When, in their pursuit, he came to the Heracles, and is
therefore
usually reckoned as the
river Strymon, he made himself a road through twelfth or last in the series.
river Strymon, he made himself a road through twelfth or last in the series.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
) At a subsequent time
shoulders. While yet in Arcadia, he was met by Heracles, to revenge the faithlessness of Augeas,
Apollo and Artemis, who were angry with liim for marched with an army of Argives and Tirynthians
having outraged the animal sacred to Artemis ; against Augeas, but in a narrow defile in Elis he
but Heracles succeeded in soothing their anger, was taken by surprise by Cteatus and Eurytus, and
and carried his prey to Mycenae. According to lost a great number of his warriors. But after-
Boine statements, he killed the stag. (Apollod. ii. wards Heracles slew Cteatus and Eurytus, in raded
5. § 3; Diod iv. 13; Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 100, Elis, and killed Augeas and his sons. After this
## p. 396 (#412) ############################################
396
HERACLES.
HERACLES.
victory, Heracles marked out the sacred ground on the queen Melanippe, and her sister Hippolyte)
which the Olympian games were to be celebrated, possessed a girdle, which she had received from
built allars, and instituted the Olympian festival Ares, and Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus,
and games. (Apollod. ii. 7. & 2; Paus. v. 1. & 7. wished to have it. Heracles was therefore sent
3. § 1, &c. , 4. § 1; viii. 15. § 2 ; Pind. Ol. xi. to fetch it, and, accompanied by a number of ro
25, &c. , comp. v. 5, iii. 13, &c. )
lunteers, he sailed out in one vessel. He first
6. The Stymphalian birds. They were an innu- landed in Paros, where he became involved in a
merable swarm of voracious birds, the daughters of quarrel with the sons of Minos. Having killed
Stymphalus and Ornis. They had brazen claws, two of them, he sailed to Mysia, where his aid
wings, and beaks, used their feathers as arrows, was solicited by Lycus, king of the Mariandynians,
and ate human flesh. They had been brought up against the Bebryces. Heracles assisted Lycus,
by Ares, and were 80 numerous, that with their took a district of land from the enemy, which was
secretions and feathers they killed men and beasts, given to Lycus, who called it Heracleia. When
and covered whole fields and mendows. From fear Heracles ai length arrived in the port of Themis-
of the wolves, these birds had taken refuge in a cyra (Thermodon), after having given to the sea he
lake near Stymphalus, from which Heracles was had crossed the name of Euxeinus, he was at first
ordered by Eurystheus to expel them. When He kindly received by Hippolyte, who promised him
racles undertook the task, Athena provided him her girdle. But Hera, in the disguise of an Amazon,
with a brazen rattle, by the noise of which he spread the report that the queen of the Amazons
startled the birds, and, as they attempted to fly was robbed by a stranger. They immediately rose
away, he killed them with his arrows. According to her assistance, and Hemeles, believing that the
to some accounts, he did not kill the birds, but queen bad plotted against him, killed her, took her
only drove them away, and afterwards they appeared girdle, and carried it with him. This expedition,
again in the island of Aretias, whither they had which led the hero into distant countries, afforded
fied, and where they were found by the Argonauts. a favourable opportunity to poets and mytho-
(Apollod. ii. 5. § 6; Hygin. Fab. 30; Paus. viii. graphers for intruducing various embellishments and
22. § 4, &c. ; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 300; Apollon. minor adventures, such as the murder of the Bore-
Rhod. i. 1037, with the Schol. )
ades, Calais and Zetes, and his amour with Echidna,
7. The Crelan bull. According to Acusilaus, this in the country of the Hyperboreans, by whom he
bull was the same as the one which had carried became the father of three sons. On his return he
Europa across the sea ; according to others, he had landed in Troas, where he rescued Hesione from
been sent out of the sea by Poseidon, that Minos the monster sent against her by Poseidon, in return
might sacrifice him to the god of the sea But for which her father Laomedon promised him the
Minos was so charmed with the beauty of the horses he had received from Zeus as a compensation
animal, that he kept it, and sacrificed another in for Ganymedes. But, as Laomedon did not keep
its stead. Poseidon punished Minos, by making his word, Heracles on leaving threatened to make
the fine bull mad, and causing it to make great war against Troy. He therefore landed in Thrace,
havoc in the island. Heracles was ordered by where he slew Sarpedon, and at length he returned
Eurystheus to catch the bull, and Minos, of course, through Macedonia to Peloponnesus. (Apollod. ii.
willingly allowed him to do so. Heracles accom- 5. § 9; Diod. iv. 16; Herod. iv. 9, 10, 8:2; Eurip.
plished the task, and brought the bull home on his Herc. Fur. 413, Ion. 1143; Plut. Thes. 26; Hom.
shoulders, but he then set the animal free again. Il. v. 649, &c. )
The bull now roamed about through Greece, and at 10. The oren of Geryones in Erytheia. The
last came to Marathon, where we meet it again in fetching of these oxen was a subject which, like
the stories of Theseus. (Apollod. ii. 5. & 7 ; Paus. the preceding one, was capable of great poetical
i. 27. $ 9, v. 10. Ø 2; Hygin. Fab. 30; Diod. iv. embellishments, owing to the distant regions into
13, &c. ; Serv. ad Aen. viii, 294. )
which it carried the hero. The adventure is men-
8. The mares of the Thracian Diomedes. This tioned by Hesiod, but it is further developed in the
Diomedes, king of the Bistones in Thrace, fed his later writers, and more especially by the Roman
horses with human flesh, and Eurystheus now or poets, who took a more direct interest in it, as it
dered Heracles to fetch those animals to Mycenae. led the hero to the western parts of the world.
