having joined the other Titans in making war on Zeus. When Hera heard his daughters were stealing from the garden, she sent a one hundred-headed dragon called Ladon to the garden to protect the apples. Three nymphs called the Hesperides also guarded the apples.
+
+Eurystheus wanted Herakles to bring him three golden apples. Herakles set off. The river god Nereus refused to give him directions and changed his shape again and again. Herakles tied him to a tree until he told the way. In the Caucasus, Herakles freed the Titan Prometheus, the fire-bringer, from his chains. Prometheus warned Herakles not to pick the apples himself, but to ask someone else to do it.
+
+Herakles asked Atlas to pick the apples. The Titan agreed, but only if Herakles would kill the dragon and then take the sky on his shoulders. Herakles killed the dragon and took the sky on his shoulders. Atlas picked the apples but refused to take the sky again. He liked being free. Herakles tricked him. He asked Atlas to take the sky — only for a moment — while he put a cushion on his shoulders. Atlas took the sky. Herakles took the apples and headed for Tiryns. Eurystheus did not know what to do with the apples. He gave them to Herakles. Athena returned the apples to the garden, because they did, after all, belong to the gods.[44]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him Kerberos, a three-headed dog-like monster with a dragon's tail and a mane of poisonous snakes. It guarded the entrance to the Underworld. The three heads could see the past, present, and future. Some say they represented birth, youth, and old age.[45] Kerberos allowed the dead to enter the Underworld, but anyone who tried to leave was eaten.[46] Kerberos was the offspring of Echidna, a monster part woman/part snake, and Typhon, a fire-breathing giant. Kerberos' brother was the two-headed dog Orthrus.[47]
+
+Herakles' first step was to undergo the Mysteries of Eleusis. These rites would protect him in the land of the dead. They would also cleanse him of the massacre of the Centaurs. Athena and Hermes guided Herakles into the Underworld. He was ferried across the River Styx in Charon's boat. On the opposite shore, he met the Gorgon, Medusa. She was a harmless phantom and he passed her without trouble. He met Meleagros and offered to marry his sister, Deianeira. Eventually, he did. When Herakles asked Hades for Kerberos, Hades allowed him to take the monster, but only if he could do so without using his weapons. Herakles wrestled the monster and choked it. Once the monster had yielded, he led it away.
+
+As they neared the Earth's surface, Kerberos tossed his three heads because he hated the sunlight. His spit flew in all directions. From that spit grew the poisonous plant, aconite. When Heracles arrived in Tiryns, Eurystheus was performing a sacrifice. The king gave the best cuts of meat to his relatives and only a slave's portion of meat to Herakles. Herakles was furious with this insult and killed Eurystheus' three sons. Eurystheus was terrified when presented with Kerberos and hid in his bronze jar. Herakles took Kerberos back to the Underworld. Another account says the monster escaped.[48][49][50] This Labor is the twelfth and last Labor in some accounts.
+
+King Augeias of Elis lived on the west coast of the Peloponnese. He was a son of Helios, the sun god. It was said that the rays of the sun shone in his eyes.[51] Augeias had many cattle. His animals were always healthy, and gave birth to many young.  His stables had not been cleaned in years and were thick with animal waste. The valleys were also full of waste. The smell of this waste poisoned the land. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to clean the stables in a day. He liked the thought of Herakles doing such dirty work.[52]
+
+Herakles went to Elis. He did not tell Augeias that Eurystheus had ordered him to clean the stables.Instead, he made a bargain with Augeias. He promised to clean the stables if Augeias would give him some of his cattle. The bargain was made. Augeias' son Phyleos acted as witness. Herakles set to work. First, he made two holes in the stone foundation of the stables. Then he changed the paths of the Alpheios and Peneios Rivers. The rivers were made to flow through one hole and out the other. This is how the stables were washed clean.[53]
+
+Augeias learned from Eurystheus' servant Copreus that Eurystheus had ordered Herakles to clean the stables.[54] He would not respect the bargain he had made with Herakles. Herakles took the case to court. Phyleos was called to court and told the truth about the bargain. Augeias was so angry he drove his son and Herakles out of the land. Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus said that the Labor did not count because Herakles had made a bargain with Augeias. Eurystheus also thought that the river gods had really done the work.[55][56]
+
+This Labor was the last one presented in the frieze on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. It was important to the Greeks because one day Herakles made war on Augeias and defeated him. Herakles then laid out the Olympian sanctuary in the land of King Augeias and started the Olympic Games.[57] It was said that Menedemus of Elis gave Herakles advice on this Labor and that the hero had the help of his nephew Iolaos.[54] While Augeias and Herakles were making their bargain, Phaeton, one of Augeias' twelve white bulls, charged Herakles. These white bulls guarded all the cattle against wild animals. Phaeton thought the hero was a lion. Herakles forced the bull to the Earth by twisting its horn.[58] Herakles was going to get Augeias' daughter as part of the bargain, but he did not. This was given as one reason for making war later on Augeias. He was also going to become Augeias' slave if the work was not done in one day.[53]

