Is there a counterpart in roman mythology of the greek 12 Heracles's labors?

by Danny_18_01

Maybe with different names (like Heracles/Hercules) and different accomplishment?

KiwiHellenist

There are different versions of the labours, but it isn't a Greek-Roman split: it's more that every account of the labours gives a different list, in much the same way that everyone gives a different list of the 'seven wonders'. Here's a summary of three Greek lists, the second and third being Roman-era, and one Latin-language list:

  Euripides, Herakles 348-411 Diodoros of Sicily 4.11-26 ps-Apollodoros, Library 2.5 ps-Hyginus, Fabulae 30
  5th cent. BCE 1st cent. BCE 1st cent. BCE? 1st/2nd cent. CE?
1 lion of Nemea lion of Nemea lion of Nemea lion of Nemea
2 defeat Centaurs hydra of Lerne hydra of Lerne hydra of Lerna
3 golden-antlered hind Erymanthian boar hind of Keryneia Erymanthian boar
4 horses of Diomedes of Thrace golden-antlered hind Erymanthian boar golden-antlered hind of Arcadia
5 kill Kyknos the bandit birds of Stymphalia cattle-yard of Augeas birds of Stymphalia
6 apples and dragon of Hesperides stables of Augeas birds of Stymphalia stable of Augeas
7 slaying pirates fetch bull of Crete bull of Crete bull of Crete
8 relieve Atlas of his burden horses of Diomedes horses of Diomedes horses of Diomedes
9 girdle of unnamed Amazon queen girdle of Hippolyte girdle of Hippolyte defeat Hippolyta
10 hydra of Lerne cattle of Geryones cattle of Geryon defeat Geryon
11 kill Geryon rescue Theseus and Peirithoos from Hades apples of Hesperides defeat dragon of Hesperides
12 fetch Kerberos apples of Hesperides in Libya Kerberos Cerberus

Some feats that appear in one list appear in other accounts as side-quests: for example the bandit Kyknos, who is one of the main labours in Euripides, is something that Herakles does along the way while performing his eleventh task in ps-Apollodoros. The battle with the Centaurs takes place while on his way to the Erymanthian boar in Diodoros and ps-Apollodoros. And relieving Atlas of his burden of holding up the sky is something he does on his way to fetch the apples of the Hesperides in ps-Apollodoros.

And there are plenty more side-quests too. In Diodoros, on his way to fetch the Cretan bull, he establishes the Olympian games, participates in the Gigantomachy, and releases Prometheus -- just to pass the time. In both Diodoros and ps-Apollodoros he wrestles Antaios and kills Bousiris in Egypt on his way to fetch the apples of the Hesperides. And the list of side-quests in Diodoros' account of the tenth labour goes on for pages; much of it comes from the Greek-Italian historian Timaios of Tauromenion.

These four are probably the best-known lists: Euripides because it's Euripides, and the other three because they're a decent match for one another. But there's no single canonical version either in the Greek pre-Roman world or in the Roman world.