Chapter II: Preface

The child's heart goes out to the man of action, the man who makes short work of things and gets directly at a result. He responds to life, to energy, quick wit, the blow that hits the nail on the head at the first stroke.

The rapidity of action in the stories of Herakles, Jason, and other Heroes of the Myth, the prowess and courage and untiring endurance of the men, render the characters worthy subjects of thought to young minds, and have secured the stories a permanent place in educational literature. It is not elegant literature alone that boys need, but inspiring ideals which will impel them to stand fearlessly to their guns, to do the hard thing with untiring perseverance, to reach the result with unerring insight.

It is exactly this unbending courage in Herakles and his comrade heroes, that has made them the backbone of literature for ages, holding their own in spite of the sapless literary fungus crowding our book-shelves.

While travelling in Greece I found the children of the primary schools reading these stories in the lower grades, the book being the one used next above the primer. The interest was enthusiastic, and I brought home a copy of the book, which, with Madame Ragozin's collaboration, I have arranged as a first or second book of reading for our own schools.

Mary E. Burt.

The John A. Browning School, New York, March 15, 1900.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Introduction xi

CHAPTER
I. The Babe Herakles 1

II. Herakles is Doomed to Serve Eurystheus 4

III. The First Labor--The Nemean Lion 6

IV. The Second Labor--Herakles Kills the Water-Snake of
Lake Lerna 9

V. The Third Labor--The Golden-Horned Hind 12

VI. The Fourth Labor--The Erymanthian Boar 15

VII. The Fifth Labor--Herakles Cleans the Augeian Stables 19

VIII. The Sixth Labor--The Birds of Stymphalos 22

IX. The Seventh Labor--Herakles Catches the Mad Bull
of Crete 24

X. The Eighth Labor--The Horses of Diomedes 25

XI. The Ninth Labor--The Girdle of Hippolyte 27

XII. The Tenth Labor--The Cattle of Geryon 30

XIII. The Eleventh Labor--The Golden Apples of Hesperides 35

XIV. The Twelfth Labor--Herakles Fetches Cerberus Out
of Hades 40

XV. Theseus, the Hero of Athens 43

XVI. The First Exploits of Theseus. He Finds His Father 47

XVII. The Adventures of Theseus 51

XVIII. The Adventures of Theseus 56

XIX. Jason, the Hero of Thessaly 60

XX. Jason Claims His Throne 63

XXI. The Expedition 69

XXII. Jason Finds the Golden Fleece 74

XXIII. Orpheus, the Hero of the Lyre 78

XXIV. Pelops, the Hero of the Peloponnesos 83

XXV. Perseus, the Hero of Argos 87

XXVI. Perseus Finds the Gorgons 92

XXVII. Perseus Rescues Andromeda 95

XXVIII. Perseus Becomes King of Tiryns 100

XXIX. Triptolemos, the Hero of Eleusis, and Demeter,
the Earth-Mother 103

XXX. Demeter's Grief 106

XXXI. Demeter's Joy 111

XXXII. Triptolemos Becomes a Hero. Demeter's Gift 116

XXXIII. Prometheus, the Champion of Mankind 118

XXXIV. Prometheus Unbound 122

XXXV. Deukalion, the Champion of a New Race 126

XXXVI. Dædalos, a Hero of Invention 132

XXXVII. Phaethon, a Hero of Bad Fortune 136

XXXVIII. The Death of Phaethon 141

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Herakles Slaying a Centaur _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE
The Priestess of Apollo at Delphi 6

The Temple to Theseus at the Foot of the Acropolis
in Athens 60

Orpheus Leading Eurydike Out of Hades 80

The Return of Persephone 114

Dædalos and Ikaros 134