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+The Labors of Herakles is a series of tasks performed by the Greek hero Herakles (Latin: Hercules) as a penance for a terrible crime he committed. These tasks required great strength and courage. For the most part, they involved killing fierce animals and horrible monsters. The Labors were said to have been devised by Hera, the goddess of marriage.  She hated Herakles because he was a bastard son of her husband Zeus. She hoped these tasks would kill him. Herakles however performed them with great success, and, in the process, became very famous. The Labors of Herakles probably had their origin in the religious and magical practices of prehistoric man. They are the subject of ancient and modern art.
+
+Mortals die, but gods live forever. Herakles was part mortal, part god. His father was the god Zeus and his mother was the mortal Alkmene. Zeus' wife Hera was the goddess of marriage. She hated Herakles because he was one of her husband's bastards. She tried many times to kill him, even when he was a baby. He lived in spite of Hera's persecution and hatred, and did many great deeds as a young man.
+
+Herakles married Megara, the daughter of a king. They became the parents of several children. Hera caused Herakles to go mad and to kill his family. The priestess of Delphi ordered Herakles to serve his cousin King Eurystheus of Tiryns as a penance for this crime. Eurystheus would present a series of tasks to Herakles. These tasks were said to have been designed by Hera herself in the hope that they would kill Herakles.
+
+There is no definite order for the Labors. Most of the time, however, the order is: Nemean Lion, Lernean Hydra, Cerynitian Hind, Erymanthian Boar, Augean Stables, Stymphalian Birds, Cretan Bull, Mares of Diomedes, Girdle of Hippolyta, Cattle of Geryon, Apples of the Hesperides, and Kerberos. The order here is that of the sculptures called metopes on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. These sculptures (made about 460–450 BC) were placed high on the outside of the temple in a frieze. Their order was described by the ancient Greek geographer, Pausanias. Some of these metopes are used in this article to illustrate the Labors. The first group of six metopes are from the west end of the temple. The second group of six are from the east end. Some of the illustrations here are taken from Greek vase paintings. The Labors of Herakles became the subject of much ancient and modern art, and even movies like Hercules (1958) starring Steve Reeves and the Walt Disney animated movie Hercules (1997).
+
+A large and dangerous lion was terrorizing the people and animals near the city of Nemea. Weapons of iron, bronze, or stone could not pierce the lion's thick hide (skin). Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill and skin this lion.[1]
+
+Herakles went to the region of Nemea and stayed with a poor man named Molorchos at Kleonai. Molorchos' son had been killed by this lion. Molorchos wanted to sacrifice his only ram to Herakles, but Herakles asked him to wait thirty days. If he did not return within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to him as a hero. If he returned within thirty days, the ram was to be sacrificed to Zeus the Deliverer.[2]
+
+Herakles found the lion outside its lair on Mount Tretos. His arrows and sword were useless against the beast. He hit the lion with his club and the animal went into his lair. Herakles blocked one of the two openings to the cavern with nets, then entered the cavern. He wrestled the lion and choked it to death. The lion bit off one of his fingers. He returned to Molorchos' hovel with the lion's carcass on his back. The two men sacrificed to Zeus.[3]
+
+When Herakles presented the dead animal to Eurystheus, the king was disgusted. He ordered Herakles to leave such things outside the gates of Tiryns in the future. Eurystheus then put a large bronze jar underground. This was the place where he would hide whenever Herakles returned to the city with some trophy of his Labors. Zeus put the lion among the stars as the constellation Leo.[4]
+
+In the future, Eurystheus would only communicate with Herakles through Kopreus, his dungman. Herakles skinned the lion with one of its own claws. He wore the skin as a kind of armor and the lion's skull as a helmet.[5] Euripides wrote in his play Herakles:"First he cleared the grove of Zeus of a lion, and put its skin upon his back, hiding his yellow hair in its fearful tawny gaping jaws."[6]
+
+The origin of the Nemean Lion is not certain. Some say he was the son of either Typhon or the Chimera and the dog Orthros. Some say the moon goddess Selene gave birth to the lion and let it fall to Earth near a two-mouthed cave at Nemea. She set it against the people because they had failed to properly observe her worship. Some say that Hera had Selene create the lion from sea foam and that Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, carried it to Nemea.[7] Others say the lion was the son of the snake goddess Echidna and her son, the dog Orthos.  This would make the lion a brother to the Sphinx of Thebes.  Hera was said to have brought the lion from the eastern land of the Arimoi and to have released it near Nemea.[8]
+
+The Hydra ("water-snake") was a monster with many heads. She lived beneath a plane tree near the spring called Amymone. This spring was near the seaside city of Lerna. She was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and the sister of Kerebos.[9] Hera raised the Hydra to torment Herakles. The Hydra had a dog-like body.[10] Its breath was poisonous. The head in the middle of the monster was immortal—it could not die. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to kill this monster. Herakles and his nephew Iolaos (the son of his brother Iphicles) drove to the swamp near Lerna in Herakles' war chariot.[11] Iolaos was Heracles' charioteer and his lover.[12]
+
+Athena told Herakles to force the monster from the swamp with fire arrows. He did, but the monster twisted itself about his feet. He beat the heads with his club, but crushing one head only caused others to erupt. A great crab crawled from the swamp to help the Hydra. It bit Herakles in the foot. He crushed its shell. Herakles called Iolaos for his help and cut the Hydra's heads off with his sword. Iolaos sealed the neck stumps with torches so other heads could not grow in their place.[11]
+
+The Hydra was at last killed. Herakles cut off the immortal head and buried it under a heavy stone in the road. He dipped his arrowheads in the Hydra's poisonous blood. They became deadly.[13] Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus would not count this adventure as a Labor because Herakles had had his nephew's help. He added another Labor to the list. Hera set the crab in the sky as a constellation.[14][15] The river Anigrus in Elis stank because the Hydra's poison was washed from the arrows Heracles used to kill the centaur Nessus in its waters.[16]
+
+The Stymphalian Birds were man-eating birds living on the shores of Lake Stymphalos in north-eastern Arcadia. The birds were sacred to Ares, the god of war. Their feces poisoned the land and crops would not grow. The birds attacked men with their bronze beaks and claws. They could rain down their sharp bronze feathers to kill men and their animals.[17]
+
+Herakles failed to drive them off with his arrows. Athena gave him a set of metal castanets (or a rattle) made by the blacksmith of the gods, Hephaestus. Herakles climbed to a rocky place over the lake and made so much noise with the castanets that the birds flew as far as the Isle of Ares in the Black Sea. Herakles was able to kill many of them with his arrows as they flew away.[17]
+
+Some say the birds were women. Artemis Stymphalia ruled the swamps about the lake. Her temple there had pictures of young girls with the feet of birds. These girls lured men to their deaths in the swamps. They were said to be the daughters of Stymphalos and Ornis. These two were killed by Herakles when they would not give him food, drink, and a place to rest.[18][19]
+
+The Cretan Bull rose from the sea. Poseidon, god of the sea, intended King Minos to sacrifice the bull, but it was so handsome that Minos kept it for himself. He sent it to mate with his cows, then sacrificed another bull to Poseidon. The god was angry and caused Minos' wife, Queen Pasiphaë, to develop a sexual desire for the animal.[20]
+
+She mated with it and gave birth to a son. This son was the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The Cretan Bull went mad. Heracules captured it by throwing a rope about its head and about a leg. Some say he wrestled it, or stunned it with his club.[20]
+
+Minos let Heracules take the bull to Greece. Eurystheus wanted to give the bull to Hera but she would not take it because Heracules had captured it. She let it go and it wandered about Greece. Theseus of Athens finally captured it and sacrificed it to Athena, or some say, Apollo.[21] The bull had spent its days in Crete destroying crops and belching fire.[22]
+
+When Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was a child, she saw five hinds (female deer) grazing near the Anaurus River in Thessaly. Each was as large as a bull, each had hooves of bronze, and all had antlers of gold.  She caught four of them, and used them to pull her chariot. The fifth escaped the goddess and lived on the Keryneian Hill in Arkadia. Hera planned to use this hind against Herakles someday.[23]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this hind and bring it alive to Tiryns. The danger in this Labor lay in pursuing the hind through wild lands from which no hunter ever returned.[24] Herakles hunted the hind for a year, chasing it through Istria and the Land of the Hyperboreans. The hind took refuge on Mount Artemision. Herakles let fly an arrow that pinned the hind's forelegs (front legs) together without drawing blood. He put the hind on his shoulders and took her back to Tiryns.[25]
+
+Artemis and Apollo stopped Herakles on his way to Tiryns. On some vases, Apollo is seen trying to forcibly take the hind from Herakles.  Herakles however lay the blame for the theft on Eurystheus. Artemis accepted this plea and allowed him to pass.[26] Some say Herakles used a net to capture the hind or captured her when she was asleep under a tree.[25]
+
+Eurystheus' daughter Admete was a priestess of Hera.[27] She wanted the Golden Girdle (belt) of Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazons. This girdle had been a gift to Hippolyte from her father, Ares, the god of war. The Amazons were all related to Ares. They hated men and mated only to make more female warriors. Baby boys were killed or crippled. The lives of these women were devoted to war.
+