For this purpose, the hero took with him some The story runs as follows:-Geryones, the monster
companions. He made an unexpected attack on with three bodies, lived in the fabulous island of
those who guarded the horses in their stables, Erytheia (the reddish), so called because it lay
took the animals, and conducted them to the sea under the rays of the setting sun in the west. It
coast. But here he was overtaken by the Bistones, was originally conceived to be situated off the coast
and during the ensuing fight he entrusted the mares of Epeirus, but afterwards it was identified either
to his friend Abderus, a son of Hermes of Opus, who with Gades or the Balearian islands, and was at all
was eaten up by them ; but Heracles defeated the times believed to be in the distant west. Geryones
Bistones, killed Diomedes, whose body he threw kept a herd of red oxen, which fed together with
before the mares, built the town of Abdera, in ho- those of Hades, and were guarded by the giant Eu-
nour of his unfortunate friend, and then returned rytion and the two-headed dog Orthrus. Heracles
to Mycenae, with the horses which had become was commanded by Eurystheus to fetch those oxen
tame after eating the flesh of their master. The of Geryones. He trarersed Europe, and, having
horses were afterwards set free, and destroyed on passed through the countries of several sarage na-
Mount Olympus by wild beasts. (Apollod. ii. 5. tions, he at length arrived in Libya. Diodorus
§ 8; Diod. iv. 15; Hygin. Fab. 30; Eurip. Al- makes Heracles collect a large fleet in Crete, to sail
cest. 483, 493, Herc. Fur. 380, &c. ; Gell. iii. 9; against Chrysaor, the wealthy king of Iberia, and
Ptolem. Heph. 5. )
his three sons. On his way he is further said to
9. The girdle of the queen of the Amazons. Hip- bave killed Antaeus and Busiris, and to have
polyte, the queen of the Amazons (Diodorus calls founded Hecatom polis. On the frontiers of Libya
## p. 397 (#413) ############################################
HERACLES.
397
HERACLES.
and Europe he erected two pillars (Calpe and might compel the prophetic Nerens to instruct him
Abyla) on the two sides of the straits of Gibraltar, as to what road he should take. On the advice of
which were hence called the pillars of Heracles. Nereus he procecded to Libya. Apollodorus as-
As on his journey Heracles was annoyed by the signs the fight with Antaeus, and the murder of
heat of the sun, he shot at Helios, who so much Busiris, to this expedition ; both Apollodorus and
admired his boldness, that he presented him with a Diodorus now make Heracles travel further south
golden cup or boat, in which he sailed across the and east: thus we find him in Ethiopin, where he
ocean to Erytheia. He there slew Eurytion, his kills Emathion, in Arabia, and in Asia he advances
dog, and Geryones, and sailed with his booty to as far as Mount Caucasus, where he killed the
Tartessus, where he returned the golden cup (boat) vulture which consumed the liver of Prometheus,
to Helios. On his way home he passed the Py- and thus saved the Titan. At length Heracles
renees and the Alps, founded Alesia and Nemausus arrived at Mount Atlas, among the llyperborcans.
in Gaul, became the father of the Celts, and then Prometheus had advised him not to fetch the
proceeded to the Ligurians, whose princes, Alebion apples himself, but to send Atlas, and in the mean-
and Dercynus, attempted to carry off his oxen, but time to carry the weight of heaven for him. Atlas
were siain by him. In his contest with them, he accordingly fetched the apples, but on his return he
was assisted by Zeus with a shower of stones, as he refused to take the burden of heaven on his
had not enough missiles ; hence the campus lupi- shoulders again, and declared that he himself would
deus between Massilia and the river Rhodanus. carry the apples to Eurystheus. Heracles, hov-
From thence he proceeded through the country of ever, contrived by a stratagem to get the apples,
the Tyrrhenians. In the neighbourhood of Rhegium and hastened away. On bis return Eurystheue
one of his oxen jumped into the sea, and swam to made him a present of the apples, but Heracles
Sicily, where Eryx, the son of Poseidon, caught dedicated them to Athena, who, however, did not
and put him among his own cattle. Heracles him- keep them, but restored them to their former place.
self followed, in search of the ox, and found him, Some traditions add to this account that Heracles
but recovered him only after a fight with Eryx, in killed the dragon Ladon. _(Apollod. ii. 5. $ 11;
which the latter fell. According to Diodorus, who Diod. iv. 26, &c. ; Hes. Theog. 215, &c. ; Plin.
is very minute in this part of his narrative, Hera- H. N. vi. 31, 36 ; Plut. Thes. Il ; Apollon. Rhod.
cles returned home by land, through Italy and iv. 1396, &c. ; Hygin. Fab. 31, Poet. Astr. ii. 6;
Illyricum ; but, according to others, he sailed Eratosth. Catast. 3. )
across the Ionian and Adriatic seas. After 12. Cerberus. To fetch this monster from the
reaching Thrace, Hera made his oxen mad and lower world is the crown of the twelve labours of
furious.
