graphers for intruducing various
embellishments
and
22.
22.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
803; Pind.
Heracles to bring him the skin of this monster. Ol. iii. 24, 53 ; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 378. )
When Heracles arrived at Cleonae, he was hospi- 4. The Erymanthian boar. This animal, which
tably received by a poor man called Molorchus. Heracles was ordered to bring alive, had descended
This man was on the point of offering up a sacri- from mount Erymanthus (nccording to others, from
fice, but Heracles persuaded him to delay it for mount Lampe,) into Peophis. Heracles chased him
thirty days until he should return from his fight through the deep snow, and having thus worn him
with the lion, in order that then they might to- out, he caught him in a net, and carried him to
gether offer sacrifices to Zeus Soter ; but Heracles Mycenae. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 4; Diod. iv. 12. )
added, that if he himself should not return, the Other traditions place the hunt of the Erymanthian
man should offer a sacrifice to him as a hero. The boar in Thessaly, and some even in Phrygia.
thirty days passed away, and as Heracles did not (Eurip. Merc. Fur. 368 ; Hygin. Fab. 30. )"It
return, Molorchus made preparations for the heroic must be olcrved that this and subsequent la-
sacrifice ; but at that moment Heracles arrived in bours of Icracles are connected with other subor-
triumph over the monster, which was slain, and dinate ones, called Nápepya, and the first of these
both sacrificed to Zeus Soter. Heracles, after hav- parerga is the fight of Heracles with the Centaurs ;
ing in vain used his club and arrows against the for it is said that in his pursuit of the boar he came
lion, had blocked up one of the entrances to the to the centaur Pholus, who had received from Dio
den, and entering by the other, he strangled the nysus a cask of excellent wine. Heracles opened
animal with his own hands. According to Theo- it, contrary to the wish of his host, and the de-
critus (xxv. 251, &c. ), the contest did not take licious fragrance attracted the other centaurs, who
place in the den, but in the open air, and Heracles besieged the grotto of Pholus. Heracles drove
is said to have lost a finger in the struggle. (Pto them away: they fled to the house of Cheiron, and
lem. Heph. 2. ) He returned to Eurystheus car- Heracles, eager in his pursuit, wounded Cheiron,
rying the dead lion on his shoulders ; and Eu- his old friend. Heracles was deeply grieved, and
rystheus, frightened at the gigantic strength of tried to save Cheiron ; but in vain, for the wound
the hero, took to flight, and ordered him in future was fatal. As, however, Cheiron was immortal,
to deliver the account of his exploits outside the and could not die, he prayed to Zeus to take away
gates of the town. (Diod. iv. 11; Apollod. , Theo his immortality, and give it to Prometheus. Thus
crit. I. cc. ; comp. MOLORCH US. )
Cheiron was delivered of his burning pain, and died.
2. Fight ayainst the Lernean hydra. This mon- Pholus, too, was wounded by one of the arrows,
ster, like the lion, was the offspring of Typhon and which by accident fell on his foot and killed him.
Echidna, and was brought up by Hera. It ravaged This fight with the centaurs gave rise to the esta.
the country of Lernae near Argos, and dwelt in a blishment of mysteries, by which Demeter intended
swamp near the well of Amymone: it was for- to purify the hero from the blood he had shed
midable by its pine heads, the middle of which against his own will. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 4; Diod.
was immortal. Heracles, with burning arrows, iv. 14; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 364, &c. ; Theocrit.
hunted up the monster, and with his club or a vii. 150 ; Apollon. Rhod. i. 127 ; Paus. viii. 24.
