THE LERNEAN HYDRA. 



245 



predatory monster as the Lernean Hydra, which had the 

 evil reputation of devouring the Peloponnesian cattle. 



Whoever first described the counter-attack of the Hydra 

 on Hercules must have had the octopus in his thoughts. " It 

 twisted itself round one of his feet " exactly that which an 

 octopus would do. 



Finally, according to the legend, Hercules dipped his 

 arrow-heads in the gall of the Hydra, and, from its poisonous 

 nature, all the wounds he inflicted with them upon his 



FIG. 24. HERCULES SLAYING THE LERNEAN HYDRA. 

 From Smith? s * Classical Dictionary? 



enemies proved fatal. It is worthy of notice that the 

 ancients attributed to the octopus the possession of a 

 similarly venomous secretion. Thus Oppian writes : 



" The crawling preke a deadly juice contains 

 Injected poison fires the wounded veins." 



The accompanying illustration (Fig. 24) of Hercules 

 slaying the Hydra is taken from a marble tablet in the 

 Vatican. It will be immediately seen how closely the 

 Hydra, as there depicted, resembles an octopus. The body 