+Herakles and friends sailed to their land of Pontos on the Black Sea. The Amazons lived at the mouth of the Thermodon River.[20] Hippolyte welcomed Herakles. She fell in love with his muscles and his great fame. She promised him the girdle as a love token. Hera disguised herself as an Amazon. She whispered among others that Herakles was going to kidnap the Queen. The Amazons charged Herakles' ship on horseback. Herakles killed Hippolyte, and took the girdle. Many Amazons were killed.[28]
+
+Some say Hippolyte would not part with the girdle. Herakles threw her from her horse and threatened her with his club. She would not ask for mercy. Herakles killed her.[29] Some say Hippolyte's sister Melanippe was taken prisoner. She was ransomed with the girdle. Some say Hippolyte herself was taken prisoner and ransomed with the girdle. Others say Theseus took Hippolyte prisoner and gave the girdle to Herakles.[28] Herakles gave the girdle to Eurystheus, who gave it to Admete.[30]
+
+A large and dangerous boar was living on Mount Erymanthos. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to catch this boar.[31] On Mount Erymanthos, Herakles forced the boar from the wood with his shouts. He then drove the boar into deep snow and jumped on its back. He put the boar in chains, placed it on his shoulders, and took it to Eurystheus. The king was so scared he hid in his bronze jar.[32][33] Herakles left the boar in the market square of Tiryns. He then joined the Argonauts on the Quest for the Golden Fleece.[34]
+
+Mount Erymanthos took its name from a son of Apollo. Aphrodite blinded him because he saw her taking a bath. Apollo was angry. He turned himself into a boar and killed her boyfriend Adonis.[31]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him the Horses of King Diomedes of Thrace. King Diomedes' horses were savage man-eaters, and were fed on the flesh of Diomedes' innocent guests. Herakles and his friends sailed to the coast of Thrace. Having found the stables of Diomedes, they killed the king's servants. They then put Diomedes before the horses. The animals tore him to pieces and ate him. The horses grew calm after feeding, and were led to the ship. Herakles sent them to Eurystheus.[35]
+
+Diomedes was the son of Ares, the god of war, and the king of the Bistones, a Thracian tribe of warlike people. While travelling in connection with this Labor, Herakles visited King Admetos. His wife Alcestis had just died. Herakles wrestled Death for Alcestis and he won. Alcestis was returned to life. This event is the basis for Euripides' play Alcestis. Eurystheus dedicated the savage horses to Hera. They were said to have bred into the age of Alexander the Great.
+
+Another story says Herakles captured the horses and drove them to his ship. Diomedes and his men chased the thieves. Herakles and his friends left the ship to fight the king and his men. The horses of Diomedes were left in the care of Abderos, Herakles' male lover. The horses ate him. Herakles built the city of Abdera in his memory. It was after this Labor that Herakles joined the Quest for the Golden Fleece. He dropped out of the search when his lover Hylas was lost on a strange island. Some say Herakles went on to Kolchis and rejoined the Quest. Others say he returned to Tiryns and the Labors.[36]
+
+Geryon was a very strong giant with three bodies, six hands, and three heads. He was the King of Tartessus in Spain.[37] He had wings, and the picture on his shield was an eagle.[38] He lived on an island called Erytheia. This island was far to the west in Okeanos, the river that circles the Earth. At night, the Sun sailed upon this river in a Golden Cup.[39]
+
+Geryon had large herds of cattle.[39] They were watched over by Eurytion, Geryon's servant, and a huge two-headed dog named Orthrus, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.[37] King Eurystheus ordered Herakles to capture Geryon's cattle.[39]
+
+Herakles crossed the Libyan desert. At the narrow channel that separates Europe and Africa, he built the Pillars of Herakles.[40] The Sun was hot and Herakles threatened to shoot him with his bow and arrows. The Sun asked him not to do this. Herakles agreed. He borrowed the Sun's Golden Cup and sailed away in it. The Titan Oceanus tested Herakles' seamanship by causing violent waves. Herakles threatened to shoot Oceanus, too. Oceanus calmed the waves. Some say Herakles sailed in an urn and used his lion skin as a sail.[41]
+
+On Geryon's island, Herakles killed the two-headed dog Orthos and the servant Eurytion, who tried to help the dog. Herakles was driving the cattle to the Golden Cup when Geryon appeared, ready to fight. Herakles shot him down and sailed away with the cattle.[42] Herakles had many adventures on his return to Greece. On the Greek coast, Hera sent gadflies to drive the herd of cattle far and wide. Herkales managed to round-up a few and these he presented to Eurystheus. He sacrificed them to Hera.[43]
+
+Hera received golden apples as a gift when she married. She planted them in her garden far to the west near Mount Atlas. It was on this mountain that the Titan Atlas held the sky on his shoulders. He was being punished for having joined the other Titans in making war on Zeus. When Hera heard his daughters were stealing from the garden, she sent a one hundred-headed dragon called Ladon to the garden to protect the apples. Three nymphs called the Hesperides also guarded the apples.
+
+Eurystheus wanted Herakles to bring him three golden apples. Herakles set off. The river god Nereus refused to give him directions and changed his shape again and again. Herakles tied him to a tree until he told the way. In the Caucasus, Herakles freed the Titan Prometheus, the fire-bringer, from his chains. Prometheus warned Herakles not to pick the apples himself, but to ask someone else to do it.
+
+Herakles asked Atlas to pick the apples. The Titan agreed, but only if Herakles would kill the dragon and then take the sky on his shoulders. Herakles killed the dragon and took the sky on his shoulders. Atlas picked the apples but refused to take the sky again. He liked being free. Herakles tricked him. He asked Atlas to take the sky — only for a moment — while he put a cushion on his shoulders. Atlas took the sky. Herakles took the apples and headed for Tiryns. Eurystheus did not know what to do with the apples. He gave them to Herakles. Athena returned the apples to the garden, because they did, after all, belong to the gods.[44]
+
+Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him Kerberos, a three-headed dog-like monster with a dragon's tail and a mane of poisonous snakes. It guarded the entrance to the Underworld. The three heads could see the past, present, and future. Some say they represented birth, youth, and old age.[45] Kerberos allowed the dead to enter the Underworld, but anyone who tried to leave was eaten.[46] Kerberos was the offspring of Echidna, a monster part woman/part snake, and Typhon, a fire-breathing giant. Kerberos' brother was the two-headed dog Orthrus.[47]
+
+Herakles' first step was to undergo the Mysteries of Eleusis. These rites would protect him in the land of the dead. They would also cleanse him of the massacre of the Centaurs. Athena and Hermes guided Herakles into the Underworld. He was ferried across the River Styx in Charon's boat. On the opposite shore, he met the Gorgon, Medusa. She was a harmless phantom and he passed her without trouble. He met Meleagros and offered to marry his sister, Deianeira. Eventually, he did. When Herakles asked Hades for Kerberos, Hades allowed him to take the monster, but only if he could do so without using his weapons. Herakles wrestled the monster and choked it. Once the monster had yielded, he led it away.
+
+As they neared the Earth's surface, Kerberos tossed his three heads because he hated the sunlight. His spit flew in all directions. From that spit grew the poisonous plant, aconite. When Heracles arrived in Tiryns, Eurystheus was performing a sacrifice. The king gave the best cuts of meat to his relatives and only a slave's portion of meat to Herakles. Herakles was furious with this insult and killed Eurystheus' three sons. Eurystheus was terrified when presented with Kerberos and hid in his bronze jar. Herakles took Kerberos back to the Underworld. Another account says the monster escaped.[48][49][50] This Labor is the twelfth and last Labor in some accounts.
+
+King Augeias of Elis lived on the west coast of the Peloponnese. He was a son of Helios, the sun god. It was said that the rays of the sun shone in his eyes.[51] Augeias had many cattle. His animals were always healthy, and gave birth to many young.  His stables had not been cleaned in years and were thick with animal waste. The valleys were also full of waste. The smell of this waste poisoned the land. Eurystheus ordered Herakles to clean the stables in a day. He liked the thought of Herakles doing such dirty work.[52]
+
+Herakles went to Elis. He did not tell Augeias that Eurystheus had ordered him to clean the stables.Instead, he made a bargain with Augeias. He promised to clean the stables if Augeias would give him some of his cattle. The bargain was made. Augeias' son Phyleos acted as witness. Herakles set to work. First, he made two holes in the stone foundation of the stables. Then he changed the paths of the Alpheios and Peneios Rivers. The rivers were made to flow through one hole and out the other. This is how the stables were washed clean.[53]
+
+Augeias learned from Eurystheus' servant Copreus that Eurystheus had ordered Herakles to clean the stables.[54] He would not respect the bargain he had made with Herakles. Herakles took the case to court. Phyleos was called to court and told the truth about the bargain. Augeias was so angry he drove his son and Herakles out of the land. Back in Tiryns, Eurystheus said that the Labor did not count because Herakles had made a bargain with Augeias. Eurystheus also thought that the river gods had really done the work.[55][56]
+
+This Labor was the last one presented in the frieze on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. It was important to the Greeks because one day Herakles made war on Augeias and defeated him. Herakles then laid out the Olympian sanctuary in the land of King Augeias and started the Olympic Games.[57] It was said that Menedemus of Elis gave Herakles advice on this Labor and that the hero had the help of his nephew Iolaos.[54] While Augeias and Herakles were making their bargain, Phaeton, one of Augeias' twelve white bulls, charged Herakles. These white bulls guarded all the cattle against wild animals. Phaeton thought the hero was a lion. Herakles forced the bull to the Earth by twisting its horn.[58] Herakles was going to get Augeias' daughter as part of the bargain, but he did not. This was given as one reason for making war later on Augeias. He was also going to become Augeias' slave if the work was not done in one day.[53]

