of the
Cretan bull; the eighth, the capture of the mares of Diomedes of Thrace;
the ninth, the seizure of the girdle of the queen of the Amazons; the
tenth, the killing of Geryon and capture of his oxen; the eleventh,
fetching of the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides; the
twelfth, dragging Cerberus to the light of day. These were the twelve,
but in addition, he strangled the giant Antaeus, slew the robber Cacus,
delivered Hesione, unchained Prometheus from the rocks of Caucasus, and
smote the centaur Nessus, the last proving the cause of his death. See
NESSUS.

HERCULES, THE CHOICE OF, the choice of a life of virtue offered to
him by Athene, in preference to a life of pleasure offered by Aphrodite,
in his youth.

HERCULES, THE PILLARS OF, two mountains on the opposite sides of the
Strait of Gibraltar, originally one, but fabled to have been separated by
Hercules, Calpe on the Spanish coast and Abyla on the African.

HERCYNIAN FOREST, a forest of Central Germany, extending at one time
from the Rhine to the Carpathian Mountains, described by Caesar as nine
days journey in breadth and sixty in length, is now the district of the
Harz Mountains.

HERDER, an eminent German thinker, born at Mohrungen, in East
Prussia; studied philosophy under Kant, but gave himself up chiefly to
literature; became acquainted at Strasburg with Goethe, who was five
years his junior, and exercised a great influence over him in his youth;
in after years was invited by him to Weimar, where he became court
preacher and consistorial councillor, and where he died; wrote the
"Spirit of Hebrew Poetry," "Ideas towards a Philosophy of the History of
Humanity," and "Poems" (1744-1803).

HEREFORD (20), the county town of Herefordshire, on the Wye, 144 m.
NW. of London; has some fine old buildings, including a noble cathedral
begun in 1079, ruins of a castle, &c.; it was made the seat of a
bishopric in 676; it is noted for its roses and agricultural produce.

HEREFORDSHIRE (116), an inland county of West England, lying on the
Welsh border between Shropshire and Monmouthshire; it is a pretty
agricultural county, through the centre of which runs the Wye; in the E.
are the Malvern Hills and in the SW. the Black Mountains (2631 ft); the
rich red soil produces fine wheat, hops, and apples; there is some trade
in timber, some stone and marble quarrying, and the cattle are noted; its
history is associated with many stirring historic