136 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
in the healing properties of plants. But his hand seemed little skilled for 
acquiring the art of music; and when his teacher Zimos one day gave him 
a sovere correction, he killed him with the lyre, for which crime he was 
punished by Amphitryon, who sent him to his shepherds to assist them in 
guarding the vast herds of the king. 
When he had reached the age of eighteen, he left the herds and set out 
in quest of adventures. Arriving at a cross-road, he was met by two 
females, each of whom sought to secure his confidence to herself. The 
one was endowed with the most inviting charms and allurements, and pro- 
mised him, if he would follow her, exemption from all toils and disquietude ; 
her name was Vice. ‘The other exhorted him to follow her and to gain 
eternal renown, and a final admission to Olympos, by conquering in a 
manly way the troubles and dangers which would obstruct his path, but 
which would yield to his strength and earnest will. Though less beautiful 
than the first, a noble and majestic mien made her peculiarly attractive ; 
her name was Virtue. The youth yielded to her persuasion, and promised 
ever to follow her. 
The trials predicted by this patroness were not long delayed. The ever 
jealous Hera wished to destroy him, and extorted from Zeus a promise to 
place him in the service of King Hurystheus, who should assign him twelve 
commissions (commonly known as the twelve labors of Heracles), his ulti- 
mate freedom depending upon their completion, and consequently Heracles 
was sent by Zeus to his severe taskmaster. 
The jirst labor he was bid to perform was to slay the Nemean Lion. 
This beast lived in the forests of Nemea, desolated the country in every 
direction, and seemed to be invulnerable to all the shafts of mortals. Even 
the weapons of Heracles produced but a slight effect; the lion rushed at 
him more furiously than ever; he dealt him a blow upon the head with his 
club, which was shivered, though it staggered the lion; then following up his 
advantage, he caught him round the neck and finally strangled him( fig. 15). 
He tore off the skin, which ever afterwards served him as a coat of mail, 
the head being his helmet. 
His second labor was the destruction of the Lernean Hydra. This 
monster had one hundred heads, one of which was immortal, while when- 
ever one of the others was cut off it was instantly replaced by two new 
ones. When Heracles attacked the Hydrait wound around his feet, and he 
soon found that although he cut off many of its heads, their number 
increased instead of becoming less. He then bid his charioteer set fire toa 
neighboring wood, and seizing a burning tree, applied the huge torch to the 
fresh wounds he made, thus paralysing the reproductive faculty (jig. 17), 
until all the heads were destroyed except the one which was immortal, and 
that he placed in the ground beneath a heavy stone. Then cutting the body 
to pieces, he dipped his arrows in its blood, which rendered the wounds 
inflicted by them incurable. Eurystheus declared the labor ill performed, 
as it had been accomplished with the assistance of the charioteer, and 
gave him another task more difficult to execute. 
This thord labor was to take alive the Hind of Artemis, the swift-footed 
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