When, in their pursuit, he came to the Heracles, and is therefore usually reckoned as the
river Strymon, he made himself a road through twelfth or last in the series. It is the only one
it, by means of huge blocks of stone. On reaching that is expressly mentioned in the Homeric poems.
the Hellespont, he had gradually recovered his (Od. xi. 623, &c. ) Later writers have added to
oxen, and took them to Eurystheus, who sacrificed the simple story several particulars, such, e. g. that
them to Hera. (Hes. Theog. 287, &c. ; Apollod. Heracles, previous to setting out on his expedition,
ii. 5. § 10; Diod. iv. 17, &c. , v. 17, 25; Herod. was initiated by Eumolpus in the Eleusinian mys-
iv. 8 ; Serv. ad Aen. vii. 662; Strab. iii. pp. 221, teries, in order to purify him from the murder of ihe
258, &c. ; Dionys. i. 34; Pind. Nem. iii. 21. ) Centaurs. Accompanied by Hermes and Athena,
These ten labours were performed by Heracles Heracles descended into Hades, near Cape Tae-
in the space of eight years and one month ; but as narum, in Laconia. On his arrival most of the
Eurystheus declared two of them to have been per- shades fled before him, and he found only Mele-
formed unlawfully, he commanded him to accom- ager and Medusa, with whom he intended to fight;
plish two more, viz. to fetch
but, on the command of Hermes, he left them in
11. The golden apples of the Hesperides. This peace. Near the gates of Hades he met Theseus
was particularly difficult, since Heracles did not and Peirithous, who stretched their arms implor-
know where to find them. They were the apples ingly towards him. He delivered Theseus, but,
which Hera had received at her wedding from Ge, when he attempted to do the same for Peirithous,
and which she had entrusted to the keeping of the the earth began to tremble. After having rolled
Hesperides and the dragon Ladon, on Mount the stone from Ascalaphus, he killed one of the
Atlas, in the country of the Hyperboreans. (Apol- oxen of Hades, in order to give the shades the
Jod. ii. 5. § 11. ) In other accounts the apples are blood to drink, and fought with Menoetius, the
described as sacred to Aphrodite, Dionysus, or herdsman. Upon this, he asked Pluto permission
Helios ; but the abode of the Hesperides is placed to take Cerberus, and the request was granted, on
by Hesiod, A pollodorus, and others, in the west, condition of its being done without force of arms.
while later writers specify more particularly certain This was accomplished, for Heracles found Cer.
places in Libya, or in the Atlantic Ocean. The men- berus on the Acheron, and, notwithstanding the
tion of the Hyperboreans in this connection renders bites of the dragon, he took the monster, and in
the matter very difficult, but it is possible that the neighbourhood of Troezene he brought it to the
the ancients may have conceived the extreme north upper world. The place where he appeared with
(the usual seat of the Hyperboreans), and the ex. Cerberus is not the same in all traditions, for some
treme west to be contiguous. Heracles, in order to say that it was at Taenarum, others at Hermione,
find the gardens of the Hesperides, went to the or Coroneia, and others again at Heracleia. When
river Echedorus, in Macedonia, after having killed Cerberus appeared in the upper world, it is said
Termerus in Thessaly. In Macedonia he killed that, unable to bear the light, he spit, and thus
Cycnus, the son of Ares and Pyrene, who had called forth the poisonous plant called aconitum.
challenged him. He thence passed through Illyria, After having shown the monster to Eurystheus,
and arrived on the banks of the river Eridanus, and Heracles took it back to the lower world. Some
was informed by the nymphs in what manner he traditions connect the descent of Heracles into the
## p. 398 (#414) ############################################
398
HERACLES.
HERACLES.
lower world with a contest with Hades, as we see | lion's skin ; but, according to Apollodorus and Dio
even in the Iliad (v. 397), and more particularly in dorus, he nevertheless performed several great
the Alcestis of Euripides (24, 846, &c. See Apol- feats. (Ov. Fast. ii. 305, Heroid. ix. 53; Senec.
lod. ii. 5. § 12 ; Diod. iv. 25, &c. ; Plut. Thes. 30; Hippol. 317, Herc. Fur. 464; Lucian, Dial. Deor.
