numbers single-handed; his carrying the gates
of Gaza, in one night, a distance of about fifty miles, &c.,
&c."

That this is simply a _Solar_ myth, no one will doubt, we believe, who
will take the trouble to investigate it.

Prof. Goldziher, who has made "Comparative Mythology" a special study,
says of this story:

"The most complete and rounded-off _Solar myth_ extant in
Hebrew, is that of Shimshon (Samson), a cycle of mythical
conceptions fully comparable with the Greek myth of
Hercules."[66:3]

We shall now endeavor to ascertain if such is the case, by comparing the
exploits of Samson with those of Hercules.

The first wonderful act performed by Samson was, as we have seen, _that
of slaying a lion_. This is said to have happened when he was but a
youth. So likewise was it with Hercules. At the age of eighteen, he slew
an enormous lion.[66:4]

The valley of Nemea was infested by a terrible lion; Eurystheus ordered
Hercules to bring him the skin of this monster. After using in vain his
club and arrows against the lion, Hercules strangled the animal with his
hands. He returned, carrying the dead lion on his shoulders; but
Eurystheus was so frightened at the sight of it, and at this proof of
the prodigious strength of the hero, that he ordered him to deliver the
accounts of his exploits in the future outside the town.[67:1]

To show the courage of Hercules, it is said that he entered the cave
where the lion's lair was, closed the entrance behind him, and at once
grappled with the monster.[67:2]

Samson is said to have torn asunder the _jaws_ of the lion, and we find
him generally represented slaying the beast in that manner. So likewise,
was this the manner in which Hercules disposed of the Nemean lion.[67:3]

The skin of the lion, Hercules tore off with his fingers, and knowing it
to be impenetrable, resolved to wear it henceforth.[67:4] The statues
and paintings of Hercules either represent him carrying the lion's skin
over his arm, or wearing it hanging down his back, the skin of its head
fitting to his crown like a cap, and the fore-legs knotted under his
chin.[67:5]

Samson's second exploit was when he went down to Ashkelon and slew
thirty men.

Hercules, when returning to Thebes from the lion-hunt, and wearing its
skin hanging from his shoulders, as a sign of his success, met the
heralds of the King of the Minyae, coming from Orchomenos to claim the
annual tribute of a