16 



oak by the hair of his head, with this whimsi* 

 cal couplet below : 



O Absalom! unhappy sprig, 



Thou should'st have worn a periwig. 



It was an oak-tree also which cost Milo 

 of Crotona, the most celebrated wrestler of 

 Greece, and who was always the conqueror 

 in the games, his life. He possessed pro- 

 digious strength. It is related that he held 

 a pomegranate in his hand so firmly, without 

 smashing or hurting the fruit, that no person 

 could open his fingers strait, so as to take 

 it from him. He would put his naked foot 

 on a quoit, greased with oil, and whatever 

 effort was made, it was impossible to shake 

 him. His confidence in his (almost super- 

 natural) strength was fatal to him, for having 

 once found in his way an old oak-tree, 

 nearly opened by wedges, which had been 

 forced by the hatchet and hammer, he un- 

 dertook to finish the felling of it, by the 

 power of his arms alone; but in the effort 

 he undid the wedges, and his hands w r ere 

 caught by the two parts of the oak, which 

 joining together again, he was unable to 

 liberate himself, and was devoured by the 

 wolves. 



The famous forest of Dodona, in Epirus, 



