{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XIX/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XIX","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XIX","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Fable/Chapter_XIX","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Pages_using_center_block_with_style_parameter","Subpages"],"text":"HERCULES \u2014 HEBE AND GANYMEDE\n\nHercules was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena. As Juno was always\nhostile to the offspring of her husband by mortal mothers, she\ndeclared war against Hercules from his birth. She sent two\nserpents to destroy him as he lay in his cradle, but the\nprecocious infant strangled them with his own hands. He was,\nhowever, by the arts of Juno rendered subject to Eurystheus and\ncompelled to perform all his commands. Eurystheus enjoined upon\nhim a succession of desperate adventures, which are called the\n\"Twelve Labors of Hercules.\" The first was the fight with the\nNemean lion. The valley of Nemea was infested by a terrible lion.\nEurystheus ordered Hercules to bring him the skin of this monster.\nAfter using in vain his club and arrows against the lion, Hercules\nstrangled the animal with his hands. He returned carrying the dead\nlion on his shoulders; but Eurystheus was so frightened at the\nsight of it and at this proof of the prodigious strength of the\nhero, that he ordered him to deliver the account of his exploits\nin future outside the town.\n\nHis next labor was the slaughter of the Hydra. This monster\nravaged the country of Argos, and dwelt in a swamp near the well\nof Amymone. This well had been discovered by Amymone when the\ncountry was suffering from drought, and the story was that\nNeptune, who loved her, had permitted her to touch the rock with\nhis trident, and a spring of three outlets burst forth. Here the\nHydra took up his position, and Hercules was sent to destroy him.\nThe Hydra had nine heads, of which the middle one was immortal.\nHercules struck off its heads with his club, but in the place of\nthe head knocked off, two new ones grew forth each time. At length\nwith the assistance of his faithful servant Iolaus, he burned away\nthe heads of the Hydra, and buried the ninth or immortal one under\na huge rock.\n\nAnother labor was the cleaning of the Augean stables. Augeas, king\nof Elis, had a herd of three thousand oxen, whose stalls had not\nbeen cleansed for thirty years. Hercules brought the rivers\nAlpheus and Peneus through them, and cleansed them thoroughly in\none day.\n\nHis next labor was of a more delicate kind. Admeta, the daughter\nof Eurystheus, longed to obtain the girdle of the queen of the\nAmazons, and Eurystheus ordered Hercules to go and get it. The\nAmazons were a nation of women. They were very warlike and held\nseveral flourishing cities. It was their custom to bring up only\nthe female children; the boys were either sent away to the\nneighboring nations or put to death. Hercules was accompanied by a\nnumber of volunteers, and after various adventures at last reached\nthe country of the Amazons. Hippolyta, the queen, received him\nkindly, and consented to yield him her girdle, but Juno, taking\nthe form of an Amazon, went and persuaded the rest that the\nstrangers were carrying off their queen. They instantly armed and\ncame in great numbers down to the ship. Hercules, thinking that\nHippolyta had acted treacherously, slew her, and taking her girdle\nmade sail homewards.\n\nAnother task enjoined him was to bring to Eurystheus the oxen of\nGeryon, a monster with three bodies, who dwelt in the island\nErytheia (the red), so called because it lay at the west, under\nthe rays of the setting sun. This description is thought to apply\nto Spain, of which Geryon was king. After traversing various\ncountries, Hercules reached at length the frontiers of Libya and\nEurope, where he raised the two mountains of Calpe and Abyla, as\nmonuments of his progress, or, according to another account, rent\none mountain into two and left half on each side, forming the\nstraits of Gibraltar, the two mountains being called the Pillars\nof Hercules. The oxen were guarded by the giant Eurytion and his\ntwo-headed dog, but Hercules killed the giant and his dog and\nbrought away the oxen in safety to Eurystheus.\n\nThe most difficult labor of all was getting the golden apples of\nthe Hesperides, for Hercules did not know where to find them.