Paus. ii. 31. § 2, ix. 34. § 4, iii. 25. § 4, ii. 35. $ xii. 2; Apollod. ü, 6. 3 ; Diod. ir. 31, &c. )
7; Ov. Met. vii. 415, Serv. ad Virg. Georg. ii. 152, Among these, we mention his chaining the Cer-
Aen. vi. 617).
copes (CERCOPES), his killing Srleus and his
Such is the count of the twelve labours of He- daughter in Aulis, his defeat of the plundering
racles. According to Apollodorus, Eurystheus ori- Idones, his killing a serpent on the river Sygaris,
ginally required only ten, and commanded him to and his throwing the blood-thirsty Lytierses into
perform two more, because he was dissatisfied with the Macander. (Comp. Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 14;
two of them; but Diodorus represents twelve as the Schol. ad Theocrit
. x. 41; Athen. x. p. 415. ) He
original number required. Along with these labours further gave to the island of Doliche the name of
(&$101), the ancients relate a considerable number of Icaria, as he buried in it the body of Icarus, which
other feats (Tápepya) which he performed without had been wasbed on shore by the waves. He also
being commanded by Eurystheus ; some of them are undertook an expedition to Colchis, which brought
interwoven with the twelve doxos, and others belong him in connection with the Argonauts (Apollod. i.
to a later period. Those of the former kind 9. § 16 ; Herod. vii. 193 ; Schol. ad Apollon.
have already been noticed above ; and we now Rhod. i. 1289; Anton. Lib. 26); he took part in the
proceed to mention the principal rápepya of the Calydonian hunt, and met Theseus on his landing
second class. After the accomplishment of the from Troezene on the Corinthian isthmus. An ex-
twelve labours, and being released from the ser- pedition to India, which was mentioned in some
vitude of Eurystheus, he returned to Thebes. He traditions, may likewise be inserted in this place.
there gave Megara in marriage to lolaus ; for, as he (Philostr. Vit. A poll. iii. 4, 6; Arrian, Ind. 8, 9. )
had lost the children whom he had by her, he When the period of his servitude and his ill-
looked upon his connection with her as displeasing ness had passed away, he undertook an expe
to the gods (Paus. x. 29), and went to Oechalia dition against Troy, with 18 ships and a band of
According to some traditions, Heracles, after his heroes. On his landing, he entrusted the fleet to
return from Hades, was seized with madness, in Oicles, and with his other companions made an
which he killed both Megara and her children. attack upon the city. Laomedon in the mean time
This madness was a calamity sent to him by Hera, made an attack upon the ships, and slew Oicles,
because he had slain Lycus, king of Thebes, who, but was compelled to retreat into the city, where
in the belief that Heracles would not return from he was besieged. Telamon was the first who forced
Hades, had attempted to murder Megara and her his way into the city, which roused the jealousy of
children. (Hygin. Fab. 32; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 38. ) | Heracles to such a degree that he determined to
Eurytus, king of Oechalia, an excellent archer, and kill him ; but Telamon quickly collected a heap of
the teacher of Heracles in his art, had promised his stones, and pretended that he was building an altar
daughter Iole to the man who should excel him and to Heracles Kallivikos or dezinakos. This soothed
his sons in using the bow. Heracles engaged in the the anger of the hero ; and after the sons of Laa
contest with them, and succeeded, but Eurytus re- medon had fallen, Heracles gave to Telamon He-
fused abiding by his promise, saying, that he would sione, as a reward for his bravery. (Hom. II. v.
not give his daughter to a man who had murdered 6+1, &c. , xiv. 251, xx. 145, &c. ; Apollod. ii. 6.
his own children. Iphitus, the son of Eurytus, en- $ 4; Diod. iv. 32, 49 ; Eurip. Troad. 802, &c. )
deavoured to persuade his father, but in vain. On his return from Troy, Hera sent a storm to
Soon after this the oxen of Eurytus were carried | impede his voyage, which compelled him to land
off, and it was suspected that Heracles was the in the island of Cos. The Meropes, the inhabit-
offender. Iphitus again defended Heracles, went ants of the island, took him for a pirate, and re-
to him and requested his assistance in searching ceived him with a shower of stones ; but during the
after the oxen. Heracles agreed ; but when the night he took possession of the island, and killed
two had arrived at Tiryns, Heracles, in a fit of the king, Eurypylus. Heracles himself was
madness, threw his friend down from the wall, and wounded by Chalcodon, but was saved by Zeus.
killed him. Deiphobus of Amyclae, indeed, puri- After he bad ravaged Cos, he went, by the com-
fied Heracles from this murder, but he was, never- mand of Athena, to Phlegra, and fought against
theless, attacked by a severe illness. Heracles then the Gigantes. (Apollod. ii. 7. 81; Hom. Il. xiv.
repaired to Delphi to obtain a remedy, but the Py- / 250, &c. ; Pind. Nem. iv. 40. ) Respecting his
thia refused to answer his questions. A struggle fight against the giants, who were, according to an
between Heracles and Apollo ensued, and the com- oracle, to be conquered by a mortal, see especially
batants were not separated till Zeus sent a flash of Eurip.