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+An earthquake is the sudden movement of the Earth's tectonic plates, resulting in shaking of the ground. This shaking can result in the damage of various structures such as buildings and further breakdown of the Earth's surface.
+
+The study of earthquakes is called seismology.[1] Earthquakes are usually quite brief, but there may be many over a short time frame. The sudden release of tension in the tectonic plates sends waves of energy that travel through the Earth. Seismology studies the cause, frequency, type and size of earthquakes.
+
+There are large earthquakes and small earthquakes. Large earthquakes can take down buildings and cause death and injury. Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismographs. The magnitude of an earthquake and the intensity of shaking is usually reported on the Richter scale. The Richter Scale was invented by Charles Francis Richter in 1935. On the scale, 2 is scarcely noticeable, and magnitude 5 (or more) causes damage over a wide area.
+
+An earthquake under the ocean can cause a tsunami, which can cause just as much destruction as the earthquake itself in mountainous areas. Earthquakes can also cause landslides. Earthquakes are part of the Earth's natural rock cycle.
+The impact of an earthquake can be measured by a seismometer. It detects the vibrations caused and it puts these movements on a seismograph. The strength, or magnitude, of an earthquake, is measured using the Richter scale. The Richter scale is numbered 0-9. The largest earthquake ever measured was a 9.5 on the scale a 10 has never been recorded.
+
+Scientists cannot predict an earthquake before it happens. But we do know where earthquakes might happen in the future, like close to fault lines.An earthquake under the ocean can cause a tsunami, this can cause just as much destruction as the earthquake itself.
+
+Earthquakes sometimes hit cities and kill hundreds or thousands of people. Most earthquakes happen along the Pacific Ring of Fire but the biggest ones mostly happen in other places. Tectonically active places are places where earthquakes or volcanic eruptions are frequent.
+
+Earthquakes are caused by tectonic movements in the Earth's crust. The main cause is when tectonic plates ride one over the other, causing orogeny (mountain building), and severe earthquakes.
+
+The boundaries between moving plates form the largest fault surfaces on Earth. When they stick, motion between the plates leads to increasing stress. This continues until the stress rises and breaks, suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion of the fault. This releases the stored energy as shock waves. The San Andreas fault in San Francisco, and Rift valley fault in Africa are faults like this.
+1. Volcanic Earthquakes : Earthquakes which are caused by volcanic eruptions are quite devastating. However, these are confined to areas of active volcanoes.
+2. Collapse Earthquakes : In areas of intense mining activity, often the roofs of underground mines collapse and minor tremors take place. These are called collapse earthquakes.
+
+
+
+There are three main types of geological fault that may cause an earthquake: normal, reverse (thrust) and strike-slip. Normal faults occur mainly in areas where the crust is being extended. Reverse faults occur in areas where the crust is being shortened. Strike-slip faults are steep structures where the two sides of the fault slip horizontally past each other.
+
+Most earthquakes form part of a sequence, related to each other in terms of location and time.[2] Most earthquake clusters consist of small tremors which cause little to no damage, but there is a theory that earthquakes can recur in a regular pattern.[3]
+
+A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger earthquake, called the mainshock.
+
+An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the mainshock. An aftershock is in the same region of the main shock but always of a smaller magnitude. Aftershocks are formed as the crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock.[2]
+
+Earthquake swarms are sequences of earthquakes striking in a specific area within a short period of time. They are different from earthquakes followed by a series of aftershocks by the fact that no single earthquake in the sequence is obviously the main shock, therefore none have notably higher magnitudes than the other. An example of an earthquake swarm is the 2004 activity at Yellowstone National Park.[4]
+
+Sometimes a series of earthquakes occur in a sort of earthquake storm, where the earthquakes strike a fault in clusters, each triggered by the shaking or stress redistribution of the previous earthquakes. Similar to aftershocks but on adjacent segments of fault, these storms occur over the course of years, and with some of the later earthquakes as damaging as the early ones. Such a pattern occurred in the North Anatolian fault in Turkey in the 20th century.[5][6]
+
+Tsunami or a chain of fast moving waves in the ocean caused by powerful earthquakes is a very serious challenge for people's safety and for earthquake engineering. Those waves can inundate coastal areas, destroy houses and even swipe away whole towns.[7] This is a danger for the whole mankind.
+
+Unfortunately, tsunamis can not be prevented. However, there are warning systems[8] which may warn the population before the big waves reach the land to let them enough time to rush to safety.we aware of this tsunami
+
+Earthquake-proof buildings are constructed to withstand the destructive force of an earthquake. This depends upon its type of construction, shape, mass distribution, and rigidity. Different combinations are used. Square, rectangular, and shell-shaped buildings can withstand earthquakes better than skyscrapers. To reduce stress, a building's ground floor can be supported by extremely rigid, hollow columns, while the rest of the building is supported by flexible columns inside the hollow columns. Another method is to use rollers or rubber pads to separate the base columns from the ground, allowing the columns to shake parallel to each other during an earthquake.
+
+To help prevent a roof from collapsing, builders make the roof out of light-weight materials. Outdoor walls are made with stronger and more reinforced materials such as steel or reinforced concrete. During an earthquake flexible windows may help hold the windows together so they don’t break.