\nThese were the apples which Juno had received at her wedding from\nthe goddess of the Earth, and which she had intrusted to the\nkeeping of the daughters of Hesperus, assisted by a watchful\ndragon. After various adventures Hercules arrived at Mount Atlas\nin Africa. Atlas was one of the Titans who had warred against the\ngods, and after they were subdued, Atlas was condemned to bear on\nhis shoulders the weight of the heavens. He was the father of the\nHesperides, and Hercules thought might, if any one could, find the\napples and bring them to him. But how to send Atlas away from his\npost, or bear up the heavens while he was gone? Hercules took the\nburden on his own shoulders, and sent Atlas to seek the apples. He\nreturned with them, and though somewhat reluctantly, took his\nburden upon his shoulders again, and let Hercules return with the\napples to Eurystheus.\n\n\u00a0\n\nMilton, in his \"Comus,\" makes the Hesperides the daughters of\nHesperus and nieces of Atlas:\n\n\"... amidst the gardens fair\n\nOf Hesperus and his daughters three,\n\nThat sing about the golden tree.\"\n\nThe poets, led by the analogy of the lovely appearance of the\nwestern sky at sunset, viewed the west as a region of brightness\nand glory. Hence they placed in it the Isles of the Blest, the\nruddy Isle Erythea, on which the bright oxen of Geryon were\npastured, and the Isle of the Hesperides. The apples are supposed\nby some to be the oranges of Spain, of which the Greeks had heard\nsome obscure accounts.\n\n\u00a0\n\nA celebrated exploit of Hercules was his victory over Antaeus.\nAnt\u00e6us, the son of Terra, the Earth, was a mighty giant and\nwrestler, whose strength was invincible so long as he remained in\ncontact with his mother Earth. He compelled all strangers who came\nto his country to wrestle with him, on condition that if conquered\n(as they all were) they should be put to death. Hercules\nencountered him, and finding that it was of no avail to throw him,\nfor he always rose with renewed strength from every fall, he\nlifted him up from the earth and strangled him in the air.\n\nCacus was a huge giant, who inhabited a cave on Mount Aventine,\nand plundered the surrounding country. When Hercules was driving\nhome the oxen of Geryon, Cacus stole part of the cattle, while the\nhero slept. That their footprints might not serve to show where\nthey had been driven, he dragged them backward by their tails to\nhis cave; so their tracks all seemed to show that they had gone in\nthe opposite direction. Hercules was deceived by this stratagem,\nand would have failed to find his oxen, if it had not happened\nthat in driving the remainder of the herd past the cave where the\nstolen ones were concealed, those within began to low, and were\nthus discovered. Cacus was slain by Hercules.\n\nThe last exploit we shall record was bringing Cerberus from the\nlower world. Hercules descended into Hades, accompanied by Mercury\nand Minerva. He obtained permission from Pluto to carry Cerberus\nto the upper air, provided he could do it without the use of\nweapons; and in spite of the monster's struggling, he seized him,\nheld him fast, and carried him to Eurystheus, and afterwards\nbrought him back again. When he was in Hades he obtained the\nliberty of Theseus, his admirer and imitator, who had been\ndetained a prisoner there for an unsuccessful attempt to carry off\nProserpine.\n\nHercules in a fit of madness killed his friend Iphitus, and was\ncondemned for this offence to become the slave of Queen Omphale\nfor three years. While in this service the hero's nature seemed\nchanged. He lived effeminately, wearing at times the dress of a\nwoman, and spinning wool with the hand-maidens of Omphale, while\nthe queen wore his lion's skin. When this service was ended he\nmarried Dejanira and lived in peace with her three years. On one\noccasion as he was travelling with his wife, they came to a river,\nacross which the Centaur Nessus carried travellers for a stated\nfee. Hercules himself forded the river, but gave Dejanira to\nNessus to be carried across. Nessus attempted to run away with\nher, but Hercules heard her cries and shot an arrow into the heart\nof Nessus. The dying Centaur told Dejanira to take a portion of\nhis blood and keep it, as it might be used as a charm to preserve\nthe love of her husband.\n\nDejanira did so and before long fancied she had occasion to use\nit. Hercules in one of his conquests had taken prisoner a fair\nmaiden, named Iole, of whom he seemed more fond than Dejanira\napproved. When Hercules was about to offer sacrifices to the gods\nin honor of his victory, he sent to his wife for a white robe to\nuse on the occasion. Dejanira, thinking it a good opportunity to\ntry her love-spell, steeped the garment in the blood of Nessus. We\nare to suppose she took care to wash out all traces of it, but the\nmagic power remained, and as soon as the garment became warm on\nthe body of Hercules the poison penetrated into all his limbs and\ncaused him the most intense agony. In his frenzy he seized Lichas,\nwho had brought him the fatal robe, and hurled him into the sea.