shoulders. While yet in Arcadia, he was met by Heracles, to revenge the faithlessness of Augeas,
Apollo and Artemis, who were angry with liim for marched with an army of Argives and Tirynthians
having outraged the animal sacred to Artemis ; against Augeas, but in a narrow defile in Elis he
but Heracles succeeded in soothing their anger, was taken by surprise by Cteatus and Eurytus, and
and carried his prey to Mycenae. According to lost a great number of his warriors. But after-
Boine statements, he killed the stag. (Apollod. ii. wards Heracles slew Cteatus and Eurytus, in raded
5. § 3; Diod iv. 13; Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 100, Elis, and killed Augeas and his sons. After this
## p. 396 (#412) ############################################
396
HERACLES.
HERACLES.
victory, Heracles marked out the sacred ground on the queen Melanippe, and her sister Hippolyte)
which the Olympian games were to be celebrated, possessed a girdle, which she had received from
built allars, and instituted the Olympian festival Ares, and Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus,
and games. (Apollod. ii. 7. & 2; Paus. v. 1. & 7. wished to have it. Heracles was therefore sent
3. § 1, &c. , 4. § 1; viii. 15. § 2 ; Pind. Ol. xi. to fetch it, and, accompanied by a number of ro
25, &c. , comp. v. 5, iii. 13, &c. )
lunteers, he sailed out in one vessel. He first
6. The Stymphalian birds. They were an innu- landed in Paros, where he became involved in a
merable swarm of voracious birds, the daughters of quarrel with the sons of Minos. Having killed
Stymphalus and Ornis. They had brazen claws, two of them, he sailed to Mysia, where his aid
wings, and beaks, used their feathers as arrows, was solicited by Lycus, king of the Mariandynians,
and ate human flesh. They had been brought up against the Bebryces. Heracles assisted Lycus,
by Ares, and were 80 numerous, that with their took a district of land from the enemy, which was
secretions and feathers they killed men and beasts, given to Lycus, who called it Heracleia. When
and covered whole fields and mendows. From fear Heracles ai length arrived in the port of Themis-
of the wolves, these birds had taken refuge in a cyra (Thermodon), after having given to the sea he
lake near Stymphalus, from which Heracles was had crossed the name of Euxeinus, he was at first
ordered by Eurystheus to expel them. When He kindly received by Hippolyte, who promised him
racles undertook the task, Athena provided him her girdle. But Hera, in the disguise of an Amazon,
with a brazen rattle, by the noise of which he spread the report that the queen of the Amazons
startled the birds, and, as they attempted to fly was robbed by a stranger. They immediately rose
away, he killed them with his arrows. According to her assistance, and Hemeles, believing that the
to some accounts, he did not kill the birds, but queen bad plotted against him, killed her, took her
only drove them away, and afterwards they appeared girdle, and carried it with him. This expedition,
again in the island of Aretias, whither they had which led the hero into distant countries, afforded
fied, and where they were found by the Argonauts. a favourable opportunity to poets and mytho-
(Apollod. ii. 5. § 6; Hygin. Fab. 30; Paus. viii. graphers for intruducing various embellishments and
22. § 4, &c. ; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 300; Apollon. minor adventures, such as the murder of the Bore-
Rhod. i. 1037, with the Schol. )
ades, Calais and Zetes, and his amour with Echidna,
7. The Crelan bull. According to Acusilaus, this in the country of the Hyperboreans, by whom he
bull was the same as the one which had carried became the father of three sons. On his return he
Europa across the sea ; according to others, he had landed in Troas, where he rescued Hesione from
been sent out of the sea by Poseidon, that Minos the monster sent against her by Poseidon, in return
might sacrifice him to the god of the sea But for which her father Laomedon promised him the
Minos was so charmed with the beauty of the horses he had received from Zeus as a compensation
animal, that he kept it, and sacrificed another in for Ganymedes. But, as Laomedon did not keep
its stead. Poseidon punished Minos, by making his word, Heracles on leaving threatened to make
the fine bull mad, and causing it to make great war against Troy. He therefore landed in Thrace,
havoc in the island. Heracles was ordered by where he slew Sarpedon, and at length he returned
Eurystheus to catch the bull, and Minos, of course, through Macedonia to Peloponnesus. (Apollod. ii.
willingly allowed him to do so. Heracles accom- 5. § 9; Diod. iv. 16; Herod. iv. 9, 10, 8:2; Eurip.
plished the task, and brought the bull home on his Herc. Fur. 413, Ion. 1143; Plut. Thes. 26; Hom.
shoulders, but he then set the animal free again. Il. v. 649, &c. )
The bull now roamed about through Greece, and at 10. The oren of Geryones in Erytheia. The
last came to Marathon, where we meet it again in fetching of these oxen was a subject which, like
the stories of Theseus. (Apollod. ii. 5. & 7 ; Paus. the preceding one, was capable of great poetical
i. 27. $ 9, v. 10. Ø 2; Hygin. Fab. 30; Diod. iv. embellishments, owing to the distant regions into
13, &c. ; Serv. ad Aen. viii, 294. )
which it carried the hero. The adventure is men-
8. The mares of the Thracian Diomedes. This tioned by Hesiod, but it is further developed in the
Diomedes, king of the Bistones in Thrace, fed his later writers, and more especially by the Roman
horses with human flesh, and Eurystheus now or poets, who took a more direct interest in it, as it
dered Heracles to fetch those animals to Mycenae. led the hero to the western parts of the world.
