Phaedrus, Fab.3.17: Arbores in deorum tutela

Olim quas vellent esse in tutela sua,

Divi legerunt arbores. Quercus Iovi

Et myrtus Veneri placuit, Phoebo laurea,

Pinus Cybebae, populus celsa Herculi.

Minerva admirans, quare steriles sumerent

Interrogavit. Causam dixit Iuppiter:

Honorem fructu ne videamur vendere.

At mehercules narrabit quod quis voluerit,

Oliva nobis propter fructum est gratior.

Tunc sic deorum genitor atque hominum sator:

O nata, merito sapiens dicere omnibus!

Nisi utile est quod facimus, stulta est gloria.

Nihil agere quod non prosit fabella admonet.

(Translation into English, by Christopher Smart, 1913)

The gods took certain trees (th' affair

Was some time since) into their care.

The oak was best approved by Jove,

The myrtle by the queen of love;

The god of music and the day

Vouchsafed to patronise the bay;

The pine Cybele chanced to please,

And the tall poplar Hercules.

Minerva upon this inquired

Why they all barren trees admired ?

" The cause," says Jupiter, "is plain,

Lest we give honour up for gain.""

Let every one their fancy suit,

I choose the olive for its fruit.

"The sire of gods and men replies,

" Daughter, thou shalt be reckon'd wise

By all the world, and justly too;

For whatsover things we do,

If not a life of useful days,

How vain is all pretence to praise !

"Whate'er experiments you try,

Have some advantage in your eye.

Labours of Hercules coins

Gibraltar has always had a strong connection with the myths of Hercules; one of his famous "Twelve Labors" describes how he erects two rock pillars, one in Europe, and one in Africa - hence the Rock of Gibraltar, now known as one of the "Pillars of Hercules". This mythological hero has been featured on Gibraltar's circulating 5 pound coinage since 1988 and was only introduced to the 2 pound coin with this series that was issued in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. These coins all include the new effigy of Her Magesty Queen Elizabeth II, designed and sculpted by Ian Rank-Broadley F.R.B.S., F.S.N.A.D.
These 2 pound coins are all from Gibraltar, and are dated 1997, 1998 or 1999. These Uncirculated coins are made from "Bi-metal base metal", and appear two tone. The center section is the typical silver color of Copper-Nickel, and the outer ring is a gold tone.

Hercules for Sport on ...

... a stamp from Città del Vaticano, who is part of a series that celebrates Olympic Games in their Centenary.

Italian stamps with Hercules

La Jeunesse d'Hercule...from Saint-Säens

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor, and pianist, known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, Samson and Delilah, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, and his Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony).
As a composer, Saint-Saëns was often criticized for his refusal to embrace romanticism and at the same time, rather paradoxically, for his adherence to the conventions of 19th-century musical language.
For the last of his symphonic poems, in 1877, Saint-Saëns returned to the legend of Hercules. The fable relates that Hercules on his entrance upon life saw two roads lie open before him -- that of pleasure and that of virtue. Insensible to the seductions of nymphs and bacchantes, the hero chooses the paths of struggle and combats, at the end of which he catches a glimpse of the reward of immortality, through the flames of the funeral pyre.

Mickey helping Hercules

Mickey à travers les siècles (Mickey Through the Centuries) was a French comic strip series published in the early 1970s featuring Mickey Mouse as a time traveller. In one such adventure (Hercule et les travauz d'Hercule), he assisted Heracles in his twelve tasks. Here again, when they clean out the Augean stables, Augeas hesitates in paying them, so Heracles contents himself with giving the double-dealer a spanking.

The Augean Stables

The Augean Stables is a weblog dedicated to exploring the many aspects of our MSM’s problem, not only those concerned with the Middle East problem, but more broadly with the many ways in which our media’s errors and our media’s extraordinary resistance to admitting their errors, have contributed and continue to contribute to the serious problems that plague our globe in this young 21st century.
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