Then Jason cried, "Thou art an accursed woman, that hast slain thy own
children with the sword, and yet darest to look upon the earth and the
sun. What madness was it that I brought thee from thy own country to
this land of Greece, for thou didst betray thy father and slay thy
brother with the sword, and now thou hast killed thine own children, to
avenge what thou deemest thine own wrong. No woman art thou, but a
lioness or monster of the sea."

And to these things she answered, "Call me what thou wilt, lioness or
monster of the sea; but this I know, that I have pierced thy heart. And
as for thy children, thou shalt not touch them or see them any more; for
I will bear them to the grove of Heré and bury them there, lest some
enemy should break up their tomb and do them some dishonour. And I
myself go to the land of Attica, where I shall dwell with King Ægeus,
the son of Pandion. And as for thee, thou shalt perish miserably, for a
beam from the ship Argo shall smite thee on the head. So shalt thou
die."

Thus was the vengeance of Medea accomplished.




THE STORY OF THE DEATH OF HERCULES.


Oeneus, who was king of the city of Pleuron in the land of Ætolia, had
a fair daughter, Deïaneira by name. Now the maiden was sought in
marriage by the god of the river Acheloüs; but she loved him not, for he
was strange and terrible to look at. Sometimes he had the shape of a