The Rock of Arges was cursed by Zeus. Villagers who handled it began to fade out of existance, so Hercules saved them by crushing it. Unfortunately, this caused the curse to transfer to Hercules -- which was exactly what Ares, Deimos and Discord had planned. But Hercules slowed his disappearance through sheer force of will, so Ares sent Deimos to finish the job. Feeling jealous, Discord decided to help Iolaus 2 and Hercules find the remaining two stones. When Deimos and Ares inadvertenly broke the stones, the spell was broken. Hercules returned to normal while Ares was sucked into oblivion.