Work of Hercules (Christie)

See also: Twelve work (homonymy)

Work of Hercules ( in The Ploughings off Hercules in the original edition British) is a collection of 12 new police and a prolog, written by Agatha Christie, published for the first time in 1947, putting in scene the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

Each of the twelve businesses, by the will of the detective himself, is comparison, very symbolic system and sometimes humorous, with the tasks éponymes of the Greek hero:

the Lion of Némée (in The Nemean Lion) , inspired of the first of work, having opposed Héraclès to the Lion of Némée;
Hydre de Lerne (in The Lernean Hydra) , inspired of the second of work, having milked with the Hydre de Lerne;
the Hind with the feet of bronze (in The Arcadian Deer) , inspired of the third of work, having milked with the Hind of Cérynie;
the Wild boar of Érymanthe (in The Erymanthian Boar) , inspired of the fourth of work, having milked with the Wild boar of Érymanthe;
Stables of Augias (in The Augean Stable) , inspired of the fifth of work, having milked with the stables of Augias;
Birds of the lake Stymphale (in The Stymphalean Birds) , inspired of the sixth of work, having milked with the Birds of the lake Stymphale;
the Bull of the island of Crete (in The Cretan Bull) , inspired of the seventh of work, having milked with the Bull crétois of Minos;
Mares of Diomède (in The Horses off Diomedes) , inspired of the eighth of work, having milked with the Mares of Diomède;
the Belt of Hippolyte (in The Girdle off Hyppolita) , inspired of the ninth of work, having milked with the Belt of Hippolyte, queen of Amazones;
Herds of Géryon (in The Flock off Geryon) , inspired of the tenth of work, having milked with the Oxen of Géryon;
gold Apples of the garden of Hespérides (in The Apples off Hesperides) , inspired of eleventh of work, having milked with the Apples of gold of the garden of Hespérides;
the capture of the Cerberus (in The Captures Cerberus off) , inspired of the twelfth of work, having milked with the descent of Héraclès to the Hells to capture Cerbère there.

Comment

The twelve new ones composing the Travaux had been published before in magazines of police literature, in 1939. Agatha Christie published them in collection only in 1947, by making them precede by an introductory chapter written for the occasion and justifying the symbolic system choice of alignment on Greek mythology.

The character of Miss Lemon, which had before exerted the functions of secretary near Mr. Parker Pyne, reappears this time at the sides of Hercule Poirot, in the intrigue of the first (the Lion of Némée) and of the twelfth (the capture of the Cerberus) of work.

The twelfth of work is also the occasion of the meeting again of Poirot with another character of the universe christien, the countess Vera Rossakoff, that the Belgian detective had already crossed in several of the chapters of the novel the Four and in a news.

These meeting again of Poirot and the Rossakoff countess, which cross in escalators of the subway of London, without being able to meet, give the opportunity to Agatha Christie to reveal an important facet of the personality of Lemon Miss. The countess having shouted mysteriously with the address of Poirot, in the middle of crowd, to suggest to him finding it in hell and the detective having made share of his perplexity to its secretary, this one, informed well in person of the places to the mode of the London capital (but which one supposes that she does not attend them), suggests immediately the reservation for the evening even of a table for two covers in the restaurant connected named the Hell , and precisely directed by the Rossakoff countess.

Editions

Work of Hercules , Bookstore of the Fields-Élysées, coll “the Mask”, n° 912, Paris, 1982, ISBN 2702411800

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