, they grew mild and manageable, and he brought them home.

The next expedition was against the Amazons, a nation of women warriors,
who lived somewhere on the banks of the Euxine or Black Sea, kept their
husbands in subjection, and seldom brought up a son. The bravest of all
the Amazons was the queen, Hippolyta, to whom Mars had given a belt as a
reward for her valour. Eurystheus' daughter wanted this belt, and
Hercules was sent to fetch it. He was so hearty, honest, and
good-natured, that he talked over Hippolyta, and she promised him her
girdle; but Juno, to make mischief, took the form of an Amazon, and
persuaded the ladies that their queen was being deluded and stolen away
by a strange man, so they mounted their horses and came down to rescue
her. He thought she had been treacherous, and there was a great fight,
in which he killed her, and carried off her girdle.

Far out in the west, near the ocean flowing round the world, were herds
of purple oxen, guarded by a two-headed dog, and belonging to a giant
with three bodies called Geryon, who lived in the isle of Erythria, in
the outmost ocean. Passing Lybia, Hercules came to the end of the
Mediterranean Sea, Neptune's domain, and there set up two
pillars--namely, Mounts Calpe and Abyla--on each side a the Straits of
Gibraltar. The rays of the sun scorched him, and in wrath he shot at it
with his arrows, when Helios, instead of being angry, admired his
boldness, and gave him his golden cup, wherewith to cross the outer
ocean, which he did safely, although old Oceanus, who was king there, put
up his hoary head, and tried to frighten him by shaking the bowl. It was
large enough to hold all the herd of oxen, when Hercules had killed dog,
herdsman, and giant, and he returned it safely to Helios when he had
crossed the ocean. The oxen were sacrificed to Juno, Eurystheus' friend.

Again Eurystheus sent Hercules to the utmost parts of the earth. This
time it was to bring home the golden apples which grew in the gardens of
the Hesperides, the daughters of old Atlas, who dwelt in the land of
Hesperus the Evening Star, and, together with a dragon, guarded the
golden tree in a beautiful garden. Hercules made a long journey,
apparently round by the North, and on his way had to wrestle with a
dreadful giant named Antaeus. Though thrown down over and over again,
Antaeus rose up twice as strong every time, till Hercules found out that
he grew in force whenever he touched