om the orb of the moon by Juno's direction, and was
invunerable. It infested the woods between Phlius and Cle{=o}ne, and
committed uncommon ravages. The hero attacked it both with his arrows
and club, but in vain, till, perceiving his error, he tore asunder its
jaws with his hands.

The second labor was his conquest of the Lernaean hydra, a formidable
serpent or monster which harbored in the fens of Lerna, and infected the
region of Argos with his poisonous exhalations. This seems to have been
one of the most difficult tasks in which Hercules was ever engaged. The
number of heads assigned the hydra is various; some give him seven, some
nine, others fifty, and Ovid an hundred; but all authors agree that when
one was cut off, another sprung forth in its place, unless the wound was
immediately cauterized. Hercules, not discouraged, attacked him, and
having ordered I{)o}las, his friend and companion, to cut down wood
sufficient for fire-brands, he no sooner had cut off a head than he
applied these brands to the wounds; by which means searing them up, he
obtained a complete victory.

The third labor was to bring alive to Eurystheus an enormous wild boar
which ravaged the forest of Erymanthus in Arcadia, and had been sent to
Phocis by Di{=a}na to punish AEn{=e}as, for neglecting her sacrifices.
Hercules brought him bound to Eurystheus. There is nothing descriptive
of this exploit in any of the Roman poets.

The fourth labor was the capture of the Maenalaean stag. Eurystheus, after
repeated proofs of the strength and valor of Hercules, resolved to try
his agility, and commanded him to take a wild stag that frequented mount
Maen{)a}lus, which had brazen feet and golden horns. As this animal was
sacred to Di{=a}na, Hercules durst not wound him; but though it were no
easy matter to run him down, yet this, after pursuing him on foot for a
year, the hero at last effected.

The fifth labor of Hercules consisted in killing the Stymphal{)i}des,
birds so called from frequenting the lake Stymph{=a}lis in Arcadia,
which preyed upon human flesh, having wings, beaks, and talons of iron.
Some say Hercules destroyed these birds with his arrows, others that
Pallas sent him brazen rattles, made by Vulcan, the sound of which so
terrified them, that they took shelter in the island of Aretia. There
are authors who suppose these birds called Stymphal{)i}des, to have been
a gang of desperate banditti who had their haunts near the lake
Stymph{=a