For this purpose, the hero took with him some The story runs as follows:-Geryones, the monster
companions. He made an unexpected attack on with three bodies, lived in the fabulous island of
those who guarded the horses in their stables, Erytheia (the reddish), so called because it lay
took the animals, and conducted them to the sea under the rays of the setting sun in the west. It
coast. But here he was overtaken by the Bistones, was originally conceived to be situated off the coast
and during the ensuing fight he entrusted the mares of Epeirus, but afterwards it was identified either
to his friend Abderus, a son of Hermes of Opus, who with Gades or the Balearian islands, and was at all
was eaten up by them ; but Heracles defeated the times believed to be in the distant west. Geryones
Bistones, killed Diomedes, whose body he threw kept a herd of red oxen, which fed together with
before the mares, built the town of Abdera, in ho- those of Hades, and were guarded by the giant Eu-
nour of his unfortunate friend, and then returned rytion and the two-headed dog Orthrus. Heracles
to Mycenae, with the horses which had become was commanded by Eurystheus to fetch those oxen
tame after eating the flesh of their master. The of Geryones. He trarersed Europe, and, having
horses were afterwards set free, and destroyed on passed through the countries of several sarage na-
Mount Olympus by wild beasts. (Apollod. ii. 5. tions, he at length arrived in Libya. Diodorus
§ 8; Diod. iv. 15; Hygin. Fab. 30; Eurip. Al- makes Heracles collect a large fleet in Crete, to sail
cest. 483, 493, Herc. Fur. 380, &c. ; Gell. iii. 9; against Chrysaor, the wealthy king of Iberia, and
Ptolem. Heph. 5. )
his three sons. On his way he is further said to
9. The girdle of the queen of the Amazons. Hip- bave killed Antaeus and Busiris, and to have
polyte, the queen of the Amazons (Diodorus calls founded Hecatom polis. On the frontiers of Libya
## p. 397 (#413) ############################################
HERACLES.
397
HERACLES.
and Europe he erected two pillars (Calpe and might compel the prophetic Nerens to instruct him
Abyla) on the two sides of the straits of Gibraltar, as to what road he should take. On the advice of
which were hence called the pillars of Heracles. Nereus he procecded to Libya. Apollodorus as-
As on his journey Heracles was annoyed by the signs the fight with Antaeus, and the murder of
heat of the sun, he shot at Helios, who so much Busiris, to this expedition ; both Apollodorus and
admired his boldness, that he presented him with a Diodorus now make Heracles travel further south
golden cup or boat, in which he sailed across the and east: thus we find him in Ethiopin, where he
ocean to Erytheia. He there slew Eurytion, his kills Emathion, in Arabia, and in Asia he advances
dog, and Geryones, and sailed with his booty to as far as Mount Caucasus, where he killed the
Tartessus, where he returned the golden cup (boat) vulture which consumed the liver of Prometheus,
to Helios. On his way home he passed the Py- and thus saved the Titan. At length Heracles
renees and the Alps, founded Alesia and Nemausus arrived at Mount Atlas, among the llyperborcans.
in Gaul, became the father of the Celts, and then Prometheus had advised him not to fetch the
proceeded to the Ligurians, whose princes, Alebion apples himself, but to send Atlas, and in the mean-
and Dercynus, attempted to carry off his oxen, but time to carry the weight of heaven for him. Atlas
were siain by him. In his contest with them, he accordingly fetched the apples, but on his return he
was assisted by Zeus with a shower of stones, as he refused to take the burden of heaven on his
had not enough missiles ; hence the campus lupi- shoulders again, and declared that he himself would
deus between Massilia and the river Rhodanus. carry the apples to Eurystheus. Heracles, hov-
From thence he proceeded through the country of ever, contrived by a stratagem to get the apples,
the Tyrrhenians. In the neighbourhood of Rhegium and hastened away. On bis return Eurystheue
one of his oxen jumped into the sea, and swam to made him a present of the apples, but Heracles
Sicily, where Eryx, the son of Poseidon, caught dedicated them to Athena, who, however, did not
and put him among his own cattle. Heracles him- keep them, but restored them to their former place.
self followed, in search of the ox, and found him, Some traditions add to this account that Heracles
but recovered him only after a fight with Eryx, in killed the dragon Ladon. _(Apollod. ii. 5. $ 11;
which the latter fell. According to Diodorus, who Diod. iv. 26, &c. ; Hes. Theog. 215, &c. ; Plin.
is very minute in this part of his narrative, Hera- H. N. vi. 31, 36 ; Plut. Thes. Il ; Apollon. Rhod.
cles returned home by land, through Italy and iv. 1396, &c. ; Hygin. Fab. 31, Poet. Astr. ii. 6;
Illyricum ; but, according to others, he sailed Eratosth. Catast. 3. )
across the Ionian and Adriatic seas. After 12. Cerberus. To fetch this monster from the
reaching Thrace, Hera made his oxen mad and lower world is the crown of the twelve labours of
furious.