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+
+
+Tyrannosaurus was a large predatory dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous, 68 to 66 million years ago.[1]
+
+Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Compared to the large and powerful hind limbs, its forelimbs were small, but powerful for their size. They had two clawed digits.
+
+There is discussion as to whether it was a hunter or a scavenger. Like most dominant meat-eaters of today, such as lions and hyenas, Tyrannosaurus might have been both. It had a very strong jaw, and its bite power could snap the bones of other dinosaurs.
+
+More than 30 specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex have been found. Some of them are nearly complete skeletons, and soft tissue and proteins have been reported in at least one of these specimens. Research is done on its biology, life history and biomechanics. The feeding habits, physiology and potential speed of Tyrannosaurus rex are some topics. Some scientists think  Tarbosaurus bataar from Asia is a second species of Tyrannosaurus, but others think Tarbosaurus is a separate genus.
+
+The estimated size of this dinosaur has changed many times. Packard and colleagues tested dinosaur mass calculations on elephants. They decided that dinosaur estimations are flawed and produce results which were too high. Thus, the weight of Tyrannosaurus could be much less than usually estimated.[2]
+
+Although other theropods rivalled or exceeded Tyrannosaurus rex in size, it was the largest known tyrannosaurid and one of the largest known land predators. It was up to 12.3 m (40 ft) in length,[3] up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall at the hips,[4] and up to 6.8 metric tons (7.5 short tons) in weight.[5] By far the largest carnivore in its environment, Tyrannosaurus rex was a top predator, probably preying on hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, and/or a scavenger. The debate over Tyrannosaurus as apex predator or scavenger is among the longest running in paleontology.
+
+For a long time, Tyrannosaurus was the largest known carnivorous dinosaur. Recently, skeletons of other, slightly larger, carnivores have been found, such as Giganotosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Carcharodontosaurus. Skeletons of Tyrannosaurus were found on the North American continent, but relatives, such as Tarbosaurus, have been found in Asia.
+
+The largest known Tyrannosaurus rex skulls measure up to 5 feet (1.5 m) in length.[6] Large openings ('fenestrae') in the skull reduced weight and gave places for muscle attachment, as in all carnivorous theropods. But in other respects Tyrannosaurus's skull was significantly different from those of large non-tyrannosaurid theropods. It was extremely wide at the rear but had a narrow snout. This permitted good binocular vision.[7][8] The skull bones were massive. Some bones were fused, preventing movement between them; but many were pneumatized, with a "honeycomb" of tiny air spaces. This may have made the bones more flexible as well as lighter. These features are part of the tyrannosaurid trend towards an increasingly powerful bite. Its bite easily surpassed that of all non-tyrannosaurids.[9][10][11]
+
+The tip of the upper jaw was U-shaped (most non-tyrannosauroid carnivores had V-shaped upper jaws), which increased the amount of tissue and bone a tyrannosaur could rip out with one bite, although it also increased the stresses on the front teeth.[12][13]
+
+The earliest Tyrannosaurus skeletons were found in 1902 by Barnum Brown. Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, named the species Tyrannosaurus rex (meaning "tyrant lizard king") in 1905. The most complete skeleton was found in 1990 in South Dakota and named "Sue" after its finder, Susan Hendrickson.
+
+Tyrannosaurus has become well known. Many movies and television shows have featured it, such as Jurassic Park. Its skeletons are popular exhibits in many museums.
+
+Tyrannosaurus became extinct in the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, which wiped out half of all species on Earth.
+
+Jane is a fossil specimen of a small tyrannosaurid. It is either Nanotyrannus or a juvenile Tyrannosaurus. The skeleton was found in the Hell Creek Formation in southern Montana in 2001.[14]
+
+After four years of preparation, Jane went on display at Rockford, Illinois in the Burpee Museum of Natural History. Some paleontologists think Jane was a juvenile about 11 years old at its time of death. Its fully restored skeleton measured 6.5 metres (21.5 ft) long, about half as long as the largest known complete T. rex specimen, which measures 13 m (42.6 ft) long. The weight of the specimen in life was probably nearly 680 kg (1,500 lbs). Its large feet and long legs indicate it was built for speed and could possibly run as fast as 20–30 miles per hour. Its lower jaw has 17 curved, serrated teeth.
+
+Despite having a typically female name, Jane's sex is unknown—the specimen was named after Burpee Museum benefactor Jane Solem.[15]
+
+The Jane specimen has been central to the debate regarding the validity of the proposed tyrannosaurid genus Nanotyrannus. Jane's skull is almost identical to the skull of the original Nanotyrannus specimen, confirming that they belong to the same species. A conference was held at the Burpee museum in 2005, during which paleontologists debated whether these "pygmy tyrants" represented adult specimens of a small species, or juvenile specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex. While there were a few dissenters,[16] most paleontologists at the conference decided on the latter, that both Jane and Nanotyrannus were juvenile T. rex.[17][18] However, the Jane material has yet to be properly studied and described by scientists. This research is currently being done, by Robert Bakker and colleagues Peter Larson, and Phil Currie.[19]
+
+In August 1991, Robert Gebhardt was a high school principal. He joined Royal Saskatchewan Museum palaeontologists on a prospecting expedition. They went to the exposed bedrock along the Frenchman River Valley in southwest Saskatchewan, Canada. 
+Gebhardt discovered the base of a  worn tooth, and a vertebra from the tail. Both looked like they belonged to a T. rex.
+
+In June 1994, RSM palaeontologists began excavating the T. rex. The 66-million-year-old skeleton was the first T. rex skeleton found in Saskatchewan and one of only 12 known in the world at the time. Scotty is one of the largest and most complete skeletons with almost 70% of the skeleton found. A complete articulated cast of the skeleton was finally completed in 2012 and is now on display at its permanent home at the T.rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, Saskatchewan, Canada.
+
+Scotty's skull has a scar from the eye socket to the nostril. That was probably caused by another T. rex or large carnivore that gripped Scotty's skull in its jaws.[20] The museum staff think this is the biggest T. rex specimen found. It weighed about 8,870 kg (8.87 tonnes).[21]  Scotty was perhaps in its early thirties at the time of  death, and was 13 m (43 ft) long, including tail.[22]

