ACT I
[On the Cenaean promontory of the island of Euboea.]
Hercules [about to sacrifice to Cenaean Jove]: O sire of gods,
from whose almighty hand
Both homes of Phoebus feel thy darting bolt:
Rule now serene, for I have 'stablished peace
Wherever Nereus checks the spreading lands.
Now let thy thunders rest; for treacherous kings 5
And savage tyrants are in ruin laid.
Whatever merited thy blasting darts
Have I o'erthrown and crushed. But, father, why
Is heaven still denied to me, thy son?
For surely have I ever shown myself
A worthy child of Jove; and Juno's self,
My hard task-mistress, testifies to this,
That I am born of thee. Why dost thou still 10
Contrive delays? Am I thy cause of fear?
Will Atlas not avail to prop the skies
If to their bulk the weight of Hercules
Be superadded? Why, O father, why
Dost thou deny the stars to me? To thee
Did death restore me; every monstrous shape
Which had its source in earth or sea or air,
Or hell itself, has yielded to my arms. 15
No lion treads the Arcadian cities now;
Stymphalus fears no more its noxious birds;
The wondrous stag of Maenalus is dead;
The watchful dragon spattered with its blood
The golden grove; the hydra's force is gone;
Those famous horses to the Hebrus known,
Which fattened on the blood of murdered guests, 20
Have I destroyed, and spoils of war obtained
In victory o'er my Amazonian foe.
I saw the silent realms; nor all alone
Did I return, but shuddering day beheld
Dark Cerberus, and he beheld the sun.
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