When, in their pursuit, he came to the Heracles, and is therefore usually reckoned as the
river Strymon, he made himself a road through twelfth or last in the series. It is the only one
it, by means of huge blocks of stone. On reaching that is expressly mentioned in the Homeric poems.
the Hellespont, he had gradually recovered his (Od. xi. 623, &c. ) Later writers have added to
oxen, and took them to Eurystheus, who sacrificed the simple story several particulars, such, e. g. that
them to Hera. (Hes. Theog. 287, &c. ; Apollod. Heracles, previous to setting out on his expedition,
ii. 5. § 10; Diod. iv. 17, &c. , v. 17, 25; Herod. was initiated by Eumolpus in the Eleusinian mys-
iv. 8 ; Serv. ad Aen. vii. 662; Strab. iii. pp. 221, teries, in order to purify him from the murder of ihe
258, &c. ; Dionys. i. 34; Pind. Nem. iii. 21. ) Centaurs. Accompanied by Hermes and Athena,
These ten labours were performed by Heracles Heracles descended into Hades, near Cape Tae-
in the space of eight years and one month ; but as narum, in Laconia. On his arrival most of the
Eurystheus declared two of them to have been per- shades fled before him, and he found only Mele-
formed unlawfully, he commanded him to accom- ager and Medusa, with whom he intended to fight;
plish two more, viz. to fetch
but, on the command of Hermes, he left them in
11. The golden apples of the Hesperides. This peace. Near the gates of Hades he met Theseus
was particularly difficult, since Heracles did not and Peirithous, who stretched their arms implor-
know where to find them. They were the apples ingly towards him. He delivered Theseus, but,
which Hera had received at her wedding from Ge, when he attempted to do the same for Peirithous,
and which she had entrusted to the keeping of the the earth began to tremble. After having rolled
Hesperides and the dragon Ladon, on Mount the stone from Ascalaphus, he killed one of the
Atlas, in the country of the Hyperboreans. (Apol- oxen of Hades, in order to give the shades the
Jod. ii. 5. § 11. ) In other accounts the apples are blood to drink, and fought with Menoetius, the
described as sacred to Aphrodite, Dionysus, or herdsman. Upon this, he asked Pluto permission
Helios ; but the abode of the Hesperides is placed to take Cerberus, and the request was granted, on
by Hesiod, A pollodorus, and others, in the west, condition of its being done without force of arms.
while later writers specify more particularly certain This was accomplished, for Heracles found Cer.
places in Libya, or in the Atlantic Ocean. The men- berus on the Acheron, and, notwithstanding the
tion of the Hyperboreans in this connection renders bites of the dragon, he took the monster, and in
the matter very difficult, but it is possible that the neighbourhood of Troezene he brought it to the
the ancients may have conceived the extreme north upper world. The place where he appeared with
(the usual seat of the Hyperboreans), and the ex. Cerberus is not the same in all traditions, for some
treme west to be contiguous. Heracles, in order to say that it was at Taenarum, others at Hermione,
find the gardens of the Hesperides, went to the or Coroneia, and others again at Heracleia. When
river Echedorus, in Macedonia, after having killed Cerberus appeared in the upper world, it is said
Termerus in Thessaly. In Macedonia he killed that, unable to bear the light, he spit, and thus
Cycnus, the son of Ares and Pyrene, who had called forth the poisonous plant called aconitum.
challenged him. He thence passed through Illyria, After having shown the monster to Eurystheus,
and arrived on the banks of the river Eridanus, and Heracles took it back to the lower world. Some
was informed by the nymphs in what manner he traditions connect the descent of Heracles into the
## p. 398 (#414) ############################################
398
HERACLES.
HERACLES.
lower world with a contest with Hades, as we see | lion's skin ; but, according to Apollodorus and Dio
even in the Iliad (v. 397), and more particularly in dorus, he nevertheless performed several great
the Alcestis of Euripides (24, 846, &c. See Apol- feats. (Ov. Fast. ii. 305, Heroid. ix. 53; Senec.
lod. ii. 5. § 12 ; Diod. iv. 25, &c. ; Plut. Thes. 30; Hippol. 317, Herc. Fur. 464; Lucian, Dial. Deor.
