Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/303

Rh Calmly taking his place upon it, the torch was applied, and he suffered the death by fire resignedly. After his body was consumed, the ancient poets say, he was carried up to heaven in a chariot drawn by four horses:

The admiring gods gave him Hebe, the cup-bearer of the immortals, as his wife.

Hercules, because of his great physical prowess and his success in accomplishing well-nigh impossible feats, was one of the most popular of the figures of mythology. The Fabian gens of Rome, a race of men superior in physical and intellectual attainments, claimed that they were descended from this paragon of fearlessness.

The twelve labours of Hercules are supposed to have an astronomical significance, and to refer to the sun's passage through the zodiacal signs. "Beginning with the summer solstice a series of coincidences will be noted which makes impressive this ancient belief. For example the first sign through which the sun passes is Leo, and Hercules' first labour was the slaying of the Nemean lion. In the second month," says Anthon, "the sun enters the sign Virgo, when the constellation of the Hydra sets, and in his second labour Hercules destroyed the Lernæan Hydra. In the third month the sun enters the sign Libra, when the constellation of the Centaur rises, and in his third labour Hercules encountered and slew the centaur. These comparisons are traceable throughout the year and add distinct testimony to the ingenuity of the ancients." For a more detailed account of this matter the reader is referred to Anthon's Classical Dictionary.

There is certainly a significance in the location of this figure of a giant trampling on a serpent, for he is placed