Winterson
tells the story of Heracles: his godly father Zeus, his mortal mother
Alcmene, the wrath of Zeus’s wife Hera, the divinely provoked insanity
that causes Hercules to kill his wife and children, and the twelve
impossible tasks he must do in order to atone for the murder of his
family.

As the eleventh
of his impossible tasks, Heracles must travel to the end of the world
to steal the Apples of the Hesperides from a fruit tree belonging to
his enemy Hera.  He arrives to find that the apples are guarded by
Ladon, a hundred-headed snake, and he enlists the help of Atlas, a
Titan, who has been commissioned with the task of shouldering the
world.

Though the story
is a timeless one, Winterson gives it a modern and psychological
bent.  In their quest for the Apples of the Hesperides, Heracles
and Atlas come to reconsider paths that their lives have taken:

    “You’re holding up
the Kosmos and I’m spending twelve years clobbering snakes and thieving
fruit.  The only good time was chasing Hippolyte, Queen of the
Amazons, and she didn’t want anything to do with me when I caught
her…”
    “What happened to Hippolyte?”
    “I killed her of course”
    “I knew her once”
    “Sorry mate.”
    There was a
pause.  Atlas was silent.  Heracles drank another skinful of
wine.  He didn’t want to think.  Thinking was like a
hornet.  It was outside his head buzzing at him.
    “What I mean to say, Atlas, is why?”
    “There is no why,” said Atlas.


    “That’s just the trouble,” said Heracles. 
“There is a why, here, or here, or here,” and he started hitting the
side of his head, trying to squash the droning thought.


    Atlas said –


    “Bent under the world like this, I hear all the
business of men, and the more I hear them questioning their lot, the
more I know how futile it is.  I hear them plan for tomorrow and
die during the night.  I hear a woman groaning in labor and her
child is stilborn.  I hear the terror of the captured man, and
suddenly he is set free.  I hear a merchant traveling home fromt
he coast with his goods, and robbers set upon him and take all he
has.  There is no why.  There is only the will of the gods and a man’s fate.
    “I’m the strongest man in the world,” said Heracles.

    “Except for me,” said Atlas.

    “And I’m not free….”

    “There is no such thing as freedom,” said Atlas.  “Freedom is a country that does not exist.”

    “It’s home,” said Heracles.  “If home is where you want to be.”