Paus. ii. 31. § 2, ix. 34. § 4, iii. 25. § 4, ii. 35. $ xii. 2; Apollod. ü, 6. 3 ; Diod. ir. 31, &c. )
7; Ov. Met. vii. 415, Serv. ad Virg. Georg. ii. 152, Among these, we mention his chaining the Cer-
Aen. vi. 617).
copes (CERCOPES), his killing Srleus and his
Such is the count of the twelve labours of He- daughter in Aulis, his defeat of the plundering
racles. According to Apollodorus, Eurystheus ori- Idones, his killing a serpent on the river Sygaris,
ginally required only ten, and commanded him to and his throwing the blood-thirsty Lytierses into
perform two more, because he was dissatisfied with the Macander. (Comp. Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 14;
two of them; but Diodorus represents twelve as the Schol. ad Theocrit
. x. 41; Athen. x. p. 415. ) He
original number required. Along with these labours further gave to the island of Doliche the name of
(&$101), the ancients relate a considerable number of Icaria, as he buried in it the body of Icarus, which
other feats (Tápepya) which he performed without had been wasbed on shore by the waves. He also
being commanded by Eurystheus ; some of them are undertook an expedition to Colchis, which brought
interwoven with the twelve doxos, and others belong him in connection with the Argonauts (Apollod. i.
to a later period. Those of the former kind 9. § 16 ; Herod. vii. 193 ; Schol. ad Apollon.
have already been noticed above ; and we now Rhod. i. 1289; Anton. Lib. 26); he took part in the
proceed to mention the principal rápepya of the Calydonian hunt, and met Theseus on his landing
second class. After the accomplishment of the from Troezene on the Corinthian isthmus. An ex-
twelve labours, and being released from the ser- pedition to India, which was mentioned in some
vitude of Eurystheus, he returned to Thebes. He traditions, may likewise be inserted in this place.
there gave Megara in marriage to lolaus ; for, as he (Philostr. Vit. A poll. iii. 4, 6; Arrian, Ind. 8, 9. )
had lost the children whom he had by her, he When the period of his servitude and his ill-
looked upon his connection with her as displeasing ness had passed away, he undertook an expe
to the gods (Paus. x. 29), and went to Oechalia dition against Troy, with 18 ships and a band of
According to some traditions, Heracles, after his heroes. On his landing, he entrusted the fleet to
return from Hades, was seized with madness, in Oicles, and with his other companions made an
which he killed both Megara and her children. attack upon the city. Laomedon in the mean time
This madness was a calamity sent to him by Hera, made an attack upon the ships, and slew Oicles,
because he had slain Lycus, king of Thebes, who, but was compelled to retreat into the city, where
in the belief that Heracles would not return from he was besieged. Telamon was the first who forced
Hades, had attempted to murder Megara and her his way into the city, which roused the jealousy of
children. (Hygin. Fab. 32; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 38. ) | Heracles to such a degree that he determined to
Eurytus, king of Oechalia, an excellent archer, and kill him ; but Telamon quickly collected a heap of
the teacher of Heracles in his art, had promised his stones, and pretended that he was building an altar
daughter Iole to the man who should excel him and to Heracles Kallivikos or dezinakos. This soothed
his sons in using the bow. Heracles engaged in the the anger of the hero ; and after the sons of Laa
contest with them, and succeeded, but Eurytus re- medon had fallen, Heracles gave to Telamon He-
fused abiding by his promise, saying, that he would sione, as a reward for his bravery. (Hom. II. v.
not give his daughter to a man who had murdered 6+1, &c. , xiv. 251, xx. 145, &c. ; Apollod. ii. 6.
his own children. Iphitus, the son of Eurytus, en- $ 4; Diod. iv. 32, 49 ; Eurip. Troad. 802, &c. )
deavoured to persuade his father, but in vain. On his return from Troy, Hera sent a storm to
Soon after this the oxen of Eurytus were carried | impede his voyage, which compelled him to land
off, and it was suspected that Heracles was the in the island of Cos. The Meropes, the inhabit-
offender. Iphitus again defended Heracles, went ants of the island, took him for a pirate, and re-
to him and requested his assistance in searching ceived him with a shower of stones ; but during the
after the oxen. Heracles agreed ; but when the night he took possession of the island, and killed
two had arrived at Tiryns, Heracles, in a fit of the king, Eurypylus. Heracles himself was
madness, threw his friend down from the wall, and wounded by Chalcodon, but was saved by Zeus.
killed him. Deiphobus of Amyclae, indeed, puri- After he bad ravaged Cos, he went, by the com-
fied Heracles from this murder, but he was, never- mand of Athena, to Phlegra, and fought against
theless, attacked by a severe illness. Heracles then the Gigantes. (Apollod. ii. 7. 81; Hom. Il. xiv.
repaired to Delphi to obtain a remedy, but the Py- / 250, &c. ; Pind. Nem. iv. 40. ) Respecting his
thia refused to answer his questions. A struggle fight against the giants, who were, according to an
between Heracles and Apollo ensued, and the com- oracle, to be conquered by a mortal, see especially
batants were not separated till Zeus sent a flash of Eurip.