sickle he cut off its heads; but in the place of $2; Ov. Met. ix. 192. )
the head he cut off, two new ones grew forth 5. The stables of Augeas. Eurystheus imposed
each time, and a gigantic crab came to the assist- upon Heracles the task of cleaning the stables of
ance of the hydra, and wounded Heracles How. Augeas in one day. Augeas was king of Elis, and
ever, with the assistance of his faithful servant extremely rich in cattle. Heracles, without men-
Iolaus, he burned away the heads of the hydra, and tioning the command of Eurystheus, went to Au-
buried the ninth or immortal one under a huge geas, offering in one day to clean his stables, if he
rock. Having thus conquered the monster, he would give him the tenth part of the cattle for his
poisoned his arrows with its bile, whence the trouble, or, according to Pausanias (v. i. $7) a
wounds inflicted by them became incurable. Eu- part of his territory. Augeas, believing that Hera-
rystheus declared the victory unlawful, as Hera- cles could not possibly accomplish what he pro-
cles had won it with the aid of Iolaus. (Hes. mised, agreed, and Heracles took Phyleus, the son
Theog. 313, &c. ; Apollod. ii. 5. & 2; Diod. iv. 11; of Augeas, as his witness, and then led the rivers
Eurip. Herc. Fur. 419, 1188, Ion, 192 ; Ov. Met. Alpheius and Peneius through the stables, which
ix. 70 ; Virg. Aen. viii. 300; Paus. ii. 36. § 6, were thus cleaned in the time fixed upon. But
37. 4, v. 5. & 5; Hygin. Fab. 30. )
Augeas, who learned that Heracles had undertaken
3. The slag of Ceryneia in Arcadia. This animal the work by the command of Eurystheus, refused
had golden antlers and brazen feet. It had been the reward, denied his promise, and declared that
dedicated to Artemis by the nymph Taygete, be he would have the matter decided by a judicial
cause the goddess had saved her from the pursuit verdict. Phyleus then bore witness against his fa-
of Zeus. Heracles was ordered to bring the ani- ther, who exiled him from Elis. Eurystheus de
mal alive to Mycenae. He pursued it in vain for clared the work thus performed to be unlawful,
a whole year: at length it fied from Oenoë to because Heracles had stipulated with Augeas a
mount Artemisium in Argolis, and thence to the payment for it. (Apollod. i. 5. § 5; Theocrit.
river Ladon in Arcadia. Heracles wounded it with xxv. 88, &c. ; Ptolem. Heph. 5; Atben. x. p. 412;
an arrow, caught it, and carried it away on his Schol. ad Pind. Ol. xi. 42. ) 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.
Heracles to bring him the skin of this monster. Ol. iii. 24, 53 ; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 378. )
When Heracles arrived at Cleonae, he was hospi- 4. The Erymanthian boar. This animal, which
tably received by a poor man called Molorchus. Heracles was ordered to bring alive, had descended
This man was on the point of offering up a sacri- from mount Erymanthus (nccording to others, from
fice, but Heracles persuaded him to delay it for mount Lampe,) into Peophis. Heracles chased him
thirty days until he should return from his fight through the deep snow, and having thus worn him
with the lion, in order that then they might to- out, he caught him in a net, and carried him to
gether offer sacrifices to Zeus Soter ; but Heracles Mycenae. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 4; Diod. iv. 12. )
added, that if he himself should not return, the Other traditions place the hunt of the Erymanthian
man should offer a sacrifice to him as a hero. The boar in Thessaly, and some even in Phrygia.
thirty days passed away, and as Heracles did not (Eurip. Merc. Fur. 368 ; Hygin. Fab. 30. )"It
return, Molorchus made preparations for the heroic must be olcrved that this and subsequent la-
sacrifice ; but at that moment Heracles arrived in bours of Icracles are connected with other subor-
triumph over the monster, which was slain, and dinate ones, called Nápepya, and the first of these
both sacrificed to Zeus Soter. Heracles, after hav- parerga is the fight of Heracles with the Centaurs ;
ing in vain used his club and arrows against the for it is said that in his pursuit of the boar he came
lion, had blocked up one of the entrances to the to the centaur Pholus, who had received from Dio
den, and entering by the other, he strangled the nysus a cask of excellent wine. Heracles opened
animal with his own hands. According to Theo- it, contrary to the wish of his host, and the de-
critus (xxv. 251, &c. ), the contest did not take licious fragrance attracted the other centaurs, who
place in the den, but in the open air, and Heracles besieged the grotto of Pholus. Heracles drove
is said to have lost a finger in the struggle. (Pto them away: they fled to the house of Cheiron, and
lem. Heph. 2. ) He returned to Eurystheus car- Heracles, eager in his pursuit, wounded Cheiron,
rying the dead lion on his shoulders ; and Eu- his old friend. Heracles was deeply grieved, and
rystheus, frightened at the gigantic strength of tried to save Cheiron ; but in vain, for the wound
the hero, took to flight, and ordered him in future was fatal. As, however, Cheiron was immortal,
to deliver the account of his exploits outside the and could not die, he prayed to Zeus to take away
gates of the town. (Diod. iv. 11; Apollod. , Theo his immortality, and give it to Prometheus. Thus
crit. I. cc. ; comp. MOLORCH US. )
Cheiron was delivered of his burning pain, and died.
