THE SHIELD OF HERCULES. 101

" There was the knight, of fair-haired Danae born, Perseus, nor yet the buckler with his feet Touched, nor yet distant hovered : strange to think ; For nowhere on the surface of the shield He 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 twain Of nameless terror, unapproachable, Came rushing : eagerly they stretched their arms To seize him : from the pallid adamant Audibly as they rushed, the clattering shield Clanked with a sharp shrill sound." E. 314-319. jSText 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 wrath Leaped on each other ; and by troops they drove Their onset : nor yet these nor those recoiled, Nor quaked in fear : of both the backs uprose, Bristling with anger : for a lion huge Lay stretched amidst them, and two boars beside, Lifeless : the sable blood down-dropping oozed Into the ground. So these with bowed backs Lay dead beneath the terrible lions ; they For this the more incensed, both savage boars And tawny lions, chafing sprang to war." E. 231-242.