\nHe wrenched off the garment, but it stuck to his flesh, and with\nit he tore away whole pieces of his body. In this state he\nembarked on board a ship and was conveyed home. Dejanira, on\nseeing what she had unwittingly done, hung herself. Hercules,\nprepared to die, ascended Mount Oeta, where he built a funeral\npile of trees, gave his bow and arrows to Philoctetes, and laid\nhimself down on the pile, his head resting on his club, and his\nlion's skin spread over him. With a countenance as serene as if he\nwere taking his place at a festal board he commanded Philoctetes\nto apply the torch. The flames spread apace and soon invested the\nwhole mass.\n\nMilton thus alludes to the frenzy of Hercules:\n\n\"As when Alcides, from \u0152chalia crowned\n\nWith conquest, felt the envenomed robe, and tore,\n\nThrough pain, up by the roots Thessalian pines\n\nAnd Lichas from the top of Oeta threw\n\nInto the Euboic Sea.\"\n\nThe gods themselves felt troubled at seeing the champion of the\nearth so brought to his end. But Jupiter with cheerful countenance\nthus addressed them: \"I am pleased to see your concern, my\nprinces, and am gratified to perceive that I am the ruler of a\nloyal people, and that my son enjoys your favor. For although your\ninterest in him arises from his noble deeds, yet it is not the\nless gratifying to me. But now I say to you, Fear not. He who\nconquered all else is not to be conquered by those flames which\nyou see blazing on Mount Oeta. Only his mother's share in him can\nperish; what he derived from me is immortal. I shall take him,\ndead to earth, to the heavenly shores, and I require of you all to\nreceive him kindly. If any of you feel grieved at his attaining\nthis honor, yet no one can deny that he has deserved it.\" The gods\nall gave their assent; Juno only heard the closing words with some\ndispleasure that she should be so particularly pointed at, yet not\nenough to make her regret the determination of her husband. So\nwhen the flames had consumed the mother's share of Hercules, the\ndiviner part, instead of being injured thereby, seemed to start\nforth with new vigor, to assume a more lofty port and a more awful\ndignity. Jupiter enveloped him in a cloud, and took him up in a\nfour-horse chariot to dwell among the stars. As he took his place\nin heaven, Atlas felt the added weight.\n\nJuno, now reconciled to him, gave him her daughter Hebe in\nmarriage.\n\n\u00a0\n\nThe poet Schiller, in one of his pieces called the \"Ideal and\nLife,\" illustrates the contrast between the practical and the\nimaginative in some beautiful stanzas, of which the last two may\nbe thus translated:\n\n\"Deep degraded to a coward's slave,\n\nEndless contests bore Alcides brave,\n\nThrough the thorny path of suffering led;\n\nSlew the Hydra, crushed the lion's might,\n\nThrew himself, to bring his friend to light,\n\nLiving, in the skiff that bears the dead.\n\nAll the torments, every toil of earth\n\nJuno's hatred on him could impose,\n\nWell he bore them, from his fated birth\n\nTo life's grandly mournful close.\n\n\u00a0\nTill the god, the earthly part forsaken,\n\nFrom the man in flames asunder taken,\n\nDrank the heavenly ether's purer breath.\n\nJoyous in the new unwonted lightness,\n\nSoared he upwards to celestial brightness,\n\nEarth's dark heavy burden lost in death.\n\nHigh Olympus gives harmonious greeting\n\nTo the hall where reigns his sire adored;\n\nYouth's bright goddess, with a blush at meeting,\n\nGives the nectar to her lord.\"\n\n\u2014S. G. B.\n\nHEBE AND GANYMEDE\n\nHebe, the daughter of Juno, and goddess of youth, was cup-bearer\nto the gods. The usual story is that she resigned her office on\nbecoming the wife of Hercules. But there is another statement\nwhich our countryman Crawford, the sculptor, has adopted in his\ngroup of Hebe and Ganymede, now in the Athen\u00e6um gallery.\nAccording to this, Hebe was dismissed from her office in\nconsequence of a fall which she met with one day when in\nattendance on the gods. Her successor was Ganymede, a Trojan boy,\nwhom Jupiter, in the disguise of an eagle, seized and carried off\nfrom the midst of his playfellows on Mount Ida, bore up to heaven,\nand installed in the vacant place.\n\nTennyson, in his \"Palace of Art,\" describes among the decorations\non the walls a picture representing this legend:\n\n\"There, too, flushed Ganymede, his rosy thigh\n\nHalf buried in the eagle's down,\n\nSole as a flying star shot through the sky\n\nAbove the pillared town.\"\n\nAnd in Shelley's \"Prometheus\" Jupiter calls to his cup-bearer\nthus:\n\n\"Pour forth heaven's wine, Idaean Ganymede,\n\nAnd let it fill the Daedal cups like fire.\"\n\nThe beautiful legend of the \"Choice of Hercules\" may be found in\nthe \"Tatler,\" No. 97.\n\nFootnotes","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XIX","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2420}