The Twelve Labors of Hercules

The Twelve Works of Hercules

Don Enrique de Villena (1384–1434), Marquess of Villena, was a Spanish author, poet, and theologian who also was reputed to be a necromancer. Although belonging to the former royal house of Aragon, his political ambitions were denied him, and so he committed himself as an author. He is most famous for his Los Trabajos de Hércules, the first edition of which was published in Zamora on January 15, 1483. However, he created the first version of the work much earlier in 1417 shortly before his departure from the Aragonese court. He initially wrote in Catalan, but only a few months later made a Castilian translation himself, on the basis of which the printing was truly masterfully executed by Antón de Centenera. The latter was one of the earliest known printers on the Iberian Peninsula and is known for his characterful works. With Los Trabajos de Hércules he created an exemplary Spanish incunabulum, i.e. a book printed before 1501.

An ancient hero as a Christian ideal

Villena's text is a synthesis of Greek mythology and Christian allegory full of moralizing messages intended to encourage particularly nobles and clerics to virtuous behavior. The book is divided into 12 chapters - one for each labor of Hercules - , each of which is then divided into four parts. The first section in each case contains a rendering of the legend, which is followed by an allegorical interpretation, a review of the truth content, and a section on the moral utility of the tale. While the individual chapter headings are barely noticeable in the neat two-column typesetting, there is an almost half-page woodcut at the beginning of each of the twelve chapters as a visual marker and aide memoire. The magnificent xylographs are by a Spanish artist, though only 11 of the 12 original images survive: the depiction of the Battle against the Centaur, actually a secondary labor, has been lost. Nevertheless, the incunabulum remains a wonderful testimony to early Spanish book printing.