McGraw©Hill/Focus/The Twelve Labors of Hercules p. 183////R7N12/ ***** When we look back into the past to discover the world of the

Greek heroes, it is not into the darkness we look, but into a

land where the sun shines much and often, where the shining

rivers flow down to the sea, and the beautiful mountains rise up

into the violet sky. This lovely land is set in the

Mediterranean Sea. In the days of the first heroes, the towns were very small,

always surrounded by walls for protection. The people were

fascinated by the stories of how and why, told by great weavers

of tales. There was no end to the wonders that surrounded them.

Every forest tree had its nymph that looked out from the branches

or wandered along the forest paths, fleeing back to her shelter

the moment a strange foot was heard. Every river had its water

spirit that came leaping down from the mountains on its way to

the sea. The rainbow was Iris; she drove a rose©colored chariot drawn

by white horses. The great sea had its greater spirit, the god Poseidon, "the

mighty shaker of the shores" © "the azure©haired," so called

because the blue waves leapt about his head as he rose from the

sea. In his hand he held his trident, the three©pronged fork

with which he ruled the waves. The greater gods lived on Mount Olympus. The snow lies

unmelted on its top even in the heat of July; but the old Greeks

said that an everlasting spring reigned there.