Ceryneian Hind (Detail)
creatureA golden-antlered, bronze-hooved deer sacred to Artemis that Heracles pursued for an entire year as his third labour.
The Myth
The Ceryneian Hind was sacred to Artemis, who had captured five such deer on Mount Lycaeus to pull her chariot, but this one escaped. It had golden antlers — unusual for a female deer — and hooves of bronze, and it could outrun any arrow. Eurystheus commanded Heracles to capture it alive as his third labour, creating a dilemma: harming an animal sacred to Artemis would bring the goddess's wrath. Heracles pursued the hind for an entire year across the Peloponnese, through Arcadia and Laconia, and all the way to Hyperborea in the far north. He finally caught it at the river Ladon in Arcadia, either netting it while it slept or wounding it slightly with an arrow. Artemis and Apollo confronted him, furious, but Heracles explained that Eurystheus had commanded the task and blamed the king. Artemis allowed him to take the hind, provided it was returned unharmed.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Ceryneian Hind is the only labour where Heracles had to capture rather than kill, making it a test of patience rather than strength. The year-long chase has been compared to medieval quest narratives and is widely considered a source for the "White Hart" motif in Arthurian legend — the uncatchable deer that leads knights on transformative journeys through enchanted forests.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Ceryneian Hind
creatureThe Ceryneian Hind was a magnificent deer with golden antlers and bronze hooves, sacred to Artemis...
Ladon (Dragon)
creatureThe hundred-headed serpent-dragon that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides,...
Ladon
creatureLadon was the serpent-dragon with a hundred heads who guarded the golden apples in the Garden of...
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
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godApollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and...
Apollo Loxias
godAn epithet of Apollo meaning "the Oblique One," referring to the deliberately ambiguous nature of...
Arcadia
placeArcadia was both a real mountainous region in the central Peloponnese and an idealised landscape of...
Artemis
godTwin sister of Apollo and goddess of the hunt. Artemis roamed the wild forests with her band of...
Artemis Brauronia
godAn epithet of Artemis worshipped at Brauron in Attica, where young girls performed bear dances as a...
Hera
godQueen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's...
Hera Teleia
godAn epithet of Hera as goddess of marriage and its fulfilment, worshipped as the divine model of the...
Heracles
heroThe greatest hero of Greek mythology, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. Famous for his...