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+A triangle is a shape, or a  part of two dimensional space. It has three straight sides and three vertices. The three angles of a triangle always add up to 180° (180 degrees). It is the polygon with the least possible number of sides.
+
+Triangles can be grouped according to how long their sides are:
+
+Triangles can also be grouped by their angles:
+
+Equilateral triangle
+
+Isosceles triangle
+
+Scalene triangle
+
+Right triangle
+
+Obtuse triangle
+
+Acute triangle
+
+Triangles are extremely useful. Measuring objects using triangles is called trigonometry. Some people have spent their entire lives studying triangles for use in trigonometry.
+
+Modern computers usually use triangles to make more complex graphic images or shapes.
+

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+A triangle is a shape, or a  part of two dimensional space. It has three straight sides and three vertices. The three angles of a triangle always add up to 180° (180 degrees). It is the polygon with the least possible number of sides.
+
+Triangles can be grouped according to how long their sides are:
+
+Triangles can also be grouped by their angles:
+
+Equilateral triangle
+
+Isosceles triangle
+
+Scalene triangle
+
+Right triangle
+
+Obtuse triangle
+
+Acute triangle
+
+Triangles are extremely useful. Measuring objects using triangles is called trigonometry. Some people have spent their entire lives studying triangles for use in trigonometry.
+
+Modern computers usually use triangles to make more complex graphic images or shapes.
+

ensimple/5788.html.txt

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+A triangle is a shape, or a  part of two dimensional space. It has three straight sides and three vertices. The three angles of a triangle always add up to 180° (180 degrees). It is the polygon with the least possible number of sides.
+
+Triangles can be grouped according to how long their sides are:
+
+Triangles can also be grouped by their angles:
+
+Equilateral triangle
+
+Isosceles triangle
+
+Scalene triangle
+
+Right triangle
+
+Obtuse triangle
+
+Acute triangle
+
+Triangles are extremely useful. Measuring objects using triangles is called trigonometry. Some people have spent their entire lives studying triangles for use in trigonometry.
+
+Modern computers usually use triangles to make more complex graphic images or shapes.
+

ensimple/5789.html.txt

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+A triangle is a shape, or a  part of two dimensional space. It has three straight sides and three vertices. The three angles of a triangle always add up to 180° (180 degrees). It is the polygon with the least possible number of sides.
+
+Triangles can be grouped according to how long their sides are:
+
+Triangles can also be grouped by their angles:
+
+Equilateral triangle
+
+Isosceles triangle
+
+Scalene triangle
+
+Right triangle
+
+Obtuse triangle
+
+Acute triangle
+
+Triangles are extremely useful. Measuring objects using triangles is called trigonometry. Some people have spent their entire lives studying triangles for use in trigonometry.
+
+Modern computers usually use triangles to make more complex graphic images or shapes.
+

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+Basque (Basque: Euskara) is the language spoken by the Basque people in the Basque Country and its diaspora. Although most other Europeans speak Indo-European languages, Basque is a language isolate and is not related to them or to any other language in the world.
+
+The ancestors of Basques are among the oldest residents of Europe, and their origins are unknown, as are the origins of the language. Many scholars have tried to link Basque to Etruscan, African languages, Caucasian languages and so on, but most see Basque as a language isolate. 
+A connection with the Iberian language has given some hope, but it is unclear whether similarities are caused by genetic relations or mere vicinity.
+It was spoken long before the Romans brought Latin to the Iberian Peninsula.
+
+Basque is spoken in an area that is smaller than what is known as the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria). Basque was once spoken over a larger area, but Latin took over in some places.
+
+Historically, Latin or a Romance language has been official.
+
+Today Basque holds co-official language status in the Basque regions of Spain: the full autonomous community of the Basque Country and some parts of Navarre. Basque has no official standing in the Northern Basque area of France, and French citizens are barred from using Basque in a French court of law.
+
+There are six main Basque dialects, comprising Biscayan, Guipuzcoan, and High Navarrese (in Spain), and Low Navarrese, Labourdin, and Souletin (in France). The dialect boundaries are not, however, congruent with political boundaries. 
+One of the first scientific studies of Basque dialects, in particular the auxiliary verb forms, was made by Louis-Lucien Bonaparte (a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte).
+
+There is now a unified version called Batua ("unified" in Basque), which is the language taught in schools. Batua is based largely on the Gipuzkoa regional dialect.
+
+Basque is an ergative-absolutive language. Its grammar is very complex, with many different cases for nouns.
+
+The vowel system is the same as most Spanish-speakers and has five pure vowels, /i e a o u/.
+
+By contact with nearby peoples, Basque has borrowed words from Latin, Spanish, French, Gascon and others but accepted fewer than Indo-European languages. Some claim that many of its words come from Latin, but phonetic evolution has made many of them now appear as if they were native words, e.g. lore ("flower", from florem), errota ("mill", from rotam, "[mill] wheel"), gela ("room", from cellam).
+
+Basque is written with the Latin alphabet. The universal special letter is ñ, which is pronounced like the n in onion, and ç and ü are also used. Basque does not use c, q, v, w, y except for loanwords and are not considered part of the alphabet. Also, x is pronounced as a sh, as in shine.

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+A triangle is a shape, or a  part of two dimensional space. It has three straight sides and three vertices. The three angles of a triangle always add up to 180° (180 degrees). It is the polygon with the least possible number of sides.
+
+Triangles can be grouped according to how long their sides are:
+
+Triangles can also be grouped by their angles:
+
+Equilateral triangle
+
+Isosceles triangle
+
+Scalene triangle
+
+Right triangle
+
+Obtuse triangle
+
+Acute triangle
+
+Triangles are extremely useful. Measuring objects using triangles is called trigonometry. Some people have spent their entire lives studying triangles for use in trigonometry.
+
+Modern computers usually use triangles to make more complex graphic images or shapes.
+

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+Knitting creates flexible fabric by looping thread or yarn together using two or more knitting needles or a knitting machine.
+
+Flat knitting, which is usually done on two straight needles, makes a length of cloth and is used to create things like blankets, scarves, and the backs, fronts, and sides of sweaters.
+
+Circular knitting, which is done on circular needles, or needles that have points on both ends, produces a seamless tube and is used to create things like hats, socks, mittens, rings, and sleeves.
+
+Patterns called cables are typically used on sweaters, particularly on fancy Aran sweaters from Ireland.
+Different kinds of stitches create different patterns in knitting. For example, the stretchy ends of knitted sleeves are called ribbing.
+
+Yarn for knitting can be made from any number of natural or synthetic (man made) fibers such as wool, cotton, silk, or acrylic. Some yarns are made from a blend of several kinds of fibers.
+
+Yarns come in many thicknesses or weights from fine to thick: lace, fingering, sock, sport, double-knit (or DK), worsted, Aran, bulky, and super-bulky. Thinner yarns are generally used with smaller knitting needles, and thicker yarns are used with larger knitting needles.
+
+Knitting needles come in various shapes: straight, double-pointed, cable, and circular. They can be made from bamboo, aluminum, steel, or plastic.

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+The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a nation in the south Caribbean Sea. It is 11 km (7 miles) away from Venezuela. The country has two bigger islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and many smaller islands.  The capital is Port-of-Spain.  The country has about 1,262,366 people in it.
+
+Trinidad and Tobago received independence from the United Kingdom on August 31, 1962.  Before that, it was ruled by the U.K.  Right now, the head of state (person who is in charge of the country) is Ms Paula-Mae Weekes. The head of government (person who is in charge of the government) are Prime Minister Keith Rowley and President Paula-Mae Weekes.
+
+Trinidad and Tobago is very diverse. It has people of many different races and religions. There are people who are children of Africans, Europeans, Arabs, Indians, and Chinese who moved to the islands a long time ago. The biggest religions in the country are Christianity and Hinduism. There are also Islam and African religions in the country.
+
+The country has some natural gas beneath the ground and underwater in the ocean. Natural gas is a liquid that makes machines work and heats houses.  Also, many people called tourists visit the islands. They take pictures and learn about the islands.
+
+The people in the country are famous for their music. They also play football and cricket.
+
+The population of Trinidad and Tobago is 1.17 million as of (2002). The ethnic groups of the population are:

