19
of Hesperis their mother, the daughter of Hes-
perus, and the wife, as well as niece of Atlas.
The golden apples, which grew in the garden
of the Hesperides, were guarded by a serpent.
" As the Atlantides, or Hesperides, were," says
Diodorus, " possessed of great beauty and wis-
dom, Busiris, king of Egypt, merely from the
reputation they had acquired, formed the design
of becoming master of them ; and he ordered a
band of pirates to repair to their country, seize
them, and bring them to him. These pirates,
having discovered the daughters of Atlas divert-
ing themselves in their garden, seized them and
fled towards their ships with the utmost speed,
on board of which they were compelling them to
embark; when Hercules, having surprised them
on the shore, and having been informed by the
virgins of the misfortune that had happened to
them, killed their ravishers, and restored the dis-
tressed daughters to their father.
These three Plates are all taken from the same
vase, and are in fact one complicated design, con-
tinuing entirely round the vase ; they represent
Hercules and his companions in the gardens of
the Hesperides. In Plate XXVII. the god,
of Hesperis their mother, the daughter of Hes-
perus, and the wife, as well as niece of Atlas.
The golden apples, which grew in the garden
of the Hesperides, were guarded by a serpent.
" As the Atlantides, or Hesperides, were," says
Diodorus, " possessed of great beauty and wis-
dom, Busiris, king of Egypt, merely from the
reputation they had acquired, formed the design
of becoming master of them ; and he ordered a
band of pirates to repair to their country, seize
them, and bring them to him. These pirates,
having discovered the daughters of Atlas divert-
ing themselves in their garden, seized them and
fled towards their ships with the utmost speed,
on board of which they were compelling them to
embark; when Hercules, having surprised them
on the shore, and having been informed by the
virgins of the misfortune that had happened to
them, killed their ravishers, and restored the dis-
tressed daughters to their father.
These three Plates are all taken from the same
vase, and are in fact one complicated design, con-
tinuing entirely round the vase ; they represent
Hercules and his companions in the gardens of
the Hesperides. In Plate XXVII. the god,