There was a long dark cave leading down to Hades and the river Styx flowed across it. A white-haired old ferryman, Charon by name, waited with his boat on the shore to carry the spirits of all who died. There they were met by Minos, the great judge, who told them whether they could go into the fields of the Blessed or whether they were doomed to the region of the Unhappy. Charon’s boat was but a delicate skiff and adapted only to carrying souls without bodies, so Herakles was not a welcome passenger.
Herakles found his way into Hades in spite of all the difficulties, and presenting himself to Pluto, the King of the Dead, begged him to give him the Dog.
Pluto replied: “Take him and lead him out into the world and thou shalt have him. But thou must not use any weapon.” Herakles answered, “I will use no weapon but my hands, and with them alone I will conquer him.” Wearing his breastplate and clad in the lion’s skin he approached Cerberus, who stood on guard at the gates. He threw his arms around the Dog’s three heads and pressed them with all his might. The Dog fought with great fury, and bit him with the snake’s mouth which he had at the end of his tail. Herakles threw his lion’s skin over the head of the Dog and dragged him out by another gate into the daylight. Cerberus had never seen the light of the sun and was frightened beyond measure. He foamed at the mouth, and wherever the foam fell upon the ground it caused a poisonous plant to grow.
Herakles took Cerberus to Eurystheus, who was not pleased to see the Dog or the Hero. Then he carried him back to Hades and restored him to Pluto, and so were the twelve great labors ended.
CHAPTER XV
THESEUS, THE HERO OF ATHENS
The land of Attica is very different from Arcadia. It was cleared at a much earlier time than the southern part of Greece, which could be done the more easily as the soil being naturally rather barren was not covered with the thick, bristling forests which there sheltered so many dangerous animals, and made it such hard work for the peasants to clear the smallest patch of farm.
Then, although the land offers but scanty pasture for cattle and bears but few kinds of trees and crops, it happens that those which it does bear are the very ones that were the greatest favorites with Greek farmers—the olive and the vine. Besides which, being a peninsula, and therefore almost entirely surrounded by the sea, fish and other sea-food was very plentiful, and trade with more or less distant neighbors very easy.
Attica has no very high mountains, but those that there are supply the country with beautiful marbles, both white and colored. The people, having such lovely material within reach, became from the earliest times the most skilful of builders. Their Acropolis, for which nature itself supplied them with a beautiful, tall rock, of bright-colored stone, soon became their greatest pride. It was the envy of their neighbors, because of the splendid marble palaces and temples which they could raise there at so little cost.
The city which grew up at the foot of the Acropolis was named Athens, after the goddess of wisdom and cunning craft, Athena, the favorite daughter of Zeus. It is clear from this that the Athenians considered themselves more civilized and in every way superior to the other Greeks. Indeed, they were all that, and even as far back as the heroic times their city began to be famous above others.