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+The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a nation in the south Caribbean Sea. It is 11 km (7 miles) away from Venezuela. The country has two bigger islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and many smaller islands.  The capital is Port-of-Spain.  The country has about 1,262,366 people in it.
+
+Trinidad and Tobago received independence from the United Kingdom on August 31, 1962.  Before that, it was ruled by the U.K.  Right now, the head of state (person who is in charge of the country) is Ms Paula-Mae Weekes. The head of government (person who is in charge of the government) are Prime Minister Keith Rowley and President Paula-Mae Weekes.
+
+Trinidad and Tobago is very diverse. It has people of many different races and religions. There are people who are children of Africans, Europeans, Arabs, Indians, and Chinese who moved to the islands a long time ago. The biggest religions in the country are Christianity and Hinduism. There are also Islam and African religions in the country.
+
+The country has some natural gas beneath the ground and underwater in the ocean. Natural gas is a liquid that makes machines work and heats houses.  Also, many people called tourists visit the islands. They take pictures and learn about the islands.
+
+The people in the country are famous for their music. They also play football and cricket.
+
+The population of Trinidad and Tobago is 1.17 million as of (2002). The ethnic groups of the population are:

ensimple/5794.html.txt

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+The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a nation in the south Caribbean Sea. It is 11 km (7 miles) away from Venezuela. The country has two bigger islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and many smaller islands.  The capital is Port-of-Spain.  The country has about 1,262,366 people in it.
+
+Trinidad and Tobago received independence from the United Kingdom on August 31, 1962.  Before that, it was ruled by the U.K.  Right now, the head of state (person who is in charge of the country) is Ms Paula-Mae Weekes. The head of government (person who is in charge of the government) are Prime Minister Keith Rowley and President Paula-Mae Weekes.
+
+Trinidad and Tobago is very diverse. It has people of many different races and religions. There are people who are children of Africans, Europeans, Arabs, Indians, and Chinese who moved to the islands a long time ago. The biggest religions in the country are Christianity and Hinduism. There are also Islam and African religions in the country.
+
+The country has some natural gas beneath the ground and underwater in the ocean. Natural gas is a liquid that makes machines work and heats houses.  Also, many people called tourists visit the islands. They take pictures and learn about the islands.
+
+The people in the country are famous for their music. They also play football and cricket.
+
+The population of Trinidad and Tobago is 1.17 million as of (2002). The ethnic groups of the population are:

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+Barter is trading one thing for another without using money.[1] Usually the things that are traded are worth the same amount of money, but no money is used in the trade.
+
+Barter is useful when two people each have something the other wants, so they agree on an amount of stuff and then swap it. This can also happen with services, for example a plumber can fix a tap in a winery and be given a crate of wine.
+
+The problem with barter is one person may not want what the other person has. For instance,  Bob needs a new pair of shoes and John has those shoes. But Bob has eggs and John needs milk. This is where money becomes useful because anything can be traded for a set amount of money. Bob could pay John for the shoes and John could go to the store and buy some milk.

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+Troy [1][2] was a city in north-west Asia Minor. It was the center of the Trojan War, as told in eight long epic poems, six from the Epic Cycle,[3] and two written by Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey.[4]
+
+Today it is the name of an archaeological site, the location of Homeric Troy, in Hisarlik in Anatolia, close to the seacoast in what is now Çanakkale province in northwest Turkey, southwest of the Dardanelles.
+
+UNESCO has listed the archaeological site of Troy as a World Heritage Site.
+
+Troy as seen in Homer's account is probably true in part. However, it is wrong to think his account is historically exact. With that warning, this is a summary of events leading up to the Trojan war, mostly derived from the Iliad.
+
+Troy was a powerful kingdom in the Mediterranean sea, and thrived under the long rule of King Priam. His many sons, including the valiant, strong, unbeatable Hector, and Paris, a creative character who was not a strong fighter but a passionate man, are the best known in the Troy myth.
+
+In Greece lay a Kingdom called Mycene, owned by Mycenaean or Mykene people, ruled by King Agamemnon. He started a campaign to pressure the Greece cities or kingdoms and to join him and attack Troy, to capture its many riches. The King of Ithaca, Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was also known), along with King Idomenous of Crete, with up to 22 more Kingdoms and Kings, spent ten years attacking Troy. Eventually, Troy fell after a coup that Odysseus had thought up, using a wooden trojan horse to hide soldiers within in order to get soldiers behind the Trojan line of defence.
+
+Before the fall of Troy, during the dawn of the War, King Priam sought to create an alliance with the strong Kingdom of Sparta in Northern Greece, to defend Troy when the war had begun. King Aeneas, or Helikaon as he was said to be known, King of Dardanos, was a good friend of Hektor and King Priam, and sided with the Trojans in the war. Unfortunately, on the journey back, after Hektor and Paris had forged an alliance in Sparta,  Paris took the wife of the King of Sparta, Princess Helen, without his consent, as they had fallen in love.  This ended the alliance,and Sparta eventually joined the fighting cause of King Agammenon.
+

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+The number three (3) is one more than two and one less than four. It is the first Mersenne prime. Three is an important number for many cultures (groups of people living together). It is also a prime number. It is the first odd prime. In Roman numerals, it is III.