2. Fight ayainst the Lernean hydra. This mon- Pholus, too, was wounded by one of the arrows,
ster, like the lion, was the offspring of Typhon and which by accident fell on his foot and killed him.
Echidna, and was brought up by Hera. It ravaged This fight with the centaurs gave rise to the esta.
the country of Lernae near Argos, and dwelt in a blishment of mysteries, by which Demeter intended
swamp near the well of Amymone: it was for- to purify the hero from the blood he had shed
midable by its pine heads, the middle of which against his own will. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 4; Diod.
was immortal. Heracles, with burning arrows, iv. 14; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 364, &c. ; Theocrit.
hunted up the monster, and with his club or a vii. 150 ; Apollon. Rhod. i. 127 ; Paus. viii. 24.
sickle he cut off its heads; but in the place of $2; Ov. Met. ix. 192. )
the head he cut off, two new ones grew forth 5. The stables of Augeas. Eurystheus imposed
each time, and a gigantic crab came to the assist- upon Heracles the task of cleaning the stables of
ance of the hydra, and wounded Heracles How. Augeas in one day. Augeas was king of Elis, and
ever, with the assistance of his faithful servant extremely rich in cattle. Heracles, without men-
Iolaus, he burned away the heads of the hydra, and tioning the command of Eurystheus, went to Au-
buried the ninth or immortal one under a huge geas, offering in one day to clean his stables, if he
rock. Having thus conquered the monster, he would give him the tenth part of the cattle for his
poisoned his arrows with its bile, whence the trouble, or, according to Pausanias (v. i. $7) a
wounds inflicted by them became incurable. Eu- part of his territory. Augeas, believing that Hera-
rystheus declared the victory unlawful, as Hera- cles could not possibly accomplish what he pro-
cles had won it with the aid of Iolaus. (Hes. mised, agreed, and Heracles took Phyleus, the son
Theog. 313, &c. ; Apollod. ii. 5. & 2; Diod. iv. 11; of Augeas, as his witness, and then led the rivers
Eurip. Herc. Fur. 419, 1188, Ion, 192 ; Ov. Met. Alpheius and Peneius through the stables, which
ix. 70 ; Virg. Aen. viii. 300; Paus. ii. 36. § 6, were thus cleaned in the time fixed upon. But
37. 4, v. 5. & 5; Hygin. Fab. 30. )
Augeas, who learned that Heracles had undertaken
3. The slag of Ceryneia in Arcadia. This animal the work by the command of Eurystheus, refused
had golden antlers and brazen feet. It had been the reward, denied his promise, and declared that
dedicated to Artemis by the nymph Taygete, be he would have the matter decided by a judicial
cause the goddess had saved her from the pursuit verdict. Phyleus then bore witness against his fa-
of Zeus. Heracles was ordered to bring the ani- ther, who exiled him from Elis. Eurystheus de
mal alive to Mycenae. He pursued it in vain for clared the work thus performed to be unlawful,
a whole year: at length it fied from Oenoë to because Heracles had stipulated with Augeas a
mount Artemisium in Argolis, and thence to the payment for it. (Apollod. i. 5. § 5; Theocrit.
river Ladon in Arcadia. Heracles wounded it with xxv. 88, &c. ; Ptolem. Heph. 5; Atben. x. p. 412;
an arrow, caught it, and carried it away on his Schol. ad Pind. Ol. xi. 42. ) 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) ############################################
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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.
