Page:Hesiod, and Theognis.djvu/115

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THE SHIELD OF HERCULES.
101
"There was the knight, of fair-haired Danae born,Perseus, nor yet the buckler with his feetTouched, nor yet distant hovered: strange to think;For nowhere on the surface of the shieldHe rested: so the crippled artist god,Illustrious, framed him with his hands in gold."—E. 297-302.

The other is where the noise of the Gorgons' feet, as they tread, is represented as realised in connection with the sculptured shield:—

    "Close behind the Gorgons twainOf nameless terror, unapproachable,Came rushing: eagerly they stretched their armsTo seize him: from the pallid adamantAudibly as they rushed, the clattering shieldClanked with a sharp shrill sound."—E. 314-319.

Next to the serpent-heads on the shield was wrought a fight betwixt boars and lions—an occasion to the poet of spirited description:—

"Wild from the forest, herds of boars were there,And lions, mutual glaring: these in wrathLeaped on each other; and by troops they droveTheir onset: nor yet these nor those recoiled,Nor quaked in fear: of both the backs uprose,Bristling with anger: for a lion hugeLay stretched amidst them, and two boars beside,Lifeless: the sable blood down-dropping oozedInto the ground. So these with bowed backsLay dead beneath the terrible lions; theyFor this the more incensed, both savage boarsAnd tawny lions, chafing sprang to war."—E. 231-242.
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