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+The Crusades were a group of wars over religious views between the Christian and Muslim populations of Europe and West Asia. It started mainly due to a fight for areas thought to be Holy Land. Both Muslims and Christians considered the same lands holy for reasons like Jesus' resurrections and Muhammad visiting there. The eight big crusade expeditions occurred during 1096 to 1291.[1] The Holy Land was still in a place that is very important for the three major monotheistic religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. There are many important religious sites in the Holy Land. This is the land now called Israel. 
+Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem and other religious sites fell under the control of Muslims during the Caliphate of Omar.
+
+There were many different crusades. The most important and biggest Crusades took place from the 11th century to the 13th century. There were 9 large crusades during this time. They are numbered 1 through 9. There were also many smaller Crusades. Some crusades were even within Europe (for example, in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia). The smaller Crusades continued to the 16th century, until the Renaissance and Reformation.
+
+The word "Crusade" is related to the word "Cross", and means a Christian holy war.  There is also the Arabic word "Jihad", which means to strive and struggle by Muslims.  All sides (Christians, Muslims, and Jews) believed very much in their religions. They also had political reasons for war.
+
+Alexius I was a ruler of the Byzantine Empire. When Alexius called for help to defend his empire against the Seljuk Turks in 1095, Pope Urban II asked all Christians to join a war against the Turks. The Pope told Christians that fighting the war would repay God for their sins and that if they died on a crusade they would go straight to heaven. The Christian soldiers were called "crusaders". The Christian armies marched to Jerusalem, attacking several cities on their way. In 1099 they won the battle for Jerusalem. As a result of the First Crusade, four crusader states were created. These were the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
+
+After some years of peace, Bernard of Clairvaux called for a new crusade when the town of Edessa was attacked by the Turks. French and German armies marched to the Holy Land in 1147, but were defeated. On the way, the Crusaders helped the Portuguese capture Lisbon from Al-Andalus as part of the Reconquista.​
+
+In 1187, Saladin recaptured Jerusalem.[2] Pope Gregory VIII called for a new crusade, led by several of Europe's kings: Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick drowned in Cilicia in 1190. The Crusaders re-established the Kingdom of Jerusalem in Acre. Richard defeated Saladin at Arsuf and Jaffa but lacked the men needed to attempt recapturing Jerusalem. Richard and Saladin made a truce that let the Christians travel safely through Jerusalem. Afterward Richard left in 1192. On Richard's way home, his ship was wrecked, leading him to Austria. In Austria his enemy Duke Leopold captured him, and Richard was ransomed.
+
+The Fourth Crusade was started by Pope Innocent III in 1202, with the idea to attack the Holy Land through Egypt. The Venetians changed this crusade, and went to the Christian city of Constantinople, where they attempted to place a Byzantine exile on the throne. After a series of misunderstandings and outbreaks of violence, the city was sacked in 1204.
+
+The Albigensian Crusade was started in 1209 to eliminate the Cathars of southern France.
+
+The Children's Crusade is a crusade of 1212. An outburst of the old popular enthusiasm led a gathering of children in France and Germany. A boy, from either France or Germany, said that Jesus had visited him, and told him to peacefully convert Muslims to Christianity.[3] Following this vision, many children formed bands, and marched to Italy. There, they were put onto ships which either capsized in a storm, or which went to Morocco. Most of the children either starved to death or were sold into slavery.[4]
+
+In the first movement, Nicholas, a shepherd from Germany, led a group across the Alps and into Italy in the early spring of 1212. About 7,000 arrived in Genoa in late August. However, their plans did not bear fruit when the waters failed to part as promised and the band broke up. Some left for home, others may have gone to Rome, while still others may have travelled down the Rhône to Marseille where they were probably sold into slavery. Few returned home and none reached the Holy Land.
+
+The second movement was led by a "shepherd boy"[3] named Stephen de Cloyes near the village of Châteaudun. In June of that year, the boy said that he had a letter for the king of France from Jesus. He could gather a crowd of over 30,000 and went to Saint-Denis. There he was seen to work miracles. On the orders of Philip II, on the advice of the University of Paris, the crowd was sent home, and most of them went. None of the contemporary sources mentions plans of the crowd to go to Jerusalem.
+
+Later chroniclers elaborated on these events. Recent research suggests those taking part were not children, at least not the very young. In the early 1200s, bands of wandering poor started cropping up throughout Europe. These were people displaced by economic changes at the time which forced many poor peasants in northern France and Germany to sell their land. These bands were referred to as pueri (Latin for "boys") in a condescending manner, in much the same way that people from rural areas in the United States are called "country boys."
+
+In 1212, a young French puer named Stephen and a German puer named Nicholas separately began claiming that they had each had similar visions of Jesus. This resulted in these bands of roving poor being united into a religious protest movement which transformed this forced wandering into a religious journey. The pueri marched, following the Cross. They  associated themselves with Jesus's biblical journey. This, however, was not a prelude to a holy war.
+
+At that time, chronicles were mostly kept by the Catholic Church. They were written in Latin.
+
+Thirty years later, chroniclers read the accounts of these processions and translated pueri as "children" without understanding the usage. So, the Children's Crusade was born. The resulting story illustrates how ingrained the concept of Crusading was in the people of that time— the chroniclers assumed that the pueri must have been Crusaders. In their innocence, they returned to the foundations of crusading characteristic of Peter the Hermit, and met the same sort of tragic fate.
+
+According to Matthew Paris, one of the leaders of the Children's Crusade became "Le Maître de Hongrie," the leader of the Shepherds' Crusade in 1251.
+
+During 1213, Pope Gregory IX pushed Frederick II into leading the Fifth Crusade. 
+The Church tried another crusade to attack the Holy Land. A crusading force from Hungary, Austria, and Bavaria captured Damietta, a city in Egypt, in 1219. The crusaders had to surrender, due to losing the battle for Cairo.
+
+In 1228, Emperor Frederick II set sail from Brindisi for Syria. He did this after the Pope excommunicated him. By talking to the Turks he had success, and Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem was given to the Crusaders for ten years without fighting. This was the first major crusade not initiated by the Papacy, a trend that was to continue for the rest of the century. This crusade only lasted for a year, from 1228-1229.
+
+The Templars argued with Egypt in 1243. In 1244, Egypt attacked Jerusalem. Louis IX of France started a crusade against Egypt from 1248 to 1254. It was a failure, and Louis spent much of the crusade living in Acre. In the midst of this crusade was the first Shepherds' Crusade in 1251.
+
+The Eighth Crusade was organized by Louis IX of France in 1270, to help the Crusader states in Syria.[5] However, the crusade got as far as Tunis, where Louis died a month later.[5]
+
+Before he was the king, Edward I of England started a crusade in 1271. He retired the following year after a truce.
+
+In time, the people went on Crusades for other purposes.[6] The Crusades ended two centuries after they had begun, achieving mixed results.[6] The crusades ended with the Mamluk Fall of Acre in 1291.[7] (the link is not yet started).
+
+Catholic: Roman Catholic · Eastern Catholic · Independent Catholic · Old Catholic
+Protestant: Lutheran · Reformed · Anabaptist · Baptist · Anglican · Methodist · Evangelical · Holiness · Pentecostal
+Eastern: Eastern Orthodox · Oriental Orthodox · Assyrian

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+The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 BC.[1] They were probably the largest wars in the ancient world.[2] The term "Punic" comes from the Latin word Punicus (or Poenicus). This was the word the Romans used for the Carthaginians, due to their Phoenician ancestry.
+
+The main cause of the Punic Wars was the clash of interests between the existing empire of Carthage and the expanding Roman Republic. What was at stake was control of the trading around the Mediterranean sea. Carthage lost the three wars.
+
+Carthage was a trading nation founded by Phoenicians. It was the dominant sea power in the western Mediterranean. It was a maritime empire, in contrast to the land-based Roman empire. The Romans decided they needed Sicily, which was then in Carthaginian hands. The consequence was a series of wars which lasted over a hundred years, and ended in the utter destruction of Carthage.
+

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+An airport is a place where airplanes can land or take off. Most airports in the world have only a long strip of level ground called a runway. Many airports have buildings which are used to hold airplanes and passengers. A building that holds passengers waiting for their planes or luggage is called a terminal. The sections between planes and the terminal are called "gates". Airports also have buildings called hangars to hold planes when they are not used. Some airports have buildings to control the airport, like a control tower which tells planes where to go.
+
+An international airport is a large airport that airplanes can use to fly to and from other countries. A domestic airport is an airport which is usually smaller and only has airplanes coming from places in the same country. Most international airports have shops and restaurants for airplane passengers to use.
+
+An airport used by the military is often called an air force base or airbase. An aircraft carrier is a floating airbase.
+
+Airports are made and operated for safety. Today, people must walk through a metal detector, a machine that can tell if metal goes through it. If it makes a noise, the officers will make that person take off all things on them that are metal. They also have X-ray machines that can look into luggage. If officers find items such as weapons, or anything that can be used to kill people, that item (and the person who has it) are taken away and possibly arrested. As well as this, passengers are not allowed to bring bottles or containers with over 100 ml of liquid onto the plane because they could be turned into bombs. Therefore, all water bottles must be emptied before entering the secured area.

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+Basque Country may refer to: