800 
H E R 
pletely fitted up with copper pans lined with filver, 
kettles, citterns for heating water, and every utenfil 
neceflary for culinary purpofes; fpecimens of various 
forts of combullibles, retaining their form though burnt 
to a cinder. The iloors are paved with ancient Mofaic. 
Few rare medals have been found in thefe ruins ; the 
moft curious is a gold medallion of Auguttus, ftruck in 
Sicily in the fifteenth year of his reign. A moft valua¬ 
ble-acquifition was thought 'to be made, when a large 
parcel of manufcripts was found among the ruins. 
Hopes were entertained that many works of the claflics, 
which time has deprived .us.of, were now going to be 
reftored to light, and that a new mine of fcience was on 
the point of being'opened. But the^ difficulty of un¬ 
rolling the burnt parchment, of parting the fragments 
on a flat fttrface, and of deciphering the cbfcure letters, 
have proved fuch obftacles, that very little prpgrefs 
has been made in the work. When thefe famous cities 
were founded, this part of Italy was named Magna Gracia, 
from its havingbeen peopled by Grecian colonies. After 
the fall of the Grecian empire it alfumed the name of 
Hetruria; and, in more modern times, that of Tufcany. 
HERCU'LEAN, adj. [from Hercules.~\ Of extraordi¬ 
nary ftrength : 
So rofe the Danite ftrong 
(Herculean Samfon) from the harlot, lap 
Of Philiftean Dalilah. Milton. 
HER'CULES, a celebrated hero, who, after death, 
was ranked among the gods, and received divine ho¬ 
nours. According to the ancients, there were many per- 
fons of the fame name. Diodorus mentions three, Ci¬ 
cero fix, and fome authors extend the number to no 
lefs than forty-three. Of all thefe the fon-of Jupiter 
and Alcmena, generally called the Theban, is the moft 
celebrated ; and to him, as may ealily be imagined/the 
aftions of the others have .been often attributed. The 
birth of Hercules was attended with many miraculous 
and fupernatural events; audit is reported that Jupiter, 
who introduced himfelf to the bed of Alcmena, was em¬ 
ployed for thred.nights in forming a child.whom he in¬ 
tended to be the jgreateft hero the world ever beheld. 
See Alcmena. Hercules was brought up at Tyrin- 
thus; or, according to Diodorus, at Thebes; and, be¬ 
fore he had completed his eighth month, the jealoufy 
of Juno, intent upon his deftruftion, fent two fnakes to 
devour him. The child, not terrified at the fight of 
the ferpents, boldly feized them in both his hands, and 
fqueezed them to death; while his brother Ipliiclus 
alarmed the houfe with his frightful fhrieks. See Iphi- 
CLUS. He was early inftrudted in the liberal.arts, and 
Caftor the fon of Tyndarus taught him how 'to fight, 
Eurytus how to (hoot with a bow and arrows, Amoly- 
cus to drive a chariot, Linus to play on the lyre, and 
Eumolpus to fing. He, like the reft of his i 11 uftrious 
contemporaries, foon after became the pupil of the cen¬ 
taur Chiron, and under him he perfected and rendered 
himfelf the moft valiant and.accomplilhed hero of the 
age. In his eighteenth year, he refolved to deliver the> 
neighbourhood of mount Cithaeron from a lion," which 
preyed on the flocks of Amphitryon, his reputed father, 
and which had laid wafte the adjacent country. He 
went to the court of Thefpius, king-of Thefpis; who 
fhared .in the general calamity ; and he received there 
a tender treatment, and was entertained during fifty 
days. The fifty daughters of the king became all mo¬ 
thers by Hercules, during his ftay at Thefpis, and fome 
fay that it was effected in one night. After he had de- 
ftroyed the lion of mount Cithaeron, he delivered his 
country from the annual tribute of an hundred oxen 
which it paid to Erginus. Such public fervices became 
uniyerfaliy known, and Creon, who then fat on the 
throne of Thebes, rewarded the patriotic deeds of Her¬ 
cules by giving him his daughter in marriage, and en- 
trulting him with the government of his kingdom. As 
HER 
Hercules, by the will of Jupiter, was fubjeCted t'a the 
power of Euryftheus, and obliged to obey him in every 
refpedt, Euryftheus, jealous of his fuccefles and rifing * 
power, ordered him to appear at Mycenae, and perform 
the labours which by priority of birth lie was empow¬ 
ered to impofe upon him. Hercules refufed, and Juno, 
to punifli his difobedience, rendered him fo delirious, 
that he killed his own children by Megara, fuppofing 
them to be the offspring of Euryftheus. When he re¬ 
covered the ufe of his fenfes, he wasTo ftruck with the 
misfortunes which had proceeded from his infanity, that 
he concealed himfelf, and retired from the fociety of 
men for fome time. He afterwards confulted the oracle 
of Apollo, and was told that he mu ft be fubfervient for 
twelve years to the will of Euryftheus, in compliance 
with the commands of Jupiter; and that, after he liad^ 
achieved his moft celebrated labours, he fhould b» 
reckoned in the number of the gods. So plain and ex¬ 
predive an anfwer determined him to go to Mycenae, 
and to bear with fortitude whatever gods or men im- 
pbfed upon him. Euryftheus feeing him thus totally 
fubjeCted to him, and apprehenfive of fo powerful an 
enemy, commanded him to achieve a number of enter- 
prizes, the moft difficult and arduous ever known, hence 
called the twelve labours of Hercules. The favours of 
the gods had completely armed him, when lie under¬ 
took thefe labours. He had received a coat of mail 
and helmet from Minerva, a fword from Mercury, a 
horfe from .Neptune,’ a ffiield from J upiter, a bow and 
arrows from Apollo, and from Vulcan a golden cuirafs 
and brazen bufkin, with a celebrated club of brafs, ac¬ 
cording to the opinion of moft writers. 
The fir it labour impofed upon Hercules by Euryftheus 
wastokill the lion of Nemaea, wlnchravaged thecountry 
near Mycence'. The hero, unable to deftroy him with 
his arrows, boldly attacked him with his club, purfued 
him to his den, and after a dole and lharp engagement, 
caught him by the throat, and choaked him ,to death. 
He carried the dead beaft on his fhoulders to Mycenae, 
and ever after cloathed himfelf with the Ikin. Eu¬ 
ryftheus was fo aftoniftied at the light of the beaft, and 
at the courage of Hercules, that he ordered him never 
to enter the gates of the city when he returned from 
his expeditions, but to wait for his orders without the 
walls. He even made himfelf.a brazen veil'd, into which 
he retired whenever Hercules returned.'—The l'econd la¬ 
bour impofed on Hercules, was to deftroy tile Lernasan 
hydra, which had feven heads according to Apoliodo- 
rus, fifty according to Simonides, and one hundred ac¬ 
cording to Diodorus. This celebrated monitor lie at¬ 
tacked with his arrows, and fo.on after he came to a 
clofe .engagement, and by means of his heavy dub he 
deftroyed "the heads of his enemy. But this was pro¬ 
ductive of no advantage, foras foon as one head was 
beaten to pieces by the dub, immediately tw.o fprang 
up, and the labour of Hercules would have remained 
unfiniliied, had not he commanded his friend tolas to 
burn, with a hot iron, the root of the head which he 
had crulhed to pieces. This fucceeaed, and Hercules 
become victorious, opened the belly of the monlter, and 
dipped his arrows in the gall, to render the wounds, 
which he gave fatal and incurable.—The third labour 
was to bring alive to Euryftheus a wild boar, which ra¬ 
vaged the neighbourhood of Erymanthus. In this expe¬ 
dition he deftroyed the centaurs, and caught the boar,, 
by clofely purliting him through the deep Inow. Eu¬ 
ryftheus was fo frightened at the fight of the boar, that, 
according to Diodorus, he hid himfelf in his brazen 
veflel lor fome days.—He was ordered, as his fourth 
labour, 10 bring alive and unhurt into the pretence of 
Euryftheus, a doe, famous for its incredible fwiftnefs. 
This celebrated animal frequented the neighbourhood 
of (Enoe; and Hercules.was employed for a whole year 
in continually purfuing it, and at lalt he caught it when 
tired, and lying at reft by the fea-fide; or, according to 
